material matters

22/12/2021

Hybrid studios - crit day undergraduate students of architecture…

15/12/2020

27/09/2020

Viana do Castelo, Portugal

03/09/2020

Kara Walker and Andy Warhol at Tate Modern - the excitement and anticipation of being back in an art gallery was in itself a feast to the senses, and being able to experience an art exhibition again made me feel alive and back to some kind of normality 😃

27/07/2020

In order to accommodate performers and guests, APL Design Workshop designed and built White Flower Arbor – a lobby area where the audience can mingle between performances – and a backstage area for the actors to prepare in.

Oak and cedar trees, 17 in total, surround the new foyer and support its corrugated plastic roof. The tree trunks grow through holes cut in the wooden floor.

Nine steel beams provide extra support, as the eight-centimetre-wide trunks of the trees are not strong enough by themselves to support the maximum depth the snow can reach in this area.

These metal poles double as pillars, onto which small tables can be attached for people to gather around and rest their drinks on.

At night, the tables are lit from beneath so that White Flower Arbor glows in the dusk.
©Dezeen @ White Flower

23/07/2020

The Table
The project aims to integrate three segregated communities in Belfast- the Catholics, the Protestants and the Immigrants, (specifically Syrian refugees who have been relocated to Belfast largely in over the past three years). The scheme uses a layered engagement approach, which includes an international food market, participatory arts spaces and services for refugees, such as counselling and language classes. Green spaces are repeatedly used as a tribute to Islamic architecture, in which they are seen as secure containments of external spaces. Conceptually and strategically, the idea of a 'table' is explored as a symbol of congregation, which manifests in various forms of crushed brick terrazzo throughout the scheme. This also enforces the idea of re-use, which relates to the primer model as it is made of discarded art gallery posters and refugee application forms. The old/ new theme is prevalent in Belfast as there still exist the consequences of historic damage caused by the Blitz and the Troubles.
Deeksha Audukoori, 3rd year BSc Architecture @ Welsh School of Architecture

24/06/2020

Oikumene Church in Indonesia made entirely from wood

Jakarta-based TSDS Interior Architects has built a church for workers on a rubber plantation in Sajau, Indonesia, using locally-sourced timber waste. Built as part of a corporate responsibility program of Indonesian rubber growing company PT.KMS, the church was made from Bangkirai, Kapur, Meranti and Rimba wood that was sourced from the local forestry industry.

"The sources of material that we were assigned to works with were unused wood that can't be sold due to the quality," said the studio.

"These woods are residue from wood industry as our response to environmental empowerment. We are trying to use this project to enhance the quality of warmth that possessed by wood as a material."

©Dezeen
@ Indonesia

12/06/2020

Feasibility 3D study matrix The 72 spatial variations used as a matrix and explored in the five proposals to form a spatial analysis to help both the client and the designer to make their own conclusions about the potential of the final proposal. ©Antonio Capelao

01/06/2020

The London Mastaba, 2018 In his first major work in the UK, Christo created a floating structure of 7,506 specially made barrels fixed to a scaffold anchored to the bottom of the Serpentine Lake. Painted in shades of red, blue and mauve, The London Mastaba recalls Impressionist art as its reflection distorts in the water disturbed by the splashing of waterfowl, pedalo boats and outdoor swimmers. @ Serpentine Lake

29/05/2020

Researchers at ETH Zürich and local masons in Greece built a 225 m2 large wavy façade to demonstrate how augmented bricklaying combines the advantages of computational design with the dexterity of humans, supporting an entirely new way of fabrication. The design for the brick walls was achieved through a variety of applied mortar heights. In contrast, the individual rotation of the bricks correlates with the amount of the underlying mortar. That way mortar, usually treated as secondary material in the design of fair-faced brick walls, became a defining element in the appearance of the façade.
The result is a wavy, semi-transparent parametric façade, which “reflects the idea of an ever-changing façade pattern resembling the shimmering light of liquid.” Gaps between the individual bricks allow for ventilation and to control sunlight. ©Material District

19/05/2020

These are some of the Year 5 students classroom design proposals drawings, that they produced during the Architecture and Design Awareness Workshop series that I facilitated to them just before the lockdown - I am now developing a design proposal based on their ideas and how they want their classroom to be... @ Soho Parish Primary