Belsize put forward a proposal in 2019 to replace an industrial unit next to a railway line in Latimer Road with offices and homes for developer Artedi.

However, that proposal was withdrawn after 120 objections to the initial application were received and a design code was drawn up relating to the site.

Belsize scaled down the commercial elements of the scheme and resubmitted fresh proposals at the start of this year for a part-three, part-five-storey mixed-use block.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelseas planning committee granted consent for the revised Latimer Road project in a narrow vote last month (12 December), with three councillors approving the application and two rejecting.

Although 91 objections were submitted against the latest application in relation to its height and impact on other properties, councillors approved the project on the advice of its planning officers.

A report said the proposed building would accord with the areas design code and successfully integrate with its surroundings, making a positive visual statement as well as boosting provision of jobs and homes.

Planning officers added: The pitched roofline and gentle zig-zagged elevation [] are intended to break down the high-level massing, articulate the faade and communicate a distinction between its use as a residential building [and] its commercial accommodation fronting Latimer Road. It does this successfully in all respects.

Belsize Architects said the zig-zag rhythm was a nod to the bay window motif which appears throughout the area adding that it creates a break and softens the scale of the development.

The practice added: The elevation has been created in accordance with the requirements of [Kensington and Chelseas] Street Design Code, which applies a unifying principle for the neighbourhood for a tripartite division of faades into three zones: base, middle and top.

The scheme will have an internal structure largely built of timber, alongside some steel elements, and floor structures will be cross-laminated timber. Sustainability elements include solar panels on the roof and air source heat pumps, which will heat and cool the building.

A sedum and wildflower blanket will cover the roof of the residential units.

Source:Belsize Architects

Belsize Architects approved Latimer Road scheme in Kensington plan

LocationRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Type of project Mixed use ClientPrivate developer ArchitectBelsize Architects Planning consultantSavills Heritage and townscape consultantHCUK Group Fire consultantVemco Consulting Community engagement consultantConcilio Consult M&E consultantP3R Engineers Flood risk and drainage consultantEAS Delivery and servicing plan consultantEAS CTMP consultantMarkides Associates Contamination consultantGeocon Daylight and sunlight consultantT16 Design Energy and sustainability consultantT16 Design Air quality consultantAQA Assessments Tree consultantAndrew Day Consultancy Acoustic consultantKP Acoustics

Source:Belsize Architects

Belsize Architects' approved Latimer Road scheme in Kensington - rear detail

See the article here:
Belsize Architects' contentious Kensington timber block finally approved - Architect's Journal

Indian architecture practice Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS has built a brick family house with perforated and angled triangular faade in Kerala, India.

The project, named The Kenz House, was designed for a four-member family, whose owner was a doctor.

Built on a 40-cent land set beside the National Highway 66, the project was commissioned with a simple yet demanding brief; "the client wanted something special, something new!.

Due to the sites close proximity to the highway, and the familys requirement for a peaceful nature-filled abode formed the overall architecture language of project and its interiors.

Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS stated that the project addresses the requirements for privacy and the need for open free-flowing interiors entwined with nature.

To meet the brief, the studio decided to tread the unconventional route with the architecture of the building by designing an iconic structure.

The programme of the house is scattered in two floors, highlighting the juxtaposition of two simple platonic form. On one side, an angled triangular portion appears to be added adjacent to a skewed rectangular form.

"This unusual futuristic building was given a traditional twist by realising it entirely in a versatile material, burnt bricks," said the studio.

"The exposed bricks were laid painstakingly on top of each with lattice-like perforations at intervals to ventilate and light up the interiors, and to create a beautiful play of light and shadow within."

"The slanting roof emphasises the climate-friendly architecture further, as it reduces heat and drains water swiftly during the heavy monsoon months," the studio added.

The 8,000 square-foot (743-square-metre) house is spread across the ground and first floors. The aim of the project is to bring nature - read air, light and greenery - inside with the use of two architectural features.

The first key features are a detailed skylights and latticework which define breezeways to facilitate natural cooling of the interiors. The second element is a clever distribution of internal courtyards, filled with greenery, and pools.

The dining area forms the heart of the house on the ground floor which opens out to a landscaped pool courtyard and connects this area with the outdoors.

Another element is the staircase, which connects the two floors seems to float, and has a concrete handrail which acts as an accent point for the house.

The functional circulation is decided to flows to the family room on the ground floor and the living rooms - arranged on the ground and first floors and the bedroom suites one each on both these floors.

The bedroom suites enjoy their private landscaped courts which are enveloped by brick louvers that usher cool breezes, whilst forming a privacy screen from the surroundings.

On the first floor, a spa is also designed with an internal courtyard alongside, to take the bright skylight adding to its comforting and natural charm. A touch of green also wraps the bathing area in the sons bathroom, which fits a trough filled with plants.

"We also built an outhouse - for the staff - behind The Kenz; a service entry from the rear end; and a special route which connects this house to the clients parents residence," said Srijit Srinivas, founder of Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS.

"Even the visually engaging terrace is carefully planned to support the services of the house."

"The landscape design, which forms the nucleus of the project, was carefully curated for its texture, foliage and to offer a rich uncluttered look, both inside and outside; and to complement the warmth and rusticity of the brick facade."

"From an energy consumption perspective, this climate-friendly home is a net zero entity," Srinivas added.

Inside, the studio used bold and brave material palette that complements the exterior of the building harmoniously.

While the rustic brick converses beautifully with the warm teak wood - used on the doors, windows, wardrobes, shelves and bespoke furniture pieces, the elegant Italian marble floors, the plush hand-picked rugs and upholstery fabrics, and the raw cement-finished ceilings add to the sensory dynamism of the space.

The walls of the house are dressed with the artworks which were meticulously sourced. The landscaped courtyards with lush greenery further impart colour and freshness into the comfortable and balmy interiors.

"The Kenz is an Arabic word, which means translates to The Treasure, in English - is a wonderful example of a luxury house done in exposed brick," said the studio.

"The house addresses the aspirational requirements of its clients to deliver a restrained architectural result which is visually arresting, functionally efficient, and an organic addition to the local milieu."

Perhaps the finest affirmation comes from the client himself, "The rumbling of the water in the pond, the greenery we see all around, the sounds of rain when it hits the pool in the courtyard, the simulation of walking through a park while moving from one area of the house to another, or the silences and utmost security we feel inside the master bedroom are most satisfying experiences of our lives, thanks to The Kenz House."

"We can only concede that The Kenz House, as named by the client, is their prized treasure!."

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Sections

Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS completed a resort with dispersed villas in the hills of Panchalimedu in Idukki district in India. The firm also designed Narrow Brick House, a two-storey house was designed for a couple in Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala.

Project facts

Project name:The Kenz House

Architects:Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS

Location:Kerala, India

Size: 745m2

Completion year:2023

Lead architect: Srijit Srinivas

Design team: Srijit Srinivas, Remya Raveendran, Sriya S., Deepika

Clients: Dr. Biji Basheer, Mrs. Meenu Biji, Muhammed Zahin, Muhammed Farzeen

Design coordinator:Remya Raveendran

Civil contractor:Kumaraswami A.

Interior Execution Team:Fairview Decors

Site Support:Sreelakshmi, Rahul A., Suchithra O.S. & Sreeja V.S.

Text: Deepa Nair

Landscape Execution:Jacob Klavara

Air Conditioning:Glacier Systems India Pvt. Ltd.

All images Justin Sebastian.

All drawings Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS.

> via Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS

brick house Kerala residential Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS

Excerpt from:
Srijit Srinivas - ARCHITECTS built brick family house with angled ... - World Architecture Community

Its exam time again on the Part 3 course and, given the state of things, Im surprised at how blas the tutors seem. By contrast, the students sorry, candidates have endured yet another gruelling nine months of post-Brexit downturn, fluctuating immigration statuses and now the cancellation of HS2. There are longer hours, shorter contracts, pay freezes and straightup restructuring which notably protects the Revit-illiterate seniors while sending tremors through early career foundations.

Were briefed by the watery-eyed head of course that we should be kind but not too kind! It is an exam, and they need to understand the gravity of the situation. And we should be rigorous in our questions but dont make it weird! Stressed people dont give good answers. Make sure to ask them about the Building Safety Act, but dont get too specific, in case they ask the question back to us and, crikey, we have no idea, am I right! Mirthless chuckling. Oh, and make sure you ask them about their personal ethical stance, which they must have, and live by. Even though we can see theyre swimming in the same toxic swamp as the rest of us and it is, technically, just a job.

Our first candidate is a shoo-in. Solid work, solid answers to clarification questions, lovely. NEXT! Oh my, you are sweaty, sir. No, no, have a seat, no rush, deep breath, its just a conversation. Haha, sort of. So, how are you ? Oh Im sorry to hear your practice is making redundancies, thats always a stressful process. Are you part of that? Yes, you are, OK. Whats your, um, ethical position on that? No, go ahead, you can swear if you want to.

The next three candidates are similar, although perspiring less. Turns out for every B-Corp practice with dubious working hours and below-benchmark pay (its a local authority client, what are we supposed to doooooo?!) theres an equally cynical Employee Owned Trust trying to back-fill a resource gap by kicking the can down the road and hiding it all in an over-elaborate InDesign template. Either way, theyre cutting staff, theres no budget for a pay rise (soz!) and, no, you cant have time off in lieu. Be grateful for the golden handcuffs. Smile, youll be wearing them for two years.

Im getting a bit bleary-eyed with the onslaught of ennui, when Candidate 6 sits down. Hes calm, his answers are concise but specific and he elaborates when asked. Were done; hes cleared the RIBA/ARB hurdles what to do with the remaining 15 minutes? I go for a broad-spectrum question what are your reflections on working in architecture now that youve completed your Part 3? What are your takeaways? He pauses and sighs.

Honestly, the vibes are just off, you know? he says, eyeballing my silver haired co-examiner, as if daring her to question the colloquialism. Yes, she replies, yes, I am aware that the vibe has been off for some time. There is a pause. So how is your practice handling the economic uncertainty around your case study project? [Hint: its one of the HS2 casualties]. Well they announced this morning that theyd be making redundancies.

Ah, did they know you had your Part 3 exam today? Oh yeah, they said itd be a good talking point for the interview.

Nice. Ok, so what are your immediate thoughts then, given the surprise? Well you know, Im kind of fine with it? I took this job because they offered to pay for the Part 3, and if they make me redundant, it gets me out of the pay-back clause. Theres no projects anyway, and framework bids are soul-destroying.

I could go be a design manager, especially as the ARB are talking about abolishing the Part 3 system anyway. So really, Im kind of hoping they cut me. A severance pack and gardening leave sounds pretty good right now.

My turn to be stunned. Everything hes said is reasonable, accurate and honest. I really wish he was wrong, but hes not. Times up, so we shake hands and wish him the best of luck getting made redundant. I ponder my own ethical position on the train home.

The vibe really is off.

The rest is here:
The Secret Architect: The soul-destroying experiences of a Part 3 ... - Architect's Journal

Freight forwarders are the true architects of the global supply chain, and their capacity to handle uncertainties determines the flow of goods and trade. However, the industry itself is witnessing an identity shift not only due to digital forwarding but also consolidations.

In its April 2023 update of the air cargo market, CLIVE Data Services of Xeneta reported that longer-term contracts between shippers and freight forwarders may signal more common ground in a stabilising global air cargo market which saw demand dip at a slower -3% year-over-year in March.

Does this mean stabilisation in the market for freight forwarders? As the industry is still not out of uncertainties, both the long-term and short-term trends need to be assessed to answer that. The evolution of technology usage and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are two crucial gauges to measure this.

The most important topic of discussion in the current freight forwarding industry is automation through digitalisation. Regardless of where it has reached, the industry is reminding, once again that it is ruled by humans and human creativity.

Looking at the current market and industry, Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association observed that we're still seeing the value of creative logistical problem-solving, that only people can deliver.

It's an industry of knowledge, expertise and experience. It is the talent that makes the business value in this industry. And that continues today, regardless of the automation and size. Their skill, knowledge and expertise in the ability to address logistical challenges are that automation might not be able to do.

Technology, while helpful as just a tool, Fried argues, In the end, it's about the people and their knowledge and expertise that make the business successful.

It's an industry of knowledge, expertise and experience. We're still seeing the value of creative logistical problem solving, that only people can deliver.Brandon Fried, Airforwarders Association

Meanwhile, Lionel van der Walt, chief growth officer at logistics platform Raft thinks that digital freight forwarding is about bringing the human back into freight forwarding, acting as a catalyst for radically rethinking the nature of work in this age-old industry.

Traditional freight forwarding processes are often time-consuming and prone to error because they rely heavily on manual tasks such as preparing documentation, chasing payments, and tracking shipments.

According to Walt, with digital freight forwarding, many of these mechanical and time-consuming tasks are automated.

This frees up freight forwarders time to focus on higher-value work such as improving cash flow, working more effectively with vendors, and providing personalised customer service, he said.

Certainly, digital freight forwarding can bring value not only to forwarders but also to their clients, ultimately.

The rise of digital freight forwarding has streamlined operations and workflows at scale without the need for increasing manual labour.

Walt said, Automated processes are improving accuracy and reducing the time it takes to prepare documents, clear declarations, and process and reconcile invoices. AI is helping to improve visibility across the supply chain, enabling freight forwarders to track shipments in real-time and provide up-to-date information to their clients. Further to this, accessibility to real-time information has the benefit of ensuring better collaboration and transparent communications between teams, which ultimately makes life easier for freight forwarders.

Digital freight forwarding is bringing the human back into business, acting as a catalyst for rethinking the nature of work in this age-old industry.Lionel van der Walt, Raft

Another important but renewed talk of the town is on artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the supply chain.

FIATA (International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations) advisory body for information technology chair Tej Contractor thinks that AI is of great benefit and can remove mundane administrative tasks and allow the human workforce to move on to more interesting and skilled tasks.

Although AI will never be as good as the data which is input, or the user writing commands into the interface, it will significantly change the way forwarders do business, by adding value to their work and avoiding the repetitive work which is time-consuming and much of the time, uninteresting for the user, he said.

Fried who reports significant advancement in digital forwarding technologies and believes more is coming, argues that face-to-face interactions are essential in this industry. He notes that even in the so-called digital forwarding companies face-to-face customer discussions are going on as well.

They have marketing people who, sooner or later, are sitting down for lunch with the shipper because so much of creative logistical problem-solving comes from face-to-face interaction that might not be adequately addressed today, through the handheld device, he said.

However, while talking about where the industrys automation is going, Fried notes that there are several areas where digital solutions and technology can fool-proof operations.

For example, he said, There is a big concern now on dangerous goods and shipments like lithium batteries. While face-to-face interaction and consultative approaches are essential, there are procedures to be followed. To the point that could be automated, to make sure that a step isn't missed, the industry is starting to introduce that more.

The industry is lacking data visibility and supply chain transparency. And the biggest value that these digital forwarders have created is advancing that conversation.Derek Lossing, Cirrus Global Advisors

Meanwhile, talking about some of the digital freight forwarding companies that came into existence to revolutionise the traditional freight forwarding company, Derek Lossing, founder of Cirrus Global Advisors, a consultancy to forwarders opines that it was not the case.

I don't think any of them are revolutionising the way goods are moved around the world, he said.

However, on a positive note, he argues that these companies created a conversation around visibility and Lossing thinks this conversation needed to happen, irrespective of digital freight forwarders.

Only if you can have visibility and data points around what's happening in the global supply chain, will be able to correct problems or make improvements. And that's true, whether you're a shipper or a forwarder or a carrier. The industry is lacking in some of that data visibility and supply chain transparency. And the biggest value that some of these digital freight forwarders have created is advancing that conversation, he said.

Robert Khachatryan, chief executive officer of Freight Right Global Logistics notes that the talk about digital forwarding has fueled a massive influx of venture funding into an industry that promises great riches for those able to drag the industry into this century.

At least, this is what the would-be disruptors are prophecizing, he said.

However, he thinks that much of the value proposed by new tech companies is around giving smaller forwarders the ability to compete with larger ones. He also noted that, at least in the case of visibility, the ironic outcome of automation is more manual labour.

What has become clear is that the first round of digitization centred around rate management and quoting turned out to be a dud. Having been able to automate at least some portion of the quoting process, many forwarders realized that the solution could have been better. Visibility tools, which are the most active tech startups these days, are also finding that there may be a reason why smaller forwarders cannot offer visibility to their customer. The available data needs to be more cohesive and siloed. To plug the data gap, logistics companies, and technology providers are doing what they were preaching against. They have hired armies of staff in overseas offices to update milestones that are unavailable automatically or manually. he said.

To plug the data gap, they are doing what they were preaching against. They have hired armies of staff to update milestones that are unavailable automatically or manually.Robert Khachatryan, Freight Right Global Logistics

The money not only flowing towards the digitalisation of the industry but also into the consolidation of the industry itself. After a period of market uncertainties, the industry is reporting increased M&A.

For example, Jonathan Clark, CEO & EVP of the wholesale freight forwarding company Air Menzies International, in a recent interview with The STAT Trade Times noted that they are trying to double their global footprint in the next two years from 27 offices to 50. While he is expecting organic growth, a lot of that expansion will also come in inorganically by acquiring companies, particularly to enter new markets.

"The difficulty is that many companies have been very successful over the last few years which means the price asked for some of these businesses is inflated. By the middle and end of this year, the market should start to stabilise and should get back to some normality. The airfreight rates are still high. The profits of some of these companies will start to come down and we want to take advantage of this in the next few years, he said.

Lossing agrees with this development and thinks that it is part of how society realised the importance of global supply chains.

As an industry, top talent tends not to find its way into supply chain and transportation. And, the pandemic taught us how important supply chains are, they can make or break companies. And during that time, there was a lot of investor activity around global freight forwarding M&A. There was a lot of sentiment and how important these companies are, he said.

He thinks the margins and valuations are going to be falling in the next 12 to 18 months for these companies.

On the same line, Khachatryan is expecting many more consolidations, especially among the smaller companies.

Except for the first half of 2020, the pandemic years have been rough regarding M&A. As rates and margins soared, companies became more confident and less willing to sell. The owners that had to exit due to succession issues, for example, commanded multiples of EBIDTA, unheard of in the logistics industry. Now that the margins are back to pre-pandemic levels, many companies, especially the ones that took on a lot of overhead, are more and more likely to sell. Should the volume lull continue, some will become desperate to exit. On the other hand, aggressive and cash-rich companies find that acquisitions are the most viable way to grow market share as the overall pie is becoming smaller and smaller, he said.

Fried shared his frustration as an association leader with fewer companies, but still serving the same amount of people because now they're together as one company.

He said the forwarding industry is no stranger to M&A and it will continue to see more.

Valuations are a symptom of the marketplace. It's supply and demand. As time progresses, the market is going to stabilise. And in the long term, I am not seeing a reduction in this type of activity. he said.

Contractor thinks an increase in M&A activities is beneficial for the industry, which has traditionally struggled to secure finance from banks and financial institutions have always taken a cautious approach in lending to service providers.

The carriers have performed exceptionally well, exceeding their own expectations. It is only wealth that creates wealth hence considering the bottom line that they generated is being put to use to expand their footprint & their scope of services, he said.

Freight forwarders are the architects of the global supply chain, and without them, there is no flow of goods, trade, and certainly no response to the burning growth in consumer demand for more goods, as a result of economic growth which continues worldwide in the long run.

As Contractor puts it, The logistics industry is well positioned to meet the demands of customers, as we saw during the pandemic. Their flexibility and adaptability to change make them the strong foundation of the supply chain which customers seek.

This was originally published in the May 2023 issue of The STAT Trade Times.

More:
Freight forwarders: Architects of global supply chain - STAT Times

This article is part of our Design special section about making the environment a creative partner in the design of beautiful homes.

When the architect Emilio Ambasz won a 1998 competition to redesign the headquarters of Eni S.p.A., an oil company controlled by the Italian government, he recalled wagging a metaphorical finger at the companys president, saying: You owe it to Italy to do something green.

Mr. Ambasz proposed a new facade for the building that would cover the rusting and leaking 1960s curtain wall, and save millions by eliminating the need to relocate workers. This exterior portion would be a 20-story vertical garden, which would cool the building by shading it with flowers and plants that would change colors seasonally.

Though the green facade was never built, it represented a typical confrontation by a fearless pioneer. No polluting, extractive governmental bully was going to shrivel his environmental dreams.

Now 79 and a witness to many trendy environmental innovations, including verdant towers, Mr. Ambasz finds that rather than outracing his times, he is running neck-and-neck with them.

In 2020, the Museum of Modern Art established the Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and the Natural Environment, which he helped create with a $10 million contribution from his foundation. The institute supports programming and research about environmentally responsive design. It is an urgent mission. Nearly 40 percent of energy- and process-related carbon dioxide emissions come from building operations and construction, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

In the fall, Rizzoli published Emilio Ambasz: Curating a New Nature, a monograph by the Columbia University art and architecture historian Barry Bergdoll that explores Mr. Ambaszs multifaceted career as a designer, architect and museum curator.

He is a legendary figure who creates legends. He is a great storyteller, Mr. Bergdoll said in a recent interview, but his most lasting contribution is green architecture.

Born in 1943 in Chaco, Argentina, a province about 600 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, Mr. Ambasz recalled deciding to be an architect when he was 9 years old. At Princeton University, according to Mr. Bergdolls book and other sources, he somehow convinced the faculty to let him complete both undergraduate and graduate studies in two years and was appointed as a lecturer in the architecture department there.

He left abruptly in 1969, when he was offered the job of design curator at the Museum of Modern Art. There he organized two groundbreaking shows, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape (1972), which introduced radical Italian design to the world, and The Architecture of Luis Barragn (1976), which sparked an enduring passion for the Mexican architect.

In addition to his curatorial endeavors, Mr. Ambasz practiced industrial design, claiming dozens of mechanical patents, including one for a flexible, responsive seat-back for Vertebra, a very early ergonomic office chair, introduced in 1976. His designs for the N14 and Signature 600 engines won multiple awards for Cummins, the engine manufacturer that Mr. Ambasz served as the chief design consultant for from 1980 to 2008.

Growing up in Argentina, he was influenced by Latin American magical realism in literature. He wove and published his own fantastical tales, which he called fables, though they lacked the usual ingredients of talking animals and pithy morals. Fabula Rasa (1976) told of a man who founded the discipline of architecture by building a home for the gods.

Mr. Ambasz was one of the leaders of the environmental movement in the 1960s. For him, green means more than LEED-certified, net-zero or energy-efficient structures, but rather buildings that indisputably belong to the landscape.

Emilios work is about poetry and how we would live with respect and appreciation of nature, Mr. Bergdoll said. In that sense, he was very prescient.

Mr. Ambasz often describes his approach as green over the gray, with berms, buried buildings and botanical facades giving back what was appropriated by human-made structures. I want to create urban settlements which do not alienate the citizens from the vegetable kingdom, he said in an interview. I am creating an architecture which is inextricably woven into the greenery and into nature.

In his Casa de Retiro Espiritual (House of Spiritual Retreat), a residence completed in 1979, outside Seville, Spain, with two monumental white walls framing views of nearby mountains, the living spaces are sunk into the ground and covered with a green roof. Using the earth as insulation decreased heating and cooling costs. Sustainability was not a word then. I did it because it was the right thing to do in that climate, he said.

He is as forward facing as any industrial designer versed in the tools and ingredients of mass production. Often we think of the early protagonists of ecological design as returning to premodern materials like timber, wood and clay, said the architectural writer and editor Suzanne Stephens. Ambasz was different, as he wasnt shying away from the most high-tech materials like steel, concrete or glass curtain walls.

At the Lucile Halsell Conservatory at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, which opened in 1988, he built massive concrete retaining walls around the sunken building in a scheme that decreased energy usage. A reviewer for Progressive Architecture magazine was critical about the circulation path and greenhouse rooms. But that didnt stop the jurors for the magazines annual awards competition from giving it a prize. Mr. Bergdoll said he considered the conservatory to be an important example of an architecture in which the plants were full-time residents and human beings but visitors.

Despite his many accolades, Mr. Ambasz has remained in the shadows of more acclaimed architects of poetic buildings, like Steven Holl, who designed the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo., and many other cultural centers.

Ms. Stephens attributed this low profile to his polymath tendencies. By doing so many things so well, she said, he was never typecast as any one thing, which didnt allow the public to really understand how talented he is.

Still, his projects are crowd-pleasers, even when they displace a public park, as did his design for the ACROS Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall in Japan, completed in 1994. Mr. Ambaszs solution was to cover the government office building in garden terraces that the public could use.

When you see it, you are astounded by this mountain of green, Mr. Bergdoll said. It is wild and overgrown, and you almost forget that there are people working in the offices inside.

The architect James Wines has written about Mr. Ambaszs environmentalism in several essays and in a book, Green Architecture, published in 2000. He said, For Emilio, the building art is a transcendental calling, where the combination of structure, vegetation and their relationship to the environment are seen as part of an integrative utopia.

Today, the Ambasz Institute supports research into the evolving practice of ecologically minded design. Its Material Worlds series and annual Earth Day lecture bring in diverse speakers to discuss advancements in green materials and projects.

We want to redefine the way a general audience understands architecture, said Carson Chan, the institutes director. More than just building design, the aim is to engage with the entire process that goes into making architecture. Only then can designers start to address the climate crisis.

The Ambasz Institute will develop concepts that are dear to Mr. Ambasz by stimulating those ideas in the work of others. Chief among them is the understanding that ecological design is not simply about making buildings with minimal carbon footprints or trees on their facades.

If an architectural work, regardless of how respectful of nature it may be, does not move the heart, is there a point in it? Mr. Ambasz asked before answering his own question: It is just one more building.

Here is the original post:
An Architect Known for Building Castles in the 'Vegetable Kingdom' - The New York Times

Is there a moment in history you wish you could experience? The world is full of beautiful old historical buildings that connect us to the past, but too many are lost to decay or thoughtless development. Restoration can give us glimpses into what they might have looked like decades or centuries ago.

The /r/Saved_Architecture subreddit collects architectural success stories. Their before-and-after photos document the work talented architects and tradesmen do to preserve architectural history. Some of the buildings are worn down by neglect and time, while others are revealed from beneath facades installed to hide their former beauty. The old buildings scars can even tell us stories - of wars, demographic changes, economic decline, or changing tastes.

Restoration is a difficult and subtle trade. Ancient materials or processes may no longer be available, and neither are the buildings plans. Architects may have to use old photographs or even first-hand historical accounts as clues to discover an old buildings design.

Whatever the case, we are lucky to witness these restored slices of the past. Scroll down to vote for your favorite saved architecture restorations or add one youve seen in your own town or city.

Read this article:
50 Times Architects Put In The Effort To Make Something Extra ... - Bored Panda

When Washington, D.C. architects Will Teass and his wife Liz Dixon created a home for themselves and their family they managed to realize three priorities with it: sustainability, comfort and beauty.

It has exceeded our expectations. Its such a pleasant space to live in, Teass says.

When he bought the original brick townhouse, in the spring of 2020, he did so sight unseen. Wed always wanted to take on a project of this scale, and, in our minds eye, we knew some of the programmatic elements we wanted.

NetZeroRowHouse is a dramatic renovation centred on sustainability. The idea with Net Zero is for the house to produce as much energy as it uses. Teass says the most important elements of going for this was decoupling it from the gas grid.

"We weren't required to keep the front faade, but we figured it was the right move, because it's one of eight units that are all the same front," says Teass. (Kate Wichlinski)

The renovation of the 2,900-square-foot home involved keeping the front faade and pushing back the rear wall. This enlarged the living spaces on all four floors. The lower basement level was excavated to accommodate a rental apartment. The kitchen, dining and living areas on the first floor open out to a deck. There are two bedrooms and a kids den on the second floor.

A third floor was added. It holds the main suite and the home office. Set back from the roof line, it also creates a private roof deck. We were able to create a space right off a studio home office, with the ability to just open a glass door and walk out there and really take advantage of the city scape. Its probably our personal favourite.

The home was completed in Jan 2022.

Teass, of the firm of Teass Warren Architect, in Washington, D.C., explains how his project came together:

The deck off the office on the third floor is the couple's favourite place to enjoy a morning coffee or evening drink. (Kate Wichlinski)

Click to expand

What were the priorities for sustainability? Decoupling the home from the gas grid, so all of our appliances, heating and cooling and hot water are all produced by electricity and not natural gas or oil (was the first). The second thing was figuring out how to produce as much electricity on site by, in this case, solar panels. The third thing is making sure youre designing a very energy-efficient structure, youre using a high efficiency heating and cooling system, high quality doors and windows that minimize air leakage, insulating the walls and ceiling to, at least, code value, if not above, then minimizing your electrical load to the maximum extent possible.

A skylight and a staircase with an open rise maximize sunlight within the home. (Kate Wichlinski)

What were the challenges? The first was building in the middle of the pandemic. Other challenges were working on a small urban site, a relatively tight space, so youre trying to do a lot of things in a very small area.

At the rear of the house, large windows on the second and third floors and a large door on first floor bring sunlight into the home. (Kate Wichlinski)

Is it difficult to design a house when youre an architect and youre going to be living in it? Youre always critical. Youre constantly thinking about things you would have done differently. My wife is an architect, so there was a great collaboration of the two of us to work on the project, (and) were happy with this. As architects we think, OK, the next time, were going to make this little change.

A large, glass, bifold door opens to a rear deck, covered by a shade, which leads into the rear garden. (This doubles as a parking area.) (Kate Wichlinski)

Do you feel a responsibility to design sustainable homes? I think it is our responsibility to help educate our clients about what the responsibilities are. We do have a responsibility to point out design elements and to understand what energy footprints are, really think about employing sustainable strategies and do so whenever we can.

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This row house is designed to produce as much energy as it uses - Toronto Star

Two Dutch Architects Take Center Stage with the New Kunstwerf in Groningen | Architectural Record This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more. This Website Uses CookiesBy closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn MoreThis website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.

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Two Dutch Architects Take Center Stage with the New Kunstwerf in ... - Architectural Record

BENTONVILLE, Ark.

HFA is excited to announce its upcoming webinar, "Designing for Future Flexibility: A+E Best Practices for Industrial Development," taking place on May 17th, 2023, at 11 am CST. The hourlong webinar will provide valuable insights and expert guidance on the most recent industry trends and best practices for designing logistics projects that can cater to a diverse range of potential occupants.

The webinar will be presented by Marc Jennings, R.A., VP of Logistics, and Garrett Small, P.E., Civil + Landscape Lead, who together bring decades of architecture and engineering experience.

In today's constantly evolving industrial landscape, its crucial for developers to invest in facilities that can remain relevant and adaptable in the face of emerging technologies and market demands. In this webinar, attendees will gain valuable insights and practical advice on designing flexible spaces that can adapt to changing conditions and evolving tech. The event will also highlight the latest trends and changes in the industrial sector, with a specific focus on automation and robotics, and the distinct challenges and opportunities they present.

This webinar is also an opportunity to talk about infrastructure planning, and how you design for end-user needs that change over time, said Jennings said. Prioritizing flexible design practices is crucial to maximizing the potential of investments in new construction or adaptive re-use and ensuring the broadest range of future tenants can be accommodated.

Join our hosts as they explore a range of topics, including:

The webinar is open to anyone interested in learning more about the future of flexibility in industrial design. Registration is free and can be completed at the following link: https://www.hfa-ae.com/events/webinar-future-flexibility-design.

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HFA is a nationwide architecture and engineering firm with offices in Bentonville, AR, Fort Worth, TX, Franklin, MA, and Mexico City. With over 30 years of experience, HFA has become a trusted partner for a diverse range of clients, providing comprehensive services that combine design innovation and project delivery excellence. The studio's portfolio includes commercial projects inretail, industrial, mixed-use/office, restaurants, hospitality and entertainment spaces. To learn more about HFA and their work, visit their website at https://www.hfa-ae.com/.

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May 17 Webinar by HFA Architects and Engineers Explores Design ... - Supply Chain Dive

Minerva Parker Nichols, Frank Wallace Munn Residence, 189091, Philadelphia. Photo: Elizabeth Felicella.

IN A STRIKING BREAK from its typical Manhattan-centric provincialism (even more pronounced, in those days, than it is now), the New York Times gave over an entire two-and-a-half columns in the Style section of the March 10, 1977, edition to some very local news out of Philadelphia. Written, of all people, by Anna Quindlenstill twenty-five years before her Pulitzerthe story details the presumed final luncheon of the New Century Club, once a fixture of high society in the City of Brotherly Love and a force for womens rights nationwide. The occasion coincided, ironically, with the hundredth anniversary of the groups founding. Quindlen relates with characteristic bathos how the club lost all but its air of gentility, having already given up its longtime home for the ballroom of a tatty hotel. It is not like our old club, laments one dowager. I wish you could have seen our old clubhouse.

Surprisingly unmentioned is the name of the woman who designed that old clubhousealthough for Minerva Parker Nichols, such omissions have mostly been the norm. Born in 1862 in rural Illinois, the future architect bounced around the Midwest following her fathers death in the Civil War, eventually moving to Philadelphia with her mother. Obliged by straitened circumstances to seek employment, Parker Nichols worked menial jobs while pursuing technical training, leading to a position with a prominent local builder from whom she learned the trade firsthand. Her talent, as well as her ambition, quickly became obvious: In 1889, she took the extraordinary step of opening her own office, becoming the second woman in American history (after Louise Blanchard Bethune, who cofounded a practice with her husband in Buffalo, New York, in 1881) to do so. Over the ensuing six decades, she designed more than eighty buildings, including private homes, houses of worship, meeting halls, and tony protofeminist headquarters.

Minerva Parker Nichols, The New Century Club, ca. 1894, Philadelphia. Photo: West Philadelphia Collaborative History/Bryn Mawr College.

How that remarkable career unfoldedand what happened in the years after, as its significance proceeded to slip from architectures collective memoryis the subject of Minerva Parker Nichols: The Search for a Forgotten Architect, an ongoing exhibition at the University of Pennsylvanias Harvey & Irwin Kroiz Gallery. Its an appropriate setting: The building in which the gallery is located is the Fisher Fine Arts Library, originally Penns main library and designed in 1881 by Frank Furness. The most celebrated public project by the citys most celebrated nineteenth-century architect, the structure gets extra local-cred points for its connection with another hometown hero, Robert Venturi, who helped launch a successful campaign to save the building from demolition in the mid-1960s. Drawing on material from the universitys extensive architectural archives, the show allows Parker Nichols to return home at last, assuming her rightful place in the architectural history of the nations first capital.

Minerva Parker Nichols, ca. 1893. Photo: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

It is, admittedly, a funny place to be. The cradle of the countrys independence is not, in the general view, the cradle of the countrys design independence. That honor has always been reserved for Chicago, where American architecture is usually considered to have become truly American, and from whence it spread to pretty much everywhere else. And yet Philly occupies a special place in the on the map of American modernism: Furness was the mentor of Louis Sullivan, who would subsequently relocate to the Midwest, perfect the skyscraper, and then take on his own apprentice, Frank Lloyd Wright, cementing Chicagos reputation as primus inter pares of architectural innovation. On the other side of two world wars, Philadelphia emerges again, thanks to the arrival there (by way of Estonia) of Louis Kahn, who helped turn Penn into a hotbed for a new and heterodox brand of late modernismultimately to receive the prefix of post-, thanks in large measure to the efforts of Venturi. Funny accents notwithstanding, the Sons of the Schuylkill have definitely left their mark.

Of course, in that version of history, they are all sonsand therein lies the problem. As should surprise no one by now, the contributions of women architects have been systematically discounted, undervalued, or effaced altogether from the evolutionary record of modern design. The above roll call demonstrates the phenomenon in full swing: Denise Scott Brown was no less important in the formation of postmodernism (or in the preservation of the Furness library, for that matter) than Venturi, her husband, yet she has always been given short shrift, most famously by the Pritzker committee; Kahns earliest and most consequential projects relied heavily on the work of his associate Anne Tyng, a fact deliberately concealed along with their yearslong romantic involvement; and as for Wright, among his many offenses against womankind, the saddest may be his effective eclipse of his first-ever hire, Marion Mahony Griffin, perhaps the most brilliant draftsperson of her generation and a key influence on the Prairie School. Based on research by historian Molly Lester with a curatorial team led by the archives William Whitaker, the Parker Nichols show forges another link in a lengthy and still incomplete chain of scholarship, slowly pulling these and other submerged histories out of the depths.

Minerva Parker Nichols, New Century Club of Wilmington, 189293 Wilmington. Photo: Elizabeth Felicell.

Displaying images in vitrines, on walls, and on racks featuring recent photographs by Elizabeth Felicella, the Penn exhibition reveals an artistic trajectory running both with and against the grain of nineteenth-century American life. In the brief interval before she married the Unitarian minister William Nichols in 1891, the architect worked feverishly, realizing twenty-odd residential projects in her first solo year; even after her wedding, she continued to take on commissions, including what would have been her highest-profile one yet, a pavilion for the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893. That project ended up being bumped for another, completed by a different woman, Sophia Hayden. When the latter ran afoul of fair organizers, the Philadelphian showed both her intellectual and personal mettle by publishing an article in defense of Hayden and women architects everywhere. Writing and speaking were always central to Parker Nicholss practice, continuing after shed moved to Brooklyn with her husband, in 1896. The move had been for his work, not hers, and from that point until her death, in 1949, her only clients were her children and grandchildren. Addressing the New York Architectural League five years later, the architect encouraged women to enter the field, albeit on very particular grounds. It will be especially as builders of homes that women architects will excel, she told her audience. For who can plan so well the little convenient arrangements which make it easiest for the homemaker?

This is not the only instance in which the subject of Lester and Whitakers show (whom they have the unfortunate habit of referring to throughout as Minerva) affords a less-than-convenient vehicle for a feminist rewrite of twentieth-century architecture. The problem is remarkably common: Many of architectures most important female practitioners make imperfect proxy fighters in this regard, owing either to other political commitmentssee for instance Lina Bo Bardi, pioneering Brazilian modernist and stubbornly antifeminist Marxistor to having achieved success at the expense of other prioritiessee Zaha Hadid, undoubted genius and serial courtier to patriarchal petrocrats. In the case of Minerva, her conservatism might of course have been camouflage, cover for some other, more innovative agenda embedded in her work. One way to figure that out might be to actually look at her buildings, though here again the show again proves a little frustrating. What, exactly, makes a Minerva Parker Nichols design a Minerva Park Nichols design? The curators never quite say.

Anyhow, her houses are exquisite: Toned-down versions of the decorative Eastlake type, hints here and there of the Shingle Style, theyre just how she says they ought to be in one of her own essaysfrom the clean cemented cellar to the smoke-wreathed chimney, there shall be nothing which does not yield its share of comfort, utility, and beauty. The public projects, like the New Century Club, are exactly the kind of assured, de-froofed Victorian that makes any walk through Philadelphias streets such a pleasure, full of little ornamental surprises and an oddly homey sense of grandeur. The old club was replaced with a parking structure after the ladies moved out, and various others of Parker Nicholss projects have been lost or threatened since then. If the show does nothing else, it should serve to put the architect on the preservationist map, and to make everyone a little more mindful of the invaluable heritage represented by her time and place. Its the least we owe her.

Ian Volner

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A Progressive-era architect gets her due - Artforum