It is said and written, that the idea is to be found in the site and it’s true.

It’s not just the idea, but also the name that comes from the site.

Adpropeixe, which almost seems to be a name out of an Astérix book, is a part of the Gerês Natural Reserve, located in Vilar de Veiga, in the Terras do Bouro district. It’s just there, by the water, after passing the bridges and just before arriving at Gerês; the spa village.

Architects: Carlos Castanheira & Clara Bastai, Arqtos Lda.

Location: Gerês, Portugal

Collaborators: Pedro Carvalho, João Figueiredo (3D)

Engineering: HDP, Gabinete de serviços e projectos de engenharia civil, Lda. / CONCILIARUM, Projectos e soluções de engenharia, Lda.

Wood & General Contractor: Carpicunha madeiras Lda.

Electrical Engineer: Electrilouro Lda.

Lighting design: Brandston Partnership, Inc., New York, NY

Client: Tiago Sousa Lopes

Project Year: 2005-2008

Site Area: 18,700 sqm

Constructed Area: 190 sqm

Photographs: FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

via Casa Adpropeixe / Carlos Castanheira & Clara Bastai | Arch Daily.

The Courtyard House was inspired by an ancient form of architecture and a new form of North American urban thinking – infill housing as an alternative urban typology.

By converting a contractor warehouse in a mixed-use industrial neighborhood, the ambition was to create a modern, affordable home and studio for a family of four – one which could successfully adapt to a mid-block or laneway situation, where there is no typical front or back. The design of the house is generated by an emphasis on the views and activities of the interior courtyards, where all the windows look inwards.

via courtyard house :: studio junction.

New High-Speed Rail Plan for the US | Arch Daily.

Give me break.

It’s wonderful to think that at one time America dreamed of achieving great things.  This is what we have been reduced to.

World Trade Center project won’t be finished until 36 years after 9/11 – PA.

FTA: … the study predicts that the site’s centerpiece, the Port Authority’s 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, won’t be filled with tenants until 2019. Other troubling findings included:

- It could take 12 years to fully lease Silverstein’s Tower 2, a 79-story, 1,270-foot giant that will be taller than the Empire State Building. It could be finished in 2014, but it won’t be filled until 2026.

- Construction wouldn’t even begin until 2,026 on Tower 3, a 71-story, 1,137-foot colossus that will climb higher than the Chrysler Building. Ribbon-cutting would come in 2030 and full leasing in 2037.

Home Remodeling : 1875 Denver Colorado Schoolhouse.

Materials Lab

The UT Materials Lab

Proposal:

The UT Materials Lab is a research center where academia and industry meet. Along with the collection of building and design material samples, the UT Materials Lab will offer information on material composition, manufacturing, fabrication and emerging materials. The Materials Lab web site will show a virtual sampling of the collection and links to resources for research. Architecture and design requires a broad synthesis of knowledge and disciplines: design, construction, sociology, science, and engineering. It is important to build bridges and to recognize that it takes a variety of disciplines and experience to push a material forward. The Materials Lab will seek to understand what can increase a material’s availability to the end user. It is important to be aware of a material’s inherent characteristics and know its potential as well as its limitations. The UT Materials Lab will provide information on a material’s ability and functionality, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

via: Treehugger

FTA: “It is an old architectural trick used since the invention of mirrored glass: covering buildings with the reflective material and declaring that they blend in with the surroundings. Most architects use it to convince wary citizens that it is OK if their building is tall because it will reflect the sky and nature. The rendering always makes the building disappear, and the reality is always a big clunky mirrored box.”

Most topping up on rooftops is done for two reasons: a need for additional space and the desire to live or work high above the city rooftops, closer to heaven than to other people. Dutch architecture firm designed an extension for the Didden family on top of an existing monumental house and atelier. The attic storey of the house below is extended by a sky-blue parapet. Behind it two gables of the same colour can be seen. It creates a crown on top of the monument. The extension is an example of the growing trend to exploit the urban roofscape for new living and working spaces.

via: arch|daily