Micro lofts

Been a while since I last posted but I've been reading online news about micro lofts and small city living. These small dwellings allow for affordable sufficient place to live in a sought after area. They have their origins in the dense metropolitan cities of Tokyo and Hong Kong and are starting to take off in New York. Planning regulations make this modern form of living difficult to begin though pilot schemes in New York are set to go ahead to check the feasibility of micro lofts. From Specht Harpman this is an example of a relatively large micro loft that has recently had some acclaim http://www.spechtharpman.com/residential/west_73rd_street_residence.php

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZSdrtEqcHU this is a quick tour of a NYC micro loft photos to come

Toyo Ito gets Pritzker prize

The 71 year old Japanese architect has been announced the latest winner of the Pritzker prize in architecture.

“Toyo Ito is a creator of timeless buildings, who at the same time boldly charts new paths,” the Pritzker jury said in its citation. “His architecture projects an air of optimism, lightness and joy and is infused with both a sense of uniqueness and universality.”

One of his buildings The Sendai Mediatheque rose to fame after surviving the 2011 earthquake in Japan

Cafe Lincoln site model

As a part of my new project I have made a 1:200 site model of the context around the site on which I am planning on building a cafe. Here are the first pictures of the progress made so far.

Zaha Hadid to design new London airport

Zaha Hadid Architects has been approached to build the much needed transport hub in the capital. The prize winning architects have already released concept designs of the possible airport.

MiniMax

The Minimax project is a group and individual project that includes structures one designed by each member of the group for a celebrity client. The brief states we must have minimum space but maximum seduction hence the title MiniMax.


We also had to produce the Guildhall, the central hub of the community, as well as the other entire infrastructure associated with the design and founding of a settlement.



My celebrity client was Marilyn Monroe, I had a look at her main interests and found out that she was very committed to her work but in her spare time she enjoyed reading. Reading was the main interest of hers that I latched on to by opening up the walls to let as much natural light in as much as possible. It also includes a book case that flows into a reading sofa in a design that is very liquid that is in context with its location.



The Location of the settlement was on the island of Koh Ryang Nok in the Trat Province of Thailand. My MiniMax is situated just off sure to allow for a submarinal level with a glass side to allow for views of the ocean life. It also is in the shape of a wave in response to its surroundings.



I used wood to construct it with as it was in abundance on the island as well as fitting in with the vernacular architecture of the local area. However this did initially throw up some problems such as making it water tight. In response to this I looked at joining wood through tongue and groove, boat building and a bridge in the Netherlands known as the Moses Bridge.



The curved roof is held aloft by the main central column that cuts through the bed and into the ground floor. I am currently looking in to the ability of having this retract and extend to allow for the weather to be kept out when it becomes necessary.



The Bridge that connects mine and Rachels Bridge is designed to be interesting yet easy to build taking ideas of form from the JK Bridge in Brasilia.

 

The guildhall 1:200 model

Also as a part of the project previously stated I have created a model of a guildhall for the new settlement of minimaxs.

Recent model work

As I am designing a minimum space maximum seduction dwelling for a client in thailand which has allowed me to build a model of my design, though the project isnt finished i am posting some photos of model.