The work of Candida Höfer, like that of Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte, or Thomas Struth, is closely tied to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and the teachings of Bernd and Hilla Becher. _x005F_x000D_ The exhibition features large-format interiors of libraries and corridors of monasteries and Benedictine abbeys in Austria, aside from a photograph of Linz State Theater. The absence of human figures makes the architecture stand out even more, and the apparent austerity _x005F_x000D_ of her images conceals a complex reading of the buildings in relation to their _x005F_x000D_ current uses and functions.

Dividida en dos partes, comienza por un conjunto de aguadas y dibujos en la planta baja a través de los cuales el espectador puede conocer el proceso creativo de estos arquitectos desde la idea inicial, para llegar a la primera planta, en la que se profundiza en diferentes proyectos mediante el desarrollo de los principales conceptos  en los que basan sus obras arquitectónicas: el paisaje, el espacio, el tiempo, lo público o la luz, entre otros.

Located in a former Second World War telecommunications bunker that has been renovated by the British architect John Pawson, the museum encourages a conversation between different periods and cultures, offering an alternative perception of ancient art and creates a new perspective on the pieces, adopting a synesthetic approach.
_x005F_x000D_ “It is difficult to think of places more charged with atmosphere than these monumental concrete structures. They fall very much into the category of ‘engineers’ architecture that so appealed to Donald Judd. I knew from the beginning when I visited the site and first had that visceral experience of mass that I wanted to use as light a hand as possible. Concentrating all the effort on making pristine surfaces would never have felt appropriate here. Instead this has been a slow, considered process – a series of subtle refinements and interventions that intensify the quality of the space, so that all the attention focuses on the art.” (John Pawson)
_x005F_x000D_ The total museum space of 6480 m2 includes two main exhibition rooms on the ground floor and lower ground floor, as well as a space which can be divided from the main area, enabling The Feuerle Collection to house temporary exhibitions. On the lower ground there is also a Sound Room, a Lake Room and an Incense Room, which will be opened in the first half of 2017.
The Sound Room
_x005F_x000D_ Visitors are invited to leave their mobile phones in a secure place at the entrance, in order to allow themselves to enter into another world without distractions. By entering the Sound Room at the very beginning of the visit, minimalistic tones and silences, created by John Cage, will calm the senses, in order to be able to concentrate on looking at and feeling the works of art that will be seen upon moving on to the exhibition space.
The Lake Room
_x005F_x000D_ The magnificence of the unexpected lake on the lower floor of the building is an integral part of the global exhibition concept, which respects the building with its beautifully aged spaces. The Lake Room is a concept for sustainable energy supply, providing the heating for the museum by a geothermal heat pump, which transfers heat from the ground, using the earth as a heat source.
The Incense Room
_x005F_x000D_ The incense ceremony shows the high level of sophistication that Chinese culture arrived to. Being one of China’s oldest traditions, dating back over 2,000 years to the Han Dynasty, it is a spiritual discipline where, by absorbing the energy from the good scents, one observes one’s body and mind._x005F_x000D_ _x005F_x000D_

The prefabricated home on view is a 6m x 6m modular one-bedroom shelter, produced as part of a limited edition series for Revolution Precrafted. “Simple” is designed and packaged off-site, delivered in a standard shipping container and easily assembled on-site for the fair._x005F_x000D_ The structure is comprised of lightweight aluminum exterior panels, a layer of thermally-efficient insulating foam and wooden interior lining. The design is customizable in size and layout, allowing for end-users to define the space to their liking with sliding interior windows and partitions. Sizes range from 36 square meters for a one- bedroom module to 144 square meters for a four-bedroom home. Collectors can also choose from a variety of interior finishes.

Rising on the banks of the Hudson River, 625 West 57th Street is a hybrid between a European courtyard building and a New York skyscraper. Through its triangular section, the design combines the advantages of both: the compactness of the courtyard typology makes for density, privacy, and security, and the tallness of the tower provides broad views and a slender silhouette. Keeping three of the corners at ground level and raising the fourth to a height of 142 meters creates a powerful visual connection between the court and the river, letting natural light into the interior spaces and graciously preserving the adjacent Helena Tower’s views of the river. The form of the building shifts depending on the viewer’s vantage point. While appearing like a pyramid from the West-Side-Highway, it turns into a dramatic glass spire from West 58th Street. _x005F_x000D_ The courtyard, which is inspired by the classic urban oasis of Copenhagen (the architect’s home town), can be seen from the street and serves to extend the adjacent greenery of the Hudson River Park into VIA. The striking roof presents a checkered slope with rectangular holes which are terraces of varying size, all of them facing south. Each condominium has a cantilevering window that increases the amount of incoming daylight and enhances the already generous views over the river. In addition, all the apartment units are provided with one or more balconies, encouraging interaction between residents and passers-by.

The following project arises from an important inconvenient of the original state of the building: a complete lack of thermical and acustic isolation. Not to forget the huge amount of storage space needed for a mix programme of office and house. By duplicating the glass façade, RuizEsquiroz manages to create a new interstitial space meant to isolate the interior atmosphere and to create a passable gallery. Part of it elevates from the original surface 45 cm, allowing better views over the city. The rest of the gallery offers a greenhouse and a long bench. Moreover, the new pavement allowed the instalation of radiant floors.

All on wheels: 21 mobile drawers have been designed with different sizes. They are hidden bellow the perimeter gallery. To achieve the adaptability for all the dimensions they were manufactured with CNC milling machines, and assembled with no screws or adhesive, trusting only in the friction between its “zip” joints.

Near the city of Bolzane a smallboat warehouse has been reconstructed into a new mixed used building. Both service and office uses, together with a more private and residential residential programme live together inside this project. The balanced use of translucent materials and the presence of lattices gives rise to a dynamic façade. The different layers which form this façade manage to create a beautiful game of full and empty planes. The light fills up the space, and its warm and elegant interiors allows the visitor to focus completely on the views, visible from any spot of the project

Destroyed in the Battle of the Ebro in 1938, the town church of Corbera d’Ebre became an icon of what the population had to endure. It has now been transformed into a multipurpose hall, but in a way that preserves the memory of the Spanish Civil War, like a relic. The intervention involved a structural consolidation of the building’s masonry walls, combined with the construction of an altogether new roof to prevent further deterioration of the ruins while creating a new, perfectly usable space. To preserve the construction’s continuity with the landscape and the ‘outdoors’ feeling characteristic of ruins, the new roof – lightweight and almost completely transparent – provides protection against rain and wind but has openings to let in the sun’s rays, breezes, and sounds from the surroundings, besides giving views, from within, of weather changes. The building’s being something half natural and half artificial is reinforced by a continuous but subtle stretch of sand pavement.

Located in Hamburg’s HafenCity, the Elbphilharmonie takes up a prominent spot on the harborfront, one which the public had no access to but that is now transformed into a major social and cultural enclave. The new building is an extrusion of the volume of an old brick warehouse, the Kaispeicher. The lower part of this preexisting construction has been turned into a covered public square. Now, this solid construction holds the new Elbphilharmonie; its sturdy brick walls turn into a radical and abstract work, a perfect base for the curving crystalline crown that reaches a height of 110 meters. From the main entrance the concertgoer rides a long escalator that alludes to the grand staircases of 19th-century opera houses, arriving at a plaza set high over the city, right above the Kaispeicher, and it is here that we find the foyer of the main concert hall.

The design of this auditorium has benefitted from the collaboration of the world’s leading acoustic expert, the Japanese engineer Yasuhisa Toyota. The essential ideas of current philharmonic halls – place the orchestra and conductor at the center of the audience, and make the architecture follow the logic of acoustics and perspective – are maintained, but the tiers are set higher, in such a way that they form a homogeneous entity with the walls and ceilings. Rising like a tent, the hall can seat 2,100 people and its shape defines the profile of the entire building, a bona fide urban icon.

The main concert hall takes up the central part of the complex and determines the roof’s shape. Its design follows acoustic and visibility criteria, wishing to bring musicians and audience closer to one another.

The glass facade of the Elbphilharmonie is built with silkcreen-printed panels with a mirror finish, and opens up at specific points to favor natural ventilation and generate terraces with a U-profile.

The temporary installation, developed by architects: David Chipperfield Architects, Stefano Boeri, Patricia Urquiola, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid and Aires Mateus in Milan as part of ‘White in the City: White architecture Design Week 2017’ curated by Giulio Cappellini at the Cortile d’Onore of Palazzo Brera in Milan, is an attempt to show the essential qualities of White.

ZAHA HADID
THALLUS

Overview & Context: Through the investigation of form and pattern obtained by employing state-of-the-art manufacturing and computational methods, Thallus celebrates the disciples of art, architecture and fashion. Forged by automated additive manufacture as well as hot-wire cutting technology, the sculpture expresses the ongoing research in robotic assisted design carried out by ZHA CoDe and is a tangible demonstration of what can now be achieved in terms of mechanisation and customisation in the AEC industry.
Form: The sculpture is informed by the concept of Ruled Surfaces; a class of surfaces that are generated by the movement of a straight line in space around a given axis. The principles of Ruled Surfaces are applied in the fabrication process of the piece; the shape is tailored to a trimmed twisted cylinder in order to facilitate the use of hot-wire cutting technology to produce the moulds for downstream additive manufacture.
Pattern: Thallus continues ZHA’s investigation in biological models and physiological processes to generate geometry through computation. The design explores differential growth and space-filling methods through expansion an diffusion arising from a single, continuous, seed curve guided iteratively via simulation parameters to approximately one kilometre in length with constrained to a reference surface. Density gradation and directionality of growth are defined by parameters such as proximity to boundary and direction of rulings.