kinetic Movements

As an architectural problematic, the pursuit of this project by Fernando Herrera is to de-compose things/ objects legible to the organization of human meaning or program in the many-folded relations that cause objects to index and constitute vast economies of material formation, and which in turn allows them to emerge as tangible, concrete wordly facts.

The program is a house in Los Angeles, a city that has a rich history of innovative and unconventional house ‘types’. A species needs a lineage to be acknowledged as such, indeed a type also needs a lineage to become such. The studio proposes to conduct an extensive research in the cellular logic and construction of structural instability. To radicalize the agenda of the autonomy of form, using the possibilities of kinetic movement. The house is an accumulation of materialized contours or “strands” that resonate from the topography and is a presupposition of the seismic activity that is linked with the area. Intense and relaxed bundling of the strands define fenestration and walls where the bundling gives surface.

a Protagonist Steel

Designed for USIMINAS, one of the largest producers of steel in the Americas, the building is aimed at creating a positive effect in strengthening the image of steel production. The monolithic appearance is combined with a wealth of detail on the outer surface. The project premise refers to the current state of Brazilian architecture, stating that technology and digital tools allowing interaction between design and manufacturing have been poorly adopted. The building aims to fully exploit the potential presented by software that includes prior analysis of structural behavior of buildings.

Quite apart from being a work of expressive image, the CTU should become a reference for the consistency of the solutions achieved by new technologies, both in projects and in their manufacture and assembly, putting steel in the condition of the protagonist of an architecture focused on sustainability. The installation of CTU in the Technological Park of Fundão can be seen as a significant step in bonding the company to the coast. As a result, there is a vast iconographic repertoire associated with the local marine life. The organic characteristics of the envelope mimic the geometric formation of the fish scales, creating forms that satisfy both aesthetic, symbolic, structural and environmental requirements.

in the spirit of a Music

Steven Holl Architects has been selected as architects of the Maggie’s Centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Maggie’s Barts will replace an existing 1960s block that was once used as offices, which is located at the periphery of the square.

Steven Holl said, “It is a great honor to design a Maggie’s Centre and a very special challenge to be given such an important central site in London. The hospital has been at the forefront of medial understanding for centuries. We are inspired by the deep history of the area, and particularly the nearby St Bartholomew the Great church, which has been in continuous use with marvelous music since 1143. Our proposal is like a vessel within a vessel within a vessel. In the spirit of music, architecture can be a vessel of transcendence.”

Laura Lee, chief executive of Maggie’s said: “We are very excited that Steven Holl Architects is working with us to design a Maggie’s Centre. It is also a huge privilege to be able to build a Centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and we look forward to opening our doors and helping Londoners who are affected by cancer.”

St Bartholomew’s Hospital which serves a population of 1.5m in North East London is the oldest hospital in the country. It was the first hospital to train female doctors and the first to trial high voltage radiotherapy for people with cancer.

Today, it is home to one of the most advanced cancer centers in Europe with world-leading specialists and state-of-the-art technology

in Afsluitdijk

Studio’s SHIFT proposal for the World Sustainability Center in Afsluitdijk, Netherlands sets out to connect the local and global community in a progressive arena of emerging technologies and investigations in a park-like setting near the Wadden Sea. Located along a 20-mile long dike, the center serves as a hot spot for educational, corporate and institutional topics on emergent sustainable practices and technologies. Temporary exhibitions on sustainable topics are stationed on floating piers and are also integrated into the natural landscape. In order to compensate for its remote physical location, the state of the art research facility projects an iconic form in order to inspire and capture the attention of visitors.