Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Arch Daily

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Penafiel House / Graciana Oliveira

Architects: Graciana Oliveira
Location: Peñafiel, Valladolid, Spain
Area: 432.0 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: João Morgado

MS / Yo Yamagata Architects

Architects: Yo Yamagata Architects
Location: Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Area: 144.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Forward Stroke / Koji Okumura

Hello House / OOF!

Architects: OOF!
Location: Melbourne VIC, Australia
Architect In Charge: Fooi-Ling Khoo
Year: 2014
Photographs: Nic Granleese

World’s First Solar Bicycle Lane Opens in Amsterdam

A popular bicycle lane and public road that connects the Amsterdam suburbs of Krommenie and Wormerveer has been impregnated with solar panels, making it the world’s first. The 70-meter stretch, serving 2,000 daily cyclists, was embedded with crystalline silicon solar cells encased within concrete and covered with a translucent layer of tempered glass. It is expected to be extended an additional 100-meters in 2016, providing enough energy to power three households. More information, here.

Two Conde Houses / HM.Arquitectos

Architects: HM.Arquitectos
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Project Architects: HM.Arquitectos; Fernando Hitzig, Leonardo G. Militello
Project Area: 300.0 m2
Project Year: 2012
Photographs: Federico Kulekdjian

Atelier Thomas Pucher’s Urban Terraces to be Built in Vienna

Atelier Thomas Pucher has won first prize in an invited competition to realize a cluster of “Urban Terraces” in Vienna. Described as a product of the “modern patchwork city,” the project is designed to connect its residents to the surrounding districts and open space through the “countless sight lines” preserved by the circular nature of the mid-rise buildings. This is intended to achieve a sense of “urban porosity” within a stacked residential landscape.

© Iwan Baan for the New York Times (click image for more)

Kimmelman on MASS Design Group’s Open-Air Clinics in Haiti

“Architecture and health are inseparable,” says Haitian doctor and founder of Gheskio in Michael Kimmelman’s latest New York Times piece In Haiti, Battling Disease With Open-Air Clinics. Recounting the devastating images of medical dysfunction that have circulated the internet since the Ebola epidemic, Kimmelman presents MASS Design Group’s nearly complete Port-au-Prince health clinics as a potential model for healthcare architecture worldwide. Combating cholera and tuberculosis with a modest, practical layout and open-air design, the new clinics will serve one of the city’s largest slums. Learn why Kimmelman declares them “handsome” and believes they will help eradicate disease in Haiti, here.

El Mirador House / CC Arquitectos

Architects In Charge: Manuel Cervantes Céspedes, José Luis Heredia Álvarez
Location: State of Mexico, Mexico
Design Team : Israel Caballero Campos, Deyanira Yarza Barrón, María Luisa Leal Rosales
Project Area: 459.0 sqm
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Rafael Gamo

ARCVS Takes Second Place in Liget Budapest House of Music Competition

The Liget Budapest Architecture Competition has recently announced the winners for Budapest’s new Hungarian House of Music museum design. Coming in second place is architecture firm ARCVS Projektni biro. Their proposal takes the form of an 8-pointed star-shaped dome, held up by a veritable forest of columns. This uncommon shape provides numerous places, both indoors and out, for education, leisure, and exhibition, establishing itself as a prominent destination for the people of Budapest. Learn more, after the break.

San Francisco Building / José Cubilla

Architects: José Cubilla
Location: Asuncion, Paraguay
Project Architects: Horacio Cherniasky y Celeste Sakoda
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Lauro Rocha

The Most Popular Projects of 2014

If you needed any more proof that 2014 was a good year for houses, this might be it. Among our 20 most viewed projects this year are no fewer than 17 private residences, which share the limelight with an apartment interior, a residential skyscraper, and a museum which no doubt received a boost in its exposure thanks to a certain jet-lagged octogenarian and his middle finger. From Frank Gehry to Studio MK27—who make the cut with not one but two projects—here are the 20 most popular projects of 2014.

Sliding Pergolas House / FGMF Arquitetos

Architects: FGMF Arquitetos
Location: Bauru – SP, Brazil
Authors: Fernando Forte, Lourenço Gimenes, Rodrigo Marcondes Ferraz
Coordinator: Renata Davi
Architect: Juliana Nohara
Interns: Bruno Milan, Carolina Matsumoto, Marina Almeida
Project Area: 160 sqm
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Rafaela Netto

Prince Charles’ 10 “Geometric Principles” for Architecture Cause a Stir in the UK

Prince Charles uses Poundbury as an example of his architectural principles. Image © Flickr CC user JonathanLClarke

Last weekend, the Architectural Review published an article by the Prince of Wales in which he outlined his stance on architecture, reiterating his belief that a return to traditional design principles is necessary to enable sustainable urban growth that meets human needs. In the 2,000 word essay, Prince Charles argues that “we face the terrifying prospect by 2050 of another three billion people on this planet needing to be housed,” adding that rather than ”wanting to turn the clock back to some Golden Age” as he is often accused, he is focused on the needs of the future. At the conclusion of his article, he outlines ten principles for architecture which meet the requirements of his vision.

As is often the case with Prince Charles’ pronouncements on architecture, the article has prompted a strong reaction from members of the profession, with responses ranging from Robert Sakula saying “if more people cared as much as he does we would have a better architectural culture,” to the response of Birmingham City University’s Alister Scott, who said ”there is clear evidence of elitism and his lack of empathy with the problems facing his peasantry.”

Read on after the break for more on the Prince’s article and the reaction from architects

AA DLAB 2014: The Natural and Digital Worlds Combine With Root-Like “CALLIPOD” Pavilion

Created for AA DLAB 2014 - the annual summer workshop undertaken by the Architectural Association at their Hooke Park facility – the 4.4 metre wide “CALLIPOD” pavilion blends perfectly into the wooded surroundings, appearing as though the roots of nearby trees have sprung from the ground to create a dome in the depths of the Dorset woodland. However, despite its natural outward appearance, the process of creating CALLIPOD was highly technical, combining a detailed algorithmic exploration of form and structure with both digital and traditional methods of fabrication.

Seasonless House / Casos de Casas

Architects: Casos de Casas
Location: Vinaròs, Castelló, Spain
Architect In Charge: Irene Castrillo Carreira y Mauro Gil-Fournier Esquerra Arquitectos
Area: 361.0 sqm
Year: 2013
Photographs: José Hévia

Antoine / BUREAU A

Architects: BUREAU A
Location: Les Ruinettes, 1936 Bagnes, Switzerland
Year: 2014
Photographs: Dylan Perrenoud

Ozadi Hotel / Pedro Campos Costa

Architects: Pedro Campos Costa
Location: Tavira, Portugal
Design Team: Pedro Campos Costa, Verónica de Mello, Silvia Bechi, Giulia Castelarin, Werner Peruzzo, Nuno Pereira , Ana Isabel Fernandes, Gonçalo Pacheco, Katarzyna Augustyniak e Daniela Figueiredo
Photographs: José Campos