The Design Gesture

Author: Dikshya Pattnaik

10 Best Examples of Museum Architecture and Design
Museum and Museum Architecture
A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study, and enjoyment.
The largest museums are located in major cities throughout the world, while thousands of local museums exist in smaller cities and towns. Museums have varying aims, ranging from the conservation and documentation of their collection, serving researchers and specialists to catering to the general public.
Purpose
The main purpose of modern art and museums is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display objects of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the study and education of the public. From a visitor or community perspective, this purpose can also depend on one’s point of view. Natural history museums in the 19th century identified the scientific desire for classification and for interpretations of the world.
Collecting various examples for each field of knowledge for research and display was the purpose. As American colleges grew, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students. By the last quarter of the 19th century, scientific research in universities was shifting toward biological research on a cellular level, and cutting-edge research moved from museums to university laboratories.
Types
Museums can vary based on size, from large institutions covering many of the categories below, to very small institutions focusing on a specific subject, such as a location, a notable person, or a given period of time. Museums can also be categorized into major groups by the type of collections they display, including:
1. General
2. Art and History
3. Science and Technology
4. Natural History
5. Natural Science
Further, it can be classified into subtypes such as fine arts, applied arts, craft, archaeology, anthropology and ethnology, biography, history, cultural history, science, technology, children’s museums, natural history, botanical and zoological gardens. Within these categories, many museums specialize further, e.g., museums of modern art, folk art, local history, military history, aviation history, philately, agriculture, or geology.
Examples of Top Museum Architecture
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NYC, USA
Museum architecture: Source
Architects- Yoshio Taniguchi, Cesar Pelli and Associates, Philip Johnson, Philip Goodwin, Edward Durell Stone
Area- 630000 sq. Ft
MoMA is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art and is often identified as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world. The collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art, including architecture and design, painting, sculpture, drawing, photography and prints, illustration, and artists’ books and films.
The entrance to the museum is tucked beneath a demure facade of granite and glass. Its clean, regular planes mark Yoshio Taniguchi’s 2004 addition to the MoMA’s sequence of facades, which he preserved as a record of its form. His elegant, minimal solution presents a contemporary face for the MoMA while adhering to its Modernist roots.
Design Process and Style
The original museum had a linear reading of the history of modern art, with each gallery limited to a single entrance. The new galleries can be accessed at any level via a spine of escalators and ancillary stairs. A large, sky-lit space for temporary exhibitions is provided on the top floor. The 21 ft. high contemporary galleries span 200 ft. to accommodate contemporary art of unanticipated format. The space is free of columns, accomplished by constructing an armature above the eighth story which supports the lower levels.
Taniguchi achieved the refined, minimal aesthetic by exacting precision in each detail. The panels on the exterior facades were installed with the least possible tolerance, diminishing the seams to create an apparently continuous surface. Vast panes of glass hang beneath the deep porticoes bounding the Sculpture Garden. As visitors move through the lobby toward the Sculpture Garden, they pass beneath the 110 ft. high atrium.
The strategically placed windows lend the atrium a subtle gravity as occupants move through the galleries around it. The space is crossed at each level by bridges leading to the escalator spine and orients visitors within the gallery complex. Steel mullions were chosen over the standard aluminum to allow a thinner profile of sufficient strength.
Museum of Modern Literature, Germany
Art and Architecture: Museum of Modern Literature, Germany
Architects- David Chipperfield Architects
Area- 3800 sq.m
The Museum of Modern Literature is located in Marbach, on a rock plateau overlooking the Neckar River valley. Being the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller, the town’s park already held the Schiller National Museum, built-in 1903, and the Archive for German Literature, built in the 1970s. Displaying artifacts from the extensive Twentieth Century collection from the Archive for German Literature, the new museum also provides panoramic views across the landscape.
Design Process and Style
Embedded in the topography, this museum architecture reveals different elevations, reacting to its immediate context. The steep slope of the site creates an intimate, shaded entrance on the brow of the hill. On the highest terrace, the building appears as a pavilion, providing the entrance to the museum. Slender concrete supports articulate the façade and encloses the entrance. The route through the entrance pavilion gradually adjusts from daylight to artificial light, necessary for the fragile exhibits displayed.
The walls and ceilings are made of in-situ cast concrete. Limestone is used internally for the doors and is also used as an aggregate in the pre-cast, sandblasted concrete elements of the façade. The use of enduring, solid materials gives the architecture a strong, physical presence and supports the notion of preserving the collection for future generations. The timber-paneled exhibition spaces are connected to naturally lit, glazed loggias, contrasting the internalized world of texts and manuscripts with the valley beyond.
The Broad, LA, USA
Museum architecture: Source
Architects- Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Area- 120000 sq. ft
The Broad is a new contemporary art museum built by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. This is a home to the nearly 2,000 works of art in The Broad Art Foundation and the Broads’ personal collections, which are among the most prominent holdings of post-war and contemporary art worldwide. With its innovative “veil-and-vault” concept, the $140-million building features two floors of gallery space to showcase, The Broad’s comprehensive collections and will be the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library.
Design Process and Style
The Broad targets LEED Silver certification. With its electric car charging stations, bike parking spaces, rooftop drains routed to street level gardens that filter runoff, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures that help reduce water use by 40 percent. The Broad aims to be in the top tier of eco-conscious and efficient museums.
Dubbed the veil and the vault, the museum’s design concept merges both public exhibition space and the storage that will support The Broad Art Foundation’s extensive lending activities. The museum’s heavy opaque mass is always in view, hovering midway in the building. Its carved underside shapes the lobby below and public circulation routes. Its top surface is the floor of the third-floor galleries. The vault is enveloped by the “veil,” a porous, honeycomb-like, exterior structure that spans across the block-long building and provides filtered natural daylight. The museum’s veil lifts at the corners, welcoming visitors into an active lobby.
The gallery has 23- foot-high ceilings, and the roof is supported by 7-foot-deep steel girders. Departure from the third-floor gallery space is a return trip through the vault via a winding central stair that offers glimpses into the vast holdings of the collection. The plaza’s bosque of 100-year-old olive trees and grass creates public space for picnics, outdoor films, performances, and educational events.
Guggenheim Museum, NYC, USA
Museum architecture: Source
Architect- Frank Lloyd Wright
Area- 50000 sq. Ft (approx.)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum, the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern art, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. Completely contrasting the strict Manhattan city grid, the organic curves of the museum are a familiar landmark for both art and architecture which in turn attracts art lovers, visitors, and pedestrians.
Design Process and Style
The exterior of the Museum is stacked with a white cylinder of reinforced concrete swirling towards the sky. The museum’s dramatic exterior curves had an even more breath-taking effect on the interior. The huge atrium (92′ in height) to an expansive glass dome is the first sight of a visitor. Along the sides is a continuous ramp uncoiling upwards six stories for more than one-quarter of a mile, allowing for one floor to flow into another. The ramp also creates a procession in which a visitor experiences the art displayed along the walls as they climb upwards towards the sky.
Between 2005-2008 the Museum went under exterior renovation where eleven coats of paint were removed from the original surface and revealed many cracks due to climatic reasons. This revelation led to extensive research in the testing of potential repair materials. After 700 sketches and six sets of working drawings, Wrigth turned his vision into an extraordinary sculpture of a building overlooking Central Park, that in the very least should be acknowledged as one of the most spatially beautiful International-style works of architecture.
Louvre, Paris, Paris, France
Museum architecture: Source
Architect- I.M Pei
Area- 60600 sq. M
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the world’s most-visited museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. It is the home of many of the most known works of art, including the Mona Lisa. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city’s 1st district. It is located inside the Louvre Palace, in the centre of Paris, adjacent to the Tuileries Gardens. In 1983 after touring Europe and the United States, President Mitterrand commissioned the Chinese American architect, I.M. Pei. It was the first time that a foreign architect was enlisted to work on the Louvre Museum.
Design Process and Style
Pei’s design of the Louvre implemented a large glass and steel pyramid that is surrounded by three smaller triangles that provide light to the space below Cour Napoleon. For Pei, the glass pyramid provided a symbolic entry that had historical and figural importance that reinforced the main entry. His design also featured a new underground system of galleries, storage, and preservation laboratories, as well as a connection between the wings of the museum.
The monumental appearance of the glass and steel pyramid fixed in the middle of the court provides a central focal point that compliments the grand scale and museum design concept of the Louvre. The scale of the large pyramid, which was designed to the same proportions as the famous Pyramid of Giza, does not detract from the historical nature of the museum rather the juxtaposition of the modern art structure and the French Renaissance architectural style of the museum creates a complementary effect that enhances each of the design’s details and beauty.
The Louvre has been deeply rooted in the history and culture of the Parisian people with its contemporary art and design. With the history of the Louvre dating back to the 12th Century, one might imagine that the modern art design implemented by Pei would not be fully accepted by the historically enamored Parisians.
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Museum architecture: Source
Architect- Hans van Heeswijk Architects
Area- 15175 sq. M
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, a Dutch museum dedicated to the works of Van Gogh, is one of the Netherlands’ most popular museums. The ever-growing stream of visitors required intelligent solutions for these buildings, which were designed by Rietveld and Kurokawa. The museum houses the largest Van Gogh collection in the world with 200 paintings, 400 drawings, and 700 letters by the artist.
Design Process and Style
The main structure is the Rietveld building and houses the permanent collection. It has a rectangular floor plan that is 4 stories high. On the ground floor are a shop, a café, and an introductory exhibition. The 1st floor shows the works of Van Gogh grouped chronologically. The second floor gives information about the restoration of paintings and has a space for minor temporary exhibitions. The third floor shows paintings of Van Gogh’s contemporaries in relationship to the work of Van Gogh himself.
The glass was used as the construction material (State of the art glass constructions) The new entrance building is the largest glass structure in the Netherlands in which glass fins (beams and mullions) and double glass units are elements of the building ́s main structure. Glass facade, roof, and staircase is composed of cold-bent double laminated insulated glass units. Hence, the rectangular glass panels have been shaped on-site during installation. The total area is approximately 650 sq. M. The facade has 20 glass fins which are all unique. The longest facade fin is 9.4 meters.
National Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan
Museum architecture: Source
Architect- Kisho Kurokawa
Area- 45000 sq. m
The National Art Centre, Tokyo is located in the Roppongi district at the centre of Tokyo. The building is made up of 7 enormous column-less display rooms, each 2000 m², a library, an auditorium, a restaurant, a café, and a museum shop. The floor area of the National Art Centre, Tokyo totals 45,000 m², making it Japan’s largest museum. The National Art Centre will not be a space for archiving works of Modern art but is a space for exhibiting public open exhibits and traveling exhibits.
Design Process and Style
The largest exhibit in Japan, the Nitten Exhibition, displays a collection of over 12,000 works annually, taking up an area of 10,000 m², or more than 5 display ‘blocks.’ The process for these types of exhibitions begins in the basement, where works will be brought in one by one at the loading area and only the pieces selected will be brought by service elevator to the display blocks.
Small-sized public exhibits most often are held in one block and are judged, separated, held, and displayed as they are unloaded from trucks in the basement in a functional rhythm. A display block can moreover be divided by partitions creating smaller spaces. This being the first super functional facility of its kind, it would be fair to call it a gigantic display machine. Designed to rival the mechanical display space is the atrium facade, an enormous transparent undulation.
The Tapestry of Scotland Gallery, UK
Museum architecture: Source
Architect- Page\Park Architects
Area- 1300 sq. M
The Great Tapestry of Scotland Gallery is in Galashiels at the heart of the Scottish Borders. The building was designed to house the Great Tapestry of Scotland; a unique visual history of the nation crafted by the hands of a thousand stitches. This was designed by Andrew Crummy to a narration written by Alistair Moffat, with the grand vision imagined by Alexander McCall Smith.
Design Process and Style
The tapestry, at almost 143 metres in length. Their architectural vision was to create a distinctive building rooted in its physical and historical context, with a special room for the tapestry at its heart. The dramatic geometric roof design is inspired by the unique roofscape of towers, dormers, gables, and pitched roofs that define the architectural character of Galashiels. The new gallery inserts into this roofscape as contemporary art and playful re-imagining of the traditional Victorian pitched roof.
The ground floor consists of a temporary gallery space, reception, shop, cafe, and education space. The tapestry gallery is on the first floor- a dramatic room formed from folding walls and ceiling. The 4 corners of the gallery are tall windows, each looking to one of the four hills that surround Galashiels. The palette of colour and texture in the interior design reflects the nuance and detail of the tapestry, as well as the rich landscape of the Borders.
Jiashan Musuem and Library, China
Museum architecture: Source
Architect- UAD
Area- 47800 sq. M
Jiashan is an eco-friendly and green development demonstration area in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Jiashan Museum & Library is a cultural complex, which offers local citizens a public cultural activity venue and greatly enhances the cultural vitality of the county. With a limited plot area, the project lacks space to accommodate a large-capacity outdoor public activity venue. The architects took the open void at the middle as the core, and combined three architectural volumes around it to enclose a square for the crowd, which is also an outdoor extension of the foyers of the library and museum.
Design Process and Style
The square provides resting space for citizens and also connects the museum and library. It also serves diversified public activities such as outdoor exhibitions, pop-up book markets, etc. The 3 building volumes are arranged at appropriate positions according to their respective functions. The museum is placed at the southeast corner and near an intersection. It has a closed facade, which shows a clean, neat, and iconic image.
The library is on the north side and faces the river. An ample amount of daylight on the north is received, and the museum isolates it from the noisy urban road. The building volume at the southwest corner and close to the open urban landscape area accommodates shared ancillary facilities for the museum and library, including a lecture hall, casual dining area.
US Olympic and Paralympic Museum, USA
Museum architecture: Source
Architects- Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Area- 60000 sq. M
The US Olympic and Paralympic Museum is a tribute to the Olympic and Paralympic movements with Team USA athletes at the centre of the experience. It features 20,000 sq. ft of galleries, a state-of-the-art theatre, event space, and cafe. Inspired by the energy and grace of the Team USA athletes and the organization’s values, the building’s dynamic spiraling form allows visitors to descend the galleries in one continuous path.
Design Process and Style
The Plaza is a terraced hardscape at the heart of the museum complex, cradled by the museum building to the south and the cafe to the north. It frames a postcard view of Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountains beyond. With an integrated amphitheatre for 230 people, the plaza is able to host outdoor events throughout the seasons.
The level 1 Lobby Atrium is a skylight that illuminates the 40-foot-tall atrium, while perforated GFRG (Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum) screens provide views from the lobby. 4 balconies at varying heights overlooking the atrium re-orient visitors to this central space as they move through the galleries.
Ramps guide visitors down a gentle-grade downhill circulation path that enables easier movement, they have also been widened to 6 feet to accommodate the side-by-side movement of two visitors including a wheelchair.
October 29, 2024
Tennessee Architecture- An Exclusive Paradise for Country Lovers
Introduction
Tennessee is a landlocked state in the U.S. South. Its capital, centrally located Nashville, is the heart of the country-music scene, with the long-running Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and a legendary stretch of honky-tonks and dance halls. Tennessee has diverse terrain and landforms, and from east to west, contains a mix of cultural features characteristic of Appalachia, the Upland South, and the Deep South.
The Blue Ridge Mountains along the eastern border reach some of the highest elevations in eastern North America, and the Cumberland Plateau contains many scenic valleys and waterfalls. The central part of the state is marked by cavernous bedrock and irregular rolling hills, and level, fertile plains define West Tennessee.
Tennessee is not a place full of country music origins, but also an architectural magnificence. Top buildings are in this state, ranging from small & cozy structures to massive and tall ones.
Must see places in Tennessee for an Architect
Nashville Library, Nashville
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Design Process/Style
Tall, arched windows and marble cladding feature in a mid-century building in Tennessee that has become the new home of American firm Hastings Architecture. Named after its address in downtown Nashville, 225 Polk Avenue, the project entailed the transformation of a 1965, modern-style building that was originally designed by architect Bruce Crabtree. For 35 years, the multi-level structure–which sits among government buildings–housed the Nashville Public Library. It totals 42,000 square feet.
The project entailed a merging of old and new. The team refurbished certain historic–while also introducing contemporary elements. The exterior’s Georgia Cherokee marble panels were cleaned, and, where necessary, swapped out with new pieces from the original quarry. The glazing in 16-foot-tall arching windows was replaced with high-performance, insulated glass.
Inside, the floor plan was reconfigured to provide a more open atmosphere and to create space for multiple tenants. The team refurbished the terrazzo floor in a central lobby, along with a terrazzo-clad stair connecting the building’s two main levels. A black-and-white colour palette was used throughout the space. Upstairs, the team placed meeting rooms, a materials library, private offices, and more studio space. Employees can step outside and take a break on a wraparound balcony.
French Board House, Knoxville
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Design Process/Style
3 pavilions topped with a metal roof form this house in the woods of Tennessee, designed by American firm Sanders Pace Architecture. French Broad House is in the community of Riverdale in eastern Tennessee. The house comprises 3 connected pavilions that zigzag through a grove of mature hardwood trees. The structures are slightly lifted above the ground. The home is clad in cementitious panels that were carefully coursed so they align with adjacent windows.
A single metal roof covers the three pavilions, along with the angular voids between them, which serve as porches. The roof is expressed as a thin plane that extends beyond a continuous fascia made of cypress. French Broad House’s siding is painted in various shades of orange–a decision influenced by the fall foliage that the architects observed during an initial site visit. Wooden accents on the facades further tie the home to its natural setting.
Each pavilion has a distinct function. The central pavilion encompasses an open-plan kitchen, dining area and living room. One side volume holds the main suite and guest room, while the other contains a garage. The entrance is marked by an extruded, flat-roofed volume that forms a sheltered porch, while also providing a bit more space inside for kitchen components and built-in storage in the living and dining space.
Ballet Memphis, Archimania
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Design Process/Style
A metal and a sculptural rooftop block allow a new performing arts centre by Tennessee studio Archimania to stand out in a revitalised district in Midtown Memphis. The building was envisioned for a ballet company that had outgrown its old home in a suburban location and wished to move to a more urban setting. The project, called Ballet Memphis, is on a corner site in Overton Square.
Encompassing 44,270 square feet, the arts centre accommodates a professional dance company, a dance school for over 200 children, and classes for the community. The facility embodies the company’s focus on uplifting the community through “transparency, connectivity and education”. The site formerly contained a hotel fronted by parking spaces. The architects inverted the original scheme, placing the new building against the street, with car parking in the rear.
Rectilinear in plan, the building is topped with a sculptural, metal-clad volume that rises high above the roof. Another distinctive feature is a perforated copper screen that wraps the front facade. Inside, a central double-height corridor runs the length of the ground floor, from the main entrance on the west to a loading dock on the east. A long clerestory brings soft natural light down into the building. Wooden slats were used to form a stairwell and to line the walls and railings that enclose the upper level.
The Twelve Thirty Club, Nashville
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Design Process/Style
A modern take on a 19th-century supper club is the final space to open at a Nashville dining and drinking destination owned by restauranteur Sam Fox and musician Justin Timberlake. Design firm AvroKO created the Art déco-influenced interiors for the 400-seat Supper Club, on the second floor of Club on Upper Broadway. The restaurant is reached via a grand staircase from the first level, which provides glimpses of antique lighting and opulent chandeliers as visitors ascend. Upstairs, rich colours and tactile materials create a sophisticated yet comfortable atmosphere in the main dining and bar area.
Globe-shaped pendants with tufted details illuminate dark-hued banquettes on the perimeter, sandwiched between panelled columns painted deep blue. The elliptical bar in the centre has a pale stone countertop and bright red siding, which contrasts the dark green leather stool backs. Along a corridor stretches a custom wine storage and display case, which houses part of a collection of 1,800 bottles from around the world, another dining room features russet tones–from the seat upholstery to the ceiling–and walls patterned with the mist-shrouded silhouettes of fir trees.
A stage for musical performances is surrounded by pairs of red velvet armchairs, accompanied by small black tables topped with petite lamps. A row of semi-circular banquettes also faces the stage, separated from the closer seating area by a strip of checkerboard floor tiles. It also has a rooftop bar designed to have a relaxed atmosphere. It features casual cane furniture, light hues, and copious planting.
Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville
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Design Process/Style
Opened in late 1928, the luxurious Moorish Revival theatre was designed by Chicago architects Graven & Mayger. It was one of the first air-conditioned buildings in the city and the only air-conditioned theatre. It featured “The Mighty Wurlizter,” an organ designed to be played with silent movies. The theatre was closed in 1977. After sporadic attempts to keep it open, upgrades were made in 1981 and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was designated Tennessee’s State Theatre in 1999.
Renovations included expansions of the stage depth via a cantilever two stories above State Street, which accommodated larger and more elaborate productions, a custom orchestra shell to enhance the acoustics of the new larger stage, an enlarged orchestra pit, upgraded dressing room facilities, modernization of the lighting, rigging, and other theatrical equipment, the installations of elevators, and a new marquee. The restorations included new carpets, draperies, and lighting fixtures that duplicated the original designs, and historically accurate restoration of all plaster and paint surfaces throughout the lobby, lounges, foyers, and the auditorium.
The Parthenon, Nashville
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Design Process/Style
The original Nashville Parthenon stood in Centennial Park as part of the state’s Centennial Exposition in 1895-97. The building was so popular that the fair’s organizers left it after the exposition closed. As the temporary structure deteriorated, city officials replaced it with a permanent building. The current full-sized replica of the ancient Greek temple is emblematic of Nashville’s reputation as the “Athens of the South.” The building, begun in 1920 by Russell E. Hart and William B. Dinsmoor, is constructed of exposed aggregate concrete designed to resemble marble.
Originally built of plaster, wood, and brick, the Parthenon was not intended to be permanent, but the cost of demolishing the structure combined with its popularity with residents and visitors alike resulted in it being left standing after the Exposition. The exterior includes accurate reproductions of the figures that once decorated the pediments of the temple. In 1990, a 42-foot-tall statue of Athena was added to the temple interior. The Parthenon dominates Centennial Park, the site of many art, theatre, and music festivals throughout the year.
Frist Art Musuem, Nashville
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Design Process/Style
Design agency Pentagram’s Austin studio has included an art deco-style in this new identity for an art museum in Nashville, taking cues from the 1930s building it occupies. The structure was completed in 1932 as a post office and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The team returned to the museum’s identity from when it first opened, which was later passed over in favour of a more modern interpretation, but left affixed to the front of the building when Pentagram took on the project.
The goal was to give the museum a modern identity that is simple, confident, and has staying power–that will still feel fresh and updated in 10 years–but also pays tribute to the institution’s art deco roots. The art centre opened in April 2001 with approximately 24,000 square feet of gallery space presenting visual art from local, state, and regional artists, as well as major U.S. and international exhibitions.
On April 2, 2018, the Frist announced it changed its name from The Frist Center of the Visual Arts to The Frist Art Museum. Pentagram also rebranded the institution as the Frist Art Museum (FAM) to make it simpler, as some confused the term “visual arts” in its name with it being a performance venue.
Boetger Residence, Knoxville
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Design Process/Style
The Boetger Residence was built on an overgrown and under-utilised lot within the Holston Hills neighbourhood, which is dotted with historic homes in a range of styles. Encompassing 2,789 square feet, the residence was designed for a young couple, their son, and the family dog. The architects were also mindful of the building’s context while envisioning the design. They designed a traditionally styled house while drawing inspiration from the few respected mid-century modern residences within the neighbourhood.
The home sits atop a board-formed concrete foundation. Sightlines to the water, which stretch along the back of the property, influenced the placement of both interior rooms and outdoor spaces. The ground floor contains an open-plan living, cooking, and dining area, which connects to a patio. A spacious master suite was also on the lower level. Upstairs, the team placed the children’s bedroom, two guest bedrooms, a family room, and laundry facilities.
Materials and finishes were kept intentionally restrained in order to “minimise distraction and place importance on views of the exterior”. Ample amounts of glass further strengthen the connection to the surrounding landscape. The home is designed to maximise energy efficiency. On the southern facade, windows capture heat provided by the low winter sun, and overhangs provide shade during the warm summer months. Energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment, along with LED lighting, help reduce power usage.
Union Station, Nashville
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Design Process/Style
Walking through the doors of Nashville’s historic Union Station Hotel is like taking a step back to a time when travel was not a necessity, but a luxury. Originally built in 1900 by architect Richard Montfort, the building’s Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, with its turrets and towers, was a testament to American ingenuity and energy. Union Station was a marvel of the (then) modern day, surprising and delighting travellers for decades with ornate wood carvings, sparkling stained glass, beautiful Italian marble and soaring ceilings.
Fast-forward nearly 100 years and Union Station needed some new life and energy. In 1986 Union Station re-opened as a luxury hotel, preserving the hotel’s grand past in the soaring 65-foot barrel-vaulted ceiling and 100-year-old Tiffany-style-stained glass in the lobby atrium, while newly transformed luxury accommodations and a new bar and restaurant cater to today’s discerning guest.
The décor in the hotel includes features like three crystal chandeliers, Italian marble floors, wrought iron accents, oak-accented doors, and three limestone fireplaces, along with a 65-foot, barrel-vaulted, stained glass lobby ceiling. The walls are covered with art, including many bas-relief sculptures.
Tennessee State Capitol, Nashville
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Design Process/Style
Built on the highest point in downtown Nashville, this graceful building is a dominant figure in the skyline. Designed in the Greek Revival style by architect William Strickland, he used all three Greek orders in the design of the classical temple-form building: a Doric basement, Ionic porticoes on all four sides, and a Corinthian-style cupola. Begun in 1845, it took 14 years to complete, outlasting Strickland himself. He died in 1854 and, in accordance with his wishes, is buried within the building’s northeast corner.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has listed the building as a civil engineering landmark in recognition of its innovative construction, which made unusually extensive use of stone and was an early example of the use of structural iron. Both the interior and exterior are built with limestone built by slave and convict labour from a quarry about 1-mile from the site. Some interior columns were built from single pieces of stone, requiring massive wooden derricks to hoist them into place. Wrought iron, instead of wood, was used for the roof trusses to reduce the building’s vulnerability to fire.
Bridgestone Arena and Music City Center
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Design Process/Style
The Bridgestone Arena, designed by Hart Freeland Roberts and Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum and the Music City Center, designed by TVs design, Tuck-Hinton Architects and Moody-Nolan Inc., are at the heart of the entertainment district in Nashville. The arena is the city’s major indoor entertainment facility, home to the NHL Nashville Predators. Built in 1994, the centre anchored downtown development and expansion south of Broadway, including the recently opened new convention centre. The arena’s architecture is a tribute to the city’s role as “Music City USA.”
Directly across the street from the Bridgestone Arena is the Music City Center. The design of the 2.1-million-square-foot convention centre is inspired by the sensuous curves and materials of musical instruments and the rolling green hills of Tennessee. It is located a short distance from the Historic Ryman Auditorium and many other cultural venues. Occupying six city blocks in downtown Nashville, the LEED Gold-certified project has a 4-acre vegetative roof, 845 solar panels and a 360,000-gallon rainwater collector.
Design Octopus, Nashville
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Design Process/Style
Los Angeles studio Design, Bitches has evoked “old-school Miami” at this restaurant in Nashville using pastel colours, planting, and plenty of natural light. An opaque facade was replaced with an expanse of glass, and part of the ceiling was raised so that clerestory windows could bring more light into the deep plan. The aesthetic that unites the various sections of the long space harks back to the art déco colours and shapes found in Miami’s South Beach. At the front, a bench with coral-coloured upholstery is accompanied by a row of small tables topped with Pink Tennessee marble.
These face the bar, which has a cork covering around the base and a Carrara marble counter. White pendant lamps by Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto hang above, while a gold mirror is fitted behind the shelves for plans and liquor bottles behind. In the light-filled atrium space, a graphic of an octopus by local artist Chris Zidek is highlighted in gold on the high wall opposite the windows. Tall chairs provide seats along a solid oak chef’s table, opposite the banquettes and overlooking the kitchen area, leading to a double-height dining space at the back.
October 29, 2024
10 Best Examples of Victorian Houses
Victorian houses have managed to capture our hearts for over 200 years now. There is so much more than meets the eye behind those dollhouse-like exteriors. This architectural style includes multiple, distinct variations that all deserve a critical look. Thanks to the magnitude of the British Empire during that time, Victorian architecture has an immensely wide reach. Evidence of this style is found across the UK and North America, as well as Australia and New Zealand.
Winters House, California, USA- Eastlake style
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The Eastlake style is mostly known for its Gothic design with decorative shingles and trusses on the gable end. Overhanging, second-story porches are often featured in these types of Victorian houses as their design. It also boasts paneled brick chimneys inspired by the Queen Anne period.
Eastlake movement was named after the English architect Charles Locke Eastlake after the release of his influential book ‘Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details. Eastlake was originally a painter who trained in Rome and was considered to have great knowledge in art however he had a specific preference.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Carved panels
2. Perforated pediments
3. Lattice work on porch eaves
4. Interlaced wood strips
5. Mansard porches with iron cresting
Winters House is an Eastlake movement-building in Sacramento, California, and was built in 1890. It has 3 stories and is approximately 4500 square feet.
The House’s features are – steel pitched hip and gable roof, asymmetrical front façade, two-story angled bay under forwarding gable, mansard front porch, and second-story bay windows on both sides of the house. The roof of the house is made of asphalt shingles and the walls are made from pattern siding covered heart redwood. The foundation of the building is a cement parged brick stem wall and the decorative brick chimneys are part of a coal-burning fuel system.
The interior of the house reflects the Eastlake style in the mantel spindles, the ornate tile work surrounding the two fireplaces. Below the cornice, the house has a frieze board that includes scrollwork sunbursts and stars. In the front porch, above the front doors are cut window panels in jewel tones. The porch has a framing of fans, flowers, dentils, and spindle work. The spindle work and stickwork are repeated from the upper porch to the lower porch balustrade.
George W. Frank House, Nebraska, USA- Richardsonian Romanesque style
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The Richard Romanesque style is considered the most dramatic of all architectural styles in the Victorian era. This type of architecture style was named after the architect, Henry Richardson. It didn’t take long before becoming popular all thanks to Medieval Spanish and Italian Romanesque elements that blended with modern materials and features. Typical features of this type of house would include circular arches above the porch supports and windows.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Round masonry arches
2. Recessed entrances
3. Heavy stone materials
4. Square and cylindrical shaped towers
This free revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish and Italian Romanesque characteristics. It mostly emphasizes clear, strong picturesque massing, round-headed Romanesque arches, which are often sprung from clusters of short squat columns, recessed entrances, richly varied rustication, blank stretches of walling contrasting with bands of windows, and cylindrical towers with conical caps embedded in the walling.
The Frank House is a Richardsonian Romanesque design, with Colorado red sandstone from Wyoming. The exterior stone walls here are 18 inches thick, while the interior supporting walls are 14 inches thick and made of brick. The house has 14,000 square feet of living space, with three floors and a basement. This house originally had 10 fireplaces, 7 of which still remain. The extensive interior woodwork is English Golden Oak, done by a local carpenter named John Peter Lindbeck, a certified master carver.
The grand staircase has six posts, each of which has its own design. On the second-floor landing is the home’s Stained-Glass Window (5×9 feet). On the second floor, there were 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom for guests. To fend off cold Nebraska winters, the house was heated by steam heaters located in several rooms throughout the house. In the dining room, the windows are curved to complement the veranda on the east side of the house.
Herman C. Timm House, Wisconsin, USA- Stick style
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The Stick-styled houses are widely characterized by their vertical, diagonal, or horizontal planks resembling Tudor-style buildings. This Victorian house has a more decorative aspect to it but with a simple design. Unlike other elaborate architectural designs of the Second Empire and Queen Anne styles, the Stick style home lacks the bay windows and decorative elements that are so characteristic of the Victorian era.
The style sought to bring a translation of the balloon framing that had risen in popularity during the middle of the century, and also by adding plain trim boards, soffits, aprons, and other decorative features. The style was commonly used in houses, train stations, life-saving stations, and other buildings from the era.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Pitched gable roof
2. Wooden exterior walls
3. Towers
4. Cross gables
5. Decorative trusses
6. Diagonal or curved braces
7. Wooden decorative trims
The Herman C. Timm house was built in 1873 in a Greek revival style by Kiel contractor August F. Neumann. It consisted of a current upstairs bedroom and first-floor kitchen and dining room. The original home became the rear of the home during addition in 1891. The addition was done in what was later called stick-style architecture. This was 1860-1890 trends were carpentry and woodworking technology allowed for much trim detail.
The house features a tower for relaxation purposes. Several windows in the living room and vestibule were made from stained glass. The original Quetzal Art Glass brass chandelier remains in the parlor. A lot of the other original furnishings were sold by the family or future tenants so other period pieces were used. Tiny fragments of original wallpaper were found in most rooms during reconstruction. The three upstairs bedrooms contain donated historical items like the community’s first sewing machine, a bed warmer, and a trunk.
Vaile Mansion, Missouri, USA- Second Empire style
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The Second Empire-style houses gained popularity in the late Victorian era. This originated first in France, with some of the most famous hotels featuring the same architectural elements as the Second Empire houses. The most stood-out, striking feature of a Second Empire house is its mansard roof, named after the 17th-century French architect, Francois Mansard is a type of roof is a 4-sided gambrel roof with two slopes on either side.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Imposing tower
2. Side veranda
3. Balustrades
4. Diamond shaped dormers
5. Wrought iron railings in balcony
6. Bay window
7. Quoins chimneys
The Harvey M. Vaile Mansion is located at 1500 North Liberty Street in Missouri. Built-in 1881 for businessman Harvey M. Vaile, it is a locally significant example of Second Empire architecture. The Harvey M. Vaile Mansion was designed by Kansas City architect Asa Beebe Cross. The symmetrical structure consists of a two-and-a-half-story block surmounted by a three-story central tower.
It features an elaborate one-story porch, limestone moldings, heavily bracketed cornices, dormered mansard roofs, and multicolor slate shingles. The tall, narrow windows, together with the central tower’s double mansard roof, emphasize the strong sense of verticality of the façade. It features 31 rooms with 14 feet high ceilings decorated by French, German, and Italian artists. The Vaile Mansion was the first house in Jackson County with indoor plumbing.
Robert Waugh House, Illinois, USA- Octagon style
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The octagon-styled houses were hugely popular between 1850 to 1870. This style of the Victorian house took its inspiration from the Gothic and Greek Revival times to create a unique approach to house architecture by specializing in bright and airy spaces in affordable dwellings.
This type of house is the world’s only 8-sided Victorian house design with the benefits of being a practical and energy-efficient property. This unique style has evolved over the past decade or so thanks to the new constructive innovations.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Domed shape
2. Wide eaves
3. Low pitched roof designs
4. Partially encircling or full porches
The benefits of an octagon: the shape encloses space efficiently, minimizing external surface area and consequently heat loss and gain, building costs etc. An octagon is a sensible option instead of a circle because in a circular plan it is difficult to accommodate the furnishings. Victorian builders were used to building 135° corners, as in the typical bay window, and could easily adapt to an octagonal plan.
Robert Waugh was born in Scotland but immigrated to the United States in 1850. He settled in Illinois in 1853. Waugh initially lived in the apartment above his store. In 1886, he purchased a property and commissioned an octagon house. The house remained in the Aitchison family until 1973. As of 1978, it was one of only ten remaining octagon houses in Illinois; the Waugh House is the only remaining one made of brick.
The Robert Waugh House is a two-and-a-half-story octagonal house, made off red brick and limestone foundation. All eight facades are 16 feet long. The roof design is low pitched and has three gabled dormers. The main facade faces east and has a single-story hexagonal porch. The porch has six doric order columns and a simple balustrade. The adjacent facades feature a 3-windowed bay and above these bays are a grouped pair of double-hung windows. The other five facades have two-over-two double-hung windows. All windows have stone stills and have a shallow brick arch. The house is relatively simple and lacks ornamentation.
Charles Lang Freer House, Michigan, USA- Shingle Style
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The Shingle-style homes are known for their simplicity and make a popular choice for summer or weekend houses. These are made of clapboard or brick, despite their misleading name. They are characterized by their rustic appearance which was favored by the working class. Used as a holiday cottage by the wealthy, these Victorian houses became popular in New England from 1831.
Aside from being a style of design, it also conveyed a sense of the house as continuous volume. This effect—of the building as an envelope of space, rather than a great mass, was enhanced by the visual tautness of the flat shingled surfaces, the horizontal shape of many shingles, and the emphasis on horizontal continuity, both in exterior details and in the flow of spaces within the houses.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Symmetrical exterior
2. Pitched roof design
3. Shingles as wall and roofing material
4. Wide porches
5. Sash windows
6. Round towers
The Charles Lang Freer House is located in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The house was originally built for the industrialist and art collector Charles Lang, Freer. He traveled widely, with one of his favorite spots being Newport, Rhode Island. There, he was favorably impressed by the shingle-style summer cottages built by the wealthy.
For the exterior, Eyre used coursed hard blue limestone from New York for the first floor. Dark, closely spaced shingles of Michigan oak cover most of the rest of the façade. A triangular gable and various dormers interrupt the roofline on the third storey. Chimneys dominate the east and west ends of the home, where the porches are underneath. These porches were originally open-air, but are currently closed stucco.
On the interior, Eyre designed the home with Freer’s art collection in mind. There are 22 rooms and 12 fireplaces in the house, as well as an elevator, and numerous balconies, bay windows, enclosed porches, and skylights. In 1906, Eyre designed an art gallery, added above the stable.
Orin Jordan House, California, USA- Folk Victorian style
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The Folk Victorian house is the most common type of home found in the US. This gained popularity in the 19^th century and was considered as a more affordable alternative to Queen Anne’s style of design. The architects created a pimped-up version of a Victorian house by using cheaper materials and decorative trims for low-budget families, but with almost similar and prominent front-facing gable roof design and steep under eaves.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Decorative detailing on the porch
2. Ornamented gables
3. Symmetrical structure
4. Trimmed windows
The Orin Jordan House is a Victorian house in California that was built in 1888 by Orin Jordan. Also known as the “Old Jordan House” and the “Whitaker Home”. It was built as a 29.75 by 38 feet two-story, ell-shaped, wood-frame house, with 9 rooms. The house was moved in 1926 by about 300 feet to the southwest, to its present location on Comstock.
The ground-floor front porch is quintessential to the design, and it’s often the most heavily decorated part of the house. This was the era when the classic American front porch really took root. The most common porch posts are turned spindles (balusters) or posts with simple chamfered edges as well as embellished with carvings and other details. These supports are enhanced with friezes above, balustrades between the posts, and intricately cut spandrels in the upper corners.
Lyndhrust Mansion, New York, USA- Gothic Revival style
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The Gothic Revival-style homes were first introduced in the 1880s. These homes are the classic representations of romantic and picturesque architectural elements that manifested in the US. The main properties were inspired by the medieval design of churches, making the Victorian Gothic Revival style homes different from that of medieval house architecture such as high pointed arches, biblical and heraldic emblems.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Steep, pitched roof with overhanging eaves.
2. Castle like turrets.
3. Slender columns and decorative posts
4. Unique modern trims
5. Pointed arches above windows with high dormers
Designed in 1838 by Alexander Jackson Davis, the house was owned in succession by New York City mayor William Paulding Jr., merchant George Merritt, and railroad tycoon Jay Gould. Merritt, the house’s second owner, engaged Davis as his architect, and in 1864–1865 doubled the size of the house, renaming it “Lyndenhurst” after the estate’s linden trees. Davis’ new north wing included an imposing four-story tower, a new glass-walled vestibule, a new dining room, two bedrooms, and servants’ quarters.
Lyndhurst’s rooms are few and of a more modest scale, and strongly Gothic in character. Features include- narrow hallways, small windows, and sharp arches, and are fantastically peaked ceilings, vaulted, and ornamented. The effect is at once gloomy, somber, and highly romantic; the large, double-height art gallery provides a contrast of light and space. The house is covered by a landscaped park, designed by Ferdinand Mangold. The 390-foot-long onion-domed, iron-framed, glass conservatory, when built, was one of the largest privately-owned greenhouses in the USA.
Carson Mansion, California, USA- Queen Anne style
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Queen Anne homes were popular in the US from the 1880s until sometime around the 1920s. These homes are quintessential Victorian houses having asymmetrical, two or three-storied tall, steeply high-pitched roofs. They are often adorned with various wall textures and ornate trim which gives them a ‘gingerbread’ effect commonly associated with Victorian houses- typically painted in a variety of accent colours.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Gable ends
2. Towers with balconies
3. Bold exterior colours
4. Bay windows
5. Built from wood, stone and brick siding
6. Stained glass window
7. Decorative spindle work
8. Wide and spacious verandas
The Carson Mansion is regarded as one of the highest executions of American Queen Anne-style architecture. It is one of the most written about and photographed Victorian houses in California and possibly also in the United States. Samuel Newsom and Joseph Cather Newsom of the firm Newsom and Newsom of San Francisco (later Los Angeles and Oakland) were 19th-century builder-architects.
The house is a mix of every major style of Victorian architecture. One nationally known architectural historian described the house as “a baronial castle in Redwood”. The style of the house has been described as eclectic and peculiarly American. Unlike most other houses dating from the period, this building always has been maintained and is in nearly the same condition as when it was built.
Farnam Mansion, New York, USA- Italianate style
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The Italianate style was a 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the architectural vocabulary of 16th century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and Neoclassicism. The style of architecture that was thus created, though also characterized as “Neo-Renaissance”, was essential of its own time.
Italianate house architecture is mostly seen in the greatest number of North American cities that experienced exponential growth during the mid-19th century Cincinnati, Ohio, New Orleans, Garden District, and parts of San Francisco, Brooklyn, and New York.
General characteristics of this Victorian House
1. Wide eaves
2. Quoins chimneys
3. Single storey porch
4. Tall and narrow windows
5. Double doors with glass panels
The Farnam mansion’s exterior features a low-pitched roof, projecting eaves supported by large decorative cornice brackets, tall windows with ornate pediments, bay windows, and a wrap-around porch. A square belvedere is situated above the east side of the mansion. It has a mansard roof and a trio of arched windows on all four sides. The front entry features a pair of arched mahogany doors with windows, hand-carved panels, and rare ornamental bronze doorknobs.
The interior of the mansion features 11-foot-high ceilings, ornate plaster ceiling medallions, and crown moldings, and tall paneled tiger-oak doors. Three of the first-floor rooms each contain a marble fireplace. A staircase leads to the second floor where there are four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a small library, nursery, and servant’s quarters.
October 29, 2024
Top Celebrity Home Architecture: A luxurious lifestyle
Celebrity homes are basically luxury homes that aim to provide a charmed and resort life. Hence, many luxury apartments come with lavish amenities. Some of these include a gym, infinity pool, mini theatres, sitting plazas, walking tracks, a safe play area for kids, and more. We all are guilty of taking inspiration from Pinterest, YouTube, and various websites for our personal projects or just any random mood board and have some idea how well these things fit with each other and complement each other.
Celebrity homes are considerable, in optimal areas, constructed and finished with high-end materials, and designed with uncommon architectural details and exceptional amenities. To top that, these homes have quite an effect on us, which makes us fan ourselves for even thinking about it. Some celebrity A-listers have fancy interiors added, such as flat sinks or car elevators, while others have built luxury wine rooms, bowling alleys, and even mini dog mansions.
Take a look at some of the beautiful features celebrities have built in their homes and how different are their homes from ours. Starting from colourful furniture to accent walls to rustic ceilings to plant décor and what not.
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens’ Living room
Brief
“When I’m in L.A., the first night that I’m home, I take a bath,” Quoting Actress and Singer, Vanessa Hudgens. She spent a literal and figurative immersion into the haven that she’s crafted for herself in Los Feliz, a verdant, hillside neighbourhood next to the Hollywood Hills. She spent five years searching for the Georgian colonial house that she now calls home. “Walking through the gate and seeing this house covered in ivy, surrounded by olive trees, it was like I had been transported to France or Italy. It felt like such an escape.”
Design Process/Style
After purchasing the home in 2018, Hudgens hired the interior designer Jake Arnold to remodel the primary suite. She took on renovating the kitchen herself during the pandemic and also did the living room by having it in a very shade of white and monochromatic. She’s a big fan of old Hollywood romantic style that contained art deco vents, chandelier over the staircase, and a yard that felt like a park.
The homage to the feminine mystique continues outside. She enlisted the artist Carly Kuhn, to paint a sinuous mural of faces on the wall surrounding the pool. Also, outback Hudgens enjoys a bountiful avocado tree that is amazing to make guacamole. In her breakfast room, House of Hackney wallpaper meets a 1950s pendant light from Germany and a sumptuous leather banquette. She had booths installed in the room which reminded her of the restaurant, Maison Premiere, in New York.
The bathroom was moved by knocking down some walls. She was drawn to a cave-like aesthetic for the primary bathroom, which features a ceramic, egg-shaped tub.
Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore’s Living room
Brief
Mandy Moore’s house is a testament to the actress/singer’s love and passion for design. After searching for nearly a year, Moore and Goldsmith found the perfect spot to begin their life together, high atop a Pasadena hill, in a classic 1950s home with sweeping vistas of the San Gabriel mountains and valley. Although the structure was fairly intact, additions and interior emendations implemented in the early 1990s obscured the structure’s spruce modern lines and quintessential mid-century vibe.
Design Process/Style
With original drawings in hand along with Mandy’s insight and with the help of a designer, streamlined cornice that zigs and zags along the roofline—a signature detail that had been replaced with a decidedly less elegant alternative. She also restored and updated the blond brick walls, floors, and fireplace surroundings, as well as the brawny copper fireplace hood that separates the living and dining rooms.
Newly installed white terrazzo floors provide a subtly luminous foundation for the revitalized interiors. The jaunty pattern of triangulated brass inlays was added to the floor of a guest bathroom, while also obsessing about the stone aggregate fireplace in the family room. Moore wanted a look that is simply light, bright, and easy. The piano and record player have pride of place in the living room.
David Harbour
David Harbour’s loft
Brief
Actor David Harbour knew exactly what he wanted when he purchased his own house- One room, loft-type, very New York space in downtown Manhattan. after about three years of searching, he came across a space in the Nolita neighbourhood that he describes as an uncut gem that had uneven floors, crappy drywall, and the 2 bathrooms placed right next to each other that served no purpose other than to make it a two-bathroom.
Design Process/Style
Harbour then hired a designer to turn the space that he calls his home. The designer’s primary goal was to draw inspiration from the neighbourhood vernacular to add back anything that may have once been there in the past. And simultaneously recreate the charm of a vintage NYC loft space, but update it with modern conveniences to suit David’s lifestyle. The focal piece of his bedroom is a painting on plywood by artist Kevin Kearns.
The designer added the arched ceilings in the bathroom for visual interest. Other major changes included combining the two bathrooms into one, adding five closets, and installing a tin ceiling. The new apartment is now bright and open, with a vintage charm. While most of the 11-foot walls in the home are white, warm tones of burnt orange, red, and brown are clear in the furniture, art, and rugs, making the space seem especially inviting. There are also plants everywhere, a feature Harbour had wanted in his home for years.
Ashley Tisdale
Ashley Tisdale’s Living room
Brief
The Actress, songwriter renovated and styled her 1930s Spanish Colonial house. Fortunately, Tisdale’s 3,500-square-foot dream home was worth the wait. “I knew the moment we saw it. I can’t explain,” she says. Besides her father being a contractor, she also took the help of a designer. Together they brought this minimalistic vibe that would be described as their combined style as laid-back chic with layers.
Design Process/Style
Her home’s biggest issue was the lack of closet space. Old homes usually contain small closets and bathrooms. So, they blew out the wall between the closet and the existing master bathroom and turned that into a huge walk-in, further repurposing it into a smaller bedroom into the master bath. It took eight months to get the house—now a three-bed, three-and-a-half-bath—up to snuff. They started with new plumbing and air conditioning and ended with the master bedroom.
Altogether, it took eight months to get the house up to snuff. They started with new plumbing and air-conditioning and ended with the master bedroom, which was completed the night before we arrived for the shoot. Tisdale had only ever lived in modern homes; thus, she was drawn to her father’s ability to renovate old structures without sacrificing their original character.
Freida Pinto
Freida Pinto’s study room
Brief
The Los Angeles bungalow where Freida Pinto lives with husband Cory Tran has been designed by interior designer Bobby Berk during the lockdowns. The new house was a low slung, 1950s style California bungalow, replete with pink-tile bathroom floors, ample garden space, and airy, sun-blanched rooms. Freida struggled to clearly articulate her vision beyond a feeling and the general sense that she wanted to be surrounded by warmth, familiarity, and a kind of earthiness that provided a respite during breaks from filming.
Design Process/Style
The designer kept the 3-bedroom property’s colour palette on mossy shades of green that conjured the feeling of indoor-outdoor living, cornflower blues, and crisp, airy whites. He outfitted the sitting room with a large indigo flat-weave rug, soft-edged walnut-and-oak coffee and side tables, a teak chair with rush seating. The exposed beams on the ceiling were kept true to the house’s original structure and prominently featured.
To heighten the feeling, they added touches of cane to virtually every room, from the four-poster bed in the primary suite bedroom to the chairs in the pattern-filled dining room whose walls feature a colour-blocked blue-and-gold floral wallpaper. The media room features walls painted in azure blue, sumptuous seating, and shelving filled with books and objects to achieve an intimate, library-room aesthetic.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
Ashton and Mila’s backyard
Brief
Actors and spouses, Ashton and Mila take us inside their sustainable LA home. “We wanted a home, not an estate,” Kunis insists, describing the 6-acre property that now accommodates a main house connected to a guesthouse/entertainment barn, as well as a freestanding barbecue pavilion, all arrayed along a central axis elaborately plotted to capture the beguiling views from, between, and through the various structures.
Design Process/Style
Their own crystal chandelier crowns the entertainment barn, where the glass sliders stretch 19 feet tall. Sightlines extend from the barbecue pavilion, across the pool, and through the main house. Their designer emphasized the couple’s commitment to creating a sustainable, nurturing home for themselves and their two young children, Wyatt and Dimitri. The house is entirely powered by photovoltaics, concealed from view above the expansive porch that stretches along one side of the main structure.
In addition to new, crisply tailored tables and plush, super-comfortable seating, Charles incorporated elements from her clients’ previous homes. Notwithstanding the notes of high spirits, the soul of the Kutcher/Kunis residence remains tied to the meticulous planning and fanatical attention to detail that the homeowners and their designers lavished on every aspect of the project.
Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff’s Living room
Brief
The actor and musician have taken her time creating a tailored, private sanctuary for her family in LA. While discussing her decision to purchase the 5,260 sq. ft Georgian-style Beverly Hills house she has lived in for close to a decade, she admires the hillside property. There were these grandiose fountains everywhere. And the buttery-yellow exterior with these elaborate super-’80s wooden floors. A thorough gutting would leave many of the structure’s bones while creating larger and brighter living spaces.
Design Process/Style
“I care a lot about interior design, and I like to invest in furniture but furniture that I feel like I’m going to love and reuse and also that my kids can, like, climb on and beat up a little. Now, it feels like our family’s home,” she quotes. Her kitchen tiles are far too different from what she expected, but the decision to choose blue cabinets worked out perfectly contrasting with the black and white patterned wallpaper.
The kitchen’s strong palette and expressive pattern extend to the outdoor dining area, where Duff loves to entertain family and friends. Banks’ bathroom is awash in rose-coloured subway tiles, hung vertically. Grey tiles, a water feature, and an incredible kids’ clubhouse complete with a water slide were all added to the home’s original pool area.
Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki’s Living room
Brief
Actor Jared Padalecki and wife Genevieve Padalecki take us inside their bustling modern farmhouse in Austin, Texas. Modern farmhouses have a rustic yet contemporary charm to them. The couple, who met on the set of the cult-favorite show Supernatural, have spent years customizing their cozy and comfortable Texas home with the help of a designer. They now share their modern farmhouse with 3 children, many dogs, and other farm animals.
Design Process/Style
Their more formal living space features Ralph Lauren armchairs decorated with antique Swedish pillows from Howe London, two ceramic cocktail tables, and a coffee table with custom brass inlay. Wall lights illuminate the kitchen, while runners from Howe London help infuse the same sort of textural elements seen throughout the home. More custom woodwork is found in the primary bathroom, this time as towel hooks and wall shelves.
Jared, six feet four, had just one requirement for the family room sofas: “If [they are] big enough to fit me, I’m happy,” he says. More custom woodwork is found in the primary bathroom, this time as towel hooks and wall shelves. A cozy upstairs reading nook features a daybed with custom pillows, a French mattress, and curtains.
Shay Mitchell
Shay Mitchell’s Living room
Brief
Inside scoop of Actress Shay Mitchell’s reimagined LA oasis. The Canadian-born actor was drawn to the Spanish-influenced details, which include rounded entrances and tiles. She first decorated the home in 2016, but she has since transitioned the interiors to be more reflective of her tastes. She recruited interior decorator Chad Wood, who first redefined the interiors by bleaching and resurfacing the redwood floors.
Design Process/Style
Inside, one of the living spaces is light-filled, featuring exposed beams and a fireplace. The other living space has embraced a moodiness of sensuality. The furnishings include a dark green velvet couch plus Moroccan touch. Her dream home comprises monochromatic, with marble counters and black and white cabinets. In the back, a white-tiled wall features a grand arch that leads to a terrace through French doors.
The kitchen of Shay’s home—which she recently reimagined is classic and clean-lined, thanks to marble-covered counters and stainless-steel fixtures. The hanging lights were added to enhance the aesthetics. Through the kitchen and breakfast nook, there is an intimate terrace, which boasts French doors and lush greens. The monochromatic scheme in the kitchen (including white-tiled walls) is echoed in its neighbouring bathroom—which is decorated in black-and-white stripes.
Entertaining is elegant in this dining room, which features a custom table with chairs that were sourced as well as hammered-brass sconces. Exposed beams, a fireplace, and stained-glass windows, all original to the 1920s structure, define this living space. The entrance is demonstrative of the house’s Spanish influences: The staircase is decorated with iron railings and tiled flooring.
Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ackles’ House Entry point
Brief
Jensen and his wife, Danneel, worked with a local Austin team to devise a lakeside family home in Austin with personal touches and a musical line. There’s a lot going on inside the Lake Austin home of actors Jensen and Danneel Ackles—a lot of colours, a lot of texture, endless elements. The living room is scattered with guitars, Technicolor floor pillows; antique rooms are embedded into the white-oak walls, while a hanging cage traps gilded Barbie dolls; on top of a shelf housing a record player.
Design Process/Style of the Celebrity Home
There’s the master bedroom swaddled in Trove wall covering bearing vintage photography of 1920s opera boxes. The slightly sunken living room with the deep blue banquette couch, white shag rug, macrame chair, and muscular oak beams is Jensen’s favourite space. Their designer simplified and opened spaces, flipped the feel from a masonry house to a wood-framed home.
Thanks to exposed beams, larger expanses of windows, and rich wooden ceilings—and, perhaps most transformational, added a breezy two-story screened porch that altered the entire profile. The home’s entry felt like an outdoor living space according to Santini, who sourced an 1850s English table and unusual Swedish lantern from the 1820s to anchor the room.
October 29, 2024
Virginia Architecture: An Exclusive Paradise for History Lovers
Introduction
Virginia, a southeastern U.S. state, stretches from the Chesapeake Bay to the Appalachian Mountains, with a long Atlantic coastline. It’s one of the 13 original colonies, with historic landmarks including Monticello, founding father Thomas Jefferson’s iconic Charlottesville plantation. The Jamestown Settlement and Colonial Williamsburg are living-history museums reenacting Colonial and Revolutionary-era life. The area’s history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan.
In 1607, the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent English colony in the New World. Virginia’s state nickname, the Old Dominion, is a reference to this status. Slave labour and land acquired from displaced native tribes fuelled the growing plantation economy, but also fuelled conflicts both inside and outside the colony. Virginia is divided into 95 counties and 38 independent cities, the latter acting in many ways as county-equivalents. The state was split by the American Civil War in 1861 when Virginia’s state government in Richmond joined the Confederacy, but many in the state’s western counties remained loyal to the Union, helping form the state of West Virginia in 1863.
Stunning places to visit in Virginia for Architects
Washington Dulles International Airport
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Brief
The civil engineering firm Ammann and Whitney was named lead contractor. The airport was dedicated to President John F. Kennedy and Eisenhower on November 17, 1962. As originally opened, the airport had three long runways and one shorter one. The major terminal was designed in 1958 by famed Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, and it is valued for its graceful beauty, suggestive of flight. In the 1990s, the major terminal at Dulles was reconfigured to allow more space between the front of the building and the ticket counters. Additions at both ends of the major terminal more than doubled the structure’s length.
Design Process/Style
The design included a landscaped man-made lake to collect rainwater, a low-rise hotel, and a row of office buildings along the north side of the main parking lot. The design also included a two-level road in front of the terminal to separate arrival and departure traffic and a federally owned limited access highway connecting the terminal to the Capital Beltway.
Mies van der Rohe house
Source
Brief
3 Chimney House comprises a series of structures that are organised in a Y-shape on a 45-acre property outside of Charlottesville in horse country. The slender, white chimneys reach 30-feet high in the sky, enhancing the home’s varied construction. 2 double-height structures have gables while a low-slung, single-storey volume is topped with a slanting roofline and links to a flat-roofed portion. The firm designed the residence for a young family with deep roots in the region that wanted the house to link with the natural landscape and the area’s historic colonial homes.
Design Process/Style
Unifying the design are brick walls with flush mortar joints painted white and copper roofs that extend down to form exterior walls and which will patinate over time. Upon entering via the single-story structure, called the Main Hall, is a large room with a soaring ceiling. A fireplace divides a sitting area on one side and a shared kitchen and dining area opposite. Interiors are pared-down with white walls and pale wood floors. A variety of window sizes in square and rectangular shapes frame country views and usher in natural light.
National Museum of the United States Army
Arch Daily
Brief
Monolithic volumes clad in stainless steel reflect the trees surrounding the National Museum of the United States Army, which architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has completed in Virginia. The main building is approximately 185,000 square feet and displays selections from the United States Army Center of Military History. Outside this facility is a park with gardens and a parade ground. Stainless steel panels, laser-cut to precisely fit the grid, cover the blocks and reflect the natural surroundings.
Design Process/Style
To add dynamism to the exterior, corners of the blocks feature glass sections and aluminium fins spaced 18 inches apart. Stainless steel pylons matching the cladding are used as stands to showcase individual soldier stories. They are arranged to lead from the exterior promenade, through a glass entrance and into the exhibition hall.
The white coffered ceiling above the lobby, which is also intended to be used as an events space, is decorated with 22 rows of translucent, laminated glass panels coloured to match Army campaign streamers. The ground floor of the three-storey museum comprises shops, a cafe, exhibition spaces, a 300-degree theatre and a terrace. A wide wooden staircase leads from the lobby to the first floor, where additional exhibition spaces are located.
Lynchburg Courthouse
Brief
Home to the Lynchburg Museum, Lynchburg Courthouse was designed by William Ellison and completed in 1855. The courthouse was constructed in the popular Greek Revival style, complete with Doric columns and a portico topped with a pediment. Leading up to the entrance of the courthouse is Monument Terrace, a stair erected as a monument to fallen soldiers from WWI to Vietnam.
Design Process/Style
The building is now home to the Lynchburg Museum, which focuses on the history of Lynchburg and the surrounding area. Gallery themes include history, art and artisans, military history, culture, and the history of the Courthouse itself. The building is capped by a shallow dome located over the intersection of the ridges. At the top of the dome is a small open belfry comprising a circle of small Ionic columns supporting a hemispherical dome.
Monticello
Source
Brief
Monticello was designed and built by founding father Thomas Jefferson from 1770 to 1784, and then remodelled and enlarged from 1796 to 1809. The pinnacle of Jefferson’s Neoclassical Revival style, the home is constructed of red brick with white accents, much like the Academical Village at UVA. There are many uniquely Jeffersonian’s touches throughout, such as disappearing beds, dumbwaiters, and a clock run by weights and pulleys.
Design Process/Style
Work began on what historians would subsequently refer to as “the first Monticello” in 1768, on a plantation of 5,000 acres. Jefferson’s home was built to serve as a plantation house, which ultimately took on the architectural form of a villa. It has many architectural antecedents, but he went beyond them to create something very much his own. He consciously sought to create a new architecture for a new nation. Jefferson added a centre hallway and a parallel set of rooms to the structure, more than doubling its area.
He removed the second full-height story from the original house and replaced it with a mezzanine bedroom floor. The interior is centered on two large rooms, which served as an entrance-hall-museum, where Jefferson displayed his scientific interests, and a music-sitting room. The most dramatic element of the new design was an octagonal dome, which he placed above the west front of the building in place of a second-story portico.
Taubman Museum of Art
Source
Brief
A striking addition to Roanoke’s downtown district, the Randall Stout-designed Taubman Museum of Art is unlike any structure in the city. Inspired by the mountain ridges, gorges and clear streams of the Blue Ridge, the building’s silhouette rises and falls in ridges of glass, steel and zinc. This recent addition to the museum offers 81,000 square feet of gallery, education and public space.
Design Process/Style
Museum staff moved into the Taubman Museum of Art on September 8, 2008. The Taubman Museum of Art opened to the public on November 8, 2008. The permanent collection of over 2,000 works of art includes prominent 19th- and early 20th-century American art, as well as significant modern and contemporary art, photography, design, and decorative arts, and several smaller collections including Southern folk art.
Jefferson Hotel
TripAdviser
Brief
A symbol of luxury and style, Richmond’s Jefferson Hotel was built in 1895. Financed by Lewis Ginter, the hotel was designed by Carrere and Hastings, incorporating multiple architectural styles into one magnificent building. The exterior relies mostly on Italian and Spanish Renaissance elements, while much of the interior was destroyed by fire in 1902. Peebles is responsible for the famed Grand Staircase in the east addition, built after the fire.
Design Process/Style
After a fire gutted the interior of the hotel in 1901, it had a lengthy restoration. It reopened in 1907. It has received restorations and upgrades of systems through the years. In the check-in lobby, known as the Palm Court, nine original stained glass Tiffany windows with the hotel’s monogram remain. The three stained glass windows above the front desk and the stained-glass dome are reproductions.
The Academical Village
Brief
Designed by Thomas Jefferson and completed in 1825, the Academical Village serves as the heart of the University of Virginia. The terraced lawn is surrounded by academic and residential buildings, including the University’s most recognizable building, the Rotunda. The Village also houses the preserved dorm room of Edgar Allen Poe, one of the University’s most infamous students. Jefferson’s design has been used as an inspiration for many other green spaces on campuses across the country.
Design Process/Style
The heart of the Academical Village and the University of Virginia’s campus, the Rotunda stands as one of Thomas Jefferson’s most recognizable architectural accomplishments. Modelled after the Pantheon in Rome, the Rotunda was constructed from 1822 to 1826. Ravaged by fire in 1895 and rebuilt with alterations, the Rotunda now stands as Jefferson designed it after being restored from 1973 to 1976.
Thompson Washington DC Hotel
Arch Daily
Brief
Thompson Washington DC is an 11-storey hotel by local firm Studios Architecture with interiors by Parts and Labor Design. In the city’s southern Navy Yard neighbourhood, the hotel has 225 guest rooms, an Italian restaurant called Maialino Mare and two rooftop bars. The design draws upon the hotel’s historic industrial site along the Anacostia River, with interiors that are a soft, warm subtle interpretation of its nautical past.
Design Process/Style
The studio designed the hotel with contrasting colours and materials, particularly white surfaces and dark woods. A layering of cream, brown and blue, defines the aesthetic. The design firm custom made most of the furniture and lighting in the Thompson Washington DC hotel. Cream and blue-tone rugs and furniture and sofas in a dusty sea foam colour are used to soften the communal spaces, with accents of yellow and black are interspersed throughout.
Hotel rooms have white walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, soft blue accents, dark wood furniture and hazel oak floors. The guest rooms have a slightly colonial feel whilst also quietly referencing ship cabins. Each suite has a custom, dark-oak headboard upholstered in a wool boucle and leather. Bathrooms have green onyx vanity tops, marble tiled floors, and blue and white tile walls.
Virginia Tech War Memorial Chapel
Arch Daily
Brief
Standing above the War Memorial, the Pylons at Virginia Tech memorialize every student and alumni who died in service from WWI to the present. Each pylon symbolizes one of Virginia Tech’s core values. They stand for Brotherhood, Honor, Leadership, Sacrifice, Service, Loyalty, Duty and Ut Prosim. Overlooking the university’s drill field, the building houses the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.
Design Process/Style
Burruss Hall is constructed of Hokie Stone, a limestone native to the Blacksburg area named after the school’s mascot. Named for Virginia artist P. Buckley Moss, The Moss Center for the Arts is a structure where technology and art exist in harmony. Designed by Norwegian firm Snøhetta, the centre houses classrooms, gallery space, a beautiful 1,280-seat theatre and a “performance laboratory” named the Cube. Opened in 2013, the Moss Center for the Arts is a visually stunning addition to the Virginia Tech campus.
The lower level contains a 6,324-square-foot, 260-seat chapel. A chancel sculpture, designed by Donald DeLue, symbolizes humankind’s relationship to the creator with a central group implying that something greater than humans is responsible for their presence on Earth. The left figure represents this relationship in daily life; the right figure suggests humans in communion with their creator.
Institute of Contemporary Art
Arch Daily
Brief
Steven Holl Architects designed the Institute for Contemporary Art to provide the American university with classrooms, galleries and outdoor facilities for its theatre, music and dance programmes. The building comprises a series of irregularly shaped blocks that slot together. Although externally, the building feels like separate volumes, spaces merge inside. The series of volumes are arranged to form two entrances that face both the city and the campus.
Design Process/Style
A pair of irregularly shaped blocks, including one that almost forms a triangle, front the building. Meanwhile, two stacks of rectangular blocks fork open on the campus side, framing a sculpture garden and a pool, described as a Thinking Field. The institute was designed to be a flexible, forward-looking instrument that will both illuminate and serve as a catalyst for the transformative possibilities of contemporary art.
A double-height atrium is wrapped by an organic curving white ceiling. At the centre of the building, it connects three floors of galleries. The fluidity of the design allows for experimentation and will encourage new ways to display and present art that will capitalise on the ingenuity and creativity apparent throughout the VCU campus. The entrance foyer leads through to a cafe bar and shop, as well the ground-floor gallery. Also on this level is a 240-seat auditorium.
A 33-foot-high gallery is set in the apex of the tallest block, along with administrative suites and the boardroom. The building also has a basement floor. Window and skylights are placed to ensure spaces receive plenty of natural light, reducing the need for artificial lighting. Other features include geothermal energy sources that support the heating and cooling systems, and cavity walls designed to keep heat in the winter and provide cooling in the summer.
James River Country House
Dezeen
Brief
The James River House is in the rural town of Scottsville, Virginia, on a hilltop overlooking a river. On a 44-acre forested property, encompassing 2,750 square feet, the home comprises three rectilinear volumes, each serving its own function. The central volume contains public zones, while the wings contain sleeping quarters. The arrangement of these volumes allows the visitor to slip between and through the house, opening the view to reveal light, river and the woods.
Design Process/Style
The team used two different facade strategies. The north side, which looks toward the water, features large windows that provide sweeping views. The volumes were angled away from each other so that residents are afforded several vistas. They then encounter a terrace made of stone pavers and an outdoor fireplace built into the south-facing facade with opaque and angles inward, given its minimal glazing, this side also helps keep the cabin cool during the summer.
Inside, the central volume contains an open-plan kitchen and living room that is both intimate and expansive. A glass-walled walkway connects the main volume to a sleeping wing, which houses the master suite and a children’s bedroom with eight built-in beds. The other volume, which is detached, is dedicated to guests. One of the most important goals of the project was having a minimal impact on the terrain. By elevating portions of the structure, the team could reduce the home’s footprint.
October 29, 2024
Vastu for West Facing House: A Planning Solution for 21st Century
Right knowledge of direction is very important to build a structure. During older days people used to check the directions by the shadow of the sun. With modern-day technology, a magnetic compass is used to check the directions. There are 10 directions in total but 8 out of these 10 are known to us and can be identified using a compass. Each direction has its own significance and can be studied in detail.
West Direction– West face house plans per Vastu is known for stability in life. The owner of the west direction is Lord Varun, a Hindu deity for fame, rain, and fate. The corresponding planet is Saturn for the west direction. Large openings are not advisable in this direction as solar energy is not stored in the west if big openings are present. The flow of energy goes from east to west similar to the sun. So, west facing house is good to construct a house.
Myths about west facing house Vastu
There are certain misbeliefs and myths due to a lack of understanding and misinterpretation of the ancient text of Vastu Shastra. The following are some of the common myths regarding west-facing house design:
1. Causes Anxiety and Depression.
2. Leads to Financial loss.
3. Leads to illness and chronic diseases.
4. Recurring of accidents.
5. Obstacles in success and prosperity.
Vastu points to keep in mind while buying a plot
1. History- the history of the plot is essential to determine the future of it as well. It is important to know what kind of structure existed earlier on the plot and its significance. For example, if it had a chemical plant then the soil would be full of chemical waste, if there was a graveyard earlier, then it’s not suitable for construction.
- Shape- it is advisable to buy square or rectangular shaped plots as it balances the energy flow. Irregular shaped plots such a triangular or hexagonal mustn’t be purchased at all as some corners would be cut and extended beyond normal standards.
- Astrological Calculations- Vastu without astrology is basically a house without foundation. So, it is important to check all Vastu calculations and numerology. Firstly, to establish compatibility between the land and buyer it is advised to check the astrological chart.
- Soil quality and its contents- ages ago, different colours of soil were considered for different sections. But due to increasing pollution and industrialisation, the quality of soil is not the same anymore. One must test the soil before construction or buying.
What is a west facing house design?
The main entrance of a house which is towards the west direction is known as a west facing house design. According to many people, the house is west facing if there is a road on the west side of it, which is incorrect. It is important to remember that the direction of a house is determined by the position of its main door; therefore, terming it as the west entrance Vastu.
Advantages and Disadvantages of a west facing house design
When you open the door to stare or look out for the sun in the face, the evening sunlight is generally warmer and less harsh. For the people spending evenings with family and friends in the front yard watching the sunset, the west facing houses provide the best of illumination during later hours in the day. Whether a west facing house is good or bad depends upon it’s planning.
Advantages
1. Ideal for the ones who sleep in and don’t have to wake up early in the morning; keeps the house dark.
2. Provides best natural light later in the day.
3. Helpful for clothes drying purpose during the morning hours.
Disadvantages
1. Lacks in energy efficiency during any season or climate making it one of the chief problems longitudinal houses.
2. House is generally deprived of natural light during some hours.
45’-3”x35’-3” west facing house plan
Vastu tips for west facing home design
In general, the west side is suitable for the bedroom, entrance, living room, dining, study room, meditation room, foyer, and staircase. However, it is believed that the west direction is not suitable for a water body, bathroom, or guestrooms.
Vastu tips for Main door
1. As per the principles of Vastu, 9 out of 32 gates are considered auspicious. And out of these 9 gates, 2 are located in the west.
2. The main entrance of the house should be located in these padas- W3 or Surgriva (one of the best possible entrances especially for businessmen. This brings growth and evitable prosperity) and W4 or Pushpdanta (refers to the power of blessing. Assistant to Varun, controller of the universe and vehicle of lord Kuber-the giver of wealth. This entrance gives good financial growth).
3. Avoid these following padas- Pitra (this brings instability in life), Duawarik (brings instability in relationships and career), Asur (brings daily fatigue and poor physical strength), Shosha (causes delay in daily aspects of life).
4. For a west facing house, ensure that the main door entrance is placed in the mid-west or northern part of your home.
5. Metal work design for or on the door is considered a good option, example metal name board or metallic bell.
6. Avoid any clutter in front of the main entrance.
7. Remove broken furniture or dustbin near the main door.
Vastu tips for Wall colours
Image by Kelly Alpert from Pixabay
1. Ideal colours for west facing home design are white, yellow, silver and beige.
2. Neutral shades are perfect for west facing house as they enhance positive energy.
3. Try avoiding bright colours to prevent from being overwhelmed.
Vastu tips for Garden
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
1. West facing gardens will receive very less sunlight in the morning and very much in the afternoon.
2. So, it is important to have plants that will withstand afternoon heat and summer heat i.e., tulips, roses and daffodils.
Vastu tips for Living room
Image by Barry D from Pixabay
1. Try facing the living room toward east, north or north-east.
2. North-west facing house plan keeping living in north west side is also considered to be good.
3. Place heavy furniture in the west or south-west direction of the room.
Vastu tips for Kitchen
Image by u jup1hbno from Pixabay
1. Avoid placing the kitchen in the south-west corner of the house.
2. Kitchen should be placed in the south-east or north-west direction.
3. Make sure to face toward the east direction while cooking.
Vastu tips for Master bedroom
Image by 5460160 from Pixabay
1. For a west house vastu plan, the master bedroom should be placed in the south-west side of the house.
2. If the house is multi-storeyed, always have the master bedroom on the higher floors.
Vastu tips for Children’s bedroom
Image by Victoria Boronidova from Pixabay
1. Ideally the kids’ room should be in the south, west or north-west directions.
2. Place their wardrobes in south or west direction.
3. Try placing the door in the east or north direction.
Vastu tips for Guest bedroom
1. It is advisable to keep the guest bedroom in the north-west or south direction.
2. Do not place it in the south-west direction.
Vastu tips for staircase
1. As per Vastu guidelines, never design a staircase in the north-east corner of a west house vastu plan.
2. Staircase in the north direction is also prohibited as it creates financial troubles.
3. South, south-west and west directions are best to place a staircase in a west house vastu plan.
4. If the staircase in placed in the south-west, south or west direction of a house then it should be in anti-clockwise.
Vastu tips for Meditation room
1. One of the best places to place a meditation room is in the west direction.
2. The second option would be placing it in either north-east or east direction.
Vastu tips for septic tanks and bathrooms
1. Usually the septic tank is placed in front of the house but in case of a west facing house it can be placed in the front side in the west of north zone.
2. Avoid placing the tant on north-west or south-west direction.
3. The toilets or bathrooms can be placed in the east of south-east direction for west facing homes.
4. The ideal place for designing bathrooms or toilets would be in the south of south west (SSW) or west of north-west (WNW).
Who can buy a west facing house?
West facing house may or may not suit everybody. Based on the purpose of your buying, it is good to choose. As per Vastu, west direction relates to the planet Saturn so it is advisable for certain professions to live in a west facing house such as-
1. IT Professionals
2. Stock Market Traders
3. Media Professionals
4. Restaurant and Cafe Owners.
5. Real estate Brokers
6. Research Professionals
7. People in the fields of oil and gas, iron and steel, mining and agriculture.
Apart from the profession of the inhabitant, the zodiac sign also plays an important role. The following zodiac signs can benefit from a west facing house:
1. Gemini
2. Libra
3. Aquarius
In Conclusion
What to do
1. Place the main entrance in 3^rd and 4^th pada.
2. The 5^th pada can also act good for the entrance.
3. Never place a borewell in exact north-east direction.
4. Underground water resources can be placed in north, east or west directions.
5. While preparing the plan of a west facing house, place the main building structure toward the south-west side and leave open spaces in north and east sides.
6. The boundry walls in the east and north directions should be smaller than south and west directions.
7. The slope of west facing plot should always be toward east or north-east direction.
8. The meditation can be placed in east or west zones of the house.
9. It is ideal to place the kitchen in the south-east or north-west direction of the house.
10. As per Vastu, place a money plant in the north direction which can be auspicious.
11. The staircase should be located in south or west directions.
12. The master bedroom shall be in the east, south or west directions.
13. The placement of mirrors is ideal in north and west zones.
What not to do
1. Do not open an entrance in the south-west corner of a plot as it causes health and financial problems.
2. Avoid using green or brown shades for painting the facade in a west facing house.
3. Strictly avoid staircase in north or north-east direction.
4. Avoid gardens in the west or north-west direction.
5. Never place a kitchen in the north-east or north direction according to Vastu.
6. The slope of a west facing house should never be toward south or west direction.
7. Avoid placing underground water tanks or bore well in north-west direction.
8. If the bedroom is in north, never sleep with your head toward the north direction.
9. Make sure there are no trees or electrical posts blocking the front of the house.
10. The flow of waste water should never be from north to south direction.
11. Avoid designing toilets in the west, north, north-east or east of the house.
12. Do not paint the main door in shades of maroon or red.
13. Avoid mirrors in the south or south-east direction.
14. Avoid using green colour slabs for the kitchen counter.
FAQ
Q: Is west facing house is good or bad according to Vastu?
A: Yes, according to Vastu, all directions are considered equally good or bad. A House design west facing can be prosperous if certain rules and regulations are followed before constructing the house.
Q: What are the advantages of a west face house plans?
A: West face house plans provide warmer and less harsh sunlight in the evenings, ideal for spending time with family and friends. They also offer the best natural light later in the day and are helpful for clothes drying during the morning hours.
Q: What are the disadvantages as per vastu for a west facing house?
A: As per vastu for a west facing house, lack energy efficiency during any season, makes them less ideal for maintaining comfortable temperatures. Additionally, they may be deprived of natural light during some hours.
Q: What are some Vastu tips for a west face plan?
A: For a west face plan house, it is advisable to place the main entrance in the mid-west or northern part of the home. Avoid clutter in front of the main entrance and remove broken furniture or dustbins near the door. Ideal colors for west facing homes include white, yellow, silver, and beige. In the garden, choose plants that can withstand afternoon heat, such as tulips, roses, and daffodils.
Q: Who can benefit from living in a west facing house according to Vastu?
A: According to Vastu, certain professions and zodiac signs can benefit from living in a west facing house. Professions such as IT professionals, stock market traders, and media professionals may find it beneficial. Zodiac signs like Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are also said to benefit from a west facing house.
Q: What are some important Vastu tips for various rooms in a west facing house?
- For the living room, face it toward east, north, or north-east.
- For the kitchen, avoid placing it in the south-west corner and ensure it faces east while cooking.
- For the master bedroom, place it in the south-west side of the house.
- For children’s bedrooms, place them in the south, west, or north-west directions.
- For guest bedrooms, keep them in the north-west facing or south direction.
- For the staircase, avoid designing it in the north-east corner and place it in the south, south-west, or west directions.
October 29, 2024
Alaskan Architecture: A beauty beyond its mountains
Introduction
Alaska is a state in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. Alaska’s architecture truly is some of the world’s grandest masterpieces, as well as extremely famous among Alaskan people. It is home to the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Anchorage, the Conoco-Phillips Building as well in downtown Anchorage, the St. Andrews Parish in Eagle River, the Sealaska Heritage Institute Walter Soboleff Center, and much more.
Whenever Alaska is mentioned, all we think about is the snow-capped mountain ranges, extreme weather, northern lights, and much less civilization. The natural beauty of Alaska is breathtaking. The nature of Alaska is wild, huge, and magnificent. But despite these obvious things, what most of us don’t know is that Alaska is full of architectural beauty. The buildings-however less they might be, are exquisite and engaging.
These structures/buildings show personal attitudes and cultural perceptions as representations of ways of life, reflecting the wide range of diversity of people who helped shape them. Alaska’s architecture has been influenced by three major cultural groups- the Americans, the Natives, and the Russians. The Natives built houses that were climate-responsive and were made of indigenous materials. Similarly, the Russians brought their own ideas and block lookalike homes to America as they were ideal for much of the land they lived in.
The nation-wide trend toward sustainable and eco-friendly design and Alaska is helping lead the charge with energy-efficient, sustainable architecture. Alaskan architects have taken that national trend and added aspects unique to the state’s needs, such as durability and cost containment measures, to create a design that is all-Alaskan.
Types of Alaskan Architecture
Source-Wikipedia
Rustic
Rustic architecture is a style of architecture used in rural government and private structures and their landscape interior design. It was influenced by the American craftsman style. This type of architecture related to national parks is sometimes referred to as Parkitecture. Rustic-style buildings, when done well, respond to their surroundings. Subordination, non-intrusiveness, and contemplation of the past are all key characteristics in the approach.
Modern Rustic decor style is embracing rustic charm and warmth with modern amenities. The key to a modern rustic space is an open floor plan, modern furniture, and preserved and exposed natural architectural elements. The color scheme is very simple, with large windows bringing the outdoors in.
Characteristics include:
- Fractured walls
- Windows with little panes
- Overhanging eaves
- Minimalistic approach
- Readymade or easily available materials in that area.
- Stone foundation
Russian Colonial
Russian architecture follows a tradition whose roots lie in early Russian wooden architecture. Russian Colonial architecture is the least common form of architecture in the United States. It started in the late 1700s, when Russians settled in North America. The Russian Colonial aesthetic emerged when settlements grew in the Aleutians, Kodiak Island, and along Alaska’s southern coast.
Characteristics include:
- Horizontal log construction with interlocking technique.
- Rectangular plans
- Community at the riverside or head of the bay.
Art Deco
Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewellery, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners. It combined modern styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, it represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.
Commercial buildings often adopt the style, while it is hardly seen in residential architecture. Zigzag Modern, Cinema Style, Modern Depression, and Jazz Modern are some of the other names for the style.
Characteristics include:
- Sleek and linear geometric forms
- Vertical focal point
- Massive windows with metal sashes
- Flat or stepped roofs
- Glass, brick and tile are often used as décor.
- Concrete acts as a strong building material
- Elaborate pilasters and pediments used to decorate doorways.
- rectangular geometric forms, arranged and broken up by curved ornamental elements.
Neo-Expressionism
Neo-expressionism is sculpture-like and theatrical in appearance. This style of architecture never dominated the American architectural scene, but most commonly found in religious and public buildings from the period. Strict geometric shapes are rejected and sculpted forms emerge. The challenge to understand Neo-Expressionist architecture is that it doesn’t have a single set of rules or standards. It’s eccentric and subjective; it’s easier to define by what it isn’t.
Neo-Expressionism wasn’t a specific style revival, because each Expressionist structure was extremely individual. Rather, it was a revival of an attitude and exploration of similar ideas, namely feeling and emotion over intellectualism, which in architecture often translated into stark, geometric structures and minimal decoration or design elements.
Characteristics include:
- Unrealistic and unexpected roof design
- Natural look
- Non- traditional structural element
- Intricate materials worth for research
- Adoption of novel materials
- Unusual massing
- Formal innovation
Deconstructivism
Deconstructivism is a movement of postmodern architecture which appeared in the 1980s. Besides fragmentation, deconstructivism often manipulates the structure’s surface skin and deploys non-rectilinear shapes which appear to distort and dislocate established elements of architecture. The style is aesthetic, with no logical reasoning offered. This approach depicts the disassembly of construction components and their re-assembly in a new method.
Emerging from postmodernism toward the late 1980s, the idea of deconstructivism in architecture came to the world’s attention when a group of Avant-Garde architects. The basic building was the subject of problematic and intricacies in deconstructivism, with no detachment for ornament. Rather than separating ornament and function, the functional aspects of buildings were called into question. Geometry was to de-constructivists what ornament was to postmodernists. The subject of complication, and this complication of geometry, was applied to the functional, structural, and spatial aspects of de-constructivist buildings.
Characteristics include:
- Expensive materials such as glass, metals
- Surface manipulation
- Contrast between shapes and forms
- Fragmentation and non-rectilinear shapes
- Dislocated architectural conventions concerning structure and envelope.
Post Modernism
Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the international style. Postmodern architecture emerged in the 1960s as a reaction to the perceived shortcomings of modern architecture, particularly its rigid doctrines, its uniformity, its lack of ornament, and its habit of ignoring the history and culture of the cities where it appeared.
Postmodern architecture often breaks large buildings into several unique structures and forms, sometimes representing different functions of those parts of the building. With the use of different materials and styles, a single building can appear like a small town or village. Asymmetric forms are one of the trademarks of postmodernism. Colour is an important element in many postmodern buildings to give the facades variety and personality, coloured glass is sometimes used, or ceramic tiles or stone.
Modern architecture focuses on creating a relationship between the material and structure by relating and adapting them to their present technological era, Whereas Post-modernist architecture emphasizes the vitality of historical elements in the design.
Characteristics include:
- Fragmentation
- Colour factor
- Visible entrance points
- Traditional and vernacular architecture references
- Usage of polychromatic materials such as paint.
- Mix of various geometric shapes
Brutalism
Brutalism, also known as Brutalist architecture, is a style that emerged in the 1950s and grew out of the early 20th century modernist movement. Brutalism was characterised by its rough, unfinished surfaces, unusual shapes, heavy-looking materials, straight lines, and small windows. The style commonly makes use of exposed, unpainted concrete or brick, angular geometric shapes, and a predominantly monochrome colour palette. Other materials, such as steel, timber, and glass, are also featured.
New Brutalism is not only an architectural style; it is also a philosophical approach to architectural design, a striving to create simple and functional buildings that accommodate their purpose, inhabitants, and location. A common theme in Brutalist designs is the exposure of the building’s inner workings, ranging from their structure and services to their human use in the building’s exterior.
There is often an emphasis on graphic expressions in the external elevations and in the whole-site architectural plan regarding the major functions and people-flows of the buildings. Although the Brutalist movement was over by the late 1970s and early 1980s, has largely given way to Structural Expressionism and Deconstructivism, it has experienced a resurgence of interest since 2015 with the publication of a variety of guides and books.
Characteristics include:
- Exposed concrete
- Massive heavy blocks/structures to highlight the sculpture.
- Representation of functionality in the outdoors, whether it’s human or architectural.
- Straight lines, and small windows
- Rough, unfinished surfaces
Curtain Wall
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, used only to keep the weather out and the occupants in. Since the curtain wall is non structural, it can be made of lightweight materials, such as glass, potentially reducing construction costs. These are designed as systems integrating frame, wall panel, and weatherproofing materials. Steel frames have largely given way to aluminium extrusions, typically in filled with glass, which provides an architecturally pleasing look and benefits such as daylighting.
Both beautiful and highly functional curtain walls resist air and water infiltration, withstand sway induced by wind and seismic forces and provide a thermal barrier between inside and out. When designed for large buildings, curtain walls are almost always customized to an individual project’s needs. In Alaska throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the curtain wall was a popular architecture type for commercial structures.
Characteristics include:
- Stone veneers used for sheathing
- Rectangular massing
- Flat roof
- Porcelain enamels panels
- Heavy use of glass
- Metal artwork skeleton for superstructure
Modern Corporate
Corporate modernism is a term that encompasses a specific International Style building in the latter half of the 20th century. The following collection of corporate modern office buildings showcase a consistency with earlier models, but with an unexpected and playful edge. Corporate Modern or Slick Skins, which derived its influences from Architect Mies van der Roe’s principles, gained traction in the 1950s with smooth external glass sheathing.
Characteristics include:
- Enhanced and large panes
- Smooth sculptural textures
- Use of thinner glass to make curved forms
- Shiny natural surface
- Rectangular volumes
Types of housing in Alaska
Source- Wikipedia
In Alaska, the options for housing are plentiful. Some are traditional, and others a little more adventurous, but there’s always an option for everyone with their preferred design type.
Dry Cabins
A dry cabin is typically a small dwelling that isn’t hooked up to a water or sewer line. That means they’re easy to erect in the wilderness what Alaskans call “the bush”, but it also means we’re missing a few of modern life’s biggest amenities. Some have electricity, some don’t, but no dry cabin has running water or a flush toilet.
It’s also the epicentre of an unusual cultural phenomenon: Dry-cabin living, living without running water. That means no plumbing. No toilet. No shower. Turns out, living in a dry cabin with an outhouse is way more common in Alaska than anyone expected. It also turned out that people found innovative solutions to no indoor plumbing.
Apartment Sublets
Of course, Alaska is still the first world. For wanting an accustomed to living in a fully plumbed and wired home, there are plenty of apartment sublets available for the summer in metropolitan areas. Apartments are typically the most expensive option, but for some people, the rewards of a private, comfortable home outweigh the costs. One way to cut down on costs is by finding an apartment that’s already furnished.
Many seasonal apartments come furnished in Alaska, which means there’s no need to purchase your own living supplies. Furnishing involves a lot more than just furniture, after all. Finding a place that provides dishes, cookware, and bedding will be much easier and less expensive transition for the new Alaskan home.
RV or Campervan
Campers and RVs are even more common than dry cabins in Alaska. They comprise timber, bricks, cement, iron rods, and metal. Flats and bungalows are pukka homes. Such houses are known as permanent houses. A caravan, travel trailer, camper, tourer or camper trailer is towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep, which is more comfortable and protected than a tent.
These vary from basic models, which may be little more than a tent on wheels, to those containing several rooms with all the furniture and other furnishings and equipment of a home. Construction of the solid-wall trailers can be made of metal or fiberglass.
Places to see in Alaska for Architects
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Anchorage Museum
The Anchorage Museum features an exterior facade as stunning as the exhibits that adorn its interior. Upon completing an expansion in 2009, David Chipperfield Architects wrapped the building in glass cubes, which reflect both the city and nearby Chugach Mountains. The building truly interacts with its environment. From the outside, a passer-by can see the galleries inside. From the inside, visitors can see the surrounding mountains and watch the hustle and bustle of Alaska’s largest city.
Ketchikan Public Library
Ketchikan Public Library is the oldest continually operating library in the State of Alaska. Founded in 1901 as the Ladies’ Library Association, the subscription library became a true, ‘public’ library in 1943 when the City took on the management and financial responsibility for its operations. The growing collection was eventually moved to City Hall, and then the pink Federal Building. The library shared the Centennial Building with the historical museum from 1967 to 2013. The library now lives in a beautiful, award-winning building all its own, overlooking Bear Valley.
Skater’s Cabin
Skater’s Cabin Shelter is on the shore of the southwest corner of Mendenhall Lake, near the Mendenhall Glacier. The cabin was constructed in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is made with natural stone.
Denali National Park Lodging
Denali National Park and Preserve encompasses 6 million acres of Alaska’s interior wilderness. Its centrepiece is 20,310-ft.-high Denali, North America’s tallest peak.
Holy Family Cathedral
Holy Family Cathedral is a former cathedral of the Catholic Church in Anchorage, Alaska. The original main entrance into the cathedral was along the side of the building through the tower. The architectural firm of McEntire and Pendergast designed a new portico of the main facade. It features two pairs of doors with oversized transoms that replaced a large window. The exterior had been a natural grey colour from the time of its construction.
Arctic Brotherhood Hall
This incredibly usual out like a sore thumb in the historical corridor of Skagway. Thousands of sticks and pieces of driftwood cover every inch of the facade. Giant letters spelling out the initials “AB” poke through the assemblage of wood, hinting at the building’s past.
Seuss House
Hidden in the sparse woods outside Talkeetna, Alaska, is a bizarrely singular home known by locals as the Dr. Seuss House, though that isn’t what its creator calls it. While this whimsical house has no direct relation to the famed author, it is easy to see how the structure got its nickname.
October 29, 2024
A Complete Guide to Studio Apartment
What is Studio Apartment?
A studio apartment is a small space/apartment in which the normal functional number of rooms, often the living room, bedroom, and kitchen, are combined into a single room. Some studio apartments however have a separate kitchen. These are also known as efficiency apartments, which work on the principle of effective space utilisation. Hence, we are able to see minimum barriers in the form of walls and space demarcation.
It usually has an open floor plan but this may vary, depending upon the city or the locality. It is substantially smaller than a regular one-bedroom apartment and usually varies in size between 300 sq. ft to 600 sq. ft. Quite popular abroad, these apartments located in places with high student and young professional population, is ideal for someone looking for a cheap and convenient place to stay in temporarily.
Design
Studio apartments are known for their warmth, cosiness and the personal cocoon they create around us. When we start envisioning our own personal space, we have to keep in mind everything that we want from it starting from the choice of furniture to ventilation techniques. A thorough and thoughtful mindset will lead us to a perfect studio apartment design.
The studio apartment design typically consists of one large room that serves as the combined living, dining, and bedroom. A variation, sometimes called an “alcove studio”, may have a very small separate area; this wing or nook is off the main area and can be used for dining or sleeping. The apartment’s kitchen facilities may be located either in the central room or in a small separate area. The bathroom is usually in its own smaller room, while the toilet can be separated.
Tips to make a compact space appear larger
1. Choose a single colour that is repetitive in the room i.e., artifacts and furnishings and introduce a contrast colour in one striking piece.
2. Try opting for bunk beds that include a study table, wardrobe or storage space for books. You can also choose models where the lower bed can be folded away, to create space for the children to play.
3. While selecting important furniture pieces like dining tables or sofa sets, choose the ones that have built-in storage options.
4. Invest in beds with storage facility in the headboard to avoid side tables.
5. Make maximum use of the vertical space in the house, with shelves that stretch from the floor to the ceiling.
6. Use Foyer partitions which works as concealed shoe storage spaces.
7. Keep one or two walls free and add decorative items that reveal your personality, such as posters, quotes from personalities, etc. This will create a unique focal point and take one’s attention away from the lack of space.
8. Install electrical points into drawers, so that appliances can be plugged in and stored easily.
9. Full-length mirrors can be concealed in a wardrobe or fitted into the wall instead of having a separate dresser.
10. Storage units can be made above WC units for towels, cosmetics, etc.
How to divide a studio apartment
In an ideal situation, you want to create separate spaces or zones in a small studio apartment, one for living, dining, and kitchen and a completely separate one for the bedroom/sleeping space. And this technique not only is essential for a studio apartment but also will be helpful for a 4-bedroom house as well.
Room dividers are a great way to break up your space and can also double as décor. Your options include folding dividers, curtains, bookcases, and many more. You can use them to change up the layout of a room, provide extra privacy, maximize storage space, or just create a change of scenery.
So here are a few ways in which you can separate each zone/space from one another without actually building a solid wall:
Divide a studio with bookshelves
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When one of your goals is to maximize space, it is important to have a practical solution. Set bookshelves perpendicular to a wall to divide living areas and add valuable storage space in your small apartment. The bookshelves don’t have to stretch to the ceiling, but for the sake of illusion and the extra room, make it tall.
Create a floating closet
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In a compact space, this technique separates a bed from the rest of the space with a clothing rack that houses décor rather than clothes. You need a place to store your clothes as much as any other living area. While you can send seasonal clothes off to storage, you still need to make space for the rest, and a suggestion like this comes in handy. Floating closets can maximize storage space while adding a unique magical element to your tiny home.
Add curtains
Benjamin Hall Design and Build
A bedroom that doesn’t have a door, the curtains get the job done in a snap. Add some colour contrasting curtains to the space with respect to the wall colour or wallpaper which will instantly bring a feeling of home. In a studio, like in any tiny apartment, every square inch counts. So, if you want to physically separate your sleeping quarters, choose curtains. When extended, curtains give you plenty of privacy. When you’re ready to get out of bed and expand the room, all you have to do is slide them out of your way with one hand.
Install projector screens
When most people think of essential living spaces, they probably list dining areas, bedrooms, and study or lounge. Projector screens are innovative and trendy which will provide you with both privacy and comfort. The installation is simpler than you might expect, and the sheer panel allows light to pass through, keeping the small area open.
Divide the studio with rugs
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You can use rugs to create separate zones. Usually, they are used in the sitting area of a studio. Not only are they great for dividing purposes but they also bring warmth and texture to a space. The colourful rugs not only bring a vibrant look to this studio apartment but also divide the space into a living and bedroom area. Using a colour that deeply contrasts against your floor can help create boundaries in space.
Colour coordinate each area
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Whether or not you add physical dividers, every living area in your studio needs tonal separation. it is important for the mind to sense some distinction between sleeping and dining areas, and colour accents can do the trick. For each separate space in your apartment, choose a subtle colour and theme to make it psychologically distinct. As a whole, your apartment should flow together, but even little choices, like pairing a blue throw blanket on the couch with a ceramic bluebird on your coffee table, can separate each living area.
Add movable or folding screens
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Screens are ideal in a studio apartment because they are so flexible. You can move it to any area you want to block from view and also you can also use it to hang clothes or other items. The screens are pretty and with cut-outs are on casters which makes them easy to move around. The advantage of screens is that you can pull them out as much if you want.
Adding a bar cart
You don’t need a separate room for your kitchen to create a separate kitchen. Use a bar cart to divide the area organically and add valuable counter and storage space for your baking and boiling endeavours. Bar carts can act as a space divider in a minimalistic way which will not only look chic but also resourceful.
Create levels
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Splitting up a room doesn’t mean you have to create a “wall.” Instead of visually closing things off, play with different levels within a room instead. One of the best ways to separate your sleeping space is by tucking them away, either against the wall with a Murphy bed or up near the ceiling with a loft bed, this would free up floor space for a living or dining area.
If you don’t mind climbing up every evening and if you’re not afraid of falling out of bed then you can choose a loft bed to create a separate sleeping area in your studio apartment. It saves a ton of room plus your bedroom area is pretty much out of sight.
Divide it with a glass wall
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A narrow glass wall divides the sleeping and living area and is considered as viable space planning. By using glass walls, you don’t lose natural light which can be useful if the light only comes from one side. You can add a half-high wall to create some privacy for your bedroom area but it won’t make the room feel cramped or dark. And the wall can be used to show art and craft.
Strategically place your furniture
You don’t always have to go shopping for brand new dividers to split up a space. Many cases of studio apartments or small living spaces show you how you can break up a room with furniture you already have such as a couch—making your sleeping space feel more separate from your living room. Or A canopy bed creates a separate zone for your bed, plus you can use it to hang curtains to close it off even more or you can use it to showcase your clothes or add some greenery with hanging plants.
By placing your furniture in a certain way, you can easily create zones in your studio. A good example is by placing your sofa by the foot of your bed, that way you don’t always have to look at your bed. A vintage sofa by the foot of the bed to create a separate living area. I love how it’s placed with an angle that can be smart if your studio is narrow.
Multi-functional furniture
Source
There’s a system where you can purchase or plan compact space furniture to accommodate your needs. Above there’s a wardrobe with open shelves but you can also add only the open shelves or drawers, whatever you need! It’s not only is multifunctional but it also creates a separate bedroom area. Plus, the bed has underneath storage which is incredibly useful if you live in a small space. Use all the space you have; a bedroom block with plenty of storage underneath and a pegboard wall that can be used however you need it or a bed headboard has a double duty by also using it as a bookcase and desk area.
Preferable colour schemes for studio apartments
You can incorporate colour in many different ways, paint the walls, add colourful furniture or add colourful touches with fabrics and home decor. There are no right or wrong colour shades when it comes to adding your personal touch. However, it is important to follow a few basic rules in order for the space to look vibrant and subtle at the same time instead of loud and gaudy.
1. Colours in the same temperature create a harmonious look-Colours can be divided into 2 groups, there are warm colours (such as beige or brown) and cool colours (such as blue and green).
2. Monochrome colours-While a colour temperature is quite a broad spectrum you can narrow it down and choose a monochrome palette. These are colours in the same hue such as soft pink and bright pink or the Scandinavian white/grey/black palette.
3. Contrasting colours enhance each other– If you choose 2 colours on the opposite site of the spectrum then these will enhance each other and you will create a strong colourful statement. Think for example pink with blue.
Difference between studio apartment and 1-BHK
People often term 1BHK and studio apartment interchangeably. However, here is the difference between the two. 1BHK units provide a room, a kitchen, hall space, and a bathroom and each of these is separate, with adequate demarcation. A studio apartment is basically a single large room and the one who occupies the place will have to allocate space for everything within this large room.
With a studio apartment, you get some variation of a single large room with an attached kitchen or kitchenette, and a separate bathroom. It’s a limited area to work with if you want to create the feeling of separate rooms without walls to break up the space. Your design strategies and furniture placement help establish defined space. You can make it clear which part of your studio is for sleeping, eating, or hanging out with friends and family.
The key difference between a studio and 1-BHK is the bedroom. You get a few more walls and a distinct separation of spaces. There’s a clear division between your living room, bedroom, and kitchen. There may also be space for closets and dining space. Square footage in a one-bed has a decent range. Smaller one-bedrooms can equal the size of a large studio. Even with the same square footage, a one-bedroom can end up feeling larger since you’re not looking at all your space in a single area.
Pros and cons of a studio apartment
The studio apartments maybe be small but offer several benefits for tenants and owners.
Pros
1. It is affordable, as compared to other residences, apartments, etc.
2. The rent is usually lower with respect to other living configurations.
3. Such apartments are generally available in central locations, which have good connectivity.
4. Lower electricity bills, because energy consumption is lesser.
5. Requires low maintenance.
6. Utilities are less expensive as well.
7. Easier to clean and accumulates less clutter.
8. Doesn’t require much furniture, multipurpose furniture comes in handy.
9. Multi-tasking is easier in studio apartments.
Cons
1. Not suited for bigger families.
2. Limited space due to small size.
3. Requires additional storage space.
4. Lack of privacy, in case you have guests coming over.
Who should buy a studio apartment?
Studio apartments are popular among both, tenants and home buyers. It is best suited for single working professionals, bachelors, and retired individuals. Lack of funds may force small families to opt for studio apartments. Those looking at rental returns can also consider purchasing studio apartments. These are usually low-cost and have low utilities. In a city, studios can often be found near universities and public transportation. Studios appeal to someone who wants to live inexpensively and simply.
Studio apartments around the world
Apartments like these are famous and utilized all over the world. They bring comfort, joy, and minimalism to one’s life. But every country has got its own “term” for studio apartments.
Here’s a list of the names:
1. Argentina- Monoambiente
2. Brazil- Quitinete
3. Canada- Bachelor apartment/ bachelor
4. Czech Republic- Garsoniéra
5. Denmark- 1 værelses lejlighed
6. Germany- Einzimmerwohnungen
7. Italy- Monolocale
8. Jamaica- Quads
9. Japan- One-room mansion
10. Kenya- Bed-sitter
11. New Zealand- Studio rooms
12. Nigeria- Room self-contain apartments
13. Norway- 1-roms leilighet
14. Portugal- T0 (T-Zero)
15. Poland- Kawalerka
16. Romania, Slovakia- Garsonieră
17. South Korea- Officetels
18. Sweden- Etta
19. UK- Bedsit
20. USA- Studio apartment/ alcove studio
In conclusion
To sum it up here are a few points that you need to incorporate in your design.
1. First think about what’s in important for you in a home, prioritize your main function and act accordingly.
2. Take a good look at the layout of your space. How do want to create different zones? where is the light coming from? Are there any nooks present? How is the ventilation system?
3. Get multi-functional furniture.
4. Choose the colour scheme you want in your home wisely with contrasting elements and features to enhance your space.
5. Use all the space you have and never leave a buffer space.
October 29, 2024
North Facing House Design as per Vastu: A Planning Solution for 21st Century
North facing house design as per vastu can be proved as auspicious for the occupants because that direction is ruled by the god of wealth, Kubera, so the house will attract wealth. Principles of north facing house design as per vastu is associated with planet Mercury, which will be beneficial for people involved in financial services and/or Entrepreneurs.
North facing house Vastu
North, North-east and North-west direction
North direction- As per Vastu, north is a very good direction. The owner of this direction is Kuber, a Hindu deity known for health and prosperity. This direction is mostly called wealth and career direction. The planet for this direction is Budha. The north direction should always be more open, spacious, light, and less burdened due to the body parts of Vastu Purusha. It is also believed that the north pole provides tremendous positive energy; so as to receive it the north side of the house should have openings.
North-east direction- A wonderful direction where one can relish. The owner of this direction is Lord Shiva, the supreme Hindu deity. The representation planet for this direction is Brahaspati; the planet for the northeast gives knowledge and spiritual growth. North-east is a very pious and sensitive direction. 60% of Vastu principles lie in this direction. The powerful axis of magnetic energy starts from northeast to southwest so creating a bathroom/toilet in this area can spoil the family’s health and business opportunities.
North-west direction- The owner of this direction is Vayudev, a Hindu deity for wind. The planet in this direction is the moon. This direction may be unstable since it is powered by wind elements. According to Vastu, this direction creates big opportunities for the owners. The wrong usage of this can lead to anxiety, instability, and confusion.
Brahmasthan in Vastu
According to the ancient architectural system, Vastu Shastra, the central zone of the property is the most powerful area, the holiest zone known as Brahmasthan. All the directions meet at the center; therefore the Brahmasthan scatters or distributes the energy to the entire property. Not just houses, Brahmasthan also has importance in offices, factories, and other commercial buildings.
Identifying Brahmasthan
It is always advised to keep the Brahmasthan space vacant to see its significance it. As it is believed to be the central area, all roots of the energy, nothing should be constructed there.
You need to follow a set of rules to keep the area free from obstacles:
1. Easily divide the plot in 8 directions. Starting from east to west and again from north to south.
2. Now divide the 8 parts into 64 equal parts, the 4 equal squares will get at the centre of the plot will be the Brahmasthan.
Important tips for Brahmasthan in Vastu
1. It is crucial to keep the area non-obstructive so you can plan the main hall there.
2. In the Brahmasthan, you can have sky open areas like the courtyard but never use it as a bathroom or for the placement of septic tank.
3. For the good health of occupants, avoid kitchen in the central area.
4. Avoid pillars or columns or beams in this area.
5. Do not design a staircase in the centre.
6. If in confined space, make sure not to have any furniture there.
7. Avoid sleeping in that zone.
North facing house vastu plan
Myths about North face House Design as per Vastu
There are certain misbelieves and myths due to a lack of understanding and misinterpretation of the ancient text of Vastu Shastra. The following are some of the common myths regarding north face house design as per vastu:
1. Causes Anxiety and Depression.
2. Leads to Financial loss.
3. Leads to illness and chronic diseases.
4. Recurring of accidents.
5. Obstacles in success and prosperity.
Vastu points to keep in mind while buying a plot
1. History- the history of the plot is essential to determine the future of it as well. It is important to know what kind of structure existed earlier on the plot and its significance. For example if it had a chemical plant then the soil would be full of chemical waste, if there was a graveyard earlier, then it’s not suitable for construction.
- Shape- it is advisable to buy square or rectangular shaped plots as it balances the energy flow. Irregular shaped plots such a triangular or hexagonal mustn’t be purchased at all as some corners would be cut and extended beyond normal standards.
- Astrological Calculations- Vastu without astrology is basically a house without foundation. So it is important to check all Vastu calculations and numerology. Firstly, to establish compatibility between the land and buyer it is advised to check the astrological chart.
- Soil quality and its contents- ages ago, different colours of soil were considered for different sections. But due to increasing pollution and industrialisation, the quality of soil is not the same anymore. One must test the soil before construction or buying.
What is a North facing house?
The main entrance of a house which is towards the north direction is known as a north facing house design as per vastu. According to many people, the house is north facing if there is a road on the north side of it, which is incorrect. It is important to remember that the direction of a house is determined by the position of its main door.
What does Vastu say about north facing homes?
A common misconception heard is that only north and east-facing properties are auspicious and south and west-facing houses should be avoided but that’s not the case. In reality, as per Vastu, all directions are auspicious and serve a purpose if designed accordingly. The most important factor to be considered is the main/entrance door. For each direction, there are certain rules which are to be followed while locating the main door of the house.
Advantages and Disadvantages of North facing house design as per vastu
North facing house design as per vastu are considered desirable because they get the most direct sunlight through the day, especially in the winter when the sun is at the lowest. North facing house design as per vastu are an excellent choice for hot climates. They are the most effective placement for warding off the beat from a brutal heat. These types of houses can be seen in Arizona, Mexico, South and Central America, and also in India where Vastu is followed for religious reasons.
22’x30’ north facing house plan
Advantages
1. The front porch, veranda or the driveway won’t capture excessive heat.
2. Lowers the electricity bill by reducing energy demands for cooling the homes in warmer regions.
3. Helpful in drying the laundry due the summer north eastern winds.
Disadvantages
1. Not a suitable choice for colder climates.
2. Less natural light in general, gloomy home.
3. High electricity bill due to use of heaters. (This drawback can be avoided by having more south facing windows)
Tips for north facing house design as per vastu
North facing home benefits the flow of positive energy inside your home, it is crucial to follow certain tips which will further benefit the house bringing in positivity, happiness, peace, and prosperity. Positioning certain elements can make a huge difference in your lifestyle and future.
Vastu tip for Slopes
In a north facing property, which is auspicious for you and your family, avoid a plot where the slope goes from north to the south direction.
Vastu tip for Boundary wall
For north facing house, make sure that the boundary walls are slightly lower in height towards the north and east direction.
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
Vastu tip for Entrance gate
The entrance gate should be placed in the eastern or northern half of the front area.
The entrance gate for North facing house
Vastu tip for Garage/ car parking
1. In order to have mental peace, avoid having garage in the north direction of the house.
2. Plan the garage in the south-east or north-west direction.
Garage/ car parking for North direction vastu
Image by Pexels from Pixabay
Vastu tips courtyard and trees
It is crucial to not have trees planted on the north side of the plot. For a north facing house design as per vastu, the following plants can bring prosperity and peace:
1. Aglaonema
2. Araucaria
3. Ferns
4. Begonia rex
5. Hedera
All these plants are indoor plants that need indirect sunlight and can grow well in bright conditions.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Vastu tips for the Main Door
A Pada is one of the nine parts between the north-east and north-west.
1. The door should face north.
2. The 5^th pada is believed to be auspicious which is meant to bring wealth.
3. The 3^rd, 4^th, 8^th padas (Mukhya, Bhallat and Diti) are also considered auspicious, choosing any of these will for the main door placement will also attract wealth.
4. The 6^th to 9^th padas are to be used only if there’s no other option to place the door in any other padas.
Image by seth0s from Pixabay
Vastu tips for Bedrooms
1. As per bedroom Vastu, bedroom shouldn’t be placed in the north-east direction. In order to generate positive energy, the master bedroom should be placed in the south-west direction.
2. If the house consists of multiple floors, it is advised to keep the master bedroom at the highest level.
Image by Pexels from Pixabay
Vastu tip for other Bedroom
1. The guest bedroom or kids room should be in the north-west corner.
Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay
Vastu tips for Bathrooms
1. First choice for the bathroom location is in the north-west quadrant of the house.
2. Second choice is the north-east quadrant of the house.
3. Third choice is the south-west quadrant of the house.
4. Avoid having bathrooms in the centre of the house.
Image by 영훈 박 from Pixabay
Vastu tips for Balcony and Terrace
1. Large balconies or open terraces should be in the northern side.
2. Avoid balconies in the south or west directions or else enclose them with grills.
3. Light fittings positioned along the north and east walls bring positivity and good energy.
Image by Mylene2401 from Pixabay
Vastu tips for Kitchen
1. The first choice for the kitchen to be placed is in the south-east direction.
2. The second choice would be in the north-west direction.
3. For north face house design as per vastu, it is important not to have a kitchen in the north-east direction.
4. Also, keeping in mind the direction of sunlight, the orientation of both counter and cook should be done.
North facing home: Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Vastu tips for Staircase
1. It is not advisable to build a staircase in the north-east side.
2. It can be constructed either in the south, south-west or west side.
3. Stairs should be in a clockwise direction.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Vastu tips for Meditation room
1. The first choice for the location of meditation is north-east direction or centre of the house.
2. Second choice for the location would be east or west side of the house with the idols facing west or east respectively.
3. In order to maintain the peace and calm of the meditation room, it is important to not construct in under the staircase or near a bathroom.
4. It is ideal to place the meditation room in the ground floor.
5. Opt for light and soothing colours such as beige or light yellow or green for the walls of the meditation room.
Meditation room for North facing home
Vastu tips for Study room
1. The study room should be located in east, north-east or north-west direction of the house.
2. It should never be located in the south-east or south-west corners.
3. Place the study table in such a direction that face of the student while studying is towards north-east, east or north.
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Vastu tips for Placement of Underground Water Resources
1. Avoid having septic tanks in the north-east direction.
2. It can be placed in the rear side or the other directions in order to avoid financial and health related troubles.
Who can buy a North facing house design as per vastu?
In general, anyone who buys a north facing house design as per vastu can credit from it. You need to keep in mind a few important Vastu rules before beginning the process. The north is associated with the planet Mercury. The Zodiac signs and astrological charts of a person are crucial while choosing a residential property.
The following people can be benefitted more by buying north facing house design as per vastu properties:
1. People into business or finance such as accountants, bankers, investors, stock market traders and brokers.
2. Communication and e-service providers.
3. People in the hospitality sector.
4. Tour and travel service providers.
What are the north facing home benefits for senior citizens?
If the head of the family or a senior citizen is retired and likes to spend time in religious work then they can be allotted a room in the north, north-east, or south direction. Ideally, the head of the family should be allotted the south-west or south facing room but the above-mentioned directions can be done, if they are not working.
In Conclusion
What to Do
1. Place the main door in 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 8^th pada for getting more benefit.
2. Place water storage tank in north or north-east directions.
3. Construct boundary walls small in height in the north and east directions compared to others.
4. If have an inclined plot, make sure the slope is inclined more towards north or east direction.
5. Place the kitchen in south-east or north-west direction.
6. Plant money plant in the north corner to attract positive energy.
7. Place the electric circuit board in the south-east zone.
8. Design the master bedroom in east, west or south corners.
9. Keep some spare space in north or north-east side while construction.
10. Staircase for north facing houses should be in south or west direction.
What Not To Do
1. Avoid impulse buying of north facing house design as per vastu and consider other factors as well.
2. Avoid north-west direction for main entrance.
3. Avoid 6^th pada as it can cause health related issues.
4. For the facade, strictly avoid shades of red, yellow or maroon.
5. Do not design a staircase in north or north-east direction.
6. Avoid garden in north-west direction.
7. If the plot is inclined, ensure it’s not towards west or south.
8. Avoid underground tank placement in north-west.
9. Avoid placing any mirror in south or south-east sides of the plot.
10. Ensure that there’s no obstruction such as trees, poles blocking the front of the house.
FAQ
Q. What is Vastu Shastra?
A. Vastu Shastra is a concept that has been around for over 8000 years, especially in Indian architecture and house design. It is considered the “science of architecture” and is followed by many Indians when constructing or designing a house. Vastu is believed to conserve energy inside or outside any space and is thought to bring good luck, good fortune, and peace if followed accordingly.
Q. What are the Directions and their importance in Vastu?
A. Understanding the directions is crucial for building a structure. There are 10 directions in total, but 8 are known to us and can be identified using a compass. Each direction has its own significance and can be studied in detail.
Q. What are the North, North-east, and North-west directions in Vastu?
A. The north direction is considered very auspicious in Vastu, associated with wealth and career. The north-east direction is considered wonderful and is associated with knowledge and spiritual growth. The north-west direction, while offering big opportunities, can lead to anxiety, instability, and confusion if not used correctly.
Q. What is the Brahmasthan in Vastu and its importance?
A. The Brahmasthan is the central zone of a property and is considered the most powerful area according to Vastu Shastra. It is where all directions meet, distributing energy to the entire property. It is advised to keep this area free from obstacles.
Q. What are some myths about North face House Design as per Vastu?
A. There are myths regarding north face house designs, such as causing anxiety, financial loss, illness, accidents, and obstacles in success and prosperity. However, these are not necessarily true and should be understood with a proper understanding of Vastu.
Q. What are some Vastu tips for North facing house design?
A. For north face house designs, it is advised to avoid slopes from north to south, have lower boundary walls towards the north and east, place the entrance gate in the eastern or northern half, and avoid a garage in the north direction.
Q. Who can buy a North facing house design as per Vastu?
A. Anyone can achieve north facing home benefits as per Vastu, especially those in business, finance, communication, e-services, hospitality, and travel sectors. The Zodiac signs and astrological charts of a person are also crucial factors to consider.
Q. Is a north face home good for senior citizens?
A. If the head of the family or a senior citizen likes to spend time in religious work, allocating a room in the north, north-east, or south direction can be beneficial. Ideally, the head of the family should be allotted the south-west or south facing room.
October 29, 2024
Modern Library Architecture: Types and Examples of Libraries in World
The term library is based on the Latin liber for ‘book’ or ‘document’, contained in Latin libraria ‘Collection of books’ and librarium ‘Container for books’. Library architecture has been one of the keystones of the profession since the early days of modernity. It fulfills a special function in society. Library buildings are places of learning, gathering, and exploring. People often form strong emotional associations with the libraries in their lives. Library often provides quiet and conducive areas for studying, as well as common areas for group study and collaboration, and may provide public facilities such as computers and access to the Internet.
History
The history of libraries began with the first-ever efforts to organize collections of documents. Topics of interest include accessibility of the collection, arrangement and finding tools, the book trade, the influence of the physical properties of the different writing materials, language distribution, role in education, etc. Since the 1960s, issues of computerization and digitization have arisen changed the walls of the libraries. It has become important for most libraries to move with change in order to remain competitive or relevant, like any other sector.
The earlier libraries comprised archives of the earliest form of writing, such as clay tablets in cuneiform script discovered in temple rooms in Sumer, dating back to 2600 BC. Tablets that were about an inch thick came in various shapes and sizes. Mud-like clay was placed in the wooden frames, and the surface was smoothed for writing and allowed to dry until damp. After being inscribed, the clay dried in the sun, or for a harder finish, was baked in a kiln. For storage, tablets could be stacked on edge, side by side, the contents described by a title written on the edge that faced out and was readily seen.
Types of Libraries
Academic Libraries
These are on college and university campuses and primarily serve the students, faculty and other academic institutions. These library designs are known as institutions that enable the improvement of the reading culture in all parts of the world. Their major functions are to provide support in research, consultancy and resource linkage for students and faculty of the educational institution. Academic libraries house current, reliable, relevant information resources spread through all the disciplines which assuage the information requirements of students and faculty.
Children’s Libraries
Children’s libraries are special collections of books intended for juvenile readers and usually kept in separate rooms of public libraries. The architecture of children’s libraries has entire floors or wings dedicated to them in bigger libraries, while smaller ones may have a separate room or area for children. Services commonly provided by public libraries may include storytelling sessions for infants, toddlers, preschool children, or after-school programs, all with an intention of developing early literacy skills and a love of books.
Research Libraries
A research library is a collection of materials on one or more subjects. It supports scholarly or scientific research and will include primary and secondary sources and maintain permanent collections and attempt to provide access to all necessary materials. This type of library is most often an academic or national library, but a large special library may have a research library within its special field, and a very few of the largest public libraries also serve as research libraries with vast interior design.
Public Libraries
Public Libraries, also known as public lending library, provide services to the public. If the library is part of a countywide library system, citizens with an active library card from around that county can use the library branches associated with the library system. Almost all the materials within a public library are available for borrowing. The library staff are In charge of the number of items patrons may borrow, as well as the details of borrowing time allotted. Typically, libraries issue library cards to community members wishing to borrow books. Often visitors to a city can get a public library card.
Digital Libraries
Digital Libraries these are the type of libraries that house digital resources and information. The definition of a digital library implies that “a digital library uses a variety of software, networking technologies and standards to facilitate access to digital content and data to a designated user community. They are defined as an organization and not a service that provides access to digital works, have a preservation responsibility to provide future access to materials, and provides these items easily and affordably.
Examples of Stunning Libraries around the world
Modern library architecture and design is an evolving craft as technology changes the dynamics of space, yet we will always crave the act of choosing a classic novel from a bookshelf-lined wall with a ladder for top-shelf access. Gone are those days when libraries where all vintage and gothic looking, with brown tones as the universal colour. The evolution of modern-day technology has changed the course of architecture and design. Libraries are no longer limited to a square or rectangular place of quietness.
Bibliophiles, bookaholics and fellow nerds, be ready to witness some of the design excellence and masterpiece of Library Architecture, both exterior and interior design.
Calgary Central Library, Canada
Source- Arch Daily
Design Process and Style
Architect- Snohetta
The architect designed a new central library for Calgary by using inspiration from the province’s arch-shaped Chinook cloud formations. The facade includes interlocking hexagonal patterns, allowing every side of the building to hold equal importance and look as though it could serve as the library’s front. The modern design, which arches over a light rail line, is also filled inside with western red cedar, allowing the flowing forms to merge nature with modern design.
Outdoor amphitheatres nestled into the terraces provide places for people to sit and for library programs to spill outside. The dynamic, triple-glazed facade is composed of a modular, hexagonal pattern that expresses the library’s aims to provide a space that invites in all visitors. Aggregated variations on the hexagon form scatter across the building’s curved surface in alternating panels of fritted glass and occasional iridescent aluminium. The rawness of the material palette should give people the sense that the library is a place of engagement, rather than a sacrosanct repository for books.
Tianjin Binhai Library, China
Source- Azure Magazine
Design Process and Style
Architect- MVRDV, Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute
The futuristic library, designed by Dutch firm Mvrdv, features an atrium with floor-to-ceiling shelving that appears to house 1.2 million books. The undulating bookshelf is the building’s main spatial device, and is used both to frame the space and to create stairs, seating, the layered ceiling and even louvres on the façade. The five-level library has a total space of 33,700 square meters. The building’s mass extrudes upwards from the site and is ‘punctured’ by a spherical auditorium in the centre.
Bookshelves are arrayed on either side of the sphere and act as everything from stairs to seating, even continuing along the ceiling to create an illuminated topography. The angles and curves stimulate different uses of the space, such as reading, walking, meeting and discussing. Together, they form the ‘eye’ of the building. The first and second floors contain mainly lounge areas and reading rooms. The floors above have computer rooms, meeting rooms, and offices. There are also two rooftop patios.
Stuttgart City Library, Germany
Source- Arch Daily
Design Process and Style
Architect- Yi Architects
The Stuttgart City Library comprises gleaming white surfaces and crisp, relaxed lines. The building takes the form of a cube with an edge length of 45 meters. It is constructed out of pale grey fair-faced concrete that visually frames an array of frosted glass bricks. The shell is designed as a double facade that has glass brick level and an inner mullion facade as the thermal building shell. Architects took a minimalist approach toward designing the 9-story library with an open multi-floored reading room shaped like an upside-down pyramid. The only colour within the cube building comes from the thousands of books that line the shelves.
The gallery hall is a 5-story space, square-shaped and surrounded by a shell of books. Interior circulation is arranged in a spiral among the reading gallery areas. The forum, a third central room, is below the heart. The form and symmetry of entrance of the building was inspired by the ‘Cenotaph for Newton’ by Étienne Boullee, but the heart and core of the library follows the design of the ancient pantheon. This is an event room which is in proximity to the light-railway line that crosses the first and second basement floors.
Qatar National Library, Doha
Source
Design Process and Style
Architect- OMA
Qatar National Library was designed to express the importance of the books in the 21st century. Consequently, its design intertwines study, research, collaboration, and interaction. The library is conceived as a single room, bringing together thousands of readers with its million-volume-strong collection. The edges of the building are lifted from the ground, creating three aisles which accommodate the book collection and, at the same time, enclose a central triangular space.
A column-free bridge connects the library’s aisles, allowing for a variety of routes throughout the building. The bridge also hosts media and study rooms, reading tables, exhibition displays, etc. The corrugated-glass facade filters the otherwise bright natural light, creating a tranquil atmosphere for reading. The diffuse light is directed further into the core of the building by a reflecting aluminium ceiling. The heritage collection is placed at the center of the library in a 6m deep excavated-like space, clad in beige.
Abbey Library, Admont, Austria
Source
Design Process and Style
Architect- Joseph Hueber
A part of one of the oldest and largest monasteries in Austria, the Admont Abbey Library exhibits striking Baroque-style artisanship and holds an impressive 70,000 volume collection. It is one of the largest all-embracing creations of the late European Baroque. Within it are represented various artistic genres- architecture, frescoes, sculptures, manuscripts etc. that come together to form an impressive whole. It is a repository of the knowledge gleaned over the centuries.
The world-famous Admont library is in the east wing of the abbey building. It is accessed from the Museum on the first floor of the south wing. It is 70x14x11 meters, making this room the largest monastic library in the world. The massive room with its three chambers is the largest monastery library hall in the world. The ceiling of the central cupola room is supported by twelve pillars made of a reddish marble that emphasize the vertical dimension. This room has no gallery to ensure that the attention of the observer is automatically drawn to the fresco of the central cupola that is at the core of the library’s design concept.
Utopia, Belgium
Source
Design Process and Style
Architect- KAAN Architects
Puzzling its way through the Flemish city of Aalst’s irregular streets and stray squares, Utopia comprises a sprawling 8,000 sq. m structure extending from the shell of a former military school, which now serves a dual purpose as the city’s library and performing arts academy. The new building has been slotted into the urban fabric to enhance the characteristic irregular streets and intimate spaces of the city center, and to interact with them.
The concrete structures seem to be supported by books. The bookcases are pushed up against concrete discs which allow the floors to cantilever out without extra support. Mimicking the treads, the stairs zig-zag upwards, giving the staircase a sculptural presence at the periphery of the magnificent atrium and reading room. The ceilings have been minimalized to the point of being almost undetectable. Much of the building’s exterior comprises new brickwork. The predominant colours of the Flemish city were studied, and the architects chose a dark brick called “Red Aalst”.
Tecnológico de Monterrey New Main Library, Mexico
Source
Design Process and Style
Architect- Sasaki
The transparent structure expands upon the previous library’s functionality, providing 150,000 books; 2 special collections; new teaching laboratories and private and group study spaces. Larger study spaces are internally and externally boxed by books, and feature overhead terraces that act as social lounges. During the course of this study, it was discovered that the building needed a significant seismic upgrade that would be both cost prohibitive and severely limit the flexibility of the building.
The ground floor of the library contains a new student plaza bracketed by a cafe, an auditorium, a gallery, and a lab. The upper floors of the library are dramatically placed above the plaza. By placing the library above this open space, views and connections are created across the campus, and the plaza itself is shaded by the library above. A central staircase extends from the plaza level to the rooftop, culminating in dramatic views of Cerro de la Silla, the iconic mountain that overlooks the campus.
Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, Brazil
Source
Design Process and Style
Architect- Rafael da Silva e Castro
This Majestic library holds the biggest and most valuable collection of Portuguese literature outside of Portugal, with almost 400,000 rare manuscripts, singular works, and unique proofs decorating the shelves. A trio of Portuguese immigrants originally founded the cabinet in 1822 to bring literary traditions and masterpieces to the newly independent Brazil.
The facade, inspired by the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon. The interior also follows the Neo-Manueliene style on the covers, wooden bookcases for books and memorials. The ceiling of the Reading Room has a beautiful chandelier and a skylight in iron structure, the first example of this type of architecture in Brazil. The hall also has a beautiful monument of silver, ivory and marble, of 1.7 m of height, that celebrates the time of the discoveries.
Arabian Library, Arizona, USA
Source
Design Process and Style
Architect- Richard Kennedy Architects
Inspired by Arizona’s slot canyons, the Arabian Library’s distinctive pre-rusted steel facade makes it one of Scottsdale’s most expressive buildings. The interiors felt more like a retail store meets living room than a traditional library, encouraging younger generations. The building is a remembrance of the desert slot canyons of northern Arizona and monument valley, capturing the powerful and unique experience between the compressive stone walls and the ultimate release to the sky above.
Designed around a central court, the building is entered through a slot canyon of steel and glass. Walls reflect the terra-cotta walls of stone as they lean overhead and fall away from the entry path and open to the sky above. The building is lined with perforated hardboard and recycled cotton insulation to accommodate acoustical properties while reinforcing the homogenous notion of the canyon walls. A series of architectural ledges gives way to internal clerestories, introducing daylight to the center of the space. This includes the popular library and café and bookstore elements.
Stormen library, Norway
Source
Design Process and Style
Architect- DRDH Architects
Stormen is a landmark project to create a new cultural quarter for the city of Bodo, Norway composed of two buildings by DRDH architects, a 6,300m² Library and a 11,200m² three-auditorium Concert Hall. Both buildings respond to the particularities of their context, between city and landscape, whilst maintaining a familial relationship that creates an urban ensemble. Externally, both facades display a trabeated construction of pre-cast concrete, with an aggregate of local white stone.
The principal spaces of the library describe an open internal landscape, which focuses upon the main reading space with its glazed elevation to the harbour. The building includes several other community functions, including a flexible performance space, a gallery, a multifunction room and a café. These are defined as a series of rooms that face the city streets. Internally, however, the buildings offer quite different characters. The Concert Hall has three auditoriums compactly placed from east to west across the site. In the centre is the 944 seat Main Hall and the fly tower; with two smaller performance spaces below it, at lower ground level.
October 29, 2024