gratedapple

Liverpool Terraced Housing – Competition

admin@gratedapple.co.uk (Ruth Clayton) — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:54:38 GMT

CATEGORIES: Competition | LOCATION: Liverpool, UK

The proposal was to Increase Density, Provide Flexibility, and Create Privacy.

Developing the 'traditional' Terraced Housing model into a Courtyard Scheme results in and appropriate, efficient and sustainable housing model for this part of town.

Click for more images

Mold Museum refurbishment

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:09:45 GMT

CATEGORIES: Community | LOCATION: North Wales

Minimum interventions defines the Museum's presence on the Square. Internally, the exhibition space has been reconfigured and daylight introduced.

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CALDERDALE College - Reception Area

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:39:17 GMT

CATEGORIES: Education | LOCATION: Halifax

The reconfiguration of the Reception creates an open, clear and welcoming entrance to the College, conveying a sense of quality and pride

Click for more images. Photos by Claudio Esses

MANCHESTER ENTERPRISE ACADEMY CENTRAL - Courtyard Canopy

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 10:53:56 GMT

CATEGORIES: Education | LOCATION: Manchester

The proposed canopy will provide covered external space for social and informal play. The students will have the choice to eat outdoors even in inclement weather, and the movable furniture and large structural spans create opportunities for whole school assemblies and performances.

The composition is simple, three bays of double pitch roof that are truncated and tilted to follow the existing landscape axis. The relation to the existing building is dynamic, zoning the courtyard in distinct areas, unified by the central cover.

Photos by Claudio Esses

ST PETER’S CHURCH HALL

admin@ciutz.co.uk (Blog Admin) — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:58:22 GMT

CATEGORIES: Community | LOCATION: North West England

Locating the new building at the front revitalises the whole site, maximising the Church Hall’s presence in the neighbourhood and its welcoming character.

The simple yet robust design, coupled with its inherent flexibility, facilitates and supports all community endeavours.

Click for more images. Photos by Claudio Esses. B/W by Steve Blears

13 – BEAUTY AND THE 'BEAST'

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:41:26 GMT

Historically, established powers have defined art as the creation of the ‘Beautiful’. From Plato, whose concept of beauty centered on order, norms, and rules (geometry), to Diderot and his Trinity of the truthful, the good and the beautiful, the ‘Ugly’ was excluded from the realm of Art.

The ugly was indeed present but often metabolised with pedagogical intent: the monsters existed to instil fear and promote compliance. Alternatively, they were simply considered wrong, as in certain circles, Mannerist Architecture of the 16 ^th Century still is.

It is only with Kant, Hegel and later with Nietzsche that the representation of imbalance, pain, and dissonance (the ‘ugly’) began to be understood, accepted and acknowledge as essential and intrinsic to the creation of Art.

As we now appreciate works like Leonardo’s Grotesque Heads and Rouault's Clowns as works of Art, one cannot help but wonder if we can develop an equivalent value system for 'ugly' architecture.

Georges Rouault - The English Clown

"...a life of infinite sadness..."

Gottfried Bohm - Pilgrim House, Neviges.

What does it mean when Brutalist architecture is considered ugly?

MANCHESTER ENTERPRISE ACADEMY - THE GREENWOOD

Sun, 12 Mar 2023 14:20:16 GMT

CATEGORIES: Education | LOCATION: South Manchester

In dialogue with the existing and centred around a mature Oak tree, the new building creates an Alternative Educational Provision 'Campus' within the wider Academy site.

The linear form of the three classroom structure defines the external social area that amalgamates and gives identity to the campus.

Built mostly Off-Site, it took just 6 months from inception to completion.

Click for more images. Photos by Claudio Esses

12 – SPECIFICITY AND ABSTRACTION

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 19:18:11 GMT

We know what a ‘Gothic City’ is, but we can’t say where it is because it doesn’t exist. It’s common constituents (Specifics) allow us to find its essence (Abstraction). We have generated the ‘idea’ Gothic City, just as we have elaborated the idea ‘table’ based on our perception and experience of all the tables we encountered during our lifetime.

The more concrete experience we have, the richer, deeper and more complex the abstract idea we generate will be.

Abstraction and Specificity are a dialectic unity where the general and the particular, permanence and change, and the unique and the diverse interact to form the whole.

Artistic tendencies that respond only to the general, universal, ideal (abstract); discard the individual, the specific person with their needs and their potential. Conceptually, the International Style followed this tendency. In Malevich’s White on White all that is specific is eliminated; it is the perfection of the non-existence.

On the other hand, works that only aim to satisfy the particular, the individual, ignore the common constituents of a culture, and are left standing on their own in a vacuum.

Would architecture be at its best when the dialectic forces of Specificity and Abstraction are in balance?

The International Style aspired to the Universal

When the focus is only on the individual, there is little connection with the context, i.e. an empty idea.

PROCESS

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 18:16:04 GMT

ARCHITECTURE IS A CREATIVE COLLECTIVE PROCESS

Ownership by all brings care and commitment to every aspect of our work.

Working internationally, we consider all projects unique and capable of providing a source of identity for a place, organisation or individual.

From the outset we explore all the elements of architecture through collaborative workshops to suit the project's needs and potential. We thrive in challenging areas where development possibilities need fresh thinking and innovative design.

We combine the expertise of a large company experience with a small practice setting.

E.G. a concept rooted in Cultural Heritage. Svanetian protective towers, with EWA

SUSTAINABILITY

Sun, 13 Nov 2022 18:16:07 GMT

A HOLISTIC APPROACH

Grated Apple have signed-up to the RIBA's 2030 Climate Challenge, choosing to meet net zero whole life carbon for new and retrofitted buildings.

We believe that Sustainability should be approached holistically, and includes: Environmental, Social, and Economic Sustainability to ensure that high-quality Architecture and Urbanism is embedded within new and existing developments.

Director Ruth Clayton is a Passive House Accredited Designer .

TESTIMONIALS

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 18:16:10 GMT

Claire Fisher - Trafford Borough Council: Schools Capital Project Manager

WORTHINGTON PRIMARY SCHOOL EXTENSION

"The enthusiasm that both Pablo and Ruth had for the scheme was evident from the very start of the project.

Their professionalism and attention to detail made for a very enjoyable process - just as designing inspirational learning spaces should be!.

The final design was a seamless addition to the School and incorporates some treasured historic items from the original 1905 School.

It's just a shame that we didn't get to celebrate (COVID restrictions) handover with more of their delicious cake!"

Kate Leonard - Libraries Development Manager & Mike Welch - MD

FLINT LIBRARY

"Working with Grated Apple have allowed Aura Leisure & Libraries to create a fantastic modern and welcoming library and wellbeing hub. They've helped us make innovative use of our spaces that will give us the flexibility to provide the community with so many opportunities to stay well, learn, work and develop their life skills...

Value for money and great quality was always at the forefront of their designs, and we are delighted with the final result. From initial conception to project completion, Pablo and Ruth supported us throughout, establishing a great working relationship with all parties from the very first meeting. It was so exciting to work with them and see our ideas become a reality for our customers.

Thank you Grated Apple for what you have helped Aura create!"

Dave Bell - Executive Head Teacher

MANCHESTER ENTERPRISE ACADEMY (MEA) CENTRAL

"Working with Grated Apple was stimulating and rewarding. The generated exciting yet workable ideas, their approach rooted in consultation and collaboration .

They developed our courtyard into a well-planned, flexible, innovative social and learning space and have expanded our options to deliver the curriculum; it's love by the whole school community.

I would not hesitate in selecting Grated Apple again, they would be prepared for a challenge and deliver an inspirational project."

Chris Hindle - Drees & Sommer, Associate

THE GREENWOOD, SCHOOL ALTERNATIVE PROVISION

"Grated Apple provided an excellent all-round and landscape design service with great attention to detail throughout the project.

The project was undertaken under very tight timescales, however the communication and delivery of design information from Grated Apple was incredibly efficient which allowed the project to progress at speed in order to meet the strict project timescales.

I would highly recommend Grated Apple for their architectural and landscape design services."

Adele Cox - Head teacher

PIONEER HOUSE HIGH SCHOOL

"From start to finish, the working relationship with Pablo and Ruth has been a joy! With the freshly prepared 'Grated Apple' cake presented at the launch of the project, to our final celebration of the new build, with Andy Burnham cutting the ribbon and admiring the fabulous design.

The full experience has been a pleasure. Everyone who enters our newly built college marvels at the shapely design, the futuristic style lighting and the sense of space. Students are thriving and feel inspired in the grown-up surroundings.

I would not hesitate recommending Grated Apple. As a headteacher, my vision was brought to reality by the team, I was listened to, supported in my thinking and as a result, this addition to our school is a wonderful space we can all be proud of."

Olivia Couture - Managing Director, Stepping Stones Group

STEPPING STONES DAY NURSERY

"Working with Grated Apple on the development of our brand-new childcare facility was an excellent experience. Pablo and Ruth’s vision, creativity, and attention to detail transformed our project into something truly remarkable. From the initial concepts to the final execution, they demonstrated professionalism, expertise, collaboration, and an ability to blend aesthetics with functionality seamlessly.

Pablo and Ruth are incredibly skilled in providing innovative solutions and their support throughout the process was second to none, ensuring successful completion of the project.

The whole team is extremely happy with our new children’s day nursery and the children are thriving in this expertly designed, inspirational learning environment both indoors and outdoors.

I would highly recommend Grated Apple to anyone looking for an exceptional architect to work with, and I will be excited to work with Pablo and Ruth again on any future projects."

S Biddle and R Clegg - Church Wardens

ST PETER'S CHIRCH HALL

Grated Apple were approached, via an invited competition, to design a new church hall, and their proposal was quickly embraced by the PCC after open discussion.

Throughout the process, Pablo and Ruth were highly responsive, carefully shaping both internal and external details to meet the parish’s requirements. They also managed all legal and regulatory aspects during construction, ensuring a smooth delivery.

The completed hall is welcoming and accessible to the parish and the wider community, fully compliant with current sustainability standards, and is now a much-loved hub for village life.

Grated Apple were a pleasure to work with, and their thoughtful design has made a real difference to the community

Thank you, Grated Apple!"

PIONEER HOUSE S.E.N.D. HIGH SCHOOL

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 11:18:12 GMT

CATEGORIES: Education | LOCATION: South Manchester

This New Build for the older SEND pupils is detached from the existing school and placed deliberately facing the street and the 'world beyond'.

The horizontal and vertical proportions articulate the unifying brick volume: to the street, the building is horizontal with a vertical 'turret' accent; to the interior, the vertical 'turrets' define the rhythm.

Click for more images. Photos by Claudio Esses

STEPPING STONES DAY Nursery

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 12:33:00 GMT

CATEGORIES: Education | LOCATION: North West England

The simple yet distinctive buff clay building creates a welcoming image with pitched roofs forming a building of both domestic scale and civic presence.

Internally, the spaces are friendly, un-institutional, light and inviting, designed from child’s eye level.

Click for more images. Photos by Claudio Esses

LAND IN NORTH WALES

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 11:08:02 GMT

CATEGORIES: Residential | LOCATION: Denbighshire, Wales

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty requires a delicate approach to preserve the feeling of openness. The single storey houses seem to be folds of the slopping ground plane. The two storey houses are located away from key views.

Glass facades reflect the sky/nature.

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CALDERDALE College - Facade Improvements

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 11:46:14 GMT

CATEGORIES: Education | Halifax

The external fabric of the building is uninsulated, with extensive cold bridging and in poor physical condition.

Repairs and the application of External Wall Insulation (Mineral) will ensure a tight envelope. Adjacent to a Registered Historic Park, the render finish will emulate the existing stone with minimal but positive impact.

The main entrance is emphasised by extending the white render to cover the whole ‘bay’ and Ashlar grooves added on top.

Click for more images. Photos by Claudio Esses

WORTHINGTON Primary School - Extension

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 12:42:01 GMT

CATEGORIES: Education | LOCATION: Sale, Trafford

The extension, for the Year 5 and 6 pupils, is conceived as an integrated but independent ‘House’ within the school grounds.

Located at the edge of the site, the Junior pupils are at the threshold of the years to come, more looking out than looking in.

The proposed form and materials reflect the existing building.

Click for more images

FLINT Library – Refurbishment

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 12:41:53 GMT

CATEGORIES: Community | LOCATION: Flint, North Wales

The Library space is reconfigured to create distinctive zones.

The Museum room is given an appropriate status, with an emphasized entrance and austere, gallery-like interior.

A new Kitchen will serve the Multipurpose rooms, multiplying the options for Community use.

Click for more images

Whitbarrow Road

Sun, 07 Feb 2021 11:48:35 GMT

CATEGORIES: Residential | LOCATION: North West England

The formation of a new road in the 1950’s left a triangular piece of land without urban definition.

The two dwellings are arranged as a single unit to create a morphological pattern of line-line-line—dot that gives identity to the ‘left over’ shape of the urban plot.

The simple pitched roof form and the use of different tones and planes of brickwork reduces the scale by emphasising articulation.

Photos by Claudio Esses

Farm Conversion

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 11:59:44 GMT

CATEGORIES: Residential | LOCATION: North West England

Within the Green Belt setting, the proposal is for a sensitive conversion of the existing barns (following NPPF 2018 Paragraph 146d) and the replacement of the standalone double garage with a new dwelling house (following NPPF 2018 paragraph 145d).

The existing double garage lacks architectural merit and its proportions and footprint detracts from typical farm arrangement. The new building relates to the existing, it’s conceived as a ‘mini’ barn and its location on the site enhances the rural setting.

Click for more images

PRESTON Mosque – Competition

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 12:53:13 GMT

CATEGORIES: Competition | LOCATION: Preston, UK

In a Context void of Urbanity, the strategy is to create a Sense of Place.

The New Mosque is Iconic because it is conceived as a Place , not as a building. A constructed Place...

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John Douglas House

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 12:50:06 GMT

CATEGORIES: Residential | LOCATION: North West England

In a Conservation Area, original house by John Douglas.

Volume proportions and the folds of plaster surfaces around existing brickwork re-interprets the original details.

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Complejo Tunel Subfluvial - Competition

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 13:18:49 GMT

CATEGORIES: Competition, Culture | LOCATION: Parana, Argentina

An entrance portal to the site is conceived as an extension of the gateway toll to the tunnel. The Exhibition and Visitor Centre is located below ground level so it doesn’t interrupt the exquisite impact the existing ventilation towers and the maintenance pavilion have with the surrounding landscape.

With: Javier Aleman, Sole Ferreria, Juan Aiello, Pedro Llamedo, Ignacio Marco.

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Q3 Langley

admin@ciutz.co.uk (Blog Admin) — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 16:26:43 GMT

Q3 Academy Langley - Phase 1 & 2 – with Ellis Williams Architects

Oldbury – England

The second Q3 Academy was a completely new secondary school. It was a complex phased project, with year group classrooms clusters, designed to be adapted as the building grew to accommodate each new year group.

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EPSV

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 11:21:13 GMT

Ellesmere Port Sports Village – with Ellis Williams Architects

Ellesmere Port – England

This multi-function sports village had a lot of different end users to satisfy, so consultation and engagement was key in formulating the brief. The timescale and budget was tight, but it was delivered on time and under budget with high levels of end user satisfaction. Again, the use of Revit for co-ordinating the structure and services was a key factor in the successful delivery.

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WELSH NATIONAL SAILING ACADEMY

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 11:18:39 GMT

Welsh National Sailing Academy – with Ellis Williams Architects

Pwhelli – Wales

Inspired by the shape of a whorled seashell, the award winning scheme mixes traditional and modern materials. Responding to the sand dune setting the base of the building appears made of the surrounding land, whilst the translucent upper parts reduce the impact on the skyline.

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Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

BERBUK TOWERS

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 11:17:06 GMT

Berbuk Towers – with Ellis Williams Architects

Tbilisi – Georgia

A fast track project to produce a shell and core tender package in just 4 months for this twin tower hotel, office and residential scheme. The use of Revit enabled such a quick delivery and was essential in co-ordinating the packages in this complex scheme.

Click for more images

Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

HEALTH ACADEMY

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 10:34:36 GMT

Health Academy – with Ellis Williams Architects

Wythenshawe – England

A new build 600 place secondary school, designed to suit a new innovative way of teaching in a more open plan environment. The scheme also included the local library.

Click for more images

Photos courtesy of Ellis Williams Architect s

11 - Kitsch

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 14:16:51 GMT

Milan Kundera said: “... Kitsch excludes everything from its purview which is essentially unacceptable in human existence .” and this has been happening for millennia...

In the Egyptian tombs, archaeologists found royal jewellery of enormous artistic and material worth. They also found copies, imitations made with materials of lesser quality, that were worn by people of inferior hierarchy. The Artisans and Farmers imitated the Merchants and Nobles just as they imitated the Royals. Why? Because instead of wanting to be themselves and through this express their intimate being, they eliminated themselves in the repetition of the other, those whom they wanted to be identified with. Their own identity felt unbearably inferior or, as Kundera said, unacceptable .

During the Pax Romana, the Romans travelled extensively. In Greece they found the famous sculptures, and some of them could buy and bring Greek sculptures back to their domus in the Italian Peninsula; a Greek sculpture in the garden meant prestige for the owner. But there were a lot of tourists and few sculptures, so skilful Greek craftsmen started to copy the original sculptures and sold them to the Roman travellers. Soon enough, Italian craftsmen started to copy the copies to sell to Italians that could not travel but wanted their ‘Greek’ sculpture. Art became a sign of ‘belonging’, a sign of a ‘superior identity’.

There is no Kitsch object per-se. What is Kitsch is the relationship between the Subject and the Object. If I buy a painting because it makes me look distinguished, I am Kitsch.

In Pessac, and based on his Rational principles, Le Corbusier built a housing estate for the Modular (ideal) man i.e. a scheme designed, mostly, independently of its physical and social context, and of the specificity of the people that went to live there. Some of the habitants adapted their space, making it truly their own. And although the result can be criticised from multiple (professional) perspectives, it is worth as an effort to elaborate and preserve their identity i.e. an anti-Kitsch attitude.

Cite Fruges, Pessac. On the left, unit as originally designed by Le Corbusier.

On the right, unit as transformed by the habitants. Is this Kitsch?

WHALLEY RANGE

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 11:17:01 GMT

Whalley Range High School for Girls – with Ellis Williams Architects

Manchester – England

A multi part scheme, utilising modular off-site construction to replace the schools dilapidated kitchen and provide much needed additional flexible dining space, whilst minimizing downtime. Also constructing a new building in the heart of the live school and improving links from the old school and other internal alterations.

Click for more images

Photos courtesy of TEP

CHESTER STORY HOUSE

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 11:08:09 GMT

Chester Story House – with Ellis Williams Architects

Chester – England

A BiM Level 2 scheme with a very complex and listed existing building as the starting point, there were multiple models to manage and two sets of Architects adding to the complexity. Defining the BiM Execution Plan was critical in bringing all the models together.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

10 – TO SEE THE UNSEEN

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 09:49:10 GMT

According to the biblical story, after having descended from Sinai, Moses was disturbed to hear the cries of his people dancing around the Golden Calf.

In a common (and Scholarly) reading of the work, Michelangelo’s Moses is interpreted as showing the prophet responding to the disturbing scene in anger, vengefully in readiness to smash the stone tablets.

Freud took this narrative as a point of departure for his own interpretation, and with his power of observation and analysis, contended that while rising and letting the tablets slip, Michelangelo’s Moses gained control of his rage; thus, the right hand retracted in the beard, pulling it along in the wake of his gesture, and clamping down on the slipping tablets along with the tension of his inner right arm. Freud believed that Michelangelo’s Moses was and always will be a figure in the act of restraining himself from rising to the anger of his own passion.

By observing in detail, we can create narratives that open new avenues of interpretation. In Architecture, this would translate as concentrating on what a building means, rather than how it looks. This is particularly relevant to ‘propaganda’ architecture, where iconic masterpieces sometimes masquerade ideological manipulation.

China Central TV Headquarters by OMA, an extraordinary building. But, is China's regime as open as this building suggests?

Freud saw what was hardly seen: Moses thought about his mission and resigned to the satisfaction of his desire (reprisal)

LONGLEY PARK COLLEGE

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 11:04:56 GMT

Longley Park – with Ellis Williams Architects
Sheffield – England

The complex massing and the use of innovative construction methods and materials combined to produce an award winning scheme with a wealth of visual interest.

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Photos courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

09 - REPRODUCTION IN ART

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 10:01:24 GMT

Walter Benjamin proposed that the ‘aura’ of a work of art is devalued by mechanical reproduction i.e. the action of mechanical reproduction diminishes the original art work by changing the cultural context (original vs, copy); thus, the ‘aura’ (the unique aesthetic authority) of an artwork is absent from the mechanically produced copy.

With the reproduction of a work of art, alongside the loss of its ‘uniqueness’, comes greater accessibility. Accepting the risk the reproduction entails, its importance is invaluable: it makes access to art more democratic.

Whilst Caravaggio’s The Crucifixion of St. Peter is evidently unique, its prints and image reproduction allow people who don’t have the opportunity to visit Rome to appreciate the masterpiece.

Even if reproduction means the loss of the ‘aura’, what is not lost is the aesthetic pleasure one might have, which in turn enriches life. And, as the work of art is not art without the interaction with a receptor (public), we could say reproduction enriches the original as this is re-interpreted and re-created by a larger audience.

Is the work devalued by this reproduction?

Campus Whitehaven

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 10:46:09 GMT

Campus Whitehaven – with Ellis Williams Architects
Whitehaven, England

Challenging project to combine a main stream secondary school, with a SEN through school into a single campus with a tight budget, whilst maintaining the identity of the two existing schools.

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Photos courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

08 – Style

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 10:01:26 GMT

Style is a set of formal concepts which leads to the selection of formal elements to be arranged in a discernible manner. It is not composition but is intimately related to it. Style refers to belonging and constancy.

Style is a repository developed by a period and a place that, with its syntax, establishes a typology (rules). It develops in response to specific historic context.

The International Style, with its ‘elements’ made of concrete, steel and glass arranged in a syntax of the modern industrialised age, arose from particular architectural and political thoughts in the 1910s.

Contrary to the substance of Style, does the repetition of certain architectural ‘mannerisms’ (language implies thought) denote the pursuit of ‘Fashion’ with its subsequent copy, transience and superficiality?

Casa del Fascio, Giuseppe Terragni:

contextual International Style

Similar displacement mannerism: is this just 'fashion'?

07 – Taste

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 10:01:23 GMT

In Art, whether we are conscious or not, taste is not a physiological response; is the result of experience and choices we make. It is always anchored in an ideological base.

Knowledge forms ideas, and with an ideology we are able to judge.

We are responsible for our taste. If we don’t know why we like or dislike something, or if we don’t analyse the mechanisms of our judgment, we forfeit our conscience.

In design, what is good taste?

is it the re-edition of trends? Is it pure rebellion?

Or good taste is to work with creative attitude inside of what exist to generate new responses?…

Sabbioneta, utopic city of the late Italian Renaissance: example for the taste of the orthogonal, rigid and schematic, sustained by a closed and despot ideology

Fashion: ugly is (only) 'chic' because is promoted by the beautiful

ABRAHAM MOSS

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 09:50:47 GMT

Abraham Moss School and Masterplan – with Ellis Williams Architects

Manchester – England

Orientating all active frontages to the central spine focuses the vibrancy, resolves way finding and facilitates the management of the site.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

Grange

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 14:24:07 GMT

Grange school for children with Autism – with Ellis Williams Architects

Manchester – England

The design was focused on how the building feels, sounds, looks, smells and functions to provide an autism-friendly sensory environment.

Click for more images

Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

06 – Form and Content

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 10:10:20 GMT

In the creation of every work of Art, the Form and the Content interact without precedence. One suggests, stimulates, generates the other.

Through history, we can observe how changes in religious faith (Content) resulted in changes in the religious space (Form), which then stimulates new religious behaviours, e.g. from Greek temples where only Gods where allowed to enter, to the Community Centred religious spaces of today.

If the intrinsic interdependence between Content (Essence) and Form (Appearance) is broken, the integrity of the work is altered.

The design of the building Appearance has become a preoccupation in itself. This is evident in facades designed as ‘cloaks to impress’, or just to replicate prevailing trends.

When the ‘skin’ of the building no longer relates to its Essence, do we need to re-formulate the Content and Form dialectics, or are we in the presence of a simplified creative process?

Skin Deep

A Place to Gather

ORIEL MOSTYN

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 14:33:14 GMT

RIBA Award – 2011
Mostyn Gallery – with Ellis Williams Architects

Llandudno – Wales

A listed facade restored with a touch of ‘gold’. A transition space (the tube) leads to the galleries and folds back to connect with the cafe. The galleries are optimised for daylight.

Click for more images

Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

05 - ARCHITECTURE (ART), AN ACT OF CONSCIENCE AND SUBLIMATION

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 10:41:50 GMT

Art (Architecture) emerges with the confluence of:

1_Conscious engagement with the world; and

2_Sublimation.

The Conscience reveals itself by the fact that the artist knows that he or she knows.

Sublimation is an unconscious process. The conscience does not control it (it can’t).

The conscious and unconscious are always present, albeit if different proportions, in works of art. When we observe art, therefore, we should do it from both the social and psychological realities that surround it.

When designing the Piazza San Pietro, Bernini consciously responds with total coherence to the Papal absolutist authority. His monumental ellipse, defined by the gigantic columns, pilasters and statues, contains the ‘popolo piccolo’ with the promise of protection but the intent of its subordination.

In contrast, Borromini, with his church San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane questions the legacy of history as a dogma while recognising it as a source of experience. His composition is tension, architectural symbol of existential conflict. His is an enormous transgression, he doesn’t destroy the rules, he subordinates them dialectically, demonstrating by doing so that there is no power that can hold absolute truth, no power that can guarantee the eternal validity of an experience.

Borromini makes explicit the need to reject omnipotence.

Both Bernini and Borromini consciously engage with the world that surrounds them, but their responses are diametrically opposed: one accepts/forms part of the orthodoxy, and the other questions it.

The theory of psychoanalysis is an invaluable tool to access the mechanisms to interpret sublimation. Borromini started his career working under the direction of Bernini, who was his contemporary and part of the establishment. One wonders what internal pulses motivated Borromini to differentiate himself from his senior, in order to establish his unique take of Roman Baroque architecture.

Promise of Containment

Reinterpreted Rules

Berbuk Towers

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 14:34:18 GMT

Berbuk Towers – with Ellis Williams Architects

Tbilisi – Georgia

Hotel and Apartments rising from the ground like mountains, the strata expressed in the horizontals.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

04 – SUBJECT, OBJECT AND ARCHITECTURE

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 10:47:01 GMT

Throughout history we can observe how Architecture has responded to the dichotomy of the Subject- Object dialectic.

The Renaissance was the expression of a social project in which reason prevailed and where the Subject was organised in a predictable structure. In contrast to the particular, universal doctrine was exalted. In architecture, harmony was geometrically expressed and order meant rational composition. The beauty of this movement resides precisely in this lattice of everything being objectively rational , secured and ordered, with little or no acknowledgment of the personal .

Mannerism arrived when the social project of the Renaissance could no longer be sustained. The XVI century was unstable and could not offer the illusion of order for the individual. The architecture responded with tension and instability, expressing and stimulating the Subject to participate, to make choices, to take decisions. The beauty here resides in the unexpected.

Today, certain celebrated architecture based on classical neo-rationalist composition, seems to be adopting a Renaissance approach, as if the individual (particular) should be contained within a rigorous order (universal) . One wonders what the relevance of such an approach is when we consider the times in which we live.

The Rational, Ordered, Secured

Which Path to Take

Hovsan

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 15:08:46 GMT

Hovsan Masterplan – with Ellis Williams Architects

Baku – Azerbaijan

A new town is arranged along a green spine. Mixed use, scale and density ensures its vibrancy, the spine defines its identity.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

03 – Symbolism

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 10:50:25 GMT

Symbols suggest meaning without revealing it. They are signs that articulate the un-known with the known.

More than creating space, architects symbolise space.

Architects do this by symbolising the client’s internal and external realities, their history, their desires, their duration .

Through this process of symbolism, the architect generates the potential for the client’s self-expression through their habitat.

Patio as Gathering or Refuge?

Perrotas

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 15:08:47 GMT

RAIA Regional Awards: Commendation – 1998
Perrotas Restaurant – with TPG Architects

Cairns – Australia

A diagonal across ensures the proportions of the existing facade are unaltered despite the addition in front of it.

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with TPG Architects

02 – Public Space and Architecture

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 10:52:49 GMT

Cities are environments of social interaction. Public space structures the city.

The urban quality of a city can be assessed by the quality, programming and location of its public spaces.

A common approach is to think public space (exterior) and building (interior) as distinct. To what extent can they be integrated?

Urban Space and Building could be conceived without conceptual differentiation. In other words, a plaza can be open or covered and a school can be open or covered, and both are part of an urban continuum.

In this scenario we could say that Public Space is Architecture and Architecture is Public Space.

A building can be thought of as an integral component of the public space, as a moment, a particularity of the range of uses and perceptions that make up urban life.

CAPE SCHANCK

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sat, 21 Nov 2020 15:08:48 GMT

Links House – with Wolveridge Architects

Cape Schanck – Australia

Looking towards the ocean, the house does not blink.

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with Wolveridge Architects

Kings Dock

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 15:08:51 GMT

RAIA Regional Awards: Commendation – 1998
Kings Dock Masterplan – with Ellis Williams Architects

Liverpool – England

Apartments fronting the river: In the foreground, the horizontality of the buildings is punctuated by the ‘periscopes’ (luxury duplex apartments) in the background.

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Images courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

01 – Architecture of Transformation

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 11:00:42 GMT

From occupation to demolition, buildings are subject to organizational changes.

The speed of social, scientific and technical development determines that the brief that originated the building becomes obsolete before the building itself. Changes of use, interpretation and definition generate uninterrupted transformation in the built space.

Architecture as built space is a process in permanent transformation.

Hence: should Architecture as a proposal have a vocation to be transformed, thought with a certain level of ambiguity which is foreseeable from the moment the brief is formulated?

Symmetry curtails evolution

Free University, Berlin. A design that integrates change

RAMPA

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 15:12:29 GMT

Disable access to San Salvador Church – in partnership with Javier Alemán

Buenos Aires – Argentina

Contemporary language and materiality integrate fluidly with existing classicism.

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in partnership with Javier Alemán

COMMUNICATION ACADEMY

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 15:12:30 GMT

Communications Academy – with Ellis Williams Architects

Manchester – England

The central courtyard is the reference space, where interaction facilitates the social development of the students.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

LA BOCA

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 15:12:13 GMT

La Boca, Plan de recuperación urbana – Buenos Aires City Council

Buenos Aires – Argentina

Plan to consolidate the neighbourhood by encouraging the feeling of belonging to the immediate habitat through the improvement of the basic social infrastructure and acknowledgement of the particular identity of each place.

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REEF CLUB

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 15:21:41 GMT

The Reef Club Apartments – with TPG Architects

Port Douglas – Australia

Every apartment is expressed; the building is larger than perceived.

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with TPG Architects

EPSV

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 15:29:28 GMT

Ellesmere Port Sports Village – with Ellis Williams Architects
Ellesmere Port – England

A clear diagram for the sports village: A loggia running the whole length of the building connects all activities.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

Longley Park College

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 15:29:29 GMT

RIBA Award – 2005
Longley Park College – with Ellis Williams Architects

Sheffield – England

Despite the tight site, the massing recedes to create an urban threshold at the entrance. An internal plaza is the physical and social centre.

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Photos courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

St MARY’S PARISH CENTRE

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 08:54:29 GMT

St Mary’s Parish Office – with Ellis Williams Architects

Burley in Wharfedale – England

A building that opens itself to the community. In the corner, the simultaneous recess and cantilever of the facade creates a fluid transition between the street and the neighbourhood cafe within it.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

FAR PAVILLIONS

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 08:54:30 GMT

Far Pavillions – with TPG Architects

Port Douglas – Australia

The roofscape, water and greenery imbue these villas with a tropical feel.

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with TPG Architects

MANTRA

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 08:56:28 GMT

Mantra PortSea – with TPG Architects

Port Douglas – Australia

The hotel was made to feel as if it was on the beach.

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with TPG Architects

THE LAKES

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 09:07:31 GMT

The Lakes Apartments – with TPG Architects

Cairns – Australia

The complex means tropics i.e. palm trees and water.

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Photos courtesy of TPG Architects

FIELD

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 09:07:32 GMT

RAIA Regional Awards: Commendation – 1999
Field’s Residence – with TPG Architects

Cairns – Australia

The smooth concrete anchors the house to the hill; the curved roof gives it wings.

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with TPG Architects

MERSEY OBSEVATORY

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2020 09:15:36 GMT

International Design Competition: Shortlist – 2008
Mersey Observatory – with Ellis Williams Architects

Crosby Beach – England

In this dramatic re-interpretation of the quintessential British pier, the beach esplanade starts rising to culminate cantilevering above the water. Unlike in most observatories around the world, the Mersey Observatory doesn’t rely on a lift to get a vantage viewpoint.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

THE PENINSULA BOUTIQUE HOTEL

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 09:27:18 GMT

RAIA State Awards: High Commendation – 2000
The Peninsula Boutique Hotel – with TPG Architects

Port Douglas – Australia

The design is articulated in such a way as to confer intimate scale. Every guest can ‘own’ a space with its own character and definition.

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with TPG Architects

GEV

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 09:27:19 GMT

RICS Community Benefit Award – 2010
Gorton Educational Village – with Ellis Williams Architects

Manchester – England

A central street where the schools, sports centre, eating and assembly spaces amalgamate to create a city like vibrant feel.

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Photos courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

MONSOON

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 09:29:56 GMT

MBA National Medium Density Housing Award: Winner – 2000
Monsoon Villas – with TPG Architects

Port Douglas – Australia

Cascading down, the villas accommodate themselves on the hill creating richly framed spaces. Light and shade carve the massing.

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with TPG Architects

Whalley Range

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 09:34:47 GMT

Whalley Range High School for Girls – with Ellis Williams Architects

Manchester – England

The new building is tilted from the orthogonal grid of the existing Victorian buildings. This simple move creates external spaces of different scales and dynamic ‘threshold’ points that, in a tension and release sequence, connect them.

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Photos courtesy of TEP

GQ3

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 09:34:41 GMT

GQ3 Gateshead Waterfront Masterplan – with Ellis Williams Architects

Gateshead – England

In contrast with the ‘built up’ waterfront of Newcastle, the premise was to reinforce the green character of the Gateshead coast. Starting with a park, the proposed development frames it. The Baltic and The Sage benefit from the urban setting the park creates as it celebrates their landmark status.

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Photos/Renders courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

NEWCASTLE HIGH SCHOOL

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 09:37:54 GMT

Newcastle Lord Mayor’s Special Award – 2017
Newcastle High School for Girls – with Ellis Williams Architects

Newcastle – England

A school building nesting in a wooded area. The vertical copper cladding will weather to resemble the bark of the surrounding trees. Trees amongst trees.

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Photos courtesy of Ellis Williams Architects

YOUNG’S

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 09:39:16 GMT

Young’s Residence – with TPG Architects

Port Douglas – Australia

Two axis determine the geometry of the house, one is orientated to the mountains, the other orientates the pool towards the beach below.

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with TPG Architects

Warburton Nurseries

PAR003_OE@heg.com — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 11:07:31 GMT

CATEGORIES: Residential | LOCATION: North West England

Sitting on Green Belt land, a large extension to a 19 ^th Century home is sensitively proportioned, with roots on the architectural language of John Douglas, predominant in this area of the North West.

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