Art visual np2

After Interaction Between the Elements , here is another project by Rietveld Landscape I wanted to publish. Bunker 599 + 603 is the story of a Matta Clarkian cut in the middle of a bunker on the Dutch coast. The most massive and close architecture thus becomes permeable and proposes to the viewer, a three dimensional section of this mass of concrete. Here is the official text related to the project: Bunker 599 + 603 This project lays bare two secrets of the New Dutch Waterline (NDW), a military line of defence in use from 1815 until 1940 protecting the cities of Muiden, Utrecht, Vreeswijk and Gorinchem by means of intentional flooding. A seemingly indestructible bunker with monumental status is sliced open. The design thereby opens up the minuscule interior of one of NDW’s 700 bunkers, the insides of which are normally cut off from view completely. In addition, a long wooden boardwalk cuts through the extremely heavy construction. It leads visitors to a flooded area and...

Here is the project that Hans Schabus achieved for the Venice Art Biennale 2005: a monumental piece of rock in the middle of the Giardini. The inside part is as impressive as the outside with numerous wooden beams and posts maintaining the building's structural integrity.

The Maslennikov Kitchen Factory is situated in Samara in the center of Russia and presents the curious characteristics of adopting the shape of the Sovietic Hammer and Sickle. This building is currently in the middle of a preservationist battle confronted to its potential destruction. In the case of its destruction, it would be interesting to look at the footprint the building would have leave, in the way of a monumental ideological stamp.

Spatiology is a book written (and drawn) by Vittorio Giorgini , former teacher at the Pratt Institute who exposes among other fields, his interest for the geometrical and physical construction of topological thin shell structures. The book is rich of various drawings illustrating the geometrical processes applied to simple surfaces in order to achieve topological characteristics. This research matches with Giorgini's obsession for the minimal impact of a building on the ground. We can observe this obsession through the Casa Saldarini (Italy 1962) and the Liberty Center (done with Pratt's students in New York 1976) but also in other projects designed by the Italian architect which are using a more "industrial" architectural vocabulary. A video is available on youtube showing Giorgini in the garden of the Casa Saldarini talking (in Italian) about his small scales shells but also about the house itself (starting after the 5th minute) Casa Saldarini Liberty Center

Notre Dame de Royan is a 1958 church in Royan (West part of France) which was designed by architects Guillaume Gillet & Marc Hebrard in association with engineers B ernard Lafaille, Rene Sarger & Ou Tseng after the destruction of the first church during WWII. The two first photographs are from Guillaume Amat (see previous post )

photograph by Baobee I was recently writing about Jorge Luis Borges as director of the National Library of the Argentine Republic (see previous post ); here is the current building that hosts the Biblioteca Nacional in Buenos Aires. It was designed in 1961 by Clorindo Testa, Francisco Bullrich & Alicia Cazzaniga , yet only started to built in 1971 and eventually opened in...1992. photograph by Fiddy James photograph by Nikko1974 photograph by Calovi photograph by Castronovot

The Truffle is a self sustaining small shelter designed and built by the Spanish office Ensamble Studio (see previous article about their incredible Hemeroscopium House). The most remarkable aspect of this building to me is its construction process. In fact, in a way which recalls Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev's Bell construction, the team has first created an empty hillock, then assembled the negative of the architecture with hay bundles within this emptiness, cast concrete in between and eventually after the concrete dried, destroyed the earth hillock. The remaining step then consists in the evacuation of the hay from the inside of the building, task which is ensured by Paulina the cow in the following movie: thanks Xinyang for reminding me of this beautiful project !

Brittlebush is a desert dwelling designed and built by Simon de Aguero in Arizona. 90% of the construction material have been found on site or nearby which makes this shelter being both high-tech and vernacular at the same time... More to read on Designboom Thanks to Nikolas (who sent me this link after finding disturbing similitude with the project I am currently working on !)

Shanghai's 1933 Slaughterhouse has now been reconverted into an Art Center. The intermediary area between the peripheral building and the central cupola is composed by a multitude of beautiful massive concrete pathways that were originally paced by the animals.

Whoever travels in Laos can visit at some point Akha villages hosting surprising elevated little houses as you can see on the pictures. Those houses called "love huts", are built by the village's male teenagers in order for them to invite girls for a celebration of their young libidos. I ignore why those huts need to be elevated but their particularity is pretty compelling.