House in La Finca

This is the most minimalist project design by A-cero situated in an exclusive state called La Finca in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, an area with wide green spaces, lakes and spectaculars houses.

Here is the project description:

The structure of this new house is made of clear volumes, straight lines and simples shapes. The house’s front is made of marble travertino and there are many windows in it. Both elements give a lot of lightness to the house.

It has a 1.600 square meter surface and three floors (basement, ground and high floor). The structure adapts itself to the slope where the house is. The garage and service spaces are in the basement, while the most public spaces (lounge, dining room, living room, etc) are in the first floor. Bedrooms and more private rooms are in the high floor.

A-cero has also designed the 80 square meter spectacular and geometric swimming pool that harmonizes with the clean architecture of this project.

Special thanks to Teresa Rodriguez from A-cero for sharing.

Denmark Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010 / BIG

© Iwan Baan

The Shanghai Expo 2010 has opened its doors, and we start to see how the pavilions evolved from the previews we saw during design/construction phases at ArchDaily, to become a showcase of the current status of architecture from around the world.
The Denmark Pavilion was one of the first ones we presented you, almost a year ago. The project, designed by BIG with ARUP and 2+1, was interesting not only from an architectural and structural point of view, but also for the danish spirit it represents.
Basically, the pavilion is a big loop on which visitors ride around on one of the 1,500 bikes available at the entrance, a chance to experience the Danish urban way. At the center of the pavilion there’s a big pool with fresh water from Copenhagen’s harbor (one of the most clean in the world), on which visitors can even swim.
At the center of the pool you will find The Little Mermaid, a statue that has become a symbol for Denmark. And this time, it will be moved temporarily to China. In Bjarke Ingels words “it is considerably more resource efficient moving The Little Mermaid to China, than moving 1.3 billion Chinese to Copenhagen”.
After the break, more images of the completed pavilion by arch photographer Iwan Baan, including Bjarke Ingels himself riding a bike on the circular loop:

The pavilion is a monolithic structure in white painted steel which keeps it cool during the Shanghai summer sun due to its heat-reflecting characteristics. The roof is covered with a light blue surfacing texture, known from Danish cycle paths. Inside, the floor is covered with light epoxy and also features the blue cycle path where the bikes pass through the building. The steel of the facade is perforated in a pattern that reflects the actual structural stresses that the pavilion is experiencing making it a 1:1 stress test.
“Sustainability is often misunderstood as the neo-protestant notion “that it has to hurt in order to do good”. “You’re not supposed to take long warm showers – because wasting all that water is not good for the environment” or “you’re not supposed to fly on holidays – because airtraffic is bad for the environment”. Gradually we all get the feeling that sustainable life simply is less fun than normal life. If sustainable designs are to become competitive it can not be for purely moral or political reasons – they have to be more attractive and desirable than the non-sustainable alternative. With the Danish Pavilion we have attempted to consolidate a handful of real experiences of how a sustainable city – such as Copenhagen – can in fact increase the quality of life”,
- Bjarke Ingels

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

PROJECT: Danish Pavilion at the EXPO 2010
SIZE: 3.000m2
CLIENT: EBST
COLLABORATORS: 2+1, Arup AGU, Arup Shanghai, Tongji Design Institute, Ai Wei Wei, Jeppe Hein, Martin De Thurah, Peter Funch
LOCATION : Shanghai, China
Architect: BIG
Creative Director: Bjarke Ingels
Partner-in-Charge: Finn Norkjaer
Team: Tobias Hjortdahl, Jan Magasanik, Claus Tversted, Henrick Poulsen, Niels Lund Petersen, Kamil Szoltysek, Sonja Reisinger, Anders Ulsted, Jan Borgstrom, Pauline Lavie, Teis Draiby, Daniel Sundlin, Line Gericke, Armen Menendian, Karsten Hammer Hansen, Martin W. Mortensen, Kenneth Sorensen, Jesper Larsen, Anders Tversted

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

German Pavilion by Schmidhuber + Kaindl

Shanghai Expo 2010: architectural photographer Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre has sent us another update from Shanghai Expo 2010; this time the German Pavilion designed by architects Schmidhuber + Kaindl.

The pavilion is called “balancity” and represents “a city in balance between renewal and preservation, innovation and tradition, urbanity and nature, society and its individuals, work and recreation, and finally, between globalisation and national identity”.

All photographs are copyright Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre/View and are used with permission.

Shanghai Expo 2010 opens on 1 May; see all our stories about the Expo here. Here’s some text from the architects’ website:

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Central Idea

At the german pavilion in Shanghai, the Federal Republic of Germany is presenting itself as a multifaceted nation rich in ideas. As an innovative, forward-looking country that also places great value on the preservation of its roots and heritage. Diversity and balance, rather than ’sameness’, are vital to tomorrow’s cities.

The interplay between the diversity and contrasts of German cities enables a very special quality of life and vitality to emerge. This is why we believe it is essential to preserve this diversity without forgoing innovation and technology.

The Federal Republic of Germany is intent on conveying this very personal German perspective credibly and memorably. Germany’s contribution to the EXPO 2010 ‘Better City, Better Life’ theme is called: balancity a city in balance between renewal and preservation, innovation and tradition, urbanity and nature, society and its individuals, work and recreation, and finally, between globalisation and national identity. This central idea can be directly experienced by visitors everywhere in the German pavilion. Balancity a marriage of the terms ‘balance’ and ‘city’ is Germany’s interpretation of the ‘Better City, Better Life’ Expo theme.

balancity

The thinking behind balancity is clearly reflected in the pavilion architecture. A city symbolises the balance between diversity and density, and is composed of many different historical layers, spaces, functions and environments. In many cities, the industrial evolution from a production to a service orientation has led to large industrial spaces being transformed into attractive parks and residential environments.

Nature and natural landscapes re slowly but surely finding their way into the city. In contemporary European urban planning, the historically defined antipodes of city and country are now dovetailing towards a single cohesive organism. The resulting consciousness and commitment to sustainable, energy-efficient living concepts are leading to a definite integration of nature into urban spaces and architectural concepts. The architecture of the German pavilion is very much like a dynamic, urban organism, an accessible three-dimensional sculpture, mirroring the diversity of life in the city and the country in Germany.

The German pavilion as a sculpture