COORDINATION ASIA - Shanghai Office

OFFICES

COORDINATION ASIA - Shanghai Office

May 27 2011

Berlin and Shanghai-based COORDINATION ASIA has just migrated its Shanghai office from an old textile mill to a glass-company headquarters. The former office was located on the banks of Suzhou Creek at No. 50 Monganshan Road in an old textile mill now known as M50 and housing a mix of creative businesses, cafes and restaurants.


COORDINATION ASIA’s new digs are located in the former headquarters of the Shanghai Glass Company at Huangpi Road 688, a building waiting for complete renovation in 2012.


COORDINATION’s CEO Tilman Thürmer, now more or less permanently located in Shanghai, says he misses the artistic community of M50, but loves the downtown location and the cool vibe of the new space.


The team at COORDINATION created a sleek 300 square-meter home for itself among the crazy “old-style European mansion” decor that was the result of a renovation in the 90s. They kept the marble, hardwood, built-in bookshelves, hidden storage, weird ceiling molding and the odd mix of ceiling light fixtures but covered most of it with black paint, a colour prominent in many COORDINATION projects.


The result is an elegant and artsy creative space that could be mistaken for a completely customized environment. - Tuija Seipell. http://www.thecoolhunter.net/

José Adrião Arquitecto : Baixa Pombalino building

À Lisbonne, au coeur du quartier historique de Baixa Palomobino, rue des Fanqueiros, l’architecte José Adrião a réhabilité un immeuble à colombages bâti au 18ème siècle et paré des traditionnels azulejos. Destiné à la location saisonnière, chaque appartement a conservé les éléments structurels et décoratifs de la bâtisse, témoins d’une époque.

About : « The intervention aimed for the adaptation and refurbishment of a “Pombalino” building, turning it into a short term rental unit.

Located in the heart of the historical area of Baixa, in Lisbon, the building sits at the corner of Rua dos Fanqueiros and Rua da Conceição. Since its construction in the late 18th century, there has been a great deal of changes and modifications that deeply modified the original character of its fractions.

As project strategy and as a way of reducing costs, the decision was made to accept its existing heterogeneous character. The intervention was defined as a new addition in continuity with its history, incorporating the changes of different times and setting aside a possible restoration process.

The main actions determined by the project were: the typological change from two apartments per floor to three, the introduction of an elevator, the substitution of all infrastructures and the conservation of a substantial part of construction elements, such as floor boards, the wooden ceilings in overlapping boards, internal and external tiles, window frames and doors. The trim needed and the “patches” were considered as such. »

Photos  © FG + SG

Yellow Brick House - Vilnius, Lithuania

This residence in the Pavilniai Regional Park, near the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, is one of those that we just have to point out, although it is neither brand-new nor unfamiliar to many readers.

The confident combination of history and modern needs of an upscale family was achieved by the architectural firm G. Natkevicius & Partners.


Located by in the valley of river Vilnia that gave the city its name, the park and the city have a rich history with the oldest written records dating back to 1323. The Puckoriu escarpment in the park has rare rock formations from the Ice Age. A large munitions factory on the site dates back to the 17th century.


It seems that in Vilnius private residents can buy pieces of such storied land, and when the current owner of the site - a banker and collector of antique books - bought it, a single bright-yellow building stood on it. On further examination, the owners found out that the building was part of the cannon foundry and it was built of valuable, historic Vilnius-made bricks.

The yellow house itself was not as big as the four-member family wanted their home to be, so they decided to build their new home of glass and erect it around the historic brick house. The exposed brick adds a tactile sexy feel and softens the potentially cold atmosphere of the glass structure. A sensuous curved opening, cut for the staircase that is outside the brick house, adds another focal point that works beautifully with the square elements around it.


The owners' antique library is now in the basement of the old brick house, the kids' rooms are on the ground floor, the master bedroom on the top floor. The other functions - living, dining, cooking, baths, garages - are all within the new glass structure. As a stunning bonus to the historically sensitive solution, the residents enjoy an amazing 360-degree view of the park. Sigh. - Tuija Seipell   http://www.thecoolhunter.net/

Shrine Flat-table by Sschemata Architecture Office

Japanese designer Jo Nagasaka of Sschemata Architecture Office presented this series of wooden tables with fluorescent resin encasing their gouged-out tops at Spazio Rossana Orlandiin Milan last month.

Called Shrine Flat-table, the piece is based on a traditional Japanese design with eight legs.

The colour of the resin is more or less intense depending on the varying depths of the wood across its surface.

More about Sschemata Architecture Office on Dezeen »

See all our stories about Milan 2011 »

The information below is from Jo Nagasaka:

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Flat Table peeled

The Shrine Flat-table is a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Japanese Hassoku dai, which means 8 legged table. The top of the Shrine Table can be separated from its legs.

In addition to the traditional table we added a layer of coloured epoxy poured on a wooden surface which grain had been gushed out to create different depth and by doing so various intensity in colour.

Shrine Flat-table comes in 3 Heights with the following dimensions: 750×300 (top) and total height of 540, 720 or 900mm.