The Pavilion at The Norman Foster Foundation

The Norman Foster Foundation opened its doors in central Madrid. Inhabiting in an old residential palace, and having undergone extensive renovation works since, the Foundation have also constructed their own contemporary courtyard pavilion. Housing a treasure trove of artefacts from Lord Foster’s personal collection, the structure-which is shaped like the wing of an aircraft-also exhibits a newly restored 1927 Avions Voisin C7 originally owned by Le Corbusier.

The pavilion-the design of which was led by Lord Foster, David Delgado, Raúl Gómez and Jorge López-is tucked between the palace and an adjacent neighbour. With a portion of the façade (a wide glass door weighing 2.7 tons and measuring 6 metres in length) opening onto a sun-drenched, shaded courtyard, the intention is that this pavilion-alongside its primary function as an exhibition space-will also host talks, discussion groups, and events.

By collaborating closely with (primarily) Spanish craftspeople in metal and glass, the design team have been able to develop a combination of slim, beat-blasted stainless steel sections welded together and mirror-polished edges that “dematerialize the bulk of supporting structures.”

The Pavilion, Madrid, Spain, at The Norman Foster Foundation

Haus am Horn by Georg Muche

In 1919, at a time in which Germany was still in upheaval over its defeat in the First World War (and compounded by the loss of its monarchy), the Academy of Fine Arts and School of Applied Arts in Weimar, Germany, were combined to form the first Bauhaus. Its stated goal was to erase the separation that had developed between artists and craftsmen, combining the talents of both occupations in order to achieve a unified architectonic feeling which they believed had been lost in the divide. Students of the Bauhaus were to abandon the framework of design standards that had been developed by traditional European schools and experiment with natural materials, abstract forms, and their own intuitions. Although the school’s output was initially Expressionist in nature, by 1922 it had evolved into something more in line with the rising International Style.

An exhibition of work produced by the Bauhaus in 1923 perfectly embodied this changing perspective of design. True to the institution’s roots, the exhibition was not merely a gallery of objects or images, but an entire house filled with works by Bauhaus students. The Haus am Horn, as it was named, was designed by Georg Muche and Adolf Meyer as a prototype for affordable housing which could be quickly and inexpensively mass-produced. The use of experimental building techniques and materials not only helped to achieve this goal, but dovetailed perfectly with the increasing focus on functionalism in the Bauhaus curriculum.

Muche, who was a painter and teacher at the Bauhaus, had already been in the process of designing a house for himself and his wife when the school announced a competition for a model residence. His winning entry was bold in its simplicity: a square plan, with a ring of rooms surrounding a central living room. Each space was designed with an explicit program in mind, and intentionally specialized so that it could not be used for any other purpose.[3] Aside from the living room, the house comprised a room for the man, a room for the lady, a room for children, a guest room, dining room, kitchen, and a work niche.

Haus am Horn, Am Horn 61, 99425 Weimar, Germany, by Georg Muche
via: archdaily
Photography by Cameron Blaylock

Harpel House by John Lautner

High up in the Hollywood Hills sits the Lautner Harpel House, an unrivalled example of signature Californian architecture. Since it was built in 1956, the design of architect John Lautner, an apprentice of the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright, the building saw dramatic changes, including a second storey addition and other features deemed ill-fitting to its style.

After acquiring the house in 2006, design restorer and Resurrection Vintage co-founder Mark Haddawy took on the mammoth task of restoring house to its original glory. For the latest episode of In Residence, Haddawy invites director Victoria Hely-Hutchinson into the expansive, impeccably restored hilltop pad where he talks through the poetic nature of the forensic refurbishment.

Harpel House, by John Lautner, Film Directed by Victoria Hely-Hutchinson
via: NOWNESS

Mies Van der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion Posters by Blackhaus

This project starts as a small fragment of our new audacious project called “Iconic Architecture” which will be splitted into several chapters being each chapter a new reading of famous architectures which branded our culture.

About the pavilion
As part of the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona Spain, the Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Mies van der Rohe, was the display of architecture’s modern movement to the world. Originally named the German Pavilion, the pavilion was the face of Germany after WWI, emulating the nation’s progressively modern culture that was still rooted in its classical history. Its elegant and sleek design combined with rich natural material presented Mies’ Barcelona Pavilion as a bridge into his future career, as well as architectural modernism.

Iconic Architecture: Barcelona Pavilion, by Mies Van der Rohe, at Blackhaus

Case Study House #21 by Pierre Koenig

One of modernism’s most iconic houses, Case Study House 21 (Bailey House) by Pierre Koenig, is now on sale. The two-bed/two-bath Hollywood Hills landmark has been touted as among the finest of Arts & Architecture Magazine’s Case Study Houses, and one of the program’s few truly experimental projects to explore groundbreaking design and materials.

Case Study House #21, by Pierre Koenig, at Sotheby’s International Realty

Mexican Modernism by Francisco Artigas

Francisco Artigas was a man of order. The many modernist houses he designed in the 1950s and ’60s were as strict and exacting as his wardrobe, as tidy as his soap dish. The majority of these were in Mexico City, at the Gardens of El Pedregal subdivision developed after World War II by Mexico’s most acclaimed architect, Luis Barragán. 3 Artigas reportedly designed and built more than fifty houses there, making him the Pedregal’s most prolific architect by far. 4 (By contrast, Barragán produced no more than a half dozen buildings for the Pedregal, and only one of these, the Prieto López House, remains intact.) The houses Artigas built were occupied by top professionals, business leaders, powerful political families, film stars, and other native and foreign elites. They were featured in popular Mexican movies of the era and reproduced in newspapers and magazines around the country and beyond. 5 These cool, crystalline pavilions represent the glamour, optimism, and excess of their time and place much as the Beaux-Arts mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, or the modernist villas of Palm Springs, California, embody theirs. Their architect, however, though admired by well-informed mid-century modern enthusiasts, remains essentially unknown to a larger public. He is well worth a look.

Read more: Regionalism Revisited: The Case of Francisco Artigas

Film: Tadao Ando’s Cerro Pelon Ranch for Tom Ford

A promotional movie has been released to entice potential buyers for a massive ranch in New Mexico that features buildings by Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

Read more: Tom Ford’s New Mexico Ranch

Buy the book: Ando. Complete Works, Updated Version 2010, Jodidio, Philip, Hardcover, 30.8 x 39 cm (12.1 x 15.4 in.), 600 pages, Published by Taschen, ISBN: 9783836509497
Buy it here: Amazon

Henbest House by ras-a

Located in Rancho Palos Verdes, an affluent suburb of Los Angeles known for it’s expansive views of the pacific ocean, the Henbest House is a rejuvenation of a California classic. The existing structure was built in 1966 and originally designed by the iconic mid-century modern Architect Pierre Koenig, who is most notable for his case study houses.

The new design upgrades the building envelope, MEPs, updates finishes and gently renovates and expands the floor plan to accommodate the current owners program, while paying special attention to respect the homes architectural roots.

Originally one arrived at the interior of the house via an exterior walkway which circumnavigated a courtyard. The entry path was flanked on either side by a 10′ tall wall, physically separating it from the courtyard. The new design removes this separation and incorporates the courtyard into the entry sequence. A dilapidated perimeter wall is repaired and surfaced with ipe wood siding which meets the areas current fire code. A new board formed concrete wall is offset from the ipe wall, creating a layered opening into the courtyard. A new swimming pool which was inspired by Koenig’s original site plan, but never realized replaces a koi pond and pergola that were added later and not part of Pierre’s design. The swimming pool overflows into a shallow reflecting pool which serves as a moat for the entry path that leads to the interior.

Walls are removed to provide greater views throughout the house towards the Pacific Ocean. A compartmentalized kitchen and service core are gutted to create an open kitchen / dining / living space. The master suite is expanded, replacing a small enclosed patio for livable square footage. A new guest wing is added, connecting the once detached garage to the main house. All of the fenestration is upgraded to meet current standards including new, fully retractable multi-panel sliding glass walls. When completely open the house becomes a pavilion, truly blurring the indoor / outdoor boundary that exemplifies California modern.

Henbest House, by ras-a, inc.
Photography by Chang Kyun Kim

Midnight Modern by Tom Blachford

Australian photographer Tom Blachford presents the latest instalment of his series of modernist architecture photography Midnight Modern, a body of work that captures iconic Palm Springs mid-century residences in the chilling light of a full moon.

Midnight Modern, Palm Springs, USA, Photography by Tom Blachford

Xavier Veilhan. Architectones Barcelona Pavilion

The Barcelona show is something of an intervention, with a diagonal walkway slashing across the famously rectangular floor plan to set up a dialogue with the solitary existing sculpture in the Pavilion, Georg Kolbe’s ‘Alba (Dawn)’, which stands on a small plinth in the smaller of the building’s two reflecting pools. Veilhan has reinterpreted Kolbe’s figure in four figures of descending scale, using different materials in a homage to Mies’ simple, rich palette of glass, steel and marble. The pools have been partly built over, offering visitors new perspectives on spaces made iconic through photography, reproduction and imitation.

‘My curatorial role was focused on researching together with Xavier Veilhan about the history of the pavilion, the characters and conditions that defined its design and how we could connect with that through our project,’ Gonzalo Herrero Delicado explains. ‘It was also important for the Barcelona installation to create a conversation with the rest of the exhibitions.’ The architect oversaw all aspects of the project, from liaising with the MvdR Foundation to secure permissions to finding the local architects, MAIO, to build the final design.

Xavier Veilhan. Architectones, at The Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona Spain
Photography by Florian Kleinefenn