Lyon Railway Station by Santiago Calatrava expresses the beauty of an honest structure repeated. Space is created, not by unnecessarily complex form making, but the repetition of a refined and elegantly composed component. The form is a natural by product of the structural behaviour and material, revealed through light. There is no need for ornament or decoration. Form just follows function.
This stairgate designed in from the outset is a great example of forward thinking design. This future proofs the family house and ensures there is no need for awkward and often ugly stairgates to be installed over the generations.
There is something delightful about this little office pob. It has a great sense of place. Despite its quirky character you just know there is a reason why the designer has chosen to place it on a post out the front of the house. It speaks of its context. The house is in Venice Beach, California and is an early design by Frank Gehry. The house is set back from the beach and the garden office pokes its head forward of the building line allowing a view right down the beach. There was a time when form followed function, even in Frank Gehry’s work.
The Rialto Bridge, Venice
The Rialto Bridge in Venice is a great example of how we see design. The bridge bit is taken for granted, that is the brief, the function, merely being ‘fit for purpose’. It delivers on that front. What is interesting to us as designers is the way it achieves something more. The real added value is in recognising that a bridge is a place where PEOPLE will cross the canal, a place where people will congregate. Where people congregate there are new opportunities to be realised. The Rialto Bridge integrates boutique shops into the edges of the bridge transforming what would otherwise have been only a bridge into a market and meeting place. That is what we mean by elivering more bang for your buck.
At this time of year its nice to dream of the warm evening sun on your back, enjoying a cup of Lavazza with friends in a busy Italian square. This image of a square in Treviso captures the best on life in the edge somewhere between inside and outisde.
The Wabi Sabi Shed
Last year I had the privilege of being shown round an elderly gentleman’s shed. It was one of the most interesting and evocative spaces I have ever been in. There was a life time of memories and ‘man stuff’, the light filtered gently through the treasured clutter and there was the small of peace – This was Wabi Sabi at its best. A quality we should all aspire to achieve in our place making.
Each week we are going to upload an image of a space or place that captures the qualities and delight we believe make architecture great. Our launch image shows the house built by director Paul Bulkeley when he was growing up in Africa. Building our own home is something every child dreams of and a lucky few adults get to fully realise. Paul is lucky enough to have done it twice - several degrees in architecture bringing notable improvements!
My first dream home
Architects, Snug Projects have recently unveiled their new practice profile in time for the New Year. The profile is a single PDF document that can be downloaded from the link below. It will provide you with a good overview of the practice, our philosophy and a limited overview of our portfolio. Should you want to know more, or want a physical copy of the profile please feel free to contact the office. The link to the electronic profile is…Snug Practice Profile Book 2012
Snug Projects Architects oversaw the construction of Orchard Barn, Northamptonshire. Completed in 2011 this 5 bedroom contemporary house with ancillary office is an interpretation of the modern barn. Surrounded by farmland it boasts sustainable features including solar panels and a ground source heat pump.
The nativity scene set outside a Snug ‘barn’ house instead of the traditional ‘stable’!
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