Thursday, November 29, 2007

Fire and stove



The lovely Hwam elements stove

Monday, November 26, 2007

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Stair with concrete plinth



stair with concrete plinth...

Stair design



This is the first stab at a stair layout with open treads.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Maekawa House




House in Tokyo, 1945 designed by Kunio Maekawa
photo by a Columbian Architect in Tokyo

Friday, November 16, 2007

Rafael Moneo:

Reduction is always risky, but [Alvaro] Siza's observations [on his working process] could be simplified in this manner:

"place: origin of all architecture."

"distance: provided by the fact that it's others who build."

"discussion: pay attention to those who will be using the building."

"contingency: the solutions to the specific problems of each job are to be found in the conflicts that accompany the reality of the context of the work."

"uncertainty: thanks to the vagueness of the goal being pursued at the start of the job. The reaction is not resignation. On the contrary, that all well-done jobs end in surprise is a source of satisfaction."

"mediation: architecture as something that calls for group work, accepting one's limitations (constructive, functional, legal, etc.), sacrificing direct personal expression."

"nonsatisfaction: every architectural work is, in the eyes of its architect, unfinished; the architect necessarily feels that his solution failed to resolve all the conflicts inherent in the surrounding reality."

"evidence: architecture as the opportunity to test the uniqueness of things, the uniqueness that in their evidence allows us to discern their very essence."


from daily dose of arcitecture from in turn Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects (2004)

Monday, November 12, 2007

Minimum space standards

Minimum space standards made an unscheduled return to the housing sector last week when regeneration agency English Partnerships unveiled a set of minimum requirements that go beyond the old Parker Morris standards abandoned 40 years ago. The new standards apply to all EP schemes from 1 November 2007, the agency confirmed this week.

The agency’s requirement for minimum internal floor areas (MIFA), calculated in line with the RICS Gross Internal Floor Area, are:

• 1 Bed / 2 person dwellings – 51 m2
• 2 Bed / 3 person dwellings – 66 m2
• 2 Bed / 4 person dwellings – 77 m2
• 3 Bed / 5 person dwellings – 93 m2
• 4 Bed / 6 person dwellings – 106 m2

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

RAL colours


RAL 7024


RAL 7021


RAL 7015


RAL 5011


RAL 5004

SOURCES ONE AND TWO

Friday, November 02, 2007

Window colour spec - darker colour



new colour - darker than previous
ref R38 G38 B43