Viljandi Festival Arena and the amplification of sound
Viljandi Festival Arena is an open-ended wood and concrete auditorium with stage and seating, designed by Kadarik Tüür Architects in Tallinn.
The town of Viljandi lies in the rolling hills and valleys of southern Estonia and has a population of 17,000 people. This part of Estonia is green and picturesque and covered with all kinds of trees. Viljandi is famous for its white roses, and every summer the town celebrates White Rose Day with the planting of hundreds of white roses in front of the town hall, to the delight and amazement of locals and visitors alike. The town is also a major cultural centre, and every July hosts a major folk music festival.
The unusual location selected for the Viljandi Festival Arena—in the middle of one of the town’s protected green areas—meant that the new building had to blend into the natural landscape and exist in a state of harmonious dialogue with its surroundings.
The architects worked with the idea of giving architectural form to sound. An acoustically pure sound that had no need for electrical amplification. The architects of Kadarik Tüür therefore designed a structure with a highly-articulated inner lining that would assist the natural propagation of sound. As the architects point out, the building only reveals its true character when it’s hosting a musical event, for that’s when architecture and music fuse together in sound.
Source: Flooranture.com
Codina Metal stands out at BAU 2015
BAU, the World´s Leading Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials and Systems, has broken through the 250,000-visitor barrier for the first time in its 50-year history. The six days of this fair—in which all the exhibition space has long been fully booked—attracted 251,200 visitors: that´s over 16,000 more than in 2013. The number of visitors from Germany rose of course, but most of the increase in overall numbers is due to visitors from outside Germany. Around 72,000 people came from abroad—that´s 20 percent more than last time. In its role as an "architects´ trade event", BAU once again consolidated its reputation. Around 65,000 of the total number of visitors were from architectural and planning offices, which is another increase on the figures for 2013.
Codina Metal has not been left out of this great increase. The company has noticed a very important increment of visitors compared to the edition of 2013, with a very professional profile. The origin of visitors has been fully international, highlighting countries like Germany, Austria, Middle East, Eastern Europe and India.
The stand and the products shown at the fair caught the attention of the visitors for its originality in terms of densities, textures and colors: steel, anodized, ... And as to the different possible applications with mesh: facades, curtains, enclosures, metal ceilings, claddings ... To Codina Metal this is another example of the growing reputation of the company and its products abroad.
A bioclimatic wood building
Architects Philippe Barré and Agnès Lambot have created a building that exemplifies the use of wood in architecture for Atlanbois, a French agency whose mission is to promote the wood industry.
Located on Boulevard León-Bureau in Nantes, this curious building with its footprint in the form of a leaf, or a drop of water, engages in an unusual dialogue with the surrounding streets and the perspectives they offer.
Building B, as it is known, has three storeys, with a large and amply-glazed central atrium. It is also a bioclimatic building with low energy consumption. All insulation is in natural materials, and in place of the conventional mechanical ventilation is a natural system that’s designed into the shape of the building, whose various spaces look onto a large central atrium.
Building B has 1,500 m² of floor space, divided as follows:
540 m² of exhibition, archive and conference space on the ground floor.
320 m² of office space occupied by Atlanbois and UNIFA, the National Union of French Furniture Industries.
640 m² of office space occupied by ONF (National Forestry Office).
The ground-breaking design by architectural firm Barré-Lambot is based on the principles of collaborative construction. Companies from the wood sector in Pays de la Loire and students from elite local colleges specializing in wood, architecture and design all participated in this ambitious project.
Building B is a low-energy bioclimatic building made from locally-grown wood. Visually, it looks as light as the leaf or water droplet it resembles, with its central core radiating a wooden structure that’s visible from the exterior.
Source: Agnese Bifulco (Floornature.es), Iledenantes.com
A glass brick facade in the middle of Hiroshima
Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP are the creators of this jewel set in the heart of the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This innovative house stands among some of the city’s tallest buildings, overlooking a bustling street full of cars and trams. So to create peace and privacy in this busy environment, the architects fronted the house with a garden, visible from the exterior through a façade of optical glass.
It’s also visible from every room in the house. Still and silent, the garden strikes a contrast with the cars and trams passing on the street outside, imbuing the house with life and luxuriance.
The sunlight enters from the east, refracting through the glass in attractive patterns of light. The rain that falls on the roof is conveyed to entrance level by various drains. The light filters through the trees in the garden, dappling the floor of the lounge, while a diaphanous metal curtain stirs in the breeze. It all makes for an oasis of peace in the middle of the chaos outside.
With its city-centre location, this house is a place where the light and the changing moods of the urban environment—as well as the seasons—can be appreciated in all their fullness.
To obtain all these effects, the façade of the building is built of solid transparent glass bricks individually manufactured by a painstaking artisan process.
After melting, the glass was poured into a special steel mould and left to cool very slowly. With this method, the glass gains viscosity more gradually, the result of which is an exceptionally compact end product. Each brick measures 50 x 235 x 50 mm, with a rusticated surface finish that lends itself to unusual optical effects.
The bricks had to be produced to very high degrees of precision, as the assembly system left little room for gaps. The bricks were then individually perforated and all 6,000 of them strung one by one, like beads on a necklace, onto 74 suspended stainless steel rods. The end result is a translucent cube of glass and steel.
Source: Arquitectura Viva, Aasarchitecture.com
Codina Metal at the BAU2015 Fair - Munich
BAU 2015 Munich fair architecture, materials and systems celebrates a new edition in the German city of Munich at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre, from 19 to 24 January 2015, showing the latest innovations in all its aspects.
At BAU 2015 Munich because of its importance, brings together the best companies and professionals who show their latest developments and innovations, being for all of them an event almost inexcusable assistance, both by the novelties may be known, as an important contacts that can be generated.
BAU 2015 presents architecture, materials and systems for industrial construction, housing and interiors. The offer is therefore classified as building materials product areas; innovative topics like "sustainable construction" play an important role in all segments of exposure. With over 1,900 exhibitors from 43 countries BAU occupies the entire enclosure Messe München, with 17 pavilions and 4 inputs, an area of total gross exposure 180,000 m².
Codina Metal is present in this edition of the BAU2015 Fair. You will find us in Hall B2, Booth 514.
The Ansaldo complex: from munitions factory to city of culture
With its inauguration just a few months away, Milan’s new City of Culture, designed by David Chipperfield, is now taking shape among the façades of the former Ansaldo industrial complex. Winner of the competition held in 2000, the British architect’s solution reorganizes the space freed up by the demolition of a number of disused factories as the site of Milan’s new Centre for Non-European Cultures.
Focal point of the new complex is the central atrium with its undulating, translucent walls. Like a covered urban gallery, this atrium receives and directs visitors to the various exhibitions areas and auxiliary facilities such as bookshops, boutiques, ethnic restaurants, cafés and shopping centre. With its double skin of translucent glass, at night the exterior of the building glows like an enormous lantern.
The complex as a whole comprises a number of buildings of two, three and four storeys, complete with a network of courtyards and walkways designed to integrate the new structures with the surrounding industrial architecture.
David Chipperfield is one of Britain’s most prestigious architects. In addition to architecture, he’s also distinguished himself in construction, urban planning, and interior and furniture design. An all-round designer, in other words, who has won all kinds of prizes, including the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) on various occasions for works such as museums, art galleries, libraries, private homes, hotels and offices. Chipperfield has offices in London, Berlin and Milan, as well as a delegation in Shanghai.
Noted for his minimalist approach to architecture, in 2004 he received a CBE for his services to architecture. A brilliant creative talent, David Chipperfield has worked in a number of schools of architecture in the UK and as a guest professor in various European and US universities.
Source: Arquitectura Viva, Metalocus.es
Calling FAD entrants
ARQUIN-FAD recently announced its call for entries for the 57th edition of the FAD Awards. Works from the Iberian Peninsula and its islands can take part. Entries must have been completed between 1 January and 31 December 2014.
Closing date for entries is noon on Wednesday, 4 February 2015.
The prize categories are: Architecture, Interior Design, City and Landscape, and Ephemeral Structures.
This year’s jury is composed of:
Chair:
Victor López Cotelo
Members:
Ignasi Bonet, Agustí Costa, Mariana Pestana, Mónica Rivera, Gabriel Valeri
More information at Arquinfad
The ‘new’ gateway to Lower Manhattan
Manhattan commuters had already been using the Fulton Center, the suburban transit hub designed and rehabilitated in the wake of the 9-11 attacks, for months before it officially opened. Much of the complex was closed to the public, hidden behind hoardings and construction tarpaulin which concealed the architectural magnificence behind. But finally, almost a decade after the first contract for the construction of the complex was signed, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the operator of the city’s subway network, has stripped the tarpaulins and declared the complex officially open. The grand opening took place last 10 November.
Basically, the objective of the project was once and for all to put an end to the tangle of subway lines that converge on this part of New York’s financial district. These lines date right back to the construction of the New York subway a little over a century ago. Over the years, it’s a situation that’s caused no end of friction.
So at the opening ceremony last November, one of the stated aims of the new complex was to make the daily commute a little less arduous for the 300,000 people who are expected to travel via Fulton Center every day. MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast described the complex as ‘the next major public space in New York’. His declaration echoed those of Grimshaw, the architects responsible for the three-storey-high glass and steel oculus that caps the complex they dub ‘the gateway to Lower Manhattan’.
Behind the 140-foot façade of the entrance to the complex, a bank of escalators lead to the subway platforms 40 feet below street level. And up above, spanning the whole atrium, is the Fulton Center’s signature feature: the conical oculus, 70 metres high and 50 metres wide, created in conjunction with James Carpenter Design Associates. The oculus contains 952 perforated aluminium diamonds confined between upper and lower rings, the lower ring acting as the tensioning element. Called the ‘Sky Reflector Net’, this structure moves in accordance with the changing daylight and reflectance from the sky, meaning the dome is constantly changing tone. The intention, say the architects, was to give the complex its own sky—although one of the more the more mundane functions of the net is to act as a smoke evacuation funnel.
Fortunately, the dome can be admired from many points of the station, including the mezzanine between street level and subway, where there are shops, bars and restaurants.
Source: Architectural Record
The new stadium of FTC (Groupama) in Budapest
Codina Metal was actively involved in the construction of the new stadium of FTC Groupama in Budapest, where 9,000 m2 of stainless steel mesh was applied to the façade. The mesh used is Eiffel-40. Special panels had to be made to adapt to the unusual geometry of the building. Its mesh cladding means the new stadium can give off spectacular light effects.
The stadium was re-opened on 10 August 2014 and has seating capacity for 22,000 spectators. It is home to Budapest football team Ferencváros TC. The stadium was formerly known as Üllői Úti Stadion and Albert Flórián Stadion.
Background on the project:
In 2010, FTC’s English owner, Kevin McCabe, announced his intention to redevelop the surrounding zone and renovate the stadium to bring it into line with FIFA and UEFA requirements. Under the preliminary designs unveiled on 26 January 2010, the new stadium was to be rebuilt on the site of the existing ground. The estimated completion date for the new stadium, with capacity for 22,000 spectators, was 2012.
In fact, construction didn’t begin until 2012, when Gábor Kubatov was elected chairman of the club.
On 20 March 2013, the winning bidder for the construction project was announced as Market Építő Zrt. Codina Metal was one of the companies selected to manufacture the metal mesh panels that cover the façade of the new stadium, inaugurated last August. It is one of the major construction projects Codina Metal has participated in, and testimony to the versatility of our panels and their ability to adapt to all kinds of structures.
Yapı Fuarı - Turkeybuild
Last April, Codina Metal took part in the Yapı Fuarı – Turkeybuild show. This international building materials exhibition is an opportunity to showcase products and services in the construction sector and keep up to speed with the latest developments in the field.
First held in 1978, YAPI – TURKEYBUILD Istanbul covers every area of the construction sector, making it the biggest regional show of its type. Thanks to the construction industry’s support of the event, YAPI – TURKEYBUILD Istanbul has grown continuously, exceeding itself in quality with each new edition.
Held over an exhibition area of 81,000 square metres, the show occupies 12 pavilions and includes an open-air exhibition area. YAPI – TURKEYBUILD Istanbul is now considered one of the biggest international building materials shows, attracting visitors and exhibitors from all over Turkey as well as the Balkan states, the former Soviet states, North Africa and the Middle East.
And in recent years it’s become the most important ‘summit meeting’ for construction industry leaders in Turkey and neighbouring countries.
Codina Metal exhibited at last year’s edition of this major international show, where it had the chance to show off its products and its latest innovations in metal mesh.
