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FOCUS ON

Ceramics: a possible new identity

Ceramic formats which perform the same function and have similar properties, but with different appearances and attributes, can be considered part of the same identity in the new contemporary system.

 

Not really tiles any more

Nowadays we ought to call them modules with a design identity of their own, because in contemporary culture they sum up the principle of objects which are diversified yet standardised, even while maintaining the properties and image of reproducible, interpretable manufactures.

 

ASTM Test

Founded in 1898, ASTM International is a not-for-profit organization that provides a global forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services.

 

Active Clean Air & Antibacterial Ceramic™

ACTIVE, OUR COMMITMENT TO A BETTER WORLD
Fiandre and Iris Ceramica, within the framework of their research and innovation activities, have developed a new production method geared towards materials whose active principle helps to improve the quality of the environment.

 

Urban benzene and population exposure

People aren't just at risk from carcinogenic benzene when they are out on city streets: sadly, the air is polluted also inside of buildings. Scientific research has demonstrated that, among all the materials for inside walls and floors, technical ceramics are the least pollution-prone.

 

ITINERARIES

Dubai architectural itinerary

Dubai is the capital of one of the seven states making up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation created when Great Britain withdrew from the area in 1971. The city is characterised by its unique experimental architecture; an ongoing competition to build the tallest skyscraper, with the most unusual shape. One construction site after another continues to transform the desert of the Arab Emirates into artificial oases, and countless buildings or whole city districts are built on land reclaimed from the sea, such as the third residential mega-palm built in the waters of the Gulf.

Porto architectural itinerary

from Area 65
Porto in four modern and contemporary architecture itineraries: designs before 1974, the masters, compositional abstraction and details of construction, overcoming barriers.

Berlin architectural itinerary

From Area 66
Berlin is without doubt one of the conduits of national and international currents. Scarcely anywhere else do such opposing views on architecture exist - with the consequence that planning and building in Berlin are extremely polarized.

Madrid architectural itinerary

From Area 67
Madrid is Europe's third largest city, after London and Paris, and is currently investing huge resources in construction - more than any other European city except Berlin.

London architectural itinerary

In dealing with the task to take a picture of contemporary architecture in London, we come across the dynamism with which sometimes whole areas become subject to radical changes.

 

PROJECTS

Perrault and the Ewha Womans University in Seoul


A monumental project in the heart of Seoul for the campus of Ewha, the historic women’s university. Dominique Perrault translates the city’s need for symbolic reference points into a symbol surrounded by greenery which is not only a landmark but a reconciliation of internal comfort with conscious use of environmental resources.

Gmp and the Grand Theatre, landmarks for Chongqing


A theatre ship sails over the Chinese metropolis of Chongqing where the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers flow together. German architectural practice Gmp, which designed the imposing glass structure, wanted it to be not only a landmark but a symbolic plaza in which citizens could meet.

David Chipperfield and the image of Justice


Barcelona’s new City of Justice designed by David Chipperfield breaks up a large lot into a series of separate buildings facing onto a plaza that channels the flow of users. The rhythmic alternation of windows on the façade has the value of a decoration which serves to lighten the building’s impact on the outside and let light into the interior.

Museum of Kanayama Castle Ruin: Kengo Kuma


In Japan’s Museum of Kanayama Castle Ruin, Kengo Kuma weaves a decorative motif of stone to lighten the building’s cement volumes. The geometric composition of the modules embraces the outer walls, inner walls, ceilings and dividing walls to give the architecture an identity of its own.

Blumenhotel

The Blumenhotel is a four-star hotel with 110 rooms in St. Veit an der Glan, the City of Flowers near Klagenfurt, capital of Carinthia in Austria.
Materials:Eiffelgres Porcelain Stoneware
Design team: Spado Architects & Ogris.Wanek Architects