The Village Museum (Muzeul Satului)

The Village Museum, is located in Bucharest,Romania. Despite his lack of celebrity, it's one of the biggest and the oldest outdoors museum in Europe.
The creation of the National Village Museum was a goal for an intensive and sustained research coordinated by Dimitrie Gusti .
Between 1936-1940,the museum had a surface of 6.5 ha, and 33 of the sites were authentic,transferred from different  villages located all over the country.
The surface tends to reproduce the map of Romania, by grouping the monuments of architecture and popular technique on the criterion of geographical proximity of villages of origin, in areas representing major historical provinces of the country. The museum has today over 100,000 m2, and contains 272 authentic peasant farms and houses from all over Romania.
If you ever visit Bucharest, this museum should be on your map. It's an excellent location for taking photographs, make some sketches or just walking on the Herastrau lake shore while finding out something more about the traditional architecture.

Under Pohutukawa Beach House

Under Pohutukawa Beach House by Herbst Architects

The site with which we were presented was extremely challenging in that it was 90% covered in mature pohutukawa trees, the site being a part of a continuous belt of forest that edges the road along the beach front.

The circumstances not so much allowed, but dictated a sensitive poetic response to a building that, in order to exist would require the destruction of a large number of mature trees. To do this we looked to the trees themselves to give us the cues that we needed.

We separated the brief loosely into private and “public” components, giving us smaller individual masses with which to articulate the forms. The private functions of bedrooms and garage are housed in two towers which are construed as freshly sawn stumps of the trees that were removed.

To allude to the bark of the stumps the skins of the towers are clad in black/brown stained rough sawn irregular battens. The interior spaces are then seen as carved out of the freshly cut wood, achieved by detailing all the wall / ceiling and cabinetry elements in the same light timber.

The public space connects the two towers and attempts to engage with the surrounding pohutukawa forest by defining a crossover space between the powerful natural environment and the built form. The plane of the roof form pins off the towers to engage with the continuous tree canopy, disintegrating from a rigid plane to a frayed edge which filters light in a similar way to the leaf canopy.

The primary structure holding up the roof is a series of treeelements which allude to the trunks and branches of trees but are detailed in a rigorous geometric arrangement which suggests an ordering of nature as it enters and forms the building.

The height of the public space with its light glass division responds to the height of the surrounding trees, the roof planeis partially glass to allow the full extent of the trees to be felt as they lean over the building. A walkway links the towers at the upper level allowing engagement with both the natural and man made canopies.

MDT house

 MDT house by Jacobsen Arquitetura.
(Source: knstrct.com)

São Paulo’s Fazenda Boa Vista development is a massive 1,800 acre residential and hospitality complex rolling with perfectly trimmed hills, deep blue lakes, and untouched landscapes. The property features an array of amenities such a clubhouses, an equestrian center, golf course, tennis courts, five star hotel, and a spa. Also within the complex is a collective of newly built residences designed by Brazil’s architectural headliners, Isay Weinfeld, Arthur Casas, and Paulo Jacobsen and Bernardo Jacobsen of Jacobsen Arquitetura.

Jacobsen’s new MDT house is in the well designed company of Fazenda Boa Vista’s newly built residences. The home is sectioned into three rectangular volumes that are juxtaposed together to create three full patios, a gourmet kitchen, home theater, large entertaining areas, a kids room, library, and a swimming pool.
The outside of the MDT home is outfitted with a stone wall covered in vertical wood panels ranging in hues of brown, orange, and yellow. The stone and wood wall constitutes most of the exterior walls, except for the areas that overlook the pool and courtyard. Here, the bedroom suites fit straight into one of the rectangular volume, each bedroom has a glass wall so guests have a view of the swimming pool through the wood panels.
One feature not to be missed is the large wood covered patio that overlooks the pool. On the patio, modern furniture pieces create unique conversation areas, and the gourmet kitchen is only steps away to feed the need for serving and entertaining.
The architects took a topographical approach to develop to sculpt the land of the MDT House. Variations in floor and ceiling create different ceiling heights and different relationships with the garden,
sometimes enabling direct access to the gardens and pool.

Source: knstrct.com

Villa P.

Villa P by LOVE architecture and urbanism, Austria, 2010.

Architects: LOVE architecture and urbanism
Location: Waltendorf Graz, Austria
Design Team: Sigrid Derler, Sabine Sternbach
Area: 180.7 sqm
Year: 2010
Photographs: Jasmin Schuller

The site – a relatively steep hill – offers a stunning view over Graz. This panorama also provided the main guiding principle for the design. One additional goal was to provide direct access to the garden. Due to the very steep slope, this goal actually worked contrary to the aim of maximizing the panoramic view.

The upper level, which is oriented completely towards the fantastic view, contains all of the living space, while the lower level houses the doctor’s office and adjoining rooms. This layout provides a clear separation of living and working spaces, including separate entrances.

The upper level features two spacious terraces – one facing south and west, which provides an extension of the living room and the children’s rooms, and one facing north and east, which is an extension of the bedroom and bathroom and affords somewhat more privacy. A very broad external staircase with sitting steps connects the upper level and the garden, thereby joining the living space and the garden into an organic whole.

A pool is located in front of the building and connects to the carport. The pool and carport together provide a clear border between the property and the street, thereby increasing the privacy of the property.

Thus, a harmonious ensemble is created – a play of extrovert and introvert, of proximity and distance, which maximizes the strengths of the property, while simultaneously offering privacy.

Wood carving workshop

Wood carving workshop by Bergmeister Wolf Architekten.
(Source: europaconcorsi.com)