Profile: Ipekyol Textile Factory, Edirne

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Ipekyol Textile Factory in Edirne:

The Ipekyol factory, a custom-designed facility for a manufacturer of high-quality textiles, represents a successful collaboration between a client and an architect in developing a spatial strategy that integrates production goals with the well-being of employees. Key design objectives focused on a single U-shaped volume that makes full use of the site as well as the use of local materials, reduced energy use, and enhanced thermal performance. The architect responded with a single, large structure where administration and production spaces were integrated under one roof, breaking down hierarchies between front- and back-of-house functions. The form of the building confidently conveys its function, its U-shape responding well to the demands of the production line. The glazed southern facade, five internal courtyards, as well as gardens and light wells give each user access to natural light and views of nature; the spaces also provide recreational areas for the workers. Signalling a departure from the generally poor standards of places of work the world over, the Ipekyol factory sets a new benchmark for the design and construction of factories that prioritise architectural design and the comfort of the users without significant cost premiums.

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Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Cemal Emden

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Cemal Emden

Profile: Tulou Collective Housing, Nanhai

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Tulou Collective Housing, in Nanhai:

This pioneering prototype for affordable housing in China is inspired by the traditional tulou, the multi-family, fortress-like earth house found in the rural areas of Fujian province. The urban Tolou consists of an outer circular block with a rectangular box within that is connected to the outer ring by bridges and a courtyard. Both the circular and rectangular blocks contain small apartment units; the spaces in between are for circulation and community use. The lower floors contain shops and other community facilities. Rents are low and apartments are not available to car owners, adding to the homogeneity of the community, many of whom are migrant workers. The self-contained circular form stands in sharp contrast to the typical high-rise blocks around it. The entire structure is wrapped in a concrete screen with wooden inserts that shade the balconies, giving each unit a secondary living space. The position of the apartments also allows for good light and ventilation. Resulting from extensive research into the original earth houses as well as the social dynamics of current urbanisation trends in China, the Tulou Collective Housing is a unique experiment in low-income housing and the transformation of ancient heritage to suit contemporary living environments.

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Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / SHEN Xiaoming

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / SHEN Xiaoming

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / SHEN Xiaoming

Profile: Nishorgo Visitor Interpretation Centre, Chittagong

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Nishorgo Visitor Interpretation Centre in Chittagong:

The main objectives of this centre, located in a protected forest and nature reserve in Chittagong District in the south of Bangladesh, are nature education and interpretation tours, in an effort to create awareness and promote biodiversity, conservation and eco-tourism. Nishorgo means environment in Bengali, and the central concept driving the project is to cherish the sanctity of nature. The building itself is sensitively placed within the landscape: the reinforced concrete platforms of the ‘pavilion shelter’ float above the ground on structural walls; the concrete slabs are pierced by tree trunks where necessary, reflecting the project’s aim to create as little impact on the environment as possible. The visitor walks up the layers of platforms to a raised level to observe the surroundings. An exhibition area is enveloped in a compositional arrangement of openings framed by wooden lattices, and there is a space for viewing films with walls of exposed, burnt clay brick.

Click here for more information on the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Profile: The Bridge School, Xiashi

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Bridge School in Xiashi:

The ‘Bridge School’ bridges the two parts of the small village of Xiashi that lie on either side of a small creek running about ten metres below the village. The structure is created by two steel trusses that span the creek with the space between them housing the functions of the school. Suspended from the structure and running below it is a pedestrian bridge for the people of the village to use. Small and modern in design, with no reference to the area’s traditional building style, the school has nonetheless become the physical and spiritual centre of what was a declining village. Placed in such a way that it addresses its surroundings, the Bridge School connects the village together, providing a central, social space. The broader social aspect of the project was part of the brief, which was developed with the school principal and head of the village to answer community needs rather than simply those of a primary school. A public library separates the two classrooms and open stages at either end of the building enable performances. The result is a project that has successfully invigorated the entire community, encapsulating social sustainability through architectural intervention.

Click here for more information on the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Li Xiaodong

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Li Xiaodong

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Li Xiaodong

Profile: Dowlat II Residential Complex, Tehran

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Dowlat II Residential Complex in Tehran:

This project counters the two-dimensional facade and level open-plan floors of the typical Tehran mid-rise with a building that seeks a three-dimensional approach. The facade—a wooden grid—is punctured with a variety of openings that extend the building’s volume beyond the main envelope and allow unpredictable configurations dictated by the preferences of the inhabitants. At the same time, each apartment is split level, allowing the creation of a roof garden that is directly accessible from the top-floor apartment. In addition to being responsive to its users, the building adds a sense of excitement to the public streetscape that it overlooks. The architects see it as a model and as a design strategy that can be adapted to a number of similar sites, to enable the creation of well-designed living spaces that can be modified according to clients’ needs, without significant cost premiums and with the use of local materials and technologies.

Click here for more information on the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Arsh Design Studio

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Wael Samhouri

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Wael Samhouri

Profile: Palmyra House, Alibagh

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is Palmyra House in Alibagh:

This two-storey timber house, built as a weekend retreat, lies in the shade of an extensive coconut grove on coastal agricultural land facing the sea, near the fishing village of Nandgaon, south of Mumbai. The functions of the house are placed within two oblong masses slightly offset from one another, whose facades are predominantly characterised by louvers made from the trunks of the local Palmyra palm. The structure is made of ain wood; local basalt was used to make boundary walls, plinths and paving. Plaster finishes were pigmented with sand from the site. The development of the design and detail, which resulted from collaboration between the architect and the craftsmen, took on tested techniques, both local and foreign, and raised them to a finer construction resolution. The house is well-adapted to its environment: the louvers on the elevations enable passive cooling, as does the extensive shade provided by the coconut trees above; water for the house is harvested from three on-site wells, filtered and stored at the top of a water tower and fed by gravity to the house. The result of these measures is a quietly compelling project that is fully integrated into its landscape.

Click here for more information on the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / Rajesh Vora

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / Rajesh Vora

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / Rajesh Vora

Profile: Nqibikan Village Reconstruction, Yogyakarta

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Nqibikan Village Reconstruction in Yogyakarta:

On May 27, 2006, an earthquake hit Indonesia in the region of Yogyakarta in the southern portion of central Java. The village of Ngibikan, located less than 10 kilometres from the quake’s epicenter was destroyed. More than 5,700 people died and more than 140,000 homes in the immediate region were severely damaged. With financial assistance from a local newspaper, and design input from local architect Eko Prawoto, the villagers of Ngibikan, led by community leader Maryono, reconstructed 65 homes in less than 90 days. The new homes are based on a vernacular building type, the limas an house with innovative modifications to keep the wooden structures lightweight but at the same time resistant to future earthquakes. The community rebuilt the physical fabric of their environment which in turn helped to rebuild the ‘gotong royong’ or togetherness of this agrarian village. As such, the Ngibikan village reconstruction provides an alternative model for a post-disaster reconstruction project that demonstrates the enormous positive impact of a grassroots rebuilding effort.

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Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / Ahkamul Hakim

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / Ahkamul Hakim

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / Ahkamul Hakim

The Sleepy Side of Hong Kong

It doesn't matter how big and bustling your city is, the clever adventurer can always find a quiet corner of serenity.  For expats living in Hong Kong, that place is on the other side of the island in the enclave of Aberdeen.

Seen here from atop The Peak, the town is a haven for people who need a break from the cacophony that is Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, Mid-Levels, and Admiralty neighborhoods.  While those areas are all about making money and life in motion, Aberdeen is about sitting back, drinking a beer, and watching the sun slowly sink into the South China Sea.  It is a peaceful place, unknown to most people who don't live in Hong Kong, and it is no wonder so many people from around the world choose this location for their homes.

• Click here to see hundreds of buildings from Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing, and the rest of China at our sister site, Chinese Architecture.
• Click here to see thousands of buildings from Hong Kong to Singapore to Seoul to Bangkok at our sister site, Asian Architecture Info.

Profile: The Green School, Badung

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Green School, in Badung:

Environmentalists and designers John and Cynthia Hardy wanted to motivate communities to live sustainably. Part of that effort was to show people how to build with sustainable materials, namely bamboo. They established the Green School, and its affiliates: the Meranggi Foundation, which develops plantations of bamboo plants through presenting bamboo seedlings to local rice farmers; and PT Bambu, a for-profit design and construction company that promotes the use of bamboo as a primary building material, in an effort to avoid the further depletion of rainforests. The Green School, a giant laboratory built by PT Bambu, is located on a sustainable campus straddling both sides of the Ayung River in Sibang Kaja, Bali, within a lush jungle with native plants and trees growing alongside sustainable organic gardens. The campus is powered by a number of alternative energy sources, including a bamboo sawdust hot water and cooking system, a hydro-powered vortex generator and solar panels. Campus buildings include classrooms, gym, assembly spaces, faculty housing, offices, cafes and bathrooms. A range of architecturally significant spaces from large multi-storey communal gathering places to much smaller classrooms are a feature of the campus. Local bamboo, grown using sustainable methods, is used in innovative and experimental ways that demonstrate its architectural possibilities. The result is a holistic green community with a strong educational mandate that seeks to inspire students to be more curious, more engaged and more passionate about the environment and the planet.

Click here for more information on the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / PT Bambu

Aga Khan Award for Architecture  / PT Bambu

Profile: Restoration of Rubber Smokehouse, Lunas

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Restoration of the Rubber Smokehouse in Lunas:

Located in the small town of Lunas, in Kedah district near Penang, the Rubber Smokehouse stands as an example of Malaysia’s industrial heritage and the rubber industry that was of vital importance to Malaysia’s economy for much of the twentieth century. The preservation project brought together the different communities living in the area and created an awareness of their shared history. It also engaged Malaysian schoolchildren, who were charged with mapping and documenting a cultural history of their home. Sponsored by a local telecommunications company, the project was led by the architect Laurence Loh, whose family is originally from Lunas. The Rubber Smokehouse has been transformed from an abandoned and forgotten building into an important part of the town’s landscape and a focus for the rural community. It has combined the physical conservation of the historic fabric with youth engagement, intercultural tolerance and civic pride, a unique approach that shows how architectural interventions can play a role in advancing social cohesion in multicultural societies.

Click here for more information on the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Laurence Loh

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / L.L. Loh-Lim

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Badan Warisan Malaysia

Aga Khan Award for Architecture / L.L. Loh-Lim

Profile: Chandgaon Mosque, Chittagong

Each day for the next couple of weeks, we will profile one project that has been nominated for the 2010 Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Today's project is the Chandgaon Mosque in Chittagong:

This mosque on the suburban periphery of the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh seeks to fulfil the traditional role of a mosque as both a place of spirituality and as a gathering place for the community. The architect began by identifying the essential elements of a mosque to create a new form and articulation for a typology that goes back for a millennium and a half. The result is this monolithic and spare mosque, pared down to two identical cuboid structures. The first is the front court, its heavy masonry walls punctuated with low, wide openings onto the surrounding landscape, with a large eyelike opening above. In the second volume, the naturally lit mihrab wall is balanced by an iconic, cut dome. While the apertures give a sense of openness and draw in light and ventilation by day, by night they allow light to shine out of the mosque like a beacon. With its stark, geometric clarity, the Chandgaon mosque stands apart from many such structures that have reduced architectural features associated with the usual mosque type to the level of kitsch. It makes a definitive architectural statement in a different direction, pointing to the contemporary, to a desire to live in spaces that reflect the universal values of the present day.

Click here for more information on the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture.

Photograph © Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Photograph © Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Photograph © Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Photograph © Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Photograph © Aga Khan Award for Architecture / BKS Inan

Slice of Life: Signs and Symbols in Seoul

This sign at a park in Seoul, South Korea tells people what they can do, and what they can't do.  I can't read Korean, so I'll guess at what the symbols mean:

• Please walk your dog here
• Please take a sapling home with you
• Do not have bad breath
• Do not bring your office desk to the park and do work
• Do not light your farts on fire
• Hold your wife's hand while you walk
• Do not use the letter P when you speak
• Do not park on the grass

Now we're both experts in a language we don't understand.

We Love Chinatowns! Singapore Edition

We love Chinatowns.  We've been to Chinatowns from New York to Japan to this one in Singapore.  The Singapore one is a little different, though.  Most Chinatowns are dark, marginal places.  Places where you can buy black or grey market goods.  Things that may or may not have passed into the country legally.  Exotic electronics and knock-off fragrances.  Questionable herbs and, quite literally, forbidden fruit.

Singapore's Chinatown is different.  Very different.  Like most of the rest of the squeaky-clean city-state, this Chinatown is squeaky clean.  The items on offer are no different than you'd find in any nearby shop.  And the prices aren't exactly a bargain, either.   The casual shopper is left with the distinct impression that only items authorized by the government are allowed to be sold, and quite likely at government-mandated prices.    It is a sanitized, safe, clean, Disneyfied version of the Chinatowns of the rest of the world.    And for that, it is unique and special.