Architecture
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Charred Timber Sauna Emerges on French Lakeside
Located in the countryside of Aveyron, in the south of France, ‘lakeside sauna’ by Atelier AJO takes shape as a small wooden cabin formed by a group of friends using mainly timber from the neighboring sawmill. Between cows and meadows, the project is strategically placed on the pond shore of a lake, facing the beech forest and the sunset. Built on light foundations (micro piles), it does not impact the fragile structure of the dike and can be easily removed. The sauna by Atelier AJO emerges from the ground as an exogenous object, standing on a light structure. Two different levels of benches for different heat tolerances model the outer shape of the sauna. The outside facade is…
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Contemporary Lakeside Getaway becomes Refuge
On the surface, the house doesn’t look terribly different than the many century-old farmsteads dotting the surrounding fields. The overall shape, conceived by Montreal architecture office RHA Works in collaboration with Toronto-and-Maine-based AAMP Studio, borrows from local barns, with pitched roofs over long, simple boxes. To the well-honed eye, the exterior siding provides the first clue that the house is unique. It’s clad in shou sugi ban – planks of cedar, charred using a Japanese technique that brings out the wood’s natural insect-and-rot resistance. The boards, sourced from a company called Blackwood Siding Co, are not only more durable than typical, unfinished cedar, they have a rich, distinct aesthetic. “From…
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Recycling Tragedy into Durability
People around the world remember the devastating Japanese tsunami of 2011. The Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building was built in remembrance of that event through its design and function. In addition to its designation as a place of study, the structure serves as a shelter against earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters. It can support up to 920 people at once. Located in Newport, Oregon, where some of the debris from the tsunami washed up, the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building is one of the first vertical evacuation tsunami sites in the U.S. Its unique look and resilient design is achieved through advanced architectural and engineering techniques. The building is covered in 30,000…
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Shou Sugi Ban binds Art and Architecture in Spectral Bridge House
A unique collaboration between EYRC Architects and an internationally known artist, this house could be called “a vessel for living and art.” The artist Johannes Girardoni created site-specific projects that explore connections between art, design, technology, and architecture. For this site, a narrow lot in an eclectic urban neighborhood about a mile from Venice beach, he wanted to build a home that would also be an immersive art experience. Ehrlich, Yanai and Girardoni collaborated to integrate art and architecture by creating three two-story living blocks. Sensitively scaled to surrounding houses, these monolithic shapes are disrupted by irregular angles and rotated axes. The upper level is rendered in smooth white stucco…
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Shou Sugi Ban: A Popular New/Old Technique For Treating Wood
Shou Sugi Ban (which translates as “the burning of Japanese cypress”) is a traditional Japanese technique of charring wood to make it repel water, prevent sun damage and make it rot and insect resistant. A number of woods can be treated this way, including spruce, accoya (a thermally modified wood), Western red cedar, Douglas fir, and so on but cryptomeria japonica or Japanese cedar, was the traditionally used wood, indigenous to Japan and China. Shou Sugi Ban (which translates as “the burning of Japanese cypress”) is a traditional Japanese technique of charring wood to make it repel water, prevent sun damage and make it rot and insect resistant. A number of woods can be…
