I'm not sure if you guys are interested in screening options for your minimal hut but thought I'd put some info here anyway in case you are. I have been researching screening as I think the problem with our site is that while it has a beautiful view and position near the water, it is very exposed to the elements.
I think there are quite a few architects using screens these days. Here are the ones I have been looking at:
Timber screens: Carmen Pinos (couldn't actually find her on the web but she must be there somewhere. Have seen her stuff in books) Also have looked at the screens on the west face of the CH2 building in Melbourne (as described by the bloke who gave the lecture at the a+b opening night last week. I think his name is Mike Pearson.
Metal Screens: I really like the ones Sean Godsell put on a couple of his houses - Kew House and Peninsula House.(www.seangodsell.com)
Plastic Screens: There is a totally gorgeous building that I saw in Architectural Review No 11, 2006(journal in the library). It is the Badajoz Congress Centre in a town in Spain. The building is located on the site of an old bull fighting ring. The architect wanted to remember this history in designing the building so it is circular like a bull fighting ring. The centre core of the ring is made of polycarbonate and glows at night. It is surrounded by a large walkway with is separated from the outside by a huge swirling screen. The screen needed to spin around the edge of the circle so needed to be of a flexible material. It is made out of 'fibreglass reinforced polyester resin tubes'. They had to find low cost materials for the project because it is located in quite a poor part of Spain. The glowing centre cylinder can be seen through the plastic screen. It looks great.
See you all on Friday.
1 comment:
Thanks for the references. Will definitely check them out.
Screening seems to be the obvious choice for our site. We not only have the sun to contend with (which gets pretty low in the west during winter) but the wind is a pretty serious issue too. I think that a key issue is autonomy, or more specifically, the autonomous functioning of the building within the site. Screening can provide shading and buffering against wind, while maintaining the flexibility to accommodate varying weather conditions. I can’t get a shading device that will block winter afternoon sun though. It just becomes a wall – which, in my opinion, defeats the purpose.
It’s interesting to consider the ‘screen’ in the context of prospect and refuge – a topic for another post perhaps…
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