Residence in Skerries, Ireland...

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A few images sent by our partner Paul Brady from our practice's London branch of a recently completed project in Skerries, Ireland. The residence is an unbashedly contemporary, yet contextual, addition to a row of more traditional sandstone and slate buildings.

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Click here to access an earlier post of this project...

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The addition is slotted between a row of more traditional residences...

Interior detail...

The main entrance...

The original steps...

The back elevation makes the most of the sea view...

The view from the residence at low-tide...

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All images by Paul Brady

smArchitecture on Fabbaloo...

Some of our work has been featured on one of my favourite (I check it daily) blogs Fabbaloo, which covers various themes and technologies related to Additive Manufacturing/ Fabrication...

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Very chuffed indeed...

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Click here to access the post...

Project Recap No. 12 - Filter Light (SLA)

An additional design that takes advantage of the default support scaffolding of the Stereolithography process only here, instead of just including such scaffolding (which are usually removed when a build is completed) in the final design as tectonic supports (as was the case in the Fragrant Tower & Cocoon as well as, in a more bespoke fashion, in the Materix/ Avaterial designs), in this design the scaffolding is also used to filter light. Looking a bit like a carburetor filter the design, nevertheless, contains a bit of variety in that the density of the scaffolding matrix has been made slightly varied on different sides of the design's cylindrical torso, allowing one to subtly adjust the lighting levels by rotating the design.

Favourite Buildings Visited - 2006 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion...

In honor of Jean Nouvel's upcoming Serpentine Pavilion, which will be erected outside London's Serpentine Gallery this summer, I thought I'd include a few images of Rem Koolhaas' effort from a few years earlier. Even though not my favourite Serpentine Pavilion - having preferred some of the work by of the Japanese contributors, such as Toyo Ito (with Cecil Balmond) in 2002, or the more recent reflective contraption by SANAA in 2009 (click here and here for posts of the pavilion featured earlier on this blog) - all the pavilion designs, nevertheless, have to be applauded as it is very seldom an architect has the opportunity to create such, quasi-practical, follies and let their imagination run wild... The aim with this design, if I remember correctly, was to adjust the height of its inflated 'balloon' roof depending on the weather and temperature, something that, due to a quite breezy London summer that year, seldom took place...

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The pavilion's interior...

High-density foam squares used as stools...

The ledge between the inflated roof and cylindrical wall...

A setting for covert whispers and dog walking...

Mosque Landscape Sketches...

Inspired by the drawings on Ghadah Al-Kandari's blog, I've also decided to include a few more recent sketches from a self-commenced, still hypothetical, project inspired by the Gulf region and, in particular, by some of the dramatic landscapes in Oman. The project is called 'Mosque Landscape' and proposes a, probably somewhat polemic, osmotic take on the integration between a system of faith, landscape, geography, geology and architecture. I'll elaborate more as the project (which doesn't have a timeline - it will be done when it 'feels' complete) matures...

All the sketches were drawn with black (and occasionally red) felt-tip, usually 0.4 mm, pens into either a Moleskine or alternate (when Moleskines haven't been available) A6 (pocket size) plain sketch books...

3D Printing on a Train...

There's a sweet little adecdote of an op-ed piece in today's New York Times about printing on a train, what ended up being a usable bottle-opener, with a MakeBot 3D printer...

The original NYT article can be accessed by clicking here...

Picture sourced from the MakeBot web-site...

Quasi Ad-Hoc 3D Printed Vase...

A small ditty/ folly of a 3D Printing/ Additive Manufactured project by the Belgian Designers Unfold and Tim Knapen. Using an open-source RepRap printer, they've created a machine for printing small ceramic vases, made from layered extrusions of clay, which are partly manipulated (designed) by visitors hand motions through a sensor.

The work, called L'Artisan Electronique, will be on display at the Z33 in Hasselt (Belgium) until May 30...

A direct link to the source can be accessed by clicking here...

Images from the Dezeen and Unfold web sites...

Walking Along the Corniche in Doha...

During a recent visit to Doha I had the opportunity to walk the, roughly 7.5 km long stretch of the Corniche which, unlike the beach-side along Kuwait's Gulf Road, is uniterrupted. The included photos were taken of the buildings and views flanking this crescent shaped expanse...

View along the Corniche in Doha...

Above and below - a few images of Jean Nouvel's initial creation in Doha, where he's also recently been comissioned to design the National Museum of Qatar...