The world-renowned Zaha Hadid architects recently has designed the New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague. The building culminates in a gracious curving roofline that neatly nests itself within the city skyline. A very good attempt of creating a fluid force field from the ground surface to the horizontal louvers that seemingly moves when graced by light and shadow.

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague - EAST ELEVATION, drawing courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague, rendering courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

+ Project description courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

DESIGN FOR NEW DANCE AND MUSIC CENTER [THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS]

The design concept for the New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague is developed from the unique urban dynamics of the site, resulting in a structure with subtle volumetric gestures that invite the public from the ground-level plaza into the heart of the building. The seamless continuation of the public domain into the structure further reinforces the cohesive character of the building, which combines four major institutions into one single envelope: the Royal Conservatory, the Netherlands Dance Theatre, the Residential Orchestra and the centre's Guest Programming. The building culminates in a gracious curving roofline that neatly nests itself within the city skyline.

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague, rendering courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague, rendering courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

In sharp contrast with basic rectangular geometry, the design features a fluid force field of horizontal louvers that seemingly moves when graced by light and shadow. This unique characteristic creates a playful language on the facade, articulating public circulation, the foyers and the sculpted inner atrium, while allowing visual connections outside to the square as well as exciting glimpses into the building.

New Dance and Music Centre in The Hague - SECTION A-A, drawing courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

+ Project credits / data

PROGRAM: Dance and music center
LOCATION: The Hague, Netherlands
CLIENT: City of The Hague
SIZE: Gross Building Area 48000 m2, excl. underground car parking

ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects

Design: Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher
Project Associate: Joris Pauwels
Project Leader: Paulo Flores
Project Team: Rafael Contreras, Yevgeniya Pozigun, Thomas Buseck, Oliver
Malm, Hoda Nobakhti, Akif Cinar

CONSULTANTS:

Local Architects: Bureau Bouwkunde [Netherlands]
Structure: AKT [UK]
Services: Max Fordham [UK]
Theatre: Theatre Projects Consultants [UK]
Facade: Newtecnic [UK]
Acoustics: Peutz [Netherlands]

+ All drawings and images courtesy of Zaha Hadid architects

Philippines-based Zubu Design Associates has completed the House at Alta Vista.

+ Project description courtesy of Zubu Design Associates

The house is located in a gated community, with a terrain of high to very high slope. It also has a breathtaking view of the city. Since the lot is already oriented with the master plan of the community , the best view of the lot is only seen obliquely in relation to the main axis of the lot. We created a tilting box from the y axis to maximize the vista. This can be clearly shown from the red massing clearly with a different axis from the ground floor. This red massing houses the 2 main bedrooms of the house, the tilt also blocks off the neighbors house from the inside. A long cantilevered roof also blocks the structure from the micro-climate, heavier winds and rain, of the community.

House at Alta Vista, image courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista, image courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista, image courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista - Floor plans, drawing courtesy Zubu Design Associates

House at Alta Vista - Elevations, drawing courtesy Zubu Design Associates

+ Project credits / data:

Title: House at Alta Vista
Location: cebu city, philippines
Lot area: 500 sqm
Floor area: 400 sqm
Program: 4 bedroom house
Design: 2008
Completion: 2009
Design model: Planar Composition, Massing
Design team: Zubu Design Associates (buck richnold sia, joffrey echivarre, francis abellanosa)

+ About Zubu Design Associates

Zubu Design Associates is a design studio that is dedicated to creating progressive and modern architecture. It combines innovative and experimental concepts, as well as the international style to the culture and climate to the local setting. The architects' believe that a well design building is not only to comply to its basic use but It should provide as a beacon for provoking thought and creating emotion through space, light and form. The group's plan is intertwined to form a unified thought. Zubu also believes the design process is just as important as the finished product.

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Zubu Design Associates

French designer Alexandre Moronnoz designed a dynamic and fluid bench named it as Muscle Bench. The bench offers the possibility of sitting or lying down in response to the surface's relief.

Muscle Bench
As spectacular to gaze at as it is comfortable to rest on, Muscle is a counter proposal to traditional stiff and motionless street furniture thanks to its dynamic forms and its purified lines. A piece to compliment both contemporary architectural structures or modern landscape designs.

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

The bench offers the possibility of sitting or lying down in response to the surface's relief. Like the fibrous structure of a muscle, the cut metal sheets work with compression and tension to maintain the rigidity of the resting platform.

The smooth gun metal gray epoxy finish reflects the light and adds to the sense of lightness.
As the sun passes through the metal bars, the shadows mix with the actual piece adding yet another dimension to this exceptional urban bench.

+ Materials: steel 8mm, primary zinc epoxy powder coating
+ Dimensions: L 400cm w 78.5cm h 54cm total weight: 450kg

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery

+ About Alexandre Moronnoz

Graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle, Les Ateliers, Paris, Alexandre's work  combines research into new methods and materials, made to order pieces  and  collaborations with both architects and manufacturers.  Alexandre is continually searching for new methods while pushing the limits of design.

Working with the autoroutes of France from 2003 to 2006 Alexandre was an initiator in the studies of sustainable mobility.

His collaborative projects include work with agencies such as  Delo Lindo forTefal in 2005-2006,  Radi Designers for Schneider in 2006,  Plan Créatif for Gaz de France in 2003-2004 and for the RATP in 2007.

Two urban furniture projects have been developed  with VIA in 2006  and 'Interférences' in 2007 for Brussels Environment, marked a srong tie between object and space.For Alexandre an object, like architecture must take the environment into the context of  the design. Alexandre welcomes your commissioned projects.

+ Visit outdoorzgallery for more information.

Muscle Bench by Alexandre Moronnoz, image courtesy outdoorzgallery