Articles by Andreas Luco

Yarrbat Avenue in Balwyn is like many streets in Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs. It is a quiet residential street that reflects no particular historical period, but has fine examples of the various housing styles built throughout the last 100 years. Also, like many streets in Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs, it is lined with European deciduous trees that map the changes of seasons. The brief from the client sought to exploit the opportunities found on this site from its location. The site is on the side of a hill which has excellent views to the Dandenong Ranges, and it was important to allow the building to capture these distant views, as well as to strategically engage with the established trees lining the streets.

“It is a deep honor to be trusted by the farmers of the Tillamook Cooperative to design their new visitor experience. Our hope is that the new building and the experiences visitors have within will become part of the Tillamook story – a story that is about high-quality products, but also about the Tillamook farmers and employees themselves. We could not be more excited to be part of Tillamook’s future.” –Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, Design Principal – Architecture

Floating Farm Dairy produces, processes and distributes dairy products in the city, close to its consumers. It brings producer and consumer closer together, adds to shorter supply chains and awareness of city residents. Urban waste flows are upgraded from residual product to valuable ingredients cow feed. Brewers grains, potato scraps and grass clippings from the Feyenoord football stadium are all part of the menu. This adds to urban recycling and constitutes a fairly efficient form of food production. The Floating Farm Dairy is the first step to subsequently planned ‘Foodstrip’ in which a wider range of food production will be represented.

There are territories, buildings, spaces that represent more than just their physical and material dimension. They have the ability to create sensations and appeal to our spirit and our imagination, in a constant dialogue between the sacred and the profane. Our intention for this Islamic Cultural Centre – located in Colinas do Cruzeiro, Odivelas – was to provide the space with spatial and symbolic qualities that potentially could create in the visitor an awareness of the mystic and the sacred. Being a space dedicated to spread the Islamic identity, it is also a space for the whole community, a space for dialogue and sharing of culture and knowledge. Therefore, the program for this Centre had to contemplated an exhibition space, a space for dissemination of literature, a meeting/studding room, and a male and female prayer space.

The project was realized on an empty plot on a charming village road in Anzegem, Belgium. The plot is situated on the transition from a typical piece of Flemish ribbon development to a detached, ‘belle époque’-architecture, so it was vital that the design could be the missing link to create a fluent transition.