Articles by Cristobal Rojas

Designed by Tzannes architects for Lendlease, International House Sydney is a distinctive new element in the city, establishing a warm and welcoming connection between the new precinct of Barangaroo and the historic heart of the city.

The spacious plot is located in a rural and green area along a connecting road, characterized by a tall farm row. This is the access ofthe house at the front of the plot. The rear focuses on the beautiful landscape and forest. Logically the house opens to the underlying landscape and creates a freely closed facade on the street side to ensure the privacy of the residents.

Surrounded by wheat fields on a high-altitude plateau stand a small glass house and a solid, traditional barn. The owners, inspired by Philip Johnson’s Glass House, wanted a refuge that opens up to the prairie and mountains. The structures are conveniently close to each other and enjoy a sense of isolation at the end of a long country road. The roof of the wood-frame barn, which houses farm equipment below and guest rooms above, was inspired by the local vernacular and is echoed in the shed roof of the glass house.

The particular urban base of Vila Madalena neighborhood in São Paulo defined the project created by Triptyque Architecture: a residential complex built in Arapiraca Street. The integration with its context – a neighborhood of old houses, close to bars and restaurants – was the main objective of Triptyque’s architects, in order to make a natural dialogue between the 8000m2 volume of construction and its relief.

The high-rise tower is an important ingredient within the contemporary city. However, towers have come to be defined solely by their height and, as a type, they have become anonymous. Typical residential towers, while successful in aggregating the living unit, often fail to improve upon the living environment. The multiplication of units within simple extruded shapes produces repetitive and anonymous structures with no extra benefits or architectural qualities despite the incredible densities they achieve. For those who live in these structures, this experience of sameness and repetition can be relatively unpleasant. 56 Leonard Street acts against this anonymity and repetitiveness, emanating from so many towers of the recent past. Its ambition is to achieve, despite its size, a character that is individual and personal, perhaps even intimate.

Galeotas House is a set of several buildings originally dedicated to storage and housing, constructed between the18th and the 20th centuries and considerably damaged at the starting point of the project development. The intervention aims at preparing the site to host the headquarters of UCCLA – União das Cidades Capitais de Língua Luso-Afro-Amero-Asiáticas – and CAL – Casa da América Latina -.

Snøhetta has designed a unique bar and interior concept for the expansion of Oslo Airport. Located centrally in the new domestic terminal, the playful design of Norgesglasset draws inspiration from its namesake, the Norgesglasset jar, a classic product long used for pickling and storing food familiar to many Norwegian homes.

The new 43,885SF Varina Area Library was envisioned as a place for individual transformation and community advancement as well as a hub for learning. Building on our client’s model for library service, we strove to discern those elements of library design embodying ideas, initiatives and innovations uniquely suited to this library for this particular community.

Complex

This project is strategically located in the commercial hub of Setia City. It is the second phase to the highly successful first convention centre that was constructed some 5 years ago.