Articles by Daniel Tapia

Since the early day’s of U.lab’s establishment, there have been an attachment and longing for the old and profound space of our own. Due to our job traits, we always create new spaces. However the accumulation of time of the old space could not be intentionally created. Hence, the space having long history has always been yearned. This space was the rice mill created in 1931, during Japanese Colonial Rule. We were very interested in the time and place of this space. Since It was a 90-year-old building, so it needed water leakage prevention and insulation work. However, we did not want to change the existing space significantly. We planned to design the rice mill carefully and delicately, by adding only functional space while preserving basic form.

Fans of the carefully curated Foodhallen venues will be no doubt excited about the latest location opening its doors this autumn in Den Haag. After two intensely popular food courts in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the most recent venue is located within Haagsche Bluf – a hidden-away area of luxury shops and contrasting architectural styles. With an interior designed by Studio Modijefsky, the brand-new hall is a vibrant space to enjoy local people and flavors. Wrapped around an internal courtyard of the Haagsche Bluf, the food court spreads across three adjoining buildings, connecting multiple floor levels and irregular structural grids. The new design simplifies the original chaotic ‘forest’ formed of existing columns, beams and staircases, turning the dark and low interior into an open public space heavily inspired by the tradition of the greatest European piazzas.

A narrow street, where the sleepy character of old Jinonice is still preserved, broadens out to create a tiny square with a well. It was dominated by an abandoned house, formed by the gradual addition of masses, some of which overtopped the original one. The complex of these small buildings, placed in the sloping garden, was in a very dilapidated uninhabitable state.

A few blocks from the Suquía River and next to the Barrio Alta Córdoba Train Station, the house is located in a small urban lot of 105m2 in a well-connected area. The proposal intends to make a contribution to the built environment by intervening in a residual space, achieving the completion of the urban fabric and thus valuing the already consolidated environment, favouring the social mix and taking advantage of the current services and infrastructure lines. On a small lot of 7mx15m, the proposal makes vertical sense by organizing the program in a series of overlapping floors in order to optimize the approach. The project rejects any spatial hierarchy in order to become an open and flexible system of multiple connections calling for continuity and freedom.

The architect Dado Castello Branco signs the “Flamboyant House” for the 29^th edition of Casa Cor Exhibition 2015, that occurred from May 26to July 12, in Jockey Club, São Paulo. The room with 85m² favors the use of natural materials like stone, wood and glass. The whole space was designed considering comfort and interaction, with the landscape view in focus. As background, the professional used neutral colors.