Doméstico uses "habitable artifact" to organize micro apartment in Quito

Ecuadorian architects Juan Alberto Andrade and María José Váscones have made the most of the limited space in a micro apartment located within a new residential tower by Safdie Architects.

Doméstico is located within the Qorner building in Quito, near La Carolina Park. The apartment tower was designed by Safdie Architects and developed by local firm Uribe Schwarzkopf. The lower portion opened this year while work continues on the upper levels.

The micro apartment is located within the Qorner building in Quito

Architects Juan Alberto Andrade and María José Váscones – who are based in the city of Guayaquil –were tasked with designing a 27.5-squre-metre studio apartment for an active, middle-aged woman.

The goal was to create open space within the compact studio without sacrificing basic living amenities.

It features a versatile, floor-to-ceiling unit

"The project is born from the need to solve, through architectural strategies, the spatial and formal limitations of this new way of living, in a way that relates directly to urban and social mobility," the team said.

The team ended up inserting a floor-to-ceiling unit with built-in, space-saving furniture and storage. This "habitable artifact" enables living functions to be condensed into a single organizing element that "transforms easily and does not sacrifice comfort".

The unit is made of water-resistant melamine boards

The unit – made of water-resistant melamine boards – stretches along several walls and allows for an open area along the studio's large window.

Its placement, shape and functions were determined by the studio's geometry and sightlines, along with the location of the building's infrastructure.

A compact galley kitchen contains basic amenities

The upper portion holds storage space and is accessed via a wheeled, metal ladder that can be moved around. The lower part accommodates everyday activities.

Upon entering the studio, one steps into a compact galley kitchen with a fridge, stove, sink and cabinetry. A backsplash is lined with a mineral surfacing material from the company Silestone.

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Just beyond is the main room, which features an open space with a sitting area.

Lining one side of the room is the organizing unit, which contains a bed and desk/table, both of which fold up. A door in the corner leads to a bathroom with a sink, shower and toilet.

The main room includes a sitting area

Up high, green metal shelves add a pop of colour to the austere apartment. Additional elements in the unit include aluminium door pulls and ceramic flooring.

"Doméstico presents itself as a connection between architecture and furniture design, in which the space is created in relation to the new needs, and the constant reduction of space," the architects said.

Green metal shelves add a pop of colour

"This premise questions the traditional dwelling limits, and puts in evidence the new parameters of contemporary domestic living."

Other projects by Juan Alberto Andrade and María José Váscones include the conversion of a 1990s van into a mobile home for an Ecuadorian couple, and a tech office in Guayaquil with a patchwork of windows and shelves.

The photography is by JAG Studio.

Project credits:

Architects: Juan Alberto Andrade, María José Váscones.
Team: Cuqui Rodríguez
Contractor: Paola Cañón, Uribe Schwarzkopf
Manufacturers: Área UIO, Aglomerados Cotopaxi, Novopan

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Safdie Architects designs interconnected housing blocks alongside park over train tracks

Orca is a mixed-use development in Toronto designed by Safdie Architects that will have nine interconnected residential towers alongside a park that will be built over a railway.

Safdie Architects revealed plans to build decks over a 100-metre-wide and 800-metre-long stretch of the train line that leads to Union Station.

The decks will form a 10.5-acre public park and retail area set over multiple levels, next to nine high-rise towers. Renders show the towers being supported on large piloti.

One of the Orca towers will contain office space, while the other eight with contain 3,000 apartments. The high-rises will be connected together by bridges featuring gardens and amenities for residents.

"As the city has expanded westward, the railway lands have increasingly become a brutal barrier between the King West Community and the growing waterfront district," said Safdie Architects founder Moshie Safdie.

"Our design aspires to forge a reconnection in the community fabric by creating a lively park that is economically viable and promises a unique destination experience for Toronto," he added.

"As an isolated park is unlikely to generate the diversity of activity required to animate the neighbourhood, our design integrates amenities for city life like shops, restaurants, and offices into the park itself, drawing in residents and visitors alike."

Boxy protrusions on renders of the towers recall Habitat 67, Safdie's iconic brutalist complex in Montreal.

Safdie Architects worked with PWP Landscape Architecture, which designed the Salesforce Park on terraces over a transit centre in San Francisco, to create the park. It will feature playgrounds, walking trails and bike paths linked by ramps and elevators.

The shopping galleria area will be covered during the winter but will be able to be opened to the park in the summer during good weather.

Orca will join other upcoming developments in Toronto including as an esports stadium by Populous and a pair of twisting reflective skyscrapers from Frank Gehry.

Boston-based Safdie Architects was founded in 1964 and has offices in Singapore, Shanghai, and Jerusalem. Recent projects from the practice include the Crystal skybridge at Raffles City Chongqing and the Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore.

Project credits:

Architect: Safdie Architects
Landscape: PWP Landscape Architecture
Engineering: Arup
Local architect: Sweeny&Co
Clients: Craft Development Corporation, Kingsmen Group,Fengate Asset Management

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Safdie Architects to expand Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Safdie Architects is set to double the size of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas with a design that includes two new galleries connected by a bridge.

The architecture firm, which has its headquarters in Boston, will return to build an extension for the museum that it designed a decade ago.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is in Arkansas

Construction will commence in early 2022 and is expected to be completed by 2024. In May of this year, a reconfigured courtyard and main lobby will be completed as forerunners to the expansion.

"We are going to cover the courtyard with a glass dome, integrating the whole entrance experience," said practice founder and AIA Gold Medal-winner Moshe Safdie.

Safdie Architects will lead the expansion

Nestled amongst 120 sloping acres of lush trees in Bentonville, Arkansas, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a free art museum.

Named after nearby spring-fed ponds and a series of bridges incorporated into its existing design, the museum is a collection of pavilions and a large glass-enclosed hall.

A light-filled bridge will connect two new galleries

Currently spanning 200,000 square feet (18,581 square metres), Safdie Architects will add an additional 100,000 square feet (9,290 square metres) of facilities to the museum, increasing its size by 50 per cent.

The overarching goal of the expansion is to continue to integrate the museum with its setting and enhance community involvement in the museum's art activities.

To achieve these goals, Crystal Bridges' new structures will house two additional art galleries that will be connected by a new bridge.

The museum is surrounded by water and trees

With floor-to-ceiling views of the museum's green surroundings, the bridge will include a cafe, and also offer an alternative space for showcasing art that is not sensitive to light exposure.

"The bridge will have a whole series of exhibits," explained Safdie. "It will show all kinds of work."

As well as the display of artwork, one of the new galleries will also create further opportunities for educational workshops and art studios, designed for creators of all ages and abilities.

Above these educational spaces, there will be a gallery for changing exhibitions.

A new cafe will feature on the bridge

"There was such a deficit of art in this region," said Crystal Bridges founder Alice Walton.
Outdoor community programmes will take place in a new circular event plaza, while the museum's existing exterior Walking Landing area will become shaded by a large canopy erected in order to increase year-round usage of the space.

Safdie described the canopy as "a tent suspended by the surrounding buildings," and said that it will encourage flexible educational activities at the museum.

In a nod to the surrounding landscape, Safdie Architects said it plans to use regional materials, such as local timber and stone, for the extension.

Founded by Moshe Safdie in 1964, Safdie Architects recently designed an airport in Singapore with the world's tallest indoor waterfall, and a skybridge connecting four 250-metre-tall skyscrapers in China.

Other recent museum extensions include a new lower-level entrance to a science museum in Manchester by Carmody Groarke, and Kaan Architecten's concealed minimalist wing in an existing 19th-century structure within the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Renderings are courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Project credits:

Design architect: Safdie Architects
Associate architect: Hight Jackson
Structural, facade and MEP engineers: Buro Happold
Civil engineers: CEI Engineers
Landscape architects: Coen + Partners
Lighting: LAM
Contractor: Flintco

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