Francisco Alcazar

June and July is the season for end of year Architectural Shows.. Previous years have focussed almost exclusively on parametric forms and glossy images.

Though still dominant there is a noticeable change.....

more hand drawing, sketching and even buildings.

Recently unfashionable in architectural education, the 1970s and 1980s are being reinvestigated...

The hand drawn sections and axonometrics, the consideration of materials and engineering belong very much to this time

I recently went to Norwich to visit two of the finest examples of this architecture, that still look fresh and exciting today...

Norman Fosters Sainsbury Centre and Denys Lasduns Student Housing at the University of East Anglia

The Sainsbury Centre houses the Sainsbury art collection together with research and student facilities..

A simple shed drawing on factory technologies the form, proportions and park setting create a modern day temple made from everyday materials

The form was designed to be flexible and extendable with facade panels being moved around to suit internal arrangements

ggggg

Anthony Hunt were the engineers- and as in much of the early work by Foster the architecture and engineering are one and the same..

37 welded tubular prismatic steel trusses spanning 35m supported on similar lattice towers creating a column- free tube 133m in length. clear heigth of 7.5 m permits display of large works of art and inseertion of independent mezzanines. Foundations are 3m continuous concrete strip footings with an integral floating ground floor.

But the simple neat solution and form hides a sophisticated and carefully worked out building

Cladding: 2.4 by 2.1m panels of sandwich construction with a moulded outer skin of highly reflective anodised aluminium and 100mm foam filling giving a high insulation value: both important part of the scheme low energy concept. Each pane fits into a continuous net of neoprene gaskets which double as rainwater channels. Final design consist of four types of panels:glass, solid, grilled and curved panel. All are interchangeble by unfastening six bolts.

The facade panels have been updated over the years and moved to suit changing needs

An elegant bridge aligned on the geomtery of the student housing pierces the buildings skin..

and terminates at a generous spiral stair that leads to the reception

Gable wall system: Clear glass walls at east and west ends. 30m by 7.5m high. each sheet of glass (7.5m by 2.4m) and its supporting fin is supported by purpose made steel channels anchored into the floor slab. Jointing with high grade silicone sealant.

Though intended to expand, the shed was left untouched as the recet extension- also by Foster- was build underground, doubing the accommodation

The Lasdun student halls sit like step pyramids or mountains- forming the backdrop to the classical white Foster temple.

On the corners the common rooms and kitchens function as originally designed. Despite some corossion the concrete walls and dramatic rainwater spouts still function

Repetitive concrete boxes are stacked up to create complex forms that maximise views and give each room a terrace

The recently opened design museum in the suburbs of Tel Aviv was built in hopes of transforming the city of Holon into an epicenter of culture and education. To that end they brought in a famous architect and renowned group of international guest curators to make the museum famous. The Design Museum Holon was designed by Ron Arad Architects, led by Tel Aviv born industrial designer and architect, Ron Arad. After four years of construction the museum was inaugurated on January 31st, 2010 and its first exhibition just opened. The structure itself is not merely a box to house works of art and design, rather it is meant to be the first exhibit visitors see when coming to the museum. Arads creation is most notably characterized by the metal ribbons wrapping around the building. Five sinuous bands of varying shades of Corten weathered steel form the exterior facade casting curvaceous shadows down onto an outdoor courtyard, by which the visitors enter. Inside are various exhibition halls, gallery spaces, a design lab and an archival collection for the many shows the museum soon hopes to Tel Aviv hold within its confines.

On a visit to Tel Aviv in June the newly completed Design Museum by furniture designer Ron Arad takes the simple gallery box and tries to hide the form with a series of steel ribbons

Five undulating horizontal ribbons of weathered steelin bright orange, deep red, and rust brownwrap the Design Museum Holon

These ribbons shade and enclose spaces that can be used in the middle of the day without the use of air-conditioning or other ventilation

This is a deliberately sculptural building, creating a setting within a bland and boring commercial district.

Both approaches have their place- but the elegance and simplicity of Foster and Lasdun may endure longer than the more obvious appeal of Arad. It will be interesting to visit the Student shows in 40 years time to see how each is doing.