AR Residential by TLNICHE

UNDER CONSTRUCTION Michael Holt

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION Michael Holt

→ curious to consider how TZG will maintain the social heritage of the buildings, while rarefying its existing built fabric. Intriguingly, Greer talks of the need for a ‘loose fit’ approach to architecture, meaning they strive to allow buildings – upon completion – to evolve. The end user is very much in the forefront of their minds when the design process is filtrating. He also speaks of the ‘inherited buildings’ or ‘artifacts’ – the Clare Hotel on the corner of Broadway and the CUB at its rear. It is an enigmatic phrase and raises a polemical question as to the notion of ‘existing’ buildings as merely existing and instead suggests artifacts that are genealogically connective to the new, additional building. This philosophical understanding of the inherited building also comes through in the desire for, what Greer calls, the act of ‘un-building’. And so, before the conventional process of building anew begins, just as an archaeologist decides which periods of history to sacrifice on the way to the chosen artifact, TZG strips back the layers of the building to reveal something of higher social and cultural value – it searches for the relic. This is an imprecise science and will more than often leave its own record of saw cuts, prop holes, etc., but to TZG these will simply add to the composition of the completed building. To TZG, this is the formulation of history, by recreating and revealing what went previously for future generations. It is the act of preservation by standing the old relic against the new fabric. The connecting volume, between the inherited buildings, will offer a shift in scale. Its glazed box is a hybrid between the existing CUB and Clare Hotel and is both a point of access and also a crucible for heritage. It will stitch the two buildings together and enclose a former laneway, creating a rich hierarchy of public and private spaces. The scale and framework for the new building derive from the geometric window modules of the inherited buildings and will announce a system of scale that unites the two buildings. This interstitial space – a connection between the inherited building as ‘solid’ and new addition as ‘void’ – will act in tension, territorially playing one mass off against the other. It is to confirm what Greer calls a ‘continuum’ – the clash between past and present. One exceptional and notable aspect to the overall project is the retention of two significant rooms in the CUB. Where previously these were a sampling room for Carlton Brewery ales and a boardroom, they are now reinterpreted as hotel suites. Seen in section, these rooms act as votive offerings to the previous actions and inhabitance of the CUB. As the project moves from the ‘un-building’ phase into its construction stage, it will be interesting to follow the urban transformation of the area, as the tension between past and present is intensified.

04. Existing building to roof addition, detail A Existing window B Existing building facade C Existing heritage ceiling D Timber truss E Metal deck roof F Metal cladding G Timber sill H Concrete transfer beam over heritage spaces

Structural slab Carpet K Operable window L Timber decking M Rigid foam insulation 05. Isometric model showing the inclusion of the incoming top-ﬂ oor penthouses 06. Existing terracing, shown in computer model with south elevation in the rear 07. The connection I

between the CUB and the Clare Hotel 08. Section detail, outlining the connection between the existing buildings 09. The Clare Hotel bar area, stripped back with ceiling and ﬂ oor tiles becoming more prominent 10–12. Former lift core demolished to make way for hospitality areas.

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FEATURE Silvia Perea

BEYOND THE MODERN HOUSE W

ithdrawn from its urban surroundings by an exuberant string of tropical foliage, Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro (Glass House) – built in São Paulo for her husband, Pietro Maria Bardi, and herself, in 1951 – still reflects the architect’s cherished idea of a house as an aquarium. Nonetheless, the interior, which for years the Bardis turned into a well-tempered depot of their collecting impulses, has lost its resonance, with the humid depths of the enveloping garden. Functioning as a foundation for the couple’s intellectual and artistic legacy since 1990, the house has been adapted progressively to comply with contemporary archival needs. In the process of becoming a public research facility, it has lost its genuine charm to make the old and the new coexist harmoniously, such was the mastery of the Bardis. Rearranged to better serve visitors, the pieces of furniture – many designed by the architect – and myriad artistic findings that once enlivened the casa (ranging from a fifth century statue of Diana to a papier mâché head of the Esso Tiger) are strangers to the new context; the house’s interior looks more today like it did when it was built and the Modernist clinical features that informed it prevailed over its domesticity. Certainly, the couple’s avidity for rarities fostered the premature maturity of the house’s interior. Connatural to their Italian origin, the Bardis’ regard for the past as part of the present

followed them to Brazil, where they moved in 1946. Pietro, who had collected all sorts of trinkets from an early age and became over time a renowned art dealer, had often claimed through his writings in Italy the uniqueness of art, that is, the non-distinction between major and minor arts. This philosophy guided his collecting spirit while acquiring pieces for the galleries he administered in Milan and Rome, during the 1920s and 1930s, and would do so while →

Casa de Vidro (Glass House) 01. The interior has lost its resonance but maintains the idea of ‘house as aquarium’. Image courtesy Nelson Kon 02. Interior image, 1951. Image courtesy Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi 03. External aspect on approach. Image courtesy Nelson Kon.

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FEATURE Silvia Perea

→ he assembled the collection of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), which he directed from 1947 until shortly before he died in 1999. Lina, for her part, had taken her first professional steps in Milan under the tutelage of Giò Ponti, whose work was well-known for enhancing the conviviality between the traditional and modernity. The mostly interior architectural project commissions she and her partner, Carlo Pagani, designed in the Lombardy capital were unmistakably inspired by Ponti’s designs. Soon after arriving in Brazil, Lina and Pietro added to their list of collectibles a new pursuit, what they called ‘primitive art’; an instinctive, ingenious and dis-interested popular expression that, in its ethic, poetic and political dimension, fulfilled their ideal of a humanist culture. Gathered in different trips throughout the country, votive offerings, delicate ceramics, religious carvings, rusted tools and elementary artifacts began filling the Casa de Vidro’s nooks. At the same time, the couple started promoting their notion of primitive art as ‘the true Brazilian art’ in the pages of Habitat magazine (which they founded in São Paulo in 1950) and in the halls of MASP, where they curated several exhibitions around this theme. By claiming that such art embodied Brazil’s cultural essence and that it was ethically exemplary for artistic production, the Bardis aimed at persuading the country’s collective consciousness on how

to afford Brazil a competent identity. Despite governmental efforts following the culmination of Getulio Vargas’ tenure (1930–1945) to provide the country with a contemporary appearance, the complexity of foreign cultural dependence and a lingering colonialism continued to hinder national pride. The Bardis’ claim for ‘primitive art’ as appropriate for representing Brazil with dignity entailed a critique against the alien sophistication of much of the Modern architecture that was built in the country up to that point. Ultimately, their claim was directed against the government’s blind faith that Modern architecture could alleviate Brazil’s feeling of inferiority. The imported features the Bardis wanted to create in Casa de Vidro have slowly dissipated over the years, so much so that the increasingly assorted interior and leafy exterior absolves the link between the house’s construction and Bo Bardi’s initial intent. The few residential commissions that the architect accepted following the Casa de Vidro reﬂect her alignment with the critical perspective over the International Style’s social and environmental detachment that emerged from intellectual circles, such as the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), following World War II. Notwithstanding her refusal to undertake dwelling commissions other than those of close friends, Bo Bardi responded to her interest in social habitats, carrying out numerous housing studies. In these projects, as well as in the only two residences →

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DIAMOND HOUSE

Section AA

→ entrance opens into the main living and dining spaces; and, to the eastern aspect, the kitchen expands volumetrically with the slope of the external wall, with strategic slits above the counter and cabinets allowing natural light and ventilation to penetrate. The upper levels are split to accommodate two bedrooms, one of which is naturally lit by a skylight. Real estate is famously calibrated around the ‘view’ and this house is no exception. The prime visual feast occurs at the back of the house, fronting a lake. The rear facade is thus the most open of all four elevations, featuring full-height sliding glass doors and windows that overlook a private pool deck. The muted singularity of the front facade dissolves into a collage of fractals at the rear, composed of discrete volumes that slip past each other. A black steel plate caps off the iron wood skin and is in turn accented by an internal wrapper of contrasting white paint. In contrast to the transparency of the back facade, the two side elevations are relatively solid, give or take a few carefully placed openings. Interestingly, Sentosa Cove regulations state a requirement for a certain plot ratio, effectively limiting the buildable footprint. Consequently, the reduced on-grade ﬂoor area necessitated a sizeable basement that accommodates a car lift for two additional cars, an entertainment space, a bedroom and maid’s room. It seems that landscaping played an instrumental role in creating a basement level that is surprisingly bright and airy – light pours in through the courtyard. By condensing the requisite architectural programs into a compact prism, the house is both a product of building regulations, as well as a reaction

against them. Through its pared-down simplicity, it critiques the kitsch frenzy of the precinct that is now its urban genome – the recognisable Sentosa Cove (non-) context. No house here needs a boundary wall, as their overt uniqueness makes explicit the spatial delineations.

02. Internal stair access 03. The cube is reductively carved 04. Fenestration is angular and unconventional 05. Layered textures add to the visual complexity 06. Sketch model.

ARCHITECT: Formwerkz Architects / Location: Singapore / TOTAL FLOOR AREA: 495sqm / SITE AREA: 620sqm / CONSTRUCTION: 2012-14 / PROJECT TEAM: Alan Tay Shiaw Shih, Foo Yuet Yee, Cai Xun, Kim Hangyeol / CONSULTANTS: PCA Consulting Engineers (M&E), Portwood & Associates (Structure), Sinwah-APAC Construction Pte Ltd (Contractor).

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