The Cloud of the Wisdom

The traditional Arab Architecture has found a new icon in Saudi Arabia ... a building inside another!

Hi, I was completely desperate, nervous and uneasy, I know that you are not used to seeing me in this permanent tension, but you should not be surprised, after all, you know not my hobby to architecture. My public image has never required to show this special sensitivity, until now, when I, Rodolfo, I decided to build the best building that you have ever known. My nervousness has already found a cure, but if you want to know what caused my condition you will have to continue reading (house brand).

I will tell you bluntly: I am not, and I pretend not to be a William Shakespeare, nor much less to write the famous tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, on the contrary, I would like that when you read me, you do not remember neither my surname (though is very popular), and I would like that you give value to the materials and construction systems that I expose here, like that of today, I was desperate and uneasy for a decade by him. I've spoken before rehabilitated libraries but I had never spoken of hidden library, that have brought me along the path of bitterness and which I call: The Cloud of the Wisdom.

King Fahd National Library

It was the year 2002 when the architecture firm Gerber Architekten won a competition in Saudi Arabia. It was a very special competition for several reasons, one of them that the petitioner chose by different architecture firms to compete for the project, another reason is the petitioner, the High Commission for the development of Riyadh, and the third (most attractive) was the nature of the project: the rehabilitation of the old National Library of King Fahd whose building (from the 1980s) was obsolete.

Located in the heart of the city's Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia has become in the new icon of the district, and it is no wonder that with its unique and eye-catching design has already received one of the most prestigious awards of the architecture: the international architectural design award. Basically the new building has encapsulated the old building, with cruciform shape and concrete dome, in the new exterior construction prioritize two materials: the glass and the textile. The traditional symbolism of Middle East which is designed the façade with the textile membrane, attached to the simplicity and effectiveness of its proposal, had won to the jury (to me too, I am not going to cheat).

The building is distributed over 68,000 square meters, boasts with 2.4 million of books, 620 parkings and a park next to him (also designed by our friends of Gerber) of 20,000 square meters, the construction cost 330 million of SAR (Saudi Arabian currency, are almost 79 million €). It has on the ground floor an exhibition hall, a library and a restaurant (not what you expect huh?); they have transformed the ancient cover in a reading room, and you can access, via several gateways, to the areas of open access that are located in the upper part of the new building.

The Cloud of the Wisdom

I had a tremendous desire to see the new building, it was completed in November of 2013, but by a promise that I made to a very good friendship, I couldn't do the first visit without her company and, since we not adapted our agenda, we delay a year. You would tell me that a year is not enough to experience so much discomfort, but it is I wanted to see the completed building from the same ruling of the contest: in 2002, the standby compass made than my nerves were put to the test (hence the desperation with which I began this article), fortunately I invested my time in finding out more about the porch in Russia, a market that must be taken into account.

The first time I saw the building, I couldn't help but do a double comparison, on the one hand I compared it with a cloud, by its white and almost airy form, that gives a touch ephemeral, and on the other hand I compared it with the cloud of a computer server, due to having so many books inside well could resemble a physical server, a comparison very intelligent, if you allow the observation.

The floor of the building has form of parallelepiped, and the textile network made up of rhomboids running in the four facades, unifying the views in any situation from which you can observe. These membranes act as umbrellas, intercepting the harmful action of the heat, which can reach 50 ° C in these latitudes (almost nothing), but the awnings are not set at whim: they were made complex computer calculations taking into account the solar incidence, so that its location would be the most effective.

The external network is made of cantilevers of metal between plants and it is joined by stainless steel tensioning cables. Following a definite form, the cables are intercepted on four corners by parallel lines front and rear. The horizontal bars are attached to the building in these interceptions perpendiculars, and are born of these the awnings that forming the solar protection, the existence of two lines of steel turnbuckles allow that the awnings may be distributed back and forward, even at a given time, could be another form. These bars have a dual mission: serve as support for the textile fabric and hide the next-generation of led lights that will delight during the nights, when their changing colors illuminate the environment. The steel turnbuckles only receiving tensile loads, this makes it of vitally important a periodic review of them and their connecting elements: a fissure will entail a dramatic break, without prior notice.

Others details

The facade also combines the ventilation with the cooling by means of a system never used in Saudi Arabia, which increases the thermal comfort and reduces the consumption of electric power, is no joke cool a big space. The courtyards, intervening decisively, providing natural light and fresh air, have become spaces of orientation and distribution of the place.

A curious detail is that the gateway of the old library was in front of the main road and the new gateway is in front to new square, in the posterior region; this forced to break part of the old building and forced to a internal reorganization. As I explained before, there was a reinforced concrete Dome, it was also another victim of the new construction, since it was demolished to construct a new steel and glass. Finally, the Sefar Company was commissioned to cover the new roof with 15,000 square meters of fabric, covering the enormous surface in such a way that let the light through, for it had to rely on new metal pillars that help their support.

In the library I got my revenge of my companion for the caused delay: I won her several times at chess. Bye bye.

The Porcupine of Colours

Should be the building of College sober and without life so that the students are form academically? Not!! They thought in Melbourne...

Hello, in the fearless constructive adventure in the I'm embarked, a condition (unchanging) is to choose an island where I will develop the new building, other condition (untouchable) is to build with materials that I go finding in my search and the last condition (undisputed) is that the design is consistent with my popular character and my unique and personal style. This week I've been on the island of Læsø, located in Denmark and famous for the extraction of salt with which trade their inhabitants, have a warm climate for the area where it is located and have the Læsø Kur (a spa in an old Presbyterian Church).

I don´t know if the Lord Aristotle Socrates Onassis (famous for being the richest man of his time and have a good yacht) he is entertained watching the clouds trying to establish similarities with terrestrial objects; what I do know is that I, Rodolfo, I do it, but not with clouds: I look for similarities that may have buildings with other elements. On this occasion I have found a very funny similarity, a building that, in my opinion, is similar to a multicolor porcupine, moreover, is a building that you would want to have in your neighborhood.

Seventeenth stop: The RMIT SAB Building

I have a friend who studied in Melbourne which says that you have not lived if you have not passed at least one year there, of course I think that this girl has not traveled much, but for love I not tell her, however, I understand what she is meant. Melbourne is an open and cosmopolitan city with a great cultural and social life, was capital of Australia (but no longer) and is one of the places with more students from outside its borders. This last is very noticeable in the environment that generates in its surroundings and, also, in the fantastic offer of its University, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) that has always been at the forefront of his country in architectural design. The best example is the building that causes this article: Swanston academic building (or SAT).

The study of architecture Lyons has been responsible for the eccentric, fun and functional design of the building. The data we have to study: the building covers 35,000 square meters of constructed area arranged in 12 plants (one basement and 11 over the street); it cost 170 million Australian dollars (to change some 133 million dollars or 117 million euros); It contains 12 classrooms, 64 teaching spaces and 10 specialized learning places (each on a different floor), these places are designed so the students can meet, spend the time or, simply, to study their favorite subjects.

The building already has been awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) thanks to its design environmentally sustainable, getting five star-green (there is only a building with six stars in Australia). Inside, the facilities consist of equipment of last generation, walls that are cut sharply, ceilings with irregular surfaces and an extensive palette of colors that administered the areas, besides having green spaces and leisure. Produces hot water using solar energy and has a system for collecting rainwater and grey water for subsequent reuse, a natural ventilation system which involves the ventilation between the rooms and use of more than 500 chilled beams (cooling system through exchange of heat between columns of water and air) in the construction.

The Anodized Aluminium

The building has an aluminum envelope, made of eight different colors, the aluminium envelops vertically the building irregularly, creating angles straight or curved. But the colours are not random, as one would assume, are located according to the area of the city that looks to the façade which occupies it, is (literally) a reflection pixelated, as if we look at us in the mirror and we see pixels, don't tell me it's not great. Part of the building over the Swanston Street is a large overhang of two storeys high, but the facade has two features that you should not miss: the aluminum panels have a triangular form and great part of them protruding from the facade as sunshades (is what makes that I called it porcupine) this together with the double-glazed, helps to reduce the heating effect of the sun, and the second feature, the better for me, is the constant interruption of aluminum skin to see inside the classrooms in large windows.

The Sapphire Aluminium company has been the responsible to supply aluminum panels that the construction company Brookfield Multiplex has used in the façade. These aluminum panels are of 4 mm thick and it is anodized. The anodized consists, basically, in oxidize a metallic element by electrolytic reactions, causing the creation of a layer of oxide which, in the case of the aluminium, protects the material from the outside environment. The oxidized layer that covers the material gives it greater resistance to abrasion, corrosion or climate change, so it not can disperse in the form of flakes or blisters. The anodized aluminum is an ideal material for the outside of our building.

Important: the oxide layer that forms the anodized aluminum is measured in microns (millionths of a meter) and is of vital importance that the thickness of this layer is according with the environment exterior to the aluminum. In our case, the friends of Sapphire have used an anodized of 25 microns, which is optimum even in industrial or marine atmospheres. Each supplier must inform us of the microns that should have its material and if is recommended for the use in our case, but in a building we must not accept less than 10µ (µ = microns) and not more than 30µ (the first case by insufficient and the second by disproportionate).

From now on, if every time you look an aluminum window, you ask how many microns thick have the object, it will mean that you have read carefully. Bye bye.

The Mystery of the Golden Building

A building coated of the metal more precious to mankind... and it has thermal qualities that make it practical, useful and unique

Hi, the magical night on 14 February is celebrated Valentine's day in many places on the planet, that night we meet in the house of my aunt (from Toronto, you know) a select and small group of friends, of course, only the group most intimate and friendly . We were three hundred, as in the famous battle of The Thermopylae in the classical Greece, in which the King Leónidas I of Esparta fight against the powerful Persian Empire of Xerxes I.

At an undetermined time of the night, a small group of five people, including me, Rodolfo, we parted from the rest walking with winter clothes in the cold nights of Ontario. The pleasure of the company encouraged us to tell varied stories that generated in all of us the necessary feeling of group of an important event. There were two stories worthy of praise, a friend (Princess of some country) told us his experiences with the new system of gymnastics Piloxing and, as it could not be of another way, my history, in which I explain attendees the famous mystery of Gold building.

The Sixteenth Stop: The Facade of Gold

In my childhood I was fascinated with the Royal Bank Plaza from Toronto (Ontario, Canada), which consists of two office buildings: Royal Bank Plaza South and Royal Bank Plaza North, the first is a skyscraper of 180 meters of height and the second have 112 meters (41 and 26 storeys high each). In those days I do not thought in the business than I would close in this place, and much less I thought that it would end up being owned by Oxford Properties. We're talking about a building designed by Boris E. Zerafa of the architecture study of WZMH and it was built in 1977.

Without saying that my passion for architecture of today, in part, comes from these spectacular buildings that I saw in my early childhood, the unique structure of metal and glass facades and triangular plants staggered vertically, leave breathless to the thousands of workers that have necessarily to go every day through this nerve centre of the city. The golden glow that send the windows of building… It has created in me a healthy and imperative need of the knowledge.

I was about a year to discover the mystery, my parents denied my demands of knowledge and I had to inquire and undermine information from outside sources to me, then, very poor environment social. I did not know it, but I had been suffering what is referred to as "the gold rush", although in my case, I healed with information. One night I counted more than 14,000 windows that have the two towers, that night the doorman of the building took pity of me and explained me that each glass was coated by a layer of 24 karat gold; this explained, obviously, the golden shine. To the innocent question of how it was possible that nobody steal the gold, the operator said me that this gold is not recoverable due to the technique of manufacture of the crystals and nobody has stealing a single ounce of this building.

The Gold

But the gold was not introduced in the construction of this building for its beauty, or, at least, the gold was not only used by that. The gold is a thermal insulator and reduces the cost of central heating, how is possible? I will clarify.

The gold is a very dense, soft and its colour is bright yellow. Also, it is the precious metal more useful and practical in the trade, because of their intrinsic characteristics, I explain, the gold is found in nature in pure state, which makes if you find it in a mine or a stream you can use it with take away the dirt off. It is a ductile metal (it undergoes in largely without fracture, and you can get surfaces large and with little thickness), it is malleable and, the icing, is one of the less reactive metals chemically, this increases its durability exponentially.

The gold is also an excellent thermal and electrical conductor, how can be insulating and heat conductor at the same time? You can ask, of course, as I did in his day. Well, the response is in its high density (to higher density better thermal and acoustic insulation of a material), this quality, combined with the reflective power of the gold and the ductility of the material make that with a ridiculous thickness is achieved to repel the heat. An example: in the space technology, the gold is used to prevent overheating the interior of a spacecraft when it enters the Earth's atmosphere, never go into outer space without gold. Another example: there are thermal blankets that combine the action of the silver and the gold (one layer in each side) this protects the injured of the possible losses of heat.

Thanks to the thin foil of gold covering the windows of the Royal Bank Plaza, we enjoyed a view of golden and the building has saved millions of dollars in heating.

Present day

In the past year 2010, the Royal Bank Plaza made history by becoming the first Office Tower of the Bank in Canada in obtain the Leed-EB gold through a series of energy saving measures. It has received several awards for this reason as the aforementioned USGBC Leed-EB Gold Certification 2010, the BOMA Building Excellence Certification 2009 or the NAIOP Rex Office Development of the year award 2008. The same architectural firm that created it in 1977 has been the responsible in 2008, to redesign the interaction of this complex with the surrounding area, increasing the importance of the entrances, improving and modernizing the mall and optimizing the areas of leisure and restoration.

I cannot finish this article without mentioning an idea that should be in most of the important buildings, whether they are administrative or if its use is other nature. This idea was carried out by Oxford Properties on September 10, 2012, installing screens in the lobby to display electricity consumption in real time. The tenants were aware at that time of how can save up to 50% of the energy consumption of the offices with their decisions and actions. An example to follow.

St. Valentine, battle of Thermopylae, a building of gold, ideas for the control of electric consumption... Since that you read me, you are wiser, and you know it. Bye bye.

The Hip Roof with Eaves and without Ridge

A luxury mall in La Barra, Uruguay, combines the traditional with the modern in an exclusive environment.

Hi, the Falkland Islands archipelago is one of the places that I visit frequently, it was inevitable put one of its islands in the list of possible locations where I will construct my future building, the selected is (drum roll...) the Bourbon Island or Pebble Island, as the locals call it have two monuments that recall the Falklands War: one for British and one for Argentines.

If there is something missing from today's world is the constructive criticism, this is something that the famous actor Mario Fortino Alonso Moreno Reyes (Cantinflas) did very well in his movies, and in his real life, my favorite movie is "The sweeper" where he plays a character named Napoleon. But Cantinflas has nothing to do with the building that I bring you today, in fact, is not only a building, is a grouping of them with an exquisite uniqueness which, I am sure, you will love.

The Fifteenth Stop: A Shopping Center in La Barra

The Netzaj company, promoter of this building complex, had a great idea when they invited me to the opening of the first Shopping Center (Centro Comercial) of La Barra, Uruguay, whose name cannot be more evocative: Oh! La Barra (you like huh?). The opening was in december of last year (2014, if you read this from 2016). Honorable mention deserves the ideologist of this complex, Mr Carlos Ott, perhaps, the most international Uruguayan architect, who was able to understand what the promoters needed for this luxury leisure area.

The connoisseurs say that Ott selected noble, harmonious and environment-friendly materials, structuring architecture of lines simple and bohemian, I, Rodolfo, whose last name is as popular as the name of a historic city, am not an "expert" and I can outline my opinion in a more form abrupt and easy: I like! The complex consists of several buildings which, at different levels, is interconnected between them and make each trip unique and different, the buildings converge in a central courtyard with fountains and swings. It has 150 parkings and an exclusive parking for 50 vehicles.

The investment has already reached the $ 25 million and has 60 locals distributed in 5,000 square meters. These locals are being occupied by marks of first row such as Ralph Lauren, Gottex, Valentino, Havanna Café, Freddo, Undici. Librería El Virrey or Super Dry among others. But this is not all, they will continue building a tent for events, a cinema 6D with interactive seats and an amusement park unique in the country. The complex will culminate with a boutique hotel of 50 rooms of an international hotel chain that is yet to be decided. It is expected that the megaproject occupy a total of 15,000 square meters of surface.

Hip Roof with Eaves and without Ridges

For me, the constructive element more attractive and innovative of those buildings is its covers which, with a great success, have been designed to breaking the classic lines of a hip roof. The designer of the complex has wanted to introduce a landscaped area at the top, he has made a classic hip roof and has sectioning the cover by a horizontal plane creating the landscaped area in the process, a master cut I call it. This "master cut" not only creates the garden surface, too it raises the cover to an upper bound giving elegance and magnificence to the set.

We have, therefore, buildings with eaves and without ridge (highest cover line where converge the eaves), really, you do not can understand how excited that i was enjoying of this constructive work without paragon, even I ignored for a while to my companion Canela, the most beloved dog of this magazine, their owners still do not have forgiven me.

But this is not the only surprise that brings the cover, their edges are not terminations standard, i.e. do not end with regular edges with pipes to collect rain water, no, here the designer also has given us a joy leaving the ends of the common rafters (transverse divisions that distribute the load of the eaves to the perimeter joists) in sight. This detail gives an impression of simplicity which, together with the plants protruding from the top, evokes a constructive past integrated completely with the environment.

The nights in La Barra

I have not said it got dark in the opening of the luxury mall, see the dark skies through the large windows inscribed on the cover of the shopping centre has been one of my best gifts of Christmas, a gift in advance, of course, but gift at the end. That luck must feel the persons that live in La Barra and often enjoy this new social and commercial meeting place.

A building system that improves in time is a construction system that perpetuates the friendly legend of the construction. Bye bye.