Domus Srilanka Magazine - March 2016

In this issue

The recent project built by the Swiss practice – the Bordeaux stadium, published in Domus 993 – for Eduardo Souto de Moura embodies a great lesson in architecture.
To mark his wide-ranging solo show at the Grand-Hornu Centre of Innovation and Design, the British designer Michael Young, who has spent years working in both Belgium and China, explains his design relationship with aluminium, a versatile and malleable material – about which, he says, he still has much to learn.
A complex intervention in the centre of the city reaffirms the great ability of the British architect to respond to a highly distinctive historic fabric. In the long, compact urban site, which at one end faces Kensington Gardens, the new buildings are combined with the pre-existing structure, giving shape and character to the whole block, which includes interior spaces in an attempt to provide the comforts of light and air.
This resort, built over a period of time, encapsulates simplistic features and large spaces to complement the serene coastal landscape. The architect’s vision has been to fit the essential elements in a modern grid form with minor traditional influences.
The constraints imposed by the site, together with a clear and precise structural choice, characterise the creation of this building in a suburban area of Lugano. By linking levels, liberating spaces and adding functions in a genuine promenade architecturale, the design excels in its connection to the land.
Set on achieving a seamless flow with nature, the architect designed a villa that almost floats on the lush green landscape. Expanding throughout the diverse geography of the area, the villa is built along a stream called Nikgaha that is central to its design. A suspension bridge across the stream is part of the experience.