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Angle-Indian architects Serie have completed the Blue Frog acoustic lounge and studios in Mumbai, India.

The lounge will be used as a music venue within a complex of sound recording studios in a converted warehouse and incorporates a restaurant, bar and live music stage.

The different sized cylindrical booths seat between 4 and 10 people and are arranged at various heights to stagger the eye levels of seated diners and standing customers, intended to afford uninterrupted views of the stage.

The empty central area can be used as additional space for standing visitors or as an extension to the stage.

Bumpy, textured walls help to absorb sound.

The undulating booth structure is made from block board finished with mahogany and topped with back-lit 8mm acrylic sheets.The following information is from Serie Architects:Blue Frog Acoustic Lounge and Studiosby Chris Lee and Kapil Gupta / SERIE

A large north-lit industrial warehouse within the old mill district in Mumbai is to be converted into a complex of sound recording studios and an acoustic lounge. This lounge will consist of a restaurant, bar and a live stage. Beyond this amalgamation of provisions, Blue Frog seeks to stage an acoustic experience par excellence.

Based on this desire to have it all, the question for us is: how do you collapse a theatre, restaurant, bar and club into a warehouse whilst maintaining all the performative characteristics of each individual type?

The deep structure that was employed is of a cellular organization composed of circles of varying sizes in plan approximating a horse-shoe configuration. The differential extrusions of these circles encapsulated at different levels as tiered cylindrical seating booths, allow the eye level of diners and standing patrons to be distributed across staggered levels that increase in height away from the stage.

These booths seat between 4-10 people and are arranged around an open centre that can either double up as a potential 360 degree stage or accommodate standing patrons, bringing them closer to the main stage to create an intimate viewing experience. These mahogany paneled cylindrical booths maintain not only uninterrupted views to the stage, but also constant distance between diners irrespective of how crowded the lounge gets.

The undulating height of the seating booths is gently modulated by a glowing acrylic resin surface, which unifies the disparate types together and retains the presence of the architecture even in the midst of the spectacle of a state-of-the-art sound and light show at the Blue Frog.

Given the age of the warehouse, the construction of the club involved considerable renovations to the roof and glazing of the north light trusses. The positive acoustic qualities of the massive load bearing walls of the warehouse worked to the project’s advantage. The poured concrete finish floor is terraced by infilling at different levels to create the cylindrical steps that increase in height away from the centre.

The primary challenge of the project was the construction of the cylindrical booths. We wanted to minimize the wall thickness of the cylindrical partitions of the booths to maximize the area of the back-lit acrylic resin surface. The only way to do this was to avoid a supporting frame, and rely on the wall thickness of the mahogany clad partition to provide structural strength and stiffness to the booths. This is achieved by bending 19mm block board which is comprised of wooden blocks sandwiched between 2 sheets of plywood. One of the layers of plywood is stripped off and the exposed wooden blocks are scoured to allow the sheet to bend to the desired radius. The scoured block board panels are placed in position, before a layer of plywood is re-laminated onto the exposed surface. The resultant curved panel is very rigid and structurally stable. The undulating profiles of curves were mapped onto the block board panels before being cut to the desired shapes. Solid mahogany fluting is clad on before the 8mm acrylic resin sheets are glued onto the 3-dimensionally curved profiles of the block board panels.

The ceilings of the single- slop roofs are acoustically treated to be completely absorptive and clad with 4 layers of rockwool and foam. The bumped plasterboard wall paneling helps disperse sound waves and is also layered with rockwool to absorb low frequencies.

Toyo Ito’s office has sent us a set of photos and a description of the architect’s newly completed Tama Art University Library in Tokyo.

The photos are by Ishiguro Photographic Institute.

Below is some text on the project followed by credits:

Tama Art University Library (Hachioji campus)

This is a library for an art university located in the suburbs of Tokyo. Passing through the main entrance gate, the site lies behind a front garden with small and large trees, and stretches up a gentle slope.

The existing cafeteria was the sole place in the university shared by both students and staff members across all disciplines, so the first impetus for our design was to question how an institution as specialized as a library could provide an open commonality for all.

Our first idea was for a wide open gallery on the ground level that would serve as an active thoroughfare for people crossing the campus, even without intending to go to the library.

To let the flows and views of these people freely penetrate the building, we began to think of a structure of randomly placed arches which would create the sensation as if the sloping floor and the front garden’s scenery were continuing within the building.

The characteristic arches are made out of steel plates covered with concrete. In plan these arches are arranged along curved lines which cross at several points. With these intersections, we were able to keep the arches extremely slender at the bottom and still support the heavy live loads of the floor above. The spans of the arches vary from 1.8 to 16 meters, but the width is kept uniformly at 200mm.

The intersections of the rows of arches help to articulate softly separated zones within this one space. Shelves and study desks of various shapes, glass partitions that function as bulletin boards, etc., give these zones a sense of both individual character and visual as well as spatial continuity.

On the sloped ground level, a movie-browser like a bar counter and a large glass table for the latest issues of magazines invite students to spend their time waiting for the bus in the library.

Climbing the stairs to the second floor, one finds large art books on low bookshelves crossing under the arches. Between these shelves are study desks of various sizes. A large table with a state-of-art copy machine allows users to do professional editing work.

The spatial diversity one experiences when walking through the arches different in span and height changes seamlessly from a cloister-like space filled with natural light, to the impression of a tunnel that cannot be penetrated visually.

The new library is a place where everyone can discover their style of “interacting” with books and film media as if they were walking through a forest or in a cave; a new place of arcade-like spaces where soft mutual relations form by simply passing through; a focal centre where a new sense of creativity begins to spread throughout the art university’s campus.

More airships: French designer Jean-Marie Massaud has sent us a couple of new images showing the interior of his flying hotel proposal, Manned Cloud.

The two two-deck cabin will include a restaurant, a library, a fitness suite and a spa. Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that the bedroom interior (above) features the new task light Massaud has designed for Swedish brand Wästberg, which we wrote about earlier this week.

Here is a selection of images of the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, including the Art Suites created by artists from around the world. The temporary hotel is created from snow and ice each winter.

The hotel also includes an Ice Church and an Ice Bar. The following text and caption info is provided by Ice Hotel:

The dropping of the temperature to several degrees below zero in Jukkasjärvi marks the start of an ephemeral art endeavour. Using only frozen water form the Torne River, artists from all over the world gather in this small Swedish village, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, to create an exclusive art exhibition: ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi.

Top image: Lighting design – Milky way. Artist/s: KTH and Svefi students. “As part of an ongoing endeavor to enhance the overall experience of visiting ICEHOTEL, a collaborative project was initiated this year with the Lighting Laboratory at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, in which KTH students contributed to the planning and integration of various lighting installations in and around ICEHOTEL.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Reception – Changes. Artist/s: Jens Thoms Ivarsson & Mats Nilsson. “The permanency of change is what inspires us – our feelings, perceptions and actions are driven by the transformations all around us. Change… is forever.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Main Hall – Mellanrum: Mind the Gap. Artist/s: Lena Kriström Kulin. “Mellanrum: Mind the Gap is a mood-enhancing voyage that draws visitors down the center of the massive corridor, passing carefully crafted figurative faces, each with a different design and mood.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Ice Church: Kristall. Artist/s: Mark Szulgit, Julia Orlando Adzuki, Marjolein Vonk & Cindy Berg. “The 2007-2008 Ice Church pays tribute to the graceful little building block that is the basis for the entire structure itself – the snowflake. The symmetry of the snowflake is seen in the church itself, its balance and openness creating an inviting atmosphere for contemplation.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Ice Church: Kristall.

Above: Design Suite 327 – Skate. Artist/s: Mikael Nille Nilsson, Åke Larsson & Sofi Ruotsalainen. Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Art Suite 320 – Dream’s Room. Artist/s: Viktor Tsarski & Liliya Pobornikova. “A fantastical landscape of flowing folds and shapely curves tenderly embraces you before it lulls you into a magical world of captivating dreams.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Art Suite 313 – The Forest Suite. Artist/s: Andrea Thomson. “Leave the ICEHOTEL corridor behind you and step into a celebration of the lofty pine and spruce woods that characterize the landscape of northern Sweden.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Art Suite 306 – Crystallization. Artist/s: Patrick Dallard. “Charting the geometric voyage from chaos to order and back to chaos again, previously unperceived beauty is unleashed in a constellation of ice and snow.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Above: Art Suite 304 – Snow Aurora Borealis. Artist/s: Kestutis Musteikis & Vytautas Musteikis. “During the darkness of an Arctic winter, it is the aurora borealis that offers hope and promise by adding vivid brushstrokes to a cold, black canvas.” Photographer: Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions.

Tokyo Design Week: here’s another project from Torafu architects; this time their Nike Air Force 1 shoestore in Harajuku, Tokyo.

Koichi Suzono and Shinya Kamuro of Torafu explain the project:

This is an interior and exterior design project for Nike Air Force 1 store, which is open for only one year, on the back street of Harajuku. The new products which appear month after month will all be displayed even after the sales period is over. The number of products is only a few in the first month, but will be no less than about 300 one year later. We intended the customers to be able to visually enjoy the process by which the number of the products increases.

The shoes are displayed in circles, with all of them facing the same direction, so that they look like a migratory school of fish swimming in the tank of an aquarium. And this “school of shoes” changes its appearance over the course of the year, gaining shoes of different colours.

We proposed to display only white Air Force 1’s at first, and add the new model of a different colour every time it is released. To achieve this, we designed the double-glass showcase, which makes the shoes look as if they are swimming in a circular cylinder.

On the second floor is a lounge where you can design original Air Force 1 (reservations required). Looking down on the showcase from the top of the double height structure, a school of Air Force 1’s appears to be swimming around under the water-like surface of the blue carpet spread on the second floor.

High transmittance glass bracket shelves to put the shoes on are jointed with photobond, which hardens under ultraviolet rays. One of the two inner side sheets of the glass can be slid in order to change the products on display.

On the wall, we used cemented excelsior board, which is painted in white to placard seasonal items to promote sales such as posters. It’s rough texture bears harsh use, and contrasts with the plain surface of the glass showcase.

Architects Tobias Wallisser and Chris Bosse designed a lounge for Architonic at the IMM Cologne furnishing fair held earlier this month in Germany.

The lounge was inspired by arctic slabs of ice and provided the setting for a party to celebrate architectural materials database Architonic’s fifth birthday.

Wallisser is formerly a partner at Dutch architects UNStudio while Bosse designed the Aquatic Center for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing while working for Australian architects PTW. The two have recently launched a new architectural practice called LAVA.

Photos are by gee-ly. Here’s some text from Architonic:

At this year‘s imm cologne you are invited to celebrate our fifth anniversary with us. The 100-m2 futuristic Architonic Lounge has been designed by architects Tobias Walliser and Chris Bosse, two outstanding young representatives of contemporary architecture.

Tobias Wallisser is a former partner in the UNStudio and project leader at the Mercedes Benz Museum, while Chris Bosse designed the Aquatic Center in Peking for PTW in Sydney. After major contributions to international projects implemented by prestigious firms of architects, the two have now launched their joint architectural office LAVA and are already involved in large projects in Dubai with PNYG:Company.

The image of an arctic glacier landscape, the reflection of harsh, sharp edges in a darkly gleaming sea of ice was the basis for the idea of an „Arctic Lounge”. Modular furniture, inspired in its basic form by the well-known Escher designs, drift like ice flows – individually or in casual groups, under a canopy of light membranes with atmospheric projections.

The Lounge has been created in international cooperation with the firms of SIX INCH, Belgium, Global Membrane Designs (Australia) and Bertrandt AG, Germany.

Architonic went online in January 2003, punctually on the occasion of the imm cologne. At that year‘s exhibition the founding team around the two architects Nils Becker and Tobias Lutz together with the computer experts Thomas Navello and Dieter Schumann were to be found at a small stand, presenting their vision of architonic.com – their innovative new research portal for architects and designers.

An awful lot has happened since. With an annual 2.76 million visitors Architonic has become the leading international source of reference for high quality products, materials and concepts in architecture and design.

Architect Ayako Murata has created an installation at the Diesel Denim Gallery in Aoyama, Tokyo.

The installation, consisting of cables and lamps used on construction sites, creates a series of arches and columns suggestive of classical architecture, but suspended from the ceiling.

Ayako Murata previously worked for Japanese architect Jun Aoki and set up Office Ayako Murata in 2006.

Called Suspended Figure, the installation continues until 17 August.

Here is some text from the architect:

SUSPENDED FIGURE

This space imitates the space of arches and pillars, the classic type of architecture, using cables and lampshades used in the construction site. Originally, the space of arches and pillars is built up from the ground against the gravity. But, in this space, the pillars that originally support the weight of the arches are suspended in the air. And these arches do not collapse if they are cut off in the middle because the arch- and pillar-like objects are just the set of the cables and lampshades hanging independently from the ceiling.

However people lay the common image of arches and pillars on this space. Therefore they feel the lampshades for construction sites as the decoration of the pillars, and feel amputated arches and suspended pillars unnatural. These feelings show us the strength of the images or fixed ideas we hold toward the common figure.

Material
The cable and lampshade are the material inspired by denim. Denim derived from the work wear and has evolved into fashion item. And its history is the creation of new sense of beauty and value, like “decolorization,” “vintage,” etc. My proposal is another try to show the new sense of beauty hiding in rugged material.

Stockholm Design Week: Xile, a flexible tunnel designed by Swedish designer Mats Karlsson, is one of three winners of the Forum AID Award 2008, announced in Stockholm on Tuesday.

The plastic product, which won the awards’ interior design category, can be used indoors or outdoors and is expandible.

The Forum Aid Awards are organised by Swedish architecture and design magazine Forum Aid.

The other two categories, for architecture and for design, were won respectively by 3XN Architects from Denmark, and Danish designers Komplot. 3XN won for their Ørestad College project (pictured below; see our earlier story for more pictures and information).

Komplot won the design category for their Nobody chair for Danish furniture brand Hay, which is made of recycled water bottles (pictured below; more details in our previous report on the project).

The Forum AID awards are for projects by designers in Nordic countries.

Rove, the London gallery owned by Kenny Schachter, have sent us photographs of Zaha Hadid’s Z.BOX installation at Art Basel Miami Beach.

Measuring 13 x 3 x 3 metres and weighing six tons, the installation was part of the Art Positions container exhibition held at Miami Beach earlier this month.

The iron-framed, syrofoam-coated unit was used to display a collection of resin architectural models by Hadid, which Schachter commissioned to sell as sculptures.

The container also contained plasma screens showing animations of Hadid’s architectural projects.
Hadid has designed an apartment block for Schachter, which will be built in Hoxton Square, London and will be Hadid’s first permanent building in her home city.