Punta Della Dogana, Tadao Ando- Venice

This beautifully designed exhibition space is a delightful place to visit, not only if you are fascinated by the art installations created there but also if you are able to appreciate the interior architecture of the building itself. This 15th century building has been restored by Tadao Ando, taking into consideration the original stone, and brick materials used there and complementing them with concrete and glass in which the new, smooth textures contrast beautifully with the old, rough ones.

This building took 14 months in restoration and is now open as a major new gallery in Venice. The architect and the builders had to tackle many issues whilst designing and constructing this building including the protection of the building against water and the long difficult process of restoring as much as the masonry as possible.

Tadao Ando’s attention to detail in the interior design of the building is very clever. The cast concrete walls are a feature which is used all around the building. His design highlights the natural properties of concrete with no paint, no colour and no finish. He has decided to leave the holes in the cast concrete which show how the concrete is made and also make the smooth concrete more interesting- this makes people want to touch. The cast concrete, holey walls have become Ando’s signature architectural feature  and cane be seen in many of his buildings.

Two Weeks in the Life of an Architect

Spparc Architecture, Golden Square, Picadilly Circus, London. Two weeks spent with an Architectural Practice was an interesting insight in to the real world of Architecture. Spparc Architecture are a very reputable company based in the centre of London. An example of a current project of theirs is a 31 storey student residence called The Quill and construction work on the building is underway in Southwark.

"London's Southwark Council has approved the Quill, which if built will be the tallest student residential tower in the world.
With 31 floors above ground and two basement levels, the SPPARC Architecture designed building will be 108.78 metres to the structural peak with further spires above this pushing the total height to 114.4 metres.
The scheme will contain accommodation for 470 students, a gym, library and bar on floors 28 to 30, ground floor retail, and 261 cycle spaces plus two disabled car parking spaces in the basement." Skyscrapernews.com

There were many things learned during this visit to Spparc. The two weeks spent there included several site trips to live projects where the construction and planning process of buildings was understood. It was also very useful to talk to architects who worked for the company and to get their views on working as an architect.

Click here to visit Spparc Studio's official Website