April | 2011 | Isabel Barros Architects

Archive for April 7, 2011

barros | April 7, 2011

Simon Open Door 2011

09.05.2011 Update:

The Simon Open Door event has been extended for two more weeks. Please contact RIAI to find out who are the Architects participating in your area.

To book a consultation with Isabel Barros Architects in Wexford just ring our office 053 91 789 57.

We are delighted to announce our participation in this year’s “Simon Open Door 2011”.

The Simon Communities of Ireland work with people who experience homelessness and housing exclusion in Ireland.

Anyone hoping to build, renovate or extend their home may be interested in this initiative. Isabel Barros Architects in Wexford will offer an hour long consultation in return for a donation of €50 to charity. This generous donation of time and expertise will help fund Simon’s work assisting people to move on from the crisis of homelessness, to independent living in quality accommodation. All of the money raised goes towards the work of the Simon Communities of Ireland.

This year will be the seventh year that the Simon Communities of Ireland has been in partnership with the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland. In 2010 over 950 slots were booked by the public raising almost €51,000 for the Simon Communities of Ireland through the R.I.A.I. Simon Open Door initiative.

This is an excellent initiative where anyone can get practical advice on a range of issues, while helping the homeless.

You can sign up for an appointment with Isabel Barros Architects on either Saturday 7th May or Sunday 8th May, just log in at www.simonopendoor.ie.

Read Testimonials about the Simon Open Door. Join Simon Open Door page in Facebook.

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Category: General | Tags: Charity, Consultation, Simon Open Door

barros | April 5, 2011

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And the Pritzker Prize 2011 Goes to…………Eduardo Souto Moura

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is often referred to as the “architecture’s Nobel” and “the profession’s highest honor”. 2011 winner is Portuguese Architect Eduardo Souto Moura.

The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.

Cinema House for Manoel de Oliveira

Eduardo Souto Moura is the second Portuguese architect to have been given the prize. Alvaro Siza Vieira was the first Portuguese awarded with this prestigious prize.

Contemporary Arts Center Graça Morais

Eduardo Souto Moura was born in Porto, Portugal in 1952. He began his career as an art student, studying sculpture, but eventually switched to architecture. He credits a meeting with Donald Judd in Zurich for the switch from art to architecture.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, photo by iqbal aalam.

Souto Moura has achieved much praise for his exquisite use of materials – granite, wood, marble, brick, steel, concrete – as well as his unexpected use of colour. Souto Moura is clear on his view of the use of materials, saying, “I avoid using endangered or protected species. I think we should use wood in moderation and replant our forests as we use the wood. We have to use wood because it is one of the finest materials available.”

2 Houses in Ponte de Lima

In an interview with Croquis, he explained, “I began my professional practice designing houses, I don’t know why— houses for my family and for my friends. And those houses, both urban and non-urban, had a typology. I believe that housing is something universal that historically has changed very little. The materials change, the building systems change, but the idea of a house as such is not something that has changed a lot.”

House in Cascais

At a series of forums called the Holcim Forum on sustainable architecture, Souto Moura stated, “For me, architecture is a global issue. There is no ecological architecture, no intelligent architecture, no sustainable architecture — there is only good architecture. There are always problems we must not neglect; for example, energy, resources, costs, social aspects — one must always pay attention to all these.”

Braga Stadium, photo (bottom left) by Carlos Coutinho.

Why Souto de Moura Won the Pritzker

President Obama presents the Pritzker Architecture Prize to Eduardo Souto

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Category: Architecture | Tags: Architects, Portugal, Prizes

barros | April 1, 2011

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Isabel’s Picks for April 2011

Isabel’s Picks for April 2011

A TIME OF RENEWAL

With some brand new products

1. LIGHT PENDANT

Manufacturer: Foscarini

Designer: Vicente Garcia Jimenez

Name: Le Soleil

Price Range: €800

Material: Polycarbonate – available in white, red or aquamarine.

Lamps: 3x60w G9 Halogen energy saver / 1x75w GU10 Halogen UV.

Available to Ireland from: www.designer-lights.com

2. SEAMLESS WINDOW

Manufacturer: Vrogum – Svarre A/S

Name: Svarre

Price Range: n/a

Material: Timber and triple glass.

Key Features: The outside of the svarre window is all glass and presents a seamless, flat, shiny surface. The border of the glass is coloured and covers the timber frame on the inside. Maintenance free. 6 mm toughened safety glass on the outside. Excellent soundproof qualities with up to DB 38. Ug values of 0,9 as standard. 2 weather seals. 3 layers of glass with different thickness. Burglary proof hardware.

Available in Ireland from: Danhus Window Systems

3. EASTER DECORATIONS

Price Range: €12 per set of 18 pieces

Materials: Felt.

Available to Ireland from: Velvet & Brown

4. MICRO-CHP BOILER

Manufacturer: Baxi

Name: Baxi Ecogen™

Price Range: over €6,000 (including installation)

Key Facts: High efficiency CHP boiler. CHP stands for ‘combined heat and power’. This means the Baxi Ecogen is a dual energy system that generates heat and electricity at the same time. Not only provides highly efficient heating and hot water, it also generates low cost, low carbon electricity (up to 1kW per hour) in the process.

Available in Ireland from: Potterton Myson Ireland

5. PLEXWOOD

Trademark: Plexwood

Price Range: €33-106/m2

Materials: Plexwood is composed of veneer layers of end-grain wood and wood with the grain, giving it a typical line structure. Available in birch, beech, oak, pine, pine/ocoume, meranti, ocoume, poplar and deal.

Applications: Floor, wall, doors, furniture, ornaments. Plexwood is available as strip, parquet strip, plank, tile, panel one-sided, panel two-sided, panel flexible, solid, profile and special.

Available to Ireland from: Plexwood