07 2019
July 2019
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
24/07 2019

KAAN Architecten set to restore a cultural oasis in Brazil

KAAN Architecten has been commissioned with restoring the current headquarters of Fundação Marcos Amaro (FMA) and the associated cultural centre Fábrica de Arte Marcos Amaro (FAMA) housed in an old textile factory with historical and cultural relevance to the city.

Located in Itú, 100 km from São Paulo, FAMA aims to preserve and promote contemporary artistic expressions within the city and state of São Paulo. It operates far beyond the usual constraints of a museum, offering ateliers, workshops and artist residences, enabling full immersion into research and creation. In addition to FAMA headquarters, the complex also displays Marcos Amaro’s art collection and part of the collection from Museum of Contemporary Latin American Sculpture (MESCLA).

In order to materialise FAMA’s ideals, KAAN Architecten was tasked with converting the old São Pedro factory grounds into a state-of-the-art cultural centre.

Fma2019 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

©FMA

Previously a cotton mill for the Companhia Fiação e Tecelagem São Pedro established in 1911, the complex was designed by Louis Marins Amirat, a French-Brazilian master builder, who introduced Itú to a branch of architecture analogous to what was happening in Europe at that time. He brought innovation by applying proper brick masonry construction resulting in monumental facades with refined finishing.

As the building represents significant industrial heritage within the city, the assignment is far more complex than designing a functional ensemble. Besides implementing the highest developments in sustainability and adapting the building to museum requirements, the design proposed by KAAN Architecten will create dialogue with the historic layers that have been part of the structure for more than a century, fortifying this cultural oasis in Itú.

Read more about FMA and FAMA here.

23/07 2019

Colour and light come through in KMSKA

Just before the summer holidays, photographer Karin Borghouts made her way to the construction site of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp to capture the progress. Explore the photo report below!

Bright wall colours have been reinstated, along with wooden floors and door trims, bringing the historic halls of KMSKA a step closer to their original look.

Meanwhile, progress has been made within the new ‘vertical’ museum where both large and small exhibition halls are being finished.

Photographs by Karin Borghouts. Click the link for more information.

10/07 2019

Inside the KAAN Architecten Studio Visit

Last Friday, 5 July, KAAN Architecten hosted a Studio Visit in collaboration with Het Nieuwe Instituut which elaborated on the design, building and communication methodology in the modern day practice. Photo report below takes you inside the event.

The event kicked off with an introduction by Kees Kaan, followed by an exploration of the layered process behind the making of the office’s projects. Divided into four phases – competition, design, construction and communication; the visitors got to participate in a series of interactive sessions in which architects shared tools and techniques as well as personal anecdotes relating to each project phase.

Photographs by Narine Gyulkhasyan (KAAN Architecten).

09/07 2019

Fifth New Amsterdam Courthouse photo report is out now!

In her latest photo report, photographer Dominique Panhuysen captures the progress made during past six months at the New Amsterdam Courthouse construction site.

As showcased in the previous issue, the building started to rise above ground with first facade columns being put in place. In the past months, the remainder of 22-metre high facade columns, spanning all the way up to fifth floor, have been set up and first glass panels mounted. This phase is also marked by the completion of the concrete structure of the public area.

KAAN Architecten is undertaking works for the New Amsterdam Courthouse as part of a consortium which includes Macquarie Corporate Holdings Ltd., ABT, DVP, Heijmans and Facilicom.

Explore the design here or browse the full photo report here.