Gizmodo, the go-to authority for gadget news and digital culture, covers our spin-off project, Emerging Objects.

Volley Ball Wall

Pedestrian and Bicycle Path Wall

Teeter Totter Wall

Xylophone Wall

Cemetery Wall

Burrito Wall

Confessional Wall

Climbing Wall

Wildlife Wall

Project Team: Ronald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, Aine Coughlan, Kent Wilson, Bridget Basham, Jeff Miner

Pneumatic structures have always been associated with mobility, movement, freedom and escape, with particular origins in French society. The promise of inflatables has been explored since the invention of the pneumatic tire by André Michelin in 1895, which promised a new, or pneu, means by which to access distance places. In 1968, the work of the Paris-based architectural group Utopie, dreamt of a society literally built on air and created numerous visions of extraordinary pneumatic structures.

During architecture week, in the French city of New Orleans, Ronald Rael, and a talented group of architecture students from Tulane University, explored a pneu vision for inflatable structures—one that combined the of new methods of 3D modeling (using modo from Luxology) to explore pneu forms and spaces that are site-specific, disruptive and engaging.

The final outcome resulted in two building-sized pneumatic structures installed on the Tulane campus. Dynamic lighting was installed to transform the spaces into beacons that engaged the campus community after sunset.

Project Date: 2013
Project Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Project Team: Ronald Rael and Tulane Architecture Students: Alia Soomro, Kyle Ryan, Drew Hauck, Will Nemitoff, Thomas Ferrer, Logan Legett, Nicole Esser, Shira Latch, Meredith Zelenka, Robert Mosby, Laura Robin, Kayleigh Bruentrup, John Coyle
Additional Project Information: was constructed as part of Tulane School of Architecture A-Weekend

A rich array of international and Australian speakers has been confirmed for the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2013 National Conference – MATERIAL.

Creative Directors Sandra Kaji-O’Grady and John de Manincor have selected 14 presenters including academics, artists, practicing architects, historians, researchers and problem solvers, once again securely positioning the 2013 conference as a must attend annual industry event.

The 2013 National Architecture Conference presents:

Kathrin Aste – LAAC Architects, Austria
Lucia Cano – SeglasCano Arquitectos, Spain
Billie Faircloth – KieranTimberlake Research Group, USA
Manuelle Gautrand – Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, France
Tim Greer – Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects, Australia
Matthias Kohler – Gramazio and Kohler, Switzerland
Carey Lyon – Lyons Architecture, Australia
MAD Architects – Beijing, China
Jorge Otero-Pailos – Columbia University, USA
Cesare Peeren – Superuse Studios, Netherlands
Philippe Rahm – Philippe Rahm Architectes, France
Virginia San Fratello – Rael San Fratello, USA
Nader Tehrani – NADAAA, USA
Emma Young – PhooEY, Australia

‘The quality and diversity of the approaches to MATERIAL that speakers will present at this year’s conference highlights the complex nature of how architects, both locally and internationally, explore this multifaceted topic.

‘The variety of MATERIAL(s) used by the speakers at the conference is both astounding and exciting: including coloured light, heat and gaseous composition (Philippe Rahm), latex, pollution and time (Jorge Otero-Pailos), printed ceramics, straw and cardboard (Virginia San Fratello), cellophane and LED’s (Billie Faircloth), brick-laying helicopters (Matthias Kohler) and more,’ say the Creative Directors.

The National Architecture Conference – Material will be held in Melbourne from 30 May – 1 June 2013, co-locating with designEX. For more information visit the National Architecture Conference website.

Ronald Rael participates in the Tulane School of Architecture A-Weekend workshops with Andrew Kudless and Thom Faulders. Rael’s workshop, Pneuforms/Pneuspaces resulted in the design and construction of two, building-sized pneumatic structures, installed on the Tulane campus.

Virginia San Fratello presented the work of Rael San Fratello as part of the University of Houston Gerald D Hines College of Architecture Lecture Series.

Ronald Rael at CU Boulder ENVD from CUBoulderENVD on Vimeo.

Virginia San Fratello lectures as part of the University of Texas Austin School of Architecture lecture series.

The Mud House in the West Texas landscape

The Mud House (a.k.a. Mowers-Tick Residence, a.k.a. Box Box House) is located in in the high West Texas desert in the town of Marfa, TX. The house is inspired by the landscape, traditional building practices and the contributions of Donald Judd and is situated in a landscape of  ocotillo, mesquite, yucca and sotol with a view to the Davis Mountains in the distance.

Plan of Mud House with surrounding landscape

The Mud House is a large earthen box, designed to be easily constructed of mud brick and plastered with local soils mixed with cactus mucilage, horse manure and straw on the interior and exterior, and contains a smaller box inside that houses the major utilities of the house (kitchen, bathrooms, storage, boiler, etc).

View from the living area to the kitchen

Radiant heating in the floors warms the body in the cool winters and the massive earthen walls store the heat minimizing energy costs. The sun also enters the space in the winter months through a courtyard that connects the house to the sky and outdoors directly from the living area. The contrast between the thick, earthen walls and the concrete lintels that interpenetrate the façade to create openings, as well as the use of stainless steel in contrast with the earth, create a tension between old and new, rough and smooth, and the industrial and non-industrial.

View of courtyard from kitchen

In the summer months, a subtle overhang over the courtyard entrance prevents direct sunlight from entering the house and the mud walls and high ceilings keep the interior cool. The clients, who are art lovers, selected works that are complimented by the earthen walls such as Kiki Smith and Susan York.

Entrance to the Mud House

The entrance to the Mud House is through a slit in the earthen wall adjacent to a concrete pool that fills with water from the desert rains that is filled via the large scupper extending from the roof.

Exterior fireplace

A concrete and steel fireplace defines the patio area.

Detailed drawings of the fireplace

Detailed drawings of catchment basins

Bedroom

The bedroom is an intimate space separated by the inner cube. The concrete frame gently guides the morning light into the space.

Photograph taken during construction process

Two types of mud bricks, or adobes, were used in the construction. The lower portion has adobes made in New Mexico that posses a higher compressive strength and resistance to water. Towards the top of the wall, adobes made in nearby Ojinaga, Mexico were used that are lighter in both weight and color.

Courtyard that connects the house to the sky

Inside, a large courtyard opens to the interior and to the sky, bringing in vast quantities of light, while shielding the desert sun.

Project Date: 2009
Project Location: Marfa, Texas
Project Team: Ronald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, Mason Edge
Construction: Garza Marfa, Mark Glover
Additional Project Information: The Mud House was featured in the first annual Marfarchitecture + Design Symposium supporting the Marfa Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to design muse, Karoon.

ACADIA 2012 will feature a new exhibition entitled “WILD CARDS” – composed of both peer-reviewed ACADIA projects and curated projects from emerging West Coast design firms. The exhibition will be hosted in the main Nave space at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco (1111 8th Street). The exhibition opening will take place on Friday, Oct 19th, 2012 from 7-9pm. It is free and open to the public. Download the invitation, exhibition statement and the floor plan here [PDF].

Confirmed participants for the curated exhibition include: Rael San Fratello, Achim Menges, Neri Oxman, Faulders Studio, MATSYS, IwamotoScott, Kruysman | Proto,FreelandBuck, Doris Sung (DOSU) with Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter and Matthew Melnyk, Ogrydziac/Prillinger, Atelier Manferdini, Future Cities Lab, Ball-Nogues, Cabrinha-Kudless-Shook, Fletcher Studio, Oyler Wu Colaborative,Price Studio, VeeV / Raveevarn Choksombatchai.