Articles by Paula Pintos

Avanti-Avanti Studio is a design studio dedicated to the development of creative communication strategies, particularly specialized in “Design for All.” Founded by Alex Dobaño (graphic designer and member of the Design For All Foundation) and Elvira Muñoz (architect), the duo leads a multidisciplinary team of professional people in communication, design, and technology, and work with companies and institutions specialized in leisure, tourism, culture, museums, and cities. They describe their practice as a meeting point, where professionals from different fields come together for every new venture, to ensure that the built environments are suitable and inclusive for anyone experiencing them.

The Place, like its name, brands itself as a hotel that creates a unique visitor experienced that embodies the specific identity of each place. This specificity of place is central to Mecanoo’s “People, Place, Purpose” design philosophy, which emphasizes users, a holistic understanding of the social, historical and physical context, and a response to current and future building functions. For each assignment, our goal is to seek out the secret of the location to create a unique design that strengthens the distinct identity of the context. 

This proposal for a small theatre draws on the changing use and cultural significance of the canalside location and presents a bold face to the Regent’s Canal. On one side the canal frontage has a flat, abstract image; the composition and arrangement of windows and stairways is a reimagination of Monsieur Hulot’s building in Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle. On the other side open galleries overlook the rooftop and surrounds. Potemkin generally describes a false or deceptive appearance; we are interested in the way it suggests the revealing of the structure behind a lively and colourful frontage.

Casa Morgana is somewhere else. Surrounded by neighbouring homes dating from the late nineteenth century, the building is like a study for possible future architecture and seems to have fallen out of context. Surrounding nature simulates a subtropical oasis and locates the residential sculpture between optical disturbance and atmospheric displacement.

The site is a general suburb of Japan. The sky is a wide and open atmosphere. The sea is near. In this house, we planned to surround the living space with a “high terrace” like a bay window of the whole building.

“Wickham Point House” respectfully updates the modernist aesthetic established by renowned Queensland Architect James Birrell (Spring Hill Centenary Pools, Toowong Library) while giving the holiday house functionality for a multi-generational family. The original dwelling underwent a significant renovation by James Birrell in the 1960s. Out of respect for the quality of the inherited design, the approach was to treat the new intervention with a light hand. The simplicity and harmony of the original residence were highly valued by the client and architect and provided the underlying basis of the conceptual framework. Subtle interventions and enhancements were a priority.

Nestled in the Pacific Palisades foothills, the Tramonto Residence is a contemporary single-family home which integrates the natural beauty of an adjacent state park. The placement of the home captures vistas overlooking the canyon, the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains, and the California coastline meeting the Pacific Ocean.