Weiss wanted to create a contemporary extension, but also respect the traditional materials palette. "The chosen materials are an homage to the existing house, but stay in a modern urban context," the architect explained.

Unlike the original building, which has a vernacular roof, the extension features an asymmetric roofline that slopes upwards at two opposite corners of the building to form a butterfly shape.

The two buildings barely touch, so only a single doorway connects to the existing hallway from a new open-plan living and dining room, while two patios slot into the spaces between.

A new staircase leads up to the first floor, where the irregular shape of the roof provides a faceted ceiling over the extra bedroom and dressing room.

There is no connection to the main house from these rooms, but a doorway leads out to a small terrace on the roof.

See more residential extensions on Dezeen »
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Photography is by Julien Lanoo.

Here's some more information from the architect:

Maison D - Emmanulle Weiss

House D (Maison D) is an extension of a family home in the middle of an urban area on a parcel of land twice as wide as the existing house.

The house doubles the linear qualities of the existing house façade, thus unifining a roadside landscape that was deconstructed before. The extention also doubles the importance of the private family garden.

The House D extension welcomes all the important living functions, private income patio, kitchen and living room, the architect (Emmanuelle Weiss) chose to incorporate on the first level of the extention an equipped sleeping quarter, with bathroom and a well organised dressing room.

The result of this exercise frees up the existing house, wich has mainly become the children's territory. Also now, the complementation of House D makes room to add a large office area in the existing house, addapted to the professional life of its inhabitants.

The volume, high levels, low levels: "zones" create a dialogue with the existing typical style house. All the volumes in House D translate into its roofline, bringing a richness to the space. Natural light embraces the volume, sometimes directly, sometimes reflected, it fills the complete project and living quarters.

House D is an answer to the existing devision of the main house. Its functional properties talk directly to the vertical circulations of the existing house, it opens up living space.

To link the old and new together, the architect chose to use a minimal contact between both architectures. The new differentiates itself on the outside by two little patios, only linking itself to the old on the interior where the new encroaches into the hallway.

The chosen materials are an homage to the existing house, but stay in a modern urban context. Dark bricks (reflecting back on a modern way to the dark old red bricks typical for this area) and aluminium detailing show subtle hints to thier surroundings.

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan (extension only)

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Emmanuelle Weiss appeared first on Dezeen.

Lotus Dome is constructed from hundreds of light-sensitive flowers made from 'lotus foil', a material developed by the designers using several thin layers of polyester film.

Sensors are used to detect human movement and trigger the dome's internal lights to shine towards people moving around the space. The light causes the flowers to open up so that they appear to be responding to visitors' behaviour.

The dome sits idle when the space is empty but becomes increasingly animated as it detects more people. "It's sort of an animal in that way," artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde told Dezeen. "We call it a soft machine, with half animal qualities and half technological qualities."

The installation was commissioned by arts organisation Lille 3000 for Fantastic 2012, a festival of futuristic concepts in design and the arts. "We were approached by the city to reconnect inhabitants with their town again," said Roosegaarde, who found the "beautiful but deserted space" of Sainte Marie Madeleine Church on a walk through the town.

Lotus Dome will be open to visitors until 13th January 2013.

We recently featured another project at Fantastic 2012 – Ross Lovegrove's silver spaceship in the rafters of the city's railway station.

Another Studio Roosegarde project we've featured is a dress that turns see-through when its wearer becomes embarrassed or excited.

See all our stories about Studio Roosegaarde »
See all our stories about installations »

Here's some further information from the designers:

This weekend interactive artwork Lotus Dome by artist and architect Daan Roosegaarde was opened in Sainte Marie Madeleine Church in Lille, France. Lotus Dome is a living dome made out of hundreds of ultra-light aluminium flowers that fold open in response to human behaviour.

When approached, the big silver dome lights up and opens its flowers. Its behaviour moves from soft breathing to dynamic mood when more people interact. The light slowly follows people, creating an interactive play of light and shadow. The graphic representations of the lotus flower on the walls, and the deep bass sound, transforms the Renaissance environment into a ‘Techno-Church’.

The smart Lotus foil is specially developed by Studio Roosegaarde and their manufacturers, and is made from several thin layers of Mylar that fold open and close when touched by light. This high-tech craftsmanship is similar to the innovative thinking of the church’s architecture of the 16th century.

Lotus Dome is created for the city of Lille and its locals. The purpose was to activate the beautiful but deserted Renaissance building, and make the architecture become more alive and contemporary. This dynamic relation between people and technology is what Roosegaarde calls ‘Techno-Poetry'. “Lotus Dome functions as a mediator, connecting elements of architecture and nature, of the past and the future,” he says.

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Studio Roosegaarde appeared first on Dezeen.

UFO was commissioned by arts organisation Lille 3000 for Fantastic 2012, a festival of futuristic concepts in design and the arts.

In addition to the ring of LEDs around its perimeter, the aluminium spaceship intermittently sends a central shaft of light down to the ground, where it appears to select a passenger to beam up into the craft.

"Giving people a chance to see at first hand an alien craft, designed albeit by a human being and in decidedly Earth-based terrestrial materials, will be an instant shock," explains Lovegrove, "showing us how primitive, oily and unimaginative we are."

This isn't the first UFO we've featured on Dezeen – we also reported on a ball of light over Gdansk in Poland created by artist Peter Coffin and lighting designers Cinimod Studio.

See all our stories about Ross Lovegrove »
See all our stories about installations »

Photographs are by Simona Cupoli.

Here's a statement from Lovegrove:

For Fantastic 2012, the most advanced presentation of futuristic concept in design, art, cuisine, literature, dance, clubbing and much more, Lille3000 has commissioned a brand new work by British designer Ross Lovegrove to be experienced at the Lille Flandre Station, directly on the tracks, opening on October 5th.

Ross Lovegrove, at ease with questions and dilemmas about our own future – he was for example the host of CNN Just Imagine documentary presenting a vision of the world 2020 – has challenged himself to create an innovative, and yet modernistic archetypical, means of transport. The visitors and travellers gathering at the Lille Flandre Station will find on the trails a shocking surprise: a UFO has just landed on the sidewalk and it is able to transport human beings from Lille to Paris in as little as 30 seconds.

This unexpected machine, shaped like an organic dish, is conceived with terrestrial materials and yet delivers an unprecedented imaginary form. Ross Lovegrove’s UFO was born through a speculation on our own identity. This pure and pristine object destroys the boundaries between art and design, technology and science, spirituality and physics, nature and religion. Ross Lovegrove has realised this new vehicle following his instinct: the inhabitants of our planet do not have any clear idea on how these objects are realised, or if they even exist.

Lovegrove explains his inspiration for this recently landed U(nidentified) F(lying) O(bject): "Blurry photos and obscure film footage is all we have, along with interviews from Area 51 scientists assigned to analyse propulsion systems and materials previously unknown to man. Can all these people who talk so matter of fact all be part of some broader conspiracy to act it all out? The mystery remains as a discourse between imagination and reality, people divided and derided on a subject that could be so profound and life changing for the whole of humanity if one day there will be a clear visitation to experience in the clear light of day the wonders that we are being slowly primed for.”

To visit to the Lille Flandre Station can explain some about these universal mysteries through the visions of one of the most innovative designers or our time.

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Ross Lovegrove appeared first on Dezeen.

Tread-like indents in the concrete facade of this rock-climbing centre might encourage visitors to scale the walls (photos by Julien Lanoo).

Designed by French architects Béal & Blanckaert, Le Polyèdre is situated outside Lille and houses a gym as well as a rock-climbing hall.

The roof the centre slopes upwards at one end to accommodate the faceted climbing wall, which has both white and bright orange surfaces.

Timber frames the building’s doors and windows, most of which are trapezium-shaped.

This is the third building we’ve published this month by Béal and Blanckaert, following a Corten-clad library and a nursery with a colourfully striped facade – see all our stories about the architects here.

Here's some more text from Antoine Béal and Ludovic Blanckaert:

Salle d'escalade de Mons-en-Baroeul

Within a larger restructuring of the 70's modernist city center by the urbanization office FX Mousquet, the city of Mons-en-Baroeul decided to create room for a rock climbing hall and a gym space.

The project finds it's place on a topographical spot within the urban architecture.

The building unites the two functions (rock climbing & gym) in one hexagonal ground plan; a form dictated by the rock climbing wall and its surrounding function.

Rock climbing in the north of France remains artificial; so is the architecture of the project.

The materials chosen decompose the hilly landscape.

The concrete wall rises up as an artificial rock; this dividing structure embraces the functions of a sporting facility.

The vegetal roof, with both winter and summer vegetation, artificially reflects the alpine landscapes within the equally artificially constructed urbanism of Mons-en- Baroeul.

The interior has two well defined spaces. One space, the rock climbing hall, mimics a theatre atmosphere to maximally embellish the sport of rock climbing.

The second space encloses the gym quarters in an uncommon wooden atmosphere, a characteristic of the chosen OSB material.

Wooden window frames unite this uncommon architecture to the many different buildings and to the topographically interesting garden surrounding the building.

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Name of the project: le polyèdre
Address: Mons en Baroeul
Architectes: Antoine Béal et Ludovic Blanckaert
Collaborateurs: T .Foucray – J.Ramet
Client: Ville de Mons en Baroeul - France

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JDS Architects have won a competition to design a youth centre for Lille, France.

The Lil/Euralille Youth Centre will comprise a contorted triangular building, housing a youth hostel, a kindergarten and offices within its three corners.

These three blocks will each feature cantilevered corners and are to surround a central triangular courtyard.

This courtyard will slope up to a roof garden above the kindergarten and step onto decks above the youth hostel.

This will be the first project in Lille by JDS Architects, who previously designed a cantilevered ski jump in Norway – see all our stories about the firm here.

Here's a little more information from the architects:

JDS Architects have just signed the contract to execute their first French project for the city of Lille.

Over the past twenty years Lille has become a European hub; a destination for business and congress, a great place to study and live and also a tourist destination.

It is a city with a turbulent history of conquest and reconquest, a heritage as an important medieval city and later on enjoyed and sometimes suffered the title of Northern France industrial capital.

Our project emerges from the idea of creating an urban catalyst, accommodating three distinct programmes on a triangular site.

By placing a program in each point of the triangle we offer maximum privacy while allowing them a closeness and continuity of space, organised around a garden, like a cloister of calm in the center of the city.

The lifting of the mass of the programme at the corners illuminates and activates the adjacent public spaces and creates a continuity from outside to inside of the building.

Project: youth hostel, kindergarten, office
Budget: 12.150.000 EUR

Type: Invited Competition
Size: 6.980 m2

Client: SAEM Euralille
Status: 1st Prize 2011

Location: Lille, France
JDS Partner in Charge: Julien De Smedt

Project Leader: Renaud Pereira
Team: JDS, EGIS, Agence Franck Boutté Consultants, SL2EC

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