Architect Norman Foster’s

CHESA FUTURA

PRESENTATION BY:Saima (Ar-005)

Fatima Junaid (Ar-038)Rabia Naqi (Ar-043)

NORMAN FOSTER – DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

“Architecture Is An Expression Of Values.”

“The Best Architecture Comes From A Synthesis Of All The Elements That Separately

Comprise A Building.”

“As An Architect You Design For The Present , With An Awareness Of The Past, For A Future

Which Is Essentially Unknown.”

Born in 1935 in Manchester, England, Sir Norman Foster is an award-winning and prolific British architect known for sleek, modern designs of steel and glass with

innovations in contouring and inner space management. He was part of the

architectural group Team 4 before branching off on his own to form what would eventually be known as Foster +

Partners.

According to Norman Foster his philosophy has always been guided by a belief that the quality of

our surroundings has a direct influence on the quality of our lives, whether that is on the

workplace, at home or in public.Where his focus lies on is; how architectural design

changes over time to accommodate changes in technology to how it communicates a city’s past

and present character.

Chesa Futura – The House Of The Future (Roman)

The philosophy behind it was to shows how new buildings can be inserted into the existing grain at increased densities, while sustaining indigenous building techniques and preserving the natural environment.It fuses state-of-the-art (modern or the latest) computer design tools with centuries-old construction techniques to create an environmentally sensitive apartment building.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY - CHESA FUTURA

LOCATIONChesa Futura Apartment Via Tinus 25, 7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Co-ordinates: 46°29'57N 09°50'15E

SITE ACCESS: There are two ways of accessing the site, one by road and the other by stairs which allows pedestrians to easily move about the hilly slopes and a shortcut to directly access main road.

GEOGRAPHY

LAKE ST. MORITZ

Chesa Futura is located in St. Moritz which is a high Alpine Resort in Switzerland, at an elevation of about 5,910 ft above sea level. St. Moritz lies on the southern slopes of the Albula Alps it overlooks the

flat and wide glaciated valley of the Upper Engadine and the Lake of St. Moritz.

LAND USE:Agriculture – 26.3%Forest – 20.0%Land – 9.0% (Buildings and Roads) and 44.8% (Unproductive Land)

The site is located on the edge of a steep slope that looks down over St Moritz towards the lake. Responding to this location and to weather patterns in St Moritz, where snow lies on the ground

for months at a time, there is a tradition of elevating buildings to avoid the danger of wood decaying due to prolonged exposure to moisture.

Similarly Chesa Futura reinstated this tradition in itself as a result it gave the lower apartments a good view of the surround which other wise would not have been possible.

VIEW FROM BUILDINGELEVATED FROM GROUND

CLIMATE

St Moritz has a Subarctic Climate only just above alpine/polar due to its elevation with cold, moderately snowy winters and cool, wet summers.

DESIGN CONCEPTINSPIRATION: FUTURISM MOVEMENT

This building is responsive to its site in ways that

dictates its form. The form enables openings to wrap the building so the vista is

greater than a flat wall.

The design was driven by the views and the orientation, which generated complex lines in space.

According to Foster; “It’s very alive.”The bubble like form of Chesa Futura, has an organic quality reinforced by its coat of textured wood.

Substantial terraces create sheltered outdoor rooms with breathtaking views of the snow-capped Alps, while also introducing a rich quality of natural light.

BRIEF FACTS

AREA: 4 650 m²

Features:❖ Roof is highly insulated and clad in copper - a traditional local roofing material. High

performance glazing to south elevation.❖ Hand cut wooden shingle cladding obtained from 80 local trees.❖ Double-curved timber frame shell highly insulated.

➢ The apartment building has ten apartment buildings.➢ The building has large windows with balconies to the south.➢ The building is more closed to the north where it faces the mountains and the coldest

weather, providing insulation through its thermal mass.➢ The structural frame creates a 40cm-wide cavity that is filled with insulating material. ➢ Small windows are punched into the northern facade. which allows the most amount of light

through the smallest aperture by chamfering the window surround.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUESA high degree of pre-fabrication was important because the holiday seasons restrict

construction to eight months of the year.

The foundations consist of a sunken concrete box, which houses the plant rooms, car parking and storage spaces. Above ground the building is

supported on a lightweight steel 'table' with eight legs. Two concrete cores, housing the lift shafts and stairwells, provide further stability.

The remaining structure is timber. The frame is constructed from prefabricated glue-laminated beams - thin sections of wood glued together - with a skin of plywood sheets. This has many benefits over steel or concrete. The malleability of wood makes it is easier to achieve the building's doubly-curved shape. Because timber is lighter than steel it can more easily be delivered to the site, which is approached by a narrow winding road.

MATERIALS - Exterior

Foster chose timber for the building's exterior for two reasons: Timber is the indigenous architectural material in the area and it is a renewable resource, aiding the environment through carbon dioxide consumption while growing. Secondly, the timber is locally forested, very little energy is used in transporting the material. Over time the larch shingles will show their age, coloring to blend in with the surroundings, appearing to grow like the neighboring vegetation.

✓ The building exterior is claded with timber shingles which were cut by hand and fixed on site. As But the frame and the wall panels were prefabricated in Germany using advanced CNC machinery.

✓ The roof is made from copper. It is a long local tradition, because it is sufficiently malleable to be formed on site when the temperature may drop below twelve degrees.

✓ The building is raised above the ground on raking steel supports called Pilotis.✓ Glass has been used as a parapet wall for balconies and for the ground floor

wall to give a sense of continuity.

CONCEPTUAL ANALYSISIf we analyze the buildings plan and elevation as a whole the shape appears to be that of a KIDNEY BEAN.

The building's bubble-like form allows balconies on the southern side to open up to sunlight and views, while the north facade is more closed, punctuated with deep window openings in the Engadin tradition.

PLAN

SECTION

MODEL ELEVATIONS