Within Europe Royale, Dataga’s project to build four major cities in China, comes the creation of The City of Sports.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will manage the football section of the new Sports City of Europe Royale, in Beijing.
See the model for the new Sports City.
There will be high performance centers categorized among the world’s largest in sports such as tennis and soccer. In addition, there will be a few golf courses, a great athletics stadium, as well as facilities that will provide services for elite athletes, dorms (capacity for 1,000 athletes or more), hotels, and commercial and leisure areas. And it’s not all, there will also be a large private university hospital, devoted only to the specialty of Sports Medicine.
The agreement to manage this section of the Sports City was signed by the RFEF early in 2011: The plan is to create the Spanish Federation Football Academy and a High Performance Centre (CAR). It is aimed for athletes from 8 to 26 years old who intend to advance professionally in their respective sport.
According to the RFEF’s website, the project will be financed by the Spanish Holding, and will include the construction of 26 soccer fields of different sizes and a large central stadium with capacity for 26,000 people (with the facilities required in order to run these sporting events).
Some people wonder about the economic impact to the RFEF by its involvement in the project, even though Dataga’s president was not able to give an estimate: ”These agreements create synergies that are impossible to describe with a single number ” (elconfidencial.com 01/08/11)
……… Will this agreement lead Spain to the Golden football?
SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE PROJECT
Norman Foster Black Sea Resort master plan
Among the impressive collection of projects that Norman Foster’s studio has designed, we find this master plan for the development of a tourist complex in the coast of Bulgaria’s Black Sea. This project tries to minimize the impact on the environment, and its possible gas emissions.
It will be located near the Bulgarian town of Byala divided in five neighborhoods that make up the complex that will be located on top of small hills covered with forest. The neighborhoods are: Sky Village, Wilderness Village, Meadow Village, Cape Village, and Sea Village, all of them by the sea. Its streets will be filled with trees and vegetation, but cars will not be allowed to circulate which is one of the ways to avoid gases. Residents will have to leave their car in underground garages located at the entrance of each of the neighborhoods, and in order to move around there will be electric shuttles or the possibility to have electric carts, and bicycles. The project was designed so that the entire community, 15,400 residents, could live the entire year and enjoy the area’s great climate.
This project is currently onstandby as the developer Madara Bulgarian Property Fund ltd. (a company that was listed on the London Stock Exchange ) needs to find partners / investors to help them finance a portion of this development in order to finish it.
The new R&D project of SIRO Group takes place in this building in Segovia
The building was inaugurated early in 2011 by the Prince of Asturias Felipe de Borbon. This is where SIRO has its new laboratories in which workers study in detail the food products that the group manufactures, or the effects of ingredients and processes, to then manufacture them at an industrial scale.
Despite being one of the largest industrial groups in the food sector, with this new facility dedicated to research, development and innovation, SIRO group is committed to evolve the food we eat as well as the industrial processes.
This facility counts with 3.000m2 of which 800m2 have been earmarked for offices, conference rooms or training, while the remaining 2,200m2 have been allocated as “white” rooms, workrooms, laboratories, tasting and testing rooms.
The private facility counts with the latest technology, which aims to become an international reference in the development and innovation of products and processes, as well as its application in the food industry. It is open to other producers who may consider R & D & I as an engine of growth in their business.
The modern facilities of I+DEA include the laboratories in which workers perform the necessary analysis to define its products, different textures, analysis of moisture, and viscosity among other experiments … to make the final product as healthy as possible: food security and innovation. In addition, workers also study the design for better and more efficient packaging, or how to reduce costs of distribution ….
A remarkable aspect is that the company not only has avoided the crisis, but has presented a YOY growth of 24% for the year 2010, with sales revenue of € 400 million, has a workforce of 3,650 people, and 14 factories. SIRO produces for Mercadona.
The group does not have a layoff policy, rather the opposite; “generating quality employment for all”, such that 400 people of the entire workforce are people with disabilities, some had been unemployed for a long time, or had been victims of domestic violence……
Good business, corporate responsibility, and growth have led Juan Manuel Gonzalez Serna, President of the group, to be recognized as one of the entrepreneurs with more corporate social responsibility, values that have been part of the group since it began less than 20 years ago.
….. “Today is our starting point” … is the title of the video that shows the company’s social side.
MUSAC is the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla and León (2005):
Mies Van der Rohe Prize for Contemporary Architecture (European Union 2007).
This museum located in the city of León is the work of two Spanish architects from Madrid, Emilio Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla, awardedwith the 2003 Spanish Architecture prize. After three years of development, they have designed this museum as a large surface for culture, with continuous spaces, but very well diversified. The museum consists of a series of linked but autonomous showrooms, able to display exhibitions of different sizes and characteristics at the same time. Each space opens to different rooms and patios in a way that achieve transversal and diagonal views.
It’s a wide building with irregular floors. The facade is composed of large panels of glass of 42 different colors that with changes of sunlight, make the building look as if it had a changing facade. The outside area, is projected as a concave space that also hosts events and activities. The interior has a great surface of continuous but different spaces that have plenty of rooms, skylights and patios, as an example of symbiosis between architecture and art.
The interior is built with white concrete walls, trying to be a comfortable space for art. The building’s original and current purpose was to make an exhibition of the art of the XXI century, whose collection consisted of 800 works created by national and international contemporary artists.
In addition to the prize mentioned above, the building has been recognized internationally in other occasions such as
* ON-SITE exposition: New Architecture in Spain, hosted by the MOMA in New York, noted as one of the most important architectural projects of Spain.
* Spanish representation in the Venice Architecture Biennale.
For people who are wine lovers and enjoy to have it at home, here are some guidelines to follow that will help keep good wine in perfect condition.
- An environment with adequate ventilation to prevent odors.
- Very little presence of light
- Temperature should be between 10 º and 16 º C.
- Moisture MUST be over 60%
- Bottles must be placed horizontally to prevent that wine moistens the cork
- Must be located in a place with no vibrations.
Today, with glass cabinets specially designed to store wine, and in most cases acclimatized to a temperature suitable for its conservation, it becomes less necessary to have the traditional cellar in the house’s basement. This saves space and ensures better preservation of the wine because its temperature is kept constant.
There are many ways to decorate a wine cellar. From the classic cellars made of wood with customized furniture to take advantage of every single corner, or simply by stacking the modules required to store the number of bottles available.
On the other side we have the modern ones, which include those made of metal, as designed by the Spanish architecture studio A-cero. Check out these pictures…..
About to turn 104 years old, winner of the Pritzker Architecture’s Prize ’87, and with a stunning resume of architecture works internationally recognized, Oscar Niemeyer remains active.
One of the lines of his artistic thought, reflected throughout his work, is summarized in this sentence:
Is not the right angle that attracts me, nor the straight, hard, inflexible line created by men, instead what attracts me is the free and sensual curve, the curve that I find in my country’s mountains, in the course of its winding rivers, in the sea waves, or in a beautiful woman’s body. The universe is filled with curves, Einstein’s curved universe. – Oscar Niemeyer
From his words it is clear that modern architecture should move out of the usual straight lines and put emphasis on curves, making a reference in his works to the structures of nature ….. In order to accomplish it, he explored the possibilities of reinforced concrete to create curved surfaces (innovations favor new creative possibilities).
Another of his lines of thought …. Niemeyer breaks the idea that a form follows the function and proves that when a form is beautiful becomes functional, and therefore, is fundamental to architecture .- Norman Foster
Niemeyer is one of the most prolific architects of the XXth century, creating imaginative constructions, curves (more complex than the straight line), with color, that were a revolution to the architecture of the time. Besides being an architect, Niemeyer is also a sculptor, an artist, a thinker, a humanist and an innovator, whose modernity astonishes in a conceptual and technical manner…. “The new different way, that surprises, that’s architecture” – O. Niemeyer
The importance of his work in relation to contemporary architecture: Created the most important buildings in Brasilia, a capital that has been declared a Historical and Cultural City of Mankind by the Unesco. It’s a brave architecture, sculptural, with passion for color, and that cannot be compared with anything that has been done before. “When I get a project I try to make it beautiful, different and that generates surprise …” -O. Niemeyer.
Niemeyer was born in Brazil 15.12.1907, and unsatisfied with his country’s existing architecture, he decided to pursue this career shaping his own personality into the architecture that has been doing until now. He has become a universal figure that we associate with Brazilian modernism, but to the question … can Niemeyer be included within the lines of modernism or he would be considered an “outsider”? Despite the answer, he really has a creative freedom in his drawings that leads him to find his own way into modern architecture.
Cathedral of Brasilia
To understand this architect, let me explain that not only he draws his work, but he also writes it, so that it makes more sense…. Amazing!
His work is far more extensive, but to make it short, let me include a brief summary with his career highlights:
* In 1952, following the initial ideas of Le Corbusier, Niemeyer collaborated in the building of the United Nations, in New York.
* In 1956, he worked on the project of building the new capital of Brasilia, where he was responsible for the design of residential, commercial and administrative buildings: Cathedral of Brasilia, Planalto Palace, or Itamaraty Palace….. Brasilia was a city designed, built, and developed in four years, the period of time that President Kubitschek’s was in charge.
* In 1966, during the military regime in Brazil, he was forced to exile to Paris where he worked on projects for Portugal, Morocco, and Malaysia.
* In the 80′s Niemeyer went back to Brazil, where he built several corporate headquarters in Brasilia, such as the Memorial JK,The patriotic Pantheon, the Sambadrome of the cities of Rio and Sao Paulo, the Latin America Memorial …
* From 1991-1996 designed the Contemporary Art Museum in Niteroi (MAC), considered by many his best work.
* In 2002 the Oscar Niemeyer Museum opened in Curitiba, southern Brazil.
* In 2007 is invited to design a football stadium due to the football world cup of 2014. 2007 also held the inauguration of The Oscar Niemeyer Popular Theatre in Niteroi, Rio which is a work dedicated to Brazil with green, yellow, blue and white colors.
* In 2009 The project for Spain: In return for the 1989 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, Niemeyer, has given this institution the project for the International Museum of the Prince of Asturias Awards, that will be located in Oviedo, Asturias. It will be known as the Oscar Niemeyer International cultural center.
* Alive and about to turn 104 years old, is still active and able to perform, makes arrangements of his old works which are considered national or international heritage that can only be modified by him.
Niemeyer integrates his buildings within their natural environment, including vegetation and water, as lakes, part of his work.
This exhibition promoted by Telefónica Foundation in collaboration with the Hispano-Brazilian Cultural Foundation followed by the week of architecture, organized by the Municipality of Madrid, Coam, and Coam architecture foundation, presented a complete overview of the centenary of the Nemeyer’s work.
Risks and advantages of a fairly common way of purchase.
To purchase a property out of the arquitecture plans is common in countries like Spain, which have had a large market of new construction, as well as in other developing countries such as Greece, Crete, Panama, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt or Morocco .
Why do people choose this purchase method? On one hand involves savings, which in some cases can reach up to 30% of the final price once the property is completed. It also allows the new owner to make changes in materials, and the distribution both inside and outside, example: increase the size of a room, change a terrace, or increase the size of the pool (in contrast, in a finished house, it is more difficult and expensive).
However, the buyer of a property out of the architectural plans bears many risks. In the first place, he has to make a deposit upon signature of commitment of the purchase contract, then the promoter requires him to make a number of advanced payments before they finish building the house… ie when the house structure is complete or when the roof is finished …. the process keeps repeating itself until the house is completed and the final payment made. This process may take 18 to 24 months or sometimes even more.
In some cases, investors buy the property off plans and sell it when it’s finished at a higher price. In other cases, they buy the property off plans and sell it before it’s finished, thus assuming only the deposit and early payments and avoiding the last ones. This strategy was very profitable when the market was favorable, with profits of nearly 20%.
In the current market, where sales are stuck, the risk is much higher and the appreciation of the capital invested is almost inexistent. Since it’s difficult to sell an unfinished property the buyer will have to make all remaining payments. Under these conditions, we must have the money to cover all the payments and bear in mind that in two years, mortgages are subject to change.
The property’s delivery date must be clearly stated in the contract (month and year), specifying whether the possibility of extension exists. To treat possible delays in the delivery of the property, parties may have previously agreed to a penalty clause that covers compensation for any costs (moving furniture, rent …) according to the days or months of delay.
All of these details should also be specified in the pre-arrangement that is signed at the time of the deposit, with the house details (square meters, location, quality specifications and equipment), and the price and interests agreed on.
Even if delivery is made under the agreed time, we must verify in which conditions was delivered . The home must be completed with the “end of construction” certificate signed by the architect who led the work, and the adequate licenses and permits: first occupation (for private housing), and final certification (in public housing). If they are not in order, utilities companies will not accept it and you will not have water, electricity… to live in a house with no license could lead to a penalty from the public administration. If a delay does occur, a first request is sent to the developer to deliver it (ie. Bur fax with receipt requested). If after two months the property has not been delivered, another similar requirement prior to a lawsuit. After 6 months, then you can start to process a legal claim (it is recommended to keep all costs that this delay has caused to the buyer, to attach them with the claim).
Buying a property off plans has not been recommended for a couple of years now. During the housing bubble, if the developer was a good professional, the buyer got his home in a timely fashion and at the agreed price. But in many cases, complications arise and the buyer can lose the house and the amounts paid in advance. There are buyers who find themselves in this situation because at the time they agreed to sell this way. In my next post I will explain the process to be followed in our country when problems with the purchase of a property arise.
Designing lighting for architecture and decoration.
Nowadays illumination is very important to complement the design and decoration of homes, businesses, industries, streets or roads. A wide variety of electric lamps exist in the current market, but the trend is to minimize energy consumption. Semiconductor diodes or LEDs make the difference (see previous posts).
Different types of lighting
This image shows the evolution: four generations in illumination technology: incandescent light, fluorescents, compact fluorescents, and OLEDs in different colors, considered the near future in lighting.
OLED is the organic version of LEDs. The differences among them are considerable:
* Instead of producing a bright spot, as LEDs do, they produce uniform illumination over a large area.
* OLEDs, are supported in a thinner, more flexible and luminous material than crystal layers of LEDs since the substrate used can be plastic.
OLEDs
*Economically more affordable: Although its production is currently quite expensive, its cost will be reduced considerably when they reach the mass-production stage. When that occurs, its cost could be the same as the cost of the material in which the OLED is printed. Thus being more competitive in comparison to current LEDs.
OLED support
* The result is a better contrast and brightness, since the pixels or dots emit the light directly.
* Allow new architectural applications, ie; paper with light, its integration into furniture, worn on clothing, or other forms of implementation yet to be discovered. Somehow, lamps for homes will disappear. It is expected to reach its commercialization phase in 5 years, both for decoration and functional lighting. However in order to be fully commercialized and added into our daily lives, we should expect 10 years.
* In addition to emitting light, researchers are working so that the new version of OLEDs can absorb also solar energy to produce electricity.
* The problem is that its organic components, molecules and polymers, are difficult to recycle. They also suffer high levels of degradation when they are exposed to water.
* Currently its use it’s expanding to TV screens, computers, mobile phones, MP3, billboards, and as light sources, to illuminate general spaces.
The importance of lighting in architecture increases every day, since the facades of new buildings, hotels, museums, gardens, plazas, streets, monuments, and many more, as well their interior, are enhanced with specific forms of illumination…… (remember that it is quite hard to make good lighting projects, both indoor and outdoor.
If we take a look at this particular work of Steve Hermann, a designer of upscale homes for artists and entrepreneurs in California, we are witnesses of a showcase of modern design and minimalist luxury in architecture. The lighting is extremely well distributed around the house, enhancing its existing open spaces, and the house’s finishing touches are impeccable.
As its name emphasizes “Glass Pavilion”, the majority of its facades are made of glass. For its implementation they have chosen a particular type of glass that is especially bright and clear, the one used for cabinets of jewelry stores.
The construction was completed during the summer of 2010.
It’s an unusual residence, with an area of 1,289 m2, built on a large plot that allows it to maintain total privacy from neighbors. It is located in Montecito, California, although at a first glance you might think its a European home due to its design.
The owners enjoy high quality comfort and at the same time are completely surrounded by nature.
The residence counts with 5 bedrooms and 5+ bathrooms, and wide living and dining rooms. The kitchen is highly designed, spacious, bright and functional at the same time. The house also has a large wine cellar, and what can be described as corridors or areas that have been decorated with pieces of art from the owner’s collection.
It also has an unusual garage, to name it, with a space for 32 cars that currently accommodates the owner’s entire collection of classic cars.
If we look at the property from the main entrance, it gives us the idea of a one level house, because we can only appreciate a single level above the ground. However, the architect actually played with the uneven piece of land to build an inferior level, which is also quite exterior, where the garage seen in the picture is located.
It is difficult to find a flaw in the house’s design or decoration. I believe it is visually stunning and that conveys a feeling of fresh luxury …… But if I were to live in it, and if I am allowed a suggestion, it wouldn’t hurt to put some blinds in the bedrooms to avoid the morning light and to get more privacy, and perhaps to make it warmer.
From an architectural point of view, it does not add anything new, since it is similar to the Glass House designed by architect Mies van der Rohe, founding father of the theory – less is more – where we also see a minimum number of different materials used, and the avoidance of ornamental decorations. The idea being that the glass transparency allows the visitor to feel protected by the roof, but without the feeling of being inside a building because its transparency makes the exterior its decorative element.
This post is based on the conclusions of a Spanish entrepreneur who moved with his family to China, and he did his own market research to find a home there.
In China, homes are concessions of 70 years (apparently, they are considering to extend the concession to 90 years). If an investor purchases a brand new home, the concession is for the whole period.
In regards to the Real Estate second hand market;
* If the home is bought in the second hand market, the new owner should subtract the years that the home was previously inhabited to the total period of the concession.
* An interesting fact is that there is small market for rehabilitation of buildings or homes. Chinese are not used to perform regular maintenance to a home (ie; to give maintenance to the building’s garage or facades, or to paint the stairs and the house itself). This leads to visible impairments in a short period of time and therefore the buyer chooses to buy a new apartment or house. (This might be a possible gap in the market that should be carefully studied and be a great business opportunity).
* It could be inferred that second-hand homes in China are not as attractive as new homes. The vast majority tend to search for first hand properties due to the large existing supply across the country. We are talking about an immense market of new homes. However, in the country’s main cities, especially in the city centre (first ring) where the housing market has settled, supply of homes in the second hand market does exist.
The loans offered for the purchase of a home, can amount to 50% of the total investment. NO matter if home prices are fixed, one should always negotiate with the seller, in addition to a 2% discount for early payment. The realtor’s commission is paid by both parties.
Since China is a developing country of considerable size, large cities such as Beijing or Shanghai are not the only ones experiencing this kind of growth, existing cities in the suburbs referred to as “third” or “fourth ring” also follow this trend. These peripheral areas are usually well connected with either high speed trains or a growing subway network.
High speed train networks communicate in a quickly manner people’s homes with the city centers and workplaces. As well as the subway, which makes up the price a house along a station and with good communication (as would happen here).
There are ghost towns, mostly bought by investors who want to own. Taking into account that his mentality is geared toward work all day, have few expenses, and thus, saving. This allowed them to pay a flat to a son (usually one child per family), although now it is changing, as children salaries are older than the parents’.
In order to appreciate the different areas, despite the large price increase that homes have suffered throughout the country, we see that:
The Hainan Province is a high class residential area with tax advantages. There are promotions of modern design, with resorts and golf courses. It is a very nice, and quite wet area due to its proximity to the sea, located in the south of the country. It is best to buy high apartments and away from the sea to avoid deterioration. The capital, Haikou, and the area of Sanya are also quite expensive. Sanya is a tourist town with an artificial island connected by a bridge. The group of MAD Architects has designed PHOENIX 2, a luxury destination that will be completed by 2014. Since Northern China is very cold, this area is considered a good summer place to spend under the sun. Its target customers are Russian and Northern Chinese. The price of housing in the area is rising at a fast pace, reaching five times its annual price.
Other parts of China are more affordable. Areas that can be a good place to reside are: Guangzhou (near Hong Kong), and Guiling, a beautiful city that will be connected to Shanghai by a high speed train (340km / h), that is still under construction. The price of the area will rise considerably. As of 2010, the highest price to pay would be around 2,000 € / m2, but one can also find housing for 200 € / m2 outside the cities.
Beijing, the capital, has a very extreme weather, such that good conditions only last two months because August can reach up to 40º C. It’s a dense city in terms of people and with high pollution levels. It would be interesting to buy a house in the capital for investment purposes.
