{"id":19513,"date":"2018-04-03T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/architectural-details-mvrdv-crystal-houses\/"},"modified":"2021-06-23T16:23:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T20:23:11","slug":"architectural-details-mvrdv-crystal-houses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.arc.ht\/blog\/inspiration\/stories\/architectural-details-mvrdv-crystal-houses\/","title":{"rendered":"Architectural Details: MVRDV\u2019s Magnificent Crystal Houses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through <\/i>Architizer<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and sign up for our\u00a0<\/i>inspirational newsletter<\/i><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How do you reinvent the brick?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not every day that an architecture firm rethinks one of world\u2019s oldest and most ubiquitous materials \u2014 but that\u2019s precisely what the design mavericks of Dutch firm MVRDV<\/a> did for their radical transformation of a storefront in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n

The firm’s\u00a0Crystal Houses<\/a> project swept to victory as the Popular Choice Winner in the Commercial-Mixed Use category 2017 A+Awards<\/a>, due in large part to the stunningly beautiful finished fa\u00e7ade for this high-end flagship store. However, it was also because of a brilliantly documented manufacturing process that lays bare one of the most ingeniously detailed retail projects completed during the last decade.<\/p>\n

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This remarkable reinterpretation of a traditional building material began with a conversation between the client, Warenar, and MVRDV\u2019s co-founding director Winy Maas. \u201cWe said to the client, \u2018Let\u2019s bring back what will be demolished but develop it further\u2019,\u201d explained Maas, reflecting on the original, driving concept behind the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrystal Houses make space for a remarkable flagship store, respect the structure of the surroundings and bring a poetic innovation in glass construction. It enables global brands to combine the overwhelming desire of transparency with a couleur locale and modernity with heritage. It can thus be applied everywhere in our historic centers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Maas\u2019s ambitious aims could only be achieved through a series of material experiments and technical innovations, many of which arose from MVRDV\u2019s eclectic mix of partnerships for this unique project. First, solid glass bricks were cast by Italian glass manufacturers Poesia. To ensure structural integrity and aesthetic consistency, these transparent bricks required exquisite craftsmanship. Each brick edge was filleted with a radius of exactly 3mm and every side was made perfectly parallel with its opposite face, with a maximum tolerance of +\/- 0.25mm.<\/p>\n

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Working with researchers at Delft University of Technology and consultants from Dutch engineering firm ABT, the team then developed a new structural system using a high-strength, UV bonded, transparent adhesive from Germany-based Delo Industrial Adhesives. This would allow the glass bricks to be laid without the use of traditional mortar, thereby maintaining the maximum level of transparency for the crystal sections of the elevation.<\/p>\n

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What followed was an unprecedented construction process that upended all conventions \u2014 even for MVRDV, a studio that is no stranger to avant-garde architecture. \u201cSix to 10 experts worked every day for a whole year in a place that bore more resemblance to a laboratory than a construction site,\u201d explained the firm. \u201cDue to the sensitivity of the materials, an extremely high level of accuracy and craftsmanship was required and a technical development team was onsite throughout the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The project involved the careful demolition of three existing buildings on P.C. Hooftstraat 94, followed by the meticulous construction of glass brick walls, blended incrementally with traditional terracotta bricks higher up to create a fa\u00e7ade that appears to melt away as it reaches the floor. Not only did the design necessitate new materials, it also called for unexpected construction tools ranging from \u201chigh-tech lasers and laboratory grade UV-lamps\u201d to the \u201cslightly lower-tech Dutch full-fat milk, which, with its low transparency, proved to be an ideal liquid to function as a reflective surface for the leveling of the first layer of bricks.\u201d<\/p>\n