Entry Courtyard / Daxing Villa

Glimpse of the entry courtyard of the Daxing Villa. Located on the rural outskirts of Beijing, the project was conceived as a collection of volumes that pinwheel around a central courtyard, where a daylight-filled internal garden gives focus and light to the inward living spaces.

Partial Elevation - Shanxi Adaptive Reuse Design Hotel

Shadow maker. Partial elevation of a design hotel we are working on in Shanxi, China. New custom window and shading systems within an existing masonry facade.

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#cavehouse #china #architecture #hospitalitydesign #hoteldesign #brickvault #shanxi #adaptivereuse #pdxdesigner #pdxarchitecture #woodwindows #vault #mitsap #mitarchitecture #pingyao #UNESCO #materiality

Metaamo Awarded SSHRC Grant for Pacific Atolls Work in Micronesia

Very happy to announce that Metaamo has been awarded a significant SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

The award is in partnership with Metaamo and our friend & collaborator Dr. James Miller (OCAD University, Toronto), and will be used to launch a series of workshops on participatory, community-based disaster risk reduction planning that will lead-in to a new K-12 school project we're master planning and designing with communities on Majuro Atoll (RMI).

Congratulations and thanks to all our partner organizations who’ve helped on this important project: The Genuardi Family Foundation, Seventh Day Adventist School of Majuro, Living Islands 501(c)3 Non-Profit, WAM (Canoes of the Marshall Islands), OCAD University, College of the Marshall Islands, the SDA Guam Micronesia Mission, and the RMI local government, to name just the short list.

Onsen Resort Hotel in Kyushu, Japan

Metaamo is currently working on the masterplan and design of an Onsen Resort Hotel on a beautiful site in the mountains of Kyushu, Southern Japan.

The project is a collaboration with our friends at Kobayashi Maki Design Workshop in Tokyo.

#metaamo #Japan #Hotsprings #resortdesign #hoteldesign #bathdesign #onsen #traditionalbath

Pacific Atolls / Coconut Palms.

Metaamo is currently working on materials & supply chain research to put senile coconut palms back to work in the housing and construction industry in the Pacific.

#pdxdesign #publicinterest #community #architecture #designthinking #resilience #coconut #palms #atolls #sitevisit

Columbia Gorge House / Interiors

We’re happy to share another little glimpse of a project that’s just finishing up core and shell construction (landscape / interiors / furniture are all still in the works).  

The Columbia Gorge House is a new single-family residence, nestled into the slopes high above the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.  The house’s ridgeline geometry torques to mediate between eastern views of nearby mountains, and the southern presence of Mt. Hood beyond / the Columbia River below.  Twin ‘fox-ear’ skylights facing southeast bring focus to the interior, while washing the public spaces with clerestory daylight. The house is clad in dark, composite shingles made of recycled material, and warm western red cedar.  

#metaamo #hainline #framework #daylighting #skylight #clerestory #light #naturallight #modernhome #columbiariver #washingtonstate #cedar #interior #interiors #wood #maple #dougfir #metalwork #PNW #PDXdesign #WIP #workinprogress #architecturaldesign

Metaamo Runs Summer Architecture + Urbanism Workshop in China

Happy to share the recent news that Matt, Sunny, and Melanie from Metaamo all participated in a Summer Architecture + Urbanism workshop in China this past July, which took place in the cities of Wuhan, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, and was graciously hosted by Wuhan University’s School of Urban Design.

The workshop involved nine universities, as well as distinguished faculty and students from around the world, including Wuhan University (WHU), Portland State University (PSU), University of Oregon (UO), City University of Hong Kong (CityU), National University of Singapore (NUS), National Cheng Kung University of Taiwan (NCKU), National Taipei Institute of Technology (NTUT), Taipei University of Science (TU), and Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT).

Its topics of focus dealt with the interface between campus and city, urban ecology, mobility, and the relationship between existing and new urban fabric, and asked student groups to propose speculative creative solutions around the WHU campus edge that fostered innovation and community.

More info to follow from what was a wonderfully fun and productive time with our friends, colleagues, and students…

#metaamo #workshop #academicteaching #china #urbanism #architecture #WHU #PSU #UO #NUS #CityU #HK #NCKU #WHUT #NTUT #TU #workshop #campusiunterface #urbandesign #uschina #crosscultural

Sneak Peek of the Columbia River Gorge House

We’re happy to share a little glimpse of a project that’s just finishing up core and shell construction (landscape / interiors still in the works).  

The Columbia Gorge House is a new single-family residence, nestled into the slopes high above the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.  The house’s ridgeline geometry torques to mediate between eastern views of nearby mountains, and the southern presence of Mt. Hood beyond / the Columbia River below.  Twin ‘fox-ear’ skylights on the southeast bring focus to the interior, while washing the public spaces with clerestory daylight. The house is clad in dark, composite shingles made of recycled material, and warm western red cedar.  

#metaamo #hainline #framework #modernhome #columbiariver #washingtonstate #cedar #exterior #cladding #PNW #PDXdesign #milgard #enviroshake #tumalum #simpsondoors

Breaking Ground on the Oregon Coast House

We are excited to share the news that we’ve officially broken ground on a new house project that is situated along the Oregon Coast. Here’s to inclement site visits…

#metaamo #house #oregoncoast #foundations #formwork #constructionupdate #greyskies #slopingshorepines #pnw #pdxdesigner #pdx #pnwonderland

Metaamo Hanami 2019

We spent a gorgeous Friday afternoon outside, continuing our annual office tradition of celebrating Hanami and the onset of Spring, with a picnic under the Sakura in PDX…

New Project in the Mojave Desert

We are happy to report that we’ve recently returned from our first site visit to this stunning landscape in the Southern stretches of the Mojave Desert.

Since the last project we designed in an arid climate was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, we are especially excited to work with these very special clients and tailor those climate-specific desert design principles to this unique and incredible site.

#metaamo #architecture #designinthedesert #mass #evaporativecooling #windscoop #nightflush #naturalventilation #passivesolar #thermalmass #pdxdesigner

Daxing Villa Construction Update

Construction continues on a rural villa that lies just to the south of Beijing. The building is constructed of a reinforced concrete frame with masonry block infill. In this photo, what will be a children’s playroom affords ample daylight and connections to nature through a pair of generous floor to ceiling windows, with a third window held low that will offer children unique views (at only a child’s eye height) of an exterior garden that meanders its way into the space of the house.

#metaamo, #建微知筑, #architecture, #house #china #daylighting

Project Update - John Day River Residence

At long last, we've got a project to put those 1:100 scale dinosaurs to use in.  #stegosaurus #tRex #JohnDayFossilBeds #Metaamo #House #EasternOregon #JohnDayRiver #PassiveSolar #Daylight #Landscape #Architecture #PDXdesign #HeavyTimber

Construction Update: Formwork

Construction progresses for a new house on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge.  #formwork #WA #house #metaamo #construction #framework

Daxing Villa Starts Construction in Beijing

We're excited to share another project that has started construction, just to the south of Beijing. The Daxing Villa is a 300m2 (~3,000) SF new residence that is organized around a series of internal gardens and narrow courtyards that afford a rich variety of internal views. The villa instigates a contrast between elements that are at once heavy and light, using concrete, wood, stone, and nature as the primary building materials.  The design accommodates multiple generations living under the same roof, takes advantage of south light, and is engineered to withstand a M9.0 earthquake. We are looking forward to following the construction! 

#metaamo #建微知筑 #china #villa