THE HIVE APARTMENT

This article was posted by Bates 10 months, 3 weeks, 3 days, 20 hours, 50 minutes ago.

The facade of this Melbourne house for an architect and a street artist has built-in graffiti.

Zvi Belling of ITN Architects asked local graffiti artist Prowla to come up with the design,
which spells out ‘HIVE’ in lettering.

The angles of the letters determine some of the wall shapes and interior spaces. Gaps
between letters create small windows which let light into unexpected places, while
sliding panels conceal louvred ports for ventilating the rooms.

The interior is fitted out in a sci-fi style with sharp angles reflecting the arrows seen on
the facade.

The Hive Graffiti Apartments is the first in a series of Hip Hop buildings designed by ITN Architects.
It is a joint development by the architect Zvi Belling and ‘Prowla’ of the Rock Da City graffiti crew
both of whom now reside in the building.

The principle construction material is concrete, the use of which has been lent to the larger than life
graffiti relief façade complete with arrows, swooshes and drips which has been knitted into the brick
shell of an old Carlton shop. The urban street is celebrated by making permanent an ephemeral art.

The notion of hive as home has been extracted from the facade and reappears through the fitout in
various guises. The slightly sci-fi interiors over four levels are shaped by the arrows and expressive
hip hop language of the façade, the remnants of the existing brickwork and are worked into very
compact planning on a small site.
More info on this amazing house here:
http://www.dezeen.com/2012/06/22/the-hive-apartment-by-itn-architects/

Tx: Brisk

Speak Up...

You must be a 12ozProphet member and logged in to participate. Registration is FREE and it only takes a minute, so Sign Up now. As a 12ozProphet member you'll be able to comment, save and vote on content, message other users and get access to many other member-only features.