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23-12-11 // CELL DIVISION Europan 11 Competition for the location in
Deventer, NL
One of the greatest development opportunities of the area of the Havenkwartier
in Deventer lies in its abundance of attractive public spaces that may be used
for all kind of initiatives and activities such as food markets, open air theatre-plays,
or art exhibitions. In order to maintain that potential and quality this proposal
suggests abandoning some of the ideas that were drawn up in the existing zoning
map, which features a block of student apartments in the area between the Hoge
Silo and the elevator building. Instead of constructing such a building in between
those two buildings and occupying the rich public space between them, this proposal
suggests slicing the block of student apartments into four pieces and moving
it to the waterfront next to the elevator building. In addition, those four
small buildings will accommodate public functions such as cafés and galleries
on the ground floors and create - in conjunction with the building envelope
of the Hoge Silo - a frame for the public space. The Hoge Silo will also be
extended by two new low-rise buildings that will provide extra space for working,
facilities, and living.
The rich
public space between the Hoge Silo and the elevator building calls for further
steps in terms of public functions. Therefore, this project integrates not only
housing in the Hoge Silo, but also public functions on the top floors, by adding
two new floors, and in the lower part of the building. Furthermore, sixteen
of the thirty-two cells of the silo will be accessible to the public and can
be experienced vertically by a glazed elevator and a circular stair. Therefore,
the public functions in the Hoge Silo will make it possible for the public to
admire its rich industrial architecture but also to visit the roof as a viewing
platform. On the first (+7.10m), sixth (+23.50m), and tenth floor (+35.50m),
all the thirty-two sells of the silo will be given over to the public, providing
room for extraordinary exhibition spaces. The public rooms of the first floor
of the Hoge Silo, where visitors can experience the sculptural bottom end of
the silo cells while walking on a glazed floor, will be directly connected to
the public programme of the elevator building by means of the existing bridge.
The thirteen
newly added apartment floors and the floors containing the public functions
will use the existing staircase of the Hoge Silo. To make this possible the
staircase has to be extended by two floors and changed in such a way that the
elevator stops at each originally existing floor. All the changes will be carried
out carefully without jeopardizing the industrial character of the staircase.
The partly remaining differences in height between the staircase and the apartment
floors will be compensated by stairs within the apartments. The new part of
the building to be added to the Hoge Silo will be constructed in a simple way
allowing for flexible apartment floor plans. Typically, the apartment-entrances
will open to the staircase through the silo cells, which will be divided vertically
by the apartment floors into small housing units. Sixteen of the thirty-two
silo cells will be given over to the apartments and generally contain all the
apartment services and facility rooms such as toilets, bathrooms, kitchens,
and storage spaces. All the main spaces, such as the living rooms and bedrooms,
will be located in the newly built part. An apartment that occupies one full
floor will have a size of 140 square meters. Two apartments of 70 square meters
each, or one of 50 plus one of 90 square meters may also easily be created.
All apartments will have loggias.
05-05-11
// ON THE ROAD TO BINATIONAL URBANISM Research Study
Just as bigamists marry a second time before their existing marriages are dissolved,
binational urbanists start life in a second city located in another nation,
without having said good-bye to their first city. Thus, binational urbanism
is a particular form of transnationalism, a phenomenon which in sociology results
from social interactions across national borders. In this article, binational
urbanism has to be understood as a way of life of a person, who is related to
two different cities at the same time. Ideally, a binational urbanist commutes
continuously as a quasi-nomad between two cities and lives in constant transit
between two Heimaten. Because of the recurring local changes, binational urbanists
find themselves in a certain utopian condition that is characterised by a constant
longing, and/or a constant homesickness for the other absent city. "The
Heimat - the place of origin - becomes a Nichtort - a non-place - at the same
time as a utopia. She is experienced most intensively if one is away and she
is lacking; the actual Heimat feeling is that of homesickness." Binational
urbanists can probably be best described as extreme commuters. Probably the
most well-known commuters are work commuters, people that commute continuously
between their residential city and the city where they work. A country such
as Germany, for example, counts approximately thirty million commuters, which
means that almost every second German leads a life between two places. In addition,
binational urbanism emerges, above all, as a global phenomenon. Never before
was the mobility of individual human beings higher than it is today. These days,
people travel between continents, as they travelled between cities thirty years
ago. Binational urbanism has the potential of becoming the ultimate way of life
of the twenty-first Century.
04-02-11
// CAFÉ MYTHENQUAI International Architecture Competition at Lake
Zurich, Switzerland
In order to create
an entirely transparent café building in one of the old bathhouses on
the shores of Lake Zurich, all secondary rooms, such as the storage areas, toilets
and staff facilities, were cast underground into the darkness. Removed from
all visually disturbing boundaries, the ground floor opposite the darkness of
the cellar provides space to the guest area of the café and the open
kitchen. Due to the round shape of the building, the guests of the café
will be guided smoothly through the self-service area and around the centrally
located circular kitchen, while enjoying the view of the landscape and on the
lake.
03-12-10
// POP ARENA International Architecture Competition for the Maritime
Cultural and Popular Music Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
This design for the new Kaohsiung Maritime Cultural and Popular Music Center
proposes to break down the spatial boundaries that disconnect the site from
the rest of the city by creating a landscape that adapts flexibly to the different
spatial demands. It does so through different height levels and diverse park
areas that include green areas, wooden decks, and flexible outdoor performance
areas made out of stone. The two new buildings, the Popular Music Center on
the one hand and the Maritime Cultural Center, which at the same time functions
as a scenic landmark on the other hand, are integral parts of the new landscape
of the site. The
new landscape is shaped in such a way that it connects spatially to the context,
forms ascending outdoor auditoriums, a yacht and a harbour wharf, allowing people
to hang their feet in the water while relaxing on a beautiful wooden deck. New
pedestrian routes and bike paths will cross the site from all different directions
and connect in particular the Love River to the Maritime Cultural and Popular
Music Center. Cars will not be allowed to enter the new landscape, but can access
the site from underneath by two main underground parking garages.
The proposed
new building for the Popular Music Center will be an arena for musical performances
that is composed of a large central and flexible space including the main stage,
but also the outdoor stage and is surrounded on all four sides by auditoriums.
Three of those auditoriums will be located indoors and equipped by tiered, but
flexible seating for spectators. In addition, two of the three auditoriums can
be subdivided by acoustic curtains or flexible walls into smaller performance
halls. The fourth auditorium is located outside the building on top of the bridge
over the Love River connecting the eastern part of the site with the western
part. As the Popular Music Center is organized as an arena, where the event
space is the lowest point, maximum visibility for the spectators will be ensured.
Apart from showcasing musical performances, the arena also has the capacity
to feature theatre or large sporting events. Like the auditoriums, the central
stage can be subdivided into smaller units too, and connected to different auditoriums.
In that sense the Popular Music Center may for example function as one large
arena, but also as four different performance halls with their own stages, or
even as up to ten smaller performance areas.
18-06-10
// ATREE? European
Competition of Architecture, Design, Realisations in Eco and Agro-Materials
FINALIST
Imagine a project that does not need to be constructed, because - being a tree
- it grows by itself. Such a project only needs to be planted. Therefore the
transportation of the materials for such a project is very energy efficient,
because as a matter of fact, no major transportation of materials is actually
necessary. The only materials to be transported are the seeds for planting.
And the only energy spent is to prevent hastiness and impetuousness as such
a project needs a lot of time and patience to grow.
But this
proposed project is not only a tree. It is a living installation that is made
out of several trees. It can be used for pleasure, relaxation or as an exhibition
space. Once the seeds have been planted, the installation takes around thirty
months to grow into its final form. Nevertheless it can be used in several playfull
ways already during the process of growth. The tree used for the installation
is a fast growing willow that reaches a hight of more than two meters in only
one year. As the proposed project is a living installation, its life cycle and
ecobalance is very efficient as it does not cause any environmental or social
damages. To weave the willow into different shapes for different living installation,
the bioplastic Polyamide 11, made of castor plant vegetal oil, can be used as
a mold. The molds can easily be transported by bike to the site and fixed simply
to the trees.
16-06-10 // ME(U)TROZONE Urban Research Study
As transitional areas between different parts of a city, metrozones are without
doubt closely related to the transit routes that link entire cities with one
another. As with the regions along transit routes, we are largely familiar with
metrozones from travelling through them and they are usually perceived in the
background from the car, aircraft, or train window and as part of a remote landscape.
The fact that both metrozones and transit route regions are traversed on a regular
basis makes both of them participants in oscillating urban systems. In this
regard, therefore, the nature of metrozones and/or transit route regions is
characterised not so much by spatial features but more especially by their capacity
to be part of a dynamic system that vacillates between two or more states in
a more or less regular form. The place between the two poles thus has the potential
to merge the qualities of both sides in one area, thus achieving a new degree
of wholeness and quality.
An extreme example of this type of oscillating urban system is to be found between
the German city of Duisburg and the Turkish city of Istanbul. Every year, thousands
of people of Turkish descent commute along the route, about 2,400 kilometres
long, between Duisburg and Istanbul. It is only at an initial glance that the
many Turkish immigrants appear to be firmly domiciled in their host country
Germany; they are in fact highly mobile, making the most of both cultures on
a parallel basis and as such for years now have been living as binational urbanists
in a progressive and future-oriented culture. The transit route between the
two cities traverses seven European countries, crossing diagonally across Europe
and linking Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria with Turkey.
The German city of Duisburg is made all the more interesting by the fact that
it has the highest proportion of Turkish residents of any city in Germany. Around
40,000 people of Turkish descent live there, corresponding to about 8 per cent
of the city's overall population, compared with around 4 per cent on average
in Germany's major cities. According to the Socio-Economic Panel, 93.5 per cent
of all Turks living in Germany travelled to and from Turkey at least once in
2006, corresponding to a total of 1,625,807 people. It can be assumed that about
40 per cent of them travel by car, around 35 per cent fly, around 20 per cent
travel by ferry and car, and only a small proportion, around 5 per cent, travel
by bus and train. The figure of 1,625,807 is approximately equal to the number
of residents in the city of Hamburg in 2006 (1,754,317). Every year, therefore,
a crowd of people roughly equal to the population of Hamburg travels from Germany
to Turkey and back.
08-06-10 // HENNA HILLS International Urban Planning Competition for
the futuristic town of Henna, Finland
This proposal for
a new city of around 20.000 inhabitants is first of all based on the rich natural
environment of the area within Orimattila. The future city, which might take
the name Henna Hills, will adapt itself to the rich landscape of the area, its
topography, its ridges and elevations, its brooks, ditches and lakes, and its
forests and agricultural fields. In this proposal wilderness is no longer considered
as the counterpart of civilisation, but as an entity that complements the city
and creates an urban life closely linked to the natural environment. The adjustment
of the city to nature leads to urban islands. The islands will mainly be located
on top of the hills with views of the landscape. The landscape and the islands
with their buildings will constitute a coherent shape. But the design of the
city should not be read as a typical top-down blueprint that is planned and
executed in several steps. To the contrary, the growth of the city will be guided
by a collective partnership between stakeholders and citizens who act as a cooperative
community to create socially sustainable communities. The city islands have
to be seen as fields of opportunities, as a framework for future buildings with
different functions, developed and designed by different architects. Prior to
the construction of any new island the cooperative community meets, discusses
and decides on the development of the new parts.
12-04-10
// THE PLAZA International Architecture Competition for the new Museum
Complex for the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, Norway
This design for the new Museum Complex for the National Museum of Art, Architecture
and Design separates all the museum's floor spaces, as described in the competition
brief, into two entities: a plaza and a cube. The plaza integrates all the workshops
and studios, all the vaults, the reception and dispatch areas, and the entire
administration area. The plaza also surrounds the two existing former railway
station buildings on the site as a kind of urban carpet and integrates them
into its pattern. The cube accommodates the public functions, all the exhibition
areas as well as the outreach area, the library, the documentation centre, and
the areas for the art-on-paper. To create the plaza, the entire site within
the surrounding streets has been filled with the programme and is thus elevated
and connected directly to its context. To bring light to the programme located
under the plaza, several patios have been created. The cube in front and the
proposed office building in the rear, frame the plaza spatially and functionally.
Both the cube and the office building accommodate public functions such as cafes,
shops and small galleries on the ground floor that will activate the plaza.
16-03-10 // REAR WINDOW International Architecture Competition for the
extension of the Federal High School in Seekirchen, Austria
The extension to the Federal High School in Seekirchen is divided into two functional
levels: while the two upper floors contain the classrooms, the ground floor
accommodates a small restaurant and a centered multifunctional hall with direct
access to the surrounding garden. One of the main features of the new extension
is its rear window that looks out onto the large sports hall of the existing
school building, visually connecting the sports activities of the school with
the theatrical and music performances of the new multifunctional hall.
22-02-10 // HOSE DRYING TOWER CAFÉ International Architecture
and Urban Design Competition for a new firestation and its surroundings in Karlsruhe,
Germany
The new firestation is conceptualized as a publicly accessible roof garden that
will be the fourth public area in Karlsruhe's city park. The third element will
be a newly designed allotment plan that will extend the existing Stadtpark and
Ostauepark. But the main target for visitors of the park will be the iconic
hose-drying tower of the roof garden of the firestation that accommodates a
publicly accessible viewing platform and a café on its top. While walking
up the stairs of the tower, visitors will be able to watch the fireman training
inside.
27-01-10 // CULTURAL FRAME International Architecture Competition for
the future head office of the Architecture Foundation in Córdoba, Spain
The building for the
Architecture Foundation may be best described as a cultural framework that provides
direct access to the public garden of the area of the Huerta de San Pablo through
its inner void. The entire administrational division of the foundation has been
added on top of this cultural framework. The cultural framework accommodates
three main functions. One large, flexible area provides space for all kind of
cultural activities over several floors, functioning as a public forum for interaction,
debates, exhibitions and the promotion of architecture. The other two functions
of the cultural framework are the café and the library. The areas of
the cultural activities, spread over four floors, function as a loop of interconnected
spaces. This cultural loop may be entered through the main entrance of the building
at the Calle Capitulares and followed via the stairs to the first and second
floors. From the second floor, the loop leads through the first floor at the
other side of the building down to the underground level, where it exits either
through the bookshop or the café. The void inside the building, giving
access to the different areas of the Huerta de San Pablo, is a public space
that will be open twenty four hours a day. Due to its shape and location, it
may be used for a rich variety of events. For example for dance events, public
concerts or lectures, or as an extension to the exhibitions inside of the building,
for book markets, dinner banquettes, or workshops.
18-01-10
// BRIDGED APARTMENTS Europan 10 Competition for the location in Maastricht,
NL
This proposed strategy for block 11 of the Belvedere Masterplan in Maastricht
includes three steps of action. The first step breaks up the U-shaped block
into a free standing housing slab and a free standing Brikkengebouw to bring
more light into both and produce an open, green, and public square in between.
The second step splits the housing slab into two parts to create bridged apartments
behind three noise-free facades. The third step integrates public functions
such as a cafe, a gallery, a small theatre, and roof gardens into the block
and thus activates the square.
A total number of 45 apartments
has been created on block 11, with 39 apartments in the slab and 6 apartments
on the two top floors of the Brikkengebouw. By splitting the slab, each apartment
will have four facades. Three of the four facades can be opened without causing
any noise problems and thus increase the quality of each apartment. Therefore,
the fact that the fourth facade towards the noisy Frontensingel can not be opened,
but functions as a noise barrier, is not such a big problem. This fourth facade
integrates small winter gardens for each apartment, creating a lively and open
appearance towards the Frontensingel. Each apartment appears in three different
organizational modules that are characterized by different locations of the
sleeping and living areas and different bridges.
18-11-09
// KINDERPARK International Architecture Competition for a new Kindergarten
in Vienna, Austria
This
design proposal for a new kindergarten located in the Citypark in Vienna is
more a kinderpark than a kindergarten, as the shape of the actual kindergarten
is first of all the result of the park design in which the building is just
one of various park elements. The building itself is a simple two storey high
glass pavilion with a courtyard and a playhouse. The two floors divide the building
into two functional entities. The eight kindergarten classrooms are all located
on the ground floor and have direct access to the surrounding landscape. The
second floor accommodates the administrational units together with a kitchen
and a small restaurant. The two and a half storey high playhouse in the centre
penetrates both floors as a semi public vertical element.
30-10-09 // URBAN TAPESTRY International Urban Design Competition for
the Eigerplatz in Bern, Switzerland
The
Eigerplatz in the city of Bern, as it exists today, can be described as a sequence
of several triangulated square fragments that lack any kind of spatial coherence.
But once you fill up the gaps between the different triangulated fragments with
other small triangles, an urban tapestry can be created that has the power to
unify all the bits and pieces to one perceivable whole with one significant
spatial identity. This proposal for the redesign of the Eigerplatz is based
exactly on that effect. The prevailing fragmentation of the old square became
the underlying principle for the new square. The proposed new surface will cover
the entire Eigerplatz like a rug that is knitted together using several different
pieces of fabric of different sizes and material into a decorative tapestry.
All the
pieces of the tapestry are connected without any differences in height leading
to a complete barrier-free square. Neither curbs, nor any other obstacles will
disturb the crossing pedestrians. Within the tapestry there are six larger pieces
that form the spatial protagonists of the square and can be understood as squares
in a square. The six squares are: 1. The Forest, 2. The Red Carpet, 3. The Bicycle
Park, 4. The Flower Garden, 5. The Fountains, and 6. The Living Room. All the
other smaller triangles can be seen as little versions of the six large pieces
in terms of spatial organisation and materialisation. The materials range from
wood, rubber, ceramic tiles, greeneries to plain asphalt. Nevertheless, all
triangles remain flexible in terms of their use. Due to the adaptability of
the triangulated forms, the Eigersquare could be extended infinitely and cover
the entire city if necessary.
30-08-09 // CITY MUSEUM International Architecture Competition for the
extension of the City Museum in Kassel, Germany
The interior of
the existing City Museum of the German city of Kassel can be described as a
claustrophobic and spatial nightmare in many respects. The lack of a proper
entrance area, an unsatisfying system of vertical communication, and tiny exhibition
spaces are only a few elements of a long list of disfunctionalities. This design
proposes a radical break with the existing interior and suggests stripping the
entire inside of the building down to its constructional skeleton, keeping only
the floors and the columns behind the remaining Renaissance facades. Once the
building has been undressed, three main new elements are added to it: a new
entrance area that enlarges the existing entering ramp in such a way that an
outdoor café can be placed on it; a new main body of the building that
is reached by filling up the existing unused triangulated courtyard, giving
the entire museum the desperately needed depth for flexible and spacious exhibition
areas; and a new roof that replaces the old roof with a glazed box accommodating
the museum's bar and a lecture room with a view over the city.
07-06-09
// 8 MOUNTAINS AND 7 VALLEYS International Architecture Competition in
Dallas, USA
This block
for the city of Dallas is more landscape than building. It consists of 8 mountains
and 7 valleys. To avoid the building becoming an isolated green island, several
of the internal valley functions are brought to the outside and surround the
entire building. Furthermore, those functions are connected to each other by
a new pedestrian path and a new green bicycle road that connect the building
to its context. The construction of the entire building is based on simple modulated
steel truss constructions that resemble the hollow mountains as self-supporting
dome structures. Addditionally, the dome structures are supported by the 8 cores
that contain the lifts to the apartments. Because of the truss construction,
all the floors will be completely flexible and without any columns, allowing
for all kinds of apartment types. Although the entire block is flexible in terms
of its programme, functions have been distributed around the building to show
possible spatial configurations. Generally, the building is organized as a sandwich:
housing as the top layer; parking, geothermic machinery and storage as the bottom
layer; and commercial space, the valley functions, and parts of life/work functions
as the middle layer. Among the most important parts of the building are the
7 valleys that connect the housing on the upper floors with the commercial space
on the ground floor. Those valleys contain public spaces that can be reached
and used by the block dwellers, but also by the general public as part of their
green shopping experience. The functions of the valleys range from agricultural
fields to a school teaching the art of sustainability.
26-05-09 // PULL - OVER
International Competition for a multi-storey building
for Benetton in Tehran, Iran
The physical manifestation
of this new multi-storey building for Benetton has been derived from the design
envelope that was given for the site. In order to create a recognisable building
with a clear sense of identity, the superposition of the floors, as instructed
by the competition brief, has been manipulated in such a way that a three-dimensional
artwork emerges that is perceived differently from every different point of
view in its urban context. The curvy grid pattern on the facade is not simply
a representation of the Benetton logo, but is actively incorporated in the structural
engineering. Linked to the vertical cores of the building, it supports the ceilings.
Thus all the floors of the building are completely flexible spaces. The program
is organised in terms of platforms that are connected by several escalators
and centrally located elevators. The different platforms are penetrated by two
large voids that bring sufficient light into the office and apartment areas.
06-04-09
// PLAYWOOD International Design Competition for the Art Fund Pavilion
in London, UK
This proposal, submitted
by Bernd Upmeyer and his Bureau of Architecture, Research and Design (BOARD)
for The Art Fund Pavilion, is based on the principles of origami techniques.
But instead of using one piece of paper, the entire surface of the site in front
of the Lightbox is being used and divided into 125 almost identical triangular
pieces of plywood that can be assembled playfully to create multiple folded
and creased three-dimensional structures, landscapes, objects, or pavilions.
To illustrate the wide range of possibilities, 4 different scenarios have been
displayed. The first is a simple flat shape scenario such as a café or
restaurant; the second illustrates a three-dimensional landscape as an informal
gathering or party space; the third shows the possibility of combining a very
open pavilion surrounded by a three-dimensional landscape as an exhibition area;
and the fourth depicts the entire surface of the site creased into one closed
pavilion as a formal exhibition space.
The competition brief asks
for illustrations of 3 different scenarios. This proposal exceeds this demand
and creates 4 scenarios that show the wide range of possible spatial configurations.
Although each spatial configuration is shown in relation to one particular scenario,
all the 4 illustrated scenarios can be applied to other spatial configurations
as well. In that way, the proposed concept is extremely flexible in terms of
spatial organisations and functional determinations. Such flexibility allows
for spatial configurations to be composed in such a way that the interior blends
into the exterior, so that an interior exhibition area can no longer be clearly
distinguished from an outdoor café space. In fact, if necessary, the
Art Fund Pavilion could look differently every second day during the entire
summer in a kind of spatial game.
25-03-09
// FREE SPACE International Architecture Competition for the House of
Arts and Culture in Beirut, Lebanon, HONOURABLE MENTION
This proposal,
submitted for the new House of Arts and Culture in Beirut, tries to establish
freedom in a lot of different ways: the freedom to cross the site and the building
in all different directions and to integrate the building in the urban context;
the freedom to interact for the different functional layers of the building
through two escalators that penetrate the entire building from the groundfloor
to the Roof Garden; the freedom of the floor plans through a construction that
does not require any column; and the freedom to use the performance and exhibition
areas through adabtable spaces.
The functions of the new House of Arts and Culture are simply layered on top
of each other. The 12m high groundfloor contains the Performance and Conference
Hall, the Cafeteria and Comercial Spaces, and the Reception and Information
Areas. The first floor includes the Work and Training Rooms, the Cinematheque,
and all the Administration Rooms. The second floor incorporates the Documentation
Centre and the Exhibition Spaces that are both directly connected to the Roof
Garden, where exhibitions can be opened or extended, where people from the library
can take their books and read, or pursue all kinds of other activities organized
by the new House of Arts and Culture. The Parking, the Technical Rooms, and
all the Miscellanous Spaces are located underground. The entire façade
surrounding the groundfloor can be pulled and opened up completely and therefore
allows a free crossing of the building in all directions, integrating and connecting
the entire building into its urban context.
All floors are penetrated by two connected escalators that transport the visitors
smoothly from the groundfloor up to the Roof Garden, establishing a free interaction
between all parts of the building. The escalators can be seen as the engine
that activates the entire building, as a machine for artistic and cultural production.
The visitors using the escalators float through the different functional layers,
becoming an integral part of all its activities. Due to its transparent character,
the building allows pedestrians outside views of the inside of the building
from all directions. Therefore, the visitors, the artists, and the people outside
of the building are continuously interacting with each other, as everybody can
see each other almost all of the time. The escalators make an exchange between
all parts of the building possible and enable cross-utilizations of all spatial
resources, which will provoke and ensure artistic and cultural discourses throughout
the entire building.
16-03-09 //
241 Open International Ideas Competition Building for Bouwkunde in Delft,
Netherlands, SECOND ROUND
The proposed design for
the new Bouwkunde Building consist in fact of 2 buildings or programmes in 1
building. To arrive at 2 buildings, the programme, as presented by the competition
brief, has been split into 2 parts, into one tranquil programme and one noisy
programme, one introverted and one extroverted, one hard and one soft, one black
and one white.
The tranquil programme includes studio spaces, office spaces, the library, the
other educational facilities, the faculty laboratories, and storage space. The
noisy programme consists of lecture halls, conference rooms, the restaurant,
and other public and collective facilities. The programme has been subdivided
and subsequently reunified to create a maximum of possibilities of exchange
between all parts of the building and enable cross-utilization of all spatial
resources, which will provoke and assure artistic and academic discourses throughout
the entire faculty.
07-01-09 //SPHERICITY
International Urban Design Competition for the area of the Nordhavnen in Copenhagen,
Denmark
When it comes to sustainable
urbanism, a lot of proposals have been made recently for the building of so-called
"eco-cities" that produce their own energy from wind, solar, bio-fuel,
or recycled waste, which is highly appreciated. But what often has been denied,
is that such sources of energy, being integrated directly into cities, are highly
inefficient, very expensive, and in the case of wind energy, very noisy and
detrimental to local animals. It appears to be wiser to produce clean energy
at a certain distance from cities, as is already the case, especially in Denmark,
with offshore windparks, biomass power stations, photovoltaic parks, etc. In
contrast, the master plan presented here does not focus on how a city might
produce energy by itself, but how it can actually consume almost no energy at
all. Compact buildings with a small surface area in relation to their volume,
for example, spend the least energy on heating and cooling. And of all the solids
with a given volume, spheres have the smallest surface areas and the highest
sphericity, which is a measure of how spherical or round an object is. This
unique condition of the sphere has been used in this design to create a city
just out of spheres. Every sphere is placed in the master plan in such a way
that it obtains maximum passive solar energy.
18-11-08
//KOIVUSAARI International Urban Design Competition for the area of Koivusaari
in Helsinki, Finland
The proposal submitted for
the area of Koivusaari tries to make the most of the excellent transportation
connections of the area, including the planned underground railway line and
the Länsiväylä motorway on the one hand, and its unique location
in a scenic archipelago landscape with a maritime atmosphere on the other. This
aim will be achived by transforming the entire island into a 19m high hill that
encompasses both transportation systems underneath and cascades down to the
waterfront in 3m steps, creating characteristic terraced residential and office
buildings with outstanding views into all directions of the beautiful context.
The entire shape of the proposed island is based on those views. In addition,
the 19m high hill will incorporate a huge parking garage for more than 3000
cars. The future residents will be able to walk directly from their parked car
or the new railway station to their house or workplace in just a few of minutes.
On top of that, the entire masterplan will exist only of zero-emission-buildings.
None of the buildings will have conventional heating. This will be achieved
by optimizing the building cladding, such as triple glazing for example, optimizing
façades, storage mass, and sun protection.
The entire island can be
seen as a huge piece of cascading urban landscape cake that can be divided into
10 pieces that are directly related to 10 scenic views of the maritime landscape.
The first view is directed south-east towards Vaskiniemi. The second view looks
clockwise into the Vaskilahti Bay, the third to Nurmiluoto, the fourth to the
adjacent neighbourhood of Lauttasaari, the fifth to Hanasaari, the sixt to Keilahati,
the seventh to Leppäluoto, the eighth to Lilla Fröken, the ninth to
Kylänlahti, and the tenth to Katajaharjunniemi. All the buildings of the
island are designed in accordance with those 10 views, in terms of orientations,
façade designs, and organisation. All apartments, offices, and rooms
for other functions have large windows on both sides to give almost every room
a perfect view over the archipelago. Furthermore, almost all of the buildings
are equipped with balconies, loggias, and roof terraces. In addition to that
the buildings are placed in such a way that they seldom block each other's view.
Apart from the positions of the buildings, the heights of the buildings are
related to the 10 views as well. Therefore, the buildings directly at the waterfronts
have just 1 to 3 floors. Up the hill, the buildings are getting taller with
every step. The tallest buildings stand in the centre and are up to 14 floors
tall.
11-04-08
//NEW BUILDING FOR THE ESTONIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS International Design
Competition in Tallinn, Estonia, PURCHASE PRIZE
The design
for the new building of the Estonian Academy of Arts is based on the visualization
of the spatial program, as presented by the competition's organizers. The visualization
of the program was interpreted as a section of the building split in two parts
by the public program. The public program contains all the auditoriums and galleries
of the academy and cuts as an ascending public section in the shape of a huge
staircase through the building thus dividing the faculties in the top from the
parking underneath.
28-03-08 // ESPOO CITY HALL International Ideas Competition for the City
Hall and the city centre blocks in Espoo, Finland
In order to transform the existing rigid city centre of Espoo, with its modern
architectural and urban appearance, into a pleasant place for living and working,
a proposal was made to demolish all the existing buildings on the site and replace
them with a compact, yet well-lit, new urban setting with a mix of functions.
Thus, the city centre will no longer be articulated in a kind Le Corbusian "objects
in the landscape"-way, but rather as an "urban cluster" in the
landscape. The new centre with its tall buildings will change the City of Espoo
from a badly organized agglomeration of equal centres, to a city with a recognizable
hierarchy in its programmatic development. The entire centre will be built on
an artificial hill that provides space for huge parking garages underneath that
create a beautifully ascending central square, but also ensures that the centre
will have no back facades, but only front facades, which will improve and animate
street life.
18-01-08 // 20° International Design Competition for senior citizen
residences in Ringgenberg, Switzerland
One of the strictest rules of the competition to design a building of senior
citizen residences in the Swiss mountain village of Ringgenberg, was the requirement
that the inclination of the building's roof had to be somewhere between 15°
and 30°. This restriction was used to create a building that has not only
an inclined roof of 20°, but also inclined walls all around the building
and appears, therefore, to be more of a sculpture than a traditional Swiss mountain
village house. As all the walls inside of the building are kept straight, the
inclinations created large roofed balconies on all facades. Furthermore, the
interior of the building is perforated by a big courtyard that is surrounded
by a large community space up to the roof. This community space will be entirely
clad with wooden intarsia-work that displays an abstract image of the Swiss
alps with the village Ringgenberg at its centre.
29-10-07 //EXTENSION OF CHELTENHAM ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM International
architectural design competition in the UK
The
main part of the Extension of Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum will be the
Temporary Exhibitions Gallery as a closed, but perforated box on the second
floor and will be accessible through a six metre tall escalator from the ground
floor. In that way the new Temporary Exhibitions Gallery will be connected directly
to the majority of the galleries of the existing building and the 1989 extension.
A continuous gallery landscape will be created on one floor.
08-06-07 // DETACHED DENSITY Europan 9 Competition for the location in
Vantaa, Finland
Detached houses are usually considered as typologies in rural areas with village
- like densities of around 500 people per square kilometre. Yet it is actually
possible to arrange detached buildings in such a way that they create very urban
densities up to 14.000 people per square kilometre, with footprints of no more
than 8m - 12m and heights ranging from 1 - 4 floors. That is precisely what
was done in this proposal for the new urban development in the city of Vantaa
in Finland. The proposed master plan consists of small and detached buildings
only, that are arranged in such an intimate and dense way, that a European city
density of 7200 people per square kilometre has been achieved. Such density,
whilst using detached buildings, combines the quality of privacy - which single
houses deliver - with the beauty of dense urban spaces. Real public spaces in
the housing areas appear only in the form of urban patios, which provide space
for community activities such as going to the sauna, playing basketball, or
playing on playgrounds. These urban patios are surrounded by private lots, which
include the roads as well. All housing areas consist basically of a pattern
of private lots, that people have to cross when they use the roads, while the
owner permits its usage. In that way, the streets appear disguised and camouflaged
in the patterns of the public lots and will be maintained and used by the owners
as their gardens.
15-05-07
//CENTRAL LIBRARY AND CULTURAL CENTRE OF DUN - LAOGHAIRE - RATHDOWN International
Design Competition in Ireland
The new
building for the Central Library Headquarters and Cultural Centre of Dun Laoghaire
- Rathdown will be positioned between two plateaus of different heights, functioning
as a public transition between both levels through a 5m high staircase, which
cuts through the building. The building is a 110m long, 20m deep and 22m high
slab, which is organised into 5 floors. The top floor contains the Library Headquarters,
the 1st and 2nd floor contain the Central Library and the Cultural Centre is
located on the ground floor. With the exception of the top floor, which contains
the Library Headquarters, the entire building has no corridors. The programme
is organised on each floor from facade to facade. Without corridors, the building
is one big open space.The 2 main staircase/lift cores and 3 spiral stairs penetrate
through the whole building. While ascending vertically in the spiral stairs,
the visitors of the library will walk through the open air of the big cut of
the building. Only separated by glass, staircase users share the same public
space as the people outside.
31-01-07 // NEW HEADQUARTERS FOR WEXFORD COUNTY COUNCIL, IRELAND International
Architectural Design Competition, FINALIST
The proposed
building for the New Headquarter for Wexford County Council in Ireland will
be a stage for its citizens. The core of the new building will be a 35m wide,10m
deep and 4 floors high stage. The entire County Council is organized around
that platform. Every visitor and every employee will be displayed whenever entering
the building. 400 cars and thousands of people will find place in a cascaded
ascending auditorium around the building.
06-11-06 // BRUDERHAUSGELÄNDE REUTLINGEN International Urban Design
Competition in Germany
The design
for the "Bruderhausgelände", a post-industrial area close
to the city centre of Reutlingen in Germany transforms the whole lot into a
public cultural park. The park is organised around several circular theatres.
These theatres create access to the underground parking garage and integrate
cultural programmes such as the new city hall and several concert halls.
28-06-06 // HONG KONG DESIGN INSTITUTE International Architectural Design
Competition
The proposed
building for the new unified design institute HKDI in Hong Kong is placed in
a network of footpaths. All footpaths come together at the main building entrance
and continue through a huge central void in a piranesiesque way via footbridges,
staircases and elevators up to the top floor. The ground floor and the top floor
create - together with the void - a huge public open space. All rooms of the
new design institute are placed around this central core.
08-05-06 // THE IMAGE OF EUROPE Update of the Image of Europe - study
for the exhibition in Vienna. In collaboration with STAR
- strategies and architecture and AMO/OMA
Austria
held the presidency of the European Union in the first semester of 2006. For
this occasion the Austrian government decided to take the exhibition ¨The
image of Europe¨, an exhibition that provides a history of European political
representation, diagrams Europe’s political current structure and speculates
on its possible futures.
24-03-06 // THE PYRAMID International Design Competition for a simple
house in Almere, the Netherlands
To create an interior one usually needs 4 walls and 1 roof. But when you create
an interior space in the shape of a pyramid, you just need 3 walls - but no
roof. That advantage was used for the entry to the design competition for a
simple house in Almere. The building can be produced very cheaply out of precast
concrete elements and can be erected in just a few hours, almost like a concrete
tent. The entire building has a total floor space of 50m2.
20-02-06 // THIS IS SPIJKENISSE Study about Spijkenisse, a middle size
city in the agglomeration of Rotterdam. Study in collaboration with STAR
- strategies and architecture
The study
analyses the current situation of Spijkenisse and uses its in-progress strategies
and projects to define an identity for the city. Within the province of South
Holland, Spijkenisse is a peripheral city. Situated on the island Voorne-Putten
the city is excluded from major ideas about the South Wing of the Randstad.
This allows the city to develop its own strategies. Compared with other cities
of South-Holland, Spijkenisse has an outstanding performance in terms of shopping
but is - on the other hand - lacking in cultural functions. Together with the
nearby city-centre of Rotterdam, which is connected by two metro-lines to Spijkenisse,
the city could start a symbiotic relation for culture and shopping.
14-11-05 // ENM TWOTHOUSANDNINE Design for the Estonian National Museum
in Tartu. Competition in collaboration with STAR
- strategies and architecture
The design
of the Estonian National Museum (ENM) is part of the Estonia's nation building
process. The ENM collection is based on Folklore, which is of great importance
in the history of Estonia. The museum is organised with two different principles
in mind: the "wonder chamber" concept as the origin of all the museums,
and the "shopping mall" concept as the current containers of our folklore.
The plan of ENM is to combine the grandiosity of the wonder chamber with the
simplicity of a shopping mall circulation.
26-09-05 // PARADISE CITY Masterplan for 600 dwellings on a 40ha site
in Logrono, Spain. Europan 8 competition in collaboration with STAR
- strategies and architecture
Paradise
City is inverting the concept of the private-garden and the public-park: It
provides an amazing visual experience for the people of Logroño - the
public-garden (inspired by the master planned baroque garden) - and serves its
inhabitants with 680 delightful private-parks. The rich tapestry is generated
with only six typologies that have a specific relation to the private park.