Courtesy of Studio Libeskind

Studio Libeskind has won an international competition for the design of a mixed-use tower and complex in the heart of Vilnius, Lithuania. The 20,000 square meter building will feature offices, a luxury hotel, restaurants and public amenities and will be located at the intersection of the White Bridge, the Neris River and Old Town.

Courtesy of Studio Libeskind

“The idea for the Downtown Tower-K18B is to create a 21^st-century landmark for the city, while integrating the surrounding context to complement the urban fabric of the historic city,” said architect Daniel Libeskind. “The design will create a vibrant mixed-use complex that will invigorate and enliven the development of the neighborhood.”

The jagged tower takes inspiration from the light, sky and surrounding environment, and will rise out of a 6-story podium of spaces connected by a glass-enveloped galleria containing a restaurant, bar and retail in addition to the lobbies for the hotel and office towers.

The competition was organized by the Vilnius Municipality, Lithuanian Union of Architects and Lords LB Asset Management. Studio Libeskind is also currently designing the Vilnius Modern Art Centre as well as a sports and wellness centre, Vilnius Beacon.

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© Ralph Feiner

• Architects: Aita Flury
• Location: Domat/Ems, Switzerland
• Collaborators: Konrad Braun, Lukas Podzuweit
• Structural Engineer: Conzett Bronzini und Partner Ingenieure
• Area: 900.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Ralph Feiner

© Ralph Feiner

Not only the name of the house is an allusion to the Villa Foscari La Malcontenta, rather its design is driven by spatial interests deriving from engagement with Palladio’s work. It is centred on a visual equilibrium of the volume, on the interlocking types between interior and exterior space, on the interweaving of wall and buttresses, and on a hierarchization of the facades, formulated as the reaction of the building to its surroundings. An additional essential concern lies in balancing the interior spaces. As in Palladian corridor-free systems, it is the square rectangles that are commonly related to each other. 

© Ralph Feiner

Plan

© Ralph Feiner

These “cells” are clearly experienced as separate units even though optically they are mostly laterally spanned with each other by large sliding-door openings. Similarly to the façade, the idea is centred on a negotiation of stillness and dynamic, openness and closedness, degrees of isolation and interlocking. By this means the relations vary slightly from floor to floor.

Diagram

The multi-family house with a Swiss Minergie Standard label is located in a zone where the building regulations prescribe pitched roofs. It contains eleven apartments (2½ to 3½ rooms) and a commercial premises.

© Ralph Feiner

Constructively seen the house is a solid construction with exterior insulation, plastered and partially visually reinforced with sound-absorbing clinker bricks filled with cement. These bricks are used as a secondary ornament to articulate the facade, and additionally appear wherever people come into tactile contact with the facades.

© Ralph Feiner

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