Rising Sun. Image Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
With the aim of creating a new civic experience at a central point in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, the ‘Next Level’ project by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects expands the interior capacity of the ARoS Art Museum through a 1,200 square meter subterranean gallery and a huge semi-subterranean dome. The €40 million expansion plan was born from a collaboration with renowned American artist James Turrell, generating a unique experience of color and light.
The horizontal underground space will extend 120 meters below the surface, allowing the visitors to pass through a string of galleries and exhibition spaces before arriving at the Dome. “With its 40 meter diameter, the Dome will form one of the most spectacular spaces ever built into an art museum,” explain the architects.
Aerial. Image Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
The ARoS Art Museum has been promoting the union between art and architecture for several years. In 2011, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson created ‘Your Rainbow Panorama‘, an impressive multicolored lookout constructed over the original building that functions as a visual link between the museum roof and the Aarhus skyline.
Arrival. Image Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
In 2020, the building will be reintervened by Schmidt Hammer Lassen, its original designers, avoiding the current tendency to build vertically in order to integrate with the natural flows of the city at the pedestrian level, from the river to the square of the Aarhus Music Hall. ‘The Next Level’ will extend from the current main entrance of ARoS to the courtyard of the neighboring square Officerspladsen.
Corridor. Image Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
“The Dome will rise nine meters above ground level. Whilst the first two underground galleries are almost completely hidden, only a change in the landscape hints at the larger building hidden under the ramp,” add the architects.
Ganzfeld. Image Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
The Next Level project will open to the public in 2020.
Fourteen projects have been announced as category winners of the The World Architecture Festival’s (WAF) 2016 awards on Day 1 of the festival. Winners in 32 categories will be named over the first two days of the conference, and will then go on to compete for the title of the World Building of the Year 2016, to be announced on Friday.
The world’s largest architectural awards program, the 2016 WAF Awards consisted of 343 projects from 58 countries around the world. Finalists projects will be invited to present their project live at the festival to a “super jury” that includes Kai-Uwe Bergmann (BIG), Louisa Hutton (Sauerbruch Hutton), David Chipperfield, Ole Scheeren, and ArchDaily’s co-founder and Editor-in-Chief David Basulto, who will determine the grand prize winner.
You can check out the full shortlist here, and see which built and future projects took home awards after the break.
Completed Buildings
Category: Culture
National Museum in Szczecin – Dialogue Centre Przełomy / Robert Konieczny + KWK Promes
Located within Dong Da district, Hanoi, the newly constructed gallery and lighting showroom uses a perforated terracotta façade to create a simple yet significant impact on the surrounding landscape.
The gallery is located on the top floor overlooking a large neighbouring tree, while the slit skylights expose the roof garden. This offers a space for architects and design professionals to interact.
Longitudinal Section
Upon entering the building, visitors are greeted with a large void. The showroom is carefully planned around the void to allow visitors to view the exhibited product at a glance from the central staircase.
The terracotta blocks were traditionally used in Vietnam before air-conditioning. Designed for tropical climates, they allow for passive ventilation and shade from harsh sunlight. The blocks are both functional and inexpensive at £0.42 each amounting to £2,350 for the 5,625 blocks used. Furthermore, the bespoke fixing system allowed for a quick and simple assembly.
The existing site proposed interesting design challenges, such as the typically small inner-city site at 72 sqm, adjacent tree and busy streetscape. The foliage overshadows the site, making it difficult for pedestrians to recognize the building from the main road. However, this scenario presented a unique opportunity to consider the existing tree and distracting context whilst maximizing the usable space.
This building provides a delicate backdrop to the ever-changing tree. During the day shadows are cast upon the clean façade, bringing it to life. In the evening the building is illuminated from within, acting as a lantern in the city.
The Architect’s overriding intention for this modern 2-story family home centered on achieving an intimate connection between the ‘L’ shaped residence and its setting within a rolling hillside clearing.
Siting the home carefully amidst old growth oaks and framing views architecturally, the connection to nature is reflected by an abundance of vistas that capture the rolling hills, wild life, and broad valley views from almost every aspect of the house, connecting the inner and outer environments seamlessly.
Entrance to the home is achieved beneath an enclosed 2nd-story bridge that connects the Main Living areas to the Master Suite. The compressed stair sequence travels under the “bridge” upward revealing a sunny courtyard adjacent to the Main Residence, separate Guest Wing, and outdoor living spaces.
Materials such as concrete, weathered steel, and natural cedar mirror the site’s native textural and color palette while floor-to-ceiling glass completes the building envelope, connecting the tree canopy to the landscape.
Product Description.In order to create the desired “Indoor/Outdoor Living experience” within the home, floor to ceiling glass required special production, installation and engineering. Fleetwood provided an excellent product.
UNStudio, in collaboration with Korean firm Heerim Architects & Planners, has won the competition to design the 32 tower masterplan of Eunma Housing Development in the neighborhood of Daechi-Dong, Seoul. The unique project commission is being led by the residents of the Eunma Housing Development themselves, who have tasked the architects with redeveloping their current homes into a new, future-orientated eco-design that can be used as a blueprint for other resident-driven development projects.
Masterplan. Image Courtesy of UNStudio
“Designing a scheme for a resident-driven development is particularly interesting because you are responding directly to the needs of an established community,” said UNStudio founder Ben van Berkel. “They know the strengths and requirements of the area and how they want to see their community develop. This local knowledge is invaluable to the design.”
Courtesy of UNStudio
The winning scheme has been designed around the philosophy of “Live, Work and Play” to cater to a wide-variety of tenants, ranging from families to young professionals. The project will transform an area of over a million square meters, adding over 1,500 new apartments to the 4,424 currently on site. This will be achieved by replacing existing 35 story towers with 50 story towers and pushing parking facilities below ground, freeing up space for a new shared eco landscape surrounding the towers.
Spatial Planning. Image Courtesy of UNStudio
The master plan has been divided into 4 circular zones and 6 landscape quadrants that react to the condition of the site boundaries, resulting into 24 “bespoke neighborhoods.” The site is accessible to the surrounding neighborhood and greater city through two lively street fronts and two nearby metro station entrances. Retail, food, beverage and leisure spaces will also contribute to the neighborhood’s urban presence.
Each of the 32 towers can be viewed as its own stacked neighborhood featuring sky-gardens and elevated semi-public spaces, but rather than all reaching the same dimensions, the heights of the buildings are tapered to improve visual connection to surroundings. A multi-level ground floor links the 6 tallest “iconic” central towers into one integrated development.
Landscape Planning. Image Courtesy of UNStudio
The “Live, Work and Play” concept can also be seen in the project’s six themed gardens, designed to choreograph movement through the site, define each neighborhood block and inspire education: Curiosity Forest, Excitement Garden, Alluring Urban-ground, Contemplation Cloud, Playfulness Park and Longevity Fields.
Above all, the Eunma Housing Development seeks to create comfortable living conditions for its residents, offering cross-ventilation, natural light and a healthy living environment in each unit. Add in spacious building entrances and semi-private elevators servicing 2 apartments per floor, and the resulting community will be one where residents can feel safe and welcome.
Location: Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Un Studio: Ben van Berkel, Gerard Loozekoot with René Wysk, Harlen Miller and Megan Hurford, Jung Jae Suh, Sibilla Bonfanti
Heerim Architects & Planners: Young Kyoon Jeong, Kyu Young Park with Sung Won Oh, Seung Uk Oh, Jae Kyu Lee, Hyun Joon Yoo, Seung Wang Lee, Kyung Sook Cho, Eun Hee Ha, Chanhee Lee, Hyun Il Kang, Mi Ran Kang, Hyun Joo Kim, Yun Hyeok Kim, So Young Choi, Hun Il Park, Sun Wook Kim, Jae Yeon Lee, Hyun Rock Kang, Hee Seung Kim, Jun Seong Park, Seung Woo Lee, Jae Won Kim, Jun Ha Hwang, Sung Jun Moon, YuWon Kang
Client (Masterplan): Promotion Committee Office of EUNMA Apartment Redevelopment
Client (Un Studio): Heerim Architects & Planners
Program: 32 towers, ranging from 25-50 stories (5,940 units) masterplan
With the aim of supporting the design work of our readers, the company UrbanPlay has shared with us a series of files in .DWG format for different models of children’s games, playgrounds, and equipment for public space. Files can be downloaded directly in this article and include 2D and 3D files.
From the architect. Designed by Henning Larsen Architects and GPP Architects Danish School Building of the Year, Frederiksbjerg School, is the first school in Denmark to meet the demands of the Danish school reform of 2013. The law focuses on learning through movement and sensation as well as openness and community creation. Part of the reform is a demand of a minimum of 45 minutes of movement and activity throughout school hours.
Site Plan
The school is situated in the district of Frederiksbjerg in Aarhus city centre. It is already a gathering point for the children and youth of the local society. Inside the building offers a great variety in space, light and materiality, thus creating an adaptable and sentient learning environment with a focus on health and fellowship. Outside the school adapts to its historical surroundings by means of heights and materiality.
The school houses 900 students, a daycare facility and a youth club, and after school hours the premises can be used for evening classes, courses and sports arranged by local associations and societies. Large terraces and outdoor teaching facilities contribute to the area by bringing the teaching and school life into the cityscape. The outdoor facilities are open around the clock.
Frederiksberg School is organized around a center atrium where the building’s four clusters meet and join together. The clusters are built around a shared center-room encouraging various activities and/or quite studies. The 40 activity areas focus on learning through movement and play. These areas are specifically fitted to different age groups and their levels of understanding and motion. The study areas are small niches that create quiet space for individual study.
The school shares public playgrounds and outside areas with the surrounding houses and institutions. The playgrounds are supplemented by big terraces on each floor which work as both learning and playing areas. On the rooftop you find playing fields and areas with furniture where you can sit, relax and enjoy the view. Some of the terraces can in addition be used as outside workshops for the classes. All the terraces are open for the public outside of school opening hours.
Frederiksbjerg School was recently awarded Danish School Building of the Year 2016.
Ad. 1: The facades are made from reused brick of which a large part stem from historical buildings of the neighborhood. Some of the oldest bricks used to form the regional hospital of Aarhus, which was built in the 1880s. Others stem from the former Sct. Annagade School, which was built in 1953 and torn down in 2014 to make space for the new Frederiksbjerg School.
”It takes more for the bricklayers to work with reused brick because of the stone’s variety in shape and color. But the extra effort increases by far the value of the building. The façade appears warm and glowing unlike other new-built brick houses,” architect Margrete Grøn, Henning Larsen Architects explains.
Elevation
It is yet rather rare to build projects of such a great scale in reused brick in Denmark, and the construction at Frederiksbjerg did challenge the capacity of the manufacturer “Gamle Mursten” (meaning “Old Bricks”) in the process of cleaning the total of 400,000 bricks.
Ad. 3: The graphic design concept has been developed in line with the architectural intention. Graphic designers at Henning Larsen Architects have created the visual identity of the building with the keywords openness, kindness, motion, diversity, play, and learning as a common objective.
The typography, Deyinyl, is the initial key for the remaining parts of all graphics and signs, repeated both in- and outdoors.
The typeface exists in seven selections, with their own unique definition, creating a distinct and clear geometrical expression throughout the building.
By varying all seven typographic selections, the designers have created an expression which is both playful, dynamic and fluid. The colors correspond with the additional elements in the new building, where the color red acts as the primary color. The graphics also supports the main maps, maps of orientation, floorplans and glass markings, lockers and signs on meeting rooms and facades.
Quotes and inspirational words, adapted to the specific course and age level, are likewise implemented on classroom walls and glass. Here the graphics underline and clarify the spatial traits of the different rooms, while communicating academic useful information equal for students and teachers.
Ad. 4: The artistic decorations at Frederiksbjerg School is just as diverse as the school. Sculptures, paintings and artistic installations have been integrated in the building design and placed around the school.
Rosen Eken, the Danish artist who have created most of the art pieces at the school, explains her thoughts about her creations:
“The task was to create both big extensive creations and small almost invisible pieces. I especially loved the idea about creating pieces that you might not notice at first sight.”
She has created small goggle-boxes in the walls that you can look through and into a miniature parallel world. The miniature worlds show everyday situations, a birthday party and a motorcycle repair shop.
“I work with everyday objects. It has been important to me that the children can relate to the situations and objects that the pieces present,” Rosen Eken states.
Besides the goggle-boxes, Rosen Eken has created some big wall paintings and bronze sculptures, which pictures everyday furniture and elements. E.g. one of the sculptures are an abandoned school bag. The idea is that the art is hard to separate from the reality.
Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled the design of the Guangzhou Infinitus Plaza in Baiyun New Town, Guangzhou, China, coinciding with the project’s groundbreaking ceremony. The 167,000 square meter complex will consist of two building footprints, connected in the air through twin green-roofed skybridges to create a vertical campus for LKK Health Products Group (LKKHPG) and the Infinitus health products brand.
Employing ZHA’s trademark flowing forms, the building design follows the concept of the infinite, arranged as a series of endless rings that enhance connectivity and following the form of the symbol for infinity “∞”.
Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects
Within the complex, different departments and program pieces, including a new global center for R&D, a Chinese herbal medicine research and safety assessment center, an exhibition center and a gallery, have been arranged around four central atria and courtyards to encourage interaction between employees. On the roof, walking and jogging paths weave between gardens of Chinese herbal plants, providing a place of respite for employees.
“Zaha Hadid developed the design of Guangzhou Infinitus Plaza with concepts of integration, connectivity and fluidity. This groundbreaking ceremony continues her renowned legacy,” said Satoshi Ohashi, Zaha Hadid Architects Director, China.
“LKKHPG has a vision for nurturing better health and wellbeing through their work and important community programs. Zaha translated this vision to create a new workplace environment and corporate culture that fosters openness and communication. The design connects with the city and implements the latest technological solutions and construction methods to create a functional, adaptable and enjoyable workplace.”
Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects
The building utilizes a “unitised insulated glazing system” to maximize available natural light while also reducing energy loss through the facade. Over the glazed wall, perforated aluminum screens serve as a rainscreen to protect from direct solar heat gain, as well as allow for rainwater collection. The screens have been developed with digital intelligence to include sensors that allow the building to adapt based on weather and energy-use, allowing for further reduction of energy consumption.
Guangzhou Infinitus Plaza is planned to become a new gateway into the new Baiyun Central Business District, which will include 6 communities developed surrounding the former Baiyun Airport. Running between the two building footprints is Line 2 of the Guangzhou’s Metro, ensuring the site will be connected to the rest of the city.
The project cost is expected to reach 4.5 billion RMB (approximately $659 million USD). Constructed is slated for completion in Spring 2020.
From the architect. WilkinsonEyre was appointed for the redevelopment of the former River Plate House, Finsbury Circus, following a design competition in 2011. Their scheme works to the client’s overall requirements for an ‘exemplary’ new office building in this historic City setting. The site, which is adjacent to the listed Britannic House by Edwin Lutyens, has access from both Finsbury Circus and South Place.
Full planning permission was granted in 2012 to replace the existing 1980s building with the new scheme, which provides more than 15,000m2 of Grade A, flexible office space with ground floor retail.
The main challenge was convincing the City Planners to allow the demolition of the existing building. Further constraints required that the new building should retain a mansard, as other buildings in the Circus, and that the building should not be seen above the height of the existing mansard when viewed from the south side of the Circus. Careful modelling resulted in stepping back the upper levels to create generous terraces, allowing the net area on the site to increase by approximately 23%.
Elevation
WilkinsonEyre’s interpretation of a traditional City building has resulted in deeply modelled Portland stone and bronze facades, detailed in a contemporary manner. A portion of the north façade, dating from the 1920s, has been retained with an existing colonnade opened up to form a new entrance. Juliet balconies and dormer windows within the mansard with their crisp, frameless glazing continue the theme of traditional elements given a modern twist. Castings from the building’s original railings have been retained and embodied into the walls of the entrance.
WilkinsonEyre’s proposals maximise the full development potential of the extremely constrained site, whilst respecting the surrounding listed buildings. Entrances on both the north and south provide access to a generous lobby that runs through the length of the ground floor anticipating the change in the movement of office workers to the building following the opening of new ticket halls at Liverpool Street and Moorgate for Crossrail in 2018, also designed by WilkinsonEyre.
3rd Floor Plan
The building is configured around a central core, providing large column free office space at all levels. A sculptural main circulation stair has been positioned with good visibility from the core to encourage use of the stair between floors.
Within the impressive reception a traditional palette of stone, bronze and walnut is imaginatively detailed to provide an uplifting environment for the occupiers. The lift shafts, in translucent glazing, provide both a source of light and movement, with the lift cars casting shadows as they rise and descend. WilkinsonEyre has designed two walnut veneered sculptures which act as focal points within the large space and provide a place to sit.
A walnut clad recess in the curved stone wall on the east side of the reception houses a sleek reception desk and provides views into the lower levels of the lightwell. The lightwell brings daylight down through the building and provides a visible connection between floors. An art installation by Carpenter Lowings, commissioned for the project, runs the full height of the lightwell. The dynamic piece, composed of folded stainless steel panels, was developed in response to a brief prepared by WilkinsonEyre that sought both a focal point and device to introduce reflected light into the depth of the building.
With the aim of supporting the design work of our readers, the company UrbanPlay has shared with us a series of files in .DWG format for different models of children’s games, playgrounds, and equipment for public space. Files can be downloaded directly in this article and include 2D and 3D files.
Sig Nordal 