REX has released images of the future Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center (The Perelman Center), located on the World Trade Center site in New York City. Located between the gleaming glass tower of One World Trade and the future Two World Trade Center, the Perelman Center takes on a solid, pure form as it is set to become a new home for theater, dance, music, film, opera, and multidisciplinary works for visitors and residents of Lower Manhattan.
Set into the complex campus, the 90,000 square foot building has been rotated to fit within below-ground constraints, as well as address the 9/11 museum and transportation hub. To complement the building’s overall stoic demeanor, a slice has been cut out of the cube to provide seating that opens onto the new public plaza outside.
The structure is wrapped in translucent, veined marble (“from the same Vermont quarry as the U.S. Supreme Court building and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial”) and then laminated within insulated glass – giving the building an elegant, book-matched stone appearance by day, while the thinness of the material creates a dematerialized, glowing appearance at night that displays silhouettes of activity within.
Designed for high-levels of flexibility, the Perelman Center will contain three performances halls seating 499, 250 and 99 people, as well as a rehearsal room capable of adapting for alternative performance configurations.
“While the building’s elegant exterior befits the site, its muscular, utilitarian interior expresses the workhorse quality necessary for the changing nature of The Perelman Center’s artistic needs, through ruggedly beautiful materials that encourage the frequent transformation of scenery and stage-audience configurations,” explain the architects in a press release.
“The Perelman Center is an immensely flexible canvas on which directors can script the patrons’ entire experience from their very entrance into the building,” said Joshua Prince-Ramus, Principal of REX. “It is a ‘mystery box,’ a constant source of surprise for theatergoers and the community. We are honored to be involved with such an important project on such an important site.”
The Perelman Center is expected to open to the public in 2020. Construction costs for the project are currently estimated at $243 million.
From the architect. VIΛ 57 West, designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group for the Durst Organization, introduces a new typology to New York City: the Courtscraper. The 830 000 sq ft highrise combines the density of the American skyscraper with the communal space of the European courtyard, offering 709 residential units with a lush 22 000 sq ft garden at the heart of the building.
VIΛ occupies nearly a full city block at the corner of West 57th Street and the West Side Highway, with uninterrupted views towards the Hudson River Park and the waterfront. The Durst Organization commissioned BIG to design a building for the site in the spring of 2010, and construction commenced in 2011. The 32-story building has welcomed residents since May 2016 with the construction completing this Fall. Earlier this year, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) named VIΛ the Best Tall Building in the Americas as part of its 2016 Tall Buildings Award.
“We are very excited about the building, and the activity has exceeded our expectations in terms of velocity and the rents. We always were thrilled with the building but even more so now.” Douglas Durst, The Durst Organization
Diagram
Diagram
The VIΛ Courtscraper is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and the traditional American highrise. The building peaks at 450 feet at its north-east corner, thereby maximizing the number of apartments and graciously preserving the adjacent Helena Tower’s views of the river. VIΛ’s volume changes depending on the viewer’s vantage point. From the west, it is a hyperbolic paraboloid or a warped pyramid. From the east, the Courtscraper appears to be a slender spire.
The shared green space at the heart of the block is derived from the classic Copenhagen ‘urban oasis’. The courtyard has the exact same proportions as Olmsted’s park, just 13,000 times smaller – a bonsai Central Park. In a similar accumulation of natural landscapes, the courtyard transforms from a shaded forest in the east, to a sunny meadow in the west. Designed by landscape architecture firm Starr Whitehouse, it features 80 newly planted trees and lawns, and 47 species of native plant material.
“In recent decades, some of the most interesting urban developments have come in the form of nature and public space, reinserting themselves back into the postindustrial pockets, freeing up around the city; the pedestrianization of Broadway & Times Square; the bicycle lanes, the High Line and the industrial piers turning into parks. Located at the northern tip of the Hudson River Park, VIΛcontinues this process of greenification allowing open space to invade the urban fabric of the Manhattan city grid. In an unlikely fusion of what seems to be two mutually exclusive typologies – the courtyard and the skyscraper, the Courtscraper is the most recent addition to the Manhattan skyline.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.
By keeping three corners of the block low and lifting the north-east portion of the building, the courtyard opens views towards the Hudson River and brings the low western sun deep into the block. While the courtyard is a private space and a sanctuary for residents, it can still be seen from the outside, creating a visual connection to the greenery of the Hudson River Park.
The building is predominantly residential units of different sizes with cultural and commercial program at the street level and the second floor. The lower levels of VIΛ have a strong relationship to the courtyard. The lobby is connected directly to the courtyard via a grand stair which invites residents into the courtyard space. The generous amenities at VIΛ include lounges and events spaces, a golf simulator, movie screening room, a pool, a basketball court, gym and exercise studios, and game rooms for poker, ping pong, billiards and shuffle board, and are all constructed around the courtyard to create a strong physical and visual connection between the interior and exterior communal spaces.
At the upper levels, the apartments are organized on a fishbone layout, orienting the homes towards the view of the water. Large terraces are carved into the warped façade to maximize views and light into the apartments, while ensuring privacy between the residents.
The material concept for the interior design of the project is “Scandimerican”, another layer of the European-American hybridity. They blend classic modern Scandinavian material sensibility blended with local New York materials. The primary materials of the apartments are oak wood floors and cabinets, and white porcelain tiles in the bathrooms.
As an ultimate union of Scandimerican design, the event spaces feature the Via57 chair, designed in collaboration with BIG and KiBiSi for Danish heritage brand, Republic of Fritz Hansen. The design translates the distinct tetrahedronal shape of the building into a multi-functional piece of furniture, bringing a piece of the Manhattan skyline into shared spaces for VIΛ residents.
The building also features a complementing eight-story sculpture by Stephen Glassman entitled “Flows Two Ways,” anchored on the façade of the adjacent Helena tower. Once completed, the ground floor commercial space will host such public amenities as a restaurant from the Livanos Restaurant Group, a Landmark Theatres movie cinema and the first U.S. retail store for the American Kennel Club.
Design Team: Cíclica [space, community & ecology] (Marta Serra y Elena Albareda) y Cavaa Arquitectes (Jordi Calbetó).
Promoter: Regidoria d’Espais Públics i Sostenibilitat, Ajuntament de Caldes de Montbui.
Collaborators: Joaquim Arcas (Cíclica), Aleix Rifà (enginyer), Adrià Martín (Etsav), Junta de l’Associació d’Hortolans de les Hortes de Baix, Esocal sl. i Pla d’Ocupació Municipal.
From the architect. Hortes de Baix is a heritage irrigation space of 3.7Ha annexed to the historical center of Caldes de Montbui, a thermal city founded by romans near Barcelona. This space has suffered the gradual environmental and social degradation of its landscape. This characteristic process of the peripheral landscapes of the twentieth century is here mainly caused by the water pollution of the stream that supplies the irrigation system, the poor accessibility to the space and the breakdown of the irrigation community.
These vegetable gardens were historically watered with the surplus of thermal washing places and the stream rainwater that poured into the main irrigation canal. This canal, formed by stone walls almost 3m high, is the main element of the irrigation system. But with urban growth the stream was covered and poured much of the sewage from the urban center. The canal has become an open sewer. This has caused health risk for the horticultural production as well as for its public accessibility (extreme bad odors and visual effect). The limited availability of clean water triggered the claim for water as a public good asset, as a heritage to reintegrate into the citizen imaginary.
Plan
Location
The project was born within the municipal Public Space Board, which gives voice to local initiatives to improve it. The City Council commissioned the assignment to solve the need of more clean water for irrigation, to channel the wastewater open flow and to facilitate accessibility from the city center. We proposed: to recover the private horticultural landscape as a new public space that encourages food self-sufficiency; to co-design the process with the irrigation community and stakeholders; and to recognize the key value of traditional water management as a tangible and intangible heritage.
With the 70 gardeners community, we detected an inadequate management of the water surplus from private thermal spas poured into the stream; so we proposed to reuse it for irrigation as well as the surplus water from thermal washing places. Through two years of participatory action research process, the irrigating community was recovered and empowered to agree on some bounded interventions without altering the existing irrigation system or its social management. The project was executed with 93,881€ and a Municipal Employment Plan. The maintenance is taken over by the irrigation community.
Sections
This project has been developed through two phases: the sustainable management of the irrigation system and the walkway to improve accessibility. As part of the community process, the surplus water from thermal spas was recovered to irrigate orchards ensuring water supply. For that, a new public pool is built there to accumulate and cool thermal water. From there, we keep and recycle the existing irrigation system to deliver flooding turns by gravity operation, avoiding introducing any new mechanized device. Wastewater is channeled to the sewage collector allowing to recover the existing main canal with a new walkway to improve access to the area. This is supported inside the stone walls to not alter the canal traces appearance.
The presence of elements from horticultural self-construction identity is enhanced: granite stones, ceramic handmade bricks, manual floodgates, wire meshes and fences. We reintroduce live willow, formerly used to make willow baskets heated by thermal water. Finally, an innovative pilot system is developed: phytotreatment with macrophytes planted on floating gardens, to absorb residual organic material without altering the pool’s oscillation condition.
We evaluate the project at three levels. Political: The Government has committed itself to dignify this place and to the long and intense participation process that culminates with the creation of a gardeners association hitherto nonexistent. A board with commissions is created to ensure self-management on the irrigated space, the establishment of internal rules, the communication with the city council, the visibility of its historical heritage and the necessary intergenerational transfer of local knowledge. Productive: obtaining clean water allows the practice of organic farming and increases irrigation turns. In the long term visitors would be expected to consume the cultivated products. Civic: the vegetable gardens become an open public space, promoting recognition, inclusion and education of the agrarian space.
The new community and ecological approach also challenged the architecture team to assume the role of mediators and observers, adopting innovative conceptual references from complementary discipline fields and integrating external collaborators. This has allowed us to develop new tools of decision-making and communication of the technical aspects of the project.
For a few months spanning from 2014 to last year, the Guggenheim Helsinki museum competition was the hottest topic in architectural media. Even as Moreau Kusunoki’s more contextually-driven design was selected as the competition winner, debate raged on over whether the search by yet another city for an iconic building to call their own was ultimately good or bad for architecture as a whole. But now, funding for the project has been rejected by the Finnish government, putting the museum in danger of not being built at all.
The proposed museum, which would be located along the Helsinki waterfront, was estimated to cost between 120-140 million euro ($134-$156 million) to construct, 40 million euro of which was expected to be covered by Finnish taxpayers, according to the plan outlined by the Guggenheim Foundation.
However in the past few years, the political climate of Finland has shifted as a result of a decade-long economic downturn, giving rise to the conservative Finns Party. Now with the second largest number of seats in the Finnish Parliament, the party was able to reject funding for the project from going through.
Finns Party chairperson Timo Soini has gone as far as declaring that the project will not be brought up in budget sessions again, equating efforts to raise government support to “pouring water on cold sauna rocks.”
“This is the end of the matter, we have ruled out state funding (for Guggenheim) once and for all, for this government,” said Sampo Terho, the parliamentary head of the Finns party, speaking to Reuters. “We are not opposed to the project as such, we just don’t think it is something that the state should participate in.”
The Guggenheim Foundation has said they will continue in talks with the more progressive Centre and National Coalition Parties in efforts to find alternatives for the funding, as the museum is considered to be too costly to be financed by the city and private donors alone.
For now, the foundation is holding out hope, but with the reservation of the waterfront property expiring at the end of the year, action must be taken soon to prevent the project from being scrapped altogether.
Said Guggenheim deputy director Ari Wiseman, “We understand that it takes time. That said, we are disappointed that the project was not included in the budget.”
From the architect. In line with the owners’ aspirations, a basic parameter guided the project for this farmhouse in Porto Feliz, São Paulo: to create a country home that emphasized its integration with the landscape, preferably by means of a lightweight structure, with large openings and glazed surfaces.
So the architecture created here differs from the surrounding houses, for its contemporary language and structural boldness. Measuring 700m², the steel framed house follows the shape of the terrain. The spaces, in turn, were laid out so as to offer a view of the lake and the golf course from every single on.
The whole façade is made from seamless sliding panes. Few and refined materials, such as wood, stone and glass reaffirm the project’s essentiality. At sunset it becomes completely permeable to the view: a large light box reflected on the swimming pool water.
In terms of architecture, special attention was paid to the design of the concrete pillars to impart the project with more lightness. There are two clear volumes: the main one, where the living area, kitchen and master suite are and the side one, with 4 guest suites.
Given the plentiful daylight most of the spaces were fitted with zenithal lighting, while the cross ventilation system implemented throughout the living area, combined with the fully-opening panes that create a seamless transition between indoors and outdoors provide excellent ventilation conditions.
Grimshaw has released new images and a video of their design for the Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020Dubai. Striving to “illuminate the ingenuity and possibility of architecture as society looks to intelligent strategies for sustainable future living,” the Sustainability Pavilion joins designs from Foster + Partners and BIG to make up the three main structures on the Expo’s HOK-designed masterplan.
The pavilion design, developed with engineering consultants Buro Happold, draws inspiration from complex natural process like photosynthesis to create a dynamic structure capable of capturing energy from the sun and fresh water from humidity in the air. The striking form and innovative systems will help draw in visitors while demonstrating the capability of architecture to become self-sustaining even in extreme climates.
Courtesy of Grimshaw
Courtesy of Grimshaw
The pavilion will also highlight the often overlooked world of plant and animal life found in the desert environment of the UAE, illustrating the extraordinary ways that nature is capable of reacting to its setting.
Considering longevity of use as an aspect of sustainability, the pavilion is designed both to accommodate the large crowds expected at Expo 2020 and to continue in its function beyond the life of the Expo – the structure will feature flexible elements that will allow the building to reduce its resource consumption once the period of high-traffic is finished.
Courtesy of Grimshaw
Courtesy of Grimshaw
“As the United Arab Emirates endeavors to establish itself as a global cultural leader, it is important that the Expo be represented by design that is both functional and revelatory, utilizing technology and inventive design to deliver a distinct architectural presence driven by the message it intends to convey,” said Grimshaw in a press release.
Courtesy of Grimshaw
The project will be realized with support from Grimshaw’s newest office in Dubai, opened recently to serve a number of projects in the Middle East region and beyond.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is pleased to announce the launch of an international open design competition for ‘The Wall’ – a structure made of a million bricks to represent answered prayer. The competition is being managed on behalf of the charity Network, The Evangelical Council for the Manchester Area Trust.
‘The Wall’ competition is a unique opportunity for talented designers to unleash their creativity to design a new dramatic and inspirational UK landmark, a significant commission of public art. The idea of a former Leicester City FC Chaplain, Richard Gamble, this structure will consist of a million bricks each representing an individual answered prayer. Potentially the size of 62 houses, it is intended to be built by the side of a motorway. In April 2016 over £47,000 was raised through crowdfunding with people from across the world getting involved in this innovative project.
“It was a real thrill for us to hit our crowdfunding target earlier in the year. That has enabled us to partner with the RIBA to run a global design competition. Now in just a matter of months we will be able to get an idea of what ‘The Wall of Answered Prayer’ will look like.” – Richard Gamble
Renato Benedetti, Benedetti Architects and RIBA Adviser said: “We are looking for very high quality, deliverable, innovative submissions which will inspire and intrigue.”
The competition is open internationally to architects, engineers, artists, sculptors, technologists and other related design professionals. Collaborations amongst these disciplines are also encouraged. The initial phase of the competition will require teams to submit designs anonymously, in digital format only. The closing date for first stage entries is Monday 7 November at 2pm.
The high profile panel of judges including: Renato Benedetti, Benedetti Architects, RIBA Adviser; Rt. Hon. Stephen Timms MP; Baronness Sal Brinton; and Pam Rhodes (Broadcaster, Writer and BBC Presenter Songs of Praise) will consider the entries and up to five concept designs will then be shortlisted to participate in the second phase.
“This project has created a lot of interest since the idea was launched earlier this year, with many people asking what might this Prayer Landmark look like. Over these coming months, we will see people around the world join the journey, submitting concept designs. I anticipate a large number of entries to keep the judges on our toes, as we carefully see the next stage of this project come alive.” – Stephen Timms MP.
Each shortlisted designer will receive an honorarium of £4,000 + VAT.
For further information about how to enter the competition please visit: http://ift.tt/2c8rBvd . For press enquiries please contact Adam May on tel: 07736 949 869 or email press@thewall.org.uk
Press Release via RIBA.
Title: Call for Entries: RIBA Design Competition – ‘The Wall’
From the architect. For an architect working on their very first built project, the temptation to condense several years’ worth of education into a single is a strong one. Usually, however, such lofty desires are tempered by the realities of the budgetary, geographical and material constraints. Such was the case with Argentinean architect Rosario Talevi’s first project, a house known as Casa Abieta. There was though, an additional parameter here that isn’t something encountered but most architects during their “maiden voyage”: the client was her own mother. What is most striking about the project is the manner in which the parameters in question have not only have shaped but also enhanced the final building. The result of conditions leading to convictions, the creativity that comes from such constrictions is playfully evidence by Talevi’s house.
A project that has been on-going since 2011, Casa Abierta is located not far from La Pedrera, a seaside village in Rocha on the south east coast of Uruguay. Its location is notable in the first instance for its rugged beauty; but this wildness extends beyond the geography, characterising the historical context as well as the budget and nature of the materials and resources available for the project. The house is in the middle of land that was once envisioned as a joint entity of La Pedrera and Punta Rubia, which would form an urban beach resort. The plan, which dates from the 1930s, never materialised but the urban regulations according to which it was conceived do endure. The 34m long x 8.8m wide plot, some 2 kilometres from the nearest neighbour, adheres to these unfinished, “invisible” streets. This density-that-never-was also means that basic infrastructure concerns, such as connection to water and electricity grids – even a path leading to the plot – were absent.
The effects of these parameters are manifest in the structure not as compromises but as decisive gestures. The house is conceived as the assembly of two bodies: one that responds to the restrictions of the land and stretches along the lot’s entire 34m length. It occupies the maximum width allowed (6.8m) and is anchored on its highest point. The second body, diagonally orientated to the south, interrupts the house’s orthogonal system, in the process providing shelter against the ferocious south-easterly wind that has shaped the surrounding landscape. Resting on a wooden structure elevated 2m above the ground and standing at a maximum height of 7.5 m, Casa Abierta has access to ample views over the surrounding landscape and will continue to do so even if in the future, even if new constructions appear.
Beyond the layout of the house, the technology which addresses the infrastructural limitations is again, steeped in the language of confidence rather than compromise. With its wooden framed built from FSC-certified Pinus elliotii and Eucalyptus from Brazil (both locally available, keeping costs down) the structure is naturally eco-friendly – but to call it such is a little flattening. “Eco-adapting” or “eco-respecting” might be a more appropriate description. Water from a natural well (filtered through a three step system) is heated using solar energy and during the winter, the central chimney warms the entire house, negating the need for any additional heating system. Natural light floods in thanks to the architect’s decision to surround the staircase with enclosing walls build from translucent polycarbonate. The house’s first level sits two meters above the ground, with the living space forming one large room arranged around that chimney. The second level comprises two bedrooms plus a deck, with rooftop terrace on the level above.
Reflecting upon the timing of the project, Talevi remarks, “While designing Casa Abierta, I officially became an Architect. Being both my opera prima and a family project, building the house became an extremely personal experience. It also defied everything I had learnt during my years as a student. It was a process of trial and error that examined knowledge, beliefs and references. While questioning ideas about space, its definition and its use throughout time, I was also exploring a shared design process and the intimacy of family life.” The definition of space that characterises Casa Abierta has already found meaning for the architect, their client and observers alike: a house, a home, enduring proof of constraint as a catalyst for creativity.
From the architect. VIΛ 57 West, designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group for the Durst Organization, introduces a new typology to New York City: the Courtscraper. The 830 000 sq ft highrise combines the density of the American skyscraper with the communal space of the European courtyard, offering 709 residential units with a lush 22 000 sq ft garden at the heart of the building.
VIΛ occupies nearly a full city block at the corner of West 57th Street and the West Side Highway, with uninterrupted views towards the Hudson River Park and the waterfront. The Durst Organization commissioned BIG to design a building for the site in the spring of 2010, and construction commenced in 2011. The 32-story building has welcomed residents since May 2016 with the construction completing this Fall. Earlier this year, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) named VIΛ the Best Tall Building in the Americas as part of its 2016 Tall Buildings Award.
“We are very excited about the building, and the activity has exceeded our expectations in terms of velocity and the rents. We always were thrilled with the building but even more so now.” Douglas Durst, The Durst Organization
Diagram
Diagram
The VIΛ Courtscraper is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and the traditional American highrise. The building peaks at 450 feet at its north-east corner, thereby maximizing the number of apartments and graciously preserving the adjacent Helena Tower’s views of the river. VIΛ’s volume changes depending on the viewer’s vantage point. From the west, it is a hyperbolic paraboloid or a warped pyramid. From the east, the Courtscraper appears to be a slender spire.
The shared green space at the heart of the block is derived from the classic Copenhagen ‘urban oasis’. The courtyard has the exact same proportions as Olmsted’s park, just 13,000 times smaller – a bonsai Central Park. In a similar accumulation of natural landscapes, the courtyard transforms from a shaded forest in the east, to a sunny meadow in the west. Designed by landscape architecture firm Starr Whitehouse, it features 80 newly planted trees and lawns, and 47 species of native plant material.
“In recent decades, some of the most interesting urban developments have come in the form of nature and public space, reinserting themselves back into the postindustrial pockets, freeing up around the city; the pedestrianization of Broadway & Times Square; the bicycle lanes, the High Line and the industrial piers turning into parks. Located at the northern tip of the Hudson River Park, VIΛcontinues this process of greenification allowing open space to invade the urban fabric of the Manhattan city grid. In an unlikely fusion of what seems to be two mutually exclusive typologies – the courtyard and the skyscraper, the Courtscraper is the most recent addition to the Manhattan skyline.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.
By keeping three corners of the block low and lifting the north-east portion of the building, the courtyard opens views towards the Hudson River and brings the low western sun deep into the block. While the courtyard is a private space and a sanctuary for residents, it can still be seen from the outside, creating a visual connection to the greenery of the Hudson River Park.
The building is predominantly residential units of different sizes with cultural and commercial program at the street level and the second floor. The lower levels of VIΛ have a strong relationship to the courtyard. The lobby is connected directly to the courtyard via a grand stair which invites residents into the courtyard space. The generous amenities at VIΛ include lounges and events spaces, a golf simulator, movie screening room, a pool, a basketball court, gym and exercise studios, and game rooms for poker, ping pong, billiards and shuffle board, and are all constructed around the courtyard to create a strong physical and visual connection between the interior and exterior communal spaces.
At the upper levels, the apartments are organized on a fishbone layout, orienting the homes towards the view of the water. Large terraces are carved into the warped façade to maximize views and light into the apartments, while ensuring privacy between the residents.
The material concept for the interior design of the project is “Scandimerican”, another layer of the European-American hybridity. They blend classic modern Scandinavian material sensibility blended with local New York materials. The primary materials of the apartments are oak wood floors and cabinets, and white porcelain tiles in the bathrooms.
As an ultimate union of Scandimerican design, the event spaces feature the Via57 chair, designed in collaboration with BIG and KiBiSi for Danish heritage brand, Republic of Fritz Hansen. The design translates the distinct tetrahedronal shape of the building into a multi-functional piece of furniture, bringing a piece of the Manhattan skyline into shared spaces for VIΛ residents.
The building also features a complementing eight-story sculpture by Stephen Glassman entitled “Flows Two Ways,” anchored on the façade of the adjacent Helena tower. Once completed, the ground floor commercial space will host such public amenities as a restaurant from the Livanos Restaurant Group, a Landmark Theatres movie cinema and the first U.S. retail store for the American Kennel Club.
North Korea is one of the few countries still under communist rule, and probably the most isolated and unknown worldwide. This is a result of the philosophy of Juche – a political system based on national self-reliance which was partly influenced by principles of Marxism and Leninism.
In recent years though, the country has loosened its restrictions on tourism, allowing access to a limited number of visitors. With his personal photo series “North Korea – Vintage Socialist Architecture,” French photographer Raphael Olivier reports on Pyongyang’s largely unseen architectural heritage. ArchDaily interviewed Olivier about the project, the architecture he captured, and what he understood of North Korea’s architecture and way of life.
Marie Chatel: You’re based in Singapore, and conducted all your previous personal series in China. Why did you develop an interest in North Korea and what did you want to capture?
Raphael Olivier: I first travelled to Pyongyang in 2015 for a very short 24 hour visit, which was an eye opener and sparked my curiosity about the country. North Korea is a complex nation with multiple facets and points of interest, but as an architectural photographer the first thing to strike me when I visit any city is usually the visual appeal of its construction. In that sense Pyongyang is very unique and has a distinctive style of its own, which I wanted to explore more so I decided to go on a dedicated architecture tour with specialist agency Koryo Tours.
MC: Did you feel constrained by traveling in a tour group or did it somehow contribute to the experience?
RO: Of course travelling in a group within an organized tour has its limitations, but that’s part of the deal when visiting North Korea. The country is not yet open to individual tourism so a certain level of compromise has to be made.
MC: Looking at Pyongyang‘s landmark buildings, were there recurrent features similar to Soviet architecture that you noticed? What made Pyongyang’s architecture unique?
RO: There is definitely a strong Soviet influence in the city’s architecture, mixed with some elements of traditional Korean design. I would say the biggest difference between Pyongyang and other cities is that Pyongyang is very homogenous. In former Soviet cities we might still find great examples of modernist architecture but somehow sprinkled throughout more contemporary urban fabrics. In Pyongyang the whole city’s layout is planned from A to Z and there aren’t any private developers building their own projects here and there. It’s an endless vision of raw concrete blocks painted in pastel colors as far as the eye can see, which is very unique.
MC: The photograph of the swimming pool at the Changgwang-won health complex is intriguing, as it’s the one time in your photographs you have direct visual contact with a Pyongyang inhabitant. In most pictures people are absent or self-effacing. How would you describe their use of public buildings?
RO:Pyongyang is a real city, and a real capital. It might not be a bustling metropolis like New York, London or Tokyo, but there are real people living there, going around and using public spaces for their daily activities. The difference is that foreign visitors are often kept at a certain distance, not often interacting directly with the local population. However this is changing as the country is gradually opening up, leading to more opportunities for tourists to meet the locals in less staged settings.
MC: Along the same lines, I wonder about the city’s layout and how people relate to their urban environment? From your photographs, it seems that roads and public squares remain just as empty and clean as the public buildings, if not more.
RO: Buildings and public spaces that are used for official purposes (military monuments etc) are not used for recreational purposes. But there are also plenty of parks, sport playgrounds and entertainement venues that are used by the public. My photos this time were focused on architecture, but of course it would be naive to think this small work could give a general overview of a city like Pyongyang.
Sig Nordal 