Archipendium 2014

Impressum

Copyright: © 2013 Gerd Kaiser, Nils Peters

Druck und Verlag: epubli GmbH, Berlin, www.epubli.de

ISBN 978-3-8442-7275-8

The Landscape of Time

Like an “Exquisite Corpse”—the famous collective art technique invented by André Breton and his friends—the images on the Archipendium 2014 form together an infinite landscape. The casual juxtaposition between two successive pages follows a “jump-cut” fashion, but as the series progresses one can statistically infer the customs and habits of contemporary architectural culture.

In the old atlases or geography textbooks, the different features of each country were summarized by concentrated icons depicting costumes, buildings, landscapes: Switzerland with white-topped mountains, still lakes, cheese forms, cows and cowbells; Holland with windmills, tulips, ladies with clogs and funny hats; Mexico with mariachi, sombreros and Aztec pyramids. Omitting the boring and dull “in-between”, their collection showed the amazing variety of material cultures, a vast mosaic of colors and shapes testifying our will to give form to our environment, to create “events” and “places”.

Architecture is the background of our daily activities, and is perceived in a state of distraction. But we need icons to understand the world, to recognize its geography, to picket a number of fixed points from which we trace our daily paths. Paul Valéry once said that Art is what transforms Arbitrium into Necessity. The bright features of the architectures depicted in Archipendium form a constellation of spatial possibilities of our design culture, showing our wonderful capacity of transforming the continuum of Time into a “calendar” of seasons and days, the continuum of Space in a geography of regions and places.

Cino Zucchi

When asked of what his vision for the future temple would be, Master Sheng Yen, the founder of the Monastery and Dharma Drum Buddhist Group, answered that he “sees” the temple in his meditation dhyana, “It is a Flower in Space, Moon in Water,” he said. “Let’s name it the Water-Moon Monastery.” Thus began the Water-Moon Monastery. Situated on the vast Guandu plain, facing the Keelung River and with the Datun Mountain as its backdrop, the design takes advantage of its natural surroundings and strives to build a tranquil spiritual place. After passing through two walls of different heights that serve as buffer from the expressway outside, upon entering the temple, visitors face the view of the Main Hall that sits at the far end of a80-meter long lotus pond. The reflections on the pond of the over-sized colonnades and the flowing golden drapes in between create a scene of illusory quality. Using architectural concrete as the main material, the design reduces the color and form to a minimum, conveying the spirit of Zen Buddhism. The lower part of the Grand Hall is transparent, giving it an impression of its upper wooden “box” being suspended in theair. On the west side of the Grand Hall, a massive wooden wall is carved with the famous “Heart Sutra” in Chinese characters. As the lights shine through the carved-out characters, the space is infused with an aura of culture and spirituality. Outside the long corridor, the characters of the “Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra” are cast void on the prefabricated GRC panels, providing additional religious meaning while functioning as sunshades. When the scripture is imprinted onto the interior surface by the sunlight, it is as if the Buddha’s teaching, in an unspoken manner, is revealed.

For the fourth edition of Ecole del Rusco: the exhibition about art and recycling in Bologna, was set up an artistic and sensory journey through the squares of the city, with five installations by young designers, dedicated to the touch, sight, taste, hearing and smell. The temporary art installation “Circolare” is a project of landscape using products made with recycled materials compared with the same materials in their original form. The dialectical opposition between the waste raw material in its original form and the object?made from it has the dual function of showing concrete results from a recovery action and to stimulate the tactile curiosity of the public who can verify personally the effect of such recovery. The containers that collect the protagonists of this dialogue are big spheres that symbolically through their shape indicate the circular process of the recycling act.

The project is related to an important aspect of what landscape architecture is about, namely identifying, unveiling and eventually transforming a site, to fit with what is already there. Revealing & celebration “the real” landscape and its specificities. Indeed, the project’s goal was not to build or un-build, a landscape but to conceive the conditions for its experiencing. To do so, the process involved in-depth site reconnaissance and precise on-site cartography making. During the 5 years process, the designers walked more than 200 km on site, took and studied more than 15,000 images, and received up to 50 specialists in different fields related to nature restoration, in search for ways to optimize deconstruction, nature dynamic reclamation, and social valorization. The commission was approximated as an open process, enabling flexibility to integrate the discoveries following deconstruction. For instance the solution to enhance a “Pegmatite” outcrop at the entrance was found and negotiated with the builder during work. Constructively a minimalist approach was taken, reducing materials to those on site plus Cor-ten steel, for its landscape integration and its resistance to sea exposure, and using only few consistent construction details repeated through the site. ‘Robustness’ for a landscape that accepts little domesticities.

The Art Museum, Bildmuseet, at Umeå University is situated at the new Arts Campus by the Umeälven river. The campus also comprises the Academy of Fine Arts, the Institute of Design and the new School of Architecture. The consolidation of artistic institutes and exhibition facilities is based on a close collaboration between various companies with a view to allow art, design and architecture to benefit from one another. Umeå’s position as a centre of art and education is strenghtened with a new silhouette by the river. In its previous facilities, the museum has displayed international contemporary art and classic art-historical exhibitions side by side since 1981. The new museum more than doubles the exhibition area and, with its protruding, visible location by the river, it will become a new landmark in the area.

The tower comprises three exhibition halls placed upon each other—with inserted floor plans featuring the auditorium, children’s workshops and administration. The large, square exhibition halls are free from structural elements and offer ample daylight, let in through niches in the façade. This creates a vibrant and dynamic framework for the various exhibitions. As the other buildings at the Arts Campus, the facade features vertical louvre panelling in Siberian larch, which supports the verticality of the building—only broken by the large windows and the glass floor in the middle.

The design for the apartment house reinterprets the classic Berliner residential building with its multi-unit structure and green interior courtyard. The sculptural design of the suspended slat facade draws on the notion of landscape in the city, a quality visible in the graduated courtyard garden and the building’s silhouette and layout. Plans for the ground floor facing the street also include a number of commercial spaces. The generously sized apartments will face south-west, opening themselves to a view of the calm courtyard garden. Spacious, breezy transitions to the outside create an open residential experience in the middle of Berlin that, thanks to the variable heights of the different building levels, also offers an interesting succession of rooms. The units’ varying floor plans and layouts indicate a number of housing options; condominiums are organized into townhouses with private gardens, classic apartments or penthouses with a spectacular view of the old Friedrichstadt.

Tata Compact + Apartments located in Jiaxing near Shanghai. They provide small, affordable compact + apartments with a modern, contemporary design for young & ambitious singles and couples. 5 former office buildings were transformed into apartment buildings with a special user concept: the compact + apartments. Small but efficient single units provide a comfortable, flexible layout with a “+” on community areas. Two buildings host community functions connected to outdoor activity spaces. Designed as energy efficient units with double glazed windows and insulated facades, also featuring sun shading. With layouts from 28 to 80 qm the project is positioned as a green LOHAS* community. Not only the users benefit from the transformation of the dull, grey and rather ugly office buildings into new, modern and green apartment buildings, but also the surrounding area strongly benefits from the upgrade of the project.

Secreto is a contemporary house in a residential colonial area in Chimalistac, Mexico City. The area where Secreto is located has a historic colonial character untouched by the unorganized sprawl that has occurred elsewhere. The design tries not to blend in the context, but it also keeps elements of the language of the past. The goal in the design is to achieve an interaction between the inside and the outside, a natural transition from the historical outside to the modern interior. As part of the architectonic discourse, and also for reasons of durability and maintenance, very few finishes were implemented, being concrete one of the most used materials for this project , because it does not age or decay, and because it acquires more dignity and history with the time. The result is a house with open spaces where events are articulated by natural light and views from the garden.

Thom Mun Community center is situated west of a small town called Takeo in Cambodia. The center’s main function is to provide free classes to children but is also available for everyone in the village. The design concept is to allow for the community to freely engage in different activities around the vicinity. To reflect this, bamboo panels were used in replacement of traditional brick walls. The permeability of the panels allows for visual interaction, blurring the boundaries between the interior space and the outdoor environment. The pathway separating the two classrooms leads down to a lake where the children often go for either recreational activities or to relax and have fun. The commencement of construction began in December 2011 and with the help of 38 volunteers, 21 staff members and local craftsmen the center was completed in 22 days.

The development is adjacent to the infamous summer retreat Moganshan—area—and involves an 18-hole golf course, 10 low-density residential plots and 6 medium to high-density residential plots. The club house design strives to create a landmark of simplicity and subtlety a floating translucent cube. The—aluminum screen encloses boxes of different volumes and materials, alluding to its rich content and character. The central atrium separates the western hotel box and the eastern public zone, while creating a visual vista towards the northern hill scenery as well as allowing daylight penetration.

The Drexel campus straddles both sides of Market Street in Philadelphia’s University City section. Sasaki’s addition to the Daskalakis Athletic Center (DAC), a 1960s-era athletic complex, accomplishes several institutional and programmatic goals. It increases the university’s visual presence along Market Street, integrates existing and new buildings into a unified complex, and groups all of the recreation facilities into a new building wing. The new building wraps around two sides of the DAC building, providing a new urban presence along Market Street. The main façade is treated as a large glazed screen with meandering folds shaded by the extension of the building’s floors. At street level, the building interacts with the passing urban scene. Paving patterns echo the angular folds of the building, a café is placed among trees preserved and integrated into the design, and a restaurant engages the larger community as well as students. A previously nondescript corner is brought to life through the combination of a landscaped plaza and the center’s climbing wall framed in glass—a further outward expression of a building housing dynamic activities.

Nature, wellness and design—these were the guiding principles for 4a Architekten when constructing the Spreewald Spa Hotel in Burg. Situated in the heart of the Spree Forest next to the SpreewaldTherme spa, also planned and built by 4a Architekten as early as 2005, this 4-star hotel offers its guests a feel-good atmosphere to relax in since its opening in December 2012. The concept for the hotel is based on the architects’ extensive experience in giving rooms an atmospheric effect along with the aspiration to construct a functional, long-lasting and simultaneously aesthetically pleasing building. With regard to the hotel s colour design, the architects have consciously chosen different colours than those of the SpreewaldTherme spa. The Spreewald Spa Hotel offers outstanding living quality for guests during their stay as well as functionality and therefore excellent orientation, providing an ambience of well-being with its modern design, natural building materials and great comfort.

In 2009, the Israelite Religious Community in Württemberg (IRGW) decided to build a new synagogue for its orthodox community in Ulm and, together with the city of Ulm, initiated a competition. The city placed the building site in the middle of the Weinhof, just a stone’s throw from the former synagogue, which was destroyed during Kristallnacht. In the completed build, the cuboid is lower and shorter than initially planned during the competition. It is now 24 meters wide, 16 deep and at17 meters high, much lower than the nearby Schwörhaus. All the spaces of the community centre and the synagogue are joined in the smooth structure: foyer, synagogue, Mikvah (ritual bath), meeting hall, school and administrative rooms as well as the child day care centre with an enclosed outdoor playing area, which is directly above the sacral room. The rooms are arranged orthogonally. Only the synagogue follows the line of the only, free-standing support in the building, in a diagonal direction. The direction facing south-east has an overlying religious meaning behind it: ist geographical direction is directly towards Jerusalem, the spiritual and religious centre of Judaism. The diagonal room layout creates a corner window in the sacral room, which plays with a pattern of the Star of David as a space framework. With 600 openings, the synagogue is illuminated from many points, with the focal point being the liturgical centrepiece; the Torah shrine. The perforations in the façade created with a high-pressure water jet, illuminate the shrine inside and project the idea of the synagogue outwards.

This single-family house in a suburb of Luxembourg-City is based on views—interior and exterior. The relationship between the different spaces inside and outside the building create asymmetric plans and different angles trough out the whole house. The facade is covered in aluminum-panels. The main interior materials are stone, oak and glass.

Orchard House was commissioned to create a lasting piece of responsive architec­ture that was not defined by the client’s use of a wheelchair. The courtyard house was designed to Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. Located on the site of a former walled kitchen garden, landlocked and accessed only by a track from the main road, the house and gardens form a sequence of enclosures that unfold revealing a private interior world. The house is of timber frame construction super insulated with sheep’s wool insulation. The shallow plan, careful alignment of windows and a double height gallery allow views to cut across the building to the various gardens enabling multiple readings of the space. In the orchard, three old fruit trees are planted in an arrangement that suggests a fourth once stood between them. The missing tree now forms the focal point of the central courtyard.

A building complex with flexible use was to be created. The two main entrances look onto the road connected with halls and corridors that possess natural light. A super-elevated glass staircase dominates Vienna’s corner Raxstraße/Gußriegelstraße. The single-storey apartments are endued with loggias along the whole façade as privacy shield. Because of the translucent metal fabric of the façade the building complex appears light and textile. A large part of the ground-floor is flex space, mostly used for commercial purposes. The viewing platform available for all residents is located at the level of Wiener berg.

The Auditorium Centre was finished in autumn 2012. The building stands on Professor-Pirlet-Straße in a triangular area south-west of a multi-storey car park belonging to the university. It includes two lecture halls, 5 CIP pools and one lecture room. The handicapped accessible centre is designed for 1,074 students. The building lies on a hillside with up to 4 meters in height variation. This and the steep slope leading down to the car park were significant factors in the design. A visual dominance in comparison to the multi-storey car park is achieved by increasing the height of the right part of the building. The front face of the building and the street form a triangular square. In addition, a small, tree-lined area leading to Turmstraße was created. The building front consists of sand colored bricks laid. The classrooms are light and friendly designed. A guidance system was created inside of the build­ing by painting selected walls with warm bright colours.

With more than 100-year-old history, the movie theater “Weltspiegel Cottbus” is one of the oldest cinema buildings of Germany and has stamped many childhood memories. A local enthusiast asked Studio Alexander Fehre to conceive a new overall concept for the former single-hall cinema and to give it a coherent interior design. Now two additional film halls with 80 places in each and a film bar belong in the annexe to the building. The historical hall with 520 places and a golden ceiling was utilised by a retractable platform also for events. By an exciting and universal interior design with references to the early film history an exciting merging of history and modern age succeeded.

The traditional element of Japan like origami and the artist’s modern side were harmonized with the line of a sharp ridgeline like Mt. Yatsugatake and Asama-yama of Japanese famous mountains which wraps in a site, and designed the new architectural type in response to environment. The construction which imitates a sharp ridgeline and consists of geometrical forms like origami is realized in the form where both the heterogeneous things of a straight line and a curve face nature, contrasted with the art museum which united with nature of the author who is a Japanese-style painter itself. The shade of the light with which it is reflected to the wall and roof of the titanium alloyed zinc variously bent from the ground while the glass with which the façade of the architecture built in Nature inclined in all the directions reflects the surrounding green responds to the surrounding mountain range.

The Bar “La Bohème” (entre amis) is located in the “Galeria de Paris” street, amidst the downtown area of Porto. The redesign sought to implement and structuralize the space, creating its own identity. The solution was formalized through the texture and the colour of the wood, which defines the space and provides depth to the structure’s design. This structure, which was placed along the corridors and namely at the walls and ceiling, allows to subvert the whole appearance of the space, appealing to its visitors sense of discovery. The bar spans three levels: the main floor, basement and a mezzanine. The latter establishes a visual relationship with the main floor. The bar counter is located at the main floor’s bigger span, next to the entrance door and public access. The previously adopted functional solution was maintained, although we opted to change the (only) existing counter’s location in order to give it a larger dimension, functionality and space for its customers. The involving wooden structure was maintained on the lower level (basement) as to create uniformity with the main floor, and a large wine showcase was added. The building’s facade is clad in granite ashlar. We assumed that the previous window frames were made of solid wood, as to the resemblance of some existing adjacent buildings. Changes made to the façade were solely at the level of framework and entrance span, combining an “Afizélia” wood (natural colour) with colourless laminated glass. The proposed functional solution seemed more appropriate for the establishment’s new areas of operation and organization. The composition and design of the elements in the framework were formulated taking into account the interior design of the space, while introducing rhythm by drawing vertical uprights. This also ensured some security, preventing the installation of security systems previously installed.

The Academie MWD sits at a uniquely varied crossroads; South: the main square; North: Wolfsputten, a protected forest; West: CC Westrand, a Brutalist community centre; and East a series of quaint suburban villas. Architect Carlos Arroyo had a distinct challenge: erecting a building with a quality of its own, which makes sense from all four directions. Arroyo carefully modulates scale and form: the jagged edge of the roof mimics those of the homes across the street, growing gradually to the cantilevered auditorium at the other end, and rising up to look face to face towards the monumental volumes of CC Westrand. Image and texture dematerialise the volume: the façade seems to blend into the forest. The building changes dramatically as we move along the sidewalk; walking towards the forest, we see forest; walking towards the grey Westrand we see greys, whites and blue skies. Looking straight into the façade, we see the colours of a painting by A. Hoppenbrouwers, the architect of neighbouring Westrand.

Floriade 2012—the largest and most important gardening exposition in the world takes place once every 10 years in the Netherlands. The mission was to inform and welcome the over 2 million international visitors from April to October 2012 to the 66 hectares of exhibition grounds with its theme gardens and pavilions in an extraordinary way. The agency DST Experience communication, Sky-Skan and ZENDOME worked together intensively from the idea to the realization of the 300 qm large geodesic dome with a specially developed vacuum membrane for perfect 360° projections. Inside a silver mobile cupola a fulldome film helped making the Floriade theme world an immersive experience right after checking in. The fact that the easily deconstructable dome could be moved without any negative effects for nature to be used at the next event was another clear example of the quality of the mobile architecture.

As opposed to the improvements of the last century, the retirement home of our current times—owing to several restrictions—develops back into the infirmaries of the 19th century. Due to the high level of the residents’ care dependency, there is a lack of vitality in their everyday lives. The aim of this house is to create a generation-spanning environment. Centre piece of the facility is a special-care home with 41 beds, just big enough to be run economically and small enough to enable family-like groups and individual care. Additionally, there are 14 appartments that are connected to the care home. The “living room” of these appartments is a lounge on the ground floor with a large sun deck. The architectural design meets the demand for “diffusion”: The rooms fluently blend into each other. They are transparent and open to the public spaces. Living zones, lounges and internal “streets” replace common corridors.