Although it was the winning entry of an international competition and the office was selected to transform the center of Aberdeen, Scotland, High Line office Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s proposal for redevelopment of the nineteenth-century Terrace Gardens was recently rejected by the City Council in a 22-20 vote. The £140 m City Garden Project was aiming to radically transform the center, covering over the “unattractive” Denburn dual carriageway and railway line and fusing Nature and culture into a vital social network at the very heart of the city. New York City-based DS+R collaborated with local Scottish architects, Keppie Design and landscape architects OLIN on this project and were announced winners of a head-to-head race with another finalist team led by Foster + Partners. The competition shortlist included other international well-known offices Gustafson Porter, Mecanoo, Snøhetta & Hoskins, and West 8. Read the rest of this entry »
Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s “Granite Web” For Aberdeen Gets Rejected By City Council
Architecture Xenoculture
Architecture Xenoculture
Juan Azulay, Benjamin Rice, Carlo Aiello
Digital copy
300 pages
INTRODUCTION
Xenoculture is a term coined by Iranian writer and philosopher Reza Negarestani that describes the need for embracing and exploring the unexpected, the alien. In this issue we borrow the idea and explore the realm of Architecture Xenoculture — the work of architects and designers who detach from everything that architecture is supposed to be and look like, including preconceived forms and aesthetics, to look into new architectural and design possibilities. An architectural form that emerges from mathematical processes and new material explorations and proposes something never before seen — an aesthetic yet to be determined.
Some of the work showcased has been produced by leading architecture practitioners and academics worldwide including: Hernan Diaz Alonso, Servo, Francois Roche, Marc Fornes, Kokkugia, Zaha Hadid, Volkan Alkanoglu, and Rafael Lozano among others.
Architecture Xenoculture is the problematization of work produced by embracing the proliferation of this mist of fear. It argues for the harnessing of this aesthetic of fear towards a yet-to-be determined end – intensifying its practice towards new thresholds, those that unleash the potential of the alien in the world beyond the limited imaginary we have become anesthetized to, conjuring insecure material and behavioral manifestations of the xeno-gene and its ability to adapt, mutate, survive and fight.
Architectural Ride in Battersea Power Station / AZC Wins ArchTriumph Museum Competition
Although it is utopia and it’s not going to be built any time soon – Atelier Zündel Cristea is awarded first prize at the ArchTriumph architectural competition for converting Battersea Power Station in London into a museum wrapped in giant roller coaster –the idea was that visitors get a full view of the museum by taking a ride on a roller coaster that encircles and slices through the iconic brick building.
The winning entry puts Sir Giles Gilberts’s building on center stage and its structure enhances the site through its impressive scale, architecture and unique material. Together with Tate Modern, located down the river, it served as a clear inspiration and the new project is organized in and around it. In words of architects it is not the exhibition of works that has meaning in museums, but the presence of visitors and their wandering through and exposure to displays of works that stimulate meaning. Therefore new floors and galleries inside the central building and on the roof will host exhibitions on architecture from the modern era to as far back as the Middle Ages and the pathway links together a number of diverse spaces – the square in front of the museum, footpaths outside and above and inside, footpaths traversing courtyards and exhibition halls. Visitors are active participants of the process, experiencing simultaneously displayed works and being exposed to the beauty of the structure and the city itself – the river, park and architecture. Read the rest of this entry »
Honeycomb Facade for Softer Urban Landscape / Sinosteel, Tianjin by MAD Architects
The Sinosteel International Plaza in Tianjin, China, by MAD Architects is an organic, honeycomb icon for the redeveloped city. The Chinese government has named Tianjin, a port city close to Beijing, as the next step in its economic plan. The idea is to create the new economic hub of Northern China, and it is a five year plan. Sino Steel, China’s state owned steel giant, commissioned MAD to create a landmark for this new central business district. Two towers were required: an office tower – 358 meters and a smaller hotel of 88 meters.
The design concept of the towers is a successful combination of geometry, structure and cultural symbolism. The façade is designed in a repetitive motif – its hexagonal pattern is multiplied and repeated across the envelope. It’s made of five different standardized units of hexagonal windows, signifying the heritage value in traditional Chinese architecture. The façade changes as the windows move across the building in an evolving pattern. Therefore the façade is constantly changing and that creates dynamic image of the building – different from each perspective. Moreover, the façade is structural element, an exterior skeleton, removing necessity for internal columns except in the building’s core and enabling more flexible layout and use of the interior. Read the rest of this entry »
Big Air Package / Christo and Jeanne-Claude
A massive inflated balloon erected inside the Gasometer Oberhausen, Germany is purported to be the largest inflated envelope suspended without a skeleton. Designed and installed by artists team Christo and the late Jeanne-Claude, Big Air Package is a radical play of both space and light, pushing the limits of scale for a temporary installation. Read the rest of this entry »
Chess Academy in Baku, Azerbaijan by Coop Himelb(l)au
Urban coast line of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, is the site for Coop Himelb(l)au’s Chess Academy. The sculptural design of this landmark building is dynamic, and due to its spiral form it is oriented both towards the Caspian Sea and the city. Lifted from the ground and floating over the pier, the edifice is a visible icon for the Chess Community of Azerbaijan.
The almost moving, shimmering building of the Academy facilitates Multi-functional Hall, suitable for diverse activities such as chess tournaments, exhibitions, trade and fashion shows. Hundred meters long bar and restaurant are attached to the main hall, offering generous, continuous view to the sea. The Chess Federation and the Chess School are located in the upper part of the building, along with an exquisite luxury hotel for members and visitors.
Shimmering façade of the Academy has operable windows and variable louvers. In order to promote the activities in the building, the façade facing the City side is equipped with a large digital LED screen, providing an insight into the building for the public. Aiming to create the pleasant outdoor surrounding for the visitors, the architects created an artificial waterfall that tumbles down to the small pond, leading the users to the vertical circulation of the Main Entrance. Read the rest of this entry »
Three-Dimensionally Curved Roof of Martin Luther’s Church in Hainburg / Coop Himelb(l)au
In less than one year, Martin Luther Church by Coop Himelb(l)au, together with a sanctuary, church hall and supplementary spaces was built in center of Hainburg, Austria. Its shape is inspired by a huge “table” – the entire roof construction is supported by four steel columns – the legs. The ceiling is dominant element – its design is has been derived from the shape of the curved roof of the neighboring Romanesque ossuary. Three large openings in the roof light the interior from above. The aim of the architects was not to design the interior as only a place of mysticism and quietude, as an antithesis of our fast and media-dominated times, but also an open space for the community.
The roof elements of the church building were assembled in a shipyard, as it is usually done with all the projects of Coop Himelb(l)au. Its geometry required specific technologies of metal-processing and manufacturing only available in shipbuilding industry and the construction was delivered in four separate parts to Hainburg, assembled and welded on site. On the interior ceiling, the suspended frame structure was covered in multiple layers of steel fabric and rush matting, which served as a carrier layer for the cladding of the stucco ceiling, following the geometry of three-dimensionally curved shape of the roof. Read the rest of this entry »
Winners eVolo 2013 Skyscraper Competition
eVolo Magazine is pleased to announce the winners of the 2013 Skyscraper Competition. The award was established in 2006 to recognize outstanding ideas for vertical living. Since then, the publication has received more than 5,000 projects that envision the future of building high. These ideas, through the novel use of technology, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, challenge the way we understand vertical architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.
In 2013, the Jury, formed by leaders of the architecture and design fields selected 3 winners and 24 honorable mentions. eVolo Magazine received 625 projects from all continents and 83 different countries. The winners were selected for their creativity, ingenuity, and understanding of dynamic and adaptive vertical communities.
The first place was awarded to Derek Pirozzi from the United States, for his project “Polar Umbrella”. The proposal is a buoyant skyscraper that rebuilds the arctic ice caps by reducing the surface’s heat gain and freezing ocean water. In addition, the super-structure is equipped with a desalinization plant and solar powered research facilities and eco-tourist attractions.
The recipients of the second place are Darius Maïkoff and Elodie Godo from France, for their “Phobia Skyscraper”. The project seeks to revitalize an abandoned industrial area of Paris, France, through an ingenious system of prefabricated housing units. Its modularity allows for a differentiation of various programs and evolution in time.
The third place was awarded to Ting Xu and Yiming Chen from China, for their project “Light Park”, a floating skyscraper that takes new development within large cities to the sky. The project allows for a continuous growth of the world’s mega-cities by providing adequate infrastructure, housing, commercial, and recreational areas.
The honorable mentions include several projects that explore a sustainable urban future including a pH conditioner skyscraper that resembles a jellyfish and purifies polluted air or a volcano skyscraper that harvests geothermal energy. Some projects explore new frontiers such as a proposed network of skyscrapers in the stratosphere, a cluster of artificial islands that create the 7th continent in the Pacific Ocean, and nomad skyscrapers that terraform Mars. Other honorable mentions include morphing structures and digital explorations among many more ideas that look into the future of our natural and built environments.
The members of the Jury are: Vincent Callebaut [principal Vincent Callebaut Architectures], Giacomo Costa [visionary artist, author: The Chronicles of Time], Julien De Smedt [principal Julien De Smedt Architects – JDS], Hernan Diaz Alonso [principal Xefirotarch, Graduate Programs Chair at SCI-Arc], Mathias Hollwich [principal HWKN, founder Architizer], Ed Keller [principal aUm Studio, Associate Dean at Parsons New School of Design], Marc Kushner [principal HWKN, founder Architizer], Francois Roche [principal R&Sie(n) architecture, professor at GSAPP Columbia University], Roland Snooks [principal Kokkugia, professor at GSAPP Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania], Dongbai Song [winner 2012 Skyscraper Competition], Tuuli Sotamaa [principal Sotamaa Design, designer at Alessi], Kivi Sotamaa [principal Sotamaa Design, Director at Aalto Digital Design Laboratory, Professor at UCLA], Tom Wiscombe [principal Tom Wiscombe Design, professor at SCI-Arc], Hongchuan Zhao [winner 2012 Skyscraper Competition] , Zhi Zheng [winner 2012 Skyscraper Competition]
To commemorate the award, eVolo published a collector’s edition of its highly acclaimed book “eVolo Skyscrapers”. The book is a two-volume, 1300-page set with the best 300 projects received during the last years. Only 150 copies are available worldwide.
Polar Umbrella Buoyant Skyscraper Protects and Regenerates the Polar Ice Caps
First Place
2013 Skyscraper Competition
Derek Pirozzi
United States
During the last decades of global warming, the polar ice caps have experienced a severe rise in temperature causing the northern and southern ice shelves to become thin, fractured, and melt into the ocean. Rebuilding the arctic layers is the primary objective of this proposal which cools down the Earth’s surface by reducing heat gain in vulnerable arctic regions.
The Polar Umbrella’s buoyant super-structure becomes a statement for the prevention of future depletion of our protective arctic region. Through its desalinization and power facilities, this arctic skyscraper becomes a floating metropolis equipped with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) research laboratories, renewable power stations, dormitory-style housing units, eco-tourist attractions, and ecological habitats for wildlife. A series of these structures would be strategically located in the most affected areas.
Salt water is used to produce a renewable source of energy through an osmotic (salinity gradient power) power facility housed within the building’s core. In addition, the structure’s immense canopy allows for the reduction of heat gain on the arctic surface while harvesting solar energy. The umbrella’s thermal skin boasts a series of modules that are composed of a polyethylene piping system that pumps brackish water. Finally, the Polar Umbrella also regenerates the ice caps using harvest chambers that freeze the ocean water. Read the rest of this entry »
Phobia Skyscraper Revitalizes Paris Suburbs
Second Place
2013 Skyscraper Competition
Darius Maïkoff, Elodie Godo
France
The Phobia Skyscraper is a new form of modular suburban residential development for Paris, France. It is located over the “Petite Ceinture”, a former industrial site with excellent views of the city and an extensive transportation network.
Two main ground slabs and an empty tower structure, constructed of recycled industrial materials, hold prefabricated units that are stacked to utilize the same plumbing system but are rotated to open to outdoor spaces. The units are grouped around outdoor common green spaces.
These common areas, or “nuclei centers,” are equipped with displays that provide real-time feedback for residents on societal issues within the community, occupancy rates of the structure, and messages. It also contains water-collection equipment and solar power panels.
Despite its solid skeleton, the Phobia Skyscraper and its modular units are designed to evolve as does society itself. Its materials are the byproducts of abandonment and recycling; the building itself could be abandoned and once again revitalized, depending on the desires and needs of its residents. Read the rest of this entry »