Du 27 septembre au 13 octobre, le projet Ark Nova se tient au Japon et propose un auditorium mobile gonflable qui accueillera un concert Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Installée à Matsushima, cette incroyable création a été dessinée par l’artiste Anish Kapoor et réalisée par le bureau d’architecture Arata Isozaki.
Gigantic tree-like columns support the overhanging roof of the Qatar National Convention Centre by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, captured in these new shots by Portuguese photographer Nelson Garrido.
The building was designed by Arata Isozaki to reference the Sidrat al-Muntaha, a holy Islamic tree that is believed to symbolise the end of the seventh heaven.
A pair of sprawling steel columns create the illusion of two trees in front of the large rectangular glass facade, supporting a roof canopy that extends out to offer shelter to a public plaza in front of the building.
“The tree is a beacon of learning and comfort in the desert and a haven for poets and scholars who gathered beneath its branches to share knowledge,” said the architects.
Located on the 1000-hectare campus of the Qatar Foundation in Doha, the Qatar National Convention Centre opened to the public in December 2011. It is the largest exhibition centre in the Middle East and can accommodate up to 7000 people in its three main halls.
Visitors enter the building through a large reception hall that spans both the full width and height of the building. Steel-clad staircases beyond lead to floors both above and below ground, and are flanked by a wall of colourful tessellated shapes.
Other spaces include a 4000-seat conference hall, a 2300-seat theatre, nine exhibition halls and a series of 52 meetings rooms that can be used for various events and activities.
Japanese architect Arata Isozaki was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986. His best-known works include the Oita Prefectural Library and Kamioka Town Hall, while more recent projects include the Maranello library in Italy and a modular office block in Spain. See more architecture by Arata Isozaki »
See more photography by Nelson Garrido on Dezeen, or on the photographer’s website.
Read on for more information from the design team:
Qatar National Convention Centre
QNCC was designed by the renowned Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Officially opened on 4 December 2011, the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) is one of the most sophisticated convention and exhibition centres built to date, boasting iconic design bearing the ‘Sidra Tree’.
The spectacular façade resembles two intertwined trees reaching up to support the exterior canopy. The tree is a beacon of learning and comfort in the desert and a haven for poets and scholars who gathered beneath its branches to share knowledge.
QNCC was conceived with a focus on sustainability. The Centre was successfully built according to U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) gold certification standards. The building is designed to operate efficiently with innovations such as water conservation and energy-efficient fixtures.
A member of the Qatar Foundation, QNCC features a conference hall of 4,000-seat theatre style, a 2,300-seat theatre, three auditoria and a total of 52 flexible meetings rooms to accommodate a wide range of events. It also houses 40,000 square metres of exhibition space over nine halls, and is adaptable to seat 10,000 for a conference or banquet. The Centre’s stunning architecture and cutting edge facilities are ideal for hosting local, regional and international conventions and exhibitions, gala events, theatrical productions and banquet functions.
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by Arata Isozaki appeared first on Dezeen.
A glazed reading room appears to float over the still waters of a shallow pool at this town library in Maranello, Italy, by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and Italian architect Andrea Maffei (+ slideshow).
The curving glass facade wiggles back and forth to form the building’s perimeter, while study areas behind the glass offer visitors a view out across the water towards the ivy-covered walls that bound the site.
“The volume is mirrored on a body of water that reflects the intense color of the ivy onto the surrounding walls and surfaces,” said Andrea Maffei.
The glass facade straightens up at the building’s entrance, although a semi-circular canopy extends outwards to continue the curved outline.
Beyond the reception, a single reading room occupies most of the ground floor and is filled with white furniture that can accommodate up to 90 visitors at a time.
“In the interior of the building the absolute white resin pavement and white furniture captures the green hues of the greenery that is reflected from the continuous glazed surfaces of the curvilinear façade,” added Maffei. ”The light that pervades the open space of the library is exhibited in a play of reflections that bounce from the white elements of the furniture, the floors and structure, to the water and the continuous transparent glass.”
A local history archive and small playroom are also located on this floor, while stairs lead down to a digital archive, lecture space and meeting room in the basement.
Maffei previously spent several years working in Arata Isozaki‘s Tokyo studio and the pair have since teamed up on a number of projects that are underway elsewhere in Italy.
Other projects we’ve featured by Arata Isozaki include a modular office block in Barcelona and an inflatable concert hall he designed with Anish Kapoor.
See more libraries on Dezeen, including the Folkwang Library where glass walls look like marble.
Photography is by Alessandra Chemollo.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
The new Town Library in Maranello, Italy, designed by architects Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, opened to the public on November 19, 2011. Built near the center of the city, it substantiates the effective synergy between a public administration that of Maranello – which is investing in pursuing an architecture of quality – and the designers: Arata Isozaki, one of the most celebrated masters of contemporary Japanese architectural culture, and Andrea Maffei, Italian architect who worked in Isozaki’s studio in Tokyo for several years and is now co-designing with him several projects in Italy, currently in development.
The building defines a rarefied space that is perfectly placed within the urban fabric. Its sinuous profiles are bound by glass plates that follow its contour: reading becomes an “open” experience by means of the transparent membrane that forms the façade. It manifests as an interaction between knowledge and the contemplation of the landscape that surrounds the library.
The building expresses a dialogue with the urban fabric through the transparency of its body. The objective, on the part of the architects, was to establish a direct interaction with the city. Situated within a residential area, the library takes the place of a pre-existing building whose traces can still be found as the northern, eastern and southern exterior walls. These walls are covered with ivy, which along with the reflecting pools at the foot of the glazed perimeter make up the new natural horizons that are offered to the readers and patrons of the library.
As of today, the new Library in Maranello offers the community an environment in which to read, study, learn and enjoy a space that is suspended over a body of water and enveloped by greenery.
Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: basement plan – click above for larger image
Above: roof plan – click above for larger image
Above: section aa – click above for larger image
Above: section bb – click above for larger image
The post New Town Library in Maranello by
Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei appeared first on Dezeen.
Modular offices open out to terraces on each floor of this building in Barcelona by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki (+ slideshow with photographs by Filippo Poli).
Completed in April, the project is the first in a three-phased office development masterplanned by Isozaki alongside former Foreign Office Architects partners Alejandro Zaera-Polo and Farshid Moussavi for a site in the industrial district of Zona Franca.
The glass-panelled facade is covered with a pattern of white and green dots, which reduce glare into the offices behind.
The building has a square-shaped plan where each level surrounds a central core containing staircases and lifts.
Offices floors have either a C or L-shaped layout and can be subdivided into two or three units.
Last year Isozaki unveiled designs for an inflatable concert hall by himself and artist Anish Kapoor.
Here’s some text from Arata Isozaki & Associates:
D38. Zona Franca, Barcelona
DISTRITO 38 is an office-park project of 70,000 square meters developed on a 35,000 square meter lot, which is to be built in three phases according to a master plan produced in collaboration with FOA.
The area can be found at the foot of Montjuic hill, to the west of Barcelona, in a zone abounding in office projects currently under development, thus converting the area into an important tertiary centre located close to the airport and the seaport.
There exists great diversity in office spaces at present, and since the final use and necessities of these offices are still unknown, an open system that allows for posterior reorganisation according to new and developing requirements was chosen.
The lot faces a representative part of the Paseo de Zona Franca.
Using this as a reference point, a 7.5 x 7.5 meter grid defined by a structural mesh has been deployed, from which point the parking area as well as the six planned buildings will be developed.
Building 1 has been conceived as a parallelepiped, measuring 52.5 x 52.5 meters on the sides with a height of 46.5 meters, and featuring a central core from which parts will be subtracted perimetrically from the volume.
This ‘subtraction game’ leads to better location adaptation, a hierarchy in the different façades, and easier adaptability in the creation of office settings, ideal in this highly fluctuating market.
The office floors are available in two distinctive types: the L and the C shape, and the interior of each may be organised into and sold as one,two or three units.
The post D38 Zona Franca Office
by Arata Isozaki appeared first on Dezeen.
Here are some images of an inflatable concert hall designed by architect Arata Isozaki and artist Anish Kapoor to tour parts of Japan affected by the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.
Once complete, the mobile Ark Nova pavilion will stage music and dance performances for victims of the disaster.
The red stretchy skin of the hall is modelled on Kapoor’s orb-like Leviathan sculptures, which we featured on Dezeen back in June.
The venue will seat between 500 and 700 spectators and is designed to enable quick erection and dismantling.
The Lucerne Festival in Switzerland initiated the project, alongside music management agency Kajimoto.
Other disaster relief projects in Japan include temporary homes in shipping containers – see all our stories about helping Japan’s recovery here.
Here’s some more details about the project from the organisers:
Ark Nova – A Tribute to Higashi Nihon
A mobile concert hall for the devastated regions in Japan
Using music to bring hope and promise to those who are suffering from the tragic major earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011: this is the idea and goal of a special project entitled “ARK NOVA – A Tribute to Higashi Nihon.”
The star architect Arata Isozaki, working together with the Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is developing a mobile concert hall in which, starting in the spring of 2012, works of high artistic quality will be presented in various locations throughout the devastated region. The project was initiated by the LUCERNE FESTIVAL along with the Japanese concert and artist management agency Kajimoto.
A devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the Higashi-Nihon region of northern Japan on March 11, 2011. Much has already been accomplished thanks to extensive national and international assistance, and reconstruction is in full swing. Of course, the people in the region are still suffering from the direct and indirect consequences of this tragic catastrophe and are mourning the loss of family and friends. A project by the name of “ARK NOVA – A Tribute to Higashi Nihon” has the goal of bringing new hope and promise to the people in this region through music and art.
Under the direction of Arata Isozaki, one of the world’s most sought-after architects, a mobile concert hall is being built, one that can be transported to various locations in the devastated region. The multi- component design includes a hall with seating for between 500 to 700 spectators. The inflatable shell is made of an elastic material that allows quick erection and dismantling. Isozaki is working on this project in close collaboration with the Indian-born British sculptor Anish Kapoor, who is responsible for the design of the building’s shell. Kapoor’s inflatable sculpture “Leviathan” displayed at this year’s Monumenta is serving as a model for the project. Yasuhisa Toyota from Nagata Acoustics is responsible for the hall’s acoustic design, and David Staples from Theatre Projects in London is acting as the specialist theatre consultant.
The hall will be called ARK NOVA and provide an absolutely unique platform for performances and appearances encompassing classical music, jazz, dance, multimedia and interdisciplinary artistic projects by leading artists and ensembles from around the world. An artistic committee with renowned personalities associated with the LUCERNE FESTIVAL will support the program planning. The performances are intended to be supported by sponsors and supporters in order to provide the population of the region with free access to the programs being presented.
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