C-Mine by 51N4E

C-Mine by 51N4E

Brussels firm 51N4E have converted the industrial buildings at this former coal mine in Winterslag, Belgium, into a cultural centre.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Called C-Mine, the project involved building two new structures to house theatres either side of the main machinery hall.

C-Mine by 51N4E

The new buildings have a white concrete base and steel shutters so the auditoria inside can either be flooded with natural light or darkened for performances.

C-Mine by 51N4E

The project also houses a design centre, music room, restaurant, event hall, exhibitions spaces and tourist facilities for the old mining site.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Photographs are by Stijn Bollaert, courtesy 51N4E.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Here are some more details from the architects:


C-MINE: cultural infrastructure reconversion

This project consists of the reconversion of the listed machinery buildings on the former coal mine site of Winterslag. The complex will house up to 5.000 m2 of cultural infrastructure. In the remaining and restored part of the building a design centre, a restaurant, a festivity hall and a touristic infrastructure for the experience of the mining history.

C-Mine by 51N4E

In the arm pits of the old T-shaped building a new theatre hall, a smaller music room, several exhibition spaces and facility functions (a.o. offices) are developed. The new part integrates perfectly into the functional and formal logic of the existing complex.

C-Mine by 51N4E

The former nerve centre of the coal mine of Winterslag is being transformed into the new heart of C-MINE. The former compressor hall, the lift buildings and the ‘Barenzaal’ are reprogrammed and developed into a cultural centre, a design centre and a tourist visitors centre.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Restoration: The existing buildings form brick envelopes housing the different machines. Already through their scale and their engineering they enforce respect. By opting for a light restoration they buildings will remain intact, as privileged witnesses from the mining age.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Extension: The industrial buildings present themselves as a monolith. Functionally they consist of a five meters high labyrinthine foundation base with on top a few majestical machine halls. This contrast between light and dark, high and low, spacious and covered up forms the biggest quality of these buildings. The extension is a resolute option to enhance this contrast and maintain it. The existing base is extended on to the whole available construction site. The new base in white concrete smoothly accommodates all new functions. Only the two new venue hall will pierce trough the base with their volume.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Cultural machines: The two new theatre venues are considered as cultural machines. Together with the lift buildings and the compressor hall they construct a new complex of machine halls on a big ‘piano nobile’. In between these cultural and industrial machine hall unique terrace arise, paved with the same red and white tiles as the existing interior floors of the machine halls.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Like the machine halls the two theatre venues bathe in daylight and are equipped with steal blades for regulatable sun shading and darkening. The big venue (500 spectators) is equipped with a fixed slope while the small venue has a flat ground floor surface.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Program: The new complex has its main entrance on to the urban square in front. A big steal volume filters the public from this square into the foyer. Once inside one finds the tourist visitor centre.

C-Mine by 51N4E

The foyer will function as huge distribution centre form which provides access to the other functions such as an exhibition space, the café and restaurant, the big and small venue, etc.

C-Mine by 51N4E

On top of this foyer the compressor hall is located which can function as an expansion tank for the design centre, the cultural centre, as well as for third parties.

C-Mine by 51N4E

Form the compressor hall on the visitor can access the Mine Experience, the design centre, the café and restaurant and the new roof terraces – accompanied with a unique view on the slagheap.

C-Mine by 51N4E

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C-Mine by 51N4E

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C-Mine by 51N4E

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Location: Winterslag, Genk, BE
Invited competition: 2005
Completion: 2010
Client: City of Genk
51N4E tasks: full process
Project team: Johan Anrys, Freek Persyn, Peter Swinnen, Aglaia De Mulder, Kelly Hendriks, Chris Blackbee, Joost Körver, Lu Zhang, Tine Cooreman, Aline Neirynck, Tom Baelus, Sotiria Kornaropoulou, Bob De Wispelaere, Jan Das, Philippe Nathan.
Consultants: TTAS (theater techniques), Bureau Monumentenzorg (heritage), Arat/ Philip Baelus (restoration)
Structural engineer: BAS/ Dirk Jaspaert
Technical engineer: IRS
Building physics/acoustics: Daidalos-Peutz
Calculation: Probam
Construction: Houben
Programme: theater & concert hall, Tourist Centre, Design Museum
Site surface: 8.800 m2
Built surface: 15.000 m2
Construction cost (excl VAT): 30.000.000 €


See also:

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Horno 3
by Grimshaw
Red Diamond by
Chiasmus Partners
Between the Waters by
Ooze and Marjetica Potrc

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

Here are some photos of the completed 2012 London Olympic Stadium designed by HOK Sport (now known as Populous).

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

Construction was completed this week and the 80,000-seat stadium will now be prepared with a running track, scoreboards and gantries before a test event in May next year.

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

According to the Olympic Delivery Authority construction is complete three months ahead of schedule and cost £10 million less that the original estimate.

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

The design was unveiled in 2007 – see our story here.

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

More about 2012 London Olympic Games »
More buildings for sport »

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

Photographs are by Morley von Sternberg, courtesy Populous.

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

Here’s a tiny bit of text from Populous:


29th March 2011 marks the completion of the construction contract at the Olympic Stadium where the last piece of turf is being laid by ODA Chairman John Armitt.

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

Rod Sheard, Senior Principal at Populous, the Stadium architect said: “The construction of the world’s most environmentally friendly Olympic Stadium has taken just over 1,000 days, in the world of major construction it could be considered a sprint, its completion marks the beginning of the end of the construction phase of London’s Olympic Games. We can now all look forward to just under 500 days of the final preparation to when the world will see this innovative design perform for the first time.”

2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous

Above image is courtesy ODA


See also:

.

London 2012 Velodrome
by Hopkins Architects
London Gate
by Donis
Wenlock and Mandeville
by iris

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

Architectural photographer Francisco Nogueira has sent us his photographs of Casa das Histórias Paula Rego in Cascais, Portugal, the latest building to be completed by 2011 Pritzker Prize Laureate Eduardo Souto de Moura.

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

Designed to exhibit paintings, drawings and etchings by artist Paula Rego, the red concrete museum has four wings and two pyramid-like chimneys.

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

The interior is painted white with flooring made from local marble.

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

Besides the galleries the building houses a shop, cafe and 200-seat auditorium.

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

More about the Pritzker Prize »

Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

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Casa das Histórias Paula Rego by Eduardo Souto de Moura

The information below is from the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego:


The Casa das Histórias Paula Rego was designed by the architect Eduardo Souto de Moura. The building makes use of certain aspects of the region’s historical architecture, which is here reinterpreted in a contemporary way. It can be immediately recognised thanks to its two pyramid-shaped towers and the red-coloured concrete used in its construction.

The land and trees which previously existed at the site are incorporated as fundamental elements, while four wings, of varying heights and sizes, make up the building. The building itself is subdivided into rooms which lead into one another and are laid out around the higher central room which houses the temporary exhibition. The building’s interior has 750m2 of exhibition space, on top of the technical and service areas, and is decorated in neutral shades and paved with the blue-grey marble of Cascais. The building also houses a shop, a café which opens onto a verdant garden and an auditorium with 200 seats.

The building’s design is fully in keeping with the artist’s wishes, and it was Paul Rego herself who was responsible for the choice of architect. It meets all the requirements for a museum and its various functions, without forgetting the need to give visitors a warm welcome.

With the Casa das Histórias, it can be said that Eduardo Souto de Moura has adopted an almost ‘regionalist’ approach, distancing himself from the modern abstractionism that has been a dominant feature of his work. It is, however, an uncritical regionalism, that avoids the sense of ‘resistante’ which lay behind other attempts at the approach in Portugal in the 1980s. In this museum created for Cascais, Souto de Moura associates certain formal devices with a legacy of architectural composition, adopting specific formulas for the building’s insertion in the surrounding area as well as a use of scale which can be easily contextualised in a very specific type of geography. Its close proximity to the work of Raul Lino is therefore set in a “Southern” landscape, without resorting to any unnecessary decorative or picturesque frills.”

“With this museum, Souto de Moura develops a form of “modern-day architecture” without, in fact, repeating any of the “old models” – in keeping with the ideas defended by Aldo Rossi in his scientific autobiography – evoking timeless archetypes from urban iconography: towers, lighthouses, silos and chimneys, like the ones that define the profile of the Palácio de Sintra. It is therefore not surprising, if one continues the “analogy”, that, when describing this museum, Souto de Moura also mentioned the pronounced roofs of Raul Lino’s palaces, or the idea of an “inhabited chimney”, evoking that of the kitchen in the monastery of Alcobaça. In fact, in its best interpretation, the Casa das Histórias can be seen as a “historicist” project, a condition that will certainly surprise Souto de Moura’s most faithful followers and confound his harshest critics.”


See also:

.

Key projects by Eduardo
Souto de Moura
More about
the prize
More Portuguese
architecture

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

Photographer Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre has sent us his photos of the Centro Niemeyer by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, which opens tomorrow in Avilés, Spain.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

An auditorium for 1000 spectators spills onto a public plaza, which also contains a viewing tower and three-storey dome-shaped museum.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

A spiral staircase inside the museum leads to a mezzanine where light and sound installations will be on show for the inaugural exhibition, featuring work by film director Carlo Saura.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

A separate building houses a cinema, rehearsal rooms, meeting areas and conference halls.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

Photographs are by Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre/View.

The information below is from the Centro Cultural Internacional:


In 1989, the now one hundred year old Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer, was awarded the Prince of Asturias of the Arts Award. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Awards in 2006, the Prince of Asturias Foundation (FPA) invited all the award winners to participate in the celebrations.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

“I am an architect and, as such, what I do is design buildings and that is just what I am going to do; design a building.” And so, on a blank piece of paper, Oscar Niemeyer began sketching curves, a skill in which he excels. With this, Niemeyer offered one of the best possible gifts ever.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

Those first sketches, drawn with a thick black marker, formed the foundations of an ambitious cultural project which will be housed in what Niemeyer himself has called his most important project in Europe and his only project in Spain.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

Programme

The Niemeyer Center is an open door to culture in all its shapes, forms, traditions and styles. Music, theatre, cinema, expositions, conferences and outdoor and educational news will be the main focus of a multidisciplinary cultural programme of which the only common denominator is excellence.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

The Niemeyer Center was created to attract talent, knowledge and creativity. From this point of view, not only will it be a gateway to the best of the world’s culture, but also a producer of contents. Since the celebration of the First World Forum of Cultural Centres in Avilés the Niemeyer Center has worked in connection with some of the most prestigious cultural centres throughout the world, such as the Carnegie Hall, the Old Vic Theatre and Cannes Film Festival, among others.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

Facilities and Spaces The Niemeyer Center is the only piece of work created by Oscar Niemeyer to be built in Spain and, in his own words, it will be the most important of all his European designs.

Centro Niemeyer by Oscar Niemeyer

Driven by the same healthy ambition, the Niemeyer Center aims to become an international reference point in the production of cultural content; a space associated with excellence dedicated to education and culture. In order to accomplish this, the cultural complex will consist of five areas which are both separate yet complementary to each other:

  • An auditorium with capacity for 1,000 spectators.
  • An almost 4,000 square meter open-plan exhibition site.
  • Viewing point over the estuary and the city.
  • Multi-use building that will house a cinema, rehearsal areas and meeting and conference halls.
  • An open square, where entertainment and cultural activities will be programmed on a continuous basis, which will form a point of union between the Center and the city.

See also:

.

International Fair of Tripoli
by Oscar Niemeyer
More photographs by
Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre
More about
Spain

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

Photographer Fernando Guerra has sent us his images of a public passage and gallery in Vila do Conde, Portugal, designed by Portuguese architect Manuel Maia Gomes.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

Called Galeria.Solar.S.Roque, the staircase and elevator lead between two old buildings to a square eight meters below.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

The staircase is made of concrete with a red pigment and features a large window of brightly coloured glass panels.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

Artworks are displayed behind glass-lined walls along the corridor and parts of the original sixteenth century building are left exposed.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

Other projects by Manuel Maia Gomes on Dezeen »
More photography by Fernando Guerra on Dezeen »

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

More Portuguese architecture »

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

The following information is from the architects:


The project concerns the construction of a passage through two buildings leading to a square which lies eight meter below, leveled by one elevator, inside the staircase. The passage works like an exhibition space, for paints, sculpture and video arts.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

Conducts directly to the “Galleria Solar”, gallery which is specialized in cinematic art video and shortcut films. There is also a city bookshop. The original building was constructed in the sixteenth century, being deeply transformed in the eighteenth century.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

The refurbishment is done after the building was totally ruined. Being the passage a public space, which is opened from 8:00 am until 12:00pm, the art is protected by glass panels which are provided with natural heating and ventilation.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

In the middle of the passage, we leaved some remains, testimony of the sixteenth century original building: a stone portico and some steps characteristic of this period. In the first floor and in the attic, the space is converted in one student residence with eighteen sleeping rooms, kitchens and living spaces. Here, the strategy of the project is different.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

While in the ground floor, all the stone remain nude, without plaster and the floor are made of stone or cement, in the student residence, the space has been treated in terms of comfort: the floor was paved with wood and the walls are plastered and painted.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

Being one temporary residence, the common spaces communicates with the gallery through transparencies, communicates also at the level of the attic with city monuments through windows placed specifically to guide the viewing angles.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

The presence of the colored glass helps to make the transition between the historic manor house build in stone and the staircase constructed in pigmented concrete. Both materials went through unfinished treatments, evidencing the imperfection of the mankind.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

The space with the colour glass iluminate the passage wich incorporates a space for art exhibitions, introducing a section of cinematic gallery inside.
By this way, people meet art when walking through the city public spaces, being directly confronted and surprised by the regular exhibitions of the gallery.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

It combines the old with the new design, taking the atmosphere and ambience of gothic vitrals into contemporary architecture.
The way that the luminous color panel is seen at the entrance of the building, attracts people to come and see the bright colors: the light at the end of the tunnel.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

The Gallery was designed taking into account the principles of reuse of construction materials. The granite, building material which predominates in the building complemented with pigmented concrete, used in the construction of stairs and lift box. This project exposed the enormous capacity for conversion of the granite material seen as natural and environmentally friendly.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes

The huge thermal inertia of the granite associated with its high density, permits this material to be used as heat accumulator during the summer, releasing the energy accumulated during the winter months, thereby avoiding the use of forced air-conditioning spaces. Our little contribution to the desirable sustainability.

Galeria.Solar.S.Roque by Manuel Maia Gomes


See also:

.

Visitor Center by Standardarchitecture Educational Centre by Alejandro Muñoz MirandaSugamo Shinkin Bank by Emmanuelle Moureaux

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to design the new National Gallery of Greenland in the country’s capital city, Nuuk.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

The building will form a ring round a central glazed courtyard.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

Its roofline and internal paths will follow the shape of the sloping site, which overlooks a fjord.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

The gallery will display both historical and contemporary art.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

BIG won the commission in collaboration with local firms TNT NuukRamboll Nuuk and Inge Bisgaard of Arkitekti.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

More about BIG »

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

More cultural buildings on Dezeen »

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

All our architecture stories »

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

The information that follows is from BIG:


BIG WINS THE COMPETITION TO DESIGN GREENLAND’S NEW NATIONAL GALLERY

BIG + TNT Nuuk + Ramboll Nuuk + Arkitekti is the winning team to design the new National Gallery of Greenland in the country’s capital Nuuk, among invited proposals totaling 6 Nordic architects.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

Located on a steep slope overlooking the most beautiful of Greenland’s fjords, the 3000 m2 National Gallery will serve as a cultural and architectural icon for the people of Greenland.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

The new museum will combine historical and contemporary art of the country in one dynamic institution.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

The winning proposal was selected by a unanimous museum board among 6 proposals, including Norwegian Snøhetta, Finnish Heikkinen‐Komonen, Islandic Studio Granda and Greenlandic Tegnestuen Nuuk.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

“The Board has a clear vision: to work for the establishment of an internationally oriented highly professional institution that communicates the continuous project of documenting and developing the Greenlandic national identity through art and culture.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

Our dream is a national gallery where historic and contemporary art meets circumpolar pieces, Nordic and world art in general.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

Our dream is an institution that stimulates our curiosity, awake our excitement with its thought‐provoking design and where we all feel at home.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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Selecting a prominent architect as BIG, I am sure that our chances of realizing that dream are good”, Tuusi Josef Motzfeldt, Greenland’s National Gallery of Art.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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As a projection of a geometrically perfect circle on to the steep slope, the new gallery is conceived as a courtyard building that combines a pure geometrical layout with a sensitive adaption to the landscape.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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The three‐dimensional imprint of the landscape creates a protective ring around the museum’s focal point, the sculpture garden where visitors, personnel, exhibition merge with culture and nature, inside and outside.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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“The Danish functionalistic architecture in Nuuk is typically square boxes which ignore the unique nature of Greenland.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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We therefore propose a national gallery which is both physically and visually in harmony with the dramatic nature, just like life in Greenland is a symbiosis of the nature.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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We have created a simple, functional and symbolic shape, where the perfect circle is supplied by the local topography which creates a unique hybrid between the abstract shape and the specific location”, Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Partner, BIG.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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The slope opens up the sculpture garden towards the city and the view, framing both the sculpture garden and museum functions.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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A rough looking external façade of white concrete will patinate over time and adjust to the local weather, while the circular inner glass façade will consist of a simple and refined frame which contrasts the rough nature and compliments the beautiful view.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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” The building will with its simplistic coarseness and harmony with the landscape become a symbol of the current independent Greenlandic artistic and architectural expression.”, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Partner & Project Leader, BIG.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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The circular shape of the gallery enables a flexible division of the exhibition into different shapes and sizes, creating a unique framework for the museum’s art.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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Visitor access to the exhibition happens through a covered opening created by a slight lift in the façade into a lobby with a 180 degree panorama view towards the sculpture garden and the fjord as well as access to the common museum functions, including ticket counters, wardrobe, boutique and a café.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

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The new gallery will create more activity at the waterfront by attracting the whole area is interconnected by a path which like the museum, forms after the shifting inclinations of the terrain.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

The locals and visitors will be able to admire the clear shape of the gallery which appears as a sculpture or a piece of land‐art.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

“Greenland National Gallery for Art will play a significant role for the citizens of Greenland and the inhabitants of Nuuk as a cultural, social, political, urban and architectural focal point that opens towards the city and the world through its perfect circular geometry and shape”, Bjarke Ingels, Stifter & Partner, BIG.

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

PROJECT: Greenland National Gallery
CLIENT: Nunatta Eqqumiitsulianik Saqqummersitsivia

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

SIZE: 3000 m2
LOCATION: Nuuk, Greenland

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

COLLABORATION: TNT Nuuk, Rambøll Nuuk, Arkitekti, MIR, Glessner Group
PARTNER IN CHARGE: Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Pedersen

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG

PROJECT LEADER: Jakob Henke
TEAM: Daniel Selensky, Ji –young Yoon, Gul Ertekin, Aleksander Tokarz, Alessio Zenaro, Johan Cool Nicklas Antoni Rasch

National Gallery of Greenland by BIG


See also:

.

Waste-to-Energy Plant by
BIG
West 57th by
BIG
Danish Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 by BIG

Kodály Centre by Építész Stúdió

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

This faceted stone building by Hungarian architects Építész Stúdió contains a concert hall and conference centre in Pécs, Hungary.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

The Kodály Centre houses the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

It was designed in accordance with the mathematical principles of the golden ratio and visitors can walk up a ramped part of the building to a stepped courtyard area.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

Photographs are by Tamás Bujnovszky.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

More theatres and concert halls on Dezeen »

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

The following information is from the architects:


The Hungarian city of Pécs was selected as European Capital of Culture for 2010. The new Kodály Concert- and Conference Centre is one of the main projects for this event. There are two identities constituting the units of our world: inside and outside. Object and space. Extrovert and introvert. Active and passive.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

Community life and internal silence. The building that we can walk around, and the hall where music surrounds us. The building itself is vivid, moved by the dynamic symmetry of golden ratio. The hall itself is tranquillity filled by the symmetry of intellectual serenity. It all derives from the mathematical basis of our world.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

“Music that conveys universal truths itself, shows more direct connections with the physical and spiritual world order.
There are two sequences appearing significant in the sythesis of our world. As demonstrated below, both begin with the number 1 and 2.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

In the first sequence, each number is multiplied by 2 to get the next one, while in the second sequence, each remaining number is the sum of the previous two. Both sequences can be found in European music.
The first sequence is represented by the symmetry of classical music. It is filled by pursuit of balance. 
Not like in case of the second sequence.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

The Fibonacci-sequence is the most common presentation of golden ratio by integers. Golden ratio is usually called dynamic symmetry. Its most beautiful realisation in music is perhaps the 1st movement of Music for Strings, Percussions and Celeste by Bartók. Golden ratio as a characteristic of the living world is perfectly efficient to express fight, struggle and tension of existence, just as balance to express the intellectual serenity.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

Bartók composed his most impressive pieces – Music, Sonata for Two Pianos – implying the sphere of golden ratio in the 1st movements, then principle of classic symmetry in the last movements. The two systems relate to each other just like two worlds – more precisely, as two faces or sides of the same world. The first one applies balance as a guiding principle, the second one applies tension. They are connected in mutual presupposition and exclusion, they compose unity and contrast.”
/after Ernő Lendvai and Erzsébet Tusa/

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

The architectural characteristics of the concert hall are in close harmony with the common principles of design and musical composition. Dynamics and balance. Two sides of the same world.
The building elements: stone and wood. Hard and soft. Cold and warm. Age of myriads and centuries. Enduring and intimate. The ancient white stone snail slowly embraces the concert hall lined with pure wood. As if we were listening to music inside a gigantic wooden shape or instrument.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

The opening of the concert hall means that a 200-years-dream is about to come true in the city’s musical development. Its essential artistic and professional aim, applying the principle of regionalism, is to introduce Pécs as the musical centre of the Southern Cultural Zone. As the residing orchestra, the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra is going to determine the professional musical concept of the concert hall.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

The existing traditional concerts gain new dimensions: having the opportunity to invite dominant guest artists who have not visited Pécs before because of infrastructural sanctiness, as well as to perform pieces that could not be staged in the previous venues. These are conditions for further advancement of the orchestra -and now all attainable by the concert hall.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

The new building include, in addition to a concert hall and a large rehearsal room, the offices of the Pannon Philharmonic and the Conference Centre, other rooms necessary for the operation of the orchestra (such as storerooms for sheet music and instruments), facilities serving the audience -café, bookstore, lounge, etc. – and several service premises.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

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The design competition was closed in the spring of 2007. The winning proposal was submitted by the Építész Stúdió Ltd. from Budapest. The archaeological explorations and licensing procedures were completed, construction work began in July 2009. The opening concert took place in December 2010.

Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

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project name: KODÁLY KÖZPONT / KODÁLY CENTRE – CONCERT HALL in PÉCS
location: PÉCS /Hungary/
client: the city of PÉCS
architects: ÉPÍTÉSZ STÚDIÓ
Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

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(abc) Tamás Fialovszky, Richard Hőnich, Ferenc Keller, Benedek Sólyom
interior design: László (f) Rádóczy, Zsolt Tolnai – PÉCSÉPTERV
acoustics: Éva AratóAnders Christian Gade, András Kotschy
Kodaly Centre by Epitesz Studio

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landscape: Sándor Mohácsi, Borbála Gyüre – S73
design period: 2007 – 2010
completion date: December of 2010.
gross area: 11.200 m2


See also:

.

La Llotja de Lleida by
Mecanoo
Art Museum by KSP Jürgen Engel ArchitektenTampa Covenant Church by Alfonso Architects

TEK by BIG

TEK by BIG

Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group have designed a technology centre for Taipei, Taiwan, comprising a cube-shaped structure with round voids cut from its volume. 

TEK by BIG

Called TEK (Technology, Entertainment & Knowledge Centre), holes in the structure will create a spiral within the volume, forming access routes from street level into the building and up to its roof.

TEK by BIG

The building will be made up of concrete lamellas, an arrangement of stacked thin plates, that will recede in the centre and function as a staircase where the holes have been cut into the structure.

TEK by BIG

These stepped areas can also provide informal seating areas for visitors.

TEK by BIG

The centre will comprise exhibition spaces, showrooms, an auditorium, restaurants and galleries, which will be organised around the central spiral.

TEK by BIG

Retail spaces, a hotel and offices will also be incorporated.

TEK by BIG

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TEK by BIG

More cultural buildings on Dezeen »

TEK by BIG

More architecture on Dezeen »

TEK by BIG

Here’s some more information from the architects:


TEK – Technology, Entertainment & Knowledge Center Taipei
The Technology Entertainment & Knowledge Center – aka TEK Taipei – is a dense urban block of all kinds of activities related to contemporary technology and media.

TEK by BIG

The cube = TEK3
The spiraling street of media programs is consolidated in to a 57x57x57 m3 cube of program permeated by a public trajectory of people life.

TEK by BIG

The cube is finished in concrete lamellas serving as solar shading as well as public access.

TEK by BIG

The lamellas recede inwards forming a generous public staircase allowing the public to walk into the façade and all the way to the roof.

TEK by BIG

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TEK Taipei will consolidate exhibition spaces, showrooms, retail space, a market place and hotel, offices and conference rooms all related to media in a single superfunctional entity.

TEK by BIG

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At the heart of the institution, a big public auditorium will host product presentations, program launches, movie previews and gaming tournaments as well as the biannual TEK Taipei as the reoccurring anchor event for the whole complex.

TEK by BIG

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TEK3 contains an almost urban mix of programs with no obvious hierarchy.

TEK by BIG

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We propose to organize the shops and showrooms, offices and hotel rooms, conference rooms and exhibition spaces, restaurants and galleries along an internal extension of the pedestrian street to the south.

TEK by BIG

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ProJect TEK – Technology, Entertainment & Knowledge Center Taipei

TEK by BIG

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client Taiwan Land Development Corporation

TEK by BIG

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consultants Realities United, Arup

TEK by BIG

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size 53.000m2

TEK by BIG

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location Taipei, Taiwan

TEK by BIG

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m = distance I m2 = area I m3 = space

TEK by BIG

Technology + Entertainment + Knowledge = TEK

TEK by BIG

TEK3 = Space for Technology, Entertainment & Knowledge

TEK by BIG

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Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Jakob Lange

TEK by BIG

Project Leader: Cat Huang

TEK by BIG

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Team: Allyson Hiller, Xi Chen, Esben Vik, Johan Cool, Xu Li, Gaeton Brunet

TEK by BIG

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See also:

.

Taichung Convention Center by MADThe World Village of Women Sports by BIGUrban Forest by
MAD

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

The New World Symphony’s orchestral academy designed by Frank Gehry opened yesterday in Miami Beach, Florida.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Called New World Centre, the building includes a 756-seat performance hall surrounded by ‘sails’ that reflect sound and act as projection screens.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

The 80 foot-high glass curtain wall displays activity within to the surrounding neighbourhood and is designed to invite passers-by to enter the main atrium, where tumbling forms enclose the building’s smaller rooms.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

The facade features a 7,000 square-foot projection wall onto which live concerts can be projected and enjoyed by visitors in the adjacent 2.5-acre Miami Beach SoundScape landscaped park, designed by Dutch firm West 8.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

More about Frank Gehry on Dezeen »

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Photographs are by Claudia Uribe unless otherwise stated. Drawings are courtesy of New World Symphony.

The information below is from the New World Symphony:


GRAND OPENING OF NEW WORLD CENTER IN MIAMI BEACH

New civic and cultural landmark, designed by Frank Gehry in close collaboration with Michael Tilson Thomas, is the first purpose-built home for New World Symphony

New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, marks a new era for classical music with the inauguration of the institution’s first purpose-built home, an extraordinary new facility in the center of Miami Beach. Designed by Frank Gehry in close collaboration with the New World Symphony’s founder and artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas, New World Center opens up exciting new possibilities in the way music is taught, presented and experienced and dramatically advances New World Symphony’s mission to provide exceptional professional training for the gifted young music school graduates who are its Fellows.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

“The opening of this extraordinary building is the beginning of a wonderful adventure and exploration,” said Michael Tilson Thomas. ”Not only are we marking a new era for this organization and giving our musicians an unrivalled facility in which to learn and achieve their potential, but we are also inviting everyone to experience classical music in a new kind of space—one that is designed to engage and to energize, and that will move people from around the world to think about music in new ways.”

At the heart of New World Center is a flexible and technologically sophisticated 756-seat performance hall, featuring large acoustically reflective “sails” that surround the audience with sound and also serve as video projection surfaces.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Above image is by Todd Eberle. New World Symphony founder Michael Tilson Thomas in New World Center Atrium

Directly adjacent to the 100,641-square-foot building is the new Miami Beach SoundScape, a landscaped 2.5- acre public space into which New World Symphony will extend its programming. Together, the building and the public space create a dynamic new city center and a geographical “heart” from which civic, cultural, recreational, tourist and leisurely activity will radiate.

Six days of opening festivities will showcase the new building’s remarkable capabilities. Events include the world premiere of a commissioned work for orchestra by acclaimed composer Thomas Adès; video projections within the performance hall, including a new work by filmmaker Tal Rosner and the world premiere of a series of animations developed in collaboration with the University of Southern California (alma mater of Michael Tilson Thomas and Frank Gehry) and its School of Cinematic Arts; outdoor video projections of a new work by Tal Rosner and digital artist C.E.B. Reas; an outdoor wallcast of a live concert; the introduction of new concert formats designed to engage and broaden audiences; an architecture symposium; live outdoor entertainment; and fireworks.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Above image is by Tomas Loewy. New World Symphony founder Michael Tilson Thomas in New World Center Atrium

Frank Gehry stated, “I am very proud of this building, which results from a close working relationship with my lifelong friend Michael Tilson Thomas and brings to life his dream for New World Symphony and the entire world of classical music. I hope the spirit of creative engagement that Michael and I have enjoyed will live on in the building’s spaces. They are designed to encourage young musicians, their mentors and their audiences to try new things, interact in new ways and remain open to new experiences.”

According to Howard Herring, President and CEO of New World Symphony, “What we have with the opening of New World Center is a set of unprecedented opportunities. Opportunities for the best young orchestral musicians in the world, our Fellows, to learn to surpass themselves. Opportunities for the public, inside and outside this building, to become engaged in the Fellows’ journey, and feel their thrill of discovery. Opportunities to reinvent, and reimagine, the way classical music is taught, performed, programmed and experienced. From the infinitely varied projections on the outside of this building to the dazzling array of configurations and visual experiences you see inside this performance hall to our amazingly flexible and advanced spaces for teaching and rehearsal and media, everything at New World Center is designed to open fresh possibilities, and to keep opening them, not just today but every day.”

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Major components of New World Center’s program-focused design are: a soaring, 80-foot-high glass facade providing a spectacular entrance and views of activities inside a skylit atrium where playful, tumbling geometric forms delineate the internal spaces, and where the public may relax at an illuminated glass bar with a blue titanium canopy; the 756-seat performance hall, with acoustic design led by Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics; a giant, 7,000-square-foot exterior projection wall for outdoor video presentations, including wallcastsTM of live concerts; a rooftop terrace offering panoramic views of Miami Beach, the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay; a music library; and numerous practice and rehearsal spaces and technology studios wired with 17 miles of fiber-optic cable for high-speed Internet2 transmissions.

Miami Beach SoundScape, commissioned by the City of Miami Beach and designed by the acclaimed Dutch firm West 8, is located to the east of New World Center. To the west of the new building lies Pennsylvania Avenue Garage, a new 550-car parking structure designed by Gehry Partners, LLP. These facilities, combined with the building, comprise the City Center redevelopment project that is injecting fresh vitality into the architecturally historic district of South Beach.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Above image is by Todd Eberle

About New World Center

The New World Center is a unique performance, education, production and creative space with state-of-the-art capabilities, owned and operated by the New World Symphony. A global hub for creative expression and collaboration and a laboratory for the ways music is taught, presented and experienced, the new building will enable the New World Symphony to continue its role as the leader in integrating technology with music education and concert presentation. It will be used by the New World Symphony for educational activities, musical and related cultural performances and events, rehearsals, Internet2 transmissions, recordings, broadcasts and webcasts. The venue will also be available for third-party uses on a rental basis.

Dedicated to classical music’s power to communicate and connect, the New World Center is at once exceptionally transparent and outgoing. The 7,000-square-foot projection wall located on the right side of the façade brings what happens inside the concert hall to the event space outside. The main viewing area, ExoStage@Miami Beach SoundScape, can accommodate up to 1,000 people and is surrounded by an immersive sound system designed to look like two giant, gently curving ballet barres, providing a first-rate listening experience to audiences. In addition to offering wallcastsTM of concerts, the projection wall will show presentations including the site-specific video mural, video art, films and informational shorts.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

The main entrance of New World Center is set in a soaring, 80-foot-high glass curtain wall to the left of the projection wall, providing uninterrupted views of the skylit main atrium and the dramatic, tumbling forms delineating the interior spaces beyond. The entrance is distinguished by a white, wave-like canopy and opens out onto the Mary and Howard Frank Plaza and Miami Beach SoundScape. Built with glass with no iron content, the curtain wall is utterly clear and disappears when lit from within— by the atrium’s skylight during the day and by theatrical lighting at night. When lit at night by the space’s architectural lighting system, the tumbling forms within the frame of the curtain wall take on the character of performers on a proscenium stage, turning the building itself into a performance. A 650-square-foot LED light field is positioned at the top of the transparent wall, announcing its programming, and the campus’s box office is located next to the main entrance.

The atrium immediately conveys the feeling that New World Center is a place to be used and enjoyed. The floors are polished concrete, the walls are painted drywall, and the seating consists of baby-blue banquettes with plywood backing. A large, illuminated glass bar with an undulating, blue-tinted titanium canopy is situated at the back of lively, light-flooded space. The atrium also features Taboehan (2003), a monumental sculpture by artist Frank Stella. Donated by Miami collector Martin Z. Margulies, Taboehan is the only work of art permanently on view at New World Center.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Above image is by Tomas Loewy

Among the principal spaces that open onto the atrium is the SunTrust Pavilion: a large, multi-purpose room for full-orchestra rehearsals, small performances, film screenings, lectures, business meetings and recordings, many of which will be free and open to the public. The east wall of the pavilion is glass, allowing passersby to see the activity inside and be encouraged to enter the building. An upper terrace permits people to observe the activities in the Pavilion without disrupting them, while offering an expansive view over Miami Beach SoundScape.

To reach the performance hall through the atrium, concertgoers pass through one of two softly lit, serpentine corridors that gradually narrow as they wind along, before opening again dramatically to reveal the hall. Visitors arrive into the space by the front of the stage, in the center of the 50-foot-high, circular hall where tiers of seats rise on all sides. From the first moment in the hall, the design makes people participants rather than spectators—and once the audience members take their places, they remain involved, since no one in this intimate, 756-seat hall is more than 13 rows from the stage.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

The collaboration of Gehry Partners with Nagata Acoustics and Theatre Projects Consultants has resulted in a performance hall that is virtually unlimited in the experiences it can offer. The stage is comprised of ten platforms, each on its own mechanical lift, with fourteen distinctive configurations for all kinds of performance experiences, from a solo recital with cabaret seating to a full-orchestra concert. It is also possible to lower all of the platforms, retract 247 of the seats and turn the central space into a dance floor for the New World Symphony’s series of Pulse concerts. Four built-in platforms set throughout the hall serve as satellite stages, allowing the focus of a concert to shift from the main stage to another part of the room instantaneously, with only a lighting change. Large, curved acoustical “sails” on all sides of the hall double as screens for 14 high definition projectors, allowing New World Symphony to immerse audiences in a visual experience during a concert, or simply show brief program information on a single screen above the stage.

Natural light in the performance hall is afforded via an overhead skylight and a large panoramic window behind the stage, overlooking 17th Street. The hall’s seats are upholstered in mottled patterns of blues and white – specially designed by Frank Gehry and produced by Poltrona Frau – which are inspired by the building’s tropical location and intended to bring imagery of the water and sky of Miami Beach into the performance hall.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

As a facility dedicated to music education, New World Center contains twenty-four individual practice rooms and four ensemble rehearsal rooms where individuals or groups can choose to work either within or away from public view. The technological infrastructure and architectural design also establish links between the activities in these areas and the building’s other public functions. The Knight New Media Center on the building’s third floor contains video and audio editing suites, where New World Symphony can capture, produce and then distribute the audio and visual recordings of concerts, master classes, conversations with guest artists and more. Some of this material will come from the performance hall, which has ten built-in high-definition robotic cameras that can record 360 degrees of concerts and events. Other material will come from the practice rooms and ensemble rooms—two of which are located near the Knight New Media Center on the third floor, wrapped within a structure called The Flower, which is visible throughout the atrium and beyond the curtain wall of the façade. A total of 17 miles of high-speed fiber optic cable runs through the building, allowing every space to be connected to a global audience through next-generation Internet2.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

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Capping the architectural design are the public and program spaces on the sixth floor: notably the music library (which will be frequented by the Fellows), the Patrons’ Lounge and the rooftop terrace with panoramic views of Miami Beach, the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. The latter space will be used not only by the Fellows and staff of New World Symphony but by patrons and concert ticket-buyers.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Click above for larger image

About New World Symphony

The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy (NWS), is dedicated to the artistic, professional and personal development of outstanding young musicians. Founded in 1987 by Michael Tilson Thomas and Ted Arison, its fellowship program provides top graduates of music programs in the United States the opportunity to enhance their music education with the finest professional training. The New World Symphony’s success may be measured in part by its hundreds of alumni who are active in the music profession worldwide in nearly all of America’s major orchestras, and in symphonies and chamber orchestras in Europe, South America and the Far East.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Click above for larger image

As a result of its unique educational environment, the New World Symphony has achieved an international reputation for creating new models of orchestral training and performance. NWS has built a global community of the world’s finest performers, educators and composers who impart their knowledge and insight to the Fellows both in Miami Beach and via Internet2. In addition to presenting a full season of concerts from October to May in Miami Beach and Miami, the New World Symphony has performed in prestigious venues throughout the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, London’s The Barbican, Paris’ Bastille Opera, Cité de la Musique and Opéra Comique, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Rome’s National Academy of Santa Cecilia. The New World Symphony’s eight recordings to date encompass a range of repertoire, from jazz-inspired works to Latin American classics to music by contemporary American composers.

New World Centre by Frank Gehry

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See also:

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Dr Chau Chak Wing Building
by Frank Gehry
Lou Ruvo Center
by Frank Gehry
Duplex by Frank Gehry
for Make it Right

Médiathèque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon & Associés

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

This multimedia library in Anzin, France, by Strasbourg architects Dominique Coulon & Associés is wrapped in overlapping slices of concrete.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Reading rooms at the Médiathèque d’Anzin are revealed to the town outside through exposed areas of glazing, while the triangular geometry continues inside.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

More libraries on Dezeen »

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

More architecture on Dezeen »

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Here’s a little text from the architects:


The building reveals its preciousness at first sight.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Its pure, sophisticated geometry situates it as a public building.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The deliberate areas of transparency reveal its content.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The reading rooms present the building to the town in the manner of an invitation.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The multimedia library is covered with large white veils that reflect the light.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The building asserts it lightness, like an origami.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The successive folds and flaps repeat this image.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

It is white, almost immaterial, like the mere projection of a concept, yet it is brimming with the life that constitutes it beyond its physical limits.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

On the inside, there is abundant, uniform light.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The space is open and fluid, offering optimal flexibility.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The lighting effect produced by the tall gaps that appear to float in space is truly beautiful.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

The volumes are independent and geometrically free, giving the whole a wonderfully poetic feel.

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Click for larger image

Mediatheque d’Anzin by Dominique Coulon and Associes

Click for larger image


See also:

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Library in Münster
by Zauberscho[e]n
Library for Birmingham
by Mecanoo
Library in Colombia by
Javeriana University students