Dezeen Screen: new to our movie site Dezeen Screen is this movie by Bjarke Ingels Group that explains their competition-winning design for a mosque, Islamic centre and museum in Tirana, Albania. Watch the movie »
Italian design company Alessi will present this folding chair by British architect David Chipperfield in Milan next month.
Called Piana, the chair is manufactured from 100% recycled polypropylene and rotates around a single point held by two screws.
It is available in six colours: white, raspberry red, saffron yellow, patina green, traffic black and pebble grey.
The information below is from Alessi:
Alessi will be presenting a new project designed by British architect David Chipperfield.
The “Piana” chair is a totally unique new product for Alessi, and is a new folding and stackable chair produced under license with Parma based company Lamm.
The display, also conceived by Chipperfield, will turn the new space on Via Manzoni, into a vibrant showcase of quality Italian design.
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| Hellraiser by Karim Rashid for Alessi | Communicator by Martí Guixé for Alessi | Neko by Sanaa for Alessi |
Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to masterplan a new gateway to Stockholm at the intersection of two motorways.
Called Energy Valley, their proposal for Stockholmsporten will create an artificial valley containing a park with separate areas of forest, wetlands, grass lawns and hills, and will also feature a mirrored sphere hovering over the road junction.
Continuous cycle paths and footpaths looping through the area will connect attractions including a shopping centre, a hammam and a mosque.
Built around the junction between the E18 and E4 highways, Stockholmsporten is the largest infrastructure project in Sweden.
BIG win the competition in collaboration with Grontmij and Spacescape.
More information on the Stockholmsporten masterplan competition here (in Swedish)
Here’s some more information from the architects:
BIG WINS THE STOCKHOLMSPORTEN MASTER PLAN
BIG + Grontmij + Spacescape are the winning team for the Stockholmsporten master plan competition to design an inviting new entrance portal into Stockholm at the intersection of a newly planned super-junction.
The planned Hjulsta Intersection 15 km north of Stockholm where two European highways the E18 and E4 Bypasses converge into a three level intersection, amounts to the largest infrastructure project in Sweden, required due to the growth and development of the capital. The Stockholmsporten competition seeks to define the Hjulsta intersection through sculpting the surrounding landscape and framing the automotive scale of the intersection. Additionally the proposal connects the adjacent Järvafäl tet recreation area through a continuous promenade to the distinctive natural and heritage-laden environment and adds new qualities to the site. BIG was selected as the winner of the invited competition among proposals from Norwegian Snøhetta, Danish landscape architect Kristine Jensen and Swedish Erik Giudice Architects.
”The magnificent bowl shape of this proposal is an ingenious solution which interacts with the geometry of the intersection while at the same time creating an urban context linking together the different areas surrounding the site. Possibilities of adding qualities and activities to the place which will benefit residents are very elegantly added.” Jury Report, Stockholmsporten.
Prior to this competition, the intersecting roads would create physical and visual barriers between the surrounding neighborhoods and divide them into four areas totaling 580.000 m2. BIG’s proposal, the Energy Valley, re-connects these in an un-hierarchical and democratic way through a continuous circular bike and pedestrian loop aligned with public buildings and functions, including a shopping- and sports centre, a hammam and a mosque which will attract visitors from Stockholm and its suburbs.
By introducing natural environments of differing characters within the loop, an Energy Valley in the center turns into a pie shaped park of pine-and oak forests, wetlands, grass lawns and hilly terrain which create a diverse experience when moving in or around the landscape. The surrounding neighborhoods have room to grow, thus expanding infrastructure and developments up to the ridge of the new valley.
“The Energy Valley is a cross-over between urbanism, landscape, architecture, art and infrastructure into a new neighborhood of Stockholm. Harnessing the momentum of the massive investment in tunnels and highways and putting the excess excavation to use as a man-made valley, we create an interdisciplinary hybrid of logistic, economic, environmental and social infrastructure.” Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Partner, BIG.
The site has a great potential in serving as a new entryway into Stockholm. This point is turned into a reflective, self-sustaining hovering sphere mirroring Stockholm as it is, new and old, creating a 180 degree view of the area for the drivers on their way in or out of the city.
30% of the sphere’s surface is covered with Photovoltaic film that faces the sun and produces enough energy to keep it floating while supplying 235 houses in the neighborhood with electricity.
The Stockholm Sphere is an ever changing icon that marks an entry point to the city and reflects the passing seasons and the evolving urban life beneath it.
“Traditionally highways split adjacent areas into disconnected neighborhoods – a good side and a bad side. Our biggest challenge was how to create the maximum benefit by connecting the four parts cut by the intersecting highways. The intersection is thus tamed by the connecting link that circumscribes it.” Jakob Lange, Partner-in-Charge, Stockholmsporten, BIG.
STOCKHOLMSPORTEN INFORMATION
Name Stockholmsporten
Program Master plan, Landscape
Type Prequalified Competition
Size 580.000 m2
Client City of Stockholm, Swedish Transport Administration
Collaborators Grontmij, Spacescape
Location Stockholm, Sweden
Status 1st prize / In progress
BIG
Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Jakob Lange
Project Leader: Hanna Johansson
Team: Camille Crepin, Barbora Srpkova, Alessio Valmori, Xiao Xuan Lu, Krista Meskanen, Long Zuo
Grontmij AB
Veronika Borg, Albin Ahlquist, Anders Falk , Mats Mauritzson, Nils-Göran Nilsson, Christer Johansson, Bengt Ridell
Spacescape AB
Alexander Ståhle, Tobias Nordström
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| PUU-BO by BIG | National Gallery of Greenland by BIG | West 57th by BIG |
Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to design multistorey, prefabricated wooden housing for Kouvola, Finland.
The E2 (Ecology + Economy) Timber Competition aims to prototype and showcase large-scale sustainable wooden construction that can be replicated worldwide.
Entitled PUU-BO, BIG’s design comprises prefabricated modules that could be reconfigured to make different building typologies in different environments, from townhouses to skyscrapers.
BIG won the competition in collaboration with Pirmin Jung Engineers for Wood Constructions, AOA Anttinen Oiva Architects, Vahanen Engineers and Stora Enso.
The information below is from BIG:
BIG WINS THE INTERNATIONAL E2 (ECOLOGY + ECONOMY) TIMBER COMPETITION IN FINLAND
BIG (DK) + Pirmin Jung Engineers for Wood Constructions (CH) + AOA Anttinen Oiva Architects Ltd (FI) + Vahanen Engineers (FI) + Stora Enso (FI) is the winning team to design a prototype wooden construction system for a pilot project in Kouvola, Finland that will serve as a showcase for the sustainable use of timber construction worldwide.
To meet the increasingly stringent environmental requirements of Finnish industrialized construction, the E2 Ecology & Economy timber development competition aims to find a conceptual design solution for large-scale production of wooden multi-story buildings. A 15.000 m2 prefabricated wooden development in Kouvola, Finland will serve as a showcase for replicable and locally adaptable cost- and energy efficient housing. BIG’s proposal PUU-BO is today announced as one of two winning entries of the two-staged invited competition totaling 26 international proposals, which included wood construction specialists Hermann Kaufmann from Austria and wood producer Finnforest among many others.
“PUU-BO was the only proposal to truly acknowledge the aspiration of the E2 Competition: to look at the surroundings of the buildings and the spaces in between as potential opportunities for green development”, Jury, E2 (Ecology + Economy).
Wood as construction material brings a double benefit: remarkably reduced emissions in its production and fabrication and im proved energy efficiency of the buildings where it is used. Currently, only a fragment of multi-story buildings utilize timber construction in Finland, a country known for its timber production. BIG’s PUU-BO is a comprehensive prefab solution designed to be both extremely flexible and materially efficient. PUU-BO’s conception as a system based on best practices and not predefined standard elements, gives it an embodied intelligence and ensures its viability for the future. The system’s easy adaptability to a variety of building typologies and uses, opens up new possibilities for prefabricated wood systems beyond the residential market – the very same elements in the residential pilot project could be used in an office building or even a wood skyscraper with no loss in material efficiency.
“BIG’s point of direction was to design an innovative system that can fit any built environment for any type of use. Rather than developing a system based on current market demands, we wanted to make a system so flexible it can embrace as many building typologies and functionalities as possible. Instead of making the most carbon neutral system at present; we develop a system that evolves into the future. This way the system respects the ever increasing key drivers for sustainability while being competitive with other building systems”, Thomas Christoffersen, Partner-in-Charge, BIG.
A site with generous views towards public green areas and the city’s river has been specifically selected for this pilot project by the city of Kouvola. The location allows the volume of the proposed building to push from one side to the other side to integrate the park and parking along the development. BIG’s proposal follows the contours of the landscape creating semi-private pockets directly connected to the park while the height of the building is manipulated to peak towards the open areas. The pockets are surrounded by lower housing creating an intimate space where all units are connected to the ground. The areas with the best views have the most floors and the most apartments while all roofs are partially accessed by the penthouse apartments and all units at ground floor have access to private gardens to both sides.
“Le Corbusier’s DOMI-NO system was developed to industrialize construction with the new technologies of concrete structures, and improve living conditions for the many. Decades later concrete housing has become synonymous with boxy and boring. By crossbreeding state of the art building technology and wood construction PUU-BO provides endless variability with infinite renewability” Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Partner, BIG.
BIG’s E2 proposal combines a variety of housing typologies – from 8-story apartment buildings to low townhouses with a shared courtyard space. Along both sides of the building a pedestrian path connects the private gardens to parking and park. The path blends with the existing network, integrating the building with the park, river and city. Playgrounds, sports fields, and a community sauna in the river are strategically placed in order to activate the site. All activities are available to both the PUU-BO inhabitants as well as the citizens of Kouvola.
About E2
The city of Kouvola in cooperation with the Finnish Forest Industries association, the Finnish Forest Foundation, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation SITRA, KSS-Energia Oy and the Regional Council of Kymenlaakso aims at fostering new solu tions for industrial production of wooden multi-story buildings through the launch of E2 Timber Development Competition and a future Centre of Competence in Timber Construction, “Wood-Inno”. The concept competition is expected to offer energy efficient solutions which reduce the carbon foot print, and could help Finland to take leadership in the field of timber construction worldwide.
About BIG
BIG, founded in 2005 by Bjarke Ingels, is an architectural office currently involved in a large number of projects throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark and with a newly opened office in New York, USA the office is led by six Design Partners, including Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Finn Norkjaer, Thomas Christoffersen, Jakob Lange, David Zahle and two Management Associate Partners, Sheela Maini Sogaard and Kai-Uwe Bergmann. BIG’s architecture emerges out of a careful analysis of how contemporary life constantly evolves and changes, not least due to the influence of multicultural exchange, global economic flows and communication technologies that together require new ways of architectural and urban organization.
About Pirmin Jung
PIRMIN JUNG Ingenieure für Holzbau AG is a leading engineering specialist for multiple-storey timber constructions. For the past 15 years, Pirmin has worked closely with designers and architects, creating efficient sustainable and long-lasting wooden solutions worldwide.
E2 INFORMATION
Name: E2 Ecology and Economy
Program: Housing
Type: Prequalified Competition
Size: 15,000m2, 8 storey prefabricated wood construction
Client: City of Kouvola, Finland
Collaborators: AOA, Pirmin Jung Holzbauingenieur, Vahanen, Stora Enso
Location: Kouvola, Finland
Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen
Project Leader: Brian Yang
Team: Krista Meskanen, Jelena Vucic, Alina Tamosiunaite, Alessandro Ronfini, Cecilia Ho, Elisha Nathoo, Sunming Lee, Long Zhuo, Mads Bjorn Christiansen
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| House of Families by Fantastic Norway | 117 Housing Units by LAN Architecture | More about 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.
The building will form a ring round a central glazed courtyard.
Its roofline and internal paths will follow the shape of the sloping site, which overlooks a fjord.
The gallery will display both historical and contemporary art.
BIG won the commission in collaboration with local firms TNT Nuuk, Ramboll Nuuk and Inge Bisgaard of Arkitekti.
More cultural buildings on Dezeen »
All our architecture stories »
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.
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.
The new museum will combine historical and contemporary art of the country in one dynamic institution.
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.
“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.
Our dream is a national gallery where historic and contemporary art meets circumpolar pieces, Nordic and world art in general.
Our dream is an institution that stimulates our curiosity, awake our excitement with its thought‐provoking design and where we all feel at home.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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“The Danish functionalistic architecture in Nuuk is typically square boxes which ignore the unique nature of Greenland.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
“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.
PROJECT: Greenland National Gallery
CLIENT: Nunatta Eqqumiitsulianik Saqqummersitsivia
SIZE: 3000 m2
LOCATION: Nuuk, Greenland
COLLABORATION: TNT Nuuk, Rambøll Nuuk, Arkitekti, MIR, Glessner Group
PARTNER IN CHARGE: Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Pedersen
PROJECT LEADER: Jakob Henke
TEAM: Daniel Selensky, Ji –young Yoon, Gul Ertekin, Aleksander Tokarz, Alessio Zenaro, Johan Cool Nicklas Antoni Rasch
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| Waste-to-Energy Plant by BIG | West 57th by BIG | Danish Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 by BIG |
Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group have designed a residential building for Manhattan, New York, with a rectangular plan pulled up at one corner to form a triangular tower.
Called West 57th, the 600-apartment block will be organised around a central courtyard, providing residents with views of the Hudson River.
The sloping roof will rise to a peak of 467 ft and its surface will be punctured by roof terraces.
The other three façades will comprise balconies and bay windows serving each of the apartments.
Construction is due for completion in 2016.
More projects by Bjarke Ingels Group on Dezeen »
More residential architecture on Dezeen »
Here’s some more information from American developers Durst Fetner Residential:
DURST FETNER RESIDENTIAL SELECTS BIG TO DESIGN 600-UNIT RESIDENTIAL BUILDING ON W57TH STREET
West 57th, designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, introduces an entirely new residential typology to New York City that will add an inviting twist to the Manhattan Skyline.
Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) today announced the design of West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues.
The building is designed by renowned Danish Architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and is their inaugural North American project. The building’s program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program.
The building will strive for LEED Gold Certification. “It’s extraordinarily exciting to build a building whose architecture will attract visitors from around the globe,” said, Hal Fetner, CEO of Durst Fetner Residential.
“BIG’s design is innovative, evocative and unique and the building’s beauty is matched only by its efficient and functional design that preserves existing view corridors while maximizing the new building’s access to natural light and views of the Hudson River.
West 57th will establish a new standard for architectural excellence and its creative design, sustainable-construction and operations, breathtaking views and distinctive amenities will make it New York’s most sought after residential address.”
The building is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise.
West 57th has a unique shape which combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a sense of inti- macy and security, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper.
By keeping three corners of the block low and lifting the north-east corner up towards its 467 ft peak, the courtyard opens views towards the Hudson River, bringing low western sun deep into the block and graciously preserving the adjacent Helena Tower’s views of the river.
“New York is rapidly becoming an increasingly green and livable city.
The transformation of the Hudson River waterfront and the Highline into green parks, the ongoing effort to plant a million trees, the pedestrianization of Broadway and the creation of more miles of bicycle lanes than the entire city of my native Copenhagen are all evidence of urban oases appearing all over the city.
With West 57th we attempt to continue this transformation into the heart of the city fabric – into the center of a city block,” Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG.
The form of the building shifts depending on the viewer’s vantage point. While appearing like a warped pyramid from the West-Side-Highway, it turns into a slender spire from West 58th Street.
The courtyard which is inspired by the classic Copenhagen urban oasis can be seen from the street and serves to extend the adjacent greenery of the Hudson River Park into the West 57th development.
“The building is conceived as a cross breed between the Copenhagen courtyard and the New York skyscraper. The communal intimacy of the central urban oasis meets the efficiency, density and panoramic views of the tall tower in a new hybrid typology. The courtyard is to architecture what Central Park is to urbanism: a giant green garden surrounded by a dense wall of spaces for living”, Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG.
The slope of the building allows for a transition in scale between the low-rise structures to the south and the high-rise residential towers to the north and west of the site. The highly visible sloping roof consists of a simple ruled surface perforated by terraces— each one unique and south-facing.
The fishbone pattern of the walls are also reflected in its elevations. Every apartment gets a bay window or a balcony to amplify the benefits of the generous view and balconies which encourage interaction between residents and passers-by.
DFR commissioned Copenhagen based BIG in the spring of 2010 to introduce a new residential typology to Manhattan. As of 2011 BIG has opened a new office in New York in order to oversee the development and upcoming construction of West 57th.
W57 DATA
PROJECT: West 57th Street
CLIENT: Durst Fetner Residential
ARCHITECT: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group SIZE: 870,000 ft2 (80,000 m2)
LOCATION: Manhattan, New York, USA
STATUS: Direct Commission
COLLABORATORS: SLCE Architects (Architect of Record) , Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects, Thornton Tomasetti (Sturctural), Dagher Engineering(MEP), Langan Engineering (Civil), Hunter Roberts (Construction Manager), Philip Habib & Assoc. (Transportation), Israel Berger & Assoc. (Building Envelope), Nancy Packes (Marketing), Van Deusen & Assoc. (Vertical Transportation), Cerami & Assoc. (Acoustical), CPP (Wind), AKRF (Environmental), German Glessner (Renderings & Animation)
Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels
Project Leader: Beat Schenk
Project Architect: Sören Grünert
Team: Thomas Christoffersen, Celine Jeanne, Daniel Sundlin, Alessandro Ronfini, Aleksander Tokarz, Alessio Valmori, Alvaro Garcia Mendive, Felicia Guldberg, Gabrielle Nadeau, Ho Kyung Lee, Julian Liang, Julianne Gola, Lucian Racovitan, Marcela Martinez, Maria Nikolova, Minjae Kim, Mitesh Dixit, Nicklas Rasch, Riccardo Mariano, Stanley Lung, Steffan Heath, Thilani Rajarathna, Xu Li
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| The World Village of Women Sports by BIG | 8 House by BIG | Zira Island masterplan 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.
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.
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.
These stepped areas can also provide informal seating areas for visitors.
The centre will comprise exhibition spaces, showrooms, an auditorium, restaurants and galleries, which will be organised around the central spiral.
Retail spaces, a hotel and offices will also be incorporated.
All our stories on Bjarke Ingels Group »
More cultural buildings on Dezeen »
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.
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.
The cube is finished in concrete lamellas serving as solar shading as well as public access.
The lamellas recede inwards forming a generous public staircase allowing the public to walk into the façade and all the way to the roof.
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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.
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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.
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TEK3 contains an almost urban mix of programs with no obvious hierarchy.
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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.
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ProJect TEK – Technology, Entertainment & Knowledge Center Taipei
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client Taiwan Land Development Corporation
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consultants Realities United, Arup
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size 53.000m2
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location Taipei, Taiwan
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m = distance I m2 = area I m3 = space
Technology + Entertainment + Knowledge = TEK
TEK3 = Space for Technology, Entertainment & Knowledge
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Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Jakob Lange
Project Leader: Cat Huang
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Team: Allyson Hiller, Xi Chen, Esben Vik, Johan Cool, Xu Li, Gaeton Brunet
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| Taichung Convention Center by MAD | The World Village of Women Sports by BIG | Urban Forest by MAD |
Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to design a power plant for Copenhagen with their design that will blow smoke rings and double up as a ski slope.
The Waste-to-Energy Plant will replace the neighbouring Amagerforbraending plant and will function as a treatment facility that transforms waste into energy.
The roof of the building will be a ski slope, accessed via an elevator running along a smokestack and providing views to the inside of the plant.
The smokestack will expel rings of smoke 30cm in diameter whenever a ton of fossil Co2 is released, acting as a signal to raise awareness of ecological issues and energy consumption amongst the inhabitants of Copenhagen.
The smoke rings will be illuminated at night by lasers that will be directed towards them.
Construction is due for completion in 2016.
See all our stories on Bjarke Ingels Group in our special category.
More industrial buildings on Dezeen »
Here’s some more information about the project:
BIG WINS THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION TO DESIGN A NEW WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANT
BIG + realities:united + AKT + Topotek 1 & Man Made Land is selected to design the new Waste-to-Energy Plant that doubles as a ski slope for Copenhagen’s citizens and its many visitors by 2016.
Located in an industrial area near the city center the new Waste-to-Energy plant will be an exemplary model in the field of waste management and energy production, as well as an architectural landmark in the cityscape of Copenhagen. The project is the single largest environmental initiative in Denmark with a budget of 3,5 Billion DKK, and replaces the adjacent 40 year old Amagerforbraending plant, integrating the latest technologies in waste treatment and environmental performance.
The shortlisted offices included Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Dominique Perrault Architecture, 3xN, Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects & Gottlieb Paludan Architects who were selected to compete out of 36 international proposals in Fall 2010. The winning team is announced by an unanimous judge panel.
”BIG’s proposal contributes to the city with something useful and beautiful. We see this creating a lot of opportunities and with this unique building, we can brand the Danish knowledge and technology to show the world our abilities within environmental and energy issues”, Ulla Röttger, Director of Amagerforbraending.
Instead of considering the new Amagerforbraending as an isolated architectural object, the building is conceived as a destination in itself, reflecting the progressive vision of a new type of waste treatment facility. The roof of the new Amagerforbraending is turned into a 31.000 m2 ski slope of varying skill levels for the citizens of Copenhagen, its neighboring municipalities and visitors, mobilizing the architecture and redefining the relationship between the waste plant and the city by expanding the existing recreational activities in the surrounding area into a new breed of waste-to-energy plant.
“The new plant is an example of what we at BIG call Hedonistic Sustainability – the idea that sustainability is not a burden, but that a sustainable city in fact can improve our quality of life. The Waste-to-Energy plant with a ski slope is the best example of a city and a building which is both ecologically, economically and socially sustainable”, Bjarke Ingels Founder and Partner, BIG.
The slope is ecological using a recycled synthetic granular, upending the convention of the energy intensive indoor ski resort. Access to the slopes is via an elevator along the plant’s smokestack providing views into the plant, giving glimpses of its internal workings finally reaching an observation platform 100m above giving sightseers an unobstructed view from one of the tallest structures in Copenhagen.
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All of this while the smokestack is modified to puff smoke rings of 30m in diameter whenever 1 ton of fossil CO2 is released. These smoke rings which are the brainchild of Germany-based art studio realities:united will form due to the condensation of water in the flue gases as they as they slowly rise and cool, serving as a gentle reminder of the impact of consumption and a measuring stick that will allow the common Copenhagener to grasp the CO2 emission in a straightforward way – turning the smokestack traditionally the symbol of the industrial era into a symbol for the future. At night, heat tracking lights are used to position lasers on the smoke rings into glowing artworks.
“Designing a façade for a building is like wrapping a gift without having to consider its content. Instead of concentrating on the wrapping paper we have instead invested our energy on creating a gift for the citizens of Copenhagen & its visitors no matter if they are adults or children, professionals or beginners. I can’t wait to ski on a base of clean and green energy with a view over the city in 2016”, David Zahle, Partner & Project Leader, BIG.
From a distance, the entire building is wrapped in a vertical green façade formed by planter modules stacked like bricks turning it into a mountain from afar. The surrounding topography is sculpted by Topotek 1 & Man Made Land to form a park which offers informal sport activities in summer and winter. Along its western border a field of hills will mimic a mogul piste. A path system throughout the park interconnects the whole site and creates good connections to the neighboring residential area.
Information
Project: Waste-to-Energy Plant
Client: Amagerforbraending
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Budget: 3,5 BL DKK; 650 MIO USD, 460 MIO EUR
Status: 1. Prize
Architect: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
Collaborators: Realities:United (Smoke Ring Generator), AKT (Façade & Structural Consulting), Topotek 1/Man Made Land (Landscape)
Building: 95,000 m2
Landscape: 90,000 m2
Roof + ski slope: 32,000 m2
Façade area: 74,000 m2
Administrative + Visitor center floor area: 6,500 m2
Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, David Zahle
Project Leader: Brian Yang
Team: Jelena Vucic, Alina Tamosiunaite, Armor Gutierrez, Maciej Zawadzki, Jakob Lange, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Daniel Selensky, Gül
Ertekin, Xing Xiong, Sunming Lee, Long Zuo
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| Hafjell Mountain Hotel by BIG | 8 House by BIG | Holmenkollen ski jump by JDS Architects |
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
