Hasta La Ideas

The New Amsterdam Pavilion by Dutch architects UNStudio has opened to the public in New York’s Battery Park.

The four  wings of the pavilion give it a flower-like form, which is illuminated by different coloured lights after midnight.

Construction was completed a year and eight months ago (see our earlier story), but complications with catering prevented the pavilion from opening until now.

By day the pavilion is open to the public, providing a cafe and information point.

More stories about UNStudio on Dezeen »
More stories about pavilions on Dezeen »

Photography is by Richard Koek.

The following information is from UNStudio:

New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion, Battery Park, New York, USA, 2008-2011

Placed on New Amsterdam Plein and commissioned by the Battery Conservancy, the NY400 Dutch Pavilion is presented as a gift from the Dutch government to the people of New York. The Pavilion is intended to introduce an opportunity for visitors, residents, and everyday commuters to pause and learn more at this historically important location. The Pavilion itself will be open to varying degrees throughout the day to the high number of commuters, tourists, and local residents.

The Pavilion marks the location as a destination and a hub of various activities, creating a social eddy at a site that may otherwise go unnoticed by passers-by and commuters. The programme of this Pavilion oscillates between facility services (culinary outlet and information point), and a dynamic art, light, and media installation.

The geometry of the Pavilion expresses its programmatic intentions, with the centre of the installation designed for more permanent, enclosed functions. In contrast to the enclosed nature of the core, the formal figure of the structure becomes increasingly more fluid and dispersed away from this centre as it opens onto the immediate landscape of the surroundings. The attendant ‘flowering’ or opening of the four wings of the Pavilion responds to varying orientations on the site as well as variety within the main programme. Within each wing, the contrast between the inside and the outside is blurred through the expression of continuous geometry. The geometric loop is introduced to virtually obscure the boundary between the ceiling, wall, and floor and to promote integration of the built form with the surrounding park.

Although the Pavilion will be readily visible both day and night from the surrounding skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan, a welcomed human scale is established with the design. The changing geometry of the Pavilion ensures that there is no ‘backside’ to the structure; a 360-degree walk around the Pavilion reveals this non-hierarchical nature. Repetition is dynamic rather than static, allowing varying viewpoints and perspectives to be created.

As point of interest for the Battery, the Pavilion will encourage visitors to engage and interact with the displays and functions provided. The value of the project extends beyond its immediate programmatic function by first raising awareness of the historical relationship between the Netherlands and its role in New York’s history, as well as by responding to the opportunity for a welcomed social venue at this lively site.

The Pavilion has an open character, with an evolving programmatic use, as new light and media installations are changed and new visitors personalize their use of the space. The presence of the Pavilion expresses to New York City’s residents and visitors the shared Dutch and American value of the importance of open, accessible, and inviting public space in the city fabric.

Alternating art and video installations will further the historical didacticism of the Pavilion, with specific works related to Dutch culture that will coincide with major national events in the Netherlands.

UNStudio: Ben van Berkel, Caroline Bos with Wouter de Jonge, Christian Veddeler and Kyle Miller, Jan Schellhoff, Wesley Lanckriet, Arndt Willert

Advisors: Handel Architects, New York
(Executive Architect)
Gary Handel, AIA, D. Blake Middleton, FAIA, LEED AP, Stephen Matkovits, AIA, LEED AP, Mark Morris

Buro Happold
(Lighting Design and Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection Engineering)

See also:

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BA_LIK by Vallo Sadovsky Architects	Burnham Pavilion by Zaha Hadid Architects	Mobile Art Pavilion by Zaha Hadid

Amsterdam architects UNStudio have completed this department store in Cheonan, South Korea.

Called Galleria Centercity, the building has facade comprising two layers of lamellas, which create a moiré effect.

Above photograph is by Kim Yong-kwan

Animations and light patterns are projected from this skin at night.

Daylight is admitted through the facade and reflected around the all-white interior to reduct the need for artificial lighting.

Areas of the department store are set aside for cultural programming, including exhibitions and fashion shows.

More about UNStudio on Dezeen »

Above photograph is by Kim Yong-kwan

Photographs are by Christian Richters/View unless stated otherwise.

The information below is from UNStudio:

Ben van Berkel / UNStudio’s Galleria Centercity in Cheonan – “If museums are turning into supermarkets, why then should department stores not turn into museums?”

“The Galleria Cheonan responds to the current retail climate in Asia, where department stores also operate as social and semi-cultural meeting places. Because of this, the quality of the public spaces within the building was treated as an integral aspect of the design.” Ben van Berkel

Above photograph is by Kim Yong-kwan

Eye Shopping – Re-conquering the public domain within a commercial destination

UNStudio’s Galleria Centercity Department Store in the Korean city of Cheonan reclaims the social and cultural space within the private, commercial large scale department store.

Rather than being the outcome of a prescriptive, standard-critical approach, the design of the Galleria Centercity is based on observations of current behavioural tendencies in large commercial spaces. Particularly in South East Asia, department stores serve a highly social function; people meet, gather, eat, drink and both shop and window shop in these venues. The department store is no longer solely a commercial space, it now offers the architect the opportunity to build upon and expand the social and cultural experience of the visitor. If today we are seeing the museum as a supermarket, then we are also now seeing the department store as a museum.

An expanded interpretation of utility beyond efficiency and profitability is at the heart of the design. In view of this, along with a more varied programme, UNStudio’s design seeks to provide a stimulating experience for the visitor.

Above photograph is by Kim Yong-kwan

On the outside, this is translated into an appearance that is almost impossible to fix. The double layered facades are articulated in a trompe l’oeuil pattern of vertical mullions. The vertical lines on the façade make the scale of the building unreadable; does it contain three floor levels, or fifteen? On the inside, this play with scale and dimension is continued in a way that is at least as radical as the outside. Upon entering, the department store is revealed as a layered and varied space which encourages investigation and unfolds as you move through and up the building.

Programmatically, the Galleria Cheonan incorporates a number of cultural and public spaces, including an art and cultural centre and a vip room. In the basement, a food court and specialty supermarket constitute another distinct destination within the building, which is simultaneously integrated with the overall design strategy.

Above photograph is by Kim Yong-kwan

Cheonan –New city development as platform for innovation

Situated some 80km south of Seoul, Cheonan is well connected to the capital by railway and road, with a new high speed rail link having recently been completed. The area around the new high speed terminal is under development and – prominently visible from the main road – the Galleria Centercity marks the entrance to this new development area.

“The most interesting thing to me about the effect of the Galleria Cheonan is that, because of the organisation of the atrium and the moiré treatment of the facade, Illusions are created which result in the seeming alteration of scales and the creation of double images. No image is permanent in this building.” Ben van Berkel

Dynamic Flow and optical illusion on a grand scale

The main architectural theme for the Galleria Cheonan is that of dynamic flow. This is found both inside and outside. The architecture of the 66,000 m ² building responds to its central position by presenting a deliberately changeable aspect all-around. Moiré effects, special lighting and animations ensure that the outside changes appearance constantly.

The double layered facade encloses the building, with a number of strategic openings incorporated into the inner facade layer. These openings provide daylight to the interior. At the same time, the lamellas of the outer façade prevent direct sunlight from entering the building, ensuring a cooler environment, while the use of white finishes throughout the interior minimises the need for artificial lighting.

The interior derives its character from the accumulation of rounded plateaus on long columns. The repetition of curves, enhanced by coiled strip lighting in the ceilings of the platforms, gives the interior its distinctive character. Four stacked programme clusters, each encompassing three storeys and containing public plateaus, are linked to the central void. This organisation propels a fluent upstream flow of people through the building, from the ground floor atrium to the roof terrace. As the plateaus are positioned in a rotational manner in space, they enable the central space to encompass way finding, vertical circulation, orientation and act as main attractor of the department store. The spatial and visual connections within the space are designed to generate a lively and stimulating environment, in which the user is central.

Media facade – The largest illuminated surface of its kind in the world

The strategy for the building enclosure consists of creating an optical illusion. During the day the building has a monochrome reflective appearance, whilst at night soft colours are used to generate waves of coloured light across the large scale illuminated surface. The lighting design was developed in parallel with the architecture and capitalises on the double layered facade structure. Computer generated animations specially designed by UNStudio are incorporated into the lighting design and refer to themes related to the department store, such as fashion, events, art and public life.

Place branding – not name branding

Rather than creating a platform for a multiple billboard effect made up of individual brand identities, the thematic animated content of the fully integrated media façade facilitates a more holistic and site-oriented urban approach to branding.

UNStudio

Design team: Ben van Berkel, Astrid Piber with Ger Gijzen, Marc Herschel and Marianthi Tatari, Sander Versluis, Albert Gnodde, Jorg Lonkwitz, Tom Minderhoud, Lee Jae-young, Woo Jun-seung, Constantin Boincean, Yu-chen Lin

Interior: Ben van Berkel, Astrid Piber with Ger Gijzen, Cristina Bolis and Veronica Baraldi, Lee Jae-young, Felix Lohrmann, Kirsten Hollmann, Albert Gnodde, Martijn Prins, Joerg Lonkwitz, Malaica Cimenti, Florian Licht, William de Boer, Eelco Grootjes, Alexia Koch

EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT/ SITE SUPERVISION/ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

GANSAM Architects & Partners, Seoul, KoreaI

See also:

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Dance Palace by UNStudio	Burnham Pavilion by UNStudio	MUMUTH by UNStudio