Hasta La Ideas

Georgia is using architecture to rebrand itself like Germany did after the Second World War according to architect Jürgen Mayer H, who has built a range of striking border checkpoints, airports and service stations in the country (+ slideshow).

“Georgia is a country in need of a lot of infrastructure and a lot of things that make the country run like a normal country,” the German architect said in an interview with Dezeen.

“So there’s an urgency. I sometimes compare it to Germany in post-war times when a town hall had to be built, a bus station had to be built, just to make the country work, and that resulted in some great contemporary architecture.”

His architectural practice, J. Mayer H, has worked on a dozen infrastructure projects across the country, which is strategically located in the Caucasus between Europe and Asia and which was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

Following independence and the “Rose Revolution” democratic reforms of 2003, Georgia embarked on a major investment programme, hiring leading architects to renew the country’s infrastructure.

Projects include an airport in Kutaisi by Dutch firm UNStudio and a public services office in Tbilisi by Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, as well as law courts, border crossings and town halls.

The focus on infrastructure is an attempt to rebrand the young country, which is on an important transit route between west and east, said Mayer H.

“Georgia has a very rich history in architecture but it’s also a very transitory country,” he said. “People drive and transport things from Azerbaijan to Turkey, and architecture along those transportation routes is maybe the only thing that you see when you drive through the country.”

These projects are helping Georgia forge a new identity, a decade after the period of civil unrest and economic crisis that followed the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.

“Georgia has a very rich history in architecture but it’s also a very transitory country and it’s in a period of change right now,” said Mayer H, in an interview with Dezeen in Miami last week, where the architect presented an artwork at the Art Basel fair.

“Nothing really happened after the Soviet regime and architecture works quite well to show there’s a certain reach towards modernisation and a transformation of the country, also connecting the country to the West,” he said. “These projects are a very visible sign to show that there’s a change going on.”

Mayer H. became involved in that change at the invitation of Mikheil Saakashvili, who was president of Georgia from 2004 until last month.

“He saw our Metropol Parasol project [in Seville, Spain] in a book and he was inspired to invite me to talk about projects in Tbilisi,” the architect recounted. “I think he had a really interesting vision to see architecture not only in buildings that we think are high cultural buildings, but also in very mundane structures.”

“To see that as an architectural contribution – how you welcome people entering your country or say goodbye with your checkpoint – I think that’s really impressive,” he added.

Saakashvili stepped down as president in November after serving two consecutive terms, so Jürgen Mayer H predicts a pause in the country’s architectural development. “I think now it’s a moment where they stop a little bit and the new government uses this moment to rethink if this is the right speed of transformation, if it’s the right direction,” he said. “But of course there’s so much curiosity in the country, so it’s just having a little break before it continues again.”

J. Mayer H. have three ongoing projects in Georgia: a 2500-square-metre private house; Saakashvili’s presidential library in the capital Tbilisi; and an train station that will connect west and east.

“The station is in the middle of nowhere in the high plateau,” he told us. “It connects Turkey to Azerbaijan so they have to change the width of the train tracks, so everybody has to get out and everything has to be reloaded with security and customs and checkpoints and everything.”

See all our stories about architecture in Georgia »

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“like post-war Germany” says Jürgen Mayer H. appeared first on Dezeen.

One corner of this airport terminal in Kutaisi, Georgia, by Dutch firm UNStudio is coloured bright red to aid orientation (+ slideshow).

UNStudio designed the terminal with a large span to create uninterrupted views that aid navigation, and the red corner detail acting as “a crossing-point and point of recognition.”

“The design for the new airport embraces the traveller by embodying the circumstance of the site,” said architect Ben van Berkel. “Moments of both leaving and returning are celebrated by the large span, open spaces and high ceiling of the terminal structure – reflecting the ways in which such gestures were employed in the great railway stations of the past.”

Inside the terminal, a large structure covered in a web of wooden beams descends from the ceiling and creates a central hub around which passengers circulate.

At the centre of this structure is an exterior patio enclosed in glass that allows for continuous views across the terminal.

The building is wrapped in full-height glazing that creates a light-filled interior with views of the Caucasus Mountains.

UNStudio was also responsible for the design of other buildings on the site including a meteorological station and air traffic control tower, as well as masterplanning the surrounding landscaping.

The concrete core of the air traffic control tower is clad in a perforated skin that draws in air for ventilation and allows lighting behind it to illuminate the tower at night.

Photography is by Nakaniamasakhlisi.

Here’s some more information from UNStudio:

Ben van Berkel / UNStudio’s Kutaisi International Airport in Georgia completed

UNStudio’s recently completed Kutaisi International Airport serves domestic and international flights for use by tourists, national politicians and international diplomats. The airport is destined to become a central hub, with up to one million travellers targeted in 2014-2015. Current figures for the airport show 30 flights per week, with an increase to 40 expected in Spring 2014, by which time direct flights from Western Europe to Kutaisi will also be possible.

UNStudio’s design comprises the full airport development, including a revision of the runway, the master plan for the landscape and planned future development thereof, the terminal building, offices, a meteorological station and the air traffic control tower.

The architecture of the terminal refers to a gateway, in which a clear structural layout creates an all-encompassing and protective volume. Both the exterior corner detail – which functions as a crossing-point and point of recognition – and the so called ‘umbrella’ structure within the terminal building – which operates as a roundabout for passenger flows – operate as the two main architectural details around which all of the airport functions are organised.

The umbrella further guarantees views from the terminal plaza to the apron and to the Caucasus on the horizon and vice versa. The central point in the umbrella is an exterior patio which is used for departing passengers. The transparent space around this central area is designed to ensure that flows of passengers are smooth and that departure and arrival flows do not coincide.

Ben van Berkel: “The design for the new airport embraces the traveller by embodying the circumstance of the site. Moments of both leaving and returning are celebrated by the large span, open spaces and high ceiling of the terminal structure – reflecting the ways in which such gestures were employed in the great railway stations of the past.”

The design organises the logistical processes, provides optimal security and ensures that the traveller has sufficient space to circulate comfortably. Serving as a lobby to Georgia, the terminal will in addition operate as a café and art gallery, displaying works by young Georgian artists and thereby presenting a further identifier of contemporary Georgian culture.

The 55m high Air Traffic Control Tower and its supporting office/operational building is designed to complement the design of the terminal. The tower’s strong appearance makes it a beacon of the airport and surrounding area. The traffic control cabin on the top level forms the focal point of the tower, with a 360 degrees view on the surrounding landscape. A spacious and comfortable interior ensures a workspace for 4-8 operators with optimal concentration. The exterior of the tower is clad with a perforated skin on a concrete core to use wind for ventilation purposes. LED Light in-between the skin and the core enhance the beacon effect of the tower at dusk and dawn by changing colour whenever there is a fluctuation in wind speed.

The design for the new airport incorporates numerous sustainable elements. A large onsite underground source of natural water provides the basis for the reduction of energy consumption through concrete core activation and use for sprinkler basins. The floors of both the terminal and the traffic control tower will utilise this water for maintaining a regulated temperature in the two volumes. In the terminal building cantilevered roofs provide sun shading on south and southwest zones. A hybrid low pressure ventilation system is integrated into the terminal’s main structure and there is a grey water collection system in the floor underneath the terminal building. A future aim is to present Kutaisi airport as Georgia’s first airport to incorporate a strict segregation of waste and establish a recycling system which could be further implemented into new and existing projects in Georgia.

The project was designed and constructed in two years, under lead consultancy of UNStudio, with the airport already having begun operations by September 2012. Both design and construction saw the involvement of numerous local and international companies, with openness and knowledge sharing proving to be essential to fulfilling the tight schedule. The steel structure of the terminal – produced and shipped from Hungary – recently won a European Steel Prize award.

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by UNStudio appeared first on Dezeen.

A McDonald’s restaurant and a petrol station are concealed within this faceted glass shell in Georgia, designed by architect Giorgi Khmaladze (+ slideshow).

“The city officials wanted to avoid having a regular gas station in the middle of the area, which right now is undergoing major renewal,” Giorgi Khmaladze told Dezeen. “From that departure point, I proposed to combine two programs in one building footprint.”

The structure, located in the coastal town of Batumi, features an elongated shape that cantilevers on one side to create the canopy for the petrol station. The entrance to McDonald’s is positioned on the opposite side, as the architect wanted to keep the two as separate as possible.

“Spaces are composed in such a way that the two major programs – vehicle services and dining – are isolated from one another, both physically and visually,” explains Khmaladze.

Serving areas are contained inside the building’s circular core. Staircases wind around the outside of the circle on both sides, leading up past a series of tiered seating booths towards a dining area on the first floor.

Glass lines the perimeter of the dining area and a terrace wraps around the outside. Rather than a view down onto the petrol station and road, diners are faced with the sloping topside of the canopy, which the architect has covered with beds of shrubbery.

Two pools of water are positioned around the outside of the building and help to define different routes for pedestrians and cars.

McDonalds has also recently been working with French designer Patrick Norguet, who has redesigned its restaurants across France. See more design for McDonalds.

Other chain restaurants to be redesigned in recent years include British roadside restaurant Little Chef and Burger King diners in Singapore. See more chain restaurant designs.

Photography is by the architect.

Here’s some more information from Giorgi Khmaladze:

The project is located in one of the newly urbanized parts of the seaside city of Batumi, Georgia. It includes fuels station, McDonald’s, recreational spaces and reflective pool.

Given the central location and therefore importance of the site, it was decided to give back as much area as possible for recreation to the city by limiting the footprint of the building and vehicular circulation. This resulted in one volume with all programs compressed within.

Spaces are composed in such a way that the two major programs – vehicle services and dining – are isolated from one another, both physically and visually so that all operations of fuel station are hidden from the view of the customers of the restaurant.

Because of the predefined, small building footprint, most of the supporting and utility spaces are grouped and located on the ground level to be close to all technical access points.

Public space of the restaurant starts from the lobby and its separate entrance on the ground floor. From where, as a way to naturally connect to the upper floor and to offer customers the experience of smooth transition between levels, the floor steps upwards and creates inhabitable decks on intermediate levels to be occupied as dining spaces.

Part of the dining space offers view towards outside water features, while the rest seamlessly transitions into open air patio on the upper level. The patio, enclosed from all sides to protect the space from outside noise, provides calm open air seating. The vegetation layer, which covers the cantilevered giant canopy of the fuel station adds natural environment and acts as a “ecological shield” for the terrace.

Project: Fuel Station + McDonalds
Architect: Giorgi Khmaladze (Khmaladze Architects)
Collaborators: Capiteli (Structural Engineer), Gulfstream (MEP), Archange & Schloffer (MCD Standards), Franke (Kitchen engineering), Erco (exterior lighting).

Location: Batumi, Georgia
Year: 2010-11 Design, 2012-13 Construction
Size: 1200 sqm
Client: SOCAR

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by Giorgi Khmaladze appeared first on Dezeen.

Towering steel mushrooms create a layered canopy over the roof of this glazed office block in Tbilisi, Georgia, by Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas (+ slideshow).

Named the Tbilisi Public Service Hall, the building houses an assortment of government organisations that include the National Bank of Georgia, the Ministry of Energy and the Civil and National Registry Agency.

Seven overlapping glass blocks surround a central service hall where customers can obtain passports, marriage registration, and other permits and documents.

There’s no additional roof over this hall, creating a 35-metre-high space beneath the shelter of canopy structures.

The architects compare these structures to trees, and refer to their curved uppers as “petals” or “leaves”.

Different departments are contained inside each of the seven perimeter blocks and a series of bridges connect them at the upper levels.

This building is one of a number of new infrastructure projects we’ve featured in Georgia in recent months – see more stories about Georgia.

Other projects we’ve published by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas include an Armani store in New York and the bright red Zenith music hall in France – see more stories about Studio Fuksas.

Photography is by Studio Fuksas.

Here’s a project description from Studio Fuksas:

Tbilisi Public Service Hall, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2010-2012

The Tbilisi Public Service Hall is situated in the central area of the city and it overlooks the Kura river.

The building is made up of 7 volumes that contain offices (each volume is made up of 4 floors located on different levels). These volumes are placed around a “central public square”, which is the core of the project, where there is the front office services. Offices are connected to each other by internal footbridges that stretches on different levels.

Volumes and the central public space are towered above by 11 big “petals” that are independent both formally and structurally from the rest of the building. Three of those big petals covers the central space. The petals, different for their geometry and dimension, reaches almost 35 meters and they are supported by a structure of steel pillars with a tree shape, visible, as well as the petals, externally and internally from the building.

Among the petals, that are at different levels, are the glass facades. The main characteristic of these facades is that these have been released completely from the structure of the petals, allowing relative movements between the facade and the spatial network structure of coverage. This decision was taken to prevent that any movement of the cover, mainly due to oscillations for snow loads, wind or thermal expansion, can lead to the crisis of the glass.

The Tbilisi Public Service Hall includes: the National Bank of Georgia, the Minister of Energy, the Civil and National Registry.

Project: Tbilisi Public Service Hall
Sirre: Tbilisi, Georgia
Address: Sanapiro Street 2
Period: 2010-2012
Client: LEPL Civil Registry Agency – Giorgi Vashadze / LEPL National Public Registry Agency

Architects: Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas
Project leader: Emiliano Scotti
Project tem: Riccardo Ferrari, Matteo Malatesta
Model makers: Nicola Cabiati

Surface:
Superficie totale costruita: 42.000 sq m
Volume total construction: 265.000 cubic metres
Main hall surface: 4 385 sq m
“Leaves” surface: 24 800 sq m
Structural glass (enclosure): 2 390 sq m
Facade: 11 800 sq m
Parking Plots: 838 (426 coperti)

Engineering: Studio Sarti, AI Engineering
General contractor: Huachuan Georgia Company LTD

Program:
National Bank of Georgia
LEPL Civil Registry Agency
LEPL National Public Registry Agency
Ministry of Energy
Civil and National Registry Agency: 280 public desk
Press Room: 290 MQ (150 seats) + Foyer 100 m²
Retails and Facilities: 400 m²
Terraces: 1860 m²

Material:

Structure: reinforced concrete and steel
“Leaves” structure: tridimensional steel reticular
“Leaves” coating: glass fiber and epodossic resine
Facades: structural glass and cellular glass

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Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Wire: architects Hassell have been appointed to design a new zoo on the outskirts of Georgia’s capital city, Tbilisi.

Replacing an existing zoo in the city centre, the new complex will encompass woodland areas from a national park and will include an aquarium and a diving school.

Other recent projects from Georgia include a collection of infrastructure projects by German architects J. Mayer H, which you can see in our special slideshow feature.

See all our stories about zoos »

Here’s a full statement from Hassell:

HASSELL appointed to design the new Tbilisi Zoo in Georgia

The London Studio of HASSELL, working with Arup, has been appointed by Tbilisi City Hall to carry out the concept design of the new Tbilisi Zoo on the outskirts of the Georgian capital city.

The project will see the existing city centre zoo replaced by a zoological and recreation complex adjacent to the inland lake known as Tbilisi Sea.

Working with Arup’s Dublin office, HASSELL has developed a concept that sits lightly within the spectacular new site, using a design strategy of minimal disturbance to preserve the area’s natural beauty. Relocating the current zoo’s species and activities calls for a number of new buildings and landscapes. These will include an entrance hub, boulevard, a secondary hub with playground and café, inner zoo and an outer open range zoo as well as woodland areas set within the Soviet era Arboretum known as Dendropark National Park. A recreation area created on the shore of the Tbilisi Sea will include new buildings for an aquarium and dive school.

The plan builds upon the dramatic landscape and mountainous topography of the area to create a visitor experience unique to Georgia. The country is positioned at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa and these will be represented by the division of the site into distinct grassland habitats. A choice of five different walking routes around the zoo affords a variety of visitor experiences, encouraging return visits.

The zoo will be built to world-class standards, creating an international tourist destination for zoo, safari, botanical and recreational experiences. The design will celebrate the natural history of the site and encourage visitors of all ages to take a personal interest in the importance of conserving the earth’s environmental heritage.

The project builds on HASSELL’s extensive masterplanning, landscape architecture and zoo experience in Australasia including the award-winning Adelaide Zoo, Taronga Zoo in Sydney and Werribee Open Range in Victoria.

Jon Hazelwood, Head of Landscape Architecture at HASSELL’s London Studio, commented:
“We believe in the collaboration of landscape architecture, masterplanning and architectural design and the new Tbilisi Zoo is a fantastic opportunity to put this philosophy into practice by developing a new zoo destination from first principles. Our team has been inspired by the beauty of the Georgian landscape to create a scheme that works in harmony with the environment, respects the animals that will inhabit it and allows people to observe them in a space akin to their natural habitat.”