Hasta La Ideas

Berlin studio J. Mayer H. has returned to Volkswagen’s Autostadt visitor centre, at the German car brand’s factory in Wolfsburg, to create a landscape of three-dimensional structures for children to interact with (+ slideshow).

J. Mayer H. was first commissioned by Volkswagen to build an exhibition space focussing on sustainability. Four years after completing it, the architects returned to create a space targeted specifically at children in the Autostadt‘s reception.

Named MobiVersum, the installation was conceived as a “playful learning landscape” of solid wood sculptures that present challenges to different motor skills. Children of all ages can clamber over or climb inside each of the shapes.

“Depending on their individual level of development, children can interact freely with the installation on various levels on their own or with their siblings or parents,” said the architects in a statement.

The designers liken the curving branch-like forms to tree roots and trunks, intended to create a dialogue with the leafy green tones of the Level Green exhibition on the floor above.

“The shape of the imaginative, playful structures of solid wood are reminiscent of roots and tree trunks under the luscious branches of Level Green,” they said.

The team worked with Osnabrück University professor Renate Zimmer to curate the exhibition, making sure it provides children with a broad introduction to all facets of sustainability.

Photography is by Uwe Walter.

Here’s the project description from the architects:

MobiVersum

In 2013, J. Mayer H. designed MobiVersum as a new interaction surface for young visitors to Autostadt Wolfsburg, integrated as part of the overall context of Autostadt “People, Cars, and What Moves Them”.

A playful learning landscape was developed for a wide range of experiences in dialog with the exhibition Level Green shown on the floor above. MobiVersum provides an active introduction to the subject of sustainability in all its facets for children of all ages: from the issue of mobility, joint learning and understanding, to courses in cooking. In collaboration with Renate Zimmer (professor, Institut für Sport- und Bewegungswissenschaft at Universiät Osnabrück) a large movement sculpture was created that is unique in terms of its design and the challenges it presents to children’s motor skills. Depending on their individual level of development, children can interact freely with the installation on various levels on their own or with their siblings or parents, engaging with the challenges presented by the sculpture for their motor skills.

The shape of the imaginative, playful structures of solid wood are reminiscent of roots and tree trunks under the luscious branches of Level Green. The sculptures, which can be used and entered, structure diversified spatial zones with different thematic emphases and inspire the children’s curiosity to discover and explore. Children as tomorrow’s consumers can thus learn early on the importance of a responsible approach to the world’s resources, for they represent our ecological/economical and social future.

Against the backdrop of the growing relevance of individual responsibility for sustainably approach to global resources, an exhibition on sustainability was already installed at Autostadt Wolfsburg in 2007. The exhibition and experiential surface Level Green, also designed by J. Mayer H., explains the focus on sustainability interactively to the visitors of the Autostadt. Art + Com, Berlin designed and implemented the content of the interactive media used especially for this purpose.

The metaphor of the expansive network with many branches was developed from the familiar PET symbol, one of the first prominent symbols of an increased awareness in environmental protection. By translating the two dimensional graphic to a three-dimensional structure and altering it step by step, the result was a complex structure that makes the essentially abstract quality of the subject graspable on a spatial level.

Together, MobiVersum and Level Green form a synthesis for all generations to explore knowledge in depth, to enjoy their own experiences, and to learn playfully.

Client: Autostadt GmbH, Wolfsburg
Site: Volkswagen GroupForum, Ground Floor, Autostadt, Wolfsburg
Total floor area: approx. 1600 sqm
Architect: J. MAYER H. Architects, Berlin
Project team: Juergen Mayer H., Christoph Emenlauer, Marta Ramírez Iglesias, Simon Kassner, Jesko Malcolm Johnsson-Zahn, Alexandra Virlan, Gal Gaon

Architect on site: Jablonka Sieber Architekten, Berlin
Structural engineering steel construction: SFB Saradschow Fischedick, Berlin
Structural engineering wood construction: SJB.Kempter.Fitze AG, CH-Eschenbach
Building services: Brandi IGH, Salzgitter
Light engineers: Lichttransfer, Berlin
General contractor: Lindner Objektdesign GmbH
Contractor wood construction: Hess Timber

The post Autostadt installation by J. Mayer H. provides
huge shapes for children to clamber over appeared first on Dezeen.

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 »

The post Georgia is investing in architecture
“like post-war Germany” says Jürgen Mayer H. appeared first on Dezeen.

German studio J. Mayer H. Architects has completed a building housing a law court, university library, auditoriums and offices in the Belgian city of Hasselt (+ slideshow).

J. Mayer H. Architects collaborated with local Hasselt firms a2o-architecten and Lensºass architecten on the building, which is located on a former railway station site that is being transformed into a new urban district.

The court of justice building is divided into three separate units containing the courtrooms, student library and the office tower, which also houses a restaurant with panoramic views across the city.

The form of the tower and the pattern of perforated panels on the facade reference the hazelnut trees found in the City of Hasselt’s coat of arms.

Steel cladding on the exterior evokes the area’s industrial heritage and the influence of art nouveau on this part of Belgium.

The tree motif continues inside the building, with a veined pattern covering a wall behind the main reception desk.

J. Mayer H. recently created a temporary event space made from scaffolding at an art museum in Munich and a house in Stuttgart that resembles a dinosaur’s head – see more J. Mayer H.

Other law courts on Dezeen include SOM’s federal courthouse, which recently began construction in downtown Los Angeles, and a long, narrow courthouse building positioned amongst the brick buildings of a former tobacco factory in Venice – see more law courts.

Photography is by Bieke Claessens, except where stated otherwise.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

New Court of Justice, Hasselt, Belgium

September 13th, 2013 marks the opening of “Court of Justice” in Hasselt, designed by the architects team of J. MAYER H. Architects, a2o-architecten and Lensºass architecten. After finishing the exterior skin already in 2011, the interior was completed in spring of 2013.

The new court of justice is an open, transparent building with direct public access, combining the Court of Justice with a university library and auditoriums for the faculty of law.

In keeping with the building’s logistical requirements and safety provisions, the structure is divided into three separate units: courtrooms, the library for students and an office tower with a 64-meters-high panorama restaurant on top from which offers a panoramic view of the city of Hasselt and its surroundings.

Based on a master plan by West 8, the former railway station site has been restructured with a park, public buildings, offices and hotels, as well as urban residential blocks.

The team of J. MAYER H. Architects, Lens °Ass and a20-architecten have realized one of the two high-rise buildings, “the new court of justice”, a structure that stands as a contemporary urban landmark of the new district.

References in the design process point to both the image of the “tree”, the hazelnut trees in the City of Hasselt’s coat of arms, and steel structures in the once industrial and Art Nouveau-influenced area.

Client: n.v. SOHA (Stedelijke ontwikkelingsmaatschappij Hasselt) – Autonoom Gemeentebedrijf Hasselt + Euro Immo Star)
Architects: J. MAYER H. Architects, a2o-architecten, Lensºass architecten
Construction Company: T.H.V. Hasaletum nv (Democo nv – Cordeel nv – Interbuild nv)
Tenant: Regie der Gebouwen
User: Federale Overheidsdienst Justitie
Square Footage: 20.763 m² above-ground spaces (Offices, Meeting-Rooms, Library, Reception, Cafeteria, Court rooms) 4.694 m² Underground spaces (Archive), 3.384 m² Underground spaces Parking Lot

Construction Time: October 2008 – September 2013
Address: Parklaan, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium
Project-manager: Eurostation NV

Structural Engineering: M. & A. Van Wetter BVBA
Technical Engineering: Eurostation NV
Controlling and Fire Protection: Seco CV

The post Court of Justice by
J. Mayer H. Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

German practice J. Mayer H. has replaced the gridded facade of a 1950s office building with organically curved glass and white render.

“We tried to design a facade that would be a bit more free, something less strict and linear” explained Wilko Hoffmann of J. Mayer H.

Located above the Schlump underground station in west Hamburg, Schlump One is a seven storey building and the architects have extended it to accommodate more offices and the facilities for a private university.

The curved forms continue inside the building, where partitions have rounded openings that form surfaces beside the corridors.

Combined with the extension, the building has a U-shaped plan that wraps around a courtyard at the rear.

We’ve published a few stories about J. Mayer H. over the last year, including a round-up of projects in Georgia and proposals for a building made from scaffolding.

See more stories about J. Mayer H. »

Exterior photography is by Jan Bitter and interior photography is by Ludger Paffrath.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

Schlump ONE – Hamburg, Germany
Office Complex and University Building

The project “Schlump ONE” is located directly at the underground station Schlump in Eimsbüttel district in Hamburg.

The original administration building from the 1950s and 90s was gutted, renovated and expanded, and has now been converted into an office building with four possible rental units per floor.

The existing data processing center in the courtyard has been transformed into a private university and expanded to include a new building.

The building’s facade has been completely renovated and redesigned to form a single unit that freely interprets the original building’s 1950s linear design.

The organic formal language of the facade is continued in the design of interiors.

Above: original office building

The project is embedded in a sophisticated, open space planning design with oversized tree sculptures.

Site plan – click above for larger image

Project Team: Juergen Mayer H., Christoph Emenlauer, Mehrdad Mashaie, Ana Alonso de la Varga
Project Architect: Hans Schneider

Ground floor plan – click above for larger image

Project: 2010 – 2012
Completion: Summer 2012
Client: Cogiton, Projekt Eimsbuettel GmbH, Hamburg

Typical floor plan – click above for larger image

Architect on Site: Architekturbuero Franke, Hamburg
Structural Engineers: WTM Engineers
Building Services: Energiehaus Ingenieure, Sineplan, Hamburg
Landscape Architects: Breimann Bruun Simons, Hamburg

The post Schlump One Hamburg
by J. Mayer H. appeared first on Dezeen.

Slideshow feature: infrastructure projects by German architects J. Mayer H. have been popping up all over Georgia in the last year – buildings completed so far include an airport, a police station, a civic centre, a border checkpoint and two roadside service stations. Here’s a slideshow to bring them all together.

See all our stories about J. Mayer H. »
See more projects in Georgia »