This wooden observation platform and pavilion emerges from the landscape of a memorial park in Koknese, Latvia, offering views across the River Daugava (+ slideshow).
Designed by Latvian studios Didzis Jaunzems Architecture and Jaunromans un Abele, the wooden structure is located in the Garden of Destiny, a park designed to celebrate the country’s 100th birthday in 2018 and pay tribute to all those that have died in the last century.
The architects used the natural incline of the site to build a pavilion that is partially buried beneath the ground. A sloping roof provides an elevated deck that visitors can walk over, while the surrounding terrace concludes at a balcony that cantilevers out across the water.
“The view terrace and pavilion create a harmonious environment to discover the special character of the site – the spaciousness and the faraway horizon over River Daugava,” explained Didzis Jaunzems.
Existing features around the site informed the shape of the building. As well as working in line with the site’s topography, the architects designed a structure that avoids all surrounding trees whilst seeking out the best viewing spots.
The structure was built almost entirely from larch. Wooden planks were fixed around a larch frame, creating a uniform surface across the ground planes and around the building’s walls.
Each plank was also milled to create fine ridges, intended to prevent visitors from slipping when the ground is wet, and glazing was added at the front of the pavilion to offer shelter from strong winds and rainfall.
Wooden benches fold up from the ground to provide seating and metal railings create see-through balustrades.
Since opening, the site has become a popular location for all kinds of activities. “The view terrace unintentionally has become a very popular place for wedding ceremonies,” said Jaunzems.
Photography is by ML-Studio.
Read on for more information from the design team:
View Terrace and Pavilion
View Terrace and Pavilion are situated in memorial park “The Garden of Destiny”, the area of Consolation which is the first zone of Future according to overall project of the island. The Garden of Destiny is memorial place for all souls that have been lost to Latvia in last century and it will be completed as a gift to country on its 100th birthday in year 2018. The View Terrace project started as an architectural competition and with a help of donations is now first realised permanent building in memorial park. View terrace received the Prize of the Year in Latvian Architecture Best Works Award.
The view terrace and pavilion create a harmonious environment to discover the special character of the site – the spaciousness and the faraway horizon over River Daugava. The tight bond between Latvian people and nature has been emphasised in the project. Nature is a source of inner energy, strength, peace and inspiration. Nature has been a priority in this project since it is the consolation for Latvians. The building has been designed considering site particularities and in harmony with nature:
» The main flows of people have been analysed. The building is made in a way to not cover the view to river panorama when approaching the site; » Stop points such as benches and covered space are situated in the places where view is the most stunning and emotional; » The building has been shaped in a way to preserve most valuable trees on the site; » Terrain level differences are used in the project design. The pavilion is partly sunken into the ground so it doesn’t cover the view when approaching the building and to provide comfortable access from the lowest level of terrace.
View terrace and pavilion has diversified levels of “openness”. This gives an opportunity to use the building in all kind of weather conditions as well as lets visitors to choose the level which emotionally suits them the best. For example if it is raining or in case of strong wind people can enjoy the view from the part of pavilion that is covered with roof and protected with large glass. But if the weather is not an issue then exposed long benches can be used. The building can be seen as a platform for harmonious interaction between people and nature.
The main architectonic idea of the project is building volume that following people movement from a pathway and seats gradually grows into a building in this way exploring building location on the very coast of the river. Roof inclinations creates an exciting place where to play and relax. The main challenge of the project was its highly public significance – it is built for everybody and furthermore by donations of people. The building is very compact however its configuration and various possibilities of usage allow to coexist all parts of society. From this year on couples in Latvia can officially get married outside the church and the view terrace unintentionally has become a very popular place for wedding ceremonies.
Pavilion and view terrace are made in wood – larch. The load-bearing structure is larch frames. Finishing is larch planks that are processed in a special technique to avoid slippery surfaces on pathways and roof of the building.
Project address: Memorial park “The Garden of Destiny”, Krievkalna Island, Koknese, Latvia Projects architects: Didzis Jaunzems, Laura Laudere in collaboration with architecture office Jaunromans and Abele
A pavilion with a spiked roof by Australian firm Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects rises above the landscaped site of the new National Arboretum on the outskirts of the Australian capital, Canberra (+ slideshow).
The pavilion is one of two buildings designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects for the project, developed in partnership with landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean. The designers transformed an area of bushfire-damaged land to create a botanical garden displaying a collection of endangered trees and plants.
Photograph by John Gollings
The pointed pavilion is situated on a plateau called the Event Terrace, which was excavated below the ridge of a nearby hill to minimise the impact of the built structures on the landscape. Its dramatic roofline was designed to provide a focal point, creating a building that can be used as a venue for events including parties, weddings and ceremonies.
Photograph by John Gollings
“[The pavilion’s] roof shape is a defined contrast to the rolling topography of the site,” said the architects. “The pointed roof will be an emphatic pause in the sweep of the Arboretum’s landscape in this precinct.”
Photograph by John Gollings
The roof projects over a curving balcony that rises from the sloping hillside and provides an outdoor extension with panoramic views towards the city, lake and nearby mountains. A framework of plywood box beams supports the zinc-clad roof, which is flanked by concrete wings housing bathrooms and service areas.
Nearby, a visitor centre with a shallower pitched roof marks the entrance to the park. This contains facilities for visitor information and orientation, education spaces, a shop and a cafe.
The curving shape of the zinc-clad roof was designed to emulate the ribbed structure of leaves and complement the undulating forms of the natural topography.
Photograph by John Gollings
“The architecture develops the long-standing tradition of significant garden buildings as transparent enclosures with dramatic internal volumes and sense of indoor-outdoor connection,” the architects explained.
A cutting in the hillside lined with rock-filled cages leads into the building’s multipurpose central atrium, which has a vaulted ceiling supported by wooden beams that resemble tree branches.
A fan-shaped arrangement of pointed glass panels set into the geometric roof structure near the main entrance introduce daylight into the the flexible space, which opens onto the Event Terrace at the opposite side.
Both the pavilion and the visitor centre overlook a turfed amphitheatre and a series of gardens, events spaces and 100 strips of forest that will mature over time. Sculpted terraces and a stream descend down the hillside towards a valley, which contains a dam to provide recycled water to the gardens.
Photography is by Brett Boardman unless otherwise stated.
Here’s a project description from Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects:
National Arboretum Canberra
TZG, in association with landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean, won an Australia wide competition for the National Arboretum, on a 290ha. site of bushfire-damaged land north of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin. The Arboretum is a collection of 100 forests, each home to a single internationally-endangered species. The species are chosen from the many thousands that are threatened world-wide, and curated according to colour of foliage, pattern of bark/leaf, filigree of branches, scent and texture, and suitability to local growth conditions.
A simple formal geometry, developed from Griffin’s water axis, interacts with the landform on which it is laid. 250m wide forest bands are defined by native-planted clearings leading to the lake. Each Forest offers an immersive experience of a single species. Each Forest holds a viable population, creating a seed bank for each species’ native land, so that vulnerable and endangered species are preserved.
Defined gardens and event spaces are surrounded by the forests. With the provision of services, pavilion shelters and toilets these spaces have the potential to be booked for a wide range of events.
Photograph by John Gollings
The spaces also provide opportunities for themed gardens, sponsored plantings and temporary exhibits, performances, artworks and garden designs. The 1400m long Central Valley forms a focal clearing at the centre of the site, with a sculpted series of terraces linked by a cascading stream and a fully-accessible pathway.
The linear water feature feeds as the main water storage facility, located at the foot of the Central Valley the Arboretum. The dam and other water tanks will have a total capacity of 20 megalitres of recycled water, and will be a demonstration of water sensitive landscape design, showcasing contemporary design and ecological water recycling technology.
The Arboretum was opened to commemorate Canberra’s centenary in 2013, with all 100 forests planted. The forests are complemented by the Village Centre visitor’s centre, the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion reception centre, a regional Playground and the first of the many gardens planned for the site. A full road and pedestrian circulation system is operational, and a site-wide interpretation strategy underlines the projects long-term ecological benefits.
Village Centre
The Village Centre is the main point of arrival for the National Arboretum Canberra, and provides a full range of visitor facilities to complement the outdoor experiences of the Arboretum. The Centre’s architecture develops the long-standing tradition of significant garden buildings as transparent enclosures with dramatic internal volumes and a strong sense of indoor-outdoor connection. Importantly, the strong presence of the building acts as a focus for the Arboretum while the trees are immature.
The exterior of the building is a sculptural form in the site’s rolling topography, contrasting low stone-clad wings with a high arching roof clad in weathered zinc, the form of which is inspired by the fronds of the adjoining forest of Chilean Wine Palms, and by the ribbing of many tree leaves. The interior subtly recalls the branched forms of mature trees.
Photograph by John Gollings
Carefully sited below the ridgeline, the building forms a unified composition with Taylor Cullity Lethlean’s dramatic sculpting of the site’s Central Valley, the 6 Hectare Event Terrace and the small Pavilion, now under construction and a counterpoint to the Village Centre.
The building occupies the northern end of the Event Terrace, overlooking the landform of the Central Valley and the adjoining planted forests. It connects the central carpark with the major Play Space, and the Event Terrace, grassed Amphitheatre, Gardens and pedestrian pathway networks.
From the car park, visitors enter the Arboretum through the new building, passing through the dramatic Entry Cutting formed through the ridgeline knolls, planted with forests of white-flowering crepe myrtle. The heart of the building is its main vaulted space, which flexibly accommodates a range of functions, including exhibitions, events, retail, a café and programmed activities. It focuses on the dramatic views southeast to Lake Burley Griffin and the city of Canberra, and opens to the north and south to the sweep of the Event Terrace. Service spaces are screened by stone walls in extended low-cost wings, tying the building into its landform.
The building incorporates a range of energy-saving measures, supporting the environmental value of the Arboretum as a whole, with a very low-energy envelope and structure. All water is captured. Low energy lighting and mechanical systems are used throughout. The dramatic, low energy timber structure was fully computer dimensioned and prefabricated in Tasmania and quickly erected on site. Each rafter is a pure circle arc, but each of a different diameter to respond to the curve of the site. The resultant 3D shape is a complex non-geometric volume, with no repeated elements. The choice of timber reduces embodied energy by nearly 90% compared to steelwork, and the stone walls have an equally low energy profile. The roof is comprised of conical pre-cast concrete columns supporting a structure of engineered laminated Tasmanian Oak and pine beams and rafters.
The building was designed by architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and constructed by Project Coordination. It was developed as part of the Arboretum “100 Forests” master plan, won in competition in 2004 by landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean and urban designers Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
Location: Canberra, ACT Client: ACT Government Completed: 2005-2012 Builder: Project Coordination, project manager David Carr Project team: Peter Tonkin, John Chesterman, Juliane Wolter, Tamarind Taylor, Wolfgang Ripberger, Trina Day, Roger O’Sullivan Landscape Consultant: Taylor Cullity Lethlean Roof: pure zinc sheet, hand formed standing seam joints Ceiling Sound Insulation: Acoustisorb fabric finished panels Gabion and mortared stone walls: Wee Jasper porphyry Windows and roof glazing: double glazed sealed units with very high performance solar glass with a low emissivity coating Cooling and air conditioning system: extensive natural ventilation complemented by underfloor hydronic heating and low-energy airconditioning. Water system: 90,000 litre underground tank, all water recycled for toilet flushing and plant watering Floor: Honed and sealed in-situ concrete, with the required slip grade
The Margaret Whitlam Pavilion will be an important facility for the National Arboretum Canberra, related to the Visitor Centre and the spectrum of activities planned for the Arboretum.
The Pavilion is located on the south-western tip of the U-shaped Events terrace, looking across the future grassed Amphitheatre to the Visitors Centre and out to the Central Valley and the city of Canberra beyond. Its axis aligns with the Captain Cook water jet, continuing Griffin’s structuring of the city by focal radiating axes. The building is kept below the landscaped ridge to the west, so that it is subordinate to the landform, whilst its roof shape is a defined curve in contrast to the rolling topography of the site. The pointed curve of the roof will be an emphatic pause in the sweep of the Arboretum’s landscape in this precinct, and a dramatic statement when viewed from the main car entry adjoining Tuggeranong Parkway.
The building includes a main internal space suitable for functions of up to 120 people, including cocktail parties, weddings, dinners, music and other performances and ceremonial events. The space opens eastwards to an outdoor terrace projecting over the lip of the slope, and north and south to smaller linking terraces, each with fully-openable glass doors. The eastern terrace captures a panorama of the city and its surrounding mountains, with the sweep of the lake and the Parliament flagpole as a focus.
The structure is an innovative pre-fabricated arrangement of steel beams and insulating composite panels, clad externally in zinc, matching the ribbed roof of the Village Centre to the north. Low wings of off-form concrete house service functions.
The interior of the Pavilion complements in feel and detail the ecological focus of the Arboretum. The limed plywood lining and the use of special elements in hardwood highlights the value of trees as sources of material and as carbon storage. The space has been extensively modelled for acoustics, suiting amplified and natural voice and music.
Low-energy services and water recycling complement the sustainable focus of the Arboretum, and ensure the Pavilion’s on-going operational feasibility.
The building was designed by architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and constructed by Manteena. It was developed as part of the Arboretum “100 Forests” master plan, won in competition in 2004 by landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean and urban designers Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
Location: Canberra, ACT Client: ACT Government Completed: 2005-2013 Builder: Manteena Project team: Peter Tonkin, John Chesterman, Juliane Wolter, Wolfgang Ripberger, Roger O’Sullivan Steel Structure: steel portal frames with Kingspan composite panels Roof: pure zinc sheet, hand formed standing seam joints Ceiling: perforated acoustic-lined plywood, hoop pine veneer with limewash Windows and door glazing: double glazed sealed units with very high performance solar glass with a low emissivity coating Cooling and air conditioning system: extensive natural ventilation complemented by underfloor hydronic heating and low-energy air conditioning Water system: shared underground tank with Village Centre, all water recycled for toilet flushing and plant watering Floor: honed and sealed in-situ concrete, with the required slip grade
News: architects and designers including OMA, BIG and WXY have unveiled proposals to revitalise parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut devastated by Hurricane Sandy, and help protect them against future emergencies.
Big U by BIG, also main image
The Rebuild by Design competition asked ten teams of architects, landscape architects, engineers and urban designers to develop proposals for different sections of America’s east coast, which was struck by the hurricane in October 2012.
Big U by BIG
Danish studio BIG has developed a protective system, called Big U, which would wrap around the outside of Manhattan. Designed to shield New York City against floods and stormwater, the three separate sections would also create new public spaces.
Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: A Comprehensive Strategy for Hoboken by OMA
For the Hoboken district of New Jersey, Rem Koolhaas’ OMA proposes introducing an “urban water strategy”, where a combination of hard infrastructure and soft landscaping can create a coastal defence integrating natural drainage.
Blue Dunes – The Future of Coastal Protection by WXY and West 8
New York studio WXY Architecture worked with landscape architects West 8 on a strategy for the New York and New Jersey harbour, entitled Blue Dunes. The designers made predictions about storms of the future and are promoting the establishment of a research initiative.
Living Breakwaters by Scape Landscape Architecture
The design by New York landscape firm Scape features “a necklace of breakwaters” to offer a buffer against wave damage, flooding and erosion on Staten Island, while urban design studio Interboro have developed a series of approaches for the barrier islands, marshes and lowlands of Long Island.
Living with the Bay: A Comprehensive Regional Resiliency Plan for Nassau County’s South Shore by Interboro
Other proposals include ideas for Jersey Shore, Bridgeport in Connecticut and Hunts Point in New York’s South Bronx.
Hunts Point Lifelines by PennDesign and OLIN
The competition was initiated last year by US housing and urban development secretary Shaun Donovan. The winning projects will be announced later this year and will be implemented with funding from community grants.
This wooden pavilion with a protruding canopy was designed by Ramser Schmid Architekten to offer a sheltered outdoor seating area for visitors to the city library in Zug, Switzerland (+ slideshow).
Swiss studio Ramser Schmid Architekten worked with landscape firm Planetage Landscape Architects to create the public pavilion for a new city park occupying the derelict space between the library’s two buildings, located within a historic arsenal.
The space was already home to a basement car park, which extends out from the edge of the landscape. Rather than burying this under more landscaping, the team chose to encase it behind a slatted timber screen and build a mushroom-like pavilion on top.
“The pavilion with its widely projecting roof creates a new sense of identity for the old Zeughaus site,” architect David Dick explains in his project description.
The structure is made from timber blocks, which are arranged in a pattern that resembles brickwork. Regular spaces create a rhythm of openings, revealing the supporting beams behind.
“In analogy to the retaining wall’s veil of wood, a transparent shell of horizontal wooden slats around the pedestal was designed in order to embellish the poor quality of the existing buildings rather than to hide them,” said Dick.
Planetage Landscape Architects surrounded the structure with shrub beds and low hedges, which line the edges of footpaths connecting the two library buildings with the city’s pedestrian pathways.
Photography is by Ralph Feiner.
Here’s a project description from Ramser Schmid Architekten:
City Park Zug
The area to be newly designed consisted mainly of the space between two locations of the local library: the main building in the south and the ancient arsenal, in which additional rooms had been installed into in 2011. The clients, the city and the canton of Zug asked for a public city park that was to be linked to the historic city’s pedestrian walks. The main goal of the park was to connect both sites of the library.
One of the main challenges was the fact that an underground car park from the 1970s partly juts out of the tilted terrain and its driveway divide the area into two sections.
The commonly accomplished competition entry by Planetage Landscape Architects and Ramser Schmid Architects was the winner of the 2010 competition. The jury report mentions the “surprising and yet persuading configuration of the terrain edge”. Instead of hiding away the underground car park’s volume by banks of earth, the planners accepted the presence of the building and decided to additionally expose it, extend it and to strengthen it by a wooden wall cladding. The car park now appears as a retaining wall, which separates the upper level with the old arsenal and its terrace from the lower part.
The lower level serves as public traffic area for the underground car park on the one hand. An array of shrub beds bordered by low hedges has been provided, which accompanies the footpaths towards the site and which can be seen as a spatial analogy to the existing Old Town’s gardens in Zug.
The staircases to the upper level pass by the retaining wall that is covered with vertical wooden slats. The cladding serves several purposes: besides being a fall protection, it highlights the built structures and facilitates orientation onsite. Protruding elements of the old underground car park, like for example an emergency exit, are masked. Visible transitions between new and 40-year old concrete surfaces are obscured with the new supplements, without hiding away the massive presence of the building.
The upper level located in front of the newly installed research library in the old arsenal is designed as a wide and open park. Generous and versatile lawns, a water basin, flexible seating configurations provide for a relaxed atmosphere.
The pavilion with its widely projecting roof creates a new sense of identity for the old Zeughaus (arsenal) site. The placement of the pavilion on the very top follows the inner logic of the complex: the mushroom-like pavilion is built on the lift shaft and the ventilation station of the 10-storey underground car park below. The technical section that protrudes the car park’s roof is amplified and used as a pedestal for the cantilevered roof construction. In analogy to the retaining wall’s veil of wood, a transparent shell of horizontal wooden slats around the pedestal was designed in order to embellish the poor quality of the existing buildings rather than to hide them. The cladding depicts the vertical subconstruction as well as the roof’s radially arranged laminated beams and reveals, solely by its geometry, the constructive design of the supporting structure.
Landscape architecture: Planetage Landschaftsarchitekten Team: Marceline Hauri, Christine Sima, Ramon Iten, Helge Wiedemeyer, Thomas Volprecht Modification of the car park and pavilion: Ramser Schmid Architekten Team: Christoph Ramser, Raphael Schmid, David Dick, Isabel Amat, Lena Bertozzi, Elena Castellote, Patrick Schneider Technical Planners: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure, d-lite Lichtdesign Site Manager: Kolb Landschaftsarchitektur
Landscape architecture firm Martha Schwartz Partners references Bedouin carpets and sand dunes in teardrop-shaped landscaping for a green retreat in the centre of an Abu Dhabi business district (+ slideshow).
Martha Schwartz Partners designed Sowwah Square for a site at the heart of Abu Dhabi’s new central business district on Al Maryah Island, formerly known as Sowwah Island.
The 2.6 hectare public plaza features colourfully patterned granite paving and an assortment of plant-covered mounds. There are also granite seating elements, garden beds, sculpted hedges and rows of Indian fig trees.
“The inspiration for the square was derived from the nature and culture inherent to the Arabian Peninsula: dunes, traditional irrigation systems (falaj), oases, bedouin textiles and the popular use of formal clipped hedges in the United Arab Emirates, drawing connections with the French baroque château gardens,” said the architects.
Green mounds, a typical feature in the Al Maryah, feature patches of plants of different colours and textures. Species such as the Golden Ice Plant Lampranthus, which has bright orange flowers, are planted next to the Purple Lady Iresine, which features small purple foliage.
“All the plant species used in the project were selected for their hardiness, low maintenance and drought and heat tolerance,” the architects said.
The teardrop-shaped mounds are dotted through the square. Some form centrepieces to the granite benches, acting as wind shelters.
The polished grey-granite benches encircle the mounds and have grooves carved into their surfaces, allowing bubbling streams of water to run across them to offer visitors relief from the heat.
The benches come in six variations. Some have extended seats, while others have high backs or wider leaning space. At night, the base of each benches is illuminated.
The pavement is set with patterned sections of honed, flamed and polished granite, and extend outwards in layers to emphasise the teardrop shapes.
Sculpted hedges line the edges of low garden beds, with native grasses planted in the centre to sway in the wind.
Here’s a project description from Martha Schwartz Partners:
Sowwah Square
Sowwah Square is the first development within the larger Sowwah Island master plan in Abu Dhabi and is intended to be the centre piece of the island development, providing a green retreat at the centre of the new commercial hub.
On the southern edge of Sowwah Island, the main urban space is located on top of a two-level retail podium and creates a landscape setting for the Sowwah Square complex. Future phases of the project will include a 5 star Business Hotel, serviced apartments, and additional retail complexes adjacent to Sowwah Square.
The inspiration for the square was derived from the nature and culture inherent to the Arabian Peninsula: dunes, traditional irrigation systems (Falaj), oasis, Bedouin textiles and the popular use of formal clipped hedges in United Arab Emirates, drawing connections with the French baroque château gardens. This merging of ideas is represented in a contemporary responsive design created a sustainable, cool and protected micro climate for users and a dynamic kaleidoscope of planting and patterned paving on the ground and viewed from the surrounding towers.
The Public Realm has been designed so that these future developments can be integrated into the landscape scheme. The podium landscape as a whole has been designed as one large plaza space, with each of the areas having a different character and function.
Sculptural mounds provide micro-climate environments as wind protection and cooling to the local surroundings. They also add a spatial intimacy, framing outdoor rooms, which mitigate the impact of the mega-scale skyscrapers in the site.
The structure of the square uses large constructed vegetated mounds that orchestrate outdoor rooms to shelter pedestrians from the Shamal, a strong north-westerly wind blowing over Persian Gulf and to provide intimate spaces amongst the towering buildings. Linking the mounds together, the decorative pattern like that of a traditional rug, weaves through the square.
To soothe people from the heat, water features are incorporated into long stone benches that wrap the mounds, providing playful and tactile experience. The surface texture is finished with ornate grooves creating a dynamic rippling effect. In order to maximise this limited resource, and reduce evaporation, the water is contained in narrow Falaj like channels as used in ancient irrigation system found throughout the Middle East. At night, the benches come to life with integrated lighting at the base that silhouettes the mounds and highlights the polished surfaces.
Innovative sustainable design has been instrumental in the project which has been awarded a LEED Gold certification. The steep angulated mounds contribute 1.45 times more green space than level planters and water consumption is reduced due to the vertical planting maximising 100% irrigation moisture.
The information gathered during the pedestrian, vehicular, and program site studies has been used to inform the landscape design strategy. The straight line pedestrian linkages and vehicular movements are used to structure the public realm and the design concepts have been used to infill the public realm structure.
The 77 individuals who lost their lives during the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway will be commemorated by this competition-winning intervention by Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg to sever a strip of headland from the coastline near Oslo.
Jonas Dahlberg plans to pay tribute to victims by creating “a wound or a cut within the landscape” that will symbolise the feeling of loss created by the events of 22 July, which included the bombing of a government quarter in Oslo and the shootings that followed on the nearby island of Utøya.
The artist plans to make a 3.5 metre-wide slice between the surface of the landscape and the waterline in the Norwegian village of Sørbråten – just across the water from Utøya – effectively making it impossible to reach the end of the headland on foot.
“My concept for the Memorial Sørbråten proposes a wound or a cut within nature itself,” explained Dahlberg in his competition text. “It reproduces the physical experience of taking away, reflecting the abrupt and permanent loss of those who died.”
A five-minute trail will lead visitors across the landscape towards the memorial. This pathway will become a tunnel, arriving at a cutaway that faces across the water towards a stone wall inscribed with the names of the victims.
“The names will be close enough to see and read clearly, yet ultimately out of reach,” said the artist. “This experience hopes to bring visitors to a state of reflection through a poetic rupture or interruption. It should be difficult to see the inherent beauty of the natural setting, without also experiencing a sense of loss.”
Dahlberg also plans to use the excavated material to build a second memorial at the government quarter in Oslo, forging a connection between the two sites to reference the connection between the two attacks.
Excavated soil and stone used to create another memorial in Oslo
The various trees and plants removed to create the pathway at Sørbråten will form an artificial landscape in Oslo, creating a sunken walkway with tiered seating along one side. Meanwhile, the leftover stone will be used to construct an amphitheatre.
Here’s the full announcement from the July 22 Memorials organisation:
Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg to design July 22 Memorial sites in Norway
Director of KORO/Public Art Norway Svein Bjørkås announced the jury’s evaluation of submissions and final decision in the closed competition July 22 Memorial sites. The jury’s decision was unanimous, voting Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg as winner of the competition.
Dahlberg’s concept takes the site at Sørbråten as its point of departure. Here he proposes a wound or a cut within the landscape itself to recreate the physical experience of something being taken away, and to reflect the abrupt and permanent loss of those who died on Utøya. The cut will be a three-and-a-half-metre wide excavation running from the top of the headland at the Sørbråten site to below the waterline and extending to each side. This gap in the landscape will make it impossible to reach the end of the headland.
The material excavated from the cut at Sørbråten will be used to build the foundation for the temporary memorial at the Government Quarter in Oslo, and will also subsequently serve as the foundation for the permanent memorial there.
From the Jury’s evaluation of Jonas Dahlberg’s proposal:
Jonas Dahlberg’s proposal takes the emptiness and traces of the tragic events of 22 July as its starting point. His suggestion for the Sørbråten site is to make a physical incision into the landscape, which can be seen as a symbolic wound. Part of the headland will be removed and visitors will not be able to touch the names of those killed, as these will be engraved into the wall on the other side of the slice out of nature. The void that is created evokes the sense of sudden loss combined with the long-term missing and remembrance of those who perished.
Dahlberg has proposed to move the landmass taken out of the rocky landscape at Sørbråten to the permanent and temporary memorial site in the Government Quarter in Oslo. By using this landmass to create a temporary memorial pathway between Grubbegata and the Deichmanske Library, a connection is forged between the memorial sites at Sørbråten and the Government Quarter. The names of those killed will be recorded on a wall that runs alongside the pathway.
The proposed permanent memorial site in Oslo takes the form of an amphitheatre around Høyblokka. Dahlberg also proposes to use trees taken from Sørbråten in this urban environment to maintain the relationship between the memorial sites in the capital and to the victims of the atrocities at Utøya.
The Jury considers Dahlberg’s proposal for Sørbråten as artistically highly original and interesting. It is capable of conveying and confronting the trauma and loss that the 22 July events resulted in in a daring way. The proposal is radical and brave, and evokes the tragic events in a physical and direct manner.
This barn-like building in Slovenia by Ljubljana office Arhitektura d.o.o. contains spaces used for dispensing honey, processing dried fruit and hosting family festivities (+ slideshow).
The gabled multipurpose building on the outskirts of the village of Šentrupert was designed by Ljubljana office Arhitektura d.o.o. for a Slovenian businessman and also houses facilities for storing crops and tools.
The barn’s minimal appearance is influenced by the functional integrity and imposing presence of the pitched-roof wooden hayracks that are typical of rural Slovenia.
“The dimensions, appearance, colour and logic of inner division of the building are based on the tradition of the hayrack,” the architects explained. “Even though the building is intended for agricultural activities of the homestead it is also an elegant ‘protocol’ and symbolic architectural creation.”
The building’s exterior is designed to blend in with other farm buildings in the area, while integrating new sustainable technologies.
“The dark facade looks similar to old wooden barns in the immediate surroundings and also allows a discreet inclusion of the photovoltaic roofing into the basic volume of the building,” said the architects.
Located on the crest of a hill, the building’s long elevation faces a lawn around which the owner’s main property, an apiary and a wooden tool shack are also arranged.
A basement partly buried in the hillside contains the main functional spaces for dispensing and storing honey, pressing and storing fruit and keeping tools. A heat pump and bathroom with an integrated sauna are also situated at one end of this floor.
Four load-bearing pillars at the corners of the building allow for the ground floor’s large span, which creates a space reminiscent of the open drying area of a hayrack.
The sparsely furnished room features floor-to-ceiling windows along three walls, which provide panoramic views and can be opened on one side to connect the interior with the lawn outside.
Meetings or family meals can be conducted around a long table in this room, which also accommodates a galley kitchen, a fireplace, an entrance hall and staircase to the basement and first floor.
Upstairs, another mostly empty space is used for tasks related to the farm in summer and as a billiard and fitness room in winter.
The internal profile of the gabled roof is left exposed in this attic area, which is clad in the same ash panels used throughout the rest of the interior.
The owner is a successful Slovenian businessman who spends some of his spare time in the countryside. The property is situated on the edge of a small village on top of a hill, and consists of farm land, forest, residential building, barn house, apiary and wooden pavilion used as a tool shack. The client decided to replace the broken-down barn house with a new, multi-functional building, a sort of “modern Slovenian hayrack”. The building is intended for dispensing honey, sorting, handling and drying fruit, storage of crops and tools, while the spacious ground floor is intended as a meeting place to host partners from abroad and celebrate family events.
Although the client’s idea of a modern hayrack which would function both as a barn house and prominent protocol house seemed controversial at first, however, the idea revealed a great archetypal and development potential, which is inherent in the architecture of a hayrack in Slovenian cultural awareness. Professor Marjan Mušič compared hayracks with Greek temples due to their architectural purity and antique origin, as well as monumentality, derived from pure form. In terms of size, position and importance, the hayrack was a central structure of a homestead and the source of livelihood in general. This is where their almost sacral character stems from.
The beauty of hayracks should not be sought in luxurious décor but rather in their proportions, harmony of strict lines, functional credibility and installation in space, giving their surroundings a monumental character. This concept originates in the Antiquity and still has the expressive power for the modern times and new tasks.
The building was placed at the end of a ‘pier’, which concludes the site of the small village and from it panoramic views of the picturesque surroundings open up. Together with the residential building and the wooden pavilion this plot of land forms a large inner grassy courtyard of the homestead. The building has a semi dug-in basement, a ground floor and the attic. The construction basis is similar to that of the double hayrack with stone corner pillars. The corners of the new building feature four strong corner pillar structures, with a 12 meter bridge construction placed in between, thus allowing large unified spaces on the ground floor and in the attic. The construction is reinforced concrete with steel roofing.
The basement, accessible via pathway directly from the farm land, is designed for dispensing and storing honey, pressing and storing fruit, storing tools and similar. The basement also features a heat pump for heating and cooling the building, as well as a basement bathroom with a sauna.
The ground floor of the building is almost empty, which is similar to a hayrack. There is also a handy open kitchen, a fireplace, the entrance hall and a staircase connecting all three floors. The ground floor is glazed with large sliding doors which can be open wide and connect the ground floor with the natural environment or the backyard.
The first floor is mostly empty. In the summer the large space is intended for various farm chores, whereas in the winter time it is used as a billiard room and fitness. The first floor also features a mini guest bedroom with bathroom and a storage room.
The dimensions, appearance, colour and logic of inner division of the building are based on the tradition of the hayrack. The dark façade looks similar to old wooden barnhouses in the immediate surroundings and also allows a discreet inclusion of the photovoltaic roofing into the basic volume of the building. Due to the photovoltaics on the roof, the snow guards are replaced by wide jutting roofs placed above the ground floor openings. The interior is covered with bright ash tree panels which gives the impression that the interior is hollowed from a single piece of wood. Furniture is simple and accents clean lines of the spaces.
Even though the building is intended for agricultural activities of the homestead it is also an elegant protocol and symbolic architectural creation. With it the owner wishes to express a respectful attitude towards Slovenian cultural heritage and Slovenian constructional and architectural tradition and to the way in which buildings are placed into the environment. The bold construction of large spans which strikes us with hayracks also gives this new building an air of nobility, in harmony with the picturesque landscape of the surrounding pastoral scenery.
London studio Levitate have reinstated access to a sixteenth-century English castle by repairing stonework and slotting a continuous oak walkway into the ruined shell.
Built on a cliff edge in Dorset, Sandsfoot Castle is under constant attack from coastal erosion and as a result had been unsafe for visitors since the 1930s. Levitate was commissioned to carry out a conservation project so the castle could be reopened to the public.
Levitate designed a lightweight walkway that slots into the internal space of the ruin. It traces the ruined walls, touching the fabric of the castle in as few places as possible.
“It is versatile; providing a backdrop to performances, concerts, re-enactments and a meeting place,” the architects told Dezeen.
The walkway is installed at what used to be ground level, providing a gallery-like space that allows visitors to occupy the castle as it had been historically.
“Setting the walkway at this level makes it possible to step off the new surface and into the deep window reveals, allowing the castle to be better appreciated,” added the architects.
On the coastal side, the walkway juts out into a doorway to create a balcony with views across the harbour.
The walkway is constructed of oak boards that sit on top of a galvanised steel frame. These materials were chosen for their low maintenance and ability to withstand the harsh coastal environment.
A continuous oiled-oak handrail runs around the inside of the walkway, designed as a place to lean.
Sandsfoot Castle is one of 24 projects shortlisted for the AJ Small Projects 2014. The winner will be announced next month.
Here’s a project description from Levitate:
Sandsfoot Castle
Sandsfoot Castle was built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1541 to work with Portland Castle to protect the waters of the Portland Roads against the threat of foreign invasion. Standing on the cliff edge the castle has been under attack from coastal erosion since it was built. Most of the ashlar stone has been lost to local building projects and thieves. The castle has been closed to the public since the 1930s.
The project was part funded by the HLF with Weymouth & Portland Borough Council providing match funding, and consisted of conservation treatment to the castle stonework and the insertion of a new lightweight walkway to open the castle up to the public once more. The work was completed on time and on budget, opening in the summer of 2012 to be enjoyed as part of the Olympic events being held in the town, the location of the sailing and windsurfing events.
Addressing the historic problems of cliff erosion and stone theft, the stone conservation work was carried out in lime mortars, with small scale reinforcement and supporting interventions to conserve the castle as found. Soft cappings were installed on the wall tops as an alternative to the existing cement cappings.
The new walkway allows public access to the castle and encourages local ownership of the site. It was designed to be a lightweight element sitting elegantly within the ruined castle at the level of the former floor. It touches the castle fabric in as few places as possible. Peeping out through a doorway on the seaward side it allows a view of Portland Harbour that the castle was built to protect, and its sister castle, Portland. The continuous timber handrail provides a comfortable place to lean and is supported by two continuous rows of balusters.
Galvanised steel was chosen as a robust and economic material for both the structure of the walkway and to form barriers to accessing the interior of the castle walls. It is accompanied by sawn oak boards and an oiled oak handrail. The simple palette complements the rough castle walls in a functional but pleasingly tactile way.
Interpretation panels telling the history of the castle were also prepared by Levitate.
Project name: Sandsfoot Castle Location: Weymouth, Somerset Client: The Friends of Sandsfoot Castle and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council Conservation Architect and Architect: Levitate Structural Engineer: Paul Carpenter Associates Contractor: Sally Strachey Historic Conservation (castle conservation) Bridmet (walkway and balustrades) Value: £165,000 Date of Completion: June 2012 Shortlisted for the 2013 Galvanizers Awards and the 2014 AJ Small projects Award
News: architecture firm Farrells has won a competition to masterplan two major commercial sites in the growing Qianhai special economic zone in Shenzhen, China, with plans that include a 320-metre skyscraper.
The firm led by British architect Terry Farrell will oversee the development of two key sites surrounding the Qianhaiwan metro station, which are expected to play a key role in boosting cross-border trade between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
The first of the two masterplans will provide over 460,000 square-metres of commercial floorspace, including offices, shops, serviced apartments and luxury homes. A 320-metre skyscraper will be built as part of the proposals, alongside a pair of 185-metre gateway towers.
Ground-level activity
Terry Farrell said: “This project represents a great opportunity to bring sustainable design principles to this dynamic and rapidly expanding part of Shenzhen.”
Ground-level activity
“The proximity of the area to Hong Kong is important and Qianhai will benefit from cross border trade to soon become a thriving district in its own right,” he added.
Landmark tower section
Farrell set up offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai following a growing workload in Asia that began with the Peak Tower in the early 1990s. The architect completed Shenzhen’s tallest building in 2011 – the 442-metre Kingkey 100 skyscraper.
News: a swimming pool, a theatre and a restaurant are among designs by French studios Oxo Architectes and Laisné Associés to renovate abandoned Metro stations in Paris (+ slideshow).
Arsenal Metro station converted into an art gallery
Manal Rachdi of Oxo Architects and and Nicolas Laisné of Laisné Associés were commissioned by Paris mayoral candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet to develop possibilities for renovating the disused spaces into places where Parisians can go to eat, dance, watch a play or even exercise.
Arsenal Metro station converted into a nightclub
“Why can’t Paris take advantage of its underground potential and invent new functions for these abandoned places?” Rachdi asked. “Far from their original purpose, more than a century after the opening of Paris’ underground network, these places could show they’re still able to offer new urban experiments”
Arsenal Metro station converted into a swimming pool
These designs illustrate how Arsenal station, a disused stop near the Bastille that was closed in 1939 at the start of the Second World War and never reopened, could potentially be transformed into a swimming pool, theatre and concert hall, nightclub, art gallery or even refectory-style restaurant.
Arsenal Metro station converted into a park
“To swim in the metro seems like a crazy dream, but it could soon come true,” said Rachdi. “Turning a former Metro station into a swimming-pool or a gymnasium could be a way to compensate for the lack of sports and leisure facilities in some areas.”
Another solution included an underground park, which would require a series of skylights to be built into the station’s roof to provide natural light.
Arsenal Metro station converted into a theatre and concert hall
The plans have been criticised for their huge cost and the safety issues involved in converting stations that still have live electricity running through them. Jean-Michel Leblanc, of France’s state-owned public transportation operator RATP told Le Parisien that it would be extremely difficult to make these stations safe for public use.
If Kosciusko-Morizet wins the election on March 30 this year, she plans on crowdsourcing other ideas for repurposing Paris’s abandoned stations.
Arsenal Metro station converted into a restaurant
There are 16 disused Metro stations in Paris, most of which closed between 1930-1970. A small number were also built but never opened. Previously the stations have been used as temporary sets for advertising campaigns and films. Porte-des-Lilas, a disused station closed in 1935, was used as a backdrop in 2001 film Amélie.
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