Hasta La Ideas

Design collective Assemble and a team of volunteers have constructed a temporary theatre in West Sussex, England, out of scaffolding, chipboard and plastic pond liner (+ slideshow).

Behind the waterproof plastic exterior, Theatre on the Fly is filled with exposed ropes, pulleys, spotlights and scaffolding platforms, just like the fly tower on top of most theatres.

The audience sit on chunky chipboard steps to face both the stage and a set of huge doors behind, which open for performances taking place on the lawn outside.

Completed on a tight budget, the theatre is hosting a nine-week programme of plays, workshops and talks over the summer as part of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the Chichester Festival Theatre.

Assemble previously constructed a temporary cinema beneath a motorway flyover in London.

Other temporary theatres we’ve featured include one made from spray-painted straw bales and an outdoor stage made entirely from timber batons.

See all our stories about theatres »

Photography is by Jim Stephenson.

Here’s some information from Assemble:

Theatre On The Fly is a temporary theatre space commissioned by Chichester Festival Theatre as part of their 50th Anniversary celebrations.

Inspired by the fleet-footed Tent productions that gave birth to the Minerva Theatre, Theatre On The Fly is playing host to a 9 week summer program based around three plays directed by Chichester’s three apprentice directors.

Theatre On The Fly is conceived by Chichester Festival Theatre as an opportunity to express the extraordinary spirit and strength of support for the Theatre, both across the city and throughout the rest of the UK.

The existing Festival Theatre was built on public subscription, which, as well as being an expident way to raise funds during difficult economic times, also fostered a sense of shared ownership and acted as a testament to the importance of the theatre to the wider community that was harnessed through the involvement of an extremely varied group of participants during construction.

The construction was managed on site by Assemble and construction carried out, in the main, by over 40 volunteers ranging in age from 16-68.

Chichester Festival Theatre chose award-winning design-and-build collective Assemble, whose working method on previous projects including The Cineroleum and Folly for a Flyover reflects this participatory and experimental spirit, to lead the project.

Assemble’s design, which sits on the boundary between indoor and outdoor theatre, provides an extraordinary performance space for the summer programme and provides a capacity, in the form of fly-tower, that is absent in the main theatres on the site.

Assemble worked closely with the directors to create a project that is envisaged as a continuation and reassertion of Chichester’s history of innovative theatre and ground-breaking design; a small but vital part of a wider project to affirm and grow Chichester’s unique position at the fore-front of UK theatre. The space reveals and plays with the machinations and techniques of theatre-making.

The design is based on the fly tower, a theatrical device used for the hoisting and lowering of objects and scene out of and into audience view during a performance.Theatre on the Fly exposes the fly-tower mechanisms which are normally hidden from view, creating a chameleonic space capable of hosting both intimate productions and opening up to offer views of to the surrounding parkland. Over the course of the summer the space will also host an open programme of talks, workshops and screenings.

Built almost entirely from re-useable and recyclable materials and materials donated in-kind, the project sought both to maximise the possible scale of the project on a limited budget. One example of this is the facade, clad in a changeable, translucent fiberweb material typically used as a pond liner or road underlay and at a cost of just £300. Detailed with tall, structural seams that fix back to the scaffolding sub-frame with cable ties, this material is almost silent in wind and rain and, in combination with the corrugated bitumen roofing material contributes to an extraordinarily quiet exterior structure.

With the support of the Heller Foundation and Arts Council England, three young directors have trained at Chichester Festival Theatre during the last five years and it is their debut Chichester productions – Blue Remembered Hills, Playhouse Creatures and Fred’s Diner – that are at the heart of the Theatre on the Fly season. The space will also house an eclectic season of late night comedy, live music and cabaret, the Youth Theatre’s production of Noah, theatre activities for children, and Anniversary readings.

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by Assemble appeared first on Dezeen.

Zaha Hadid has completed a streamlined concrete and glass building for three government departments in Montpellier, France (+ slideshow).

The Pierres Vives Building will accommodate the multimedia library, public archive and sports department of the Herault regional government and is due to be inaugurated on 13 September.

A recessed section of green-tinted glass runs along the length of the facade, where a first-floor foyer connects the library and offices with shared facilities that include meeting rooms, an auditorium and an exhibition space.

These shared facilities are contained inside a curved concrete block, which bursts through the glazing to shelter the main entrance on the ground floor below.

Zaha Hadid has also been in the news recently over claims she was to blame for tickets sold at the Olympic Aquatics Centre for seats with restricted views.

See all our stories about Zaha Hadid »

Photography is by Hélène Binet.

Here’s some more information from Zaha Hadid Architects:

The Pierres Vives building of the department de l’Herault is characterised by the unification of three institutions – the archive, the library and the sports department – within a single envelope. These various parts of this “cite administrative” combine into a strong figure visible far into the landscape. As one moves closer, the division into three parts becomes apparent. The building has been developed on the basis of a rigorous pursuit of functional and economic logic. However, the resultant figure is reminiscent of a large tree- trunk, laid horizontal. The archive is located at the solid base of the trunk, followed by the slightly more porous library with the sports department and its well-lit offices on top where the trunk bifurcates and becomes much lighter. The branches projecting off the main trunk are articulating the points of access and the entrances into the various institutions. On the western side all the public entrances are located, with the main entrance under an enormous cantilevering canopy; while on the eastern side all the service entrances, i.e. staff entrances and loading bays are located. In this way the tree-trunk analogy is exploited to organise and articulate the complexity of the overall “cite administrative”.

Spatial Organisation

The main vehicular access road- both for public visitors as well as for staff and service vehicles, is coming off Rue Marius Petipa, and provides access to either side of the building. The public access leads to the generous visitor car park right in front of the main entrance lobby. The service access is stretched along the opposite side.

This longitudinal division of serviced and servicing spaces is maintained within the ground floor along the full length of the building. The front side contains all the public functions of each institution, linked by a linear lobby and an exhibition space in the centre. Above this connective ground level the three institutions remain strictly separated. Each has its own set of cores for internal vertical circulation. The lay-outs of each part follow their specific functional logic.

Upon arrival at the main entrance, one is directed from the lobby either to the educational spaces of the archives on ground level; or via lifts and escalators to the main public artery on level 1. This artery is articulated all along the facades as a recessed glass strip and here reading rooms of both archives and library are immediately accessible. Central in this artery and therefore located at the heart of the building, are the main public facilities shared between the three institutions: auditorium and meeting rooms. These shared public functions also form the central volume that projects out from the trunk, providing a grand cantilevering canopy for arriving visitors.

Project: Pierres Vives
Location: Montpellier, France
Date: 2002 / 2012
Client: Departement de l’Herault
Size: 35,000 m2

Architectural Design: Zaha Hadid
Project Architect: Stephane Hof

Local Architect:
Design Phase: Blue Tango
Execution Phase: Chabanne et Partenaires

Structure: Ove Arup & Partners
Services: Ove Arup & Partners (Concept Design) & GEC Ingenierie

Acoustics: Rouch Acoustique Nicolas Albaric
Cost: Gec LR, Ivica Knezovic

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by Zaha Hadid appeared first on Dezeen.

Chunky wooden ribs bend around the walls and ceiling of this library in Norway by Helen & Hard Architects and integrate lighting, bookshelves and seating.

The 27 ribs frame the outline of a double-height hall, which spans the length of the Vennesla Library and Cultural Centre and includes a mezzanine.

Glue-laminated timber beams and columns provide the structure for each rib, while air conditioning ducts are sandwiched behind the lighting fixtures and plywood casing.

As the columns wrap around to meet the floor, hollows lined with cushions provide sheltered study spaces.

Existing buildings are located either side of the library, but natural light floods in through glazed facades that are exposed at the front and shaded behind timber slats at the back.

Stairs lead down to a basement floor containing offices, classrooms and a local history collection.

We’ve published a string of libraries on Dezeen lately, including two in Washington by Adjaye Associates and one in south London.

See all our stories about libraries »

Photography is by Hufton + Crow.

Here’s some more information from Helen & Hard Architects:

Vennesla Library and Culture house

The new library in Vennesla comprises a library, a café, meeting places and administrative areas, and links an existing community house and learning centre together.

Supporting the idea of an inviting public space, all main public functions have been gathered into one generous space allowing the structure combined with furniture and multiple spatial interfaces to be visible in the interior and from the exterior.

An integrated passage brings the city life into and through the building. Furthermore, the brief called for the new building to be open and easily accessible from the main city square, knitting together the existing urban fabric.

This was achieved using a large glass facade and urban loggia providing a protected outdoor seating area.

In this project, we developed a rib concept to create useable hybrid structures that combine a timber construction with all technical devices and the interior.

The whole library consists of 27 ribs made of prefabricated glue-laminated timber elements and CNC-cut plywood boards.

These ribs inform the geometry of the roof, as well as the undulating orientation of the generous open space, with personal study zones nestled along the perimeter.

Each rib consists of a glue laminated timber beam and column, acoustic absorbents which contain the air conditioning ducts, bent glass panes that serve as lighting covers and signs, and integrated reading niches and shelves.

The gradually shifting shapes of the ribs are generated through adapting to the two adjacent buildings and also through spatial quality and functional demands for the different compartments of the library.

Each end façade has been shaped according to the specific requirements of the site. At the main entrance, the rib forms the loggia which spans the width of the entire square.

Basement level plan – click above for larger image

Against south/west the building traces the natural site lines, and the building folds down towards the street according to the interior plan and height requirements.

Ground floor plan – click above for larger image

On this side, the façade is fitted with fixed vertical sunshading, This shading also gathers the building into one volume, witch clearly appears between the two neighbouing buildings.

Mezzanine plan – click above for larger image 

A main intention has also been to reduce the energy need for all three buildings through the infill concept and the use of high standard energy saving solutions in all new parts.

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The library is a “low-energy” building, defined as class “A” in the Norwegian energy-use definition system.

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We aimed to maximize the use of wood in the building.

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In total, over 450m3 of gluelam wood have been used for the construction alone.

All ribs, inner and outer walls, elevator shaft, slabs, and partially roof, are made in gluelam wood. All gluelam is exposed on one or both sides.

A symbiosis of structure, technical infrastructure, furniture and interior in one architectonic element creates a strong spatial identity that meets the client’s original intent to mark the city’s cultural centre.

Location: Vennesla, Norway
Client: Vennesla Kommune

Competition entry: 2009
Completion: 2011

Budget: 66,4 mill NOK (excl. tax)
Area: 1938 m2 gross

Team Helen & Hard: Reinhard Kropf, Siv Helene Stangeland, Håkon Minnesjord Solheim, Caleb Reed, Randi Augenstein

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by Helen & Hard Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

A boxy wooden staircase twists up through the floors of this design store in Shanghai by architects Neri&Hu.

The architects refurbished an existing building to create the Design Collective store, which houses a series of showrooms including one for their own furniture brand Design Republic.

A huge steel funnel leads customers into the triple height atrium, where products are displayed within recesses in the walls.

Design Republic is located on the ground floor beside an exhibition and events space, while eight more showrooms are located on the two upper levels.

Patterned panels made from carbon fibre cover the building’s entire exterior, transforming its appearance and giving it a new identity.

See more projects by Neri&Hu here, including the award-winning hotel they designed in a disused army headquarters and our movie interview with them at last year’s Inside awards.

See all our stories about staircases »

Photography is by Shen Zhonghai.

Here’s some more information from Neri&Hu:

The new Design Collective is located in the outskirt of Shanghai in a town called Qingpu. Neri&Hu inherited an existing building and was given the task to completely redesign both the exterior and the interior without demolishing the existing structure.

Neri&Hu’s concept was to cover the existing building to create a new exterior identity and simultaneously fabricate an introverted spatial platform to create a new identity for the Design Collective, a group of avant garde furniture retail initiative in the city.

The existing building has been completely covered with an opaque graphic wrapper made with carbon fiber panel to create an introverted spatial condition to showcase furniture both visually and experientially.

The main entry is characterized by a large steel funnel, serving as a transition element from the urban context to the exhibition space.

The shape of the entry tube also serves as a means of emphasizing the arrival into the 3 story exhibition hall where the visitors introverted journey begins.

The staircase wrapping the interior of the main exhibition space leads the visitor throughout the multiple levels of display where the furniture can be experienced from varying spatial relationship and viewed form different vantage points and voyeuristic snippets of retail display.

This journey is accentuated as the visitor climbs higher through the gallery levels by the seven large openings in the roof which serve to allow daylight into the exhibition space while at once generating a moment of visual release from within the introverted exhibition environment.

Design Republic Qingpu store is located on the first floor, with a total area of 2,000 sqm. Design Republic offers a unique collection of products created by the world’s best design talents collaborates with many designers both foreign and local to create products that will explore a new modern Chinese aesthetic.

Click above for larger image

Design Republic stands for a new birth of life and style. At its foundation, it is a republic of life – life that creates meaning and understanding through its relationship to objects of habitation. Seeking to explore the relationship between people and the simple objects they use in life – a plate, a teacup, a chair; it is here where we discover the beauty of everyday life.

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Design Republic is also a republic of style – style that creates new ideologies in design, retail, and merchandising concepts embodying a distinctive aesthetic for contemporary China.

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It crosses traditional boundaries to merge old and new, traditional and modern, opulent and austere, to ultimately create a dynamic platform of design.

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by Neri&Hu appeared first on Dezeen.

A chequered facade of timber and glass surrounds one of two new neighbourhood libraries by Adjaye Associates to open in Washington DC.

Behind the glass outer skin, the chunky timber boxes give depth to the walls and create a row of window seats at the base. A floating roof overhangs the walls and shelters a plaid-patterned ceiling of glazing above a double height atrium.

Located within the Fort Davis Park in the east of the city, the Francis Gregory Library contains reading areas for adults, children and teenagers, as well as a public meeting room and a series of conference rooms.

This week David Adjaye also revealed designs for a bitumen-coated pavilion at the Tate Liverpool gallery.

See all our stories about David Adjaye »
See more libraries on Dezeen »

Photography is by Edmund Sumner.

Here’s some more text from Adjaye Associates:

Adjaye Associates’ Community Libraries in Washington DC open to the public

Adjaye Associates’ new neighbourhood libraries for the District of Columbia, the William O. Lockridge/ Bellevue Library and Francis Gregory Library, have opened to the public. The brief called for the new buildings to be “flexible, accessible, welcoming and inviting” and the libraries challenge the traditional closed typology, introducing a social element with a strong urban and cultural programme.

The Francis Gregory Library

“Our mission, with the Francis Gregory Library, has been to offer a new way to experience books, reading and story-telling. Rather than a traditional closed building, this library is porous and open, with the canopy providing a welcoming entrance that invites people inside. Conceived as an extension to the park, it is not only a place to gather, but also a place of contemplation and learning.”- David Adjaye

The sketch-like quality of the Francis Gregory Library suggests a woodland folly – a building that is a pavilion within Fort Davis Park. Views of the park are framed from within, while the exterior of the building both reflects and complements the dense composition of trees and the striking natural environment. Viewed from the street, the building appears to flicker with the changing light, providing a lens through which to see into the park. The two-storey library provides space for three major library services: adults, teenagers and children. There is also a public meeting room and conference rooms.

Achieving LEED Silver, the design strategy is highly sustainable, with the building taking advantage of the natural vegetation, maximizing the winter sun exposure and controlling the summer sun with a large canopy over the pavilion. The canopy welcomes the public inside, providing an effective transitional space from the street.

The structural system is articulated in the reflective geometric façade that supports the curtain wall and roof, while the network of quadrilateral openings continue inside and frame the views of the park. A number of windows are deep set to enable seating within the aperture, itself, encouraging visitors toward the perimeter of the building to reflect and enjoy the views. The material palette inside the building is largely timber – again, resonating with the woodland setting.

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by Adjaye Associates appeared first on Dezeen.