Milan 2014: Dutch architecture firm UNStudio has revealed a chair with an S-shaped seat that allows its user to move from sitting upright to relaxing with a leg up (+ slideshow).
Part of UNStudio‘s Gemini collection for Dutch brand Artifort, the asymmetric chair was designed to let sitters “sit up, slouch, lounge, hang, repose or hunker”, as well as to “shift, twist, turn, swing around, pivot to face each other or turn towards the room.”
Set upon an asymmetric frame, the body of the chair curves towards the floor on one side and arches upwards to form both an arm and a backrest on the other. This shape allows a user to sit in a variety of different positions.
“The main concept for the Gemini design is versatility,” Ben van Berkel, co-founder of UNStudio, told Dezeen.
“We approached this not only in terms of where the chairs can be used, but also in terms of how. The shape of the chair allows for a wide variety of seating positions and therefore also for variety in perspectives and views of the spaces in which it is placed.”
The chair is available in two varieties: one curving to the left and the other to the right. The seat shell is made with a metal insert that is padded with foam, covered with Dacron and upholstered with a stretch fabric. There are four types of upholstery available, in two different blues, beige and orange.
The Gemini collection also includes a small matching side table. This features a metal frame, upholstered sides and a tabletop made of solid oak.
Concept diagram
The chairs are on display in Pavilion 16, F30 at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan.
Here’s a project description from UNStudio:
Gemini, Artifort (Schijndel, NL) 2014
Gemini for Artifort has been designed as individual furniture pieces which can be placed as single seating elements, in pairs or in groups of various sizes and configurations. The concept for the design of the chair centers on flexibility of movement, versatility in seating positions and variety in spatial experiences.
Concept diagram
Set upon an asymmetric frame, the generously proportioned single-surface body of the chair curves towards the floor on one side and arches upwards to form both an arm and a backrest on the other. This contoured composition affords the user variety in seating positions and directionality: they can sit up, slouch, lounge, hang, repose or hunker, but they can also shift, twist, turn, swing around, pivot to face each other or turn towards the room.
Spatially Gemini introduces varying visual orientations of the spaces in which the chairs are placed and offers the possibility to choose between sitting alone, sitting together or simply enjoying different views of the surrounding space. When coupled with either its direct twin or its mirrored twin, the nonsymmetrical silhouette of both the frame and the soft element transforms to create a curvilinear symmetry.
Elevations
The horizontally subdivided soft body of the chairs can be upholstered in up to three ways in one or two colours, from a choice of many different shades. Gemini can be used in private, public and semi-public settings, such as waiting areas, lobbies, offices, lounge areas and libraries.
Hanjie Wanda Square est un centre commercial de luxe abritant des enseignes des grandes marques internationales situées en Chine. Pensée par UNStudio, cette structure propose une façade impressionnante et une enveloppe brillante. Plus d’images de ce temple de consommation dans la suite.
Dutch firm UNStudio has completed a shopping centre in Wuhan, China, with over 42,000 shiny silver balls attached to its facade (+ slideshow).
UNStudio designed nine variations of the stainless steel spheres to cover the exterior of the Hanjie Wanda Square shopping centre, which are intended to recreate the effect of rippling water or silk. Each one contains a small LED light that further animates the facade after dark.
Three different entrances lead shoppers towards atriums at the north and south ends of the building. The first has an oval-shaped plan, while the second features a perfect circle.
“In Hanjie Wanda Square a circular motif is repeated in many different ways and patterns, both in the facade and throughout the interior,” explained UNStudio principal Ben van Berkel, whose previous projects include an airport in Georgia and a department store in South Korea.
“The patterns used are influenced by numerous cultural references, both traditional and contemporary. Patterns drive our aesthetic choices, whether they be personal or shared, and in Hanjie Wanda Square act as a background to the world of desire encapsulated in the contemporary shopping plaza,” he said.
A monochrome colour scheme is predominant throughout most of the interior and incorporates perforated screens, glazed balustrades and polished floors.
The southern atrium continues this theme, with shades of grey picked up across surfaces, but the larger northern atrium offers a few golden and bronze tones.
Van Berkel said: “Reflection, light and pattern are used throughout the Hanjie Wanda Square to create an almost fantastical world. New microcosms and experiences are created for the shopper, similar perhaps to the world of theatre, whereby the retail complex becomes almost a stage or a place of performance and offers a variety of different impressions and experiences to the visitor.”
There are four main levels to the shopping centre, organised around a looping plan that accommodates shops, restaurants and cinemas.
Large skylights stretch across the roof to allow daylight to enter the building.
Ben van Berkel / UNStudio’s Hanjie Wanda Square in Wuhan completed
Hanjie Wanda Square is a new luxury shopping plaza located in the Wuhan Central Culture Centre, one of the most important areas of Wuhan City in China.
Following competitions in 2011 with design entries from national and international architects, UNStudio’s overall design was selected as the winning entry for the facade and interior of the Hanjie Wanda Square. The shopping plaza houses international brand stores, world-class boutiques, catering outlets and cinemas.
In UNStudio’s design the concept of luxury is incorporated through the craftsmanship of noble, yet simple materials and combines both contemporary and traditional design elements in one concept.
Synergy of flows
For the design of the Hanjie Wanda Square attention and visitor flows are guided from the main routes towards the facades and entrances of the building. From the three main entrances visitor flows are thereafter guided to two interior atria.
The concept of ‘synergy of flows’ is key to all of the design components; the fluid articulation of the building envelope, the programming of the dynamic facade lighting and the interior pattern language which guides customers from the central atria to the upper levels and throughout the building via linking corridors.
Facade design
The facade design reflects the handcrafted combination of two materials: polished stainless steel and patterned glass. These two materials are crafted into nine differently trimmed, but standardised spheres. Their specific positions in relation to each other recreate the effect of movement and reflection in water, or the sensuous folds of silk fabric.
The architectural lighting is integrated into the building envelope’s 42,333 spheres. Within each sphere LED-fixtures emit light onto the laminated glass to generate glowing circular spots. Simultaneously a second set of LED’s at the rear side of the spheres create a diffuse illumination on the back panels. Various possibilities to combine and control the lighting allow diverse effects and programming of lighting sequences related to the use and activation of the Hanjie Wanda Square.
The interior concept is developed around the north and south atria, creating two different, yet integrated atmospheres. The atria become the centre of the dynamic duality of the two Hanjie Wanda Square identities: Contemporary and Traditional. Variations in geometry, materials and details define these differing characters.
With two main entrances, the north atrium is recognised as a main venue hall, and the south atrium as a more intimate venue hall. The north atrium is characterised by warm golden and bronze materials reflecting a cultural, traditional identity.
In the south atrium silver and grey nuances with reflective textures reflect the city identity and its urban rhythm. Both atria are crowned by skylights with a funnel structure which connects the roof and the ground floor. The funnel structures are each clad with 2600 glass panels and are digitally printed with an intricate pattern. In addition, each funnel integrally houses a pair of panorama lifts.
News:Dutch office UNStudio has won a competition to design a residential and office complex in the German city of Munich.
UNStudio‘s design for the city’s new Baumkirchen Mitte development features a 60 metre tower with a facade divided by horizontal ribs that continue across the front of an adjoining housing block.
“In the design for the facade of the building we chose for an articulated sobriety, incorporating contrasting scales of detail,” said architect Ben van Berkel. “The horizontal bands which wrap and organise the building present a sober articulation from a distance, however as you get closer to the building you discover a refined scale of intricate, complex detailing.”
Metal and wood will combine to create contrast on the building’s facade, which the architects explained will give the building “the appearance of a custom-made furniture piece for the urban space.”
The office building will house flexible work spaces with foyers, lobbies and meeting areas providing neutral and adaptable public areas.
Flexibility is also key to the design of the residential wing, with floor plans that can be configured in numerous ways and individual apartments that can be customised to meet the needs of their occupants.
A multipurpose roof garden will incorporate ornamental plants and grasses, vegetable gardens, bee hives, play areas and rainwater harvesting. The linear design of the landscaping is influenced by the building’s location on the site of a former rail yard.
3D visual of the building
UNStudio collaborated with OR else Landscapes on the design, which was selected over entries from firms including BIG and J. Mayer H. Architects. It will be built at the entrance to the Baumkirchen Mitte development, which is located between Munich East station and the Berg am Laim suburb.
3D visual of living in the open concept
Here’s a press release from UNStudio:
Ben van Berkel / UNStudio’s design selected as winning entry for the Baumkirchen Mitte in Munich
UNStudio’s design for the Baumkirchen Mitte in Munich has been selected as the winning entry from a shortlist of 6 finalists which included, among others, BIG Architects, Juergen Mayer H Architects and Schneider + Schumacher Architects. UNStudio worked in collaboration with OR else Landscapes on the design for the 18,500m2 residential and office complex located in the east of Munich. With its 60 metre high tower the project will become the focal point for the entrance to the new Baumkirchen Mitte development.
Ben van Berkel: “In the design for the facade of the building we chose for an articulated sobriety, incorporating contrasting scales of detail. The horizontal bands which wrap and organise the building present a sober articulation from a distance, however as you get closer to the building you discover a refined scale of intricate, complex detailing.”
New work
Concentrated individual work, brainstorming sessions and impromptu meetings are fast becoming part of contemporary work culture and require spaces and layouts that can respond flexibly to these new demands. In UNStudio’s design neutral spaces, such as foyers, lobbies and meeting areas are used to establish the identity of the building. The design combines both zones that guarantee maximum flexibility for varying combinations of users and exclusively designed areas that provide spaces for communication and creativity.
New living
Changing demands and expectations in contemporary living form the starting point for the residential areas within UNStudio’s design. Flexible accommodation types are incorporated which afford variable constellations and offer the possibility to combine adjacent units. In addition, flexible floor plans enable a variety of configurations in the apartment layouts, thereby directly addressing the specific and individual needs of the residents.
North facade
Outdoor spaces vary in scale and form an integral part of the apartments. The living experience is therefore not confined to the dwellings alone, but instead begins as you arrive at the building and enter the circulation areas. Thereafter it extends into shared and private outdoor spaces. This extension of the living concept stimulates interaction between residents and creates a balance between activated public spaces and the need for privacy.
South facade
Duality
The facade design reflects the duality of the programme, with two contrasting materials defining the look and feel of the building. Bright metal forms the background, lending the structure a contemporary and light aesthetic, whilst the contrasting use of wood affords the building the appearance of a custom-made furniture piece for the urban space.
Section
A sustainable living landscape
The remaining traces on the location of a previous rail yard form the blueprint for the structure of the roof gardens. The linear frameworks in the landscaping of the gardens accommodate fields of kitchen gardens and play areas, as well as rows of ornamental grasses and flowering perennials and are inspired by the spontaneous vegetation of the track fields. Through the integration of vegetable gardens, systems for rainwater harvesting, composting and beekeeping areas the roof garden becomes more than just a recreation area. It additionally plays an important ecological role by contributing to a sustainable living environment. The sustainability concept for the complex is based on a requirement specific application of different types of façade, while reducing active technical building components.
UNStudio a récemment imaginé et construit King David the Builder, le nouvel aéroport international de Kutaisi en Géorgie. Cherchant à illustrer la modernité du pays et à quel point ce petit est au carrefour de différentes cultures, cet aéroport du plus bel effet est à découvrir en images dans la suite.
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.”
Organisational diagram
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.
Dutch office UNStudio has developed a concept for a giant Ferris wheel in Japan that could rival the London Eye and the Singapore Flyer.
Proposed for an as-yet undisclosed location, UNStudio’s Nippon Moon will combine the familiar design of an observation wheel with a network of virtual interfaces that will allow visitors to create their own augmented realities.
Each of the wheel’s 32 capsules will offer a different theme. After downloading a dedicated app for smartphones and tablets, users will be able to introduce animations and sounds that enhance this theme, or initiate virtual realities within the glazed outer walls.
Studio founder Ben van Berkel told Dezeen: “The technology and engineering involved in observation wheels will always at first sight appear similar, however for the Nippon Moon we have not only introduced double-decker capsules for the first time, but have also concentrated on providing heightened engagement levels and a novel user-experience.”
Other functions of the app will include a queuing system, removing the need for visitors to wait in line before boarding, and a communications network that will permit interaction between different capsules. Visitors will also be able to share their images of the experience using a digital “hall of fame”.
“The latest technology is incorporated in the capsules to create integrated augmented reality that creates new levels of engagement – both in terms of the surrounding views and through communication and interaction between users,” said Van Berkel. “Through this, the Nippon Moon becomes not just an observation platform, but a platform for heightened observation and the stimulation of the imagination.”
UNStudio are working alongside user-experience designers Experientia to develop the interactive aspects of the project, while engineers Arup and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are collaborating on the technical specifications.
Since the completion of the London Eye in 2000, observation wheels have been proposed for various cities around the world. The Singapore Flyer became the tallest in 2008, taking over from the Star of Nanchang in China, while others are proposed for New York, Dubai and Las Vegas.
In 2012 UNStudio was invited by Ferris Wheel Investment to formulate a vision for the design of a Giant Observation Wheel in Japan. Due to the popularity of Ferris Wheels in Japanese culture and a potential flow of millions of tourists from South-East Asia, the project was required to have an international impact and differ substantially from all existing wheels of its kind.
Structural constraints defined by Arup and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries – two of the world’s most specialised wheel engineers – left little room for manoeuvre due to the location and the size of the GOW. The challenge for UNStudio however was to find a typical language for the architectural design which would characterise the overall idea behind the function of the Observation Wheel. Essential to this approach was the creation of a coherent design strategy which could capture the full scope of the user-experience offered by the Observation Wheel. In order to individually suit this experience to the visitors, UNStudio partnered with Experientia to research how behaviour could influence user-experience.
UNStudio’s ‘Nippon Moon’ is a new cultural blockbuster in the broadest sense. It has been designed to create a journey in which learning about the environment, culture and one’s individual part in this is central. Four key elements define the logics of the socio-architectural design; enhancement of the senses, interactivity, experience and romanticism. Through the integration of interactive design elements it was possible to extend the design far beyond both the moment you physically become part of the wheel and long after you disembark. In order to achieve this, a virtual world was created in which the visitor becomes part of the social network which revolves around the GOW. Discovery, the Ride and the Return are three chapters of the design which contribute to attracting visitors and to the stimulation of the imagination.
The journey begins with the optional online purchase of tickets and the downloading of the Nippon Moon app. Visitors can not only chose the time of their ride, but can also choose the theme of their experience, as each of the single and double-decker capsules on the wheel focus on a different theme. Upon entering the visitor centre guests are greeted by the ‘Hall of Fame’, a dynamic installation of digital photographs taken by visitors during their ride. These photographs can be uploaded instantly to the Hall of Fame during the ride and discovered on display in the installation upon leaving. From the ticket pick-up point and cloakroom facilities on the ground floor, the visitor follows a circular ramp, along which retail, food & beverage and exhibition pockets are anchored. Due to a system of ‘Active Queuing’ which notifies the visitor of the time remaining until boarding, standing in line for extended periods of time is eradicated, leaving the visitor free to make use of all the facilities until it is their time to board their pre-selected capsule.
The Nippon moon app is designed as a strategy for a user-experience interface that can be installed on smartphones and tablets. During the ride, this accessible software makes it possible to communicate with people in the other capsules, who are otherwise physically and visually separated from you and whose capsule follows a different theme to your own. In addition the possibility to enhance the senses through the incorporation of augmented animations or sounds helps to focus the experience of the visitor. The app also allows the visitor to switch from reality to digitally altered views from the capsules, which are created through augmented reality techniques in the transparent skin of the capsules.
Interactivity is used to develop a greater sense and understanding of the surrounding reality and results in an active rather than a passive visitor. The experience mediates between the real and the virtual, bringing about a significantly different moment in time and creating a memory or ‘after image’.
Upon leaving the wheel, the visitor follows a second circular ramp with further facility pockets, eventually returning to the cloakroom area on the ground floor.
Romanticism is an integral part of the vision to ensure that the design and engineering of the wheel can become embedded in history as a new development in engineering and an integral part of modern Japanese culture. The concept of the observation wheel itself is not new, however the idea to merge the robustly designed and engineered physical wheel with a fully integrated virtual world creates the unique character of the Nippon Moon GOW.
Client: Ferris wheel Investment Co.,Ltd Location: Japan Building surface: Terminal and platform 7.200 m2 Building volume: Terminal and platform 90.000 m3 Capsules: 32 Building site: 18.000 m2 Programme: Giant Observation Wheel Status: design
UNStudio: Ben van Berkel, Gerard Loozekoot with Frans van Vuure, Filippo Lodi and Harlen Miller, Jan Kokol, Wendy van der Knijff, Todd Ebeltoft, Tina Kortmann, Patrik Noome, Jeroen den Hertog, Iain Jamieson
Engineer: Arup Tokyo + Melbourne Interactive design: Experientia, Italy Animation: Submarine, Amsterdam Visualisation: MIR
Dutch architects UNStudio have designed a concept for a new business district at Tonghzou in Beijing, consisting of skyscrapers linked by aerial bridges (+ slideshow).
The proposal features six towers atop a large podium that are linked by bridges topped with gardens and swimming pools.
The development, proposed for the Tongzhou district twelve miles east of central Beijing, would create a million square metres of retail, apartments, offices, hotels and transportation infrastructure.
Located at the confluence of two waterways, the Tongzhou Central Business District’s waterfront podium would house shops while the towers would accommodate apartments and offices.
The design of UNStudio’s CBD development is a dynamic composition created by introducing asymmetry in plan, orientation, clustering and façade treatment. This build-up of asymmetries has a far-reaching urban effect whilst simultaneously relating to users on a more personal scale. The six towers form three lively groups which interact according to a layered choreography.
In relation to the ground and subterranean levels the towers are grouped in three pairs, each standing on a joint platform. As defined by the bridging connections between them, the towers are grouped as a couple, a trio and a single volume.
The silhouette of the towers is derived from a combination of substantial differences between the lower and the upper parts of the buildings and the binding together effects of diagonal wrappings. On the lower parts the towers are marked by dense stacking, whilst towards the top they become smooth and reflective. This textural contrast is mediated by the strong diagonals running the entire length of the towers.
The bridges have numerous roles. They help to cluster the towers and to form interconnections between them which can house many different semi-public functions. They also provide an artificial ground for users of the highest floors. In addition to the application of active sustainable measures at different scale levels, passive design tools were incorporated from the initial design of the six towers and the podium clusters. Driving features are the winter gardens and green surfaces.
Client: Perennial Real Estate & Maxon Group Location: Tongzhou, Beijing, China Building surface: 1 million m2 Building site: 108,700 m2 Program: Office tower, Hotel, Service apartment, Residential towers, Retail podium, Waterfront Landscape, Transportation hub Status: Concept
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