Hasta La Ideas

In our next movie focussing on the work of Richard Rogers, the British architect talks exclusively to Dezeen about the challenges of designing an interesting office building and explains how the new Leadenhall building in London, dubbed “the Cheesegrater”, got its distinctive shape.

The Leadenhall building is a new 225-metre skyscraper by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in the City of London, which topped out in June and is due to be completed in 2014.

Positioned opposite Richard Rogers’ famous Lloyd’s building, the 50-storey office building features a glazed body that is tapered on one side – hence its popular nickname.

Watch a time-lapse movie documenting the construction of the Leadenhall building »

Office buildings, Rogers admits, “tend to be very boring”. The key to creating the Leadenhall building’s distinctive angular form, he says, was creatively working with the constraints of the site.

“One of the arts of architecture is to use constraints, turn them upside down and see whether they can help you to design the building,” he explains.

“The main constraint on Leadenhall was the view to St Paul’s [Cathedral]. London is unique in being partly controlled by views; you have to leave certain views open to St Paul’s and we were on one of those views. So we made use of this and we cut it back at an angle and that gave us that prominent section and profile, [which can be seen] from all over London.”

The Leadenhall building’s criss-crossing steel frame will be displayed prominently through the external glazing. Rogers claims that this has an important role to play in giving the building scale.

“The building itself expresses its system of construction because it’s one of the things in which we get scale,” he says. “Scale is critical. Height and length have limited use. You can make a building immensely large and overbearing, which is basically a single storey, or you can make a building which is very light and it’s got fifty storeys. How you break it down is critical.”

Rogers claims that many of the ideas that informed his earlier buildings, such as placing the mechanical services on the outside of the building, are also present in the Leadenhall building. However, the nature of changing technology means that they are implemented in different ways.

“The elements which we’ve got to know well we’re using here,” he says, pointing out the banks of elevators located on the back of the building. “We are using a lot of flexibility obviously. So we’re using that but in a way that, more or less forty years after Pompidou, is very much machine-made.”

He adds: “We thought Lloyd’s was the absolute ultimate in the art of technology. When I look at it now, it’s handmade practically. We had [a few] pieces [built] off-site. Leadenhall is all built off-site.”

Rogers says he enjoys the contrast between the two buildings, which stand in such close proximity to each other but were built nearly 30 years apart.

“It’s very exciting to see the dialogue between these two, and actually, I think it’s really exciting to see the dialogue between Lloyds of London, Leadenhall and the dome of St Paul’s in the background, of a totally different period,” he says.

“To me that’s what architecture is all about. It’s not about fitting in, it’s setting up these dialogues. The enjoyment of St Paul’s was that it was seen against a very low and rather poor medieval background. That was a flourish. It’s exactly the same with any form of architecture. It’s a dialogue, it’s a beauty that comes from contrast.”

Rogers was speaking to Dezeen to mark the opening of an exhibition called Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Watch our previous interview with Rogers about the exhibition »
See our earlier story about the exhibition »

The post “Office buildings tend to be very
boring” – Richard Rogers appeared first on Dezeen.

This apostrophe-shaped bridge in Hull, England, by London architects McDowell+Benedetti features a rotating mechanism so it can swing open to make room for passing boats (+ slideshow).

Scale Lane Bridge spans the river between Hull’s Old Town and the as-yet undeveloped industrial land on the east bank, creating a pedestrian route between the city’s museums and aquarium.

Working alongside engineers Alan Baxter Associates and Qualter Hall, McDowell+Benedetti designed the steel bridge with a slow movement so that pedestrians can continue to step on and off even when the structure is in motion.

The apostrophe shape creates two different routes across the bridge. The first is a gentle slope that stretches along the outer edge, while the second is a stepped pathway that runs along the inside.

A raised spine separates the two routes, creating a seating area overlooking the water as well as a lighting feature that points upwards like the fin of a giant shark.

The centre of rotation is a single-storey drum, with a restaurant inside and a viewing platform on the roof.

“The black steel bridge has a distinctive robust character and curving form, making it a memorable landmark that is unique to Hull and its industrial and maritime heritage,” said the design team.

The underside of the bridge is tapered upwards to allow smaller vessels to pass through without opening the bridge.

An installation by artist Nayan Kulkarni is also included, involving ringing bells and a pulsing light that are activated when the bridge starts to move.

“This has a practical purpose in alerting pedestrians to the imminent opening rotation and it heightens the drama of the ride,” added the designers.

Low-level lighting illuminates the walkways after dark.

McDowell+Benedetti has worked on several bridges in the UK. Others include a 130-metre long S-shaped footbridge in Yorkshire. See more bridges on Dezeen »

Photography is by Timothy Soar.

Here’s some extra information from the architects:

Scale Lane Bridge on River Hull in full swing

An innovative swing bridge over the River Hull has opened to the public, offering pedestrians the unique experience of riding on the bridge as it opens and closes to river traffic, believed to be a world’s first.

The black steel bridge has a distinctive robust character and curving form, making it a memorable landmark that is unique to Hull and its industrial and maritime heritage.

The winning entry in an international 3-stage design competition held in 2005, the bridge has been built to the original concept by the competition team, main contractor and M&E engineers Qualter Hall, architects McDowell+Benedetti and structural engineers Alan Baxter Associates. The scheme includes a new landscaped garden and square designed by landscape architects Grontmij with lighting by Sutton Vane Associates and an integrated public artwork by Nayan Kulkarni.

Located in Kingston upon Hull east of Hull city centre the bridge connects Hull’s Old Town Conservation Area to the undeveloped industrial landscape of the east bank. Designed as the first stage of a wider masterplan it will unlock the potential of the riverside to promote wider regeneration in the areas east of the city centre. Scale Lane Staith on the west bank has been re-landscaped with a series of stepped gardens leading to a new public square at the threshold of the bridge. The bridge provides a walkable route connecting the Museums Quarter on the west bank to Hull’s major attraction The Deep.

The River Hull has a tidal range of almost 7 metres and has exposed mud banks on the west side. The 16 metre diameter drum of the bridge sits snugly into the raised river bed on the west bank and cantilevers 35 metres over the water to the east side. The spine of the bridge arches up and over the river, allowing enough room for smaller boats to pass under without need to operate the bridge, and rotates using an electrical drive mechanism to open the route to river traffic when required.

The bridge’s sweeping form creates two generous pedestrian routes, one gently sloping and a shorter stepped walkway. The roof of the drum provides an upper viewing deck with a seamless steel balustrade, which gives the feeling of being on board a docked ocean liner.

The central structural spine of the bridge includes seating areas, creating a variety of places for people to pause on route to relax and enjoy the riverscape views. The spine rises into a back-lit rooflight which provides a marker for the bridge at night.

When activated the mechanical movement of the bridge is sufficiently slow to allow passengers to safely step onto the bridge from the west bank whilst it is rotating.

Artist Nayan Kulkarni has created a public artwork on the bridge, a sonic landscape in which to enjoy the riverscape. When the bridge opening is activated a new sequence of rhythmic bells is triggered which increases in urgency and combines with a pulsing light developed by lighting consultants Sutton Vane Associates. This has a practical purpose in alerting pedestrians to the imminent opening rotation and it heightens the drama of the ‘ride’.

At night low level fluorescents integrated into the parapet posts light the profile of the bridge and bring colour and sparkle to the blackened industrial riverscape.

Hull City Council is now actively seeking a tenant to occupy the restaurant space in the bridge hub. Once in place Scale Lane Bridge will become a lively animated public place at all times of the day, fulfilling the design team’s intention to create more than just a crossing but a destination in its own right.

At the official opening on 28 June 2013 Councillor Nadine Fudge, Lord Mayor of Hull and Admiral of the Humber, said: “It’s an honour to open this unique footbridge on behalf of the city, which links the Old Town to the east banks of Hull. Our Old Town has wonderful museums and attractions and it’s great that we’re able to add another experience for people to enjoy. Hull’s strong maritime history is echoed in the ships bells ringing as the bridge opens and we should be proud that we are continuing to reflect on our heritage.”

Jacquie Boulton, Area Manager at the Homes and Communities Agency said: “The opening of this bridge gives the city an excellent opportunity to connect the east bank of the river to the city centre creating opportunities for new economic development. It is great that we have been able to work with our partners to create a bridge that is not only useful to local residents and visitors to the city but is also such a fantastic design.”

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McDowell+Benedetti appeared first on Dezeen.

Installation de Romain Crélier située à Bellelay en Suisse, ‘La Mise en Abyme » est composée de grands bassins remplis d’huile à moteur usagée, dans lesquels l’image des spectateurs se reflètent les inscrivant dans un décor baroque grandiose. Un travail de détournement des matériaux et des images très intéressant.

In our next movie focussing on key projects by Richard Rogers, the British architect talks exclusively to Dezeen about his radical Lloyd’s building in London and explains why he is not completely comfortable with the “high-tech” label that is often applied to his work.

Completed in 1986 for insurance company Lloyd’s of London, Lloyd’s building comprises three main towers, each with an accompanying service tower, which surround a central rectangular atrium housing the main trading floor.

Often cited as a pioneering example of high-tech architecture, Lloyd’s building was considered radical because, like Rogers‘ preceding Centre Pompidou in Paris, all of its services, including staircases, lifts and water pipes, are on display on the outside of the building.

“We were able to convince Lloyd’s that we would put the mechanical services on the outside because mechanical services have a short life,” Rogers explains.

As with the Centre Pompidou, the idea was to make the central spaces as open and flexible as possible. “[We] kept the floors clear because Lloyd’s said they wanted two things,” Rogers says.

“They wanted a building that would last into the next century – we met that one – and they wanted a building that could meet their changing needs.”

However, Rogers says that he does not completely agree with the use of the term “high-tech” to describe the building.

“I have no great love for high-tech,” he says. “One would like to think one uses the appropriate materials, but of course appropriate materials are shaped by the time you live in. So we use the technology of today – and the technology of yesterday where appropriate – to build the buildings of today.”

He continues: “We thought Lloyd’s was the absolute ultimate in the art of technology. When I look at it now, it’s practically hand made. People say, ‘well, it’s technology and therefore it’s a high-tech building.’ It’s a bit too easy.”

A 200 year-old City of London institution at the time, Lloyd’s seemed an unlikely client for such a bold building.

“It was very traditional,” Rogers says. “The only bit of technology when we went to see the [previous] Lloyd’s building inside was a Xerox machine and some people were still writing with feathers and ink.”

However, Rogers says that the company was actually very forward-looking. “It was backwards only in the process,” he says. “Of course, it was the most famous insurance firm in the world and obviously contained a very cutting-edge element within that.”

He continues: “We were again extremely fortunate, in the same way as we were with the Pompidou. The real critical thing in architecture is having a good client. A good client is not somebody who just says ‘yes’, it’s a client that is engaged in the evolution of the building, who responds.”

While Rogers worked closely with Lloyd’s on the functional aspects of the building, he says he had more freedom over the aesthetics. “We were dealing with people who knew about change, knew about risk, but hadn’t a clue about art,” he explains. “The ducts, the pieces on the outside, allowed us to play a game with light and shadow.”

Despite enjoying a productive relationship with Lloyd’s initially, there were still challenges to overcome to get the building built.

“A year before the end of building, there was an investigation by the Bank of England into Lloyd’s and the chairman and everyone had to resign,” Rogers says. “The next chairman hated us, so we had a very tough last year.”

Rogers says that the general reaction to the building once it was completed was also hostile, although opinion changed over time. Lloyd’s building was Grade I listed in 2011, just 25 years after it was built, and Rogers sees parallels between it and Christopher Wren’s iconic St Paul’s Cathedral.

“Wren was in his seventies when he at last got St Paul’s built,” he says, recounting a story that the dean of St Paul’s Cathedral told him at the opening of Lloyd’s building. “He’d started thirty years beforehand and was so tired of having his building attacked and turned down, by the time he got to building it he put a twenty foot fence all around the site so that nobody could see it.”

“So even St Paul’s was a shock of the new. We think its been there forever – certainly Prince Charles thinks it has been there forever – but it hasn’t. It was a risky building to build in those times, which is why it is great.”

Rogers was speaking to Dezeen to mark the opening of an exhibition called Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Watch our previous interview with Rogers about the exhibition »
See our earlier story about the exhibition »

The London home designed by Rogers for his parents, and which influenced his later design for the Pompidou Centre, was recently put on the market for the first time since it was built in 1968.

Read the full story about Rogers House »
See all our stories about Richard Rogers »

The post “We thought Lloyd’s building was the ultimate
in technology, but it’s practically hand made” appeared first on Dezeen.

News: a heritage group in Beijing has written an open letter to the Royal Institute of British Architects saying it is “disappointed and offended” that Zaha Hadid’s Galaxy Soho complex has been given an RIBA International Award.

The letter from the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center attacked the RIBA‘s decision to award the 330,000-square-metre retail, office and entertainment complex in Beijing, which it labeled a “typical unfortunate example [of] the destruction of Beijing old town.”

“The Galaxy Soho project has violated a number of heritage preservation laws and regulations,” said the letter. “It has also caused great damage to the preservation of the old Beijing streetscape, the original urban plan, the traditional Hutong and courtyard houses.”

The letter urged the RIBA to “have a deeper understanding of the current situation in modern Chinese society.” It claims the award could encourage developers and authorities to continue with the “destruction of cultural heritage sites”, which it says has “been a very common offence committed by many of the growing rich and powerful.”

The building is also one of three projects nominated for this year’s RIBA Lubetkin Prize, alongside Gardens by the Bay by Grant Associates and Wilkinson Eyre Architects in Singapore and an affordable housing project in New York by by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw.

“These cutting-edge schemes show the leading role that architects play in delivering visionary new thinking about urban issues,” said RIBA president Angela Brady on the announcement of the shortlist last month.

Completed in October last year, the Galaxy Soho complex comprises four domed structures fused together by bridges and platforms between curving floor plates.

Check out more photos of the structure taken from the surrounding streets here and take a movie tour through the complex here.

More about architecture and design by Zaha Hadid »
More about architecture in China »

Here’s the full letter from the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center:

An Open Letter to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on Its 2013 RIBA Award for Galaxy Soho

To Whom It May Concern at RIBA:

From the recent Weibo (Sina miniblog) post by the Honorable Ambassador of the United Kingdom, we have learned that the Galaxy Soho project, designed by British Architect Zaha Hadid, has won the 2013 RIBA award. Many of us in China were very shocked when they learned this news. The Galaxy Soho project has violated a number of heritage preservation laws and regulations, including the Measures for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Landmarks of Beijing, The Beijing City Master Plan, and Plans for Protection of Historical and Cultural Landmarks of Beijing. It has also caused great damage to the preservation of the old Beijing streetscape, the original urban plan, the traditional Hutong and courtyard houses, the landscape formation, and the style and color scheme of Beijing’s unique vernacular architecture. During the land acquisition process, the legal rights of the original hutong residents were also grossly disregarded. The Galaxy Soho Project is definitely a typical unfortunate example on the destruction of Beijing old town; but, not withstanding, it has been selected as a winner of your award. Many of us in Beijing are very disappointed and offended.

The destruction of cultural heritage sites and the violation of the public cultural rights have been a very common offense committed by many of the growing rich and powerful in Chinese society. Some developers work hand-in-hand with some corrupted officials to encroach upon the precious cultural heritage which should be enjoyed by the entire society, while they accumulate their own personal wealth. Due to the incompetence of law enforcement institutions, this kind of destruction is growing quickly, and the deliberate neglect is epidemic.

Many residents of Beijing, including us, sincerely wish that your institution would have a deeper understanding of the current situation in modern Chinese society, the severe challenges facing cultural heritage preservation in China, as well as the indecent conduct of many greedy developers. We strongly believe that this award by your institution will only encourage these developers and authorities to continue to commit the wrongs they have done and will increase the difficulties of cultural heritage preservation in China.

We sincerely hope that RIBA will understand this sorrow and concern of the Chinese people and take action to help make up for the negative impact this award has caused.

Earnestly,

Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP)

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Zaha Hadid’s RIBA Award for Galaxy Soho appeared first on Dezeen.