Looks from Derek Lam’s spring 2012 collection (Photos: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week)
(Photos courtesy Kliment Halsband Architects)
continued…
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German architects Astoc have completed a monastery extension in Duisberg Duisburg with walls that fold around the entrance like origami sculptures.
Hamborn Abbey was consecrated in the twelfth century and has been altered many times in its history.
The recent addition is faced in white plaster and creates a third edge around a private courtyard garden.
A large triangular window projects proud of one elevation, while a glass wall at the entrance recedes into the facade.
Tiles cover the sloping roof of the monastery and wrap around a wall at the far corner.
The new building includes a church for choral prayers and a refectory for communal meals.
Other buildings for worship from the Dezeen archive include a church perforated by stained glass panels and a temple in Mumbai.
Photography is by Christa Lachenmaier.
Here are some more details from Astoc:
Extension of Hamborn Abbey, Duisburg
It may come as a surprise to find a flourishing catholic monastery in the midst of an industrial city like Duisburg. The urban district of Hamborn is, however, rather different from the ones dominated by withering heavy industry. The site of the present St. Johann Abbey in Hamborn was already settled more than a thousand years ago. The beginnings of its ecclesiastical history are marked by the donation of the Hamborn estate to the archbishop of Cologne in 1136 with the condition to build a monastery there. The small parish church, already existing on the estate since the ninth century, was subsequently converted to a monastery church. A Romanesque cloister was added to link the various buildings of the abbey with each other of which the northern wing still exists today. The monastery church was consecrated in 1170, elevating it to the status of an abbey. That title was annulled in 1806 in the course of the secularization drive. During World War Two, the buildings were largely destroyed but, as if in defiance, resettled by seven brothers in 1959. In 1994, the building complex regained the status of an abbey. In 1972, a three-storied extension was added to provide residential and office space, designed by the Cologne-based architect Hans Schilling.
Today, twenty-five canons are part of the abbey. As the order in Hamborn keeps growing each year, another building extension was required. The client wanted the architecture’ to express one of the typical ideals of a canonical monastery, namely that of “communio ad intra et ad extra” (“community inside and community outside). ASTOC’s design follows the principles of the Premonstratensians who consciously and deliberately combine monastic community life with pastoral and missionary service, building communities both within and outside the abbey.
The new oblong building closes the gap on the third side of a courtyard garden which was previously enclosed only on two sides. With it, a self-confident and new contemporary quality has been added to the heterogeneous buildings in the neighborhood. The new building adopts the principle of employing columns to line the corridor areas, as is the case with the medieval southern wing and the extension designed by Hans Schilling. The irregular geometry of the white-plastered new building appears folded. The folds allow the building to subtly react to the urban developmental and geometrical guidelines that are derived from the shape of the site and the connecting heights of the existing buildings surrounding it.
The spaces inside the new building satisfy all the requirements of monastic community life which includes joint meals in the refectory and choral prayers in the monastery church, requiring places and spaces to meet and communicate, as well as those for silence and worship. The Premonstratensians combine the inner life of the monastic community with outwardly directed pastoral care. This is also evident in Hamborn: just next door is the abbey high school, the abbey center for seminars and conferences, St. John’s Hospital, and the abbey cemetery which are all imbedded in the old vicarage of St. Johann and the neighboring vicarages that are also performance venues of the canons.
Apart from the residential wing, the new building provides a sacral chamber, offices and a recreation room with large doors that give onto the garden, the conversation and group spaces, terraces, and the patio. The different functions are all housed under one common roof while the spaces are organized around liturgical paths, each with their own distinct architecture: on the first floor, an historical crucifixion group visually leads on to the extension building, guiding the eye and subsequent movement in space.
Coming from the existing buildings, the path leads from the Romanesque cloister (and from the monastery church) to the chapel at the narrow end of the oblong building. This small, vertically rising sacral space, equipped with its own gallery, faces the east, permitting morning light during the early morning prayers. In keeping with the premise of intimately linking inside and outside, the chapel can be accessed from three sides: from the inside of the monastery, from the cemetery and from the street or the neighboring school. It can also be used for funeral services, for group services with school classes or for days of retreat. As such, the entire monastery complex is positioned between two sacral spaces that are connected with each other and to the monastery by the cloisters.
The two upper floors are more private in nature. Here, the bowers are lined along a double-story inner pergola. A golden front wall serves as optical apex of the dynamically-shaped diagonal surfaces that describe the space.
While the new building continues the neighboring building’s row of columns on the garden side, it presents a distinct and different look to the street side, with its white-plastered facades starkly contrasting the reddish brown brick of the neighboring building. The new building has a flat pent roof and is dipped in a warm antique white hue both on the inside and the outside, bringing to mind the color of the Premonstratensian order’s robes. The white surfaces are complemented by oak doors and floors, coated concrete, and the metal and glass facade of the entrance side.
The extension building is brightly lit, being suffused by light, understood as symbol of “the Premonstratensians’ commitment to the testimonial of life”, as Abbot Albert puts it. In all their actions, they strive to affirm life which the resurrected Christ contrasts with the darkness of death.
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| Reading between the Lines by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh | Martin Luther Church by Coop Himmelb(l)au | Chapel of St. Lawrence by Avanto Architects |
Timber baton screens surround the new ground and first floor decks of a renovated house in Seoul by Korean studio Moohoi Architecture.
Located in a densely developed neighbourhood, Julia’s apartment previously had little outdoor space, received minimal natural light and was overlooked by neighbouring buildings.
The new wooden screens provide privacy whilst allowing light through.
Inside the two-storey house, a section of the first floor is removed to increase light on the ground floor.
A staircase at the rear of the house is reconfigured, providing space for a tearoom.
We also recently featured another house in Korea, which spirals up from the ground – see our earlier story here and see all our stories about Korea here.
Photography is by Park Young-Chae.
Here’s a project description from Jae-Kwan:
Renovation (zeep-soori) of Julia’s House
Seocho-dong
Overall appearance of the Seocho-dong area, a representative residential district in Gangnam, Seoul, was quite different from the way it looked in the past. Many of the earlier houses were replaced by high-rise apartments. Houses that were excluded from the apartment complexes were turned into low-rise multi-family housing units.
One of the main reasons Julia’s house could remain unchanged was it couldn’t belong to any type of housing that newly appeared and it was situated on a small plot in the outskirts of commercial and residential areas. Moreover, the owner said she couldn’t afford to purchase an apartment unit in the neighborhood by selling the house. She could neither buy an apartment nor build a commercial building, nor build a multi-household home. The narrow alley near the house was enlarged and turned into a road where cars run all day, and the house behind Julia’s home was transformed into a parking lot which exposed it to the cold in winter. In addition, the house in front of hers was changed to a 5-story multi-family housing unit blocking sunlight all day long. Despite such poor housing conditions, the neighborhood has beautiful landscapes surrounded by Mt. Umyeon and Seoul Arts Center. Moreover, she has tremendous assets in her good relationship with next-door neighbors, Stephano, Moses, and John.
Repair on vision
The first thing to be done to keep living in the neighborhood was to handle views from the surroundings. In particular, the house is laid open to view from the house in front. Although direct exposure of the inside of the house could be avoided due to opaque glass on the windows of the multi-household house in front, the problem was severe from the houses on both sides.
She said one day while she was putting out the laundry, she was surprised to see a man standing on the balcony on the second floor staring at her house, while smoking.
Her inner courtyard and bedroom especially were directly viewable from the balcony of a commercial residential building on the left. So, she had to close thick curtains all the time even during the hot summer. However, the problem was the direction facing the south. If installing a screen, views from outside could be blocked. But, it could also prevent sunlight and wind from coming through to the space. I came up with two ideas for the solution. One was to partially lay bricks to cut off views from the next-door house and the other was to partially install a wood curtain on the slab structure on the second floor to let sunshine and wind freely come and go. Through this measure, all the disturbing troubles were resolved. What was needed most in repairing this house was to fix problems concerning views from the outside, rather than the house itself.
Repair on space
What grabbed my attention among external spaces of the house was the boundary between the house and the city. Usually, entrances of houses are adjoined with an alley. But, the house faces a road where a lot of cars go by due to the new apartment buildings constructed nearby. The alley was turned into a road. In this way, like a scene from a movie I watched, a not-so-funny thing might happen as an open entrance could be blown away by a car closely passing by just in time. Thus, I decided to create a narrow alley that connects the entrance with the city like a conjunction connecting words in a sentence. The alley which was created on a corner of the small external spaces of the house serves various roles. It is the place where Julia greets her father occasionally visiting her family, a place where she lets her neighbors into her yard, a place she adjusts her hair or dress on her way to work or a place which bridges the road and her yard together.
The Court
The house’s external spaces were complicated with miscellaneous things scattered all over. Two jar stands buried in the ground, outdoor stairs, a drying rack with only one wing folded out, a drying rack with both wings available, clotheslines tied between tree branches and drying laundry, a sculpture depicting a naked body which was a work of her daughter, a cross made of tin plate, two boxes full of ceramic works, jar stands filled with rainwater, outside air conditioner unit, a half-open tool box, viewing stones, dog feces, lily, chrysanthemum, good luck tree flowerpots, porcelain pots, morning glory planted along the fence, a persimmon tree, peony, chrysanthemums, a lilac tree, a pomegranate tree, a long bench leaning against the entrance, a broom and a shovel.
The only thing missing was a yard. I created a spacious wooden deck at the height of the first floor in order to secure external spaces to distribute the functions such as storage, garden, drying, exhibition and receiving visitors. In this process, separated the garden and the yard by cutting out the area around the existing tree with same size and shape and repaired the outdoor spaces after removing ceramic pieces to the daughter’s atelier or the edge of the pond.
Repair to Enhance Usability
The clock of the house stopped 38 years ago. One of the reasons to purchase the house was said to be 7 rooms which fit the number of the brothers of her husband. But, the family no longer needs all the rooms. Now, four rooms for each family member, coupled with a guest room, are enough. On the other hand, the family needed more storage space as household goods increased. The structure of the kitchen was not proper for large appliances such as large refrigerators and kimchi refrigerators to be installed. Their lifestyle changed significantly, but their living spaces remained unchanged. In addition, the house was dark. Although the house faces the south, the sunlight couldn’t reach inner spaces of the house due to its structure. Moreover, she has never dared to open windows of a north-facing room because of a parking lot. Now, the situation worsened as the newly built house in front obstructs sunlight and wind from reaching her house. I had to find a solution to let the sunshine reach deeply inside. The answer was unexpectedly simple. After I found a sunny place which is not influenced by the house in front, I cut out a big chunk of the floor of the place, inviting sunlight to the deep inner parts of the house followed by the wind. Now, they can stay cool during summer without an air conditioner and Julia’s voice urging them to wake up in the morning is clearly heard from the second floor, although it may be cumbersome for the son.
Architect: Kim Jae-kwan, Moohoi architecture
Location: 1487-10 SeoCho-Dong, SeoCho-Koo, Seoul, Korea
Program: Housing
Site area: 189.5m2
Gross floor area: 237.69m2
Building scope: B1, 2F
Exterior finishing: Black brick, Spruce wood
Interior finishing: Wallpaper, Spruce wood
Construction: Kim Jae-kwan
Design period: 2009.8~10
Construction period: Dec. 2009 – Mar. 2010
Client: Julia Kim + Bruce Jun
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| House 1 and House 2 by TAKA | House of Wakayama by Yoshio Oono | Nest by UID Architects |
Architects Denton Corker Marshall designed this spaghetti-like bridge for Hangzhou in China. Unfortunately the competition it was shortlisted for has now been cancelled.
The 500 metre-long bridge would have comprised three entwined metal ribbons, winding across the Jinsha Lake.
The route for cyclists would be level, while the pedestrian bridge would climb up to a viewing platform.
A third, sculptural ribbon would weave around the two.
Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw Architects were also shortlisted in the abandoned competition.
Denton Corker Marshall previously won a competition to design a bridge in Auckland, New Zealand, which has been delayed and won’t complete until 2016 – see the project on Dezeen here.
We’ve published a few loopy bridges for China on Dezeen – see a foot bridge for Xinjin here and another called Pearl River Necklace by NL Architects here.
Stories about bridges are always popular on Dezeen – see them all here.
Here are some more details about the project from the architects:
China bridge, international competition abandoned
A limited international design competition, for which Denton Corker Marshall was shortlisted, has been abandoned. Also shortlisted for the 400m-long pedestrian bridge at Jinsha Lake, Hangzhou, were Zaha Hadid and Grimshaw.
Denton Corker Marshall’s sculptural solution is a modern and energetic interpretation of the traditional local culture. Sinuous and dynamic, it responds to the requirement for a bold and distinctive icon. The thin profile of a long, non-vehicle bridge risks appearing insubstantial. Rising elegantly above the skyline, Denton Corker Marshall’s solution attains a signature presence amid the modern building scale of New Hangzhou.
The architects teamed with Arup to develop the concept, described by director Neil Bourne as “truly memorable and distinctive”. Three ribbon elements – the lower deck, upper deck and arched support structure – combine into an integrated object, in harmony both structurally and visually.
“It’s a powerful concept offering numerous interpretations: ribbons, dragons, landscape, calligraphy or simply abstract sculpture,” said Mr Bourne.
Importantly, the concept is very buildable using standard construction techniques, and structurally very efficient for its geometric complexity. It was on the acclaimed Webb Bridge scheme more than 10 years ago that Denton Corker Marshall and Arup pioneered the use of 3D CAD modelling and design in geometrically challenging bridge design.
Arup’s John Bahoric says the development and intelligent use of a digital model for Jinsha Lake Bridge has created a powerful tool for efficient delivery of the project, and which has been fundamental to the achievement of the design. Denton Corker Marshall understands that the competition organisers will now conduct a local design competition.
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| Nanhe River Landscape Bridge by WXY | Pearl River Necklace by NL Architects | Melkwegbridge by NEXT and Rietveld Landscape |
Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh have completed a see-through church in Limburg, Belgium.
The ten metre-high church is constructed from 100 stacked layers of weathered steel plates.
Gaps between these plates allow visitors to through through the walls.
With its pointed spire, the building imitates the form of traditional churches in the region.
Entitled Reading between the Lines, the project forms part of the Z-OUT programme coordinated by the Z33 gallery, which aims to bring art into public space.
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh were also responsible for creating an upside dome inside an existing church in Leuven – see our earlier story here.
Photography is by Kristof Vrancken.
Here are some more details from Gijs Van Vaerenbergh:
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh makes church sculpture as part of art in public space project
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, have built a see-through church in the Belgian region of Haspengouw. The church is a part of the Z-OUT project of Z33, house for contemporary art based in Hasselt, Belgium. Z-OUT is an ambitious long-term art in public space project that will be realised on different locations in the Flemish region of Limburg over the next five years.
The church is 10 meters high and is made of 100 layers and 2000 columns of steel. Depending on the perspective of the viewer, the church is either perceived as a massive building or seems to dissolve – partly or entirely – in the landscape. On the other hand, looking at the landscape from within the church, the surrounding countryside is redefined by abstract lines.
The design of the church is based on the architecture of the multitude of churches in the region, but through the use of horizontal plates, the concept of the traditional church is transformed into a transparent object of art.
The project is called ‘Reading between the Lines’ and is a project by the duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs (Leuven, 1983) and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh (Leuven, 1983).Since 2007, they have been realizing projects in the public space that derive from their architectural background, but clearly display an artistic intention. As such, their projects do not always originate from the customary commission and carry a large degree of autonomy. Their primary concerns are experiment, reflection, a physical involvement with the end result and the input of the viewer.
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| Shiv Temple by Sameep Padora & Associates | Church by Beton | Sta Columbina Chapel by Luis Ferreira Rodrigues |
With much of the world’s attention this weekend on the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, our friends at Studio 360 have put together a great interview with the memorial’s designer, Michael Arad, set to photos and video of the area. Should you not have tickets to the opening this weekend, which more than likely you won’t for months upon months at the very least, this is a great alternative. Here’s the clip:
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The top-floor living room of this Seattle house projects across the garden in a twisted cantilever.
Local studio Elemental Architecture designed the three-storey house, where living rooms and a kitchen are unusually located on the cantilevering top storey.
Glass doors open the kitchen out to a large balcony.
A staircase leads up from here to a rooftop terrace that overlooks the neighbourhood.
Bedrooms occupy the first floor, while a utility room, office and garage are on the ground level.
Other cantilevering houses on Dezeen include one over that projects over a river and another with a base of stacked ceramic wine racks – see all our stories about cantilevers here.
Here are a few sentences from Elemental Architecture:
Phinney Modern
2510 sqft single family home located in Seattles Phinney Ridge neighborhood.
This home was designed for a young family on a small in-fill lot.
The lot was very challenging just over 2000 sft with a access easement covering a portion of the southwest corner.
This created a situation where the building footprint covered the majority of the yard, so it was essential to capture outdoor space on the structure.
This led to the reverse floorplan (living on the third level), allowing the main spaces to easily access outdoor space, light and view.
The homeowners created a welcoming contrast by their choices in furniture and wall coverings.
The upper level opens to a west facing deck and exterior stair leading to a view roofdeck which overlooks Ballard and the Puget Sound.
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| Nakahouse by XTEN Architecture | House on Zaru Street by Open AD | House 20 by Jolson |
Here are some photographs of the Moscow School of Management by architect David Adjaye, where four buildings precariously cantilever over a large circular base.
Adjaye, who was today announced as this year’s Design Miami Designer of the Year, completed the teaching and research institute in the city outskirts at the end of 2010.
Classrooms and lecture halls circle a restaurant at the centre of the 150 metre-wide school-on-legs and a car park can be found below.
The four blocks above individually house administration, a wellbeing centre, a hotel and student accommodation.
The walls of the wellbeing centre display a herringbone patchwork of glass and coloured panels, while the other three blocks show the same patterns in monochrome.
A private terrace is located on the roof of the school, surrounded by skylights into the rooms below.
Other projects on Dezeen by Adjaye Associates include headquarters for design brand Moroso and a visual arts space in London – see all the stories here.
Photography is by Ed Reeve.
Here is some text about the project from the architects:
Moscow School of Management Skolkovo
This teaching and research institution was founded in 2005 to educate a new type of executive capable of leading Russian business through the 21st century. The founders were of the view that a campus-type development would best represent their aspirations and, with this in mind, acquired an open site in an area that is scheduled to become an advanced technology park, just beyond Moscow’s outer motorway ring. Situated in a wooded valley, the site has the idyllic qualities associated with those of a traditional campus but the severe demands of a six-month winter were a barrier to pursuing an arrangement of this kind. Rather than being in separate buildings, the main elements of the brief are therefore housed in clearly identifiable volumes that nevertheless form part of a single development.
As a result of this strategy, the external appearance of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo changes dramatically depending on the direction from which it is seen, but practical and visual continuity is provided by the 150metre-wide disc that floats above the site. Despite its size, the disc minimises the footprint of the development on the site, and softens the visual impact of the lower stories of the development, as only a small part of it can be seen at any one time. The disc itself is two stories high and the main teaching departments are distributed around its outer edge, with the larger spaces on the lower floor. Between departments, a series of wedge-shaped spaces connection the centre of the disc, where the restaurant area is located, and the perimeter. With directional rooflights above, these informal gathering spaces bring light and views deep into the interior. The disc also includes a conference centre with its own auditorium, and the roof of the disc is a landscaped open space. This replaces the area of the site occupied by the building, where a protected car park and service area are located at ground level.
The group of buildings that stand above the disc give the development its characteristic profile when seen from different directions. Of these, the Wellbeing Centre occupies a pivotal position in anchoring the disc to the sloping ground on this side of the Setun River. Standing close to the edge of the site, its stacked recreational spaces still enjoy views of the river due to the splayed positions of the two residential buildings: student accommodation in the longer one to the north, and a five-star hotel that is linked to the conference centre below. The Wellbeing Centre is supported by the same structural grid as that of the disc, whilst the residential buildings are designed as bridge structures. Each of them is supported on two towers that cause minimum disruption as they pass through the disc to the ground; the consequences of this arrangement are visible in the long cantilevers at the ends of both buildings. A similar principle is employed in the structure of the administration tower, although the design of its facade is similar to that of the Wellbeing Centre. The gold colouring of the Wellbeing Centre reflects its importance in this powerful composition, an effect that is given further emphasis by a blue tinge to the facades of the residential buildings.
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| Edison House by Adjaye Associates | The Periscope by VW+BS | GMS Grande Palladium by Malik Architecture |
Charred larch clads the curved walls of a seafood restaurant that projects towards the harbour in Folkestone, England.
Rocksalt Restaurant by British studio Guy Hollaway Architects sits atop a new sea wall beside a historic brick viaduct and is shielded from stray boats by a screen of timber columns.
A cantilevered balcony with a glass balustrade wraps around the sea-facing facade of the restaurant, sheltered by a canopy.
The building is raised on a stepped slate plinth to protect it from flooding.
Locally caught fish will be served inside the restaurant, where lamps designed to look like lobster cages hang above circular tables and leather seating booths.
This is the first completed building from architect Terry Farrell‘s seafront masterplan.
Another popular seafront restaurant on Dezeen is located in a remote forested gorge in southern China – see all our stories about restaurants here.
Photography is by Paul Freeman.
Here are some more details from the architects:
Rocksalt Seafood Restaurant Folkestone Harbour, Kent
Rocksalt Restaurant and Bar is a newly built destination restaurant in Folkestone Harbour and is the first restaurant venture for executive chef Mark Sargeant, former head chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Claridge’s.
Won at national competition by Guy Hollaway Architects, it is the first complete building to be realized as part of Sir Terry Farrell’s Folkestone masterplan. The completed restaurant and bar forms a crucial milestone in the regeneration of Folkestone’s ‘Old Town’ and harbour, serving to reconnect visitors and the population of the coastal town with the working harbour and seafront. The restaurant is located on Folkestone’s harbour edge, adjacent to its working slipway where local fishermen unload their catch, delivering fresh fish to the restaurant daily. It is hoped that the project will catalyse the ‘Padstow effect’.
Perched in the corner of the tidal harbour between a listed brick viaduct and cobbled street, the restaurant faces the former fish market. Folkestone boasts a small fishing fleet who off-load catches on to the slipway directly adjacent to the restaurant. The building sits on a new curved sea wall and borrows back land to form a wine cellar. Timber dolphin piles protect the building from stray boats.
On approach, the building presents itself from under a brick arch and then peels away from the cobbled street to reveal the harbour. Three curved walls, decreasing in height are clad in shot blasted black larch to echo the surrounding context. A slate plinth raises the building from the flood risk zone and elevates the views. Angled reveals on picture windows allow sight into the kitchen, reflecting the working nature of the fish market, and offer views back to the street. The slate steps leading to the entrance merge into public bench seating at the top of the jetty facing out to sea.
At ground floor level, the restaurant has 86 covers and the opportunity for a private dining room. Large glass sliding doors allow uninterrupted panoramic views of fishing boats at high tide and sandy shingle flats at low tide. From the restaurant’s interior a cantilevered balcony, with a glass balustrade and curved soffit creates an extension of the internal dining area.
Liz Jeanes, interior designer at Guy Hollaway Architects led the interior scheme, taking strong influences from the immediate context. The interior colours emulate colours of the sea and sky – rising from dark, aquatic greens and dark tones of timber at ground floor; rising to a lighter palette of blues, greys and whites, contrasting with warmer shades of iroko on the first floor bar and terrace. A marble top to the ground floor bar and marble floor tiles show influences from traditional fishmonger interiors, whilst the main restaurant uses herringbone laid oak parquet flooring to emulate the scales of a fish.
Tall backed leather booth seats sit beneath the low curved ceiling, enveloping diners into the restaurant. The curved ceiling then extends from the restaurant back wall, opening out to the sea and is designed to reflect the smooth curved form of a fish’s side. Dark stained larch panelling at ground floor level echo the exterior envelope treatment, and including concealed acoustic insulation between slats within the busy restaurant.
Hidden LED strips wash light across ceilings and down walls, providing a subtle radiance to the interior spaces. Feature pendants are reminiscent of lobster pots and accentuate the bar and central table on the ground floor.
The building directly engages with the harbour – at ground floor, three large sliding doors blur inside and outside, and at first floor large sliding doors open fully to merge the bar and external terrace seamlessly. Beyond the pebble filled roof elevated views of the harbour and to the English Channel beyond are offered.
The completed building sees its concept realised by re-engaging visitors and local residents alike with Folkestone’s rich coastal heritage, serving as a catalyst to revitalise the local area.
Client: Folkestone Harbour Company
Date: June 2010 – June 2011
Contract Value: £2.3m
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| Pollen Street Social by Neri&Hu (NHDRO) | Tree Restaurant by Koichi Takada Architects | Living Lab by Ab Rogers for Pizza Express |
Just this weekend, this writer and his wife were talking about something or another and she brought up that episode of The Simpsons where architect Frank Gehry crumples up a letter, tosses it on the ground, and upon seeing it, gets the inspiration for his next building. Turns out, not only was that funny scene on our minds this weekend but CNN‘s Fahreed Zakaria as well. The host had on Gehry and asked him about his process (or in his words: “…the strangeness comes from where?”), which inevitably led to the architect’s appearance on The Simpsons. Turns out, that scene has followed him around more that perhaps he’d like. Here’s from the transcript:
ZAKARIA: So this – the famous story that you took a piece of paper and crumpled it and looked at it and that was the Disney Hall in L.A.
GEHRY: But that’s a famous story because the Simpsons had me do that.
ZAKARIA: But in fact, it was a long, long –
GEHRY: No, no, no, no. That was just a fun – fun thing. But it has – it has haunted me. People do – who’ve seen “The Simpson’s” believe it.
A hat tip to the Observer for the link.
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