Hasta La Ideas

Criss-crossing concrete columns surround this colourful multi-storey car park by Austrian studio Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig for the classical music venues of Erl, Austria (+ slideshow).

The three-storey structure is the latest addition to the Tyrolean Festival site, which features a 1950s summer theatre and a recently completed winter concert hall. Previously there were no nearby parking facilities, so Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig was asked to add some without disrupting views across the landscape.

The steeply sloping site allowed the architects to design the building as an extension of the hillside, with a grass roof that visitors can walk over.

“We wanted to create a magic structure but not a typical house,” architect Gerhard Dollnig told Dezeen. “Visitors to the Festspiele Erl should have the feeling that the garage is something like the start ramp of the event.”

Drivers access each floor using entrances at different points along the hill, so there was no need to add an additional ramp inside the structure. This allowed room to fit more parking spaces in.

Gaps between the cross-bracing columns permit views inside the structure, plus a skin of steel mesh will encourage plants to grow around the facade.

“The steel net should be overgrown with special plants over the years to become a ‘sleeping beauty castle’ that changes its skin over the seasons,” said Dollnig.

To avoid adding lines on the floors, the architects used blocks of white and orange to show the boundaries of parking spaces.

“The colour scheme should not just be seen by the cars inside the building but also by those passing on the street,” added Dollnig. “Together with the lighting, the building glimmers in the night.”

Other architect-designed car parks we’ve featured include a spiralling structure by Zaha Hadid and a car park by Herzog & de Meuron that also hosts yoga classes and weddings. See more car parks on Dezeen.

Photography is by Günther Richard Wett.

Here are a few words from Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig:

Parking Garage Tyrolean Festival Erl

The new festival parking garage is the final component in the repositioning of the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Not far from the famous Passionsspielhaus and the spectacular new Winter Festival Hall, the new parking garage with 550 parking spaces is built. The garage develops a unique character. Seen from the south it is very carefully embedded in the landscape, from the north, however, it is clearly visible.

Here, the garage becomes a stage for the festival guests: When exiting the garage, visitors enter a gallery overlooking the Inn valley. Only gradually the festival houses come into view. A clean cut 150m long wall creates a clear separation between outer space and car parking area.

Optimal orientation is guaranteed by an innovative, cheerful colour scheme.

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Kleboth Lindinger Dollnig appeared first on Dezeen.

This gentle twist of concrete bridges an Alpine river on a scenic road between two towns in western Austria.

Designed by Austrian studio Marte.Marte Architects, the bridge crosses the Schanerloch gorge on the road that leads from the city of Dornbirn towards the hamlet of Ebnit to the south.

Referencing the arched stone bridges traditionally constructed in the region, the architects created a solid concrete volume with a gently arching profile and a twist in its middle that responds to the angle of the road.

“The result is a concrete sculpture that might look unspectacular in plan and from the driver’s point of view,” says architect Marina Hämmerle, “but from the shore of the river winding through the gorge it unveils its compelling fascination: it playfully mimes the frozen dynamic of the mountain road and captures the dramatic place in reinforced concrete.”

The Schanerloch Bridge was completed in 2005, but has been seen by few others than the drivers passing through.

A number of bridge designs have been unveiled recently. OMA proposes a bridge for hosting events in Bordeaux, while Thomas Heatherwick has designed a garden to span the River Thames in London.

See more bridges on Dezeen »
See more architecture in Austria »

Photography is by Marc Lins.

Here’s a project description from Marina Hämmerle:

Schanerloch Bridge, Ebnit Dornbirn

The bridge through the Schanerloch gorge is part of the impressive road from the city of Dornbirn to the hamlet of Ebnit which picturesquely situated by the well of the river Dornbirner Ache at the foot of scenic mountains. The spectacular route to this ancient settlement area is characterised by a series of natural rock tunnels and stone bridges.

Originating from the well-known typology of the stone arch bridge, modern technology takes the geometry of the arch to its very limits. The reduction of the arch rise to a statically necessary minimum is combined with a twist along one axis. The latter is also responding to the bending road as a curve immediately follows the bridge in both driving directions.

The result is a concrete sculpture that might look unspectacular in plan and from the driver’s point of view, but from the shore of the river winding through the gorge it unveils its compelling fascination: it playfully mimes the frozen dynamic of the mountain road and captures the dramatic place in reinforced concrete.

Perfect in form, a masterpiece of design and statical calculation precisely fixed in the spectacular scenery.

Client: City of Dornbirn
Location: Ebniter Straße, 6850 Dornbirn
Architecture: Marte.Marte Architekten ZT GmbH, Weiler
(Arch.DI Bernhard Marte, Arch.DI Stefan Marte)
Overall length: approx. 23m
Overall width: 5,50m bis 6,50m
Driving clearance (width): minimum 4,75m
Reinforced concrete arch: minimum thickness 35cm
Conrete volume: approx. 180m3
Footing: directly into the adjacent rock wall

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Marte.Marte Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Prayer rooms with walls of red concrete lead out to a staggered sequence of graveyards at this Islamic cemetery in western Austria by local studio Bernardo Bader Architects (+ slideshow).

Located within the Alpine countryside, the cemetery serves the eight-percent Muslim population in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and comprises a simple rectilinear building with five burial enclosures.

Bernardo Bader Architects used red-tinted concrete for the construction of the building and its surrounding walls. The surfaces remain exposed both inside and outside the complex, revealing the rectangular imprints of wooden formwork.

A long rectangular window stretches across the facade, screened by a latticed oak framework that displays one of the traditional patterns of Islamic mashrabiya screens.

The building accommodates both prayer rooms and assembly halls. The largest room opens out to a private courtyard and features lighting fixtures set into circular ceiling recesses.

The five rectangular graveyards are lined up at the back of the building. Each one contains several trees, benches and small patches of grass.

Completed in 2011, the Islamic Cemetery is one of 20 projects on the shortlist for the Aga Khan Award 2013. Five or six finalists will be revealed later this year and will compete to win the $1 million prize.

Other architect-designed cemeteries completed in recent years include a seaside graveyard in Italy and a pair of wooden pavilions in Belgium. See more stories about cemeteries, funeral chapels and memorials.

Here’s a short project description from the Aga Khan Award organisers:

The cemetery serves Vorarlberg, the industrialised westernmost state of Austria, where over eight percent of the population is Muslim. It finds inspiration in the primordial garden, and is delineated by roseate concrete walls in an alpine setting, and consists of five staggered, rectangular grave-site enclosures, and a structure housing assembly and prayer rooms.

The principal materials used were exposed reinforced concrete for the walls and oak wood for the ornamentation of the entrance facade and the interior of the prayer space. The visitor is greeted by and must pass through the congregation space with its wooden latticework in geometric Islamic patterns. The space includes ablution rooms and assembly rooms in a subdued palette that give onto a courtyard. The prayer room on the far side of the courtyard reprises the lattice-work theme with Kufic calligraphy in metal mesh on the ‘qibla’ wall.

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Bernardo Bader Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

This cocktail bar in Vienna by Tzou Lubroth Architekten features a faceted ceiling of upside-down peaks inspired by the mountain landscapes of traditional Chinese paintings.

Local architects Gregorio S. Lubroth and Chieh-shu Tzou teamed up with three friends to design, build and launch the bar themselves, before adding the spiky ceiling as the first in a series of installations by different artists and designers.

“We want the bar to be a place where a larger conversation about design and art can occur,” Lubroth told Dezeen. “As it is, ceilings are generally under-utilised, under-explored surfaces. Periodically changing the ceiling installation not only brings new life to the bar but sparks conversations about space.”

The architects gave the ceiling the theme Mensch und Natur, or Man and Nature, which was intended to inspire a “fantasy” view of the natural world. “Our installation is a translation, or rather, geometric simplification of natural forms,” added Lubroth.

Above: photograph is by Jochen Fil

Lighting is affixed to the walls and pointed towards the ceiling, while mirrors behind the bar reflect a selection of spirit bottles used for making cocktails.

Above: photograph is by Jochen Fil

“Vienna has a long, rich history of wine, beer, and schnapps drinking, not to mention a vibrant bar scene,” said Lubroth. “However, with a few exceptions, cocktail culture is relegated to fancy hotel bars or loud clubs. We wanted to introduce a small cocktail menu with old and classic drinks at affordable prices.”

The rest of the bar has a simple layout with steel and oak furniture, plastered walls and an asphalt floor.

See more bars on Dezeen, including one with tables made of drawers and a bar made of doors.

Photography is by Stefan Zenzmaier, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

If dogs run free is a bar on the Gumpendorfer Straße in Vienna’s 6th district co-owned by an actress, a restaurateur, a graphic designer, and two architects. The bar was conceived as a neighborhood watering hole; a place where students, neighbors, and the after-work crowd get together to enjoy a good drink.

The name, like the space itself, is meant to invite fantasy. The generously proportioned 82m2 space is modelled after a black box theater with the main focus on the ceiling plane rather than on an actual stage.

In addition to its function as a bar, the owners wanted to provide a space where people have access to new ideas in art and design outside the traditional context of a gallery or the academy. The ceiling plane is reserved for artists and designers to create site specific installations intended as annual fixtures revolving around the theme Mensch und Natur.

The first installation was designed and built by the owners. It describes an inverted mountain landscape through the manipulation of a single geometric tile. The patchwork of tiles shift in tone creating two interwoven color gradients. The landscape is multiplied by mirrors attached to the wall behind the bar counter.

Below the ceiling, dark, unadorned surfaces are used to emphasize the presence of the ceiling installation. The walls are spackled with a blend of plaster and black house paint. The floor is poured asphalt. All furnishings are a mixture of steel, black MDF boards, and dark, stained oak. The lighting is a flexible system of stage spots and construction strobes.

Project Name: If dogs run free
Project Type: Bar
Location: Vienna, Austria
Architects: Tzou Lubroth Architekten
Design Team: Gregorio S. Lubroth, Chieh-shu Tzou
Graphic Design: Maria Prieto Barea
Total Floor Area: 82 m2

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Tzou Lubroth Architekten appeared first on Dezeen.

This angular black concert hall was designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects to contrast with the curved white playhouse it accompanies in Erl, Austria (+ slideshow).

The Passionsspielhaus, or “Passion Playhouse”, was constructed in the 1950s as a Christian theatre but since 1998 is has also hosted summer operas and orchestras as part of the Tyrol Festival.

Delugan Meissl Associated Architects designed the new Festival Hall as a winter concert venue for the festival and its faceted shell spikes out from the landscape as a single monolithic volume.

“The building’s form and positioning both relate to the impressive landscape setting defined by the rock formations in the back, and to the dynamic presence of its neighbouring historical counterpart,” say the architects.

A staircase sunken into the hill leads down to the building’s entrance, where visitors are directed through a clean white lobby into the timber-lined auditorium.

The architects explain: “The transition from the foyer into the concert hall is accompanied by spatial and atmospheric change: dynamism, variability and asymmetry give way to maximum concentration, static calm and orthogonality.”

A strip of glazing slices across the west elevation to frame a panoramic view of the surrounding meadows from a first floor gallery, which provides a second route into the hall.

Delugan Meissl Associated Architects won a competition to design the building in 2007 and it was completed in August.

The architects previously designed a Porsche Museum in Germany, which we featured in 2009.

See more concert halls on Dezeen, including a pearlescent music hall in Spain.

Above: site plan

Photography is by Brigida González.

Here’s some more information from Delugan Meissl Associated Architects:

The geometry of the Festival Hall developed from the topographical conditions, placing it in an adequate relationship with the existing Passionsspielhaus. The building’s form and positioning both relate to the impressive landscape setting defined by the rock formations in the back, and to the dynamic presence of its neighboring historical counterpart. This existing building and the new one are oriented towards one another. They complement and elevate their respective architectural articulation of the reference to the landscape by interacting visually with one another.

Above: lower floor plan – click above for larger image

The new building increases existing qualities of the natural and architectural environment. Aside from the geometry, colour also enhances the duality between old and new. While the white surface of the Passionsspielhaus stands out optically during the time of the summer festival, the changing of seasons brings upon a cromatic reversal of the ensemble. The configuration of the Festival Hall resembles a tectonic stratification. Its crevices and faults lying in between indicate the way into the building’s interior. At nighttime the incisions and folds in the distinctive facade allow insight into the radiant foyer.

Above: upper floor plan – click above for larger image

Access

The topographic imprint on the new building is consequently continued within its interior. The deisgn idea is guided by two defining parameters: the interrelation between the interior and the surrounding natural space as well as the spatial configuration of a functional, internationally acclaimed concert hall. Flowing visual and functional spatial references define the architecture. Areas with diverse usage and geometry show the creative engagement with communication and calm, dynamism and concentration. The sequences of movment are subtly guided by the sensory experience of the rooms. The access staircase is integrated into the landscape thus guiding visitors into the building.

Above: cross section through foyer – click above for larger image

Functions

Cloakroom and reception desk are situated near the entrance. The foyer – an asymmetric construction volume – allows manifold views onto the surrounding nature as well as onto the neighboring Passionsspielhaus. A staircase running in the opposite direction leads onto the upper gallery where the impressive relationship between interior and exterior space can be experienced again through the ample west façade made of glass. This level also hosts the building’s secondary functions. Orientation, room sequence and functional relations are integral parts of the architectural dramaturgy: ample communication areas, retracting and expanding circulation areas and varying room hights translate the building’s tectonic geometry in a sensory manner. In a consequent and effective way, the approach to the concert hall is staged through a gentle surge of the entrance level. The respective levels of the foyer are connected with the concert hall through two entrances. The latter is situated in the centre of the building like a shell, its rear part being anchored in the rock. The transition from the foyer into the concert hall is accompanied by spatial and atmospheric change: dynamism, variability and asymmetry give way to maximum concentration, static calm and orthogonality.

Above: cross section through auditorium – click above for larger image

Materials

Like the succession of rooms, the materials concept is equally defined by a sensorial perception of the respective usage areas. Differentiations in geometry, haptics and surfaces of room elements increase the senorial experience of single function areas and facilitate orientation. The shine in the foyer during the winter’s sunset increases the communicative character of this area of encounter. Following the metaphor of an exposed jewel, the concert hall is defied by a distinct change of materials: wood surfaces and subdued colours create a warm room composition of tense quiet thus directing the visitors’ attention onto the performance to follow. Multiple technical equipment and the possibility to transform the hall allows a varied use which reaches far beyond the function of a classical concert and festival venue.

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by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects appeared first on Dezeen.