Hasta La Ideas

Architect Renzo Piano has replaced the auditorium destroyed during the 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, with a flat-pack building comprising three wooden cubes.

Located in the grounds of the city’s medieval castle, the new Auditorium Aquila contains a 238-seat concert hall that opened its doors to the public at the end of last year.

Renzo Piano Building Workshop designed the building with an entirely timber construction. The wooden components were pre-cut and delivered to the site as a flat-pack, before being screwed and nailed together.

The auditorium is located in the largest of the three cubes, which is tilted forwards to create a tiered bank of seating inside. Acoustic panels are fixed to the walls and ceiling to help sound resonate through the room.

The two smaller cubes are positioned either side of the hall. One functions as a foyer, with a refreshments area, cloakroom and ticket desk, while the other contains dressing rooms and a “green room” for performing musicians.

Glazed corridors connect the three cubes and glazed stairwells run up the exterior walls.

The larch panels create horizontal stripes across the exterior of the building and are painted in an assortment of colours. The architects also planted 90 new trees nearby to offset the wood used for the construction.

A public square in front of the structure can be used for outdoor events and performances, when big screens can be hung across the facade.

2012 was a busy year for Italian architect Renzo Piano. Other projects to complete include London skyscraper The Shard and the Astrup Fearnley art museum in Oslo’s harbour.

See more architecture by Renzo Piano, including an interview with Piano from before work started on The Shard.

Photography is by Marco Caselli Nirmal.

Here’s some information from Renzo Piano Building Workshop:

A Stradivarius in Parco del Castello

Three wooden cubes

The auditorium is formed of three wooden cubes that look as though they have somewhat haphazardly tumbled down and come to rest leaning against one another. The central, biggest cube, corresponding to the auditorium itself, seems to be tilting forward, as though about to topple over in an allusion to its instability. There is actually a specific reason for the slant: one of the two lower sides is sloped at the same angle as the stepped seating inside. The cubes may look abstract, but they conceal the presence of a real building. They are ‘non-forms’, or, rather, pure forms, that contrast with the 16th-century fort’s taut, compact mass as inconspicuously as possible.

All three cubes are made entirely of wood, a material that makes no pretension of being anything but ephemeral but is actually eternal. The choice is dictated by the building’s acoustic function, which is to sound like a musical instrument, but also by the context: the timber structures are actually highly earthquake resistant, and the wood’s materiality ‘naturally’ contrasts with the castle’s stone. What’s more, wood is a renewable and therefore ecologically sustainable material: that is why 90 trees were planted near the Auditorium; eventually they will be able replenish to the timber used to build the cube.

The Auditorium can be thought of as a huge Stradivarius laid out in the park. The meticulous, intelligent building technique recalls the craftsmanship of master lute-makers and of building well. It is pleasant to think that larch from Val di Fiemme, in the Trentino, where the most highly-valued wood used by Cremona’s 17th-century master lute-makers, Stradivarius being the most famous, traditionally came from, was used to build it.

The building technology, and the use of cutting-edge earthquake-proof construction techniques in L’Aquila, is an example of building well that can also be used for the old town’s reconstruction.

Above: site plan

The facades’ architectonic slope

The cubes’ outer sides will be clad in larch tiles around 25 centimetres wide and four centimetres thick. The tiles are protected with special treatments aiming to guarantee correct aging due to homogenous oxidation processes. The 16 sides of the cubes that can be seen — two corresponding to the bases supporting the two service buildings — are not all equal but vary depending on various, alternating architectonic criteria that give the structure a light, lively, and vibrant look.
Various colours also provide visual interest.

The sides feature a series of ‘accidents’ that add variety to their wooden surfaces’ homogeneity and geometry. The ‘accidents’ include the staircase spaces contained in glazed volumes superimposed on the wooden surfaces, the blood-red surfaces corresponding to the vertical or horizontal connecting spaces, the fire escape attached to the facades where necessary, and the air-conditioning ducts, which, in the back wall of the foyer, emerge from the façade, treated with a cement finish here. On some occasions, when special musical events take place, big screens can be temporarily hung on the facades, in particular that of the Auditorium and foyer, for the projection of films and images.

Above: long section – click for larger image

The auditorium and the service volumes

The building is broken up into three separate but interconnected volumes: the central volume, which contains the actual auditorium, and the two service volumes: the public service areas, which contain the foyer, located on the town side, and the performers’ service areas, which contain the dressing rooms, located on the castle side.

The auditorium’s volume is a cube with 18.5-meter sides. Considering that part of the cube is located below ground level, the rear corner is 18.5 meters high above the ground and the front corner 9.2 meters high. The foyer is an 11-meter cube whose above-ground height is 10.9 meters. The dressing rooms are contained in a nine-meter cube with an above-ground height of 8.5 meters.

The auditorium is reached through the foyer, which contains a refreshment area, cloakroom and ticket desk. The foyer’s volume contains the public lavatories and spaces equipped for various uses on the first floor, the air-conditioning system’s technical rooms on the second floor and the power plant with direct access from outside stairs on the underground floor.

The public takes an elevated walkway, rising around one meter above ground, to reach the auditorium from the foyer. It will be glazed on the north side and protected with opaque surfaces on the south side and roof.

Above: long section through auditorium

The 238-seat auditorium has a stage that can hold around 40 musicians. Two stepped seating areas facing each other accommodate the audience; the larger has 190 seats in front of the orchestra, the smaller, 48 seats behind it: the seats’ angle ensures the best possible listening and viewing conditions. The walls’ raw wood surfaces are hung with a series of acoustic panels orientated towards the audience to reflect sound inside the auditorium. The panels, also made of wood but with a high-quality finish, ‘soar’ in space, in some cases superimposed on the vertical walls, but always remaining detached from them, in other cases floating in space, hanging from above. Two approximately two-meter-high acoustic walls flanking the stage reflect sound towards the orchestra, ensuring the best possible listening conditions. The musicians’ dressing rooms are on the side opposite the foyer and give access to the autonomous, independent room. This access, which crosses an elevated walkway similar to the one in the foyer, being directly connected with the exterior, is for the musical instruments, including large pieces such as pianos, harps, percussion instruments, etc. A ‘green area’ where the artists will be able to rest and meet one another is planned on the dressing-room volume’s ground floor; two small spaces intended for the house manager and control booth are also planned. The conductor’s and lead artists’ (soloists or singers) dressing rooms, equipped with bath and a small waiting area outside, are located on the first floor. The orchestra musicians’ dressing room and lavatories are on the second floor. The dressing room is modular: it can be subdivided into variously-sized spaces for men and women depending on the number of each in the guest orchestras.

The service volumes’ various floors are interconnected by lifts whose size allows various kinds of users to take them.

Access for means for the transport of instruments, for the provision of catering services and for the facilities’ maintenance cross the outdoor area in front of the auditorium.

Above: cross section through auditorium

The piazza in front of the concert hall

The three volumes face each other in a large outside area conceived of as a natural link between the building and park but also as an area structured to extend the auditorium’s functions outdoors in summer. The space in front of the foyer is fitted out to extend the foyer bar’s catering activities, creating a pole of attraction that will surely be a nice place for a break. The area facing the auditorium’s volume can be fitted with seating to accommodate around 500 people who will be able to attend open-air performances or follow concert activities on a big screen in summer. The outdoor area is laid out along axes springing from the sides of the Auditorium’s three volumes, which intersect, generating patterns of dimensions and geometry.

Above: concept section 

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Renzo Piano Building Workshop appeared first on Dezeen.

Oiio Architecture Office of New York and Athens has come up with a concept to extend Frank’s Lloyd Wright’s famous Guggenheim Museum in New York by extending its spiralling form up into the sky.

“What if we decided we needed a little more of Guggenheim?” question the architects, whose plans show a structure with almost three times as many floors as the iconic museum that was designed by Wright during the 1940s.

The tapered extension would continue the path of the Guggenheim’s ramped rotunda gallery through an additional thirteen floors, finishing with a complete circular floor on the uppermost level. The domed glass roof would be removed from its current position and reconstructed over the new roof.

Above: proposed floor plans

Oiio Architecture Office names the project Guggenheim Extension Story, as a reference to the unlikelihood that any extension to the museum would ever really take place.

Above: proposed section

“Guggenheim museum has become so iconic, so emblematic and hermetic in our minds that it can no longer be touched by architects!” say the team, before adding: “Even if its own creator were to propose an alternation of its form, New Yorkers would suddenly feel as if they have lost a dear old friend.”

Above: proposed elevation

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened to the public in 1959 and houses a collection of impressionist, modern and contemporary art. Another Guggenheim by architect Frank Gehry was completed in Bilbao, Spain, in the 1990s.

Above: concept diagrams

See more stories about museums and galleries on Dezeen, including the recently completed Louvre Lens by SANAA and Imrey Culbert.

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by Oiio Architecture Office appeared first on Dezeen.

News: America’s first fully digital public library without a single book is set to open this autumn in San Antonio, Texas, and will be based on the design of an Apple store.

BiblioTech is being touted as America’s first bookless public library system, with the prototype site in San Antonio hoping to offer 150 e-readers, 50 computer stations, 25 laptops and 25 tablets to local readers.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said he was inspired to pursue the project after reading a biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs. “If you want to get an idea what it looks like, go into an Apple store,” he told a local newspaper.

Describing himself as an avid reader with a collection of 1000 first editions, he explained that the bookless library is a timely response to the rise of tablets and e-books. “Books are important to me,” he said. “But the world is changing and this is the best, most effective way to bring services to our community.”

“You will be able to check out a book, read it on-site. It will be a learning environment – you’ll be able to learn about technology itself as well as access a tremendous amount of information,” he added.

Library users will be able to read books on any of the devices in the library, take out an e-reader for a short period of time, or even load books onto their own e-reader.

Last month we reported on Foster + Partners’ plans to overhaul New York Public Library by inserting a contemporary lending library into unused reading rooms.

We’ve featured lots of libraries on Dezeen, including a library in Italy surrounded by a shallow pool of water and another in France with a knobbly concrete facade.

See all our stories about libraries »

Images are courtesy of Bexar County, Texas
Top image of e-reader from Shutterstock

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to open in Texas appeared first on Dezeen.

A conceptual space station that was conceived in the 1920s inspired the spiralling structure of this culture and technology centre in Slovenia.

OFIS Arhitekti teamed up with Slovenian studios Sadar Vuga Arhitekti, Bevk Perovic Arhitekti and Dekleva Gregoric Arhitekti to design the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies, which functions as a visitor facility for a nearby cultural centre in the small town of Vitanje.

Referred to as the Space Habitable Wheel, the building’s form is derived from the space station that rocket engineer and local resident Herman Potocnik Noordung described in his 1929 book, The Problem of Space Travel.

The architects replicated the looping structure of Noordung’s design using a series of interlocking rings. They explain: “The rotating habitable wheel, a circular construction setting up artificial gravity with the centrifugal force, is the best and at the same time a simple solution for long-term human habitation of weightlessness.”

A ramp curls around the edge of the building, providing a sloping exhibition area that connects the ground floor hall with an auditorium and space technology research centre on the level above.

From the exterior, the building appears as a pair of tangled cylinders, hovering over two glazed entrance facades.

“There is a dynamic effect between the cylinders, accentuated by the full glass rings around the building,” explain the architects. “The building appears to float and rotate on its southern and western sides towards the road.”

Both rings are made from concrete and are clad with a screen of shimmering metal panels.

We first revealed images of the design in 2011, when construction started on the project.

See more architecture by OFIS Arhitekti, or see more projects by Bevk Perovic Arhitekti.

Photography is by Tomaž Gregorič.

Here’s some more information from OFIS Arhitekti:

The Cultural Center of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) will supplement the cultural and social activities of the Arts Center in Vitanje, the town in Slovenia that was home to Herman Potocnik Noordung, the first theoretician of space.

The concept design for the building of the KSEVT derives from the habitation wheel of the first geostationary space station described in Noordung’s 1929 book. It will have a public significance and generate social, cultural, and scientific activities, with fixed and temporary exhibitions, conferences and club/study activities.

Noordnung’s space station was designed as a geostationary satellite out of three parts: a solar power station, an observatory and a habitable wheel. After several decades of ponderings on the habitation of space, this idea remains to be the most revolutionary, yet not realized. The rotating habitable wheel, a circular construction setting up artificial gravity with the centrifugal force, is the best and at the same time a simple solution for long-term human habitation of weightlessness. Since we are not accustomed to that kind of condition, it exerts negative influence upon our body in the long run. A station in this orbit could also represent a perfect point of departure for longer spaceflights, considering that the Earth’s force of attraction is still the greatest obstacle for that.

The building is a monolithic concrete structure, positioned freely between a main road on one side and a stream with a green hinterland on the other. The exterior and interior of the building are made of two low cylinders. The bottom one is larger and rises from the North to the South, while the upper cylinder is smaller and joins the larger one on the south while rising to the North. The bottom cylinder is supported by the transparent surface of the entrance glazing.

From the exterior, there is a dynamic effect between the cylinders, accentuated by the full glass rings around the building. The building appears to float and rotate on its southern and western sides towards the road. The entrenchment of the building into the surface on the other side gives a connection to its immediate surroundings. The spatial effects give the building the effect of artificial gravity from floatation and rotation. The building has two entrances- a main one to the central space from the square in front of the building on the south-eastern side and the northern entrance from the gravel surface above the stream.

The main entrance covers the overhanging part of the bottom cylinder: one passes through a tight space past a circular vestibule and into the interior of the hall. The vestibule can be separated from the activities in the hall by a curtain. The entrance glazing can be completely opened and can connect the activities in the hall with the square. The circular hall for 300 people is surrounded on both sides by a semicircular ramp. This denotes the beginning of the exhibition area, continuing from here to the overhanging part of the larger cylinder.

On the west, there are smaller office areas along the ramp. Ascending this ramp also represents a transition from the bright space of the hall to the dark exhibition area. The vertical connection with a staircase and large elevator connects the exhibition area directly to the vestibule of the hall. The exhibition space continues through the landing between the elevator and the staircase to the smaller cylinder, the multi-purpose hall, and a raised auditorium above the hall. From here, one can observe the activity below. The smaller cylinder is concluded at the highest, northernmost portion with a club area devoted to researchers of the history of space technology, where they can focus on their work aside from the activities below.

Besides special programme and location also collaboration of four architectural offices in developing the project is unique. The idea of collaboration raised on the first meeting where investor invited the four offices to collaborate on internal competition – and office principals decided to actually rather do the project together. The idea concepts came out on serious of workshops, later project was shared in different stages of development between all offices.

Location: Cesta na vasi, Vitanje, Slovenia
Project start: 2009
Construction start: 2009
Completed: 2012

Above: diagram of the space station by Herman Potocnik Noordung

Program: exhibition spaces, library, offices, multi-purpose hall, auditorium
Type: space technology community centre
Client: KSEVT, Vitanje Community and Ministry of Culture, Slovenia
Area: site 33.305 m2
Total floor area: 2.450 m2
Materials: concrete, glass, aluminium

Above: site plan

Above: basement plan – click above for larger image

Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: second floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: roof plan

Above: section one

Above: section two

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Bevk Perovic and Dekleva Gregoric 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.