Hasta La Ideas

Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas have won a competition to build a cultural complex in Chengdu, China, with designs for spiralling buildings inspired by the city’s ancient emblem.

The symbol, which depicts a sun with whirling rays, is reinterpreted by Studio Fuksas as four elliptical buildings with swirling, ribbon-like outer walls. These walls will be clad in metal and perforated with a grid of triangular windows.

“The elliptical shape of each building gives the impression of a perpetual motion and continuous vibration,” explain the architects.

The two largest buildings will accommodate a performing arts centre and a cultural centre, with the former housing two theatres and a music hall, and the latter containing another theatre and an exhibition gallery. The remaining buildings will provide offices for a literary association and housing for resident artists, plus a series of gardens and public spaces will surround the buildings.

Construction is set to commence early next year.

This year Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas also completed a school for hotel management in France and a public services hall in Georgia with a mushroom-like structure.

See more stories about Studio Fuksas »
See more stories about architecture in China »

Here’s some more information from the architects:

Chengdu Tianfu Cultural and Performance Centre, Chengdu, China

Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas have won the international competition for the construction of the first cultural center in the city of Chengdu. This city is the capital of Sichuan province and was hit by a terrible earthquake in 2008.

Studio Fuksas has other projects still going on in China and precisely in Shenzhen: the Guosen Tower and the Terminal 3 of the Bao’an International Airport that will be completed by next summer. Besides these projects Studio FUKSAS is preparing to realize this new one in the People’s Republic of China whose worth is 1 billion and 200 million yuan (150 million euro). The cultural complex consists of four buildings of elliptical shape with a spiral structure. The design concept is inspired by ancient symbol of the city of Chengdu (a circle with a sun with rays spiral) and demonstrates the willingness of the Chinese community to look at the future, focusing on art and culture. The project of Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas was conceived as a symphony of architectural volumes, creating the effect of a music that you can listen to with your eyes. On a total area of about 110,000 square meters, the elliptical shape of each building gives the impression of a perpetual motion and continuous vibration. The surface of the facade is a continuous ribbon coated with a metal skin with openings geometric design that allow natural light to enter the interior of the four volumes. The complex is made up of a center for the performing arts that houses two theaters for a total of 1800 seats and a music hall (600 seats), a cultural center that includes a theater with 2600-3000 seats and an exhibition gallery, offices Writer and Literary Association, an apartment building for artists. All surrounded by green gardens that evoke the eastern hills of Sichuan, with their colorful vegetation. The construction should start early 2013, reflecting the dynamism and desire to grow of the big community of Chengdu, which is the fifth most populous city in China.

Project: Chengdu Tianfu Cultural and Performance Centre
Site: Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Period: Won competition 2012
Client: Sichuan Culture Centre, Literary and Writer
Architects: Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas
Chinese partner: CSWADI

Project team
Project leader: Antonio Nardozzi
Art director: Serena Mignatti
Project team: Marco Bonucci, Martin Firera Alessandri, Eloisa Susanna, Vasiliki Maltezaki, Cristina Ferrete, Marco Roma, Haoliang Fan, Ilya Evstigneev
Assistants: Maria Dolores Del Sol Ontalba, Miruna Pavoni
Model: Nicola Cabiati (art director), Cheng Wen Wei, Daniele Bochicchio
Project manager in China: Jorge Gonzalez Ferrer
Shenzhen coordinator: Fang Tian

Area: 110,000 sq. m.
Program: Cultural Performance Center (theatre 1400 seats, music hall 600 seats, other theatre 400 seats); Public Cultural Center (theatre 2600/3000 seats, exhibition hall, mediateca); Literateur and Artist House e Research Institute (offices, archive, mediateca, atelier); residences for artists.
Cost: 1 billion and 200 million yuan (150 million euro).

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German architects Kister Scheithauer Gross used Jewish symbol the Star of David to create patterned windows in the limestone walls of this synagogue in Ulm, Germany.

The town’s original synagogue was torn down in 1938 as part of the Kristallnacht, or “night of broken glass”, a series of attacks on Jewish community buildings within Nazi Germany.

Kister Scheithauer Gross (KSG) won a competition in 2010 to reinstate the building beside the site where its predecessor once stood.

“This position is historical,” said architect Susanne Gross. “In the Kristallnacht in 1938, the former synagogue was destroyed. After World War II, a secular building was constructed in the space. The synagogue and the Jewish community lost its ancestral place in the centre of Ulm.”

“The construction of the current synagogue has opened a new site, in the middle of the square,” she added. “It is as though the synagogue has taken a step forward from its former position; it has reclaimed its location.”

Both a synagogue and a Jewish community centre are contained within the cube, which stands apart from other buildings and faces out onto the town square. “With no constructed borders, it stands abrupt and solitary on the Weinhof,” said Gross.

The stone walls make reference to the traditional Jerusalem limestone of many buildings in Israel, but the architects had to source a more frost-resistant stone to suit the colder climate. “We searched for a limestone with a similar but frost-resistant appearance and found the Dietfurt limestone that is mined in Bavarian Dietfurt, about 110 kilometres away from Ulm,” said KSG’s Farina Kast.

Most rooms inside the building are laid out on an orthogonal grid. However the 125-seat prayer rooms points south-east towards Jerusalem – a typical feature in synagogue design.

“In the competition design, the prayer room was faced eastward. After we won and when the close collaboration with the client began, the Rabbi expressed the wish to have the prayer room aligned towards Jerusalem,” said Kast.

The sacral chamber is positioned at the end of this space, behind the star-shaped windows.

Above: site plan

Other Jewish community buildings we’ve featured include a ritual bathhouse in Mexico and a community centre in Mainz, Germany.

Above: historical site plan

Photography is by Christian Richters.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

ksg Completes Ulm Synagogue

kister scheithauer gross architects and urban planners (ksg) have completed the community centre and synagogue for the Jewish community of Ulm.

In 2009, the Israelite Religious Community in Württemberg (IRGW) decided to build a new synagogue for its orthodox community in Ulm and, together with the city of Ulm, initiated a competition. The city placed the building site in the middle of the Weinhof, just a stone’s throw from the former synagogue, which was destroyed during Kristallnacht.

“The team from Cologne succeeded in enriching this highly sensitive location in the city of Ulm, without detracting from its unique character,” said the city’s head of construction, Alexander Wetzig, following the jury’s decision in January 2010.

In the completed build, the cuboid is lower and shorter than initially planned during the competition. It is now 24 meters wide, 16 deep and at 17 meters high, much lower than the nearby Schwörhaus.

All the spaces of the community centre and the synagogue are joined in the smooth structure: foyer, synagogue, Mikvah (ritual bath), meeting hall, school and administrative rooms as well as the child day care centre with an enclosed outdoor playing area, which is directly above the sacral room.

The rooms are arranged orthogonally. Only the synagogue follows the line of the only, free-standing support in the building, in a diagonal direction. The direction facing south-east has an overlying religious meaning behind it: its geographical direction is directly towards Jerusalem, the spiritual and religious centre of Judaism.

The diagonal room layout creates a corner window in the sacral room, which plays with a pattern of the Star of David as a space framework. With 600 openings, the synagogue is illuminated from many points, with the focal point being the liturgical centrepiece; the Torah shrine. The perforations in the façade created with a high-pressure water jet, illuminate the shrine inside and project the idea of the synagogue outwards.

The interior fittings of the synagogue are partially based on ksg plans, such as the dodecagon holder, a symbol for the twelve lines of the people of Israel. Rabbi Shneur Trebnik, together with the IRGW representatives, selected the seating and ordered the construction of the Torah shrine, including the bimah, a raised platform with a lectern, from which the Torah is dictated. All three elements were constructed in Israel.

The prayer room offers space for 125 people, including 40 spaces in the women’s gallery. The building was full to capacity during the opening on Sunday, December 2nd 2012. The 300 invited guests included former Jewish citizens of Ulm, who fled during World War II. Speeches were held by Federal President of Germany Joachim Gauck, Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann, the President of Central Council of Jews in Germany Dieter Graumann and Israel’s ambassador to Germany Yacov Hadas-Handelsman.

Client: Israelite Religious Community of Württemberg statutory corporation Hospitalstraße 36, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany
Board of directors: Barbara Traub, Susanne Jakubowski, Michael Kashi
Occupant: Rabbi Shneur Trebnik and the orthodox Jewish community of Ulm
Authorities: City of Ulm, Germany
Mayor: Ivo Gönner
Head of construction: Alexander Wetzig
Architects: kister scheithauer gross architects and urban planners, Cologne
Design/responsible partner: Prof. Susanne Gross
Project manager, artistic director: Grzegorz Rybacki
Team: Fritz Keuten, Matthes Langhinrichs, Stefan Schwarz, Paul Youk
Project management: nps Bauprojektmanagement GmbH, Ulm, Germany
General contractor: Matthäus Schmid Bauunternehmen GmbH & Co. KG, Baltringen, Germany

Consultants in the competition and design phase
Structural analysis: Dr.-Ing. W.Naumann & Partner, Köln
Thermo gravimetric analysis: ZWP AG, Köln
Acoustics: ISRW Dr.-Ing. Klapdor GmbH, Düsseldorf
Building physics: Ing.-Büro für Bauphysik Heinrichs, Köln
Fire safety: BFT Cognos, Aachen

Competition: 11/2009
Performance time: 2010-2012
Start of construction: 03/2011
Completion: 12/2012
Gross floor space: 1.980 m²
Performance phases: 1 – 4 plus artistic direction and master details
Construction costs: 4.6 million euros

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Kister Scheithauer Gross appeared first on Dezeen.

A glazed reading room appears to float over the still waters of a shallow pool at this town library in Maranello, Italy, by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and Italian architect Andrea Maffei (+ slideshow).

The curving glass facade wiggles back and forth to form the building’s perimeter, while study areas behind the glass offer visitors a view out across the water towards the ivy-covered walls that bound the site.

“The volume is mirrored on a body of water that reflects the intense color of the ivy onto the surrounding walls and surfaces,” said Andrea Maffei.

The glass facade straightens up at the building’s entrance, although a semi-circular canopy extends outwards to continue the curved outline.

Beyond the reception, a single reading room occupies most of the ground floor and is filled with white furniture that can accommodate up to 90 visitors at a time.

“In the interior of the building the absolute white resin pavement and white furniture captures the green hues of the greenery that is reflected from the continuous glazed surfaces of the curvilinear façade,” added Maffei. ”The light that pervades the open space of the library is exhibited in a play of reflections that bounce from the white elements of the furniture, the floors and structure, to the water and the continuous transparent glass.”

A local history archive and small playroom are also located on this floor, while stairs lead down to a digital archive, lecture space and meeting room in the basement.

Maffei previously spent several years working in Arata Isozaki‘s Tokyo studio and the pair have since teamed up on a number of projects that are underway elsewhere in Italy.

Other projects we’ve featured by Arata Isozaki include a modular office block in Barcelona and an inflatable concert hall he designed with Anish Kapoor.

See more libraries on Dezeen, including the Folkwang Library where glass walls look like marble.

Photography is by Alessandra Chemollo.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

The new Town Library in Maranello, Italy, designed by architects Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, opened to the public on November 19, 2011. Built near the center of the city, it substantiates the effective synergy between a public administration that of Maranello – which is investing in pursuing an architecture of quality – and the designers: Arata Isozaki, one of the most celebrated masters of contemporary Japanese architectural culture, and Andrea Maffei, Italian architect who worked in Isozaki’s studio in Tokyo for several years and is now co-designing with him several projects in Italy, currently in development.

The building defines a rarefied space that is perfectly placed within the urban fabric. Its sinuous profiles are bound by glass plates that follow its contour: reading becomes an “open” experience by means of the transparent membrane that forms the façade. It manifests as an interaction between knowledge and the contemplation of the landscape that surrounds the library.

The building expresses a dialogue with the urban fabric through the transparency of its body. The objective, on the part of the architects, was to establish a direct interaction with the city. Situated within a residential area, the library takes the place of a pre-existing building whose traces can still be found as the northern, eastern and southern exterior walls. These walls are covered with ivy, which along with the reflecting pools at the foot of the glazed perimeter make up the new natural horizons that are offered to the readers and patrons of the library.

As of today, the new Library in Maranello offers the community an environment in which to read, study, learn and enjoy a space that is suspended over a body of water and enveloped by greenery.

Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: basement plan – click above for larger image

Above: roof plan – click above for larger image

Above: section aa – click above for larger image

Above: section bb – click above for larger image

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Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei appeared first on Dezeen.

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a swirling complex of apartments, offices and leisure facilities on the abandoned site of an old textile factory in Belgrade, Serbia (+ slideshow).

Covering an area of around 94,000 square metres, the Beko complex will give the historic Dorcol quarter a new destination on a site that is just 500 metres from the city centre but is currently unused and inaccessible.

The proposed cluster of building will also accommodate a five-star hotel, a congress centre, galleries and shops, as well as underground parking facilities for visitors and residents.

Zaha Hadid Architects took influence from the twentieth century Modernist architecture that is typical in the capital and combined it with the studio’s signature Parametric style to design a cluster of buildings that will appear to flow into one another.

“The masterplan follows the region’s strong Modernist traditions and has applied new concepts and methods that examine and organize the programs of the site; defining a composition of buildings with the elegance of coherence that addresses the complexity of twenty-first century living patterns,” said Zaha Hadid.

The curved walls of the buildings will fold around a series of new squares and gardens. ”The design for Beko is embedded within the surrounding landscape of Belgrade’s cultural axis and incorporates essential public spaces,” said Hadid.

“It is absolutely critical to invest in these public spaces that engage with the city. They are a vital component of a rich urban life and cityscape, uniting the city and tying the urban fabric together,” she added.

Above: the existing site 

The complex will be delivered as part of a £168 million regeneration project that includes a new waterfront public space by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, as well as a new bridge across the Sava river.

Above: the existing site 

The architects will present the detailed proposals at the 2013 Belgrade Design Week, which takes place in June.

Above: the existing site 

Zaha Hadid Architects has also just been selected to design a new national stadium for Japan and completed an art gallery at Michigan State University.

See all our stories about Zaha Hadid Architects »

Here’s some more information from the Belgrade Design Week Organisers:

Zaha Hadid regenerates Belgrade’s key historic site

The new contemporary development at the location of the former Beko textile factory, designed by Zaha Hadid, will mark the continuance of Belgrade’s signature “Modernist” movement, which was abruptly discontinued in the 1980s. The new multifunctional complex near Kalemegdan will awaken Belgrade’s spirit of modernism – the iconic style of the Serbian capital in the thirties, fifties and seventies.

Each of these decades was marked by key buildings which are, to this day, the landmarks of Belgrade and the region: The iconic Albania Palace and Radio Belgrade in the Thirties, the entire New Belgrade development with its crown jewel – the Palace of Serbia in the Fifties, Sava Center and the “25th of May” Sports Center in the Seventies… However, the development of such an progressive spirit was brutally cut short with the crisis after the death of Tito in the Eighties and the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the ensuing economic sanctions in the Nineties.

Belgrade went through a difficult struggle in the first decade of the XXI century trying to find its lost path, and now, with joint efforts of private and public investors, in the ‘10’s of the new millennium, the city finally caught an exiting momentum with first designs which are worthy successors of the famous modernist past, such as the “Ada” Bridge, the Port of Sava “Cloud”, the new “BEKO”, the “Center for the Promotion of Science”, Zira, Falkensteiner and Square Nine Hotels, the “Museum of Science and Technology” and the new urban plan for the Port of Belgrade, the “West 57” development… With the new world quality contests, designs and built environment, Belgrade saw also the return of leading global architects such Daniel Libeskind, Boris Podrecca, Wolfgang Tschapeller, Isay Weinfeld, Sou Fujimoto and last but not least Zaha Hadid. The engagement of Santiago Calatrava for a new Belgrade Philharmonic is also announced.

Regardless of opinions about the commission of “starchitects”, Belgrade will become the first city in the South East European region to have a building designed by the arguably world’s most successful architecture studio at the moment: Zaha Hadid Architects from London, UK. A unique multifunctional complex at the location of the former Beko factory at the Danube riverside, jointly with the proposed “Cloud” by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto on the adjoining Sava waterfront, will mark the revitalization of an entire area key to Belgrade’s development and history – the Confluence waterfront crescent from Small Kalemegdan to Beton Hala.

Poised to become the city’s new and happening center, the BEKO complex will cover the area of 94,000 square meters and include cutting edge residential spaces, galleries, offices, a five-star hotel, a (much needed for Belgrade) state-of-art congress center, retail spaces and a department store… The residential part will consist of top-quality finishes and building systems and the complex will also include a huge underground parking lot, maintenance service and security. The project is designed as a complex which offers a complete variety of services to the users who live or work there, to hotel guests and visitors. The immediate vicinity to the confluence riverside, with the pedestrian connection to the “Cloud”, will contribute to never before seen residential conditions in Belgrade, almost comparable to seaside marinas. In fact, this currently abandoned part of the city, will infuse a completely new life to the historical quarter of Dorcol – daily visitors, residents and tenants will be able to walk from the modern complex by a new planned bridge to Novak Djokovic’s adjacent tennis club and all the other recreational contents of the 25th May Sports Centre and then continue the pedestrians and bicycle paths to the restaurants and bars in the Beton Hala and Savamala area.

The Greek company Lamda Development bought the BEKO factory building and the plot in 2007, for EUR 55.8 million at a public auction.

Having in mind the complexity of the project, the new innovative materials and cutting edge systems which will be used during the construction, the total investment is expected to exceed EUR 200 million. From the beginning of the project planning to the realization of the project more than 2000 people will be involved, while the complex will permanently create about 1000 new jobs from all sorts of professions.

This complex will certainly set new standards in the Serbian and SEE market primarily living standards, but also in the field of architecture and construction. Considering several solutions by invited leading global architectural bureau, Lamda development finally chose the proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects. Thanks to the experience in constructing modern buildings in the vicinity of historic buildings and pushing the boundaries of architecture and urban planning, Zaha Hadid’s projects have become recognized all over the world. The main idea of the Zaha Hadid’s signature style, Parametricism, is introducing fluid forms into architecture, the forms and shapes existing in nature, in the flora and fauna. The buildings designed by Zaha Hadid transcend construction stereotypes: there are no rigid forms, no straight lines, no symmetry, no repetition, no standard function-based divisions of space. The buildings look different from every angle, the forms are round and fluid and the space is not segmented, it flows seamlessly from one room to another.

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Zaha Hadid Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Huge photographic prints conjure the illusion of translucent marble over the glass walls of this music library at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany (+ slideshow).

Designed by Swiss architect Max Dudler, the Folkwang Library brings together the music archives of three separate institutions into one four-storey building, completing the quadrangle of the former Bendictine monastery that now accommodates the university’s main campus.

The grand baroque buildings of the former abbey had served as both a residence and a prison before their conversion to a university and the library sits over the foundations of a previously demolished military hospital.

Dudler’s concept for the new library was to create “a monolithic body built atop the level base of an old rough stone wall”, with a stepped entrance from the plaza that would reference the raised approaches of the neighbouring buildings.

The marble-like facade was developed in collaboration with photographer Stefan Müller, who visited a quarry to capture close-up images of unhewn stone. Twelve different images were arranged behind the glass panels to reference the twelve different musical notes arranged in a score.

After dark, light filters through the translucent screens to give the building a glowing presence in the courtyard.

A triple-height reading room occupies the building’s first floor and is surrounded by cherry wood bookshelves, while more books can be found on the two gallery floors above.

Lobby and administration areas are located on the ground floor and the library’s archive is contained in the basement.

Other libraries on Dezeen include a glass pyramid in the Netherlands and a knobbly concrete building in France.

See more libraries on Dezeen »

Photography is by Stefan Müller.

Here’s the full press release:

Folkwang Library – the Ruhr district’s central musicology library is handed over to the public

Folkwang University of the Arts is home to one of the largest musicological collections in Germany. Until now, its inventory of approximately 190 000 items of sheet music, sound recordings, images, books and other media has been stored in various archives and libraries across the region. But now, musicological items from three institutions – Folkwang University, the former library of musicology at The Ruhr-University Bochum as well as the music education department of University Duisberg-Essen – have been brought together under a single roof, in a new building designed by architect Max Dudler. Situated on the Werden campus, the library was inaugurated at the end of September 2012.

Folkwang University of the Arts is North Rhine Westphalia’s college of art and music. Its main campus is housed in the former Benedictine abbey of St. Ludgerus in Essen-Werden, situated in the southern Ruhr Valley. The small 8th century site was extended into a princely baroque residence in the 18th century, arranged around a magnificent courtyard (Cour d’honneur). The construction of the new library on the south side of the courtyard by the architect Max Dudler replaces a 19th century military hospital building demolished in 1969.

In 2006 Max Dudler won the design competition organised by the Duisburg branch of the Building and Real Estate Management Authority, North Rhine Westphalia. The project was generously supported by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation.

In 1811, while under French occupation, a prison was set up in Werden Abbey. The Prussians extended this and erected a hospital building on the south side of the courtyard. Upon the demolition of the hospital building, the remaining ensemble of buildings looked unbalanced. Without reproducing the original shape of the prison, the new building encloses this side of the courtyard with its voluminous crystalline structure. The new building’s eastern side adjoins the so-called administrative wing of the old abbey. The volume of the new building corresponds approximately to that of the Prussian wing across the courtyard.

Folkwang Library was conceived as a monolithic body built atop the level base of an old rough stone wall. Max Dudler’s concept for the building is based on the idea of the ‘museum showcase’: An exterior shell protecting the valuable contents within. The functional areas are grouped around the reading room, which lies at the centre of the building. The bookshelves are arranged in strict order around this room, thereby lending scale and structure to the building as a whole.

There are two entrances to the library: The main entrance is from the courtyard via a flight of external steps, designed to approximate the style of the entrances to the other buildings leading off from the courtyard. The library’s other entrance on the Klemensborn serves as an emergency exit. Lending desks, media cubicles, an administration area and cloakroom are situated on the ground floor; the reading room on the first floor. The compact archives are housed in the library’s basement.

The design of the building’s facade was developed in collaboration with the photographer Stefan Müller. Every pane of glass in the facade depicts a large format close-up of a quarry. These photographs reproduce the unhewn stone in its original size. The photographic works were applied directly onto the glazing using a special technique.

In keeping with the elemental meaning of the number twelve in music, twelve motives were pieced together into an overall composition. As with the scagliola technique of the Renaissance used to create stucco marbling, this special photographic technique creates the illusion of the facade being fashioned from the stone material itself.

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

At the same time, a tension is created between the imagery of the textured stone and the flat surface of the glass, reminiscent of the historical sgraffito technique, whereby a graphic embossing is etched into a smooth plaster surface. The new building’s smooth glass surfaces create the perfect impression of a polished monolith. But this is called into question by the translucency of the building’s exterior, thereby playfully breaking the boundaries both from inside and out. Silhouettes of people can be seen beyond the facade. The interior is bathed in a soft, filtered light. In the evening, the building illuminates the courtyard outside.

Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image

The building comprises a reinforced concrete skeleton with concrete cores to provide stiffening. The glass facade is attached to the building’s projecting structural slabs using the mullion-transom system. The concrete pillars are shaped and positioned according to the dimensions of the book shelves. The pillars are clad in cherry wood, which is also used for the shelving in the reading room. Not all the pillars are load-bearing. Some are used as part of an ‘inert’ air-conditioning system.

Above: long section – click above for larger image

With the ventilation pipes being channelled directly through the reinforced concrete ceilings, this building material’s potential as a heat sink is thereby put to good use. Through coupling this with a heat exchanger, an innovative contribution to energy efficiency is achieved.

Above: cross section – click above for larger image

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by Max Dudler appeared first on Dezeen.