Hasta La Ideas

Austrian architect Wolfgang Tschapeller has won a competition to overhaul the University of Applied Arts Vienna with proposals that include facade-climbing staircases and giant balloons.

The architect plans to demolish an existing link building, allowing room for all staircases and elevators of the main university block to be relocated onto its exterior beneath an undulating blanket of glass.

This will create larger floorplates within the building for studios, as well as extended areas for lecture halls, workshops and storage spaces.

An internal plaza will also be enclosed behind the extruded facade, while gardens will bridge the spaces between this block and its neighbour.

Two large pneumatic balloons are to be positioned on the roof and will be inflated to signify special events or occasions.

This isn’t the first unusual building proposal from Wolfgang Tschapeller that we’ve featured – click here to see plans for a science centre on stilts.

Here’s some more explanation from the architect:

6 Points for a NEUE ANGEWANDTE

Between 1st and 3rd district in Vienna on the Ringstrasse a few buildings of different authors and times are collected on a block.

Heinrich von Ferstel, Schwanzer-Wörle and Noever-Müller are the architects of the group of fine buildings.

Some of them serve the purposes of the Museum for Applied Arts and some of them serve the University of Applied Arts.

The original urban intent for this group of buildings follows a very fine, subtle and precise idea.

Although being part of a block, or standing on a block, they were always meant to keep their independency and autonomy by simultaneously allowing for a visibility of the space in between them.

In late 2011 an international 2 stage competition was announced.

Wolfgang Tschapeller ZT GmbH proposed 6 POINTS FOR A “NEUE ANGEWANDTE”

ERASE ⇒ RESTORE

The LINK BUILDING by Schwanzer/Wörle was an unfortunate move.

It does not only work strongly against the original urban intent of a loose and open grouping of buildings on a block. It works also against the character of Schwanzer/Wörle´s own design.

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Ferstel Bau as well as the Schwanzer/Wörle Bau are in their essence autonomous objects standing in critical and productive distance to each other. Such a reading is re-proposed in our project. Consequently the following steps are proposed: Demolition link building, Reconstruction of those parts of the Ferstel Bau and the Schwanzer-Wörle Bau which were destroyed by the insertion of the LINK BUILDING, Activation of the now very well lit areas of the Schwanzer/Wörle Bau.

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DISLOCATE

We are fascinated by seriality of the Schwanzer/Wörle Bau. The building consists in essence of a series of columns and slabs.By taking out stairs and elevator cores and by repositioning them in front of the serial structure of the Schwanzer/Wörle Bau two essential targets are achieved: full flexibility on the entire floor slab, remarkable gain of usable floor area, improvement of circulation (in economic and spatial terms).

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PURE STRUCTURE – AN ENTIRELY EMTPY SHELF

The removal of stair and elevator cores displays a pure serial structure. What remains are solely columns and slabs, ready for multiple functional readings. The shelf like structure will house the Studios.

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COMMON BASE

Ferstel Bau and Schwanzer/Wörle Bau are connected by a common functional base, containing lecture halls, workshops, storage spaces, technical installations as well as supply lines and waste management.

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CAMPUS – WHERE 17 DIFFERENT STUDIOS MEET

In essence we propose 3 main connecting elements to “make” the new Campus of the Angewandte. The INTERIOR SQUARE connects Ferstel Bau with Schwanzer/Wörle Bau, the GARDEN connects the buildings of the University with those of the Museum, the BROADWAY, a large stair which runs diagonally across the elevation of the Schwanzer/Wörle Bau. The BROADWAY is not only a means of circulation; it is the platform where members and knowledge of the 17 different studios meet. It is the informal marketplace for cross disciplinary projects.

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TEMPORARY STRUCTURES

On the roof of the University two optional, temporary structures are proposed. Two pneumatic balloons indicate and signal special occasions at the Angewandte to the surrounding City. Raised transparent balloons means a special day, like flags on a building.

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Project: University for Applied Arts, Vienna, international Competition, 1st Prize
Author: Wolfgang Tschapeller ZT GmbH
Project team: Jesper Bork, Simon Oberhammer, Mark Balzar, Franz Kropatschek, Gonzalo Vaillo Martinez, Daniel Erl

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Experts: Werkraum Wien, Tragwerk
Planungsgruppe Grünpichler GmbH, TGA
Dr. Jochen Käferhaus, Energie + Klimadesign
Brandrat, Brandschutz
Klaus Pokorny, Lichtplanung
ISOCHROM, Armin Hess, Renderings

As if you needed further proof that Pratt Institute is an art and design education powerhouse, the Brooklyn institution has announced the five ultra-accomplished alumni that will be honored next month for their exceptional achievements since graduating. Get a load of this group: Arem Duplessis, design director for The New York Times Magazine; artist Ik-Joong Kang; designer Ted Muehling; photographer Sylvia Plachy; and Annabelle Selldorf, founder and principal of Selldorf Architects. They’ll receive their awards at a March 9 luncheon at The Modern (designed by a Pratt alum, natch), where we have a feeling that pastry chef Marc Aumont—a skilled sugar artist and chocolate sculptor—will whip up a special something to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the school’s founding, ideally served with a generous scoop of his salted butter-caramel ice cream.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The triangular roof above the cafe-bar at Warwick University’s renovated student union features a tessellated underside of polished copper.

London studio MJP Architects refurbished the building at the campus in Coventry, England, in 2009.

The building provides multipurpose rooms, mezzanine and balcony bars, a nightclub and performance venues, accessed through a central, double-height atrium.

Timber louvers control the levels of daylight that enter this atrium through a glazed roof above.

The cafe and bar are contained within an extension, where the shiny copper roof provides both a ceiling inside the building and a shelter over the decked balconies outside.

If you’re a fan of shiny copper surfaces, check out our earlier stories about a boutique with a polished wall and a copper-clad beauty parlour.

Photography is by Peter Durant.

Here’s some more explanation from MJP Architects:

Student Union, University of Warwick, Coventry UK

Creative Re-use:

The Student Union is the main provider and organiser of non-academic activity on the University campus and its success has a significant impact on the student experience at the University of Warwick. The scale and reputation of its Student Union is a major factor in prospective students’ choice of any Higher Education Institution. Matthew Dodds, Warwick Boar (the student newspaper) says: “The new building hits all the right notes for me. The Union as it stands now is exactly the right blend of old and new, evoking both a feeling of nostalgia and refreshing promise”

The building was originally designed as a multi-purpose administrative building whose brief was changed to a Student Union whilst under construction in the early 1970’s. By the time MJP were commissioned, it had become even less suitable for today’s needs, having neither the flexibility nor the environmental performance to accommodate the range of activities expected of a modern Student Union building. A bespoke brief for the remodelling of the building was needed, and this was created through careful consultation between the University, the end user and the architect.

Claire Horton, General Manager at the Student Union says: “The building is truly phenomenal and exactly as envisioned… and will deliver student and commercial services like never before”

Sculpting the Existing Fabric:

MJP’s new design was generated from the most striking features of the existing building: the arrangement of interiors based on a sixty degree planning grid and the distinctive triangular concrete coffered soffits. The new cafe extension is the most obvious example of this approach. Its interiors are based on the triangular plan and the floating roof’s polished copper underside provides a striking backdrop to the Student Union Plaza outside, and a clear entrance to the building.

Materiality:

The highly rational structure of the old building and the rough and heavy expression of the concrete slabs and walls provided inspiration for the redesign. Exposing or hiding the original fabric and using materials that contrasted or blended with it were the basic strategies in the interior design. Large surfaces of shiny copper, light and translucent polycarbonate, soft and warm timber and rough and cold ‘asphalt terrazzo’ were set-off against the in-situ concrete and concrete blocks, to highlight the peculiar qualities of the original structure and hide the inevitable areas of lower quality.

A Platform for Talent:

The strategy for the new Student Union was to create a series of spaces with different scales and characters: performance spaces, balcony bars, multi-purpose venues, an atrium pub, a club and dancefloors.

The existing building was quite literally opened-up to create two and three storey high spaces, to reveal internal vistas, let light in and give views out. Joe Wrigley, Project Architect at MJP Architects says: “What I really like is that the building is just about perfect for all sizes and genres of music. ‘The Copper Rooms’ is the main venue, and it has quickly become a great platform for new and unsigned talent, as well as acclaimed bands… the Wild Beasts and Wombats are playing gigs this month.”

Chris Carter, who runs the venue says: “Copper Rooms 1 is an outstanding gig venue for live music. It’s the first time the Union has looked like an academy-style venue that I can remember – the stage looks incredible… the PA also sounds absolutely beautiful. It’s the best sound I’ve ever heard in a venue of this type”

Client: University of Warwick

Architect: MJP Architects

Quantity Surveyor: Northcroft

M&E Consultants: Couch Perry Wilkes

Structural Engineer: Arup

Acoustic Engineer: Bickerdike Allen Partners

Fire Consultant: Arup Fire

Main Contractor: Moss Construction

If you counted design as one of the subjects you were taught at some point between kindergarten and your senior year of high school, consider yourself very lucky. Like most people, I didn’t receive a design education until I got to college. But thanks to a generous sponsorship from Target, the Cooper-Hewitt is bringing hands-on design to NYC students in grades K-12.

The program gets kids to think about design as an active part of their daily lives, to understand that design is all around them, that their shoes, their binders and their Metro cards have all been designed. There are design challenges tailor-made for each grade level, so while kindergartners are trying to figure out how to transport apples up a hill, 8th grades are working on how to keep a premature baby warm and safe in a rural village without electricity. These challenges aim to teach students how the design process is a creative method of problem solving that can be applied in almost any situation – a factor teachers are hoping will help with standardized testing.

If you’re an educator, register your school.

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Two Corten steel pavilions form the mouths to a tunnel of university laboratories inside a former army tank depot in Bremen, Germany.

Completed in 2005 by Hamburg firm Böge Lindner K2 Architekten, the laboratories provide research facilities for students studying behavioural and social sciences at Jacobs University.

The weathered steel entrance blocks have glazed facades and both contain seating areas where researchers can take a break.

Inside the renovated building, fluorescent tube lights are scattered randomly across a new faceted ceiling that runs along the full length of the main corridor.

In the past we’ve featured all sorts of research laboratories, ranging from one for nanotechnology to one for chocolate – see them all here.

Photography is by Klaus Frahm, Artur Images.

The following text is from the architects:

A Transformation of a barrack’s old tank depot into a laboratory

Since the year 2000 a German barracks compound has been gradually transformed into an attractive campus for Jacobs University Bremen, integrating the existing buildings. The theme “structure in a park” dictates the character.

Using these existing qualities, a new architectonic theme is created and with a few substantial changes a unique character for the old and new buildings is developed. Flexible energy concepts have been used while transforming the old building substance.

The barrack’s old tank depot appears based on its construction to not be suitable to be remodeled to laboratories and offices for humanitarian sciences.

For reasons of short notice availability and good architectural and financial experiences with other old buildings, it was remodelled to a temporary structure with two entrances for both.

The entrances grow out of the old building as tunnel like openings that end with a story high, frameless glazing, enclosed by Corten Steel. Through the abrasive materiality the design respects the old depot hall and connects with it.

The former gate opening was simply closed up with proton masonry, covered by profile glazing. The room’s different depth requirements create a spectacular interior circulation, which is shaped by a folded drywall ceiling and overhead tube lighting.

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The Laboratory “Behavioral and Social Sciences” provides over 1900 m2 of research space to research groups in psychological and social sciences. Laboratory rooms are available for:
• computerized testing methods
• interviews
• behavior video observation
• psychophysiological testing (including electrophysiological measurement)
• human performance
• eye tracking
• telephone survey