Hasta La Ideas

Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to design the new National Gallery of Greenland in the country’s capital city, Nuuk.

The building will form a ring round a central glazed courtyard.

Its roofline and internal paths will follow the shape of the sloping site, which overlooks a fjord.

The gallery will display both historical and contemporary art.

BIG won the commission in collaboration with local firms TNT Nuuk, Ramboll Nuuk and Inge Bisgaard of Arkitekti.

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The information that follows is from BIG:

BIG WINS THE COMPETITION TO DESIGN GREENLAND’S NEW NATIONAL GALLERY

BIG + TNT Nuuk + Ramboll Nuuk + Arkitekti is the winning team to design the new National Gallery of Greenland in the country’s capital Nuuk, among invited proposals totaling 6 Nordic architects.

Located on a steep slope overlooking the most beautiful of Greenland’s fjords, the 3000 m2 National Gallery will serve as a cultural and architectural icon for the people of Greenland.

The new museum will combine historical and contemporary art of the country in one dynamic institution.

The winning proposal was selected by a unanimous museum board among 6 proposals, including Norwegian Snøhetta, Finnish Heikkinen‐Komonen, Islandic Studio Granda and Greenlandic Tegnestuen Nuuk.

“The Board has a clear vision: to work for the establishment of an internationally oriented highly professional institution that communicates the continuous project of documenting and developing the Greenlandic national identity through art and culture.

Our dream is a national gallery where historic and contemporary art meets circumpolar pieces, Nordic and world art in general.

Our dream is an institution that stimulates our curiosity, awake our excitement with its thought‐provoking design and where we all feel at home.

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Selecting a prominent architect as BIG, I am sure that our chances of realizing that dream are good”, Tuusi Josef Motzfeldt, Greenland’s National Gallery of Art.

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As a projection of a geometrically perfect circle on to the steep slope, the new gallery is conceived as a courtyard building that combines a pure geometrical layout with a sensitive adaption to the landscape.

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The three‐dimensional imprint of the landscape creates a protective ring around the museum’s focal point, the sculpture garden where visitors, personnel, exhibition merge with culture and nature, inside and outside.

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“The Danish functionalistic architecture in Nuuk is typically square boxes which ignore the unique nature of Greenland.

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We therefore propose a national gallery which is both physically and visually in harmony with the dramatic nature, just like life in Greenland is a symbiosis of the nature.

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We have created a simple, functional and symbolic shape, where the perfect circle is supplied by the local topography which creates a unique hybrid between the abstract shape and the specific location”, Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Partner, BIG.

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The slope opens up the sculpture garden towards the city and the view, framing both the sculpture garden and museum functions.

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A rough looking external façade of white concrete will patinate over time and adjust to the local weather, while the circular inner glass façade will consist of a simple and refined frame which contrasts the rough nature and compliments the beautiful view.

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” The building will with its simplistic coarseness and harmony with the landscape become a symbol of the current independent Greenlandic artistic and architectural expression.”, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Partner & Project Leader, BIG.

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The circular shape of the gallery enables a flexible division of the exhibition into different shapes and sizes, creating a unique framework for the museum’s art.

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Visitor access to the exhibition happens through a covered opening created by a slight lift in the façade into a lobby with a 180 degree panorama view towards the sculpture garden and the fjord as well as access to the common museum functions, including ticket counters, wardrobe, boutique and a café.

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The new gallery will create more activity at the waterfront by attracting the whole area is interconnected by a path which like the museum, forms after the shifting inclinations of the terrain.

The locals and visitors will be able to admire the clear shape of the gallery which appears as a sculpture or a piece of land‐art.

“Greenland National Gallery for Art will play a significant role for the citizens of Greenland and the inhabitants of Nuuk as a cultural, social, political, urban and architectural focal point that opens towards the city and the world through its perfect circular geometry and shape”, Bjarke Ingels, Stifter & Partner, BIG.

PROJECT: Greenland National Gallery
CLIENT: Nunatta Eqqumiitsulianik Saqqummersitsivia

SIZE: 3000 m2
LOCATION: Nuuk, Greenland

COLLABORATION: TNT Nuuk, Rambøll Nuuk, Arkitekti, MIR, Glessner Group
PARTNER IN CHARGE: Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Pedersen

PROJECT LEADER: Jakob Henke
TEAM: Daniel Selensky, Ji –young Yoon, Gul Ertekin, Aleksander Tokarz, Alessio Zenaro, Johan Cool Nicklas Antoni Rasch

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A poster show reimagines arcade classics for today

“Multiplayer” relives the beauty and simplicity of the ’80s arcade with a group show—including the likes of Dave Perillo, The Silent Giants, Mike Budai and more—atGallery 1988‘s newly-opened westside location.

Sponsored by OMG Posters, the screen-printed works span Zelda to Frogger. Artist Kevin Tong‘s labor-intensive take on Tetris (seen in the video above) is sure to excite the Illustrator crowd, while the collection of quintessential cartridges on display will certainly enthuse the diehard Nintendo fans.

“Multiplayer” continues the gallery’s video game theme established in the previous “I Am 8-Bit” exhibit previously showcased at 1988, but the broader reach here looks beyond the classic characters to the entire realm of gaming.

The show runs through 4 February 2010 at Gallery 1988‘s Santa Monica location, and a limited-edition set of posters will be given out to lucky “Multiplayer” patrons.

Levi’s launches a temporary space serving NYC’s photography community

Dial the clock back a few years and Levi’s was just another Big American Brand rapidly losing marketshare to other major labels and niche denim brands. Today (approximately one global financial crisis later) the San Francisco, CA-based clothier is mid-comeback with numbers to prove it and an unfolding multitiered campaign fueling the upswing. Of their various billboards, collaborations and promotions all under the banner “Ready to Work Go Forth™” the artistry-led workshops might not seem like such a big deal. But after visiting both the first S.F. printmaking installment earlier this year and the current photography version in NYC, I am hugely impressed by not just how well-executed they are but by the sense that there’s some real heart behind the project. To find out the backstory, we checked in with Levi’s head of Collaborations, Partnerships and Creative Concepts, Joshua Katz, who filled us in on what it’s like working with the brand, the power of community, and what drives the different identities of each workshop.

Where San Francisco’s event drew on the “precious objects” culture that makes printmaking thrive there, the ten-week-long NYC edition is more about the democratic nature of photography and how it’s “interwoven into everything” in the city. As such, there’s a little something for everyone in the massive space (formerly Deitch Gallery) with digital and vintage Leica cameras, other vintage camera brands, digital technicians, photo assistants, a printing center and light box, as well as exhibitions and installations. Collaborators include photographer and curator Tim Barber, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, master photographer Bruce Davidson, chef April Bloomfield, and photography publisher Hamburger Eyes. Launched last night with an event featuring droves of guests, a photobooth, lots of drinks, and DJ duo Chances with Wolves, Katz explains, “the reason a lot of brands don’t do this is because it’s hard, it’s tiring.”

The payoff of course is “if you make that extra effort, people can believe in it.” Or in other words, their success comes from embracing hard work and community as core values from the top down. “There are fundamental philosophies that don’t change,” says Katz. “The [brands] that stick around are people who recognize that they are part of a community.” In addition to opening its doors to artists, community groups and non-profits, all proceeds from sales of Levi’s goods (including the exclusive Trucker Jacket, pictured) and camera-related items will go to NYC-based charitable organizations Harvey Milk High School, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Edible Schoolyard New York.

Comparing his current job to his previous work with Quicksilver, Katz describes his own thinking on brands as having “a certain obligation to the people that wear them, to continue to solve their problems through products and be responsible members of their community.”

And as for Katz’ own role in that community? “I’m still a geek, I’m still a fan…photography is a way to ground me and remind me, capture some of those moments, and record what I do.” Where he’ll be documenting next as the project continues is still under wraps, though it shouldn’t come as any surprise that it will have something to do with music.

Until then, check out the calendar for a full list of NYC events (it runs through 18 December 2010) and see more of our images in the gallery below.

Almost as impressive as his magnificent buildings, Richard Meier‘s Model Museum in Long Island City, Queens is both an homage to his impressive portfolio, as well as a lesson in the architectural creative process.

Consuming much of the 3,600-square-foot space, the model of the L.A. Getty Center represents a project that took up a similarly significant portion of Meier’s career. The undertaking brought the New Jersey native west during its 13-year construction, where he lived on site, riding his bike down most mornings to check on the structure. When he found a spare moment, he collected wood scraps from the site, creating sculptures by binding together the pieces with string and casting them in stainless steel. Interspersed with the models, alongside colorful collages he also made, the museum gives a real sense of the architect as artist.

Many of the models themselves take years to complete (five for the Getty Center) thanks to the fanatically precise detailing. Each piece of wood is cut and shaped by hand, although model maker Michael Gruber, aka Mr. Tree, designed a now-patented pattern used to laser-cut the delicately intricate trees .

Like many of his buildings, the all-white space makes the perfect backdrop—in this case for displaying the massive models. With such large dimensions, they were all craned in through the ceiling, and many have accompanying blown-up versions detailing smaller sections of the original. Some simply represent the future site without any buildings, one of which hangs from the wall giving the impression of an abstract artwork.

Meier explains that “what we’re doing is open, transparent and expressive of our time.” At 76, with both a humbly positive outlook and expansive body of work, the renowned architect shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

The Richard Meier Model Museum is open to the public on Fridays by appointment only. To book, phone the museum (+1 212 967 6060). See more images in the gallery below, including a look at the only model built by Richard Meier himself.

L.A. bookstore Family brings their indie spirit to the East Coast with a month-long extravaganza of art, music and literature, sponsored by Absolut. Set in a 4,200-square-foot pop-up space in NYC’s TriBeCa neighborhood, Thirty Days NY features a host of daily festivities from some of the creative community’s finest.

Curated by Family‘s David Jacob Kramer and Sammy Harkham, the duo lined up an event to happen every day of the month for the next 30 days. A rotating cast of artists such as Matthew Thurber and Sumi Ink Club will be on location, conducting classes and letting visitors observe them at work. There will also be an exhibit of artists from the Los Angeles area by the King Kong gallery, with works from Ed Templeton, Geoff McFetridge and Rodarte.

The project delivers an assortment of interesting people and events (check out the site for a full schedule), among them a performance by Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, who will sign their newly released Sonic Youth art book “Sensational Fix” as well as “Kim Gordon: The Noise Paintings.” Gary Panter and Joshua White’s light shows accompany music performances, Lance Bangs will present Super-8 films and A.M. Homes and Art Spiegelman will deliver author readings and conversation.

Yesterday’s opening party felt like NYC’s official Spring warm-up with live sets by Aska, Brian Degraw of Gang Gang Dance, and White and Panter’s light show. Thirty Days NY runs through 7 May 2010, all events are free.