Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: Dutch architects MVRDV have received threatening emails and angry phone calls after revealing proposals for skyscrapers that resemble the exploding World Trade Centre on 9/11.

We published the project first on Dezeen, prompting outrage from many of our readers. One declared the images “insensitive and offensive” while another claimed “this is like 9/11 freeze framed”.

Above: The Cloud by MVRDV – see more images in our earlier story

In an article titled “Do These Skyscrapers Remind You Of The 9/11 Attacks?” online magazine Fast Co. Design used Dezeen’s reader comments to explain the story, while gadget blog Gizmodo Australia led a piece with the question “What The Hell Were These Architects Thinking?”

In an official statement on their Facebook page, MVRDV apologise for any upset cause and explain that they did not see the resemblance during the design process. However, Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad claims that MVRDV representative Jan Knikker admitted that they in fact did notice, fuelling the debate further.

Most recently, American magazine the New York Post have picked up the story, blasting the towers as “sick” and “a spectacular case of architectural tastelessness” and the BBC reported the story in their televised news program.

You can see all the original images here, or contribute to the debate by adding a comment here.

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Computer software generates endless possible architectural configurations from standardised components at an exhibition in Taipei designed by architects MVRDV.

The exhibition explores conceptual alternatives to the relentless construction of standard apartment blocks in East Asia.

Analytical research, models, animations, installations, a documentary and two software packages demonstrate the possibility to develop dense, vertical urban villages.

Visitors to the exhibition are able to design their own ‘vertical village’ using parametric computer software.

The concept was developed in collaboration with The Why Factory, a global think tank and research institute run by MVRDV and the Delft University of Technology.

Vertical Village is on show at the Chung Shan Creative Hub, Taipei from 8 October 2011 to 8 January 2012.

See all of our stories about MVRDV here.

Here are some more details from MVRDV:

Today MVRDV, The Why Factory and the JUT Foundation for Arts and Architecture opened the fourth edition of the exhibition series “Museum of Tomorrow” in Taipei. Under the title “The Vertical Village” the exhibition explores the rapid urban transformation in East Asia, the qualities of urban villages and the potential to realize this in a much denser, vertical way as a radical alternative to the identical block architecture with standard apartments and its consequences for the city. The exhibition consists of analytical research, a grid of models, various movies, a documentary and animations, two software packages and a 6 meter tall installation of a possible Vertical Village developed by MVRDV and The Why Factory. Visitors can design their ideal house and compose their own Vertical Village with parametric software. The exhibition is located in Chung Shan Creative Hub, Taipei and open from 8th of October to 8th of January 2012.

The pressure on the East Asian cities has lead to an increasing urbanization and densification during the last decades. It has made way for the construction of giant buildings, mostly towers, blocks and slabs. A ‘Block Attack’ that gradually replaces and scrapes away the more traditional low rise, small scale, often ‘lighter’ types of architecture and urbanism: the Hutong in Beijing, the small wooden houses in Tokyo, the villages in Singapore, the individual houses in Taipei and other East Asian cities. These urban villages form mostly intense and socially highly connected communities, with enormous individual identities and differentiations. One can speak of urban ecologies, communities that have evolved over the course of centuries. Their faceless replacements packed with identical apartment units offer a Western standard of living at an affordable price, but at the expense of differentiation, flexibility and individual expression.

Is there an alternative to this process? Can one imagine a new model for the development of East Asian cities? Can these areas be densified in such a way that the qualities of the traditional village are preserved? The exhibition offers an alternative, a contemporary Vertical Village – a three-dimensional community that brings personal freedom, diversity, flexibility and neighbourhood life back into East Asian – and maybe even Western – cities.

In the fourth edition of the Museum of Tomorrow, MVRDV and The Why Factory analyse, explore and deepen this vision, with the help of the Berlage Institute and many other contributors. The exhibition located in Chung Shan Creative Hub, Taipei, features a 6 meter tall installation and a variety of analytical models and research elements. Visitors will be able to design their ideal house with an interactive platform, “The House Maker”, and develop their Vertical Village with parametric software – a Grasshopper scripted Rhinoceros model, developed by MVRDV and The Why Factory.

JUT Foundation for Arts and Architecture publishes the Chinese edition of ‘the Vertical Village catalogue. NAi Publishers is publisher of the English language version which will be published January 16th 2012. The 528 page volume contains the ample research made comprehensible with countless colour illustrations. It features detailed case studies for Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Djakarta, Seoul and Bangkok, interviews with among others Winy Maas, Alfredo Brillemburg and Hubert Klumpner, Lieven De Cauter, Peter Trummer and families living in Taipei.

The exhibition and publication has been made possible with the generous support of JUT Foundation for Arts and Architecture, Delft University of Technology, The Why Foundation and the Netherlands Architecture Funds.

MVRDV develops its work in a conceptual way, the changing condition is visualised and discussed through designs, sometimes literally through the design and construction of a diagram. The office continues to pursue its fascination and methodical research on density using a method of shaping space through complex amounts of data that accompany contemporary building and design processes.

MVRDV first published a cross section of these study results in FARMAX (1998), followed by a.o. MetaCity/Datatown (1999), Costa Iberica (2000), Regionmaker (2002), 5 Minutes City (2003), KM3 (2005), and more recently Spacefighter (2007) and Skycar City (2007). MVRDV deals with global ecological issues in large scale studies such as Pig City as well as in small pragmatic solutions for devastated areas of New Orleans.

Current projects include various housing projects in the Netherlands, Spain, China, France, the United Kingdom, USA, India, Korea and other countries, a bank headquarter in Oslo, Norway, a public library for Spijkenisse , Netherlands, a central market hall for Rotterdam, a culture plaza in Nanjing, China, large scale urban plans include a plan for an eco-city in Logroño, Spain, an urban vision for the doubling in size of Almere, Netherlands and Grand Paris, the vision of a post-Kyoto Greater Paris region.

The work of MVRDV is exhibited and published world wide and receives international awards. The 60 architects, designers and staff members conceive projects in a multi-disciplinary collaborative design process and apply highest technological and sustainable standards.

Together with Delft University of Technology MVRDV runs The Why Factory, an independent think tank and research institute providing argument for architecture and urbanism by envisioning the city of the future.

MVRDV was set up in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. MVRDV engages globally in providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues. A research based and highly collaborative design method engages experts from all fields, clients and stakeholders in the creative process. The results are exemplary and outspoken buildings, urban plans, studies and objects, which enable our cities and landscapes to develop towards a better future.

Early projects such as the headquarters for the Dutch Public Broadcaster VPRO and housing for elderly WoZoCo in Amsterdam lead to international acclaim.

The Why Factory is a global think-tank and research institute, run by MVRDV and Delft University of Technology and led by professor Winy Maas. The Why Factory’s Future Cities research program explores possibilities for the development of our cities by focussing on the production of models and visualizations for cities of the future. The results of this research programme are being presented in a series of books – the Future Cities Series – published in association with NAI Publishers in Rotterdam, edited by Jennifer Sigler, and designed by Bas de Wolff of Thonik / Beng! in Amsterdam. The Vertical Village is the fourth publication in this series after Visionary Cities (2009), The Green Dream (2010) and The Why Factor(y) & The Future City (2010).

The JUT Foundation for Arts and Architecture was formed in 2007. Its intent is to use diverse architectural, artistic and cultural perspectives to create better living spaces. Its outreach extends from small minority areas to larger communal ones, for the purpose of establishing ideal built environments.

By using knowledge and resources from the field of architecture, and integrating multifaceted views from architects, designers, artists and cultural workers, the foundation is devoted to raising awareness about the concerns and developments of city environments, and to the empowerment of the artistic and creative industries. Events such as exhibitions, competitions, seminars and publications build vivid relationships between art and city dwellers, provoking ideas on living aesthetics and nourishing local art and culture. Through architecture-based projects, JUT has created a stage for artistic movements.

Since its founding, the JUT Foundation has organized activities such the ‘Museum of Tomorrow’ exhibition series and international architecture forums and lectures. In 2009, the foundation began to display animations, movies and installations, in order to seek new perspectives on architecture in Taiwan (Alternative Architecture). The year 2010 marked the launch of ‘Project Urbancore’, a project that places art in unused spaces, providing local artistic perspectives and a source of energy for urban regeneration.

The Museum of Tomorrow project began in 2007 as an engagement with unused land or buildings that lay idle, at a time of transition from old to new. What will be the most ideal plot in the future? The JUT Foundation sees the ‘Museum of Tomorrow’ as a stage to practice ideas for future city aesthetics. The concept ‘nomad museum’ reflects the rapidly changing character of the city, using the city as its stage. Observations and interpretations are given by experts from different fields – from art and architecture to design – to help city dwellers understand different contexts, and to extend the spirit of place.

The ‘Museum of Tomorrow’ has an inherent difference from traditional museums and art museums. It is a ‘formless’ stage that uses no fixed time, location or definition. Performance activities with different scales and themes happen in every corner of the city, bringing about interpretation between people and environment, new and old, tradition and future, private and public. The museum has various kinds of exhibitions in accordance with nomad sites in the city, with organic performances of architecture, art and culture, combining the virtual and the tangible, the active and the static, the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional. The Museum of Tomorrow creates a variety of possible impulses that allow us to imagine tomorrow today. Beyond these variations, the museum aims to create the purest spirit for our time. There is always a better tomorrow.

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The Why Factory by MVRDV and Richard Hutten	ROCKmagneten by MVRDV and COBE	China Hills by MVRDV

Dutch architects MVRDV have designed this creative industries office block in Amsterdam that has letters of the alphabet cut out of the facade.

Each cut-out is the window to an office unit and each letter signifies the address extension for the occupying business.

On the east facade of the Alphabet Building a series of dotted windows spell out the number 52, relating to the address.

All letters of the alphabet have been used apart from I and Q. The original design included Q (as shown in top image) but was later replaced by Z .

The project is scheduled for completion in 2012.

More projects by MVRDV on Dezeen »

The following details are from MVRDV:

Alphabet Building Amsterdam

MVRDV designs creative industry hub

Amsterdam based project development corporation NIC started sale of the MVRDV designed Alphabet building. In Amsterdam small and mid-size creative companies have trouble finding suitable office space. The Alphabet building communicates through a clear exterior design which reveals on the East façade the house number and at the main façade its extension for each company, a letter of the alphabet. The interior is highly flexible and completed with a rough and pure finishing. The 3200m2 creative industry building will be completed in 2012 according to high energy efficiency standards.

• On the East facade the house number, on the front facade its extension.

The creative industry has seemingly unrealistic demands when it comes to office locations: a incubator of creative ideas which is spacious and inspiring with a differentiating design at a great location with car access. The Alphabet building in the Amsterdam port refurbishment Minervahaven unites all these qualities. The former port is currently refurbished to become a creative hub.

• Behind each letter is a flexible office unit

The building is on a relatively small site of 30 x 30 meters and consists of a transparent plinth with a compact office block on top. Behind each letter of the façade the building offers a flexible unit of 128m2, the units can be sold independently or as a series of letters. Design studio Thonik will occupy the top floor or the letters A to F. As it was impossible to put the entire alphabet on the façade the letters I and Q are missing: the IQ is inside the building.

• Interior finishings are concrete, aluminium and steel

The interior finishing follows the demand of creative companies, large loft like spaces with a rough finishing: no double ceilings, exposed materials such as concrete, aluminium and steel. A number of sustainable technologies give the building an excellent energy profile. Parking is located inside the plinth, circulation and spacious outside areas at the back of the building.

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Type the Sky by Lisa Rienermann	Jewish Community Centre by Manuel Herz Architects	Republic of Korea Pavilion by Mass Studies

Dutch studio MVRDV have won a design competition to build a Comic and Animation Museum in Hangzhou, China, formed of eight giant balloon-shaped forms.

Each balloon will contain a different function within the museum, including two exhibition spaces that will display cartoons, comics and animations.

The permanent exhibition space will spiral out of its chamber and on through the building to connect with three auditoriums and a comic book library.

Where balloons touch an opening is created internally, allowing views between spaces.

More projects by MVRDV on Dezeen »
More museums on Dezeen »

Here are some more details from the architects:

MVRDV win competition for China Comic and Animation Museum, Hangzhou

Hangzhou urban planning bureau has announced MVRDV winner of the international design competition for the China Comic and Animation Museum (CCAM) in Hangzhou, China. MVRDV won with a design referring to the speech balloon: a series of eight balloon shaped volumes create an internally complex museum experience of in total 30.000m2.

Part of the project is also a series of parks on islands, a public plaza and a 13.000m2 expo centre. Construction start is envisioned for 2012, the total budget is 92 million Euro.

Comics and animations have long been considered a form of entertainment for the younger generations but develop more and more into a sophisticated art form. The initiative for a museum especially for this relatively recent art form creates a platform which will unite the worlds of art and entertainment. By using one of the cartoon’s prime characteristics – the speech balloon – the building will instantly be recognised as place for cartoons, comics and animations. The neutral speech balloon becomes 3d.

The 30.000m2 are distributed over eight volumes which are interconnected allowing for a circular tour of the entire program. Services such as the lobby, education, three theatres/cinemas with in total 1111 seats and a comic book library occupy each their own balloon. If two balloons touch in the interior a large opening allows access and views in-between the volumes. The balloon shape allows for versatile exhibitions, the permanent collection is presented in a chronological spiral whereas the temporary exhibition hall offers total flexibility. Amsterdam based exhibition architects Kossman deJong tested the spaces and designed exhibition configurations which appeal to different age groups and allow large crowds to visit the exhibition.

One of the balloons is devoted to interactive experience in which visitors can actively experiment with all sorts of animation techniques like blue screen, stop motion, drawing, creating emotions etc. The core attraction of this space is a gigantic 3D zoetrope. The routing of the museum permits short or long visits, visits to the cinema, the temporary exhibition or the roof terrace restaurant. The façade of the museum is covered in a cartoon relief referring to a Chinese vase. The monochrome white concrete façade allows the speech balloons to function: texts can be projected onto the façade. The relief was designed in collaboration with Amsterdam based graphic designers JongeMeesters.

Most of the 13.7 ha site is occupied by a new park on a series of islands in White Horse Lake. Reed beds are used to improve the water quality. Boat rides offer an added attraction. A separate expo building of 25.000m2 will house large fairs and the annual China International Comic and Animation Festival (CICAF). In-between expo and CCAM a public plaza will be the centre of this festival which is the county’s largest cartoon and animation event and has been held annually in Hangzhou since 2005.

Hangzhou is a metropolis with 6.4 million inhabitants 180 km southwest of Shanghai. The Museum will become a new focal point on the less populated southern side of Qiantang river. The CCAM will consolidate the city’s leading position as China’s capital of the animation industry. The new Museum will be the icon of a larger development, the Comic and Animation Centre. It comprises a series of hill-shaped buildings containing offices, a hotel and a conference centre of which the first phase is close to completion.

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Rotterdam Market Hall by MVRDV	Gwanggyo Power Centre by MVRDV	House of Culture by MVRDV

Here are some photos of the recently-completed mixed-use urban block Le Monolith in Lyon, France, masterplanned by Dutch studio MVRDV and designed by five different architects.

The building incorporates social housing, rental property, offices, retail and accommodation for disabled people.

Five distinct sections were each designed by a different architect; the collaborating firms are French architects ECDM, Manuelle Gautrand and Pierre Gautier, and Dutch studios MVRDV and Erick van Egeraat.

MVRDV were responsible for the south-facing waterfront section, where aluminium shutters shield the interiors from sunlight.

When these shutters are closed, letters on the facade spell out the first article of the European Constitution.

See Erick van Egeraat’s portion in our earlier story.

See all our stories about MVRDV »

Photographs are by Philippe Ruault.

Here are some more details from MVRDV:

MVRDV completes ‘Le Monolithe’, Lyon

‘Le Monolithe’, an energy efficient mixed-use urban block located in the development area Confluence at the southern tip of Lyon’s Presqu’île, has reached completion. The structure with a total surface of 32.500 m2 combines social housing, rental property, a residence for disabled people, offices and retail. The block is composed of five sections, each one designed by a different architect, following the MVRDV masterplan: Pierre Gautier, Manuelle Gautrand, ECDM and Erik van Egeraat. Landscape architects West 8 designed the public plaza. MVRDV designed the head section which advertises over the full façade the European integration by quoting the EU constitution. ‘Le Monolithe’ has been realized by ING Real Estate Development and Atemi.

Le Monolithe:

In 2004, ING Real Estate Developers had invited a group of international architects to design the masterplan, for which MVRDV was chosen as winner. Based on this masterplan, each architect was asked to design a section which together form ‘Le Monolithe’. The urban superblock is a mixed-use development comprising a mix of social and rental housing, offices and underground parking. The block is characterised by a large interior court with a raised public space overlooking the city, the new marina and a park, in this way resembling the French classical ‘Grand Gallérie’. The block is divided into five sections, each one designed by a different architect in order to achieve diversity and architectural variety. MVRDV is responsible for the head section in the south at the waterfront. Each part is unique in material, composition and architectural expression. The project forms part of the urban regeneration project ‘Lyon Confluence’, a 150 hectare site located at the southern tip of Lyon’s Presqu’île, where the rivers Rhône and Saône merge.

South building:

The interiors of MVRDV’s south facing building are protected from the sun by means of aluminium shutters as a reference to traditional local architecture. Apartments inside Le Monolithe offer a great diversity in order to attract different groups of inhabitants making the block a reflection of Lyon’s population. Offices are divided into separate units of min. 500 m² which are accessed by three vertical circulation cores, providing individual access. Each unit allows for a flexible fit out, depending on the tenants’ needs and requirements. All spaces are naturally lit and ventilated.

In June 2005, when France and The Netherlands voted against the European Constitution, MVRDV decided to redesign the façade and integrate a reminder of the values, ideals and needs of the European Union. When all shutters are closed, the first article of the European Constitution can be read: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.”

It aims to advocate a possible ‘Yes’ for Europe in days of protectionism, accompanying the collective EU spirit of the gathered architects. The adjacent sections were designed by French and Dutch architects Pierre Gautier, Manuelle Gautrand, ECDM and Erik van Egeraat. Dutch landscape architects West 8 designed the public space.

‘Le Monolithe’ is one of the projects within the greater scheme for Lyon Confluence which has been developed as part of Grand Lyon’s European Concerto-Renaissance programme, a project supported by the European Commission. The building not only complies with High Environmental Quality (HQE) criteria, such as reinforced insulation, careful selection of materials and rainwater management; further, 80% of the total energy consumed is provided by renewable energy sources. The combination of efficient spatial composition, passive energy (sunscreens, high thermal inertia), thermal and acoustic comfort and an energy strategy that includes heat storage, PV-cells, low-e double glazing, compactness to minimise heat loss, natural ventilation and an environmentally responsive façade system make ‘Le Monolithe’ a highly efficient low energy construction, e.g. heating accounts for <40 kWh/m²/year and hot water <5 kWh/m²/year.

The ambitious greater urban project Lyon Confluence extends the city centre to the very tip of the peninsula by creating diverse neighbourhoods involving retail and leisure zones, parks, cultural institutions, housing, schools and offices, and local public amenities.

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Monolith by Erick van Egeraat	Rotterdam Market Hall by MVRDV	More architecture stories