This wooden observation platform and pavilion emerges from the landscape of a memorial park in Koknese, Latvia, offering views across the River Daugava (+ slideshow).
Designed by Latvian studios Didzis Jaunzems Architecture and Jaunromans un Abele, the wooden structure is located in the Garden of Destiny, a park designed to celebrate the country’s 100th birthday in 2018 and pay tribute to all those that have died in the last century.
The architects used the natural incline of the site to build a pavilion that is partially buried beneath the ground. A sloping roof provides an elevated deck that visitors can walk over, while the surrounding terrace concludes at a balcony that cantilevers out across the water.
“The view terrace and pavilion create a harmonious environment to discover the special character of the site – the spaciousness and the faraway horizon over River Daugava,” explained Didzis Jaunzems.
Existing features around the site informed the shape of the building. As well as working in line with the site’s topography, the architects designed a structure that avoids all surrounding trees whilst seeking out the best viewing spots.
The structure was built almost entirely from larch. Wooden planks were fixed around a larch frame, creating a uniform surface across the ground planes and around the building’s walls.
Each plank was also milled to create fine ridges, intended to prevent visitors from slipping when the ground is wet, and glazing was added at the front of the pavilion to offer shelter from strong winds and rainfall.
Wooden benches fold up from the ground to provide seating and metal railings create see-through balustrades.
Since opening, the site has become a popular location for all kinds of activities. “The view terrace unintentionally has become a very popular place for wedding ceremonies,” said Jaunzems.
Photography is by ML-Studio.
Read on for more information from the design team:
View Terrace and Pavilion
View Terrace and Pavilion are situated in memorial park “The Garden of Destiny”, the area of Consolation which is the first zone of Future according to overall project of the island. The Garden of Destiny is memorial place for all souls that have been lost to Latvia in last century and it will be completed as a gift to country on its 100th birthday in year 2018. The View Terrace project started as an architectural competition and with a help of donations is now first realised permanent building in memorial park. View terrace received the Prize of the Year in Latvian Architecture Best Works Award.
The view terrace and pavilion create a harmonious environment to discover the special character of the site – the spaciousness and the faraway horizon over River Daugava. The tight bond between Latvian people and nature has been emphasised in the project. Nature is a source of inner energy, strength, peace and inspiration. Nature has been a priority in this project since it is the consolation for Latvians. The building has been designed considering site particularities and in harmony with nature:
» The main flows of people have been analysed. The building is made in a way to not cover the view to river panorama when approaching the site; » Stop points such as benches and covered space are situated in the places where view is the most stunning and emotional; » The building has been shaped in a way to preserve most valuable trees on the site; » Terrain level differences are used in the project design. The pavilion is partly sunken into the ground so it doesn’t cover the view when approaching the building and to provide comfortable access from the lowest level of terrace.
View terrace and pavilion has diversified levels of “openness”. This gives an opportunity to use the building in all kind of weather conditions as well as lets visitors to choose the level which emotionally suits them the best. For example if it is raining or in case of strong wind people can enjoy the view from the part of pavilion that is covered with roof and protected with large glass. But if the weather is not an issue then exposed long benches can be used. The building can be seen as a platform for harmonious interaction between people and nature.
The main architectonic idea of the project is building volume that following people movement from a pathway and seats gradually grows into a building in this way exploring building location on the very coast of the river. Roof inclinations creates an exciting place where to play and relax. The main challenge of the project was its highly public significance – it is built for everybody and furthermore by donations of people. The building is very compact however its configuration and various possibilities of usage allow to coexist all parts of society. From this year on couples in Latvia can officially get married outside the church and the view terrace unintentionally has become a very popular place for wedding ceremonies.
Pavilion and view terrace are made in wood – larch. The load-bearing structure is larch frames. Finishing is larch planks that are processed in a special technique to avoid slippery surfaces on pathways and roof of the building.
Project address: Memorial park “The Garden of Destiny”, Krievkalna Island, Koknese, Latvia Projects architects: Didzis Jaunzems, Laura Laudere in collaboration with architecture office Jaunromans and Abele
A pavilion with a spiked roof by Australian firm Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects rises above the landscaped site of the new National Arboretum on the outskirts of the Australian capital, Canberra (+ slideshow).
The pavilion is one of two buildings designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects for the project, developed in partnership with landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean. The designers transformed an area of bushfire-damaged land to create a botanical garden displaying a collection of endangered trees and plants.
Photograph by John Gollings
The pointed pavilion is situated on a plateau called the Event Terrace, which was excavated below the ridge of a nearby hill to minimise the impact of the built structures on the landscape. Its dramatic roofline was designed to provide a focal point, creating a building that can be used as a venue for events including parties, weddings and ceremonies.
Photograph by John Gollings
“[The pavilion’s] roof shape is a defined contrast to the rolling topography of the site,” said the architects. “The pointed roof will be an emphatic pause in the sweep of the Arboretum’s landscape in this precinct.”
Photograph by John Gollings
The roof projects over a curving balcony that rises from the sloping hillside and provides an outdoor extension with panoramic views towards the city, lake and nearby mountains. A framework of plywood box beams supports the zinc-clad roof, which is flanked by concrete wings housing bathrooms and service areas.
Nearby, a visitor centre with a shallower pitched roof marks the entrance to the park. This contains facilities for visitor information and orientation, education spaces, a shop and a cafe.
The curving shape of the zinc-clad roof was designed to emulate the ribbed structure of leaves and complement the undulating forms of the natural topography.
Photograph by John Gollings
“The architecture develops the long-standing tradition of significant garden buildings as transparent enclosures with dramatic internal volumes and sense of indoor-outdoor connection,” the architects explained.
A cutting in the hillside lined with rock-filled cages leads into the building’s multipurpose central atrium, which has a vaulted ceiling supported by wooden beams that resemble tree branches.
A fan-shaped arrangement of pointed glass panels set into the geometric roof structure near the main entrance introduce daylight into the the flexible space, which opens onto the Event Terrace at the opposite side.
Both the pavilion and the visitor centre overlook a turfed amphitheatre and a series of gardens, events spaces and 100 strips of forest that will mature over time. Sculpted terraces and a stream descend down the hillside towards a valley, which contains a dam to provide recycled water to the gardens.
Photography is by Brett Boardman unless otherwise stated.
Here’s a project description from Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects:
National Arboretum Canberra
TZG, in association with landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean, won an Australia wide competition for the National Arboretum, on a 290ha. site of bushfire-damaged land north of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin. The Arboretum is a collection of 100 forests, each home to a single internationally-endangered species. The species are chosen from the many thousands that are threatened world-wide, and curated according to colour of foliage, pattern of bark/leaf, filigree of branches, scent and texture, and suitability to local growth conditions.
A simple formal geometry, developed from Griffin’s water axis, interacts with the landform on which it is laid. 250m wide forest bands are defined by native-planted clearings leading to the lake. Each Forest offers an immersive experience of a single species. Each Forest holds a viable population, creating a seed bank for each species’ native land, so that vulnerable and endangered species are preserved.
Defined gardens and event spaces are surrounded by the forests. With the provision of services, pavilion shelters and toilets these spaces have the potential to be booked for a wide range of events.
Photograph by John Gollings
The spaces also provide opportunities for themed gardens, sponsored plantings and temporary exhibits, performances, artworks and garden designs. The 1400m long Central Valley forms a focal clearing at the centre of the site, with a sculpted series of terraces linked by a cascading stream and a fully-accessible pathway.
The linear water feature feeds as the main water storage facility, located at the foot of the Central Valley the Arboretum. The dam and other water tanks will have a total capacity of 20 megalitres of recycled water, and will be a demonstration of water sensitive landscape design, showcasing contemporary design and ecological water recycling technology.
The Arboretum was opened to commemorate Canberra’s centenary in 2013, with all 100 forests planted. The forests are complemented by the Village Centre visitor’s centre, the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion reception centre, a regional Playground and the first of the many gardens planned for the site. A full road and pedestrian circulation system is operational, and a site-wide interpretation strategy underlines the projects long-term ecological benefits.
Village Centre
The Village Centre is the main point of arrival for the National Arboretum Canberra, and provides a full range of visitor facilities to complement the outdoor experiences of the Arboretum. The Centre’s architecture develops the long-standing tradition of significant garden buildings as transparent enclosures with dramatic internal volumes and a strong sense of indoor-outdoor connection. Importantly, the strong presence of the building acts as a focus for the Arboretum while the trees are immature.
The exterior of the building is a sculptural form in the site’s rolling topography, contrasting low stone-clad wings with a high arching roof clad in weathered zinc, the form of which is inspired by the fronds of the adjoining forest of Chilean Wine Palms, and by the ribbing of many tree leaves. The interior subtly recalls the branched forms of mature trees.
Photograph by John Gollings
Carefully sited below the ridgeline, the building forms a unified composition with Taylor Cullity Lethlean’s dramatic sculpting of the site’s Central Valley, the 6 Hectare Event Terrace and the small Pavilion, now under construction and a counterpoint to the Village Centre.
The building occupies the northern end of the Event Terrace, overlooking the landform of the Central Valley and the adjoining planted forests. It connects the central carpark with the major Play Space, and the Event Terrace, grassed Amphitheatre, Gardens and pedestrian pathway networks.
From the car park, visitors enter the Arboretum through the new building, passing through the dramatic Entry Cutting formed through the ridgeline knolls, planted with forests of white-flowering crepe myrtle. The heart of the building is its main vaulted space, which flexibly accommodates a range of functions, including exhibitions, events, retail, a café and programmed activities. It focuses on the dramatic views southeast to Lake Burley Griffin and the city of Canberra, and opens to the north and south to the sweep of the Event Terrace. Service spaces are screened by stone walls in extended low-cost wings, tying the building into its landform.
The building incorporates a range of energy-saving measures, supporting the environmental value of the Arboretum as a whole, with a very low-energy envelope and structure. All water is captured. Low energy lighting and mechanical systems are used throughout. The dramatic, low energy timber structure was fully computer dimensioned and prefabricated in Tasmania and quickly erected on site. Each rafter is a pure circle arc, but each of a different diameter to respond to the curve of the site. The resultant 3D shape is a complex non-geometric volume, with no repeated elements. The choice of timber reduces embodied energy by nearly 90% compared to steelwork, and the stone walls have an equally low energy profile. The roof is comprised of conical pre-cast concrete columns supporting a structure of engineered laminated Tasmanian Oak and pine beams and rafters.
The building was designed by architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and constructed by Project Coordination. It was developed as part of the Arboretum “100 Forests” master plan, won in competition in 2004 by landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean and urban designers Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
Location: Canberra, ACT Client: ACT Government Completed: 2005-2012 Builder: Project Coordination, project manager David Carr Project team: Peter Tonkin, John Chesterman, Juliane Wolter, Tamarind Taylor, Wolfgang Ripberger, Trina Day, Roger O’Sullivan Landscape Consultant: Taylor Cullity Lethlean Roof: pure zinc sheet, hand formed standing seam joints Ceiling Sound Insulation: Acoustisorb fabric finished panels Gabion and mortared stone walls: Wee Jasper porphyry Windows and roof glazing: double glazed sealed units with very high performance solar glass with a low emissivity coating Cooling and air conditioning system: extensive natural ventilation complemented by underfloor hydronic heating and low-energy airconditioning. Water system: 90,000 litre underground tank, all water recycled for toilet flushing and plant watering Floor: Honed and sealed in-situ concrete, with the required slip grade
The Margaret Whitlam Pavilion will be an important facility for the National Arboretum Canberra, related to the Visitor Centre and the spectrum of activities planned for the Arboretum.
The Pavilion is located on the south-western tip of the U-shaped Events terrace, looking across the future grassed Amphitheatre to the Visitors Centre and out to the Central Valley and the city of Canberra beyond. Its axis aligns with the Captain Cook water jet, continuing Griffin’s structuring of the city by focal radiating axes. The building is kept below the landscaped ridge to the west, so that it is subordinate to the landform, whilst its roof shape is a defined curve in contrast to the rolling topography of the site. The pointed curve of the roof will be an emphatic pause in the sweep of the Arboretum’s landscape in this precinct, and a dramatic statement when viewed from the main car entry adjoining Tuggeranong Parkway.
The building includes a main internal space suitable for functions of up to 120 people, including cocktail parties, weddings, dinners, music and other performances and ceremonial events. The space opens eastwards to an outdoor terrace projecting over the lip of the slope, and north and south to smaller linking terraces, each with fully-openable glass doors. The eastern terrace captures a panorama of the city and its surrounding mountains, with the sweep of the lake and the Parliament flagpole as a focus.
The structure is an innovative pre-fabricated arrangement of steel beams and insulating composite panels, clad externally in zinc, matching the ribbed roof of the Village Centre to the north. Low wings of off-form concrete house service functions.
The interior of the Pavilion complements in feel and detail the ecological focus of the Arboretum. The limed plywood lining and the use of special elements in hardwood highlights the value of trees as sources of material and as carbon storage. The space has been extensively modelled for acoustics, suiting amplified and natural voice and music.
Low-energy services and water recycling complement the sustainable focus of the Arboretum, and ensure the Pavilion’s on-going operational feasibility.
The building was designed by architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and constructed by Manteena. It was developed as part of the Arboretum “100 Forests” master plan, won in competition in 2004 by landscape architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean and urban designers Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
Location: Canberra, ACT Client: ACT Government Completed: 2005-2013 Builder: Manteena Project team: Peter Tonkin, John Chesterman, Juliane Wolter, Wolfgang Ripberger, Roger O’Sullivan Steel Structure: steel portal frames with Kingspan composite panels Roof: pure zinc sheet, hand formed standing seam joints Ceiling: perforated acoustic-lined plywood, hoop pine veneer with limewash Windows and door glazing: double glazed sealed units with very high performance solar glass with a low emissivity coating Cooling and air conditioning system: extensive natural ventilation complemented by underfloor hydronic heating and low-energy air conditioning Water system: shared underground tank with Village Centre, all water recycled for toilet flushing and plant watering Floor: honed and sealed in-situ concrete, with the required slip grade
This wooden pavilion with a protruding canopy was designed by Ramser Schmid Architekten to offer a sheltered outdoor seating area for visitors to the city library in Zug, Switzerland (+ slideshow).
Swiss studio Ramser Schmid Architekten worked with landscape firm Planetage Landscape Architects to create the public pavilion for a new city park occupying the derelict space between the library’s two buildings, located within a historic arsenal.
The space was already home to a basement car park, which extends out from the edge of the landscape. Rather than burying this under more landscaping, the team chose to encase it behind a slatted timber screen and build a mushroom-like pavilion on top.
“The pavilion with its widely projecting roof creates a new sense of identity for the old Zeughaus site,” architect David Dick explains in his project description.
The structure is made from timber blocks, which are arranged in a pattern that resembles brickwork. Regular spaces create a rhythm of openings, revealing the supporting beams behind.
“In analogy to the retaining wall’s veil of wood, a transparent shell of horizontal wooden slats around the pedestal was designed in order to embellish the poor quality of the existing buildings rather than to hide them,” said Dick.
Planetage Landscape Architects surrounded the structure with shrub beds and low hedges, which line the edges of footpaths connecting the two library buildings with the city’s pedestrian pathways.
Photography is by Ralph Feiner.
Here’s a project description from Ramser Schmid Architekten:
City Park Zug
The area to be newly designed consisted mainly of the space between two locations of the local library: the main building in the south and the ancient arsenal, in which additional rooms had been installed into in 2011. The clients, the city and the canton of Zug asked for a public city park that was to be linked to the historic city’s pedestrian walks. The main goal of the park was to connect both sites of the library.
One of the main challenges was the fact that an underground car park from the 1970s partly juts out of the tilted terrain and its driveway divide the area into two sections.
The commonly accomplished competition entry by Planetage Landscape Architects and Ramser Schmid Architects was the winner of the 2010 competition. The jury report mentions the “surprising and yet persuading configuration of the terrain edge”. Instead of hiding away the underground car park’s volume by banks of earth, the planners accepted the presence of the building and decided to additionally expose it, extend it and to strengthen it by a wooden wall cladding. The car park now appears as a retaining wall, which separates the upper level with the old arsenal and its terrace from the lower part.
The lower level serves as public traffic area for the underground car park on the one hand. An array of shrub beds bordered by low hedges has been provided, which accompanies the footpaths towards the site and which can be seen as a spatial analogy to the existing Old Town’s gardens in Zug.
The staircases to the upper level pass by the retaining wall that is covered with vertical wooden slats. The cladding serves several purposes: besides being a fall protection, it highlights the built structures and facilitates orientation onsite. Protruding elements of the old underground car park, like for example an emergency exit, are masked. Visible transitions between new and 40-year old concrete surfaces are obscured with the new supplements, without hiding away the massive presence of the building.
The upper level located in front of the newly installed research library in the old arsenal is designed as a wide and open park. Generous and versatile lawns, a water basin, flexible seating configurations provide for a relaxed atmosphere.
The pavilion with its widely projecting roof creates a new sense of identity for the old Zeughaus (arsenal) site. The placement of the pavilion on the very top follows the inner logic of the complex: the mushroom-like pavilion is built on the lift shaft and the ventilation station of the 10-storey underground car park below. The technical section that protrudes the car park’s roof is amplified and used as a pedestal for the cantilevered roof construction. In analogy to the retaining wall’s veil of wood, a transparent shell of horizontal wooden slats around the pedestal was designed in order to embellish the poor quality of the existing buildings rather than to hide them. The cladding depicts the vertical subconstruction as well as the roof’s radially arranged laminated beams and reveals, solely by its geometry, the constructive design of the supporting structure.
Landscape architecture: Planetage Landschaftsarchitekten Team: Marceline Hauri, Christine Sima, Ramon Iten, Helge Wiedemeyer, Thomas Volprecht Modification of the car park and pavilion: Ramser Schmid Architekten Team: Christoph Ramser, Raphael Schmid, David Dick, Isabel Amat, Lena Bertozzi, Elena Castellote, Patrick Schneider Technical Planners: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure, d-lite Lichtdesign Site Manager: Kolb Landschaftsarchitektur
New York firm Studio Link-Arc and a team from Tsinghua University have revealed their competition-winning design for a pavilion with an undulating roof to represent China at the World Expo 2015 in Milan.
Studio Link-Arc, which is led by Chinese architects Yichen Lu and Qinwen Cai, and Virginia native Kenneth Namkung, collaborated with researchers from Tsinghua University to develop its vision for “a cloud hovering over a land of hope”. This includes a field of crops and a wave-like roof overhead.
The designers plan to use large bamboo panels to create a series of shingles across the roof, reminiscent of the terracotta tiles used in traditional Chinese constructions. These will be fixed onto arching wooden frames, giving the building its distinctive profile.
“The pavilion’s floating roof is designed as a timber structure that references the ‘raised-beam’ system found in traditional Chinese architecture, but is adapted to accommodate modern construction technology,” said the architects.
Beneath the roof, a field of wheat designed to reference China’s agrarian past will merge into a interactive installation where LED lights are hooked up to electronic stalks.
This will lead to a series of exhibitions and cultural programs dotted around a sheltered plaza. A staircase will allow visitors to access rooftop viewing platforms, offering aerial views of both the field and the pavilion’s surroundings.
“The pavilion’s full exhibition and cultural offerings are experienced as a sequence of spaces, beginning with an exterior waiting area in the landscape, leading to a themed exhibition space with interactive installations and cultural offerings from 40 Chinese provinces,” explained the designers.
Here’s a project description from the design team:
China Pavilion, Expo Milano 2015
Tsinghua University, along with New York-based Studio Link-Arc, has been announced as the winner of a competition to design the China Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo. Rejecting the typical notion of a pavilion as an object in a plaza, the China Pavilion is instead conceived as a field of spaces. Designed as a cloud hovering over a “land of hope”, the pavilion is experienced as a sheltered public plaza beneath a floating roof that incorporates the building’s cultural and exhibition programs. The roof’s distinctive profile creates an iconic image for the project and will foster a unique presence within the Expo grounds.
The China Pavilion is themed “The Land of Hope”. The project embodies this theme through an undulating roof form, which is derived by merging the profile of a city skyline on the building’s north side with the profile of a landscape on the southern side, expressing the idea that “hope” can be realised when nature and the city exist in harmony. The pavilion’s floating roof is designed as a timber structure that references the “raised-beam” system found in traditional Chinese architecture, but is adapted to accommodate modern construction technology. The roof is clad in shingled panels that reference traditional Chinese terracotta roof construction, but are reinterpreted as large bamboo panels that reduce structural weight, create a shaded public space below, and further enhance the Pavilion’s unique silhouette.
Beneath this roof, the building’s ground plane is defined by a landscape of wheat (the “field of hope”) that references China’s agrarian past and transitions seamlessly into a multimedia installation in the centre. This installation, formed from a matrix of LED “stalks” that mimic the form of the wheat, forms the centrepiece of the building’s exhibition program.
The Pavilion’s full exhibition and cultural offerings are experienced as a sequence of spaces, beginning with an exterior waiting area in the landscape, leading to a themed exhibition space with interactive installations and cultural offerings from forty Chinese provinces. After this, visitors are guided up a gently sloped public stair to a panoramic viewing platform above the LED matrix installation, after which they are guided into a multimedia space, which will feature a short film focused on returning home for the Spring Festival. This sequence concludes with visitors stepping outside onto a platform above the bamboo roof that enjoys expansive views of the Expo grounds.
Project Name: China Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015 Award: First Prize Client: China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Organizer: Expo Milano 2015
Design Director: Dan Su, Yue Zhang Chief Designer: Yi Du Exhibition Design: Yanyang Zhou, Danqing Shi Landscape Design: Xiaosheng Cui Interior Design: Jiansong Wang Installation Design: Danqing Shi, Feng Xian Light Design: Yi Du Visual Identity Design: Xin Gu
News: Chilean architect Smiljan Radic has been named as the designer of this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion and is proposing a translucent domed structure of white fibreglass.
The shell-like pavilion will rest on a bed of huge rocks, based on the Castle of the Selfish Giant imagined by nineteenth-century author Oscar Wilde.
“Externally, the visitor will see a fragile shell suspended on large quarry stones,” said Radic. “This shell – white, translucent and made of fibreglass – will house an interior organised around an empty patio, from where the natural setting will appear lower, giving the sensation that the entire volume is floating.”
The translucent fibreglass will allow the structure to glow after dark. “At night, thanks to the semi-transparency of the shell, the amber tinted light will attract the attention of passers-by, like lamps attracting moths,” said the architect.
Smiljan Radic – a 48-year-old architect who before now has built little outside of his native Chile – will be one of the youngest and least-known architects selected by the Serpentine Gallery in the 14-year history of the programme.
“We have been intrigued by his work ever since our first encounter with him at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2011,” said Serpentine Gallery directors Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist.
“Radic is a key protagonist of an amazing architectural explosion in Chile. While enigmatically archaic, in the tradition of romantic follies, Radic’s designs for the Pavilion also look excitingly futuristic, appearing like an alien space pod that has come to rest on a Neolithic site. We cannot wait to see his Pavilion installed on the Serpentine Gallery’s lawn this summer.”
The pavilion will open to the public on 26 June and will remain in Kensington Gardens until 19 October.
Here’s the full press release from the Serpentine Gallery:
Chilean architect Smiljan Radic to design Serpentine Galleries Pavilion 2014
The Serpentine has commissioned Chilean architect Smiljan Radic to design the Serpentine Galleries Pavilion 2014. Radic is the fourteenth architect to accept the invitation to design a temporary Pavilion outside the entrance to the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. The commission is one of the most anticipated events in the cultural calendar, and has become one of London’s leading summer attractions since launching in 2000.
Smiljan Radic’s design follows Sou Fujimoto’s cloud-like structure, which was visited by almost 200,000 people in 2013 and was one of the most visited Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, 2012; Peter Zumthor, 2011; Jean Nouvel, 2010; Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, SANAA, 2009; Frank Gehry, 2008; Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen, 2007; Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond, with Arup, 2006; Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura with Cecil Balmond, Arup, 2005; MVRDV with Arup, 2004 (un-realised); Oscar Niemeyer, 2003; Toyo Ito and Cecil Balmond – with Arup, 2002; Daniel Libeskind with Arup, 2001; and Zaha Hadid, who designed the inaugural Pavillion in 2000.
Occupying a footprint of some 350 square metres on the lawn of the Serpentine Gallery, plans depict a semi-translucent, cylindrical structure, designed to resemble a shell, resting on large quarry stones. Radic’s Pavilion has its roots in his earlier work, particularly The Castle of the Selfish Giant, inspired by the Oscar Wilde story, and the Restaurant Mestizo, part of which is supported by large boulders. Design as a flexible, multi-purpose social space with a café sited inside, the Pavilion will entice visitors to enter and interact with it in different ways throughout its four-month tenure in the Park. On selected Friday nights, between July and September, the Pavilion will become the stage for the Serpentine’s Park Nights series, sponsored by COS: eight site-specific events bring together art, poetry, music, film, literature and theory and include three new commissions by emerging artists Lina Lapelyte, Hannah Perry and Heather Phillipson. Serpentine Galleries Pavilion 2014 launces during the London Festival of Architecture 2014,  Smiljan Radic has completed the majority of his structures in Chile. His commissions range from public buildings, such as the Civic Neighbourhoods, Concepción, Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Santiago, Restaurant Mestizo, Santiago, and the Vik Winery, Millahue, and domestic buildings, such as Copper House 2, Talca, Pite House, Papudo, and the House for the Poem of the Right Angle, Vilches, to small and seemingly fragile buildings, such as the Extension to Charcoal Burner’s House, Santa Rosa, The Wardrobe and the Mattress, Tokyo, Japan, and The Bus Stop Commission, Kumbranch, Austria. Considerate of social conditions, environments and materials, Smiljan Radic moves freely across boundaries with his work, avoiding any specific categorisation within one field of architecture. This versatility enables him to respond to the demands of each setting, whether spatial constraints of an urban site or extreme challenges presented by a remote rural setting, mountainous terrain or the rocky coastline of his native Chile.
AECOM will again provide engineering and technical design services, as it did for the first time in 2013. In addition, AECOM will also be acting as cost and project manager for the 2014 Pavilion. While this is the second Serpentine Pavilion for AECOM, its global chief executive for building engineering, David Glover, has worked on the designs for a majority of the Pavilions to date. The Serpentine is delighted that J.P. Morgan Private Bank is the co-headline sponsor of this year’s Pavilion.
Berlin studio J. Mayer H. has designed a temporary pavilion comprising a wonky grid of criss-crossing timber beams to celebrate the 300th year of German city Karlsruhe (+ slideshow).
J. Mayer H. won a competition to design the Jubilee Pavilion that will be used to host events and exhibitions throughout the summer of 2015, celebrating the 300-year anniversary of the founding of Karlsruhe.
The pavilion will be constructed in Schlosspark, the castle gardens that form the heart of the city famed for its radial urban plan, which is made up of 32 circulating streets and avenues.
To reference this, the architects conceived the structure as a three-dimensional lattice where vertical members all angle towards the precise centre of the city.
“The twisted pattern of the pavilion refers to the strictly geometric-radial lay out of the Baroque-planned city of Karlsruhe with the castle as the focal point, transforming it into a spatial field of lines,” they said.
“On several layers in and on the structure, exhibition platforms, resting spaces, and viewing platforms will emerge,” they added.
An auditorium and stage will be located inside the pavilion, allowing the space to host concerts, theatre performances, talks, film screenings and exhibitions across the summer festival season.
It will also serve as an information point where locals and tourists can find out about the jubilee activities, and will contain a cafe. Construction will begin in March 2015.
London-based Marks Barfield Architects has designed a temporary glazed pavilion raised up on criss-crossing steel columns that looks set be built near the firm’s London Eye observation wheel on the South Bank.
Marks Barfield Architects won an international competition to design the pavilion, intended to form part of the redevelopment of the current Shell Centre site. If granted planning permission, the four-storey building would house a marketing suite for the development as well as educational and visitor facilities.
“We chose local architects Marks Barfield for this building as they have already made a significant contribution to the South Bank with their world-renowned design of the London Eye,” said John Pagano of developers, Braeburn Estates.
“The high-quality designs they have proposed for the visitor pavilion will be in keeping with our aspiration for the Shell Centre scheme, and complement the South Bank’s cultural offer,” he added.
The 20-metre-high glazed building would be built on a plot at the edge of the recently redesigned Jubilee Gardens and would rise from a ten-square-metre base intended to minimise its footprint and impact on the landscaped public space.
Subsequent storeys would expand outwards to provide more floorspace for the meeting room and educational facilities housed on the first floor and showrooms for the flats proposed as part of the site’s redevelopment on the second and third floors.
Marks Barfield designed the pavilion to be dismantled and reused when no longer required at the Shell Centre site. A planning application submitted in relation to the pavilion is subject to the main development being approved.
“In the longer term, our proposed plans for the South Bank include the transformation of the Hungerford Car Park into a park which would result in the expansion of Jubilee Gardens by a third,” said Pagano.
“This would herald a major enhancement to the public areas adjacent to the new Shell Centre site with landscaped recreational space available for everyone to enjoy.”
News: New York studio The Living has won this year’s MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program competition with plans to cultivate bio-bricks from corn stalks and mushrooms, and use them to build a tower in the courtyard of the New York gallery (+ slideshow).
The Living principal David Benjamin proposed a cluster of circular towers made entirely from natural materials for his entry to the Young Architects Program (YAP) contest, which each year invites emerging architects to propose a temporary structure that will host the summer events of the MoMA Ps1 gallery in Queens.
Named Hy-Fi, the structure will be constructed entirely from recyclable materials. The Living will collaborate with sustainable building firm Ecovative to grow the bricks that will form the base of the tower, using a combination of agricultural byproducts and mushroom mycelium – a kind of natural digestive glue.
The upper section of the structure will be made from reflective bricks produced using a specially developed mirror film. Initially these will be used as growing trays for the organic bricks, but will later be installed at the top of the tower to help to bounce light down inside.
Gaps in the brickwork will help to naturally ventilate interior spaces using the stack effect, drawing cool air in at the bottom and pushing hot air out at the top.
MoMA curator Pedro Gadanho said: “This year’s YAP winning project bears no small feat. It is the first sizeable structure to claim near-zero carbon emissions in its construction process and, beyond recycling, it presents itself as being 100 percent compostable.”
“Recurring to the latest developments in biotech, it reinvents the most basic component of architecture – the brick – as both a material of the future and a classic trigger for open-ended design possibilities,” he added.
Set to open in June, Hy-Fi will be accessible to MoMA Ps1 visitors during the 2014 Warm Up summer music series.
Here’s the full announcement from MoMA:
The Living selected as winner of the 2014 Young Architects Program at MoMA PS1 in New York
The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 announce The Living (David Benjamin) as the winner of the annual Young Architects Program (YAP) in New York. Now in its 15th edition, the Young Architects Program at MoMA and MoMA PS1 has been committed to offering emerging architectural talent the opportunity to design and present innovative projects, challenging each year’s winners to develop creative designs for a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 that provides shade, seating, and water. The architects must also work within guidelines that address environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling. The Living, drawn from among five finalists, will design a temporary urban landscape for the 2014 Warm Up summer music series in MoMA PS1’s outdoor courtyard.
The winning project, Hy-Fi, opens at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City in late June. Using biological technologies combined with cutting-edge computation and engineering to create new building materials, The Living will use a new method of bio-design, resulting in a structure that is 100% organic material. The structure temporarily diverts the natural carbon cycle to produce a building that grows out of nothing but earth and returns to nothing but earth – with almost no waste, no energy needs, and no carbon emissions. This approach offers a new vision for society’s approach to physical objects and the built environment. It also offers a new definition of local materials, and a direct relationship to New York State agriculture and innovation culture, New York City artists and non-profits, and Queens community gardens.
Hy-Fi is a circular tower of organic and reflective bricks, which were designed to combine the unique properties of two new materials. The organic bricks are produced through an innovative combination of corn stalks (that otherwise have no value) and specially-developed living root structures, a process that was invented by Ecovative, an innovative company that The Living is collaborating with. The reflective bricks are produced through the custom-forming of a new daylighting mirror film invented by 3M. The reflective bricks are used as growing trays for the organic bricks, and then they are incorporated into the final construction before being shipped back to 3M for use in further research.
The organic bricks are arranged at the bottom of the structure and the reflective bricks are arranged at the top to bounce light down on the towers and the ground. The structure inverts the logic of load-bearing brick construction and creates a gravity-defying effect – instead of being thick and dense at the bottom, it is thin and porous at the bottom. The structure is calibrated to create a cool micro-climate in the summer by drawing in cool air at the bottom and pushing out hot air at the top. The structure creates mesmerising light effects on its interior walls through reflected caustic patterns. Hy-Fi offers a familiar – yet completely new – structure in the context of the glass towers of the New York City skyline and the brick construction of the MoMA PS1 building. And overall, the structure offers shade, colour, light, views, and a future-oriented experience that is designed to be refreshing, thought-provoking, and full of wonder and optimism.
“This year’s YAP winning project bears no small feat. It is the first sizeable structure to claim near-zero carbon emissions in its construction process and, beyond recycling, it presents itself as being 100% compostable,” said Pedro Gadanho, Curator in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. “Recurring to the latest developments in biotech, it reinvents the most basic component of architecture – the brick – as both a material of the future and a classic trigger for open-ended design possibilities. At MoMA PS1, The Living’s project will be showcased as a sensuous, primeval background for the Warm-Up sessions; the ideas and research behind it, however, will live on to fulfil ever new uses and purposes.”
Klaus Biesenbach, MoMA PS1 Director and MoMA Chief Curator at Large, adds, “After dedicating the whole building and satellite programs of MoMA PS1 to ecological awareness and climate change last year with EXPO 1: New York, we continue in 2014 with Hy-Fi, a nearly zero carbon footprint construction by The Living.”
The other finalists for this year’s MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program were Collective-LOK (Jon Lott, William O’Brien Jr., and Michael Kubo), LAMAS (Wei-Han Vivian Lee and James Macgillivray), Pita + Bloom (Florencia Pita and Jackilin Hah Bloom), and Fake Industries Architectural Agonism (Cristina Goberna and Urtzi Grau). An exhibition of the five finalists’ proposed projects will be on view at MoMA over the summer, organized by Pedro Gadanho, Curator, with Leah Barreras, Department Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA.
Amidst the fast-paced construction of King’s Cross in London, young Finnish studio AOR has installed an angular canal-side platform where visitors can make contact with some of the local wildlife (+ slideshow).
Named Viewpoint, the floating structure sits over the Regent’s Canal on the edge of the Camley Street nature reserve. It provides a habitat for birds and bats, as well as an outdoor classroom where people can learn about the surrounding flora and fauna.
AOR architects Erkko Aarti, Arto Ollila and Mikki Ristola based the structure on traditional Finnish Laavus, which are shelters used during hunting and fishing trips. It comprises a small cluster of triangular volumes that form hideaways and seating areas.
“Basically it’s a floating platform where people can go and have a view along the river, and just have a small break from the hectic life of the city of London,” said Aarti.
Outer surfaces are clad with rusty Corten steel, as a reference to weather-beaten canal boats, while interior surfaces are lined with timber to soften acoustics.
The concrete ground surface is imprinted with pretend animal tracks that help to prevent slips, plus triangular peepholes at the eye levels of both children and adults offer private glimpses of birds such as swans and kingfishers.
Installation process
“We hope that Viewpoint will have resonance beyond its modest footprint and allow the many visitors to Camley Street Natural Park to discover this natural environment – a rarity in a metropolitan city such as London,” added the architects.
Here’s some additional information from the design team:
The Finnish Institute in London and The Architecture Foundation announce the launch of Viewpoint – a floating platform for Camley Street Natural Park
The Finnish Institute in London and The Architecture Foundation are delighted to announce the launch date for their new floating platform Viewpoint, produced for London Wildlife Trust. The joint commission designed by emerging Finnish architects Erkko Aarti, Arto Ollila & Mikki Ristola (AOR) will open to the public on 10 February 2014 at Camley Street Natural Park, located in King’s Cross. The permanent structure will bring visitors to Camley Street Natural Park, London Wildlife Trust’s most central nature reserve, connecting them with the wildlife of the park and the Regent’s Canal. It will also provide the Park with an additional workshop space and learning facility and become an architectural focal point of King’s Cross.
Competition visualisation
The inspiration for Viewpoint comes from the rocky islets and islands of the Nordic. For Finns these islands are places of sanctuary, to relax the mind and get away from hectic city life. Viewpoint offers Londoners a chance to experience this escape on a secluded islet in the heart of the city.
For the final design the architects were inspired by the traditional Finnish structures of Laavus, traditional shelters intended for temporary residence during fishing and hunting trips. These simple, primitive, triangular constructions are made using available raw materials such as tree branches, moss and leaves.
Competition visualisation
Viewpoint offers a contemporary take on the Laavu made from materials that represent the industrial history and robust character of London’s King’s Cross. Old brick buildings, canal boats and the untamed Natural Park act as a palette of materials for the designers. The exterior surfaces of Viewpoint will be clad in dark Corten steel inspired by canal barges, changing in colour and appearance with exposure to the elements. A warm wooden interior will generate soft acoustics and comfortable surfaces to sit on, and graphic concrete with an animal track pattern will form the base of the structure, acting as both a decorative tool and slip prevention.
Viewpoint will be an ideal location for visitors to reconnect with nature in the heart of London. London Wildlife Trust will also utilise the space in their educational programmes for schools as an outdoor classroom, a destination for nature walks around the park and for viewing the rich abundance of wildlife of the Regent’s Canal including daubenton’s bats, whooper swans and the elusive Kingfisher. To offer a sense of adventure for school children the architects have incorporated small triangular openings at different heights giving new and unique views of the canal and its wildlife.
The latest project to complete in Toyo Ito‘s Home For All community rebuilding initiative is this timber and concrete pavilion in a Japanese fishing village, designed by Kazuyo Sejima‘s protégé Yang Zhao (+ slideshow).
Home For All in Kesennuma is the ninth building in the Home For All project, which was initiated by Japanese architect Toyo Ito just days after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, and involves the construction of new community buildings in the worst-hit areas.
Photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
Under the supervision of SANAA principal Kazuyo Sejima, Japanese Chinese architect Yang Zhao designed his building for the coastline of the Kesennuma fishing community in north-west Japan, creating a structure that can be used as a market hall, a meeting place or a performance area.
Photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
“It’s a shelter in which fishermen can take a rest, a place where the wives would wait for their husbands to return with the catch and sometimes a marketplace,” explained Zhao.
Photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
The structure was built with a hexagonal plan. Concrete walls support a large pitched roof and also frame a trio of wooden platforms that accommodate different activities.
Photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
The first platform accommodates a kitchen and can be enclosed behind sliding glass doors. The second is based on the engawa, a traditional Japanese veranda, while the third includes both toilet facilities and a seating area.
Photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
A multi-purpose space at the centre of the pavilion is exposed to the elements and features a timber-lined ceiling punctured by a large triangular skylight.
Photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
“At night, the building glows warmly from within, like a lighthouse, waiting for fishermen to come back from the sea,” said Zhao.
Photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
The floor inside the pavilion is set at the same level as the surrounding pavement so that forklift trucks can drive into the building on market days.
The home-for-all in Kesennuma is designed and built as a gathering space for a fishing community that severely suffered from the Tsunami in 2011. It is located at Kesennuma’s Oya fishing harbour that serves as a centre for the local fishing activities and community life. It’s a shelter in which fishermen can take a rest, a place where the wives would wait for their husbands to return with the catch and sometimes a marketplace.
Kazuyo Sejima and Yang Zhao at the launch event – photograph by Jonathan Leijonhufvud
Most part of the space opens to the exterior. A roof, supported by 3 “rooms”, covers an area of 117 square metres. At the centre is a triangular-shaped hole in the ceiling that allows people to gaze directly at the sky. The “rooms” with lifted benches are oriented toward the centre and, at the same time, towards views of the surrounding landscape through the three entrances from different sides. The kitchen room is glazed by glass sliding doors and can be slide open in pleasant weathers. The room nearest to the water can be enjoyed as an engawa (a space underneath the eaves, an important space for Japanese architecture and daily life). The toilets are accessed and ventilated from the outside, while oriented towards the centre and the sky through the slanted glazing. The surrounding ground will be paved to the same level as the space inside, allowing forklifts to enter in market hours.
Photograph by Hisao Suzuki
The elemental geometry of the roof creates a dome-like space underneath. Together with the plywood (Japanese cypress) materiality, it generates a warm and protective atmosphere. At the same time, the transparency of the supporting structure creates an open and welcoming character. At night, the building glows warmly from within, like a lighthouse, waiting for fishermen to come back from the sea.
Photograph by Hisao Suzuki
The project was the collaboration between architect Yang Zhao and his mentor Kazuyo Sejima during the 6th cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Art Initiative. The architects had three workshops with the local community to discuss about the design and get their approval to build. The completion and transfer ceremony took place on Oct. 27, 2013. The photos were taken on the ceremony day.
Photograph by Hisao Suzuki
Architect: Yang Zhao Advisor: Kazuyo Sejima Local Architect: Masanori Watase Design team: Ruofan Chen, Zhou Wu Structural engineering: Hideaki Hamada Site supervision: Takezou Murakoshi
Photograph by Hisao Suzuki
Client: People of Ohya district in Kesennuma-city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan Site area: 419.21m2 Built area or Total floor area: 93.45m2 Cost: 10,0000 euros Design phase: Dec 2012 – Jun 2013 Construction phase: Jul 2013 – Oct 2013
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