Hasta La Ideas

News: “An architecture challenge doesn’t come much better than this,” says David Chipperfield, who has been named winner in the competition to design a new home for the Nobel Prize in Stockholm (+ slideshow).

David Chipperfield Architects saw off competition from Swedish studios Wingårdh and Johan Celsing Arkitektkontor to land the prestigious commission to create the Nobel Center – an exhibition centre and events venue for the award that recognises advances in science and culture.

“I think all projects are important but this project has enormous meaning, not just for the city of Stockholm but internationally. An architecture challenge doesn’t come much better than this,” said Chipperfield.

The architect’s vision is for a shimmering brass-clad building on the waterfront. It will be fully glazed on the ground floor, opening out to a new city park on the sunny south-eastern side of the site.

“The jury finds the lightness and openness of the building very appealing and consistent with the Nobel Foundation’s explicit ambition to create an open and welcoming centre for the general public,” said Nobel Foundation executive director Lars Heikensten, who was a member of the judging panel.

“We view the winning proposal as a concrete interpretation of the Nobel Prize as Sweden’s most important symbol in the world. Stockholm will gain a building – magnificent but without pomp, powerful yet graceful – with qualities like those the City Hall gave the capital a century ago.”

Fellow jury member Per Wästberg added: “We view the winning proposal as a concrete interpretation of the Nobel Prize as Sweden’s most important symbol in the world. Stockholm will gain a building – magnificent but without pomp, powerful yet graceful – with qualities like those the City Hall gave the capital a century ago.”

As well as hosting the annual award ceremony each December, the building will provide a public centre for exhibitions, educational activities, events and meetings.

“It can be spectacular on its greatest night, but also it can be very useful and functional and working the rest of the year,” said Chipperfield.

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Nobel Center competition appeared first on Dezeen.

L’agence de publicité suédoise Akestam Holst et la maison de production Stopp ont conçu une publicité créative et interactive pour les produits capillaires Apotek Hjärtat de la marque Apolosophy, dans le métro de Stockholm. Quand un métro passe, les cheveux de la mannequin s’envolent dans tous les sens.

Swedish design studio Visiondivision has come up with a proposal for a sheltered promenade, outdoor cinema and art gallery for the redundant space within the structure of Stockholm‘s Tranebergsbron bridge.

Anders Berensson and Ulf Mejergren of Visiondivison developed the Under the Bridge strategy to shorten the time it takes for pedestrians to cross the waters between the city island Kungsholmen and the western suburb of Bromma.

According to the designers, the walk currently takes 15 minutes and involves following a noisy highway. They believe this time could be reduced to just three minutes by adding a new walkway that follows the arch of one of the existing concrete vaults.

“We looked at the bridge as a whole and saw that the beautiful concrete vaults were ideal to make a more rapid connection between the two sides, and that connecting these two hotspots would also allow a much greater potential in creating activities,” the designers told Dezeen.

The passageway would pass through a series of pre-existing doorways in the concrete pillars that support the bridge. The main construction needed would be the addition of stairs on the vault, new lighting and balustrades.

“Since it is relatively cheap to build and will have a huge effect on the site, we really hope to see this realised,” added Berensson and Mejergren.

The designers suggest that the huge concrete pillars could also be used as projection walls for occasional movie screenings, or could function as exhibition spaces for hanging artwork.

Red concrete paving tiles would be added to encourage people to follow the path, and small kiosks could be set up in the abutments.

Here’s a project description from Visiondivision:

Under the Bridge

Stockholm’s many islands has created a beautiful city to live in but it has also created barriers between the inner city and the suburbs. Large scale bridges connects many of these places to each other, often built with the car in mind.

Tranebergsbron is one of the most beautiful bridges in Stockholm and connects the city island Kungsholmen with the western suburbs. It was completed in 1934, at that time having the world’s largest bridge vaults in concrete.

In 2005 an identical bridge vault was added to the two original ones, allowing more cars on the bridge. As many bridges that is predominantly built for cars, the construction begins to incline many hundreds of metres on land on both sides the shore, this means that if you want to walk over the bridge it will involve a strenuous 15 minute walk in a noisy environment considering that you will walk just next to a busy highway.

We therefore propose to use the actual concrete vault of the recently built bridge to cater to the neglected pedestrian traffic between these two important areas in Stockholm and to dramatically shorten the time between the two shores and make the journey into a pleasant three minute walk in a beautiful and relaxed setting. To do this, only a minimal intervention is required.

The concrete pillars that connects the vault with the surface of the bridge already has holes in them, so the only thing that is necessary to do is to extend the upper part of the vault to allow passage and to add stairs on to the vault, proper lighting and a protective fence. The ground before the arc begins could also be treated with red concrete tiles to highlight the new path better and make it more accessible.

The two shores would benefit tremendously from being better connected to each other and they are both major gateways that are currently undergoing a great expansion with new housing and services.

With the underworld of the bridge suddenly being used, this would also mean that the beautiful space underneath the bridge will be better activated, which leaves room for new functions and ideas. The impressive concrete pillars would be perfect to use as a temporary art gallery and the stairs on the vaults can have a double use as seating to watch film screenings on the pillars.

The two abutments would be attractive spots where small kiosks could be set up when weather permits.

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to include a sheltered promenade and cinema appeared first on Dezeen.

Swedish design studio TAF has created offices for a Stockholm branding and design agency with walls that resemble cardboard boxes (+ slideshow).

Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom of TAF chose the cardboard motif to reference client NINE‘s work in packaging design.

Partitions made from corrugated metal sheets painted to resemble cardboard were added to create meeting spaces within the open-plan office and existing walls were clad to maintain the paper aesthetic.

“The painted metal sheets create a basic trompe l’oeil effect, like big paper packaging turning into spaces,” Mattias Ståhlbom told Dezeen. “The benefit of using metal is that it is more durable and long lasting than real cardboard.”

Meeting rooms are differentiated by bright orange and green furniture and accessories. “The different colour themes chosen for the furniture create small visible ‘islands’ in the white and paper brown space,” adds Ståhlbom.

The designers also used their own Soft Parcels furniture range made from soft blocks of foam wrapped in fabric that look like paper-wrapped packages to provide casual seating in one of the spaces.

Previous interior designs by the same studio include a shoe store for Camper with tables that look like they’re made from lollipop sticks and a healthcare centre inspired by bandages and plasters.

Japanese studio Nendo has designed an office with meeting rooms surrounded by walls that peel apart to create entrances, while Google has opened a new office in Japan filled with traditional Japanese iconography.

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Photography is by Patrik Lindell.

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by TAF appeared first on Dezeen.

News: Dutch firm OMA has won a competition to design a pair of skyscrapers in Stockholm, Sweden, with a proposal featuring staggered facades.

The buildings in the city’s Hagastaden district will contain apartments, with a bar and exhibition space occupying the upper floors of one tower, and public facilities including a health club, library and shops on the ground floors.

Projecting living spaces cascade down the exterior of the buildings, creating a series of sheltered balconies.

“The informal appearance of the towers will express domesticity, perhaps even humanism,” explains OMA partner Reinier de Graaf.

OMA will work with developer Oscar Properties to construct the 100-metre towers, which will be the third tallest twin skyscrapers in Sweden.

Images are copyright OMA unless stated otherwise. Top image is copyright OMA – bloomimages.

Last week, a design by OMA for a bridge incorporating space for events and a pedestrian boulevard made the final two of a competition in Bordeaux, while Swedish architects Belatchew Arkitekter have proposed covering a skyscraper in Stockholm in plastic bristles that would generate electricity through wind power.

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Here’s some more information from OMA:

OMA has won the design competition for Tors Torn in Stockholm. The project, led by OMA Partner Reinier de Graaf and OMA Associate Alex de Jong, and designed as the third tallest twin skyscrapers in Sweden, was selected from entries by four competing practices.

With each of the towers a crescendo composition of different heights, the mixed-use project is an interpretation of existing urban guidelines which call for a gateway to the new Hagastaden area of Stockholm. OMA’s design proposes the introduction of a “rough skin” formed through a striking, alternating pattern of protruding living spaces and introverted outdoor spaces.

Reinier de Graaf commented: “We are delighted to have won the competition and – together with Oscar Properties – to build the Tors Torn residential towers. The 100 meter high towers define the new neighborhood Hagastaden as an integral part of the growing city center of Stockholm. The informal appearance of the towers will express domesticity, perhaps even humanism.”

OMA’s design challenges the expected uniformity and homogenous facade treatment that is often assigned to tower structures. Instead, it extends the skin to expose the individuality of the separate living units in the two blocks – a true vertical, urban agglomeration.

In addition to private residential apartments, Tors Torn will also contain a diverse public program for the wider community of Hagastaden, an ongoing urban development project aiming to extend the downtown area of Stockholm. A bar and exhibition space will occupy the upper floors of one tower, with the ground floors of both towers accommodating a health club, library, children’s center and retail areas.

The project is scheduled to break ground in 2015.

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skyscrapers in Stockholm appeared first on Dezeen.