… non hai
osservato, camminando nella città, come tra gli
edifici che la popolano taluni siano muti,
ed altri parlino, mentre altri ancora,
che son più rari, cantano?
Today a small retrospective exhibition of MVRDV opened at byUSM in Hamburg. The exhibition is the price given for being elected “A&W-Architect of the Year” by the readers and online users of Germany’s reputed magazine Architektur&Wohnen. Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries accepted yesterday the award and opened the exhibition. It is an overview of 20 years of the work of MVRDV in quotes, models, images, books and films. A small installation features a variety of models that have not been exhibited before. The show is open until June 11th and part of the Hamburger Architektur Sommer, it is planned to travel. The readers of German magazine Architektur & Wohnen have chosen MVRDV"A&W Architeckt des Jahres 2012" against David Chipperfield Architects and Snøhetta. As all the collective thinking is forward oriented, the task of a retrospective of own work seemed paradox, even more to do it on a small scale without room for a deeper analysis of the past.
The Trianel Corporate Centre in Aachen by gmp
May 8, 2012
The jury of the competition for the Corporate Center of the Trianel municipal utilities network has selected the submission by architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) as the winning entry. The new building is located along a major road next to the Tivoli stadium. From 2013 on it is to be built in two phases, the first of which comprises 9,600 square metres of gross floor area and will accommodate 400 members of staff. In the second, optional phase the building can be extended by 4,800 square metres to accommodate a further 200 employees. The building’s sustainability concept merits a silver DGNB certificate. The gmp design team includes a DGNB-accredited auditor, who advises on the applicable criteria. From an urban design point of view, the four-storey building with its tranquil trapeze-shaped structure acts as a counterpoise to the dominating stadium and the varied architecural styles of the neighborhood. The generously glazed facades open up views into the park to the south of the building. The white horizontal solar screening slats made of aluminium profiles create a calm overall appearance, which has a harmonising effect on the surroundings.
New multidisciplinary art institution in Richmond (VA) designed by Steven Holl Architects
April 29, 2012
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) unveiled the design for a new Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) designed by Steven Holl and Chris McVoy. Part exhibition and performance space, part lab and incubator, the 38,000-square-foot building will feature a series of flexible programming spaces for the presentation of visual art, theater, music, dance and film for both on-campus and public audiences. The facility also encompasses a 247-seat auditorium, outdoor plazas, a sculpture garden, classrooms, a café and administrative offices. Scheduled to open in 2015, the ICA will be located on a site defined by Belvidere and Broad Streets, one of Richmond’s busiest intersections, and will feature dual entrances—one facing Richmond and the other fronting VCU’s campus—to advance its mission as an educational and cultural resource for both the University and the City. The ICA will enhance and expand the role of the arts on campus, serving as both an academic and extracurricular resource for students and faculty from every department, including VCU’s acclaimed School of the Arts (VCUarts), which U.S. News & World Report ranked as the top public university graduate art program in the country.
New museum under construction in Datong, China, by Foster + Partners
April 28, 2012
Construction is underway at Datong Art Museum – China’s ‘Museum of the 21st Century’. The museum will open in 2013 to represent China in the ‘Beyond the Building’ Basel Art international tour. The 32,000-square-metre venue is one of four major new buildings within Datong New City’s cultural plaza. Its centrepiece is the Grand Gallery, a heroically scaled, top-lit exhibition space measuring 37 metres high and spanning almost 80 metres, in which artists will be commissioned to create large-scale works of art. Externally, the building’s form is conceived as an erupted landscape. The entire museum is sunk into the ground with only the peaks of the roof visible at ground level. The roof is clad in earth-toned Corten steel, which will weather naturally over time. The building relates in scale to the three other cultural buildings in the group, balancing the overall composition of the masterplan while maximising the internal volume of the Grand Gallery. Luke Fox, a senior partner at Foster + Partners: “We are delighted to reveal designs for the new museum and look forward to working with the city to take the project to the next stage. When complete, Datong’s new quarter will be the centre of the city’s cultural life, with the new museum as its ‘urban room’ – a dynamic space, open to everyone to meet and enjoy its different displays and activities.”
ARCHITECTOUR.NET
On-line Journal & International Contemporary Architecture Database anno VI/6th year, I semestre/1st semester, n. 1/2012
ISSN 1974-4552
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