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1/31/10

Barajas Airport Terminal 4, Madrid Spain


Richard Rogers and Antonio Lamela designed the T4 of the Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, completed in 2004. It won the 2006 Sterling Prize.

Rogers placed a flowing canopy atop parallel circulation systems, supported by twin diverging columns. Light and transparency punch through the hill-like roof structure.

Transitions between spaces are considered as if a person changes time zones gingerly on a travel, with repeated structure and spaces as the visitor goes through the building from flight to flight. The subtle change in colors punctuate this change.

Change in the vertical sense is also very apparent, as brutal concrete gives way to lifting and floating glass. Ever the utilitarian, Rogers carefully places the mechancial and structure away from the people but always in view, flexible and always changing.











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Museum of Fruit, Yamanashi Japan


Itsuko Hasegawa 長谷川逸子 designed the Fruit Museum in the Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji in Japan, completed in 1997. The three shell-shaped buildings symbolize the "fruits" of spiritual sensuality, intelligence and lust.

As an expression of contextual ecology, white light shines through screened structure in a paradisaical greenhouse. Arup did the engineering for this project, quite a feat of curved exoskeleton structure.

In a general sense, the buildings are trees producing fruits of creativity in the visitors who themselves will spread a sensitivity to our frail environment, and hopefully produce green buildings themselves.

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1/30/10

Paradise Found: Islamic Architecture and Arts

A great documentary by shakirshuvo on youtube about Islamic architecture.











Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
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Channel 4 Television Headquarters, London UK



Richard Rogers designed the headquarters for London Channel 4 building, completed in 1994. A triumph of daylighting, this project uses a variety of prefabricated elements and materials that come together in the same way as a classic central garden square. Studio and network facilities are arranged alongside residential complexes.

Technological innovations allow light to penetrate deep into spaces, carefully crafted according to the programs of the spaces. Vertical circulation elements are particularly celebrated, including exterior lifts and interior stairways. Heavy concrete makes a circular "lanter" lobby feel cool and secure, while the rooftop garden has wood planking that feels like a sky-top garden.

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Video: Exterior in winter









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1/26/10

Darmstadium Conference Center, Darmstadt Gemany


Talik Chalabi designed the Darmstadium, named after the element discovered in Darmstadt, Hessen Germany. It opened in 2007, adding to Darmstadt's impressive downtown. Darmstadt is a mix of historic and cutting-edge modern, the downtown's covered mall, fussgangerzone and palaces. Darmstadt is historically renown for its involvement in music and the arts, and more recently as a center of science and space exploration. This multifunctional civic structure considers this combination of science and arts.

The 18,000m2 building has 18 versatile conference rooms and a 1,677 seat congress hall. Diagonal circulation paths criss-cross around sweeping perimeters of glass and steel. Warm wood interiors and masonry walls add further interior, with the city's ancient stone wall cutting straight through the building. Efficient water management and passive solar strategies mark this project as environmentally sensitive.

Having lived in Darmstadt myself, this dynamic project seems to me very appropriate for the energy of Darmstadt's crowded downtown. It pays homage to Darmstadt's important history and role in the future.

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Video: Tag der offenen Tür



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1/25/10

Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris France


Paul Andreu designed much of the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) redesign completed in 2003. Terminal 2E's roof soon collapsed and kileld 5 people. Investigations found that structural design and procedural construction of the concrete were to blame for the collapse of the curved vaulted roof.

The airport is the sixth busiest in the world, and is due for completion in 2012.

Andreu took on a circulation problem worse than London's Heathrow Airport (which is tough to beat) by dividing terminals into international, European, and charter flights. Connecting circulation, restaurants and stores, and accommodating programs are thoughtfully laid out.

Still, with its intention for endless expansion to solve the growing passanger count, this airport is in danger of becoming a sprawling mess of airport facilities.

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Book: "The modern airport terminal: new approaches to airport architecture" by Brian Edwards











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1/23/10

Brisbane Opera House, Brisbane Australia


Perspective across Brisbane river towards Brisbane city, the Brisbane Opera House bridging over the existing expressway, connecting the city to the river.

Jesse Lockhart-Krause designed this project for an Opera House in Northbank Brisbane, Queensland. It was influenced by the Paris Pompidou Centre, the Swiss Science Centre and the De Young Museum.

The Brisbane opera house aims to provide a place for cultural expression and a re-connection with the city’s life blood, its river.

The Podium; a monolithic base, constructed of concrete, sheathed in timber, cascades down, stepping in a way that provides large flat public spaces and an amphitheatre of seating where street performances, local markets or a large gathering of up to 10,000 people could be accommodated.

The Building; a ‘high tech’ object, constructed from steel and translucent glass, is formed around two primary ideas; the first; a desire to reduce the building’s footprint on the precious public space, and the second; the creation of a colourful cultural object for the city, enticing the inquisitive visitor.

The Opera House is designed to dance in and out of people’s psyche on a visual level, to harbor and nurture the joy of music and to provide a public space where the people of Brisbane can congregate and celebrate.

Currently Brisbane’s city lacks a clear connection to its lifeblood, the river. The existing riverside expressway cutting the city from the water. A new podium bridges over the riverside expressway creating a connection between the city and the river. The tightly constrained site demands a new way of thinking, the traditional horizontal arrangement inadequate for the site. Instead the programs are stacked vertically, the foyer at the bottom, auditorium in the center, supporting spaces above, reducing the buildings length. The building is raised above the podium, providing solar access to the public space and sound protection to the auditorium. The neck of the building, containing the vertical circulation elements is restrained into one corner, further reducing the buildings footprint. A new pathway that connects the city to the river is now formed, and a public space where the people of Brisbane can congregate and celebrate is created.




Perspective view from the main pedestrian mall of Brisbane, the Queen St mall, down towards the river.

Podium Level Plan, RL 15

NE-SW Longitudinal Section.

NW-SE Transverse Section.


Auditorium Level, RL 65 (one of four levels) and Foyer Level Plan, RL 55.

Also by Lockhart-Krause: Bolton Point House
[images and descriptions courtesy Jesse Lockhart-Krause]
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