TOWER OF RING BY EASTERN DESIGN OFFICE

 

This tower is lucid.　The visibility of this tower differs in accordance with the very motion of the atmosphere and every change of sky and light. No doubt this tower forgets that it is a tower. Building such a lucid tower in the middle of a big square, which is covered just by stones, can be referred to build a “void” in an empty space.

 

This square is the center of downtown Tianjin. Accordingly it is a very important place. We dare to design a void space and emptiness, which has no sense of presence. This way of thinking is based on oriental ideas. This tower is very oriental. People forget which one they look up to: the tower or the sky. It has an eye-opening shape, its beginning and ending is invisible. It is designed like a flow of stream, yet the form is very simple.

 

 

No observatory to climb up.

No space to play.

There is nothing inside.

Only emptiness.

 

 

It is a shape of waves, and a ring. It is a transparent vanity enclosed in a dragon shaped form. Lucid light pours into the empty tower. People’s happiness gathers around this serene tower. A square is basically a place where various kinds of people can share an intimae feeling. Although they are strangers to each other, when they are at the square they can have a friendly feeling like good neighbors. It is a place where they can be assured to stand on the common ground despite each person has his own way of living, job, nationality, home village and age. The transparent tower is located at the center of the square.

 

 

For those who regard a tower as a place just to climb up, they are embarrassed to note that it has neither inside nor outside. For those who admire a tower as a symbol of power, the tower will loose a sense of presence by the effect of transparency. For those who admire a tower only by the scale and heights, they loose the sight of the beautiful sky where wind blows and the color of the air changes to transparency.

 

 

A bewildered modern tower.

No ticket is necessary here.

No judgment is also required whether it is useful or useless.

No need to work like a slave, but just relax by the tower to dance, to walk, to take care of children, and to play, thus forget the time passed by lying down beneath the tower.

This style is very oriental.

 

 

Scattered flying clouds in the sky.

Splashing broken waves on the water surface.

A dragon that swallows wind, drinks dews and rides on the mist.

A beautiful dancing woman cladded with a thin clothe that reflects changes in the atmosphere. This tower represents soar without wings.

 

 

On Tianjin

Tianjin is located 115 kilometers southeast of Beijing. It is difficult to walk around. It is easy to get lost at Tianjin. This complexity of the geography can be traced to the complex history and current situation of Tianjin. Historically, Tianjin was a landing port for powerful western countries to enter China.

 

 

The basic data

This tower is built on the square of the new cultural district of Tianjin in China.

This square is located in front of the Tianjin’s assembly house, Daireido. You may call it something similar to the Tiananmen Square. It is a big square with stone　tiles. It is a welcome tower standing at the center of this square.

 

 

The diameter of this tower is 12 meters. No one should enter inside the tower but for maintenance. The tower stands six meters below surface ground. It is 64 meters from the basement level. The LED illumination embedded into the cast-steel produces a variety of night views. produced. The illuminated countdown panel for welcoming New Year is one of the major roles of this tower.

 

 

On Design and Structure

All the material used to build this tower is cast-steel. This is the only tower in the world that cast iron is exclusively used for the construction. This is the number one tower in the world. It was on December 31, 2011 when we started to make first drawings. The completion of the tower was June 10, 2012. From the start of planning, only four months were given until completion. Cast-steel is used to meet such a limited construction period.

 

 

1,168 pieces of wave shape pattern members are used for this tower. In case 4 pieces of wave* shaped cast-steel members make one member, more than 290 members can be made with only one tooling, so the tooling cost does not affect too much to the total building cost. Wave shape iron steel is a piece of a circle, and it has no straight part. It is twisted; this can be realized with cast steel. 73 of wavy levels are piled up to build a big cylinder shaped tower.

 

Location: Tianjin, China

Project Team: Eastern DesignOffice + Kawaguchi & Engineers

Client: Tianjin City

Year: 2012

Photographer: Koichi Torimura

GALLERIE D’ITALIA BY MICHELE DE LUCCHI

Nuovo polo museale nel cuore di Milano, tra via Manzoni e Piazza della Scala, con un percorso museale articolato nei palazzi del Gruppo Intesa San Paolo per complessivi 8.300 mq. di esposizione di opere dalla fine del Settecento a tutto il Novecento.

Un polo museale articolato in quattro palazzi:

• Palazzo Anguissola, opera settecentesca di Carlo Felice Soave definita dalle cronache del tempo «la casa forse più ammirata di Milano»;
• Palazzo Canonica, dal nome dell’architetto Luigi Canonica che lo ha progettato nella prima metà del secolo Ottocento, con una bella corte centrale ottagona;
• Palazzo Brentani, con i medaglioni di uomini illustri allineati sulla facciata;
• Palazzo Beltrami, dal nome dall’architetto Luca Beltrami che lo realizzò tra il 1906 e il 1911, con la poderosa facciata monumentale su Piazza della Scala.

Quattro differenti concezioni espositive, dove la relazione tra l’arredo e il contenitore architettonico riprende e attualizza quella delle epoche in cui i palazzi sono stati concepiti, ora completate con la seconda fase relativa al Cantiere del ‘900,  la prima fase relativa all’Ottocento è stata inaugurata il 3 Novembre 2011 ha accolto  140.000 visitatori in dodici mesi dall’apertura.

L’adattamento degli spazi e il progetto espositivo è curato dall’architetto Michele De Lucchi con un intervento di restauro architettonico e di light design per una resa illuminotecnica ottimale per l’esposizione delle opere.

Ridefinire gli spazi per renderli fruibili e continui soddisfacendo alla nuova funzione espositiva dotandoli di tutti i servizi museali necessari, bookshop, caffetteria ed altro, e tecnologici, illuminotecnica, climatizzazione e sicurezza e riadattando i caveau come scrigno per le opere non esposte.

Quest’ultimo pensato da Michele De Lucchi come “deposito aperto”, una wunderkammer dove confluirà buona parte della collezione del ‘900, permettendo al museo la periodica rotazione delle opere e la possibilità di ideare degli approfondimenti, di volta in volta diversi.

"La sala principale della banca è oggi sede del museo chiave", ha detto l'architetto Michele De Lucchi, che ha diretto il progetto i Cantiere ‘900. "Abbiamo lasciato porzioni dei banchi cassa originali, che sono ormai parte integrante dello spazio espositivo".

Una magnifica collezione dedicata all’arte contemporanea italiana con 200 opere, dalla a di Accardialla zeta di Zorio, che acciando dall’arte informale alla Pop Art con una collezione che si propone di rappresentare tutti i principali movimenti artistici dal 1950 al 1990, con dipinti di Emilio Vedova e collage di Alberto Burri, ed un'intera sezione dedicata a Lucio Fontana.

Il progetto espositivo è accompagnato da una serie di supporti multimediali curati da Francesca Pola, che danno la possibilità di approfondire argomenti,
opere e architetture, con due sale dedicate e postazioni lungo il percorso espositivo.

L’intervento di Cantiere ‘900 rappresenta l’ultima sezione delle Gallerie d’Italia definendo così un importante polo museale della città di Milano che certamente potrebbe tornare a competere con le più importanti città d’arte, non solo italiane, ma del resto del mondo.

GALAXY SOHO BY ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS

 

Zaha Hadid Architects have recently completed the Galaxy SOHO office and retail building in the historical centre of Beijing, China. Zaha Hadid joined Soho China's Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi, with 15,000 guests from China and around the world, to celebrate the completion of Galaxy Soho, Beijing.

 

"Working on Galaxy for Soho China was very exciting. The design responds to the varied contextual relationships and dynamic conditions of Beijing. We have created a variety of public spaces that directly engage with the city; reinterpreting the traditional urban fabric and contemporary living patterns into a seamless urban landscape inspired by nature," explains Hadid. "The natural rhythms and flows of the city, of the environment and of the people have been integrated within the design to define its formal composition."

 

 

Five continuous, flowing volumes coalesce to create an internal world of continuous open spaces within Galaxy Soho – a new office, retail entertainment complex devoid of corners or abrupt transitions – a re-inventing of the classical Chinese courtyard which generates an immersive, enveloping experience at the heart of Beijing.

These volumes generate what ZHA deems "a panoramic architecture", without corners or abrupt transitions breaking the fluidity of its formal composition. "The great interior courts of the project are a reflection of traditional Chinese architecture where courtyards create an internal world of continuous open spaces," the architects point out.

"Here, the architecture is no longer composed of rigid blocks, but instead comprised of volumes which generate a deep sense of immersion and envelopment. As users enter deeper into the building, they discover intimate spaces that follow the same coherent formal logic of continuous curvelinearity."

Galaxy Soho constitutes a new office, retail and entertainment complex for the heart of this great Chinese city – matching its grand scale. The complex comprises five continuous flowing volumes, set apart yet fused or linked by a sequence of stretched bridges.

Each volume adapts outwards, generating a panoramic architecture devoid of corners or abrupt transitions. Galaxy Soho reinvents the great interior courts of Chinese antiquity to create an internal world of continuous open spaces. Here, architecture no longer incorporates rigid blocks, but instead comprises volumes which coalesce to achieve continuous mutual adaptation and fluid movement between buildings.

Shifting plateaus impact upon each other to generate a deep sense of immersion and envelopment, allowing visitors to discover intimate spaces as they move deeper in the building. The structure’s three lower levels contain retail and entertainment facilities, those above provide works spaces for innovative businesses of many kinds, while top levels are dedicated to bars, restaurants and cafes – many with views along the city’s great avenues.

 

 

The lower three levels of the building house public facilities for retail and entertainment. The levels immediately above provide work spaces for clusters of innovative businesses, while the top of the building houses bars, restaurants and cafés, while simultaneously offering views along one of the city's avenues. "These different functions are interconnected through intimate interiors that are always linked with the city, helping to establish Galaxy SOHO as a major urban landmark for Beijing," state the architects.

 

 

With its inclusive, organic design incorporating innovative public spaces, all available units in Galaxy Soho were sold in 2011. Zaha Hadid Architects continue to develop the Wangjing (Beijing) and Sky (Shanghai) projects for Soho China.

 

Location: Beijing, China

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects

Design: Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher

Project Director: Satoshi Ohashi

Project Architect: Yoshi Uchiyama

Execution Team: Stephan Wurster, Michael Hill, Samer Chamoun, Eugene Leung, Rita Lee, Lillie Liu, Rolando Rodriguez-Leal, Wen Tao, Tom Wuenschmann, Seung-ho Yeo, Shuojiong Zhang, Michael Grau, Shu Hashimoto, Shao-Wei Huang, Chikara Inamura, Lydia Kim, Yasuko Kobayashi, Wang Lin, Yereem Park, Kelly Lee

Gross Floor Area: 332,857m²

SKATING TRAIL PAVILION BY LATERAL OFFICE

The Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail is a Guinness World Record-holding longest naturally frozen skating trail in the world. It begins at the heart of the city, The Forks and managed by the Festival du Voyageur, the river trail is a winter family tradition.

Concept/Strategy
This “warming hut” for the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail is inspired by snow- fences as a northern landscape management structure. However, rather than a barrier, this interpretation of the snow-fence is manipulated to be both a protective space and a playful passage.

The linear fence is splayed, warped, and wrapped to create a threshold to the river trail. It serves as a transition from snow and boots to ice and skates. Drift-Pass maintains a powerful dialogue with its environment and its visitors, with snowdrift leaving a trace of its figure on the snow and ice.

Response / Occupation

In homage to the snow fence, a lattice of CNC-milled plywood is finished in a bright orange, which signals both safety and warmth. The structure is partially wrapped in industrial grade felt, recycled from woolen fabrics. The felt envelopes the interior of spaces to block out wind and to create a soft, warm space of rest and transition.

Segments of the fence are cupped to face east or west privileging morning or evening sun exposure or protection from wind to create micro-climates within it. Benches line the interior pocket spaces, as well as some exteriors of structures to make Drift-Pass ideal for warming up, winter play and people-watching.

Drift-Pass has a deceptive, shape-shifting reading, it can seem at once as a closed or permeable figure. In plan, it is open and inviting to slalom through and within. In elevation it is more closed and intimate, with a series of small-scale interlocked spaces.

Construction

Drift-Pass is comprised of two materials: 1⁄2” thick industrial felt, and 1⁄2” thick plywood. The inter- locked plywood structure gives the pavilion its rigidity, while the felt lends it warmth and intimacy.

Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Architects: Lateral Officewith Kristiina Lahde

Project Team: Mason White, Lola Sheppard, Kristiina Lahde, Matthew Spremulli, Sophia Panova

Year: 2012-13

Competition: International Warming Hut v.2013

KLAKSVÍK’S CITY CENTRE BY HENNING LARSEN

Klaksvik is the second largest town in the Faroe Islands. The town center has an amazing location by the sea. Through this urban design competition, Klaksvík. Municipality wants to make the town the ideal location for industry, retail trade, and cultural events – as well as residential. The main site of the competition is a landfill on the bay,—an underused area (see above).

Klaksvík’s new city centre will be established where the two inlets meet. The urban development plan incorporates and strengthens the existing qualities of the city. It creates an adventurous and vibrant city centre with a sheltered city square that will provide the framework for cultural activities and numerous other opportunities. The city square forms a natural connection to the sea and will be the heart of the city.

Klaksvík is the second-largest city in the Faroe Islands and is situated in the island of Borðoy, the largest of the northern islands. Klaksvík spans over two opposite mountain ridges, connected by a low-lying area where two inlets meet. The location of the city makes it particularly exposed to the wind. Thus, comfort and microclimate are important factors in the development of the city. 

Displaced building volumes break the dominant south-east and north-west winds in Klaksvík and contribute to providing new comfortable shelter zones in the city. The new urban space is based on a star-shaped structure where the centre of the star constitutes the new sheltered city square. The pointed shape ensures that the new urban space is rooted in the existing city. 

Conversely, it also brings the surrounding city space, green areas, canals and beach spaces into the new square.Klaksvík City Centre consists of a continuous system of paths that connects the three districts built around different themes: a green, recreational area; an urban development with a central, unifying city square and shops, cafes, a library, public offices, residences etc.; a maritime district with a cultural house, a maritime museum, cafes, shops, residences etc. along the new promenade.

The proposal for the new city centre in Klaksvík, the Faroe Islands, is based on simulations of local wind conditions. The project team has worked with broken, displaced volumes and streets to ensure a calm and comfortable microclimate.Wind comfort depends on a number of elements, the natural weather conditions of the area and the specific buildings and urban spaces. 

Data from accessible local measurements, local experience and knowledge have been incorporated in the project. Klaksvík is situated in an area where two inlets meet, only separated by a low-lying area that brings together the city. The city is situated on two opposite mountain ridges where the rainy, southern winds occur more often than the cold, northern winds. 

Due to the two mountain ridges situated opposite each other from the south-east towards the north-west, the centre of Klaksvík is particularly exposed to winds from these two directions.

The perception of comfort and wind environment is subjective and cannot be quantified unambiguously. The displaced building volumes break the dominant winds and create comfortable shelter zones in the city. With more detailed, local measurements, it is possible to adjust the volumes and thus climatically optimise the building stock. Desciption of Hanning Larsen architects.

Location: Klaksvik, Faroe Islands

Architect: Henning Larsen architects

Area: :150,000 m2

Year: :2012

Client: :Municipality of Klaksvík

Type of assignment: :1st prize in open, international competition