SWEDISH INSTITUTE’S NELSON CULTURAL CENTER BY HGA

 

The American Swedish Institute, a museum and cultural center with an international reputation on historic Park Avenue in the heart of South Minneapolis, today unveiled designs for the Nelson Cultural Center, a building to be constructed adjacent to the iconic Turnblad Mansion to accommodate growing programs and audiences. 

Inspired by the distinct beauty of the historic residence and the unique history of Swedish architecture, this addition and renovation includes a new Nelson Education and Cultural Center and improvements to the historic 1908 Turnblad mansion. The design considers contemporary and traditional Swedish aesthetics while prioritizing the use of sustainable technologies. 

Architectural elements emphasize natural wood, glass, stone and textiles; an open and welcoming layout; and handcrafted detailing. The Education and Cultural Center includes facilities for contemporary exhibitions, administrative offices, collections care, and expanded programs.

Landscape architecture

At the center of the expansion, an open lawn serves two purposes: It creates a field for 90 geothermal wells that will be used to cool and heat the expansion while doubling as a gathering space for outdoor events.

Additional gardens recall Sweden's rich design history through traditional planted forms and species native to both Sweden and Minnesota.

Collectively, these gardens unify a city block to create a cohesive urban place shared by the institution and the community.

Architectural project

The architectural details relate stories of Swedish culture and local history, from the addition’s slate façade that parallels the same slate on the mansion’s roof to the Swedish art-glass inspired entry.

But also custom tile by local craftsmen, large-format trompe-l’oeil textile commissioned for the lobby, handrails wrapped in leather by a local saddle maker, and nautical-themed wood ceiling in the event space inspired by the Stockholm City Hall’s timber roof.

Sustainability

Collaboration with Swedish artists and architects informed the design of the Nelson Cultural Center and grounds, which incorporate contemporary and traditional Swedish aesthetics while prioritizing community sensitivity and sustainable initiatives.

These initiatives, influenced by Sweden’s broad commitment to sustainability and recognized by the King and Queen at the recent Royal Dedication Ceremony, include the use of natural landscapes, vegetated roofs, low potable and irrigation water usage, a holistic approach to energy reduction including ground source geothermal heating and cooling, and an exceptional occupant experience.

To ensure achievement of verifiable results, the project is pursuing LEED Gold certification, and would be the first museum in the Minnesota to achieve this status.

Location: Minneapolis, USA 
Architects: HGA 
Design Team: Nancy Blankfard, Andy Weyenberg 
Structural Engineer: Sarah Jorczk, Gina Boogren 
Mechanical Engineer: Craig Lemma, Scott Lichty 
Electrical Engineer: Helen Peterson 
Civil Engineer: Erik Hansen 
Interior Designer: Rich Bonnin, Laurie Rother 
Landscape Architect: Ross Altheimer ASLA, LEED AP, Erica Christenson 
Lighting Designer: Tao Ham, Chrysanthi Stockwell 
Area: 47,038 sq ft 
Year: 2012 
Photographs: Paul Crosby

OKE BY AQ4 ARQUITECTURA

La nuova Casa della Cultura di Ortuella si inserisce in un programma di riconversione della zona mineraria di Vizcaya, una provincia autonoma dei Paesi Baschi a nord della Spagna.

Un piano che punta decisamente verso il rilancio culturale e turistico di un’area profondamente segnata da una economia che ha trasformato il territorio fino alla fine del XX secolo.

Ferro e mare sono gli elementi distintivi dell’economia della regione, basata sulla siderurgia pesante e sulle attività portuali e navali, ormai obsoleta e sostituita da una nuova governanceterritoriale per favorire un processo di sviluppo, coesione e sostenibilità.

Oltre al Guggenheim Museum di Bilbao, principale fulcro attrattivo turistico, si percorre la strada di interventi capillari di riqualificazione che interessano anche piccole comunità come quella di Ortuella, a pochi chilometri da Bilbao.

La nascita di OKE a Ortuella fa parte di questo processo di rinnovamento socio-economico dell’area con il preciso intento di realizzare nuovi poli di aggregazione urbana e divenire così il nuovo centro culturale della comunità.

Per questo viene realizzata nel cuore del centro abitato dove converge la strada principale con la piazza a caratterizzare lo spazio pubblico più importante del paese.

Un’architettura che dialoga con il contesto urbano con volumi che da un lato si aprono all’esterno con un basamento in cemento che definisce nuovi spazi pubblici lasciando alla piazza una funzione prevalente a parcheggio.

Dall’altro verso la strada mostra volumi netti e definiti, rivestiti in Corten, che evidenziano un carattere monumentale fortemente evocativo dell’identità del luogo ispirato dalle vecchie miniere di ferro.

 

 

Location: Ortuella, Spain

Architects: aq4 arquitectura

Project Team: Ibon Bilbao, Jordi Campos Garcia, Caterina Figuerola Tomás, Carlos Gelpí Almirall

Collaborators : Iván Pena, Alberto Berga, Javier González, Albert Duque, María Ruiz, Mónica Molas, Alessandra Sirianni

Area: 3,472 sqm

Year: 2011

Client: City of Ortuella

Photographs: Adrià Goula Sardà

CULTURAL CENTER BY ATELIERS O-S ARCHITECTES

Located in the town of Nevers, the new Cultural Centre is a public facility in the middle of a restructured district, which will host local organizations.

The location of the building will preconfigure the organization of the public space, surrounded by the Avenue Lyauteyto the north, renovated housing to the west and the south and new housing to the east.

“The strategic position of the cultural centre and the program led us to design a compact and generous project, as an extension of the public space enhancing the identity and image of the neighbourhood.”

The architects conceived the bleachers at the front of the building as a tiered public square that can be used for events, games, or simply as a picnicking spot for local residents, “like an agora overlooking the neighbourhood,” they explain, referencing the ancient Greek name for an assembly place.

The main elements of the program are organized on two levels, around a federative patio bringing light and cohesion in the heart of the project: a multipurpose room of 220 seats, a dance hall, working and meeting rooms and an educational childcare structure.

Visitors to the building enter through a double-height atrium, which leads through to a 220-seat auditorium on the ground floor. Other facilites on this floor include a creche and a series of event rooms, while a dance hall and meeting rooms occupy the first floor.

Glazed walls surround the central courtyard on two sides to bring natural light into the ground floor corridors, while a private first-floor balcony overlooks the space from above.

Behind the timber cladding, the building has walls of concrete is covered by a wooden autoclaved cladding, intended to “create a friendly environment” in a tough environment.

 

 

Location: Nevers, France

Architects: Ateliers O-S architectes

Design Team: Vincent Baur, Guillaume Colboc, Gaël Le Nouëne, Aurélie Louesdon, Kit Chung

Area: 1,613 sqm

Year: 2012

HEYDAR ALIYEV CULTURAL CENTER BY ZAHA HADID

A major new venue and landmark structure, the Haydar Aliyev Cultural Centre will play a pivotal role in the redevelopment of Baku.

Defining a new neighborhood designated for residential, offices, hotel and commercial centre; facing out onto a new outdoor piazza.

This most fluid of buildings emerges through the folding of the surrounding landscape’s natural topography which extends to ‘wrap’ the different functions housed within – each one represented by the folds in the centre’s continuous surface.

“Emerging from the surrounding landscape, this most fluid of structures provides a major new venue, landmark and source of regeneration for the city of Baku.

Admitting visitors to a library, museum and conference centre through folds in its continuous outer skin, the interior spaces flooded with natural light via a glass façade.” Zaha Hadid says.

This fluidity connects diverse cultural spaces while also providing each with its own identity and privacy.

The museum faces out into the landscape – participating in the urban fabric of the city developing around the site, its glass façade subtly interrupted by the sculptural interplay between outer skin and ground.

Natural light ‘floods’ the interior via a glass façade. The library faces north, effectively controlling admitted light, while reading and archive floors are stacked and wrapped within the folds of the outer envelope.

The floors fall to each other with ramps connecting them, allowing continuous circulation.

Library and museum are further connected by a ramp that leads through the ground floor of the Library to the first floor of the Museum, while a bridge ‘flies’ across the library foyer connecting to the conference centre.

The conference centre accommodates three auditoriums of different sizes, all with direct access to the external plaza through a main entrance located within the void created by ‘stretching’ the volume’s outer skin.

Surrounding landscape rises to merge with the building, forming radiated earth mounds, while the building itself blends with its surrounds to form the new plaza – a forum for public engagement.

 

 

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects

Area: 101,801m²

Building: 57,519m²

Site: 111,292m²

Footprint: 15,514m²

Year: 2007 –2012

Client: The Republic of Azerbaijan