DUO BY BÜRO OLE SCHEEREN

“The design for this Malaysian-Singaporean joint venture actively engages the space of the surrounding city to form a new civic nucleus in Singapore’s modern metropolis. The two towers are not conceived as autonomous objects, but defined by the spaces they create around them.

Singapore consistently ranks as one of Asia’s most livable cities. However, it is increasingly dominated by isolated individual towers that favor exclusion over social connectivity.

The prescribed zoning confronts the project with a dual dilemma: it splits the site into two separate pieces, and leaves large, bulky footprints for the resulting tower envelopes which risk overpowering the surroundings and the intimate scale of the adjacent historic Kampong Glam district.

The design for DUO subtracts circular carvings from the allowable building volumes in a series of concave movements that generate urban spaces – a kind of “urban poché” that co-opts adjacent buildings and symbiotically inscribes the two towers into their context.

By generating the massing through a subtractive process, the elevations of the new towers are reduced to slender profiles. Vertical facades rise skywards along the adjoining roads, while a net-like hexagonal pattern of sunshades reinforces the dynamic concave shapes.

The duo of tower volumes is further sculpted to feature a series of cantilevers and setbacks that evoke choreographed kinetic movements of the building silhouettes.

The buildings dematerialize as they reach the ground to provide a porous permeable landscape traversing the site. Leisure zones and gardens act as a connector between multiple transport hubs and establish a flow of tropical greenery and lively commercial activity, accessible to the public 24 hours a day.

A plaza, carved into the center of the towers and integrating the neighboring building as part of its perimeter, forms a new public nexus between the historic district of Kampong Glam and the extension of the city’s commercial corridor.

Multiple levels of vertical connectivity give access to large elevated terraces for the hotel and residents, a public observation deck and a sky restaurant atop the office/hotel tower, while establishing a direct connection to the adjacent underground MRT subway station.

Vehicular traffic is lifted off the ground to allow uninterrupted pedestrian circulation. Extensive landscape areas at the ground levels, elevated terraces, and roofscapes provide accessible green space equal to 100% of the site area. The development incorporates environmental strategies through passive and active energy efficient design and naturally ventilated spaces.

The building’s orientation is optimized to prevailing sun and wind angles, while the concave building massing captures and channels wind flows through and across the site, fostering cool microclimates within the shaded outdoor spaces. Embracing civic spaces in a symbiotic relationship with each other and thereby transforming the surrounding multivalent urban fabric, the two sculpted towers act as urban space generators.” Description of the Architett.

Location: Singapore

Architect: Buro OleScheeren

Partner: Eric Chang

Project Team: Claudia Hertrich, Jonas Aarsoe Larsen, Benjamin Ahrens, Tim Archambault, Dan Cheong, Nicolas Frez Madariaga, Nozomi Kanemitsu, Tait Kaplan,Kayeon Lee, Kris Provoost, Alex Rosenthal, Olaf Turck, Leonard Wong, Ali Yildirim; with Antonio Berton, Kim Bjarke, Catarina Canas, Andria Fong, Brian Fung, Yulia Gandasari, Mavis Liu, Daniel Mayer, Jascha Oakes, Kevin Ou, Mike Taylor, Sun Shuo, Tomohiro Sugeta,
Bruno Zhao

Executive Architect: DP Architects Pte Ltd

Civil and Structural Engineering: BECA Carter Hollings & Ferner (SE Asia) Pte Ltd, Singapore; Buro Happold Consulting Engineers (Beijing) Limited, Beijing
Building Services Engineering: BECA Carter Hollings & Ferner (SE Asia) Pte Ltd, Singapore

Environmental Sustainability Consultant: BECA Carter Hollings & Ferner (SE Asia) Pte Ltd, Singapore

Lighting Consultant: International Lighting Architecture Bureau Pte Ltd, Singapore
Landscape Architect: Coen Design International Pte Ltd, Singapore
Area: 26,700m2

Gross Floor Area: appx. 285,838m2 (3.08 million sq.ft.)

Client: M+S Pte. Ltd.

Commission: March 2011

Construction: 2013

Completion: 2017

SINGAPORE SUBORDINATE COURTS COMPLEX BY SERIE ARCHITECTS

The Singapore Subordinate Courts have announced the winning design for a new courts complex after an open competition process that started in September last year. The design, by London-based Serie Architects in collaboration with local Singaporean firm Multiply Architects, includes two new towers and the renovation of the existing Octagon courts building.

Serie and Multiply will work with CPG Consultants Pte Ltd to implement the design. One of the new towers will house the criminal courtrooms the other the judges' chambers and supporting functions. The two towers will be linked by a series of foot bridges that enable the controlled circulation necessary for the courtroom process.

The courtroom tower is an open frame supporting a series of shared terraces on which the courtrooms are placed: it has no external facade. In a metaphorical sense this represents the openness and impartiality of the judicial process. The outdoor terraces feature high rise gardens and are designed to allow views across the city thereby reinforcing the civic role of the building. The gardens will play an important role in filtering tropical sun.

The courtrooms will be clad in ribbed terracotta which will reflect the colours of the tiled roofs in the adjacent historic Chinatown shop-houses. The existing octagon courts building, built in the 1970s, will be refurbished and will house 35,000sqm of civil, family and juvenile courts. The two new 150m high towers will have an area of 110,000sqm and will accommodate 60 criminal courts. The new complex will be three times larger than the current courts.

The courts complex with a budget of US$350m is scheduled to begin construction next year and to be completed in 2019. The open design competition jury was headed up by internationally acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie. In a joint statement, the judges praised the 'simple but dignified' design which 'complements the conserved octagon without trying to outshine it.'

A public viewing was held in March to invite views on the shortlisted designs. Chris Lee, Principal at Serie Architects, comments, 'the relationship between the city and its civic buildings was our primary interest for this project. The new courts complex should be a building that is symbolically open and accessible to the public.

Its design language is drawn from the city should be readily understood by all Singaporeans. Serie and Multiply worked with structural engineers AKT II. Albert Williamson-Taylor, Partner at AKT II, commented 'with the continued debate surrounding sustainable tower design it is encouraging that a client like the Justice Department of Singapore is promoting innovative, environmentally-friendly architectural solutions'. Description of Serie Architects.

Location: Singapore

Architect: Serie Architects

Project Team: Chris Lee, Bolam Lee, Martin Jameson, Patrick Usbourne, Simon Whittle, Fei Wu

Mply Design Team: Monglin Yap, Alvin Foo, Paul Yeo, Sooyong Peu

Structural Engineering: AKT II

Mechanical Engineering: Bescon Consulting Engineers

Quantity Surveyors: Northcroft Lim Consultants

Executive Architects: CPG Consultants Pte Ltd

Area: 110,000 sqm

Status: To be completed in 2019

THE STAR PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE BY AEDAS

Star Performing Arts Centre is located in the Vista Xchange precinct of one-north, Singapore. One-north is a new 200-hectare development conceived to attract technology, media and cultural facilities, supported by the government of Singapore to create a ‘global talent hub’.

Its proximity to educational, social and recreational centres will appeal to both expatriates and locals of the broader Singapore community alike. The Centre's location will ensure easy access via public transport and two MRT lines, as well as from the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

The 54,000 sq.m. development comprises of cultural, civic & retail uses and when complete will provide a premier entertainment, lifestyle and retail experience for one-north and the wider Singapore community.

The design for the 24,000 sq.m. retail space responds to the challenging site topography as the zone spirals inwards addressing the major entry points and culminates in an open amphitheatre.

Above, a 40m high grand foyer creates a visual and spatial connection between the retail, civic and cultural zones. It also provides a canopy under which the public can experience outdoor entertainment and al-fresco dining while protected from the elements.

The focus of the cultural zone is a 5,000 plus seat auditorium, which will be the largest venue of its kind in Singapore capable of staging amplified musicals, concerts and other large scale visual events.

The venue is supported with administration, artist and technical support, function spaces, foyers, concessions and circulation spaces making up the remainder of the 30,000 sq.m. cultural and civic program.

The concept design is driven by the desire to blur the boundaries between retail and cultural zones and indoor and outdoor spaces with flowing spatial transitions that encourage discovery and deliver an energetic civic node serving one-north and beyond.

 

Location: Singapore

Architect: Aedas

Design Director: Andrew Bromberg

Area: 54,000m2

Imágenes: Renders de Aedas

Client: Rock Productions Pte Ltd (Cultural Complex) CapitaLand (Retail Complex)
Year: 2011

GARDENS BY THE "BUY"

Singapore è da anni un laboratorio per le più audaci sperimentazioni architettoniche ed urbanistiche ma anche economiche, politiche e sociali grazie ad una scientifica, rigorosa e disciplinata pianificazione come evidenzia anche nel testo, che risale al 1995, di Rem Koolhaas “Singapore Songlines”: “la città rappresenta la produzione ideologica degli ultimi tre decenni nella sua forma pura, incontaminata da residui contestuali sopravissuti. È guidata da un regime che ha escluso l’accidente e la casualità; anche la sua natura è interamente rifatta. È pura intenzione; se c’è caos, è caos ideato; se è brutta, è di una bruttezza progettata; se è assurda, è di una assurdità voluta.

 

Una piccola città-isola-stato, di poco oltre 600 Kmq. con 4 lingue ufficiali e 5 religioni per 4 milioni di abitanti, che rappresenta un modello pianificato dove tutto funziona, come nell’arte geomantica del Feng shui, coniugando anche elementi apparentemente contraddittori come tradizione e innovazione, progresso e benessere, inquinamento e ambientalismo.

Oggi, infatti, Singapore svolge un ruolo importante nella rivoluzione green business asiatica, con una politica mirata di incentivi fiscali, di sostegno statale e d’investimenti nel settore ambientale che attrae gruppi come la tedesca Bosch o la danese Vestas, leader mondiale nelle turbine eoliche.

L’Asia sta mettendo in atto gli studi sulla sostenibilità ambientali elaborati, e lasciati sulla carta, dell’Europa, e Singapore realizza un piano governativo denominato ‘The Singapore Green Plan 2012’, che e’ un documento programmatico decisivo sulla sostenibilità ambientale per il prossimo decennio.

Non solo pianifica il futuro, ma già realizza un prototipo con l’inaugurazione del “Gardens by the Bay”, un parco di oltre 100ha dove la natura si fa tecnologia e la tecnologia diventa naturale.

Due grandi serre, tra le più grandi al mondo, riproducono le condizioni climatiche e ambientali mediterranee e della giungla tropicale, essendo quella “reale” abbattuta per far spazio all’urbanizzazione.

Il tutto realizzato con vetri ad alta efficienza e con grandi vele che creano un ombreggiamento regolabile con un sistema automatizzato controllabile, “con un semplice telecomando”, senza il fastidio di insetti tropicali e tigri malesi che si possono visitare al vicino zoo.

Fuori le serre un rigoglioso eco-parco, costruito in parte su terreni bonificati, con 18 strutture alte fino a 50 metri denominate “supertree”, tronchi di cemento e rami di metallo su cui far crescere felci tropicali, orchidee e rampicanti, che hanno la funzione sostenibile di produrre energia solare e raccogliere l’acqua piovana, rendendo il parco autosufficiente, e di notte creeranno un’animazione di luci e proiezioni.

Per animare anche le serate del vicino Marina Bay Sands una “gigantesca tavola da stiro” con tre torri e roof garden al 55° piano dotato di una piscina lunga 150 metri che sembra di serfare tra le nuvole.

Il parco si può ammirare anche dalla vicina Flyer, la ruota panoramica di Marina Bay alla quale gli esperti del Feng Shui hanno imposto di invertire il senso di rotazione perché non coretto secondo l’antica disciplina.

Così anche Singapore ha il suo grande parco cittadino, come Londra e New York, ma a differenza di questi si paga 28 dollari per visitare le serre e soltanto 5 dollari per una passeggiata “treetop” sugli alberi con vista aerea.

Tutto questo con il plauso dei sostenitori dell’ambiente e della sostenibilità che si slanciano in interpretazioni del progetto addirittura come risarcimento della tecnologia alla natura, risarcendo così il mondo con un nuovo concetto di bellezza.

Ora la baia è in via di completamento con un nuovo parco hi-tech, un’altra grande attrazione turistica e una vetrina per la biodiversità e la sostenibilità nel e per il mondo all’interno di un programma governativo di trasformazione di Singapore in una “città in un giardino”, ovviamente tutto artificiale.

Tutto calcolato e programmato, la grande operazione di Singapore sarà un modello da esportare in tutto il mondo, e chi non lo dice se tra qualche anno anche da noi arriverà qualche supertree eventualmente adattato per le spiagge di Forte dei Marmi o in altri punti della Costa Smeralda in Sardegna.

Non penso che Rem voglia aggiungere qualcosa da quello già detto perché gia lo sapeva.