to Visual the Art

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 by nationally and internationally recognized artists. The facility also encompasses a 240-plus seat performance space, outdoor plazas, a sculpture garden, classrooms, a café and administrative offices. Scheduled to open in 2015, this non-collecting institution is designed to facilitate the way artists are working today by accommodating the increasing lack of barriers among different media and practices, mirroring the cross-disciplinary approach at VCU’s School of the Arts (VCUarts). VCUarts has long been the top public university graduate arts and design program in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report. The ICA will complement and enhance the offerings of VCU while also serving as a new destination for contemporary arts and culture in the region.

Steven Holl Architects’ design for the ICA will be presented in an exhibition opening April 26 at New York’s Meulensteen gallery. “Forking Time” includes more than 30 study models and concept drawings that depict the design’s evolution.

“The ICA will be a transformational resource for arts education, experimentation and for the enhancement of VCU and Richmond as a capital city committed to the arts,” said Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao. “The ICA brings a vital new dimension to us as a national research university, providing highly motivated students with opportunities to engage the arts in their learning experiences and to work across a range of disciplines. Steven Holl Architects’ design captures our global vision and commitment to human excellence. We look forward to the dynamic collaborations that the ICA will spark at VCU, within the region and around the world.”

Sited at the corner of Belvidere and Broad Streets directly off of Interstate 95, and one of Richmond’s busiest intersections, the ICA will form a gateway to the University and the city. The ICA will feature dual entrances—one facing Richmond and the other fronting VCU’s campus. At the heart of the building will be an inviting, double-height “forum,” a flexible space for both spontaneous encounters and planned events that connects to the ground-floor performance space and also opens to the sculpture garden and cafe. The galleries radiate out from the forum in forked arms, shaping the space of the garden. Large pivot doors open to the garden in order to create a seamless interplay between interior and exterior spaces. The open circulation serves to remove the formal protocols associated with entering traditional arts facilities. The three levels of galleries are linked through the open forum, allowing artists to create works that extend across, and visitors to circulate through, the spaces via a variety of paths. The ICA’s exterior walls of pre-weathered satin-finish zinc will complement its urban setting. Additional clear and translucent glass walls will create transparency, bringing natural light into the building during the day and radiating light at night, signaling the activities taking place within.
 

Island of Amager

The Blue Planet will be Northern Europe’s largest and most modern aquarium. Architecturally, the aquarium is shaped like a whirlpool, giving associations to eddies of fish, birds and sea currents. The building site is in Copenhagen, at the island of Amager, right at the coast of Øresund, north of Kastrup Havn, close to the Copenhagen Airport, and viewed from a plane the whirlpool shape will be shown in full. Approaching on the ground, one will experience the building as floating in a circular reflection pool, and a walk through its interior is a travel through several organic worlds. The solution also takes into account that the aquarium can later be expanded. The building’s gross area is 9,000 m2 plus outdoor facilities of 2,000 m2 plus parking.
Construction started in October 2010 and when the tank is finished in spring 2013, it will be one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions with around 700,000 visitors on a yearly basis. Moreover, it will the only aquarium in Denmark, primarily focused on exotic animals and plants – and hence global biodiversity. The building is now so far that the shell is finished and the steel structure is erected. Currently the molding of the walls is taking place. In total there will be placed 27.000m2 metal furring, which after the casting will be removed. The installation of aquarium techniques has begun and is expected to be completed in October 2012.

to Car the Art

Abu Dhabi is a car culture. The vast distances between destinations, the extreme heat and sand storms, the quality of the existing public transportation systems, and the current low cost of petrol in the UAE make the automobile the default means of transportation.

Compressive looks at this existing condition and, more specifically, the car as a representation of human beings’ very worst and very best achievement. While the resources consumed to manufacture and operate the car are astounding, the personal freedom the car affords is something that every society should strive for (personal freedom, that is). The car is an integral component of our existing lifestyle, and Compressive reexamines the interaction between person and car at various scales, while also questioning the current understanding of the parking lot as a type of “service space.” By utilizing the car as another form of vertical transportation the building can begin to register occupation by reacting to the weight of cars parked on various floors. By sectionally arranging the main programs of the mixed-use tower, groups of up to 5 floors will actually begin to sag with the weight of cars based on program use at different times throughout the day. The dynamic façade system intensifies this condition by folding out and up when the floors compress, allowing for more ventilation throughout the parking area in order to counteract the greater number of cars. Whatever solar protection is lost by the folding façade is made up for by the new condition of shorter floor-to-floor height of the surrounding parking ramps.

The compression is brought back to the scale of the human where the yellow pedestrian paths make their way from the parking spaces across the car ramps to the interior. When a car approaches a pedestrian path the road reacts locally to the car’s weight, causing an inverted speed bump and ensuring pedestrian safety. This reaction to the weight of occupation allows the user an intuitive understanding of not only their own impact on the space, but the impact of the aggregated population surrounding them as well.

Compressive was designed as part of the advanced Exotic Variables and States of Change studio led by Thom Faulders at the California College of the Arts. The challenge presented to the students was to examine emerging pattern models that would allow for growth and adaptive response, enabling them to explore process-driven territories and architectures of exaggeration. This approach allowed for an extension to current practices of environmental engagement to include exotic possibilities and novel formations, gained through artful entanglement and irregular conditions – pushing beyond simplistic notions of functionalism and economy.

a Necropolis

The concept of a Vertical Necropolis designed by architect Annkit kummar in Delhi is presented as a way to satisfy social prospects while proficiently exploiting scarce city land.

A vertical necropolis will free up a substantial amount of ground space for the living and provide within it a place of respite for the deceased. It will also create a space where diverse groups can feel comfortable grieving together. This way we will be able to see all people as equals.

The principal issue is the adverse effects of, practice of traditional methods of dealing with dead, by various religions, on the ecology. Environmental issues have not featured prominently with regard to bereavement, possibly due to the sensitivity of the subject.  This view is shifting as environmental issues are become progressively important.

The secondary issue is of land. The memorial park end up turning into dead space as it becomes less likely for individuals to use them as civic parks. Probably it’s time to utilize the square footage in a new, more efficient manner (going vertical)?

So what happens to the already existing cemeteries? They can be turned into wildlife reserve areas.

a Parametric DepthMap

Can parametric architecture be considered Architecture? Two of the eVolos 2011 Competition finalists, Patrick Bedarfand and Dimitrie Stefanescu would say so. Their C:Strip can be described as a singular manifesto for  meaningful use of computational techniques.

With the assistance of software analysis and various datascapes capturing different environmental influences, the design evolves into a multi-layered architectural object of almost permeable urban quality.

Ecotect was used in processing wind speed and insulation grids, calculating the optimal position of apertures and photovoltaics. In order to avoid disrupting the existing pedestrian flows and visual parameters, circulation analysis programmed in Processing/Java used starting parameters gathered by local observations. Functional distribution was carried out with careful attention to visual trajectories, relying on DepthMap calculations. Centric distribution of functions was replaced with grouping of facilities along motion paths, allowing not only spread of data, but also creating new information through societal behaviour.

Thus, two systems evolved: folding umbrellas with the ability to harvest grey water and heat energy, and the other situated inside the body of the object. Distribution of both depends on levels of necessity for adaptation along the strip area.

C: Strip confirms that, when used as  tools for  innovative concepts, new design techniques can play a significant role in shaping future architecture.  However, lack of critical and reasoned introspection in implementing these design trends often results in superficial and utopian experiments in form. Consequently, it alienates young practitioners and experienced professionals, making it look less as architectural avantgarde and more as something Han Solo would  fly.

between Gardens

Built in 2011 in the Spanish town of Motril, between the gardens of the Explanadas and the Park Pueblos de las Américas, the structure bridges the difference in height between these two areas and frees the passage of the Avenue Virgen de la Cabeza. The structures used are organic hexagons which allow easy adaptation to the surrounding environment, from host in its structure existing trees and adapt on the slopes to facilitate pedestrian traffic, allowing the movement of persons with motor disabilities.

The support of these structures is based on the lower bound for the Avenue, to emerge as ways to strengthen the gateway tree and at its upper bound. The conditions that have been taken into account are derived from the road shot, whichever save a minimum height of 5m gauge across the width of the Avenue. The structure was built with steel of varying thickness, so that the cutting and folding of the thin surface to create a continuous structural element gap. The clearances of the structure have been closed on its upper face by opaque surfaces that allow pedestrian traffic. In its lower face seals are sandwiched glazed incorporating LEDs, which allow both an illumination of the structure and the Avenue. The manufacturing process of the structures, continues with advanced manufacturing systems in which the architect must produce all the cutting of their projects through the programs of parametric design and scripting.

a Gaudi paraBolic

The design follows methods used by Gaudi for his church projects. This specific approach involved hanging the chains upside-down, showing the most opportune rib disposition and letting the gravity determine the strongest shape for the future building. Used in the chair design, the chain-models are combined with a software script to generate the structure of the ribs, informing of the complexity of the forces in a chair’s backrest. The chair is created by Studio Bram Geenen,  for their online Open Design Platform. The project was developed as part of the Furnistructures initiative, which involves extensive researches into structural systems, as found in nature and architecture, and the possibilities of designing lightweight furniture using such systems.

The script used to determine the structure of the ribs is based on three steps: the distribution of forces across the surface of the chair, the direction of the forces defines the direction of the ribs, and finally, the amount of force specifies the height of the rib. A thin shell made of carbon fiber deals with compression forces. The white beam-grid substructure resists bending of the shell. The substructure was made using rapid-prototyping techniques to achieve the required complexity. Carbon fiber was chosen for its lightness and strength.

a Scenario rooF

This project conceived by Design With Company contends with the competing and overlaid desires for the site of the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago by creating a new tourist destination and scenario-planning infrastructure from the existing architecture. On the roof, a 1:25 miniature replica of Chicago is constructed. A clear mound protects the model, provides space for artificial weather equipment and creates unexpected visual connections between both Chicagos. Within the mound, the model acts as a simulator for various future scenarios. Consequences of global warming, new construction, earthquakes, fires, asteroid impacts, tornados, blizzards etc. are tested repeatedly while appropriate action plans are calculated. On the exterior, the mound presents a new urban landmark along Lake Shore Drive, provides space for new lake shore activities, and redirects views through and around the existing building.
The desire and plan to secure the waterfront for public access and parkland is directly attributable to Daniel Burnham and the 1909 Chicago Plan. At the time, nature and the city were conceived as separate, complementary entities. The opportunity to get away from the city and into nature was believed to cleanse the spirit and the attempts to “aerate” the urban fabric were to let it “breath.” Nature injections within the vast artificial construction were thought to cure urban ills. This proposal updates this urban operation manual with a new unnatural natural landmark. A 1/25th scale snowglobe enhancement surgery for the city.
The story of the project is primarily told through the visitor information documents. These include maps, promotional material and merchandise catalogs. It is a National Geographic exploration of an urban nature, archeology and anthropology.
Team: Stewart Hicks, Allison Nemwmeyer w/ Min Chen

a Metaplasis Form in Greece

Christos Koukis designed this project at the University of Patras, Department of Architecture under the advice of professor Vasilis Stroumpakos. Metaplasia comes from the greek word ‘μετάπλασις’ (mĕ-tap′lă-sis) which means change in form. As a scientific terminology is being used in cases where a cell type is not robust enough to withstand a new environment and so it mutates in another type more adapted to it.

The definition matches the aim of this project; the conversion of an existing situation (site & concept ‘stadium’) to another one, more adapted to the reality of the area and the era. Located in Nea Philadelpheia, a suburb of Athens, where immense urban density and natural beauty (grove of N.Philadelpheia) coexist, and designed in the same place with a demolished stadium, metaplasia becomes a new system, building, entity that through simulation techniques, time-based mutation, gradual metamorphosis and adaptive logic becomes a new species.