News Review February 2009

SHELL PROVIDES PERFECT HIDING PLACE

Kotaro Ide creates residential retreat in Karuizawa

Situated within a dense thickness of trees the Shell House by Kotaro Ide of Artechnic unravels itself displaying its contrasting underbelly to the private audience of its owners.

Brazen yet shy, the house’s open form hidden within the trees presents an honest display of relevance to its situation. The curved forms synonymous with the outer shell of a snail or sea-faring crustacean stand on a plinth of wood creating the illusion that the form floats above the forest bed.

Glazed at ends and with roof lights, an airy interior space is created with which to enjoy the surroundings in comfort and explore the curving concrete intricacies of an otherwise simplistic design. Unobtrusive landscaping ensures the structure can breath in the space whilst maintaining a rural aesthetic.

Artechnic

Image of this fabolous idea

24 City , Chengdu , China

Modern Chengdu development focuses on youth market

Just seven months ago 4.8 million residents in China were made homeless and more than 69,000 killed by the Sichuan earthquake which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. Less than three months later this devastation was overshadowed by an international force as the Olympics came to Beijing. Now though, as the dust has settled on both the earthquake and the Games, the rebuilding of a region can start to be realised.

Chengdu was the worst hit city, being just 80 km away from the epicentre, but is now set to be the location of a new urban community, named 24 City, which will house 60,000 new residents. China Resources Land Limited as developer for the project have selected Callison to design phase one of the 3.3 million sq ft mixed-use project which will also include a 38-storey office tower and an indoor/outdoor retail center. In an effort to encourage and provide for young professionals moving into Chengdu, (Chengdu is host to 16 degree level universities), Callison’s design provides for a youthful and uplifting lifestyle. This is a design for living, not for relief. A hybrid retail complex modulates indoor/outdoor shopping and entertainment among lush landscaping and expansive view terraces. There is even an indoor skating rink, an 8-screen movie complex and a supermarket in the lower level of the office tower. Restaurants and the public garden will remain open after the center closes, offering public events and providing night-time entertainment for residents and visitors. While the complex will provide much needed housing in Chengdu and create a new wave of living quarter, it had been the subject of some controversy documented in a feature-length film by Chinese Director Jia Zhang Ke. ‘24 City’, a documentary-drama filmed before the earthquake struck, tells the story of the lives of those who worked in the factory which was demolished to make way for the complex. “420” factory was once a military aeroplane engine plant but in more recent, peaceful times produced consumer goods. Its closure left many who worked there for decades out of work. Despite the controversy the project is set to go ahead and design development will be completed by Callison before the Chinese New Year. Ground-breaking is scheduled for March 2009.

Niki May Young News Editor

Hadid with design for Library and Learning Centre in Vienna

a force to reckon with Zaha Hadid Architects have fended off competition from international rival firms Morphosis, Studio Massimiliano Fuksas, Kada Wittfeld Studio and Prof. Hans Hollein to win the design competition for the University of Economics & Business’s Library and Learning Centre (LLC) in Vienna.

A jury headed by Coop Himmelb(l)au’s Wolf Prix chose the deconstructivist design by Hadid and her counterpart Patrik Schumacher, to take central place in the new campus masterplan designed by BUSarchitecture. Described as a ‘polygonal block’ with ‘both inclined and straight edges’, ZHA’s design statement for the LLC reads: “The straight lines of the building’s exterior separate as they move inward, becoming curvilinear and fluid, generating a free-formed interior canyon that serves as the central public plaza. All the other facilities of the LLC are housed within a single volume that also divides, becoming two separate ribbons that wind around each other to enclose this glazed gathering space.”

The new 5-floor, 42,000 sq m LLC will house a learning centre as well as training rooms, admin offices, a library, clubroom, auditorium, book shop and ancillary service areas. Cornelius Schlotthauer of Zaha Hadid Architects will see the project through to completion which is due by the end of 2012.

Design for High School #9 realised as building completes

The design by Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au for the Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 for the visual and performing arts has completed and will open in September 2009 for the new term.

Central to the building is the suitably dramatic theatre which holds just short of 1,000 audience members and will be open to the public as well as the 1,800 students providing a public space which was previously lacking in the Grand Avenue area.

Each student is matriculated within one of four academies representing each of the arts disciplines, accordingly there are 4 separate classroom buildings as well as the theatre, the library and the cafeteria making up the seven building campus.

Coop Himmelb(l)au’s design concept is to use architectural signs as symbols to communicate the commitment of the Los Angeles community to Art. Like chess figures three sculptural buildings, which relate to the context of downtown Los Angeles and the program, redefine spatially and energetically the otherwise orthogonal arrangement of the master plan.

A Tower figure with spiralling ramp in the shape of the number 9 located on top of the theater’s flyloft serves as a widely visible sign for the Arts in the city and a point of identification for the students.

Inside the tower, an event, conference and exhibition space with a view across the city is planned to be located.

Enjoy it…

RenaltiSite.com

News Review February 2009