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Moroso headquarters by David Adjaye

Architect David Adjaye has unveiled his design for the new headquarters of design brand Moroso on the outskirts of Udine, Italy.

The building is conceived as a village of smaller volumes containing
offices, linked by bridges and supported on a base containing the
public showrooms.

The whole will be wrapped in overlapping marble panels.

Here’s some more information from Moroso:

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The Site

The project site lies on the northern outskirts of Udine along the
arterial Via Nazionale route on the site of the office and production
facilities of the renowned Moroso furniture brand. The new office
headquarters are to be located in close proximity to the current
production building, respecting the 20m setback from the main road as
stipulated by local guidelines and – if at all possible – safeguarding
the row of existing handsome trees.

The site and its surroundings are characterized by a panoply of
mainly low-rise commercial and industrial buildings along the main road
and one- to three-storey residential buildings further inland. The
overall area of the premises amounts to roughly 44.500 sqm with the new
office headquarters occupying the south-western and the new production
building the eastern portion. The immediate surroundings are fairly flat
and in stark contrast with the 3000 meter high Alps mountain range
framing views looking east- and northwards.

A small village of houses

The architectural concept we have developed is the creation of a
very specific architectural gem which responds to the site, the brief
and the Moroso philosophy. The project has been organised in the manner
of a small village of houses that sit on a communal base. The base
harbours the public functions of showroom and presentation room with
the office spaces nestled within the houses above. These are linked by
bridges. On the top floor communal areas such as a lounge / library /
cafeteria and a large roof terrace are proposed. The articulation of
three blocks combines an intimacy of internal spaces with the benefit of
visual connectivity and excellent climate control. The positioning of
the volumes, cores and cantilevers is in careful response to the suns
daily movements, minimising glare and heat impact whilst allowing for
adequate lighting conditions.

Introversion

The introvert nature of the project not only reflects the sense of
togetherness of the Moroso working environment, but also responds to
site conditions and the issue of orientation. This introversion is
juxtaposed by maximising visual relationships with the hanging garden
and stunning mountain range to the north.

In-between Outdoor Spaces

As a result of the articulation of three-dimensional volumes on a
base and the partial wrapping of the overall form with the façade skin,
intriguing in-between outdoor spaces become an important focus of the
project. In combination with the sun’s movement an exciting play of
light and shadow comes to the forefront, which is different every day.

Volumes

The central – south-facing – volume acts as the main distributor by
housing the freestanding stair, the main void, lifts, restrooms and
meeting rooms. The two other – east and west-facing – volumes are
accessed via bridges and house the offices.

Circulation

The vertical circulation consists of a centrally located
freestanding stair that acts as a main connector between the Ground
Floor and the First Floor offices and three generous enclosed stairs,
which also act as escape stairs. This distribution allows short routes
from one level to the next, complemented by 2 no. lifts situated in the
central volume.

Garden / Terraces

The boundaries between inside and outside have been blurred by
introducing generous interlocking gardens and terraces, allowing
outdoor spaces to become areas of meeting, presentation, inspiration,
reflection, contemplation and relaxation. The new main garden consists
of a wide 1.5m high perimeter hedge, a water feature and different tree
species forming an arboretum in harmony with the existing trees.This is
complemented by a hanging garden of ferns concealing the old production
building and introducing a moment of quietness.

White Rock

The outer appearance of the new office building is characterised by
nobility, a combination of translucency/solidity and a play of
light/shadow. The external façade skin consists of white marble panels,
which are staggered and set back, thus resulting in an intriguing
day-and night-time effect.

Access

Visitors coming from the Client car park situated in the north
access the building in its north-western corner. Staff members access
the site via Via Dante and park their car in the underground parking
garage located underneath the building. Deliveries also access the
premises via Via Dante.

Materiality

Facades: white marble panels – staggered and set back / frameless fi
xed double-glazing panels / push-out glass window doors / hinged glass
window doors / glass balustrades
Internal Spaces: tinted, sparkled screed to showroom / timber-lined
auditorium / timber floors to office spaces, lounge and cafeteria /
tinted exposed concrete slabs / tinted exposed concrete staircases and
walls

57 Tivoli Road by b.e. Architecture

March 24th, 2010

Australian studio b.e. Architecture have completed a house in Melbourne clad in basalt slabs of varying size and thickness.

The house, 57 Tivoli Road, is located on a sloping corner plot and has internal courtyards.

A six metre-long window in the living room slides open over views of the city.

The interior is primarily fitted out in wood, with a staircase
twisting through the space and guest bedrooms clad floor to ceiling in
timber.

The following information is from the architects:

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57 TIVOLI ROAD

The Tivoli Road house is a private residence, located on a rare
inner-city corner site located within a streetscape of mixed housing
stock.

Its location allowed us to explore both built form and materials
selection, and is designed to act as a bookend to the other houses in
its block.

The exposed corner site meant a protective building was required for
both visual and acoustic privacy, and the design seeks to create an
enclosed shelter for the occupants.

To enhance the building’s reading as a single object, a single external material was chosen – bluestone.

The bluestone was selected for its durability and ability to age
kindly, while being sourced locally allowed the construction costs to
be lowered.

In order to create movement in the external faces, a paneling
technique was developed using the diamond sawn bluestone in varying
thickness and panel widths – the “chattered” effect the stone created
meant we could push the limit of residential architecture to a more
brutal, minimal built form.

To soften the expansive use of bluestone, the clients’ love of
timber was expressed within – where externally the bluestone dominates,
so too does the timber internally.

The building utilizes Spotted gum flooring throughout, with feature
bunk rooms for occasional visitors clad floor to ceiling, and a cranked
Blackwood stair in the two storey entrance space that serves as a
modern reference to the traditional spiral staircase.

Internal light courts were used to filter light throughout the site,
enclosed external courtyards used to incorporate landscaping, both
maintaining privacy and connection to the exterior conditions.

A six metre sliding window was employed to convert the living area
into a large entertaining terrace, borrowing views to the city in order
to instill a spaciousness uncommon in small inner city sites.

With all b.e. Architecture projects, the refined forms and
considered material selection are achieved by resolving every corner,
junction and detail with craft-like techniques, seen here particularly
in the subtle external texture designed to develop a patina affording
the building a timeless quality.

Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum by KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten

May 5th, 2010

German studio KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten have completed an art museum in Nanjing, China, with a series of narrow rectangular slits across the facade.

Called Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum, the building features two
u-shaped structures which are joined by a central glass-roofed atrium.

The  travertine stone façade is up broken by tall windows, which are shaded by sheet metal panels that jut out at a right angle.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

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On February 8 the Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum in Nanjing was
officially opened in the presence of high representatives of the
province of Jiangsu like Liang Baohua, the Secretary of the Provincial
Party Committee, Luo Zhijun, the Governor of the province and Zhang
Lianzhen, the Chairman of the People’s Political Consultative Committee
of Jiangsu.

Commissioned by Jiangsu Province represented by the Jiangsu Olympic
Center, the museum for traditional, Chinese art was designed by KSP
Jürgen Engel Architekten, Deutschland (Peking / Frankfurt/Main), and
realized in collaboration with its Chinese partner company Nanjing
Kingdom Architecture Design Co. Ltd. Located in the cultural center of
Nanjing and in the immediate proximity of the historical Presidential
Palace of today’s provincial capital, the new Jiangsu Provincial Art
Museum is one of the most important museums in south-east China.

It has space for temporary exhibitions and houses a permanent
collection featuring traditional Chinese art, which illustrates the
cultural wealth of Nanjing – one of the oldest cities in southern
China. The sizeable collection is kept in archive rooms in the Museum,
which meet today’s technical and strict conservation requirements.
Having previously designed the National Li- brary of China in Beijing,
the German company KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten has now completed its
second significant cultural building in China.

The eye-catching new museum, which won first prize in a competition
in 2006, takes up a several urban references from its deeply historical
location. The main entrance faces the main city square, Daxing Gong Shi
Min Square. In addition, the two structures of the Museum that stand at
slight angles to one another follow the two flanking thor- oughfares:
Zhongshan (or Revolution) Road, and Changjiang (or Culture) Road. The
two interlocking u-shaped buildings also create a space that is covered
with a light glass roof.

This 17-meter high access area, which narrows at its two main
entrances, links the two stone halves of the building and guides
visitors into the Museum. In the northern building, clear exhibition
rooms of varying sizes offer ideal conditions for presenting the works
of art. Two bridges spanning the glass-covered intermediate space
connect the exhibition area with the southern element. In addition to
training, conference and office space, this building also contains the
VIP area and the auditorium with seating for around 400 people.

The travertine natural stone facing with its narrow window
indentations obscures the sheer number of storeys and as such
reinforces the overall monolithic impression of the museum building.
Simultaneously, the alternation between vertical stone panels and
window slits with sheet metal jutting out at the sides creates rhythm
in the façade. The structural frame and the delicate construction of
the glass roof were developed in collaboration with Stuttgart-based
German engineers Breuninger.

Facts

Developer: Jiangsu Province, represented by the Jiangsu Olympic Center, China
Partner company: Nanjing Kingdom Architecture Design Co. Ltd., China
Structural engineering: Breuninger Tragwerksplanung, Dr. Ulrich Breuninger
Plot of land: approx. 10,605 m2
GSA: approx. 27,449 m2 (of which 18,210 m2 is above ground)
Competition: June, 2006, 1st prize

Paul Eluard Cultural Centre by OFF Architecture

May 5th, 2010

Paris studio OFF Architecture have won a competition to design a cultural centre in Cugnaux, France, with their design featuring a woven wooden façade.

Called Paul Eluard Cultural Centre, the building will comprise a
showroom, archive room, art school, library and amphitheatre, which
will all be organised around a central open-air lobby.

The amphitheatre will accommodate 400 seats and could be opened up
on the north-east facade to create an open air concert or festival
venue.

The woven wooden façade will include elements of different
thicknesses and lengths, and also feature in some of the interior
spaces.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

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Cultural center Paul Eluard in Cugnaux, France – Winning Competition, January 2010, 1st prize

Cugnaux is a low density city that has an iconic historical downtown near by Toulouse.

Its urban network is suffering: the streets are unorganised, the
shopping areas and services are split, the public spaces are useless
and inappropriate.

The impact of the project had to be strong and radiate beyond the
limits of Cugnaux, until the crown of Toulouse. It had to be a symbolic
regional place for cultural exchanges and initiate an urban renewal for
the city. But at the same time, the project should not break the scale
of the neighbourhood – mainly consisting of a low density suburban
fabric entangled in a dense vegetation.

We developed a high and compact building (36mx36mx18m) that can be
seen from all over the city. Indeed, it can be seen, located,
identified from far and interacts with the old city church’s bell.
A movement on the ground floor organizes all outdoor and public spaces around the project.

Thereby, a quality green landscaped park offers undulating hills to
shelter actual or potential programs such as the parking or any garage
sale, outside lounge, picnic. On the other hand, the vegetal canopy
helps to break and adapt the scale of the building to the surroundings:
the thin and long stems trees frame its height.

The main entrance of the building is served by a public square. It
establishes a strong link between the building and the city and
naturally leads the public to the lobby. Therefore, located on the
ground floor, the spacious glazed hall is like an extension of the
court allowing a smooth flow of circulations.

A “summer open position” creates a large lobby open to the outside,
blurring even more the limits between interior and exterior. The square
focuses Francazal Avenue, which is the main road from the downtown, and
extends until the limits of the car park to facilitate the flow of
motorized users.

The general organisation of the project is functional: it consists
of stacking simple programs-volumes. The building is designed as a very
compact object punctuated to its center by a patio that spans three
levels, bringing light and comfort.

All the vertical circulations of the building are organized in a
central core accessible from the main lobby. Four lifts serve the
different levels. Two are dedicated to the public whereas the others
secure an access to the staff.

Thus, the flows of people are clearly identified and facilitate
professional circulations between different poles: the showroom, the
main venue/amphitheater, the municipal archives, the school of art
education, the library, the cultural services and the technical rooms.
The overall distribution of the programs allows each of the spaces to
operate according to its own timetable and use.

The main amphitheatre, directly accessible from the lobby,
accommodates from 400 seats to 1000 standing people. Its arrangement
offers the public the best conditions of visibility and listening. The
use of mobile benches allows flexibility and mix of events : fairs,
challenging, banquets dancing.

Moreover, the room can also be open on the outer north-east facade
for concerts and festival events. Finally, the facade is part of the
whole concept. It is both a protective mesh and a remarkable external
sign: it is a woven wooden skin that plays with different densities an
scales for an optimal filtering effect based on thermal, visual and
ambient qualities for each program.

It provides a strong aesthetic that destroys the traditional
perception of a building in terms of scale and is more concerned with
developing the idea of an abstract urban signal. This organised-mess
envelope blurs the traditional limits and design of a building that we
usually get.

Client : Mairie de Cugnaux
Architects : OFF architecture associated to Duncan lewis Scape architecture.
Senography/ Museography : Ducks Scéno.
Structure: Iosis.
Acoustic: Viam acoustique.

Location : Cugnaux, France
Surface : 5000 m2
Budget : 7,5 M€
Project leader : Manal Rachdi and Tanguy Vermet,
Team : Matthieu Miquel, Lily Nourmansouri, Tiffany Chiang, Marie Lançon.

Rolex Learning Centre by SANAA

May 8th, 2010

Photographer Julien Lanoo has sent us his series of the Rolex Learning Centre in Switzerland, designed by Japanese architects SANAA.

The centre opened in February and is located on the campus of science and technology university EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne).

More information about the building in our earlier story.

See also:

SANAA win Pritzker Prize
Selected projects by SANAA
All our stories about SANAA

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Edgar Street Towers by IwamotoScott

May 9th, 2010

San Francisco architects IwamotoScott have completed a design study for a tower (above, right) straddling a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

The proposal was commissioned by New York’s Downtown Alliance as part of the Greenwich South project, a study into how to transform a 41 acre-site south of the World Trade Center site.

“The Downtown Alliance commissioned the larger project that this
tower is part of, Greenwich South, as a design study for the present,
as well as the near and distant future, for that part of Lower
Manhattan, to drum up interest in the private and public sectors,” says
IwamotoScott’s Craig Scott. “The particular brief of our site/project
was that it was part of the longer term vision.”

All images are by IwamotoScott except the one above, which is by Transparent House.

Here’s some text from IwamotoScott:

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Edgar Street Towers, Greenwich South, Lower Manhattan

IwamotoScott Architecture

Edgar Street Towers was produced by IwamotoScott for the Greenwich
South design study led by Architecture Research Office, Beyer Blinder
Belle and Architects & Planners and OPEN. Contributing architects,
artists and designers included Coen + Partners, DeWitt Godfrey,
IwamotoScott Architecture, Jorge Colmbo, Lewis.Tsuramaki.Lewis
Architects, Morphosis, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Transolar Climate
Engineering and WORKac.

Edgar Street Towers responds to its immediate site context while
establishing a strong relationship to the larger urban form of
Manhattan. The design is inspired by earlier visionary projects for
Manhattan that proposed new hybrids of architecture, infrastructure and
public space.

The towers’ design seeks to reinstate Edgar Street as an east-west
public way, reconnecting Greenwich and Washington streets. The space of
this passageway through the building twists upwards, rising through the
body of the towers, pinching at the mid level to allow for larger
floorplates, and culminating at a rooftop sky lobby and civic space.
This space at the towers’ crown is aligned with the primary Manhattan
street grid to the north, directly on axis with 5th Avenue.

Edgar Street Towers’ programmatic mixture serves the local
neighborhood while enhancing the public realm of lower Manhattan. The
scale and mix of uses aims to reflect the grandness of vision and
diversity of architectural experiences found for example in the premier
civic, cultural and commercial landmarks organized along 5th Avenue to
the north. This programmatic mixture is envisioned to include spaces
for living, working, art, performance, retail and a branch public
library.

The program is organized by the towers’ central branching atrium,
enhanced by daylight channeled from above via an integrated
light-transmitting fiber-optic array.

In addition, the atrium deploys bio-filtration terrariums occupying
hollow spaces within the floors, thus acting as the building’s lungs to
provide clean air to its occupants. By night, the light-flow is
reversed, whereby the fiber-optic array is lit from integrated
solar-charged battery packs.

On a macro scale, Edgar Street Towers takes advantage of the
visibility and prominence offered by its site, where its dynamic form
acts as a civic landmark and beacon for those coming to and leaving the
city.

Project Credits:

IwamotoScott principals: Lisa Iwamoto & Craig Scott

IwamotoScott project team: Ryan Golenberg, Stephanie Lin, John Kim, Blake Altshuler

Images: IwamotoScott all except NightAerial is by Transparent House

Leonardo Glass Cube by 3Deluxe

August 28th, 2008

Leonardo Glass Cube is a glass-fronted brand pavilion in Bad Driburg, Germany designed by 3Deluxe .

Designed for the Glaskoch Corporation and completed in May last year, the pavilion is used for informal meetings and corporate hospitality.

The pavilion features six metre high frame-less glass panels, fitted with disc springs to reduce stress from wind pressure.

The following is from 3Deluxe:

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Leonardo Glass Cube – Exhibition pavilion with conference rooms

Having developed a number of temporary architectures and several
virtual architectural concepts, the Leonardo Glass Cube is the first
permanent building implemented by 3deluxe. The result of the
interdisciplinary design process is an integrative concept that
combines architecture, interior design, graphic design and landscape
architecture into a complex aesthetic entity.

The grounds of the glaskoch corporation, which has been run by the
founding family for five generations and distributes innovative
high-grade glass and gift articles under the “Leonardo” brand name
world-wide, now boast striking corporate architecture. Since the
official inauguration on 24 May 2007 it now forms a central element in
the brand’s overall communicative presence.

As an atmospheric brandworld, the Leonardo Glass Cube conveys to
guests and the staff alike the company’s philosophy and visions in a
stimulating manner. The open floor plan layout of the clearly designed
and multi-functional Leonardo building enables an integrative linkage
of product presentation zones, seminar and meeting rooms, inspiring
work areas and a lot more besides across a total area of 1,200 square
meters.

Unlike previous interior projects – mostly designed as
self-contained experience spaces separated from the exterior and the
architectural context – the interior of the Leonardo Glass Cube is
closely interrelated to its surroundings. This aspect allows for a
reinterpretation of one of 3deluxe’s essential leitmotifs: the staged
overlaying of real and virtual elements with the intention of changing
both the space and the observer’s patterns of perception.

The glass façade of the building represents not only the interface
between interior and exterior, but also the passage to a
hyper-naturalistic world with heightened aesthetic appeal. A
transparent print slides into the insight or outlook as a subtly
visible image plane. The graphically illustrated elements displayed on
it were derived from the architecture and the surrounding landscape.
They create a subtle puzzle, mingling with the reflections of their
models in reality.

This process of visual concentration creates a more intense
impression of reality than the direct perception of real objects would
allow. In addition, through changes of perspective and the incidence of
light changing with daytime and seasons, a wide variety of appearances
is made possible. They lend the building poetic quality – stories can
be discovered, artificial landscapes explored.

The façade design not only entails references to the location and
the materiality of the company’s products, but also highlights a key
feature in the Leonardo brand philosophy: a modern, inspiring design
that fires the imagination and enables people to constantly perceive
and shape their environment anew.

By melding medium format images of 6 x 7 cm with computer
visualizations of the interior the design devised by 3deluxe graphics
brings together two media that are completely different in aesthetic
and crafts terms: digitally generated pixel images and analog
photography. The result: a pixel-perfect artwork sized 6 x 96 m with a
resolution of 100 dpi (which involves an immense volume of data).

It was printed onto PVB foil in 48 segments that were then laminated
onto the back of the glass in the interspace between the panes. Another
special feature lies in the transparent quality of the print in both
directions, rendering the conventional method of dot raster grids
superfluous.

The technology, at present only available in the US, was used for
the first time on such a large scale. The edificial structure consists
essentially of two formally contrasting elements: A geometrically
stringent, cube-like shell volume and a freeform positioned centrally
in the interior. The undulating, curved white wall encases an
introverted exhibition space and its other side circumscribes the
extroverted hallway along the glass façade.

This “space within space” arrangement meets the usage requirement of
an artificially-lit product presentation just as much as the high
demands placed on it by those lingering in the building. The hallway,
which is truly bathed in natural daylight, can be used for informal
meetings and events as well as short breaks. As such it is fitted out
for the most part with made-to-measure lounge furniture.

Three white sculptural structures, so-called ‘Genetics’, partly
extend through openings in the curved wall and connect the separate
zones of the building to each other again. The organic shape of the
objects necessitated an elaborate construction method: Their surfaces
are each composed of two deep-drawn semi-shells made of acrylic
material, for the production of which original size models first had to
be made. The substructure consists of a steel tubing, encased in a
timber skeleton frame.

One of the ‘Genetics’ marks the access point to the lobby, which is
set back from the façade inside the free form. The vertical pathways
through the two-storey building generally proceed along the fluently
formed boundary, in the centre of which a void crossed by bridges
connects top floor and basement.

Entering the Glass Cube through the ground-floor main entrance,
visitors encounter a space that opens up not just horizontally, but
also upwards and downwards. The ground-floor bridge affords a generous
view of the main exhibition area one storey below and provides an
initial point of orientation in the edifice as a whole. On both floors
the wall rolls in to form niches that are used for various functions
such as themed product orchestrations and meeting lounges.

The structure of the free-form inner wall represents an innovation
in dry construction: As the plasterboard panels of the outer layer can
only be bent one-dimensionally, experiments were conducted that
involved interlacing mutually curved panels in complex shapes. In
particular in the breaks in the wall the resulting joint design
predominates as a significant graphic design element.

In order to ensure that the wall realised corresponds precisely with
the 3D computer model, the full length projections of the wall segments
were divided into a dense grid of measurement points. On the side
facing the façade, the material nature of the white surface is visually
dissolved by means of a layer of gauze suspended in front. The natural
daylight pouring in produces dazzling moire effects in the translucent
fabric’s delicate texture, which in turn are reflected in the glass
facade.

The fact that the curvature of the walls and floors is continued in
the suspended ceiling in the form of a system of ventilation joints
also required high precision with regard to planning and execution.

Every single one of the approximately 250 plasterboard panels that
meet up with the joints was CNC milled, numbered and assembled using a
laying plan and exact measurement points, before the interstices were
filled with rectangular standard formats. So as to enable an almost
unhindered view outside, the glass façade was constructed over a width
of 36 meters without any pillars. In the joints of the six meter-high,
frameless panes of laminated safety glass thin steel cables are
suspended between floor and ceiling, disk springs counterbalance
deformations caused by wind pressure. Nor was there any need for
vertical supporting profiles on the corners of the building (façade
planning: Schlaich Bergermann und Partner).

On the glass façade ‘Genetics’ appear again in the form of
superimposed pilaster strips, which give the impression of a
two-dimensional silhouette of the structure on the interior. Their
ramifications are continued in a network of white concrete pathways
that surrounds the entire building and lets it grow together with its
location. An individual mould was made for each of the 187,
approximately eight square meter elements. The areas between the paths
are vegetated with lawn or sloped to illuminate the basement.

With its trailblazing corporate architecture, the Leonardo brand
once again presents itself in a visionary manner – in keeping with its
claim “inspiration for modern living“.

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Symbiotic Villa by Zaha Hadid

September 17th, 2008

Venice Architecture Biennale: here are some images of Symbiotic Villa, a house designed by Zaha Hadid for the Next-Gene 20 project in Taiwan.

The project has invited ten international architects and ten Taiwanese architects to design houses. More info and images in our earlier story.

The project was launched in Venice last week during the architecture biennale.

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Danish Pavilion at Expo 2010 by BIG

September 25th, 2008

Architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to design the Danish Pavilion for Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

The pavilion will incorporate 1500 bicycles for use by visitors during the Expo.

A bathing pool at the centre of the pavilion will be filled with sea water from Copenhagen harbour, shipped to Shanghai.

The Little Mermaid statue from Copenhagen harbour will be shipped to
Shanghai and installed in a bathing pool at the centre of the pavilion,
which will be filled with sea water also shipped from Copenhagen to
Shanghai.

The 3000 square metre pavilion will be made from white, painted steel and manufactured at a Chinese shipyard.

The facade will be perforated with with a pattern that the architects claim “reflects a Danish city silhouette”.

Here’s some more information from BIG:

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The Danish pavilion should not only exhibit the Danish virtues.
Through interaction, the visitors are able to actually experience some
of Copenhagen’s best attractions – the city bike, the harbor bath, the
nature playground and an ecological picnic.

The bike is a venacular means of transportation and a national
symbol – common to Denmark and China. In recent years it had a very
different fate in the two countries. While Copenhagen is striving to
become the world’s leading bike city, heavy motor traffic is rising in
Shanghai, where the car has become a symbol of wealth.

With the pavilion we relaunch the bike in Shanghai as a symbol of
modern lifestyle and sustainable urban development. The pavilion’s 1500
city bikes are offered for general use to the visitors during EXPO
2010. After the world exhibition it can be moved and placed in i.e.
Peoples Parc as a transferium for the bikes of Shanghai.

Both Shanghai and Copenhagen are harbor cities. However, the
polluting activities in the harbor have been replaced by harbor parcs
and cultural institutions in Denmark, and as a result the water has
become clean enough to swim in. In the heart of the pavilion lies a
harbor bath, which is filled up with seawater from Copenhagen harbour
shipped to Shanghai in a tank vessel. The Chinese can swim in the bath
and not only hear about the clean water but actually feel and taste it.
The Little Mermaid is sitting in the waterline of the harbor bath
exactly as she is in Copenhagen harbor. It is the original Mermaid
visiting China as a concrete example of the idea that the Danish
pavilion contains the real experience of the Danish city life.

While the Little Mermaid is in Shanghai, her place in Langelinie
will be occupied by three trendsetting Chinese artists and their
interpretation of the sculpture. The absence of the Mermaid will
increase her value as an attraction for the Danes and in this period it
will be possible to follow her life in Shanghai via a live transmission.

The pavilion is constructed as a monolithic self-supporting
construction in white-painted steel, manufactured at a Chinese
shipyard. Prefabrication will affect to an uncomplicated
transportation, effective samlingsproces, rational dismantling and
transfer. The synthetic light-blue coating used in Denmark for bicycle
paths will cover the roof. Inside, the floor will appear in epoxy, the
light-blue bicycle path respectively.

The sequence of events at the exhibition takes place between two
parallel facades – the internal and external. The internal is closed
and contains different functions of the pavilion. The width varies and
is defined by the programme of the inner space. The external facade,
pavilion’s façade outwards, is made of perforated steel that
represents/reflects a Danish city silhouette. In the evening time, the
indoor activity of the pavilion will be illuminated for passers-by.

CODE : XPO
PROJECT : Danish Pavilion EXPO 2010
TYPE : COMMISION
SIZE : 3.000m2
CLIENT : Erhvervs- og Byggestyrelsen
COLLABORATORS: 2+1, Arup AGU
LOCATION : Shanghai, China
STATUS : Ongoing

Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels
Project Architect: Niels Lund Petersen
Project team: Jan Magasanik, Kamil Szoltysek, Sonja Reisinger

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