Project facts and credits:
Address: Kajakvej, 2770 Kastrup, DK
Client: The Building Foundation ”Den Blå Planet” (Realdania, Knud Højgaards Fond, Tårnby Municipality)
Competition: 1st prize in invited competition 2008
Project development: 2010 – 2013
Size: 9.000 m2
Architect: 3XN
Engineer: Moe & Brødsgaard A/S

Inspired by the shape of water in endless motion, The Blue Planet is shaped as a great whirlpool. The new Denmark’s Aquarium is situated in the borderland between the worlds of Poseidon and Zeus. The walls and roofs form a single, continuous flow and are clad in a way which emphasizes the wavy outline of the building, thereby telling a story of this union. The first and longest of the whirlpool’s arms follows the shape of the landscape and the building, moving into the land.

Showroom Auto – Architecture concept by Simion Popa

Functionally the building is a combined office building, car salesroom and workshop. Formally we worked with two ideas, in which the first one was to work with dynamic curves, with each office floor offset in and out independently with its own curvature – inspired by the speed and dynamic which characterizes moving traffic.

Secondly, I introduced further themes in the endless façade by developing the story of what happened when a mighty force “bent” the building into place: Cracks would occur, and therefore we built stylized “cracks” to visualize the bending. The building is terraced to accommodate the falling terrain and hight of the neighbouring builidings.

“FLOATING OBSERVATORIES” Proposal by Dorin STEFAN’s DSBA, Mihai CARCIUN and upgrade.studio wins the “Taiwan Tower” Conceptual International Competition

“Starting from the ‘geographical’ visual of Taiwan ‐ which is an island resembling a leaf ‐ we have developed the concept of the technological tree: we have designed 8 spatial leaves (with eight being a propitious number in the local culture) in the form of zeppelin‐like elevators which glide up and down the ‘tree trunk” and which serve the purpose of observation decks / belvedere. I have called these elevators floating observatories because each has a nacelle which can take 50 to 80 people; they are self‐sustained by helium balloons and are built from lightweight materials (borrowed from the spacecraft industry) and are wrapped in a last‐generation type of membrane (PTFE) and they glide vertically on a track positioned vertically in a strong electro‐magnetic field” ‐ Romanian architect Dorin STEFAN, Principal, DSBA*

Architect: stud.Simion Popa
Location: Oradea, Romania
Project: Collective Housing / Concept
Project Area: 2430 sqm.
Project Year: 2010

Originally, the concept of collective housing was developed to help the daily lives of women by integrating housing, work and care. During the 1960’s the collective way of living went through a revival based on the spirit of solidarity as well as student and feminist movements. The importance of social networks and cooperation with neighbors became increasingly important in order to reduce the domestic work of shrinking households. While in the 1980’s around 50 new collective houses were built in Sweden, until recently the collective way of living has barely existed in Finland. Even though collective housing as a concept has spread in western countries, in most cases it is still understood as an alternative way of living.

The term “collective housing” is used in various contexts and as a housing type it may emphasize different kinds of functions and approaches. Typically collective housing is based on the active participation of the residents and it may have an ideological background. In addition, collective housing is related to specifc lifestyles as well as life situations. To put it simply, collective housing can be defned as the living arrangements of several autonomous households sharing some spaces, activities and facilities.

Program “ArchFeSt”- “RE-integrare”

28 mai VINERI

10.00 – deschidere “ArchFeSt” / festivalul studentesc de arhitectura, tema –

“RE-integrare”; lansare tema workshop – promenada Ciuperca.

10.30 – desfasurare workshop (interval de lucru – opt ore).

18.30 – dezbatere studenti-profesori, pe tema “RE-integrare” a obiectelor reciclabile.

19.00 – concluzii.

21.00 – deschidere “seara de film” RE-integrarea in spatiul urban/prof. Ramona Novicov – Moskva Caffe, Str. Moscovei nr. 8.

- proiectii indoor – film de arhitectura si scurt metraje – Moskva Caffe, Str. Moscovei nr. 8.

29 mai SAMBATA

11.00 – “Instant Architect” la cafea cu arhitectii – Cafenea Lord’s, Piata Unirii nr 2-4.

12.00 – prezentare concurs national de proiecte/an II si concluzii privind desfasurarea primului proiect la nivel national – promenada Ciuperca.

13.00 – colocviu – dezbatere libera studenti-profesori.

14.00 – vernisaj expozitie concurs national de proiecte/an II promenada Ciuperca.

16.00 – gala de premiere a workshop-ului.

17.00 – concluzii privind primul festival studentesc de arhitectura din Oradea.

22.00 – “ArchFeSt Party” – Moskva Caffe, Str. Moscovei nr. 8.

*mai multe detalii aici: http://asaoradea.blogspot.com/

Shanghai Expo 2010: Vienna practices Span and Zeytinoglu have won a competition to design the Austrian pavilion for Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

The Topology of Sound
“The main driving force behind the design of the Austrian Pavilion for the EXPO in Shanghai 2010 can be described as acoustic forces, or more accurately as music. Music as a concept that reflects continuity in terms of architectural articulation that seamlessly connects the various spaces within the program. The embodiment of the sonic conditions within the space manifest the architecture of the pavilion, which resonates to the rhythm of the Video Jockeys (VJs) performance – the conductor of the atmospheres within the main space.

The rich history of Austrian musical tradition makes it possible to create a performance program reaching from Baroque Music, to the classic area to the Modern age to contemporary acts. The space unfurls from within the topological body, from the main space, the audience chamber, to the exterior epidermis. This process creates pockets, pochés that include the rest of the program such as Shop, Restaurant, Office, and the VIP Area. Each one of those programmatic areas includes qualities co notated with the quality of living within Austrian conurbations: Music, Culture, Culinary expertise, urban textures, opulent landscapes and lavish foliages.“ (SPAN)

More about: dezeen.com

The concept design competition for the Romania Pavilion, “Exchange of Ideas”, was won by SC M&C Strategy Development who designed Greenopolis, “The green mega polis”. Name of the pavilion is term with universal meaning, metamorphosed in a fruit, the apple, which means health, knowledge, freshness, temptation, eternity. The surrounding Greenopolis landscape recreates principal elements of the nature (the lawn from the hills, rivers, grass).
The apple is divided in two parts: the main body from which is detached a slice, the secondary body. The inside architectural design has generous and multifunctional spaces, disposed on 5 floors and the access in Greenopolis follows a natural line which allows visiting all the modules without passing over any zone.

The ground floor: administrative offices, dressing-rooms for artists and auxiliary spaces/ depositing.
The first floor: the mixed space (indoor-outdoor) is dedicated to out-door cultural events, main constructive feature being the scene for music shows, theatre, dance, projections.
The second floor: the restaurant, is a space for relaxation and for tasting the traditional Romanian food and drink in a spectacular location which offers a panoramically view.
The third floor: multifunctional space/conference room.
The fourth floor is the panoramically platform out-door.

The secondary part- “the slice of the apple”, has, like the main body, indoor spaces (a multifunctional exhibitions hall) and outdoor spaces (a terraced lawn, a space for recreation and interaction).

For the entire period of World Expo 2010, the Romanian Pavilion will host various events, the most important activities being:
- cultural events (music, movies projections, dance, theatre, traditions);
- showrooms of art, design, multimedia events;
- conferences and seminars dedicated to the development of the economic, scientific, tourist exchanges.
More at: http://en.expo2010.cn/