Henning Larsen Architects wins Georgian Aquarium

Danish architectural practice Henning Larsen Architects' winning proposal for Batumi Aquarium is inspired by the characteristic pebbles of the Batumi beach – shaped by sea currents through millennia. The 2,000 m2 aquarium will replace the previous aquarium of the port and will be situated on the beach side of Rustaveli Str. adjacent to Batumi 6 May Park featuring a Dolphinarium and Zoo.

The building will become a landmark and an organic reference to all elements of the sea… … It captures the special atmosphere by the sea and thus becomes a tribute to the power of the sea!

Design Director and Partner at Henning Larsen Architects, Louis Becker

+ Press release

Henning Larsen Architects has won first prize for its significant design concept for a new aquarium in the seaport of Batumi, the Republic of Georgia. The invited competition took place in spring 2010 and, in addition to Henning Larsen Architects, the German architecture company Drei Architekten and the two American companies PJA Architects and Pryor & Morrow Architects were in the running to win the competition.

The 2,000 m2 aquarium will replace the previous aquarium of the port and will be situated on the beach side of Rustaveli Str. adjacent to Batumi 6 May Park featuring a Dolphinarium and Zoo.

Inspired by the characteristic pebbles of the Batumi beach, continually shaped by the wash of the waves through millennia, the building stands out as an iconic rock formation visible from both land and sea. The for-mation constitutes four self-supporting exhibition areas where each of the four stones represents a unique marine biotype – the Aegean Sea & the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Black Sea & the Red Sea and finally the more interactive exhibition.

The building will become a landmark and an organic reference to all elements of the sea… … It captures the special atmosphere by the sea and thus becomes a tribute to the power of the sea!

Design Director and Partner at Henning Larsen Architects, Louis Becker

Batumi Aquarium will become a modern, cultural aquarium offering visi-tors an educational, entertaining and visually stimulating journey through the different seas. The central, multipurpose space in connection with the aquarium features a café and retail functions and its flexible layout makes it well-suited for presentations and workshops.

It has been important for us to create a design that relates explicitly to local characteristics of Batumi while at the same time reaching out to the world… … The aquarium interacts with its surroundings and becomes a manifestation of nature itself.

Anders Park, who is project manager for a number of Henning Larsen Architects' projects in Georgia

Unfolding around the aquarium, a landscape of different sea archipelagos provides attractive opportunities for innovative outdoor research and learning as well as informal meetings along the beachfront.

Its significant expression inspired by nature will not only make Batumi Aquarium a spectacular new landmark in Georgia but also a state-of-the-art contribution to exploring life underneath the sea surface.

+ Project description courtesy Henning Larsen Architects

Henning Larsen Architects' proposal for Batumi Aquarium is inspired by the characteristic pebbles of the Batumi beach – shaped by sea currents through millennia. The building stands out as an iconic rock formation visible from both land and sea. The formation constitutes four self-supporting exhibition areas with each stone representing a unique marine biotype – the Aegean Sea & the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Black Sea & the Red Sea and finally the more interactive exhibition space for teaching and "edutainment".

The new aquarium will replace the older, existing aquarium and will be situated on the beach side of Rustaveli Str. adjacent to Batumi 6 May Park featuring a Dolphinarium and a Zoo.

Batumi Aquarium will become a modern, cultural aquarium offering visitors an educational, entertaining and visually stimulating journey through the different seas. The central, multipurpose space in connection with the aquarium features a café and retail functions and its flexible layout makes it well-suited for presentations and workshops. Visitors can gather in the central space to play, eat, shop and relax before continuing through the exhibitions. An outdoor landscape of sea archipelagos surrounds the aquarium and provides the opportunity for innovative research and learning as well as informal meetings along the coast.

The City of Batumi

Batumi is the capital of the south-western province Adjara in Georgia. The city has approx. 120,000 citizens and is situated by the Black Sea, approx. 20 km from the border of Turkey. Batumi is a very active tourist city and commercial port. Unlike other cities in Georgia, the houses of Batumi are richly coloured and the city bears the mark of being a sailor city with a number of restaurants and cafés. Batumi also has wonderful beaches and many small hotels.

+ Project credits / data

Project: Batumi Aquarium

Location: Rustaveli Str., Batumi, The Republic of Georgia

Client: Association A.T.U.

Architect: Henning Larsen Architects

Gross floor area: 2,000 m2

Type of assignment: First prize in invited competition.

Project team: Louis Becker (design director, partner) Anders Park (project manager), Viggo Haremst (design responsible), Michael Sørensen and Jaewoo Chun.

Other participants: the German architecture company Drei Architekten as well as the two American companies PJA Architects and Pryor & Morrow Architects.

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Henning Larsen Architects

Global Information Network Amplifier | Sean Gair

UK-based designer Sean Gair has recently designed a new landmark for Aldgate international competition.

+ Project description courtesy of Sean Gair

Global Information Network Amplifyer [GINA] was concieved through the exploration and desire to embody the pride London boasts with its hosting of the XXX Olympiad in the summer of the year 2012. The structure will contain hundreds of fluctuating 'trend pods' that will ultimately hold and represent the global interests of 2012 and the Olympic aspirations of nations all over the world.

Social networking traffic and real time global interests will be monitored using simple online applications and proportionally quantified into litres of volumetric helium gas. Consequentely each popular keyword often in the form "#Olympics" will be allocated its own pod, and sister keywords within similar topics will be clustered in close proximity to each other.

Epitomizing the City's regeneration of the area of East London and serving as not only a functional amenity for providing information through a real time visualization, the intervention will also act as a transient moment of spatial/geographic interaction, organizing ones knowledge of their local and global environments. It is believed that through creating a habitable diagramatic architecture, GINA will act as a thriving 'data signpost' reinforcing the distinctive character of the Aldgate site. GINA would bring the street to life before, during and after the olympic and paralympic games.

+ Project credits / data

Architect: Sean Gair

Project: Global Information Network Amplifier | 2010

Program: A New Landmark for Aldgate international competition

Location: Aldgate, East London, England, UK

Client: The Architecture Foundation

Project Team: Sean Gair, Sandra Perez

Project Coordination: Sean Gair

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Sean Gair

University Campus Brno | A PLUS + A.M.O.S. DESIGN

Czech Republic-based A.M.O.S. DESIGN recently has completed the interior project for University Campus Brno located in Czech republic, Europe.

+ Project description courtesy of A.M.O.S. DESIGN

Masaryk University Campus is the largest project of its kind in the Czech Republic.

The project was set up in 2000 and the construction of the first part of the campus was completed in 2005. Currently the last parts of this imposing high-tech building are near to completion.

The detail park and office park form an integral part of the campus which will comprise also sporting, scientific and research facilities as well as residential premises in the near future.

The essential design concept for the campus is based on a clear spatial layout connecting science and technology with contemporary architecture. It is an excellent example of successful architectural design for the whole area including transport accessibility taking into consideration the nearby highway.

The interiors can boast a wide range of modern materials, among other things several significant corian applications. They include especially counters of help and front desks in individual buildings.

The desks were designed by A PLUS and made by A.M.O.S. DESIGN that specializes in using this material in public buildings.

+ Project credits / data

Project: University Campus Brno

Location: Czech republic , Europe

Architects: A PLUS a.s. Brno

Corian realizations in interiors: A.M.O.S. DESIGN s.r.o.

Realization: 2005-2010

+ All images courtesy of A.M.O.S. DESIGN

CAU Central Library: Overlap | Kim In Cheurl

CAU Central Library: Overlap is a refurbishment project designed by Kim in-cheurl+archium. It was restructured on the existing library which was built in 1959.

Architecture is an identification of place, a creation of individualism that makes it unique to anything else in the world. The place thus creates a memory with time.

The meaning of place is the result of an accumulation of memories.

Kim in-cheurl+archium

+ Project description courtesy of Kim In Cheurl

CAU Central Library: Overlap

Architecture is an identification of place, a creation of individualism that makes it unique to anything else in the world. The place thus creates a memory with time.

The meaning of place is the result of an accumulation of memories.

The Vestige

The existing library was designed in 1955 and completed in 1959 (50 years ago) by Cha Kyung-soon (1916 – 1974) a senior architect. He had already been related to Chung-ang University with the design of the pharmacy colleges (Phyper Hall) in 1953.

The horizontal mass from B1 to 3rd floor and the 7th story tower carry monumentality and architectural symbolism. The shape which is divided by the structure and envelope emphasize the grid and compose the windows in a simplistic manner. It shows the formality which is faithful to the modernism of the past by making a central courtyard over a rectangular plan into the centre of the space. Interesting elements are materials and details which create the executed design. There were materials which are not being used and produced anymore and construction methods which are old in their fashion. Removing the existing ceiling to expose the concrete allowed the building to portray its time in texture when plywood was of short resource. I supposed they would blend in with the new ones if I have them function again instead of discarding them. An emblem of CAU (Chung Ang University) standing prominently as the library building was supposed to be torn down at first, but it should be regarded as a memory since it is a representation of the history.

Light

Reading rooms extended to the rooftop make the space which is opened on roofs of curved surface. A crevice from intersecting curved surfaces act as a skylight and enables natural light into the deepest spaces. It needs artificial lighting to get sufficient illumination at certain times of the day, but I tried to make the most of artificial light during daytime. On the facade I adjusted the density of white stripes printed on the glass so that an external glass wall intersected vertically and perpendicularly with the curved roof can absorb sunlight selectively according to the condition of all directions. Those stripes arranged by various widths secure the outside view, however they screen the inside if seeing outside like a blind. With an opinion of a foundation reserving the lacking space filling a vacant courtyard, it is divided in half diagonally and filled with bamboo so that it creates light wells and ventilates well.

The Place

I had to replace the trace of time and the momentum of remembrance with architectural work. An expansion of space and improvement of environmental overlap with memories of its past remain. I left the existing elements at the bottom and put the light space above so that one can easily be seen. Lower-level floors and a canopy above the entrance retain its original form, thereby it's expected that a current picture is in collusion with time in the same context. The existing clock tower is used as a resting space in the library. A roof garden on the 5th floor and the tower on the 6th and 7th floors become an observatory viewing the Namsan Mountain beyond the Han river. The glass of the tower doesn't have vertical prints like the bottom, to enable a spectacular view. Inner space is finished with gray tone so that it is simply the background for the books and students who read them. I expected this library to be a light box carrying sunlight by day and radiating it out by night.

There could be a cultural change which used to be occupied with high heels and short skirts into sneakers and plain clothes. Its space can be filled with the atmosphere of archives in a monastery instead of splendour of a department store. It's because the place has dominance from the suitable culture matched with it, that the place can be realized after it is created and refined and no longer be a vacant ground.

+ Project credits / data

Project: CAU Central Library: Overlap

Location: 221 Heuk seok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, Korea

Site area: 174,891 m2

Floor area: 3,429.43 m2

Total floor area: 14,258.20 m2

Building to land ratio: 2.38 m2

Floor area ration: 9.42%

Building scope: B1, 7F

Architect: Kim in-cheurl+archium

Designer: Jo joonyoung

Supervisor: Jo joonyoung, Chung Sangjoon

Design period: 09.2008~12.2008

Construction period: 12.2008~09.2009

Client: CHUNG-ANG UNIVERSITY

Photography: © Park Young Chea

Structure: RC+STEEL STRUCTURE

Outside finishing: THK24Low-E pair glass(printed)+THK0.8 VM ZINC

Inside finishing: THK3 ST panel & rubber tile

Structural engineer: SEN Structural engineers Co.,LTD

Mechanical engineer: ENG Energy Design Lab & Geuk dong electronic design lab

Sign design & engineer: Park sun-mi & Dasantech-group A

Construction work: DOOSAN Engineering & Construction Co.,Ltd+ Hanmok interior design

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Kim In Cheurl | Photo by Park Young Chea

Crematorion Zorgvlied | GROUP A

The Netherlands-based GROUP A designs new building type for cremation – Crematorion Zorgvlied. It is the first Crematorion in the Netherlands, for Zorgvlied – the general cemetery of Amstelveen, situated in Amsterdam.

Cremation in a Crematorion emulates the experience associated with funerals. Its aim is to establish a new form for cremation, and to dispose of the efficient and business-like image often associated with crematoria.

GROUP A

+ Project description courtesy of GROUP A

Dutch architects GROUP A are currently working on the design of the first Crematorion in the Netherlands, for Zorgvlied – the general cemetery of Amstelveen, situated in Amsterdam. The historic cemetery, largely created in the 19th century by landscape architect Zocher, wants to be an innovative player in Amsterdam. The new Crematorion therefore aims to meet the needs of various user groups with diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, in the present as well as in the future.

Unlike a regular crematorium, a Crematorion focusses on the actual burning of the body – in layout as well as internal organization-, and on the spiritual thoughts and experiences that are connected with this event. A Crematorion is a stand-alone building, separate from the auditorium, that houses a cremation furnace and a processing room. After the ceremony in the auditorium, the casket is led to the Crematorion in a procession. The next of kin get to choose whether they want to leave the casket in a special forecourt, or whether they want to enter it into the furnace themselves. The furnace's opening is connected directly to the outside; people are standing underneath a canopy, but are not actually inside. Also, unlike a regular service at a crematorium, all invitees can be present at the moment the casket enters the furnace.

In the Crematorion, the last part of the farewell ritual takes place, that which symbolises the "return of the deceased to the cosmos".

Cremation in a Crematorion emulates the experience associated with funerals. Its aim is to establish a new form for cremation, and to dispose of the efficient and business-like image often associated with crematoria.

In GROUP A's design, the routing through the historic cemetery, the journey of the deceased and of the next of kin, from the entrance to the auditorium and then on to the Crematorion, plays an important role. The route leads from the entrance along the oldest parts of the cemetery, and halts at the auditorium. After the service the procession continues its way, along a pathway underneath monumental trees, towards the edge of the cemetery. There, the trees open towards the water, and there the new Crematorion is situated. The entrance to the forecourt is located one meter higher than the surrounding terrain, which gives the last part of the route an 'upwards' direction.

The building is embedded in the landscape. It consists of a canvas roof that allows light to fall through; it's possible to illuminate the roof in different colours, according to the wishes of the next of kin. The shape of the roof, which is surrounded on three sides by the landscape, blends into the surrounding hill. A layer of natural stone is laid out between the roof and the surrounding earthen mound, creating a smooth transition.

The roof is oriented towards the sun; the roofs' rotation is shaped by the difference between direction of the sunlight and the direction of the site. The opening in the top of the roof allows for sunlight to enter the interior, cascading down along a glass mosaic wall. This wall also functions as the separation between the forecourt and functional program of the Crematorion.

Final acceptance is planned for 2011.

+ Project credits / data

Architect: GROUP A

Project: Crematorion Zorgvlied

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

+ All images and drawings courtesy of GROUP A

Urbanhive | Kim In Cheurl

Korean architect Kim In Cheurl designed the innovative Urbanhive tower located in Seoul, South Korea. Urbanhive is a 17 levels of 70 meter high tower with white exposed concrete and contextually sits on the corner of the street within the urban matrix, featuring the perforated architectural façade.

The holes in the skin are designed to be a method of looking at the city from the space, an architecture that can also be enjoyed from the city.

Kim In Cheurl

+ Project description courtesy of Kim In Cheurl

Prosody of place – Buildings make places and places form the urban landscape

Urbanhive is a17-storied, 70 metre tower with white exposed concrete and contextually sits on the corner of the street within the urban matrix. The red brick tower designed by Mario Botta stands on the adjacent corner of the street, creating a landmark place in the city.

The urban matrix consists of latitude and longitude, these lines of origin will cross paths and meet. Urban energy is gathered at these points. Not only the physical energy concentrated and spreading, but also the symbolic energy of the co-ordinates of urban space concentrates at these points.

Urbanhive; a punched concrete box is an element in the matrix, creating urban landscape and consequently making a relation between the place and the city.

Purity of concrete with monolithic simplicity catches the floating city for a moment, exposing the architectural structure and reversing the curtain wall (a skin wrapping a space).

The holes in the skin are designed to be a method of looking at the city from the space, an architecture that can also be enjoyed from the city.

Looking at the landscape of a city from a sequence of framed view enables us to discover new meaning of daily life.

The transparent glass screen, separated from structural holes, is only to maintain the internal conditions, not to serve as a window.

The circular cell placed diagonally reduces weight of a rectangular tube, reinforced concrete structure.

The cast are made of P.O steel using a laser cutting machine and packed with high strength high flow concrete.

Exposed concrete is not only an external material creating an architectural façade, but it can also be the finishing material for interiors.

Interiors identified with exteriors blur the line between in and out.

Although it is a multi storied building, there is not an entrance hall or lobby.

A point where a building meets a city, it introduces a series of new spaces; voids and massing.

The open space spreading in and out of the building is a public space.

People can be directly connected to their own space form an urban road.

The corridor of each floor is open to the outside as if an urban road is extended.

The subway is linked from B2 floor and its entrance is covered as a part of Urbanhive.

+ Project credits / data

Architect: Kim In Cheurl

Project: Urbanhive

Location: Seoul, South Korea

Photography: © Park Young Chea

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Kim In Cheurl | Photo by Park Young Chea