Seattle Public Library’s Central Library

(image via: The Seattle Public Library)

Libraries are often funded by governments, corporations or through university endowment funds that provide architects with plenty of green with which to grow their visionary ideas. Case in point: the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library that dominates the corner of Madison and Fourth Street.

(image via: The Seattle Public Library)

Opened on May 23, 2004, the library was constructed using 18,400 cubic yards of poured concrete, enough glass to cover 5½ football fields and 4,644 tons of steel - enough (by weight) to build 20 copies of the Statue of Liberty.

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Parkway Central Library

(image via: Free Library of Philadelphia)

This is the bright and optimistic design for Philadelphia’s Parkway Central Library, planned by the architectural firm of Moshe Safdie and Associates, Inc., as an update & renovation to the existing Beaux-Arts library building. When completed, the library will offer visitors 300 public-access computers, a 550-seat public auditorium and an all-new Children’s Library which includes a Preschool Center and Craft Room.

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John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

(image via: JFK Library)

There’s another kind of library that can be very cool, regardless of one’s political slant - the presidential library. Above is the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum at Columbia point in Boston.

(image via: Museums of Boston)

Designed by renowned modernist architect I. M. Pei, the library displays soaring lines that characterize the hopes and dreams epitomized by the all too short Kennedy presidency. The complex is situated in a sprawling, 10-acre parklike setting that provides magnificent views of Boston’s harbor and skyline.

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Seeds by Brittany Bell

HOW CLAIRVOYANT STUDENTS BECOME NOW A DAYS.

SEE ONE APOCALYPSE BY A STUDENT BRITTANY BELL FROM NEWZEALAND.

Designer Brittany Bell, a student at Victoria University School of Design in Wellington,

New Zealand, has designed a conceptual seed archive.

“Seeds will be stored in the event of a future apocalypse,” explains Bell,

who goes on to say that “Structure is a plant that has grown from the city.”

The following text is from Brittany Bell:

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Every year more and more species of plants are becoming endangered or extinct.

The New Zealand government has proposed the notion to create a seed archive

for the Pacific Region to house its native plants and preserve them for future generations.

The major problem to overcome will be constructing architecture that will adapt

to the changing and unpredictable future environment. Therefore the architecture

will mimic the architecture of a plant, as plants have the innate ability to adapt to

their changing environment. The architecture of the seed archive is in the form

of a growing cytoskeleton of a plant.

It continues to grow and adapt to prevailing wind, rainfall and sun exposure.

For example the wings on the sides of the structure are heat sensitive and

move to accommodate the protected plants within.

The funnel forms in the interior act as the main structural columns,

but also house the large trees that need to grow upwards towards the sun.

The architecture will be able to grow and expand overtime and rely on

element-sensitive technology to exist without human presence.

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Dubai Dancing Towers by Zaha Hadid

Here is a comprehensive set of images of the Dancing Towers development in Business Bay, Dubai, designed by Zaha Hadid.

The project was launched last year and, when complete, will consist of three interlinking towers containing offices, apartments and a hotel.

Below is a statement from the architect:

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Architectural Project Narrative

Designing an Icon

Zaha Hadid’s design for the Dancing Towers confirms the role of Business Bay Development at the very forefront of Dubai’s rapidly changing future. The three towers rise above the creek and project themselves as an icon for the surrounding developments and for the gulf region.

The tower’s striking design creates a new presence that punctures the skyline with a powerful recognizable

silhouette. The fluid character of the towers is generated through an intrinsically dynamic

composition of volumes.

The towers are inter-twinned to share programmatic eleme

nts and rotate to maximize the views from the site towards the creek and neighbouring

developments.

The design quality of the towers to act as a symbol and icon extends beyond their scale and location. These qualities a

re derived from the boldness of the architectural concept, from

the ‘choreographed’ movement that combines the three towers in one overall gesture and

‘weaves’ with a series of public spaces through the podium, the bridges and the landscape

beyond.

Context

There will, in the future, become a silhouette of towers, whose pinnacles will represent the

hearts of the new districts within the greater metropolitan area of Dubai.

On the ground, the Business Bay development site will

become stitched into the proposed extended road and infrastructure network of the

enlarged metropolitan area. The new pedestrian routes and roads passing under and

around the Towers development will extend across the creek, bringing people

directly from Sheikh Zayed Road via a grid of major and minor thoroughfares and

boulevards.

Connectivity and Public Space

The site is composed by 4

different parts: (A) central circular plot, (B) an elongated park plot, (C) the surface of t

he creek on axis of plot A and (D) a rectangular plot across the creek at the west margin.

Connectivity between these parts becomes therefore central to the project; in order to

produce an articulated design that encompasses both the scale and the different qualities of each of the parts,

transforming them into a coherent scheme.

The circular shape of the plot and attached vehicular

circulation layout creates a barrier of vehicular traffic around the site, generating an

island that detaches the plot from the waterfront promenade.

By incorporating the design of two new link bridges and a new ground the project effectively multiplies the potential and

connectivity of the site, linking the park at the East - via the

towers with the water’s edge at the West margin of the creek.

The site’s spectacular location at the waterfront engages the project in the continuous

promenade that links through the whole development. By converting the semi-circular

road into a tunnel next to the waterfront the proposal

releases the ground surface to the pedestrian, significantly enlarging the public space of

the promenade. The podium addresses the waterfront by

extending it’s landscape across and inducing pedestrian

movement into the promenade at ground level.

The enclosed bridges allow

for people to walk from one point to the other in a comfortable shaded

environment. During the summer the bridges would be fully air conditioned. During t

he winter they would be opened and operate with natural cross ventilation.

The bridge across the creek has a double deck that allows

for two different uses: one fast - crossing the creek aided by escalators and travelators, a

nd the other slow with the

possibility of having a restaurants and shops on it’s

wider section. We envisage plot D as a landing building attached to the bridge,

programmed with leisure or entertainment activities.

This ‘habitable’ bridge, with it’s prominent location at the centre of the creek’ - it’s own

programme and design - will undoubtedly establish itself as an icon in it’s own right: a

destination for Dubai, attracting local public and foreign tourists alike.

The bridge to the east, links the park (B) with the retail podium and the Offices’ tower. The

design of the park carefully knits the built environment with nature. The proposed soft

landscape and water features create a more intimate

atmosphere, with a terrace of restaurants and bars embedded at the end of the

bridge.

The creek waterside promenade and the park

promenade address the water elements in two different scales of intervention. The creek public promenade offers the pub

lic broad views and vistas. The park provides a more intimate scale surrounded by the trees.

The two interventions enrich the overall development by creating a diversity of spaces that allow

for multiple uses and different ambiances.

In the proposal a new ground is created with a raised landscape, additional levels that contain programme underneath. Under the great arch formed by the merging of the Residential and the Hotel towers, this canyon - like arch space extends linking the two sides of the site and breaking the perimeter circulation. Arrival at the Hotel drop-off is done under the arch and plaza - townscape, with reception and concierge services, lounge area, as well as bars and restaurants underneath.

This canyon - like space between the towers has a seamless character, connecting the landscape around the podium, with a proposed network of pedestrian paths weaving around the base of the three towers and the podium various entrances and drop-offs. In the interior, the canyon links the two cores of the Hotel with the podium.

Programme

Programming of public and private life is an active tool to inject life into the space, integrating new layers of activity and landscape, creating a network of synergetic uses that can develop a new urban ecology.

The programme was addressed as a whole with the three towers corresponding directly to the three main functions: offices, hotel and residential. Together, the towers generate a critical mass of sustainable programmatic relationships.

The towers share a common base / podium, designed as a materialized shadow of the towers and programmed with retail, restaurants and amenities that support the demand from the tower’s population. The podium also contains peripheral functions of the Hotel like the Banquet Hall complex and all the residential car parking.

Under the podium 4 levels of basement accommodate all the necessary heavy back of house / servicing programme, underground technical and plant rooms and car parking for the Retail and Hotel (1st basement) and for the Offices (remaining 3 basements).

The podium terraces / rooftops create outdoor spaces for leisure and recreation, featuring public swimming pools, spa, sports areas and esplanade restaurants. The textured landscape quality of these terraces creates a new ground that interconnects between the towers.

The three towers are conjoined two by two, the Offices and the Hotel at the base and the Hotel and the Residential at the top. Through these adjacencies, the towers are strategically organized in a symbiotic relation, sharing certain segments of the programme.

On the 7th level, the floor plates of the Hotel and the Office towers merge creating a link to the Hotel Business Centre (part of the Offices tower) with meeting rooms, office facilities and services for guests.

The Residential tower shares a core with the hotel, enabling all the back of house / servicing spine to be combined. At 38th level, where the floor plates merge, the apartment residents can share some of the collective programme of the Hotel, like the indoor swimming pool and other amenities.

At the top of the Hotel, 65th Level, the three towers share a panoramic restaurant with breathtaking views over the creek, Business Bay Development area, Burj Dubai downtown, and the Gulf beyond.

The advantage of conjoining the three towers in one organism, resides in the fact that the development can be lived in a full day cycle: anchored in it’s residential population, it reaches the peak of activity during office hours and it mutates through the diversity of the ever-changing population of the hotel.

The heterogeneous population mix creates a cosmopolitan urban environment, constantly energized and renovated through it’s own life.

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Library and Learning Centre at the University of Economics & Business by Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects have won a competition to design a library and learning centre for the University of Economics & Business in Vienna, Austria.

The 28,000 square metre building forms the central part of a new campus for the university.

The learning centre will include a library, tutorial rooms, administration offices, student centre, book shop, cafeteria, and event space.

The project is due for completion in 2012.

Here’s some more information from Zaha Hadid Architects:

–

Zaha Hadid Architects wins competition for the Library and Learning Centre at the University of Economics & Business, Vienna, Austria

Zaha Hadid Architects have been selected as the architects of the Library and Learning Centre (LLC) at the University of Economics & Business, Vienna. The new Library and Learning Centre will be the centerpiece of the University’s new campus and provide a significant upgrade to the University’s services. In addition to the new library, the LLC will also provide a language laboratory, tutorial rooms, administration offices, student centre, book shop, cafeteria, clubrooms and event space.

The new Library and Learning Centre rises as a polygonal block from the centre of the new university campus. The LLC’s design takes the form of a cube with both inclined and straight edges. 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.

“I am delighted to be working in Vienna as I have a close affiliation with the city. As a centre of research, the Library and Learning Centre is forum for the exchange of ideas. It is very exciting for us to be part of the University’s expansion.” states Zaha Hadid.

Rector of the University of Economics & Business, Christoph Badelt said “A library and learning center should be more than a mere library in the classical sense: it is a research and a service facility, a workplace and lounge, a place of communication and a traffic hub, at one and the same time. With its breathtaking architecture, the design by Zaha Hadid manages to combine all the key functions of study in a most wonderful way. It is a vision that embodies this innovative concept of a university.”

PROGRAM: The LLC comprises a “Learning Center” with workplaces, lounges and cloakrooms, library, a language laboratory, training classrooms, administration offices, study services and central supporting services, copy shop, book shop, data center, cafeteria, event area, clubroom and auditorium.

CLIENT: University of Economics Vienna

ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects
Design: Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher
Project Architect: Cornelius Schlotthauer
Project Team: Marc-Philipp Nieberg, Kristoph Nowak, Enrico Kleinke, Stefan Rinnebach, Niels Kespohl, Jan Hübener, Romy Heiland, Richard Baumgartner

CONSULTANTS:
Structural Engineers: Arup Berlin
M&E Engineers: Arup Berlin
Façade Engineers: Arup Berlin
Cost Consultant: ATP Wien
Fire protection: HHP West, Bielefeld
Render Studio: Vectorvision, Leipzig

SIZE: 28.000m² net area
42.000m² gross area (205.000m³)
136m length,

Competiton
Two phase competition with six competitors in the first phase and three in the second phase.
1st prize: Zaha Hadid Architects
2nd prize: Morphosis
3rd prize: Prof. Hans Hollein
Other competitors: Studio Massimiliano Fuksas; Kada Wittfeld Studio

Start first phase: August 2008
Start second phase: October 2008
Decision: November 2008

Jury: Wolf D. Prix (head of jury)
Dietmar Eberle
Laura P. Spinadel (BUS Architekten, new campus masterplanner)
Peter Ehrenberger
Sepp Frank
Brian Cody

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Under Construction Gehry Partners, LLP MARTa Herford,Germany

Photo courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

MARTa Herford will be one of the first museums in Germany to present the interfaces between art, design, fashion and architecture as a site for reflection and aesthetic articulation.

Photo courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP


Photo courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

The fundamental design strategy involves the incorporation of a fragment of an industrial building now existing on the site with new buildings located to the South and to the North of the existing building, so that the existing building becomes the centerpiece of the new museum complex. Visitors will enter the complex through a new central entry plaza that is flanked on both sides by the new buildings.

Photo courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

The existing building consists of 3,425 square meters and includes the lobby for the complex and a retail store on the ground level, as well as galleries and a furniture testing area on the upper levels.

Photo courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

The original character of the existing building have been maintained. The exterior of both new buildings will be clad in brick and stainless steel.

Photo courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP


Sketch courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

Inauguration May 7, 2005.
Photographer Thomas Mayer documents the construction.

Photo: ©Thomas Mayer

Area: 7,000 gross square meters
Begin Design - 1998
Begin Construction - 2001
Expected Completion: 2005

Client:The City of Herford
Architect: Gehry Partners, LLP
Design Partner: Frank Gehry
Project Partner: Randy Jefferson
Project Designer: Edwin Chan
Project Architect: Kamran Ardalan
Project Team:
Michelle Kaufmann
Hiroshi Tokumaru
Andy Lui
Catriel Tulian
Rick Smith
Cara Cragan
Beat Schenk
Ali Jevanjee
Kurt Komraus
Sean Gale
Sean Gallivan
Diego Petrate
Reza Bagherzadeh

Executive Architect: Archimedes GbmH
Hartwig Röllkotter
Stefan Hoffmann
Birgit Bastiaan
Jørgen Beinke
Thomas Vollbracht
Structural Engineer: Bollinger + Grohmann
Mechanical Engineer: Construct
Lighting Consultant: ag Licht

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