arpeggia:

Anish Kapoor - Leviathan, 2011 at The Grand Palais of Paris

Photo by Franck Bohbot

More: Anish Kapoor posts | Franck Bohbot posts

innovativ:

vegetation room inhotim

 

subtilitas:

Hermann Kaufman - LCT One office building, Dornbirn 2011. The structure, which is a pioneering system of prefabricated glue-lam wooden members laced with ribbed concrete, allowed the architect to build an eight story wooden tower (the highest legally allowed by the city) while maintaining proper fire separation between floors. The middle image further illustrates how ridiculous this system is; there are no screws or mechanical fasteners between materials; precast concrete pins are used to secure the wood members, whose grain is cut at the most dense point and oriented to combat the sheer forces created by the vertical columns (section). An amazingly delicate balance of fire protection, structural stability, and material strength.

innovativ:

The new Cathedral of the Northern Lights designed by Scandinavian practice SHL – Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects is located in Alta, a small town north of the Arctic Circle in the northernmost part of Norway. The town council wanted to have a new cathedral which would be an iconic building – both an architectural landmark and a fitting environment for observation of the Northern Lights.

The dynamic contours of the new church soar upward in a spiral shape, culminating with the tip of the clock tower 30 metres above the ground. This double spiral design defines the cathedral’s exterior and is intended to symbolise the meeting place of man and God. The central space within the spiral houses the cathedral sanctuary, which is a peaceful and contemplative space in contrast with the dynamic form of the rest of the building and the daily life outside. The central point of the spiral where the motion stops and the light streams in is marked by the location of the baptismal font. The church also accommodates an administrative section, lecture rooms and a congregational hall.

The lower level of the church building is flooded with light from large glass façades. A secondary layering of oblique screens constructed of laminated titanium envelops the entire building, including the windows and the clock tower. This device enhances the sculptural quality of the design as well as it reflects the Northern Lights when they illuminate the long periods of darkness during the Arctic winter. The laminated structure reflect the mysterious light shifts, accentuating the different effects this produces during the changing seasons and at different times of the day. Symbolically, the apertures within the titanium screens increase in size towards the upper part of the spiralling church tower.

The symbolic importance of the Northern Lights is subtly reflected in the design of the cathedral. The building is intended to signify Alta’s role as a place from where to observe the phenomenon of the Northern Lights. An area has therefore been specifically created inside the building where visitors and churchgoers can watch the Northern Lights.