Louvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Nouvel design to combine with the exhibition architecture of Nathalie Crinière

Agence France-Museums, in partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), have announced the firm of Nathalie Crinière as exhibition designers for for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, one of the five major institutions being planned for Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island Cultural District. Nathalie Crinière was awarded the project through a competition among an all French line-up of six invited design firms and will now combine their design with the existing architecture design by Pritzker Prize winning architect Jean Nouvel.

Nouvel’s design concept refers to the existing landscape as arid and explains that this has given way for the design to evolve into fantasy. This can clearly be seen in the renderings which show an expansive web dome ceiling and large water pools complementing the white walls and open spaces.

The 26,000 sq m Nouvel building will join the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, by Lord Norman Foster; the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, by Frank Gehry; a performing arts center, by Zaha Hadid; and a maritime museum, designed by Tadao Ando to create the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, planned to be the world’s largest single concentration of premier cultural institutions. Louvre Abu Dhabi is currently scheduled for ground breaking later in the year and completion in 2012-2013.

Niki May Young
News Editor
source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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Shell House, Karuizawa, Japan

Kotaro Ide creates residential retreat in Karuizawa

Situated within a dense thickness of trees the Shell House by Kotaro Ide of Artechnic unravels itself displaying its contrasting underbelly to the private audience of its owners. Brazen yet shy, the house’s open form hidden within the trees presents an honest display of relevance to its situation. The curved forms synonymous with the outer shell of a snail or sea-faring crustacean stand on a plinth of wood creating the illusion that the form floats above the forest bed.

Glazed at ends and with roof lights, an airy interior space is created with which to enjoy the surroundings in comfort and explore the curving concrete intricacies of an otherwise simplistic design. Unobtrusive landscaping ensures the structure can breath in the space whilst maintaining a rural aesthetic.
source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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NPRSO Concert Hall, Katowice, Poland

Local firm wins with design for National Orchestra concert hall in Katowice

The architectural competition to design the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s (NPRSO’s) concert hall has been won by Konior Studio, a local firm preaching ‘architecture in context’. The 1.34 million sq m of area in Katowice, Poland, and inclusive building will now be developed to create the ‘best solution for the new seat of the National Symphony Orchestra’ as according to the Konior design.

Konior’s design hopes to achieve a ‘unique municipal sequence’, a ‘culture route with a Garden of Arts’, whilst adhering to the cost, function and architectural quality stated in the competition guidelines. Acoustic considerations have been incorporated into the design with insulation and a grand glass entrance adds architectural prestige.

Despite winning the competition however judges advised Konior that there should be amendments to the main facades to ensure the grandeur of the building reflects the significance of the Orchestra to national culture.

Netherlands architecture firm Group A's design was also commended during the competition receiving an honourable mention for its integration within the wider context of its surroundings.

Niki May Young
News Editor
source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
architecture NOW

Four Seasons, St Petersburg, Russia

St Petersburg neo-classical palace to provide setting for Four Seasons hotel

The Russian development firm, Tristar Investment Holdings, has engaged Beverly Hills-based Cheryl Rowley Design (CRD) as the interior designers on a $125-million re-creation of an imperial historic monument into the Four Seasons, St. Petersburg. Originally constructed as the palace of Princess Lobanov-Rostovsky, the venerable building was designed in 1817 by Czarist architect Auguste Ricard Monferrand, best known for the adjacent St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

With its elegant neo-classical architectural detailing, the magnificent edifice harkens back to the time when the Russian aristocracy lived on a grand scale. Now, the new Four Seasons will contemporize that vivid history. Two of the three existing open-air courtyards will be enclosed to create expansive ground floor public areas, a large ballroom and a spacious spa and fitness facility. While the glass and steel structures will be clearly modern in design, the geometry will reflect the "winter garden" enclosures popular at the time the palace was built.

In addition state-of-the-art meeting and conference spaces, several destination restaurants and 183 guestrooms and suites will be created. CRD's design intent is to preserve the original design language of the building in its major public areas, immersing guests in the beauty of the original royal residence.

"It is, frankly, thrilling to be working in the spectacular city of St. Petersburg," says CRD principal Cheryl Rowley, "but to be starting with the 19th-century palace of a Russian princess . . . well, that takes your breath away."

Currently in design development, the project is scheduled for completion in 2010.
source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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Chongqing Library / Perkins Eastman

Architects: Perkins Eastman
Location: Chongqing, China
Project Year: 2007
Building Type: Public Assembly
Construction Area: 50,000 sqm
Budget: US $38.6M
Photographs: © ZhiHui Gu

For the largest city in China, comprising 30 million inhabitants and more than 3,000 years of history, a new library had to be much more than just a collection of books. Chongqing, often called “mountain city” for its majestic natural features and geography, realized this early on in its plan to develop a world-class library.

Perkins Eastman’s design for the new Chongqing Library, a stunning 540,000 sf urban complex, evolved from a central idea of expressing the freedom and importance of knowledge. Conceived as a cultural and civic icon, the library goes beyond the notion that a library is simply a repository for books-incorporating a concert hall, gallery space, conference facilities, restaurant, and a hotel for visiting scholars.

The building is sheathed almost entirely in glass, providing transparency for the functions inside and reinforcing the notion that knowledge and ideas must be shared. The design team developed a dot pattern for the glass to mitigate heat gain and glare, and text comprising quotes from famous scholars throughout history is layered over the pattern. From world leaders including Chairman mao Tse-Tung and president Theodore roosevelt to renowned philosophers including Socrates and Confucius, the inscribed text idealizes the profound impact of life-long learning on individuals and society-the empowerment of ideas expressed through words.

The building is organized around a central courtyard form, which is a motif found throughout Chinese architectural tradition. This courtyard, however, is formed one level below the street and is an open-air landscaped forest, providing a green oasis in the middle of one of China’s fastest growing cities. While the courtyard can be seen by the public at street level, it is accessible only from the reading rooms-reserved for use by the library’s readers. Separating visitors from the court, a sculptural refecting pool gently cascades into the courtyard.

The merging of building, water, and forest is emblematic of the city, which is at the confuence of two major rivers that form forested hillsides surrounding the city. Both interior and exterior fnishes artfully reference the colors and textures of Chongqing, a blending of inside and outside, traditional and modern. native stone, representative of the older structures found in the region, plays a prominent role in the interior lobby, public spaces, courtyard, and the exterior walls. The Y columns in the courtyard level reading rooms are topped with curved tree-like canopies.

source: www.archdaily.com
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