Style of Design

German architects kadawittfeldarchitektur have shared with us their proposal for the new building of the Catholic Provost Parish Church, St. Trinitatis competition in Leipzig, Germany. Their proposal was finalist in a 2009 competition. You can see more images and architect’s description after the break.

While normally the interior space of the sacred halls is considered remarkable because of its peculiar atmosphere, here the unusual roof and its light effects – as well as the church itself and the church square with its marked urban surroundings – become especially spiritually charged. It yields a site of encounter that encourages dialogue and provides an “added value” to the notion of faith and belief.

The two-part building ensemble leans like an arch into the northern edge of the lot located along the Ring Street (Ringstrasse), creating thereby an intimate yet spacious forecourt to the church with the planned building on Nonnenmühl Lane (Nonnenmühlgasse) to the south. On the one hand, this square remains the forum of the community while offering, on the other hand, a public refuge with ideological “added value.”

[The “tree of life” from the Book of Genesis is metaphorically transferred here onto the construction site: the church abstractly represents a tree trunk basis for a widely cantilevered and visibly leafy canopy that creates fascinating and magical light-effects on the ground as well as around the community forum.]

The overarching concept of the design is to bring the church, the community center, and the open-air forum under one common roof that provides an establishing identity. The funnel-shaped roof dips into the church itself. Like a horizontal church stained-glass window, its translucent panels generate reflections in the liturgical colors red, green, blue, violet, and pink, into the interior of the church as well as on the façade of the parish center and the square.

The Goethe-Institut New York presents What Is Green Architecture?, a series of conversations, lectures, and events exploring the cutting-edge developments in the field and their impact on contemporary life as well as implications for the future. The series continues with a talk by noted architect Prof. Manfred Hegger, followed by a discussion moderated by Matthias Hollwich.

Manfred Hegger, the recipient of numerous national and international awards, is a professor at the Technical University Darmstadt, Energy Efficient Building Design Unit, and is a founding member/CEO of HHS Planer + Architekten AG in Kassel. He is a member of the Bund Deutscher Achitekten (the German Architects Foundation), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (the German Society for Sustainable Construction), among others, and was the director of the UIA International Work Program for Sustainable Architecture of the Future from 1999-2008. He will also be a featured speaker at the 1st German-American Energy Efficiency Conference on April 28.

Moderator Matthias Hollwich is the cofounder of HollwichKushner, LLC, and has worked in several internationally acclaimed architectural firms and urban design studios. He is currently visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and is co-editor along with Rainer Weissbach of the book Bauhaus: UmBauhaus – Updating Modernism.

The event will take place April 30 at the Goethe-Institut New York Wyoming Building, New York. Free admission.

Just got in the mail the latest issue (nº19, april-may) of Mark Magazine in the mail.  I have always praised the exquisite covers and graphic design of this magazine, but i´ve forgotten to tell you how nice is the packaging (see below).

The white cover comes with an amazing photo of the Ningbo Historic Museum, photographed by Iwan Baan with a phrase in bold gold letters  “The only true rival of architecture is the natural world” (Taira Nishizawa).

As usual, the section Notice Board showcases interesting fresh unbuilt projects from around the world: Zira Island by BIG, the Taipei Performing Arts Center by OMA, Villa Long (ORDOS 100) by RSVP and the Crematorium by Plan 01. Also projects by Zaha Hadid, Manuelle Gautrand, Piercy Conner, Architekten Cie, Baksvanwengerden, Ryuchi Ashizawa, Alberto Dueño X-TU, Fantastic, a cool beach house by Andreas Angelidakis, MAPT, Tasou, KLNB, Daniel Simmons, Steven Holl, Plaren, Ugis Senbergs, UN Studio, Dick van Gameren, Megan Panzano, Modo Studio, CCDP, Sofia Cattinario and Brenac Gonzalez.

Cover detail

Packaging

After this showcase of fresh projects, we head onto Cross Section, featuring recent finished buildings by Atelier Den, Taiji Kawano (an amazing structure for a new auditorium at the University of Tokio), Softroom, Local Architecture (CHURCH CHAPEL), X Architekten, AWP & Atelier Oslo, interiors by Tham & Videgard Hansson Arkitekter, UN Studio, Alejandro Muñoz Miranda (amazing building!), Kingma Roorda, Herzog & de Meuron (interesting building with pitched roof in Basel), a pavilion by Jeffrey Inaba, Makiko Tsukada, Yuko Nagayama,  GAD, FOA, Eduard Francois, Hiroshi Kawahito, Ferrater & Jimenez Brasas (AUDITORIO), Vector Architects (green Beijing Showroom), and Japanese architects TNA with an amazing house.

The section also includes a short article on the Ozymandias Antarctic retreat from Watchmen, video installations by German architects and artists over the Pompeia Tower by Lina Bo Bardi, the recent “moving” of a house by Venturi and another by Frank Ghery, and an interesting graphic article on Lost Cities, Lost Empires by Theo Deutinger.

Viewpoint section interviews Wang Shu (Amateur Architecture Studio), and shows his recent projects in China (Ningbo Historic Museum, Ceramic House, Five Scattered Houses). We also find an interview with Seattle based architect Tom Kundig, showcasing his experimental residential projects.

Long section takes us into how recent projects have been built in a very detailed way. In includes the Porsche Museum by Delugan Meissl (“This is purely a museum for men”, Hans Gunter Merz), the Burj Dubai structure as told by SOM engineer Bill Baker, two artists studios by Wang Hui (Limited Architecture), a house with an interesting shape and interior spatial relations by Junichi Sampei, Kazuyo Sejima on the Okurayama apartment block in Tokyo (her most complex project to date, according to her), a pixelated building with astonishing interiors by Splitterwerk, a weekend house by Atelier Bow-Wow, and the Sumika Project for Tokyo  Gas, including houses by Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito, Taira Nishizawa and Terunobu Fujimori – an interesting experiment on house typologies.

Section Dear Mark has a critic article by Jylian Russell, on the “boring” Canadian architecture.

This issue ends with Service Area, which includes a wide array of topics. It opens with an interview with italian architecture critic Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi, discussing the future of the architecture magazine. The we find a very interesting article on Designtoproduction, a consultancy firm behind buildings such as the EPFL Learning Centre by SANAA and the new Pompidou in Metz.

In my opinion this is a very good issue. I like the variety of the selection, both in terms of program and location (a bit too focused on Japan this time). My pick for this issue are the Chinese architects. They are doing a very interesting work in spatial terms, while experimenting with traditional materials. Worth checking out.

Crafted with outmost elegance by German architects Confused-Direction, Schwimmhaus is a compact modern houseboat that keeps in tune with the tranquil environment that it ventures into. Built with eco-friendliness in mind, the houseboat sports a green roof and is being fabricated out of salvaged wood from an old farm house in addition to other sustainable building materials. Set for completion this spring, an inflatable model of Schwimmhaus threads the waters of Hunte River for now. The interiors of this green houseboat are also crafted to match the simple yet ergonomic style of the boat and the sustainable design the project aims to achieve. – via Inhabitat

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Schwimmhaus, a Compact Modern Houseboat