BRUSSELS AIRPORT CONNECTOR
Brussels, Belgium, 2011
"The design for the Brussels Airport Connector Building focuses on providing a highly efficient, flexible infrastructural element that connects to and negotiates the existing airport architecture. The connector is part of the future ambition of the Brussels Airport to create a European hub in Brussels. The design approach ensures cohesive functioning of the three buildings, with the Connector Building establishing a seamless connection between the two contrasting identities of the terminal and Pier A, whilst simultaneously creating its own new identity. The Connector incorporates logistical efficiency in handling passenger flows, security and operational processes. Additionally, opportunities for commercial activity are maximised with the newly expanded, double-storey commercial area of the Connector, creating a fully-integrated retail zone as the main programmatic spine. The post-screening area with fast duty-free shopping and a horizontal organisation gradually morphs into a double-height central plaza housing the main cafe, from where the high-end boutique stores begin. Surrounding the central plaza is the elevated Cockpit - the highest occupiable point of the Connector with a light cafe boasting the best views of the bustling plaza and shopping area below, as well as the fleeting fields of airplanes outside."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/brussels-airport-connector
"The design for the Brussels Airport Connector Building focuses on providing a highly efficient, flexible infrastructural element that connects to and negotiates the existing airport architecture. The connector is part of the future ambition of the Brussels Airport to create a European hub in Brussels. The design approach ensures cohesive functioning of the three buildings, with the Connector Building establishing a seamless connection between the two contrasting identities of the terminal and Pier A, whilst simultaneously creating its own new identity. The Connector incorporates logistical efficiency in handling passenger flows, security and operational processes. Additionally, opportunities for commercial activity are maximised with the newly expanded, double-storey commercial area of the Connector, creating a fully-integrated retail zone as the main programmatic spine. The post-screening area with fast duty-free shopping and a horizontal organisation gradually morphs into a double-height central plaza housing the main cafe, from where the high-end boutique stores begin. Surrounding the central plaza is the elevated Cockpit - the highest occupiable point of the Connector with a light cafe boasting the best views of the bustling plaza and shopping area below, as well as the fleeting fields of airplanes outside."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/brussels-airport-connector
COORDINATION CENTRE
Antwerp, Belgium, 2009
"Essential to the design of the traffic coordination centre is that it should primarily be an attainable sustainable structure and provide a beacon for the functions of the old port. The design embodies the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial era. The prominent glass eye of the tower offers a panoramic view and sits atop a slightly twisting, 155m base. The tower forms an antenna rising from the harbour landscape. The aerodynamic design reduces the wind load, whilst the foot of the contrapposto tower merges with the existing building. The design of the tower plays a functional role in the daily use of the coordination center, whilst its function as a beacon is reinforced in the night situation as the eye of the tower lights up, creating a point of orientation in an otherwise hectic environment."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/traffic-tower
"Essential to the design of the traffic coordination centre is that it should primarily be an attainable sustainable structure and provide a beacon for the functions of the old port. The design embodies the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial era. The prominent glass eye of the tower offers a panoramic view and sits atop a slightly twisting, 155m base. The tower forms an antenna rising from the harbour landscape. The aerodynamic design reduces the wind load, whilst the foot of the contrapposto tower merges with the existing building. The design of the tower plays a functional role in the daily use of the coordination center, whilst its function as a beacon is reinforced in the night situation as the eye of the tower lights up, creating a point of orientation in an otherwise hectic environment."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/traffic-tower
LUXEXPO EXHIBITION CENTRE AND KIRCHBERG STATION
Luxembourg, 2010
"Located on the most important axis of Luxembourg, the site of the Luxexpo Exhibition Centre and Kirchberg Station becomes a strategic infrastructural node where international, regional and local traffic merges. The new urban pole that is created at the site is articulated by three main elements: the new Kirchberg Station, the intermodal exchange and the reformulated Exhibition Centre. The aim of the design is to create a unified urban structure in which diverse infrastructural and public elements merge together to form one building. The Kirchberg Station is designed to be a terminal station which provides the possibility for a future extension of the train tracks towards the city centre, while the exhibition centre Luxexpo becomes a communicative hub promoting exhibits in an innovative and high-quality environment."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/luxexpo-exhibition-centre-and-kirchberg-station
"Located on the most important axis of Luxembourg, the site of the Luxexpo Exhibition Centre and Kirchberg Station becomes a strategic infrastructural node where international, regional and local traffic merges. The new urban pole that is created at the site is articulated by three main elements: the new Kirchberg Station, the intermodal exchange and the reformulated Exhibition Centre. The aim of the design is to create a unified urban structure in which diverse infrastructural and public elements merge together to form one building. The Kirchberg Station is designed to be a terminal station which provides the possibility for a future extension of the train tracks towards the city centre, while the exhibition centre Luxexpo becomes a communicative hub promoting exhibits in an innovative and high-quality environment."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/luxexpo-exhibition-centre-and-kirchberg-station
CENTRE FOR VIRTUAL ENGINEERING (ZVE)
Fraunhofer Institute, Stuttgart, Germany, 2006-2012
"UNStudio’s design for the Centre for Virtual Engineering (ZVE) applies its research into the potential to expand contemporary understandings of new working environments and affect a design approach that creates working environments which stimulate communication, experimentation and creativity through a new type of office building. Located on the research campus of the Fraunhofer institute in Stuttgart Vaihingen, the Centre for Virtual Engineering (ZVE) specializes in the investigation of different multidisciplinary work flows. UNStudio worked in collaboration with ASPlan from Kaiserslautern on the architectural services for the Centre. All parts of the programme are implemented into the spatial organisation of the building. The diagrammatic approach employed combines the laboratory and research functions with public exhibition areas and a scenographic routing of the visitors in an open and communicative building concept. The geometry of the floor plan, consisting of curved and straight elements, dissolves into the saw tooth geometry of the facade whilst maintaining the effect of a continuously transforming surface. An exceptional level of sustainability was a key consideration from the outset and upon completion the building was awarded a Gold certification by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB)."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/zve-fraunhofer-institute
"UNStudio’s design for the Centre for Virtual Engineering (ZVE) applies its research into the potential to expand contemporary understandings of new working environments and affect a design approach that creates working environments which stimulate communication, experimentation and creativity through a new type of office building. Located on the research campus of the Fraunhofer institute in Stuttgart Vaihingen, the Centre for Virtual Engineering (ZVE) specializes in the investigation of different multidisciplinary work flows. UNStudio worked in collaboration with ASPlan from Kaiserslautern on the architectural services for the Centre. All parts of the programme are implemented into the spatial organisation of the building. The diagrammatic approach employed combines the laboratory and research functions with public exhibition areas and a scenographic routing of the visitors in an open and communicative building concept. The geometry of the floor plan, consisting of curved and straight elements, dissolves into the saw tooth geometry of the facade whilst maintaining the effect of a continuously transforming surface. An exceptional level of sustainability was a key consideration from the outset and upon completion the building was awarded a Gold certification by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB)."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/zve-fraunhofer-institute
DALIAN URBAN PLANNING CENTRE
Dalian, China, 2011
"The key design elements of the new Dalian Urban Planning Centre focus on providing optimum integration with the surroundings, easy accessibility and the ideal interrelation of office and exhibition functions. An interwoven organisation simultaneously generates fluid access to exhibition areas for the public and a highly efficient working environment within one building. As a means of achieving a public building in the true sense of the word, the new Dalian UPC pulls public access into the building by means of a public plaza, which forms a continuation of People’s Park and a building mass that floats on a more than two-storey high piloti space. A central void designed as a ‘vertical funnel’ that hovers over the public plaza further serves to integrate public access, while a continuous public circulation loop is strategically threaded through the entire complex. The floating mass of the building becomes a compact single object, not reflecting the common notion of a municipal office building, but rather expressing itself as a single dynamic presence – organised efficiently and enhancing contemporary methods of working creatively, whilst manifesting itself as a bustling centre of urban planning within the city. The exhibition concept and the array of display spaces combine the past, the present and the future of Dalian planning."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/dalian-urban-planning-centre
"The key design elements of the new Dalian Urban Planning Centre focus on providing optimum integration with the surroundings, easy accessibility and the ideal interrelation of office and exhibition functions. An interwoven organisation simultaneously generates fluid access to exhibition areas for the public and a highly efficient working environment within one building. As a means of achieving a public building in the true sense of the word, the new Dalian UPC pulls public access into the building by means of a public plaza, which forms a continuation of People’s Park and a building mass that floats on a more than two-storey high piloti space. A central void designed as a ‘vertical funnel’ that hovers over the public plaza further serves to integrate public access, while a continuous public circulation loop is strategically threaded through the entire complex. The floating mass of the building becomes a compact single object, not reflecting the common notion of a municipal office building, but rather expressing itself as a single dynamic presence – organised efficiently and enhancing contemporary methods of working creatively, whilst manifesting itself as a bustling centre of urban planning within the city. The exhibition concept and the array of display spaces combine the past, the present and the future of Dalian planning."
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/dalian-urban-planning-centre
LIVING TOMORROW
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2000–2003
Living Tomorrow is a temporary building. The project gives an insight in the most innovative technologies that could be integrated in future daily life and working environments. The aim to be the most innovative means that five years after the opening, the building will be demolished. It is expected that in 2007 all things exhibited and integrated in the building will be out of date and probably already part of the daily life. In the pavilion visitors can get acquainted with the products and services, which can enhance the quality of living or working in the near future. On the ground floor the entrance, auditorium, event hall, exhibition room, administration and kitchen are located. On the four levels above, more exhibition rooms, a small restaurant and other secondary facilities are situated. http://www.unstudio.com/projects/living-tomorrow
Living Tomorrow is a temporary building. The project gives an insight in the most innovative technologies that could be integrated in future daily life and working environments. The aim to be the most innovative means that five years after the opening, the building will be demolished. It is expected that in 2007 all things exhibited and integrated in the building will be out of date and probably already part of the daily life. In the pavilion visitors can get acquainted with the products and services, which can enhance the quality of living or working in the near future. On the ground floor the entrance, auditorium, event hall, exhibition room, administration and kitchen are located. On the four levels above, more exhibition rooms, a small restaurant and other secondary facilities are situated. http://www.unstudio.com/projects/living-tomorrow
DANCE PALACE
St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009
The 21,000 m2 Dance Palace forms part of the European Embankment city quarter masterplan for a new urban square in the historic centre of St. Petersburg. The building presents an open and inviting theatre with provision for 1300 guests (large auditorium 1000, small auditorium 300). Integration with the existing neighboring buildings is achieved by both the scale of the building - which in elevation follows St. Petersburg’s typical 28m roofline – and the transformative transparency which is introduced by a facade system of triangular cladding panels. The variation between opaque and perforated panels creates a controlled openness, depending on program, views and orientation. In the main auditorium the horseshoe form was chosen for its acoustic advantages and the proximity it affords to the stage.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/dance-palace
The 21,000 m2 Dance Palace forms part of the European Embankment city quarter masterplan for a new urban square in the historic centre of St. Petersburg. The building presents an open and inviting theatre with provision for 1300 guests (large auditorium 1000, small auditorium 300). Integration with the existing neighboring buildings is achieved by both the scale of the building - which in elevation follows St. Petersburg’s typical 28m roofline – and the transformative transparency which is introduced by a facade system of triangular cladding panels. The variation between opaque and perforated panels creates a controlled openness, depending on program, views and orientation. In the main auditorium the horseshoe form was chosen for its acoustic advantages and the proximity it affords to the stage.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/dance-palace
ERASMUS BRIDGE
Rotterdam, Netherlands 1990–1996
Constructed to facilitate the orchestration of traffic flows, the bridge design is inspired by, and in turn reflects, the industrial character of Rotterdam, adding to the narrative of the city. The bridge operates as the last crossing point between the Northern and Southern areas of the city, whilst its structural scale and design articulation has become a distinctive landmark within the surrounding skyline.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/erasmus-bridge
Constructed to facilitate the orchestration of traffic flows, the bridge design is inspired by, and in turn reflects, the industrial character of Rotterdam, adding to the narrative of the city. The bridge operates as the last crossing point between the Northern and Southern areas of the city, whilst its structural scale and design articulation has become a distinctive landmark within the surrounding skyline.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/erasmus-bridge
CARNEGIE SCIENCE CENTER
Pittsburgh, USA, 2000
The design for the extension to the existing Science Center accommodates a new Cyber City exploring the latest technology in virtual reality, robotics, electronics and surgical techniques. The diagonal tower presents diagonally oriented exhibition spaces while an atrium with a ramp connects all seven floor-levels of the tower. A glazed elevator follows the same trajectory as the ramp, dissecting the tower diagonally. The Y-shaped addition consists of three tubes. The two frontal tubes contain exhibition programs, while the third tube takes in visitors from the car and bus parks. There is continuous play on the relations between inside and outside, culminating in a panoramic terrace with a view of downtown. The landscape accommodates all the parking demands while boat commuters are facilitated with a small docking infrastructure at the marina.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/carnegie-science-center
The design for the extension to the existing Science Center accommodates a new Cyber City exploring the latest technology in virtual reality, robotics, electronics and surgical techniques. The diagonal tower presents diagonally oriented exhibition spaces while an atrium with a ramp connects all seven floor-levels of the tower. A glazed elevator follows the same trajectory as the ramp, dissecting the tower diagonally. The Y-shaped addition consists of three tubes. The two frontal tubes contain exhibition programs, while the third tube takes in visitors from the car and bus parks. There is continuous play on the relations between inside and outside, culminating in a panoramic terrace with a view of downtown. The landscape accommodates all the parking demands while boat commuters are facilitated with a small docking infrastructure at the marina.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/carnegie-science-center
CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
Tongzhou, China, 2011-2016
The design of UNStudio’s CBD development is a dynamic composition created by introducing asymmetry in plan, orientation, clustering and façade treatment. This build-up of asymmetries has a far-reaching urban effect whilst simultaneously relating to users on a more personal scale. The six towers form three lively groups which interact according to a layered choreography. In relation to the ground and subterranean levels the towers are grouped in three pairs, each standing on a joint platform. As defined by the bridging connections between them, the towers are grouped as a couple, a trio and a single volume. The silhouette of the towers is derived from a combination of substantial differences between the lower and the upper parts of the buildings and the binding together effects of diagonal wrappings. On the lower parts the towers are marked by dense stacking, whilst towards the top they become smooth and reflective. This textural contrast is mediated by the strong diagonals running the entire length of the towers.
The bridges have numerous roles. They help to cluster the towers and to form interconnections between them which can house many different semi-public functions. They also provide an artificial ground for users of the highest floors. In addition to the application of active sustainable measures at different scale levels, passive design tools were incorporated from the initial design of the six towers and the podium clusters. Driving features are the winter gardens and green surfaces.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/central-business-district-cbd-2
The design of UNStudio’s CBD development is a dynamic composition created by introducing asymmetry in plan, orientation, clustering and façade treatment. This build-up of asymmetries has a far-reaching urban effect whilst simultaneously relating to users on a more personal scale. The six towers form three lively groups which interact according to a layered choreography. In relation to the ground and subterranean levels the towers are grouped in three pairs, each standing on a joint platform. As defined by the bridging connections between them, the towers are grouped as a couple, a trio and a single volume. The silhouette of the towers is derived from a combination of substantial differences between the lower and the upper parts of the buildings and the binding together effects of diagonal wrappings. On the lower parts the towers are marked by dense stacking, whilst towards the top they become smooth and reflective. This textural contrast is mediated by the strong diagonals running the entire length of the towers.
The bridges have numerous roles. They help to cluster the towers and to form interconnections between them which can house many different semi-public functions. They also provide an artificial ground for users of the highest floors. In addition to the application of active sustainable measures at different scale levels, passive design tools were incorporated from the initial design of the six towers and the podium clusters. Driving features are the winter gardens and green surfaces.
http://www.unstudio.com/projects/central-business-district-cbd-2