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Swedish Pavilion - Shangai Expo
Designing the Swedish Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo was a slightly less daunting task than designing many of the other pavilions, because it had a clearly defined function. What makes these projects so difficult in general is the almost entirely open-ended nature of the brief – they have to convey something about the national character, and house an exhibition, but beyond that and the physical limitations of the site, it is possible to do anything. In the case of the Swedish Pavilion, however, there was at least a requirement to house meetings with potential trade partners, and this gave the design more of a functional programme than is customary.
Images courtesy of August Wiklund, Sweco, & Petter EldinArchitect Sweco (Johannes Tüll) Location Shangai - China Company involved SSAB Website http://www.ssab.com -
Student Housing
How do you house students at a new university? This was the dilemma that faced architects Te Kiefte Architecten when asked to provide temporary student accommodation for a new university that was founded at The Hague in the Netherlands. Eventually the university will build permanent accommodation but for the present it needed studio rooms for 122 students – plus some common facilities – with a planned lifespan of five years.
Architect Te Kiefte Architecten Borne Location The Hague - The Netherlands Company involved Grupo Andalucia Website http://www.grupoandalucia.org -
Bilbao Port Terminal
There are projects on which architects use prefabrication because they find the idea attractive, or in some way it suits their design. This was also true of the new Cruise Terminal in Bilbao, designed by architect baragaño, but it was also the only way in which it could satisfy the extremely tight programme. ‘We won the project in competition,’ explained Sergio Baragaño, ‘and it had to be completed six months’ later. The first cruise ship was due in six months.’
Architect [baragaño] Location Bilbao - Spain Company involved ArcelorMittal Website http://www.arcelormittal.com