The elevation of the building has been conceptualized to make it look like a “TELEVISION.” The front face of the building is elevated by 7 meters above the ground level and is supported over flared columns protruding out from the ground floor. The building also has three basements to accommodate the parking and services.

Built up Area: 0.487 million Sft
Project Cost: Rs. 56.78 Crores exclusive of Finishes.

Building 7A is one of the technically challenging building projects consisting of some special and demanding architectural features like flared columns, curved wall, etc., executed by DLF Laing O’ Rourke (India) Ltd.

Structure

The building has 9 clusters of flared columns. Each cluster is having a set of 4 columns totaling to 36 no’s of flared columns. This cluster of columns are protruding out from ground floor column of size 1200 x 1200 with a pedestal on top of it and merging into second floor level (height 7.60m) in diagonally opposite directions. These columns are inclined at an angle of 56.43 degree to the horizontal.

A transfer beam of 2800mm wide x 1100 mm deep has been provided at second floor level and these flared columns are terminated into it.

The methodology of casting of this column demanded that the column is to be cast in three pours as indicated in the view.

The Formwork for pour 2 was especially challenging and had to be of the shape as shown.

Description of Formwork

The C/S of Formwork used is as shown in the sketch above.

It comprises of FRP panels (two halves in plan) each 1.80m long.

The panels are bolted with each other using 150mm wide MS collars.

These collars are used for alignment of the panels and also to withstand the concrete pressure.

The collars are supported by struts and also by internal ties using wire ropes and turn buckles.

The starter and end pieces are custom built panels suitable only for the project whereas the rest of the component can be used on any project as formwork for 900mm dia circular column.

Methodology for casting the flared column

Stage 1

Reinforcement is tied to the full height of the column

The starter bars are placed and the ring portion connecting all the four columns at the bottom is cast (approx height–770mm).

Stage 2

The formwork for the rest of columns are bolted into position and aligned by using the struts as shown in the sketch 3. The collars are tied horizontally using wire ropes with turn buckles.

As can be observed from the sketch 2, the bottom most portion of the form work has eccentricity in terms of dimensions with respect to each side. Hence, it is decided to cast this portion first, and allow for the hardening time, such that the concrete in the higher portion will not exert force on the bottom most form work, but instead on the hardened concrete.

Concrete of the columns are done from the top by using Self Compacting Concrete.

Stage 3

The formwork for the rest of the column height is then placed duly connecting to the bottom portion of Form work and hardened concrete in addition to the collars and struts in position, and rest of the SCC is poured into it.

Productivity The productivity achieved on this project was 8 days with 15 people for the first cluster and gradually improved to 3 days and finally to 17 hours with 15 people for the ninth cluster. Self compacting concrete was the need of the hour. The mix is designed in house and used for the flared columns, which has solved the problem of concreting without the need for vibration.

Details:

The project involved the following, viz.,

24,714 cum of concrete
3,068 MT of steel
81,227 Sqm of shuttering
3,500 cum of brickwork
31,305 Sqm of internal plaster
4,863 Sqm of external plaster
Time to build: 24 months
38,212 Sqm of IPS
Value: Rs 56.78 crores

Curved Slab & Curved Wall

Another feature of this building is the curved RCC slab and wall along the length of the shorter span of the building i.e. bottom curved slab at second floor and top curve (terminating) at terrace level to get the Television effect. Some of the features of curved wall are as follows

Bottom curve has an arc from a circle of diameter of 5300mm and the arc length is 3600 mm.

The thickness of this curve at bottom point (i.e. start of bottom curve) is 500 mm and it tapers to reduce to 200mm (at end of bottom curve).

Top curve (i.e. at terrace) has an arc from a circle of diameter of 8400 mm with an arc length of 6200 mm and this has a constant thickness of 180 mm.

The form work for this is made up of steel members fabricated to suit to the curve as primary members. Ply and Timber sections are used as secondary bearer system, to suit to the curved shape. Concrete pouring is controlled in a meticulous manner such that the profile is achieved without the need for plastering.

Achievements

• Despite having challenging features like flared columns and curved slabs, etc, the site team has left no stone unturned to maintain the pace of progress and achieved an average of 12 day cycle time per slab for tower area including concreting of columns, core walls and stairs etc.
• At peak time, the team has achieved around 2900 cum of concrete (RCC) per month as against the available front of only 1200 cum per plate area (inclusive of verticals).
• Finally, all the hard work paid off and entire structure including the flared columns and curved wall were completed successfully well in time.

The productivity achievements are monitored as follows, viz.

Staff productivity = Total value of work done/ No. of man months deployed= 8, 00,302 Man months

P&M productivity

Budgeted turn over to depreciation ratio = Budgeted Turn over in Rs. Lakhs/ Depreciation in Rs. lakhs = 17.50

Actual turn over to depreciation ratio = Actual Turn over in Rs .Lakhs/ Depreciation in Rs.lakhs= 21.31

Labour productivity (Average)

Shuttering = 2.8 Sqm/Man days

Reinforcement = 0.15 MT/Man days

Concrete = 5.55 cum/Man days

Quality Control and Quality Assurance

Well equipped laboratory set up, was provided and managed by qualified experienced professionals. All tests were carried out as per the site quality plan and the test results were recorded and documented as per ISO 9001 Clause no. (4.2.2- Quality Manual, 4.2.3- Control of Documents, 4.2.4- Control of Records).To handover the project without non-conformance, all the process was controlled by implementation of ITP (Instruction & Testing Procedure).

Information compilation by:

1. Rajiv Mahajan, COO (North)
2. P.V.Prasanth, COO (South)
3. C.A.Prasad, Asst.Vice President

A self-sufficient city center for 77,000 inhabitants ready by 2011. A reality in the making with Dutch architects MVRDV winning the competition to design a city center for Gwanggyo, 35 km south of Seoul, Korea. The design has several overgrown hill shaped buildings with great programmatic diversity that will take on high urban density with possibilities of further developments around the “Power City.” This is keeping with the millennium trend seen in Korea where local nodes with a high density concentration of mixed program are used in Korean town planning. The Gwanggyo Power Centre will consist of 200,000m2 housing, 48,000m2offices, 200,000m2mix of culture, retail, leisure and education and 200,000m2 parking.

All in one

The layout is catering for housing, offices, culture centers, retail spaces, leisure facilities and education areas. The unique ring elements are pushed outwards so that each part receives a terrace for outdoor life. Open spaces are further added in the form of atria within each tower to get lobbies for housing and offices, plazas for shopping area and halls for the museum and leisure areas. The atria are formed by the shifting of floors and cater for light, ventilation and semi-private spaces.

Green dream

Supporting the environment will be box hedges planted on the terraces and roofs of the buildings. These will contribute to improved ventilation, energy and water use reduction. With a floor to floor circulation in place the plants will be watered with the stored water. These vertical parks will line the horizon as overgrown hills. Adding to the ‘park’ environment would be a surrounding lake and forested hills blending into the whole picture.

The whole project with its striated topology and its awesome scale would be an achievement of a whole other level. A consortium led by Daewoo develops the project with local firm DA Group, which commissioned MVRDV to design the scheme. British firm Arup is involved as engineer. Currently, the design is with the Gyeonggi provincial authority’s Urban Innovation Corporation for further development and feasibility thought.

Everyone desires to make their house a home and do best to make their dream project a reality. An industrial designer Georg Spreng, also the founder of group Frogdesign has spent many years of his life living in Canada, and the experiences he made there were very important to him. In Canada Georg Spreng had lived on an estate which was so large one could loose ones way on it. Living in a house, he experienced that different weather – proved how vulnerable humans are and how strong nature can be. From these experiences, he developed an intense connection to nature.This is why – with his own house - it was important for him to build up a connection to the landscape and to let the house step in to the background. He wishes to bring a sense of the expansive open spaces back to his homeland in Wissgoldingen, Germany also. Spreng’s idea was to combine work and living in one building; but he also wanted that each have their own separate areas. If at one side he needs the house to be connected with the landscape then at the other side being a design professional, he is interested in materials combination and how people react to them and handle them.

• Project : Residential House with Jewellery Studio
• Location : Wissgoldingen, Southern Germany, near Stultgart
• Architects : C18 Architects, Stultgart
• Date Of Completion : May 2008
• Gross floor area : 615 m2
• Gross volume : 2.049 m3

• Photographer : Miss Brigida Gonzalez
• Client : George Spreng

With all these in mind, Spreng approach to the German based architectural firm C18 architects and has a detail dialogue with the architects. The dialogue between the two lead to unusual material combination, to combination which doesn’t follow established conventions. Materials should be allowed to speak, be allowed to appeal to sense and feelings. The location Spreng selected is the Swabian Alb, a low mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, fascinated by breathtaking landscapes, vast views, jagged cliffs and large caves belonging to widely branches out underground system.

After visiting the site of construction, C18 Architects developed a layout which accomplishes well all desired features. Designed by Marcus Kaestle, Andreas Ocker and Michel Roeder of C18 Architects the two level structures contain a house and a Jewellery studio.

Structural Design

Towards the street the building is closed; it attracts attention with its cladding of white square tiles. The buildings cubic shape also distinguishes it from its neighbors. Even if the house is closed towards the street, it doesn’t close itself to the neighbors. A tower room with a window facing the street positions the building in the neighborhood. No fence hinders visitors from entering the premises and looking over a wall onto a pond in an open atrium and into the living area. At this point two entrances lay symmetrically to each side. They both have red emergency shutdown buttons as bell buttons. From this standing point one can already notice a considerable lot about this house; the way it entangles inside and outside and that it is a special house.

Two levels lay over one another like two U-shaped brackets. The upper bracket is open towards the street; the lower bracket is open towards the countryside. Through the resulting eyelet one can look down from the entrance area onto a pond in which lays a small island upon which a tree was planted. The tip of this tree can be seen from the upper level from the street. The lower bracket has shorter sides than the upper one so that the upper level projects over the lower level and roofs parts of the outdoor area.The necessary construction for the up to six meters long projections was statically an enormous challenge. To the left of these two brackets a row of rooms and bathrooms joins on. At the end of this the staircase is located over which the crow’s nest - already seen from outside - is reached.

All rooms on both levels are open to the southwest, to countryside with hardly any housing. One doesn’t only see fields and meadows but also the weather coming along. Open rooms, a room-high glazing with thin profiles, spaces formed by changing floor levels over the whole width of the living area, spaces which lead into the landscape and also continue the landscape in the interior.

Upon entering the house ones first impression is surprising. Large round skylights lighten the area from above and through an even larger round opening in the floor light reaches a lower level. The light flooding through the openings connects both levels with each other. A yellow bench nestles up to the balustrade. One thing is clear: the cliché of the architects or designer house isn’t going to be reproduced here. In the entrance area the floor, walls and built-in wardrobes are all white. One opens the wardrobe doors – they have no handles and open upon pressure – to find the inside is painted in a variety of colors. To the left the lower level is reached over a staircase which is blue-painted and the bedrooms lay alongside. Straight on one reaches the studio which can also be reached directly from the outside by the second entrance.

Experiment with Materials

The clients’ desire for the best material composition led nowhere not even towards the street - plastered paths or flat terraces; instead there is crude gravel like normally found on the bed of a mountain river. The curtains are made of a silvery shiny material which was developed to cover scaffolding on construction sites. In the living area, the back wall against the ground was constructed by stamping layer over layer of clay. Some of the layers are pigmented lightly so that a picture emerges which resembles a view over the Alb with foggy valleys. Architects have taken full advantages of their client’s openness and also use it playfully and tactfully.

The house is an experimenting field. Conventions of living as well as architectural conventions “how things have always been done” were abandoned. But a game wouldn’t be a game if it weren’t taken seriously. None of the tiles on the facades were cut. The large mirrors which cover the walls on the garden level between living area and atrium are each out of one piece. The wooden floor made out of Canadian birch is high-quality processed. The wall plaster has a high percentage of clay which works - like the stamped clay wall - humidity regulating. The room-high glazing with its extremely thin profiles is the first of its kind with these dimensions. The balustrade around the skylight in the entrance area is rounded in such a way that it feels good to touch but nothing is laid on top. Everything has a reason; is considered and intended, even if one wouldn’t have thought of the solution by oneself.

C18 Architects have designed an exceptional house. A house which gives you lust, makes you lust for living and lust for the countryside. And as unconventional as it may be in the neighborhood - it fits in. It is a known fact that it’s not easy to pull the wool over the eyes of people from the Alb. Life was too hard to risk relying on somebody else without question.

Hi-tech and architecturally designed Water Droplet Resort not only contribute to the knowledge and culture of the coming generations, but also adds to the financial returns of its promoters and investors.

Based on an innovative concept ‘Water Droplet resort’ is an architectural marvel that has been designed in the shape of water drop by Orlando De Urrutia. It is the first building of its type which converts air into water with the help of solar power. It sounds unbelievable or magic but is true! The concept to design the building is nothing but a combination of technology and nature.

Inspired by the form of a drop of water falling from the heights, the building is projected and thought to create conscience of the water. Designed for construction in warm and humid coasts, the Water Building Resort, will house an aquarium, Restaurant, Gyms, Hotel, Spa services, Convention Halls and Conference rooms. Moreover, the bottom floor of this resort complex will have a water treatment zone for purifying rain water and salty sea water and a technological investigation center to control and verify water quality. The building also incorporates a technology research center (Cidemco) which controlled certification of quality industrial products.


The building design allows the integration of renewable energy uptake and energy optimization. The sun-facing facade is covered with photovoltaic crystals latest technology that allows transparency and energy to capture the electricity of the building.The facade opposite the sun are shutters that allow air to enter which is conducted through the water producing equipment. The air passing through the central courtyard is speeding up and out the upper wind turbine, generating electricity for all teams abasteceder.

Water Building Resort, will be the first build in the world that transform the air into water, starting to obtain water from the air it seems to science fiction, however it is a reality thanks to new technology and modern TeexMicron incorporated in this building.

Their production based on the condensation of the humidity that is in the air, its location in the water of the sea, add a big value regarding a bigger condensation. Allowing to take advantage of the night daily evaporation and condensation.

Moreover, Building Water Resort recycles water from rain and purging with marine desalination equipment incorporated in the base of the building. Water generators “TeexMicron” capable of producing 5,000 liters of water per volume of 21.17 m³ team, 48 people, for the calculations we use an average of 105 liters per person.

Dragonfly, the 21st century Metabolic Farm for New York City has been designed with the intention of easing the ever-increasing need for ecological and environmental self-sufficiency in the urban cityscape.

Belgian firm Vincent Callebaut Architectures have designed a vertical farm based on the wings of a dragonfly. Proposed for the East River at the south edge of Rooselvelt Island in New York City, the tower is a true living organism being self-sufficient in water, energy and bio–fertilizing. Spanning 132 floors and 600 vertical meters, the dragonfly can accommodate 28 different agricultural fields for the production of fruit, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy.

This Dragonfly wing shaped superstructure features wind and solar power producing capability and includes housing, offices, research labs and communal areas separated from farms, orchards and production rooms. Throughout the glass and steel set of wings, animal and plant farming is arranged as well as soil nutrient levels are maintained properly.

Food Challenge of the 21^st Century

According to the PNUD (Programme of the United Nations for the Development), the worldwide urban population will go from 3.1 billion of inhabitants in 2009 up to 5.5 billion of inhabitants within 2025. Looking for a positive energetic assessment, the contemporary city aims within fifteen years at producing cleanly and intensively more energy than it consumes so as to pack this urban exodus! It develops therefore the urban agriculture to become food self-sufficient by recycling at the same time its liquid waste by phyto-purification, its solid waste in fertilizers by composting and by producing energy by biomass, photovoltaic cells and other renewable energies (thermo solar, photovoltaic solar, wind, tide-turbine energies…).

In order to avoid the asphyxiation of the planet and the feeding of its 9 billion of inhabitants within 2050, it deals thus with reinventing the traditional energetic pattern between the city and the countryside between western countries, emerging countries and developing countries. This sum up as following: on the one hand import of natural and food resources, and on the other hand export of waste and pollution. The ecologic city aims at reintegrating the farming function on the urban scale by emphasizing the role of the urban agriculture in the use and the reuse of natural resources and biodegradable waste so as to close the loop of ecologic flows.

The urban agriculture can feed the city without any pesticide or chemical fungicide (whose toxicity is proved on the human being: cancer, sterility…), and make it less food dependant of its backcountry or other regions of the world. Organizing the distribution of fresh products in short circuits, that means linked directly with the consumer, the urban agriculture complete thus the traditional agriculture. In addition to the nutritive quality of the produced and consumed food, the urban agriculture is also a growth lever of the urban unemployment market and the local economy. It is used directly as a social link in the conciliation of the primary needs of the newcomers with the challenge of their integration in the life of the city, fighting thus against poverty and exclusion. On the sanitary level, this farm approach presents also an interesting potential for the decontamination of polluted grounds and undergrounds as well as for the purification of the polluted atmosphere.

Dragonfly, a Nourishing Vertically Cultivated Central Park

The architecture has to be in the service of this new agriculture and to design this new social desire in this context of ecologic mutation and food autonomy! The Dragonfly project suggests therefore building a prototype of urban farm offering around a mixed programme of housing, offices and laboratories in ecological engineering, farming spaces which are vertically laid out in several floors and partly cultivated by its own inhabitants. This vertical farm sets up all the sustainable applications in organic agriculture based on the intensive production varied according to the rhythm of the seasons. This nourishing agriculture is furthermore in favor of the reuse of biodegradable waste and the keeping of energy and renewable resources for a planning of ecosystemic densification.

In order to conceptualize this project and give our point of view in the ecological and social crisis debates, Dragonfly sets up along the East River at the South edge of the Rooselvelt Island in New York between Manhattan’s Island and the Queens’ district. So as to face the land pressure, Dragonfly stretches itself vertically under the shape of a bionic tower relocating a new urban biotope for the fauna and the local flora and recreating a food production auto-managed by the inhabitants in the heart of the Big Apple.

Floor by floor, the tower proposes not only stock farming, ensuring the production of meat, milk, poultry and eggs but also farming grounds, true biological reactors continuously regenerated with organic humus. It diversifies the cultivated varieties to avoid the washing of stratums of soft substratum. Thus, the cultures succeed one another vertically according to their agronomical ability to provide some elements of the ground between the essences that are sowed and harvested.

The tower, true living organism, becomes thus metabolic and self-sufficient in water, energy, and bio-fertilizing. Nothing is lost; everything is recyclable to a continuous auto-feeding!

A Bionic and Energetically Self-sufficient Architecture

The architecture of Dragonfly prototype suggests reinventing the vertical building (that outlined the urbanistic booming of New York City since the 19th Century) as structurally and functionally as ecologically and energetically.

To ensure the social diversity and a permanent life cycle (24h/24) in the tower, the mixed plan is mainly laid out around two poles of housing and work places. Around housings, offices and research laboratories as well as the most private to the most public agricultural and leisure spaces are designed in gardens, kitchen gardens, orchards, meadows, rice fields, farms and suspended fields. The distribution of flows is made around a true safe spine spreading in loop the numerous elevators, the goods elevators and stair wells serving all the levels by separating simultaneously the inputs and the outputs recycled from plants, animals and human beings.

Architecturally, the functional organization is represented by two 600 m towers symmetrically arranged in pair around a huge climatic greenhouse that links them and deploys itself between two crystalline wings. These very light wings in glass and steel retake the loads of the building and are directly inspired from the structure of the dragonfly wingscoming from the family of “Odonata Anisoptera” whose transparent membrane is very finely nervured. Two inhabited rings buttress around these wings. Their organically chiseled exo-structure accommodates the inter-climatic spaces that receive the agrarian cultures.

The whole set forms double layer architecture in bee nest mesh that exploits the solar passive energy at its maximum level, by accumulating the warm air in the winter in the thickness of the exo-structure, and by cooling the atmosphere by natural ventilation and by evapo-perspiration of the plants in the summer. Protecting thus the cultures from climatic changes inNew York (from -25.5°C in the winter to +41°C in the summer), these plug spaces are useful to reflect on the agriculture not anymore in terms of surface area but really in terms of volume. Actually, whereas grounds nourish orchards, each wall and each ceiling are metamorphosed into three-dimensional kitchen gardens. The interior frontages of the housing and offices throw towards the skyline of New York the cantilever of their hydrophonic balconies with hexagonal section thanks to what it multiplies the culture layers by floors. The vegetation abounds, the earth is swarming of insects and animals are freely brought up in holding tanks by urban consumers with low income. The architecture becomes eatable!

In addition to this thermal called passive system, the integration of renewable energies has been thought from the design of Dragonfly to meet the needs of a completely energetically self-sufficient project in urban centre. Actually, the South prow of the tower receives in all the heights of its curve a solar shield producing half of the electric energy needed for its functioning. The other half is ensured by the three wind machines with vertical axes of Darrieus type that coils itself up in the three lenses hollowed in the North part of the micro-pearled shell towards dominated wind of New York. The exterior façades of the tower present a double personality. Actually, in the West of the Island near Manhattan, the façades are treated in planted walls, whereas in the East near the Queens’ district, the wet exterior walls are cultivated with tropical essences. These vertical gardens enable to filter the rain water and the effluents of domestic liquid waste of the tower inhabitants. The collected waters undergo an appropriate organic treatment for the farming reuse, bringing all the nitrogen and an important part of phosphor as well as potassium needed for the production of fruits, vegetables and cereals.

Outlining the bank of the Roosevelt Island, the tower widens at each side of its basis to better integrate the flows that cross it and to welcome two marinas along the East River. This widening out forms two huge photovoltaic vaults such as a solar dress floating above these two urban harbors: on the western marina side, the wooden pontoons of the taxi boats open panoramically on the Midtown bank and on the eastern marina side, the floating market oriented towards the Queens’ district is designed to distribute through the river the food production of this vertical farm to the heart of Manhattan and to its million and a half of city slickers. Moreover, these two marinas accommodate two huge aquaculture ponds, true tank of soft water filtered by the planted frontages and dedicated to be reinjected in the hydroponics network of the Dragonfly tower.

According to the evolution of the urban agriculture enhanced by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) that has been realizing since 2007 that the organic agriculture on a large scale would be able to nourish the planet, the Dragonfly project challenges the city of New York to rethink its food production. In response, this project of inhabited vertical farm replies to the contemporary dilemma of producing not only ecologically but also more intensively on non-extensive earth. This by merging also directly production place and consumption place in the heart of the city!

Project Details

Project : A Metabolic Farm for Urban Agriculture

Location : Roosevelt Island, New York City, USA

Surface Area : 350.000 m²

Heights : Antenna=700m; Roof=600m; Top Floor=575m

Floors: 132

Agricultural Fields: 28

Model Studies: Philippe Steels

Perspectives: Benoit Patterlini

Architect: Vincent Callebaut Architectures

Linking the west part of the Parisian financial district La Defense with the city of Nanterre via the recently erected highrise building “Tour Granite”, this 90m long footbridge winding through a dense architectural tissue is a modern urban promenade based on an ambitious structural concept.

The client – EPA Seine Arche – is an institution in charge of developing the public space between La Défense and Nanterre. During an architectural competition in Paris, the project of the architect Dietmar Feichtinger has been chosen. Dietmar Feichtinger is also an architect of the Simone de Beauvoir footbridge in Paris and the 3 countries bridge in Huningue. For the Valmy footbridge he was assisted by the engineers Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner (Stuttgart).

A suspended architecture between the buildings of La Défense

Starting off behind the Grande Arche as a ramp continuing the general level, the generous circumscription of the office building of the Société Générale Bank - visible in plan - asked for a specific solution. The architectural ambition for lightness and transparency is obtained by a balance of forces. The structural functions – tension and compression are clearly expressed. The dimension of each element is minimized. The organic and soft shape of the structure – close to the pedestrians – is in opposition to the monumental scale and the “cold” abstract expression of the highrise buildings.

The bridge keeps a large distance with the building and the supporting structure has been transferred to the exterior curve. This allows obtaining a maximum of natural light for the offices and the cafeteria. The bridge attains the “Tour Granite” on the first floor. Escalators and stairs link up with the ground level in the city of Nanterre.

The rhythm of the structural elements assures the identity of the bridge. The main structural elements are the girders accentuating the bridge every 10 m as the “spinal column” of the bridge. The deck consists of a steel sheet box girder. The radiating “spine elements” are interconnected by pre-stressed cables. A system of cantilevers takes on the vertical forces. Resistance against torsion is assured by the deck and retaining cables below pre-stressed in the circumferential direction. The walking surface of the deck is covered with a uniform dark grey epoxy resin. The continuous surface opposes the stone pattern of the existing platforms and reinforces the impression of the bridge as a link.

The railings are composed of pre stressed horizontal steel cables and a tube of stainless steel as handrail. The posts are made of 2 parallel steel plates including fixation for the light. Functional light is assured by fluorescent tubes vertically installed with each post and covered by a perforated stainless steel protection sheet. Glass screens as wind shields are fixed at the exterior curve so that the pedestrian may contemplate the cityscape. At night the illumination of the masts emphasizes the rhythmic structure of the promenade.

Structural Design

One can compare the structure of the Granite-footbridge with a spinal column: each element participates actively to assure stability creating a balance of tension and compression forces achieving maximum lightness: the spinal elements (“masts”), cables and the bridge deck.

The deck is formed by a steel beam, an element forming a trapeze in section - 4,5m large, 600mm high on the exterior and 300mm high on the interior edge. The beam is composed by welded steel plates, S355, reinforced with transversal stiffeners.

The spinal elements are made of steel plates, S460. They are oriented towards the center of the curved geometry of the deck. The main plates are stiffened by perpendicular plates welded to the main plate forming a cross section responding to compression forces.The diagonal suspension cables link the spinal elements to the deck. All three elements compose the “spinal column” of the bridge. The retaining cables are anchored to the deck at the two ends. 3 monotoron cables of a diameter of 65mm are fixed to the spinal elements under the bridge deck. Prestress is induced during the mounting process.

Supporting Elements

The bridge is supported on each end by a combination of 2 anchoring elements fixing the beam: On one side the bridge is supported by a pile and anchored in the concrete slab of the existing platform, on the other side it is supported by 2 piles.

The suspension structure – spinal elements and suspension cables – supports the vertical forces. It is positioned asymmetrically to the deck beam. Forces are being transmitted from the centre to the anchorage on the 2 ends. The closer one gets to the supports the stronger are the forces in the cables. This is why the number and the diameter of the cables as well as the height and the cross section of the spinal elements increase towards the supports.

Torsion is created by the curved geometry in plan and the asymmetrical layout of the supporting structure. Retaining cables are being installed under the bridge deck linking the spinal elements to balance torsion inducing a horizontal force. The curved layout and the inclination of the upper part of the spinal element demand transversal stabilisation. A vertical cable linking the two ends of each spinal element responds to this effort.

The bridge deck is as light as possible and responds to flexion and torsion. A lift gives additional access to the bridge linking the street level to the deck.

Project Details

• Project : Footbridge Valmy
• Location : France
• Client : EPA Seine Arche
• Architect : Dietar Feichtinger Architectes (DFA)
• Team : Christian Wittmeir, Guy Deshayes
• Engineers : SBP, Stuttgart
• Aerodynamic studies : PSP Aachen
• Contractors : Steel construction : VIRY SA
• Fondations    GTM
• Pre-stressing Electricity : Meurant
• Size and main features :   Length
• Total length 90m
• Length without ramp Valmy 78m
• Clear Span 48m
• Width 4,5 m
• Weight
• Steel Construction 300t
• Reinforced Concrete 35m3
• Excavation on Site 26m3
• Tension Elements
• Tension rods 302m
• Section of Tension Rods 36~90mm
• Ring Cable / Cables 3x 75 m
• Strength of ropes 65 mm
• Height above street level 6 - 8 m
• Wind Screen (curved glass) 141m²
• Time Schedule
• Competition : 12/2003
• Start of Planning : 2004
• Start of Construction : 2006
• Completion : July 2008
• Building Costs : 2.8 Million €
• Photo Credit : Antonin Chaix

Bridge Mounting

The bridge deck is composed by 26 prefabricated elements delivered on site by special transport. The elements are installed during the night on a temporary support, keeping the street on ground level accessible all time. The deck elements are positioned taking into account a counter curvature and welded one to the other obtaining a 90m long continuous deck.

The deck is positioned on temporary supports allowing readjustment of the geometry necessary due to deformation during the welding process.

Tension elements – suspension cables and retaining cables – are fixed on the spinal elements with connectors inducing tension and prestress. The retaining cables are tensioned by pulling the preinstalled cables towards the exterior curve. Special adaptors are fabricated to allow a step-by-step process. Jacks pull the cables into their final position. After positioning the retaining cables, the temporary support can by dismounted. The bridge takes its final structural state.

“Habits of designing only Buildings, only bridges or anything else, kills creativity”- Dietmar Feichtinger

Dietmar Feichtinger is an Austrian architect whose works itself tell the story of aesthetic, transparency and structural efficiency of the project. Whether it’s a design of a bridge or a building, his approach to deliver an architectural response to the clients brief and to the site has always resulted in visually elegant works.


Studied architecture at the Technical University of Graz, graduating [summa cùm laude] in 1988, architect Feichtinger gains initial experience from Prof. Huth, Prof. Giencke and Prof. Klaus Kada, and then he moved to Paris in 1989, and worked at Chaix/Morel where he was appointed associate architect and project manager. In 1994, he founded Feichtinger Architectes, with headquarters in Paris and in 2002 he opened a subsidiary in Vienna. Feichtinger has taught at a number of universities since 1994 - the University of Paris VILa Villette, the RWTH Aachen, the University of Innsbruck and the University of Vienna.

Museum Passerelle

The footbridge has received the year award for the best Building 2007 from the AIV Hamburg. The geometry of the footbridge continues two strong directions on each riverside–the throughway of the former storage building “Kaispeicher B” recently transformed into a ship museum, connecting access road and harbour, and the main pedestrian axes of an urban park area generated by the transversal water basin in the north. The walking surface widens up towards the middle offering a comfortable area to have a rest and overlook the harbour. The bridge is not only a link but also a public space opening new perspectives on the urban landscape.

Fundamental of Architecture

According to the architect Feichtinger, every location calls for its own project. Treating every project as a new one fitting into a specific location is a good way of avoiding routine. This involves seeking a new solution every time, endeavoring to be highly modern, highly contemporary and above all avoiding stylistic precepts. Every location, every natural landscape, every urban setting requires its own response.

He doesn’t want to get into the habit of designing only office buildings, only bridges or anything else because he thinks ‘Habits kill creativity’. His works cover a hospital, universities, office building, toll verticals and cinemas as well as bridges. Everywhere Feichtinger focuses primarily on fitting his projects into their setting. This, he strongly believes, is the fundamental tenet of architecture, a guiding principal rather than an obstacle, and he pays close attention to thestructure of his work. The bones of the building that is what every architect should be interested in. His bridges are in that sense, a stylistic exercise. That is all revealing architecture you can conceal nothing. It is the basic principal that makes the project.

Projects

The project portfolio of Dietmar Feichtinger comprises bridges, office or residential buildings, museum, halls, schools, urban planning, and so on. Some of his notable projects are the sport center Jules Ladoumège Paris, footbridge over the Rhône River Lyon, Footbridge Simone-de-Beauvoir Paris, Art Center Weiz Weiz, Cultural space and music center Aubervilliers, Urban Projet SABAG Salzburg, Uniqa headquater, New corporate headquarter Vienna, Office Center Handeslkai Vienna, and so on.

Awards

2008: German Bridge and Footbridge Award, Footbridge over the Rhin Footbridge Award 2008, Catégorie Esthétique, Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir Footbridge Award 2008, Catégorie Technique, Passerelle des Trois Pays

2007: Mies van der Rohe Award 2007, nomination of 3 projects of the office European Steel Design Award, Simone de Beauvoir footbridge Bauherrnpreis, Austria 2007, University Camus Krems Renault Future Traffic Award 2007, Footbridge over the Rhin

Danube University Krems

This building made the Krems Campus into Austria’s largest construction project in the education sector. Approximately Euro 56.4 million were invested in the building. Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes (DFA) proposed a comb-like structure for the project. Instead of exploiting the different heights of the site in the obvious way by embedding most of the building, the architects used a composition of three parallel, broadly projecting volumes at the upper edge of the site to produce a situation that, in contrast to an underground ambiance, creates even in its low-lying internal courtyards a free, open and transparent ensemble of coolly self-assured educational buildings. A connecting wing parallel to the old building holds the three teeth of this comb together and uses a glazed bridge to link them to the former tobacco factory.

2006: Equerre d’Argent, french architecture prize, Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir Architecture Award of the Land of Styria, Award Geramb-Rose, Cultural Center Weiz Architecture Award of the Land of Lower Austria, ‘AustrianConstructionPrize2005’, Contract.world.Award, shortlisted, University Campus Krems Award for the best building 2006, Shanghai Bridge Hamburg

2005: Equerre d’Argent 2005, nomination, Building A1, Gennevilliers, France

1998: Prize of Architecture of Academy of Arts Berlin

THE FIRM Sustainability Intrinsic to Good Design

Perhaps the only thing that all architects & designers wish is to gain supremacy and popularity through their designing skills and add their names in the list of world's distinguished architects and designers. To achieve this, they strive hard to make their designs more innovative, environment - friendly and sustainable ensuring the betterment of the world. The same perspective has also been practised by Mumbai - based architectural and design practice 'THE FIRM' which believes that sustainability is vital for good designs. Briefing their design philosophy to Maria Rasheeda, THE FIRM shares the details of some of its prestigious projects.

Architecture word comes from the Greek 'arkhitektonike' which means the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use. The primary application of the word "architecture" pertains to the built environment, by extension, the term has come to denote the art and discipline of creating an actual plan of any complex object or system. But nowadays for architects, the word 'architecture' means to convert user's imagination and emotional contents into a form or shape which fully satisfied the clients' belief and rather surpass their expectations.

Earlier architects were responsible to plan, design and review the construction of buildings and structures for the use of clients by the creative organization of materials and components with consideration to mass, space, form, volume, texture, structure, cost, technology etc and achieve an end which is usually functional, economical, practical and often artistic. But today architects are more creative not only in terms of designing the dream project of their clients but also in terms of saving the natural resources. For them, sustainability is important for a good project. This is what the Mumbai - based architectural practice 'THE FIRM' has adopted as their design philosophy to work on.

We love to work with the clients who are socially conscious and believe in preserving the natural resources. We work towards a dream, where we will be able to make a remarkable difference towards the betterment of the world around us - Architect Sundeep Gwash

THE FIRM, founded in 1999 by architects Sundeep Gwash and Vishal Shah has today grown to become a well - established, multi - design practice offering architecture, interiors and landscape as core design services. Since 2002, the practice diversified its scope by providing specialized services to media facility industry in India as well as abroad, as a separate focus.

In early 2008, the practice consolidated its global presence by establishing its first international office 'THE FIRM Associates UK Limited' at United Kingdom.

According to architect Sundeep Gwash, Principal, Head - Design & Technology, "Our aim is to become a highly respected design firm, known for its design excellence, great organization and of course, happy clients. We would love to work with well - informed clients, who share our passion for design and innovation." Clients, who are socially conscious and who believe in preserving our natural resources. We work towards a dream, where we will be able to make a remarkable difference towards the betterment of the world around us, he added.

Architecture is essentially the users' response, their emotional content, towards the spaces created. Our emphasis on the social dimension is an acknowledgment that architecture is generated by the needs of people - Architect Vishal Shah

Design Philosophy

Responding on the THE FIRM's belief about architecture, architect Vishal Shah, Principal, Head - Finance & Project Management said, "Architecture is essentially the users' response, their emotional content, towards the spaces created. This forms the basis of our philosophy at the practice. Our emphasis on the social dimension is an acknowledgment that architecture is generated by the needs of people."

Elaborating on the design practice, he added, "We look at each project distinctively and base our design concept and solution on its very unique and special conditions. Our functional spaces and buildings balance the cost and benefit factors reasonably. The central concern of our practice is design excellence. We achieve this through active collaboration with clients and architectural specialists."

He added further, "we realize that simply fulfilling the basic functional needs of a project often results in only mundane solutions. But, including the more elusive and less utilitarian aspects, paves the way for higher architectural quality."

Practice

According to Ar. Gwash, "Visualization and graphic presentation is essential for our informed clients, but it is not merely restricted to that purpose. At our practice, this is simply the way to design. It is a norm to make optimal use of graphic tools and software so as to evolve better design, which inherently benefits our creative pursuits and our clients alike," he added.

'THE FIRM' has been honored by the software company 'Autodesk' with the Building Information Modeling (BIM) Experience Award 2007 for leadership, innovation and excellence in implementing BIM.

THE FIRM Cares for spiritual needs of the clients and at the same time also considers sustainability to be intrinsic to good design.

Signature Tower Mumbai

Project : Shah Signature

Location : Navi Mumbai

Site : 1800 sqm

Footprint : 825 sqm

Built–up: 13,000 sqm

Clients : Shah Group Projects & Infraprojects Ltd

Architects : THE FIRM

Principal Architects: Sundeep Gwash, Vishal Shah

Project Team : Kedar Dalvi, Trushali Gandre, Chaitali Amin

Sustainability: Deepika Batra Gwash

Category: Commercial


Designed by THE FIRM, the project 'Shah Signature' has been an interesting project in terms of its clients' ambitious design brief and the manifestation of the same into a very iconic architecture in the making.


The iconic sail form of the building signifies the local context in past and its futuristic bend in present context for the project site located in the twenty - first century city of Navi Mumbai. The form centric design was conceptualized for the project and it appealed instantaneously to the clients.


Various options were considered in pre - design stage and the design was finalized on the basis of concept and better energy performance vis-à-vis orientation and form.

A mixed - use highrise commercial building, the 'Signature Tower' comprises offices on the upper floors and the retail shopping activity in the lowers floors and basement. Being situated on a corner plot, the open space on the ground is being well - utilized to act like an open deck for public spill - over from the retail mall - a pleasant change for the crowded vicinity. The ancillary program includes multi - level parking with car lifts and fine - dine restaurants and a gym.


The salient features of the design include column - free spaces for offices, the high performance facade offering views and natural light deep into the office floors; and the exclusive roof - top office with the helipad.

The special façade structure is determined to be designed on a grid concept, lending it the two way curve form. The wrap form is also intended to act as an outer layer of building envelope, reducing heat ingress but not daylight; thus minimizing the load on air - conditioning. The form compared with the regular box building is imposing but not unwieldy; and is more appropriate to handle winds at higher levels. The visualization of the curve building façade which was reducing in plan on going higher was done at various stages, till the time the satisfactory outcome was not achieved. The team is currently trying if the unique façade grid could be made parametric so as to accommodate change if the higher FSI is approved by the development control authorities. The structural consultant and MEP consultants are sharing the information from the BIM model in the form of 3d files, to bring out the integrated design in services and structures. The MEP services of the building are defined to be designed to go minimal on energy and water consumptions.

Trinity World School, Mumbai

Project : Trinity World School

Location : Navi Mumbai

Site area : 3930 sqm (excluding the playground)

Built-up area : 9230 sqm

Clients : NMMC

Architects : THE FIRM

Principal Architects : Sundeep Gwash, Vishal Shah

Project Team : Kedar Dalvi, Trushali Gandre, Chaitali Amin

Sustainability : Deepika Batra Gwash

Category : Educational

Located in Navi Mumbai this educational facility, Trinity World School is designed by THE FIRM for the client NMMC (Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation). According to the client's brief, the facility had to be exemplary in terms of not only its facilities but also its level of design.


This facility is designed to provide learning spaces for children from kindergarten to high school, as well as the junior college of arts, science and commerce, and the state - of - the - art auditorium, besides many other activity zones.

The courtyard - centric design of the educational architecture focused on creating the ideal environment for learning by lieu of spatial relationships, indoor - outdoor relationships, natural ventilation and daylight and hub - of - activity areas.


The building shape is derived to get maximum diffused light into the classrooms, and the resultant smaller footprint also lends more green area on the ground. The atrium brings in natural light to the courtyard and the scene witnesses various changes with the changing sun path during the day. The numerous solar studies at various important sections and courtyards views were being synthesized to improvise the design. The semi - open spaces on each level are intended to capture cross - ventilation, hence increasing the comfort level of the occupants. The micro - climate of the courtyard contributes to the visual appeal, and helps in creating better micro - environment at the same time.


The school auditorium is designed to be available for use by the larger community; hence the need for additional facilities goes down; saving costs community - wide and decreasing the environmental impact of the community as a whole.

Architect Narrayan and Associates, a renowned architectural firm in Mumbai was started in 2000 by Architect R.L Narrayan with only two staff, has now grown into 70 professional staff within a span of 8 years only. Born in 1972 and completed his graduation diploma in architecture from Institute of Environmental Design, VVN, Mr. Narrayan commenced his career in 1997 with the firm Doshi and Bhalla.

Mr. Narrayan has won many prestigious awards such as ‘Bhartiya Shiromanj Puraskar’ in 2006 as an excellence for enhancing the image of India by Institute of Economic studies & development, New Delhi. Also awarded as ‘Architect for excellence (Business) award 2006’ for his outstanding services to the society and excellence in the architectural field for Individual Achievement & nation building. In 2008, Mr. Narrayan has been honored by the award ‘’Bunts Sangha Mumbai’ by honorable minister of agriculture.

The firm Architect Narrayan and Associates conceptualized, designed, and execute, projects ranging from corporate office, commercial, residential, malls, hotel & resorts, Institutional, hospitals and various other diverse fields in architectural/interiors. They are also involved in designing railway stations; urban planning and redevelopment projects and uses complete high technology and computer aided engineering tools.

The firm has completed many prestigious projects in and around the country. Some of its important clients are: Reliance Energy, Sahara Group of Companies, ICICI Bank, monster, Adlabs, Nelito, Kumar Builders, Business Solution Pvt Ltd, Writer, and so on. They are also doing many international projects in countries like Muscat, ShriLanka and UAE.

Architect Narrayan has recently completed a residential project in Chennai for the Client Mr. J.Jayamurghan who is professionally a businessman. According to Mr. Narrayan, when we first visited the site, the site seems to be in a complete scenic environment, with tall trees, greenery all across the neighborhood. Despite been in the middle of the city, it seems aloof from the city environment itself and to us it’s a perfect plot for a villa, which should have this serene environment.

• Project : J.Jayamurghan Villa, Chennai
• Plot Area : 1000 SM
• Total Built-up : 1600 SM

Before started working on the project, we first had the meeting with the client at his existing house. We have chosen the above said venue for meeting just to know the kind of environment he lives in, and we knew at the very offset that there should be a drastic change to the overall life style that he lives. We not only had to make sure that the traditional style of living should not be overlooked, but had to make sure that all the amenities of a modern and a high tech living had to be incorporated.

Design of Villa

The plot was in a rectangular shape which had a narrow width; this affected the overall design, as the house became longitudinal in design, it was particularly difficult to save space from corridor. The brief given to us about the requirement of the inhabitants has to be completed fulfilled. The design of the villa should cater to all their needs. The space should have a lot of natural light, well ventilated and each room to be spacious. Most importantly, the house should be completely ‘Vastu’ compliant.

The building has been designed keeping the aspect of various flows of the privacies of the inhabitant. It has ground plus two upper floors. The ground has space for Formal living room, and an office attached to it. There is a formal dining area, family dining and kitchen, and it also has two bedrooms for senior citizen of the family. The whole layout revolves around the atrium in the middle of the house with an elegant metal / wooden staircase connecting the various levels. The first floor has four bedrooms with family room and a small study room, the whole space revolves around this atrium which has a tension rod patch fitted glass. So as this atrium is well lighted and looks spacious.

This atrium is more of a night space which has reflected light, and a lot of ceiling hanging lights, the whole space has a complete mood lighting system. As been a central space and the other rooms revolving around this, it has attraction which cannot be missed.

The second floor has been divided into terrace for parties and the recreational area such as theater room, gymnasium, a Small Spa which as steam and Jacuzzi, whereas the other half of the house has swimming pool attached with changing rooms.

Interiors

The interior has been designed to have a post colonial feel with a flavor of contemporary elements. The spaces in each area has high ceiling with quite a bit of diffuse lighting, this itself gave a very post colonial modernistic feel. The colors and textures been used in each area has a very versatile and a combination of traditional and modernistic feel, there has been use of lot of wallpapers which has floral as well as geometric design, keeping in mind the space that it envelopes, detail design in each room has been particularly looked at as an integral part of an overall design.

According to Associates Interior Designer Isha Narrayan, also the wife of Mr. Narrayan, “It was during the interiors that we had to look at the usages of the mix between traditional colors and modern aspect of the house. The house has a complete system of a BMS integration between, Air-condition, lighting, security and fire alarm system. It has also the most modern system in terms of efficiency of power consumption.”

She further says, we have used centralized VRV system for the entire house, which has been specially designed and ordered from Japan, this has a complete integration with BMS System. The security system been used are of one of the most high-tech systems, with 14 cameras around the house, remote locking system and burglar alarm system.

The Complete Villa was a minimalist design. Wooden Floor were used in all the Bedrooms which clearly reflects very warm, rich and spacious look.

The Pure wooden Stairs with Open steel railings depicts beautiful combination of classical and modern concepts— from the Ground Level, the Entrance view is breathtaking impressive as the complete staircase and 2 levels are viewed. The Open lobby gives a very inviting look with minimum seating on the entrance.

The wooden high ceiling with huge glass windows and high wall curtains in the family room creates a very welcoming ambience; the designed focus is on the wooden ceiling with interesting colors used in the family area maintaining the modern concept.

Isha says, “It is vital to understand Client’s requirement for designing his House. We tried our best to clearly perceive his point of view. It is this practice that we always developed projects beyond the client’s expectations.”

The construction of the building took approx. one year for completion. The construction method has been a framed structure with usage of local material. The overall construction has been carried out keeping in mind the green building concept which has been applied at minute’s details. The usage of shaded areas, the larger openings towards the east and the west side are kept with shading coefficient in mind.

One of the finest works of glass and steel can be seen at EPA Studio in South Africa, designed by Elphick Proome Architects Inc (EPA) for their own use seeing the demand for a substantially larger and more technically sophisticated studio environment for them. Being described as a truly magnificent advert for glass and steel, the design of the studio has received several awards as Regional Institute award, SAISC National Steel award and SAIA Award of Excellence.

Located at Westway office park, Westville in South Africa, the steel and glass box of EPA Studio is crafted very carefully to its site and is comfortably fit with topography and nature. Being covered with a widely over-sailing roof, inclined in acknowledgment of the longitudinal cross-section, the building added a new name in the modern architectural vocabulary.

Site Survey & Design Philosophy

The site for the project was purchased in 2002 but the process of sub-division and environment approvals takes two and half year which resulted in to delay and hence construction on site started in late 2005. Prior to the formal sub-division of the larger site, the Studio was conceived as one of four proposed freestanding office structures positioned parallel to the contours of the steeply south-facing slope. The building footprint in the lowest portion of the site, adjacent to a wooded reserve, generated the largest floor area, which would allow the studio to operate on a single level. This position also allowed for separate street access and maximum exposure within the office park.


Detailed survey of the site highlighted the severity of cross-fall slopes, which would have hindered both street access and general build ability. With this information, the design was re-evaluated, which resulted in the repositioning of the building footprint at the most level portion of the site, closest and parallel to the street.


Other than the functional requirements for meeting areas and positioning of the building, a brief was collated from the staff regarding the Architectural philosophies that should generate the concept for the new Studio. Those philosophies were summarized here as a building to be set within a natural bush/indigenous landscaped environment:

• To exude a bold and simple regional quality capitalizing on distant sea views
• Raw, natural materials to display honestly and visceral integrity
• Emphasis on creating and innovative deployment of materials and components
• Low maintenance finishes in a sensitive and a practical application
• Careful use of integrated climatic control elements

Structural Design

The EPA Architectural firm always strive to create buildings and spaces that respond to the unique nature of each project with integrity. Their design philosophy emphasizes an appropriate architecture that responds to function, context, region and climate.


The architectural design of the studio re-evaluated by EPA has been able to capitalize on distant southern views, as well as the immediate environment of natural bush and indigenous landscaping to the east and north. The building form responds to this by becoming a rectangular glazed pavilion, elevated on tapering concrete columns that vary in height according to the slope of the site.


The west end of the longitudinal arrangement engages into the hillside which allows entrance into the highest level of the building through a five meter high front door. This floor accommodates reception, meeting rooms and Director’s workspaces which overlook the double volume general workspace below.

The design of the studio has generated a spatial organization allowing ease of circulation and a variety of meeting venues which has promoted communication and creative interaction between the users of the Studio. The rational layout of functions and integrated services, allows for future planning flexibility to respond to the ever adapting demands of the practice. The integration of spatial dynamics and structural expertise has created an inspirational environment for staff and visitors alike.


The parking area is located within the diminishing volume of the lowest level and surrounded by waist high walls, which draw the eye to the front wall. Water features to the left and to the front, and a wall cladded in part with concrete and in part with low-level glass, surround on either side and above. Within the garage area careful attention to materials, structure and lighting create a different but equally powerful staff arrival area. The full-height purpose-designed steel-framed wooden door covered with glass is the piece de resistance.

Materials Used

Structurally, the off-shutter finish concrete columns and wall elements support and brace the steel structure above. Inspired by the close relationship to the adjacent tree canopy, the roof evolved into an oversailing inclined plane supported by a steel structure of ‘branch-like’ brackets. Having no vertical members they allow the glass envelope to run unobstructed around the corners of the building and reach up to the oversailing roof above. The roof spans the longitudinal axis, pitching with the gradient of the adjacent street. This allows for generous internal volumes to the upper floor reception areas and creates an elevated scale appropriate to the main entrance of the studio.

The external experience of the building is enhanced by the timber-clad exposed steelwork of the external balconies, which are also surrounded by carefully detailed steel and wire balustrade. Another of those superbly detailed items, stunning in its simplicity, is the steel-supported staircase leading from the lower working areas to the upper reception areas. What makes this so special is the exquisite detail of the timber treads supported in steel pans to the staircase. A special effect has been created.

Besides its extraordinary aesthetic quality and brilliant workmanship, the studio has multi-adjustable blinds fitted to the windows that maximize natural light and eliminate glare. This is further supported by the external galvanized grating, which has been used both decoratively and as a sunscreen.

Other features relating to the outer impression is the louvred section of the wall, which hides the air conditioning plant. A neat set of letters ‘epa’ (for Elphick Proome & Associates) attached to the wall is the only clue as to who the occupants are.


Close teamwork, from the initiation of the project, between the architectural and the engineering and construction teams was an important factor in the successful completion of the project. This is evident in the neatness of the site-welded steel connections, the beam-to-column bolted connections, and the curved-plate pinned connections to the sloping tubular columns, which all played an important role in achieving this very special structure.

Magarpatta Township Development & Construction Co. Ltd. Approached to the architect Benoy to design their project Magarpatta City retail mall in Pune.

The client’s brief was to make use of the moderate climate in Pune to create a retail and entertainment destination for people and residents to relax shop and enjoy.


Thus, the innovative design of the first major retail offering within Magarpatta City takes into consideration the city’s climate and integrates the landscaping with the building, harmonising indoor and outdoor environments at every level. Pockets of outdoor areas are inserted at various levels along the stepping landscapes to break down the generic massive retail box and also to allow visitors to enjoy the temperate climate. Together with the landscaping features merging into the mall, distinctive areas with F&B and entrances are incorporated to link the exterior and interior.


The stepping terraces introduce a stacked fenestration to bring cool air along the landscape effectively, and as a whole, they form an exciting puzzle made up of stepped greenery, waterscapes and dining terraces. To control excessive solar heat gain into the building and the landscaping areas, skylight locations have been carefully considered and a lightweight tensile roof partially spanning the landscape will encourage full use of the outdoor spaces.

The aim of the design was to create a destination for not only the township but also the entire city of Pune. In addition to the unique spaces and a focus on outdoor amenities, this four-storey retail complex will offer a range of different sized shops, cinema, entertainment facilities, department stores and a hypermarket, with 207,000m² of leasable floor area.

Recognised internationally for award-winning designs of destinations including the Bullring and Bluewater Shopping Centres in the UK and Elements mall in Hong Kong, Benoy has seen remarkable growth in its India portfolio in just a few short years. Benoy ventured into the Indian market in 2005 and since then has become a recognised brand, and is now working on several schemes around the country, both on the drawing board and underconstruction, reports Maria.


Working with one of India’s most reputable developers, DLF Universal Ltd, to develop DLF Place Saket and Saket South Court, Benoy has made a significant contribution to retail design, creating a landmark destination in the affluent suburb of Saket in South Delhi.

Presented with the opportunity to design a new type of shopping and leisure experience, and with extensive understanding of retail design, knowledge, instinct and enthusiasm to re-interpret the traditional marketplace in India, Benoy has delivered a brand new typology of shopping, introducing a fresh concept for retail space based on the idea of open courtyards.


The designs for both DLF Place and South Court play on the idea of blending indoor and outdoor retail experiences, culminating in unique interior environments set around inward-facing courtyards that are open to the elements. Together, these provide a calm and pleasant indoor retail experience in an ‘outdoor’ open air setting. “Our design concept involved a simple and unique design approach, which we aptly named “Alfresco Fusion,” says Craig Menzies, Divisional Director of Benoy.

The interior design solution brings the outside in, incorporating exterior building façades, providing a high street shopping atmosphere within an indoor mall environment. The interior emulates tranquil courtyards covered with skylights. These allow fresh air and natural daylight to flood the internal space, enhancing the experience of open air shopping and alfresco dining.


Complementing this, Benoy has positioned café-style parasols, canopies and oversized planters with trees on the ground level to suggest tree-lined streets that house small, upscale boutiques. In addition, ‘street-like’ façades with individual shopfront designs, streetlights, water features and street furniture contribute to the overall ‘Streetmosphere.’

Given the restrictions of the design and approved architectural plan, the near-completed mall works splendidly, unifying the exterior and interior spaces while fusing the concept of external courtyards together with the retail offers. Crisply understated façades define the courtyards while individually designed storefronts and rich natural materials create a harmonious frame for the stores at each level.

Inside the courtyards, customers are flanked by retail stores on either side – two levels on one side and three on the other, all opening out towards the open volume. The abundance of natural light from the skylights above give the shops an outdoor ambience and offer visitors the overall impression of a calm and pleasant high-street stroll.

Wandering through each shopping centre, visitors will notice subtle differences in the design and use of materials and finishes. Lavish natural stones grace the piers between the storefronts, detailed with simple reflective steel inlays and intricately paneled stone joints. Fully-glazed store fronts with functional canopies line the ground floor, evoking an outdoor, high-street experience. “Visitors will feel the subtle elegance, energy and luxury of the place – and that will inspire them to shop,” says Menzies.

Transition zones have been created at the junctions between the two projects, drawing shoppers to all sections of the mall and activating what otherwise would be unusable and undesirable retail space. On the second level of the mall, a glazed skywalk links the mall and a six-screen multiplex cinema.

The retail space will occupy three busy levels with pedestrian entry points located at the basement and ground floor. Importantly, the two malls are located in one of Delhi’s most affluent residential areas, with a wealthy and discerning catchment. With this in mind, the mall had to be unique both in its design and its approach to retail – in order to attract footfall.

“We hope that our design will minimise ‘Threshold resistance’ between shoppers and merchandise by the unique concept, layout and ambience of the retail centre” iterates Menzies.


It is fair to say ‘the design for DLF Place and South Court does not fit within the normal retail mall brief parameters’. This sets the mall apart from the adjacent malls that are already trading and operating within the development, which answers the client’s brief to create a unique and memorable shopping experience.

Benoy has once again successfully created a ‘Must Visit’, ‘Must See’ and ‘Must Experience’ destination offering entertainment, leisure and a unique shopping experience.

Project Highlights:

• Flanked by Select Mall and Civic Centre developments
• Connected to existing developments by elevated covered walkways
• Surface and basement parking for 1,200 cars
• Captive footfall from two office blocks and two hotels of 120 keys and connectivity to the adjoining malls
• DLF Place Saket total area approximately 183,000m² (6 lakh)
• South Court total area around 122,000m² (4 lakh)
• South Court anchor stores will include Lifestyle and Landmark
• DLF Place Saket anchor store will be Debenham
• DT Cinemas will incorporate six screens

Renowned London based architect, Zaha Hadid has been selected to design the new Cairo Expo City, together with global multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Buro Happold.

The winning design for Cairo Expo City delivers a unique facility for Cairo––a 450,000 square metre, state-of-the-art city for exhibitions and conferences, located between the centre of Cairo and the city's airport. The project comprises a major international exhibition and conference centre with business hotel. A further office tower and a shopping centre are also proposed.


The project is one of great significance for Cairo, a city which is undergoing revitalization. "This is a truly national project for Egypt." said Sherif Salem, CEO of the GOIEF (General Organization of International Exhibitions and Fairs). "The current exhibition halls for Cairo do not meet the standards now required by the international conference and exhibition industry. With this exceptional design by Zaha Hadid Architects, Cairo will be among the world's top cities for conferences and fairs, able to cater for the widest variety and size of events."


Architect Zaha Hadid explained, the undulating fluid forms of the Cairo Expo City design were inspired by the natural topography of the Nile valley. "As the exhibition spaces require the greatest degree of flexibility, we wanted to ensure that all the public spaces and formal composition of Cairo Expo City relate to the surrounding Egyptian landscape," said Hadid. "Along the great rivers of the region, most particularly the Nile, there is a powerful dynamic - a constant flow between the water and the land - which extends to incorporate the neighboring buildings and landscapes. For the Cairo Expo City design, we worked to capture that seamlessness and fluidity in an urban architectural context."

Carving and sculpting processes have been used to divide the very large exhibition and conference areas required for Cairo Expo City into clusters of individual buildings that have their own formal composition, yet each building relates to the overall design. A main north-south artery is carved through the design, with secondary streams converging at the centre to ease crowd traffic during event. The movement of people within these streams informs the building entrances on the site.


Zaha Hadid Architects was shortlisted with Norwegian architecture practice Snohetta for the second phase of the competition in April. Works will begin in October this year to clear the site.

Client: GOIEF (General Organization of International Exhibitions and Fairs), Cairo

Design: Zaha Hadid Architects

Engineering: Buro Happold, London

Quantity Surveyor: Gleeds, London

Traffic and Logistics: Buro Happold, London

Built Area: 450,000sqm (exhibition halls, conference center and mixed-use areas)

Height of Towers: 33 and 31 stories

This is a “made for each other” case – a museum made up of multiple pavilions throughout the 35-hectare park designed to house a sculpture and polyptych by Brazilian artist Adriana Varejao. The Adriana Varejão Gallery was built to house two works of the artist the sculpture Linda do Rosário and the polyptych Celacanto Provoca Maremoto. The artist added four more works to the project as it developed.

Located in Brumadinho, Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais is the Inhotim Centro de Arte Contemporânea. Inaugurated in March 2008, the museum is the personal initiative of the Bernado Paz, a mining industrialist. The entire museum is spread over several pavilions rather than a single unique building. The building, designed by the architect from São Paulo, Rodrigo Cerviño Lopes, covers an area of 477 sqm and creates a spiral path that starts in the middle of a shallow pond and then leads up to the second storey where there is a large open space. This terrace has a bridge which crosses over to an area to which Inhotim is expanding, a new lake.

Structural idea

The project occupies a hillside with a small slope that is typical topography of Minas Gerais, partially covered by the native forest. Formerly, the area was used to store containers, for which purpose the hillside was cut to create a horizontal plane. The orientation of the Galeria Adriana aimed to recompose the site’s original topography and inserting the artificial element – in this case a regular block in reinforced concrete. An irregular retaining wall gains the space in the ground floor and bears the load of the block. At its deepest two beams and four columns are integrated in the wall to further spread the load.

The path followed

Galeria Adriana includes a spiral path that connects two different levels of the park. The movement alternates moments of contraction depicted by the passage and expansion into the exhibition in nine phases. It goes from the ground floor in the middle of the water pond, as a narrow walkway away from the building thought the exhibitions to the terrace above the concrete block with the bridge as the final contraction.

Surrounding the whole is the pool that quietly reflects light on the flat block face of the building brightening the exterior as the art works add glory to the interiors. A perfect match!

Born in October 1970 in Yorkshire and completed his Diploma in Architecture in 1993-95 from National University of Singapore, Stuart Piercy joined Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners in 1994 and worked on several large international transportation projects including Zurich Airport, Pusan Rail Terminal and early concept designs for the Eden project in Cornwall and the EIHMS University teaching building in Guildford.


It was at Grimshaws that Piercy met Richard Conner who was born in Lancashire in 1972. Graduating with a 1st Class BA Hons degree in Architecture from Liverpool University, Richard Conner completed his Part 1 at Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners. Returned to Grimshaws after finishing his Diploma at the Bartlett School of Architecture, Conner worked at the firm for three years before fully qualifying in 1999. During his time at Grimshaws, Conner worked on several large international transportation projects including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and Pusan Rail Terminal. He also held a lead role in the design of the Millennium Point Building, Birmingham.

In 1999, Piercy and Conner co-founded Piercy Conner Architects. Through competitions and research Piercy, along with Conner, was closely involved with the development of prefabrication and modular construction technology and its application to delivering large-scale projects efficiently.

In 2001, Piercy Conner launched the Microflat affordable housing concept for central London, this project has been published internationally and was the subject of an ITV documentary and the BBC’s Panorama.

From an early age, Piercy’s flair for technical design, coupled with his interest in steel, has driven his career forward. His winning entry for a British Steel Competition while studying for his Diploma in Architecture so impressed one of the judges, the Chairman of Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, that he was offered a job on the spot.

And on the other hand, Conner’s long-standing passion for design technology and communication has led to the firm’s reputation for ground-breaking visuals and to the creation of Smoothe, a 50-strong design company specialising in image design and film for the built-environment. With studios in London, Manchester, Dubai and Bulgaria, Smoothe has worked on international projets for many years.

Most recently, Piercy and Conner designed India’s first residential steel building for which they were awarded the MIPIM AR Future Project Sustainability Award in 2007.

Awards

In 2000, Piercy and Conner won the Velux lifetime homes competition with a fully modular, flexible housing scheme. Through the application and adaptation of commercial construction technology Piercy Conner has developed over twenty housing and hotel concepts and was awarded finalist of the 2002 ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ for the Microflat project promoted by Selfridges.

Piercy, along with Conner, was a finalist for the Corus International Young Architect of the Year Award, Winner of the Corus AJ 40 Architects Under 40 ‘Best Use of Steel’ and was shortlisted for the Architecture Foundation’s Next Generation Award. Piercy Conner was also asked by BMW to create their vision for future living based on their concept homes. The form and language of their architecture is crafted by the synthesis of external site forces and ongoing material and construction research.

Important Projects Airside Centre at Zurich Airport, Switzerland

Zurich’s airport was designed with the precision and quality of a Swiss watch. The potentially chaotic mix of retail, circulation and travel has been ordered and calmed with a floating retail island. This semi-transparent timber casement encloses the retail pods, co-ordinates signage and orientates passengers. Made to the highest specification with luxurious materials, the building articulates the quality that is synonymous with Swiss manufacture. The elevation of the retail island is an intelligent play on the differing scales of a building within a building, ensuring a human scale is maintained within the super-envelope. This 417m CHF (Swiss Franc) Airside Centre covering 43,000m2of space at Zurich Airport was designed for Grimshaw Architects.

Turnmills in London

Breathing new life into history railway stables in the centre of London by securing planning permission for a highly contemporary roof extension within Clerkenwell Green’s conservation area in central London was a significant challenge for this project. Piercy Conner’s triumphant concept succeeds by creating a sinuous form generated from the geometry of the footprint of the existing former stables. The translucent glass roof curves in and out of view to give glimpses of high drama to those at ground level without dominating the streetscape. Permission was already granted to this project and vital additional commercial floor space was secured. This £17m development, which recently secured planning consent, comprises 8380m2 of commercial and retail space and was developed for Derwent London.

Constructing a steel apartment in a region where summer temperature can rise to 111Degree F is insanity, but Piercy Conner’s award winning design for Indian apartment SymHomes Mk-1 makes the unthinkable solar solution sustainable, says Mariya Rasheeda.

Piercy Conner, one of a new generation of British architects create bespoke solutions by interweaving the poetic, the pragmatic and the materials to deliver distinctive and ambitious architecture. The young practice has a backlist of admired, imaginative projects where the old, high-energy, Newtonian assumptions of building geometry give way to more flexible and relativist concepts. So an award-winning Piercy Conner design for sustainable urban housing in Kolkata is especially interesting.

The Piercy Conner designs, known as SymHomes Mk1 intended to come at Rajarhat New Town in Kolkata soon as the application submitted for building sanction gets its approval. Works on it are scheduled to start in September 2009 and deadline for building completion is 2010. The buildings have a structure of elegantly proportioned steel boxes within steel boxes, manufactured elsewhere and trucked on to site. Distinctions between outside and inside are not absolute; at the same time, the perforated envelope allows air to circulate while providing adequate protection from monsoons.

SymHomes Mk1

Piercy Conner’s design of SymHomes Mk1 was the winning entrant of The Living Steel International Architecture competition in 2005 and went on to win the MIPIM AR Future Project Sustainability Award in 2007 for its imaginative and sustainable use of steel.

A steel box-within-a-box might not sound feasible in the hot Indian sun, but this innovative design boldly goes where no steel has gone before: not only does it succeed in fulfilling the brief to develop the use of steel in residential building but it also offers an imaginative and simple alternative to air conditioning units.

The outer perforated panels help cool the building with shade and airflow and also provide a rain screen during torrential rains. This environmental buffer zone, symbiotically linking the inner and outer spaces, conditions the climate naturally, minimizing the use of electric air-conditioning units. When needed, an inner skin can be sealed to allow air-conditioning units to be used in extremes of temperature.

Stuart Piercy, the director on the project, drew on vernacular architecture for inspiration. “Western architecture is dominated by the sealed environment whereas architecture in India is much more open and expressive,” explains Piercy. “We wanted to create something that draws on the permeability of subtropical architecture which historically uses shade, sun-paths and wind channeling to control environmental factors with minimal impact on the planet.”


Inspiration also came from a development in the motor industry. At the time Toyota and Lexus were developing the Hybrid Drive Engine, a dual engine which offers an electric motor to minimize the role of the fuel-guzzling petrol engine. Similarly, the responsive double skin of SymHomes Mk1 means air conditioning units are only used in extreme conditions, thereby creating a highly sustainable environmental system for the project.

On a visual level, SymHomes Mk1 embraces both the demands of modern expansion and the cultural heritage of Kolkata, also known as the City of Palaces. The deep shaded terraces surrounding each apartment echo the arches and courtyards of the Mughal, Gothic, Baroque architecture of India’s indo-islamic history, creating an aesthetic intrinsically linked to context and culture. The perforated steel of the shutters creates a filigreed pattern, reminiscent of the intricate stone work and metal work found in India’s traditional buildings. “India is on the verge of a building explosion but we wanted to avoid the anonymity of Dubai-style development,” says Piercy. “Instead we wanted to offer a culturally sympathetic yet environmentally intelligent building which retained an Indian identity and created a role-model for sustainable living.”

On a practical level, the steel allows the delivery of SymHomes Mk1 to be based on a ‘kit of parts’ principle with each component being readily available through discussion and development with supply chain partners TATA Bluescope, whose steel factories are based in India. This increases the speed and accuracy of construction, reducing financing costs and allowing earlier occupancy. The dye for each panel can be kept to fabricate replacement panels with minimum financial and time impact.

On a technical level, steel presents a major challenge. Being a ferrous metal, steel is subject to oxidisation, especially in an environment subjected to high humidity levels and torrential rains. To protect the perforated panels from rusting, the panels are magnetised before being sprayed with a polyester powder coating. This means that the coating is attracted equally across the steel panels, even in the crevices of the perforations where rusting is most likely to occur.

The Government of West Bengal, along with high profile private and public sector companies, is working on providing the township with the latest infrastructure and amenities to make it one of India’s major industrial and technological hubs – a second ‘silicon valley’ after Bangalore.

Targeted to young professinoal families, SymHomes Mk1 offers high-end specifications.

The development comprises six three-bedroom apartments (101m2 plus terraces) and six four-bedroom apartments (143m2 plus terraces), affording spacious and luxurious living for twelve families.

Knowledge of local culture informs the designation of community space. External and internal zoning offer a secret roof-top garden and a communal room providing spaces popularly used in India for family and community events. Accommodation for maids is also needed in India so maids’ quarters were created on the ground floor. Importantly, the development offers a secure entrance coutryard, concierge service and underground parking offering residents safety and security, assets valued highly within India’s socio-economic culture.

Joint clients Living Steel and Benhal Shrachi (local developers) are delivering the project in India offering valuable local and international knowledge. Works on site are being overseen by Kolkatan architects Sanon Sen.

This development is not only India’s first sustainable steel residential building but also demonstrates how sustainable architecture can deliver inspirational design without compromise. SymHomes Mk1 sets the bar for India’s New Wave of architecture.

SymHomes Mk2

Recently, Piercy Conner launches second phase of steel home design. Hot on the heels of the award-winning Symhomes Mk1 comes Symhomes Mk2. Following Piercy Conner’s work for the Living Steel steel housing programme in Kolkata, India, Symhomes Mk2 is a logical advancement in design. This high rise speculative building for mixed commercial and residential use takes the double-skin concept to the next level. The stacked, arched structure - a reference to the playful and expressive nature of Hindu temple architecture - facilitates a 360 degree open balcony offering unimpeded views from all aspects of the building.


Living Steel is championing the cause for steel construction. Basing their campaign on the projected figures from the United Nations that the population will explode by as many as two billion people over the next 25 years and a general migration pattern from rural to urban centres, they claim that steel is the material that allow architects to keep up with the pace of demands allowing for buildings which can be rapidly constructed, also heralding its recyclability.

Domes-'King of all the roofs' is a structural element of architecture which lives for longer. This article 'Wonder of Domes,' pays tribute to architects whose efforts had presented most innovative accomplishments in the field of design and architecture, reports Mariya Rasheeda.

Domes are curved structures andhave no angles, no corners—whereas they enclose a larger space without the help of a single column. Despite their thinness, domes are some of the strongest and stiffest structures in existence today.

Domes are an extremely stable form of construction and are said to be highly resistant to most types of storms. The Dome shape has inherent strength that exceeds all other structural designs as proven. It is designed to withstand the powerful forces of nature and structural storm damage as a result of the ravages of tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricane, and so on.

The Concept behind the Dome

Several structural shapes like rectangle, triangle and sphere had been tested to measure their resistant strength. It was found that the rectangle is a wobbly, unstable shape. When push the side, it flops into a slanted parallelogram. Triangle on the other hand when pokes from its top, the two sides squeeze together and the bottom side pulls apart. The triangle does not bend because each side experiences only one force at a time. Due to this property, triangle was the most stable and rigid shapes used in the construction that time. Later it was discovered that if a spherical structure was created from triangles, it would have unparalleled strength.

The sphere uses the "doing more with less," principle in that it encloses the largest volume of interior space with the least amount of surface area thus saving on materials and cost. Architect- Engineer Buckminster Fuller reintroduced the idea that when the sphere's diameter is doubled it will quadruple its square footage and produce eight times the volume. Hence, the spherical structure of a dome is one of the most efficient interior atmospheres for human dwellings because air and energy are allowed to circulate without obstruction. This enables heating and cooling to occur naturally.

More specifically, the dome is energy–efficient for many reasons. Its decreased surface area requires less building materials. Exposure to cold in the winter and heat in the summer is decreased because, being spherical, there is the least surface area per unity of volume per structure. The concave interior creates a natural airflow that allows the hot or cool air to flow evenly throughout the dome with the help of return air ducts. Extreme wind turbulence is lessened because the winds that contribute to heat loss flow smoothly around the dome. It acts like a type of giant down-pointing headlight reflector and reflects and concentrates interior heat. This helps to prevent radiant heat loss.

World's Famous Domes

In March 1992, when the Georgia Dome was completed, it became the largest cable-supported dome in the world. The 7-story building covers 8.9 acres, encompasses 1.6 million square feet, and can seat 71,250 spectators. The stadium is oval and the seats are set relatively close to the field. The Teflon/fiberglass roof provides enclosure while admitting natural light.

The famous domed roof of the Georgia Dome, made of 130 Teflon-coated fiberglass panels is quite an engineering marvel. The cables that support the roof are 11.1 miles long.

The roof weighs just 68 pounds, is strong enough to support a fully loaded pickup truck. This is due to a fundamental engineering "Tensegrity." Tensegrity is a complex sequence of triangles. Short, vertical posts carry the weight of the Georgia Dome roof. The posts are held in place by pre-stretched cables, attached to the top and bottom of each post with steel pins and welded connections. The cables pull on the posts with equal force in all directions to form strong, taut triangles. The cable roof is secured to a reinforced 2,750-foot concrete ring which rests on slide-bearing Teflon pads along the perimeter of the dome that allow the roof to flex slightly during high winds.

This is the precise dance of pulling and pushing that allows tensegrity roofs like the Georgia Dome to soar far above the stands and the playing field below.

The Georgia Dome contains 110,000 cubic yards of concrete and 8,300 tons of reinforced steel — more than the weight of iron and steel used in the Eiffel Tower. The dome is as tall as a 29 story building.

The Millennium Dome, London

Designed by architect Richard Rogers and engineered by Buro Happold, The Millennium Dome is a celebratory, iconic, non-hierarchical structure offering a vast, flexible space. Commissioned to mark the beginning of the new Millennium, this large dome-shaped building is located on the Greenwich Peninsula in south-east London, England.


Externally the building appears as a large white marquee with twelve 100m-high yellow support towers, one for each month of the year, or each hour of the clock face, representing the role played by Greenwich Mean Time. It has become one of the United Kingdom's most recognizable landmarks.

Providing 100,000m² of enclosed space (2.2 million cubic metres), this structure is 365m in diameter, with a circumference of one kilometre and a maximum height of 50 m. The Dome is suspended from a series of twelve 100m steel masts, held in place by more than 70km of high-strength steel cable which in turn support the Teflon-coated glass fibre roof.

The canopy is made of PTFE-coated glass fibre fabric, a durable and weather-resistant plastic. The entire roof structure weighs less than the air contained within the building. Although referred to as a dome, it is not strictly one as it is not self-supporting, but is a mast-supported, dome-shaped cable network.

Hagia Sophia

The dome of Hagia Sophia is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It is famous for the mystical quality of light that reflects everywhere in the interior of the nave, which gives the dome the appearance of hovering above the nave. This design is possible because the dome is shaped like a scalloped shell or the inside of an umbrella with ribs that extend from the top of the dome down to the base. These ribs allow the weight of the dome to flow between the windows, down the pendentives, and ultimately to the foundation.

Pantheon, Rome, Italy

Pantheon (Greek word meaning "to honor all Gods) is a dome-shaped building in Rome." When Roman Emperor Hadrian decided to build a monument to reflect the power of his empire, he built a dome —but not just any dome. Hadrian constructed a building out of bricks and concrete with a dome that was bigger and more extraordinary than anything anyone had ever seen before. The enormous building, called the Pantheon, was built as a temple to all the Roman gods almost 2,000 years ago. It still exists today, almost entirely in its original form.

The Pantheon is remarkable for its size, its construction, and its design. The enormous dome stretches 142 feet in diameter; that's the same as the distance from the Statue of Liberty's sandals to her torch! Given the dome's size and weight, Hadrian's engineers had to find ways to lighten the heavy structure. They scooped out 140 waffle-like depressions, called coffers, in five rows around the dome's base to eliminate some masonry and reduce the dome's weight. They also carved an opening, called an oculus, at the top of the dome, which reduced some mass and created a daily light show for which the Pantheon is famous.

The oculus, or "eye" of the dome, is 27 feet wide — five teenagers could stretch across the hole!

At its base, the dome is 23 feet thick, but only two feet thick at the rim of the oculus.

SkyDome, Toronto, Canada

The SkyDome, now known as the Rogers Centre, and constructed in 1989, is the first and only stadium to have a fully retractable roof. Unlike any other sports stadium, the roof of the SkyDome separates into pieces and disappears from sight in less than 20 minutes, completely uncovering the playing field and more than 91 percent of the seats.


The roof is made of four massive steel panels; one panel is fixed, and the other three slide on a system of steel tracks. Each panel is made from a pattern of steel trusses with a corrugated steel shell and a weatherproof plastic membrane. Opening the roof requires that two panels slide over each other and under a fixed panel behind center field. A third panel, which starts behind home plate, rotates on a circular rail. Despite its enormous weight — the whole roof weighs more than 11,000 tons — the roof panels slide at a whopping rate of 71 feet per minute!

Today, the SkyDome is home to the American League's Toronto Blue Jays and the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts.

United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., USA

The United States Capitol dome is the massive dome situated above the United States Capitol which reaches upwards to 288 feet (88 m) in height. This architecturally impressive dome was designed by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol, and constructed between 1855 and 1866. The Capitol, which was started in 1793, has been through many construction phases.


Walter designed a double dome — a small dome inside a taller dome — that created the illusion of height. The tall exterior dome is really a thin shell, supported by a ring of 36 curved iron ribs. Underneath is a smaller dome, open at the top like the Pantheon. Though it looks like it's made of stone, every bit of the Capitol dome is made of cast iron. The dome was finally completed in December 1863, and it stands today as a monument to the American people and their government.

The United States Capitol building contains approximately 540 rooms and has 658 windows (108 in the dome alone) and approximately 850 doorways. The dome was constructed with 8,909,200 pounds of iron. The bronze Statue of Freedom is the crowning feature of the dome of the United States Capitol. It stands 19 feet 6 inches tall and weighs approximately 15,000 pounds.

Born in Argentina, Cesar Pelli is a world renowned architect best known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and major urban landmarks. Pelli is often praised for using a wide variety of materials and designs, seeking new solutions for each location. He believes that buildings should be responsible citizens and that the aesthetic qualities of a building should grow from the specific characteristics of each project such as its location, its construction technology, and its purpose.

After graduating in architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Pelli emigrated to the United States and completed his masters in architecture in 1954 at the School of Architecture, University of Illinois. He started his career in the New Haven offices of architect Eero Saarinen and spent ten years there. He served as Project Designer for the TWA Terminal Building at JFK Airport in New York and Morse and Stiles Colleges at Yale University. He later became Director of Design at Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall in Los Angeles, and from 1968 to 1976 he was Partner for Design at Gruen Associates in Los Angeles. In 1977, he founded his own firm, Cesar Pelli & Associates in New Haven and became dean of Yale University School of Architecture. He resigned as dean in 1984 but continues to lecture and write extensively on architectural issues. In 2005, in recognition of the increased role of the firm's principals, Pelli firm was renamed as Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.

Works

Pelli has designed many of the world's most recognizable buildings, including the World Financial Center in New York, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, and the International Finance Center in Hong Kong. The award-winning portfolio includes academic buildings, libraries, museums, research centers, residences and master plans. The breadth of their work reflects the belief that a firm must not be constrained by a signature style. Rather, great design arises from sincere collaboration with a client and a deep respect for a project's environmental, economic and social contexts. According to Pelli, "I always look forward to the next project. That is one of the wonderful things about architecture."

His contributions in the field of architecture are briefed here.

Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or just Twin Towers) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a modern expression of Malaysia's culture, history and climate and symbols of its economic growth. The plan of the towers is generated from two overlapping squares that form an 8-pointed star, a pattern frequently found in Islamic design.

Each of the twin Petronas Towers is 88 stories and clad in panels of glass and stainless steel that softly reflect the native light. Between the two towers is a powerful, figural void. To activate this space—the center of the composition—a two-story bridge was added at the 41st and 42nd floors, structured by angled brackets that shape the space and accentuate the vertical thrust of the towers. This "sky lobby" is connects the buildings and contains spaces shared by both, including elevator lobbies, a conference center, and a prayer room.

Although designed and built before sustainability was a common design priority, the towers' design conserves energy through attention to climate and location. . Shading devices are built into the façade at every story to take advantage of Malaysia's high sun angle, a traditional practice in tropical architecture. In addition, laminated glass was used to reflect radiation away from the interiors and minimize heat gain, thus reducing the use of air-conditioning.

Transbay Transir Center and Tower, San Francisco, California, USA

Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli architects, Transbay Transit Center and Tower aspire to become two of San Francisco's great buildings, expressing through architecture, engineering, and urban design the spirit of the neighborhood, city, and region. The Tower incorporates several green building strategies including passive solar shading, high performance glazing, geothermal cooling, and wind power.

One park west, Liverpool, England

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, in collaboration with BDP, is the master planner and urban designer for the development area known as Liverpool One. The project is a large, retail-led mixed-use development with areas of varying scale and use. The plan is expected to improve Liverpool's status as a special city of regional and national importance.

One Park West, a landmark residential building and the jewel in the crown of Liverpool One, stands tall at 17-storeys. Its 326 apartments offer stunning views over Chavasse Park, Liverpool's two glorious cathedrals and its world famous waterfront.

The building is a concrete frame construction, clad in a modern clear and opaque glazed curtain wall. This has expressed horizontal floor levels and raked and vertical mullions which allow recessed glazed sections, designed to give the elevation a texture that responds to the movement of the sun. The raked mullion reflects the tower corner feature and from first floor level repeats at each third storey to provide further elevation order and character.

According to Cesar Pelli, "We wanted to create a modern, striking building. A memorable place to live, with exceptional views on a wonderful park. I hope it will become part of the heritage of this amazing city."

BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Designed by Cesar Pelli the BOK Center is an 18,000-seat multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue that brings national and international events to Tulsa and the surrounding region.


Pelli was asked by Tulsa city officials to create an arena that would be an architectural icon. The bold and unique architectural design of BOK Center reflects the client's desire. Large, sweeping glass and stainless steel walls spiral around the arena, dynamically tilting in elevation and section. The architectural language resonates with Tulsa's Native American past, but the modern materials and scale look to the future. Lobbies and entrances are situated where the walls overlap and separate, pulling visitors into the spiraling space, directing their attention to the event inside and the city outside. The large expanses of glass will allow the building to be light-filled during the day, and a glowing beacon at night—the exterior lighting changes colors.

International Finance Centre, Hong Kong, China

Cesar Pelli was selected to design Two International Finance Centre (IFC) after winning an international design competition. Two IFC was the tallest building in Hong Kong, until the completion of International Commerce Centre in 2007. Its height accentuated by its waterfront site, the entire form visible as it stands apart from the cluster of other skyscrapers.

The building has a clear and memorable presence, a great obelisk at the scale of the city. With its carefully proportioned setbacks, its centric form tapers as it rises, expressing a vertical ascending movement. The surface articulation of the curtain wall reinforces the verticality of the design. The vertical window mullions are shaped like airfoils, tracing sharp lines from base to crown. The tower is clad in lightly reflective vision glass and fritted spandrel glass that softens the tower's surface. With specially formulated silver pearl-colored paint on the aluminum components, the tower glows warmly against the peak and the city.

Awards & Recognition

The work of Pelli Clarke Pelli has been internationally recognized with over 100 awards for design excellence, including over 40 design awards from National, Regional and local chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

In 1991, Cesar Pelli was selected as one of the 10 most influential living American architects. In 1995, the American Institute of Architects awarded Mr. Pelli the Gold Medal, in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished achievement in architecture. In 2004, Mr. Pelli was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Pelli has also written extensively on architectural issues. In 1999 he wrote Observations for Young Architects, published by the Monacelli Press. His work has been widely published and exhibited, with nine books and several issues of professional journals dedicated to his designs and theories. He has received twelve Honorary Degrees, over 200 awards for design excellence and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Academy of Design, the International Academy of Architecture, and of l'Academie d'Architecture de France.

In 2007, Duke University commissioned him to plan a 20- to 50-year revitalization of its Central Campus. On 26 May 2008, Yale University bestowed an honorary Doctor of Arts degree to Pelli for his work in Architecture.

The University of Economics & Business, Vienna will soon have a new Library and Learning Centre that will be the centerpiece of the University's new campus and provide a significant upgrade to the University's services. Designed by a famous architect Zaha Hadid, the design is described as a 'Polygonal Block' with both inclined and straight edges.

Structural Design

Zaha Hadid has been selected as the architects of a library and learning centre (LLC) for the University of Economics & Business in Vienna. Hadid beat Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne's US practice Morphosis and Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas during a competition to win first place, which was judged by a jury headed by Austrian architect Wolf Prix.


According to Zaha's design the new Library and Learning Centre rises as a polygonal block from the centre of the new university campus. The LLC's design takes the form of a cube with both inclined and straight edges. The straight lines of the building's exterior separate as they move inward, becoming curvilinear and fluid, generating a free-formed interior 'canyon" that serves as the central public plaza.

All the other facilities of the LLC are housed within a single volume that also divides, becoming two separate ribbons that wind around each other to enclose the glazed gathering or central space.

'I am delighted to be working in Vienna as I have a close affiliation with the city. As a centre of research, the Library and Learning Centre is forum for the exchange of ideas. It is very exciting for us to be part of the University's expansion,.' states Zaha Hadid.

Covering an area of 42,000 sq m, the winning design is 136m long, 76m wide and 30m high, five storey building that will house learning centre as well as training rooms, administration offices, a library, clubroom, auditorium, book shop and ancillary services areas.

Rector of the University of Economics & Business, Christoph Badelt said "A library and learning center should be more than a mere library in the classical sense: it is a research and a service facility, a workplace and lounge, a place of communication and a traffic hub, at one and the same time. With its breathtaking architecture, the design byZaha Hadid manages to combine all the key functions of study in a most wonderful way. It is a vision that embodies this innovative concept of a university."

Program

The LLC comprises a "Learning Center" with workplaces, lounges and cloakrooms, library, a language laboratory, training classrooms, administration ofûces, study services and central supporting services, copy shop, book shop, data center, cafeteria, event area, club room and auditorium."

Arup's Berlin office will be responsible for engineering the building and the project architect is Cornelius Schlotthauer. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

For the first time, the New York Times is consolidating its New York City staff into one building. Roughly 2,500 employees from seven different NYT offices within NYC will unite to work in this structure that is located in the 42nd Street Development Area adjoining Times Square in the heart of New York City.

Designed by iconic architect Renzo Piano (his first project in NYC), the building design is true to the times in that its focus is on bringing in light through the use of a glazed curtain wall. In Renzo Piano's words, "Each architecture tells a story, and the story this new building proposes to tell is one of lightness and transparency."

But what sets it apart from other high-rise structures is not that it opts for energy saving technology, but that it has arrived at this technology through a research program and rigorous testing through a mock-up façade. A cooperative research project between the New York Times Company and Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) was started to test new technologies that would increase the energy efficiency of the building as well as create an improved indoor environment for its users. As daylighting requires a high level of integration, the focus was on testing integrated technologies to educe the use of electric energy for lighting. The alternatives were tested using a 4,500 square foot mock-up of a portion of the building. The final specification is a result of a process of research and refinement.

The new building is 52-storeys high. The base has an atrium surrounded on three sides by "floating concrete slabs". This atrium is designed as a public amenity, an element of interest in the urban landscape. The building is rectangular, inspired by New York's symmetrical and practical grid layout.

The fully glazed curtain wall is double-glazed, with spectrally selective low-emissive glass forming a wall around the building. This wall is shielded by a steel framework of irregularly placed horizontal ceramic tubes that serve the dual purpose of a screen as well as an aesthetic feature. The first floor of the building is open and transparent and the ceramic tube screen starts only on the second floor. The ground floor also has retail spaces enclosed with glass and allowing the building to open up to passers-by, who can look into the lobby and the ground-level garden. The screen of tubes is less dense at the top of the building, once again offering a view of terrace gardens. Staircases are located at the corners, once again sheathed in glass and "animating the edges". The building also has a 350-seat auditorium that has a glass wall behind the stage, overlooking the ground-floor garden.

The interiors too, take care of the energy-efficiency objective in many ways. The most obvious mechanism is the use of partitions that stop short of the ceiling and allow daylight to enter the innermost of spaces.

The building will be fully functional by the end of 2006.

The new aluminium-clad extension to the 90-year old historic Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is an intelligent shot at making this stately building the hub of activity once again.

The original structure is of conventional brick and stone, and the provocative extension designed by Studio Libeskind, no less, has drawn comparison with other controversial museum extensions like Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao and Experience Museum in Seattle.


In Daniel's Libeskind's words, taken from www.daniel-libeskind.com, "The program of the Royal Ontario Museum provides a wonderful opportunity for dramatic new architecture and the creation of a great public attraction.The centrality of the site intensifies the profound relationship between history and the new, between tradition and innovation. The historical buildings, complemented by forward-looking and bold architecture, form an ensemble which regenerates the urban significance of the Museum, solves the complex functional issues, and dramatically improves exhibitions, facilities, programming and amenities."

The inspirational form here in the crystal, and in executing this form in a built structure, there are no straight lines, but rather, impossible angles converging into a massive but light, complex an luminous exhibition gallery.

The Renaissance ROM, as the project has been christened, is something of an engineering marvel. The structural frame itself, from which derives the complex crystalline form took two years to construct. From this frame hangs the magnificent façade that uses extruded anodized aluminium cladding and covers three-quarters of the building; the remainder being glass. The custom aluminium façade was manufactured by Josef Gartner of Germany, who has had the experience of working with Gehry on the Bilbao museum project.

“The new Royal Ontario Museum will be among the first great buildings of the 21st century,” ROM Director and CEO William Thorsell had boldly proclaimed when it was announced, amid great controversy and opposition. But opened in Late 2005, the building has been received well and there is a distinct possibility that it will become, in Libeskind's words again, "an inspired atmosphere dedicated to the resurgence of the Museum as the dynamic centre of Toronto."

In a series on path breaking architects, the MGS team presents famous architect Zaha Hadid, whose personality, individualism, and aggressive approach has changed the way the world looks At woman architects, and indeed design itself.

Zaha Hadid is a well-known name in the global architectural arena. Celebrated for her deconstructive approach to architecture, this Iraqi born British citizen is also the first female recepient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004.

Here's how she traversed the path from a degree holder in Mathematics to a renowned architect who has made her presence felt in a predominantly men's world.

Zaha the Diva

There has always been an element of mystery in Zaha’s personality. When someone says that she is warm and affable, someone insists that she is more of a rebel. However, all agree that she is a flamboyant person who believes in breaking traditions and norms in whatever she does.

Known for making bold statements even with her clothes, she is often feared and by her own admission, termed as a ‘difficult person.’

Her flamboyance is reflected in her paintings as well, which often border on the unreal. The same flamboyance and gravity defying forms mark her architectural work also. She is said to keep away from right angles while designing and detests conservatism. Her work, as she says, is all about seamlessness and porosity. She has, by throwing convention to the winds, nearly changed the way space is percieved.

A complete no-nonsense woman, Zaha is known to be a tough task master. Not one to tolerate mediocrity, she expects the best from her assistants and staff. Though she dismisses her success as a result of as ‘perseverance,’ there is certainly more to it. Zaha is extremely demanding. She believes in slogging it out and expects the same from others as well.

Not long ago, Zaha had been dismissed as a ‘paper architect,’ someone whose works looked great, but were unbuildable. But her work on the art gallery in Cincinnatti, which was widely appreciated, changed all that.

Zaha paints, and views her work as ‘testing fields’ for three-dimensional experimentation. These play an important role in her efforts taking her projects beyond the mundane or established norms. It is perhaps tools like this, coupled with her ingenuity that takes her works beyond the conventional.

Her life

Zaha was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and moved abroad for higher studies. She went to London and studied mathematics before deciding that architecture was her calling. So, after a Degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut, she moved to the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

While with her mentor Rem Koolhaas, himself a celebrated architect, she is remembered by classmates as a ‘volatile and moody’ student who often dreamed up constructions that were unthinkable in the 70s. However, they are only happy for the unpredictable rebel who beat the men at their own game!

Following graduation, she worked with Rem Koolhaas at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. By 1977, she was a partner. She established her independent practice in 1980 in London and in the following years, also taught at the Architectural Association.

Zaha has won a string of competitions which have only reconfirmed her rightful place in the world of architecture. In 2002, she won the international design competition to design Singapore’s one-north masterplan. In 2005, her design also won the competition for the new city casino of Basel, Switzerland. She had also been awarded a CBE for services to architecture. She is the third architect from UK to have won the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Her Work

Zaha, 55, has completed one project in the United States, the Richard and Lois Rosenthal Center for Contemprary Art in Cincinnatti, Ohio. She is currently developing another to co-exist with a Frank Lloyd Wright structure, the Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Among her other prominent projects in Europe include a fire station for the Vitra Furniture Company in Weil am Rhein, Germany; Lfone/Landesgartenschau, an exhibition building to mark the 1999 garden festival in the city, a car park and Terminus Hoenheim North, a “park and ride” and tramway on the outskirts of Strasbourg, France; and a ski jump situated on the Bergisel Mountain overlooking Innsbruck, Austria.

Hotel Puerta America (2006), Madrid, Spain is also by Zaha.

She has several other projects in various stages of development including a Science Center in Wolfsburg, both in Germany, a National Center of Contemporary Art in Rome, a Master Plan for Bilbao, Spain, a Guggenheim Museum for Taichung in Taiwan, a high speed train station outside Naples and a new public archive, library and sport center in Montpellier, France.

Among her most celebrated and high profile work includes the Mind Zone at the Millenium Dome in London, an ongoing 20,000 seat Aquatics Centre for London, one of the new venues being constructed for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Central Building - BMW Plant

The Central Building of the plant is the company’s nerve centre. This is also the dynamic focal point of the enterprise, as is evident in the proposed dynamic spatial system that encompasses the whole northern front of the factory.

Characteristics: The scissor section which connects the ground floor and first floor is a primary organizing strategy. There are also two sequences of terraced plates that step up north to south and from south to north. While one commences close to the public lobby passing by/ overlooking the forum to reach the first floor in the middle of the building, the other cascade starts with the cafeteria at the south end moving up to meet the first cascade then moving all the way up to the space projecting over the entrance. The two cascading sequences capture a long connective void between them, at the bottom of which is the auditing area.


Above the void the half-finished cars are moving along their track between the various surrounding production units open to view.

Another characteristic of the work is a deliberate attempt to integrate workers from all levels, something that reflects the organization’s transparency and prevents the establishment of exclusive domains.

High Speed Station, Napoli Afragola, Italy

The New High Speed Station Napoli Afragola is a bridge above the tracks.

Characteristics: The concept of the bridge emerges from the idea of enlarging the overhead concourse, required to access the various platforms, to such a degree that it can become the main passenger concourse itself. The station has provided an urbanized public link across the tracks and has given expression to the imposition of a new through-station that is also the focal point of a new proposed business park linking the various surrounding towns. The bridge concept also allows two strips of extended parkland to move openly through the site alongside the tracks opening and connecting the site to the surrounding landscape and Business Park.

Bergisel Ski Jump 2002, Bergisel Mountain, Austria

Located on the Bergisel Mountain, the ski jump was intended to be a major landmark. Zaha Hadid won the international competition for the ski jump in 1999.

Characteristics: It is part of a larger refurbishment project for the Olympic Arena and has replaced the old ski jump, which no longer met with international standards. The building is a hybrid of highly specialized sports facilities and public spaces. The building boasts of a totally new shape which extends the topography of the slope into the sky. At a length of about 90 meters and a height of almost 50 meters the building has a total floor area of 1470 sq meters and a built area of 355 sq meters.

The structure of the building is a combination of a tower and a bridge and is divided into the vertical concrete tower and a spatial green structure, which integrates the ramp and the caf•. Two elevators bring visitors to the café• 40 meters over the peak of the Bergisel Mountain, which offers a breathtaking view.

Temporary Guggenheim Museum, Tokyo, Japan

The 116 square meter structure is aimed at being a ten-year intervention into a dynamic area of Odasiba Island.

Characteristics: Zaha had proposed a big, single space wrapped by a snakeskin like envelope, which is animated by a large integrated media-screen.

The quality of the skin proposed had a snakeskin-like pixillation that allowed the formally coherent integration of various surface performances.

The primary cladding material was chosen to be scale ceramic tiles (offering smooth surfaces and brilliant colors), which would be interspersed by light-boxes which allow further daylight to penetrate the space as well as acting as artificial light source at night. Further panels were to be photovoltaic elements.

Feichtinger’s imagination has given the city of Paris a splendid bridge in terms of both architectural as well as cultural meaning says Mariya Rasheeda.

Simone De Beauvoir footbridge provides a central connection and links the new districts of Paris-Bercy & Tolbiac, also the Connects new national French library with the Park Tolbiac. This is the first bridge, named after the French writer and leading feminist Simone De Beauvoir.

With a length of 304 meters across the river Seine in Paris, it conveys new perception of the city in a highly poetic manner. It has been designed by Paris-based architect Dietmar Feichtinger. The project adopted in March 1999, is the result of an anonymous international competition organized by the city of Paris. The commission for the bridge was the first open competition in the area of bridge building in Paris.

This footbridge, associates architecture and structure inseparably and offers many unexpected additional features, the greatest degree of elegance, and responds to the urban needs to give La Seine the central role it has in the heart of Paris.

Crossing the Seine River and the busy freeways parallel to the Seine, the footbridge extends on the quayside promenades and links the public plaza of the National Library with the new Bercy Park.

The Remarkable Structure

Simone De Beauvoir is the city’s 37th Bridge and spans one of the widest points of the river without the support of pillars. Designed in the form of two steel intersecting curves, it comprises several lanes for pedestrians and cycles.

The highly efficient structure of this pedestrian bridge combines spatial potential with lightness and strength through the synergy of its two collaborating elements–a remarkably slender arch balanced by a pre-tensioned, and suspended catenary.


Its curves are associated with three parallel decks. One rises to the centre with the arch, and the other two following the camber of the catenaries from one side to the other. The interlacing of the routes responds to the braiding of the force lines. Rhythmically, passers-by have the freedom to go up or go down to the water, or to choose crossing routes to discover the site.

The intersection of the arch and catenary curves in the central part creates a symmetrical shape of a lens, giving a unique public venue. This is intended as a tribune for events on water by forming a plaza 12 meters wide and 50 meter long, suspended above the river. This element anchors the bridge visually in the landscape. The criss-crossing of pathways across the weaving force lines create a spectacular look.

The upper part of the lens offers a panoramic view over the city and the inner suburbs to the east. The lower part is 12 meters wide and 65 meters long and encourages passers-by to take a break half they across. It will be brought to life by temporary facilities sheltered by the upper decks.

The arch and the catenary are linked by the obelisks—tapered vertical poles integrally fitted into the arch—which form a semi-Vierendeel type beam. This beam, built into the riversides at the abutments and joined quarter of the way along the length, works according to a Gerber system (fixed at each extremity and articulated at the quarter points of the span), characterized by a reduction in the necessary inertia. The abutments are made up of two connecting rods and two vertical tie-beams. The bent-angled form of the connecting rods distributes the loads between the foundation and the arch.

Strength of the Materials Used

Each catenary is fabricated of flat steels with a width of 100 cm and a thickness of 10 cm (for the lens) and 15 cm for the lateral parts, while the two arches and the anchoring connecting rods are caissons reconstructed and welded in steel sheet. The obelisks are composed of four steel tubes. A secondary structure carries the decks. The freeway bridges, relatively independent from the central span, are paired beams, simply-supported across a 35–meter span and use under slung bowstring ties to stiffen the compression deck.

The deck of the bridge carries pedestrian traffic almost directly on the structure. This is made of oak panels 3 meters wide and six boards deep that are fixed from below so that standing rainwater cannot damage the screws.

The filling of the railings constitutes of a stainless-steel mesh hanging between the handrail, which is a section of extruded aluminum, and stainless steel tube at the bottom. The mesh is transparent but sufficiently visible to convey a good sense of security for the bridge users. Lighting is integrated into the handrail. At night, illuminated strips trace the unique silhouette of the footbridge.

In both technical and aesthetic terms, Feichtinger’s footbridge is a unique and modern masterpiece of contemporary bridge building. The footbridge draws its finesse and beauty from the unity between the structure and various routes offered to the public.

Mariya Rasheeda scans through a beautiful structure that sits beneath the waves and provides an exclusive dining experience with a 270–degree panoramic underwater view to the diners.

Many people dream about building a house on the bank of river, a few think about having an underwater ride to see the ocean world, whereas others imagine living an aquatic life. All these dreams and thoughts were visualized by Mr. Ahmed Saleem, one of the owners of Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa and his visions took form in April 2005, in a shape of “Ithaa: An undersea restaurant at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, in Rangali, Maldives.

In the Maldivian language of Divehi, “ithaa” means “pearl” and the restaurant Ithaa sits like a pearl beneath the waves, between the lagoon and a vibrant coral reef. The innovative restaurant is the first of its kind in the world. It is part of a US $25 million re-build of Rangalifinolhu Island, one of the twin islands that make up Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. This re-build includes the construction of 79 of the most luxurious beach villas in the country as well as the Spa Village. A self-contained, over-water ‘resort-within-a-resort, the Spa Villaga consist of a spa, a restaurant and 21 villas.

A design marvel

The restaurant was designed and constructed by M J Murphy Ltd, a design consultancy based in New Zealand. Mike Murphy, an aquarium technology specialist, worked with Mr Saleem on the entire structural design, adding his expertise on underwater structures and his passion for marine life.

Ithaa is reached by a wooden walkway from the nearby over-water Sunset Grill Restaurant. Diners begin their meal with drinks on a specially constructed deck over the ocean and then descend to the restaurant via a spiral staircase where the à la carte menu is served. Seating only 14 people, Ithaa offers one of the most intimate and exclusive dining experiences in the world.

Ithaa sits five meters below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic, offering diners 270-degrees of panoramic underwater views. The intimate, well designed space gives the diner a feeling of being completely at one with the underwater world while submerged beneath the surface of the ocean. Set with the resort’s renowned house reef on one side, and a clear lagoon on the other, diners enjoy their meal within Ithaa’s translucent shell as the underwater drama unfolds on all sides. In fact, the management is planting a coral garden on the reef to add to the spectacular views of the rays, sharks and many colorful fish that live around the reef near the restaurant.

A feat of construction and transportation

Ithaa consists of a five-meter by nine-meter transparent thick acrylic arches. The acrylic arch sections are sealed to each other and the structure with a special underwater silicone sealant and the steel structure is protected by a special high quality marine paint system and a series of zinc anodes.

The structural timber comes from New Zealand and is known as treated pine. The outer and inner lining is western red cedar wood from Canada, while the acrylic comes from Colorado, USA. Ithaa was built in Singapore in four months. The structure was shipped from Singapore in one piece on a barge with a crane on board to lower it into the sea. The journey to Rangali Island from Singapore took 16 days. The resort’s main entrance channel had to be made deeper in order to allow the barge with the crane to pass through into the lagoon. The sand dredged up by cutting the channel was moved to the island’s beaches.

The structure is supported onto four steel piles which were driven into the seabed. This method was selected to minimize the damage to the already existing reef. The piles were driven in from a barge mounted vibro-hammer.

The restaurant’s total weight, when it was lowered to sea was 175 tonnes, with 85 more tonnes of sand having to be placed inside the belly of the structure to sink it into the sea. The total cost of building this restaurant was about US $5 million.

Comfort and safety

A top quality air-conditioning system was absolutely crucial for this restaurant. This was designed by a New Zealand firm Jackson Engineering to provide fresh air, cooling and to control humidity. The system provides 3 air changes per hour at a humidity level of 60%.

The safety of the guests has been designed to very stringent standards. All access areas are fire proof to provide 3 hour fire rating. Access areas have sprinkler systems where the water supply and pressurizing system is independent of the resort services.

The style quotient

The table settings consist of the finest quality items—Dudson Element Air show plates and side plates, white Frette napkins, WMF Taika cutlery, 4-salt selection in a wooden container custom built for Ithaa, champagne and wine glasses from the Riedel Vinum Extreme range and additional chinaware by Rosenthal.

Such a unique restaurant deserves a distinctive cuisine, which is why the theme is ‘contemporary Maldivian cuisine’, taking local spices, seasonings and traditional cooking methods, but adding a western twist to create an innovative style of cooking. Ithaa is the first and only restaurant in the world to offer fusion Maldivian cuisine.

Simplicity, clarity and functionality are the concepts which inspired the architecture of the Oval Torino in Italy, reports Mariya Rasheeda.

Torino Oval, a light, imposing covered structure with a steel roof having no intermediate supports,was constructed in Turin, Italy for the 2006 Winter Olympics, during which it hosted the speed skating events. It has a capacity of 8,500 spectators and was designed by HOK Sports in collaboration with Studio Zoppini Associati of Milan. It is located south to the Lingotto, close to the future Olympic Village.

As per plans, after the Olympics, this multi– purpose building will now be used for fairs and exhibitions in connection with the Lingotto Fiere Exhibition Center.

Concept Behind the Structural Design

The design of the Oval derives from the synthesis of three requirements– to realize a sports facility suitable for the Winter Olympic Games 2006, to provide the town with a multipurpose building able to hold both exhibitions and sports events.

The main concepts that characterize the design are simplicity, clarity and functionality.

The building has a very minimal and regular layout except the irregularity of three big pods. The inside is characterized by a very articulate and complex space.

The pods identify three precise functions, during the Olympics – access and service for VIPs and Olympics family, press, organizations, staff, and in the post-Olympics phase – service for a possible subdivision of the building into three areas.

As for functionality, the main objective of the design is a building that can assure high agonistic performances during the Olympics and a versatile post-Olympic use as an exhibitions seat.

The Oval

The internal surface of the building is very large i.e. 25,000 square meters. It houses the 400 meters race track (the Oval), which is 17 meters wide and has overall dimensions of approximately 180 meters by 68 meters. The Oval is a building with impressive features as it spans 100 meters. Great attention has been paid to its layout – six main beams of 95 meters and a series of secondary beams that transmit the spatial senseof the old railway stations. Therefore, the covering has been realized with reticula metal–ribbing and the supporting structure is totally exposed inside in order to show the technological contents. 2,900,000 kg of steel have been used for the covering day structure and 300,000 kg for the façade framework. This is a creative response to the challenge imposed by the strict restraints of a sports facility at an international level.

Functional Design of Building

The design of the building is very simple and comprises one rectangular main hall, the accesses to the main services on the east, the services pods on the west, and two large façades on the south and north sides.

From the entrance hall along the east side, spectators access the large room or the service area with large free-shape volumes on the first floor. Post the Olympics, the first floor will now become a terrace overlooking the main hall. The architects have also tried to create visual and circulation continuity between the interior and the exterior of the main hall.

The main hall presents a large versatile space with a rich structure. A large glazed and partially–curved wall on the north side visually connects the building to the Lingotto. This wall is one of the most significant architectural elements of the interventions.

The south façade is opaque, while 2.3 meters high glazing allows light into the main hall. A Canopy will avoid any direct lighting of the arena.

Asymmetric Roof & Movable Partitioning

The roof has a very simple geometric shape. Its asymmetric nature reflects the need to reduce the volume in relation to the stands as much as possible.

The two fins are the functional consequence of the partitioning of the inside. The design also provides for folding curtains that divide the space into three smaller halls.

The west side of the building comprises of changing rooms and the store rooms. The particular shape is determined by the necessity to connect the building to the railway and the street that will be built in the future.

During planning it was also in the mind of the architects to link the athletic village with the arena, so that athletes could directly access the arena and the changing rooms. The building is also equipped for handicapped people.

Now after the 2006 Olympics, the building will become a multi–purpose space for fairs and exhibitions, as from the beginning the design provides for movable partitions to subdivide the space. The stands will be transformed and their capacity reduced to 2,000 seats. They will be retractable and arranged along one single line.

Tadao Ando (13 September 1941-)

His architecture has been an inspiration for many, students especially, as they struggle to achieve clarity, simplicity. His distinct ability was that even a project of humble proportions was designed as a monumental landscape.

Born in post-war Japan , Tadao Ando says of himself "I was never a good student. I always prefered learning things on my own outside of class." A basically self trained architect, the boy who worked at the local carpenter learning to work wood and model airplanes and ships, started studying architecture by going to see actual buildings and then reading them up. Kyoto and Nara provided him with traditional architecture examples in the form of temples, shrines and tea houses.

Trips to the United States, Europe and Africa between 1962 and 1969 began the formulation of his thoughts on architectural design. These precipitated the formation of Tadao Ando Architectural & Associates in Osaka in 1969.

He works primarily in exposed cast-in-place concrete and is renowned for an exemplary craftsmanship which invokes a Japanese sense of materiality, junction and spatial narrative through the pared aesthetics of international modernism.

Minimalistic and monumental the first impression of his architecture is its materiality. His large and powerful walls set a limit. A second impression of his work is the tactility. His hard walls seem soft to touch, admit light, wind and stillness. The third impression is the emptiness, because only light and space surround the visitor in Tadao Ando's building. He takes from the architecture of the past and from Le Courbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and interprets it in his own fashion.

The Row House in Sumiyoshi the Azuma House, Osaka (1975), basically a simple block building, is noticeable because of its blank concrete façade punctuated only by a doorway was his first realized project. Laid out as three equal rectangular volumes, there are two enclosed volumes of interior spaces separated by an open courtyard. By virtue of its position the courtyard becomes an integral part of the circulation system.

Rokko Housing I brought Tadao Ando international attention. Its popularity lead to the later constructions of Rokko Housing II and III. Each phase was larger than the previous.

Among his most remarkable works are the religious structures of which he holds the credits for many Christian chapels and places of religion and contemplation. The church of the light (Baraki, Osaka, 1988-89) is located in a residential suburb 40 km to the north-east of the center of Osaka. It consists from a rectangular concrete box crossed at 15 degrees angle by freestanding wall. The bisecting wall obliges the visitor to turn to enter the chapel. In an unusual configuration, the floor descends in stages toward the altar, which is next to the rear wall, whose horizontal and vertical openings form a cross, flooding the space with light.

On the Awaji island is Tadao Ando’s Water Temple. With unexpected entrances and pathways and stair ways the visitor is lead to the over a Lotus Pond into a grid of redwood to a statue of Buddha with its back to the west. The setting sun glows through the openings reminding all that space can be source of inspiration.

In his long list of accomplishments are the Children’s museum, Himeji, Museum of Literature, Naoshima Contemprorary Art Musem, Chikatsu-Asuka Historical museum etc. There are also projects like Naoshima museum and hotel and the great project for Awaji island, Hyogo designed in 1992.

Tadao Ando is the winner of many prestigious architectural awards, for example the Carlsberg Prize (1992), Pritzker Prize (1995), Praemium Imperiale (1996), Gold Medal of Royal Institute of British Architects (1997) and the AIA Gold Medal, American Institute of Architects. He is now is one of the most highly respected architect in the world, influencing an entire generation of students.

Fumihiko Maki (1928-)

"The ultimate aim of architecture is to create spaces to serve society and in order to achieve this; the architect must understand human activities from the standpoints of history, ecology and changing trends. He must also know the relationship existing between human activities and architectural spaces and processes by means of which these relationships develop." Fumihiko Maki, 1970

Prominent on the Japanese architectural scene since the late 1950, Fumiko Maki has a major role in contributing to architectural theory, his critical development of the modern model taking the path drawn out of the concepts of the East and West leading to contemporary urban architecture. From the residential to cultural and sports facilities, a rational approach and a fusion of technology with craftsmanship are seen in all the projects of this Tokyo born architect.

Maki's unique style is a result of being among the few Japanese architects of his time to have studied, worked and taught in the United States and Japan. A graduate of the Tokyo University he earned his Master of Architecture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. Following the experience gathered from Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York (1954-55) and with Josep Lluis Sert (Sert, Jackson and Associates; 1955-58) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fumihiko Maki and Associates was born in Tokyo in 1965.

Awarded a Graham Foundation Fellowship in 1958, Fumihiko Maki went on two extensive research trips to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and northern and southern Europe. Impressed by the formal and spatial organization of settlements, particularly the communities along the Mediterranean coast, Fumihiko Maki became interested in collective forms. Impressions from this trip led to his first urban design proposal, elaborated with Masato Otaka for the redevelopment of west Shinjuku in Tokyo - conceived not as an actual plan but as an illustration of "group form". The concept was furthered in his publication on investigations on Collective Form. In contrast to "compositional form" and "megaform", Fumihiko Maki's "group form" it a more flexible urban organization based on a human scale in which the parts and the whole are mutually independent and connected through various linkages.

The project that best reflects the idea of "group form" is also Fumihiko Maki's most renowned early work: the Hillside Terrace Apartment Complex in Tokyo, realized in six phases between 1969 and 1992. This residential and commercial ensemble is a rare example of a comprehensive long-term development of a large site in a Japanese city. It features a unified architectural style on an intimate human scale, with sidewalks and transitional spaces providing pedestrian access to shops and preserving privacy for the apartments on the upper levels

The façade of the Wacoal Media Center shows Fumihiko Maki's preference for collaged and fragmentary composition. The so-called Spiral Building echoes the heterogeneous urban context of Tokyo and, like the TEPIA Building (1989), pays tribute to icons of 20th-century architecture and Cubist art in particular. It is equipped with chairs and provides a rare (nonpaying) space in Tokyo for visitors to relax and watch the street below. His National Museum of Modern Art (1986) in Kyoto, the facade of which features an orthogonal pattern in tune with the traditional grid of the city as well as a symmetry is an effort to relate to the environment around.

The sports and convention facilities highlight his attention to the overall form in public architecture, a concept not traditionally Japanese. His attention to detail expresses his architecture in a form with rhythm and scale. The expressive stainless-steel roofs of the Fujisawa Municipal Gymnasium (1984), the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (1990), and the Makuhari Convention Center (1989 and 1998) explore the possibilities of this aspect. The roof of the Gymnasium seems virtually to float above the main arena, separated from the spectator stands by a ribbon of light and supported only at four points.

A recurring aspect in Fumihiko Maki's designs is his masterful use of light, a quality that is further developed in Fumihiko Maki's works of the 1990s. The Graduate School Research Center (1994) at Keio University's Shonan Fujisawa Campus is characterized by its transparent entrance wall and the brise-soleil of perforated aluminum panels. The Tokyo Church of Christ (1995) features a shop-like translucent wall of light in the main hall, separating the building from the chaotic surrounding and providing a place for spiritual reflection.

Together with Arata Isozaki, Kisho Kurokawa, and Kazuo Shinohara, Fumihiko Maki is one of the few Japanese architects of his generation to enjoy international success and fame. 1995 saw the completion of the office building complex for Isar Buro Park near Munich as his first realized project in Europe. His other works outside Japan include the Center for the Arts (1993) at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, the Floating Pavilion (1996) in Groningen, and the projected Children's House in Poland.

As a founding member of the Metabolists he was associated with the group’s large scale urban designs and plans. However his buildings are not ‘megastructures'. Seeing how his gigantic Nippon Convention Center, Tokyo is modeled on the prototypical Japanese community, his designs were intended to set the tone and direction for future urban growth in the area. Its vast volume and distinctive silhouette becomes a man-made mountain range in an otherwise flat, waterfront topography.

Fumihiko Maki has been honored with numerous prizes, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1993. He projects himself as a modernist. His style is expressed in metal, concrete and glass though he also includes mosaic tile, anodized aluminum and stainless steel. Effectively using the modular systems in construction he makes a conscious effort to blend his structure into the spirit and era of its environment.

As part of MGS Architecture's ongoing series on award winning international architects, Varsha Trehan profiles three Japanese architects who set the trend and broke the boundaries of traditional design with a unique fusion of their Japanese sensibilities with a global influence.

Kenzo Tange (September 4, 1913-22 March 2005)

World renowned architect, famous for developing a style that was a "remix" fusion, Kenzo Tange revived awareness of Japanese architectural traditions with a contemporary architectural form. Treating every project as a springboard to the next challenge of a new project, he moved into the future.

Background Influences

Born in Osaka, Tange completed his junior high school in Imabari, Ehime prefecture. It was during his graduate studies at the University of Tokyo's Department of Architecture that he turned towards urban design. His attraction for Renaissance architecture especially Michelangelo's work and the monumental structures of Rome and Greece saw him introduce the public meeting space or "communication" space as a revolution to the Japanese culture.

His designs for a Far East memorial building sponsored by the Japanese Architectural Institute and a Japanese-Thai cultural center in Bangkok were award winners in 1942 and 1943, even before he graduated in 1945.

On graduating, he joined the office of Kunio Maekawa, a prominent disciple of Le Corbusier. Maekawa was also influenced by Antonin Raymond in Japan. Under the umbrella of this mentor, Tange's design philosophy was then nurtured and groomed over a period of four years.

Tange, as an assistant professor in the University of Tokyo Graduate School was involved with teaching. The Tange Laboratory was a cauldron of ideas bubbling over from the minds of young associates. Tange's own creativity blossomed with these interactions and expressed itself in his work throughout his career.


In 1949, he submitted the winning entry for the competition to redesign post-1945 Hiroshima. With an exposed concrete structure and architectural elements his design for the Hiroshima Peace Park and Peace Memorial reflects the Le Corbusier influence and marked the start of his private practice. The Pritzker Prize citation described his Gymnasium for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics as "among the most beautiful buildings of the 20^th Century". Kenzo Tange and URTEC (acronym for urban architect) was formed in 1957.

During the 1960s Tange, and later Fumiko Maki, led a distinctly Japanese movement in modern architecture called “metabolism”. His plan for the structural re-organization of Tokyo, 1960 adapted an urban matrix with structural order, expression and urban 'communication space'. He had responded to the basis of an urban structure that would permit growth and change. This architectural notion was carried forward in his award winning proposal for the reconstruction of Skopje, Yugoslavia.

At the Tokyo Cathedral, where later in 2005 Kenzo Tange's funeral was held, there was an architectural exploration of the plastic nature of the suspended structural form. It marked his transition away from the Corbusian influence.

The mid-70s to the early 80s saw Kenzo Tange going international over a stretch of over 20 nations. Benchmarks in design were the OUB Center (1985) and the UOB Plaza (1995) redefining the Singapore skyline with its height of 280m. While the Kuwait Embassy and Chancery Building in Tokyo and the University of Oran in Algeria show a development of a metabolic architecture his later smaller individual projects reflect his return to the aesthetics of the late modern movement.

In a joint effort with Naburo Kawazoe, Tange has expressed his aesthetic principles in publications like Katsura: Tradition and Creation in Japanese Architecture (1960), with a foreword by Walter Gropius, and Ise: Prototype of Japanese Architecture (1965).

Kenzo Tange advocated the progress of architecture through permitting a leeway to young architects to their expression. If the expression of reality is considered modernism, then the architectural expression of a shift from an agrarian to an industrial to an information-based society must also be a type of modernism.

Through his career span Kenzo Tange earned to his credit several awards, both national and international. Notable among them are The Gold Medal from American Institute of Architects, U.S.A., Diploma of Merit from International Olympic Committee, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Medal in Architecture, U.S.A., Medal of Honor by Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development, ROC and The Order of the Legion of Honor, France.

Mumbai-based Architect & Interior designer Milind Pai creates a jaunty design for Prof. Shukla’s library that creates an upscale ambience while providing a cool and lively environment to the readers, says Mariya Rasheeda.

Milind Pai established his architecture and interior designer firm in 1987, contributing substantially to Indian interiors in commercial, residential, and institutional projects. The firm focuses on the shaping of interior space through the manipulation of spatial volume as well as surface treatment. The firm designs the living environment to compliment the changing ways and lifestyles in the world today. Enthusiasm and high standards are the hallmark of the group.

Approach

Depending upon the type of the project, the scale and function of operation differ vastly from space to space. To fulfill all the requirement of the project as per the client’s wishes, the architect will have to take integrated approach that influences the project from concept to completion and enables them develop solutions that have multiple benefits.

According to this firm, the field of institutional planning is multifaceted and vast. Various categories like schools, colleges, libraries, professional associations, and career courses and so on fall under this category. The space planning is usually generous as the number of occupants is usually large. Thus the volumes of the spaces are proportionately high. Since the features are repetitive in function, the design is more disciplined and organized. Thus the entire planning skill lies in breaking the monotony using various design techniques like forms, textures, colors, and introduction of new concepts without breaking the sequence. Signage too plays an important role. Today the design trends have been constantly evolving and continuous and visible transition from the orthodox styles of the past to even trendy and contemporary in the recent ones.

The Project

Prof Shukla’s Library is a private library in Goregaon (west) Mumbai, designed for professional doctors, graduate and post graduate level students. The design is focused on creating a cool but lively environment with emphasis on enabling students to concentrate. The library is run by Prof. R.D.Shukla of the famous M/s Kalra Shukla Classes in Mumbai. It took two and half months to complete this project and finally it opened in April 2007 for the public. The basic areas of this library are the entrance lobby, the reception, the cafeteria, and the main reading hall.

Elements

The entrance lobby is an 8 ft wide passage, which has been treated in cool grey and white colors, with a graphical composition of 4 niches. Vibrant red waiting chairs highlight the walk way, which casts a first impression of cool white, giving a relaxed ambience to the entire area.


The walkway leads to the reception area that has the reception table on the right and a multi-color cafeteria on the right. The reception area introduces a striking white and a composed beech décor highlighted by a bright blue carpet which continues further into the entire reading area. The high glass partition on patch fittings gives a feeling of depth to the expansive space of the reading room.

The reading area has been predominantly designed around white, which has been used on the reading tables, roller blinds, ceilings and even the Apple computers. The bright blue carpets create the desired energetic feel for students expected to work late or even overnight. The beech finish chairs add the desired warmth to the décor.

The lighting used is a combination of direct spots for task lighting and reverse fluorescent tube fixtures for the bright ambient lighting.

A bright blue reading corner is created separately with some relaxing chairs on the either side of this area so that tired students who are working overnight can take some rest.

A lively cafeteria has been designed in multi-color combination to make the coffee breaks more energetic and recharging. A plasma TV is provided here to unwind and the snacks counter run by a professional offer delicious snacks to make the break interesting.

The full height glass partitions ensure a smooth transition and continuity of the various spaces of a truly well thought of and well run library, by any standards.

Research-backed design

Workplace design today is all about creating spaces that can attract and retain high quality people, strengthen and support a strong work culture, keep workers agile and healthy, all with the ultimate aim to increase profitability. Companies and designers should think of corporate real estate as more than a warehouse for people and use it as a tool for inspiring their behavior. Milind Pai’s firm has not only committed major resources to ongoing workplace research but has learnt how to reduce anxiety associated with change. According to the company, they promote evolution not revolution, showing companies how even small shifts in attitudes can result in big leaps in performance.

A teacher, a speaker, an architect—Balkrishna Doshi is a man who has worn several hats. Along with a handful of pioneers, he is responsible for bringing modern architecture to India.

Early years

He studied at the J. J. School of Architecture, Mumbai, and soon after left for London, and then to Paris where he experienced work under the master Le Corbusier. Corbusier’s influence was to make a strong dent in Doshi’s work and life. These years in Paris (1951-54), taught him the strong fundamentals of modern architecture and the language of form, function in concrete. Doshi then returned to Ahmedabad to supervise Le Corbusier’s numerous works in the city (1955-59). In fact, he started his own studio, Vastu-Shilpa (environmental design) in 1955. Doshi worked closely with Louis Kahn and Anant Raje, when Kahn designed the campus of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. This was an important period in which modern architecture was being brought into the Indian landscape and there were many issues to be resolved.

Developing sensibilities

Working out his own ideas, Doshi developed a unique language of architecture and a sensibility that is a pleasure to see. Ahmedabad is dotted with Doshi’s buildings and each one has a scale, a sense of proportion and the mastery of concrete that is the trademark of Corbusian modernism.

His language expresses his work better than anyone else can. Of IIM Bangalore, he writes, “The response is achieved by adopting a system of major corridors for movement along which activity areas are disposed. And within the network of corridors, the space between the activity areas become courts for extended activities under Brahman. These courts regenerate the primordial sense of continuity, growth, and tenuous linkages of the living and their habitat environment…………”

Doshi used for this project an interesting linkage of external and internal spaces, taking advantage of Bangalore’s climate, inspired by Fatehpur Sikri. The functional and physical attributes of the design are related to the local traditions of pavilion – like spaces, courtyards, and ample provision for plantation. He writes, “Because these local elements by themselves do not necessarily touch everyone, the design also included long and unusually high (three storeyed) corridors with innumerable vistas of focal points generating a dialogue with one’s self. These corridors are sometimes seem open, sometimes with only pergolas and sometimes partly covered with skylight. To further heighten the spatial experience, the width of the corridors was modulated in many places to allow casual sitting, interaction or moving forwards to once destination or more towards.”

Access to classrooms and administrative offices was provided through these links as well as to generate constant activity. Owing to the varying rhythm of the solids and voids, i.e. wall and opening, coupled with direct or indirect natural light, these links change in character during the different times of the day as well seasons and offer the students and the faculty, occasion to feel the presence of nature even while they are inside. By creating such an environment the activities pursued within the building become enriched because they become one with the larger, total world.

What makes the building interesting is that the links appear and disappear, giving a sense of being and not being. In the mornings and evenings, the sun’s golden rays are reflected in the glazed windows, and the long corridors with main central court surrounded by classroom walls “give a feeling of being in a place not unknown to ones inner being.”

This connection of the spiritual and physical has dominates Doshi’s work. In Sangath, which he designed for his own use as a studio, the spaces typical to Indian traditional architecture are recreated in an astonishingly modern medium. Writes William J.R. Curtis in his book Balkrishna Doshi, An Architecture for India, “Sangath is a fragment of Doshi’s private dream: a microcosm of his intentions and obsessions. Inspired by the earth-hugging forms of the Indian vernacular, it also draws upon the vault suggestions of Le Corbusier. A warren of interiors derived from the traditional Indian city, it is also influenced by sources as diverse as Louis I. Kahn, Alvar Aalto and Antonio Gaudi. A work of art stands on its own merits and Sangath possesses that indefinable quality of authenticity. Even local laborers and passing peasants like to come and sit next to it, enjoying the low mounds of the vaults or the water-jars overgrown with creepers.”

Accolades

Balkrishna Doshi is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects. Doshi has been a selection committee member for several international and national competitions including the Pritzker Award for Architecture, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Apart from his international fame as an architect, Dr Doshi is equally known as educator and institution builder. He has been the founder-Director of the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad (1962-72), initiator of the School of Planning (1972-79), founder Dean of Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (1972-81), Founder Member of Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad and first Founder Director of the Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad.

B.V.Doshi has been instrumental in establishing the internationally known research institute Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design. The institute has done pioneering work in low cost housing and city planning. As an academician, Dr Doshi has been visiting the U.S.A. and Europe since 1958 and has held important visiting professorships in American Universities. In 1976, the Government of India awarded Doshi with the Padma Shri, an esteemed national civilian honour. B.V.Doshi was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts by the University of Pennsylvania and in 1989 and from McGill University, Montréal, Canada, in 2006. Doshi was awarded the Gold Medal of the French Institute of Architects.

Continuing inspiration

Born in 1927 in Pune, Doshi’s work has spanned several decades and a few generations as well. His enthusiasm for the profession of architecture in addition to the art of making good buildings has been transmitted to hundreds of his students and lives on through their work in India’s metros and smaller towns as well. A few of these, like Bernard Cohn, George Anselvekies, Kabushan Jain, Anant Raje, Charles Correa and Christopher Charles Benninger have in turn made their mark on the architectural landscape of India.