BIG’s First Step into the Final Frontier
A reflective sphere floats above a highway outside Stockholm in BIG's winning "Energy Valley" master plan (Courtesy BIG).
BIG won’t let its ambitions be impeded by the laws of physics–namely, gravity. For a competition to plan and design the area around the Hjulsta Intersection, a massive highway infrastructure project just north of Stockholm, BIG teamed up with firms Grontji and Spacescape to create “Energy Valley,” and their winning master plan addresses not only the area around the highway interchange but also above it. The plan’s surreal defining feature is “a reflective, self‐sustaining hovering sphere mirroring Stockholm as it is, new and old, creating a 180 degree view of the area for the drivers on their way in or out of the city.”
Covered with photovoltaic film and tethered to the ground, this mysterious giant orb would supposedly generate enough solar and wind power to keep itself aloft while also providing power for over 200 surrounding houses. Read More
Ride Bjarke Ride
BIG's Danish Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 (Courtesy BIG/Iwan Baan)
Last night we enjoyed a sold-out lecture at LACMA by the force that is Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. At age 36 the founder of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has accomplished more than most architects do in their lifetimes. How does he do it? We’re still trying to figure that out. Here are a few theories: 1.) He acts on every smart and/or crazy impulse and actually follows through. 2.) He marries utopian ideas with pragmatism 3.) He’s an amazing speaker and marketer. 4.) He seems to have more energy than just about anyone.
Take for example, the video (after the jump) of Ingels riding a bike through his spiral-shaped Danish Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. What better way to show off his architecture and his boundless energy. Genius. Stay tuned for our interview with Ingels, coming soon…
Community Board 4 Welcomes Bjarke to New York
Proposed W57 tower viewed from the Hudson River (Courtesy BIG)
Bjarke Ingels’ star-studded ascendancy to New York architecture fame was checked last night as Community Board 4′s land-use committee had its first look at Durst Fettner Residential’s planned W57 tower in Hell’s Kitchen. Already sobered by a two-hour discussion of planned zoning changes only blocks from BIG’s courtyard-skyscraper hybrid, the board quietly sat through Ingels’ signature multimedia show detailing the strenuous process that guided the sloping tower’s design.
Unveiled> BIG Wins Again in Greenland
(Courtesy BIG)
Bjarke Ingels continues his relentless forward march toward world domination, winning yet another project, this time a gallery in Nuuk, Greenland. With so many recent mountains, it appears BIG has moved on to new iconographies inspired by land art, a barnacle perhaps?
Video> Amazingly BIG Fly-By at 57th Street Tower
(Courtesy BIG)
We told you this morning about new details surrounding the Durst Fetner Residential’s Bjarke Ingels-designed West 57th Street tower, but now there so much more to share. BIG’s Danish office has released additional renderings, detailing Manhattan’s surf-and-turf hybrid tower in all it’s mountainous glory. And you won’t want to miss the fly-by video, either!
Unveiled> BIG News From Hell′s Kitchen
BIG's 57th Street Tower (BIG via New York Magazine)
Surf-and-turf sure is delicious! We’ve been eagerly awaiting news from Bjarke Ingels’ New York debut on 57th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, and today, the Durst Organization, project developer, has released new details of New York’s mountain-to-be. New York magazine got the exclusive, this weekend revealing a new rendering of the 450-foot-tall apartment tower poised to redefine the architecture of the stodgy box.
Unveiled> BIG Designs a Power Plant That Loves You
Waste-to-Energy Plant in Copenhapen (Courtesy BIG)
Where one architect might see an incinerator, Bjarke Ingels, principal at Dutch firm BIG, envisions a ski slope. Ingels has been fond of the mountain typology and he hasn’t been all that subtle about it, giving projects names like Mountain Dwellings and emblazoning Mount Everest on the side.
In his latest competition-winning proposal for Copenhagen, BIG takes the concept one step further, with a mountain you can actually ski down.
Report: World Architecture Festival
courtesy Bjarke Ingels Group
The World Architecture Festival in Barcelona is in its second day and it’s great seeing New Yorkers doing so well in this international competition. Read More
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