Archinect - News

Nordic 'citizen design critics' are gaining influence thanks to their online popularity

2023-08-07T18:07:00-04:00

Founded in Sweden in 2014 as a public Facebook group, [Architectural Uprising] is a collective of citizen design critics who object to what organizers call the “continued uglification” of developments in Nordic cities, and push for a return to classically informed design. [...] The movement’s size and persistence, however, has earned it a seat in the discourse. “When [historians] talk about architecture during these years, [the Architectural Uprising] will be part of that history”

A new report in Bloomberg tells of the staying power of social media-driven architectural criticism. Projects lambasted by the popular (mostly) Scandinavian group include Oslo’s new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design by architect Klaus Schuwerk and estudio Herreros’ Munch Museum, which Oliver Wainwright also panned.

Its presence has apparently spurred Norwegian firm MAD Arkitektur’s concessions on the Sandakerveien 58 B/C renovation and other projects. Politicians in Norway have even begun reaching out for tacit endorsements in a turn mirroring the "ugly" debate in America concerning the design of federal buildings that has become a charge of late for Republicans in love with the concept of classicism in spite of its racist underpinnings and widely-critiqued past.

Henning Larsen unveils new mass timber 'World of Volvo' center in Gothenburg

2022-05-03T12:58:00-04:00

Henning Larsen has revealed their design for a new experience center called World of Volvo in the Swedish automaker’s hometown of Gothenburg.

Touting a “deep connection” to the design heritage and rich natural landscape of Scandinavia, the massive 236,800-square-foot new facility offers itself as the combined home of Volvo Group and Volvo Cars and will function as the host for a slate of events, including exhibitions, talks, conferences, and music as well as dining and retail, according to Volvo’s CEO Magnus Wrahme.

Visualization by Kvant-1

Henning Larsen’s design is based on the Swedish concept of “Allemansrätten,” a kind of folkway that endorses individual free movement and a delicate consideration for their place in nature similar to the American environmentalist idum “leave no trace.”

Visualization by Kvant-1

Its circular form expresses an empathy towards these two interconnected tenets and is composed of computer-fabricated glulam timber reinforced by internal metal connectors w...

What's it like inside the world’s newest mass timber developments?

2022-04-20T12:46:00-04:00

Above our heads, the pillars and struts of the pergola looked like the masts of a gigantic ship—their edges rounded, like huge pencils, to diminish the force of winds that can pummel the tower. Between the heft of the wooden building and the evanescence of the fog encircling it, the atmosphere was seductively calming—as long as my mind did not linger on the metaphor of the matchbox.

The New Yorker takes us on a whirlwind tour of some of the higher-profile mass timber developments that have debuted in recent years. Stops include the future site of Henning Larsen’s Fælledby development outside Copenhagen, the Oslotre As-designed seven-story Valle Wood, and Voll Arkitekter’s 18-story, 280-foot Mjøstårnet tower near Oslo, which is now officially the world’s tallest new timber building.

Mjøstårnet’s developer Arthur Buchardt was on hand to speak to its significance relative to the future of the industry as well as the role timber building could play in his country’s changing economy.

“Most of us already live in wooden buildings — only not so tall,” he explained to reporter Rebecca Mead. “Norway is an oil nation, but the oil will end. All the politicians talk about ‘green change’ — we must do something else that must be environmentally friendly, and we must use local resources. I thought I could build something like this, as an answer.”

...

Cobe unveils book-inspired winning design for Gothenburg University's new library competition

2021-06-05T15:00:00-04:00

Plans for a new library at Gothenburg University have been revealed after a search by the Swedish consulting firm Akademiska Hus to add what is now the newest chapter in the long architectural history of the nation’s second-largest city.

Göteborg Universitetsbibliotek. Photo courtesy of Cobe

Danish firm Cobe won the commission with a fitting design meant to mimic the curvature of a book’s pages in an imposing 16,000 square meter space adjacent to Gothenburg's most important cultural institutions.

The new building, which will replace smaller libraries serving different academic departments in arts and humanities, uses extruded white ceramic panels to create a volume interposed with vertical patterns that work the building’s profile into an eight-story literary metaphor Cobe founder Dan Stubbergaard feels is central to its function and educational mission.

Göteborg Universitetsbibliotek. Photo courtesy of Cobe

“The book serves as the inspiration and point of departure for the design,...

Modernism invades a classically traditional Swedish island

2018-05-14T00:37:00-04:00

But recently, a generation of homeowners and architects...have started not just ignoring, but defying the Law of Jante....From cast-concrete bunkers to glass-framed aeries, the new houses shock, subverting long-established order with a cool blast of modernity, while also paying homage to the island’s chilly dignity.

Nancy Hass travels to Gotland, a low-key, summer retreat for Swedes. Traditionally, simple farmhouse vernacular reigned. Yet, now firms such as Skalso, Murman Arkitekter, Deve Architects and Tham & Videgård are exploring a more contemporary idiom.

Japanese capsule hotel gets a Scandinavian spa treatment from Schemata Architects

2018-01-25T14:38:00-05:00

The Japanese answer to the hostel, the capsule hotel, debuted in Osaka in the late 70s as a way to provide cheap, basic overnight accommodation to businessman. Stripped down to the bare necessities of a hotel room, individual pods the size of a single bed are stacked together while also offering other amenities like high-speed internet access, bathing facilities, toiletries, etc. Traditionally, the budget accommodation has had a shabby reputation. Today, however, a slew of second wave capsule hotels are trending towards modern, sleek and stylish designs.

Photo Credit: Nacasa & Partners Inc.

One of the latest additions to Japan's expanding luxury capsule hotel market is Nine Hours, the capsule hotel chain—named for the maximum length of stay—that recently renovated ºC (Do-C) Ebisu. Tokyo-based firm Schemata Architects has headed the overhaul of the aging hotel, which will be the first renovation project for the hotel chain.

Photo Credit: Nacasa & P...

Requiem - Lahdelma & Mahlmäki’s Museum for the Defense and Siege of Leningrad

2018-01-16T23:44:00-05:00

Lahdelma & Mahalmäki Architects have unveiled Requiem, their competition proposal for the Museum for the Defense and Siege of Leningrad, St. Petersburg. The project was undertaken in partnership with Ralph Appelbaum Associates who, together, formed the only international team amongst the four final designs. The design sees an elegant spiral, buried in the landscape, reaching up from the exhibitions which are buried in a vast cavern underground. The route corkscrews out the top of the riverside, reaching outwards to give views over the new St. Petersburg.

Images credit to: Brick Visuals

The Museum for the Defense and Siege of Leningrad and its several components form a powerful spatial composition, connecting to the character and history of the city. The Thread of Life, the Memorial of Heroes of Leningrad and the Square of Testimony all sit against the backdrop of a newly created tranquil river side park.

Images credit to: Brick Visuals

The ‘Thread of Life’ refers to the museum and ex...

Famed designer Jane Thompson dies

2016-08-24T14:19:00-04:00

The influential designer Jane Thompson passed away on Tuesday. Working fluidly across the fields of design, urbanism, and architecture, Thompson left a lasting mark on American visual culture.

Thompson started her career as the assistant curator at the Museum of Modern Art, then led by Philip Johnson. Afterwards, she helmed Industrial Design Magazine.

Thompson worked on the revitalization of Boston's Quincy Market alongside her husband, architect Benjamin Thompson. Other urban projects included the Chicago Navy Pier and the Grand Central Business District in New York.

One of Thompson's most influential endeavors was assisting her husband in operating the retail stores Design Research (D/R). Bring European designers like Alvar Aalto and Marikmekko into the United States, she helped introduce a generation of Americans to Scandinavian design. In a 2000 survey, D/R was named the number one design store, even after it had been closed for 22 years.

h/t Metropolis Mag

[Correction: originally th...