Archinect - News

David Chipperfield's Elbtower project halts construction over payment dispute in Hamburg

2023-11-07T12:19:00-05:00

Reuters is reporting that construction on the forthcoming 64-story Elbtower Tower project in Hamburg, Germany, from David Chipperfield Architects has been halted over a payment dispute between its client Signa and a local builder.

The news came last week after more than two years of construction. Work was halted at exactly 100 meters (or 330 feet), which is under half the 245-meter (803-foot) anticipated height of the design for which Chipperfield won the 2018 international competition. The tower was expected to open in 2026, with a 188-room NOBU hotel and restaurant concept and a final price tag of €950 million ($1.015 billion). Once erected, it will become the tallest building in Germany outside of Frankfurt.

Signa’s CEO Timo Herzberg nevertheless posted to LinkedIn that he remains confident in the eventual realization of “Hamburg's future landmark,” Reuters reported. (Signa also operates the Chrysler Building in New York City.)

Previously on Archinect: David Chipperfield wins El...

Chipperfield Architects wins commission for Hamburg office development

2021-06-24T12:59:00-04:00

A three-juror panel in Hamburg has announced David Chipperfield Architects as the winner of its two-stage competition to build the future headquarters of the nation’s largest insurance company, Signal Iduna Group.

The firm submitted plans for a multi-building office complex in Hamburg’s Eimsbüttel district that will represent its second major commission in the city in recent years.

DCA’s Berlin office beat out 11 other entries with its design featuring several buildings made from recovered materials and composed of varying timber, mixed-timber, and concrete frames customized to match their differing spans.

Centered by a courtyard house that will greet workers and users of its ground-floor public space the new complex will “integrate into the heterogeneous urban environment consistently and confidently” by joining with a closed street to create a flexible scheme capable of adaptation throughout the building...

Nazi bunker to become new hotel in Hamburg

2019-10-22T18:30:00-04:00

"A former Nazi bunker in Hamburg, built by forced laborers to shelter tens of thousands of Germans during Allied air raids in World War II, will soon house hotel guests," reports The New York Times (NYT). Fit with a five-story terraced roof garden, the hotel will house 136 rooms, and is due to open in mid-2021.

The bunker was one of thousands built by the Nazi's during the war. A spokeswoman for NH Hotel Group, the organization designing the new space, told NYT that the group is "aware of the history of the building" and that they "would like to send a positive signal to the city of Hamburg.

Thomas L. Doughton also spoke to NYT, expressing how "part of the concern with some people in Hamburg, as well as in other locations in Europe and elsewhere is that the real significance of some of these sites will become lost."

The hotel will include a 560 square foot exhibition space to commemorate the structure's past, seeking not to "hide the history," but instead "to make it more visible."

...

Students from Illinois Institute of Technology and HafenCity University explore Chicago and Hamburg's similarities

2019-09-26T18:00:00-04:00

A joint exhibition two years in-the-making brings together architecture students from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and HafenCity University of Hamburg to investigate the "analogous nature" of each school's host city. Stemming from a study abroad research project led by Adjunct Professor Martin Kläschen, the students from both institutions focus on the parallels of both locations and the unique history of these "sister cities."

Chicago's special bond with the city of Hamburg was inaugurated in 1994. Through these regional affiliations, the U.S metropolis has become an even more prominent global city rich with global education, cultural exchange, tourism, and international business opportunities.

Doppelgänger. Image courtesy of IIT via @ittarchitecture/Instagram

Research uncovered by both institutions led to naming the exhibition, Doppelgänger, a German term referring to an individual's "identical lookalike" fe...

How algorithms designed the sound of the new Hamburg concert hall

2017-08-30T18:30:00-04:00

Detached from the rest of the building for soundproofing reasons, the 10,000 panels that line the central auditorium are the result of parametric design, a process of creating multiple individual designs using algorithms. A million individual cells ranging from four to 16cm long are cut out from the panels [...] The ivory coloured gypsum fiber acoustic panels contain a seashell motif and were designed by Swiss architect Herzog & De Meuron with help from German studio One to One.

Interior view of the central concert hall. Photo: Iwan Baan.

"It would be insane to do this by hand," GCR quotes Benjamin Koren, founder of One to One, the studio that created the design algorithm for the concert hall's acoustic panels. "That’s the power of parametric design. I hit play, and it creates a million cells, all different and all based on these parameters. I have 100% control over setting up the algorithm, and then I have no more control.”

Photo: Johannes Arlt

WWII German bunker adds "green mountain" on top in radical repurposing

2017-05-30T17:48:00-04:00

Repurposing and renovation are some of the hottest new trends in architecture, but architects in Hamburg may have elevated the stakes by their proposal to place a 19-meter high "green mountain" atop a World War II bunker in Hamburg, Germany. The new mountain would offer residents lots to grow vegetables, as well as "a bit of plain hedonistic pleasure" according to a statement released by the designers. The bottom of the bunker has already undergone substantial transformation: it currently hosts a nightclub, a graphic design agency, a music school, a music shop, and a photographer’s studio.

Take a stroll inside Herzog & de Meuron's Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, courtesy of Google

2016-11-15T13:53:00-05:00

After nearly ten years of being put through the ringer of recession and recovery, Herzog & de Meuron's Elbphilharmonie is finally complete, and slated for its grand opening in January 2017.

But before the public gets to bask in Yashuhisa Toyota's acoustic design, anyone can peek inside the concert hall for a look. Thanks to Google Arts and Culture, part of the Google Cultural Institute's attempt to record the world's collections and cultural institutions for sharing online, you can take your own personal tour of the venue. Play conductor or snag that perfect seat; check out the coat check, or take in the view of the neighboring HafenCity waterfront area. The resolution is high enough to get a good read on those pocketed interior walls.

Check out Google's view of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg here.

Herzog & de Meuron's Elbphilharmonie will open on November 5

2016-11-03T13:24:00-04:00

Herzog & de Meuron's Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg will finally welcome its first guests on November 5, following nearly a decade tainted with cost overruns and planning delays. Located in the rapidly developing HafenCity district, the crown-shaped concert hall proudly announced its completion this past Monday to the city in giant gleaming letters that spelled out “FERTIG”, or “Completed” in German.

Starting Saturday, the City of Hamburg will hand over day-to-day management to HamburgMusik. The complex includes three concert halls (the largest one seating 2,100 and designed by acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota), a music education area, and a “Plaza” where guests can take in panoramic views of the surrounding harbor. The restaurants, cafes and bars, and the hotel will also open. However, it seems the grand opening festivities will begin when the Elbphilharmonie hosts its first concert on January 11.

You can also check out a cross-section of the project in the gallery below.

Previous news about t...

Take a look at Herzog & De Meuron's Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg

2016-07-21T13:19:00-04:00

The Elbphilharmonie, a massive building complex by Herzog & De Meuron, will open in early January 2017. Set on the banks of the Elbe River in Hamburg, the complex contains three concert halls, a hotel, 45 private apartments, and "the Plaza," a public viewing area.

The main attraction of the Elbphilarmonie a 2,100 seat, world-class "Grand Hall," situated some 50 meters off the ground. The concert hall is detached from the rest of the building for acoustic reasons. The acoustic design of the concert hall was by Yashuhisa Toyota.

The Elbphilharmonie is located at the center of a rapidly transforming area of Hamburg. Dubbed HafenCity, the waterfront area, surrounded by both the Elbe and Alster rivers, is Europe's largest inner-city development project. When completed, the district will be home to about 12,000 people.

The project drew controversy a few years ago for cost overruns – the total cost almost tripled from initial estimates – and construction delays. German taxpayers are expected...

UNESCO names Hamburg's Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District a World Heritage Site

2015-07-06T18:46:00-04:00

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has declared two districts of the German city of Hamburg a world heritage site: the Speicherstadt and Chilehaus with the Kontorhaus District. Declared following a meeting in Bonn, the designation was based on the belief that the areas represent "an outstanding example" of an urban area that "illustrate[s] significant stages in human history."

The districts comprise Hamburg's historic warehouse area, with a complex of connecting waterways, bridges and roads. The area was built primarily between 1885 and 1927, and housed the city's bustling port-related industry.

Spiecherstadt, the world's largest historic warehouse ensemble, includes 17 buildings in the Gothic red-brick style and once held goods such as spices, tobacco, coffee and tea. In recent years, the area has become a major tourist hub, with such destinations as the world's largest miniature railway and the Hamburg Dungeon.

Opposite the Spiecherstadt, the Kontorhaus district is considered "Cont...

Designing for the Night

2015-03-13T15:10:00-04:00

When I speak with a student about nightlife they have something different in mind than a 65-year old town planning manager. In the municipalities, finding contacts is difficult - often nobody feels responsible or capable of speaking. That should change.

There are sleepy cities and cities that never sleep. There are cities famed for their raucous nightlife, and others whose adolescent residents dream of leaving. According to the German urban scientist Jakob F. Schmid, interviewed for DW.DE, "Nightlife often defines the character of entire streets or districts." Schmid runs the "City After Eight - Management of the Urban Night Economy" project with Thomas Krüger, which is funded by the German government.

Looking at a variety of German cities including Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt, the researchers mapped nightlife "with online recommendation platforms as the basis for the data." The hazy blue results indicate that various forms a city's nightlife may take. In the famed-party city Berlin, for example, hotspots are diffused throughout the expansive metropolis. In a traditional German city, on the other hand, the nightlife tends to be concentrated "on the city center, usually on the streets directly surrounding the center proper."

In the...

Luftwerk's FLOW/Im Fluss to illuminate Chicago's Couch Place alley with screens made of water

2014-09-11T17:06:00-04:00

Crafty space manipulator Luftwerk will showcase FLOW/Im Fluss, a nightly light and water installation at Chicago's Couch Place alley on September 17-20 from 5 p.m. to midnight. Luftwerk, the Chicago-based collaborative established by Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, is best known for their signature medium of site-specific light and projected video installations.

Presented by the Chicago Loop Alliance, the Goethe-Institute Chicago, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, Luftwerk's FLOW/Im Fluss celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Sister Cities Chicago and Hamburg. As a nod to each city's river locations, the installation visualizes the characteristics of the Chicago River and Hamburg's River Elbe through video compositions that will be projected on "screens" made of water.

Having lived in both cities, Luftwerk is based on the encompassing, connective nature of water in FLOW as people gather to get a closer look at the flow of data readings collected from both rivers. Adding sound ...

Hamburg Concert Hall: Blame game begins in €800-million hall saga

2014-01-08T14:03:00-05:00

German taxpayers are expected to spend almost €800 million on the project, which has been criticized by politicians and the media as a waste of public funds. The costs have included €300 on a toilet brush. [...] Meanwhile, architects Herzog & de Meuron were blamed for the chaos at the Hamburg building site, after failing to stick to the planning schedule.

Previously:

J. Mayer H. Completes Schlump One in Hamburg

2012-10-24T17:23:00-04:00

J. Mayer H. Architekten has completed the "Schlump One" project in Hamburg, Germany. The architects took on an administrative building originally built in the 1950s and gave it the curvy JMH trademark update.

Hamburg Philharmonic is on the rise

2011-05-25T12:40:00-04:00

Hamburg is building a cultural landmark: The Elbphilharmonie. Designed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron, a synthesis of the arts comprising architecture, music and a unique location by the port is arising on the banks of the River Elbe. In addition to three concert halls, a hotel and 45 apartments, the complex will boast a freely accessible venue at a height of 37 meters, affording a 360° panoramic view of the city – The Plaza.

Covering some 4,000 square meters, The Plaza is almost as big as the Town Hall market square and is an ideal place for Hamburg’s citizens, tourists, concert-goers and hotel guests alike to stroll and enjoy life. The Large Concert Hall, with seating for 2,150, will form the heart of the Elbphilharmonie. A special material has been developed to deliver perfect acoustics by reflecting the sound in all directions, thereby ensuring complete listening pleasure throughout the auditorium: The White Skin.