Archinect - News

OMA's 'anti-iconic' Bordeaux bridge design wants to be more than just a bridge

2024-07-12T18:08:00-04:00

Archinect has received photos of the newly opened Simone Veil Bridge, designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas and Chris van Duijn in Bordeaux, France. The project spans 549 meters (1,801 feet) in length and is 44 meters (144 feet) wide, connecting the communes of Floirac and Bègles over the Garonne River.

Photo by Clement Guillaume, courtesy OMA

OMA said this about their unusual bridge programming: "It abandons any interest in style, form, and structural expression in favor of a commitment to performance and an interest in future use by the people of Bordeaux. Cars, modes of public transportation, and bicycles all have their own lanes, with the largest by far dedicated to foot traffic. The width of the bridge’s platform is doubled to create 28 meters of neutral, unprogrammed space that can be used for any cultural or commercial purpose, such as farmers’ markets, art fairs, bicycle rallies, car club meetings, and festivals for music or wine."

Photo by JB Menges, courtesy of Bordeaux Metropol

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NEOM reveals new Leyja resort concepts designed by Mario Cucinella, Chris van Duijn, and Shaun Killa

2023-10-18T18:24:00-04:00

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM megaproject has announced a new planned luxury resort development called Leyja that features designs from teams led by architects Mario Cucinella, Chris van Duijn, and Shaun Killa.

Details on the new aspect of the development are scarce, though the plan is to include three hotels and an experience center placed at nodes along a winding gulch leading inland from the Gulf of Aqaba.

Renderings show the structures being inserted into the 400-meter-high natural rock formations at the site.

The Adventure Hotel concept by Chris van Duijn/OMA. Image courtesy of NEOM

The 'Adventure Hotel,' designed by van Duijn, is stepped vertically as though a staircase leading up the walls of the cliff whose topography is accentuated by its form. The hotel is intended to provide a base for tourists to pursue rock climbing and other "high-octane" activities.

It is joined by an oasis-straddling design from Cucine...

OMA completes new Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Center

2020-09-28T15:16:00-04:00

The city of Toulouse in Southern France recently completed MEETT, its brand new Exhibition and Convention Center designed by OMA / Chris van Duijn.

Combining a convention center, exhibition halls, a multi-function event hall, a parking structure for 3,000 cars, and a transportation hub with a new tram station, bus stop, and cycling facility, the enormous complex measures 155,000 square meters (over 1.6 million square feet), making it the third largest of its kind in France, outside of Paris.

Photograph by Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA.

"The masterplan of MEETT has been conceived as an active strip — ‘une bande active’ — forming a physical border between urban development and countryside, with the ambition of becoming the central spine for an integrated development of the city and the countryside," explains OMA's project description. "The program of the exhibition and convention centre is organized into three parallel bands: an [....