Archinect - News

BIG's art museum-bridge-sculpture hybrid The Twist opens in Norway

2019-09-20T20:08:00-04:00

Is it a bridge? Is it a sculpture? Is it a museum? BIG's slick, newly opened aluminum beam twists itself to be all of the above.

Located in Jevnaker, just north of Oslo, the spectacular The Twist design for Kistefos Museum (the Danish firm's first completed project in Norway) creates a new connection between two forested banks over the Randselva river and completes the journey through the vast Kistefos Sculpture Park.

Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu

"Visitors roaming the park’s site-specific works by international artists such as Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Lynda Benglis Yayoi Kusama, Jeppe Hein and Fernando Botero, among others, cross The Twist to complete the art tour," explains BIG's project description.

"As a second bridge and natural extension to the park, the new museum transforms the visitor experience while doubling Kistefos’ indoor exhibition space."

Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu

"A simple twist in the building’s volume allows the bridge to lift from the lowe...

Studio Gang reveals new twisting tower design for San Francisco

2018-08-25T11:03:00-04:00

Studio Gang reveals a new, 400-foot tall residential tower called "MIRA" for San Francisco's Transbay neighborhood. The building features classic bay windows staggered in a twisting design around the structure.

"MIRA" high rise rendering by Studio Gang, located in San Francisco. Image: Studio Gang.

The design provides each unit with ample lighting and views of the bay, while also creating a high-performance facade reducing energy consumption.

"MIRA" high rise rendering by Studio Gang, located in San Francisco. Image: Binyan.

40% of the building's units have been designated to be priced below market rate.

"MIRA" high rise rendering by Studio Gang, located in San Francisco. Image: Studio Gang.

The high rise also includes sustainable features such as a VRF cooling system, a graywater harvesting system, green roofs, and high-efficiency fixtures and is targeted for LEED Gold certification.

Inside BIG's twisted, twin-towered Grove at Grand Bay

2016-12-14T13:53:00-05:00

At each elevation from the third through 17th floors, the floor plates in Bjarke Ingels Group's new Grove at Grand Bay rotate three feet, creating a twisting set of luxury residential towers that from the ground resemble the splayed bellows of dueling concrete accordions. Indeed, these 20-story sustainable towers, which are expected to attain LEED Gold status, seem to be designed as much for the entertainment value of sweeping aerial flyover shots as actual inhabitation.

The interiors do possess a kind of upbeat brutalist vibe; slanted concrete pillars face off against vibrant murals and landscape architect Raymond Jungles' gardens in the common areas, while the residences themselves take in views of the arts community in which it is sited, Coconut Grove.

“Coconut Grove is a special place with a well-defined soul, so it was important that Grove at Grand Bay respond to its community through a design that was respectful and distinctive,” Bjarke Ingels is quoted as saying in a press rel...

Construction update: BIG's twisted Vancouver House tower rises above grade

2016-12-02T14:45:00-05:00

In the three months since our last update, progress has been moving along at the site of the Bjarke Ingels-designed Vancouver House. The soon-to-be iconic 49-storey mixed-use tower by Westbank is beginning to rise above grade [...]. Designed in conjunction with Canadian firms Dialog Architects and James KM Cheng Architects, Vancouver House has been described as a "living sculpture," and the tower's signature twist will soon become a staple of the newly minted Beach District neighbourhood.

Photo of the Vancouver House construction site by Skyrise Cities forum member mcminsen. Click here to see more photos.

The tower and other Vancouver-related stories in the Archinect news:

KKT architects envision tornado-shaped tower for downtown Tulsa

2015-03-11T21:34:00-04:00

An old two-story warehouse on 202 S. Guthrie may appear as just another underdeveloped property for people driving through the streets of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. But for locally based Kinslow, Keith & Todd architects, the current 28,000 sq.ft parking structure has enough potential to become the base for a funnel-shaped tower dubbed as the "Tornado Tower."

Considering that Tulsa has a fairly long history of tornadoes, a tornado-shaped tower may not seem so outlandish. KKT architects conjured up the Tornado Tower for Tulsa People magazine's recent "Reimagining downtown" article, which states that KKT wanted to design an iconic Oklahoma-themed building that would open up people's perspectives on buildings and of Tulsa. While some may see it as an ideal space for weather forecasting and research purposes, the tower would surely attract plenty of tourism to the city.

And rightly so. Located near the BOK Center and Cox Business Center, the 250-300 feet tall mixed-use tower would consist o...

Cayan Tower, world's highest twisted tower, opens in Dubai

2013-06-18T11:26:00-04:00

Dubai ceremony marks inauguration of world's highest twisted tower. Saudi developer Cayan inaugurated late Monday the opening of the 73-story, one-thousand-and-seventeen-foot (310-meter) tall Cayan Tower in Dubai's prestigious Marina district.

Inspired by the structure of human DNA, each floor of the 272-million-U.S.-dollar (1 billion-Dirham) tower is rotated by one-point-two degrees to achieve the full 90-degree spiral, creating the shape of a helix.

Dignitaries from diplomatic corps and Corporate Dubai joined the celebrations which closed in a gigantic fireworks display across Dubai's new tower and the Marina night-skyline.

The emirate of Dubai also harbors the world's tallest hotel, the near one-thousand-two-hundred- foot (354.7-meter) tall J.W. Marriott Marquis.

There's also the world's tallest residential tower, the Princess Tower reaching over one-thousand-three-hundred-feet (414 meters), a five-minute walk away from the twisted tower.

Cayan Projects, estimated to be worth around 2.7 billion dollars (10-billion Saudi riyal) cover a wide spectrum of developments from exclusive residential to commercial projects.

Beach & Howe Tower Proposal Vancouver BIG Tower Bjarke Ingels Group

2012-02-14T18:37:00-05:00

The proposal is for a mixed-use development. On the Howe Street side, there will be a 49-storey residential tower with a 9-storey podium which includes market rental housing, commercial uses, and a childcare facility. The building height is at 150 metres and will be the tallest building on the southern end of downtown and the 4th tallest building in the city, unless the Ritz Carlton site gets developed before this, in which case it would be the 5th tallest.