Bjarke Ingels Group – DesignApplause

zha to build new oppo telecommunications headquarters in shenzhen china.

Jan 20, 2020

following an international competition, zaha hadid architects (zha) has been selected to build oppo’s new headquarters in shenzhen, china.

oppo launched their first phone in 2008, growing to become china’s leading smartphone manufacturer and the fifth largest worldwide with over 40,000 employees in more than 40 countries. pioneering new communication technology in smart devices and internet services, oppo has established six research institutes, four research & development centers, and a global design studio. accommodating this growth, oppo’s new headquarters will continue their commitment to connectivity through design.

conceived as four interconnected towers design incorporates two towers of flexible, open-plan spaces linked by a 20-story vertical lobby, and two external service towers providing vertical circulation. orientated to maximize the views over shenzhen bay, the towers taper inwards at lower levels creating large civic spaces at street level.

locating the towers’ service cores externally frees the centre of each floor from obstructions; providing uninterrupted views throughout the building that will enhance interaction between employees.

large atrium spaces unite all occupants through visual connectivity, helping to foster collaboration between different departments of the company. the abundance of natural light, varied working environments and diversity of routes for staff and visitors to move through the building are all conducive to creative engagement and spontaneity.

developed as a new civic space for the city with a public walkway diagonally traversing its centre, oppo’s headquarters will include a landscaped plaza, art gallery, shops, restaurants and a direct link to the adjacent station of shenzhen’s subway network.

the 10th floor sky plaza will provide local residents, visitors and oppo employees with varied dining, leisure and entertainment facilities, while the rooftop sky lab will be a popular public space with spectacular views over one of the world’s most dynamic cities.

following leed gold certification of zha’s leeza soho tower in beijing and generali tower in milan, the new oppo headquarters has been designed to target leed gold from the us green building council; developed with 3d building information modeling and energy management systems to optimize efficiencies.

breaking ground later this year, oppo’s new headquarters is planned to complete in early 2025.

2020 > 2025
height of 650ft/200m (42 floors)
2 million sq. ft/185,000 sq. m
shenzhen, china

design competition shortlist:
zaha hadid architects (zha)
bjarke ingels group (big)
skidmore, owings & merrill (som)
rogers stirk harbour + partners (rshp)
henning larsen architects hk

alphabet of light by bjarke ingels group for artemide.

Oct 24, 2017

designer’s inspiration

alphabet of light is a new font that translates into light, a luminous language used to write an express one’s thoughts.

it can be used to design light in a space with words as well as graphic signs using simple base modules with specific geometric proportions that can be combined to create countless linear or curved structures of light.

the linear and round modules can be combined to form a system of letters, numbers and symbols as well as free or closed compositions.

alphabet of light linear or circular can be arranged in countless basic or more complex structures to produce suspension appliances that can match with architecture or space functions.

alphabet of light uses innovative technological and manufacturing principals to produce a continuous and comfortable light.

alphabet of light wall version is available now.
alphabet of light suspension is coming in winter 2017.

materials

-illuminated tubes in opaque injection molded pmma.
-support pins in brushed aluminum.

technology

led

[ bjarke ingels group – big ] [ artemide ] [ red dot best of best ]

lego house in billund denmark. architects bjarke ingels group (big).

Aug 26, 2017

above > drone view of nearly completed site taken august 2017 / courtesy lego / lego house opens september 2017

beautiful.

below > narrative from big website
type > competition
client > lego
size > 39, 370 sqft / 12,000 m2
location > billund denmark
status > completed 2017

“lego house is a literal manifestation of the infinite possibilities of the lego brick. through systematic creativity children of all ages are empowered witht the toools to create their own worlds and to inhabit them through play.

at its finest – that is what architecture – and lego play – is all about: enabling people to imagine new worlds that are more exciting and expressive than the status quo – and to provide them with the skills to make them reality. this is what children do every day with lego bricks = and this is what we have done today at lego house with actual bricks, taking billund a step closer towards becoming the capital of children.” bjarke ingels

the 23 m tall lego house is conceived as an urban space as much as an experience center. 21 overlapping blocks are placed like individual buildings, framing a 2,000 m2 lego square that is illuminated through cracks and gaps between volumes. above the square, a cluster of galleries overlap to create a continuous sequence of exhibitions. each gallery is color-coded in lego’s primary colors.

the first and second floors include four play zones that represent: red is creative, blue is cognitive, green is social, and yellow is emotional. some of the rooftops can be accessed via pixelated public staircases that double as informal auditoria for people watching or seating for performances.

the vault – located underneath lego square – is where children and afols (adult fans of lego) can witness the first edition of almost every lego set ever made, including the new 774-piece, 197-step kit replicating the stacked-block formation of the lego house.

above > courtesy of lego

[ lego ] [ big ] [ photography > iwan baan / kim christensen ]

bjarke ingels envisions new washington redskins sports stadium.

Mar 11, 2016

above/below> concept model for new washington redskin football stadium

trending and talented danish architect bjarke ingels hit the air ways today on 60 minutes to talk about another big – bjarke ingels group concept, this time a spec proposal for a new football stadium for the washington redskins.

in the past 24 months sports stadium proposals have been sensitive topics [ zaha hadid: national stadium tokyo ] and the architect did himself no favors with a presentation that could be construed as flip: surfing in a stadium-surrounding moat.

“the stadium is designed as much for the tailgating, like the pre-game, as for the game itself,” ingels tells 60 minutes.” tailgating literally becomes a picnic in a park. it can actually make the stadium a more lively destination throughout the year without ruining the turf for the football game.” tailgating is integral to football and off-season multi-purposing an economical and engaging concept though some of the proposed activities do seem better suited for california or hawaii. somewhere in the back of my mind, ingels may be messing with mad-hatter redskins owner, daniel snyder, but then again, maybe not. that said, early on notions to ingels preliminary concepts can be just that as they are imagination-shaping and he’s expert at it, in a signature big way. this would be the first sports stadium designed by big. please, in the next iteration, consider a dome (a super bowl bid) and maybe eschew a beach.

all ‘the spiral’ images courtesy of bjarke ingels group / tishman speyer

this property would do well as select luxury residences. [ big ]

7 cool architects for fritz hansen.

Aug 8, 2015

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60 years ago Arne Jacobsen designed the Series 7.

The cooperation between Arne Jacobsen and Fritz Hansen dates back to 1934. But in 1952 the break-through came with the Ant. It was succeeded by the Series 7 in 1955. This propelled his and Fritz Hansen‘s names into furniture history.

Series 7, more specifically the Model 3107 Chair, was very unlike his other designs in that he did not design ‘7’ for one specific project – like he did with the Ant chair to the canteen of Novo Nordisk in Denmark or the Oxford chair to St Cathrine’s College in Oxford, United Kingdom. With this open-endedness pedigree Fritz Hansen conceives asking 7 cool architects to give their architectural and personal take on the Series 7. The architects are Bjarke Ingels Group, Carlos Ott & Carlos Ponce de León, Jean Nouvel Design, Jun Igarashi, Neri & Hu, Snøhetta and Zaha Hadid Architects.

above/below> Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) – Copenhagen and New York – inspiration and idea came from the production of the chair.

above/below> Carlos Ott Architects / Carlos Ponce de León Architects – Montevideo – inspiration and idea cames from seven-story Celebra designed by the architects and where the chair could reside, a restaurant in the building located in an open-roof basement which has a vertical garden wall.

above/below> Jean Nouvel Design – Paris – inspiration and idea reflects design elements seen in many solutions, i.e., how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world.

above/below> neri&hu – Shanghai – inspiration and idea comes from a 1930s Army headquarters building they repurposed into the boutique hotel The Waterhouse. The idea of a replica, a double, a variation, a re-edition hinges on the duality between the original and the re-design. Their take on this project is to embrace this exact idea of duality and create an actual “double”. A singular chair multiplied as the individual becomes a community.

above/below> Snøhetta – innsbruck | new york | oslo | san francisco inspiration and idea comes from an idea to make the chair more of a social tool. The wood is a representation of softness in contrast to metal. A legless construction is free and indeterminate. It is versatile and simple. And maybe it can be a symbol for social interaction and playfulness? If we add even more softness to it we might be able to create a new user experience – additional functionality.

video courtesy of fritz hansen

above/below> Zaha Hadid Architects – London – inspiration and idea comes from natural and fluid forms, expressive of innate structural forces, informed the design for this bespoke chair. Similar to how other projects designed by Zaha Hadid Architects address and mediate between an existing context and a new formulation of space, the provision for this chair was to create a harmonic transition from the existing shell and how it can effortlessly touch down on the ground.

This project is not the first time the Series 7 chair has been given a new look. In 2009, Fritz Hansen collaborated with designers Arik Levy, Autoban, Fabio Novembre, Jaime Hayon, Maarten Baas, Nendo and Sebastian Bergne to release the chair in seven new colors.

An exhibition will travel around the world from London to Tokyo featuring the designs by the 7 cool architects. First up is September’s London Design Festival 2015.