I want to write about an architect named Ole Scheeren, who happens to be a very old friend of mine. Ole was born in Germany, studied in Great Britain and the Netherlands, and worked in New York with the famous architect Rem Koolhaas. But he spent his childhood vacations in Umbria, and you can see in all his projects how much he loves nature and he always leaves, in his big urban structures, some space for gardens and trees. He now leads his own company called Buro OS and usually designs HUGE buildings that soar over the skyline of cities like in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok. They are really huge. Take a look:
This skyscraper is called the MahaNakhon, it's in Bangkok. It's very tall (77 stories) and it includes a lush urban oasis with public gardens and a major transportation hub, luxury retail, residences, a new public square, and a five-star hotel.
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This building is an icon now of Beijing, it's called the CCTV Tower. My favorite part is the transparent floor in the horizontal part, so you feel like you are walking on air...
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This skyscraper is called Angkasa Raya, and it's located directly across from the famous Petronas Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. It looks like it was broken in different parts to insert elements of surprise like terraces and public gardens.
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The name of this residential complex in Singapore is "The Interlace". You can tell Ole liked to play with blocks when he was a kid, right? Some things never change.
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But my favorite project designed by Ole is ... a floating movie theatre. I love going to the movies, but can you imagine going to a theatre like this one? How much would you be willing to pay for the ticket? And what movie would you like to see?
He actually presented this project in Venice, at the 2012 Biennale, which is a very important international art show. As you know, the whole city of Venice, Italy, is built on water, on a group of little islands connected by bridges, so a floating theatre over the water is actually a very good and practical idea.
All the structures are built as modular pieces, loosely assembled, like a group of little islands. All the material used is recycled, and this project was truly perfect for Venice. Too bad this movie theatre would not do well in an area like the Caribbean, or in the open ocean, because the waves would make it hard to ... watch the movie! You need to position it in a lagoon, where the water is calm.
And make sure no pop-corn ends up in the water.
Just sit back and relax and watch the movie as the theater floats on.
ReplyDeletehahahaa that would be relaxing!
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