Rasmus Hjortshøj archivos - Global Spaces

Bruder Klaus Feldkapelle

Jordi Costa — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 06:48:41 +0000

Architects: Peter Zumthor Photography: Rasmus Hjortshøj Construction Period: 2007 Location: Wachendorf, Germany

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel all began as a sketch, eventually evolving to become a very elegant yet basic landmark in Germany’s natural landscape. The design was constructed by local farmers who wanted to honor their patron saint, Bruder Klaus of the 15th century.

Arguably the most interesting aspects of the church are found in the methods of construction, beginning with a wigwam made of 112 tree trunks. Upon completion of the frame, layers of concrete were poured and rammed atop the existing surface, each around 50cm thick. When the concrete of all 24 layers had set, the wooden frame was set on fire, leaving behind a hollowed blackened cavity and charred walls.

The unique roofing surface of the interior is balanced by a floor of frozen molten lead. Gaze is pulled up by way of obvious directionality, to the point where the roof is open to the sky and night stars. This controls the weather of the chapel, as rain and sunlight both penetrate the opening and create an ambience or experience very specific to the time of day and year.

On a sunny day, this oculus resembles the flare of a star that can be attributed to a reference of Brother Klaus’s vision in the womb. The very somber and reflective feelings that become inevitable in one’s encounter with the chapel make it one of the most striking pieces of religious architecture to date. With no plumbing, bathrooms, running water, electricity, and with it’s charred concrete and lead floors, the seemingly uninviting chapel remains an anticipated destination for many.

“To me, buildings can have a beautiful silence that I associate with attributes such as composure, self-evidence, durability, presence, and integrity, and with warmth and sensuousness as well; a building that is being itself, being a building, not representing anything, just being.”

Text provided by the architect.

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Sendai Mediatheque

Jordi Costa — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 10:23:24 +0000

Architects: Toyo Ito + Associates Photography: Rasmus Hjortshøj Construction Period: 2000 Location: Sendai, Japan

With the intentions of designing a transparent cultural media center that is supported by a unique system to allow complete visibility and transparency to the surrounding community, the Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito is revolutionary in it’s engineering and aesthetic.

Six steel-ribbed slabs slabs, each 15-3/4″ thick, appear to float from the street, supported by only thirteen vertical steel lattice columns that stretch from ground plane to the roof. This striking visual quality that is one of the most identifiable characteristics of the project is comprable to large trees in a forest, and function as light shafts as well as storage for all of the utilities, networks and systems.

Each plan is free form, as the structural column lattices are independent of the facade and fluctuate in diameter as they stretch from floor to floor.

The simplest intentions of focusing on plates (floors), tubes (columns), and skin (facade/exterior walls) allows for a poetic and visually intriguing design, as well as a complex system of activities and informational systems.

The four largest tubes are situated at the corners of the plates, which serve as the principle means of support and bracing. Five of the nine smaller tubes are straight and contain elevators, while the other four are more crooked and carry the ducts and wires.

Upon approaching the Sendai Mediatheque, the public is led into a continuation of the surrounding city into the double height hall of the main entrance through large panes of glass. This open square includes a cafe, retail shop, and community space that is capable of supporting film screenings and other events.

Another aspect unique to this building is the involvement of many designers, as the interior of each level incorporated another person. Kazuyo Sejima designed the ground floor, placing the administrative offices behind a translucent screen.

The Shimin Library found on the second and third levels include a browsing lounge complete with internet access and specially designed furniture by K.T. Architecture.

The gallery space of the fourth and fifth levels contain a flexible exhibition space with moveable walls, and also a more static space with fixed walls and a rest area with seating designed by Karim Rashid. Ross Lovegrove took charge of the sixth level, adding a 180 seat cinema and green and white furniture fitting to the audio-visual multimedia library.

The tree-like nature of the metal columns of the Mediatheque are continuous with the natural surroundings of the area, as the design is found on a street lined with trees.

The building changes along with the seasons, it’s openness reflective of the summer green and also the streets during winter.

Text provided by the architect.

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Kolumba Museum

Jordi Costa — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 17:44:29 +0000

Architects: Peter Zumthor Photography: Rasmus Hjortshøj Construction Period: 2007 Location: Cologne, Germany

In the early 1990s, the Diocese decided to build a new home for the museum and, in 1997, organized an international design competition, eventually appointing Swiss architect Peter Zumthor (b. 1943) for the design of the new building. The site chosen was that of the medieval Chapel of St. Columba (German: Marienkapelle St. Kolumba), not far from the Cologne Cathedral. Also, the original chapel was badly damaged during the war and replaced by a modern chapel in 1950, only parts of the original Romanesque-Gothic structure were retained.

Completed in 2007, Zumthor’s project skillfully combines contemporary architecture with the remains of the old medieval constructions, including those of the St. Columba chapel from which the museum took its new name, and the new chapel built in the 1950s.

Although with a quite articulated footprint, the building designed by Zumthor is definitely linear in elevation; the overall effect is that of a contemporary architecture subtly reminiscent of the historical aspect of the old city of Cologne, with its narrow merchant houses.

The plans were designed having in mind the complex ensemble of functions of the museum, which accommodates galleries for both ancient and modern art, temporary exhibition rooms, a library, excavations where remains of the original medieval buildings can be visited, places of worship, and an open-air contemplation courtyard and garden located in the middle of the building.

Encompassing a total floor area of 1,750 square meters / 19,000 square feet, the sixteen exhibition rooms of the Kolumba are usually dim-lighted, almost private, gray spaces with polished concrete floors, conceived to underline the exposed artworks, and providing a general sensation of quietness and timeless permanence.

Along with an art museum, the Kolumba was indeed intended to be an ode to peace and life (in Latin, columba means dove, a traditional Christian symbol of peace).

The use of materials is truly notable, Zumthor conceived perforated brickwork facades, made in light-gray bricks handcrafted in Denmark, as a means to incorporate the medieval remains into a coherent whole, therefore establishing a dialogue between old and new architecture.

Text provided by the architect.

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