Zeitschrift
A10
new European architecture #21
How European can it be?
Recently I was asked to position French, Portuguese, Croatian and Viennese architecture within a European perspective. I’m still waiting to be honoured with a request to do the same for a neighbourhood or a street. Such requests are, of course, a natural consequence of my involvement in this magazine, but the fact that I was asked the same question almost simultaneously for different parts of Europe seems to me indicative of a widespread desire to be judged in relation to one’s position within this new and evolving European constellation.
There are, however, no European championships in the field of architecture. And besides, I am not sure that I really know how French, Portuguese, Croatian and Viennese architecture should be viewed in relation to developments elsewhere in Europe. After four years of A10 I can say, without a trace of false modesty, that my knowledge of this area is still too limited to be able to oversee the entire region, stretching from Iceland to Turkey and from Portugal to Russia. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, I rather doubt the value of making national (or regional, or local) distinctions, which is a legacy of the 19th-century need to provide nation states with a national history as proof of their individual identity and uniqueness.
Of course, architecture is determined by economic, political, administrative and social circumstances, and these can and do differ per country, province or city (and sometimes even per neighbourhood or perhaps even per street). But national borders – which are often subject to change over the course of time – clearly do not always coincide with cultural demarcations. Many architects have an action radius and/or knowledge and interests that transcend national borders, which means that their work can, at most, be only partly assigned to a specific geographic unit or area. Related approaches, strategies, methods, models, forms, styles and modes surface in a great many locations and are less easily identified with a place than with a period of time. This was the case long before anybody had ever heard of a European Union, and it seems to be even truer today. (Hans Ibelings)
On the spot
News and observations
• Expo Zaragoza under construction (ES)
• Graeme Massie wins Reykjavik master-planning competition (IS)
• Transparent designs share first prize in PermMuseumXXI competition (RU)
• Update: Spring in Dublin (IE)
• Award-winning Museumplein in Amsterdam (NL) ripe for a makeover
• Reality check: Mixed-use complex, Budapest (HU)
• and more...
Start
New projects
• Office building, Sofia (BU) by Aedes Studio
• Shipping terminal, Herceg-Novi (ME) by Studio Grad
• Centre for the contemporary arts, Aberdeen (UK) by Brisac Gonzalez
• Two churches, Litomysl / Cernosice u Prahy (CZ) by Zdenek Fránek
• Academy of performing arts, bridge and square, Sarajevo (BA) by Archipelagos
Interview
Father and son Turányi
Within the changing Hungarian context, father and son Turányi combine their different approaches to architecture in their office T2a: „It is most inspiring when we have a continuous dialogue about our work. We need to be flexible“. An interview by Emiel Lamers.
Ready
New buildings
• Housing, Bilbao (ES) by Eduardo Belzunce, Juan Garcia Millán and Luís Diaz Mauriño
• Music centre, Watford (UK) by Tim Ronalds
• Covered sports ground, Jurmala (EE) by Substance
• Operational centre, Lisbon (PT) by GLCS Arquitectos
• Golf club, Sempachersee (CH) by Smolenicky & Partner
• Commercial and residential centre, Zagreb (HR) by Igor Franic
• Community centre, Dublin (IE) by Hasset Ducatez
• Housing, Stavanger (NO) by Helen & Hard
• Apartment building, Amsterdam (NL) by hvdn architecten
• Museum, Freiberg (DE) by AFF
• Pavilion, Grammichele (IT) by Marco Navarra
• Office building, Ankara (TR) by Cirakoglu Architecture
Section
Beyond transparency
The development of glass and architecture has for centuries been dominated by the pursuit of maximum transparency.But in recent years architects have been exploring and exploiting other properties of the material. Glass, always having been associated with fragility, is now being used as a structural material. Whereas the use of glass was for a long time problematical because of the associated overheating, special UV-resistant glass or glass to which a screen print or film has been applied, actually functions as a protective or light-reflective layer. And whereas glass once symbolized openness or even voyeurism, there are now all kinds of coloured, translucent and matt types of glass capable of delivering various gradations of openness or privacy.
Eurovision
Focusing on European countries, cities and regions
• Political symbolism: Monuments and history in the new Europe
• An architectural tour of the province of Tarragona (ES)
• Profile: ROBERTNEUN™ (DE)
• Home: Piotr Smierzewski’s clear and formal home in Koszalin-Lubiatowo (PL)
Out of Obscurity
Buildings from the margins of modern history
Daria Ricchi unveils Giovanni Michelucci’s 1950s Cassa di Risparmio in Florence, which is hidden behind a fake Renaissance facade.
Recently I was asked to position French, Portuguese, Croatian and Viennese architecture within a European perspective. I’m still waiting to be honoured with a request to do the same for a neighbourhood or a street. Such requests are, of course, a natural consequence of my involvement in this magazine, but the fact that I was asked the same question almost simultaneously for different parts of Europe seems to me indicative of a widespread desire to be judged in relation to one’s position within this new and evolving European constellation.
There are, however, no European championships in the field of architecture. And besides, I am not sure that I really know how French, Portuguese, Croatian and Viennese architecture should be viewed in relation to developments elsewhere in Europe. After four years of A10 I can say, without a trace of false modesty, that my knowledge of this area is still too limited to be able to oversee the entire region, stretching from Iceland to Turkey and from Portugal to Russia. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, I rather doubt the value of making national (or regional, or local) distinctions, which is a legacy of the 19th-century need to provide nation states with a national history as proof of their individual identity and uniqueness.
Of course, architecture is determined by economic, political, administrative and social circumstances, and these can and do differ per country, province or city (and sometimes even per neighbourhood or perhaps even per street). But national borders – which are often subject to change over the course of time – clearly do not always coincide with cultural demarcations. Many architects have an action radius and/or knowledge and interests that transcend national borders, which means that their work can, at most, be only partly assigned to a specific geographic unit or area. Related approaches, strategies, methods, models, forms, styles and modes surface in a great many locations and are less easily identified with a place than with a period of time. This was the case long before anybody had ever heard of a European Union, and it seems to be even truer today. (Hans Ibelings)
On the spot
News and observations
• Expo Zaragoza under construction (ES)
• Graeme Massie wins Reykjavik master-planning competition (IS)
• Transparent designs share first prize in PermMuseumXXI competition (RU)
• Update: Spring in Dublin (IE)
• Award-winning Museumplein in Amsterdam (NL) ripe for a makeover
• Reality check: Mixed-use complex, Budapest (HU)
• and more...
Start
New projects
• Office building, Sofia (BU) by Aedes Studio
• Shipping terminal, Herceg-Novi (ME) by Studio Grad
• Centre for the contemporary arts, Aberdeen (UK) by Brisac Gonzalez
• Two churches, Litomysl / Cernosice u Prahy (CZ) by Zdenek Fránek
• Academy of performing arts, bridge and square, Sarajevo (BA) by Archipelagos
Interview
Father and son Turányi
Within the changing Hungarian context, father and son Turányi combine their different approaches to architecture in their office T2a: „It is most inspiring when we have a continuous dialogue about our work. We need to be flexible“. An interview by Emiel Lamers.
Ready
New buildings
• Housing, Bilbao (ES) by Eduardo Belzunce, Juan Garcia Millán and Luís Diaz Mauriño
• Music centre, Watford (UK) by Tim Ronalds
• Covered sports ground, Jurmala (EE) by Substance
• Operational centre, Lisbon (PT) by GLCS Arquitectos
• Golf club, Sempachersee (CH) by Smolenicky & Partner
• Commercial and residential centre, Zagreb (HR) by Igor Franic
• Community centre, Dublin (IE) by Hasset Ducatez
• Housing, Stavanger (NO) by Helen & Hard
• Apartment building, Amsterdam (NL) by hvdn architecten
• Museum, Freiberg (DE) by AFF
• Pavilion, Grammichele (IT) by Marco Navarra
• Office building, Ankara (TR) by Cirakoglu Architecture
Section
Beyond transparency
The development of glass and architecture has for centuries been dominated by the pursuit of maximum transparency.But in recent years architects have been exploring and exploiting other properties of the material. Glass, always having been associated with fragility, is now being used as a structural material. Whereas the use of glass was for a long time problematical because of the associated overheating, special UV-resistant glass or glass to which a screen print or film has been applied, actually functions as a protective or light-reflective layer. And whereas glass once symbolized openness or even voyeurism, there are now all kinds of coloured, translucent and matt types of glass capable of delivering various gradations of openness or privacy.
Eurovision
Focusing on European countries, cities and regions
• Political symbolism: Monuments and history in the new Europe
• An architectural tour of the province of Tarragona (ES)
• Profile: ROBERTNEUN™ (DE)
• Home: Piotr Smierzewski’s clear and formal home in Koszalin-Lubiatowo (PL)
Out of Obscurity
Buildings from the margins of modern history
Daria Ricchi unveils Giovanni Michelucci’s 1950s Cassa di Risparmio in Florence, which is hidden behind a fake Renaissance facade.
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