إعادة التصميم بهدف إعادة تأهيل واستعمال المباني

Islamic Arts Biennale

© Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA.

From the Architect Report: With a scenography designed by OMA / Iyad Alsaka and Kaveh Dabiri, the first edition of the Islamic Biennale has opened in Jeddah, hosted by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation. Artworks are displayed over 120,000 square meters of exhibition spaces, taking over the Western Hajj Terminal, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and winner of the Aga Khan Award in 1983. Under the title Awwal Bait, which translates as First House, the biennale explores how Islam’s most sacred sites – Makkah, the destination of the annual pilgrimage, and Madinah, the place where Prophet Mohamed is buried – inspire Muslims around the world to create a sense of belonging in their home, bringing unity in a plural world. Iyad Alsaka, OMA Partner: “This exhibition is an opportunity to discover and learn about Islamic culture. More than 200 ancient objects are on display, some of which have never been seen by the larger public. In addition, there are

artworks by contemporary artists from Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa to countries like the UK and South Africa, giving a new dimension to the timeless rituals of Islam.”The OMA-designed scenography divides the exhibition space into two complementary parts: (1) A choreographed trajectory through a sequence of newly built galleries allows visitors a progressive sense of orientation as they move from one room to another. Inspired by the concept of the Qiblah – the direction Muslims face when they pray –the exhibits manifest gradually in a journey from darkness to light, starting in a dimly lit room filled with 17th-century astrolabes – used to calculate the Qiblah – and concluding in the bright space hosting an installation which incorporates the First Saudi Door of the Ka`bah in Makkah, installed during the reign of King Abdul Aziz.(2) Under the terminal’s canopy, a desert-like landscape alludes to the journey of Hijrah –

ضرعلما طقسم

نم ضرعملل يولع روظنم

Prophet Mohamed’s journey from Makkah to Madinah. Slopes and slanted walls of various heights, arranged in relation to the geometry of the existing structure, have been built to display the artworks, creating a sense of exploration throughout the visit. Two freestanding pavilions act as reference points in the open landscape, exhibiting artefacts from Makkah and Madinah. In contrast to the rough atmosphere outside, the exhibits in the two pavilions are embedded in a bright, diaphanous screen wrapping the perimeter of the walls.Independent from the theme of the Biennale, a separate gallery named AlMadar, or The Orbit, features items from twelve local and international institutions including Kuwait’s Al Sabah Collection of Islamic art, together with an exhibition that pays homage to the Hajj Terminal – both celebrating their 40th anniversary. Kaveh Dabiri, OMA Associate: “Our scenography design aims to create a space that works with the cable-stayed, fabric-roof

of the Hajj Terminal – a seminal piece of modern architecture known to Muslims around the world – literally reinventing it as an umbrella for Islamic Arts.” The exhibition design has been led by OMA Partner Iyad Alsaka together with Associate Kaveh Dabiri and Project Architect Saskia Simon. The project is OMA’s first built work in Saudi Arabia and marks a new chapter in the office’s long-standing involvement in the country. OMA’s portfolio in the Middle East includes projects such as Qatar National Library, the headquarters of the Qatar Foundation and Concrete at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai. OMA’s think tank AMO haspublished extensively on the rapid urbanization of the region in two special issues of Volume magazine, Al Manakh (2007) and Al Manakh: Gulf Continued (2010). The curatorial team of the Islamic Arts Biennale comprises Dr. Saad Alrashid, Dr. Julian Raby, Sumayya Vally and Dr. Omniya Abdel Barr. The exhibition will run until 23 April 2023.

© Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA.

Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA.

© Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA.

© Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA.

© Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA.

JDSA / Julien De Smedt Architects (DK / BE( Coldefy (FR ( , CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati (IT( NL Architects (NL( , Ensamble Studio (

فدهي ، يرضحلا ىوتسملا ىلع-

حتف للاخ نم .ةنيدملاو ىنبملا نيب ةلصلا زيزعت

ةقطنملا يف ةاشملا رورم عجشي رمم لمعو ةلتكلا

ةرواجملا ةقيدحلاو نيدايملا نيب ايوق الاصتا قلخيو

راوزل اريبك الخدم رمملا رفويو. ةيهيدب ةقيرطب

ططخم لخاد ةيلعف ءاقتلا

Re-Designing For Re-use

Winning Design for Renewed European Parliament Building

From the Architect Report:A pan-European design collective has won the international competition organized by the EuropeanParliament to renew the Paul-Henri SPAAK Building in Brussels, Belgium. The proposal underscores the identity of the European Union and the value of democracy, while promoting the principles of circular construction.“With a war on the doorstep of Europe, and an ensuing energy crisis ever more pressing, the challenges faced by the European Union are shared by us all.As a team of Pan-European offices composed of more than 30 nationalities, we understand and feel the impact of these difficulties directly.Our collective proposal to rethink the Parliament building in a way that minimizes environmental impact while expanding its openness and civic inclusion as embodiments of the values of European democracy are therefore evermore relevant.” EUROPARC, a design collective made up of five architectural studios from five European countries, won the international competition to design the new European Parliament building.The collective’s winning proposal focuses on the renewal of the Paul-Henri SPAAK Building in Brussels, in accordance with a

circular approach to minimize waste. In addition, it honors European democracy, most notably through the collective’s international makeup, and the many public areas accessible to all people. EUROPARC is composed of architectural studios JDSA / Julien De Smedt Architects (DK/BE), Coldefy (FR), CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati (IT), NL Architects (NL) and Ensamble Studio (SP), with the support of engineering companies from UTIL (BE) and Ramboll (DK).Together, these teams account for over 30 different nationalities in their ranks. Its formation emphasizes a new approach to architecture, one that prioritizes collaboration and orchestrates the know-how of different disciplines, instead of relying on individualism andsingular decisionmaking, a common practice in the past century.The European Parliament announced the international competition to renew the SPAAK Building in May 2020, with the objectives to set a positive example of sustainable and regenerative building, and to engage in dialogue with citizens and the city. EUROPARC’s proposal stood out from the 15 submitted designs, and was officially named the winner of thefirst prize in July 2022.

The Proposal

The current SPAAK building has numerous shortcomings. However demolishing it and replacing it with a new ‘palace’ might be the wrong approachIn the building sector, over 50% of the carbon footprint generated happens in constructing the raw structure of a building. If fully dismantled, all that expense is lost and needs to be spent again in a new construction.Here, the strategy should be to rigorously re-use most of the SPAAK structure, its carbon expense. Furthermore, the design strategy offers to significantly improve the Parliament’s working conditions and catalyze the potential for communication and exchange with European citizens while keeping as much of the existing structure as possible.

Connection to the City

On an urban scale, the design by EUROPARC aims to strengthen the linkage between the building and the city. By opening up the block, it enhances the continuity of pedestrian

flows in the area and creates a stronger connection between Place du Luxembourg and Parc Léopold. In a natural and intuitive way the passage will provide a grand entrance to visitors of the Parliament and establish an actual node in the pedestrian network of Brussels.Additionally a magnificent found quality can be activated by excavating the Spinelli building in front, on the axis from Gare d’Europe. By removing the wall-like condition in this central part of the building a truly inviting gesture comes into being: instead of obstructing the Spaak, the Spinelli now becomes an openair entrance to the Parliament, quite literally welcoming the public with open arms.

The Hemicycle

The new assembly chamber of the European Parliament, called the Hemicycle, will be repositioned on the upper levels of the renewed building to meet the spatial requirements for a

modernized chamber. It will be equipped with digital amenities that help spread the discourse of democracy beyond physical confines. The room is extensively integrated with the Parliament’s digital platform to enhance transparency and encourage external participation. Another primary feature is the large windows which establish a visual dialogue between the Parliament, the rooftop garden, as well as the city and European citizens at large. One of these large windows can also become a screen to transmit information in real time during assemblies.

The Green Agora

Located on the highest floor, the Green Agora is the culmination of the public visitors’ journey in the building. The botanical garden draws inspiration from the “agora” in Ancient Greece – it literally means “gathering place” and facilitated the circulation of ideas among people at the time. Not only visually connected to the Hemicycle through the latter’s

open ceiling, the Green Agora will also serve as the beacon of European democracy, where citizens and the Members of the European Parliament meet and exchange thoughts. In addition, the spirit of pan-European synergy is reinforced in natural terms, as the park brings together vegetation indigenous to all the member states to form a multifaceted European ecosystem.

All in all, the new SPAAK building by EUROPARC – with the permeable ground floor, the Hemicycle, the Green Agora and beyond – creates a civic ecosystem that places people at thecenter of the spatial experience and brings them closer to the democratic processes of Europe. It is a unique piece of infrastructure that gives the Members of the European Parliament the space to carry out their parliamentary missions and citizens access to a site of significant political and social value to enrich their everyday life.

From the Architect Report: International design and innovation studio CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and architect Italo Rota have developed a project to transform a venerable former hospital complex in Modena, Italy, into one of the country’s major cultural and innovation hubs. The design features a triangular-shaped plaza topped with an origami-like movable roof, conceived of by CRA and artist-engineer Chuck Hoberman.

The master plan for the new hub, called AGO Modena Fabbriche Culturali, proposes a novel approach to the restoration of cultural heritage that grants it the flexibility to adapt to changing future configurations. Measuring 20,000 square-meter (210,000 square-foot), the project by CRA and Italo Rota pursues an experimental design approach, matching the practices of architectural conservation with the transformative qualities of kinetic architecture, which is normally employed in temporary installations.

This is best characterized by one of AGO’s main courtyards, where a kinetic roof creates a multitude of spatial experiences. Lightweight and foldable, it opens

and closes easily like origami, transforming this longneglected courtyard into a social space adaptable to various climatic conditions and functions. Photovoltaic panels will also be installed on the new structure to harvest solar energy to help power the complex. The roof is a co-creation between CRA and Hoberman, one of the world’s leading experts in dynamic structure design and a former collaborator with NASA, the American space agency

“Cultural places should be thought of as dynamic, capable of incorporating change over time,” says Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and director of the MIT Senseable City Lab. “The changing nature of the built environment enables, in turn, a participatory approach to activate cultural production. AGO’s architecture sets up flexible, reconfigurable spaces where past and future complement each other.” Historical and contemporary elements are also present in other parts of the complex. Through the impressive “Tenaglie” corridors – whose name derives from their distinctive pincer-like vaults –visitors arrive at the chimney courtyard. Here, another

kinetic installation leads people to a new rooftop terrace, now transformed into a garden where one can enjoy a bird’s eye view of Modena’s old house roofs.

“When we took a close look at AGO’s past, we discovered a panoply of histories, characters, and functions.” architect Italo Rota says. “Because the complex had so many pasts, we thought our design should allow it to embody a multiplicity of futures. AGO Modena is the perfect embodiment of this approach as it brings together museums, training and co-working space under the same roof.”The AGO site is situated at the entrance to Modena’s medieval city center, whose monuments are part of the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The immense complex was built in the mid-18th century, with a sense of simplicity that hints at its function as the local Sant’Agostino Hospital. A previous, unrealized restoration was developed by architect Gae Aulenti in 2012. When completed, AGO Modena will become a location that unites various institutions in visual arts, digital culture and educational experimentation. Established by the City of Modena, Fondazione di Modena and the

University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, AGO will host numerous entities across many disciplines, including the Modena Visual Arts Foundation, the Museo della Figurina dedicated to collectible cards, and the Interdepartmental Research Center on Digital Humanities.

“In many cases, the restoration of an ancient building leads to a static result that does not interact much with what will be contained inside. In the project for the former Sant’Agostino Hospital, we strive to restore the ancient and monumental space and free it from any obstruction. Moreover, the project seeks an openness to be in dialogue with future installations,” comments architect Francesco Doglioni, an expert in the field of restoration and a project’s team member. “What we aimed for while enhancing the building’s ancient components is dynamic reconfigurability: reversible and adaptive to continuous transformation.

The restoration is left deliberately unfinished in some places. This leaves the building room to undergo further evolutions, provoking a constant tension between the old and the new.”

© CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

© CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Architectural and heritage walk on the ground and first floors

Architectural and heritage walk on the ground and first Architecturalfloors and heritage walk on the ground and first floors Architectural and heritage walk on the ground and

The existing staircase

2017 surveyor photos

Cross-section of the existing hall

Cross-section of the new open-plan hall

The existing staircase

2017 surveyor photos

© TAKUJI-SHIMMURA

From the Architect Report: After 15 years of work, we have returned a building that has been profoundly transformed to meet the contemporary challenges of welcoming the public, opening it up to the city, and sharing and exchanging with the younger generations. The overall architectural project management was carried out by L’atelier Gaudin architects (accompanied by EGIS, a design office for allbuilding trades, 8’18’’, a lighting designer, and Casso, a safetyconsultant). The special case of the listed areas was handled by Jean François Lagneau and Michel Trubert, chief architects of Historic Monuments, who restored the decor .Yesterday, closed in on itself, the large, magnificent, worn,fragmented, dark and dilapidated treasure chest has now been given a new identity, full of light. First of all, an entrance to the Vivienne Garden has been created, offering the possibility of a vast through hall that is accompanied by the elevation of the new main staircase in the centre of the composition. This entrance allows the new poetic garden to take its place. It reunites three facades that were once «at the back» and have become entrance facades to the Vivienne and Roux-Spitz halls. A small transparent «kiosk» overlooking the street and surrounded by vegetation houses the site’s access control.While the historic mineral and closed courtyard of honour respects the tradition of the silence necessary for research, the design of this new entrance, with its planted threshold open to the city, reflects the institution’s desire to invite everyone to discover its world, both a research library and a museum presenting its treasures. Between the courtyard and the garden, the crossing hall symbolises this link between the world of researchers and the new public. The spaces accessible to the public and the heritage spaces constitute the most visible face of the site’s transformation for the public. They represent approximately 4,000 m² for a total project area of approximately 60,000 m² of usable surface. The architectural intervention of the Gaudin agency concerns the whole of the Quadrilatère and the logic of the project has remained the same whatever the nature of the spaces treated: understanding the site, determining the architecturalqualities of a structure, a space, the historical trace it represents, dealing with the constraints, articulating the existing structures with the project without rupture, dialoguing, adapting... It can be said that each room was the object of a project in itself, halls, «inscribed» spaces, reading rooms, circulations, existing storage rooms for bookstacks preserved from the 19th and 20th centuries, new storage areas for bookstacks, offices, workshops, etc. The creation of new horizontal and vertical distributions is also a major intervention of the project, which marks a fundamental change in the whole organisation of the building and gives it an overall coherence that was previously absent due to the three centuries during which the site was constructed in successive stages .In July 2007, the Atelier Gaudin was appointed as project manager for the «requalification of the Quadrilatère Richelieu - redeployment of the BnF’s specialist departments and installation of the libraries of the Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA) and the École nationale des chartes (ENC)». Their mission was therefore to take charge of the entire library, except for the 5 listed spaces managed by the ACMH. This was the first time that the building could be analysed and taken in charge in its entirety by a single project manager. During the first visits, they discovered interior spaces of extreme diversity and all very degraded. The premises immediately appeared to be fascinating witnesses to the eventful architectural history of a building that was built in fits and starts over three centuries. Understanding the building is an infinitely complex undertaking because of the breaks in levels, the dead ends, the dispersal of traffic, the densification by strata or by «islands», and the often erratic

transformations that impede an understanding of this vast tangle of spaces representing a surface area of 69,000 m². Although the Quadrilatère reveals distinct geometries through 6 large rooms (huge reading rooms, courtyards, garden...), the gradual accretion of the building since the 17th century has taken place through constant transformations, enlargements, demolitions and densifications.Behind the unitary and orderly envelope of the stone facades are hidden buildings that have been redesigned or even rebuilt many times, sometimes with up to 14 floors. This long history of library construction, often led by great architects, offers as the legacy of the library’s construction a building of a complexity commensurate with the rich heritage of the spaces that characterise it. As close as possible to the reality of the existing building, the challenge of the project consisted of a search for a match between a building and a programme, a search that was constantly adjusted over the 5 years of studies and 10 years of construction for the 2 phases of work. This polymorphous architectural and heritage complex had to be restored and/ or renovated, adapted and/ or transformed to meet the challenges of a contemporary library programme from a spatial, functional and technical point of view, while at the same time integrating the architectural and heritage dimensions, always paying attention to the proper fit between the programme, the architectural intentions and the building’s potential. Coherence of the interventions and materials used, fluidity, transparency, circulation, perspective, openness, are all themes that have guided their work over the years.

© TAKUJI-SHIMMURA

From the Architect Report: Gaîté Montparnasse, the MVRDVdesigned transformation of a city block just a short walk from Paris’ Tour Montparnasse, is now open. The project has rationalised the existing uses of the mixed-use block –which included a hotel, shopping centre, office space and a library – and densified the area by adding social housing and a kindergarten. In doing so, the building has become more welcoming and accessible to pedestrians, while reusing significant parts of the previous structure from the 1970s following circular economy principles. Completed in 1974, the original design of the “Îlot Vandamme” by Pierre Dufau was a landmark in its time, with the strong vertical lines of what is now the Pullman Hotel tower creating an unmissable presence in Montparnasse. At the same time, the plinth of rough textured concrete, boxy reflective glass, and red steel lattices epitomised the foibles of its era: surrounded by wide boulevards, the block

was dominated by cars, and when viewed from the street looked introverted and unwelcoming.MVRDV’s transformation sustainably reuses as much of the structure of this plinth as possible, while dramatically altering the building’s relationship to its surroundings. The building now has a consistent street frontage along its main façade on Avenue du Maine, with large windows providing a clear view into the activities housed within. This large mass is broken up into a visually playful façade by means of a selection of different cladding tones, various small setbacks and overhangs, and balconies and showcase windows in large, multi-storey frames.The design rethinks the arrangement of programme within the block from first principles. The two-storey shopping centre that fills most of the site is now topped by multiple blocks, significantly densifying the area to make maximal use of this city centre location. Offices, previously spread in three storeys over the

top of the shopping centre, are now condensed into a sevenstory block on the east of the site, forming part of the building’s main façade. At the heart of the site, in between the hotel tower and the Le Héron office block to the north, the design incorporates a block of 62 social houses and a kindergarten. Meanwhile the library, previously relegated underground, now occupies a two-storey space on the other side of the hotel tower making it more visible and accessible.“This piece of the city was like an island of ‘70s nostalgia – a tower with no visible entrance, and a plinth where you could get lost between the pedestrian slabs and automobile boulevards”, says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “The first step in the design was a study to fragment the block and to make sustainable density – adding new programmes such as homes and revealing hidden ones like the library. It created a kind of explosion of buildings that combines large and small scale, existing and

new programmes, where everything mixes and opens up to the city with lobbies and windows of varying scales like so many addresses.”The design of Gaîté Montparnasse shows that even the most dramatic transformations can be achieved using sustainable and circular economy approaches. The new design appears completely unrelated to its predecessor –even the floorplates are shaped differently to the 1970s design – and yet it carefully reuses this concrete structure wherever possible, stitching the old floor plates into the new plans. For the addition of the housing block, a timber structure was used to reduce the carbon footprint of the new construction.The process of transforming an urban block on such a large scale becomes ever more precise, and yet is never finished”, adds Maas. “To know which piece of concrete to keep and which to cut, how to occupy, redevelop, then reoccupy spaces, is a continuous conversation.

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

From the Architect Report: The project has transformed the original building from the 1970s, “re-socialising” the shopping centre and transforming Lyon’s city centre. While sustainably reusing a significant amount of the existing building’s materials, Designed in an era when cars ruled city planning, the original design of La PartDieu was an introverted behemoth – it was among the largest urban shopping centres in Europe, yet had little connection to the streets around it. The transformation replaces the old car park and rearranges the building’s interior spaces to rationalise circulation, while new extensions also add an extra 32,000 square metres of leasable space to the existing 130,000 square metres. Despite the dramatic transformation, the design retains the history of the building. The concrete panels that composed the distinctive original façade have been preserved and reused in line with circular economy principles, retaining the pattern of interlocking rectangles that characterised the original building’s striking visual identity. These concrete panels, which previously were a dull beige, are now fresh and white. They are also replicated on the extensions, with a modern twist; at the entrances and other key locations, the façade ‘evaporates’ to reveal large windows, reinforcing the building’s openness, creating a physical and symbolic gesture heralding the gateway to a revitalised Lyon PartDieu.“The joy of this new façade is the many different things people think of when they see it”, says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “Perhaps it’s fabric lace, and the edges have burned off; maybe it’s sugar that has dissolved; it could be snowflakes, and they are beginning to melt. All of these evocative images are in stark contrast to the heavy, unfriendly mass that characterised the building before. It turns the old monster into a gracious Grande Dame.” Another significant element of the transformation is found on the roof: grand staircases rise next to the shopping centre’s main entrances, leading to a multi-level rooftop garden that connects three sides of the building. With restaurants and cafés as well as green spaces, comfortable seating, and play areas for children, this rooftop and terraces become a true piece of the city, connecting parts of the city – including the city’s main Part-Dieu train station – that were previously detached from one another. People can now take multiple routes through or over the building to cross the vast site; the shopping centre becomes a kind of public plateau, a vantage point that allows people to orient themselves within the city.“When we can shop online from the comfort of our sofas, a shopping centre – especially one in the middle of the city – needs to offer a complete experience, with shopping complemented by a variety of leisure activities”, says Maas. “Lyon Part-Dieu is now more porous and contemporary, permeated by daily life. From its green public roof garden, you can relax, meet people, take in the views, and find solace away from the bustling streets below.”The transformation of Lyon PartDieu shows how the urban mistakes of previous eras can be sustainably assimilated into the modern city. Rather than demolish and build a new an area that is the equivalent of around 12 city blocks, the design retains the existing structure, including much of its façade, and avoids the significant amounts of embodied carbon that rebuilding would otherwise create.

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode

© Ossip van Duivenbode