Wellbeing at work

There are two movie theaters, the 1000-seat David Geffen Theater and the 288-seat Ted Mann Theater. The Shirley Temple Education Studio is for educational programs for children and families. The timeless glamor of the cinematic universe also infuses the Fanny’s café restaurant, designed by Commune Design with Osvaldo Morozzi and named for Fanny Brice, the enchanting star who Barbra Streisand played in Funny Girl (1968). The Academy Museum Store is the museum’s large retail space where you can buy exclusive merchandise, often related to the Oscars. The complex has received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It was created by joining two different structures: the 1939 May Company building, an important example of Streamline architecture, which was renamed the Saban Building in honor of its benefactors Cheryl and Haim Saban, and a new spherical glass and concrete building designed by Piano. An internal square to the north is named for Walt Disney. The complex

is located in the heart of Los Angeles, at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, on the famous Miracle Mile. “The additions made to the original building, which date back to 1946, have been removed and replaced with a spherical building that holds the David Geffen Theater and Dolby Family Terrace, with breathtaking views of Hollywood,” says Renzo Piano. “The Academy Museum gives us the opportunity to honor the past while creating a building for the future. in fact, for the possibility of many futures. The historic Saban Building is a wonderful example of Streamline Moderne style, which preserves the way people envisioned the future in 1939. The new structure, the Sphere Building, is a form that seems to lift off the ground into the perpetual, imaginary voyage through space and time that is moviegoing. By connecting these two experiences we create something that is itself like a movie. You go from sequence to sequence, from the exhibition galleries to the film theater and the terrace, with everything blending into one experience.”

The importance of having spaces to decompress made up of light and nature is found in the QUCESS Design project for the offices of Zhongguancun Digital Economy Innovation Industry Base, in Beijing The creative team of QUCESS Design, led by Li Yiming, showed beyond a doubt how pressing the need has become for outdoor spaces when designing work spaces. Despite a limited budget, the group kept to its objective in rebuilding the former Beijing Research Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Technology (BRIMET), in Beijing, now the new work place for the Digital Economy Innovation Industry Base, one of the few structures still

Client: Shaoxing Shuimuwan Science Park Company Beijing Branch Interior design: Qucess Design Structural consultant: China Academy of Building Research Co. Furnishing team: Hu Kun, Li Tingting, Luo Yun Branding team: Li Yuhan, Lele Brand Strategy Agency

Author: Manuela Di Mari Photo credits: Zheng Yan

standing, waiting to be renovated, in the central area of Zhongguancun, a few kilometers from the University. The architects started specifically from the client’s needs to create this vital decompression element, as they were asked first and foremost to renovate the interiors and optimize the work areas through good ventilation, lighting, and quality of the working space. Making use of the position of the entrance and the height of the area involved, the entire building was divided into four circular sections. Due to the lack of corners, this automatically created large open-air loops covered by an enormous skylight that guides natural light to spread through the atriums under it and reach the office interiors as well. The studio says, “We hope that every office area is surrounded by a garden so that the staff can enjoy a moment of relaxation when they look out the window after work. Of course, they can also walk into the garden and enjoy the sun and nature.”