HAMBURG SCIENCE CENTRE
DESIGN BY OMA – REM KOOLHAAS
The complex, comprising
of the Science Center, Aquarium and Science Theatre, is located at the entrance
to the Magdeburger harbour and sits at the end point of an urban axis from the
inner Alster to the river Elbe. Situated at the waterfront in close proximity
to container and cruise ships, the building marks the connection between the
harbour and the city.
The Science Center will
become a hub for scientific study in Hamburg and help strengthen the city’s
educational profile creating a place for the next generation of scientists to
study and share knowledge. Not only will the Science Centre be linked to many
other institutes in Hamburg but it will also become the generating force for
innovative education and be a cultural highlight in itself.
The Science Centre is constructed of 10 modular blocks that connect to form a
ring shaped building. This shape and the maritime power and mass of the
individual blocks resemble the character of the historical, urban waterfront
development..Therefore, the building is a symbol of Hamburg’s economic strength
and a representation of the city’s interest in technology and science.
The exhibiton space also works on a modular principle similar to the building.
This gives the curators of the space a great deal of freedom and flexibility. A
variety of subjects will be able to go on display making the exhibiton centre a
stage for not only scientific research but also for all aspects of our modern
life.
The Science Center addresses not only environmental issues but also
programmatic sustainability.
The function of the ten blocks that make up the building allow for large scale
programmatic changes on a daily basis. The central structure accommodates the
vertical circulation whereas the blocks on the west and east side are used as
exhibition spaces. The curator is able to generate shortcuts, changes or create
connections by means of moveable partitions.
With three terraces surrounding the building the Science Centre allows access
to the Hamburg city centre as well as to the West and East sides of the
Magdeburg harbour. This three way axis will link the various parts of the city
and bring new life into the Hafencity. It enables direct interaction between
visitors and passers-by functioning as an urban stage. Various events taking
place on top of the individual plateaus of the building as well as the
restaurants on the terrace of the Belle Etage will stimulate activity in the
Hafencity.
http://www.oma.eu/projects/2004/hamburg-science-center
You may visit Oma’s
Monditalia exhibition news at 14 th Venice Architecture Biennale to click below
link.
http://mymagicalattic.blogspot.com.tr/2014/09/omas-monditalia-14-th-venice.html
REM KOOLHAAS
Rem
Koolhaas (Rotterdam 1944) founded OMA in 1975 together with Elia and
Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. Koolhaas worked as a journalist and
screenwriter before beginning architecture, and writing has remained central to
his architectural practice. At the same time as designing buildings around the
world with OMA, Koolhaas works in non-architectural disciplines – including
politics, publishing, media, fashion, and sociology – through his think tank
and research unit, AMO.
After studying at the Architectural
Association in London, and at Cornell and the Institute for Architecture and
Urban Studies in the US, Koolhaas wrote Delirious New York (1978) and
simultaneously began producing projects and proposals with OMA. In
1995, S,M,L,XL summarized the work of OMA in a 1,200-page book
that redefined architectural publishing. As director of the Project on the City
research program at Harvard University, Koolhaas produced the books The
Harvard Guide to Shopping (2001), an analysis of the role of retail
and consumption in society and architecture, and Great Leap Forward(2002),
a study of China’s Pearl River Delta; he also produced studies on Lagos, Roman
architecture and communism.
Recently completed OMA
buildings include De Rotterdam, three interconnected towers on the river Maas;
Shenzhen Stock Exchange; the G-Star headquarters in Amsterdam; the new
headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) – a tower reinvented as a loop
– in Beijing; a new headquarters for Rothschild Bank in London; and Milstein Hall,
an elevated slab that extends Cornell’s college of Architecture, Art and
Planning.
OMA-designed buildings
currently under construction include the Taipei Performing Arts Centre; three
buildings in Doha, Qatar; the Bibliothèque Multimédia à Vocation Régionale, a
four-story public library in Caen; and Bryghusprojektet in Copenhagen, a
mixed-use project accommodating the new headquarters for the Danish
Architecture Centre.
In 1998, Koolhaas
established AMO as a platform for using architectural thinking in non-architectural
realms. Recent AMO projects include research into the countryside (globally)
and the Russian hinterland; the design of catwalk shows for Prada and Miu Miu;
“Cronocaos,” an exhibition on preservation, at the 2010 Venice Biennale;
participation in the EU Reflection Group think tank, with the task of making
proposals for Europe in 2020; Roadmap 2050, a masterplan for a Europe-wide
renewable energy grid; and the development of an educational program for
Strelka, a new architecture school in Moscow. AMO has also guest edited an
issue of Wired magazine as well as consulting on the future of
Conde Nast magazines; proposed a “barcode” EU flag; and developed a curatorial
masterplan for the Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg.
SELECTED BUILDINGS
De Rotterdam, Rotterdam,
2013
CCTV Headquarters,
Beijing, 2012
Rothschild Bank, London,
2012
Millstein Hall, Cornell,
NY, 2010
Maggie’s Center,
Gartnavel, 2010
Wyly Theatre, Dallas,
2009
Prada Transformer, Seoul,
2009
Serpentine pavilion,
London, 2006
Zeche Zollverein Museum
and masterplan, Essen, 2006
Seoul National University
Museum of Art, 2006
Casa da Música, Porto,
2005
Prada Epicenter, New
York, 2001
Seattle Central Library,
2004
Netherlands Embassy,
Berlin, 2003
IIT Campus Center,
Chicago, 2003
Hermitage Guggenheim, Las
Vegas, 2001
Maison à Bordeaux, 1998
Educatorium, Utrecht,
1997
Euralille Congrexpo +
masterplan, 1994
Kunsthal, Rotterdam, 1992
Nexus World Housing,
Fukuoka, 1991
Villa d’allava, Paris,
1991
Netherlands Dance
Theatre, The Hague, 1987
SELECTED BOOKS
Project Japan: Metabolism
Talks, Taschen, 2011
Al Manakh
I and II, Archis, 2007 and 2010
Content, Taschen, 2003
Great Leap Forward,
Taschen, 2002
Harvard Guide to
Shopping, Taschen 2001
S,M,L,XL, Monacelli, 1995
Delirious New York,
Oxford University Press, 1978
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
(Im)pure, (In)formal,
(Un)built, L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 2011
OMA/Progress, Barbican,
London, 2010
Cronocaos, Venice
Biennale, 2010
Dubai Next, Vitra Design
Museum, Weil am Rhein, 2008
The Gulf, Venice
Biennale, 2006
OMA in Beijing, MoMA, New
York, 2006
Expansion and Neglect,
Venice Biennale, 2005
Image of Europe: Vienna,
Brussels, Munich, 2004
Content, Neue
Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 2003
Cities on the Move,
Hayward Gallery, London, 1999
Less is More, Milan
Triennale, 1986
Strada Novissima, Venice
Biennale, 1980
TEACHING POSITIONS
Strelka Institute, Moscow
Professor in Practice of
Architecture and Urban Design, Harvard University
Architectural
Association, London
Institute for
Architecture and Urban Studies, New York
SELECTED AWARDS
Johannes Vermeer Prijs,
2013
Golden Lion for Lifetime
Achievement, Venice Biennale, 2010
RIBA Gold Medal, 2004
Praemium Imperiale,
Japan, 2003
Membership Legion
D’Honneur, 2001
Pritzker Prize, 2000
Mies van der Rohe Award,
2005
EDUCATION
Architectural
Association, London, 1969–72
Cornell University,
1972–73
http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/director/
