http://variousarchitects.no/site/rss_2.0/ en jim@variousarchitects.no Copyright 2010 2010-06-01T10:37:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/eikefjord_update/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/eikefjord_update/#When:10:37:00Z Presentation of "Alt Under Ett Tak"  Link Signatur from Bergen won the competition for Eikefjord Skole with their scheme "Tun(e)inn". Congratulations to them, and good luck with the project! This competition was done in collaboration with Kant Arkitekter in Copenhagen, and Grindaker Landskapsarkitekter in Oslo.   Our project, with the motto "Alt under ett tak" (Everything under one roof) connects existing and new buildings together under one undulating roof structure. Our proposal creates a new gathering place for the local community and a modern school that provides the kinds of educational spaces that the Norwegian school reform requires. The project set out to keep as much of the existing structures as possible because they are both a economical and environmental resources. The existing buildings would be upgraded in plan to accomodate universal access and given new exterior insulation to save energy. This would allow the budgeted money to be spent on creating the best possible new buildings for the community.   The existing classrooms are used for base areas, natural sciences, administration, and personell. Existing interior brick walls were proposed moved to dissolve the existing corridor/classrom barrier. The addition of niches and glass areas in the corridor would allow them to be used for group work or as an active part of the learning environment. The new building is formed by continuing the roof peaks of the existing buildings to create a sports hall, music room, school kitchen, cafe, foyer, library, and a large open amphitheatre with stage. The undulating roof breaks down the scale of the sports hall and creates inspiring interior spaces for the students. The entrance space becomes the heart of the new school, and potentially the cultural center for the people of Eikefjord. The new building also creates a protective frame around the school's central courtyard by screening it from the elements.   The Jury said the following about our delivery in their report:   "Alt Under Ett Tak" has delivered a particularly thourough set of material for the competition. An abundance of text, drawings, and reference images give an overall attractive impression. The design itself also shows a clear engagement and impressive well of ideas."   "The concept shows in an exciting way how the base areas cen be developed into good and varied learning spaces for future forms of education."   Jim Dodson, Anna Nowogrodzka, Carlos Gonzalez Arruego, Arne Reisegg-Myklestad, Francois Chevalier, Leif Houck, Tom Juul Gam 2010-06-01T10:37:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/nrvasund_school_competition_delivered/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/nrvasund_school_competition_delivered/#When:12:02:00Z Results awaited in August/September 2010  Various Architects, together with Kant Arkitekter, Grindaker Landskapsarkitekter and SWECO engineers have successfully delivered a strong proposal for New Nørvasund School in Ålesund. The project was for a ca. 9000m2 new school for grades 1-7, with 3 parallel classes.   Due to anonymity, the project will not be presented here until after the jury has announced a winner. Jim Dodson, Anna Nowogrodzka, Carlos Gonzalez Arruego, Arne Reisegg-Myklestad, Francois Chevalier, Leif Houck, Tom Juul Gam 2010-05-21T12:02:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/taipei_performing_arts_centre_update/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/taipei_performing_arts_centre_update/#When:11:37:00Z OMA delivers Preliminary Design Phase  On April 15th the OMA Design Team in Hong Kong delivered The Preliminary Design Phase for the Taipei Performing Arts Center Project to the Department of Cultural Affairs in Taipei. The delivery included design drawings and detailed reports of the following disciplines: Architecture, Landscape, Interior, Lighting, Structure, Façade Engineering,  Building physics, Fire Engineering, Traffic Engineering, MEP, HVAC, Acoustics and Scenography. In addition the Design Team delivered a complete Project Schedule and Construction Budget Report. According to the schedule the Detailed Design Phase will be delivered in December 2010 with construction expected to start in 2011. Project completion is expected in October 2014.   The Preliminary Design Delivery emphasizes the intensive collaborations between various disciplines in the design team in order to develop such a complex and unprecedented project. The Arts Center consists of three unique theaters that plug into the Magic Cube, combining the stages and backstage areas. Each theater can be used independently or in combination, offering the possibility for theatrical experimentation. The design as presented complies with Taiwanese Code, fulfills all architectural and technical requirements, and also ensures that the project achieves Taiwan Green Building Certification.   Various Architects been collaborating with OMA on the TPAC project since September 2009. VA partner Ibrahim Elhayawan is the project leader for the project, leading a talented and hard working team from OMA through the Detail Design phase.  OMA Partner in charge of the project is Rem Koolhaas. The OMA Hong Kong office is lead by David Gianotten, General Manager for OMA Asia. Various Architects has a registered branch in Hong Kong and are currently exploring other projects there as well, both in collaboration with OMA and independantly.   OMA TPAC Project Page   All images courtesy of OMA Jim Dodson, Ibrahim Elhayawan 2010-05-14T11:37:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/lecture_at_the_university_of_texas_at_austin/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/lecture_at_the_university_of_texas_at_austin/#When:19:46:00Z Friday March 26, 12:00pm CST in Battle Hall 101  Jim Dodson of Various Architects returns to his Alma Mater, The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture as a guest lecturer for Friday Lunch Forum on March 26, 2010. The Friday lecture will take place in Battle Hall and will also be webcast live on the internet. The Friday Lunch Forum is for faculty and students to meet in an informal atmosphere to debate topics and to share ideas about history, practice, theory, and new directions for architecture.    The lecture, entitled "Innovation, Collaboration and Sustainability: A Survival Guide in the Downturn" will present the story of Various Architects' start-up from 2008 to present. Our story will be presented chronologically through our projects as a way to demonstrate our way of working, our goals, and our prospects for the future.   After the Lecture, Various Architects and Pollen Architecture will stage an exhibition of the Re:Vision Dallas and Skagen ØKOntor projects at Pollen's offices on 1200 E. 12`th st at 6:00pm.   A live webcast of the lecture is available here in Real Player: http://soa.utexas.edu/caad/forums. Once over, the lecture will also be archived together with previous Friday Forum lectures on Vimeo: http://soa.utexas.edu/videos/lunchforum/   Norsk Form has awarded Various Architects with financial support for this lecture through the stipend program in 2010.   Jim Dodson 2010-03-25T19:46:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_nrvasund_school_competition_underway/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_nrvasund_school_competition_underway/#When:15:23:00Z Our second invited school competition of 2010  The same day as we delivered the Eikefjord School Competition drawings, we are starting on a new school competition with our friends and collaborators from Kant Arkitekter in Copenhagen. We are also working with Grindaker Landscape and Engineers from SWECO. 5 teams were selected out of 35 applicants for this new 9000m2 1-7 grade school with 3 parallel classes.   The competition is underway. Images will not be posted until after the jury has announced a winner in order to maintain anonymity.     Jim Dodson, Aleksandra Danielak, Carlos Gonzalez Arruego, Arne Reisegg-Myklestad, Francois Chevalier, Leif Houck, Tom Juul Gam 2010-03-15T15:23:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/eikefjord_competition_delivered/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/eikefjord_competition_delivered/#When:14:59:00Z Winner to be announced in June 2010   Various Architects, Kant Arkitekter, and Grindaker Landskapsarkitekter have successfully completed and delivered our entry for the Eikefjord School. Now, the jury and city council of Eikefjord will use the coming weeks to choose a winner among the 4 competition teams. We wish the jury luck in picking the best project, and congratulate our fellow competitors. Final announcement of winners is scheduled for sometime in June 2010. Due to strict rules of anonymity, we will not present the project until after the jury has made their announcement. Jim Dodson, Anna Nowogrodzka, Carlos Gonzalez Arruego, Arne Reisegg-Myklestad, Francois Chevalier, Leif Houck 2010-03-15T14:59:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_faces_in_the_oslo_office/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_faces_in_the_oslo_office/#When:13:17:00Z from Spain, France, Poland, Norway, and the USA  Various Architects partner Jim Dodson and associate architect Leif Houck have recently been joined by Arne Reisegg-Myklestad who has been hired as a full-time architect. Arne has worked with us previously as a freelance architect on the Skagen ØKOntor project and Storgata 25. Increasing work loads and new projects have made it possible to hire Arne full time starting in February 2010.   In addition, we have also added a few new architectural interns into the rotation. Our previous intern Sara has gone back to school at AHO and Jonathan is finishing up his education back in Copenhagen. This spring we have been joined by two Leonardo scholars - Francois Chevalier from France and Carlos Gonzales Arruego from Spain. Anna Nowogrodzka from Poland will also be with us for 10 weeks as a part of her work-placement program.   VA partner Ibrahim Elhayawan will be stationed in Hong Kong as project leader for OMA's Taipei Performing Arts Centre until September this year. Jim Dodson, Anna Nowogrodzka, Carlos Gonzalez Arruego, Arne Reisegg-Myklestad, Francois Chevalier 2010-02-19T13:17:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/eikefjord_school_competition_underway/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/eikefjord_school_competition_underway/#When:15:53:00Z In collaboration with Kant Arkitekter and Grindaker Landskap  Florø Kommune has invited 4 teams of architects to a compete for the redesign and renovation of Eikefjord School. Out of 35 applying teams, Various Architects have qualified for the competition together with Kant Arkitekter in Copenhagen and landscape architects from Grindaker Landskapsarkitekter in Oslo for this exciting project. The existing school is to be completely rethought and expanded to house 10 parallel classes, a new gymnasium, and improved facilities for the teachers and staff.   The competition has begun, and representatives from Various Architects took part in the start-up visit to the school in January 2010. Competition deadline is March 15. We look forward to the collaboration with Kant and Grindaker, and to presenting our designs here once the competition winner has been announced. Jim Dodson, Leif Houck 2010-02-01T15:53:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/planning_approval_in_stabekk/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/planning_approval_in_stabekk/#When:18:52:00Z Villa project receives support from city planners  Our Villa in Stabekk project has reached a new milestone by receiving planning approval from Bærum Kommune this week. During the planning phase the project has been the subject of criticism from three of it's neighbors throughout the process. Their main concern being that the project "just doesn't fit in". In the approval statement, the Chief Planner for Bærum Kommune makes it clear that in the opinion of the city planners and city preservationists the project is in fact well integrated with the landscape and the surrounding buildings.   In the planning approval, the Bærum Planning Department (BPD) makes the following comments in their assessment: (shortened and translated to english)    "The application was received on 07/07/2009. The BPD is generally positive that you have chosen to follow the new TEK (2007) directive for energy.   The BPD comments on the neighbor complaints that the proposed design is placed relatively far away from neighboring buildings. The distance from this proposal to neighboring buildings varies from 21 to 41 meters. Between the new building and neighbors to the north-east there is an existing garage and a double row of tall shrubbery which functions as a wall. Between the new building and the neighbor directly east, which is the only house lower than the proposal, there is a relatively large open area in front of the historical building which is the proposal owner’s existing house. The neighbor across the road to the south-east is placed well away from the road. New buildings in areas of existing small scale buildings will necessarily cause a change in insight, views, and sun conditions. In this case, the BPD believes that the requirements for light, air, openness, and good outdoor spaces to be adequately safeguarded   The proposed house is lower than all of the surrounding houses except for one. In this way the new building is subordinate to it`s environment. During an on-site inspection it was noted that the most visible house in the area is the historical monument to the north seen from the road. The proposed building will be much lower than and clearly subordinate to this building historical building as well.   The facades of the proposed design are deemed well thought out and resolved in accordance to the planning regulations, both in relation to itself and the surroundings. The BPD believes that the proposed building shows sufficient respect to the special architectural and environmental character of the neighborhood. The area has some registered historical monuments, but is not regulated to a special area for historical preservation. The building is subordinate to the nearest historical buildings in relation to height, roof height, the use of wood and glass in the facades, placement in the terrain, and it’s division into several volumes which step down the terrain toward the road without making major changes in the existing terrain. All of the existing houses in the area have different forms, roof form, volume, footprint, number of floors and heights. The area has been built up over a long time and therefore there is not a uniform existing building structure or typology for the proposed house to break with. The proposed building has a size and volume within the norms of the area. The BPD does not believe that a two-family house of modest size can be seen to change the character of the neighborhood. Through it’s height, volume, and material use the proposal interacts with the existing buildings and terrain in the area to a satisfactory degree and in a satisfactory way. The BPD agrees with the statement from the historical preservation office and believes that the project’s architecture will form a contrast that will enrich the neighborhood.   The planning department does not find that the proposal is in conflict with the regulations.   Application Approved"     Jim Dodson, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Sara Normann Lund 2010-01-15T18:52:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/happy_new_year/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/happy_new_year/#When:12:04:00Z Looking forward to 2010!  Various Architects would like to thank our collaborators, clients, friends, and family for an eventful 2009! We look forward to the developments of 2010 and to new and exciting projects!   In our second year, we have worked with some of the best known architects in the business. In February we delivered a competition entry for the Munch + Stenersen Museum together with New York architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro. In June and July we collaborated with our former colleagues at Snøhetta on an exciting project in Mecca. In August we were interviewed by Rem Koolhaas and asked to join OMA's team as consultants on the Taipei Performing Arts Centre in Taiwan.  Ibrahim Elhayawan and his family moved to Hong Kong in September where he is representing Various Architects as project leader for the OMA team in their new Hong Kong Office. In Norway we have successfully qualified for an upcoming school competition together with Kant Arkitekter from Copenhagen and applied for two cultural building competitions together wth Bjarke Ingels' BIG also from Copenhagen.   Various Architects have also continued to make a name for ourselves internationally in 2009 by winning the "Future Projects - Experimental" Award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. This was the second design award won by the Mobile Performance Venue, the first being the Spark! Award in 2008. We ended 2009 with a focus on the environment and the announcement of Skagen ØKOntor - Norway's most energy-efficient office building. Earlier in the year we won second-place in our category for the Schiphol Sound Barrier Competition, and another second place with the Yorkshire Diamond Pavilion.   In addition to our international work on cultural buildings and competitions, we have enjoyed working on a number of smaller scale projects in and around Oslo that are working their way towards construction. At the moment we are awaiting planning approval for the Villa in Stabekk. Thorvald Meyers Gt. 89 is also up for review by the planning authorities in Oslo to allow for the complete renovation of this historically important corner of Grünerløkka. In December we have also submitted planning documents for a subtle but dramatic underground addition with swimming pool overlooking the Oslofjord from Ulvøya. Even closer to home, we have made several designs for Storgata 25 where we share our office space with other creative professionals. Our latest design will be reviewed by the building owners on monday.   2009 was a year frought with financial uncertaintly as the global economic crisis took it's toll on architects and architecture world-wide. We feel fortunate to have made it through this difficult time through hard work, the diversity of our projects, and our willingness to explore new opportunities in collaboration with others. We look forward to the challenges of 2010 and the new collaborations and ideas that are yet to come!   Happy New Year in 2010!   Jim Dodson & Ibrahim ElHayawanVarious Architects, Oslo           Jim Dodson, Ibrahim Elhayawan 2010-01-01T12:04:00+01:00