Hadid’s Aquatics Centre opens to public Project: London Aquatics Centre Design: Zaha Hadid Location: London, UK The London Aquatics Centre, which hosted the swimming during the London 2012 Olympics, opened its doors to the public on 1 March.
The venue has been converted according to Zaha Hadid’s original plans, with a 2,500 seat capacity for spectators, and with the temporary stands used for the Olympics and Paralympics replaced with glazing.
The centre includes two 50m pools, the competition pool used for lane and fitness swimming, plus a training pool for family and fun sessions.
With a 25m diving pool, platforms of up to 10m, as well as a dry diving zone with a trampoline, harness and foam pit for divers to practise their technique, this will become the home of high performance diving in the UK.
Other facilities include a gym, café and crèche. While the venue’s layout remains largely unchanged inside, the new glazing allows much more natural light into the space.
National and international competitions will be hosted at the venue, and the public can use it for £3.50 for pay as you go sessions, or £29.50 a month for membership.
The London Aquatics Centre is the third Olympic venue to re-open, following the Copper Box Arena and Lee Valley White Water Centre.
l The temporary stands built for the Games have now been removed and the sides of the building have been glazed
Designs of the Year 2014 nominees announced A dome made by a robotic arm and live silkworms, a folding bike helmet and a floating pyramid-shaped school in a Nigerian lagoon are among the pioneering concepts nominated for Designs of the Year 2014 by London’s Design Museum.
A total of 76 nominations have been put forward and will feature in an exhibition at the Design Museum from 26 March to 25 August 2014. Afterwards, the winners from each category as well as the overall winner will be crowned later in the year.
The competition reflects innovation from right across the globe, with the Nigerian nomination being joined by entries from Azerbaijani capital Baku to Mexico City.
The 2014 design competition is comprised of seven categories: architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphic, product and transport.
World-famous architects including Zaha Hadid, David Chipperfield and John Pawson have made the cut, alongside designers such as Tracey Neuls, BarberOsgerby and Konstantin Grcic.
Makoko Floating School, Nigeria
Grand-Central by Thibault Brevet
Frac Nord-Pas de Calais art centre, Dunkerque, France;
Façade for Paul Smith, London, UK;
Frac Centre – Les Turbulence, Orléans, France;
Iro Collection by Jo Nagasaka
Curved art gallery opens in Beijing Project: Hongkun Fine Art Gallery Design: Penda Location: Beijing, China The Hongkun Fine Art Gallery has reopened in Beijing following a refurbishment by Vienna and Beijing-based architectural firm Penda, featuring a fluid, curved design.
The all-white gallery encompasses 2,000sq m of exhibition space across two floors. The refurbishment involved the addition of a new reception area and gently curved archways of different sizes, that open out onto the existing exhibition space.
The continuous arch was selected as a way of welcoming people into the gallery, and also references the mountains and valleys depicted in the paintings exhibited there.
The continuous arch runs through the entire gallery like a ribbon
The continuous arch runs through the entire gallery like a ribbon
Pérez Art Museum Miami makes the news Project: Pérez Art Museum Miami Design: Herzog and de Meuron Location: Miami, US The Herzog and de Meuron-designed Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) launched in Miami’s new Museum Park in December 2013, featuring 200,000sq ft of exhibition space.
As well as permanent and temporary galleries, PAMM features a shop, café, auditorium, education centre and offices. It also features vertical gardens by French botanist Patrick Blanc. The building sits on an elevated platform and below a canopy; tropical plants and vegetation will be planted among its columns, ‘bringing the park into the museum’ and transforming the veranda into a garden.
PAMM made the news in February, when a protester smashed a $1m Ai Weiwei vase in a protest about the museum’s lack of local artist displays.
The three storey building sits on a platform
2014 Serpentine Pavilion designer announced Project: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion Design: Smiljan Radic Location: London, UK Chilean architect Smiljan Radic has been commissioned by the Serpentine Gallery to design this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, UK. Radic is the 14th architect to design the pavilion; previous designers include Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, Jean Nouvel and Frank Gehry.
Radic’s 350sq m building is a semi-translucent structure, designed to resemble a shell resting on large quarry stones, and was inspired by Oscar Wilde’s story The Castle of the Selfish Giant. At night it will be lit with an amber-tinted light, and the semi translucency of its fibreglass shell will allow it to glow from outside, attracting passers by.
The structure will act as a flexible, multi-purpose space with a café inside, and will host the Serpentine’s Park Nights series during its four month stay in the park. The pavilion will open on 26 June.
Radic’s pavilion resembles a shell
Designs for Iranian rock climbing gym Project: Rock climbing gym Design: New Wave Architecture Location: Porlour, Iran Tehran-based New Wave Architecture have designed a 4,500sq m rock climbing gym for Porlour, Iran, that resembles a giant boulder.
The gym overlooks Iran’s highest peak – Mount Damavand – and features a bouldering hall with a climbing wall, a temporary accommodation zone and a fitness gym. The climbing centre’s exterior will also provide opportunities for outdoor climbing.
According to the architects, the design has been inspired by ‘the movements of the earth’s crust and its tectonic forces’. The exterior will be clad in white fibre cement panels so that it blends in with its snowy surroundings.
A curvy art gallery, a dome made by silkworms and a unique rock climbing gym
Hadid’s Aquatics Centre opens to public Project: London Aquatics Centre Design: Zaha Hadid Location: London, UK The London Aquatics Centre, which hosted the swimming during the London 2012 Olympics, opened its doors to the public on 1 March.
The venue has been converted according to Zaha Hadid’s original plans, with a 2,500 seat capacity for spectators, and with the temporary stands used for the Olympics and Paralympics replaced with glazing.
The centre includes two 50m pools, the competition pool used for lane and fitness swimming, plus a training pool for family and fun sessions.
With a 25m diving pool, platforms of up to 10m, as well as a dry diving zone with a trampoline, harness and foam pit for divers to practise their technique, this will become the home of high performance diving in the UK.
Other facilities include a gym, café and crèche. While the venue’s layout remains largely unchanged inside, the new glazing allows much more natural light into the space.
National and international competitions will be hosted at the venue, and the public can use it for £3.50 for pay as you go sessions, or £29.50 a month for membership.
The London Aquatics Centre is the third Olympic venue to re-open, following the Copper Box Arena and Lee Valley White Water Centre.
l The temporary stands built for the Games have now been removed and the sides of the building have been glazed
Designs of the Year 2014 nominees announced A dome made by a robotic arm and live silkworms, a folding bike helmet and a floating pyramid-shaped school in a Nigerian lagoon are among the pioneering concepts nominated for Designs of the Year 2014 by London’s Design Museum.
A total of 76 nominations have been put forward and will feature in an exhibition at the Design Museum from 26 March to 25 August 2014. Afterwards, the winners from each category as well as the overall winner will be crowned later in the year.
The competition reflects innovation from right across the globe, with the Nigerian nomination being joined by entries from Azerbaijani capital Baku to Mexico City.
The 2014 design competition is comprised of seven categories: architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphic, product and transport.
World-famous architects including Zaha Hadid, David Chipperfield and John Pawson have made the cut, alongside designers such as Tracey Neuls, BarberOsgerby and Konstantin Grcic.
Makoko Floating School, Nigeria
Grand-Central by Thibault Brevet
Frac Nord-Pas de Calais art centre, Dunkerque, France;
Façade for Paul Smith, London, UK;
Frac Centre – Les Turbulence, Orléans, France;
Iro Collection by Jo Nagasaka
Curved art gallery opens in Beijing Project: Hongkun Fine Art Gallery Design: Penda Location: Beijing, China The Hongkun Fine Art Gallery has reopened in Beijing following a refurbishment by Vienna and Beijing-based architectural firm Penda, featuring a fluid, curved design.
The all-white gallery encompasses 2,000sq m of exhibition space across two floors. The refurbishment involved the addition of a new reception area and gently curved archways of different sizes, that open out onto the existing exhibition space.
The continuous arch was selected as a way of welcoming people into the gallery, and also references the mountains and valleys depicted in the paintings exhibited there.
The continuous arch runs through the entire gallery like a ribbon
The continuous arch runs through the entire gallery like a ribbon
Pérez Art Museum Miami makes the news Project: Pérez Art Museum Miami Design: Herzog and de Meuron Location: Miami, US The Herzog and de Meuron-designed Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) launched in Miami’s new Museum Park in December 2013, featuring 200,000sq ft of exhibition space.
As well as permanent and temporary galleries, PAMM features a shop, café, auditorium, education centre and offices. It also features vertical gardens by French botanist Patrick Blanc. The building sits on an elevated platform and below a canopy; tropical plants and vegetation will be planted among its columns, ‘bringing the park into the museum’ and transforming the veranda into a garden.
PAMM made the news in February, when a protester smashed a $1m Ai Weiwei vase in a protest about the museum’s lack of local artist displays.
The three storey building sits on a platform
2014 Serpentine Pavilion designer announced Project: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion Design: Smiljan Radic Location: London, UK Chilean architect Smiljan Radic has been commissioned by the Serpentine Gallery to design this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, UK. Radic is the 14th architect to design the pavilion; previous designers include Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, Jean Nouvel and Frank Gehry.
Radic’s 350sq m building is a semi-translucent structure, designed to resemble a shell resting on large quarry stones, and was inspired by Oscar Wilde’s story The Castle of the Selfish Giant. At night it will be lit with an amber-tinted light, and the semi translucency of its fibreglass shell will allow it to glow from outside, attracting passers by.
The structure will act as a flexible, multi-purpose space with a café inside, and will host the Serpentine’s Park Nights series during its four month stay in the park. The pavilion will open on 26 June.
Radic’s pavilion resembles a shell
Designs for Iranian rock climbing gym Project: Rock climbing gym Design: New Wave Architecture Location: Porlour, Iran Tehran-based New Wave Architecture have designed a 4,500sq m rock climbing gym for Porlour, Iran, that resembles a giant boulder.
The gym overlooks Iran’s highest peak – Mount Damavand – and features a bouldering hall with a climbing wall, a temporary accommodation zone and a fitness gym. The climbing centre’s exterior will also provide opportunities for outdoor climbing.
According to the architects, the design has been inspired by ‘the movements of the earth’s crust and its tectonic forces’. The exterior will be clad in white fibre cement panels so that it blends in with its snowy surroundings.
The fragmented design resembles a giant rock
Originally published in Leisure Management 2014 issue 2
