Luxor theatre_rotterdam_christian richters

Luxor Theatre

Detail

TYPOLOGY: Cultural

COUNTRY: Netherlands

CITY: Rotterdam, Kop van Zuid

YEAR: 2001

COMPETITION: Competition 1996, 1st Prize

GFA: 24.000 sqm

CLIENT: City of Rotterdam

COLLABORATOR: Bureau Bouwkunde (local support office)

AWARD: Mies van der Rohe Award 2001 (Shortlist)

PHOTOS: © Christian Richters, © L5, © BOLLES+WILSON

The New Luxor Theatre faces both the Maas River and Rijn Harbour – A multiple orientation, a single wrapping facade, a 360° building. An internalised ramp allows three 18 m long trucks to park directly besides the first floor stage. The ramp roof provides an architectural promenade in the foyer. The Luxor auditorium seats 1500, a giant scaled musical instrument, a surprisingly ‘intimate room’. The Luxor facilitates with an appropriated spatial theatricality the well working of complex theatre logistics.

On the 11th of May 2011 BOLLES+WILSON’S Luxor Theatre in Rotterdam celebrated its tenth anniversary with a spectacular Gala show.
The evening also marked the retirement of Luxor director Rob Wiegman – the great Rob Wiegman without whom this building, this resounding and on-going cultural event would not have happened. Tributes abounded, speeches – emotional Actors, Performers, Politicians, Rotterdamers – Architects.

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Axonometric section
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Aerial perspective
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Main façade
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Back façade
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Waterfront façade
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Aerial view
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Collage
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Interior
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Auditorium
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Auditorium detail
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Anniversary Gala
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May 2011
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Foyer
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First floor
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Second floor
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Section
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Section
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Street view at night
Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien

Teatri Andon Z Cajupi

Detail

TYPOLOGY: Cultural

COUNTRY: Albania

CITY: Korça

YEAR: 2017

CLIENT: Municipality of Korça

PHOTOS: © BOLLES+WILSON, Daniel Dervishi, Roman Mensing 

Re-scripting Korca‘s theatre:

The theatre in Korca was initially a present from Moscow prior to Albanian Communism‘s falling out with Post-Stalinist Russia.

Its Soviet classicism was then stripped back to a sort of Balkan Art déco (Illus 1).

The large triangular Theatre Square, big enough for nationalistic parades, became a subject for re-formatting when in 2009 BOLLES+WILSON won the international planning competition for the historic centre of Korca. The main axis of the now almost fully implemented masterplan is the Bulevard Shën Gjergji (St. George), the new hub of the city, a pedestrian promenade (Illus 2) culminating in the Theater Square (now anchored by BOLLES+WILSON‘s 2014 Red Bar in the Sky – which focuses the Theatre Square, the concluding phase of the B+W 2009 masterplan. The campanile which functions as a lookout tower for Korcians to appreciate the delicate grain of their historic city is located at the end of the central pedestrian boulevard (landscaping by B+W).

The next intervention was the theatre itself – quite literally given a new face (or lots of new faces). Seating capacity was increased by converting a two-tier auditorium to a large raked plane (Illus 3 +4).

The design method as with all BOLLES+WILSON Albanian projects involved Peter Wilson‘s hand drawn concept (Illus 5) interpreted by a local facilitating office (in this case DEA Studio). A methodology that baits ‘lost in translation‘ misinterpretations (as was the case here when the contractors were found scratching their heads at a book of ‘Albanian Bling Renderings‘ but no details, a problem solved by Peter Wilson further sketching, this time 1:1 details direct on the wall).

The masks of comic and tragedy belong to theatre iconography, here they are joined by 140 smaller masks – the audience, hand crafted in terracotta by the local potter Vasillaq Kolevica (Illus 6+8). The 80 cm high individualized masks each occupy a grid square of the Art déco facade. The black tragic mask is convex, the white comic mask is concave – the construction principles for these were again hand sketched.

The comic mask is on a side annex (that now houses an internal grand stair), a cube clad in black basalt (Illus 10+13). The perimeter of the mask is defined by a stainless steel profile inside of which the white plaster indentation is recessed. The ominous black silhouette of the tragic mask is built up of polystyrene insulation blocks (Illus 11+12+14). Edge radii were sketched but ultimately a 1:1 demonstration with a bread knife was necessary to communicate the idea to he builders. The surface here is again plastered to resemble a giant Japanese ‘ No-theatre‘ mask (Illus 14+15).

Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien, red bar in the sky
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien, drwawing
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien, masks
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien, mask, peter wilson
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien, masks
8 The curtain goes up on the masks
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Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien
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14 Foreground: BOLLES+WILSON's Korça paving format
Korca, Teatri Andon Z. Çajupi, theatre, albania, albanien
15 Theatre next to Red Bar's base and in its shadow
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros

WLV Office Building

Detail

TYPOLOGY: Office

COUNTRY: Germany

CITY: Münster

YEAR: 1995

COMPETITION: 1992, First prize

GFA: 7.200 sqm

CLIENT: WLV

AWARDS: German Architecture Award 1996, commendation

PHOTOS: © Christian Richters

The reflective surface of the ‘dark green glazed’ brick animates a monolithic self-focusing form. An ambiguous surface alternating between the brilliance of the sky or the depths of black shadow. Mass is also the subject, a single building block in the urban fabric. A block further animated by the vectorial trajectory of the adjacent railway which instigates a façade curve and lean. A relatively simple slippage whose justification lies not in its formal but its tectonic resolution. Each brick course slips out one cm from the one supporting it. For the train traveller the WLV building is an event of a few seconds, its deflection perhaps only the effect of speed, its roof perhaps only temporarily hovering.

The three floors and 7.000 sqm of offices house a branch of local government that deals with the administration of psychiatric services. Shops on the ground and rooftop canteen-restaurant complete the sandwich. A specified planning module of 1.625 m results in a deep precast concrete fin on each axis, visible structure in unpainted concrete defining a window zone for heating, cable canals and glare blinds. From inside window frames disappear behind fins, to the south sun screens extend the internal ceiling line beyond the window. Systematised cellular offices are animated by contextual deflexions in the overall plan form, resulting in serpentine office strips, floating service islands, the ‘elastic plan’. Not high but low-tech is here and in the entire building thematizing, the simple, the well made, the long lasting.

Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, plan, ground floor, grundriss, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Christian richters, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, zeichnung, Isometrie, isometry, drawing, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, Modell, model, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, zeichnung, Isometrie, isometry, drawing, sketch, Skizze, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, zeichnung, lageplan, siteplan, site, drawing, Büros
Warendorf Strasse, WLV offices, Münster, muenster, zeichnung, sketch, Skizze, Aquarell, Peter Wilson, Büros
Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Entrance

Innovative Administration of Potsdam-Mittelmark

Detail

TYPOLOGY: Competition / Office

COUNTRY: Germany

CITY: Potsdam

YEAR: 2022

COMPETITION: Closed two-phase competition, 1st Prize

GFA: 23.000 sqm

CLIENT: District of Potsdam-Mittelmark

COLLABORATORS: Lindschulte+GGL Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Gerhardt Landschaft, Nees Ingenieure GmbH

The structural design for the administration building on the site of the historic Beelitz sanatorium was based on the winning design by B+W for the previous urban planning competition.

By following the course of the original footpaths, the new building blends gently into the park landscape. The restored circular hiking trail in the historic park serves as a “natural” construction limit and forms the connection to the listed building.

The south side of the new building develops parallel to the street and mediates between the alignments of the different existing buildings and the traffic routes.

Public and semi-public functions such as the entrance hall, conference center, advice center and canteen are lined up in the base. The three upper floors form the main building that is visible from afar and house the office and administration area. Towards the park, like the base, it leans against the circle of the historic circular path, while towards the street sides the volume is structured into individual sections by a wave shape.

Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Park Facade
Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Model
Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Eingang_Entrance
Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Model
Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Siteplan_Lageplan
Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Elevation_Ansicht
Modern Administration Potsdam-Mittelmark_Moderne Verwaltung Potsdam-Mittelmark_MoVe_Potsdam_Competition_Plan_Grundriss
red bar in the sky_korca_roman mensing

Red Bar in the Sky

Detail

TYPOLOGY: Public
COUNTRY: Albania
CITY: Korça
YEAR: 2014
CLIENT: Municipality of Korça
PHOTOS: © Andronira Burda, Daniel Dervishi, Nico Peleshi, Roman Mensing

In time for Christmas 2014 the city of Korça in Albania realized BOLLES+WILSON’s design for a campanile – the Red Bar in the Sky. It focuses the Theatre Square, the concluding phase of the B+W 2009 masterplan (International Competition 1st prize). The campanile which functions as a lookout tower for Korcians to appreciate the delicate grain of their city is located at the end of the central pedestrian boulevard ‘Shën Gjergji’ (landscaping by B+W). Opened in winter the Red Bar in the Sky was accompanied by an ice skating rink installed by Greek skating specialists.

Related project:
Masterplan Korça City Centre, 2009, 1st prize

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Theatre Square with Red bar in the Sky
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Sketch with ice rink
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Ice rink in front of the Red Bar in the Sky in winter
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Boulevard Shen Gjergji with christmas lights and Red Bar in the Sky
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View from the top over the Boulevard Shen Gjergji
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Korça City Centre Masterplan
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Siteplan
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Red Bar in the Sky
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Plans and elevations
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Photo before the construction