Architects EM2N made an odd pairing of community and contemporary industrial architecture at the Aussersihl Community Center in Zurich, Switzerland.
The architects based their design on the notion that “Not the building alone is the Community Center, but the entire park.” With this in mind, EM2N started on a contemporary structure that would make a statement on its own, while also speaking to its surroundings.
According to the architects, “It was clear to us, that there was only one possible way to build in the park: preserving all the trees, minimal footprint, [and] stacking the program.” The original idea for the design included mirror facades. But in order to stick to the prescribed budget, the architects clad a majority of the building in dark green wood panels, and the remainder in mirrors, creating a loosely camouflage effect among the trees.
The modern community center strays from traditional horizontal construction with its strongly vertical silhouette. This “stacking” method also allowed for unobstructed, open-concept interiors free from columns and interior walls.
An architect designs homes, libraries, museums and other structures or environments. Here are some famous modern architects and their signature creations.
R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) Fuller was also an engineer and a poet. He was known for his revolutionary designs that were both innovative and efficient. He developed the Dymaxion principle, which called for producing the maximum while using the least possible amount of material and energy. His most famous creation was the geodesic dome.
Frank Gehry (b. 1929) Many of Gehry's designs are oddly shaped and made from a variety of materials, such as corrugated metal and chain-link fencing. His best-known project is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Michael Graves (b. 1934) Graves is known for his postmodernist, often colorful projects. Postmodernism is a playful style of art and architecture that was developed after 1970. He also designs furniture and home accessories. Graves designed the Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California.
Maya Lin (b. 1959) Lin earned fame when, as a student at Yale, she won a contest to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. She also designed the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
I. M. Pei (b. 1917) Pei, who was born in China and educated in the United States, has designed landmarks all over the world. He frequently incorporates marble, concrete and glass into his geometrically precise designs. Some of his most famous designs include the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, the expansion of the Louvre in Paris and the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) Wright is widely considered the greatest American architect. He developed the prairie style of architecture in Chicago. The prairie style features low horizontal lines, earth-tone colors and protruding overhangs. Although he mostly designed homes and furniture, Wright also designed the Oak Park Unity Temple near Chicago and the Larkin Office Building in Buffalo, New York.
Al Sharq Tower by Skidmore, Owiings & Merrill is a unique mix of an iconic form, ingenious structure, and spatial qualities of sky-high living. The purity of its form as nine cylinders defined by a spiraling filigree structure will be a timeless, elegant marker on Sheikh Zayed Road. The Al Sharq Tower will be a 102-floor residential tower which will have a total structural height of 367 m (1,181 ft), and have 268 apartments. Construction of the Al Sharq Tower is expected to be completed in 2011.Al Sharq isn’t close to being the tallest building in town (the highest is Burj Dubai) but it is one of the skinniest towers in the world.
The tower is to be a slender design with a height-width ratio of 10:1 and comprises 6 tube like designs, each tube is to be approximately 12 meters in diameter. The architects SOM used the tubular design, which is similarly used in the Sears Tower, to reduce the horizontal movement of the building due to the strong winds that can ’shake’ the building. The central tube serves to take the gravity load that the strong winds produce, along with housing the main elevators that service the building.
The end result is wide open, column free interiors.
