Extension Gallo-Roman Museum | Tongeren | Belgium | MDMA

A Mikado circulation system of Roman 'Via's' works equally as structuralizing system. 'Mezzanine-like' exhibition spaces sit in an orthogonal system. As a form-giver, Via's stick out and are interconnected with a triangular rib system around which a net is spun. This grid is laid in with glass: the museum becomes a city crown (in German : Stadskrone) next to the cathedral. The Via's connect also and in particular the old with the new museum. Two levels below ground floor, a Roman Forum is located; i.e. the entrance lobby to be reached with an escalator. Escalators interconnect also the half-open/ half-closed mezzanines........more

Architectural Open Competition | Artic Cultural Centre (ACC) | Hammerfest | Norway | MDMA

Life in a sheltered atmosphere, protected from cold and snow, demands for an energy concept.
We maintain two regimes: a concentration of core functions on one hand that on the other hand is surrounded by an expanded, animated transit zone.
In case of the Artic Cultural Centre (ACC) a 140 meter long strip of theatre functions is weaved through a light-weight hula-hoop structural system. This schizoid structure is perfectly fit for wrapping a skin around and through. On lower deck a terminal for cruise ships is inserted. [...]On higher deck an assembly hall for theatre and hotel is accommodated. Subsequently the central nave is propelled in a 60-meter high hotel.
The ACC is the forward post. Behind, a large shopping mall is 'embedded' under a layer of 'cushions'. The cushions form an aerodynamic variation of the modernist cube. They will house administrative functions, headquarters in the public and private sector. Embedded beneath, the shopping mall forms the urban variation of 'almenning' or 'all-men's-ground', the typical Norwegian phenomenon of public grazing grounds along the fjords.
Observe also the Artic type of skyrise : slabs sail from pole to pole........more