Bjarke Ingels: ‘BIG don’t do anything just for fun’
POSTED 20 Apr 2016 . BY Kim Megson
Bjarke Ingels said architects should 'find a real reason to do things differently' Credit: Jonas Bie
Bjarke Ingels has insisted that his unorthodox buildings "are not just for fun", and demonstrate how architects can respond to new development restrictions in unique and interesting ways.
Speaking in an interview with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the founder of architecture studio BIG – who have unveiled a spate of high-profile new leisure projects in recent months – said that for every new project he identifies a unique challenge "which allows you to discover something you haven't done before and otherwise wouldn't be possible.”
Ingels insisted that despite the playful nature of many BIG projects – such as their Copenhagen waste treatment plant, which has a ski slope running down it – "our method is a sort of sobriety.”
“We don't do it for fun, we do it because it makes sense," he said. "Our buildings don't look different just to be different, they look different because they perform differently. They uncover a new necessity or unexplored potential."
Ingels argued that while architects ultimately have almost no control over the parameters they have to work in, they can control whether they identify changes in these parameters and accommodate them.
“You can find a real reason to do things differently," he said. "Instead of having to come up with a nice decor for the same building you designed last year, you have to find out what is inherently new about this building that forces it to be different and how you can accommodate that difference in a way that forces you to explore new forms and materials."
Despite this, he claimed that too many architects refuse to adapt to the challenges of a project because they "already know the answer before they've even heard the question."
He said: “It’s a phenomenon called 'skilled incompetence', where because you're so experienced you don’t question the question, or have the question rephrased, or elaborate on the question, or even listen to the question – because you already know the answer."
He said: “The range of what is a skyscraper and what happens inside a skyscraper is changing and expanding. It's always about trying to refine the parameters by which you design the high rise.
“With 2WTC, it's no longer a single floor plate repeated. It’s like a series of buildings within the building, with one stack on top of each other. In this specific design that opens up the possibility that on several floors you will have large common areas that expand out to huge hanging gardens so that even 1,000ft in the air you have access to a 6,000sq ft garden.”
Ingels acknowledged that "there has definitely been a tendency towards ‘perfume bottle’ skyscraper design" by architects in the past, but a sculptural approach must be justified, adding "if it's arbitrary it's not interesting.”
W57 Bjarke Ingels' W57 'Courtscraper' project in New York's Hell's Kitchen is taking shape, with
the first interior construction site photos posted last night on NY Curbed via Field
Condition.
The first images have been released of the completed interiors and final exteriors of
Bjarke Ingels W57 ‘Courtscraper’ in New York’s Manhattan borough, ahead of its opening
to residents next month.
With the W57 ‘Courtscraper’ nearly finished and the 2 World Trade Center building still in
development, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have unveiled their vision for another striking
New York tower: a green-infused 65-storey glass structure called The Spiral.
Bjarke Ingels Group hotly-anticipated New York ‘courtscraper’ is nearing completion, with
dramatic new video footage – captured by a GoPro camera attached to a crane – showing
the final panels being added to the structure’s cladding.
Numbers from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, (ALVA) show that Royal attractions
saw a huge increase in visitor numbers during 2023 – the coronation year of King Charles III.
Off the back of the success of the first round of Everyday Heritage Grants in 2022, Historic
England is funding 56 creative projects that honour the heritage of working-class England.
Universal has revealed it will be adding new Harry Potter attractions, alongside Super Nintendo
and How to Train Your Dragon worlds to its Florida resort.
Cruise Ship Interiors (CSI) invites cruise lines, shipyards, design studios, outfitters,
and suppliers to take part in CSI Design Expo Americas in Miami, Florida, the region’s only
event dedicated to cruise ship interior design. [more...]
Bjarke Ingels: ‘BIG don’t do anything just for fun’
POSTED 20 Apr 2016 . BY Kim Megson
Bjarke Ingels said architects should 'find a real reason to do things differently' Credit: Jonas Bie
Bjarke Ingels has insisted that his unorthodox buildings "are not just for fun", and demonstrate how architects can respond to new development restrictions in unique and interesting ways.
Speaking in an interview with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the founder of architecture studio BIG – who have unveiled a spate of high-profile new leisure projects in recent months – said that for every new project he identifies a unique challenge "which allows you to discover something you haven't done before and otherwise wouldn't be possible.”
Ingels insisted that despite the playful nature of many BIG projects – such as their Copenhagen waste treatment plant, which has a ski slope running down it – "our method is a sort of sobriety.”
“We don't do it for fun, we do it because it makes sense," he said. "Our buildings don't look different just to be different, they look different because they perform differently. They uncover a new necessity or unexplored potential."
Ingels argued that while architects ultimately have almost no control over the parameters they have to work in, they can control whether they identify changes in these parameters and accommodate them.
“You can find a real reason to do things differently," he said. "Instead of having to come up with a nice decor for the same building you designed last year, you have to find out what is inherently new about this building that forces it to be different and how you can accommodate that difference in a way that forces you to explore new forms and materials."
Despite this, he claimed that too many architects refuse to adapt to the challenges of a project because they "already know the answer before they've even heard the question."
He said: “It’s a phenomenon called 'skilled incompetence', where because you're so experienced you don’t question the question, or have the question rephrased, or elaborate on the question, or even listen to the question – because you already know the answer."
He said: “The range of what is a skyscraper and what happens inside a skyscraper is changing and expanding. It's always about trying to refine the parameters by which you design the high rise.
“With 2WTC, it's no longer a single floor plate repeated. It’s like a series of buildings within the building, with one stack on top of each other. In this specific design that opens up the possibility that on several floors you will have large common areas that expand out to huge hanging gardens so that even 1,000ft in the air you have access to a 6,000sq ft garden.”
Ingels acknowledged that "there has definitely been a tendency towards ‘perfume bottle’ skyscraper design" by architects in the past, but a sculptural approach must be justified, adding "if it's arbitrary it's not interesting.”
The first images have been released of the completed interiors and final exteriors of
Bjarke Ingels W57 ‘Courtscraper’ in New York’s Manhattan borough, ahead of its opening
to residents next month.
With the W57 ‘Courtscraper’ nearly finished and the 2 World Trade Center building still in
development, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have unveiled their vision for another striking
New York tower: a green-infused 65-storey glass structure called The Spiral.
Bjarke Ingels Group hotly-anticipated New York ‘courtscraper’ is nearing completion, with
dramatic new video footage – captured by a GoPro camera attached to a crane – showing
the final panels being added to the structure’s cladding.
Numbers from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, (ALVA) show that Royal attractions
saw a huge increase in visitor numbers during 2023 – the coronation year of King Charles III.
Off the back of the success of the first round of Everyday Heritage Grants in 2022, Historic
England is funding 56 creative projects that honour the heritage of working-class England.
Universal has revealed it will be adding new Harry Potter attractions, alongside Super Nintendo
and How to Train Your Dragon worlds to its Florida resort.
Cruise Ship Interiors (CSI) invites cruise lines, shipyards, design studios, outfitters,
and suppliers to take part in CSI Design Expo Americas in Miami, Florida, the region’s only
event dedicated to cruise ship interior design. [more...]