Bjarke Ingels is headed home for his latest project: Aarhus Island, a waterside development in Denmark's second-largest city. The mixed-use development will implement Ingels' signature angled look in its residential towers, with stepped towers that rise to defined peaks.
According to ArchPaper, these towers will include over 200 residential units. A sizable boardwalk will wrap around the development, which will include not only the residential units but also an amphitheater, retail and dining, floating swimming pools, and a sandy, beach-like area. Work is slated to begin next year, with the first components of Aarhus Island opening in 2017.
BIG´s design for Bassin 7 in Århus, Denmark, will breathe life into the harborfront of Denmark´s second largest city by creating a new public promenade for its citizens. Rather than developing private residences and activating the remaining space between the buildings once residents have moved in, a series of recreational and cultural activities, including a beach zone, a theater and café will transform the area and create an entirely new neighborhood in Århus.
The new public promenade claims the water´s edge as public realm, stretching from the very tip of the waterfront towards the city center, and connects to the existing boat harbor to the west as well as the nearby town square, Nikoline Kochs Plads. The promenade meanders through the plot, creating pockets of new public spaces while blurring the boundaries between the city and water.
Seven unique buildings, each different in shape and size, will populate the site over time. The residential buildings will adapt to their immediate surroundings and will be composed of low-, mid-, and high-rise structures to ensure intimacy, life and activity at street level. Every building has a private courtyard for the residents, while the streets remain entirely public.
By designing the public space as the first step, the masterplan carefully mixes public programs with private residences, creating a new dynamic urban area where public and private realms converge.
Related Stories
| Mar 29, 2011
Chicago’s Willis Tower to become a vertical solar farm
Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) is set to become a massive solar electric plant with the installation of a pilot solar electric glass project.
| Mar 29, 2011
Read up on Amazon.com's new green HQ
Phase IV of Amazon’s new headquarters in Seattle is nearly complete. The company has built 10 of the 11 buildings planned for its new campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood, and is on-track for a 2013 grand opening.
| Mar 29, 2011
Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura wins Pritzker Architecture Prize
Portugese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, whose precisely-honed buildings reflect the influence of the late Chicago modernist Mies van der Rohe, is the 2011 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the field's highest honor.
| Mar 25, 2011
Qatar World Cup may feature carbon-fiber ‘clouds’
Engineers at Qatar University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering are busy developing what they believe could act as artificial “clouds,” man-made saucer-type structures suspended over a given soccer stadium, working to shield tens of thousands of spectators from suffocating summer temperatures that regularly top 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
| Mar 23, 2011
AIA adds 13 new contract documents to Documents-on-Demand service
Web-based solution adds 13 popular Architect’s Scope of Services Documents to AIA Documents-on-Demand, providing easy access to documents anytime, anywhere.
| Mar 23, 2011
After 60 years of student lobbying, new activity center opens at University of Texas
The new Student Activity Center at the University of Texas campus, Austin, is the result of almost 60 years of students lobbying for another dedicated social and cultural center on campus. The 149,000-sf facility is designed to serve as the "campus living room," and should earn a LEED Gold certification, a first for the campus.
| Mar 23, 2011
Architecture Billings Index shows nominal increase
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the February Architecture Billings Index score was 50.6, up slightly from a reading of 50.0 the previous month. This score reflects a modest increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 56.4, compared to a mark of 56.5 in December.
| Mar 22, 2011
The American National Standards Institute accredits Stantec for greenhouse gas verification
Stantec Consulting Ltd.’s Atmospheric Environment Group has been awarded accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for verification of assertions related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Scope of Accreditation is for verification of emissions and removals at the organizational level for Group 1 – General.
| Mar 22, 2011
Mayor Bloomberg unveils plans for New York City’s largest new affordable housing complex since the ’70s
Plans for Hunter’s Point South, the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s, include new residences for 5,000 families, with more than 900 in this first phase. A development team consisting of Phipps Houses, Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction has been selected to build the residential portion of the first phase of the Queens waterfront complex, which includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.