#20 Mar/Apr 2008

News and observations

• Oslo's new opera building by Snøhetta (NO)
• Tirana's main plaza in need of a makeover (AL)
• Cor-Ten canoeing centre by Sarah Wigglesworth in Chelsea, West-London (UK)
• Update: Latvia
• Reality check: Levent Loft in Istanbul (TR)
• and more…

New projects

• Health centre, Kiev (UA) by Bpdgroupe6
• Pavilion, Meudon (FR) by EZCT
• Civil registry office, Madrid (ES) by Angel Borrego
• Residential and retail development, Druskininkai (LT) by seven leading Lithuanian architects
• Conference centre, Cracow (PL) by Ingarden & Ewy

Enric Ruiz-Geli: Architect/performer

Enric Ruiz-Geli, one of the founders of Barcelona-based office Cloud9, studied architecture, stage design and scenography. As such he is not just an architect, but rather a visual artist who seeks to dissolve the boundaries between constructing, re-creating and experimenting with space or treating it as a theoretical adventure. Since his early projects, nature has always been present in some way or other, producing particularly attractive images and configurations.

New buildings

• Museum of Architecture, Oslo (NO) by Sverre Fehn
• RATP bus and adminitrative centre, Thiais (FR) by Emmanuel Combarel and Dominic Marrec
• Community centre, Mannheim-Neuhermsheim (DE) by netzwerkarchitekten
• House, Majorca (ES) by Ábalos & Herrero
• Rotermann business and residential complex, Tallinn (EE) by Kosmos
• Hirzenbach school extension, Zurich (CH) by Roger Boltshauser Architects
• Science building, Nicosia (CY) by Zenon and Christina Sherepeklis
• New Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen (DK) by Lundgaard & Tranberg
• Laranjeiras student residences, Azores (PT) by a.S*
• Residential and commercial building, Belgrade (CS) by Branimir Popovic
• Conversion of a warehouse, Rotterdam (NL) by Mei Architecten

Inserting interiors

The world of the interior is not that of the exterior. The primary purpose of buildings is to provide a climatological barrier between inside and outside by means of facades and a roof. Outside, wind and weather enjoy free play. Inside it is sheltered from the elements, dry and warm or, conversely, cool, depending on the geographical location. And although architects have long aspired to dissolve the boundary between inside and outside, it will never completely disappear, even if it consists of no more than a millimetre of glass.

Focusing on European countries, cities and regions

• Xavier Gonzalez maps France's contemporary architectural production according to a clear and concise classification, but ends by concluding that certain current French architecture eludes all categorization
• For most Dutch people, the southern province of North-Brabant evokes images of rural life and of Catholic towns and villages where Carnival is celebrated every year in February. It is an image that Brabant's cities are keen to refute, with a united effort and ambitious architecture.
• Office: Claus en Kaan's orderly office building in IJburg, Amsterdam (NL)

Buildings from the margins of modern history

Vesna Vucinic reflects one of the principal monuments of New Belgrade and Yugoslavia: the Palace of Federation (Vladimir Potocnjak, Anton Ulrich, Zlatko Najman and Dragica Perak, 1947-1959). Once a symbol of national unity, it is almost empty today, waiting for a new life.