Bjarke Ingels - BIG Biography

The studio likewise explores new disciplines bounding on architecture, promoting research and coming up with brand-new point of views on the cities we will live in years to come. Rather than thinking about architecture as an autonomous art form separated from the rest of the world, I actually see the function of architecture and of architects to be completely involved with the rest of society. The idea was to create a very active architecture where you can walk and cycle through the structure and through the exhibitions, you can dip your toes in the swimming pool in the middle. In lots of ways it is an architecture that does not just try to look poetic or stunning however it truly develops possibilities. Some people would argue that creating a ski slope on top of a power plant has nothing to do with architecture however this is in some way the architecture of organising all aspects of human life in brand-new mixes.



BIG, established by Bjarke Ingels in 2005, is one of the world's most innovative studios in the definition of urban scenarios and horizons.
BIG has actually worked on numerous projects all over the world, all sharing a visionary view and an interest in ingenious theories about modern society and way of lives.
Its two workplaces in Copenhagen and New York combine experts from all over the world, promoting cultural exchange as a source of wealth in style.
The group's know-how varies from architecture to design, from principle production to engineering.
The studio likewise explores brand-new disciplines bounding on architecture, stimulating research study and developing new point of views on the cities we will live in years to come. Digital representation technologies are seen not as an end in themselves but as a way of achieving these goals. Society, economics and ecology are the themes dearest to bjarke ingels group Ingels and his group, attended to in every one of his jobs.
Ingels began his career operating at OMA with Rem Koolhaas; in 2001 he co-founded PLOT (Julien De Smedt and Bjarke Ingels).
In his academic profession, Ingels has been checking out teacher at Rice University School of Architecture and at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation of Columbia University and checking out professor at Harvard University.
In 2004 he was awarded a Golden Lion at the Biennale in Venice for his Stavanger Concert House, and the list below year he won the Forum AID Award for his VM houses.
The Mountain real estate development, which made Bjarke Ingels well-known all over the world, has actually received countless awards consisting of the World Architecture Celebration Housing Award, the Forum Help Award and the MIPIM Residential Advancement Award.
Interview
BJARKE INGELS. People just move freely around the city. And in one of our newest tasks we actually took a neighbourhood of town homes however with little gardens in front and we created a city block so people can actually stroll or cycle all the method from the garden to the penthouse.
You have an another major continuous job in Copenhagen, which is the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant. This is a good difficulty for the city and for the sustainability of the city.
BJARKE INGELS. This project is so big and it is in the middle of the city, in the harbour area. In winter season, individuals can take a lift to the top of the power station and just ski down for fun all the way to the ground floor.
This is a good example of mix of public space with town energy. How was the project accepted by the citizens?
BJARKE INGELS. Usually when you prepare to develop a power plant in the middle of the city, you can expect a lot of complaints: individuals do not wish to live beside a power plant however we got e-mail messages from individuals asking when the project was going to be finished due to the fact that they were looking forward to snowboarding!
More recently you won another essential international design competition for a new 27.000 m2 cultural complex in Albania, can you tell us more about this task?
BJARKE INGELS. This is a cultural complex. As you'll most likely understand, right now there is a little unrest in Tirana because of the upcoming elections so we are excited to see how things will evolve. The task is for a complex with a Museum of Religious Harmony, an Islamic Centre and a Mosque. The standard concept is to incorporate public life with the religious area and likewise with a view to integrate the religious beliefs into the city. When we went to Tirana to have a look at the project, we went on weekends, on Fridays and special holidays. And we might see that the current mosque is too little so people praying actually spill out onto the streets. The intention is to combine the city grid of Tirana with the orientation towards The Mecca. On the ground floor, all the three structures, are oriented towards The Mecca to develop a square in front of the mosque whereas at roofing level the structure follows the grid of the city streets and walls. The concept is to get these two directions to develop a semi-covered outside space, almost extending the mosque outward onto the street but likewise welcoming the street and the general public area all the way to the mosque, producing a sort of overlap, which is half indoors and half outdoors, half mosque and half Tirana.
You always involve the city in your tasks, and you typically deal with social projects, but what do you believe is the relationship between architecture and politics?
BJARKE INGELS. I think politics is the process of trying to listen to the desires and demands and concerns of residents and turn these cumulative issues into political truth through representation; in an extremely comparable though more concealed way architecture handle accommodating the issues and needs of citizens. So as designers we are at the centre of attempting to continuously collaborate the collective effort of making certain that our cities and buildings fit with the way we desire to live and in a perfect world that is also what politicians need to be doing.
Do you believe that architecture is a promotional tool for politics or politics is a tool for a designer to attain something essential in a city?
BJARKE INGELS. I believe these two elements are probably true: sometimes an architectural task can have a promotional significance and however likewise as designers, we need to get involved with politics due to the fact that somehow politics form the reality in which we work. Here in Italy I think for example how strange to see the case of Stefano Boeri, organiser of Festarch and Editor of Abitare, who utilized to be an architect thinking about politics and now he is probably more like a politician interested in architecture. Oddly enough it resembles taking the very same concern about continuously improving individuals's day-to-day life and doing it through legislation rather than style and hopefully he can keep doing both.
Rather challenging I guess. How do you feel when individuals say you are "l'Enfant terrible" of design and architecture?
BJARKE INGELS. I do not actually learn about that! I believe that quite early on in my career I realised I was typically more interested in the society rather than in looking at architecture in isolation. Instead of considering architecture as a self-governing art form separated from the remainder of the world, I truly see the function of architecture and of architects to be completely included with the rest of society. Because they produce possibilities that somehow plug into day-to-day life, as an outcome often our jobs might relate more to people that are not architects. In the Danish pavilion in Shanghai there was a bath. The concept was to produce a really active architecture where you can stroll and cycle through the pavilion and through the exhibitions, you can dip your toes in the pool in the middle. There is a socially-provocative bench that promotes different types of interaction with the structure. There is an artwork in the shape of a fountain that likewise ends up being practically like a playground for kids. So in many methods it is an architecture that does not simply try to look stunning or poetic but it truly develops possibilities. Some individuals would argue that developing a ski slope on top of a power plant has nothing to do with architecture however this is in some way the architecture of organising all aspects of human life in new mixes. As a sort of sign of humanistic sustainability, it is both financially and environmentally sustainable by turning rubbish into heat and energy but likewise socially sustainable by turning a power plant into a public park.