AR Emerging Architecture 2009 Winner.

AR Emerging Architecture 2009 Winner 4 of 4: Sports Research Centre, Guijo de Granadilla, Spain by Jose Maria Sanchez Garcia

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The Architectural Review’s Emerging Architecture Awards, sponsored by Ramboll and Austin-Smith:Lord, celebrates the best pieces of design by young architects from across the world. This sports research centre in Spain was among the four principal winners

This giant ring-shaped building is inscribed in a wooded landscape; it’s eerily perfect geometry suggests something not quite of this world.

This facility provides research, training, recreation and business facilities for sports professionals in a tranquil, landscaped setting. The brief for the building included a reception and information centre, physiological laboratories and accommodation, together with a business centre and cafe.

The site lies on a thickly wooded peninsular in a reservoir in the Tagus river basin. A narrow neck of land connects the peninsula with the shore, and the site is subject to periodic flooding.

The building itself is a narrow uniform strip of single-storey accommodation, 7m wide and 200m in diameter. The assorted functions are disposed around the circular plan. The ring is hoisted on slim piloti, well above the level or any potential flood water.

The flat roof is fully accessible and becomes a giant treetop walk. offering views of the reservoir and peninsular. Although the building may appear monumental, the curvature means it tails off into the woodland, becoming highly integrated and part of the landscape. The stainless steel cladding panels reflects vegetation.

Architect Jose Maria Sanchez Garcia
Project Team Enrique Garcia-Margallo Solo de Zaldivar, Rafael Fernandez Caparros, Maribel Torres Gomez, Laura Rojo Valdivielso, Francisco Sanchez Garcia, Jose Garcia Margallo, Marta Cabezon, Mafalda Ambrosio, Carmen Leticia Huerta
Location Guijo de Granadilla, Caceres, Spain
Building type Research centre
Photography credits Pablo Calzado, Roland Halbe & Jose Maria Sanchez Garcia

AR Emerging Architecture 2009.

Water front Bunkaza Cultural Plaza, Osaka, Japan, by Ryuichi Ashizawa Architects & Associates

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The Bamboo Forest, 6 Collins Huts, and the Folded Plate Hut are all part of the new waterfront Bunkaza Cultural Plaza which has been constructed for the Aqua Metropolis Osaka 2009.

The folded rib structure of the roof of the largest hut is designed to resemble the Japanese craft of origami. The structure cantilevers out over the water and is proposed to host music and theatre events.

The Bamboo Forest is constructed from the forests found locally on the river Douzima. The trees are bent into shape to create frames on which artists can hang work or create temporary shades while they work.

Each component of the Collins huts are designed to fit within a common 2.4m wide car, these can then be transported, constructed, and removed and reconstructed easily after the event.

AR Emerging Architecture 2009 Winner.

AR Emerging Architecture 2009 Winner 1 of 4: Bridge School, Xiashi, China by Li Xiaodong Atelier

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AR Emerging Architecture 2009 Winner 1 of 4: Bridge School, Xiashi, China by Li Xiaodong Atelier

The Architectural Review’s Emerging Architecture Awards, sponspored by Ramboll and Austin-Smith:Lord, celebrates the best pieces of design by young architects from across the world. This year, one of the four principal winners is Li Xiaodong Atelier’s project for a school in a remote village in the Fujian Province of China

The lightweight structure spans a creek in a single bound, and resembles the archetype of the inhabited bridge.

Supported on concrete piers, the simple steel structure acts like a giant box girder that has been slightly dislocated. The steel frame is wrapped in a veil of thin timber slats which filter light and temper the interior with cool breezes.

Inside are a pair of wedge-shaped classrooms tapering towards the mid-point of the structure. The school can be transformed into an impromtu theatre or play structure, and Li Xiaodong hopes the building will become a social centre for the village.

Although it is possible to use the building as a bridge, a narrow crossing suspended underneath the steel structure and anchored by tensile wires offers an alternative and more direct route.

Architects Li Xiaodong Atelier
Location Xiashi, Fujian Province, China
Type of project School
Project architects Chen Jiansheng, Li Ye, Wang Chuan, Liang Qiong, Liu Mengjia, Nie Junqui
Building contractors Zhangzhou Steel, Xiashi village
Photography credits Li Xiaodong