Bjarke Ingels' studio has released images of its design for a loop-shaped country house that features a gallery for showcasing the clients' car collection. Due to be constructed in Ålborg, Denmark, Villa Gug was designed by BIG as a home for a rich family.

The firm wanted the building to reflect the occupants' love of cars, so developed a design with a generous garage integral to the plan.

The looping shape of the design, described by the BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group as a "snail" layout, will also frame a private courtyard that slopes up in line with the uneven topography, in fact it is the design a simple element as in other projects by the firm.

The result of another project with the same program was the AA House or Origami House by Carlos Ferrater, equally excessive, but also much more interesting.

Description of the project by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Designing a home for a family is like painting a portrait. A portrait’s success lies not only in the artist’s ability to express himself – but rather in the artist’s ability to capture the expressions, character, personality, or even the soul of those being portrayed. As an architectural portrait, the home is about creating a framework for interests and needs, wishes and dreams, requirements and criteria -in short- the life the family wants to live.

In Villa GUG, the clients’ passion for cars plays a significant role in the family life, taking up a significant portion of the housing area. Instead of hiding the vehicle away in a basement, or a large garage, we suggest a house that smoothly turns from car to home. The linear building curves in a loop around the top of the hill framing a central courtyard for the family’s private affairs. The building’s character gradually changes from an introverted garage and showroom at the driveway - to the more open functions, including kitchen, living room and terrace on the top of the building. We have reprogrammed the standard house as we know it by basing our design on the clients' passion, creating a type of housing that is tailored to the residents of this specific household.

Text.- BIG.

CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-

Partners in Charge.- Bjarke Ingels, David Zahle.
Project Leader.-  Nanna Gyldholm Møller.
Team.-  Pawel Bussold, Katerina Joannides, Krzysztof Marciszewski, Nicolas Millot, Katarína Máčková, Joanna Jakubowska, Elina Skujina.

Dates.- Project year, 2014.
Client.- Mads Peter Veiby
Size.- 750 m²

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Bjarke Ingels (born in Copenhagen, 1974) studied architecture at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen and at the School of Architecture of Barcelona, ​​obtaining his degree as an architect in 1998. He is the founder of the BIG architecture studio - (Bjarke Ingels Group), studio founded in 2005, after co-founding PLOT Architects in 2001 with his former partner Julien de Smedt, whom he met while working at the prestigious OMA studio in Rotterdam.

Bjarke has designed and completed award-winning buildings worldwide, and currently his studio is based with venues in Copenhagen and New York. His projects include The Mountain, a residential complex in Copenhagen, and the innovative Danish Maritime Museum in Elsinore.

With the PLOT study, he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2004, and with BIG he has received numerous awards such as the ULI Award for Excellence in 2009. Other prizes are the Culture Prize of the Crown Prince of Denmark in 2011; and Along with his architectural practice, Bjarke has taught at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University and Rice University and is an honorary professor at the Royal Academy of Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen.

In 2018, Bjarke received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog granted by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. He is a frequent public speaker and continues to give lectures at places such as TED, WIRED, AMCHAM, 10 Downing Street or the World Economic Forum. In 2018, Bjarke was appointed Chief Architectural Advisor by WeWork to advise and develop the design vision and language of the company for buildings, campuses and neighborhoods around the world.

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