YOUNG ARCHITECTS FROM GERMANY. International Perspectives.

Venue.- ETSAG. c/ Santa Ursula, 8. Alcalá. Madrid. 12/11-15/12.2010.

Interview with Ian Shaw (summary).-

- You are British. Why do you have an architectural firm in Germany?

After working in several European countries and the United States I had an opportunity to work for a German firm. I came to Germany because I was tempted by a high standard of building technology and because I wanted to gain experience here. Besides, you play better football!

- Your other projects are elegant, upmarket buildings or art objects. Did designing an administrative building for an engineering firm pose a particular challenge for you?

The type of building was interesting because we had to come to terms with the specific requirements of mechanical engineering – in addition to an unusual location and a somewhat untypical situation with regard to town planning and urban development.

- How did you come by the commission?

My client wanted a British architect to deliver “German quality” in the United States.

- Industrial estates on the outskirts of town in the United States are considered in Germany to be particularly unsightly. What do the surroundings of the Herkules building look like?

Enormous vacant industrial buildings dominate the surroundings. I find the outskirts of post-industrial towns very exciting. They not only convey a feeling of massive ruins (in this instance the abandoned neighbouring building is nearly half a mile long), but also constitute an intermediate area – a “lost” zone – in the townscape.I see this image as inspiring rather than daunting. That is why we undertook a kind of “archaeological research” of the location. It was clear from the outset that the building not only had to match the location but also to be decidedly “different”.

- Did the client commission you as an architect to make a positive mark on the location with the new administrative building?

The client gave us an unusually free hand in the design. Jointly with Mr. and Mrs. Thoma we developed a profile for the building that reflects their company visually. Our starting point was the machinery that is manufactured there and from this we developed a clear and precise building. The result was a symbiosis of the location and the company’s products.

Interview with Axel Hermening (summary).-

- How did you come by the commission?

David Chipperfield Architects was working on a housing project, Liangzhu Bailujun Garden City, for the owner of the Liangzhu Culture Museum and recommended us, among others, to plan the project’s open spaces. The client chose us. So we already knew the museum client, and he asked us to continue our successful cooperation on the adjoining Liangzhu Culture Museum. We are also collaborating with David Chipperfield Architects in designing the public open spaces on Berlin’s Museum Island.

- Who is behind the plan to build a Lianghzu Culture Museum with a public park? Is it a public authority?

The city already has a museum, but it no longer does justice to modern requirements and to growing interest in the 5,000-year-old Liangzhu culture. The project developer Narada Real Estate (now Vanke Narada) was commissioned by the Hangzhou district government to develop a new town on the bank of the Liangzhu River. Civitas Urban Design, a Canadian firm, drew up the master plan and included the new museum in it. Liangzhu Culture Village is intended to be a mixture of residential building and cultural facilities along with a high proportion of landscaping elements. Part of the landscape, such as the wooded mountains, is natural. Another part, such as the museum park, had to be designed. From the outset the specification was that the park was to be open to the public and the exhibition proper was only to be in the museum building. Our idea was to incorporate the subject of archaeology and the Liangzhu culture into the park design and to transform it accordingly.