The project commissioned by the temporary exhibition hall of Queen Victoria Garden initiated by Naomi Milgrom Foundation aims to explore how to create attractive architectural installations and show the creativity of Melbourne, a dynamically developing city, as in previous years. The structure we have conceived is a dazzling luminous device, like a city lighthouse, as the venue for Melbourne’s 2021 summer community cultural activities.
This structure looks like a colorful organism suspended on the earth and defines a hollow space. The three-dimensional grid is supported by four precast reinforced concrete U-shaped columns. These columns have a very smooth surface and can also be used as seats. We believe that the kaleidoscope structure has the symbolic meaning of the city lighthouse, which can gather people, enlighten the mind and convey new hope. But this is also a warning: it is not a shelter in nature like the previous exhibition hall, but a space element that amplifies human activities – as a metaphor for the current situation of human beings and the environment – to stimulate us to realize this fragile situation.
The building renovation project of the space is part of the plan to revitalize the downtown of Montreal, and it is also an affirmation of the company’s commitment to building a new connection with the urban epicenter. It also updated one of the most iconic spaces in the city, making the space more bright and open. As people return to their offices, the Eco Square becomes a critical space that encourages creativity, floats in the center of the city, and connects the street with the internal space through the free flow of ideas.
This continuity principle can also be found in the construction of the infinite grid structure of spatial organization. The grid covers the entire office area and conceptualizes the entire open area, where different functions can coexist easily and freely. Compared with isolated and decentralized offices, Sid Lee Architecture uses this template as a platform to connect all spaces and employees walking in them. Therefore, the ecological square is a microcosm of sharing, with unlimited possibilities; A collective world in which professions blend with each other and functional boundaries are blurred.
The studio building is a ‘tool building’ designed by Fi ú za Faustino for his friend Jean Luc Moul è ne, a French concept artist.
In order to conceptualize this project, the architect developed a simple but precise language around gestures, work and creation to best meet the needs of the artist, including his different production methods, the use of tools, and space needs to meet the scale of both human hands and machines. In addition, the architect designed a private space for reflection and rest, which is closely related to different light processing modes (natural and artificial) and the perspective within the space. At night, this structure and its open windows will remind people of a set of solar panels, which is also the environmental method for it to gaze outward and inward.
The walls and roof of the building are made of prefabricated wooden frame caissons fixed on reinforced concrete slabs and covered with waterproof black rubber membrane. This uniform matte black skin turns the building into a shadow, making it disappear in the surrounding environment like a building that should not be seen; The studio is just a space for use. The building structure is simplified to the most basic elements, in this case, it points to the ultimate place for creative practice.
This new building is located next to an old farm complex, on the outskirts of Saint Languellermortani in Normandy, France. This space is a new studio outpost for the artist outside Paris.