The development consists of two towers rising m to the north and m to the south, linked together at the feet by a m podium housing the main lobbies, a conference center, cafeteria, and exhibition space. The volume and height of the HQ was predetermined by the urban masterplan, leaving BIG with façade design. BIG envisioned an undulating façade like the structure of a palm leaf or the folded screen of a lamp.
BIG proposes to turn the light rail line into a spine of dense urbanity with a series of peaks at the stations. By combing the rail with strategies for energy exchange, waste management, water treatment and electric car stations, the infrastructure could become the base for a new sustainable ring of development around Copenhagen, and an artery of true urbanity pumping life into the heart of the suburbs. At certain points the rail becomes a building itself almost like a Roman aqueduct passing through the suburbs, at other points it forms small pockets of urbanity around the stations.
Through an intensive curatorial process in close collaboration with the neighborhoods residents, more than objects from cultures appear throughout Superkilen. Ranging from exercise equipment from Muscle Beach in LA and sewage drains from Israel, to palm trees from China and neon signs from Qatar and Russia each object is accompanied by a small stainless plate inlaid in the ground describing the object, what it is and where it is from. The art group Superflex took the public participation further into the extreme by handpicking five groups of people and travelling to the country of their origin to document the process of selection.
Rather than a square tunnel through the building, the gateway is conceived as a smooth transition from one façade to the other, turning the surface of the museum inside out. In the direction of the bridge, the building will consist of a procession of parallel concrete frames that change in scale, from generous to intimate as you pass through. Similarly, the species of trees will range from big to bonsai and back again. The façade will seem to cave in like a loophole from front to back. Viewed from the front, the building is opaque and enigmatic. As people pass through, it turns out to be an entirely transparent space with works of art in all directions. The passageway becomes a promenade through an art archive. The building’s insides will be exposed on the outside, and its main façade will
Umbracle in Catalan means something that provides shade. Rather than creating a building plus a pergola, BIG proposes to do both in one single move for the new building of Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). By setting the building back at ground level, BIG creates a single, generous, sheltered public plaza at the foot of BIST. On the back, it gently retracts to preserve urban continuity.