The outdoor space can be used for assembly and testing of pod components, large gatherings, and as social space for the staff. It provides visual connections between the different departments and references the courtyard of Virgin Hyperloop’s LA campus. The facility also houses a test portal, that provides a passenger interface into the pods while they remain in the vacuum tube. This first prototype will be applied in the first commercial Hyperloop portals and continue HCC’s legacy of the first architecture turned Hyperloop infrastructure project.
In the direction of the bridge, the building consists of a procession of parallel concrete frames that change scale, from generous to intimate, then generous again to open on EuropaCity. Viewed from the front, the building is opaque, enigmatic, but the graceful curves come to envelop the visitors in this poetic procession. When visitors cross the first frames, they discover a building of great transparency, an inviting and open space whose vibrant activity draws them inward.
Keen to shape buildings and cities in Southern Europe, BIG has opened its latest office in Barcelona, Spain. Located in Barcelonas Las Ramblas neighborhood, the studio houses nearly BIGsters working on projects spanning from the west to the east of the Mediterranean region, most notably the HQ for Farfetch, and Fuse Valley campus in Portugal, the Joint Research Center in Sevilla for the European Commission, and the Gastronomy Open Ecosystem for Basque Culinary Center.
Sjakket Youth Club is situated in Copenhagens Nordvest neighborhood, densely populated with old industrial buildings and contemporary housing. In , when BIG and JDS were hired to convert the building, the area was mainly populated by lower income households and immigrant families. BIG decided to refurbish the factory without gentrifying its raw beauty and alienating its original occupants.
Architecture evolves from the collision of political, financial, functional, logistic, cultural, structural, environmental, social and many yet unnamed and unforeseeable interests. Bruce Mau once visited BIGs office and saw a series of projects including a study on Danish harbor activities. He was fascinated by the study and asked us to mail him the slides as he was leaving the next day. When he received it, he replied: No, no. I want the one you explained when we were there. We assured him it was the same one. He said Its interesting. In most cases when you see architects work, itss dead drawings and superficial images. But when you get a tour of the office or visit a building with the architect, you feel the energy and get all these little punch lines and invisible stories that make the whole work come to life! Too bad its so hard to capture in an exhibition, or even worse in a book!