We sent our Academy winner Viviane Vu on a search in Rotterdam. This time her task is to find buildings with nicknames.
Buildings in Rotterdam are often given nicknames by local residents. We sent our Academy winner Viviane Vu on a search in Rotterdam. This time her task is to find buildings and their nicknames.
The swan, the pencil and the big banana – what do these three have in common? They are all buildings in Rotterdam that have been given distinctive nicknames.
Better known by its nickname than its real name is the residential tower ‘het Potlood’ (the pencil), originally called ‘Blaaktoren’. The architect of the famous cube houses, Piet Blom, developed the pencil. However, the 15-storey building’s namesake spire has no hidden function.
The iconic Erasmus Bridge was also given a nickname. The angled pylon and cables, which resemble outstretched wings, gave the Erasmus Bridge the nickname ‘de Zwaan’ (the swan).
As a museum for architecture, design and digital culture, Het Nieuwe Instituut houses the Dutch State Archive for Architecture and Urban Planning and is therefore an important institution. Nevertheless, some humorous Rotterdammers call it the ‘big banana’. The reason for this is the curved bar in which the archive is located and which shields the museum park from the street.
When I asked around the office for nicknames for MVRDV projects, nobody could give me one. Perhaps because the project names themselves are already so concise? The only thing that is certain is that the names evolve from the design process, which is based on the now established design typologies of ‘pixelation’, ‘stacking’, ‘modifier’ and ‘village’.
From experience – if I can say this after my two years of study – I don’t think much of buildings that are representational images. Because you can’t foresee what others will associate with them and, in the end, form always takes precedence over utility. However, five months in Rotterdam and MVRDV have diminished the fear of the unconventional that I gained during my studies and have shown that it doesn’t hurt to show your colors in a literal sense, even in architecture.
All pictures by Viviane Vu.
The Baumeister Academy is an internship project of the architecture magazine Baumeister and is supported by GRAPHISOFT and BAU 2019.
From 1995 to 1999, the author restored five paintings from the main altar of the Franciscan church in Subotica (Hungary). The archive material available there already provided indications of the authorship of Sebastian Stettner (1699-1758). The documents in Subotica describe, among other things, the execution of the commission. According to them, Sebastian Stettner painted St. Michael “with extraordinary skill and expertise” in such a way that he […]
From 1995 to 1999, the author restored five paintings from the main altar of the Franciscan church in Subotica (Hungary). The archive material available there already provided indications of the authorship of Sebastian Stettner (1699-1758).
The documents in Subotica describe, among other things, the execution of the commission. According to them, Sebastian Stettner painted St. Michael “with extraordinary skill and expertise” in such a way that he steps on the devil. However, the client criticized the number of devils: “Why so many devils?” (Archivium 1751: 30). The artist therefore had to make changes to his painting and probably painted a completely new picture, as X-ray examinations showed no traces of overpainting. As things stand at present, he probably only submitted an oil sketch to the director of the House of the Order and chose the current iconographic concept before executing it. Unfortunately, these or other sketches by Stettner have not survived. They would have provided a better indication of his drawing skills and would have brought us closer to the art workshop where he studied.
However, by examining the materials and production techniques and evaluating the sources, a total of 14 works could be attributed to this master. The painter and gilder, whose origins are documented as “Dorst, Baijern” but could not be verified, settled in Buda (Hungary) in 1727, where he was granted citizenship in 1736. The city fathers made their decision dependent on the consent of two painters in Buda: Georg Falkoner (1646-1741) and Kaspar Landtrachtinger (1670-1744). Around 1738, his marriage to Maria Theresia Seth (1716-1789) enabled him to acquire a house in which he ran his workshop. His wife was also a painter and continued to run the workshop after Stettner’s death.
You can find out more about Sebastian Stettner’s painting technique in RESTAURO 4 / 2014.
The PERI company is realizing the world's first residential building extension with 3D concrete printing technology in Lindau/Lake Constance. Photo: PERI
After the first residential building with 3D printing technology, PERI has now realized the world’s first residential building extension – also with a 3D printer – in Lindau. You can read all about the project here.
Following the first residential building with 3D printing technology, the company Peri has now realized the world’s first residential building extension – also with a 3D printer – in Lindau. You can read all about the project and its significance for contemporary urban development in terms of redensification here.
A few weeks after Germany’s first 3D-printed house was opened in Beckum, the Weißenhorn-based formwork giant Peri is once again making a name for itself with a project on Lake Constance. This time with the addition of a storey to a residential building in Lindau, Bavaria.
The planning architect André Baldauf is extending the residential building by one storey. What is unique about this residential extension is that the load-bearing wall structures of the new storey are applied to the existing load-bearing structure using a 3D concrete printer. For this purpose, the old roof is first removed and a concrete ceiling is placed on top. In contrast, the ceiling is still being produced conventionally, as current 3D printing processes are not yet suitable for ceilings.
This creates an additional storey on the house with a floor area of 120 square meters and a height of 3.70 meters. The insulation made of Neptune gas insulates the double-shell walls. A new timber folding roof completes the extension at the top. With this project, Peri wants to show how flexibly 3D printing technology can be used in building construction. A particular challenge in the extension project in Lindau was the slope of the property, which initially posed difficulties for those involved in setting up the 3D printer. Like the house in Beckum, the extension in Lindau is a prototype project for Peri, with which the company wants to demonstrate the possibilities of its technology.
Similar to a 3D printer for plastics, the 3D concrete printing process from Danish company Cobod used here involves applying layers of specially designed concrete on top of each other until the desired wall height is reached. This is because the printer is set up as a gantry printer. This means that the machine stands on a structure that spans the work surface. This allows the print head to move in the resulting space. The print head uses a nozzle to apply layers of concrete two centimetres high and five centimetres wide as standard.
Layer by layer, load-bearing walls are created that can follow almost any curves and curves. The layer structure creates the corrugated look of the walls that is typical of this 3D printing variant. According to the manufacturer, the printer used (BOD2) takes around five minutes to print one square meter of double-skin wall.
The concrete used is a special formulation. The manufacturer HeidelbergCement has developed this specifically for 3D printing and calls it “i.tech 3D”. It is designed for good pumpability and high green strength and allows fresh-in-fresh printing. The special concrete is said to be fully recyclable and its development focused on the lowest possibleCO2 footprint. According to the manufacturer, up to 50 percent ofCO2 emissions can be saved compared to conventional concrete construction.
The advantages and disadvantages of adding storeys to buildings using 3D printing are similar to those of 3D building printing in general. In terms of time, costs and manpower, the technology already has an advantage over molded concrete in certain areas of application. In addition, complex shapes can be realized without high additional costs. However, there is currently no way to print reinforced walls with increased load-bearing capacity. This is because the choice of materials for 3D printing of buildings is still very limited.
3D concrete printing could provide a significant boost to urban densification. Where possible, a 3D-printed extension can also be harmoniously added to complex building structures. Compared to traditional construction methods, the disruption caused to the surrounding residents by the construction work would ultimately be reduced, at least in terms of time. This could therefore pave the way for greater acceptance. In the near future, the method could also offer considerable cost savings in some cases compared to traditional formwork concrete construction.
The 3D printing of buildings is still in its infancy and is currently undergoing a rapid phase of development. We can look forward to many more innovations in this area before certain processes become established and suitable for the mass market.
Also interesting: In Hamburg, the urban real estate developer Sprinkenhof is planning an administrative building in timber construction together with ADEPT. This is set to become Germany’s largest timber building.
