30 Of The Biggest Projects From Starchitect Bjarke Ingels
From a Hudson Yards skyscraper to designing the last tower of the World Trade Center, Danish starchitect Bjarke Ingels is the man behind some of the most prominent projects in the making. Here's an inside look at 30 of his most spectacular designs.
2 World Trade Center is the final component in the rebuilding and revitalization of Lower Manhattan. The 1,340-foot structure will frame the 9/11 memorial along with the 1, 3 and 4 WTC buildings.
An indoor event space, The Brooklyn Bridge Park Viewing Platform will provide magnificent views of the surrounding harbor. Sloping upwards an impressive 17.5 feet, the platform promises views of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge.
The new 40th precinct station house combines functionality with an improved quality of life for its employees.
The Dryline, a practical response to Hurricane Sandy, will act as a protective system around a large section of Manhattan. The section consists of 10 continuous miles of low-lying geography that put an incredibly vulnerable urban area at risk for future natural disasters.
The Spiral stays true to its name by imitating an upward spiral to the sky. The spiral wraps around the tower, becoming gradually thinner as you reach the top.
The Big Pin observation tower in Phoenix aims to set the landscape in motion with its swirling shape that seems to almost touch the sky.
The Smithsonian's main goal is to maintain, preserve and revitalize the iconic Smithsonian Institution.
The Intrepid is going to reference the Navy Yard's maritime history while acting as a functioning facility around the city's circular Central Green Park.
With Google North Bayshore, Bjarke set out to translate its digital vision into the physical realm. "[They] have set out to imagine the work environments of future Googlers to be as adaptable, flexible and intelligent as the rest of Google's wide-spanning portfolio," Bjarke says.
The new Wilson Secondary School is designed to create open green space for recreation. Bjarke's design seeks to maintain the feel of a one-story school that integrates education with recreation and functionality.
The Kimball Art Center seeks to pay homage to the city's mining roots. Original settlers used heavy stacks of timber to retain the structure of the mine—and thus the Kimball idea was born.
The Seven Peaks of Azerbaijan is a plan for a zero energy culture and entertainment city on Zira Island in the Caspian Sea. The peaks not only metaphorically reflect the actual seven famous peaks in Azerbaijan, but will be engineered to act as entire ecosystems.
The First Hotel is expected to be a unique experience for its visitors with the interior mixing elements from Japanese gardens to Norwegian landscape. The hotel promises to bridge the gap between commercial and urban life.
The circular shape of the Astana National Library is an open, welcoming space, appealing to everyone from the focused student to the curious tourist.
The National Bank of Iceland is not only visually spectacular, but functional. "Like an urban form of the Icelandic landscape, its characteristic shapes, peaks, caves and canyons are the results of exterior forces acting upon it," according to the architect's website.
"The Superharbour intends to liberate 20 billion euros of prime real estate in Denmark's 12 biggest cities for new forms of urban life," Bjarke says.
Heading to the islands, The Honeycomb Residences will become the tallest structure in Albany, Bahamas. Wrapped in glass balconies that overlook the extraordinary views of the nearby marina, Bjarke has created a seamless relationship between the residents and their surroundings.
The Kistefos Museum "creates a series of interconnected spaces: a vertical stack of galleries for media, paintings and sculpture and a horizontal open gallery," according to Bjarke.
This German high-rise is a "slender and rational stack of inhabited floors," he says.
Bjarke was invited to re-create the Uppsala Power Plant into a functional but eye-pleasing structure. With only seasonal use of the plant, it was important to make it look pretty to the public during those unused months.
Acting as its own little mixed-use community, Europa City will contain a mix of retail, culture and leisure under one roof. The hope is that this will become a new central hub for the city.
The Walter Tower is actually one continuous building sliced up and pulled apart to create the "W" shape. The Tower consists of two commercial buildings at the base, one office space in the center and three residential spaces at the top.
Yongsan is composed of two elegant towers of 702 and 670 feet, respectively, and two horizontal towers, bridging the other towers at 460 and 230 feet. The commercial and residential buildings consist of a courtyard, sky gardens and amenities.
Watch Flower is a 3D promenade that floats above harbor edge in Aarhus, Denmark. The flower gradually grows towards the sky, revealing a new viewpoint and experience at every turn.
Koutalaki Ski Village in Finland looks like something out of a holiday special. Four buildings wrap around a central square, creating a pocket sheltered from the wind. With options to shop, ski or just stroll, this village screams hot chocolate and snow angels.
The Tek Building in Taiwan provides an urban mix of shops, showrooms, offices, hotel rooms, restaurants, galleries and much more all in one space. The roof of the cube -shaped building hosts a common picnic-like area where all are welcome.
With most concert halls maintaining a very inward structure, The Stavanger Concert Hall aims to be exciting and inviting both inside and out. Located on Stavanger's harbor front, the hall hopes to include the community with its welcoming design.
The Scala Tower is a tower of luxury. Designed to be a luxury hotel, the base consists of a shopping center, conference room and main library. The tower and the base are entwined in a spiral-shaped cascade leading to a public rooftop overlooking City Hall Square.
La Maison Des Fondateurs is intended to be a pavilion for art, science and watchmaking. The building itself is both functional and beautiful, even going so far as to visually represent the actual dial of a watch.
The REN Building in Shanghai acts as two separate towers merging together as one. The first tower, coming from the water, houses the sports and water culture center. The second tower, emerging from the land, is dedicated to conference centers and meeting facilities. A 1,000-room hotel is to exist where the two towers meet.
