The Grand reveal
Designs for the conversion of the former Grand Hotel in Nieuwpoort, Belgium have been presented to the national and local press, in the presence of Mayor Geert Vanden Broucke and the Minister for Heritage Matthias Diependaele. The project, by VDD Project Development, will be called The Grand and seeks to reconnect the building to the surrounding public realm at ground level while converting the upper floors for private apartments. The surviving historic fabric will be carefully restored and lost elements, such as the tower and domes, reinstated. They draw inspiration from the playful original 1924 design by Apollon Lagache. The building will grow in scale with an additional four storeys, regaining its presence as a landmark on the Nieuwpoort beachfront.
Paseo de Pereda receives planning permission
The City of Santander has granted planning permission for the conversion of the historic waterfront headquarters of Banco Santander on Paseo de Pereda to house a new art museum. The project will open the building to the public allowing it to become a more active part of the city’s social and cultural life. In its new role, the building will display the Banco Santander collection and host a range of diverse temporary exhibitions. In addition to gallery space, the building will accommodate a café and rooftop events space. The building is expected to start on site in February, with completion due in late 2023.
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Queen has ordered the appointment of David Chipperfield to be a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for his services to architecture, as announced in the 2021 New Year Honours list. The order was founded in 1917 and contains a maximum of 65 members at any time, including the Sovereign. Members include those who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine and government. David was knighted for services to architecture in the UK and Germany in 2010. Continue reading
Looking back at Domus 2020
The November issue of Domus completes David Chipperfield’s 2020 guest editorship of the Italian architecture and design magazine. Through the ten issues he has sought to focus attention on architects’ professional position in a dramatically changing world, highlighting the need for architects to work together to redefine their role in the face of critical social and environmental challenges.
David now hands over to Tadao Ando who will become the fourth guest editor of Domus’ 10x10x10 project, where ten architects edit ten monthly issues in the ten years leading to the magazine’s 100th anniversary in 2028.
Kunsthaus Zürich extension completes
After twelve years of planning and construction, the extension to the Kunsthaus Zürich is now complete. On 11 December 2020, the keys to the new building were handed over to the client in a virtual ceremony. Designed by David Chipperfield Architects Berlin, the new freestanding museum building faces the original Kunsthaus across Heimplatz. Together the two buildings define this urban square and are connected by an underground passageway. A central hall spans the full length of the extension building, creating a link between Heimplatz and a new Garden of Art to the north.
With this extension, the institution now stands as the largest art museum in Switzerland. It will open to the public in October 2021.
View project
Image © Noshe
Neue Nationalgalerie nears completion
With the roof and façade of the Neue Nationalgalerie now revealed for the first time in several years, an important step on the way to the museum’s re-opening has been reached. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the key handover ceremony for the Neue Nationalgalerie has recently had to be postponed to April 2021. Its re-opening to the public is planned for August 2021.
Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie is one of the icons of twentieth-century architecture. Inaugurated 15 September 1968, David Chipperfield Architects Berlin was appointed to refurbish the building in 2012.
Image © BBR / Thomas Bruns
Suit-Case travel bag for Tsatsas
Suit-Case is the result of a collaboration between the German luxury bag manufacturer Tsatsas and David Chipperfield Design. The travel bag launched online in November.
Born out of the desire to create a bag that accommodates the lifestyle of the economical traveller, Suit-Case weighs only 2.7kg and is hand-luggage sized. It is handmade entirely of ecologically conscious materials, embodying the aesthetics of understatement and clarity while eschewing short-lived trends. Continue reading
Neues Museum
The Neues Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island was designed by Friedrich August Stüler and built between 1841 and 1859. Extensive bombing during the Second World War left the building in ruins, with entire sections missing completely and others severely damaged. Few attempts at repair were made after the war, and the structure was left exposed to nature.In 1997, David Chipperfield Architects won the international competition for the rebuilding of the Neues Museum in collaboration with Julian Harrap.
Royal Academy of Arts masterplan
Founded in 1768, the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is the oldest arts institution in Britain. Since 1868 the Royal Academy has been based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, in central London. In 2001 the RA acquired 6 Burlington Gardens, an Italianate building of comparable size located immediately to the north of Burlington House and oriented in the opposite direction. Originally designed in the 1860s as the Senate House for the University of London, 6 Burlington Gardens had been modified over the years.
Hoxton Press
This residential project, won in competition, is located at the south-west corner of the Colville Estate, a housing development in Hackney, east London, built in the 1950s. It forms part of Hackney Council’s programme of redevelopment across the borough that calls for around 2,500 new homes to be built over the coming years. Karakusevic Carson Architects was originally commissioned to develop a comprehensive masterplan, which was adopted in 2011. The two residential towers, 16 and 20 storeys respectively, form part of this masterplan and are intended for private sale to co-fund the larger redevelopment of the estate.
On Planning – A Thought Experiment
This publication is the outcome of an 18-month dialogue between David Chipperfield and Simon Kretz as part of the Rolex Mentor & Protégé programme.
The collaboration led to a theoretical exercise examining the forces that influence the shape of cities, using the Bishopsgate goods yard site in East London as a case study. Exploring this further with teams at ETH Zurich, they highlighted conditions under which an ideal urban development project could flourish.
Publications
AV Monograph 209-210
Texts by Deborah Berke, Luis Fernández-Galiano, Richard Ingersoll, Sebastian Redecke, Flora Samuel and Deyan Sudjic. This survey features an examination of 36 works by David Chipperfield Architects.
Publisher: Arquitectura Viva SL, Madrid, Spain
Date: 2019