ALA_Architects: Samuli will be presenting #Kilden at #Batimat 2011 on the 10th of November.Thursday, 10 November 2011

ALA_Architects: The #Kilden Concert Hall brings the Norwegian Concrete Element Prize 2011 to ALA with SMS Architects.Monday, 19 September 2011

The new Kilden website gives a sneak preview.

Kilden i Feven.

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

NRK filming Kilden, twice.

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

ALA_Architects: #Kilden building process & cover in Swiss #architecture magazine werk, bauen + wohnen http://www.wbw.ch/de/aktuelleMonday, 16 May 2011

ALA_Architects: ALA is designing a new multipurpose hall as an extention to the 60s architectural classic #Kuopio City #Theatre designed by Helmer Stenros.Wednesday, 20 April 2011

ALA_Architects: Juho will be discussing the structural challenges of #Kilden at the #architecture #AHO school in Oslo today at 13!Thursday, 24 March 2011

Kilden in progress article on arch daily, the worlds most visited architecture website.

Tuesday, 01 March 2011

Architects' aurical tradition says that theatres are the most demanding building type. Concert halls are the second.

To start an office with a project combining these two is one definition of youth.

Friday, 07 January 2011

Astronomical Applications Dept. / U.S. Naval Observatory / Washington, DC 20392-5420
KRISTIANSAND E  8 00, N58 10
Altitude and Azimuth of the Sun                                              
Oct 1,2006

Zone:  1h East of Greenwich
Altitude    Azimuth (E of N)
06:00       -5.0        87.9
08:00       10.5       113.7
10:00       22.8       142.2
12:00       28.5       175.0
14:00       25.3       208.5
16:00       14.5       238.2
18:00        0.1       264.5
19:00       -8.4       277.3

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

BUILDING PARTS #1: WALL

 

Our times are taking sculptural abstraction of a regular building perhaps further than ever. Still, each creation, be they “blobs”, “algorithmic designs”, “piles”, “potato chips”, etc. is a reorganization of a few elemental building parts. The catalog of these parts has remained the same ever since our ancestors had THE idea of human history: switch from finding shelter to building it.

THE ESSENCE

Wall is the defining building part for human beings. Whereas most terrestrial animals still focus on the ground we decided to stand up 3.000.000 years ago. This makes the wall a natural building part for us. We literally shift focus from floors to walls during the first years of our life. Most people can read floor plans to figure out the space illustrated in them, but have trouble understanding sections projecting floors, ceilings and roofs.

In most climates the roof is a more important element as weather protection. Still, the sociological value of the wall – its ability to define space – makes it a strong candidate for the title of the most important building part.

Walls provide feeling of security and safety. But on the other side of this, isn’t there disconnection or captivity? The Great Wall is said to be the one single structure visible to from the moon. What kind of message are we sending out there? What do walls actually do?

WALLS BETWEEN US

The most famous wall in recent history is the Berlin Wall (1961-1989). It embodied separation. The barrier wall of the West Bank between Israel and Palestine is carrying on with the same tradition. In the nearby Jerusalem the Western Wall proves that walls can function as unifiers in addition to being mere tools to keep evil out. As the Western Wall is also significant to the Muslim faith, and subject of battle between these cultures, it also proves the fact that walls are never just simple black or white.

Even the Berlin wall became, with time, a tool of communication. Through ornamentation to posters and graffiti, wall paintings are the oldest existing form of sending messages over time. Wall paintings bring us thoughts from our forefathers 30.000 years back. Talk about connecting.

As most of us nowadays live in cities it’s notable that walls, more than anything, define our space and frame our view of the world. According to how walls in an urban scale are placed, they frame vistas underlining either opportunities and hope, or limitations and oppression.

Some of us head to Wall Street to redefine our finances. Meanwhile climbing walls, squash court walls, walls of sound, etc. are used to keep our bodies active and our minds alive.

BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE

During the 20^th century modernist architecture attended to get rid of the wall. It was made non-load-bearing and transparent, aiming to blur the border between inside and outside. Architecture figuratively reflected the trauma of political separation and unwanted boundaries.

We are now entering the time after ultimate transparency. The idea of exposing everything is being killed by trends like reality-tv, that just take it all too far. In architectural sense, we are learning that transparency without distraction was a dream, and that nonexistence is not reality (these ideas may be achievable somewhere else, like in the virtual realm…never mind a few firewalls…). So we are in the process of defining new goals for an ideal world – and an ideal wall. Lately ecological needs are – conveniently – supporting this awaited re-definition.

All and all: Walls keep us safe. A borderline means not only a place to separate but also a place to meet. There is no reason to put walls down… just a good reason to think of doors and windows.

Tuesday, 02 February 2010

"The logic of an unusual architecture" by Panu Lehtovuori

Text Extract from ARK, The Finnish Architectural Review 2/2005

The results of the international architectural competition for the Kristiansand theatre and concert hall in Norway were announced in February 2005. The winning entry in the competition, which had raised worldwide interest, was by the finnish architect's office ALA (Juho Grönholm, Antti Lassila, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston) with their proposal called "Tutu".

"Tutu" refers, of course, to the ballerina's dress. ALA's "Tutu" is in its functionality as tempting as a dancer's dress. It does not fall into either of Robert Venturi's categories, namely a duck or a decorated shed, but neither does it repeat recent trends. It's not a 'blob' or minimalism, but mixes the pack of modern architecture to produce something new.

The core of the scheme is the almost industrial-production chain of theatrical productions and other performances. ALA has optimised the logistics of several users. The row of theatre spaces set together side by side has been dressed in a huge slanting wooden curtain that follows their form. This slanting surface, going for the European record for projections, encloses within its envelope the foyer, a monumental staircase and the park-and-ride traffic area adjacent to the harbour.

Rem Koolhaas' notion of "bigness" offers some keys to the design concept. The interior - the theatre spaces and extensive backstage facilities - are a separate aspect and project from the outside, a free wooden surface and folded copper envelope. ALA's approach is not purist, but the result is nevertheless simple and understandable. The appearance of 'Tutu', imprinted in the mind in milliseconds, is the result of analytical architectural work, not a preconcieved image. That is why it is so original.

The next stage of the planning has already began, and in 2010 a very interesting "experience machine" will open on the south tip of the fjord country."

The first meeting with the client: 08:00 "sharp": on the morning after the prize ceremonies in Kristiansand.

Three Norwegians sit opposite to us. All have their hands clasped on the table. We all notice, but can't relax enought to comment, as it's the first >100M€ grossing deal for us (...it's the first ANY deal for us).

Only after we're out of the room we ask each other: What the **ck's with the identical rings?

Wednesday, 02 February 2005