Snohetta lecture
I saw the Snohetta lecture last Friday, and thought it was one of the best lectures that has be presented to us to date. Craig Dykers who is a senior partner in the firm, presented some of their work and talked about some of the competitions that they entered, and how they never thought that they would have won. The first project he talked about was the Alexandria Library in Egypt, he talked about how they want people looking at this building to look through it and passed it, they didn’t want a building that stood straight up. Some of the features of the building that he showed us in the slides were the Façade and all of the hand carved writings, he said it took them 6 years to research, and carve all of the writing into the granite. Another feature he talked about was the natural lighting, and how they used stained glass to introduce some green and blue lighting into the interior. One of the slides he showed us was of people who made a human barrier around the building to protect it from the government rallies that the country were having, it showed people from both sides holding hands to form that chain right there is showed us how architecture can bring people together.
The next project he showed us was the Swedish consulate that was located in Germany. He told us about the main structural member that held up the roof, it was a solid piece of granite that was three feet thick, 15 feet wide, 45 feet tall, and weighted 300 tons. The first obstacle that they had was finding a piece of granite that was going to be big enough, he said when they found it the next part they had to figure out was how they were going to get it from the quarry to the site which was in Germany. They were told that the slab would have to be transported in pieces, he said after some calculations and other factor they were able to transport it as a single piece. When he showed us the picture I couldn’t believe it, I think that supporting wall made the project that much more successful.
The last couple of project that he showed us were the New Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. This was my favorite project that he showed us because of all of the details that they put into this building, from the granite exterior floor, the one piece monolithic wood for the balcony’s in the main room to the hand blown glass chandelier that weighted three tons. This building I think is used to its full potential and much more, he talked about how this site was contaminated before the construction and how they clean up the site. The other project was Karmoy Fishing Museum this project was located in a very beautiful place, and the views it gave the visitors to the North Sea and how they could see the old light house, which I thought was very special. The last project was an Installation that was called Knogsberg Jazz Festival Tubaloon which served as the main stage for the Scandinavia’s Knogsberg Jazz Festival. They made this shape for the acoustic properties for people in the inside of and also for the people who weren’t able to get inside. If funneled the music to the outside of the structure, it was also a self supporting structure also which was really interesting.
I saw how architecture can help unite people when conflict is happening and how people from both sides join forces to help protect a common interest. I hope UNM SA+P will continue to bring lectures like this one to the students.
The next project he showed us was the Swedish consulate that was located in Germany. He told us about the main structural member that held up the roof, it was a solid piece of granite that was three feet thick, 15 feet wide, 45 feet tall, and weighted 300 tons. The first obstacle that they had was finding a piece of granite that was going to be big enough, he said when they found it the next part they had to figure out was how they were going to get it from the quarry to the site which was in Germany. They were told that the slab would have to be transported in pieces, he said after some calculations and other factor they were able to transport it as a single piece. When he showed us the picture I couldn’t believe it, I think that supporting wall made the project that much more successful.
The last couple of project that he showed us were the New Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. This was my favorite project that he showed us because of all of the details that they put into this building, from the granite exterior floor, the one piece monolithic wood for the balcony’s in the main room to the hand blown glass chandelier that weighted three tons. This building I think is used to its full potential and much more, he talked about how this site was contaminated before the construction and how they clean up the site. The other project was Karmoy Fishing Museum this project was located in a very beautiful place, and the views it gave the visitors to the North Sea and how they could see the old light house, which I thought was very special. The last project was an Installation that was called Knogsberg Jazz Festival Tubaloon which served as the main stage for the Scandinavia’s Knogsberg Jazz Festival. They made this shape for the acoustic properties for people in the inside of and also for the people who weren’t able to get inside. If funneled the music to the outside of the structure, it was also a self supporting structure also which was really interesting.
I saw how architecture can help unite people when conflict is happening and how people from both sides join forces to help protect a common interest. I hope UNM SA+P will continue to bring lectures like this one to the students.
