Architectural Details 2003

Detail Magazine

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781135143923
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

This is a compilation of the full year's information, including: the "Discussion" section, where well-known architects and critics as well as specialist authors and architectural historians articulate their views; the "Documentation" section containing an analysis of selected projects, in which buildings from around the world are covered in depth; and the "Technology" section where the specific theme of each issue of the magazine is treated in greater depth. Along with these are illustrations of the high standards that Detail is known for, where all plan drawings are true to scale and have been approved by the architects, planners and engineers responsible for the original design. This annual sourcebook is a beautiful record, not only of the year's Detail publication, but of some of the best, and most innovative contemporary architecture

Dokumentation

Media Library in Vénissieux

Dominique Perrault, Paris

DOI: 10.4324/9780080575186-6

Situated on the southern outskirts of Lyons, Venissieux is one of the suburbs of the city that was subject to social unrest in the 1990s. The present media library, erected opposite the 1970s' town hall, was conceived as a new centre with an integrative function for the local population and visitors from neighbouring communities. The various sections of the library are laid out at ground level over a roughly 3,200 m² area. Resembling a large market hall, the space is divided into different thematic zones solely by furnishings, bookshelves, and wood and glass partitions. The administration, stores and special spaces are housed in a three-storey tract above the east-west circulation strip. The load-bearing structure of this large hall consists of a simple steel space frame with a ribbed sheet-metal roof. The roof is supported by 16 exposed concrete shear walls, which are integrated into the overall layout. Extending round the building between the inner functional area and the facade is a three-metre-wide peripheral circulation space that affords access to the various departments from all sides, thereby obviating the need for additional routes that would disrupt the internal activities. The facade forms one of the special attractions of the design. By day, the building has the appearance of a completely opaque, gleaming aluminium box externally, while from the inside – depending on one's position – there is an almost clear view out. At night, when the media library is illuminated internally, the effect is reversed. This play of light was made possible by a double skin of glazing, with perforated, horizontal, U-shaped aluminium sheeting elements inserted in the intermediate space to provide sunshading and visual screening. As a result of the perforations (35 per cent of the area), the sheeting is permeable to light. Slightly angled and offset in depth, the elements establish a mystical interplay with the transparent facade. The intermediate space between the layers of glazing also allows the circulation of air and thus serves the air conditioning of the hall.

Detail 1/2 2003

Museum in Kalkriese

Annette Gigon, Mike Guyer, Zurich

DOI: 10.4324/9780080575186-7

In 1987, a British amateur archaeologist found evidence that helped to locate the scene of the legendary Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, which was fought over an area of nearly 30 km². Here in AD 9, Hermann (Arminius), the leader of the Cherusci, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Roman legions of Publius Quincitilius Varus. Although no remains of buildings were found, numerous objects and a revetment were excavated. An exhibition park, with three pavilions and a museum structure, has now been created on the site. The route taken by the Romans along the revetment is marked by large iron plates, while the winding paths of the Germans through the forest are indicated by small pieces of wood. The line of the former German revetment is articulated with iron stakes. Only a small section of the terrain at a lower level has been reconstructed. The area is retained by sheet-steel piling that forms a striking enclosure. The three small pavilions, in contrast, leave more to the imagination of visitors and were designed to heighten the sense of perception. Together with the designers Ruedi Baur and Lars Müller, the architects conceived the pavilions on a thematic basis related to vision, hearing and questioning. The pavilion for questioning forms a bridge to the present, with slits on one side that afford a view of the battlefield, while on the other side, video films provide information on modern warfare. Rising above everything is an almost 40-metre-high museum tower that commands a view over the entire battlefield. At its base, the tower is intersected by a flat cubic structure containing the exhibition spaces. The pavilions and the museum are clad in sheet steel. All the new elements, therefore, form a homogeneous whole. Steel is, indeed, the dominant material of the scheme, used not only for the exposed skeleton-frame structure of the tower, but for the wall and soffit cladding and the stakes, ground plates and piling that form the field markings. Externally, the sheeting has a rough rusted texture. Internally, the wall and ceiling panels have a finer, non-rusted finish.

Detail 1/2 2003

Secondary School in Vienna

Henke and Schreieck Architects, Vienna

DOI: 10.4324/9780080575186-8

The school building is situated in suburban surroundings on the outskirts of Vienna and introduces a new urban dimension to the small-scale structure of the area. The complex comprises a series of single- and two-storey tracts laid out around a large courtyard. Here, the atrium type assumes a special form. Large areas of glazing lend th...