CG ENVIRONMENTS - ARCHITECTURE: September 2007

//||\\ Tokyo International Forum Tokyo, Japan, 1996 DESCRIPTION CREDITS The Tokyo International Forum, commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, is a unique civic complex that accommodates cultural performances and business events. Located at the nexus of four subway lines and two major train stations, the site generates significant pedestrian traffic. The intent of the design was to provide full access for the public and protection from the impacts of the surroundings. A granite perimeter wall encloses a landscaped plaza that extends under four performing arts spaces suspended above. The theater lobbies overlook the plaza which serves as civic space and visually filters into the Glass Hall, a large glass enclosure with a dramatic 750-foot-long truss that hovers above. At night, light reflects off the surface of the ribs and transforms the structure into a monolithic floating light source, illuminating the Glass Hall and profiling it in the skyline. Under the plaza, a public concourse, which connects to the rail networks, wraps around an exhibition hall and becomes the main floor of the Glass Hall. Bridges and pedestrian ramps connect conference rooms to the theaters and provide total flexibility. The 35 x 16-foot Yurakucho Canopy, the world’s largest free-standing glass structure, shelters a staircase leading to an underground rail station and forms a key entrance to the complex. The Glass Hall, one of the most daring structures ever built in Japan, consists of two intersecting glass and steel ellipses, which enclose a vast central lobby and unite the elements of the complex. This structure is composed of seven stories above ground and three below. The 197-foot-high laminated glass curtain wall was designed to be transparent, visually connecting the theaters and plaza to the conference center. Tokyo International Forum Tokyo, Japan, 1996 Civic, Commercial, Performing Arts, Convention Center Completed 140,000 sq meters - (1,506,960 sq feet)

Rafael Viñoly Architects site: http://www.rvapc.com/

Biography

He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, (a film and theater director) and Maria Beceiro (a mathematics teacher).

He was educated at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1968.

In 1964, he formed the Estudio de Arquitectura with six associates. This practice would eventually become one of the largest architectural practices in South America, completing many significant commissions in a very short time.

In 1978 Viñoly and his family relocated to the United States. For a brief period he served as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, settling permanently in New York City in 1979.

He founded the firm Rafael Viñoly Architects PC in 1982. His first major New York project was the John Jay College of Criminal justice, which was completed in 1988. In 1989, he won an international competition to design the Tokyo International Forum. Completed in 1996, many people consider this building to be the most important cultural complex in Japan. His firm's design was one of the finalists in the World Trade Center design competition ultimately won by Daniel Libeskind.

Rafael Viñoly is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a member of the Japan Institute of Architects as well as the Sociedad Central de Arquitectos.

Buildings

Completed

Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan, 1996

Kimmel Center Interior

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2001

This building, home to the Philadelphia Orchestra, is inspired by winter-garden structures of the 19th century and the former Crystal Palace in London. Its basic design consists of two theaters (Verizon Hall and the Perelman Theater) within a public open space known as Commonwealth Plaza

Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002

This laboratory building is defined by three cascading glass terraces which define the primary research spaces, which are filled with natural light and incorporate extremely flexible laboratory casework.

Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 2002

The design seeks to maximize interaction among research groups, mainly by organizing circulation in a triple height atrium that runs nearly the entire length of the block-long site and bathes the interior in natural light. The rather simple rectilinear red brick façade is characterized by design elements including windows that overhang the street front and lend the facility a distinctive, even iconic look.

Information Sciences and Technology Building, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, 2003

Inspired by the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the IST Building straddles a main thoroughfare through the town (North Atherton Street/Business Route 322) and houses the university's School of Information Sciences and Technology as well as the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2003

Defined by a suspended roof structure inspired by Pittsburgh's many bridges, this 1.5 million square foot convention center has been called the world's largest "green" building, and is certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Hyde Park Center, Chicago, Illinois, 2004

This building incorporates a six-story glass-enclosed Winter Garden supported by steel columns that draw their inspiration from the University's Gothic Revival architecture.

BCEC entry canopy at night

Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, Massachusetts, 2004

The largest building in New England, this 1.7 million square foot convention facility includes a 515,000 sf contiguous exhibition hall, 72 meeting rooms, and a 50,000 square foot ballroom.

Jazz @ Lincoln Center, New York, New York, 2004

Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 2005

This museum, designed as a series of pavilions joined by an atrium, opened on October 2, 2005 to critical acclaim.

Mahler 4 Viñoly Toren Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2005

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia, 2006

In Progress

Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 2006

California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2006

firstsite:newsite Colchester Visual Arts Facility, Colchester, UK, 2007

Leicester Theatre and Performing Arts Centre, Leicester, UK, 2008

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Center for Advanced Medicine, 2008

New Terminal at Carrasco International Airport, Uruguay, 2009

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, 2011

CUNY City College School of Architecture, City College of New York, 2008

20 Fenchurch Street, City of London, UK, 2011

Vdara Condo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2009

Unbuilt/Cancelled

World Trade Center Redevelopment, New York, NY, 2002

Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, 2002. Plans for the museum's replacement fell through after numerous financial burdens.

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, 2013

This project has stopped due to the cancellation of federal funding for a plaza connecting the center to the city center, which is an integral component of the masterplan and expansion.

External links

(copied from Wikipedia.org)

CG ENVIRONMENTS - ARCHITECTURE

Friday, September 28, 2007

Day at Long Beach

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Detailed Maquette

Maquette Studies

Case Study

Case Study

More Pictures

Detail of theTokyo Forum

Rafael Viñoly - Background Info