Martha Masli-ARCH1390: PRECEDENT STUDY

ZAHA HADID

GALAXY SOHO

The Galaxy Soho project by Zaha Hadid in central Beijing for Soho China is a 330,000 m² office, retail and entertainment complex that will become an integral part of the living city, inspired by the grand scale Beijing. This building is a composition of five continuous, flowing volumes that are set apart, fused or linked by stretched bridges. These volumes adapt to each other in all directions, generating a panoramic architecture without corners or abrupt transitions that break the fluidity of its formal composition. It comprised of volumes which coalesce to create a world of continuous mutual adaptation and fluid movement between each building. Shifting plateaus within the design impact upon each other to generate a deep sense of immersion and envelopment. As users enter deeper into the building, they discover intimate spaces that follow the same coherent formal logic of continuous curve-linearity.

Galaxy Soho

North Perspective Render

Night East Perspective Render

Bridge Perspective Render

Plan

Section model

Video

BIG

KAZAKHSTAN'S NEW NATIONAL LIBRARY IN ASTANA

“The design of the National Library combines four universal archetypes across space and time into a new national symbol: the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt are merged into the form of a Möbius strip. The clarity of the circle, the courtyard of the rotunda, the gateway of the arch and the soft silhouette of the yurt are combined to create a new national monument appearing local and universal, contemporary and timeless, unique and archetypal at the same time,” said Bjarke Ingels, BIG Founding Partner on the Astana National Library. The 2 interlocking structures: the perfect circle and the public spiral, create a building that transforms from a horizontal organization where library museum and support functions are placed next to each other, to a vertical organization where they are stacked on top of each other through a diagonal organization combining vertical hierarchy, horizontal connectivity and diagonal view lines. By wrapping the transforming composition of spaces with a continuous skin we create a Möbius strip volume where the facades move from inside to outside and back again.