Dezeen: Harbin Opera House, north east China | MAD

### dezeen.com 16 December 2015
MAD’s sinuous Harbin Opera House completes in north-east China
Beijing studio MAD has completed an opera house in the Chinese city of Harbin, featuring an undulating form that wraps two concert halls and a huge public plaza. The opera house is the first and largest building that MAD has designed as part of Harbin Cultural Island, a major new arts complex among the wetlands of the Songhua River. The 79,000-square-metre building features a three-petalled plan. One houses a grand theatre with space for up to 1,600 visitors, while the other is a more intimate performance space for an audience of 400. The building is designed to mirror the sinuous curves of the marsh landscape, with an exterior of smooth white aluminium panels and glass. These contrast with the rooftops, where a textured surface of ice-inspired glass pyramids allows light in from above. According to MAD, the building is designed “in response to the force and spirit of the northern city’s untamed wilderness and frigid climate”. “We envision Harbin Opera House as a cultural centre of the future – a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity, while synergistically blending with the surrounding nature,” said studio founder Ma Yansong.

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█ MAD Architects: http://www.i-mad.com/

MAD has designed several cultural buildings, including an artificial island of art caves, an icicle-shaped wood sculpture museum also in Harbin and Chicago’s proposed George Lucas Museum. Curved surfaces are a recurring theme through them all, picking up Ma’s ambition for a new style of architecture, referencing the landscapes of traditional Chinese paintings.

“We treat architecture as a landscape,” he told Dezeen in an interview last year.

The smooth surfaces of the opera house’s exterior continue inside.
Read more + Images

█ Photography by Adam Mørk and Hufton + Crow.

Related stories:
China Wood Sculpture Museum by MAD
MAD reveals concept design for George Lucas’ Chicago art museum
MAD Architects unveils slimmed-down design for Lucas Museum in Chicago

Related movie:
MAD wants to “invent a new typology” for high-rise architecture, says Ma Yansong
In this exclusive video interview filmed in Venice, Ma Yansong of Chinese architects MAD explains his concept for a “shan-shui city”, a high density urban development inspired by traditional Chinese paintings of mountain ranges.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

NZIA Southern: Ted McCoy Lecture Series 2014

21 November – Barclay Theatre, Otago Museum at 6:00 PM

A public lecture by Lance Herbst of Herbst Architects
focusing [on Context] as a driver of design.

All welcome [click to enlarge]

█ Website: http://herbstarchitects.co.nz/

Herbst Architects Ltd is a New Zealand Institute of Architects registered practice, established in 2000 by principals Lance and Nicola Herbst.
The practice has completed a wide range of works in the fields of residential, commercial and education for which they have been the recipient of multiple awards for architecture, including 14 NZIA awards and the 2012 Home of the Year award. Their works have been widely published, both locally and internationally. The practice maintains a small office in Auckland that strives to make a positive and meaningful contribution to the built environment through excellence in architecture.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Architecture + Women • New Zealand

Updated post 26.10.14 at 6:57 p.m.
The following information is reproduced in the public interest.

Architectural Theory Review, 17:2-3, 280-298

█ LIMITED VISIBILITY – Portraits of Women Architects (PDF, 721 KB)
By Sarah Treadwell & Nicole Allan

Version of record first published: 08 Feb 2013

This paper considers the visibility of women architects across three New Zealand sites: the institutional architecture journal, the national architecture award system and a local website that allows for self-representation. The website, Architecture + Women, was set up in 2011 in anticipation of an exhibition of the work of New Zealand women architects planned for 2013 as an anniversary of an earlier event, ‘‘Constructive Agenda’’, held in 1993. The website accumulates images of women in New Zealand who identify as architects. The paper considers the portrayal of women architects in each of the three sites, juxtaposing a sociological viewpoint with the biographical, seen as distinct yet overlapping modes of representation. Five portraits from the website are selected for detailed discussion as they reflect upon representations of femininity, colonial encounters, nature and the limits of the discipline—issues that are persistent for women architects in New Zealand.

To cite this article:
Sarah Treadwell & Nicole Allan (2012): Limited Visibility: Portraits of Women Architects, Architectural Theory Review, 17:2-3, 280-298

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Architectural Theory Review, founded at the University of Sydney in 1996, and now in its eighteenth year, is the pre-eminent journal of architectural theory in the Australasian region. Now published by Taylor and Francis in print and online, the journal is an international forum for generating, exchanging and reflecting on theory in and of architecture. All texts are subject to a rigorous process of blind peer review.

Sarah Treadwell is Associate Professor at the School of Architecture and Planning (National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries), University of Auckland. Sarah’s research investigates the representation of architecture in colonial and contemporary images. Motels, gender and volcanic conditions of ground are also subjects of interest. Sarah has published in various books and journals including Architectural Theory Review, Architectural Design, Space and Culture, and Interstices. Her book Revisiting Rangiatea was the outcome of participation in the Gordon H Brown Lecture Series in 2008. Professional association: NZIA

Nicole Allan is an Architectural Graduate Practicing. Nicole works in the Christchurch Studio of Warren and Mahoney architects.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Two architectural images #Dunedin

Images: Elizabeth Kerr

Views from my Pitt Street apartment during the July snow –
(top) Richardson Building; (bottom) Zoology Building roofscape foreground, Commerce Building behind, Richardson left

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Shipping containers….

### inhabitat.com 21 May 2010
Gorgeous Shipping Container Art Studio in New York
By Bridgette Meinhold
Wow! We knew that shipping containers could be used to build beautiful buildings, but this art studio by MB Architecture in Amagansett, New York is truly gorgeous. The artist had a limited budget of $60,000 to work with and wanted something close to home that was both functional as a working space, but would also be inviting and reflective.

Images: Maziar Behrooz Architecture

The exterior is kept very simply as the shipping container, but painted gray for a sophisticated look and a way to blend the container into the wooded environment. Inside, bright white walls act as a blank canvas for new artwork and ample daylighting streams in through the large windows on either end.

The foundation for the studio is built into the earth with 9′ walls and acts as the lower level and work space for the studio. Two 40′ (9′6″) high cube shipping containers were then set on top of the foundation to create a two-storey double wide structure. About 75% of the floors of the containers were cut away to create the tall ceilings with lots of natural light flooding in from the high windows.

Next to the painting area on the lower floor is a large storage area and directly above on the top floor is another work area. The container wide staircase acts as a transitional and gallery space for artwork. Each of the two containers cost about $2,500 delivered. An amazing example of how beautiful shipping container architecture can be.
Read more + Images
via Le Journal du Design and Arch Daily

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Town Hall: Glazed cube and square for Moray Place

Updated post 7.3.13 at 3:58 p.m.

See pictures at ODT… By the way, the reference to the Louvre in Paris isn’t helpful. I like architect IM Pei’s work and have experienced it first-hand but the Louvre’s glass pyramid sucks, always has.

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### ODT Online Thu, 2 Jul 2009
Town hall upgrade: from clip-on to glass cube
By David Loughrey
A cube-shaped glass entrance has emerged as the centrepiece of a $45 million revamp of the Dunedin Town Hall, part of major structural changes to the historic buildings.
Read more

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### ODT Online Thu, 2 Jul 2009
Changes for Harrop St
By David Loughrey
The car park area off Harrop St will be turned into a public space as part of the upgrade of the Dunedin Town Hall and Dunedin Centre. Plans for the area show grass and trees on the car park site, but Opus architect Jeff Thompson said more work was still to be done.
Read more

Note: Seating in the upper gallery or top tier will be retained to show off the original seating of the Town Hall; air displacement vents will be incorporated under the seats to enhance climate control. Another thing, the cube has a set of internal columns (visible in the graphics) to complement the column detail on the classical facade of the Town Hall to Moray Place.

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### radionz.co.nz Updated at 9:49pm on 1 July 2009
RNZ News
New plans for Dunedin Town Hall revealed
New plans for a $45 million redevelopment of the Dunedin Town Hall and adjoining Dunedin Centre complex have been unveiled. The plans include a smaller, cube-shaped glass entranceway on Moray Place to replace the existing glass entrance erected in the 1970s. Harrop Street will become a pedestrian walkway with a green public space replacing the existing carpark. The council meets on Monday to decide whether to approve the design.
Read more

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### The Star Online Thu July 2 2009 (page 1)
Revised Dunedin Centre plans get the thumbs up
By Brenda Harwood
Dunedin City Council’s revised $45 million plans for redeveloping the Dunedin Town Hall, Glenroy Auditorium and Municipal Chambers have been greeted with relief by a former opponent.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Town Hall Dunedin Centre architecture for a What if? second

Today DCC and its project team presented the “new proposal” for the Dunedin Centre’s redevelopment to stakeholders and interested people at the Glenroy Auditorium.

In previous days I’d heard very positive murmurs about the design. Indeed, today’s reaction to the plans was almost uniformly positive. Councillors have received the same presentation.

Channel 9 news coverage speaks to the main drivers of the project.

### Channel 9 Online July 1, 2009 – 6:42pm
Town Hall Redevelopment Plans Announced Today

Official plans for the redevelopment of the Town Hall were announced today by the Dunedin City Council.
Video Link

The redevelopment will ensure the old Town Hall building meets contemporary user needs and compliance requirements, as well as protecting heritage values throughout.

The changes are predominantly to the building interior, improving wayfinding and incorporating several level changes between the Town Hall building, which incorporates the Glenroy, and the Municipal Chambers.

A “glass cube” entranceway that only lightly touches the Town Hall’s classical façade to Moray Place is a new addition, one which allows an uncluttered reading of the old building’s scale and detail.

A new square is created on Moray Place, serving as a gathering and flow space for events attracting large crowds of between 3,000 – 4,000 people, such as graduations and rock concerts.

The Glenroy will be gutted to create a new multipurpose hall and conference facility. According to the independent business plan, conference use will help fund community function of the building.

Harrop St (to be incorporated into the square) will be closed to through traffic, to provide an access way for pedestrians and service vehicles. This to my mind is a reasonable compromise, ensuring the District Plan’s protection of the vista is upheld. Landscaping of the square will include stair access to St Paul’s Cathedral gardens, independently due to undergo new landscaping work.

The $45 million Town Hall project goes to Council for approval next week. It is hoped that construction will begin at the end of this year.

The project will be staged to work around user bookings and the continuing operation of the Dunedin Visitor Centre* on the ground floor of the Municipal Chambers. Closure of the Glenroy during gutting and construction will be necessary; as will closure of the Town Hall during programmed upgrades. The council indicated datelines for these today.

*The Visitor Centre will be moved temporarily; the Metro will be closed for about four months, and then intermittently. The council’s property department would have to shift from the Municipal Chambers to the Civic Centre permanently.

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The proposed plans will result in a strong, contemporary architectural solution that successfully complements the existing building.

We couldn’t hope for more. The budget is tight and the design brief is manifestly tough – the internal solution is unbelievably complex, but has the right firms, Opus Architecture and Octa Asscociates, to deliver on the programmes.

Opus architect Jeff Thompson correctly identifies the project as an “urban design problem”. He has been working alongside architect Eqo Leung from Opus Architecture in Auckland.

I maintain we really need some new “design edge” in central Dunedin, the conceptual designs for Moray Place and Harrop St ‘square’ achieve this. Thanks to both architects for their innovation. I look forward to seeing the developed design if today’s presentation is any indication.

One of the most pleasing aspects of this project has been the consultation process as it evolved through 2008 and leading up to and including today, in no small part due to the facilitation process guided by Dunedin consultant Liz Rowe. Some real “listening” to public concern has informed directions and architectural solutions, admirably.

The contrast between this project and the handling of the stadium project, in terms of meaningful and respectful consultation process can be summed up as WORLDS APART.

The Dunedin Centre Redevelopment project exemplifies the way forward for local authority consultation processes; the maintenance of loyalty and respect between the council, stakeholders and interested parties should be celebrated.

It’s not a speedy process, deliberations can be lengthy and protracted – nevertheless, keeping the faith can deliver great results and significant architecture projects.

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I turned up to the presentation with an open mind, having had a short email exchange with art historian Peter Entwisle last week.

Peter isn’t easily convinced about the use of contemporary glazing in making new additions to heritage buildings…and would prefer that the original detail of the Harrop Street façade is restored to remove picture windows that were added in the 1980s.

I replied that under the ICOMOS Charter of New Zealand the use of glass is acceptable but it obviously depends on how it is used. I said there could be a cost issue in seeking the restoration of the Harrop Street façade within the current project budget, and suggested this could be staged in at a later date… We left it there and looked forward to the presentation.

Not surprisingly, Peter raised these matters with the project team today. His could be a lone voice on the matter of using glass, I suspect. It will be interesting to gauge wider public reaction in the next few days. Peter may have supporters. No doubt he will use his fortnightly newspaper column or other media comment to underline his views. I noticed Radio New Zealand gave him some recording time today… [but this didn’t go to air]

As it turned out, retired architect Ted McCoy, with whom I don’t always agree on design matters, echoed in greater detail my congratulatory comments to the project architects today.

Hands off Harrop president Judith Medlicott also offered her congratulations to the project team.

I’d say the project team has cracked it. I hope the councillors will sign this through with no regrets. The budget has been held in the council’s annual plans for last year and this.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr