The first-ever building to have a carbon fibre structure is a mobile studio-cum-stage Japanese architects Atelier Bow-Wow, which just opened in New York.
[attach]1811[/attach]
The BMW Guggenheim Lab comprises a black mesh-clad box, elevated the lightweight framework that makes it easily transportable.
[attach]1812[/attach]
Nestled between two existing buildings, the structure shelters a courtyard studio that is open to the street at both ends.
[attach]1813[/attach]
A rigging of lighting, screens, audio equipment and other tools is suspended behind the mesh and can be lowered into the studio for different activities.
[attach]1814[/attach]
A timber hut provides a cafe for visitors where picnic benches are sheltered beneath a fabric canopy.
[attach]1815[/attach]
The lab is hosting a series of programs around the theme of comfort in the city, including talks, exhibitions, discussions, screenings, workshops and games.
[attach]1816[/attach]
As part of a six-year tour of mobile studios, the lab will later be relocated to Berlin and Mumbai, before being replaced a new structure and theme.
[attach]1817[/attach]
The project was commissioned the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and is sponsored automotive company BMW.
[attach]1818[/attach]
Two other projects Atelier Bow-Wow from the Dezeen archive include a townhouse renovation and a gallery of stacked concrete boxes - see both projects here.
[attach]1819[/attach]
[attach]1820[/attach]
Architecture and Graphic Design
The mobile structure for the first cycle of the BMW Guggenheim Lab has been designed the Tokyo-based Atelier Bow-Wow as a lightweight and compact “traveling toolbox.” The 2,200-square-foot structure can easily fit into dense neighborhoods and be transported from city to city. In New York, the two-story structure is nestled between two buildings on a three-quarter-acre T-shaped site; at its southern end, it opens out onto an inviting landscaped public space and cafe.
The lower half of the BMW Guggenheim Lab structure is an open space that can be configured to meet the particular needs of the various programs, shifting from a formal lecture setting with a stage to the scene for a celebratory gathering or a workshop. The upper, “toolbox” portion of the structure is loosely wrapped in two layers of semitransparent mesh, which creates a shimmering moiré effect and allows visitors to catch glimpses of the extensive apparatus of “tools” that can be raised or lowered on a rigging system to configure the lower space for the different programs. Remarkably, the BMW Guggenheim Lab is the first building designed with a structural framework composed of carbon fiber. Videos and images of the structure and the construction process can be viewed at youtube.com/bmwguggenheimlab and flickr.com/bmwguggenheimlab.
“Rather than architects educating the public on how to behave within spaces, it is the public who should have the autonomy of spatial practice in their cities,” stated Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima of Atelier Bow-Wow. “We have always been advocates of people regaining ownership in order to shape the city around them, and are very pleased to participate in the launch of the BMW Guggenheim Lab. We always conceived the Lab as a public space without enclosure.”
The inaugural BMW Guggenheim Lab will leave behind permanent improvements to the once-vacant East Village lot on which it sits, including the stabilization and paving of the site, replacement of sidewalks, and new wrought-iron fencing and gates.
The graphic identity of the BMW Guggenheim Lab has been developed Seoul-based graphic designers Sulki & Min.
[attach]1821[/attach]
BMW Guggenheim Lab Team
The BMW Guggenheim Lab is organized David van der Leer, Assistant Curator, Architecture and Urban Studies, and Maria Nicanor, Assistant Curator, Architecture, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Selected an international Advisory Committee composed of experts from various disciplines, the members of the New York Lab Team are: Omar Freilla, a Bronx, New York–based environmental justice activist, cooperative developer, and founder and coordinator of Green Worker Cooperatives; Charles Montgomery, Canadian journalist and urban experimentalist, who investigates the link between urban design and well-being; Olatunbosun Obayomi, Nigerian microbiologist and inventor and 2010 TEDGlobal Fellow; and architects and urbanists Elma van Boxel and Kristian Koreman of the Rotterdam-based architecture studio ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles].
Public Information and Amenities
The BMW Guggenheim Lab and all programs are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis during operating hours. Advance registration for selected programs will be available online. Hours of operation are 1 to 9 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 10 pm on Fridays, and 10 am to 10 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The 42-seat BMW Guggenheim Lab cafe, operated the Brooklyn-based restaurant Roberta’s, is open 1 to 9 pm on Wednesdays to Fridays and 10 am to 9 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Future Venues
Following the New York presentation, the BMW Guggenheim Lab will move on to Berlin in the spring of 2012, where it will be presented in collaboration with the ANCB Metropolitan Laboratory in Pfefferberg, a former industrial complex. In winter 2012–13, the first three-city cycle will be completed when the BMW Guggenheim Lab travels to Mumbai. The Mumbai presentation will be organized in collaboration with the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum.