Renderings Revealed for BIG Project in Fort Lauderdale

Image by BIG via Curbed MiamiBjarke Ingels Group, which couldn’t stay out of the architecture news earlier in 2012, is back at it, this time with a massive unfunded project in Florida. The Marina Lofts in Fort Lauderdale would build a 1,072-unit condo complex comprised of two 36-story buildings. Each of the buildings resembles stacked containers (or, as Architizer described them, LEGOs), with one of the buildings rent from the bottom up, while unfinished notches in the second building indicate either ongoing addition or absence by subtraction (depending on your proclivities, apparently). All in all, the design resembles a game of Tetris nearing its terminus.

Projects of this market and design ambition have been rare in recent years, so the recent designs provoked no small measure of commentary on Twitter. Pedigreed freelancer Mark Lamster searched for creative comparisons to the project: “the fontaineblown? the eden crack? so very many options.” LA Times Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne tweeted more practical concerns: “it's like the crisis never happened. So 2006.”

The project would be located on Fort Lauderdale’s New River, and the renderings indicate that the project will afford a lot of space for public gathering areas and balconies amidst all the condo dwellings.

Image by BIG via Curbed MiamiThe project, of course, must still overcome a $250 million obstacle before it can begin construction--the expected cost of the project has yet to be funded.

Image by BIG via Curbed Miami

Another Week, Another BIG Announcement

The graphics on the front page of the BIG website represent the firm's growing number of contracts and installationsFrance's SudOuest newspaper reports that Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has been selected to design Maison de l’économie créative et de la culture en Aquitaine, a.k.a. “la Méca.” The riverfront cultural center will include three regional visual and performing arts agencies, and is expected to cost 52 million euros. BIG beat out SANAA and the Toulouse-based firm W-Architectures for the project, which must still be approved by the City Council. 2012 has been a very busy year for BIG, back in February installation the firm was selected for the Times Square Valentine's Day installation, in addition to winning competitions for the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah, and a 49-story mixed use tower in Downtown Vancouver.

BIG Makes More News in Park City AND Vancouver

Following recent news of Bjarke Ingels Group’s Valentine’s Day installation in Times Square comes another spat of big news from the Danish architecture firm. First came the announcement that BIG’s design for the Kimball Art Center had been selected for construction of the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah. The winning design triumphed against such distinguished competitors as Will Bruder, Williams + Tsien, Brooks + Scarpa, and Sparano + Mooney. The video above includes a quick description of the design by Bjarke Ingels himself, who says that the Kimball design “merges the natural and the artificial.” The project will begin construction in 2013 with an expected completion date of 2015.

Image courtesy of Bjarke Ingels GroupImage courtesy of Bjarke Ingels GroupThen renderings of another BIG design for a snowy North American clime hit the wire—although this time with a more contemporary set of materials doing the twist in designs proposed for Vancouver instead of Park City.

Image via Vancity BuzzBIG’s design for a 49-story mixed use tower is included in a set of documents requesting a zoning change for a Downtown Vancouver site at the corner of Beach and Howe streets. The Beach & Howe project actually comprises two buildings, according to Vancity Buzz: The 49-story “residential tower with a 9-storey podium…includes market rental housing, commercial uses, and a childcare facility.” The project also includes a six story building that will include retail (i.e., grocery store, drugstore and liquor store) and office space. The project will total 653,046 square feet.

Image via Vancity Buzz

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More People=More Love for BIG's Valentine's Day Installation in Times Square

Image via BIG/Times Square AllianceThe Times Square Alliance has announced the winner for its annual Time Square’s Valentine’s installation…and it’s last year’s runner up. But last year’s near miss doesn’t really matter anymore, because the winning design from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is an interactive wonder.

BIG calls the 10-foot high sculpture “BIG♥NYC.” The design was assisted by Flatcut (the fabricator), Local Projects (the interaction designers), and Zumtobel (the lighting designers).

The sculpture employs 400 transparent, LED lit, acrylic tubes to form a cube suspending a red heart. When touched the heart grows brighter. More from the Times Square Alliance website: “The transparent tubes refract the lights of Times Square, creating a cluster of condensed city lights around the heart. The hovering heart will pulsate faster reflecting the chain of human energy in the heart of Times Square,” adding, “A single person can activate the beating heart, but joining hands with others will make the heart beat even faster to create a brightly burning heart.” That means more people equals more love, which is an idea we can get behind this Valentine’s Day or any other day.