This was closed competition for the new community center of the Korean Presbiterian Church Unida, in Sao Paulo. The program consists of a new temple, restaurant and administrative facilities. The building was designed as a simple group of interconnected blocks, surrounding a small garden, which allows high spatial flexibility and integration with the existing community.

It was developed as a first collaboration with a group of architects based in Sao Paulo. Due to the experimental character of this first collaboration, my task was mainly the development of graphics and visualization material, as well as architectural consultancy to some extent.

The competition is currently under evaluation, and the winner will receive the commission to build it.

This idea competition is the first official movement toward a re-integration of the deactivated Tempelhof Airport with the city of Berlin. The Columbiaviertel, located on the north part of the airport field, is the first area to be developed. The main preoccupation was the idea of phase development with a pioneer function to lead it.

We proposed, among several other things, the creation of a red light district as the pioneer function, which would lead the development of a main leisure strip (inspired by the Las Vegas or Hollywood strip) along the Columbiadamm, reinforcing its characteristic as a large and important avenue. Together with this development, the creation of secondary, low-traffic meander, would allow houses, office buildings, commercial facilities, to enter the airfield and create a different environment suitable for these typologies.

This was the first phase of this open competition, where our project was selected together with other 11 offices (from a total of around 80 participants) for further development in the second phase. Given our unusual approach, the project gained a lot of attention from the media when the results were announced in January, 2008 (when they were still to remain anonymous).

The task in this competition was the creation of a pedestrian roof in the city of Wolfsburg (Germany). This roof should connect the main train station with the main bus station, passing in front of the famous Phaeno, from Zaha Hadid. It should provide weather protection, as well as visual signaling, to its users.

Inspired by car manufacturing techniques, in particular the hot stamping technique, we developed a system of metallic cushions which form three separated large and tall roofs. The unique aspect of these metallic “clouds”, along with the direction of the tessellation pattern used on their assembly, provide visual unity and a sense of direction within all three of the roofs. The construction method of each cushion, which consists of inflating and filling with foam, allows great structural efficiency, with large spans and less columns.

I participated on all phases of this project, from conception to final physical model production. Small working scripts were developed to test variations on the cushions’ tessellation, and to automate the connection from conception to model production.

The office anOtherArchitect (Berlin), together with ksg architekten (Cologne) were among the 20 selected offices to develop the project for the new Deichmanske Library in Oslo, Norway. The main concept behind this project was a close integration between body and mind in the environment of the library. The mixture of functions, including a swimming pool on the undergound level and a ice-skating rink on the roof, would allow this integration in a very natural and fluid manner, creating relationships with the site axes in the urban context, as well as with the future Munch Sternsen Museum and the existing Opera House.

This project received a Special Mention from the jury of the competition. Among the participating offices were Toyo Ito, Snøhetta, David Chipperfield Architects, Wiel Arets Architects, and others. This and all other information can be found in the competition website.

I participated activelly in all phases of the project, from conception to final production. Our office concentrated on 3D modelling, not only for visualization purposes, but mainly as a design tool. I also developed the facades, using several scripting and modelling techniques, and organised the layout for the final boards.

This a series of furniture developed during a workshop held by Daniel Dendra in Cairo, in the end of 2009. Based on Egyptian motifs, such as the urban noise in the city of Cairo, or the famous Cairo Tiling, the concepts are currently in prototyping phase by Egyptian manufacturers, in order to be ready to be showcased at the 2009 Milan Design Fair.

Event though the initial ideas were developed during the workshop, several adjustments, remodelling and redesign had to be done in the Berlin office, on which I participated intensivelly, either by doing detailed 3D design and modelling, or by producing technical drawings for the prototyping phase.

The aim of this competition was to improve the qualities of the city center, as well as of the south and north entrances of the city of Bedburg, in northeast Germany. We accomplished the goal by redefining the main street configuration on both ends, and by creating “loops” which would take the pedestrians to other parts of the city, but always leading them back to the main street. Furthermore, a new “facade” to the Schlosspark was created to house the new City Hall and new programme proposed by the competition.

I participated in this project on its entirety: from concept to final production, working on both 3D and 2D plans, models, diagrams and layout.

This project won the 2nd prize.

This was a public competition entry for the master planning of Copenhagen’s Nordhavnen, a 200-hectare area currently being used by harbour activities on the north part of Copenhagen. It is said to be Scandinavia’s Largest Metropolitan Development Project, and the competition received over 180 projects from all over the world.

It was a joint development between the offices anOtherArchitect in Berlin and Kister Scheihauer Gross from Cologne.

My role in this project was to aid in the development of initial ideas and concepts, conceptualizing and modelling the energy towers and the lighthouse towers and designing the southern hub of the development. All plans were developed by the office in Cologne.

The task in this competition was to propose modifications in several areas of the city of Melrichstadt, a preserved medieval town in the center of Germany. These included the remodelling of the main street and its adjacent squares, main entrances on the south and on the north, as well as the proposal of two new buildings inside the town.

Our main concept was to reinforce the identity of Melrichstadt as the city of stone surrounded by green. We developed a whole new tiling pattern for the main areas, inspired by autumn leaves blown by the movement of pedestrians, and implemented by a complex algorithm based on connections between properties in the city.

I participated actively on all phases of the project, from conception to final production. Among my main tasks were the development and application of the tiling concept and subsequent algorithm, the design and modelling of the urban furniture, production of conceptual diagrams, and co-development of the new building proposal for the Marktgasse Areal.

The project was shortlisted among the six best. The urban furniture developed for this competition is currently in prototyping phase.

This project was an experiment with the limits and capabilities of an algorithmic driven urbanistic approach, taking as a site the field of the recently deactivated Tempelhof Airport. We took into concern economic factors which could constrain the development of high-rises in different ways, bringing us to a highly optimized solution for the proposed goals.

The whole project was generated by intelligent algorithms based on neighboring conditions and sightlines intersections.My role in it was to develop the logic behind this algorithm, as well as the algorithm itself and its application.

It was submitted as one of the projects for Daniel Dendra’s entry to the Chernikov Prize 2008, and was featured in the February/09 edition of the Mark Magazine and in the March/09 Special Edition of Tatlin Magazine.

I also had the chance to present this project at the 11th edition of the Pecha Kucha Night Berlin, on 19.11.2008. The video of the presentation can be watched here.

Project details

Office: anOtherArchitect | Berlin
Lead architect: Daniel Dendra
Team members: Cecilia Gaspar Lira, Daniel da Rocha, Dani Hermawan and Imma Anindyta
Consultants: Ulrike Elbers (Structural Engineering – Arup), Andreas Ewert (Facade Engineering – Arup),
Thomas Kretschmer (Technical Services – Arup), Jörg Keune (Lighting – Arup), Gunnar Hartmann and Arpna Gupta (Curatorial),
and Marcus Keusgen (Lush-Image)
Period: January and February, 2008
Location: Perm, Russia
Competition website: www.permmuseumxxi.ru

The PermMuseumXXI museum centre is a new building for Perm Art Gallery. This will be the first museum in Russia built to meet the needs of the 21st century. The building should be an outstanding work of contemporary architecture and Russia’s most modern art museum.

This project was a competition entry for a new art museum in Perm, Russia. Its main concept borrows references from the voids of the post-communist city and its great connection axes. As a result, a volume composed by cut ellipsoids creates innumerous spatial possibilities for the different programmatic requisitions. The museum sits on top of a “carpet” which connects the former with the river promenade. A connection to the city center was also designed, as well as the integration of a zeppelin which would turn the whole region of Perm and instances of landscape art into part of the exhibition. The daylight illumination system took into account the local climate, predicting the accumulation of snow and the sun location. And algorithm was developed to place this system according to these parameters.

As a collaborator, I participated in all aspects of the project, from the conception phase to the end results. I worked intensively with 2D drafting and 3D modelling, including the development and application of the scripting algorithm for the daylight illumination system.