Himmelb(l)au

The architecture group Coop Himmelb(l)au is located in Vienna and consist of two main architects, Wolf Prix and Helmut Swiczinsky. The buildings they design are symmetrically unsymmetrical. They are twisted, edgy and at times just look odd. I like their way of building for two reasons, one: they are one of the only one's that break out of the square cliche of building and two: it's just fun looking at one of their buildings. One of the buildings they designed in cooperation with Guenther Domenig is actually located in my hometown of Steindorf in Austria. The building itself serves very little purpose. It, however, is constructed for sound, not aesthetics. The sounds reflecting off the walls and resonating within it are so great that it gets its most use for Jazz-festivals and Operas.

Case Study - Haas Haus & Monte Laa

I chose the Haas Haus for my case study. I always loved the building. It is in the heart of Vienna the same placa as a gothic church. It os one of the monuments of the city and it is about 600 years old. I think the contrast between the cathedral and the modern looks of the Hass Haus reflect Vienna's vibe. Old meets new, culture meets history.

The architect of the Haas Haus, Hans Hollein was born in 1934 and primarily lives and works in Vienna, Austria. He studied at the “Akademie der bildenden Künste”, Vienna, Masterclass for Architecture Prof. C. Holzmeister, Diploma 1956; at IIT, Chicago (1958-59) Architecture and City Planning and at the University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) 1960. Anther very interesting building by Hollein, in progress right now, is the Monte Laa Area Development (Master plan by Albert Wimmer 1999) is one of the most innovative urban initiatives underway in Vienna. The prominently located site on the highest urban area of Vienna, the Laaberg, was partly created above the main highway A-22, one of the main entrances to Vienna.

The Towers are a signal and landmark to be noticed both entering Vienna and departing from the Center of the City. Based on an idea already proposed in early collages and drawings, the project consists of two Towers of 90 meters above which a horizontal structure of 30 meters is hovering and creating a second level and activity zone in the urban landscape. While the Towers are used as offices and for hotel purposes (approx. 31.000 sqm), the highly differentiated cantilevering structure (2.900 sqm) contains conference spaces, auditoriums, exhibition areas, a press club and restaurant with a bar.

My Site

The site I picked for the case study is 440 Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach California.

It is surrounded by newly developed high rises, used for luxury apartments and condos. It is walking distance to Pike Harbor. I think it would benefit the community to develope a skyrise city with restaurants, cafes, retail spaces, office spaces and apartments as well as luxury apartments on the top 3 floors. In addition I did not see a playground or park area and I think the parking lot behind the building that exists now could be transformed into a kids playground and green area with trees and a waterfountain. The entrance placa should be kept round and plain, leading up to the building. The parking will be deferred underground where 3 levels of parking with a total square footage of 72 390 sq.ft will be designated. The toal space of the building excluding parking will be 162 877.5 sq. ft, which will inlcude 10 levels for offices, 2 for a conference center, one for the lobby and the cafe, one for 2 restaurants, 2 for retail spaces one for maintenance including heat and cooling systems, 7 levels of apartments and 3 levels on the top for luxury apartments. the center core will consist of 6 elevators, 3 on each side, back to back and the side will be functioning as a trash chute leading to the trash area behind the building.