Architect David Adjaye has revealed plans to group nine of Frankfurt's existing cultural institutions onto a combined campus in the heart of the city.

The 16.5 hectare site is currently occupied by Frankfurt University but will be vacant by 2014.

Adjaye Associates are proposing to create a single shared foyer, which will connect each of the nine organisations.

Apartments, offices and shops will also be included, creating a mix of uses across the site.

We recently featured David Adjaye's 2002 project Dirty House as part of our celebration of design in the London borough of Hackney. See the project here.

Here are some more details from Adjaye Associates:

Cultural Campus Frankfurt - Adjaye Associates
Architectural concept: "micro city"

The design concept rests on the extraction of the essential components of a city, which are then compressed to establish a mixture of different uses. The single ingredients become a city in microcosm, or a “micro city”. Within the composition, there are possibilities for people from the cultural industries, academics, residents and office workers to encounter one another within a rich, creative atmosphere. The design fosters interaction and animation thus resulting in new synergies between different creative disciplines.

The "micro city" comprises a central, public and multi-functional space, which combines the main performing spaces of the cultural institutions, retail, cafes and the market hall in an interesting juxtaposition within the main foyer. Forecourts on the perimeter accentuate access points to the main foyer also enabling circulation through the cultural campus, which is porous and open to the city. The different uses are also layered vertically, thus allowing the mix of uses to be carried into the topography.

Client: Forum Kulturcampus Frankfurt e.V.
Programme: urban concept study for a cultural campus which includes 9 cultural institutions and their main performing spaces and a mixture of other uses (retail, cafes, offices, residential)
Appointment: feasibility study
Site Area: masterplan site in total 16,5 hectares
Building Height: foyer 9m and main performing spaces 17m, higher buildings 25-54m
Number of storeys: foyer and main performing spaces I, higher buildings VI - XIII
No. of Offices: 13,0%
No. of Apartments: 33,7%
No. of Retail: 8,6%
No. of Cultural Use: 44,7%
Cladding - materials: glass/ stone

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by Adjaye Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Almost 200 circular skylights arranged in a grid across the lawn let light filter down into the exhibition hall, while the artificial hill creates a domed central ceiling.

The garden remains accessible to visitors, who can walk over the translucent skylights.

Entry to the new gallery is via a staircase in the museum's main foyer.

Schneider+Schumacher won a competition to design the extension in 2008 - check out our earlier story to see the original renders.

You can see a selection of other underground projects on Dezeen here.

Photography is by Norbert Miguletz.

Extension of the Städel

In Fall 2007, the Städel Museum held a competition for extension work to be carried out on the museum, whereby eight prominent German and international architecture firms were invited to take part: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, New York; Gigon/Guyer Architekten, Zurich; Jabornegg & Pálffy, architects, Vienna; Kuehn Malvezzi Architekten GmbH, Berlin; Sanaa Ltd / Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa & Associates, Tokyo; schneider+schumacher Planungsgesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt/Main; UNStudio, Architects, Amsterdam and Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch Müller, Frankfurt/Main.

In February 2008, an international jury chaired by Louisa Hutton (architect BDA, Berlin) announced Frankfurt architects schneider+schumacher as the competition winners. “An excellent choice,” were the words used by the press when reporting on the announcement. “A shining jewel by day, a pool of light by night,” applauded the competition jury.

The new building adjoins the garden wing completed at the start of the 20th century and itself the first extension of the original museum building, which was built on Frankfurt’s Schaumainkai in 1878. In contrast to any of the extension work carried out to date, the new section of the museum will not be above ground; the generous new space planned by schneider+schumacher will be located beneath the Städel garden.

The new exhibition space will be accessed via a central axis from the main entrance on the museum’s river side. By opening the two tympanums to the right and left of the museum’s main entrance foyer, visitors will be able to reach the Metzler Foyer level.

A staircase will then lead from this area down into the 3,000-square-meter museum extension beneath the garden. The garden halls’ interior the will be characterized by the elegantly curved, seemingly weightless ceiling, spanning the entire exhibition space. 195 circular skylights varying between 1.5 and 2.5 meters in circumference will flood the space below with natural light as well as form a captivating pattern in the garden area above.

Outside, the green, dome-like protrusions, which visitors will be able to walk across, will lend the Städel garden a unique look and create a new architectural hallmark for the museum.

“Frankfurt will not only gain a new, unique exhibition building,” declared the competition jury, “but as a ‘green building’ it will also be very much abreast of its times.” The generously spacious, light-flooded garden halls will be the new home of the contemporary art section of the museum’s collection.

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by Schneider+Schumacher appeared first on Dezeen.

Work starts next spring on the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, designed by Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au.

Coop Himmelb(l)au won a competition to design the bank's new headquarters in 2005 with their 185 metre tall, double-towered proposal.

The bank is due to open in 2014.

More Coop Himmelb(l)au stories on Dezeen:

Pavilion 21 MINI Opera Space by Coop Himmelb(l)au
House of Music by Coop Himmelb(l)au
Art Museum Strongoli by Coop Himmelb(l)au
China Insurance Group headquarters by Coop Himmelb(l)au
High School #9 by Coop Himmelb(l)au

Here's more from Coop Himmelb(l)au:

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Construction of the new premises of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, to start in spring 2010

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) informed today during a press conference about the positive outcome of the Europe-wide public tendering procedure and announced that therefore construction of the main construction works for its new premises will start in spring 2010.

Following the announcement, Wolf D. Prix, Design Principal and CEO of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, said: “It is always an exciting moment when an idea becomes reality. We are very pleased about the decision of the Governing Council of the ECB that the new bank headquarters will now be built. I believe that it is not only an important building for us, but also for the European Union, because the building will be one of the important three- dimensional signs of the European Community. I am also proud that we will realize the project without any curtailments or compromises within the given budget.”

In 2008, the Council of the European Central Bank decided for a tender process with distinct invitations. The first eight packages, namely main structure work, site work, elevators, facades, roofing, height-access systems and mechanical and electrical services, were sent out to tender over the course of 2009. As reported during the press conference, these eight packages consist of 44 lots and constitute around 80% of the building costs. The bids submitted by construction companies for those first packages are within the budget. The contracts with the construction companies will be signed early next year, with the goal to start the main construction works in spring followed by the release of the remaining tender packages.

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU won the competition for the new premises of the European Central Bank in 2005. The project is located in Frankfurt’s Ostend and will be built at the site of the Grossmarkthalle (wholesale market). At a height of around 185 meters, the double tower - with its polygonal shape and east-west orientation - has a striking profile that is visible from all important reference points in Frankfurt’s city center, as well as from the river Main. The imposing form of the Grossmarkthalle unites with the vertical profile of the towers to form a significant ensemble that considers both the local urban design environment and the general urban spatial context, thus creating a tension between Frankfurt’s banking district and the Ostend area. The opening of the European Central Bank is scheduled for 2014.

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London designers Sybarite have completed the interior of a store in Frankfurt for Italian knitwear brand Stefanel.

The interior comprises a series of modular elements primarily made of glass-reinforced plastic and stainless steel.

The modular nature of the concept will allow it to be repeated in 700 stores of different sizes around the world.

Knitwear is displayed on flocked mannequins.

Photographs are by Marco Zanta.

Here are some more details from Sybarite:

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Stefanel store by Sybarite

Part of a complete rebranding effort, Sybarite’s new shop concept for Stefanel is a modern and sexy solution designed to propel this Italian knitwear label in a completely new direction and firmly into the future of retail.

The brief was to create a completely new image for Stefanel shops, a strong and recognisable architectural language that would become synonymous with their brand identity. With rollout plans for 700 locations worldwide – from large flagships to tiny shop-in-shops – the concept had to offer exceptional value for money, ease of installation and adaptability to widely varying sites. The result is a modular system which achieves complete flexibility without sacrificing aesthetics or imagination. It lends itself to using repetition and variation as a method of building composition, where the final outcome can grow organically in response to a particular site and evolve over time in collaboration with the client.

The components, mainly gloss lacquered GRP and polished stainless steel, are fabricated off site and come together fluidly to form the walls, display surfaces and furniture, creating the impression of a continuous form moulded into display props and surfaces. The sense of composition is reinforced by the attention paid to the smallest detail. The motif of square into circle repeats throughout, from the curvy rectangles of the wall units and freestanding furniture to the bespoke stools, shelves and door handles. The language is incorporated into stylised mannequins and hangers and is echoed in the minimalism of the window vitrines.

The starting point of the design was to address the particular challenges faced by Stefanel. For example, Stefanel’s complicated knitwear designs don’t display to their full potential on standard mannequins, or even stay on them properly. The solution was a bespoke design contoured with flocking material which holds the garments in place and brings their detailing into view. By providing non-slip functionality in such a graphic and recognisable way, a display prop moves beyond its obvious functionality to enhance brand identity.

The design provides the client with complete flexibility and future expandability. Selecting from a wide range of components, the kit can be customised to suit shop locations of any size and budget and can be easily and cost-effectively installed on site in a matter of days. Every surface offers a means of display, which can be as dense or as sparse as necessary. Merchandising can change by season or collection and the system’s modularity easily permits both the addition of extra components and the development of new ones, ensuring the concept can adapt to meet future needs and evolve along with Stefanel.

The grand opening of this Frankfurt flagship is 15 October.

Client: Stefanel, Italy
Architect: Sybarite, London, UK (Nicola Hawkins, Simon Mitchell, Torquil McIntosh, Petra Jenning)
Specialist Fabricator: Soozar, Shanghai, China
Photos: Marco Zanta
Completed: September 2009

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