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International architectural think tank, LAVA, go green at Customs House.

 

Summary:

Summary:

Chris Bosse, Tobias Wallisser and Alexander Rieck’s LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) launched the ‘Green Void’, a spectacular sculptural installation suspended in the central atrium of Sydney Customs House.

 

LAVA designed the ‘Green Void’ installation specifically for the Customs House central atrium which spans through all five levels. Suspended from the top level Café Sydney restaurant, a vertical distance of almost 20m, the sculpture provides an intense visual contrast to the beautifully restored heritage interior of Customs House. GREEN VOID is a digital design, derived from nature, realized in lightweight fabric, using the latest digital fabrication and engineering techniques, to create more with less. Comprised of 3000 cubic meters of space is enclosed within a minimal surface area of 300 square meters and uses only 40 kg of lightweight material.

 

The Customs House ‘Media Wall’ displays content across 11 video screens detailing the process of design, engineering, fabrication and installation of the sculpture along with recent international design projects completed by the LAVA team.

 

3D works by multimedia artist Peter Murphy creating 3d immersive imagery can be viewed without shutter glasses displayed over the new 3D screen technology.

 

The entire installation is immersed in a soundscape by sound artist David Chesworth, who created a “digital rainforest”.

 

Graphic design by emerging graphic designers TOKO, featuring a 3dimensionally layered catalogue, a wireframed mediawall, and projections onto the building.

 

Tensile Membrane Company Mak Max, the engineers and fabricators of the sculpture have developed a unique workflow from digital design to Digital Fabrication of complex shapes.

 

The exhibition is part of the continuous multidisciplinary program developed by Jennifer Kwok, the Manager of Customs House, to activate the public space with a focus on featuring contemporary architecture, photography and multimedia exhibitions.

 

 

 

Background:

 

The installation is inspired by the relationship between man, nature and technology. SENSUAL, GREEN and DIGITAL, the installation captures some of the key visions of the design team, which has over the past 12 months established offices in Sydney, Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart.

 

The project caps off a spectacular year for the trio and follows LAVA’s successful launch of the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower (MSWCT) an ultra-luxury residential tower in October in Abu Dhabi, and the November launch of the future hotel Showcase suite in Germany.

 

The team also managed to pick up Best International Interior and the Sustainability Grant at the 2008 Interior Design Awards.

 

Chris’s work on the Watercube Swimming Centre for Beijing 2008 received the prestigious Atmosphere Award at the 9th Annual Venice Biennale and Chris was recently recognized as an emerging architect on the world stage by the RIBA London.

 

Tobias was instrumental in the emergence of the recent Stuttgart Mercedes-Benz Museum between 2002 and 2007 which has attracted worldwide attention for its innovative spatial concept.

 

 

concept

 

 

The installation is a ‘Minimal Surface’ that consists of a tensioned Lycra material, digitally patterned and custom-tailored for the space. The Five “funnels” of the sculpture reach out to connect the various levels and carefully hover just off the main interior atrium of the Customs House above the model of the city.

 

LAVA Asia Pacific Director Chris Bosse explains:

 

“The shape of the installation is not explicitly designed; it is rather the result of the most efficient connection of different boundaries in three-dimensional space, which can be found in nature in things like plants and corals. We only determined the connection points within the space and the rest is a mathematical formula, a minimal surface.

the concept was achieved with a flexible material that follows the forces of gravity, tension and growth, similar to a spider web or a coral reef. We are interested in the geometries in nature that create both, efficiency and beauty”

 

The lightweight fabric design follows the natural lines, contours and surface-tension of the fabric.

 

While appearing solid, the structure is soft and flexible and creates highly unusual spaces within customs house, which come to life with projection and lighting.

 

Since the 1970’s, with Frei Otto’s soap-bubble experiments for the Munich Olympic Stadium, naturally evolving systems have been an intriguing area of design research; something that hasn’t been lost on the team and their fascination with new building typologies and naturally developed structures.

 

Lava sought for advise and inspiration from American artist Alexandra Kasuba, who since Woodstock 1972 has created imaginative membrane sculptures around the world, followed by international artists such as Amish Kapoor and Ernesto Neto.

 

 

“We wanted to see how far we could take the idea of creating more space with less material, filling 3000 cubic meters, the equivalent of 8 million cola cans, with a minimal surface of 300 square meters weighting only 40 kg.”, emphasises Tobias Wallisser Director of LAVA Europe and professor of Digital Design at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart.

 

Rising up to the top level restaurant, a vertical distance of almost 20m, the sculpture provides an intense visual contrast to the beautifully restored heritage interior of Customs House.

 

The Customs House ‘Media Wall’ is also activated with content detailing the process of design, engineering, fabrication and installation of the sculpture along with recent design projects completed by LAVA across 12 video screens.

 

The whole installation is immersed in a soundscape by sound artist David Chesworth, who created a “digital rainforest”.

 

Graphic design by emerging graphic designers TOKO, featuring a 3dimensionally layered catalogue, a wireframed mediawall, and projections onto the building.

 

3D works by visual artist Peter Murphy creating 3d immersive imagery that can be viewed without shutter glasses thanks to a new technology.

 

Catalogue Essay by Matteo Cainer , Architecture Critic, London.

 

Key data:

Building Materials: Specially treated high-tech Nylon and light

Dimensions: approx. 21x8x12m

Surface Area:300 m2

Volume/space: 3000 m3

Weight: 40 kg

Construction/manufacturing time: 5 weeks

 

 

Green Void Credits:

 

Chris Bosse, Tobias Wallisser, Alexander Rieck

 

Jarrod Lamshed, Esan Rahmani, Kim Ngoc Nguyen, Anh Dao Trinh, Erik Escalante Mendoza, Pascal Tures, Mi Jin Chun, Andrea Dorici.

Contact:

 

 

Chris Bosse

Architect | Director

LAVA

Laboratory for Visionary Architecture

 

72 Campbell Street

Surry Hills

Sydney NSW 2010

Australia

 

Phone: +61 2 92801475

Fax: +61 2 92818125

Mobile OZ: +61 (0)410773260

Mobile UAE: +971(0)501514386

Mail: bosse@l-a-v-a.net

 

Press inquiries for LAVA:

Jane Silversmith

jane_silversmith@mac.com

M + 61 [0] 408 029 118

LAVA

directors@L-a-v-a.net

 

 

Mak max:

Kobi Tollitt

KobiT@tmcshade.com

Daniel Cook

DanielC@tmcshade.com

 

Suite 420 185 Elizabeth Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Freecall: 1800 777 727

 

 

Customs house:

Jennifer Kwok

JKWOK@CITYOFSYDNEY.NSW.GOV.AU

JENNIFER KWOK | MANAGER CUSTOMS HOUSE

LEVEL 2 31 ALFRED STREET CIRCULAR QUAY NSW 2000

TELEPHONE 02 9242 8591 | MOBILE 0419 205 086

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Void Features

 

Digital Workflow

 

The project renounces on the application of a structure in the traditional sense. Instead, the space is filled with a 3-dimensional lightweight-sculpture, solely based on minimal surface tension, freely stretching between wall and ceiling and floor.

 

The design and fabrication procedure uses state-of-the-art digital workflow; beginning with 3D computer modelling, that is engineered structurally before undergoing a process of computer controlled (CNC) material cutting and mechanical re-seaming.

 

The computer-model, based on the simulation of complexity in naturally evolving systems, feeds directly into a production-line of sail-making-software and digital manufacturing.

 

The product shows a new way of digital workflow, enabling the generation of space out of a lightweight material that requires minimal adjustments onsite to achieve a complete installation in an extremely short time.

 

Sustainability

 

LAVA’s process of optimized minimal surface design and CNC (computer numeric code) fabrication technology allows the sculpture to reveal a new dimension in sustainable design practice.

 

Fulfilling the sustainable agenda of the venue, the work succeeds in its quest for optimum efficiency in material usage, construction weight, fabrication and installation time, while at the same time achieving maximum visual impact in the large atrium space.

 

The pavilion is easily transportable to any place in the world; can be quickly installed, and is fully reusable.

 

Fabrication

 

The sculpture materials consist of a double stretch, 2 way woven fabric that is mechanically attached to specially designed aluminium track profiles. Each profile is suspended from above, and to the side, on 2mm stainless steel cabling.

 

 

 

LAVA BACKGROUND

 

 

At the vanguard of a nonconformist and inventive new generation in architecture,

LAVA bridges the gap between the dream and the real world.

 

LAVA operates as a unique think tank with branches placed strategically worldwide. It has been formed by some of the most experienced and forward thinking architects from around the globe.

 

LAVA was founded by Chris Bosse and Tobias Wallisser in 2007. During its first year, the office has completed a wide range of projects in Germany, Australia and the U.A.E.

 

Chris Bosse is the director of LAVA Asia Pacific, based in Sydney, Australia. Chris is Adjunct Professor and Innovation fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney and lectures worldwide.

 

Educated in Germany and Switzerland, Chris worked with several high-profile European Architects before moving to Sydney. For a number of years Chris was

Associate Architect at PTW Architects in Sydney, completing many projects in China, Vietnam, the Middle-East and Japan.

 

Chris’s work on the Watercube Swimming Centre in Beijing received the prestigious Atmosphere Award at the 9th Annual Venice Biennale and Chris was recently recognized as an emerging architect on the world stage by the RIBA London.

 

Tobias Wallisser and Alexander Rieck are the directors of LAVA Europe and are based in Stuttgart, Germany. Tobias is Professor of Innovative Construction and Spatial concepts at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart.

 

After studying architecture in Berlin, Stuttgart and New York, Tobias worked in the United States, Netherlands and Germany. For 10 years Tobias was Associate Architect at UNStudio in Amsterdam, completing a series of high Profile projects and master plans including the World Trade Centre project in New York and the Arnhem Interchange.

 

Tobias was instrumental in the emergence of the recent Stuttgart Mercedes-Benz Museum which has attracted worldwide attention for its innovative spatial

concept.

 

Alexander works as a senior researcher at the renowned Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart. He studied architecture in Stuttgart and Phoenix and worked for a number of high-profile architects in Germany before joining the field of research. He started his research career in the Virtual Reality environment.

 

Alexander has led many of the Office 21 research projects that produced groundbreaking work in the field of future office organisation. He is a expert

on innovations in the fields of office, hotel, living and future construction, and an author of many publications about working environments and building processes of the future.

 

 

 

 

Research and Design Focus

 

LAVA’s research and design focus allows the evolution of architectural and urban design outcomes inaccessible through traditional methodologies.

 

Our process continually evolves; responding to global and market forces to deliver high quality, technologically advanced and sustainable projects that inspire a new generation.

 

LAVA Sydney and Stuttgart already have become hotspots and breeding grounds for a new generation of architectural talent.

 

 

Network Practice

 

LAVA works as a network practice, providing Visionary Architectural and Urban design services worldwide.

 

The LAVA network provides clients with access to an extensive team of leading design consultants and offers a comprehensive list of Architectural Design, Urban Design, Development Feasibility, Marketing and Master planning services.

 

Our collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute enhances our work; we can call on cutting-edge research in the field of virtual environments, revolutionary office configurations, new materials and future scenarios.

 

Our longstanding collaboration with the architectural office WENZEL+WENZEL allows us to provide continuous services and to execute and coordinate individual projects from the beginning to the end.

 

Collaborations:

 

ARUP Advanced Geometry Unit | London

Fraunhofer Institute of Industrial Engineering | Stuttgart

Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems | Freiburg

PNYG: COMPANY | Dubai

Werner Sobek Ingenieure | Stuttgart

Teuffel Engineering Consultants | Stuttgart

Transsolar Energietechnik | Stuttgart

Wenzel+Wenzel Architects | Stuttgart - Abu Dhabi

 

 

Recent Projects

 

Within the last year, we have worked on the following projects:

 

Sports Resort | U.A.E.

Architonic Lounge | Cologne

Office Tower | Abu Dhabi

Guest House Al Otaiba | U.A.E.

LBBW Headquarters | Stuttgart

Boutique Hotel Study | U.A.E.

Branded Tower Concept

Branded Tower | Abu Dhabi

Education City Sports Facilities | Doha

Pol Oxygen Pavilion | Sydney

Mixed use Tower | Stuttgart

Master plan Fuxin | China

Future Hotel Showcase | Duisburg

Hotel Jaegerstrasse | Stuttgart

Armstrong Pavilion | Munich

Zero Energy Houses | Saudi Arabia

 

 

 

Done