BIG ARCHITECTURE 2010
INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EVENT
BIG ARCHITECTURE CONFERENCE – “TRANSFORMATION” &
HIŠE AWARDS 2010
MAY 14TH, 2010, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

In spring 2010, Zavod Big hosts its third annual international architectural conference, with this year’s subject-theme “Transformation”.
The conference explores the relationship between quality design, innovation, response and change. How does architecture transform our environments, together with the very programs of these environments? How can innovative and inspiring design transform the way architecture does this; and shape the architectures practiced today and in the future?
A selection of internationally-engaged architects addresses these issues through their exceptional work and through a dynamic dialogue-process within the framework of ‘Transformation’.
Look for the complete program out February 2010.

HIŠE AWARDS 2010: 180˚ STAGE, EXHIBITION, AWARDS CEREMONY & RECEPTION
Following the all-day conference, the HIŠE Awards event opens with 180˚ Stage, a series of challenging short talks (180 seconds each) by architects and builders from all over the region addressing the basic question – What makes a good house? – and in so doing, elaborate the architectural position in the process. More …

Information & reservations: Tadeja Perič, info@zavodbig.si

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BIG ARCHITECTURE 09
INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EVENT
SUSTAINABLE EXCELENCE
CONFERENCE, EXHIBITION AND AWARDS
MAY 14TH, 2009
EXHIBITION AND CONVENTION CENTRE, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

In spring 2009, Zavod Big will host its second annual architectural conference, entitled “Sustainable Excellence”. As issues surrounding quality, sustainability and responsibility become increasingly central to very creative enterprise the theme has particular relevance, implications and impact. The conference explores a host of questions which explore the relationship between quality design, innovation, sustainability, creativity and responsibility; and the powerful possibilities intelligent approaches to these issues can produce. A selection of internationally-active and engaged architects address these issues through their exceptional work and through a dynamic dialogue-process within the framework of ‘Sustainable Excellence’.

Programme:

09.00-10.00 Registration
10.00-10.15 Conference and Exhibition Opening
10.15-11.00 Sam Dufaux; Work Architecture Company, USA
11.00-11.45 Klaudia Cacic; Bucholz McEvoy, Ireland
11.45-12.00 Break
12.00-12.45 Bjarne Mastenbroek; Search BV, Netherlands
12.45-13.30 Jenni Reuter; Hollmén Reuter Sandman Architects, Finland
13.30-14.30 Break
14.30-15.15 Nicolas Ziesel; PLAN01 and Julien Zanassi; Philéas, France
15.15 – 16.00 Simon Ewings; Snøhetta, Norway
16.00-16.15 Break
16.15-17.00 David Lorente Ibanez & Josep Ricart, H Arquitectes, Spain
17.00-17.30 Panel discussion
18.00 Award giving ceremony

Moderator: Jeff Bickert

People working in a vast array of fields related to architecture, building, design, development and planning enjoy a unique opportunity to take part in the sustainable excellence interchange.

Snøhetta AS is an architectural practice based in Oslo, Norway and New York City, USA., with the present organisation established in 1989, when they won – firm among more than 500 architects worldwide – the competition for the new library in Alexandria, Egypt.
Simon Ewings is a Project Manager & Senior Architect at Snøhetta. The firm works from its own premises, located within an old warehouse by the waterfront in the Oslo dock area. The calmness of the location and the open office plan strengthens the co-operative attitude and simplifies internal communication and sharing of experience. The office has more than 120 employees from 17 nations, with a conscious mix of gender and age.
Snøhetta has developed a reputation for maintaining a strong relationship between landscape and architecture in all of its projects. They’re committed to the idea of teamwork throughout the entirety of the design process. The office is multidisciplinary, comprised of architects, landscape architects, interior architects and industrial designers working closely with artists and engineers as collaborators.
The practice, Ewings emphasises, strives for eco-effective and beautiful design solutions, with the aim of achieving “good growth”, i.e. spaces that are experiential, restorative and attractive; creating accessible habitats adapted to the surrounding culture, climate and ecosystem. Ongoing investigation and advanced technology, he notes, are core tools in creating cost-effective sustainable designs.

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WORK Architecture Company (WORKac) was founded in 2002 by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood. Now a 16-person firm based in New York City the office is engaged in projects at all scales.
From their studio on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Wood and Andraos work together with employees from Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Korea, Spain, and Australia. “We see difference as a strength, as a source of ideas,” says Wood.
Senior Associate Sam Dufaux received a M.S. in Architecture from Columbia University after earning his professional architecture degree in Switzerland, where he is a licensed architect. He was also a visiting scholar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok as well as at the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau, Germany working on urban research projects.
Defaux has led a number of projects  and competitions for WORKac, including the Anthropologie building in Corona, CA from design concept through construction. This 1,000 m2 store  was awarded a AIA NY Chapter Merit Interior Architecture Award in 2008. The White Street loft, a 557 m2 three-storey residence in TriBeCa for fashion designer Lela Rose is under construction and will be completed in 2009.
Prior to joining WORKac, Sam was a designer at Studio Daniel Libeskind in Berlin, Germany working on the large scale WESTside leisure and commercial center in Bern, Switzerland. As part of this 14 ha mixed-used project, Sam was the designer for the 9,300 m2 swimming recreational center from schematic design to construction documents. The building includes fitness, saunas, restaurant and swimming facilities.

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Bucholz McEvoy Architects is an international practice with offices in Berlin and Dublin. The firm is one of the leading offices in sustainable design worldwide, with particular attention to reducing both energy demand and maintenance and extending life-span. This low energy ethos is applied to all areas of design and research and forms the core of every design’s form, quality, and use. This philosophy is extended on a range of different types of projects, from urban design to furniture design. In each step of the design process working collaboratively, embedding concepts of energy reduction, a clear understanding of human behaviour on energy demand and use of space, research of materials and technologies, are for them the keys to developing truly sustainable, beautiful, low energy designs.
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The architects Saija Hollmén (b. 1970), Jenni Reuter (b. 1972) and Helena Sandman (b. 1972) started their collaboration in 1995 with the Women’s Centre project in Senegal. Today, their activities range from interiors to urban planning. They work with projects in Finland as well as in several African countries.
The group works with innovations by investigation, where the landscape, sensitivity towards materials and site-specific interventions are the means for a new architecture. Their work has been honoured with both national and international awards and has been extensively published and exhibited.
Apart from working as visiting critics and lecturers all over the world, the architects also teach at the Helsinki University of Technology. MORE…

H ARQUITECTES is an architecture studio established in 2000 and based in Barcelona, managed by four partner architects – David Lorente Ibáñez, Josep Ricart Ulldemolins, Xavier Ros Majó and Roger Tudó Galí – togetger with team of collaborators, such as architects, interior designers and students.
Their projects have won several prizes and have been widely published. With a clear concept of architecture and a well-defined working philosophy, the office practices a commitment to both social and environmental issues. For them, energy efficiency is a feature that should be present in every project, no longer as an “extra” but as an indispensable common element to each new construction proposal.
“At the moment we work with passive systems that although simple and extensively-used are effective. We’ve committed ourselves to a kind of low-tech architecture, simple and easy to build, which doesn’t look for great innovations but tries to consolidate the positive deep-rooted values found in both architectonical and constructive tradition. We believe in sustainability not as a new paradigm but as a way to work based on common sense, not as the one and only objective but simply as the result of a way of building.”
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SeARCH was established in 2002 by Bjarne Mastenbroek and Ad Bogerman. Before SeARCH Mastenbroek worked in the Van Gameren Mastenbroek project team which was part of the architectengroep in Amsterdam since 1993.
Consisting of around 30 international architects, designers and staff members, SeARCH develops architectural and urban projects and does research on architecture, landscaping, urbanism and new building products and materials.
The office’s key built works include Enschede (NL) – Cultuurcluster, museum, housing and studios; Den Helder (NL), Julianadorp – Juniorcollege, school building; Almere (NL), Blok 5, housing + shopping hall; the Dutch Embassy in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); and the Posbank Pavilion.
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PLAN01 is architecture with a difference.  A group of both agencies and architects, PLAN01 is an organisation unlike any other, with 10 partners, 4 associated agencies (Atelier du Pont, BP Architectures, KOZ and Atelier Philéas) and a shared workplace in the 12th Arrondissement in Paris.
Established in 2002 and unlike other architectural organisations, PLAN01 is distinguished by its innovative, multifaceted and avant-garde approach. It’s a utopian entity created by architects who all manage their own agencies.
The Group jointly puts imaginative ideas into practice and also ventures into the paralell areas of publishing, culture and events. PLAN01 always initiates their projects in segments, and always together with its 10 partners. MORE…

Selling Architecture that Sells:
A Nordic Perspective on Quality Commercial Design
May 22, 2008, Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, Slovenia

Architecture conference 2008 addresses the the challenge of producing quality architecture that meets the needs of makers, users and the larger public – and commercial – good.
This is architecture of the Nordic countries that is used directly or indirectly, to represent, to convince; to sell. One of the issues the event explores is the confronting and/or eliminating of the walls or boundaries between commercially-viable design and quality architecture that preserves integral architectural values to create something contemporary (of our time) engaging, useful and enduring.

The Nordic Perspective

Architecture of the Nordic countries enjoys an extremely good reputation around the world, and in Slovenia in particular. It serves as something of both an inspiration for and a model of strong, innovative, high-quality design and enduring design integrity.

Programme:
8.30 – 9.20 Registration
9.20 – 9.30 Conference Opening
9.30 – 9.50 Sadar Vuga Arhitekti, Boštjan Vuga, Slovenia
9.50 – 10.35 JKMM Architects / Teemu Kurkela, Finland: Human Sculpturesque Technology
10.35 – 10.45 Break
10.45 – 11.30 OlssonLyckefors Architekter, Andreas Lyckefors, Sweden: Beyond Preconceptions
11.30 – 11.35 Break
11.35 – 12.20 a-lab / Adnan Harambasic, Oslo, Norway: Joining Forces
12.20 – 12.25 Break
12.25 – 13.10 Valvomo / Ilkka Terho, Finland: Interior Architecture as Corporate Identity
13.10 – 14.00 Lunch
14.00 – 14.45 Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter / Dorte Mandrup-Poulsen, Denmark: An Experimental Approach as Alternative to Routine Commercial Construction
14.45 – 15.00 Coffee break
15.00 – 15.45 JDS Architects / Andrew Griffin, Denmark: JDS ARCHITECTS Pixl to XL
15.45 – 16.10 Questions & Discussion

Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter (founded June 1999) in Copenhagen, Denmark, works on a wide range of commisions including master- and urban planning, cultural institutions, housing, office buildings and conversions.
Their most recent projects include a new indoor sports facility in Holmbladsgade, Copenhagen, where a large translucent membrane stretches over the sports and culture centre arena, offering excellent daylight conditions and by night, appearing as a glowing crystal.
They also recently converted the Jægersborg Water Tower into a mix-use building with a youth centre and residences, where common balconies add new sculptural layers that enhance the distinctive character of the tower.
More: Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter ApS; Denmark

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Valvomo Architects is a design and architecture studio based in Helsinki founded by eight architects / designers working together as equal partners. The studio works on all areas of design, from architecture and interiors to objects, and their designs are included in many permanent international collections including MoMA New York.
Clients vary from restaurants, bars and clubs, to ad agencies and museums, and foreign design manufacturers include Nightingale Corp (Canada), Peter Pepper Products (USA), Offecct (Sweden), David Design (Sweden), and Idée (Japan).
Recently completed is the interior design for Krogerus Attorneys Ltd in Helsinki, shifting their brand identity from a traditional “law firm-look” to a new, young, cool, clear and “aggressive” one, complete with epoxy-flooring, laminate wall panels and white glass walls with graphics.
more: Valvomo / Ilkka Terho, Director; Helsinki, Finland

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Founded in 1998 by four partners, JKMM is currently designing several important public buildings in Finland. Their goal is to create buildings with exceptional architectural and technical quality, putting traditional wooden oar locks alongside BIM – Building Information Modeling – as exemplar models and tools in the design process. For them, buildings are designed for people, and should be at their best even after decades of use.
Recently completed are the new, light and spacious Turku Library, and the expansive Verkkatehdäs Culture and Congress Centre in Hämeenlinna, a massive conversion of an old factory complex boasting a number of venue-spaces and highly-advanced acoustics.
more: JKMM / Teemu Kurkela, CEO; Helsinki, Finland

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Andrew Griffin

JDS is a multidisciplinary office founded and directed by Julien de Smedt, co-founder of Plot, that focuses on architecture and design, from large scale planning to furniture, with a wide portfolio of international work. Their use of complementing teams ensures that projects don’t suffer from being too conventional nor too naïve.
Their recent Sjakket Youth House is a base camp for immigrant youth that occupies a former factory building, which gutted one of the vaulted buildings to make it a vast sports hall. And their recent flagship and concession stores for Bruunz Bazaar Scandinavian sets out to focus on the basic aspects of architecture and fashion, leaving space for essential representation: the clothes.
More: JDS, Copenhagen, Denmark
photo: copyright Nikolaj Moller

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OlssonLyckefors Architects (Johan Olsson and Andreas Lyckefors, 2004) develops a wide range of projects, from furniture and interior design, to housing and city planning.
Here the risks of preconceived notions that easily arise when repeatedly involved in similar kinds of projects are eliminated by swapping between different scales and types of challenges.
Recent projects include the dream-like Peacock dinner and dance club in Stockhom – complete with LED-light behind perforated wooden panels and chain curtains; and the Taste International restaurant-lounge in Gothenburg, complete with green flocking, corrugated walls black terrazzo.
On the more socially-responsible side, they just completed an exhibiton called ‘Homeless’, for the Gothenburg City Museum.
More: www.olssonlyckefors.se

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a-lab’s recent and current projects include the extensive, ongoing Barcode development in Oslo (housing, shopping, restaurants), an extension and addition to the municipality building of Sogne, and the Oslo City urban centre shopping complex.
more: a-lab / Adnan Harambasic , Oslo, Norway: Joining Forces

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