artificial mountain design

architects are taking the lead on climbing the artificial mountain.
a number of projects have amounted from this notion of constructing buildings influenced
by geological forms, resulting in architectural metaphors which combine the digital,
natural and artificial.


sports park stozice in ljubljana, slovenia by sadar vuga architects
image courtesy sadar vuga architects

sadar vuga arcitects concept for the sports park stozice in ljubljana, slovenia is a mound
covered by the artificial landscape of the park.


sports park stozice in ljubljana, slovenia
image courtesy sadar vuga architects



view of how the berg would appear surrounded by the city of berlin
image courtesy of the berg

last october, tempelhof airport in berlin, closed and the fact that it was one of the twenty
largest buildings on earth, started to generate ideas as to what to do with the vacant space.
architect jakob tigges proposed a 1,000-meter mountain, which would be partly bounded
by the former nazi terminal building. although, tigges says the proposal is not such a
serious idea, it has provoked thought about doing something more to the land than simply
inserting high-rise residential buildings or office towers onto the land. 'the berg', as the mountain
has been dubbed, could act as a natural habitat for wildlife, provide a place of sport for skiers
and contain challenging trails for hikers.


image courtesy of the berg


view from city streets
image courtesy of the berg



wroclaw mountain by vicente guallart / guallart architects
image courtesy of vicente guallart

wroclaw mountain by vicente guallart / guallart architects is the result of an international contest
to celebrate expo 2012 in wroclaw city poland. the building is set to be the iconic centre piece
with the concept being a 'mountain of activity' - a structure of one hundred meters high,
with auditoriums, offices, restaurants and other commercial space, including a cable car
and look out point. the building is to be located between the centennial hall and tower of culture
and science in warsaw. based on a mountain-like form, the activities it houses would be able to
expand out onto exterior terraces, created directly by the topography of the building, onto its roof,
directly accessible via the cable car from the park in which the structure stands. the topography
of the mountain is positioned in such a way that its south face forms an angle to accommodate
a bank of photovoltaic panels on the facade which will generate port of the energy consumed
by the building.


the interior
image courtesy of vicente guallart


image courtesy of vicente guallart


the mountain by night
image courtesy of vicente guallart


image courtesy of vicente guallart


image courtesy of vicente guallart


view from the cable car which moves between the 'mountain's' peak and the park below
image courtesy of vicente guallart



view from the sea
image courtesy of vicente guallart

guallart has also designed the denia castle cultural park which continues on this theme
of mountainous architectural landforms. the project is meant to act as a means of reordering
the castle in denia, spain by developing cultural, civic and social amentities which will
make it a territorial reference point to promote urban recycling and compact development
for the town.


aerial view
image courtesy of vicente guallart


image courtesy of vicente guallart


image courtesy of vicente guallart


the bathing spa
image courtesy of vicente guallart

the interior of the space will include a commercial zone with restaurants and cinemas
known as the agora. an auditorium which will be for congresses and civic meetings
and a bathing spa which will house a salt-water lake. the interior spaces reference
the basis of three systems of crystalization characteristic of calcite.


pedestrian tunnel
image courtesy of vicente guallart


image courtesy of vicente guallart

plan view
image courtesy of vicente guallart



'the re-naturalisation of territory'
image courtesy of vicente guallart

as seen above, guallart looks to incorporating geological forms into the infrastructure
of the city in which he is working. in this case, the focus is on the city of barcelona.
before our artificial world of civilization, we were surrounded by virgin land of natural plains
and mountains. for example, in san cugat, spain they devour and reform corporative centres,
creating new mountain-buildings which are capable of being auto-sufficient. this extension
of the landscape has resulted in a public golf court over one of the main highways, it also means
more land. in tarragona, spain the mountains detect chemical agents which block the possibility
of living on the coasts, isolating and moving towards the interior of the land, unfolding new
topographies to organize a new city. guallart's project 'the re-naturalisation of territory'
looks at mountains and their way of extending natural continuity within landforms,
creating a set of islands in front of the city of barcelona resulting in more land.


rendering of landforms
image courtesy of vicente guallart


image courtesy of vicente guallart


rendering of the set of islands infront of the city along the coast
image courtesy of vicente guallart



comparison of X-seed 400 to  other towers around the globe

in asia, japan is pining for a man-made mt. fuji building to be the tallest in the world.
designed by taisei construction coporation the x-seed 4000 as the mountain is called,
takes its form from the nearby mt. fuji. if it was to be built the structure would measure
13, 123 feet-tall accommodating from as little as five hundred thousand to as many as
one million inhabitants. it would protect its occupants from airpressure gradations
and weather fluctuations and  utilize solar power to maintain internal environmental conditions.



what x-seed 4000 would look like from the city



image courtesy of artists taking the lead

lee merrill sendall's large spiral mound was a concept to mark the 2012 olympics in london.
she has proposed to build a large mound in east yorkshre with views of the surrounding
flat landscape. the project would be built through a cooperative effort, encouraging people
and companies from around the UK to bring their waste earth and rubble to the site.


image courtesy of artists taking the lead


image courtesy of artists taking the lead



northumberlandia by charles jencks

artist charles jencks has designed a landmark feature at the entrance to south east
northumberland, UK which looks to sculpt out artificial landforms.
the northumlandia green goddess which will be a landform mimicking the shape of a goddess
lying across the land will be the focus of a 25 hectare park.


impression of northumberlandia