kengo kuma: casalgrande ceramic cloud
‘casalgrande ceramic cloud’ by kengo kuma for casalgrande padana
kengo kuma, developed ‘casalgrande ceramic cloud’ together with italian company casalgrande padana to celebrate their 50th year in business. the project was inaugurated earlier this month. situated on an area of over 2800 square meters of public green space, the ‘ceramics cloud’ stands on the new road foothills, at the production site of the company itself, presenting itself as ‘gateway to east’ to the ceramic district of emilia romagna.
‘ceramics cloud’ experiments, with the ceramic material in a structural form, for the first time. large elements of casalgrande valley, through the standard production, are freed of the usual value of simple coating and converted into a texture and impressive three-dimensional space with light. the result is a three-dimensional structure that experiments using innovative applications of ceramic components. made entirely with special large slabs of porcelain stoneware mechanically fastened to a specially designed metal. in its entirety, the installation is over 40 metres long and 7 metres high, and looks like an architectural object.
project info:
project manager mauro filippini, casalgrande valley spa cost control mauro filippini, casalgrande valley spa engineering ejiro, takuma sato structural engineers (tokyo) and norihiro ejiro pieter ochelen, # 402 3-20-11, takadanobaba, shinjukuku, tokyo 169-0075, japan client consultant: architecture alfonso acocella, university of ferrara; luigi alini, university of catania urban planing angelo silingardi (CCDP) facilities henry turbot (CCDP), alberto zen (CCDP) plants cesare and luigi brizzi massa, casalgrande valley spa lighting mario nanni (principal charge), federica soprani communication
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the scheme responds to the natural qualities of the site, creating a spatial experience where building and landscape blend together.
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Now that is something totally new to architecture! A 3-dimensional wall of ceramics; that is definitely a new way to display material and view it from even more perspectives, and the water reflection even gives it a fourth dimension.
beautifully zen and minimal. Reminds me of his trademark style of modulation of light and shadow, a similar symmetry seen in his bamboo house at the great wall commune Beijing and his first boutique hotel project[url=http://www.theoppositehouse.com] The Opposite House Beijing [/url]
bold design but will it resist strong winds , it looks so delicate
and it is technologically challenging because it is made of ceramic and has lights installed? whatever…
i am sorry, this is pure redux and quite honestly it is not quite clear from the post how it is anything more than an installation. which is what the goeritz project is precisely.
actually, copying per se is not that bad. indeed, it can be a real challenge as it entails reappropriation. but the people who designed this probably were not even aware they were copying in order to take it a step further. alas, that would call for some sort of conceptual practice with solid knowledge of immediate history. an office of 90+ people (as kuma’s practice website indicates) would find challenging to operate on such a level (no control, no interaction, too many projects, unjustified concepts floating all around).
anyway, this is not such a bad project after all – just bland and uneventful as most of this office’s work. the real tragedy seems to be their competition entries. that dundee thing (also posted somewhere on this website) must be one of the most inconsistent projects i have stumbled upon lately. the circulation, that repetitive material pattern used as skin, that bizarre and indecisive shape that seems like they just jumbled the program together to get it over with. what a mess, 1st year graduates would have done better…
to mud:
i love Goeritz work, everybody does…. but nothing to do with this monument of Kuma… different technologically (CC is a greater technical challenge) and of course perceptionwise (completelly different contexts and purposes). Your comparison is banal.
Great first work of Kuma in Italy… I hope more significant works of KKAA will happen in this my country… i hope more that just a monumentl in a highway, he deserves more important comissions than this.
Anyway, bravo Kuma!
beautiful crisp images, fabulous composition in a round-about way, while ceramics bear quite a carbon footprint,
please! respect for master Mathias Goeritz! great job but ruled by 1968 Camino Real Hotel in pink sculture fence, Mex City, almost 50 years before you…
BEAUTIFUL!!!! Well done.