Comic and Animation Museum by MVRDV

MVRDV win competition for China Comic and Animation Museum, Hangzhou
Hangzhou urban planning bureau has announced MVRDV winner of the international design competition for the China Comic and Animation Museum (CCAM) in Hangzhou, China. MVRDV won with a design referring to the speech balloon: a series of eight balloon shaped volumes create an internally complex museum experience of in total 30.000m2.

Part of the project is also a series of parks on islands, a public plaza and a 13.000m2 expo centre. Construction start is envisioned for 2012, the total budget is 92 million Euro.

Dutch studio MVRDV have won a design competition to build a Comic and Animation Museum in Hangzhou, China, formed of eight giant balloon-shaped forms.

Each balloon will contain a different function within the museum, including two exhibition spaces that will display cartoons, comics and animations.

The permanent exhibition space will spiral out of its chamber and on through the building to connect with three auditoriums and a comic book library.

Where balloons touch an opening is created internally, allowing views between spaces.

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Comics and animations have long been considered a form of entertainment for the younger generations but develop more and more into a sophisticated art form. The initiative for a museum especially for this relatively recent art form creates a platform which will unite the worlds of art and entertainment. By using one of the cartoon’s prime characteristics – the speech balloon – the building will instantly be recognised as place for cartoons, comics and animations. The neutral speech balloon becomes 3d.

The 30.000m2 are distributed over eight volumes which are interconnected allowing for a circular tour of the entire program. Services such as the lobby, education, three theatres/cinemas with in total 1111 seats and a comic book library occupy each their own balloon. If two balloons touch in the interior a large opening allows access and views in-between the volumes. The balloon shape allows for versatile exhibitions, the permanent collection is presented in a chronological spiral whereas the temporary exhibition hall offers total flexibility. Amsterdam based exhibition architects Kossman deJong tested the spaces and designed exhibition configurations which appeal to different age groups and allow large crowds to visit the exhibition.

One of the balloons is devoted to interactive experience in which visitors can actively experiment with all sorts of animation techniques like blue screen, stop motion, drawing, creating emotions etc. The core attraction of this space is a gigantic 3D zoetrope. The routing of the museum permits short or long visits, visits to the cinema, the temporary exhibition or the roof terrace restaurant. The façade of the museum is covered in a cartoon relief referring to a Chinese vase. The monochrome white concrete façade allows the speech balloons to function: texts can be projected onto the façade. The relief was designed in collaboration with Amsterdam based graphic designers JongeMeesters.

Most of the 13.7 ha site is occupied by a new park on a series of islands in White Horse Lake. Reed beds are used to improve the water quality. Boat rides offer an added attraction. A separate expo building of 25.000m2 will house large fairs and the annual China International Comic and Animation Festival (CICAF). In-between expo and CCAM a public plaza will be the centre of this festival which is the county’s largest cartoon and animation event and has been held annually in Hangzhou since 2005.

Hangzhou is a metropolis with 6.4 million inhabitants 180 km southwest of Shanghai. The Museum will become a new focal point on the less populated southern side of Qiantang river. The CCAM will consolidate the city’s leading position as China’s capital of the animation industry. The new Museum will be the icon of a larger development, the Comic and Animation Centre. It comprises a series of hill-shaped buildings containing offices, a hotel and a conference centre of which the first phase is close to completion.

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Taiwan Conceptual Tower - 3rd Prize for “Wind Firefly”

Here's another top-scoring entry at the Taiwan Conceptual Tower International Competition: "Wind Firefly", the concept by VOID_7 (Madrid, Spain) and p96d (Tel Aviv, Israel), was awarded the Third Prize. The team comprised Irma Coello Muñoz (VOID_7), Leticia Montero Amice (p96d), Tomer Shimon Kenin (p96d), Álvaro Guinea Martín (VOID_7).

Third Prize at the Taiwan Conceptual Tower International Competition for "Wind Firefly" by VOID_7 and p96d Wind Firefly: Sequence night

Wind Firefly: Night view

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First prize in the Kaohsiung Port Terminal. Reiser + Umemoto.

Reiser + Umemoto (RUR) was awarded first prize in the international competition for a new cruise port and service center in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Republic of China.


 The contest was sponsored by the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Taiwan, Republic of China.



For this project, RUR will partner with local architects and Associates Fei Cheng (Taipei), with also working on his first place win Taipei Pop Music Centre project. Also in the project team is Ysrael A. Structural Engineer Seinuk, PC (New York), Reiser + Umemoto and Ysrael A. Seinuk also worked in his office tower S-14, which is currently nearing completion in Dubai, UAE. Rounding out the team in other engineering disciplines ARUP is Hong Kong.


For Terminal Port of Kaohsiung, RUR proposed a 3-dimensional dynamic planning that takes advantage of lateral positioning of the site only with respect to the grid of the city. Existing public pedestrian flows along the elevated boardwalk proposal may be amplified, rather than interrupted by the creation of a steady rise in public esplanade along the coast. speed functions and ferry, meanwhile, are just below the public and held various areas to secure your departure / arrival passengers.


The vertical movement is organized around areas of thickening in the skin of the building which also house structure, utilities, and ventilation. The structure is a system of nested shells, long, consisting of a spatial structure underlying steel tube that is inserted by closing panels to create a usable cavity space.


In general management experience yet functionally separate flows will an aura of energy for space terminal point.


The main hall is divided into three different partitions, each associated with a different itinerary to travel by boat, while the contests are oriented parallel to the shoreline to maximize the interface between water and land. By vertically splitting the functions of the public in general, port companies, and travelers along this coastal edge RUR were able to keep operating the various uses of high efficiency and at the same time allowing the synergy of functions mixture to the general public.


An essential component to the vitality of the Port Terminal Project is the connection with a large public space project along the water's edge. The importance of this waterfront area is different but connected with the city of Kaohsiung is invaluable. The promenade linking the new pop music center, arts and shopping districts within a green necklace along the coast. The walk will be a 24-hour period that encourages shopping, dining and recreation. Moreover, with this vital conduit shall guarantee the continued economic viability of the port terminal, maintaining and expanding the periodic maritime uses cruise and ferry terminal.


The project is scheduled for construction in 2012 and is expected to be operational by 2014, with a construction budget of approximately $ 85 million. The contest was sponsored by the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Taiwan, Republic of China.


Kaohsiung Port Terminal will have a series of wavy horizontal structures, each with glass facades at the ends, which are merging to the center and fired to form a tower at the opposite end.


The building's facade will feature a series of thin glass openings, following the curves of the structure.
An elevated promenade at street level and provide pedestrian access throughout the building.


This part will be separated from the arrival and departure areas for ships and ferries, which is below.




New York practice Reiser + Umemoto .
























Kaohsiung Port Terminal competition

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International Conference Center of Dalian. Coop Himmelb(l)au

The Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb (l) au won a competition to create the International Conference Center of Dalian.



 As if an alien spacecraft landed on Earth, this is how I would imagine that this design.








 Sounds like you have a lot of work on his plate, but the project looks amazing.

 The project emphasizes the tradition of innovation in advanced and controversial forms of European architecture firm.




 Center is designed to "reflect the promising future of Dalian modern and tradition as a major port, trade, industry and tourism in the city."

 Design incorporates a public area with shopping at ground level, a theater of 1,900 seats and a capacity of 2500 conference space located 149ft (5 m) above the lobby as floating space.

 Small conference spaces are located around this central space.

 "With the International Conference Centre in Dalian, a city within a building hybrid emerge, " says the statement of design.

 "For the technical infrastructure of the building, this means that we must consider a lot of people moving into the building while waiting for a high level of movement and comfort, as well as a state of art related to building high flexibility and low power consumption.


Designed to “both reflect the promising modern future of Dalian and its tradition as an important port, trade, industry and tourism city” the Dalian Conference Center is associative in its architectural concept rather than pictographic, taking on the softness of form as though eroded by forces of the sea. The design incorporates a public zone with shopping at ground level and a 1,900 seat theatre and 2,500 capacity conference space situated 15m above the entrance hall as floating spaces. Smaller conference spaces are situated around this core space.

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Batumi Aquarium. Batumi, Republic of Georgia.

Aquarium Batumi

Henning Larsen Architects won first prize in the competition for a new aquarium in the Georgian port of Batumi. This contest was a closed competition by invitation.

Batumi Aquarius will undoubtedly become a modern building. The aquarium offers an educational trip, entertaining and visually stimulating through different seas on the planet. The new tank will replace the old, the aquarium today, and is located on the beachside of Rustaveli Str. Park next to Batumi on May 6 with a dolphin and a zoo. The building stands out as an iconic rock formation visible from land and sea. Training is self-supporting four exhibition areas with each stone representing a unique marine biotope - the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, the Black Sea and the Red Sea and finally the more interactive exhibition space for teaching and "edutainment." The proposal of Henning Larsen Architects of Batumi aquarium is inspired by the pebbles of the beach property Batumi - formed by currents through the millennia and the complicated process of erosion in the sea. His image inspired by nature Batumi Aquarium will benchmark new and spectacular in Georgia, and also a contribution to the art and technology to explore beneath the sea surface. The central space for multiple uses in relation to the aquarium with a cafe and retail store launa and its design makes it flexible and suitable for presentations and workshops. The pebbles in turn present the image of the whiteness and softness of the organic and modern.Aquarium Batumi will become a modern and innovative. The aquarium offers a cultural field trip, entertaining and visually stimulating through different seas. Organic and innovative design in addition to being a reflection of the times and progress and innovation desseo part of an exercise in mimesis on the surrounding environment. "The building will become a landmark and a reference organic all elements of the sea," says Design Director and Partner of Henning Larsen Architects, Louis Becker. "It captures the special atmosphere of the sea and thus becomes a tribute to the power of the sea!" The building is divided into four exhibition areas self-sufficient, where each of the four stones is a unique marine biotope. Given the location and the emblematic use of the building. The resort is inspired by the stones of the beach features Batumi, this structural form is continuous waves washing over the millennia, the building stands as an iconic rock formation visible from land and sea. The Aquarium of 2,000 m2 will replace the previous tank port and is located in the beachside of Rustaveli Str. Park next to Batumi on May 6 with a dolphin and zoo.

Visitors can stay in the central space to play, eat, shop and relax before continuing through the exhibition. An outdoor scenery of the sea islands around the aquarium and offers the opportunity for innovative research and learning as well as informal meetings along the coast.

The central space for multiple uses has a cafeteria and a shop and his design makes it flexible for presentations and workshops.Project Information

Project Name: Aquarium BatumiLocation: The Republic of Georgia

Design Team: Louis Becker (design director, partner) Anders Park (project leader), Viggo Haremst (responsible for the design), Michael S rensen and Jaewoo Chun.Project type:

AquariumClient: Association A.T.U.Contractor:Site Area:Built-up area: 2,000 m2

Information ArchitectName: Henning Larsen Architects

Country name: Republic of Georgia

The City of Batumi

Batumi is the capital of the south-western province Adjara in Georgia. The city has approx. 120,000 citizens and is situated by the Black Sea, approx. 20 km from the border of Turkey. Batumi is a very active tourist city and commercial port. Unlike other cities in Georgia, the houses of Batumi are richly coloured and the city bears the mark of being a sailor city with a number of restaurants and cafés. Batumi also has wonderful beaches and many small hotels.

The project team includes Louis Henning Larsen Architects Becker (design director, partner) Anders Park (project leader), Viggo Haremst (responsible for the design), Michael Sorensen and Jaewoo Chun.

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