Ian The Architect » Thomas Heatherwick http://www.ianthearchitect.org Fri, 03 Jun 2016 04:07:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 First a garden on a bridge; now a park in the desert http://www.ianthearchitect.org/first-a-garden-on-a-bridge-now-a-park-in-the-desert/ http://www.ianthearchitect.org/first-a-garden-on-a-bridge-now-a-park-in-the-desert/#comments Sat, 10 May 2014 23:15:21 +0000 http://www.ianthearchitect.org/?p=3350 Thomas Heatherwick has released his proposals for the new Al Fayah Park is Abu Dhabi.  His endless talents are now taking landscaping into new worlds, first with the Garden Bridge over the River Thames in London and now with this proposal for a new park in Abu Dhabi of which he says:  “It’s not a conventional building and it’s not a conventional park. It’s part architecture, part landscape, part cultural destination. It even includes a library.” said Heatherwick of the new park which will be located on Airport Road opposite the Dome@Rawdhat.

The new 125,000 sq m Al Fayah Park, which Heatherwick describes as an “articulated landform”, apparently takes its inspiration from the topography of the Emirates and will features a cracked, sabkha, or salt flat sandy-coloured landscape that will rise 20 metres above ground level to provide partial shade to the plants underneath.  Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year and will be complete in 2017.

The brief for the park is ambitious.  Once established, it will supply fresh fruits and vegetables to local cafes and restaurants. It will also include a public library, picnic areas, a mosque, an outdoor cinema and spaces for performances and festivals in addition to play areas and exercise paths.It will showcase flowers and plants from the Arabian Gulf region.   The park is designed to benefit local residents and attract international visitors as part of a strategy for the city to have 130 parks and play areas by 2017.

]]> http://www.ianthearchitect.org/first-a-garden-on-a-bridge-now-a-park-in-the-desert/feed/ 0 Grain silos to Contemporary Art Museum in Capetown http://www.ianthearchitect.org/grain-silos-to-contemporary-art-museum/ http://www.ianthearchitect.org/grain-silos-to-contemporary-art-museum/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2014 07:27:22 +0000 http://www.ianthearchitect.org/?p=2801 We have seen grain silos converted into residential schemes, including a student residential scheme in South Africa.  Thomas Heatherwick has released imaginative proposals to convert grain silos along the waterfront in Capetown, South Africa into a contemporary art museum.  South Africa has a growing art community, with a number of private galleries and the first major art fair being held only a few months ago in October 2013, at which 40 galleries and more than 130 artists displayed work.

Did this act as the catalyst for the current project? In November 2013, Heatherwick was asked to develop ideas to transform the historic grain silo complex in Cape Town into the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) to display the modern African art collection of the German collector Jochen Zeitz. The project, in which the silos are themselves transformed into sculptural works of art, will provide 9,500 sq m of space over 9 floors, of which 6,000 sq m will be exhibition space and will be completed at the end of 2016.

 

 

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