HISTORY OF

ARCHITECTURE 3
Formative Assessment 8

By: Albarico, Ma. Alexandra A.

There were some notable 21st century architects that stood out for their own styles that popularize
the current architectural style that we have today. These are the most influencial people during
the era of Contemporary: Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ba, Santiago Calatrava,
and the late Zaha Hadid, who died at 65 in 2016. They are known for show-stoppingly expressive
buildings rendered in unconventional, sometimes gravity-defying shapes that alter the landscape
in places around the world.

Source: https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-contemporary-architecture-4769079 2
FRANK GEHRY
WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
Los Angeles, California, United States
Background, Planning, and Construction: The design represents the style of their creator,
architect Frank Gehry, could be considered a work of art in itself. The extravagance of its forms seems
to defy any rules of harmony and symmetry. The forms are external inspired by a boat with sails
drenched.
Technological Advances: To calculate the complex shapes of the curves Walt Disney Concert
Hall was used to Catia software. This allowed us to determine the structure and shape of each piece
of steel that covers them.
Construction/Building Materials: To coat the outer surfaces were used corrugated 12,500 pieces of
steel together on the outside. No two equal parts, as each piece takes a unique form of agreement to their
location. In areas outside of regular forms, the stone was used. Glass surfaces function as a liaison between
the various volumes. The interior of the auditorium and rooms, is lined with firm
wood. This is the same type of wood that is used in the back of violoncelos and
violas. Here was used in floors, walls and ceilings.

Source: https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/walt-disney-concert-hall/ 3
ZAHA HADID
HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER
Baku, Republic of Azarbaijan
Background, Planning, and Construction: As explained by Zaha Hadid in a conference, the
Bakú complex actually consists of three buildings: a conference centre, a museum and a library,
connected by an interior space and by the curved and “fluid” exterior skin which snakes across the
whole structure. Hadid’s structure stands alongside the various others within the complex. With a
continuous design of auto-transformation in all directions, there is little sense of limits and no
indication of an end. It is an immersion in a pool of space.
Technological Advances: To emphasise the continuous relationship between the exterior and
interior of the building, the illumination of the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre was carefully
considered. During the day, the building reflects the light, constantly altering its appearance
according to the time and the perspective. The use of semi-reflective windows allows the interior to
be perceived without revealing the trajectory of the spaces. By night, the building is gradually
transformed by the illumination which flows from the interior, which develops the formal
composition to reveal its contents and maintain the fluidity between the interior and exterior.
As an object, the building is subjective, provoking strong reactions, unrestricted by
the suspension of physical gravity.

Source: https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/walt-disney-concert-hall/ 4
ZAHA HADID
HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER
Baku, Republic of Azarbaijan
Construction/Building materials: The building, whose smooth, distorted grid-work of
polyester-reinforced fibreglass panels do not have visible connections, appears less “as built” and
more “as landed”. In the construction, they used 121,000m³ of reinforced concrete, 194,000
formworks and 19,000 tonnes of steel molds. To create the shape of the external skin, 5,500
tonnes of structural steel were required, creating the base for a surface of 40,000m² formed of
panels of fibreglass reinforced with polyester or concrete. There were a total of around 17,000
individual panels with various geometries.

Source: https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/walt-disney-concert-hall/ 5
TADAO ANDO
THE CHURCH OF LIGHT
Ibaraki-Osaki, Japan
Background, Planning, and Construction: The Church of the Light embraces Ando’s
philosophical framework between nature and architecture through the way in which light can define
and create new spatial perceptions equally, if not more so, as that of his concrete
structures. Completed in 1989, the Church of the Light was a renovation to an existing Christian
compound in Ibaraki. The new church was the first phase to a complete redesign of the site – later
completed in 1999 – under Ando’s design aesthetic.
Building Materials: The Church of the Light consists a 5.9m concrete volumes(5.9m
wide x 17.7m long x 5.9m high) that is cut by a freestanding concrete wall angled at 15°,
dividing the box, creating a direct connection between the entrance and the
church. The line created slices directly through the window, dividing it and highlighting
the outline of the wall’s shape, literally objectifying the plane.
Construction Methodology: For Ando, the Church of Light is an architecture of
duality – the dual nature of existence – solid/void, light/dark, stark/serene. The coexisting
differences leave the church void of any, and all, ornament creating a pure, unadorned
space. The intersection of light and solid raises the occupants awareness of the spiritual
and secular within themselves.
Source: https://arch5541.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/tadao-ando-church-of-light/ 6
TADAO ANDO
THE CHURCH OF LIGHT
Ibaraki-Osaki, Japan
The employment of simplistic materials reinforces the duality of the space; the concrete structure
removes any distinction of traditional Christian motifs and aesthetic. Besides an extruded cross from
the east facing façade, the church is composed of a concrete shell; the concrete adds to the darkness
of the church by creating a more humble, meditative place of worship. As a testament to minimalist
architecture, the crosses void in the east facing wall is the only prominent religious symbol present in
the church.
“In all my works, light is an important controlling factor. I create enclosed spaces
mainly by means of thick concrete walls. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual,
a zone for oneself within society. When the external factors of a city's environment require the wall
to be without openings, the interior must be especially full and satisfying.”
–Tadao Ando

Source: https://www.archdaily.com/101260/ad-classics-church-of-the-light-tadao-ando 7
JEAN NOUVEL
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QATAR
MUSEUM PARK ST, DOHA, QATAR
Background, Planning, and Construction: As the National Museum is dedicated to the
history of Qatar, it was made to evoke the desert’s eternal dimension and fluidity. Taking the desert
rose as a starting point, the team designed a building 350 meters long with a series of large, inward-
curving disks. These iconic disks define the museum’s formal approach and spatial experience
throughout..

Building Materials: The skin of the building is made of a high-performance glass fiber-reinforced
concrete that possesses the same sand color inside and outside the building. This GFRC layer was
segmented into a series of panels along the building disks, each ranging from 46 to 285 feet in diameter.
Internationally renowned consulting firm Arup provided most of the engineering disciplines, including the
primary steel structural system. Their task was nothing short of epic — the museum comprises some 539
disks of 30 different sizes.

Source: https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/national-museum-of-qatar/ 8
JEAN NOUVEL
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QATAR
MUSEUM PARK ST, DOHA, QATAR

Technological Advances: Stuttgart-based Werner Sobek worked on the design and

Construction Methodology: The orientation of the disks add to the building’s energy
efficiency. When the sun hits the building from the east or west, the disks cast long protective
shadows that help to keep the interior spaces cool. The disks slice through one another, resulting in
a construction made of complex geometric spaces. Inside, you find spaces that don’t exist anywhere
else in the world, creating a unique experience for viewing art and traversing between exhibition
halls.

Source: https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/national-museum-of-qatar// 9
SANTIAGO
TURNING TURSO
CALATRAVA
LILLA VARVSGATAN, MALMO, SWEDEN

Background, Planning, and Construction: The Spanish genius Santiago Calatrava infused
movement to structure and carved out the spontaneously engineered artifact of white marble. The
concept developed much earlier within a sculpture of Calatrava. He abstracted the human movement
into a stack of seven cubes twisting around a spinal core. The real scale of Turning Torso consists of
nine cubes, each considered as an individual unit holding five consecutive floor slabs while
dramatically spiraling in a whole right angle from toe to tip, encircling a structural nucleus.

Building Materials: The building, constructed of steel, glass and reinforced concrete, is divided into
nine rotating cube whose main structural element is a core made of reinforced concrete, from 10.6 meters
in diameter (by way of vertebral column). Its center was aligned with the axis of rotation of the plants. The
exterior of the building is covered by glass panels and aluminum. Each of the cube has six floors.

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SANTIAGO
TURNING TURSO
CALATRAVA
LILLA VARVSGATAN, MALMO, SWEDEN

Technological Advances: 2250 slightly tilted flat glass windows are engraved within the white
marble facade with 2800 curved aluminum panel. Each unit consists of 300 panels. The whole
building including the exterior skin is lit artificially by Golden Dragon LED from Osram and custom-
made fixtures from Louis Poulsen. Environment-friendly Osram LED illuminators are accompanied
with motion sensors for interior lighting.

Construction Methodology: It encounters a great challenge of standing upright at a windy

Source: https://www.arch2o.com/turning-torso-santiago-calatrava/ 11
Sources

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-contemporary-architecture-4769079
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https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/heydar-aliyev-cultural-center/
https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/national-museum-of-qatar/
https://www.arch2o.com/turning-torso-santiago-calatrava/
https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/hsb-turning-torso/
https://arch5541.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/tadao-ando-church-of-light/
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