Sunday, October 7, 2007

Hot or Cold?


Courtyard of the La Defense Offices in Almere


the exterior versus the interior/Courtyard

UNStudio really had a great idea with the La Defense Offices in Almere. The whole building in situated among a larger urban area that is partly surrounded by housing. The outside of the office buildings are clad with traditional silvered colored materials to fit into the context of the surrounding grey bricked structures. However, the interior is clad with a foil underneath glass that, depending on the incident and angle of light, is illuminated in different colors. This clad animates the interior of the courtyard. This has been compared to an inner fire. The viewer walks from a very cold exterior and is welcomed into the warmth of the courtyard, it draws the viewer inside. The foil was designed by 3M originally to be used on perfume bottles, but never was. They agreed only to produce the foil if it were ordered in large quantities. I would think that this type of aesthetic could change the whole "work" environment for the inhabitants of the office buildings--it's amazing!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

very good litt. on the court yards.these buildings were great.