The shape of things to come
Europe’s cities have slowly been reshaped by a handful of innovative architects. Beatrice Galilee takes a look at some of their best work
The past 50 years have seen the function of the city change, from the focus of political power to a more cultural role, adopting and presenting an identity for the whole country. Increasingly, an individual architect takes a leading role in shaping that identity. Although characters such as Antoni Gaudí (who wielded phenomenal influence over Barcelona) or whole movements (step forward Palladianism, Wren’s London or Brunelleschi’s Florence) have had this effect, it’s individual buildings that are now markers in the development of many European cities.
It’s happening even in Athens, a city known more for its crumbling monoliths than contemporary design. July saw the opening of a Bernard Tschumi-designed building that looks set to change the Greek capital forever: the new Acropolis Museum (theacropolismuseum.gr).
Urban renewal: building on history
The €190m museum displays many of the treasures from the Acropolis that have been in storage for decades, but most notable is the twisted rooftop gallery, designed to display the controversial marble frieze once belonging to the Parthenon. Most of this frieze, commonly referred to as the Elgin Marbles, is the focus of an ongoing struggle for repatriation with London’s British Museum. Tschumi, along with most of Greece, is hoping the gallery’s design – explicitly emphasising the absent marbles by displaying plaster copies in their place – will galvanise the British Museum into returning the precious artefacts. If they manage to overturn London’s stubborn stance on this issue, it will surely be one of the most important moments in recent Greek culture. European cities are often layered with complexities, and the relationship between old fabric and contemporary architecture is starkly apparent in Berlin. British architect and Stirling Prize-winner David Chipperfield has recently tackled the shell of Neues Museum (www.museen-berlin.de), a building originally designed by Friedrich Stüler that was destroyed in the 1940s. The rebuilding process has been agonising, but the project – a masterpiece of subtlety and strength – has been hailed as the most important building of the century so far. Less subtle, but no less sensitive or vital to the city, is Berlin’s Jüdisches Museum (www.jmberlin.de). Musician-turned-architect Daniel Libeskind has produced a building that even as an empty shell was a powerful experience. The design – which is full of angles and sharp, dominating spaces – is deliberately startling and abrasive. The intention here is for visitors to connect physically and emotionally with the 2,000-year history of Jewish culture. The museum’s slanting walls, inaccessible rooms and deliberately claustrophobic, intimidating spaces create a sense of anxiety that makes even the most powerful exhibits fight for attention. Alongside Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews, the opening of run by Farshid Mousavi and Alejandro Zaero-Polo. Its projects can be found across Spain, including a municipal theatre in Torrevieja and a bamboo housing project outside Madrid.Looking forward: the next big thing
In fact, Madrid is becoming a hot spot for architecture with its new gallery, CaixaForum (www.lacaixa.es). Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the architects behind Beijing Bird’s Nest stadium, it’s just around the corner from the beautiful new wing of Museo Nacional del Prado (museodelprado.es) by Rafael Moneo. But if you want a quick distillation of the best contemporary design, head to the city’s Hotel Puerta America (www.hoteles-silken. com/HPAM). Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the individual hotel rooms are contributions from architecture’s finest, including Arata Isozaki, Norman Foster, Plasma Studio, Marc Newson, Ron Arad and Zaha Hadid.Pages: 1 2