Bjarke Ingels

Bjarke Ingels

photo from google images

This modern day architect designs structures with an element of symbiosis. He takes purposes that normally require separate buildings and combines them so that they work together in the most efficient way.

This piece is like his mountain project. It is a combination of a parking structure and apartment building.

The mountain is a collection of pent houses spread over a wedge shaped car park. A car park doesn’t really need a good view or natural light, but it is nice for an apartment to have a garden. By producing this form you can utilize the same footprint in a more useful way by making the structure multi-functional (a car park and apartments.). By looking at a volume and its characteristics, each space has positives and negatives. The living roof is one of my favourite elements - a garden resting on a city is an unusual idea. But in this case it is a necessity. The roof garden holds the rain water, the plants grow and makes the city a more beautiful place, and it relieves pressure on the drainage system. This project has combined two usually different structures into one more use ecofriendly structure. The idea of symbiosis comes from nature when two organisms help each another to make a more efficient system. So why not use this in architecture?

What I like about his work, is the way he combines uses to create better structure. He calls this “architectural alchemy” - mixing two worthless materials to create a more valuable one; or two uses to create a more useful structure. I hope to use this idea in my exam piece.