Today in Aalst, starting from 13.00, Groep Van Roey is celebrating the highest point of Utopia, the new library and academy of performing arts building designed by KAAN Architecten for the Flemish city.
On the project website you can follow the construction site and find news about the building. Meanwhile have a look at the time-lapse video:
The firm expands its growing business by opening its second outpost in São Paulo (Brazil). The practice, founded by architects Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio in 2014 quintessentially reveals a natural connection with Brazilian modernist architecture and aesthetics, highlighted through the use of raw concrete, clean lines and functional forms.
Since 2015, KAAN Architecten has been working on various projects across Brazilian territory: City Hall Park, a broad urban redevelopment plan in São Bernardo do Campo, the refurbishment of the city hall tower, the Paço Building, and Ferrazópolis, a transit hub featuring housing and a commercial program.
A team of architects, urban planners and engineers led by Renata Gilio works in close collaboration with the Rotterdam office and is based on the ground floor of a Sixties building in the cultural and residential district of Higienópolis, west of São Paulo’s city center. The Brazilian branch is predominantly dedicated to urban planning, renovation projects and educational programs between the States of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
To mark the official launch of the new office and the start of construction, KAAN Architecten unveils the design for the new Faculty of Medicine of the Universidade Anhembi Morumbi (UAM) in São José dos Campos, a city in the greater metropolitan area of São Paulo State. Located in proximity to a main road junction of the city, the building stands on an elevated plot, which creates both isolation and ideal conditions to turn it into a new landmark in the dense urban fabric.
Optimizing the topographical characteristics of the area, the project stands firm and visually opens itself up to the city. The intense Brazilian solar radiation is mitigated by a fully encompassing system of vertical slabs that fulfills the need for shade in every façade. Choosing a regular structural system enabled KAAN Architecten to feature glass between the concrete slabs and roof beams. These are molded in loco, relying on the expertise of the local workforce, and eliminating the need for masonry.
The Faculty of Medicine in São José dos Campos is scheduled for completion by the end of 2017.
Location: Deputado Benedito Matarazzo Avenue, 7.001 – São José dos Campos – SP (Brazil)
Architect: KAAN Architecten (Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio)
Project team: Marco (Peixe) D’Elia, Paolo Faleschini, Renata Gilio, Cristina Gonzalo Cuairán, Mariana Mariano, Ricardo Marmorato, Laís Oliveira Xavier
Client: Laureate International Universities, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi
Design phase: September 2016 – March 2017
Construction phase: February 2017 – December 2017
Site area: 29.700 sqm
Total floor area: 5.300 sqm + 1.800 sqm (underground parking)
Building costs: R$ 15 million (realization)
Main Contractor: R & G Incorporadora Ltda, São José dos Campos
Structural and hydraulic engineering: Fortec Engenharia, São José dos Campos
Electrical and lighting engineering: Eletrotécnica Volt Ltda, São José dos Campos
Investor representative: BRC Group, São Paulo
Landscape design advisor: URB SP, São Paulo
The Education Center Erasmus MC has been awarded an honourable mention by the Dedalo Minosse International Prize. The prize promotes quality in architecture, focusing on the design and construction process and the figures that determine the success of the work: the architect and the client.
KAAN Architecten and Erasmus MC received the prize in Vicenza (Italy) on June 23rd. On the same day an exhibition featuring all the winners was opened in the Palazzo Chiericati, the exhibition will travel worldwide in the upcoming months.
On Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th June, KAAN Architecten’s office will be open to visitors as part of the “Day of Architecture 2017” in Rotterdam that this year is focused on the Maritime District and the Wilhelminapier.
Both days from 12.00 to 17.00, two guides will welcome visitors inside De Bank and give guided tours of the space every half-hour.
For more information, visit the website of the event.
The new Geosciences and Environmental Research Center of the University of Tübingen (Germany) is growing fast. Since March 2016 a webcam has been documenting the progress on-site.
The first year of construction was dedicated to the construction of the concrete structure; followed by the building’s roof featuring all the mechanical plant units. The glazing of the two meter deep galvanized steel “façade rings” has started and last week the surrounding site was filled with soil to match the ground level of the campus.
The building is expected to be completed by Summer 2018.
