Diller Scofidio + Renfro selected to transform the center of Aberdeen

Jan 2012

By Karissa Rosenfield — Filed under: Architecture News ,Competitions ,Cultural , Aberdeen, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Keppie Design, London, OLIN

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View from Rosemount Viaduct - Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

Aberdeen City Garden Trust has announced Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) as winner of the international design competition that will transform the center of Aberdeen. The New York City based firm will be working with the Scottish practice Keppie Design and Philadelphia landscape architects OLIN. The “rich and varied” shortlist included Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Foster + Partners, Gustafson Porter, Mecanoo, Snøhetta & Hoskins and West 8. After an extended run-off between DS+R and Foster + Partners, the Aberdeen City Garden competition will be DS+R’s first major win in a European design competition.

Continue reading for more!

Existing Site - Images courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

The £140m City Garden Project will radically transform the center, raising the nineteenth-century Union Terrace Gardens and covering over the “unattractive” Denburn dual carriageway and railway line.

Proposed Site - Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

The six hectare site will provide a safe, year-round civic garden that “reflects Aberdeen’s success and international status.” The existing Union Street retail and business thoroughfare will be integrated with the cultural attractions of an existing theater and art gallery whilst providing the context for a new contemporary arts center.

Learning Garden / Denburn Overlook - Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

DS+R’s winning proposal, known as Granite Web, “celebrates the three-dimensional aspects of Aberdeen, reinterpreting the topography of the Denburn Valley and the dramatic cascade of the existing Union Terrace Gardens while creating graceful new spaces and structures that contribute to a memorable and thrilling contemporary design.”

The Diamond - Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

It will provide additional usable green space, a landmark cultural and arts center, and promote the City’s historic streets, revealing the arches, vaults and bridge on Union Street and preserving the balustrades and statues which are part of Aberdeen’s heritage.

Proposed Site - Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boardsImages courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

DS+R Partner, Charles Renfro stated, “While the City Garden is at the heart of Aberdeen, the heart has little pulse…we feel that we can make that heart throb and bring life and energy into the centre of town. By making the park greener, more accommodating to passive and active uses, more engaged at its edges, the gardens can become a magnet for this otherwise youthful and energetic city. We feel particularly well- suited to this challenge – the project reflects an integration of landscape design, museum design and design for the performing arts, the primary focuses of our practice.”

The Forum Stage - Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

Competition organizer, Malcolm Reading commented, “This is such an exciting outcome and a great coup for the city. This ingenious and inspiring design for Aberdeen’s key public space gives the city a new social landscape but one rooted in its extraordinarily rich heritage and natural assets.”

“The runner-up concept, by Foster and Partners was outstanding, elegant and thoughtful, but did not, in the end, persuade the Jury that it could match the promise of connectivity, excitement and spatial diversity of the winning scheme.”

The Aberdeen City Garden Project team has been working along with Aberdeen City Council and consultants PWC to develop a solid business plan for funding the project as part of the wider city center regeneration scheme. The winning concept will be subject to a referendum the will reveal the public support. Detailed designs will be produced for a planning application.

Click here to view the entire winning proposal. And click here to see the other five submissions.

Reference: Aberdeen City Garden Project

: Existing Site – Images courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

: Existing Site – Images courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

: Existing Site – Images courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

: Existing Site – Images courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

: Existing Site – Images courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

: Proposed Site – Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

: Proposed Site – Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boardsImages courtesy of Aberdeen City Garden Project

: Learning Garden / Denburn Overlook – Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

: The Diamond – Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

: The Forum – Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

: The Forum Stage – Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

: View from Rosemount Viaduct – Rendering provided by the Diller Scofidio + Renfro submission boards

Cite:
Rosenfield , Karissa . "Diller Scofidio + Renfro selected to transform the center of Aberdeen" 18 Jan 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 23 Feb 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/201203>

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hrf says:

pre-dated futurism but perhaps still better than the competition

# January 18, 2012 at 16:30

tony says:

Mmmm… a wind tunnel and outdoor amphitheatre to enjoy in the snow and the depths of winter in Aberdeen. Delight-fool.

# January 18, 2012 at 17:23

Bill says:

Diller+Scofidio is the best thing to happen to architecture in modern times in my opinion. To have two artist/architects at their level influencing such large/urbanistic projects… it’s something so valuable that I don’t think it can be overstated. We’re not talking about Philip Johnson here. We’re talking about two people who put out the book ‘Flesh: architectural probes.’ These are actually people who aren’t just going to bow to the existing power structure entirely, but who are unafraid to be edgy and to push society to places it needs to go. I don’t know them personally and I’m not from their part of the country, but I am really very thankful that they ‘made it’ as opposed to many other groups out there.

# January 18, 2012 at 20:46

Scmarchitect says:

I would have believed this praise one year ago but their latest projects lack to vigor and subversiveness of their earlier work…all architects are susceptible to the lure of stardom and its associated outlandishness.

# January 19, 2012 at 13:31

Jimmy says:

While I was still gunning for Hoskins, I am glad that DSR has won this round. We have the right concept here I think, it certainly links up Belmont street in the right places but preserves the backs of the other buildings without having to destroy them. It is also the only one that has treated the Union Street bridge with respect.

The next challange for Woody and Co is to try and get Aberdeen Council, the most backward local authority in history on board, rather than just bullying them into the decision, and make a convincing financial argument.

Aberdonians are going to take ALOT of convincing, but I hope this does go through as it will be a great addition to the city.

While I still would have preferred Peacocks design, this skeptic has been turned. Still dont see it getting built though.

# January 19, 2012 at 07:37

Colin McColl says:

Ok, so:

1. Take a topographically significant feature of Aberdeen – a mini valley or bowl
2. Ignore the architecture of Aberdeen – spaces that are ‘bridged over’ or linked (how do we arrive into Aberdeen, move between the centre and West End, Union Street sits on….. etc)
3. Fill in the bowl (for car parking)
4. Create vaguely dated Logans run type spaces
5. Create some hillocks and mounds atop this where the bowl once was
6. Sit back and wait for the 1000′s of people to use this and the new weather patterns in the North East of Scotland
7. Call it a creative legacy
8. Clearly a winning formula…

# January 19, 2012 at 08:52

aaron says: