3XN: The Latest Architecture and News

What do we know about designing for individuals with autism? Those concerned with sensory issues are split on some issues. Some say we should limit daylight and exterior views, keep ceiling heights low and spatial volumes small, use restrained details, subdued colors, and reduce acoustical levels. Others advocate for high ceiling heights, large spatial volumes, and high levels of daylight with plenty of views to the outside. Still others disagree with catering to sensory needs altogether. They point out that individuals with autism struggle generalizing skills, and designing sensory heavens can do more harm than good. Thus they argue for autism classrooms, schools, and homes that mimic all the colors, sounds, lighting, and spatial volumes of “neuro-typical” environments. So who is right?

This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Amsterdam. With its numerous canals, Renaissance architecture, and bike friendly culture, it is hard not to fall in love with Amsterdam. Also, if you love modern or contemporary architecture one could hardly argue against making this city the first stop on a tour of Europe. Our list of 24 buildings hardly does justice to this amazing city, but it will certainly give those less familiar with the city a starting point. We will be adding to our list in the near future, as we didn’t come close to incorporating all our readers’ suggestions. In the meantime add more of your favorites to the comment section below.

The Architecture City Guide: Amsterdam list and corresponding map after the break.

The new Headquarters will be one of Sweden’s most modern and innovative office buildings – focusing on transparency, Scandinavian simplicity and dynamic social environments. Behind the project is the Danish Architect 3XN in collaboration with Humlegården Fastigheter, representing the property owner Länsförsäkringar Liv.

More images and complete press release after the break.

MIND YOUR BEHAVIOUR invites you into 3XNs universe and gives a glimpse into the thoughts, visions and processes forming the basis of 3XNs architecture focusing on behaviour. The exhibit challenges the concept of behaviour by providing a direct and physical meeting with 4 meter high abstract building sections as well as inviting the viewer to reflect on how architecture shapes our behaviour. The exhibit displays 28 projects from the last five years of 3XNs work.

A few weeks ago, we featured a competition won by 3XN to transform the former freight train halls in Aarhus, Denmark into a new and dynamic cultural center. After the break, several more images and diagrams about this new cultural hub for scenography, visual arts and literature.

Danish office 3XN is “on fire” this year: they won the competition for the Randers Museum of Art, the competition for a new cultural center in Aarhus, the Saxo Bank won the RIBA International Award, and Kim Herforth Nielsen (partner and founder) received Denmark’s highest Architectural Honour, the C.F. Hansen Medal.

And now, they won the competition for the Frederiksberg Courthouse in Denmark, an extension to a neo-classical building. The new building follows the line of the neighborhood’s architecture, reinterpreted in a contemporary style, following the horizontal lines, materials and roof.

From the public square right next to the building, the heavy volume looks lighter as the opening in the corner give a sense of cantilevering.

More images and the architect’s description after the break:

3XN architects’ proposal for the Danish pavilion for the Shanghai expo 2010 uses their national flag to create a dynamic spatial environment. ”An exhibition window is an invitation that says: Welcome inside a little piece of Denmark. And in 2010, in the age of globalisation, it is important to add: Welcome to a Denmark that is part of the world,” stated the architects.

The competition for the pavilion was awarded to BIG as we reported earlier.

More about the pavilion after the break.

3XN just shared with us their winning entry for the Randers Museum of Art, a “sculpture sitting in a sculpture garden” according to the architects, a sinuous building both open to both the town and the landscape. The red-tile façade of the exterior becomes the roof, and similarly on the inside, the floor becomes a wall, and then the wall a ceiling.

From the architects: