The quality of David Chipperfield’s work is so fantastic and not-gimmicky that using “starchitect” feels wrong to me because I usually reserve that term as a pejorative for Libeskinds — architects whose brand drove the architecture instead of the other way around. That people are considering this design “bland” based on the renderings tells me more about their own aesthetic preferences than it does about the quality of the firm. Their work is disciplined and detail oriented.

I think the challenge on this site for any architect would be how to integrate an existing building that was designed to be a pavilion in a ravine. By its very nature it wants to be standalone and separate. And that’s where the architectural/historical value becomes very difficult to do justice. I think they did fine considering the client mandate of adding density to the site and the pavilion still reads as a separate mass.
 
Last edited:
The existing buildings, today:

PXL_20250821_172232064.jpg


PXL_20250821_172428633.jpg


PXL_20250821_172334850.jpg


PXL_20250821_172533361.jpg


PXL_20250821_172552705.jpg


PXL_20250821_172614422.jpg
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top