Archinect - News

MVRDV begins Expo 2000 Pavilion adaptive reuse transformation

2023-05-16T13:19:00-04:00

MVRDV has shared details on their efforts to revitalize the firm’s former Dutch Expo 2000 Pavilion design into a new, mixed-use development in Hannover, Germany.

According to the firm, the project will transform the aging structure into a new anchor of a three-building development called iLive EXPO Campus after a successful 90 million Euro ($97.8 million USD) fundraising campaign led by iLive and Die Wohnkompanie Nord.

The structure had sat abandoned since its completion 23 years ago, often attracting illegal visits from architects eager for a peek at its three-level interior that has since become overgrown with the local flora while retaining its original structural integrity.

Image © MVRDV and © iLive Expo Campus

“The theme of the Dutch entry for Expo 2000 was ‘Holland Creates Space,’ and we did exactly that in 2000 by stacking typical Dutch landscapes up to 40 meters high, so that a large wild garden could be created around the pavilion,” MVRD...

MVRDV's Dutch Expo 2000 Pavilion may receive a second life after all

2020-07-10T14:18:00-04:00

Anyone remember MVRDV's Dutch Pavilion at the 2000 World Expo in Hanover, Germany? With its six layers of distinct Dutch landscapes stacked into one compact tower, the highly conceptual attraction was an instant audience favorite and a seminal early project in the studio's history.

Since then, nearly two decades have passed, and while MVRDV has grown into an established design force, the neglected, fenced-off structure has fallen into severe disrepair. There may be new hope on the horizon for the former pavilion though, as the Rotterdam-based architects just revealed designs for Expo Pavilion 2.0: a major conversion into a co-working office building surrounded by new a housing and mixed-use development.

"The current project maintains this 'stacked landscape' concept, renovating the existing building and adding two stepped buildings on the perimeter of the original site," explains MVRDV's description of the planned transformation.

"The renovated pavilion will house co-workin...

TWBTA's Hood Museum of Art makeover scheduled to open in January 2019

2018-06-27T15:10:00-04:00

Students—as both learners and curators—are leading the way at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art, which is due to reopen on 26 January 2019 after a closure of nearly three years for an expansion and revamp by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. The $50m project expands the museum’s space by 50% to over 62,000 sq ft, adds six new galleries and renovates the museum’s original 1985 Charles Moore building (which was “not healthy” [...] revealing rust and mould in the renovation process).

Previously on Archinect: "It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum" — TWBTA take on Charles Moore's Hood Museum

"It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum" — TWBTA take on Charles Moore's Hood Museum

2016-03-29T13:36:00-04:00

To those concerned about the renovation of the Hood Museum of Art, the situation is charged with paradox: The architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, who protested the Museum of Modern Art’s dismantling of the Folk Art Museum they designed in Manhattan, are now transforming the Hood, an award-winning museum designed by Charles Moore [...]. “It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum [...] It’s totally insensitive to the Moore building.”

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien previously in the Archinect news:

BOLLES+WILSON transforms historic Hanomag ‘U-Boat Hall’ into stylish retail outlet

2013-08-29T14:45:00-04:00

Bolles+Wilson was commissioned to redesign the historic Hanomag "U-Boat Hall" into an RS+Yellow Furniture Outlet in Hanover, Germany—yet another example in the repurposing of unused industrial spaces and fusing the past with the present.

The contemporary furniture pieces and the U-Boat Hall's warehouse atmosphere are an interesting juxtaposition, and both vie for visitors' attention. Wooden flooring and bright-colored accents contrast against the rusty columns of the structure, an intended U-boat production site that halted construction in 1944. A brick wall on one side of the building's interior adds hip appeal that complements the outlet store's colorful inventory. On the other hand, the structure's original components—in addition to its enormous size—are hard to ignore, almost to the point where it becomes the main showpiece.

What do you think of B+W's redesign? Scroll down to see some images and more details.