The event was organized by AD magazine, which traditionally brings "stars" of world architecture to each ArchMoscow. Most often, foreign luminaries talk about their latest projects or outline all the works of their portfolio, less often - they share thoughts about the problems that interest them at the moment. Ben van Berkel, a leading representative of digital architecture, chose the third path: he spoke about his creative method, and presented his work quite “conceptually”, no worse than any architectural critic, which, combined with the charm of the lecturer himself, produced the most pleasant impression.
Probably, this is a pleasant impression and did not immediately notice how cleverly van Berkel structured his lecture, hiding his key ideas behind the external structure. Choosing Manhattan and about ten of his buildings as illustrative examples, he touched on almost every current (or trendy) architectural theme. Using the example of New York train stations, he demonstrated the importance of combining different functions at one point: it increases the activity of city life. Talking about his ensemble of two Raffles City skyscrapers in Hangzhou, he showed the effectiveness of combining various programs in one complex, within which you can easily stay 2-3 days: everything you need to live and work is there.
The architect also touched upon the problems of CAD, which, in his opinion, gave the architects back control over the design process: now it is much easier to transform the initial outline of the plan given by the customer and the program, offering effective technical solutions in all aspects and elements of the project, which is also facilitated by the development of construction technologies, especially - areas of "sustainable development". Thus, in the building of the Education Agency and the Tax Office in Groningen, it was possible to save material by reducing the total building height by 7.5 m due to the abandonment of false ceilings (total, 30 cm savings on each floor), since heating and cooling systems which they were supposed to hide have been replaced by the concrete core activation method. It consists in the following: pipes are laid in the thickness of the concrete wall, through which water is allowed in the temperature necessary for heating or cooling the premises. Due to the "inertness" of the building mass, it maintains the set temperature for a long time, so three hours of hot water supply is enough for heating during the day. Such a scheme is incompatible with suspended ceilings also because they serve as an obstacle to the heat or coolness "emitted" by concrete floors.
A lot was also said about public space: van Berkel even began his lecture by emphasizing that the role of architecture in maintaining connections between people is more important than architecture itself. Therefore, the "social moment" arises not only in the public buildings he built, but also in shopping centers, and even in private houses. Almost everywhere it is closely associated with the use of twist, apparently the main motive of van Berkel's formal language. Curvature allows the space to be refracted, dividing zones, as in Villa VM, a country house in New York state, or giving the interior an element of attraction. The lines smoothly turn into the surface, and the surface - into the form (this is a "transformational moment"), which is clearly visible in small UNStudio structures, for example, the "Fitting Room" installation at the Venice Biennale-2008, where a person "puts on" a space of complex configuration like a dress. In public buildings such as the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, behind each of the many turns, unexpected perspectives open up in front of the visitor in different directions, sometimes it even seems to him that he is lost. Thanks to this "optical mechanism", it seems to a person that the space of the interior follows him; at the same time, the complex structure (two intersecting spirals of ramps forming many levels) is not readable from the outside: judging by the façade, the museum has only three distinct floors.
The facades themselves also attract the attention of the architect: one of the first in the history of media facades was the design of the outer walls of the Galleria West shopping center in Seoul, where color-changing LED lamps are hidden behind frosted glass disks: the resulting kaleidoscopic effect recalls the blurred human perception of many luminous signs and advertisements in the center of a big city. The more traditional relief solution of the Raffles City towers' facades creates an impression of flowing form in a circular walk - an example of its "double reading".
According to van Berkel, all these visual-optical effects are aimed at reflecting the complexity of the structure of modern society, the diversity and abundance of information that we have to perceive every day, and, most importantly, to create conditions for communication and interaction between people. Thus, in the atrium of the Galleria Centercity shopping center in South Korea, the visitor is surprised: the curved lines of the tiers, emphasized by the illumination, go up and merge with each other. It is difficult to say how many there are in reality - and on the first floor of the shopping center, groups of people often gather to discuss this problem: this is how the desired "social moment" arises. The openings in the ceilings of the temporary "Burnham Pavilion" in Millennium Park offer spectacular views of the famous skyscrapers of Chicago; this and its unusual curvilinear forms made the building a popular holiday destination for the townspeople in the summer of 2009.
So, all the main themes - “green” technologies, multifunctionality, public space - were constantly interspersed and combined in Ben van Berkel's speech with discussions about the already mentioned visual effects, problems of perception, about the play of readings, the ambiguity of form and space. In addition, van Berkel said the key phrase that the form does not have to be utilitarian. And then from his neatly built concept emerged the basis of his work, which critics somewhat banal, although quite rightly call "digital baroque". Striving for visual impact - outside the building and in the interior, a certain indifference to functionality and to the idea of "fair construction", the preference for organic, curvilinear forms to all others, playing with lighting and space in spacious "halls" bring van Berkel closer to Bernini, Borromini, Guarini, although instead of Catholic churches, he builds shopping malls and corporate museums (due to a different function, there is no characteristic baroque drama in his works). A certain completeness of plans, the use of various kinds of modules also distinguishes him from other supporters of "digital architecture" and brings him closer to colleagues from the 17th century. It is a pity that the requirements of architectural "political correctness" make Ben van Berkel emphasize the socially important aspects of his work, hiding behind them the essence of his method, refracting and bending it in accordance with comme il faut. At the same time, his architecture, built around and for the viewer - after all, all visual effects arise precisely in his mind - is subjective and therefore more human than socially oriented functionalism, which sees only an object in a person.
