World's largest car dealership featuring rooftop test track

Construction has begun on New York and Istanbul based architecture firm GAD and architect Dara Kirmizitoprak's design for the world’s largest car dealership in Istanbul. The 216,000 sq m development is composed of five stories, two of which are underground, and features 56 cafes, restaurants and refreshment venues, 42 insurance companies, 24 banks and 74 trading companies. Offering 443 different brands and 2526 different types of car, the aptly named ‘Autopia’ can be more accurately defined as an auto-mall after it’s hugely extensive range of commercial features.
Whilst the vast dimensions of this project are more than enough to afford it a highly respectable level of media coverage, what is really making the headlines is the race track set to be installed on the roof of the building. The open-air circuit on the top floor has been designed for potential buyers to test out their prospective purchases before parting with their hard-earned cash. This isn’t the first time that such an ingenious feature has been included in a structure of this nature. In 1923, Fiat employed the same tactic when constructing its Turin factory, designed by Mattè Trucco. The circuit was later used in the original version of British car chase movie The Italian Job.
GAD’s website features a lengthy quote from French cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard, which states: “Speed creates a space of initiation, which may be lethal; its only rule is to leave no trace behind. Triumph of forgetting over memory, an uncultivated, amnesic intoxication.” It is safe to say that with such an ambitious design, it is unlikely that we will allow forgetfulness to triumph over the memory of this project for some time.

University of Arnhem, Faculty of Education

LIAG have released designs for the new Faculty of Education building at the University of Arnhem and Nijmegen in Nijmegen following a successful European tender. Keeping in line with the ‘sustainability ambitions’ of the university, the new build will include a large heat exchanger – which will hold all of the building’s energy present at that time – and the combination of a ventilation system and the conditioning of the building in an effort to save a significant amount of energy. Also taken into account in the design was water usage, material usage, air quality, acoustics and visual comfort in an effort to produce the most durable structure possible.

The majority of the building’s exterior will be formed of green facades, combined with large amounts of glass in an effort to create an aesthetically pleasing structure. The transparent glass elements have been included to allow exceptional amounts of daylight into the building, whilst on the south side, sunlight will be kept in check by the use of louvers. An artificial landscape is set to be created using synthetic ‘rocks’ in an area which runs between the interior and the exterior. The ‘roofs’ of these rocks are intended for use as study spaces. Two floating educational wings above this landscape are to be connected by an atrium, providing a large amount of daylight and interaction in the building. From within this atrium, all educational spaces will be visible and corridors on every level will be adapted for additional study space.