Project: Museum of Contemporary Art and Planning Exhibition (MoCAPE)
Designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au
Client: Shenzhen Municipal Culture Bureau
Site Area: 21 688 m²
Gross Floor Area: 80 000 m²
Number of Stories: 7
Location: Shenzhen, China
Website: www.coop-himmelblau.at
The prolific Coop Himmelb(l)au practice wins the first prize for the Museum of Contemporary Art and Planning Exhibition (MoCAPE) design competition. The massive 80,000 square meter building is shaped for a location in the growing Chinese city Shenzhen.

Coop Himmelb(l)au's Shenzhen projects

The first is a scheme for two museums – one of contemporary art, the other of architecture and city planning.

Coop Himmelb(l)au described the building as " a dynamic monolith", serving as a focus point at the new Futian Cultural District element of Shenzen's masterplan.

The second is the Dalian International Conference Centre. In August last year Coop Himmelb(l)au beat practices including Zaha Hadid Architects to win a competition to the centre, which will create a 100,000 sq m building housing a conference centre, an opera house, and an exhibition centre.

Grand Prix for Frankfurt

Coop Himmelb(l)au's design for a vertical city in Frankfurt, Germany

The location for the new headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt’s Ostend district has the potential of adding a new landmark to the Frankfurt skyline that will be visible at great distances. The starting point for the design of the towers was the urban perspectives of the city of Frankfurt. At a height of around 185 metres, the double tower, with its polygonal shape and east-west orientation, has a striking profile that is visible from all important reference points in Frankfurt’s city centre, as well as from the river Main. Thanks to its form and presence, the double tower will become a characteristic feature of the Frankfurt skyline. The atrium between the office towers becomes a “vertical city”. Through platforms we are creating spaces, plazas and pathways between the towers, just as they exist in a city. The connecting and transferring levels divide the atrium horizontally into three sections of different sizes, with heights ranging from around 45 to 60 metres. These connecting platforms, bridges, ramps and stairs form a network of links between the office towers. They create short paths between the individual office floors in each tower and thus enable larger, interconnected usable office spaces on one or more floors in both towers, thereby also promoting informal communication. This new typology supports a dynamic development of form and enables differentiated office spaces with different panoramic perspectives.