Oppenheim Architecture + Design, LLP | Wharf Road

in Concept & Competition by editor — 3:36 pm | December 1, 20110 comments

Over the last 5,000 years man has worked hard to over power the natural world through the built environment— the architects propose to revolutionize this position. Australia possesses one of the most beautiful and dramatic geologies in the world. It is their desire to create a new type of architecture— one that is more in the family of nature than of the built environment.

Taking cues from the variety of geological outcroppings across the vastness of Australia’s landscape the Wharf Road proposal quite simply represents the translation of these features into an urban condition. Pushing up from the urban landscape the crystalline towers at Wharf-Road pierce the skyline as prismatic stalagmites reflecting and refracting light, creating an iconic urban-geology. Nestled between ocean and rain forest, the project establishes a new benchmark for ecological design within the natural environment.

Earnest and timeless, the architecture is simultaneously powerful, yet comfortable; straightforward, yet innovative; casual, yet elegant; fundamental, yet refined. The resulting experience is sensual and sensitive, intentionally reduced to what is essential– through bold, elemental forms, sincere materiality/detailing, and the integration of Australia’s beautiful natural resources both physical and ethereal.