BIG, INABA, MAD, mass studies

Four architecture offices, BIG, INABA, MAD, and mass studies have proposed an urban plan for ansan, south korea. the proposal is currently on view at the gyeonggi museum of modern art (GMoMA) in ansan city until february 15, 2009

The joint project by the four firms, BIG (copenhagen), INABA (los angeles), MAD (beijing), an mass studies (seoul) uses versatile architectural forms that change in size and use. th principals of the four offices, bjarke ingels, jeffrey inaba, yansong ma, and minsuk cho reinterpret the term ‘economies of scale’ to mean the value of a single architectural form tha functions at several scales. the works are adaptable enough so that the same form can b enlarged or shrunk and still function as a building. they have the added capacity to dramatically change in size and transform in use from building to furniture to toy.
Given today’s economic instability, the architects propose an architecture that can be sized to accommodate changes in available funding. the forms have been developed so that if a project’s investment capital decreases, it can be scaled down; alternatively, if greater financing becomes available, the same form can be scaled up. A project conceived with greater utility in mind so that the form can be enjoyed even
when reduced or increased by 40, 50, or 60 percent.

The plan for riverfront area of ansan, a city of 550,000 inhabitants located near seoul, includes housing, commercial, retail and municipal spaces. the proposed buildings which range in height from 80to 400 meters and in length up to 1500 meters are displayed in the museum lobby in drawings, animations and four large models. In the context of the exhibition, the architects have taken the idea of scalabilit further by developing works that function even when scaled 1,000 and 10,000 percent.
the models are also designed as inhabitable objects in their own right.
Each model of their urban plan is a furniture piece of their lobby plan. The three‐dimensional representations of the buildings function as elements of GMoMA’s interio serving as a new bookshop, a set of seats and tables, a lounge area, and a reception kiosk.