Architonic projects of the year 2022: Cultural

With schools, workplaces and entire industries shutting down for the holidays, people have a lot of free time around the festive period, and are spoilt for choice on how to spend it. Whether we’re looking forward to a seasonal show, a Christmas market or planning a big get-together, there are multiple exciting cultural activities to experience. But what are some of the other things we’ve been getting up to during our time off over the rest of the year? Here, we look back at the five most popular newly completed cultural projects to read about on Architonic in 2022, and maybe even worth a visit in 2023.

Sou Fujimoto Architects’s House of Music opened in January in Budapest, Hungary, as a ‘brand-new cultural landmark for the city, dedicated to the creation of music and sound,’ describe the architects. ‘The House will provide a unique artistic experience combining landscape, architecture and exhibition design to offer its visitors new perspectives on music making and its impact on our lives.’

‘The vision for the project is to bring the experience of music to life through the interaction of nature, sound and light,’ explains Sou Fujimoto Architects. The pavilion features a surrounding glass curtain ‘that blurs the boundaries between indoor and outdoor space,’ and a ‘canopy of over 30,000 decorative tree leaves set in the suspended ceiling.’

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Stefano Boeri Architects’ Hanji House is a commissioned pavilion, built specifically for the exhibition Chun Kwang Young: Times Reimagined and featuring 40 large-scale reliefs, sculptures and installations by the Korean artist using ‘Hanji’, a traditional Korean paper.

The design of the wooden pavilion is ‘inspired by the playful and yet meditative practice of folding paper in an infinite number of ways’ explain the architects. ‘From the outside, the envelope gives the Hanji House the appearance of a precious and at the same time playful object, a lighthouse to illuminate both the splendid Renaissance architecture in which it is located and the works of art that surround it.’

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Just in time for the Chinese New Year, Studio Roosegaarde launched – pun very much intended – its answer to toxic-gas-spreading fireworks used worldwide for celebrations. SPARK Bilbao was ‘a poetic performance of thousands of biodegradable light sparks which organically float through the air,’ as described by the light and environmental design studio.

SPARK combines design and technology to release thousands of light sparks made from biodegradable materials into the air, and allow them to move silently with the wind. ‘Artist Dean Roosegaarde is inherently motivated to transform our fear of the future into curiosity by designing realistic alternatives,’ explains the studio, and ‘SPARK Bilbao invites everyone to become part of the journey to an environmentally-friendly future’. 

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Later on in the year, the historic English Heritage site of Clifford’s Tower was reopened to the public in time for Spring. When circumstances allow, visitors are now able to ascend the centre of the tower and spend more time gazing out across the ancient city from a new timber deck, which includes ‘amphitheatre seating for group activities,’ explains project architects Hugh Broughton Architects, and supports ‘a series of lightweight walkways suspended from its structure which give access to previously unseen first-floor features.’

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Combining new and old, The Dance House in Helsinki is ‘7,000 square metres dedicated to dance – a world-class setting for the performance and experience of dance, circus and culture,’ from project architects JKMM Architects, in collaboration with ILO architects.

The project ‘examines the underlying principles of dance,’ explain the architects. ‘Dance deals with gravity, lightness and the weight of the human body. The main facades consist of two gigantic steel walls, lifted from the ground and hovering in the air, seemingly defying gravity.’

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© Architonic

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