Madrid man builds CATHEDRAL FROM TRASH

It's the sheer size of the structure that first strikes you. Almost 40 metres (131ft) tall, its spires and giant dome tower over the surrounding apartment blocks in this Madrid suburb.

Justo Gallego or Don Justo, as he's known, embarked on his epic endeavour almost half a century ago and now with 85 years old, he still has a huge amount to do.

After leaving life as a farmer to become a Benedictine Monk, Don Justo came down with tuberculosis which forced him out of the monastery in a greatly weakened state. He promised himself that if he survived he would erect a church dedicated to the Lady of The Pillar who he prayed to during that turbulent time.

Justo Gallego has been working on the massive undertaking nearly single-handedly, even so, he's on site by 6am each day.

The massive undertaking is built almost entirely from local materials that he is able to salvage, and now topped out at 131 feet the cathedral just needs a few finishing touches, like a roof, some windows and permits. The vast central dome took 20 years to erect and there are two dozen more incomplete cupolas around the building.

So far, the town council has tolerated the illicit structure, which lures a steady trickle of visitors to the nondescript suburb. Some suspect the chaotically-constructed church will not outlast its creator.

"It's very difficult to get a license now," says Pablo Queralto, an architect working for Mejorada council. "For example the bricks don't meet minimum standards, either in themselves or the way they've been laid."

But he described the eccentric edifice as an icon of the town now, unlikely to be torn down.

We hope so...

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CITYCENTER: Las Vegas



CITYCENTER

GENSLER (Exucutive Architect)
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The 18 million square foot development, which officially opened on the Las Vegas Strip in December. CityCenter is expected to open with approximately 12,000 employees, includes almost 6,000 hotel rooms,2,400 condominiums, 38 restaurants and bars, a convention center, a shopping mall, a Cirque du Soleil theater, and a 150,000-square-foot casino. All of this was designed and built in just over five years for $8.5 billion, The original cost estimate was $4 billion, but it was pushed up by rising construction costs and design changes, making CityCenter reportedly the largest and most expensive commercial project in U.S. history.

The project was started by MGM Resorts International, Dubai World became a joint partner during the project's construction phase. It is the largest privately funded construction project in the history of the United States.

The firm acted as an extension of MGM’s design department, overseeing approximately 250 consultants and a cast of marquee architects that included Daniel Libeskind, Helmut Jahn, and Norman Foster, as well firms such as Tihany Design and the Rockwell Group for the interiors.

CRYSTALS

The concentration of buildings on the site was as much a result of the realities of the now-defunct real estate boom as it was the outcome of a new Las Vegas development paradigm. “Property values on the Strip had skyrocketed,” says Sven van Assche, vice president of MGM’s design group. “We had to consider the return on investment for the amount of land,” he explains, referring to the 67 acres formerly occupied by the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino.

For site master planners Ehrenkrantz Ekstut & Kuhn, the challenge was to develop a scheme in which “the buildings would create space, not just be attractive objects,” explains firm principal Peter Cavaluzzi, FAIA. His goal was to create a plan characterized by a mix of uses, pedestrian-oriented spaces, and buildings brought right up to the property line to form a street wall directly on the Strip.

HARON HOTEL

CityCenter’s buildings have earned a total of six LEED Gold certifications. The collection of plaques notwithstanding, it seems a bit of a stretch to call so much air-conditioned space enclosed largely by glass (even high-performing glass) in the middle of the desert “sustainable.” However, the complex does deploy some notable resource-conserving strategies, including an 8.5-megawatt natural-gas-fired cogeneration plant. It generates enough power to satisfy about 13 percent of CityCenter’s electricity demand. But the real benefit comes from capturing the thermal energy produced as part of the generation process and using it to heat the buildings’ domestic water supply and provide space heating in the winter, says Mark Powasnik, senior vice president at WSP Flack + Kurtz, designer of the plant.

VDARA HOTEL AND SPA

Six deaths have occurred since construction began. On February 6, 2007, a 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) steel wall used as a concrete mold fell from a crane, hitting another wall which struck four workers, killing two. On August 10, 2007, a worker died when the counterweight for a construction elevator came down on him as he oiled the machine. On October 5, 2007, a worker fell approximately 50 ft (15 m) while working on the main resort tower. On April 26, 2008, a worker fell approximately 20 ft (6 m) in the south tower of the Aria Hotel & Casino. On May 31, 2008, a worker was crushed and killed when caught between the counter-weight system and the track of a crane.



ARIA RESORT AND CASINO

Unfortunately, CityCenter’s parts don’t quite gel into a cohesive ensemble. The buildings come across as a collection of individual expressions jammed together on a tightly packed site. The structures do define a few spatially interesting outdoor rooms, including a small park sandwiched between Crystals and the Aria. But most of the other outdoor spaces aren’t particularly pedestrian friendly. One example is the long boulevard that leads from the Strip to the Aria’s main entry. The roadway, framed by the Mandarin, Veer, and Crystals, is impressive, especially when viewed from the passenger seat of a limo. But on foot it is a different experience, encumbered by level changes and footbridges.

VEER TOWERS

CITYCENTER TRUM



MANDARIN ORIENTAL



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HERZOG & de MEURON

Jacques Herzog - Pierre de Meuron

Herzog & de Meuron Architekten is a Swiss Architecture Firm, founded and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland in 1978. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog (born 19 April 1950), and Pierre de Meuron (born 8 May 1950).

The Herzoz & de Meuron Architekten also counting with the presence of a few key architects, like as Harry Gugger, Christine Binswanger, Robert Hösl, Ascan Mergenthaler, Stefan Marbach.

They are perhaps best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of the Tate Modern. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have been visiting professors at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 1994 and professors at ETH Zürich since 1999.

In 2001, Herzog & de Meuron were awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest of honours in architecture. Jury chairman J. Carter Brown, commented, "One is hard put to think of any architects in history that have addressed the integument of architecture with greater imagination and virtuosity." This in reference to HdM's innovative use of exterior materials and treatments, such as silkscreened glass.

In 2006, the New York Times Magazine called them "one of the most admired architecture firms in the world."

HdM's early works were reductivist pieces of modernity that registered on the same level as the minimalist art of Donald Judd. However, their recent work at Prada Tokyo, the Barcelona Forum Building and the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games, suggest a changing attitude.

HdM's commitment of articulation through materiality is a common thread through all their projects. Their formal gestures have generally progressed from the purist simplicity of rectangular forms to more complex and dynamic geometries. The architects often cite Joseph Beuys as an enduring artistic inspiration and collaborate with different artists on each architectural project. Their success can be attributed to their skills in revealing unfamiliar or unknown relationships by utilizing innovative materials.

Beijing National Stadium, China

Awards:
2009 - Lubetkin Prize for the Beijing National Stadium

2007 - RIBA Royal Gold Medal and Praemium Imperiale

2003 - Stirling Prize, Laban Dance Centre

2001 - Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent, Paris

2001 - Pritzker Prize

1999 - Schock Prize



Allianz Arena stadium, Munich



Works:

2010 - 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL, USA

2008 - Beijing National Stadium, Beijing, China

2008 - CaixaForum Madrid, Madrid, Spain

2005 - M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco

2005 - Walker Art Center expansion, Minnesota

2005 - Allianz Arena football stadium, Munich

Tate Modern, Bankside, London

2004 - Forum Building, Barcelona

2004 - IKMZ, Cottbus, Germany

2003 - Laban Dance Centre, Deptford Creek, London

2001 - St. Jakob-Park, Basel

2000 - Tate Modern, Bankside, London

1999 - Dominus winery, Napa Valley, California

1997 - SBB switchtower, Basel

1992 - Goetz Collection, Munich

    1111 Lincoln Road, Miami                      Walker Art Center expansion, Minnesota                    Forum Bulding, Barcelona

The firm has several projects in hand as:

- Contemporary Art Museum Barranca de Huentitán, Guadalajara, México

- Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, France

- Kolkata Museum of Modern Art, Kolkata
- Plaza de España, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife (ca. 2007)
- Instituto Óscar Domínguez de Arte y Cultura, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife (ca. 2007)
- 40 Bond Street New York City (ca. 2007)
- Philharmonic Hall, Hamburg, Germany (ca. 2009)
- Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA (ca. 2010)
- Portsmouth Dockland Stadium, Portsmouth, England (ca. 2011)
- Tate Modern 2, Bankside, London (ca. 2012)
- São Paulo Companhia de Dança HQ, São Paulo, Brazil

- Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York

    

         Tate Modern 2, London                        Philharmonic Hall, Hamburg                           40 Bond Street New York City

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