A Noble Race is a blogpost that turned into 11 quick proposals during one day. See the story bellow:
Hello dear citizens of the world.
It is 10 :59 am GMT and we just finished our morning meeting with coffee and a look at the latest contributions to the architectural scene. Today should be a huge day for that. Eleven of the most famous architects in Sweden and the World has made an effort to design an iconic building for the finest prize one can receive; the Nobel prize. The building should be located at one of the finest sites in Stockholm; at Blasieholmen, the very core of Stockholms famed beauty.
After seeing the proposals we wonder about the amount of effort put into these designs, and if our fellow colleagues has taken this commission serious, and most of all: are these proposals really iconic enough for the finest prize in the world? After some discussions on how to make an iconic building we decided to try to beat these proposals in one working day, starting right now, and since its Friday we thought that we will stop at 4:00 pm. As a design help we have gathered all the gadgets in a reachable distance from our office table. We will do these proposals live, and we will update the website after each new proposal are made, which means that you can follow the progress and be a witness to how many new beautiful iconic buildings that can be done in one short day.
Let the Nobel Race begin!
11.34 AM
Radio Nobel
The new building focuses on the one thing that perhaps people anticipate the most with the Nobel Prize; who will win? When it is time to announce the winner, the large speakers will sound clear and loud so that everyone in a 500 meter radius will hear the name of the winner. Crowds will gather around the speaker building, and waiting for the announcement will become a festivity in itself. The most glorious street in Stockholm, Strandvägen, will finally get an event that suits its ambition.
12:07 PM
High-tech shaped landscape
This is a high-tech proposal that acts like a landscape element as well as a protecting shell for the Nobel activities, without taking too much space from the site, and instead using some of the water next to Blasieholmen. The prize winners will approach the building by boat and the Stockholmers can use it as a place to take baths from. This form language has proven to be very successful internationally and maybe it could work here as well. This building can be very difficult to build which automatically makes it expensive and therefor important.12:49 PM
The Trophy
The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious trophy of them all. With this proposal we wanted to create a grand monument of triumph, with a public space in its base and a magnificent space for parties at the top.
The winners and other important persons can easily be transported with helicopter to the helipad on top of the building, and then take the elevator down to the auditorium/celebratory space, where the most prestigious party of them all is held. From there the dining guests, will have a tremendously good view of central Stockholm and the Nobel festivities can at the same time be watched by the outside citizens, so the whole city can be a part of the celebrations.
1:20 PM
The Golden Globe
Since the Nobel Prize is an international one, so is also the design for this building. The spherical form is a shape well proven for bigger events in Stockholm. This globe facade is slightly different; showing the world map in gold. The laureates countries will shine in different colors for one year. The building has a very small footprint, creating a huge beautiful public space underneath it. The building has two entrances; one public from the base and one for the laureates which is a Meridian elevator, taking them to the center of the globe and also to the center of the worlds attention.
1:40 PM
Lunch break
2:25 PM
Party For Six
In this proposal, the buildings are made up by six flamboyant tent structures, inspired from the traditional crayfish hats that the Swedes wear for the annual crayfish parties. Each tent represents one prize category, (the peace prize that is given away in Oslo, by some reason is not included) so that each winner will be more gratified and that the celebration can be more custom made for the prizewinner(s. This will be a colorful addition to the city and give an air of festivities to central Stockholm.
3:08 PM
Totem For Six
Do you recognize the faces of the laureates? If not this design will help you do that. This building is like a giant totem to worship scientists where the faces of the six laureates of the year is projected from inside. The peace prize winner you most likely recognize anyway and that's up to the Norwegians to promote that guy. Each head will be like a museum of each discovery that led to the Nobel prize.
3:25 PM
Oriental Style
Stockholm has an architecture legacy with a great history of oriental influences, and this tea warmer from Uzbekistan actually looks quite good as a Nobel Center.
3:35 PM
The Tree of Knowledge
This is a building that takes advantage of the high-end scietific research that the Nobel Prize stands for. In this scenario, it could be a genemodified tree with buidling parts nested in its structure. Different fruits has different functions and are interconnected with elevators and escalators.
(Sorry we're in a hurry to make it before 4.00 PM)
3:38 PM
Friday Grog Break
3:50 PM
The document holder
The Swedish bureaucracy's most beloved item, the document holder, is the inspiration of this Nobel Center, which primary function will be to document each prize. The building is completely open to the public, and each year, new documents will be added to the structure, explaining the new findings that the laureates came up with.
3:58 PM
Ceremonial Plate
Instead of putting all that money into a center which really doesn't need to be built, we just propose a ceremonial plate standing on stilts in the water outside Blasieholmen with a simple Swedish design.
3:59 PM
The Pig has landed
