Cauldron Claw

A flaming bathtub in the forest for an old man in the north of Sweden. An old welder wanted a bath in his childhood creek in the deep forests of Northern Sweden. Old metal scrap was welded together and fused as legs to a bath tub from the WWI. Custom made metal hooks carry a perforated steel plate that hangs over the creek, where you put logs to heat the water inside the tub. The stream under the tub gives the fire a steady flow of air through the perforations. A steel plate regulates the flow of the water from the creek and has medicinal plants growing on it, to give the bath a soothing experience for aching bodies as the water trickles through this pharmacy of nature and in to the cauldron. The first phase of the project was carried out during winter time so that we could transport the heavy structure on the hard snow all the way to the site. When the winter finally subdued and turned the landscape around the Cauldron Claw into a lush and paradisesque environment, we went back to pick the medicinal plants and constructed the steel aqueduct and witnessed the old man take his premiere bath.

Mangrolia Chaussures

A commission to designed three shoe stores for a shoe tycoon on the tropical Reunion Island. We have made a design that could be easily recognizable and applied for all of the Mangrolia Chaussures stores. We decided to design one specific Mangrolia shoe box that can be multiplied and stacked into almost any form, allowing different store layouts but at the same time being easily recognizable as a Mangrolia Shoe store.
The shoe box can be made out of different materials depending on budget but in this proposal we made a shoe box in Plexiglas, a plastic that creates a nice transparent effect. The shoe box can however be made out of various materials, for example wood with a mirroring foil mounted on them, creating a similar optical effect but for a lesser price.
Each box has a lid and a light. The boxes are made as pieces of Lego that can be fixed together in different formations. The box can be mass manufactured thus making it precise and cheap.



































Saint Denis – The ocean
The Saint-Denis shop is the biggest one and located in the largest city and it is also the only shop that the Mangrolia family owns, so we propose that it should be turned into a flagship store; making it the centerpiece for the Mangrolian empire.
Being the flagship store we also wanted to make it into the most spectacular one.
The upper floor has boxes in the floor formed as a river, which “flows” from both of the entrances to the stairs which leads to the basement level which is completely covered with boxes, almost as an ocean.
A sofa shaped as Reunion Island is set in the middle of the shoe ocean where one can try out the different models or watch a slideshow projected on the wall of the assortment that the store has to offer.
In some of the boxes, legendary shoes can be kept; for example sneakers from the 80s or fashionable shoes made famous through celebrities, creating a small museum that will attract more visitors and fame for the Mangrolia business as the collection grows.

Saint-André – The Library
This shop has shelves of shoes arranged into smaller rooms with different themes; casual, formal and sport for example.
The transparency of the plexi-boxes makes the shoes look like they are frozen into ice blocks and will create a very intriguing and inviting showcase for the customers.

Le Port – The loop
All the functions of the shop are integrated in to a loop; showcase for the shoes, cashier and seating to try out the shoes.
The loop is extruded where it needs to be high; the cashier and the main showcases and then sinks down to the floor where the entrances are, allowing a free flow of circulation.
The pillars piercing the walls are built in with new inner walls that are painted white, for a smooth and clean backdrop for the shoeboxes. This is something that is recommended for every store.

Tornado

Entry for an opera competition in Taipei. A tornado shaped skyscraper that works both as an opera and a windmill.  A powerful energy generating machine on the outside with an inside that transcends the visitors from the bustling city to a serene world of the performing arts.

One of the positive aspects of raising the building is that it creates a generous public space around it. The square slopes gently towards the entrance, surrounded by pearls, the visitors descends fading into the building like entering an ocean.

A great spiral of pearls is the main focal point of the entrance hall, you can either take the elevator through it or the ramp around it, by foot or with the VIP Train of pearls, taking you all the way into the Grand Theater.

The Grand theater is embedded in pearls, creating a elegant and modern experience for the audience. The semi-transparent pearls are lit from behind and dim the light, creating a glowing sensation. Depending on the performance, the ambiance can be set into different modes. A chandelier of pearls in the middle of the theater drops seamlessly from the roof like a jewel, radiating an ambient light. The VIP Train is now converted into comfortable seats.

Reaching the roof terrace, the pearls subsides into clouds. Walking around among the clouds one can experience panorama views of Taipei.

The building performs on its own for the city, generating culture, urban life and pure sustainable energy for its vicinity. This is all strongly manifested from the visual effect of its rotating facade.

The façade is covered with curved blades are attached on segments that rotate with the wind, generating energy to the building and to the city. The pearls are non-toxic and non-flamable acrylic balls with a tint of reflection.

Pearls in different sizes is combined into various landscapes inside the building to enhance the theatre experience.

This competition was a collaboration with Markus Wagner 

Guest House Gräskö

Anders Berensson Architects has redesigned and  rebuilt a scrubby storage into a guesthouse in the Stockholm archipelago. The house can accommodate four to eight guests depending on comfort.

Due to a tight budget new inventions had to be made as well as second hand purchases from Blocket, a Swedish second hand site. 

Most windows used in the rebuilding was found in the house. For major openings new windows has been made out of Plexiglas and designed to look like openings with out window frames. 

Furniture has been designed to accommodate four people in a standard mode. At bigger celebrations the furniture can fold out to fit eight people. 

The inner roof of the shed has been remove and replace with a pitched roof allowing a loft in the guest house. In the main room the exposed beams serves as a rig for lighting as well as a storage space. A wooden beam carry the new loft as well as serving as a room divider in the hallway, a door stoop, a cloth hanger and support for the ladder to the loft.

View of Loft

View of Plexiglas window in the hall way with a shelf mounted on the window making it look like it is hoovering 

Beam in the hallway lifting the loft, holding a draper and serves as a clothes hanger 

View of Plexiglas window in the hall way from the outside

View of Plexiglas veranda door.

View of veranda in the evening sun

View of veranda in the evening sun

Drawings

The Merchants of Venice

A prize winning competition entry in the 2G-Competition for the Venice Lagoon with over 560 proposals.
Assertion from the jury report with Anne Lacaton as the jury president describe the project quite well: "The forcefulness with which the proposal re-posits the rules of the competition in terms of a critical pragmatism of those rules, one that is aware of the flows of capital."

To read the whole proposal: Click the images below and read the project as a comic:

Capilla para el tio

After a Llama sacrificial get-together in the highest located town on earth, we were approached by some miners that soon learned that we were skilled architects.
Knowing about their dreadful conditions inside the mountain that is called “The Mountain that eats men”, we offered them to do a pro-bono project. We thought that maybe they wanted some light or maybe some nice upgrade on their old mine wagons.
But the only thing that they wanted was to please Tio, a devil that is the owner of the mountain, were over 8 million people has died over the years. The conditions inside of the mine are so harsh that the only reasonable thing to believe in is this guy.

So we decided to make a shrine were they could give Tio gifts.

The shrine with gifts

Happy miners in their new chapel

We explored the mine and found a promising spot a couple of hundred meters inside, a place which where warm and ample enough to allow a comfortable gathering of the miners. Our dynamite expert refined our site so that we got a more eloquent altar and walls.
After a couple of days the design was ready, a cavernous niche in red paint, an altar in silver and a path of silver stone slabs leading up to it.
The ground was covered with okra paint, enhancing the redness of the place. A red wooden bench was put on the lowest level.
As a finish we covered the shrine in glitter so when the head-lamps from the miners wander around it will reflect a magical shine.

The village of Potosi

Plan

Section

Plan of the mine