Lahore in Pakistan is a Metropolis, bigger then any city in Europe. Metropolises have their own charming “out of control” dynamic. The traditional top-down european approach is no longer applicable to the fast developing asian metropolitan areas. Here we have to deal with a for “old school” europeans surprising new and strong urban phenomenon, which seems much more characterized by bottom-up behavior and self-organization then by top-down control. The aim of the architect ONL [Oosterhuis_Lenard] and interior architect Mahmoudiehdesign [YM] is to capture this fresh and irresistable dynamic in the design and of the proposed Multifunctional Centre [MC] for Lahore, Pakistan.
For the appearance of the MC architect ONL rejects the architectural expression of smooth and glossy glass facades which represent the old traditional top-down control planning and architecture. Instead ONL wants to capture the sensibility of a fast rising new asian world class culture. How to represent this new dynamic architecturally? ONL has chosen to fold the facade like a loose and elegant dress wrapped around otherwise plain volumes of the building complex. The loosely wrapped dress, which is folded and wrinkled like a parchment skin, is perforated like a veil, thus blocking the strong sunlight, but allowing for looking out from the inside. This kind of semi-permeable skin is also much better suited for the Pakistan climate then the western style smooth glass facades. It saves considerable on cooling costs.
The Shopping Centre is organized like the great shopping centres from the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th Century, displaying a very clear and straightforward internal structure. Think of the splendor and clarity of the GUM in Moscow, and of the great Galeria in Milano. Internally this clear structure will host all the best brands in a rich decorated environment. But ONL and YM will not try to copy these great examples. They will put together an actual version of decorative richness using modern computer controlled production techniques to produce the variety and richness in shape and materials.
On top of the 5-storey shopping centre ONL has planned three towers and one very special egg-shaped Virtual Reality Theatre. The biggest of the 3 towers contain rectangular, straightforward and functional office floors. The second largest is a residential tower, and the third tower is a 500 room five-star hotel. The underground car parking is divided over 2 floors, underpinning the whole building. The overall volume of the MC does not cover the whole building site. The MC leaves a generous place for an urban park in front of the entrance of the residential tower.
All three towers are constructed in a basically rectangular concrete structure. The perforated facade is a made of a lightweigth composite, perforated with a variety of smaller and larger holes as to let 30% of the sunlight in. The perforated triangular panels are fixed to a tesselated steel support structure and between the panels there are large linear openings to let the daylight in and the artificial night illumination out. The light leaks out from within through the cracks in folded skin. The overall impression of the facades, especially during nighttime will be pure magic.
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