Ankarspelet Sweden : Architecture Information + Images

MKB - Ankarspelet Kim Utzon Arkitekter 24 Sep 2009 Ankerspelet is a public housing project built for MKB, and the 70 apartments are situated on the harbour front of Malmo. The precise but varied building complex is shaped like a geometrical cliff with ravines, passages and crevices and defines the western border of the new urbanisation of Vastra Hamnen. The interplay between the variedly displaced facades challenges and yet respects the general urban planning of the area, and creates a spatial filter and an articulated threshold between the private and the public space and the city and the open space of Øresund. The concept for the construction of the building complex was to create a 3 dimensional grid out of concrete columns and beams, from which you could develop a complex and yet logical and structural building. By adding and subtracting from the grid the resulting buildings are shaped like a geometrical cliff with ravines, passages and crevices. The main crevices or passages provide access to the common courtyard, where the 2 storey row houses are situated. The row houses frame small, varied and intimate outdoor spaces in the courtyard, and create a transition from the scale of the harbour front, to the more intimate small housing scale of the back streets. The strong light that resides at the harbour front emphasizes the threshold and creates a dramatic play of shadows on the facade. This is further emphasized by the building materials, they are made of a combination of white painted precast concrete elements and a reflecting aluminium facade cladding. The variation of the materials emphasises the spatial variation of the building and has references to the cool nordic light. Ankarspelet Housing Malmo images / information from Kim Utzon Arkitekter