For this project students were asked to conceive a building or a group of buildings to be developed for a site. In formulating the development students were asked to take into accounts all of the factors that would effect a development in the real world of property and project development. Thus it entailed not simply architectural plans and renderings, but also careful market analysis, demographic research, and site analysis, as well as calculation and estimation of costs, and a detailed business and marketing strategy.
Students were also given a specific site to base their work on. In this instance, students were asked to develop a building for Aspern in Vienna. Aspern is a former airfield, which will eventually become a large multi-use development.
In this instance students were asked to propose a building that would be built before all the other developments and buildings on the site. The building would have to be both viable before the other developments occurred, thus a building that stands alone in an empty airfield, as well as viable within a densely built up area, when all the developments are completed. Thus the building would have to serve many roles throughout time. First it would serve as a symbolic keystone project for the development of the area. It would be a site where business people, investors and developers could meet to oversee and discuss development, and where visitors could cast a curious glance at the empty site, and view drawings, models and renderings of what the site might look like in the future. When the development is complete, the building would have to complement the surrounding development, and something that is fully integrated into it.
In considering these challenges, we have proposed to develop a multi-purpose microbrewery. The beer Kerozene, a play off of the site’s aeronautical past, would be used to market and brand the future development of Aspern. The building would be shaped like a black box, also a play on the image of an airplane, with two large glass walls that would overlook the development site. Inside the building would be a restaurant, perched on a loft overlooking the ground floor brewing operations, as well as facing outward towards the glass walls and the development site. This is where guests, investors and visitors could enjoy meals and beverages, while feeling at the center of a dynamically changing landscape. A third floor bar would be used for private parties and meetings.
