Bunker Turned Into Studios by Index Architects
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.14.08

Often our readers complain that some of the architecture I like looks like a bunker; (see church here) sometimes they are right, such as in this case in Frankfurt. It is, in fact, a World War II bunker in Frankfurt that had been previously disguised as a house because it was too expensive to demolish. In a crappy part of town, "a no man’s land between heaps of gravel and dumps, piled-up recycling-products and containers that await their shipping", the architects decided to rise above it all and build artists' studios and the Institute of New Media on top, a box sitting on a table. The heavy concrete bunker was turned into musician's studios.

From the architects: "A circumferential opening up seizes the lightweight wooden box while turning the communal zone inside out in a dialogue with the city. At the same time, the opening up serves as an escape route to the outside. Not only do wall slices across the facade regulate the incidence of sunlight, they also enliven the structure of the facade." ::Index Archtekten via ::MyNinjaplease


Renovations and Additions on TreeHugger
The Carbon Footprint of a Renovation vs New Construction :
Prefab Renovation by Koji Asako
LEED Renovations : What's Old is New Again : TreeHugger
Renovation Uses Twice As Much Labor, Half as Much Material as New ...
Big Steps in Building: Ban Demolition
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Concrete or granite -- which is the better countertop?
- Global Warming May Become the Instigator of World War IV
- How Bunker Busters Work
- How Concrete Roofs Work





























Leave it to the Germans to take an eyesore and turn it into something cool.
One thing I have yet to wrap my head around, being new to the green movement, is why the boxy look is so ubiquitous with modern, green architecture. Don't get me wrong, I love modern design, but the freight carton look is very pervasive and I'm not exactly sure why. If someone knows why, I'd love to hear it.