VIRTUAL

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VM house, Denmark
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CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
- About The Building
- Location
- Accessibility
• Site plan
• Concept
• Evolution of form
• Floor plans
• Sections
• Materials
• Landscaping
• References
 INTRODUCTION

• VM Houses is a housing project consisting of two adjacent apartment buildings shaped

like “m” and “v” letter.

M House V HOUSE
 95 housing units  114 housing units
 36 different apartment  40 different apartment
shape. shapes
 Total area: 12,500 sqM.  Total area: 12,500 sqM
 Completed: 2004  Completed: 2005

• most important aspects WAS development of diverse apartment typologies, ranging

from single-floor plans to triplexes.
• "We live in a world where individualism has a greater resonance than before.
Diversity is well accepted, even desired. People living in a housing project must
also have access to individuality “
- (Julien De Smedt, JDS)

Award

• VM Houses was the first major project to be designed by Julien De Smedt and Bjarke
Ingels, winning them the Forum AID Award for the best building in Scandinavia in 2006.
About the building

• project type : retail, residential

• CLIENT: høpfner a/s, danish
oil company
• ARCHITECTS: big + jds = plot
• construction : 2004–2005
• program: 209 apartments
• Built-up area: 25,000 sqm

Julian De Smedt and Bjarke Ingels VM House

Location: ørestads boulevard 55, 2300 københavn s copenhagen

DENMARK

SITE
Accessibility:

• Accessibility TO THE SITE

- This neighbourhood is connected to the city centre with a new subway
line which is accessed via a steel bridge that crosses the canal. -
- its near to amager faelled park.
SITE PLAN

SITE ENTRY
CONCEPT

• Inspired by Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation concept OF SKIP-STOP SYSTEM.

• two residential blocks, with footprints in the shape of the letters V and M, have been
designed with an emphasis on daylight, and views.
• Rather than looking over the neighboring building, all the apartments have diagonal
views of the surrounding landscape.
• Corridors are short, rather like bullet holes through the building.
Evolution of form

TRADITIONAL BLOCK OPENING THE BLOCK AVOIDING VIS –A-VIS OPENING VIEWS
OWTWARDS

AVOIDING VIS-A-VIS OPENING MORE VIEWS SLOPING AND STEPPING OPTIMAL VIEWS
DOWN
IF PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT THEN WHY SHOULD ALL THE APARTMENTS ALIKE?

M Block Units V Block Units

PLAN OF DIFFERENT TYPOLOGIES – V HOUSE
PLAN OF DIFFERENT TYPOLOGIES – V HOUSE
FLOOR PLANS – V HOUSE

DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOUSING UNITS OF V HOUSE

FLOOR PLANS – V HOUSE
FLOOR PLAN – M HOUSE
SECTION

SECTION OF V HOUSE SECTION OF M HOUSE

SECTION – M HOUSE

SECTION OF M HOUSE – SKIP STOP SYSTEM

materials

• large glass facades framed by fancy wood.

• Floors are made up of solid oak wood, and dark, hard wood have been used for the
balcony floors.
• Walls and ceilings appear with a somewhat raw finish in white concrete, and all internal
stairs and handrails come in white painted steel.
• All the apartment’s external walls are made up of glass
LANDSCAPING

• The V-house is lifted to create a permeable block with a semi-private

public court for the residences.
• The pedestrian landscaping flows from the street, under the V-house
and into the courtyard forming a spatial unity and sense of community
between the two buildings.
• The courtyard also accommodates a play area for the kindergarten in
the base of the M-house, along with an interactive learning area
beneath the V-house.
LANDSCAPING
INFERENCES

• it is good idea to implement different typologies of apartments.

• to obtain maximum views, and to avoid vis-à-vis, part of block can
pushed or pulled.
• not only terrace can act as communication place, but also balconies
by arranging alternatively.
 REFERENCES

• http://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/VM_House
• http://www.arqred.mx/blog/2008/09/18/vm-houses/
• http://laurenfolkerts.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/bigs-vm-
house/
• http://www.arcspace.com/features/plot/vm-houses/
• http://leesanstudio.blogspot.in/2010/10/precedent-research-
vm-houses.html
• http://www.world-architects.com/en/big/projects-3/vm houses
plot big jds-144
• http://www.archinnovations.com/featured-projects/housing/big-vm-
houses/