MODULE 4

High-tech architecture or Structural Expressionism-2:

Renzo Piano (Pompidou Centre, Paris and Menil Museum, Houston)

Santiago Calatrava (Lyon-Satolas Railway Station and Olympic Stadium at Athens).

PREPARED BY
JAMBAVATI GOUDA
Renzo Piano ,Pompidou Centre, Paris
Background Architect: Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Gianfranco
Franchini
Location: Paris, France
Structural Engineer: Arup Area:
Land area ： 5 acres
Floor Area ： 103,305 ㎡
Project Year: 1971-1977
One of the most famous examples of the high-tech style, the Centre Pompidou was assembled from a kit of
huge prefabricated steel parts.

Over 15,000 tonnes of steel were used in the construction, including a network of ten-tonne gerberettes that
define the building's outward-facing appearance.
Concept
Concept The initial intention was to create much more than a museum; rather, Renzo Piano and Richard
Rogers sought to create a cultural icon. Their competition entry was the only to propose using half of the
available land on-site.

Located in the building are an Industrial Creative Center, Public Library, Modern Art Museum, and Center for
Music & Acoustic Research

The skeleton itself turns the building inside-out, color coding the different mechanical, circulatory and
structural systems.

Rogers and Piano also intended for the space to be flexible, with large spans unimpeded by columns
Color-Coded Systems
Large HVAC components = white
Circulatory elements (stairs and elevators) = red
Climate Control = blue
Plumbing = green
Electrical elements = yellow and
Renzo Piano ,Paris and Menil Museum, Houston
Santiago Calatrava (Lyon-Satolas Railway Station and Olympic
Stadium at Athens).
Santiago Calatrava
Lyon-Satolas Railway Station
• OVERVIEW
•Lyon-Satolas Airport (now Saint Exupéry)

•Railway Station

• Lyon, France

•Built between 1989-1994

• Cost: 750 million Francs (roughly 146 million USD)

• Architect: Santiago Calatrava

Collaborators: Alexis Burret, Sebastien Mernet, David Long, L. Burr

OVERVIEW: DESIGN SPECS
• Main span: 100 meters

• Width: 100 meters

• Height: 39 meters

• Total Length: 450 meters (including railway cover)

• Area: 5,600 square meters

• The 1,300 ton steel roof of the main hall measures 120x100 meters
CONCEPT: PROJECT’S IMPORTANCE TO ARCHITECT
• The railway station was built relatively early in his professional career and is very representative of his
sculptural style.

• It appears to be expressive of a bird, symbolizing flight with the two main “wing” arches coming
together at the bird's “beak”.

• However, Calatrava insists that it is actually inspired more by the shape of the human eye.

• Before the station’s construction, he designed a sculpture representing an eye, which later served as
inspiration for the station’s design.

• “I never thought of a bird, but more of the research that I am sometimes pretentious enough to call
sculpture”.
The station is widely thought of as a symbol of a bird, fitting to the theme of flight at the airport.
FEATURES •
Large entry gallery is distinct and serves to subdivide user groups and serve as an entry marker connecting Train
and Airport programs

 Arriving from the airport, one enters the main hall at the “back of the bird” at an elevated level. Travelers
descend through a series of escalators into the main concourse. Here the wings spread out on either side above
the railway tracks, and more escalators move travelers down to the platform below ground level.

 Arriving by train and walking to the airport, travelers gradually ascend from the excavated train tracks to the
main concourse above and through the gallery to the airport.
The expressiveness of Calatrava's structure is seen inside the building as much as outside with two large
cantilevered balconies that penetrate the interior space.
• The station is positioned astride the reinforced concrete railway cover. This adjoining concrete service building is
fitted with a steel and glass curtain wall overlooking the main hall.
• Built with a dense network of white concrete beams and rhomboid-shaped glass skylights, this structure
covers more than half a kilometer of the six railways.
SITE PLAN
• 3 major transportation programs converge
• Airport, high speed rail station, and automobile parking

• Programs facilitated by unique “transition terminals”

• Planometric geometries
• Plane- Large, radial arching terminals
• Train- Linear platforms
• Automobile- Looping pickup/drop-off areas

• Unified by dramatic main entry gallery/station

Santiago Calatrava -Olympic Stadium at Athens
THE NEW OLYMPIC STADIUM

The most important and most striking aspect of the Olympic Stadium was the addition of the lavish roof, which
turned the structure into a true architectural artwork.

By applying the laws of physics to its lightweight design, the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava designed a
roof that looks like a huge network of steel pipes and blue glass.

The huge structure measured 304 feet long, 206.7 feet wide and 72 meters in height, weighing a t o t a l o f 1
8,000tons.

Despite the criticisms and skepticism surrounding the initial project, the complex was finished just in time for
the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics.

The project was completed July 30, 2004, just two weeks before the Games, and it had a major influence on the
work being done on the track and equipment being set-up inside the stadium.
MORE LIGHT ON THE TRACK

The roof, designed to withstand winds up to 120 km/h, consists of two half-shells that once put together,
leave an open area which is the playing field.

It’s 'interesting how the structure rests on only four points where the arcs intersect, having no contact with
the existing system.
Made of polycarbonate, the transparent part of the roof provides optimal conditions for athletes
and spectators during the competition and also improves lighting and filming conditions
accordingly.

Calatrava had initially thought about using transparent glass panels, but eventually decided on a
special polycarbonate which is much lighter than glass.

As for the Olympic track, Mondo provided the Sportflex Super X Performance surface.
 MODULE 4
. Ideas and works of
Michael Graves,
James Stirling,
Robert Venturi etc.

PREPARED BY
JAMBAVATI GOUDA