B

IG, in collaboration with AKT, Tyréns and Transsolar are awarded first place in a design competition in Malmo, Sweden for a 100.000m2 first of its kind sports facility. It's not something new... the team founded by Bjarke Ingels has been winning lots of competitions in the past few years, maybe due to it's innovative designs and the multidisciplinary approach used to design each project. We received yesterday the press release and want to share the complete World Village of Women Sports project with our readers.

Here it is: The World Village of Women Sports seeks to create a natural gathering place for the research, education and training in all areas connected to the development of women’s sports. Located in the centre of Malmo, the 100.000 m2 facility will create a regional landmark and new attraction for the area. The winning design was chosen among five submissions by a jury, comprised of the founder and main financier of the World Village of Women Sports, Kent Widding Persson, the co-founder and entrepreneur Maarten Hedlund, City of Malmo Architect, Ingemar Graahamn and Architects Mats Jacobson and Cecilia Hansson together with representatives from the City of Malmo.

“BIGs design places great emphasis on architecture tailored to women with an unconstrained atmosphere and a feeling of well-being. The architects see the WVOWS as a town within a town rather than just a sports complex. The decisive factor has been the holistic approach and the overall impression of the design – the ability to interact with the neighborhood and environment, and creating attractive housing and functions at the same time.”

-Mats Jacobson, Jury Member, WVOWS

The diagrams from the design process show us the decitions to make such different structure and form:

Composed as a village rather than a sports complex the WVOWS combines individual buildings with a variety of uses with open spaces and public gardens. The sloping roofscapes and alternating building volumes provide the complex with the varying identity of a small village thus reducing its scale to the adjacent neighborhood. The interior streets animated through public functions resemble a medieval downtown, supporting all aspects of human life – generous living, work and intensive play.

Bjarke talks about the WVOWS in these terms:

"Considering the special requirements of women of all cultures and all ages, special attention has been given, to provide the sports village with a feeling of intimacy and well being often lacking in the more masculine industrial-style sports complexes that are more like factories for physical exercise, than temples for body and mind.”

The central hall is large enough to accommodate professional football matches as well as concerts, conferences, exhibitions and flea markets. Rather than being an introverted sports arena shut off from the surrounding city – it appears like an open and welcoming public space, visible from all of the surrounding streets – generously offering its interior life to the passers-by. The pedestrian network around the main sports hall plugs into the surrounding street networks as well as the interior galleries of Kronprinsen, turning it into a complete ecosystem of urban life.

More info at BIG site.