Chop Stick is branded and open to the public



After a year of bravery overseas in the heartland of the United States of America, Chop Stick was finally branded and opened to the public this Saturday. From now on the visitors at the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 100 Acres art park can buy beer and lighter snacks from the kiosk or just swing under the majestic trunk. More pictures from this masterpiece is coming soon, for now all we can show you is Sweden's most hard working and proud architects in front of their newly branded building.

Stockholm Stacked

Visiondivision has investigated the possibilities of a densification of inner Stockholm to solve the great lack of housing that the city suffers from.
Watch the movie above in full screen and read all about the proposal below. If the movie doesn't work we have a low-res version at the end of this post.

Stockholm is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe at the moment, but the pace of new constructions of housing is not at all in tune with the current demand. The result of this unwillingness to build has already begun to show its face on many levels.
One consequence of this is that Stockholm are turning out to be a more segregated city than before, where the people that can afford the expensive apartments in the inner city moves in and the people that hasn’t the income that is necessary is forced to move to the peripheral suburbs.
This lack of ambitions from the city will also lead to a loss of a lot of potential growth if nothing is done.
Who wants to move to a city where it is impossible to get an apartment? Which companies wants to invest in a city where their employees may have a hard time to find a place to stay? Which exchange students wants to study in a city where all the free time available will go to find a small flat with a decent rent?
Instead of building in the outskirts of the city we propose to build where most people actually wants to live.
We propose a new way of looking at the city, which at a first glance from the street looks already complete and finished, but that actually hides over hundreds of new potential sites in the inner city.

Stockholm consists chiefly of blocks with inner courtyards, yards that in our opinion are not used to their full potential, and it is here that the solution lies.
We simply propose that we change the planning regulations for the courtyards to allow a no limit height experimentation that will be able to solve the dire lack of housing that Stockholm faces.
There are roughly three different types of courtyards which this new free zone can be applied to; the empty yards that are ample enough, the ones with buildings in good condition that can be built upon and court yards with houses in bad conditions that can be replaced by much higher buildings.
The existing buildings that are facing the streets are kept as they are and the new court yard buildings will have typical Stockholm facades, sampling the surrounding areas architecture.
A dense city is good for the environment and this type of development also takes away the pressure on the important green areas that are open for all.
The new houses can benefit the surrounding tenants; for example a garage, a gym and a roof top terrace.
Developing a part of the court yard also means that the tenants/owners could make a profit or get lower rents.
People most affected by the new development could also get a first pick in one of the new apartments in the yard buildings.
With a larger density of people also comes a wider range of things to do.
More museums, libraries, restaurants, bars, cafés, places where people can meet.
The result will be a better Stockholm for everyone; a Stockholm Stacked.

Street section showing two courtyards, one with a building 

that is built on a previous empty site and one that is built 

on top of an existing building

Aerial day view of Stockholm with the new buildings

Aerial night view of Stockholm with the new buildings
highlighted 

View over the city district Kungsholmen

Södermalm's new skyline

View from one of the new apartments

    Högalid at night

View over Gamla Stan, the old town, with Norrmalm in
the background

View over St Eriksplan with the new court yard buildings,
this district has many ample courtyards

Central Kungsholmen, an ideal spot with many courtyards

Gamla Stan, the dense old town can also contribute with
some new buildings

Hornstull, a district with many parks in its vicinity, 

with the courtyard exploitation, these parks can be left 

untouched

Humlegården, an area with many potenital sites

Östermalm, around Karlaplan, many courtyards and 

with a great existing infrastructure

Central Södermalm, a place many people wants to call their

home, something that can be made possible with the new 

development

Zinkensdamm, a rather sleepy area that would be more 

interesting with a densification

Eastern Kungsholmen with the City hall, great for a 

large development plan 




Below is a low-res version, for a high-res youtube version 
go to the top of this post

visiondivision talks at Bauhaus

Visiondivision was invited by the classic Bauhaus school in Weimar, Germany to hold a lecture about different fears in architecture.
We're looking forward to the talk and the excellent bratwursts.
The venue will take place at the Audi Max at 7 pm the 15th of May.

Chop Stick In Progress

The first cuts of Chop Stick has now sucessfully been carried out and it looks like a champion.
We now also have an official date for the grand opening cermony in Indianapolis which will take place on the 16th of June, where you will find us swinging under the tree with a first class smile on our faces.

Paper Models

We are now starting a collection of buildings as paper models which you are free to download and assemble.
First out is our Eden Falls, but there are more to come in the near future, so look under the extra category in a while for more models of both visiondivision projects and other famous buildings.

Spire

The church in the small town of Våler in Norway burned down and a competition was held to build a new one. We joined the competition with the following entry.

It is in the rural church that the people in a village is experiencing its most emotional
moments; this is where the kids run out on the last day of school, it is here you get married and it is here you bid farewell to your loved ones.
When the church in the village went up in flames, it meant that an important function and a prominent landmark disappeared, it left a void which in a small village Våler becomes particularly apparent.
You can however be positive about the new opportunity that has occurred; that a new church to be built and that the village gets a well-much needed addition to their identity.
We imagine a wooden Scandinavian country church that will be situated on the edge of the site and that will be clearly visible from all over town.


Promenade to church

Church in mist

Room Sequence
The church consists of two parts: the church room and a lower part that lies around a tranquil courtyard. The church has two entrances: one main entrance and a smaller entrance on the back for smaller events. When you enter via the main entrance, you enter a church square in a direct
connection with the church and with a courtyard view.
Here you reach the cloakroom, toilets and a vestry and further away in the building are the more private rooms located, like the priest's room, and showrooms, which you can access from the lower entrance to the back.
The rooms in this wing are functional in a row with a corridor which overlooks the quiet inner courtyard.
From all the rooms you have a view over the grove of trees that lies behind the church.

Priest's room


Site plan


Plan

The courtyard has a water mirror that parts the courtyard and almost all drainage of the house run down in the pond, which creates a small waterfall when it rains.

Courtyard

The nave is classically designed with a center aisle and the room can easily be divided for smaller gatherings. The idea is that although there is a small gathering, you still will experience the
finest room.

Church interior

The floors are an important part of the church and the rooms are defined by different woods and designs, more intricate for more impressive rooms.
The tower room, for example, has wide planks that follow the natural tree trunk angle and forming a radiating pattern from the center of the room.
Looking up in the church tower



Section and a diagram of the tallest churches in the world

The tower is the most important symbol of the church and it is here that the church is very different from other country churches. With a simple steel construction with wooden boards you get with a relatively small budget the world's highest church.
If the budget does not allow, so the height can be lowered considerably without losing its character and still become Scandinavia's tallest church, which now is Uppsala cathedral which was built about 1892 to a height of 118.7 meters.
The tower has small windows that go all the way to the crest and that let in light in the church room, and that spreads light around the countryside at night.
With a relatively simple approach Våler municipality can boast with a building that will both provide echo around the globe and revitalize the municipality and frame the many fond memories of the inhabitants of Våler.

The town of Våler


















Night exterior