Edited by: Enrico Mancini @Enrico_Mancini enrico.mancini@positive-magazine.com
Where: Bergen, Norway
Architects: MAD arkitecter
Proofreading: Bianca Baroni
MAD arkitekter recently won the competition for the development of a media centre in Norwegian city of Bergen.
The Media City Bergen (MCB) will be an hub gathering TV-broadcasters, newspapers, providers of media technology, education and research environments.
The concept itself is very simple. The existing building in Lars Hilles gate 30, an area in the periphery of the city centre undergoing urban transformation, consists of three towers linked at the ground level.
The Norwegian firm resolves the program by filling completely the lot’s voids and raising the three towers, reaching the density limits;
the second step is to remove a huge piece of cake between two of the towers, releasing a six-storeys nave, that will be a space where the identity of each company will interplay with the new identity of MCB, and it is supposed to invite the public to get a close up experience of media production.
Outside, a gigantic media facade will be a city-size television, broadcasting live shows and exposing what’s happening inside of the building.
Talking about form, the result is quite boring, but this is where they drop the ace.
A less than two minute action movie (yes, an actual movie), involving an engaging soundtrack, city’s night tracking shots and overviews, helicopters, actors, and high-tech gadgets, is the way the firm chooses to present their proposal to the world.
An expensive, fascinating film production is exactly what you need if you’re going to present a media building that is expensive, but not so fascinating, is it?
