This assignment describes the underlying design concepts of the two references.

Concept of Villa dall’Ava

In case of this project the client knew clearly what he/she was looking for: a glass house for a family of three persons with two separate apartments and a swimming pool as the masterpiece of the building. One of Koolhaas’s signatures is the theme of contradiction, which is also reflected in this particular design. For this project Koolhaas might be slightly influenced by Villa Savoye from Le Corbusier. The choice for the concept was determined by the significant influence of the built environment and landscape. In order to preserve the visual relationships and to control the complex correlation between the present architecture, it was decided to divide the land into three bands, oriented to the east and to the west. The main volume of the building is the centrepiece of the plot, grouping together the bedrooms on the top floor in two volumes perpendicular to the main body. The roof decks offer a panoramic view over Paris.

Concept of the CCTV Headquarters

The concept of the CCTV building combines the entire process of TV-making (administration, production, broadcasting) into a single loop of interconnected activity. Rising from a common platform which accommodates the production facilities, two towers lean towards each other and eventually merge in a seemingly impossible cantilever. The loop aims to offer an alternative to the exhausted typology of the skyscraper. Instead of competing in the race for ultimate height and style within a traditional two-dimensional tower pointing towards the sky, this concept proposes a truly three-dimensional experience. In this design all operations are consolidated in a continuous flow, allowing each employee to be permanently aware of his/her colleagues.

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