The best office building of the year 2019 - according to numerous architectural media and institutions - is the project C&P Corporate Headquarters by INNOCAD architecture ([ Ссылка ]). When awards and recognitions for one building come from such different sources - it is a clear frontrunner for the title of the best architecture built in 2018 and 2019.
In this video, architect Martin Lesjak, the leading force of INNOCAD, explains the idea and the process, how and why things are done the way we see them at the exact location in Graz’ Puntigam neighborhood.
The main visual feature of the building is the outer concrete construction that levitates (without columns, hanging from above) around the building and carries the square shading matrix that creates different patterns of the outer facade, making the building different almost every time we look at it.
Lesjak explains why they decided to make a “no-context” architecture with a strong identity that would serve as an anchor for a diverse, chaotic urban surrounding. A formalistic expression of the cube is intertwined with an algorithmic curve that defines an inner vertical connection, making the interior spaces and interior design even more complex.
Markus Ritter, the investor from C&P Immobilien, talks about the fact that the construction process was done on time and on budget, which was extremely important in this case. Architect Lesjak explains that the building is nothing more expensive than any other office building of the same size. So, the extra value that we can find in this building, the project that is praised as the best office building of the year, and the world’s best architecture made in 2019, comes directly from the architect's commitment to making the building extraordinary.
Architect Lesjak insists that architecture generally has to be not only aesthetically conscious and functionally responsible, but architecture must care about the environment, social impact, and care about people on a humane level. That is what INNOCAD promotes as a holistic approach to architecture and design. That is the approach that masterminded the best office building of the year, a proud, cutting-edge, new, avant-garde example of what contemporary architecture can bring at its best.
Project team: Patrick Handler, Jörg Kindermann, Martin Lesjak, Elisabeth Krammer and Dominik Gladik.
Video produced and made by Damir Kovačić
For the video exhibition AUSTRIAN ARCHITECTURE TODAY
Music: Rastko Aksenitijević
3D Model Drawing: INNOCAD architecture
Sponsors:
LIEB BAU (construction contractor)
X-TEC (furniture and cabinet maker)
INSIDE EINRICHTUNGS (furniture provider)
C&P Immobilien (investor)
Note: This is the first shorter version of the exhibition film.
More about the exhibition: [ Ссылка ]
