UFACINEMACENTRECOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

FUNCTION

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UFACINEMA CENTERCOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

ANTHONYMCMONAGLE ROBNEWMAN JOHNTAPIAOWENS

UFACINEMACENTRECOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

FUNCTION

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CONTENTSFUNCTION.2

CIRCULATION.3FORM.4

STRUCTURE.5MATERIALS.5ENVELOPE.6

UFACINEMACENTRECOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

DRESDENGERMANY: 1993-1998BUDGET: 16.36mCOMPETITION: 1993STARTOFPLANNING: 1996STARTOFCONSTRUCTION: 1997COMPLETED: 1998FLOORAREA: 6174m2SITEAREA: 1847m2BUILTUPAREA: 1522m2CUBAGE: 53725m3

UFACINEMACENTRECOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

FUNCTION

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The UFA Cinema Center is composed of two basic elements the Cinema Block and the Crystal. There are eight cinemas screens in total, separated from the foyer by a journey of ramps and stairs. The ‘crystal’ a glass form contains the foyer. In standard cinemas the foyer is typically viewed as a waiting room. However in the UFA Cinema Center much more attention has been paid to the service spaces such as the foyer and the stairs. The foyer is a large indoor public space which allows people to meet, converge and interact; there is a café for people to eat in. Coop Himmelblau wanted to turn the foyer from just a space, into a place. As with the stairs instead of something that is used passively and is barely noticed the stairs now take you on a journey to the cinema screen. Rising 15 meters in height through the urban texture of the architecture, the stairs have become more than just a servant space they are the preliminary programme, the trailer to the film.

VERTICAL MOVEMENTHORIZONTAL MOVEMENTMOVIESMONEY

INTENSITY OF PEOPLE FLOW

VERTICAL ELEVATOR

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CIRCULATIONThe cinema block opens up towards the street and is permeable for pedestrian traffic between Pragerstrabe and St Peterburger Strabe. It is differentiated by the circulation system of the cinemas and by views through to St Peterburger Strabe. It is surrounded by public space which flows and continues on into the foyer of the building. The Crystal (foyer) is an urban passageway, the paths and bridges, allow the views and movement of people to be seen from inside and outside of the building.

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UFACINEMACENTRECOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

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FORMThe UFA Cinema Center has been built in the deconstructivist style. The building looks as though it has been taken apart and reassembled incorrectly; it has been described as ‘an aquarium made up of splinters with a triangular ground plan, including eight large lethargic fish’. A perfect form that is transformed in to another form that is equally perfect.

UFACINEMACENTRECOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

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STRUCTURE MATERIALSThe eight auditoriums are suspended from a steel structure; this suspen-sion is continued in the form of the hanging cyl-inder space which can be used as a café and other functions. Its weightless quality comes from the use of bars and spaces, rather than an opaque surface.

The concrete façade of the cinema block is left exposed and unpolished, to be cost effective to the project. However its brutalism and ruggedness portray a great reflection of its urban environment. This is contrasted against the light, windowed façade in a steel frame which merges the inside with the outside.

UFACINEMACENTRECOOPHIMMELB(L)AU

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ENVELOPEThe envelope, the outer surface of the UFA Cinema Center is again differentiated between the cinema block and the Crystal. There is a strong Urbanity of solid windowless concrete, completely opaque and private, housing the cinemas, a place of darkness and a certain kind of privacy. This solidness is contradicted with the transparency of the glass shell, which creates a mediating in-between zone, in which entities of cinema and city communicate with one another.

ANTHONYMCMONAGLE ROBNEWMAN JOHNTAPIAOWENS