2008 – Icefjord Anchor _ Ilulissat Greenland

Project Insert a building in a world heritage site of UNESCO
Program Observatory hotel, research center, exhibition
Place Ilulissat, Greenland
Team Eric Cassar, Christian Svetoslavov, Ghada Chakroun
Owner Central Glass International Architecture Design Competition, Japan

General Principles Appear and disappear in the landscape. Be aware of the global warning damages.

The interest of this natural site first belongs to its movement. It is not static. It moves changing at the human scale vision. Ilulissat icefjord constantly reinvents itself, creating new shapes, new landscapes, every day, every hour.
The combination of a huge ice-sheet and the dramatic sounds of a fast-moving glacial ice-stream calving into a fjord covered by icebergs makes for a dramatic and awe-inspiring natural phenomenon. Ilulissat is also a place in danger, the best spot to see consequences of global warming.

Icefjord anchor acts as an intrusive element to warn the world about global warming damages while inviting visitors to enter into the incredible spectacle of iceberg. The builiding disappear and reappear in the landscape depending on the light and the observant point of view.
It consists of a geometric form incorporated into the organic landscape.

Over the primary structure, a grid which has a structural function also permits nature to incorporate the architecture in the environment through both vegetation and climate (ice making). Actually in winter the metallic mesh can fix ice on the building as on rocks and swap them together.

The materials used are: « Corian » white as ice, concrete, polished stainless steel.