Rojkind arquitectos (355KB pdf) - HP
Rojkind arquitectos (355KB pdf) - HP
Rojkind arquitectos (355KB pdf) - HP
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Architect Michel rojkind uses hP solution to Present<br />
winning tAMAyo MuseuM design<br />
Mexico’s Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art—home to<br />
an important collection of both Mexican and international<br />
art and named after one of the country’s greatest<br />
painters of the twentieth century, Rufino Tamayo—recently<br />
organized an architectural competition to design a new<br />
building at Atizapán (in the State of Mexico), which<br />
would not only store the many works of art not currently<br />
on show but also include ample exhibition space of its<br />
own, effectively becoming a sister museum to the spacestrapped<br />
original building in downtown Mexico City.<br />
Mexican architect Michel <strong>Rojkind</strong>, whose practice is based<br />
in the federal capital and has been rated among the top<br />
10 design vanguard firms in the world, teamed up with<br />
Danish colleagues, BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) Architects<br />
and won the competition with a design for a cantilevered<br />
building, the form of which when viewed from above<br />
is inescapably, and somewhat controversially, that of a<br />
cross—but more about the shape later.<br />
Cemeteries, jails, and buildings with soul<br />
For <strong>Rojkind</strong>, architecture is successful only when it<br />
produces buildings that have soul. We asked him how<br />
he goes about ensuring his creations are endowed with<br />
this ethereal quality. “If the project is done with enough<br />
research to be intelligent enough,” he said, “it already<br />
has a certain soul, a certain intuition of being. But then<br />
many things have to come together, not only the architect<br />
finishing his or her beautiful building, but the way in which<br />
people use it, how it ages over time, and the magic that<br />
is felt when working or moving inside the space. Buildings<br />
get filled with energy by people coming in and out and<br />
by the experiences they have there. We’ve all experienced<br />
a certain energy when walking through a cemetery, and<br />
there’s also a definite energy in a jail. There are some<br />
buildings you enter, and it’s just magical; it’s magical<br />
because of how the light comes in, or because of the<br />
silence, or the way the sound bounces off the walls. I try<br />
to relate buildings to people: you meet some that are like<br />
dead men or women walking; they don’t seem to have<br />
any soul or even to be aware that they are alive. That<br />
happens also in architecture. You get something that was<br />
meant to look beautiful—the architect spent a lot of money<br />
on this façade—but it’s like the newest pair of sunglasses,<br />
there’s nothing behind it. He or she used a disguise so<br />
that people would immediately say, ‘Ah, it’s shiny!’ but it<br />
doesn’t go any deeper.”<br />
Not your grandmother’s house<br />
When working on residential houses, <strong>Rojkind</strong> personalizes<br />
every design by getting to know his clients and capturing<br />
their individuality or the dynamics operating within a<br />
family. “You have the first approach by perhaps the<br />
husband or the wife who wants to do the house,” he said.<br />
“You sit down and talk, maybe have a cup of coffee,<br />
but then you want to meet the kids; you want to meet<br />
everybody who’s going to live in the house. Some clients<br />
used to come with books and point to pictures and say, ‘I<br />
want a house like this one,’ but the first thing I ask them<br />
© 2009, Glessner Group [www.glessnergroup.com]
© 2009, Glessner Group [www.glessnergroup.com]<br />
is why they would want to live in something that looks<br />
like their grandmother’s house. If you’re a person living<br />
in 2009 or 2010, and you have your kids, and you<br />
want to educate them in a certain way, and you have a<br />
partner who lives in a certain way, why not let the house<br />
that you’re sharing with your family express its own way<br />
of how the family comes together? It’s a house for that<br />
specific family and should not be repeated, because<br />
there are no two families alike. I’ve had some clients say,<br />
‘Oh, no, no, but I don’t want to get too emotional or too<br />
extroverted to tell you stories so that you can design our<br />
house. I’m going to another architect.’ And to me, it’s<br />
fine, because I would never do a house for one client and<br />
then repeat it for another. Now fortunately we are getting<br />
clients that know the architecture we are doing, and they<br />
are open to considering the things we propose to them.”<br />
Symbolism of the Tamayo cross?<br />
Why then, when the Tamayo Museum project came<br />
around, with the clients requesting a cross-shaped<br />
building, did <strong>Rojkind</strong> give them more or less exactly<br />
what they asked for? “Yes, they handed us a very thick<br />
binder,” he said, “with very strict, very specific instructions.<br />
It was like, ‘These are the diagrams, this is how the<br />
museum should work, and these are the floor plans.’ It<br />
was crazy, because they were inviting architects to enter<br />
a competition, and at the same time they were telling<br />
us all what to do. At the beginning we decided to go<br />
off in a different direction with the design, but then we<br />
stopped and said, ‘Why don’t we give them the original<br />
floor plan?’ Perhaps it was initially to be ironic, but we<br />
grabbed the binder, and when we superimposed the cross<br />
on the site, and it floated on the ground, it was beautiful.”<br />
Some critics—some admiringly, others disparagingly—<br />
read religious symbolism into the shape of the building,<br />
and perhaps this was the intention of the clients when they<br />
went for a cross in their original plans. <strong>Rojkind</strong> disagrees.<br />
“I think that in their own naïve way of explaining how the<br />
museum should work best,” he said, “it just turned out to<br />
be that shape. It wasn’t a perfect cross, but it was almost<br />
that, and then we streamlined it. Of course, this is Mexico,<br />
where religion is a big thing, so, having a cross for a<br />
museum might be seen as having some great symbolism,<br />
and, looking at it on Google Earth, you are indeed going<br />
to see a cross on a hillside, but the shape was logically<br />
derived from the way the museum would operate. It was<br />
perfect for what the clients wanted, and I’m happy about<br />
that. In any case, this is a museum of contemporary art,<br />
which is supposed to get people talking. I don’t mind<br />
critics saying, ‘Ah, it’s a cross.’ A cross symbolizes a lot of<br />
things. We could also call it the ‘T’ of ‘Tamayo,’ because<br />
it’s a Tamayo museum. We were not shy about presenting<br />
it as a cross, not at all.”<br />
In fact the Dano-Mexican partnership presented its design<br />
to the competition’s organizers, not as a Christian cross,<br />
but as the cruciform of an opened-out cubic box. “I<br />
believe that what convinced them to give us the project<br />
was this idea of a box opening up,” said <strong>Rojkind</strong>. “The<br />
building’s initial purpose was to store different works<br />
of art on a rotational basis, but then the idea of being<br />
more transparent and democratic gained currency and<br />
was incorporated into the plans. We call it the open box<br />
because in Mexico it will be the first museum where the<br />
general public can visit the storage space. We decided<br />
to make the combined storage and exhibition space,<br />
an exhibition in itself, where people come in and see<br />
the trucks arriving with the art, the wooden crates being<br />
unpacked, photographs being taken, restoration being<br />
done, and pieces being installed on site. In Europe,<br />
that’s very common. The clients really liked the idea that<br />
everything become an exhibition space.”<br />
Sustainable architectural features<br />
Another factor that contributed to <strong>Rojkind</strong> and BIG being<br />
awarded the project was the sustainability features of their<br />
design. “First of all, for its size, the building intervenes as<br />
little as possible on the landscape,” said <strong>Rojkind</strong>. “Only<br />
two parts of the cross are touching the ground; the other<br />
two are cantilevered. So we’re not using too much of<br />
the ground. Then the terrace where people arrive at the<br />
museum—in fact, it’s on the rooftop—is a water-collecting<br />
space, which is important in this arid area. Also, the<br />
façade is perforated to avoid a build up of heat inside the<br />
building. The walls will be made of a very nice, glazed<br />
brick that’s done in Mexico by a Mexican company. Air<br />
will flow through this ventilated façade, so you’ll have a<br />
cool interior climate at the right temperature to protect the<br />
works of art. This natural ventilation means people will be<br />
able to walk around in a very comfortable environment,<br />
and it reduces the amount of mechanical equipment<br />
needed for air conditioning. We’re also using some<br />
hybrid lighting, half electric and half natural light, which is<br />
filtered upon entering the space. The only place that you<br />
have exposed glass is underneath the cross. The 90-meter<br />
(300-foot) cantilevers shade everything below them, so you<br />
never get the sun hitting the glass side.”
© 2009, Glessner Group [www.glessnergroup.com]<br />
Blown away by the presentation quality<br />
It goes without saying that the new Tamayo Museum design<br />
was presented spectacularly for the competition, <strong>Rojkind</strong>’s<br />
office being known for doing a good job in creating clear<br />
and attractive collateral to explain its plans. “We are<br />
aggressive in pushing not only the limits of architecture,”<br />
said the architect, “but also those of graphic design and<br />
project presentation. There are only 14 people working in our<br />
office, and we concentrate here on the research and design<br />
drive of the projects, the visual part of the buildings, and the<br />
visual experience. Technical consultants and other invited<br />
disciplines under our supervision help us get everything<br />
completed, so we can remain very flexible, but here we are<br />
very visually driven, creating and printing renderings and<br />
competition posters and other things that will get the clients<br />
motivated. We frequently work in multimedia too: we do<br />
Flash presentations, Director, QuickTime, always working on<br />
how best to ensure the clients understand the design. It’s the<br />
safest way to work. When your clients know exactly what<br />
you’re talking about, and they know that you know exactly<br />
what you’re talking about, then by the time you start to build<br />
something, everything goes really smoothly. With photorealistic<br />
renderings and the highest image quality possible,<br />
they see that the wood is wood and the concrete is concrete.<br />
Before we got our current software and printing technology,<br />
we would have to explain that sort of thing to them, and we<br />
could end up with some awkward misunderstandings.”<br />
In the early stages of every project, whether big or small,<br />
the office presents a professionally finished book of colorful<br />
renderings and plans to the clients. “Small details make up<br />
the big thing,” said <strong>Rojkind</strong>. “The clients realize that if you’re<br />
concerned about the detail of a book, you’re going to be<br />
concerned about the detail of the building being built. So it<br />
just makes them more comfortable in the process.” For the<br />
Tamayo Museum competition, the firm used its <strong>HP</strong> Designjet<br />
T1100 Printer, with <strong>HP</strong> Vivera inks, to print presentation<br />
material in-house. “The clients congratulated us not only<br />
on the project, but also on the way it was presented,” said<br />
<strong>Rojkind</strong>. “When they saw the quality of the renderings, they<br />
were blown away. Also, we are constantly working with<br />
graphic designers and collaborating with a lot of different<br />
creative people. We tried to think of as many innovative ways<br />
as possible to present the cross graphically. So we printed<br />
colorful placards whose supports at the back were in the<br />
shape of the building, and we printed books, each of which<br />
was contained in a box that opened up to form the cross<br />
shape. The cover of the box was done by a very nice local<br />
girl who specializes in handcrafts. She sewed everything up<br />
by hand, which added another nice touch to the finished<br />
presentation, because, although an architectural project<br />
can be very technical, in the end it has to be very human.”<br />
High-quality prints for multiple specialists<br />
The office has been using the <strong>HP</strong> Designjet T1100 Printer<br />
for over two years and recently installed the new <strong>HP</strong><br />
Designjet T1120 SD-MFP Multi-Function Printer. “Even<br />
though we’re an architectural firm, a lot of other people<br />
visit our office,” said <strong>Rojkind</strong>. “The <strong>HP</strong> printers are<br />
very practical solutions, not only for architects, but for<br />
photographers, graphic designers, industrial designers,<br />
everybody that’s involved in our projects. It’s incredible to<br />
see. The industrial designer prints a 1:1-scale chair for a<br />
restaurant we are doing, then the graphic designer prints<br />
a booklet, and we print a rendering. Mercedes Benz<br />
shot two of our projects as backgrounds for their recent<br />
marketing campaign, and Porsche was also here to do<br />
another of our buildings for their new Panamera model.<br />
We printed out their images on the <strong>HP</strong> Designjet T1120<br />
SD-MFP, using <strong>HP</strong> Vivera ink and <strong>HP</strong> Premium Plus Satin<br />
Photo Paper, and the quality is amazing. So, if somebody<br />
is looking for precision lines, we have them; if somebody<br />
is looking for precision colors and great image quality, we<br />
have those too.”<br />
Clean prints, with a satin matte feel<br />
<strong>HP</strong> Premium Plus Satin Photo Paper is the paper that<br />
<strong>Rojkind</strong> prefers to print on. “Since we’re very picky about<br />
the way we present,” he said, “we experiment with a lot<br />
with different papers, but from the time we first started<br />
working with <strong>HP</strong> papers a couple of years ago, we<br />
selected <strong>HP</strong> Premium Plus Satin Photo Paper as one of our<br />
best. I like the satin matte feel to it. When you handle it,<br />
you don’t get the grease of your hands on the images. It<br />
works great. We also do tests of image durability, and<br />
this is important because I imagine clients having the<br />
renderings up on the wall for a long time. I have some<br />
images hanging in my office that I printed on the <strong>HP</strong><br />
Designjet T1100 Printer two years ago, and they’re still<br />
perfect; the colors are still the same.” There are also three<br />
other papers that the architect uses regularly: “<strong>HP</strong> Super<br />
Heavyweight Plus Matte Paper is another one that works<br />
perfectly for final printing of renderings,” he said, “while<br />
<strong>HP</strong> Translucent Bond Paper is excellent for final complete<br />
sets of large-scale technical drawings. The one we like for<br />
everyday reviews and writing comments on is <strong>HP</strong> Bright<br />
White Inkjet Paper.”
at a glance<br />
Name: <strong>Rojkind</strong> Arquitectos<br />
industry sector: Architecture<br />
Business founded: 2002<br />
Number of employees: 14<br />
Business address:<br />
Campos Eliseos, 432<br />
Col. Polanco<br />
México D.F. 11560<br />
Telephone:<br />
+(52 55) 5280-8396<br />
+(52 55) 5280 8521<br />
Web site:<br />
www.rojkind<strong>arquitectos</strong>.com<br />
e-mail:<br />
info@rojkind<strong>arquitectos</strong>.com<br />
To learn more, visit www.hp.com<br />
Quickly converting sketches to drawing files<br />
<strong>Rojkind</strong> wishes his office had already had its new <strong>HP</strong><br />
Designjet T1120 SD-MFP Multi-Function Printer when the<br />
Tamayo Museum project was being developed. “The new<br />
machine includes a scanner,” he said. “If we had had that<br />
at the time, things would have been even easier. It would<br />
have saved us time. Before, I would sketch something and<br />
give it to the team, and then they would redo it on the<br />
computer. Now they just scan it, and it’s converted to a<br />
.dxf or .dwg file. We’re getting the drawing files straight<br />
from the scanner, and the transformation makes it an<br />
incredibly fast process.” He also highlighted the ability<br />
to communicate with the <strong>HP</strong> printers though the Internet<br />
using <strong>HP</strong> Web Jetadmin software. “It’s something I really<br />
love,” he said. “You’re monitoring everything that is being<br />
printed: from which computer a file was sent, who printed<br />
what, at what time. Sometimes I go to one of the people<br />
in the office and say, ‘What about this? It was printed<br />
outside of office hours!’—just to see their reaction,”<br />
<strong>Rojkind</strong> smiled. “If I’m doing a lecture in some other<br />
country, I can obviously talk to my staff on the phone, but<br />
I can also see exactly what they were printing, which is a<br />
really nice feature to have.”<br />
Financial crisis with a silver lining<br />
The architect sees big changes taking place in the industry<br />
and suggests that the worldwide economic downturn is<br />
likely to bring about positive developments in the long-run.<br />
“Everybody talks about the crisis, and a lot of people who<br />
were investing in real estate are not doing so anymore.<br />
Clients are saving their money for other things. We’re<br />
going through a tough phase, but I think it will bring us<br />
back to reality. Buildings that are simply beautiful will no<br />
longer be built. They will need to have a lot of different<br />
things interweaved in them besides being just nice<br />
buildings. In the recent boom years, it was absurd, all this<br />
competition about who had the biggest building and the<br />
most expensive building and the most important museum<br />
in the world. Now we’re going to go back to basics, to<br />
the questions, ‘Is the building doing something social? Is it<br />
doing something sustainable? Is it doing something for the<br />
community?’ If these different aspects are all tied in, then<br />
the projects will go ahead. The architect needs to bring in<br />
the investors, government, environmentalists, sociologists.<br />
Architectural projects will need to pass tougher criteria<br />
before approval. Sustainability-wise, I’m thinking a step<br />
further: not only will buildings produce their own energy,<br />
they’ll also generate energy for the community around<br />
them. ‘What will a building be able to produce for others,<br />
besides the building?’ I think this is something we will be<br />
hearing in the near future and which will actually make a<br />
difference. It’s another element to make up the building’s<br />
soul.”<br />
“We are aggressive in pushing not only the limits of<br />
architecture, but also those of graphic design and project<br />
presentation.”<br />
— Michel <strong>Rojkind</strong>, <strong>Rojkind</strong> Arquitectos, Mexico City, Mexico<br />
©2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties<br />
for <strong>HP</strong> products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should<br />
be construed as constituting an additional warranty. <strong>HP</strong> shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.<br />
All images © 2009, Glessner Group [www.glessnergroup.com]<br />
4AA2-9533ENW, September 2009.<br />
CHalleNge<br />
• Enter the architectural competition to design the<br />
new Tamayo Museum and impress the judges,<br />
not only by presenting a beautiful, functional,<br />
sustainable, and social design, but also by ensuring<br />
that the quality and innovativeness of the project<br />
presentation materials are motivating, clear, and<br />
reassuring.<br />
SoluTioN<br />
• The office recently installed the new <strong>HP</strong> Designjet<br />
T1120 SD-MFP Multi-Function Printer in addition to its<br />
existing <strong>HP</strong> Designjet T1100 Printer. Both machines<br />
use <strong>HP</strong> Vivera inks.<br />
• <strong>HP</strong> Premium Plus Satin Photo Paper<br />
• <strong>HP</strong> Super Heavyweight Plus Matte Paper<br />
• <strong>HP</strong> Translucent Bond Paper<br />
• <strong>HP</strong> Bright White Inkjet Paper<br />
• <strong>HP</strong> Web Jetadmin Software<br />
• Handcrafted additions to presentation material<br />
ReSulTS<br />
• <strong>Rojkind</strong> Arquitectos, in collaboration with Danish<br />
firm, BIG Architects, won the Tamayo Museum<br />
competition, being lauded not only on the project<br />
itself, but also on its presentation<br />
• Technology adoption by a wide range of industry<br />
professionals: Thanks to their multiple applications,<br />
with precision lines, accurate colors, and high<br />
image quality, the office’s <strong>HP</strong> printers are used by<br />
architects, photographers, graphic designers, and<br />
industrial designers<br />
• Projects stand out among the competition thanks to<br />
professional, high-quality concept drawings, printed<br />
on <strong>HP</strong> Premium Plus Satin Photo Paper for its good<br />
texture and lack of staining from greasy hands<br />
• Fast digital visualization of plans thanks to a quicker<br />
design process using the new <strong>HP</strong> Designjet T1120<br />
SD-MFP, whose scanner converts hand-drawn<br />
sketches into digital drawing files