Mountain Dwellings

The 80 dwellings appear as a suburban neighborhood of garden homes, flowing over a 10-storey building: suburban living with urban density. The roof gardens consist of a terrace and a garden that changes character according to the season. A glass façade separates the apartments from the gardens, providing light and fresh air.

The gigantic parking area contains 480 parking lots and a sloping elevator that moves along the inner walls of the mountain. At some places the ceiling height is up to 16 meters, creating the impression of a cathedral-like space. The north and west façades are covered by perforated aluminum plates, which let in air and light to the parking area. The holes in the façade form a huge reproduction of Mount Everest. By day the holes in the aluminum plates appear black on the bright aluminum, and the gigantic picture reminds one of a rough raster image. At night the façade is lit from the inside and looks like a multicolored photo negative, since each floor in the parking area has its own color.

Bjarke Ingels (Copenhagen, 1974) opened his own office, Bjarke Ingels Group, in 2005, after having co-founded PLOT Architects and worked with Rem Koolhaas at OMA. In 2004 he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial for his concert hall in Stavanger (Norway) and the following year he was awarded the Forum AID Prize for his VM Houses. He is a guest professor at the Royal Academy of the Arts, in Copenhagen, at Rice University School of Architecture (Texas), and at Harvard University Graduate School of Design.