Columbia Concentration Camp Memorial

Posted on 14. December 2022 | by admin

Columbia Concentration Camp Memorial

Artistic-architectural concept for marking and visualizing the historical site

The Columbia concentration camp was one of the first concentration camps at the time of the National Socialists and was located at the northern edge of the Berlin Tempelhof airport site, with whose construction it was demolished.

With the aim of making the building and this part of German history perceptible again in the public space, the “Topography of Terror” Foundation organized a design competition to which Ruairí O’Brien was invited to submit a proposal.

Our concept, which is in line with the preservation order and barrier-free, is purposefully kept simple. A band of Corten steel is used to mark the footprint and volume of the disappeared building in parts on the original site.

The entire area can thus be experienced in a multi-layered way. Through the prominent bridge and the large gravel surfaces, the area can be perceived on different levels. As the viewer moves, his perspective changes, creating new spaces for thought. At the same time, the footbridge is a signal with a long-distance effect that provides a distinctive reference to the memorial site and also offers the possibility of accessing the entire site.

Sponsor: Topography of Terror Foundation

Project partner: Slapa und die Raumplaner

Design Guide Muellerstraße Berlin

Posted on 13. December 2022 | by admin

Design Guide Muellerstraße Berlin

Design Guidelines for the Living Center Muellerstraße

Muellerstraße is located in the heart of the Wedding district of Berlin’s Mitte district. It is, with more than three kilometers, one of the longest shopping streets of the city.

Cultural and educational institutions are grouped in the adjacent areas. Branches of large companies, specialty stores, service companies and gastronomic offerings characterize the urban and transcultural flair of Muellerstraße. The first floors of the buildings are almost always occupied by stores or restaurants. Often, the entire first floor zone of a building consists of a single store unit.

The original window and door arrangements of the historic buildings are often no longer recognizable. Structural changes to individual areas in keeping with the trend of the times or energy-related renovations have altered the original character of the facades. Temporary additions such as advertising signs or awnings are also often part of the determinants of the facade appearance of the structures and thus the streetscape itself.

This design guide is an important building block in the future development of Muellerstrasse. It serves as a guideline for action in the redesign of facades or stores and functions as an advisory tool within the framework of the building consultation of the urban development office.

Everything from urban planning and architectural structures to details on buildings and light and lighting topics, such as advertising signs, window or color design were essential contents of our investigation and must be brought back into harmony in order to be able to develop a great design line for Muellerstraße. In this holistic approach, the micro level (details) and the macro level (the entire street) are placed in context with each other in an analytical-planning manner, and a system is developed from this, with the help of which a structured implementation of the guiding ideas can be guaranteed.

The design guide can be downloaded here.

House Bramsch

Posted on 12. December 2022 | by admin

House Bramsch

Individual single-family house / architect’s house

Haus Bramsch is a distinctive architect-designed house in the classic modern architectural tradition, whose architecture brings together the individual habits, desires, preferences and lifestyles of the owners in a harmoniously elegant design. House Bramsch is planned in advance as a flexible, open or closed living concept and is thus also compatible with future changes in the needs and living situations of its residents.

Living space: 120m²

Services: HOAI Lph 1-8

Client: private

House 62

Posted on 8. December 2022 | by admin

University Hospital Dresden, House 62

Redesign of the Corridor Areas, Lighting and Color Concept

On behalf of the University Hospital Dresden, we developed and implemented a redesign of the corridor area in accordance with current usage requirements in parallel with the planning of structural fire protection measures. The false ceiling and the floor were renewed, and interior walls were partially modified. An attractive color and lighting concept was developed in line with the corporate design. The positioning of the luminaires visually expands the corridor and also illuminates the exhibition design within the wall area.

Microlight Sculpture

Posted on 7. December 2022 | by admin

Microlight Sculpture

The Erich Kaestner House of Literature, Dresden

The octagonal prism of the micro light sculpture, a homage to the Danish poet Inger Christensen, symbolizes with its geometry the physical elements of nature: sky, earth, fire, water, wind, thunder, lake and mountain. Nuances of light and shadow, space and surface can be experienced. The multi-layered play with perspectives and the dissolution of boundaries sensitizes the viewer to an intense optical experience. The visual labyrinth of inner and outer world points to relations between micro and macro, to the polarity of unknowability and readability of art and the world. In the daylight, the object can be experienced multidimensionally in dialogue with the movement of the sun as a cast shadow, in the darkness with artificial light from the core: inside and outside, below and above are interchanged.

Mobility center Reitbahnstreet

Posted on 6. December 2022 | by admin

Mobility center Reitbahnstreet

“Future traffic development is an important topic for architects. That’s why the study of the mobility center for Dresden’s city center is not about a parking garage in the traditional sense, but rather about flexible architecture for an innovative, future-oriented mobility concept.” Ruairí O’Brien With the concept we are in line with the medium- to long-term mobility development, in which the use of the automobile is only one option among many alternatives. The central location in the city center and the proximity to the main train station enables different mobility approaches to be linked in an innovative mobility hub (electric mobility, bike & ride, park & ride, rental stations, charging stations, rentals, etc.) and thus sustainable concepts for the city Future. An innovative, adaptable and evolving architectural concept was developed to take into account the future development of the city and transport in the city. Transformability is a property that will be important for future architecture in general to demonstrate true sustainability. The future decline in motorized individual transport and the long-term development towards a car-free city are already conceptually integrated here and the conversion of the building to benefit other uses, such as living, working/office, trade/services, has already been planned in advance. A sensible solution should be found for the inner-city brownfield site at the back of Prager Straße, with which the existing backyard atmosphere can be improved through the urban development context of Prager Straße and other current problems in connection with the inner-city development of Dresden can be addressed – as a benefit for the city and in favor of less vacant wasteland.

Prefabricated Construction Museum “Concrete Timeline”, Dresden

Posted on 6. December 2022 | by admin

Prefabricated Construction Museum “Concrete Timeline”, Dresden

Museum project on wasteland revitalization, urban and building history

The wasteland in Dresden-Johannstadt was revitalized by Ruairi O’Brien from 2002-2005 through the creation of the Prefabricated Construction Museum “Concrete Timeline”. In the micro museum for prefabricated construction, the architect thematizes diverse time periods specific to the site and its history. Likewise, universal questions from the fields of housing, culture, architecture and urban planning, art and society, which also affect future developments, are presented.
For more information on the project, click here

MDR – Bridge, Leipzig

Posted on 5. December 2022 | by admin

Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge, MDR site, Leipzig

Lighting concept for the new pedestrian bridge

The new pedestrian and bicycle bridge (KHP Leipzig / Kolb Ripke Architekten), with its restrained and elegant bridge construction, assumes an important connecting function in the development of the MDR area in Leipzig. With its simple, linear view reduced to the minimum, the bridge is integrated into the landscape in a restrained manner. This intention is supported by the discreet, calming, high-quality lighting with warm white light (color temperature 3000K).

Entry in the VOF procedure
Competition: 2015/16, 1st prize
Sponsor/Client: City of Leipzig

On The Road in The Light 2020, Potsdam

Posted on 1. December 2022 | by admin

On The Road in the Light 2020, Potsdam

Architectural lighting concept for Potsdam’s center “Soundless Music”

The images show excerpts from Ruairí O’Brien’s lighting composition for Potsdam On The Road In The Light 2020, including the Brandenburg State Parliament, St. Nicholas Church and the Potsdam Film Museum. “With an authentic concept, high-quality technology and a selective choice, you can achieve more in lighting design. To create poetic and exciting lighting atmospheres, you have to understand how time, space, materials, darkness and light can be brought together and how they can be set against each other.” Ruairí O’Brien

Euthanasia Information and Memorial Site, Berlin

Posted on 30. November 2022 | by admin

Euthanasia Information and Memorial Site, Berlin Tiergartenstrasse

Competition entry for the design competition Memorial and Information Site for the Victims of the National Socialist “Euthanasia” Murders at the site of the planning headquarters, Tiergartenstraße 4 in Berlin.

Based on the artistic core idea of creating a dialogue between the spatial expression for the commemoration of the victims, the sculptural “pool of tears” and the site of the perpetrators with the ground plan of the building Tiergartenstrasse 4, both a mental and emotional approach to the topic of “euthanasia” murders becomes possible.

Awarded by: City of Berlin, 2012