Megabioscoop Rem Koolhaas bijna afgerond
18 augustus 2004, 13:50
Wie straks een filmpje pakt in de megabioscoop Utopolis in het nieuwe stadshart van Almere en in zaal één belandt, weet niet wat hij meemaakt, zo belooft de bestuursvoorzitter van de Utopiagroep. De megabioscoop begint zijn voltooiing te naderen. Op 3 november kunnen de eerste bezoekers naar binnen.
Zaal één gaat 540 luxe stoelen met veel beenruimte tellen. Het scherm is supergroot, 21 meter breed bij negen meter hoog, en loopt van wand tot wand. En het geluid is dusdanig dat bezoekers zich 'middenin de film wanen'. ,,Als een trein achterlangs rijdt, dan komt het geluid van achter. En wanneer een kogel van links voor naar rechts achter gaat, dan hoor je dat ook zö, aldus Boudewijn Muts.
De nieuwe bioscoop is ontworpen door Rem Koolhaas en telt acht bioscoopzalen, waarvan zaal één de grootste is. Het aantal bioscoopzetels is in totaal 2248. Naar verwachting komen er in 2005 zo'n 450.000 bezoekers en groeit dit aantal uiteindelijk naar zo'n 700.000. Het aantal filmpremières ligt op zo'n 190 per jaar. ,,En waarschijnlijk worden hier ook wel wat Nederlandse filmpremières gegeven. Met deze bioscoop worden we de derde of vierde speler in Nederland", zegt Muts trots. Het gebouw kent een centrale trap met rood tapijt. Bezoekers kunnen beneden zelf een kaartje kopen in een machine. ,,Voor wie overdag alvast een ticket wil halen voor de film van die avond." Bovenaan komen zes caissières te zitten voor de gewone kaartverkoop. Een kaartje gaat wel iets meer kosten dan Almeerders nu in Cinemare gewend zijn. ,,Maar de toegangsprijs zal niet boven de tien euro komen. Bovendien worden er acties gehouden en komen we met het zogenoemde familyticket."
Project informatie Blok 6 - Rem Koolhaas, OMA
ALMERE MASTER PLAN - BLOK
In the overall master plan, blok 6 sits in between the entertainment oriented waterfront and the dense shopping carré. Together with the wedge shaped apartment block of equal height in front (Blok 6A, developed by van Sambeek & van Veen), it forms a larger whole. On the pedestrian level and in the garage, it is surrounded by passages which connect the different parts of the new city center. The garage slips under the building reducing its footprint on this level.
The building meets three different entrance levels: the garage, the city street level in the northwest corner of the building and the deck level with entrances on three sides. Due to the slope of the pedestrian deck (the ‘gebogen maaiveld’) the connections to the deck have a height difference of a maximum of 2.10m.
How to make a building based on a program assembled for its economic potential not for its building type? How to create an identity not based on an architectural typology?
How to deal with the diverse interests and ruthless rate of change inherent in a commercial program?
How to conceptualize a building for a site which is vacant, yet already planned to a high degree of specificity?
Rather than being conceptualized typologically, the identity of this building (its ‘added value’) was derived from its organization. A generic volume filled with commercial program was divided into mass and void – the mass containing program outside the architect’s control, the void being a volume where a more coherent identity can be orchestrated.
The lower mass contains stores which follow the requirements of their own identities be it brand or product based. The stores are continuously recreated by interior architects, shop window designers, decorators, marketing people. The upper mass contains the closed volumes of the cinema - spaces of projection which change their content even faster.
The void employs the synergy of the different programs to create a new identity, determining the overall character of the block and defining its attraction. The space allows for all the connections from the pedestrian level to the cinema auditoria. It has been organized in a way that all circulation is located on top of the shopping mass. The void fulfills its obligations without any additional floors or balconies – maximizing its spatial presence. The spatial continuity of the void from the top balcony to the pedestrian level and down to the garage exposes its activity to the square. The shop and the restaurant even out the irregular activity of the cinema with its peaks of congestion and hours of invisible activity.
Since the void is created by the absence of mass, identity is determined by the void’s surface. With the flexibility of graphics and information the surface can cope with the rapid obsolescence of shopping environments – infobabble as wallpaper.
In collaboration with ABT the basics of the construction were defined. Since the walls of the elevated auditoria are made of half-lattice steel girders it becomes possible to cantilever all the auditoria by connecting them in a structural middle zone. This zone takes the entire load of the upper part of the building.
Consequently, the void space is cleared from any visible structure and achieves a maximum of flexibility and spatial clarity.
In collaboration with ‘Adviesburo van Hooft’ the choice was made to fit the building withsprinklers. This creates several advantages: There is no need for fire compartments which means that the openness and flexibility of the building can be maintained; the steel structure of the cinema needs less fire protection and the exit stairs can be downsized and set back from the facade.
Project Credits
Project:
Blok 6
Status:
Commission 1998
Client:
MAB
Budget:
€22.6m
Location:
Almere, Netherlands
Site:
In the future City Centre on top of large scale parking garage
Program:
19,135m2: Cinema - 7,680m2, 10 Auditoria, 2028 seats, 3.3 m2 per seat, lobby 1615m2; Commercial – mega store 3,260m2, small retails 1,100m2, restaurant 1280m2, supermarket 3230 m2, loading dock 1,120m2; storage 585m2
Principal:
Rem Koolhaas
Project Director:
Floris Alkemade
Team:
Olga Aleksakova, Bina Bhattacharya, Bart Cardinaal, Kees van Casteren, Rob de Maat, Laszlo Fecske, Sharon Goren, Philip Koenen, Antti Lassila, Paz Martin, Markus Schaefer, Karen Shanski, Shohei Shigematsu, Mark Watanabe with Christina Beaumont, Tobias Reinhardt, Lutz Ring
bron : Gooi en Eemlander tekst en foto's projectinformatie : OMA