MENGAPA PERLU ARSITEK ?

Tanah yang kita beli dan siap untuk dibangun, sebaiknya didesain dengan sebaik-baiknya agar tidak percuma kita bersusah payah.

Rumah yang akan kita bangun adalah rumah yang mungkin akan kita tinggali untuk waktu yang relatif lama. Bila kita membangun rumah, biasanya kita membangun untuk kepentingan keluarga dan masa depan. Rumah perlu didesain dengan baik agar sesuai dengan gaya hidup dan kepentingan kita sebagai pemiliknya. Adakalanya, seseorang telah memiliki tanah dan berniat untuk membangun. Jasa arsitek dibutuhkan dalam hal ini.

Arsitek dapat membantu kita merencanakan segala detail yang ada dalam rumah yang akan dibangun. Misalnya; detail-detail keindahan dalam ruang-ruang, tampilan rumah yang menawan, perletakan ruang-ruang yang sesuai dengan gaya hidup dan kebutuhan kita sehari-hari. Biaya untuk menyewa jasa arsitek juga merupakan pertimbangan, dan biasanya biaya tersebut diberikan berdasarkan pertimbangan seorang arsitek pada kemampuannya, atau pada standar tarif yang berlaku secara umum dalam wilayah arsitek tersebut. Sebaiknya jangan mudah percaya pada arsitek yang memberikan harga terlalu murah, atau bahkan gratis, karena hasil desain sama sekali tidak ada jaminan. Fee seorang arsitek bisa jadi menunjukkan kualitas arsitek tersebut. Sesuaikan pula dengan budget Anda, dan sebaiknya Anda mengetahui hasil karya arsitek tersebut sebelumnya.

Seseorang bisa saja membuat denah, perkiraan tampilan dan sebagainya, kemudian menyerahkannya kepada tukang. Pertanyaannya adalah; apakah banyak segi pertimbangan dalam merencanakan desain rumah telah terpenuhi? Hal-hal yang menjadi pertimbangan antara lain; estetika dan keindahan desain rumah, struktur konstruksi yang terencana, perletakan ruang-ruang secara tepat dan fungsional. Para arsitek telah mendapatkan pendidikan yang sesuai dengan keahlian yang dibutuhkan dalam profesinya, antara lain kemampuan menggubah komposisi bangunan agar indah, memperhatikan faktor kesehatan bangunan sehingga penghuninya tidak dirugikan dengan desain yang merusak kesehatan.

Namun, tidak sembarang arsitek dapat memenuhi kebutuhan Anda, karena arsitek yang baik adalah arsitek dengan pengalaman mendesain dan pengalaman lapangan yang baik. Sebenarnya, ketika ingin menggunakan jasa arsitek, tanyakanlah dulu kepada arsitek tersebut proyek apa saja yang telah dijalankannya, dan biarkanlah arsitek tersebut memberikan penjelasan tentang bagaimana prinsip proses desain yang biasa dilakukannya. Sebaiknya kita memilih arsitek yang perhatian dan mampu menerima aspirasi kita, kemudian menjadikannya dasar perencanaan rumah tinggal kita. Tanyakanlah pula pada arsitek tersebut, ide apakah yang terlintas dalam benaknya dalam proses desain tersebut, dan adakalanya arsitek akan muncul dengan ide-ide menarik yang tidak kita duga sebelumnya.

Arsitek yang baik akan memperhatikan kebutuhan ruang yang kita inginkan, budget yang kita miliki, dan berkehendak untuk memberikan desain yang terbaik yang dapat diberikannya. Kadangkala, bahkan meskipun kita telah menyewa jasa arsitek yang terkenal dan cukup banyak pula hasil desain yang dimilikinya, hasil desain tersebut belum dapat memenuhi kebutuhan dan keinginan kita akan sebuah rumah tinggal yang ideal. Dalam hal ini, kita perlu melihat pada contoh-contoh desain yang dimilikinya dan pada saat berbicara dengan arsitek tersebut, kita dapat memperkirakan apakah cukup baik menyewa jasanya, apakah arsitek tersebut tidak terlalu sibuk sehingga desain kita terbengkalai, dan sebagainya.

Dalam proses desain, yang terjadi adalah sebuah tarik-menarik antara berbagai faktor dalam proses merancang tersebut, antara lain keinginan klien, faktor ekonomi, sosial, budaya setempat, serta keinginan dan ide arsitek tersebut. Dalam proses desain yang kita lakukan bersama arsitek, hal-hal tersebut perlu diperhatikan dengan seksama. Bila keinginan kita terlalu mendominasi, akibatnya desain arsitek mungkin tidak kreatif dan jasa arsitek tersebut kurang efisien karena tertekan dengan keinginan kita. Bila arsitek terlalu mendominasi, hasil desain mungkin hanya sebagai eksperimen arsitek yang ambisius dan tidak sesuai dengan klien dan lingkungan. Faktor-faktor lain seperti ekonomi (budget), keadaan lingkungan dan budaya dalam lingkungan setempat juga patut untuk diperhatikan.

Sehingga, adanya dialog dan proses dalam desain adalah hal yang musti ada, sehingga terjalin hubungan baik antara kita dan arsitek, dan kemudian desain yang baik diharapkan lahir. Selamat mencari arsitek.

Bugati Veyron

BUGATTIVEYRON
Let’s start with the Bugatti’s 8.0 litre, 16 cylinder, quad turbo engine, which
produces 1001 bhp, or more than an F1 car. This propels the Veyron to 100
km/h (62 mph) in less than 3 seconds, or approximately the time it takes to say, “zero to one hundred kilometres an hour”. For those of you with a stammer, the Bugatti will be doing well in excess of 100 mph by the time you manage to get that out. The Veyron’s party piece, and the feat which earns it the most column inches in the motoring press, is top speed. Try searching the internet for 400 km/h or 250 mph and see which production car appears most frequently in the results. In order to achieve this heady velocity you’ll need: 1) to engage maximum speed mode using an additional key Bugatti provides; 2) a very long and straight section of road, preferably without any pot holes or speed bumps; and 3) huge bollocks, because if you wuss out and
touch the brakes it will automatically disengage this function, limiting you to a mere 375 km/h (230 mph). With maximum speed mode engaged the Veyron squats down on it’s haunches until there is only 65 mm of ground clearance at the front and 70 mm at the rear. Additionally, to further reduce wind resistance, the flaps on the front spoiler close and the rear wing and spoiler retract. When not trying to reach maximum speed, these aerodynamic aids automatically deploy above 220 km/h (137 mph) to improve high speed stability, but generate too much drag through the air to allow the car to break the magic 400 km/h / 250 mph barrier. One of the design challenges Bugatti faced was finding a tyre which could cope with a 1900kg (over 4000 punds) car capable of such high speeds. Since Bugatti is selling the Veyron in the US it also had tofactor in the possibility of two, junk food addicted, 300 pound occupants – although no doubt they always order a bucket-sized cup of diet coke when supersizing their fast food order - in the tyre specifications. The Michelin tyres were specifically designed for the Veron, and will last for 15 minutes at the top speed, although flat out, a full tank of fuel will only last for 12 minutes… Visually, the Veyron pays homage to Bugatti’s rich heritage, with the horseshoe-shaped grill, and two tone paint, highlighting the elliptical sculpted sides, reminiscent of the marque’s legendary racing and sports cars of the 1920’s and 1930’s. The engine is proudly on display in the open, although that’s more a side-affect of trying to keep it cool than a styling feature. To assist with the cooling the Veyron has a total of ten radiators, which is more than the average family dwelling. The interior is no less stunning, with the combination of leather and aluminium creating a truly unique, sumptuous experience, as befitting a car with a price tag in excess of 1 million Euros. Ultimately, I can’t decide whether the Bugatti Veyron is the best car ever made or an utterly pointless one-trick pony, designed purely to be the fastest ever road car. I for one can’t think of too many places where it would be possible to reach 400 km/h without touching the brakes, even on the unrestricted autobahns of Germany. For the mega rich, knowing they own the fastest car ever built is probably enough of a reason to buy one, as well as advertising to the world that they’ve got so much money that pissing away this trifling amount on a car isn’t a big deal. In some respects the Veyron also represents great value – bear with me on this one – because even though it costs in excess of 1 million Euros, each one is rumoured to cost Bugatti’s parent company, Volkswagen, around 7 million Euros to produce. Although a penis extension may cost less, at least you can openly flaunt the Veyron in public.

The MillauBridge, France

The Millau
Bridge, France

“It’s extraordinary…delicate
and minimalist…driving across
it would feel like f lying a car”
– Sir Norman Foster, Chief UK
architect on the project

Opened in 2004, this 2,460 metres (8,071 ft) long, large cable-stayed, multicolumn road-bridge spans the River Tarn valley near Millau in southern France and is a spectacular feat of structural engineering designed by French bridge engineer Michel Virlogeux and UK architects Foster and Partners. It is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world with one mast’s summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft) – slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 38 m (125 ft) shorter than New York’s Empire State Building. Hold your breath as we plunge (metaphorically!) into the design, construction and mechanics of what was formerly le Viaduc de Millau. What to build and why? Before the bridge was constructed as part of the new Expressway connecting Paris and Barcelona, traffic had to descend into the Tarn River valley and pass near the town of Millau causing heavy congestion at the beginning and end of the summer holiday season, and was dreaded as a ‘great blackspot’ of motoring. Carrying two lanes of traffic and a safety lane in each direction, the bridge now traverses the Tarn valley above its lowest point, linking the Causse du Larzac to the Causse Rouge and is inside the perimeter of the Grands Causses regional natural park.

“There is not
enough money in
the world to entice
me to drive over
this bridge”
– A very cautious
motorist!

The road to construction was lengthy: 15 years in the planning with initial studies beginning
in 1988 as to whether a bridge or tunnel was the design solution. By June the following year, a bridge design was elected as having the least impact on the environment. In 1994 a restricted design competition began limited to submissions by five teams of architects and in summer 1996, the winning cooperative was announced which included Britain’s very own Foster & Partners. Sir Norman Foster said that the Millau Viaduct “illustrates how a collaboration between architects and engineers can result in a structure of breathtaking beauty,” adding that this beauty “lies primarily in its clarity of expression.”

The result
“We were attracted by the elegance and logic of a structure that would march across the heroic landscape, and in the minimal way would connect one plateau to the other,” Foster commented. “We were driven by the scale of the idea and a shared passion for the poetic dimension of engineering and its sculptural potential.” This meant, he said, that during the design process there were never any conflicts between satisfying structural demands and aesthetic ideas, because they evolved together. The design gives the impression that the bridge
piers had grown from the soil, in line with Foster’s conviction that “A work of man must fuse with nature.” With bridge construction costs upwards of €390 million, it’s no surprise that to help recoup some of the huge financial outlay, the viaduct operates as a toll bridge costing around €6-€7. Pay bridge or not, over 600,000 tourists have already paid their toll to take in the unparalleled 360º panoramic views… Those of you interested in seeing world records before your very eyes should pay a visit to the Millau Bridge before December 2009 when the Chenab Bridge in Kashmir, India will be completed at 359 metres high, making it the new world record holder in the tallest suspension bridge stakes by 16 metres. Where will it all end, we here you ask?...

Expo.02, Towers of Biel, Switzerland

Expo.02, Towers of Biel, Switzerland

Towers are regarded as signs of power and symbols of freedom, and to architects they’re erotic signals of the human desire to be “monarch of all I survey” – as the parable of the Tower of Babel tells us. The design for Expo.02 was orientated on strategies of urban construction to create reference points for further developments. All functional preconditions were integrated into the urban masterplanning, enabling designers to react to changes in a flexible way. The site of the great exhibition was conceived as a roofed platform jutting out over Lake Biel and ending in a space with three towers coincidentally and fully intentionally resembling an aircraft carrier. Under the roof, the platform is available for multi-use purposes while the towers are visible as giant signs by day and experienced as sculptures of sound and light by night, “emphasising the vivacious transistor-like character of
Expo.02.” Completed May 2002.

UFA Cinema Centre, Dresden, Germany

UFA Cinema Centre, Dresden, Germany

Tackling the problem of Europe’s endangered public spaces, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU analysed the mono-functionality of such spaces and decided to add new urban functions to them, enabling a new urbanity to arise in the city. The character of this urbanity would not only be determined by functional differentiation and the creation of new spatial sequences but also by the injection of exciting new media events. The project for the UFA Cinema Centre is a result of the urban design concept interweaving together public squares, public interiors and passageways as a way of re-energising Dresden’s new centre. The design is characterised by two intricately interconnected building units: the Cinema Block with eight cinemas and seating for 2,600 viewers; and the Crystal, a glass shell simultaneously serving as foyer and public square. The Cinema Block opens up towards the street for pedestrian traffic and is differentiated by the circulation system of the cinemas and by views through to the square. The Crystal functions as an urban passageway with bridges, ramps and stairs to the cinemas acting as urban expressions in themselves, allowing views of the movement of people on a multitude of levels while unfolding the urban space into three dimensions. The lively quality of this space can be described in relation to the dynamic structure of film. The Skybar, the “floating” doublecone inside the foyer hosts different functions (café, bar etc) and in this way, the content of the building becomes visible to the city as much as the city is visible from the building as an inside-out building which sustains a dialogue with the city. The media event projected from the interior towards the exterior – assists in the creation of urban space. Completed March 1998.

Apartment & Office Building Schlachthausgasse,Vienna, Austria

Apartment &
Office Building
Schlachthausgasse,
Vienna, Austria

Following the closure of the Mautner Markhof Children’s Hospital in Vienna’s third district in 1998, COOP HIMMELB(L) AU won the limited design competition for a new building to occupy the vacant
6,000 m² space. The architects suggested conserving the valuable trees along the Kleingasse and set two slim building volumes in line with the Schlachthausgasse to return the urban block into its previously defined form. The remaining part of the property along the Kleingasse forms a garden yard which is acoustically separated from the busy Schlachthausgasse. The building complex contains 82 dwellings and approximately 12,000 m² of office space with underground parking for 260 cars integrated into the sloped surface towards the Danube and allowing for access at almost the same level from Schlachthausgasse. The above ground, 6+1 storey building is individually differentiated by sculpturally protruding building components with special room programs which make possible an optimisation of the internal sequences of functions, as well as
making better use of daylight. In the “Head Building” oriented to the south, a 450 m² basement youth centre with its own meeting rooms is fully integrated into the building. Completed July 2005.

Villa Soravia, Millstatt, Austria

Villa Soravia, Millstatt, Austria

The Villa Soravia vacation home lies on the shore of Lake Millstatt on the southernmost tip of the Millstatt health resort in Carinthia,
Austria. COOP HIMMELB(L)AU embarked on this as a renovation rather than new build project since building regulations required that the contours of the previous structure and angle of its roof be preserved. With these specifications, they produced a vacation home whose form is defined by the original gable roof, a slanted tower, a generously defined exterior and an inimitable spatial structure. The simple structural concrete, white painted wood and metal and consciously anti-tectonic joint pattern of Villa Soravia lend the home a flair of ease and serenity. A “table” platform of reinforced concrete elevates the upper area of the former house so that a free floor plan is possible on the ground level. The “table” separates the private rooms in the upper area from the semi-public transparent rooms in the lower area. A terrace extends the living room on the ground level out toward the Lake. The room, with its ceiling-high glass panels, can be opened allowing inside and outside spaces to flow together. The Villa Soravia is also transparent on the street side, another of its important characteristics. Here, local artists have the opportunity to use the public area as an exhibition space. Directly above the docks – where boats can be hoisted up by means of a cable winch lies a kitchen counter. When the window is open, it’s almost as though the motor boat hangs directly in the kitchen. To reinforce the open and Mediterranean flair of the summer villa, Sicilian olive trees adorn Villa Soravia’s interior and exterior spaces. Completed August 2005.