Architecture studio Bjarke Ingels Group has completed a modular apartment block called 79&Park in Stockholm, Sweden that looks like a verdant wooden hillside. The residential complex has been developed as a ‘pixelated’ structure, whose unevenly extruded units house 168 apartments with different layouts. Text description provided by the architects. Located on the edge of Gärdet, a treasured national park, Kullen makes conscious decisions to provide a sensitive, respectful form while allowing the same choices to simultaneously manifest as exceptional residences with spectacular views.
79&Park has been developed as a ‘pixelated’ structure, whose unevenly extruded units house 168 apartments with different layouts
The southwest point of the building extends farthest into Gärdet; and to create a humane edge between building and nature, is pushed down to the lowest profile, transforming it into a public platform with a 270 degree view of parkscape and simultaneously freeing the majority of the residential units to views of the park. The same move also ensures that the central courtyard will always receive copious amounts of sunlight. In further deference to Gärdet, the massing is visually reduced through a language of pixels, scaled to the human form. This manipulation not only allows for a more organic expression, perfectly reflecting the surrounding landscape, but also provides a way to accomplish the building topography in a controlled and inexpensive way through the use of prefabricated units of standardized sizes.
The southwest point of the building extends farthest into Gärdet; and to create a humane edge between building and nature, is pushed down to the lowest profile, transforming it into a public platform with a 270 degree view of parkscape and simultaneously freeing the majority of the residential units to views of the park
Image Credit: Laurian Ghinițoiu
