Civic & Cultural Projects

Alcudia Elementary School, Mallorca

With Jaime Vidal Contesti and Sandra Pineiro

Built from 1999/2001 this elementary school was designed using typical Mallorquin architectural imagery, spaces and cultural values. Classrooms of the older pupils surround open courtyards used for outdoor study and play. These, in turn, lead to the playground fields. The entire network of classrooms is linked through a central spine beginning with a glass panel enclosed ramp connecting the two levels, adding to the child's playful experience of the school. Strategic points in the roof and adjoining planes are opened up to allow accents of natural light to seep into the interior.

Danish Jewish Museum

With Daniel Libeskind

This small museum is a powerhouse displaying the vast culture of the Jewish community in Denmark. The floor plan layout is a 3d extraction of the Hebrew term - Mitzvah, or 'Good Deed', referring to the acts that saved a great number of Danish Jews during WWII. Visitors are led through the four parts of the extracted phrase, all of which are leaning precariously creating a dynamic experience. The casework - whitewashed Danish Oak - contrasts with the enclosing historic brickwork of the former Galley House.

Uppsala Concert and Congress Hall

This 2003 international competition received 134 entries from all over the world. Henning Larsen, a world-famous Danish architectural firm, won the commission. FWD>>'s solution dubbed "Metronome" alludes to creating the urban tact and rhythm. The Concert & Congress Hall is enclosed by a multi-story commercial structure (shops, cafes, creative studios) that creates a vibrant and protected pedestrian zone, bringing the Concert & Congress Hall directly into the daily urban fabric instead of being a segregated object.

Kurdish National Library

In 2003 the Kurdish settled region in Northeast Iraq was experiencing a newfound peace which brought back several exiled professionals and large sums of money for rebuilding. ACECO was formed with German Architects and Engineers and tasked with designing and constructing several key infrastructure projects including the Kurdish National Library, a sports arena, cineplex and schools. The Kurdish National Museum was not only to be a permanent home to the vast historical collection of the Kurdish volk, but also a cultural center where the unique Kurdish legacy and stories could be shared and celebrated.

Studio Weil

With Daniel Libeskind and Jaime Vidal Contesti

Port d'Andratx, Mallorca is a beautiful coastal town west of Palma de Mallorca. Originally designed by Daniel Libeskind for the artist Barbara Weil it is now a public venue welcoming thousands of tourists yearly from all over the world. The reinforced concrete structure sweeps aside the coastal road with its bright white facade, massive display void and light emitting (and capturing) slits.

Bolzano Preschool, Kindergarten and Family Center

This 2004 international competition was ultimately commissioned to Italy's MoDus Architects. The FWD>> solution separated the school functions into two clearly distinct buildings, each with its own unique character and environment. The preschool building's interior is structured like a fantastical city street where imagination and adventure await. The kindergarten and family center group classrooms around sports gymnasium that opens to an outdoor play area.

Waffen Werfen Schatten

With Tristan Kobler & Barbara Holzer

"Waffen Werfen Schatten" / "Weapons Cast Shadows" was a temporary exhibition at the Swiss National Museum, Zurich. Three cathedral-type rooms were adorned with ancient weapons, suits of armor and a field tent. The museum has over 2,500 antique weapons, unseen by the public for over 20 years. Our concept: hang 5 tons of spears, daggers, flint rifles and swords from the ceiling, all pointed toward the viewer`s face. The suits of armor were hung from mobiles, animating them, spinning slowly above, like leaden angels. Speakers mounted within the suits played back heavy, anticipatory breathing. The field tent housed original erasures from J. Callot, who witnessed the brutality of war during the 17th century and recorded it for all eternity.

Oak Harbor Windmill

With Gary Sturdy

The Oak Harbor windmill, located in Windjammer Park, has a rich history that reflects the community's Dutch heritage and the island's agricultural roots. Built in the 1970s, it was a tribute to the Dutch settlers who played a significant role in the area's development. The windmill was a symbol of Oak Harbor's identity and a testament to the island's agricultural history. However, due to its deteriorating condition, the windmill was dismantled in 2017. The community has since taken steps to rebuild the windmill, aiming to honor its past and provide a lasting landmark for the city. The new windmill is expected to be a community gathering place and will be surrounded by a garden of paver stones with the names of the donating families or organizations

Black Box, Hamburg Kunst Meile

The Black Box is a 24/7 Anti-Museum that straddles the Deichtor- tunnel entrance/exit on Willy Brandt Strasse in Hamburg. The museum brings the city's traffic into the museum as participants and exhibitions at the same time. The Black Box operates like no other museum in that the curator has no decision as to what is displayed, for how long or by whom. The public is allowed to see the best and the worst in mankind on display and is expected to react. The Black Box is accessible all the time, by everyone. Ramps connect all spaces, mimicking the tunnel inclined street below. Sunlight infiltrates into the semi-opaque Black Box by day. Artificial lights ebb from within during the night, both car headlights and the electric lights in the exhibition spaces. On the street level entrance small vendors can prepare and sell food items. Conferences of up to 200 visitors can be held in the upper auditorium.

Prague World Theater

This World Theater is situated in the northeast corner of the Stromovska Park near the historic section of Prague, Czechia. Built upon the ruins of the former industrial powerplant the New World Theater will house thespians, dance troupes and performers from every corner of the world. A grand theater is framed by the former skeleton of the main turbine hall. Ancillary and hostel areas are on the South flank, using the historically protected facade as the entrance and anchor for the complex. The southern tip is an extension of the pedestrian paths networking through the park and beyond, with playful landscape features.

Quartzsite Southern Baptist Church, Arizona

The Quartzsite Southern Baptist Church is located in a semi-remote location at the junction of highways 10 and 95, West of Phoenix, North of Yuma. The Arizona landscape in this region is rugged, but enchanting. Seasonally the QSBC welcomes several "snowbirds" escaping to their winter havens in their RVs. The church has an expansive parking lot for the RVs and visitors, but no way to control access to the site. One project focuses on an entry portal, adorned with traditional tiles and designed with historic references from southwest missionaries. The second project is a repurposing and an addition to the ancillary spaces of the church itself.

Jugendzentrum, Aachen

The Burtscheider Railroad Viaduct was constructed in the late 1830s, early 1840s and has served as a lifeline for Aachen connecting it with Cologne, Duesseldorf and everything in between. The Youth Center is a badly needed cultural intervention to provide Aachener youth with a home, a center for creativity and learning. In a parallel project a number of the adjacent viaduct voids are turned into ateliers for trades - woodworking, art, metallurgy...The Youth Center is vibrant, active and energetic. Its lines are not soft, but jagged and appearing as harsh as the conditions these youth may have found themselves in before being welcomed here. But in the chaos is found warmth and order, purpose and deliberateness.

Turin Theater and Library

Turin (Torino) has a rich culture and history, and it is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera houses, piazzas, parks, gardens, theatres, libraries and museums. The regional capital (and once national capital) is well known for its Baroque, rich architectural heritage. This design brief called for a national library, a new world class theater and a belvedere to allow guests to enjoy the magnificent views of the Western Alpine Arch.  The complex combines humankind's two most treasured forms of passing down culture and knowledge - the written word and the spoken word through theater performance.