“INVISIBLE” STRUCTURES
GAMZE YESILDAG
Designed in the 1950s, Bell Labs in New Jersey was the first architectural project to use mirrored glass. Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, two architects working at Eero Saarinen at the time, took the first step in this innovative material for the design of the technology and research center campus. Mirrored glasses, which are the most used facade model especially in multi-storey office buildings since the 1960s, still exist with the easy application and cost advantage created by repeating panels of the same size. But in this article, we will not talk about large and imposing structures such as skyscrapers, but about small structures that use the reflective property of the mirror to blend with the environment it is in.
Reflective Holiday Home / Tatiana Bilbao (Mexico)
Consisting of two volumes positioned separately in a forest, this house is one of the familiar and well-practiced examples of mirror facades. Compacted soil and wood, together with this reflective facade, are almost hidden in the forest. It is planned to add an entrance area furnished with clay stones and a canopy to two different units that appear at once on a sloping hill.
Reflector Pavilion / Atelier ARI (France)
Located by a lake in northern France, this pavilion is open to all. The structure carries the view within itself with its three sloping and mirror-covered surfaces. In the pavilion, where the painting work on its floor is also included in the reflections, the experience of the lake and its surroundings becomes surprising in this small and open volume.
wZ2 House / Bernd Zimmermann Architekten (Germany)
This mirrored structure is actually a facade renovation project of a structure built in the 1950s in southwestern Germany. Thanks to the renovation, fewer and larger openings and skylights were created instead of the small and useless windows in the old facade of the house. In the house, which has become much brighter than before, we can say that the slightly wavy mirror panels add a humor to the space rather than being hidden in similarly shaped buildings.
Broken Mirror House / Hope of Glory Architektur (Austria)
Unlike the first examples, the project, which is located on a street with buildings from the 19th century, is a surprising example of the relationship between contemporary buildings built in historical areas and their surroundings. The fully mirror facade of the project, which uses the height of historical buildings and window proportions, looks like a broken mirror with minimal slopes. Thus, the project, which reflects the facades of different buildings around it from different points of view, reflects the technology of the era in which it was built, and also pays homage to the historical texture.
Mirror Garden / ARCHSTUDIO (China)
Although it is actually used as a boutique, the building is a renovation project in a historical area of Beijing, where exhibitions, food and many different activities take place. The architectural team, who wanted to establish the relationship between the interior and exterior by using mirrors, created different terraces and gardens inside the building. 6 meter green wall, zen garden, people, products or light; mirrors at different points of the building reproduce everything.
Magic Open Box / Pezo von Ellrichshausen (Italy)
In the courtyard of the Palazzo Litta in Milan, the pavilion, which was designed as part of the design week in 2019, looks like a cube that allows passage and a pyramid placed upside down. In the project that follows the proportions of the building and the transition line, the opportunity to watch the Palazzo Litta from both the courtyard and the upper floors has been created from many different angles. The Chilean architectural team aims to create a balance between the object and the context for the project, which makes the building in the courtyard and the weight of the steel structure felt when you enter.
