PROFILE
FROM Bjarke Ingels
Bjarke Ingels takes on the Arts District Rendering of 670 Mesquit Image via BIG Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and his firm Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG, is one of the most sought-after architects in the world right now. Now he is bringing his inventive approach to downtown LA's Arts District, with a mixed-use hotel, residential and commercial project called 670 Mesquit with towers that reach as high as 30 feet. It would be located on the river's edge below the new replacement 6th Street Viaduct -- and aims to be a highly flexible complex of units within a concrete framework that forms a connection to the river and bridge.
BIG Ideas, Big Impact During the boom years, architects like Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid built bold, iconic buildings. Then came an economic crash and a backlash from people who criticized what they saw as "excess" and called for less wasteful, more modest buildings. But some say you can have your cake and eat it too. Bjarke Ingels is a protégé of Rem Koolhaas. With his own firm BIG, or Bjarke Ingels Group, Bjarke has designed high rises, multi-use buildings and urban plans -- many unbuilt -- that are huge in scale and striking in form. But he also comes from Copenhagen, one of the world's cleanest, greenest and most human-scale cities. He was in LA last week and he talked about a design approach that tries to have the wow-factor, without waste. Danish harbor water and the actual Little Mermaid, on show in the Danish Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo Danish Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo gives visitors city bikes Segment photos: Iwan Baan
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