You get the sense that revitalizing inner-city retail areas is something that MVRDV is genuinely passionate about, with notable examples including Taiwan's Tainan Spring and London's Marble Arch. The firm now plans to tempt visitors back to an aging shopping center in the Netherlands with an ambitious renovation project that's centered around a greenery filled "glass mountain."
The 27,000-sq-m (roughly 290,000-sq-ft) project is named the Hill Quarter & The Music Mountain, and stems from an agreement last year by investors, local officials and a Dutch employer's federation to bring new life to the aging shopping center and music venue in Eindhoven, with MVRDV looking to transform the area into "an urban quarter where shopping, culture and recreation take place in the same location."
The renovation will see the existing Heuvel shopping center and Muziekgebouw music venue building retained, but on top of it will be stacked a cultural center and a rooftop park, which will be enclosed with a glazed exterior – something which the firm has experimented with in the past with projects such as the Glass Farm.
MVRDV likens the experience to a glass mountain and says that visitors will be able to ascend to the top and enjoy excellent views of the surrounding area. Elsewhere, covered walkways will be turned into open-air streets, additional rooftop parks installed, and large amounts of trees and other greenery will be planted.
"Above the existing Muziekgebouw will be a stacked cultural building under a glass mountain," explains MVRDV. "This mountain – which visitors can climb for beautiful views of the city – creates an eye-catching landmark for the Heuvel, and makes the quarter an important contribution to the densification and greening of central Eindhoven. It also creates additional space for the Muziekgebouw, allowing the venue to adopt a broader program. The ambition is to turn the Muziekgebouw into a living room for the city: during the day, Eindhoven residents will be able to stay in the building's foyers to work or relax."
We've no word at this early stage on how tall the glass mountain will actually be, nor when The Hill Quarter & The Music Mountain is expected to begin construction. However, MVRDV reports that it has submitted the plans to the mayor and aldermen of Eindhoven and received a favorable response, and a feasibility study is currently ongoing.
Source: MVRDV