Viewtower Kupla-Korkeasaari Zoo
The student competition announced in 2000 for the design of an observation tower at the Korkeasaari Island Zoo was won by a project titled Kupla (Finnish for Bubble). The tower's structure consists of a strong yet lightweight network of wooden elements. This allows for unobstructed views in all directions and makes the tower an important orientation point within the zoo's coastal landscape.
The completely organic form of the structure was designed to be unique while still being functionally feasible. The development of the design required extensive testing of models of bent wood and their interweaving. The originally quadrupled coarse mesh of the structure proved to be technically too difficult, and was ultimately replaced by a simplified double mesh. The wooden strips were connected at joints with screws, and the tower has a total of over 600 joints.
The tower was created by an international group of students. Bending the wooden strips turned out to be more difficult than in the testing conditions. Each wooden strip needed to be steamed first in order to bend it into the correct position.
The observation tower is part of the local zoo area. There are two options for getting to the island where the zoo is located. You can either take the metro east and then traverse one island and two bridges at a slow pace or choose to use boat transport. I tried both options, and the second one is more advantageous both financially and in terms of time. Overall, I must say that a several-hour trip for one small structure was rather disappointing. One creates their own idea based on photographs, and the collision with reality is hard. Nobody can deny the inventive idea of a two-story wooden structure that emerged from a student competition. However, after its completion in 2002, the pavilion did not gray naturally, but someone simply painted it gray. The bottom of the structure is wrapped in camouflage netting to prevent access to the tower. Unsightly metal boxes with fire extinguishers have also been added, which are certainly necessary, but everything could definitely be handled in a much more elegant manner.
The completely organic form of the structure was designed to be unique while still being functionally feasible. The development of the design required extensive testing of models of bent wood and their interweaving. The originally quadrupled coarse mesh of the structure proved to be technically too difficult, and was ultimately replaced by a simplified double mesh. The wooden strips were connected at joints with screws, and the tower has a total of over 600 joints.
The tower was created by an international group of students. Bending the wooden strips turned out to be more difficult than in the testing conditions. Each wooden strip needed to be steamed first in order to bend it into the correct position.
Eva Bečvářová, Matěj Kosík
The observation tower is part of the local zoo area. There are two options for getting to the island where the zoo is located. You can either take the metro east and then traverse one island and two bridges at a slow pace or choose to use boat transport. I tried both options, and the second one is more advantageous both financially and in terms of time. Overall, I must say that a several-hour trip for one small structure was rather disappointing. One creates their own idea based on photographs, and the collision with reality is hard. Nobody can deny the inventive idea of a two-story wooden structure that emerged from a student competition. However, after its completion in 2002, the pavilion did not gray naturally, but someone simply painted it gray. The bottom of the structure is wrapped in camouflage netting to prevent access to the tower. Unsightly metal boxes with fire extinguishers have also been added, which are certainly necessary, but everything could definitely be handled in a much more elegant manner.
Petr Šmídek, 21.09.2007
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