Emojis tend to elicit fairly strong reactions from people. Many people love to use the small ideograms while texting and emailing like modern day hieroglyphics. Others experience a visceral hatred any time they see one of the little buggers.
This dichotomy is best exemplified via a teaser trailer for The Emoji Movie. On one hand, the movie studio felt secure enough in the general public’s love of emojis to invest money in a feature film. But on the other hand, the trailer has received over 78,000 dislikes (compared to just 8,000 likes) on YouTube since its release.
Regardless of what the prevailing opinion of the general public may be, one architecture firm decided to take emojis out of the digital world and incorporate 22 of them into the design of one of its building’s façades.
Photo courtesy Bart van Hoek, Attika Architekten.
The red brick structure, which resides in the Dutch city of Amersfoort, has horizontal bands of white concrete acting as floor demarcations. At each intersection where the brick and the concrete meet a small decorative circle is stamped in the concrete. On the side of the building that faces the town square, these concrete circles become emojis.
The building is a mix of ground floor retail and residential units and is part of the second phase of a larger mixed-use development. The second phase creates a more fully-fledged mall and adds more shops, restaurants, and apartments to connect to the shopping center that already exists.
Photo courtesy Bart van Hoek, Attika Architekten.
A 150-year-old oak tree acts as the development’s centerpiece and gives it its name: “Plein Rond De Eik,” which translates to Place Around the Oak. A car-free town square helps to keep the public space as pedestrian friendly as possible. A 21,500-sf grocery store, a library, and a school are included in the development.
While the emojis may cause some passersby to groan and shake their heads, the emojis will also act as a visual timestamp; the architects hope the feature will be a unique reminder of the time period the structure was built in.
For more images and information, click here.
Image courtesy Bart van Hoek, Attika Architekten.
Related Stories
| Feb 13, 2014
Related Companies, LargaVista partner to develop mixed-use tower in SoHo
The site is located at the gateway to the booming SoHo retail market, where Class A office space is scarce yet highly in demand.
| Feb 5, 2014
Extreme conversion: Atlanta turns high-rise office building into high school
Formerly occupied by IBM, the 11-story Lakeside building is the new home for North Atlanta High School.
| Jan 29, 2014
Notre Dame to expand football stadium in largest project in school history
The $400 million Campus Crossroads Project will add more than 750,000 sf of academic, student life, and athletic space in three new buildings attached to the school's iconic football stadium.
| Jun 4, 2013
SOM research project examines viability of timber-framed skyscraper
In a report released today, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill discussed the results of the Timber Tower Research Project: an examination of whether a viable 400-ft, 42-story building could be created with timber framing. The structural type could reduce the carbon footprint of tall buildings by up to 75%.
| Apr 30, 2013
First look: North America's tallest wooden building
The Wood Innovation Design Center (WIDC), Prince George, British Columbia, will exhibit wood as a sustainable building material widely availablearound the globe, and aims to improve the local lumber economy while standing as a testament to new construction possibilities.
| Mar 3, 2013
Hines acquires Archstone's interest in $700 million CityCenterDC project
The Washington D.C. office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced the acquisition of the ownership interest of their partner, Archstone, in the mixed-use CityCenterDC project that is currently under construction in downtown Washington, D.C.
| Feb 17, 2013
Pakistan to get world's tallest tower in $45 billion deal
Newly signed mega deal will fund construction of several massive developments in Karachi, including a mixed-use tower that will dwarf the Burj Khalifa.
| Jul 12, 2012
EE&K and Knutson Construction selected for the Interchange in Minneapolis
Design-build contract for $79.3 million transportation hub will connect transit with culture.
| Jul 2, 2012
Bernards building mixed-use project in Beverly Hills
The project includes 88 luxury apartment homes atop a 14,000-sf Trader Joe’s market and a new coffee shop.
