Bjarke Ingels Group


Bjarke Ingels Group, often referred to as BIG, is a Copenhagen and New York based group of architects, designers, and builders operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development. The office is currently involved in a large number of projects throughout Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. As of 2016, the office has over 400 employees from 25 countries.

History

and Julien De Smedt established PLOT in Copenhagen in January 2001, as a focus for their architectural practice. Ingels established BIG in late 2005 after he and De Smedt closed down PLOT. This drew acclaim for its first completed commission, the Mountain, a residential project in Copenhagen which had been started by PLOT. Over the next couple of years, BIG's projects included a waste-to-energy plant which doubles as a ski-slope in Copenhagen, Denmark; the West 57th Street mixed-use tower in midtown Manhattan for Durst Fetner Residential; the National Art Gallery of Greenland in Nuuk; the headquarters for the Shenzhen Energy Company in Shenzhen; and the Kimball Art Center in Utah.
In December 2009, the company's partnership was expanded to include Thomas Christoffersen, Jakob Lange, Finn Nørkjaer, Andreas Klok Pedersen, David Zahle, CEO Sheela Maini Søgaard, and Kai-Uwe Bergmann.
In 2010, they opened a branch office in New York City, where they were commissioned to design the VIA 57 West courtscraper for Durst Fetner Residential.
In 2015, BIG added four new partners: Beat Schenk and Daniel Sundlin in New York and Brian Yang and Jakob Sand in Copenhagen.
In May 2016, BIG partnered with Hyperloop One, Deutsche Bahn, and SYSTRA to develop a test of the high-speed, low friction Hyperloop concept.

BIG IDEAS Lab

Launched in 2014, the division is part R&D lab, part incubator for BIG design concepts that can be spun off into independent products or companies.
The lab was founded to build the steam-ring generator for the Amager Bakke - the Copenhagen power plant with a ski slope on its roof - which will "puff" every time it emits a tonne of carbon dioxide. It is now working on numerous BIG collaborations and spin-off projects, including a smart internet-connected lock named Friday, "a company that creates water from super-efficient dehumidification", and Urban Rigger - floating student housing for coastal cities built from repurposed shipping containers. The first are scheduled to be built in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2016.
Other projects include Fingerprint Façade, Window Garden, and a gigantic Tesla coil for the Battersea Power Station in London.

Projects

Completed projects