Emporia's Double-Curved Glass

One glance to the west and visitors getting off the train at the Hyllie Station in Malmö are drawn toward the undulating "Amber Entrance" of the 93,000-square-meter (1 million square foot) Emporia shopping center, designed by Swedish architects Wingårdhs. This entry plaza is part of a diagonal slit that cuts through the whole three-story building, rendered in a bronze-ochre tone on this side and marine blue on the opposite side adjacent to the parking lot. Double-curved glass walls, crafted by Folcrá and Cricursa in Barcelona, define these cuts in the exterior and hint at the offerings inside.

Rectangular panes of glass in orthogonal frames on the street elevation give way to a diamond configuration in the Amber Entrance and the blue Sea Entrance. Unlike triangulated surfaces, where three points make a plane, the diamond shapes follow the complex curving form dictated by the architects Gert Wingårdh, Johan Eklind and Joakim Lyth, such that each piece is unique and required its own mold for fabrication. The butt-glazed glass sits in front of a steel-tube structure that follows the diamond pattern.

Cricursa manufactured the 804 double panes of glass (2 x 8 mm laminated panes up to 2 x 4.5 meters in size) that were bent into shape by being heated in molds at over 540 degrees. The glass softened under the heat and took the shape of the mold through its own weight. The amber and marine blue plastic films give the panes their appearance for the respective entrances.

The glass and steel framing were shipped separately from Spain to Sweden where Folcrá took over. Having worked previously on Santiago Calatrava's Turning Torso facade, also in Malmö, the manufacturer was not a stranger to complex curves. Folcrá assembled the basket-like structure for the entrances to within a precision of 1 millimeter.

The importance of these double-curved glass entries can be seen in the logo that shopping center operator Steen & Ström has adopted for Emporia – an important component in the ongoing development of Malmö's Hyllie district.