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.
Bjarke Ingels 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 W57 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.
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.
Copenhagen Harbour Baths, Designed by BIG & JDS, Copenhagen (completed 2002)Maritime Youth House, Designed by BIG & JDS, Copenhagen (completed 2004)Psychiatric Hospital, Designed by BIG & JDS, Helsingor, Denmark (completed 2005)VM Houses, Designed by BIG & JDS, Ørestad, Copenhagen (completed 2006)M2 Hill House, DenmarkSjakket Community Building, Designed by BIG & JDS, Copenhagen (completed 2007)Mountain Dwellings, Ørestad, Copenhagen (completed 2008)Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Gyeonggi, Korea8 House, Ørestad, Copenhagen (2010)Danish Expo Pavilion 2010, EXPO 2010, Shanghai, ChinaTimes Square Valentine, New York City, USA (completed 2012)Superkilen, innovative park for the ethnic inhabitants of the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen (competition win 2008, completed 2012)Heinemann Regionals Taxfree Store, Copenhagen Airport, Copenhagen, DenmarkDanish Maritime Museum, Helsingør, Denmark (completed 2013)Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium - Sports Hall & Cultural building, Hellerup, Denmark (completed 2013 & 2015)Warehouse 421, Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesThe BIG Maze, National Building Museum, Washington D.C (completed 2014)West 57, New York City, United States (completed 2016)Two World Trade Center, New York City, New York, United States The Big U, New York City, New York, United States Grove at Grand Bay, Miami, Florida, United States LEGO House, Billund, Denmark Hualien Residences, Hualien, TaiwanSerpentine Summer Pavilion 2016, London, England, United KingdomWashington Redskins Stadium, Washington D.C., United StatesGoogle North Bayshore Campus, Mountain View, California, United StatesTransitlager Dreispitz, Basel, Switzerland (competition win, November 2011)Amager Resource Center, Copenhagen, Denmark (competition win 2011)Faroe Islands Education Centre, Thorshavn, Faroe Islands (competition win, December 2009)Shenzhen International Energy Mansion, Shenzhen, China (competition win, September 2009)Honeycomb / Albany Marina Residences, Building One, Nassau, Bahamas,Vancouver House, Vancouver, BC, CanadaAudemars Piguet Museum, La Maison des Fondateurs, La Vallée de Joux, La Brassus, SwitzerlandTelus Sky Tower, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaZootopia, Givskud, Denmark Blåvand Bunker Museum, Varde, Denmark New Tamayo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico (competition win, April 2009)New Tallinn City Hall, Tallinn, Estonia (competition win, June 2009)World Village of Women Sports, Malmö, Sweden (competition win, November 2009)National Gallery, Nuuk, Greenland (competition win, February 2011)Paris PARC, Paris, France (competition win, November 2011) Koutalaki Ski Village, Levi, Finland (competition win, 2011)Kimball Art Centre, Park City, Utah, United States (competition win, February 2012)Cross # Towers, Seoul, South KoreaMaison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France (competition win, April 2012)The Red Line, Tampere, Finland (competition win, May 2012)Rose Rock International Finance Center, Tianjin, ChinaPhoenix Observation Tower, Phoenix, Arizona, USEuropaCity, Paris, FranceSmithsonian Institution South Campus Master Plan, Washington D.C., United StatesNYPD 40th Precinct, Bronx, New York, United StatesThe Spiral Tower, New York City, New York, United States1200 Intrepid, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United StatesMetzler High-Rise, Frankfurt, GermanyBattersea Power Station Malaysia Square, London, England, United KingdomKing Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada79&Park, Stockholm SwedenFrederiksborgvej 73, Copenhagen, DenmarkWilson Secondary School, Arlington, Virginia, United StatesVästerås Travel Center, Västerås, SwedenVinterbad Bryggen, Copenhagen, DenmarkSaint Thomas Church Extension, Copenhagen, DenmarkPittsburgh Lower Hill Master Plan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United StatesKistefos Museum, Jevnaker, Norway2007 BIG City, Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York2009 Yes is More, Danish Architecture Centre, Copenhagen2010 Yes is More, CAPC Bordeaux2014 The BIG Maze, National Building Museum 2015 HOT TO COLD, National Building Museum Hot to Cold: An Odyssey of Architectural Adaptation, Taschen - 2015Yes Is More: Yes Is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution, Taschen - 2009Museum in the Dock, Arvinius + Orfeus Publishing - 2014Superkilen Book, Arvinius + Orfeus Publishing - 2013AV Monograph BIG, Arquitectura Viva - 2013Being BIG by Abitare, Abitare - 2012BIG Red Book, Ada Edita Global Architecture - 2012BIG Pink Book, Archilife - 2010BIG Bjarke Ingels Group Projects 2001-2010, Design Media Publishing Ltd - 2011A Project as an Icon, an Icon as a Project, in STUDIO Architecture and Urbanism magazine Issue#03 Icon, Milano, edited by Romolo Calabrese, 2012 Article