This project of a Model Home Gallery by NADAAA Inc, is designed for Seoul, South Korea, where the study, design and sales of housing have developed into a discipline serving an ascendant middle class with amenities and technologies that are significantly sophisticated. As a direct product of society we live in, the Model Home Gallery is adapted to house all the needs of consumer society, therefore offering not only sales offices with model homes, but also a large variety of public amenities, such as art galleries, restaurants, cafes, auditorium and other public open spaces which would bring in the residents of the area, in order to expand the customer base and boost the housing economy.

As we are living in an era of iconic architecture, we are witnessing the rise of architectural spectacles even in the housing market. Being the dominant approach, highly themed icons and surfaces serve as a mask for typologically simple diagrams. Normative requirement for these types of buildings ask for public base which supports a black box of exhibition space for full-scale models above. Read the rest of this entry »

Monumental and golden, Emporia, designed by Wingardhs, is an architectural statement – a shopping mall for Malmo, Sweden, is actually an urban planning project which further includes offices, housing and retail spaces on the Hyliie Boulevard 19, on the south side of Sweden capital. The project is the winning entry for the competition and the main idea was to hide inward-looking retail behind a wreath of residential and commercial buildings. The aim was to create the preconditions so the whole shopping complex would eventually become fully integrated into the existing city fabric.

The strong form was needed in order to attract visitors from Station Square to come and spend money. The composition is bronze-ochre combination of vaults from the previous competition proposal along with a memory from the Pantheon. Double-bent glass encloses the diagonal slit that cuts through the building. Here the weather of the Öresund Strait, its fast-moving clouds chasing glimpses of sun, becomes present and tangible.

The development is colossal and it will be built in parts – for now, only one part of Emporia is completed – the corner building with the Amber Entrance, a gate which would be, at the end, the only visible part of the shopping mall. The retail will further be organized around a figure eight pattern which will cover three floors and the shops will be grouped around atriums with different themes. Read the rest of this entry »

The Parabola Chair designed by Carlo Aiello Design Studio in Los Angeles was recently named an “instant classic” by Fast Company Magazine. The chair won the 2013 ICFF Studio Award and has been recently selected by the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design for the exhibit New West Coast Design 2 opening on October 26, 2013.

If you are in Southern California, the Parabola Chair will be exhibited at the West Edge Design Fair in Santa Monica October 3-6, 2013. The show is open to the trade and public and is expected to become a major destination for design connoisseurs.

The design intention of the Parabola Chair was to create a simple and porous yet highly sculptural chair. The challenge was to achieve a single surface that serves as seating, armrest, and backrest supported by a minimal structure. Although the chair exhibits curvatures in two directions (hyperbolic paraboloid) all its components are straight and easy to manufacture. In order to achieve perfect comfort both curvatures were carefully calibrated to hold the body in the best position.

Material: Brushed stainless steel
Dimensions: W= 35″, L= 40″, H= 37″

The Parabola Chair is in production and can be order at: www.carloaiello.com Read the rest of this entry »

Zaha Hadid Architects participated in an international competition in Astana, Kazakhstan, to design the facilities for the international exhibition, scheduled for 2017. The theme of the expo aims to raise awareness of energy resources, energy efficiency and environmental protection as well as to seek innovative engineering and architectural solutions to critical global issues. The symbol of EXPO-2017 will be the monument which will outlive the exhibition and will be immediate landmark of Astana.

Zaha Hadid Architect’s proposal for EXPO-2017 Astana placed energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies and sustainability at the forefront of the design. The result of the process, which consisted of thoughtful analysis of cultural and physical landscape of Kazakhstan, traditional patterns and ornaments, is informal fluid interface of urban pattern, landform and architecture inspired by combination of local culture and renewable technologies.

The proposed urban grid came logically and the urban morphology evolved forming a multiplicity of geometries and orientations that connect to adjacent areas. Building mass is fluid and the contour addresses the neighboring urban conditions, height regulations and importance of adjoining streets. Read the rest of this entry »

Jean Nouvel designed quite an impressive addition to the skyline of gulf city Doha, Qatar. In his own manner, French architect created the Burj Doha as bold and elaborate and this iconic cylindrical form, a continuation of what has started with Torre Agbar, culminates in an elegant dome. The tower is completed last year and includes 46 floors above ground as well as 3 floors above. The high-rise aims to express the local culture, connecting contemporary and very modern aspirations with ancient Islamic designs.

The most unique feature of the structure is the lattice cladding, designed as a reference to the shanasheel screens which are common in the Arabic area; therefore the envelope consists of a delicate, lace-like layered façade. This decorative screen around the whole building has double function – it acts as protection from the intense summer sun and it guards the glazing from the high winds which bring the desert sands into the city.  This feature brings a pleasant working environment for the occupants of the complex and as well it creates a playful network of shadow designs on the interior. Read the rest of this entry »

On Space Time Foam, a project by Tomas Saraceno created for Hangar Bicocca in Milan, Italy, is a multi-layered habitat of membranes suspended 24 meters above the ground that is inspired by cosmology and life sciences. Argentinean Tomás Saraceno is well-know visionary artist, famous for his inflatable and airborne biospheres with the morphology of soap bubbles, spider webs, neural networks, or cloud formations, which are speculative models for alternate ways of living. Saraceno is also inaugural Visiting Artist at MIT’s new Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST).

If you have ever wondered what it would feel like to walk on clouds, now you can. Based on quantum physics and theories on the evolution of the universe, On Space Time Foam was realized thanks to references to various kinds of knowledge, from science to art. The architecture is turned into a sort of a lively organism, enabled to live by movements of all the people that walk on it. Read the rest of this entry »

RTA Office’s proposal for Taichung Cultural Center Competition is rooted in the idea of the container – with the special attention paid to low impact development and directions of the sustainable design, the architects kept the building compact, the parking is planned underground, with the vertical façade and roof vegetation wherever possible. Building’s footprint is further minimized by maximizing the open space and the aim was to propose one successful synergy between natural environment and the built landscape. The ground floor therefore provides smooth and seamless transition from Taichung Gateway Park to the street.

The inspiration for the very skin of the cultural center is derived from the traditional Taiwanese basket weaving and the final outcome is a transparent skin that provides the idea of the complexity inside. The envelope is designed of recycled ceramic elements and gently filters the light that comes in. The skin has a double role – while increasing the aesthetic dimension of the building, it also reduces its impact on the natural environment by incorporating passive strategies such as solar shading and natural daylight. Read the rest of this entry »

In order to bolster Taichung’s cultural industry after the merger of Taichung City and Taichung County, Taichung City Government planned a new cultural park in the Gateway City district. Taichung City Cultural Center, as it is called, will comprise a public library and fine arts museum. The facility will help the city adapt to post-merger changes in population, urban development and cultural environment. A facility satisfying the cultural, artistic and recreational needs of Taichung’s residents will further propel the cultural industry, link tourism and city marketing resources and enhance the city’s cultural brand.

The architecture of the Center should become a piece of art in itself and demonstrate Taichung’s creativity, aesthetics and cultural sophistication. With cutting-edge and trend-setting construction technology, it will become a landmark residents can appreciate and identify with both from up close and afar, attracting local as well as international visitors.

The architecture of Kubota & Bachmann Architects proposal combines a public library and municipal fine arts museum—the cultural flagships of a city—into one area, synergizing art, education and recreation in one location. Besides serving the public functions of reader service, exhibition and guided tour, the two institutions must also each fulfill policies and objectives related to reading promotion, artistic development and collection and research of artifacts. They will be tasked with integrating the resources of Taichung’s branch libraries and art exhibition spaces, with an eye to augment the city’s cultural services and facilities. Read the rest of this entry »

Exciting in form and amusing in the way the wrapping is twisted along the building, the new Art Museum for Buenos Aires, Argentina. Designed by former Austrian architectural studio PRECHTECK and now Penda Designhouse is the proper architectural statement. The beauty of the piece lies in the fact that the twisted surface of the façade is not just randomly curved but it creates one aesthetically pleasing architectural signature of wrapped cloth. The conceptual design deals with the revitalization of Puerto Madero. The viewpoints and the main parameter of the building are highlighted, as it resembles the waves of the waterfront or the sail setting. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in the 2010, MAD Architects won the competition to design the cultural center of Harbin. Recently, in August 2013, the structure of the Cultural Center was completed and the project finally began to take shape. The city of Harbin has the reputation as the musical capital of the north and is influenced by both Chinese and Russian culture. MAD’s cultural center, unlike many public facilities of the similar kind, wasn’t designed to be the lonely landmark in the city center, but the natural continuation of the human spirit.

The Cultural Island embraces the riverbank and appears as a glacier stretching and connecting the banks into a cohesive whole. The movement of the terrain strategically directs the flow of people from different directions to the entrance of Harbin Theater and Harbin Labor Recreation Center. The ramp of the Grand Theater guides people in, resembling a mountain path. The entire building acts as an undulating snow covered mountain, following a natural rhythm.

The cladding of the Cultural Center is custom-made, in pure white aluminum. Mimicking ice and snow, the white stone and concrete are also used as for the part of the wall. During the day, the need for interior lighting can be completely satisfied with energy-saving and special lighting effects. Read the rest of this entry »