The Lantern Pavilion by firm AWP / Atelier Oslo blends the avant garde with traditional woodworking in a see-through gathering space raised on stilts.

In 2008, the cities of Sandes and Stavanger, Norway were chosen as cultural capitals of Europe, This led to the Norwegian Wood competitions, which were held to promote creative use of timber in architecture – with the hopes the new cultural capitals could showcase the designs.

Sandes, the second-fastest developing city in the country, asked in particular for a square and sculptural design that could serve as a hub for the pedestrian area of Langgata and help revitalize its core. The Lantern Pavillion hopes to do just that – it was completed in 2010 – by providing shade and protection from the rain, and a large, open space that could potentially be the site of gatherings, concerts, and more. Read the rest of this entry »

Art has a great role in showing what happens in human beings’ life. Soul, intelligence and the emotions are the reflections of the community, and Art forms the social identities of communities. It also shows us the difference between the various social identities. Global influences effect the types of knowledge acquisitions or the social values in the art, and the artists determine the standards of modern life.

Thus, art centers have many roles beside their fundamental functions that should be participant, shared with society and create a modern level in connection between the citizens and the artists’ works. This concept is the key criteria for the Izmir Opera House Project designed by Emrah Cetinkaya. The project should be reflecting the history, the culture and the modern life in Izmir, furthermore it should be an identity for the city of Izmir.

And competition area also allows us to create an identification or a symbol for a city that because the area can be seen clearly from near surroundings and specially from sea side areas. This situation came to the forefront. So we considered important in it.

Izmir opera house has been designed for being a symbol for izmir. In this way, we thought that izmir will be a center of attraction and also first recognizable preparation place for all domestic and foreign tourists. Read the rest of this entry »

The competition for the Center for Promotion of Science of the Republic of Serbia (CPSRS) has received some incredible designs. Sadar and Vuga envision the Center as a sleek, streamlined, modern building to accompany the existing buildings of the Faculty of Drama Arts.

Sadar and Vuga’s Center is a one storey building that touches the ground with four outstretched legs in each corner, connected by four arches. The modern design presents a futuristic form to contrast with the landscape atrium at the center of the building, blending science with nature, the major theme of the CPSRS. The atrium was created to be the focal point of the design.

Sadar and Vuga say of the atrium: “Conceptually, it positions Nature and natural systems as an ongoing source for scientific development. We, as human beings, are invited to start exploring Science from Nature. From the Big Lawn surrounding the building we enter the atrium under four arches. We are, as visitors, in the centre on the building, in the nature, surrounded by science”. Read the rest of this entry »

Ambitious Illinois Institute of Technology B.Arch students Seth Ellsworth and JaYoung Kim were inspired by the good, the bad and the ugly in their design for the TATA Tower in Mumbai. The good: The TATA company manufactures the world’s cheapest cars (they cost $2,500), some of which run on alternative fuels. The bad: Mumbai’s infrastructure is old, and public transportation can’t handle the city’s swelling population. And the ugly: Thanks to that last fact, estimates say 25 percent of the city’s landmass will be used as parking space by the year 2030.

The TATA Tower has several ambitious goals. First, it seeks to house both residences and offices for the TATA employees in Mumbai.  These employee’s cars (TATAs, no doubt) will be housed in a parking garage the full height of the tower – one that the students hope will be a prototype for high density parking in other cities to free up ground space. They estimate that 930 residences can fit in the tower, as well as 4,050 parking spaces. Read the rest of this entry »

Located at the site of the former central ferry landing Angfarjan in Helsingborg, Sweden, the Schmidt Hammer Lassen designed Salt Crystals Hotel and Congress Centre is imagined as a cultural center and bridge between the nearby Helsingborg historical architecture and a new architectural future.

The Salt Crystals is modernist in both structural form and design philosophy. SHL molded form for function, modeling the outward form for each component of the Crystals for reception, a lobby, a hotel, a conference centre, a café, a restaurant and a catering centre. The chalky looking crystalline exterior appearance is an expression of the local block structure and building grid.

The Crystals will be connected to a mixed residential plot on the north side of the building which will house shops and retail on the ground floor. SHL wanted each residential unit to have unobstructed views of the waterfront, so the unit is orientated so the tallest units are withdrawn towards the street and the lower units are closest to the waterfront. This way all units have a waterfront view and receive sunlight from the south. Read the rest of this entry »

BOOM Community is a $250 million desert oasis planned for Palm Springs, California. The 300 residence development is the brainchild of BOOM Communities, Inc. real estate investment company and a group of 10 architects set on creating not just a community, but a piece of modern artwork. The firms involved in designing BOOM are: J Mayer H, L2 Tsionov-Vitkon, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Hollwich Kushner, Rudin Donner, Joel Sanders Architects, Lot-Ek, Sadar + Vuga, Arakawa + Gins, and SurfaceDesign.

At its core BOOM is envisioned as a desert village designed for the retired gay community, but developers are encouraging all to apply for residence. According to the BOOM website, BOOM “showcases inspired architecture, world-class entertainment and nightlife, as well as stimulating sports and activities… BOOM is about living, not retiring – about inclusion, not seclusion”.

BOOM has the dream homes of architecture and design lovers. There are Dr. Seuss-like apartments by J Mayer H, wave inspired residences by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and grove-like residences by Sadar + Vuga. But residences are just the beginning in this architectural oasis in the desert. The 10 architects each designed unique buildings to serve as community hubs in BOOM. BOOM was designed with health and fitness in mind and designers included space for an outdoor track, sports center, climbing wall, gyms, spas, swimming pools, and even a “healing funhouse”. Read the rest of this entry »

The new Headquarters will be one of Sweden’s most modern and innovative office buildings – focusing on transparency, Scandinavian simplicity and dynamic social environments. Behind the project is the Danish Architect 3XN in collaboration with Humlegården Fastigheter, representing the property owner Länsförsäkringar Liv.

By the end of 2013 no less than 2.500 co-workers will move into the innovative building at Sundbyberg Stad near Stockholm. The Headquarters is designed by the Danish studio 3XN with direct reference to Swedbank’s core values; openness, simplicity, care and durability.

3XNs Principal Kim Herforth Nielsen explains: “The building is conceived and designed from the inside out. We have literally translated Swedbank’s core values into the creation of a modern and groundbreaking head office. Swedbank has conveyed the importance it places on creating an open social environment, which happens to coincide with 3XNs design beliefs and ideology. It has been a very interesting process and we look forward to getting to work on the project.”

With its innovative and transparent expression formed in an unconventional triple-v structure the building will become a landmark among Swedish office buildings. The large volume is broken up to create spaces on a human scale. This makes the building inviting on the inside as well as on the outside. Read the rest of this entry »

Steven Holl’s design for the Hunter’s Point community library has recently gained approval by the local library board of trustees and it looks as though they will break ground early next year. Holl’s design opens up the interior of the library revolves around enormous windows that blur the lines between interior and exterior.

The library is surrounded by residential areas, public schools, and three acres of new park land and is designed to be a community hub for the surrounding neighborhood. According to Holl’s press release, in addition to book stacks the library will house “reading areas, a gallery, public assembly multi-purpose meeting room for community programming including after-school study, readings, and various locally based events, and associated library staff and support areas.”

Holl breaks up the library’s rectangular form with massive irregularly shaped windows. The windows open up the interior of the library to the East River straight across to the United Nations building, offering spectacular views of New York City. The library itself is expected to become a riverfront landmark, from across the river the interior lights will emit a ghastly light upon the water as the sun falls and at night spotlights will be set on the building and light will dance off the walls and through the irregular windows to transform the library into a glowing piece of modern art. Read the rest of this entry »

Ecosistema Urbano’s new Ecopolis Plaza project in Madrid has succeeded in turning an empty city lot into a bright and beautiful childcare facility.

The building features a nursery school, a playroom, and plentiful surrounding green space for children and all of the neighborhoods residents to play. And though it’s yellow, it’s also green. Very green. The building is half-buried underground, the firm says, to take advantage of the land’s natural “thermal inertia.” Then, the above-ground portion of the building, largely glass, faces the south to control the building’s temperature.

The building features a solar energy system, a mobile awning system to shield or allow sunlight, and uses recycled rainwater that is collected in the plaza area outside, which was artificially landscaped to mimic a riverbank. The building’s shape wraps around a green space, creating a common field for all local residents to use.

In addition to saving money on energy bills and providing a small ecological footprint, it was important to the architects to design the building to be sustainable because of who it will serve. “We believe that children should be aware of this process to become responsible adults in the near future,” the firm states in their portfolio.

The building, which has just been completed, cost 2.7 million Euros, though the firm says it cost 35 percent less to build, per square foot, than a “conventional” building. Read the rest of this entry »

Iridescent and glowing with soft, colored lights, the Chonqing New World Shopping Center rises next to the Yangtze River like a cylindrical jellyfish.

Aspiring to be the new icon of Chongqing, China’s central business district downtown, upon completion, the Center will be the world’s 13^th largest shopping, entertainment and leisure facility in the world, with a floor area exceeding 700,00 square meters.

The tower, which is actually two wrapped to rise as one, will house luxury residential housing and a 5-star hotel. Below, spread amongst a beautifully landscaped park, is a sprawling, glass-encased, four-level shopping area. The bulbous glass shapes that cover the long shopping area will protect shoppers from the pollution that pervades the enormous city (2007 census figures show 31 million residents in the municipality).

The skyscraper was designed by German architecture firm Logon. While they don’t specify how, exactly, the firm says that sunlight, water, landscaping and wind will be utilized as natural resources that can beautify, and potentially help power, the complex. Read the rest of this entry »