Boscolo Exedra Hotel by Massimo Iosa Ghini – upper class beauty

The recently opened 5-star luxury hotel in the heart of Nice on the French Riviera demonstrates that the upper classes never runs out of cash, even in the most dismal economic times. The Boscolo Exedra continues to live the spirit of the original Belle Époque building – as the refurbished contemporary version of the creativity, [...]

Read Full Post »

Taiwan’s Solar Stadium runs 100% on self-generated energy and supplies neighbourhood

Here’s an example town planners and developers all over the world can learn from – and will be forced to over the years as the planet heats up: Taiwan’s Solar Stadium is 100% self-powered by solar energy, and during off-peak times supplies 80% of the energy needed by its neighbourhood. Inhabitat reports:

Taiwan recently finished construction [...]

Read Full Post »

Those modern architectural statements might look great, but do the buildings actually function well?

The answer very often seems to be NO. Famous architects like Albert Kahn, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Alvar Aalto, Antonio Gaudi, Carlo Scarpa and many others have become cultural icons and architectural gods, but many if not most of them have created buildings that do not work – either as structures or [...]

Read Full Post »

Clinton Park – what’s green about it?

Curbed can’t get enough of Two Trees’ Clinton Park, the massive mixed-use development proposed for a Hell’s Kitchen wasteland. Designed by Enrique Norten, its unusual feature is the zig-zagging roof line planted with greenery – which is something nice to have in what seems to be an otherwise desert of concrete and maybe desolation (even [...]

Read Full Post »

The Lotto Turm (Lotto Tower)

The Location
The Österreichische Platz is situated at the periphery of  Stuttgart’s (Germany) city centre . It’s an odd roundabout that basically hasn’t changed in 40 years. Surrounded by but disconnected from express ways, it is currently used as a parking lot and a meeting place for dodgy characters. After years of neglect, it has sunk [...]

Read Full Post »

Envision Green Hotel: Giant Eco-Egg Skyscraper

I wasn’t really sure whether I should post any info on this project: I attempted to get information from the architect’s website using both a .net and .com URL extension as well as Firefox and IE, but I had no luck. So I’m not sure how real this thing is but it does look and [...]

Read Full Post »

Architecture: a house within a house

The guys at Inhabit say they’re big fans of architect Adam Kalkin and it is easy to see why. This Kalkin piece called Bunny Lane is a house within a house in Kalkin’s home state of New Jersey. It’s not a new concept but aesthetically it seems well executed. The outer one building provides a [...]

Read Full Post »

An architectural way of looking at life ‘post oil’

In this architectural scenario an oil tanker is raised like an obelisk into a pit. The carcass is than outfitted for whatever use its inhabitants see fit.
I find this image very appealing because of the symbolism of it colours and the graphical construction of its elements, ranging from order to mild chaos. And while it [...]

Read Full Post »

Letterbox House in Melbourne

It seems as though a wooden boat washed up on shore amidst a neighborhood of typical Aussie beach houses just south of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula.  From the street the house’s irregular form reveals nothing of what unfolds once within the property. At a closer look, the façade consists solely of a mailbox. According [...]

Read Full Post »

Literally: the sliding house

I think architecture arguably is the most exciting and most awe-inspiring discipline in the universe of artistic expression. And the sliding house is a good example.
Built in Suffolk in England, the brief to the architect was simple: to build a house to which the owners can retire to in order to grow food, entertain and [...]

Read Full Post »

The Peres Peace House in Jaffa, Tel Aviv – at least some Israelis think of peace

Beatrice Galilee and Johanna Agerman in iconeye
With the Israeli invasion of Gaza continuing, the centre has its work cut out. “In terms of the current war we started working last week on an initiative to call for a cease fire,” says Yael Patir, assistant of the director general of the Peres Centre for Peace. “We [...]

Read Full Post »

Hindu Temple in Helensburg/Wollongong

As mentioned earlier, on our visit to the Wollongong beaches we dropped in on the Sri Venkateswara Temple at Helensburg (north of Wollongong), apparently the largest Hindu temple complex in the southern hemisphere. In its current form, it was consecrated in February 2004 amidst chanting of hymns and prayers, and dozens of Hindu priests performing sacred rituals at a ceremony attended by [...]

Read Full Post »

Architecture: new look for the Danube Flower building – but what about the environment?

Communist architecture wasn’t exactly known for aesthetic beauty or bold futuristic design. The only exception I’m aware of so far (and there are probably a handful of  others) was the colossal Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, which remained a shell coz the regime ran out of money. Here though is another, much more modest example (in a round-about [...]

Read Full Post »

Beşiktaş Fish Market – aesthetically beautiful architectural design

Gorgeous design. A pillar-less simple concrete shell covering the Beşiktaş fish market. Located in one of Istanbul’s most populated and diverse neighborhoods, Beşiktaş is an eclectic area with a village-like atmosphere that is in the process of urban renewal.
The Beşiktaş Fish Market is located on a triangular site. It is an iconic venue where many [...]

Read Full Post »

Jetson Green: green ecology and social justice architecture

The ‘green building’ blog Jetson Green posted an article on on a project called the Eco-Laboratory, a theoretical design set in Seattle with affordable and market-rate residential housing, a job training center, homeless shelter, hygiene station, and public farmer’s market. I’ve heard a lot about green buildings, and this blog features quite a few of [...]

Read Full Post »

Michael Mobbs – The Sustainable House

Michael Mobbs is the guy who designed the systems, obtained approvals for, and project managed the renovation of Sydney’s Sustainable House, a nineteenth century inner Sydney terrace which since 1996 has provided all its own water, sewage and energy needs. Mobbs, solicitor turned sustainability coach nowadays works with private and public sector developers and their [...]

Read Full Post »

Permanent Camping

A few weeks ago I saw an image in the Sydney Morning Herald of what I now know is Permanent Camping. But there was no information, just a picture in an article on Australian architecture. So I’m glad I looked back through materialicious posts to discover this one.
Permanent Camping is a 3×3×6m ‘tower’ in the [...]

Read Full Post »

Kiefer Technic showroom in Graz

An interesting piece of architectural and engineering work by Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner – the Kiefer Technic office in Graz. The buidling represents the company’s showroom overlooking a park. Giselbrecht’s task was to bring a feeling of air and light to the display of Kiefer’s products (doors and equipment for hospital operation theatres and [...]

Read Full Post »

The Barn House, Belgium

For architect Rita Huys, transforming an old barn into a stylish new home, was not just about creating elegant interiors with a rustic touch; the building’s relationship to the outside world and its physical and emotional connection to the surrounding landscape, were just as crucial in the design process.
Project architect Huys co-heads (with Hendrik Vermoortel) [...]

Read Full Post »

Tokyo: the Penguin House – the illusion of space

This is a great example for how light and height can create the illusion of space even if its footprint is small. For the purpose of living in such space, this kind of architectural design is of course only the first step. The second one is to find small objects to [...]

Read Full Post »