Frozen glaciers, floating mountains and sailing ships - these are some of the visual metaphors for the new Elbphilharmonie by the Swiss architecture firm, Herzog & de Meuron. Located in Hamburg's industrial waterfront, the concert hall is set to become the social and cultural heartthrob of...
The 2010 Pritzker Prize laureates, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, the architects behind SANAA, have been praised for designing buildings that seem deceptively simple. At the core of their work is an architectural vision that views a building as a seamless whole, where the physical presence retreats...
Reinhold Messner is a superstar, period! He has climbed every mountain above 8 000 metres without bottled oxygen; and was the first person to summit Mt. Everest, solo! The Messner Mountain Museum Corones located on the peak of Mt. Kronplatz (2 275 meters above sea...
A ring-shaped school by Architect Francis Kéré grounds its site in the outskirts of Burkina Faso’s third largest city, Koudougou. Following a ring-like arrangement, the architect used this school to yet again illustrate that vernacular architecture can be very contemporary, with sufficient use of local...
Simple design is easy to embrace and accept at first sight. Basic geometry on a building facade looks familiar and resembles many other shapes that we encounter daily. For example, parallel vertical lines on the EDP (Energias de Portugal) Headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal by Aires Mateus. This facade makes...
The discussion of "architecture of place" is a topic widely focused on in an attempt to promote regionalism and a sense of individuality. Architects that have achieved the level of design that is in sync with the genus loci of a place are celebrated and...
Architecture is truly the visible catapult that pushes everyday life into the future. Walking down the street and coming across such a daring piece of art awakens the urge to do something new and different. As architecture in a city advances, it gives the occupants...
Family-owned Marchesi Antinori is arguably the most famous house in Italian wine, having been in the business since 1385. Its famous winery in Chianti Classico region in Bargino Italy was designed by one of Italy’s leading architects, Marco Casamonti, founding partner of the Archea firm. This Temple...
Disposing of the dead is not as straightforward as it looks — burn or bury in a matter of days. Religious and cultural taboos surrounding the place and act of disposition remain as powerful as ever even in modern day city planning. This Crematorium in...
At a hilltop site facing the Mediterranean sea to the west in the city of Birzeit, Heneghan Peng architects have designed and built a museum dedicated to the Palestine culture. In a design competition that took place in 2011, the studio was awarded this project...
Since April 2011, this new pier designed by Luís Pedro Silva has received glamorously large cruise ships from the worldwide cruise fleet, boosting the cruise tourism in the North of Portugal region. Some of its guests are cruise ships of larger dimensions, up to 300...
Emerita Augusta was the resettling space for soldiers discharged from the Cantabrian Roman wars in 25 BC. Augustus Caesar himself ordered for the creation of the colony which now lies in ruins after the fall of Rome in a city called Mérida, Spain. In 1979,...
How do buildings become places? The newly transformed King's Cross Station offers a few clues into the secret sauce that is required to tap into the ever elusive genius loci that is often captured in successful architectural projects. Here, for example, the Western Concourse of...
On 22nd July 2011, on this very site, 13 people were killed, leaving several others physically and physiologically traumatized. This was part of Norway’s Utøya Massacre in 2011 characterized by politically instigated attacks by terrorists. The Island, being a destination for Norway's Labour Youth Party...
In World War II, the city of Cologne, Germany, was bombed by allied air strikes, and left drowning in ruins with a huge loss of lives and property. In those medieval times, Saint Kolumba Parish was the biggest and leading church in the city. Kolumba...
Where does one start when looking to put up a cultural building next to Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles? Like Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad of the Broad Art Foundation, one may start off by selecting the right architect for job...
The standard 90 degree angle rarely occurs naturally in nature. In architecture, it seems to be the convention. It is easier to fabricate and stack things at right angles, especially when those "things" are floors and walls. Ideally, going by the rule of the plumb-bob,...
In 1892, the sport now widely known as ski jumping was born when a Norwegian lieutenant propelled himself 9.5 metres into the sky. Now, over a century later, Holmenkollen, a little town about twenty minutes from Norway's Oslo, is one of the most renowned ski-jumping destinations...
The Expo ’98 Portuguese National Pavilion is a monumental piece of architecture, imposing itself like a sculpture of stature on the banks of the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal. Designed by Álvaro Siza, and coupled with the engineering ingenuity of artist Cecil Balmond, the pavilion...
Via 57 West is set to be BIG’s inaugural project in New York. As a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise, the development has a unique shape which combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a...
Monumental architecture is a constantly evolving domain. Fresh designs take such incredibly unexpected directions, showcasing great strides in concept exploration. In Doha Corniche, the prominent National Museum of Qatar arises from the ground in a ceremonial fashion that sparks interest: interlocking discs of varying dimensions...
Tudor Apartments is a high-rise residential project consisting of 14 intimate apartments in Tudor Creek, Mombasa. Enveloped in a mashrabiya structural shell, the building is distinctive in its creative design – ensuring privacy and optimizing natural ventilation and lighting. © Javier Callejas Urko Sanchez Architects took the...
Forming a barrier between the northern and southern parts of Norway is Dovrefjell – a scenic mountain range that holds an indispensable place in Norwegian consciousness. It is here, at Hjerkinn, located within the outskirts of the Dovrefjell National Park; that Snøhetta was commissioned by the...
At Lincoln Road, Robert Wennett, a private real estate developer and art collector, had the desire to solve a critical urban problem in Miami Beach - parking. Having 20 years worth of experience in real estate, Wennett was looking to create a 'civic building' that was just not...
Deep inside a village in Burkina Faso, the sun scorches the earth, dust flies into the air at will as strong winds ravage the calm. A brick library stands amidst all the forces of nature. It is a beautiful building and an amazing landscape to...
At the heart of Beijing, four volumes coalesce to create an internal world of flowing open spaces - a reinterpretation of the classic Chinese courtyard that succeeds in imbuing an immersive and enveloping architectural experience. This new office, retail and entertainment complex designed by Zaha Hadid...
Tucked inside the mountains that surround a famous lake called Coatepeque in El Salvador, this chapel overlooks breath-taking waters with a surreal sense of form. It is built within a large open space and on site are complimentary spaces like a restaurant among others. It...
Nadir Afonso, an artist of Portuguese descent, was famously known for his geometric-based aesthetics in his paintings and art pieces. Most of them are now displayed in great museums around the world and managed by the Nadir Afonso Foundation owing to his death in 2013...
With the gentrification of cities, the adaptive reuse of buildings has become a mainstream approach in the practice of architecture and interior design. Studio Ardete was commissioned to re-imagine the interior experience of a retail store located in the heart of the electrical and electronics...
Overlooking the 686-hectare Chapultepec Park is a three-sided 57-storey skyscraper situated on Paseo de la Reforma Avenue in Mexico City. Around it, a metropolitan bursting with growth and a lot of seamless vegetation features several high standing modern buildings. Along the wide Paseo de la...