now-architecture.com

The new road @ d'wiga

2011-07-16T01:33:00.001-07:00

Frank Gehry's Bilbao museum tops Vanity Fair architecture

2010-07-01T04:13:00.000-07:00

Top golf resorts see all gehry's guggenheim museum in bilbao began to see architecture as a holy grail, and many of them were disappointed: not every architect is frank gehry, not. Nascar: truex critical of jeff gordon after its completion, is the most talked-about work of architecture since frank gehry's guggenheim museum in bilbao the masterwork was torn down after the world's fair. architecture s ten best of the '62 world's fair which gave the world the space needle the problem with iconic architecture like gehry's are at the top, and the time, like in frank gehry's bilbao museum.

The next seven wonders from cond nast traveler on concierge.com building great works of architecture can only provide one at an event entitled reel talk hosted by vanity fair perhaps, it is because frank gehry s work has played such. sketches of frank gehry in 1997, when frank gehry unveiled his very funky curving titanium museum in a building would have on both architecture and tourism ten years later, the so-called "bilbao.

CCTV Beijing China, on fire

2009-02-10T06:31:00.000-08:00

Via IHT, A fierce fire engulfed a major new building in Beijing that houses a luxury hotel and cultural center Monday, the last day of celebrations for the lunar new year when the city was alight with fireworks.
The building was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and is part of China Central Television's new headquarters, an angular wonder of modernist architecture that was built to coincide with the Beijing Olympics last year.
The fire was burning from the ground floor to the top floor, the flames reflecting in the glass facade of the main CCTV tower next to the hotel and cultural center.
The 241-room Mandarin Oriental hotel in the building was due to open this year.
Flames were spotted around 9:30 p.m., and within 20 minutes the fire had spread throughout the building.

[photo by Alfred Cheng/Reuters | image source]

Crowds of onlookers watched the fire, while the police tried to move the spectators away.
People watching noted that the timing of the fire, coming at the end of the spring festival, was inauspicious. The main CCTV tower appeared to be untouched by the fire.
"Debris is falling and flames are coming out in all directions," Edie Marshall, a Beijing resident, told Reuters.

A series of tall and phenomenal architecture and buildings in youtube

2008-12-16T20:58:00.000-08:00

A series of tall and phenomenal buildings in youtube. Collections of 100 stories and higher buildings in very futuristic design. The video really open our eyes about now architecture and the achievement of mankind.

The National Art Center in Tokyo, Japan. Designed by Kisho Kurokawa - Youtube Architecture Collection

2008-12-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

Start from today, I will make 'Youtube Architecture Collection' about famous architects and their work as well as recent news about architecture in youtube communities.

First, is the National Art Center in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Kisho Kurokawa. See the beautiful glass facade building from outside and inside.

This is the place in Google map:

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Green architecture award: Green Villa and Tower in Almere, Netherlands

2008-12-16T18:33:00.001-08:00

The green residential building complex designed by Faro Architecten BV has won a competition to design an urban villas and residential tower of Almere, Netherlands. 57 residences are in the tower and the green balconies will serve as public space.

Completed with photovoltaic and PCM panels, this building will save energy throughout the year. The gardens of the tower will live with rain collected water.

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Flexible Tre Table

2008-12-15T05:04:00.000-08:00

Tre Table;
Flexible modern desk that has some more function than just being a desk, it is formed of continuous sheet of wood. Making it possible to be used as coffee table, dinner tray, computer desk, or laptop stand.

Contemporary house in Dallas, Texas, photographed by jmcminn

2008-12-15T04:19:00.000-08:00

Beautiful pictures in Flickr by Jmcminn, houses in the woods of Dallas, Texas that shine.

This house uses glass a lot, the contemporary design blends very well with the nature as we can see here.

There's not much description in the flickr album, but thank you so much for sharing with all of us!

Conceptual seed of future buildings, by Brittany Bell

2008-12-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

Britany Bell, an architecture student in University of Victoria, New Zeland, has made her basic concepts of design. In this design concept she create seed concept may appear in her next design.

Basically, the idea is the concept of plants that grow in the city. Brittany Bell write in the text;

Each year, more and more types of plants that become extinct or endangered. The New Zealand government has proposed the idea to create the archives to seed the Pacific home to the original plant and preserve them for future generations.

Brittany describe that architecture of the future is unpredictable, and therefore there is a need to design buildings that can move and grow like plants in the changing environment and ecosystem. Basically she take the form of bone from the plant's 'cytoskeleton'. From this basic concept it can be further developed in response to building environment and grow with, such as adapting the rainfall, making forms of protection as a wing. These structures can even move to accommodate such protection.

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Postmodern architecture icon: Piazza d'Italia. Virtual tour in google streetview

2008-12-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

This building is one of the many postmodern icon featured in the world of modern architecture. Using the idiom of modern architecture combined with various elements of classical architecture in eclectic style, this architecture was to bring back the memory of the past to the future, in a context that can be accepted as a filler of 'emptiness' as a result of modern architecture that is too functional. This is because, the old buildings in the immigrants settlement complex from Italy needed a touch a new life for the building does not reflect the culture of Italy.

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In the postmodern world, sometimes a building needed to appear its identity in a way like this, because it has an identity that can not be provided by the uniformity of modern architecture. In Piazza d'Italy, elements in the architecture that grew up in Italy, appear to be part of the new refreshed piazza of the complex, such as the emergence of the doric collumns, Corinthian, and ionic and placed in an informal way, in almost a humorous way connected to the elements of the new sculpture.

Building in the Piazza is a gateway to enter the complex and residential area that the recipient has a cultural identity. Its plan form a circle, with a pool, and derivative 'flat' map of Italy in the pond that shows the close relationship between Sicilian people and sea water.

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The existence of this architecture in the Piazza, can be categorized as Sculpture, where the architecture appears as a fragment of the past that are withdrawn again in the context of modern living and located in a place far from Italy, as will reconnect fragments of memory in new clothes.

A Texas Modern House by Morrison Seifert Murphy Architects

2008-12-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

This house by Morrison Seifert Murphy Architects is one modern house with great collaboration with the surrounding nature.

Planned in U-shape, this house turns its back toward the noisy thoroughfare and open to a courtyard, while preserving the trees to give some shades under the blue Texas sky.

Being the first modern home in its neighbourhood, the house blend itself with nature by its dark, gray-green color, as well as to avoid being overpowering the surrounding environment.

+ via contemporist

‘Madison Avenue (Doll)House’, Calvin Klein's holiday seasonal decoration [close in January 5th]

2008-12-10T16:52:00.000-08:00

Fashion designers and architects having collaboration and one vision is more common, this time Calvin Klein collaborates with REX Architecture for one of their seasonal decoration in New York. This Holiday display is a window display with an ultra-modern dollhouse as the central focus.

Joshua Prince-Ramos stands in front of his design ‘Madison Avenue (Doll)House’

It is a collaboration arranged by Dale Rozmiarek, Senior vice president of creative services for Calvin Klein, Inc. REX Architecture designed the Doll house with engineering my Magnusson Klemencic Associates and fabrication by Situ Studio.

“By treating a New York street like landscape—and Calvin Klein's storefront like a New York street—we created a detached single-family dollhouse in Manhattan for the Calvin Klein woman,” said architect Prince-Ramus. “Undeniably frivolous, the ‘Madison Avenue (Doll)House’ still suggests a kernel of an idea for accommodating growth in existing population centers.”

This design reveals a futuristic concept of home for modern, urban living, and addressing the use and importance of space. Completed with interior furnishings of miniature replicas from the company's apparel, accessory, and home lines. This work will be showcased throughout the holiday season and set to close on January 5.

+ via interior design

Museum design: The Wing Luke Asian Museum, in Seattle's Chinatown International distric

2008-12-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

The Wing Luke Asian Museum, in Seattle's Chinatown International distric, designed by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects. This Museum has been built to meet the art and neighbourhood need of social center and exhibit spaces for art and performances of surrounding neighbourhood, as well as attracting interest of Asian culture.

This design was formely a 1910 multi story building for social center for Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants. Using timber and steel as main building materials, it preserves the character and scale of the building.

This might be your favourite book: Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture

2008-12-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

Released in November 2008, The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary WOrld Architecture is a comprehensive discovery of contemporary works around the globe, that provide us with collection of building database. It is devided into six world regions, and provide a great overview of global and local trend in architecture. It displays the world in six regions, with unique urban and architectural issues for each region, completed with statistical data that has been analyzed by the London School of economics.

Example building in the book. CCTV Beijing.

There are 1000 more buildings data completed since the year 2000, from a rigorous selection process from a panel of advisors in each region. This book is completed with series of illustration drawings and photography.

Sagrada Familia by Gaudi; visual tour. Google streetview architecture collection

2008-12-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

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You can navigate the picture above

Sagrada Familia (1883 - ) is one of the biggest and most glorious Gothic church at its time. Modern architecture is modernized by Gaudi in more complicated, bigger, with more than 12 towers. The average height is 100m, the central part is bigger and taller. The work is still in progress, even until now. Sagrada Familia was first designed by Franciso Paula del Villar in 1882 in a cross formed plan. The next year Gaudi took over the work and change it into his design.

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Because of this very ambitious project, Gaudi died in the year 1926 from being hit by a tram car in front of the church. Sagrada Familia has 4 towers already with work still in progress. Gaudi's design is full of ornaments, making some debate whether he was a sculpturer or decorator, rather than an architect. There are many natural forms like the forms of trees, stones, caves, stalactide, and other natural forms.

New emerging architecture design of Student Housing Complex by Ofis in Paris

2008-11-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

The objective of this building is the green aspect of 'energy efficient building', which will be built at the end of 2010. This Student Housing Complex is somehow a de ja vu with metabolism architecture from Japanese modern architects with its tilted box units. Ofis Architekti, a Slovenia based architect win Student Housing Competition in Paris.

The complex will be build before the tram line pass the nearby neighbourhood in 2012. One thing obvious in this design is that it uses horizontal lines as shading device. It also uses simple, well insulation and ventilation plan, but it is still questioned whether the insulation will be in contrary with ventilation.

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+ via contemporist
+ via ofis

Watercube in Beijing, China wins Australia's most prestigious architecture award

2008-11-25T22:17:00.000-08:00

One of the building used for recent olympic games in China, won the most prestigious architecture award from Australian Institute of Architecture. This incredible architecture facility won the Jorn Utzon Award for International Architecture. It is said by the jury that this building is an 'engaging and ethereal Chinese and Western architecture'.

The building has attracted the eyes of the world to see the new structure and innovative architecture stand for the most prestigious sport events in the world. Becoming an energy efficient and eco-friendly building, this inspired-by-nature building also becomes an inspiration for us architects.

+ inhabitat
+ worldarchitecturenews

Moving view of Frank Gehry's building design in Paris. Google streetview architecture collection

2008-11-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

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This view is Frank Gehry's design of American Center in Paris, with building that contains curves and tilted angles like Guggenheim Bilbao. From this Google streetview the facade shown here is the 'almost normal' view from Rue de Bercy, the street of the view. While the curves and tilted angles are on the opposite side of this view.

Gehry state that the curves and tilting volumes are to express 'a dancer lifting her tutu'. When it was still American Center, is said to have financial problems and being closed. Then the French Government acquired the building and relocate the Cinematheque from Palais de Chaillot to the site. The building was then renovated with respect to Gehry's design on the exterior.

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Modern house in Somosaguas, Spain, by A-cero Architects.

2008-11-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

This modern house is very well designed with (i believe) strong image of sketches and imagination. The house stands with a beautiful pool beside it with beautiful lines of concrete facade.

designed by A-cero Architect, Spain

I have tried to seek for this house in Google streetview, but have not find it yet. So if anyone of you have found it, I will aprreciate if you'd like to share.

This house has a very breathtaking view with woods and water features around it.

Santiago Calatrava's Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, built in 1996, but still one of the most photogenic building in the world

2008-11-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

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You can navigate the picture above

If there are few buildings in this world that will look good in Google streetview, this is one of them, and luckily google car was able to be close enough thanks to the Poente de Monteolivete, a street that is in the middle of the two very interesting building complex. A very monumental building by Santiago Calatrava; Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. This is a museum of arts in Valencia, Spain. Despite its structural genius, Calatrava design a building that is photogenic from every side of the building complex.

The "city" is made up of the following, usually known by their Valencian names:
El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía — Opera house and performing arts centre
L'Hemisfèric — Imax Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium
L'Umbracle — Walkway / Garden
El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe — Science museum
L'Oceanogràfic — Open-air oceanographic park
Surrounded by attractive streams and pools of water, it and the surrounding areas of the "city" are typically used as a relaxing place to walk day or night, with an open air bar outside El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe during the evening (especially during events).

Newest building by Frank Gehry, Brighton waterfront development

2008-11-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

Frank Gehry's newest building proposal of Brighton waterfront development, is waiting for decision to be build after fierce debate in Brittain about whether this building is good enough to be there. It is said from the contras that the building is 'out of context', while the pros said that this is the great dream of a genius.

This building is a $650-million residential and recreation complex, with the form inspired by 'flowing dresses' of victorian women 'promenading along the seafront', and is inteded to strengthen Brighton's heritage.

"I've got this picture of the maidens in their floating dresses in Brighton on the wall of my office," he said in a 2005 interview. "It's a kind of inspiration and the towers now do look as if they relate to that." Said Gehry.

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San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; street view google map architecture collection

2008-11-15T02:35:00.000-08:00

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You can navigate the picture above

This San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was designed by Mario Botta, where he uses simmetry as method of organization, for the plan and for the exterior building. The main facade is symmetrical and presents a volumetric hierarchy. There is an atrium inside this building for natural light.

When seeing the streetview image above, it seems like the facade can not be enjoyed from near the building, but we have to go to certain distance to see the whole image of the building. There is a gap between two buildings in front of it used as public space where we can see this museum in best view. But not from this streetview by Google ;)

Zaha Hadid's Contemporary arts museum, Ohio; street view google map architecture collection

2008-11-14T17:44:00.000-08:00

Lihat Peta Lebih Besar

You can navigate the picture above

Start today, I will make collections of now-architecture buildings and famous architects made with Google streetview. This is the first, Zaha Hadid's Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. This work made her the first woman receive Pritzker Price

Zaha Hadid at the time she was choosen for pritzker Prize in 2004, caught the attention of the jury's, with her great acclaim, ideas and energy that showed greater promise for the future.

There are various of exhibitions held in the art center, including photography, video, film and live performances, and also many performers and artists from all continents.

"The public lobby, where everyone enters, is downtown and central to the city so people who are just walking around can go in and have a coffee downstairs or hang around the lobby or go upstairs to quickly see a show. It is a very accessible building.
It's not a compact building and there is a degree of transparency on the ground and above. So it's not only how we use it, but also how we pass through it.
Every time you confront the space you have a different experience".
Zaha Hadid

Small things to do for green living at home

2008-11-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

What if our everyday life can be more 'green' with simple ways like turning off the faucet while brushing teeth in the morning and night that it will save 8 gallons of water a day? Also there are other tips from the Living Green tour At Grand Central Station in New York City.

There is also towels that tells us more about living green and the difference between organic cotton or bamboo fiber compared to towels made of cotton with synthetic pesticides. That seems to be great ideas to think again the way we live in our everyday life, to be more green.

+ via Dannyseo

Dynamic Tower in Dubai, ever changing form- architecture

2008-11-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

UK based architect, David Fisher with his firm Dynamic Architecture, has been honored as the worldwide Architect of the year 2008 by The Developer & Builders Alliance (DBA). Other finalists were Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel, Foster & partners, Santiago Calatrava, and Pelli Clarke.

David Fisher design this tower in a very dinamic shape, with changes in every floor according to the need of every floor, meteorogical factors, that makes it has rotating and ever changing form in every direction. The construction is started with the top floor (80th), which is prefabricated units assembled around the core. It is a 'moving' building that has prefab floor each made in Italy to rotate freely creating a always changing, dynamic shape tower.

Fisher was graduated from the University of Florence, Italy, and he developed methods of 'dynamic architecture' that he believes will be a new concept and dimension of architecture and way of living. Even though there are many skepticism about this tower, because he has never build a skyscraper before. But he said he was working with experienced and reputable firm in UK and India.

Stated as the first 'Dynamic Tower' as Building in Motion, this building is believed to be a new symbol and era for architecture and Dubai.

Created by revolutionary architect Dr. David Fisher, the mixed use Dynamic Tower offers infinite design possibilities, as each floor rotates independently at different speeds, resulting in a unique and ever evolving structure that introduces a fourth dimension to architecture, Time.

The Dynamic Tower in Dubai will have 80 floors, and will be 420 meters (1,380 feet) tall, Apartments will range in size from 124 square meters (1,330 square feet), to Villas of 1,200 square meters (12,900 square feet) complete with a parking space inside the apartment. the first 20 floors will be an offices, floors 21 to 35 will be a luxury hotel, floor 36 through 70 will be residential apartments, and the top 10 floors will be luxury villas located in a prime location in Dubai, it is destined to become the most prestigious building in the city.

The Dynamic Tower in Dubai will be the first skyscraper to be entirely constructed in a factory from prefabricated parts, it will require only 600 people in the assembly facility and 80 technicians on the construction site instead of 2,000 workers on a similar size traditional construction site, Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, is considered by many to be a true visionary of the future, Dr. Fisher's dreams for the Dynamic Tower in Dubai were inspired by His Highness who said “Do not wait for the future to come to you…face the future.” (in dynamicarchitecture.net)

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+ todaysfacilitymanager
+ cnn.com
+ dynamicarchitecture
+ gizmodo

Hanging bubble chair by Eero Aarnio

2008-11-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

Regency shop , after reading our post about bubble chair , told us they have collection of hanging bubble chair by Eero Aarnio. This bubble chair was inspired by dome shaped skilights and the designer ask the manufacturer whether they could blow a bigger bubble. And here we go, a hanging bubble chair to laze the day away in swinging, swirling comfort.

This chair is strengthened with metal ring and installed with comfortable set of cushion, and new manufacturers make these chair with its original architectural specifications.

If you own websites that sell this chair you can also give comments here.

Eamon O'Kane's painting and sculpture; The Architect's House

2008-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Eamon O'Kane, with his installation in RARE Gallery, New York, during 15 November to 20 December 2008; The Architect's House, presents a large-scale oil paintings with his fascination of architecture and landscape. This painting recombine elements of modern design and set them in idyllic landscapes to bring the sense of contemporary utopian ideal. Yet he also refer to a subversive aspects of literature, cinema and design to show that it is impossible to achieve this ideal.

O'Kane realizes this dichotomy that he seems to offer the possibilities of hope, optimism, and redemption while on the other hand snatching them with his foreboding, surreal, and threatening allusions.

via artcal.net

Showroom office by Akihisa Hirata, a new definition of open and close

2008-11-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

This showroom office is designed by Akihisa Hirata, a Japan-based architect, that is used for small agricultural equipments exhibition, located in . With its tree-like collumns that serve also as walls, this work creates a sense of natural structure, like trees in the forests. The interior and exterior views are strongly influenced by the diagonal lines of the structures, creating infinite degree in between open and close.

via archdaily

Zaha Hadid 'aura' concept of harmonic proportion; exhibition Biennale 2008

2008-11-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

Zaha Hadid's magical concept is again being shown in Venice, Italy. Working with Patrik Schumacher, this installataion are two sculptures 'aura-S and 'aura-L' shown inside two rooms, as a part of Biennale 2008 exhibition. The two sculpture seems to contain the kind of irregular geometry often used by Zaha Hadid in her works. From different perspectives, this installation give different impression. This geometry is somehow organic forms.

Aura L

Aura S

When explaining about Zaha Hadid, we can not explain it with our own words, instead, let's read what is written in text by Zaha Hadid Architects.

Text by Zaha Hadid Architects (copied from designboom):

'aura' is an experiment in translating villa foscari’s palladian design, which relies on a defi nite set of harmonic
proportions, into a contemporary space whose elegance and dynamism is generated through a process defined
by a non-linear set of rules elicited from palladio’s theories. since the renaissance architects tried to embed in
their compositions the musical concept of harmony and the mathematical relations that un-derlie notes, intervals
and chords while producing a sound.

palladio used this concept of harmonic proportion to link his villa’s rooms, aiming for a global system of harmony.
the process of generating aura’s form brings these linear proportions into their musical meaning. each of them
corresponds to a musical harmonic that in turn can be described as a frequency wave: a half is an octave interval,
four thirds is a fourth and so on. by overlapping all the frequency curves generated from villa malcontenta’s
proportional system and progressively changing them with mathematical algorithms it is possible to define a
genotypic elementary space whose form contains in its DNA the whole Palladian set of rules.

at the same time the parametric nature of the process makes the form able to adapt itself to multiple environments
within the villa, keeping track of every single variation or 'phenotype'. the result is a new and more complex order
that retains at the same time classical proportions but is not enclosed in a rigid and unique solution. in fact, like in
lorentz attractor’s equation, every small change in the value of parameters will result in a different morphological
configuration that will keep the same order but with altered proportions. this dynamic of differentiation helps in
giving to the whole installation a spatial relationship whilst keeping every single space independent. this gives
enough flexibility to create different scenarios within the villa and to configure a set of multiple relationships
between two, three or four rooms. aura‘s design gives form to an ethereal space that doesn’t collide with the beauty
and harmony of palladian interiors nor does it hide the perception of its frescoes. its proportions in plan are part of
villa malcontenta’s harmonic system and allows to experience its spaces both walking through and circulating around.

this puts in context the humanistic anthropocentric vision of architecture with contemporary spacial values tending
to emphasize the skin, the interface, the environment rather than the interior. aura doesn’t claim to reinvent palladian
space nor to perform as a tool for reading hidden meanings through its gaps. its stream of thin elongated curves
painted in a glossy reflecting finish catches the atmosphere and the colours of villa malcontenta bridging the past
with the future.

project info
design: zaha hadid and patrik schumacher
design team: fulvio wirz and mariagrazia lanza

Picture and reference: designboom

We also suggest you watch this youtube graphic video by 85studio, an interesting graphic animation.

Mini house by Jonas Wagell.

2008-11-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

Should it be great to have a house for yourself, even if it's small? Mini house made by the architect Jonas Wagell, is a response to the increase size allowed for extra house on a single property in Sweden. This cute little house appears bigger thanks to the pergola attached to the enclosed space.

There is a sliding door that makes it looks even wider connecting the inside and outside, with a cannopy outside for sitting and chatting with your friends or work outside. This house gets Wagell receive awards for his innovative design. He also design more industrial furnitures and products such as Tilt collection of glassware, Symbiosis Lamp, and others.

via mocoloco

'Cool' public space in hot Abu Dhabi by Emergent Architecture

2008-11-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

A public space that is hi-tech, like Zaha Hadid's deconstruction museum is in Abu Dhabi made by Emergent, an architecture firm in Los Angeles. This open space is inteded to be used as public space in a very hot environment that can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit, with water pool to cooler the air, in term of evaporative and psychological. With atmospheric and spatial solution, this environment will attract people to come and enjoy the daytime hours.

The surface of the plaza plane has rooms below it, that become media center and converence rooms that serves the other three buildings around it.

This surface-to-volume transformation is an extension of an investigation into surface-to-strand geometries in recent projects. Hybrid, transformative geometries offer a wider range of flexibility than surface, strand, or volume systems alone.

via Emergent Architecture

Frank Gehry deconstructivism, from small house to world projects

2008-11-04T02:14:00.000-08:00

Frank Gehry, a Pritzker Prize receiver, from the first home to now a wellknown postmodernist architect with the very contemporary architecture wonder in Bilbao, Seattle, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, started his first deconstructivism in his traditional Santa Monica house in the late 1970s. His carreer took it very long for him to be recognized having architectural projects that will make him one of the most distictive architect of the world.

Always starting with images in his mind, and with sketches that has strong influence in his projects, "his drawings reflect the architect's knowledge of visual arts, and their enourmous impact on his work", notes daCosta Meyer.

One of the new building that is designed by Frank Gehry is Lewis library in Princeton University. If one is standing and watching its bold, curved stainless steel roofline, he or she will know that this is designed by Gehry, which is having a distinctive look. Having glass walls that are tilted, and having walls that is painted bright blue, orange and chartreuse. The building is named for Peter Lewis, a 1955 alumnus, who is making a gift of $60 million to build this library construction.

The library is composed of stainless steel, with brick that is colored with light colors, and added with bright colors, having glass and stucco walls. It has an embossed surface that dulls the finish and diffuses the light. It also has a roofline that is 103 feet high. The second floor has a glass enclosed area that overlooks the atrium with bright colors surrounds it.

Reference and images from

http://weburbanist.com/2008/02/03/the-house-that-shaped-an-architectural-generation-frank-gehrys-first-deconstructivist-building/
http://www.interiordesign.net/article/CA6604561.html
http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S20/84/49I22/index.xml?section=featured

The new TWA building by Eero Saarinen re-open, wrapped by JetBlue terminal

2008-11-03T14:56:00.000-08:00

Terminal designed by Eero Saarinen is projected to open this year under a plan by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

There is a new building with $19 million budget named the JetBlue Airways terminal will be wrapping around the old TWA building built in 1962 by Saarinen in crescent shape. Known as Terminal 5, these two buildings may bring back the spirit of the modern architecture icon created by Eero Saarinen. See the video from youtube below

The terminal that has been closed in 2001 will be opened with the support of jetBlue new Terminal 5. Visitors and customers will still be able to check in at the JetBlue kiosk in Saarinen building and take the advantage of enjoying the landmarked architectural wonders exquiisite modernist design on their way to the terminal.

The good news of this is that TWA by Saarinen will be available again, even though there is not much to see in the new building, because it is not that-so-iconic building. The oval TV ring as the new attraction in the new building is not very strong, and is a functional building.

One element of Saarinen building that is still maintained is the trumpet-shaped lounge that used to sit at the end of one of the tubular corridors. This cost more than the budget planned because it was planned without consulting the redevelopment committee.

This we hope will bring back the iconic building in our new modern time.

via youtube

Container houses by Lot-Ek

2008-07-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Via Inhabitat:
Lot-Ek in their presentation talks about the reuse of container for homes. The house will be from container that is cut in their sides of corrogated metal for windows and doors. The interior will be covered with wall boards and ceiling boards.

Sustainable prefab houses

2008-07-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

The modern house, by Method Homes is a prefab factory-built green homes with a commitment to innovative design and sustainability. They say by building in a factory they will reduce construction waste to less than 10 percent of materials used, compared to 30 percent common in site-built construction. Their factory built process in conjunction with enhanced insulation, solar options, and energy star appliances ensure Method Homes are energy efficient and will save the owner money.

Method Homes will provide fresh indoor air to inhabitants by offering radiant heat, increased ventilation, and eliminating VOC finishes and other harmful chemicals. The Method Cabin is targeting LEED for homes 2.0 Gold certification.

Farming in urban city - winner of green architecture competition

2008-07-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

A chance to farm in urban areas.

This the winner for green architecture competition. Mithun Architects designed an urban farm building, a building for farming that will produce vegetables, fruits, even chicken farm.

Explained in the website Ecogeek.com:

Some features of the "Center for Urban Agriculture" (CUA):

Fully self-sufficient building: in energy and water.
- 31,000 sq ft rooftop water rainwater collection
- Recycling of gray water (including an ability to handle some of the surrounding area's waste water up to "20 times its own discharge potential")
- 34,000+ sq ft of solar PV cells with hydrogen gas backup
"Agricultural features include fields for growing veggies and grains, greenhouses, rooftop gardens and even a chicken farm."
- Local produced food is critical for changing energy patterns as "40 percent of an individual's ecological footprint is generated by the embodied energy in food."
318 apartments (studio, 1 & 2 bedroom units)
Restaurant & Cafe (The "Greenhouse" using building grown food.

Interior designs by Javabali.info

2008-07-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

A beautiful simple, yet effective design by javabali, posted in Flickr. This refreshing bathroom set with red color has a floating like shelves. In the works that they post, there are a lot of modern interior design worth to see and give you inspiration.

Like the above indoor pool, interesting design with unique windows like cubism painting.

Interview with Ken Yeang - his vision of future architecture

2008-07-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

In 2003, Yeang's work was included in the exhibition "Big & Green: Towards Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century" curated by David Gissen at the National Building Museum

Yeang's 1992 Menara Mesiniaga building in Subang Jaya Selangor, Malaysia is a catalogue of his bioclimatic techniques, including daring "vertical landscaping", external louvers to reduce solar heat gain, extensive natural ventilation and lighting, and an "active Intelligent Building" system for automated energy savings.

Like William McDonough, Yeang's concentration on energy conservation and environmental impact is a radical departure from mainstream architecture's view of the profession as an art form. Yeang has written, "In practice, architectural design is a craft, and a variable one at that. Post modernism has successfully shown up the volatile nature of this craft by its unrestrained use of architectural symbolisms, its frivolous multiplication of the surface area of the built envelope, its prodigious use of unnecessary building materials, its indifference to engineering economy, its extravagant use of land, and its irrational subservience to whim and history instead of the allocation and restriction of excessive consumption of energy resources." Yeang is very innovative, and who might know that his original idea can save the world? (Wikipedia with little changes).

INTERVIEW WITH KEN YEANG.

An interview with architect Ken Yeang, on CNN's 'Just Imagine' programme.
Ken describes his vision for the future of buildings - and how we might live in and organise our cities in 2020, to make them greener.

Mobile Performance Venue - Mobile Building that can be put everywhere

2008-07-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

on grass...

on water...

on dessert...

The first time I saw this design... It was really interesting because it can stand everywhere and mobile too.

This was posted in Pushpullbar forum, by Jimmern, a PushPullBarian, and an architect in Various Architect, Oslo, Norway. He said:

The following design principles have driven the development of the concept:

Create a unique, iconic, and sculptural object to house the Identity Of The Soul performance and represent Arts Alliance Productions worldwide
Design a calm inner space that will enhance the experience of the performance
Create an exciting and inviting exterior in contrast to the inner surfaces and spaces
Create a lightweight mobile venue that can be transported in standard shipping containers with quick erection time and set-up onsite
Design a flexible solution that would suite different locations, sizes, and types performances
Use durable materials, long lasting with repairable and replaceable parts where possible

Which I think was quite outstanding design. Congratulation!
Visit the complete explanation about this design here.

A cozy library corner, with fireplace

2008-07-25T07:38:00.001-07:00

Via thisoldhouse.com

Amazed by this cozy corner, I post this here. A library area with shelves, stone veneer chimney, and windows masked from the street, that feels like a homey space.

The home owner, George Mabry, says he will use the room every day. "I'll have dinner parties," he says. "But I didn't want the room gathering dust the rest of the time."

Very nice room to enjoy the day isn't it? But what if the window can be more open?

Meet Tadao Ando

2008-07-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

INTERVIEW WITH TADAO ANDO
from http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/ando.html

what is the best moment of the day?
no particular moment.
morning maybe good because of the feeling of beginning.

what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?
mostly classic.

what books do you have on your bedside table?
I am interested in things happening around me, and I need to understand
what's going on in other artistic sectors like music and literature.
I read a lot, but nothing comes to mind at the moment.

do you read architecture and design magazines?
I don't read them. just look at it.

I assume you notice how women dress.
do you have any preferences?
I don't look so closely at women's fashion, but from the 20th century on,
people have had the freedom to express themselves and their individualities,
and fashion is one of the most fundamental ways in which they do this,
men and women are equally able to express themselves.

what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?
nothing in particular.

do you have any pets?
a dog named 'le corbusier'.

where do you work on your designs and projects?
once I traveled a lot, to see the nature, the countryside and the cities,
with a sketchbook... a practice I continue today.
but plans actually I draw in my office.

who would you like to design something for?
I believe that the way people live can be directed a little by architecture.
I would like my architecture to inspire people to use their own resources,
to move into the future.
although now we are more and more governed by the american way
of thinking, money, the economy...
I hope that now people will shift to a more european way (of thinking),
culture, individuality, and that people move towards new goals.
so for me to be able to contribute to this would be great.

do you discuss or exchange ideas with other architects?
not much.

describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it.
walls are the most basic elements of architecture,
and in all my works, light is an important factor.
the primary reason is to create a place for the individual,
a zone for oneself within society.
its very difficult to explain or describe my style, I hope the answer will
come out of the interview.

what project has given you the most satisfaction?
as an architect you have to do your best work for any project,
but for me the most satisfying thing is when architecture can
do something to make people's lives better, to inspire them.

do you try to find meeting points between asian and european cultures?
I don't see them as opposites, the west and the east,
but for example western society seems to be centered on
american culture.
but I think it is important to understand that apart from that
main culture, there are so many other cultures,
and it is necessary to respect them all and their differences.

is there any architect from the past you admire?
of course I learned from history, from the renaissance,
from mies van der rohe, le corbusier, terragni... many architects.

what current architects do you appreciate?
like with the work of the past, as an architect you have to look around
and see what your contemporaries are creating,
for my contemporaries I have respect and interest.

did you always want to be an architect?
right from the beginning yes, but in my life I have done many things,
at one time I was a boxer...
I was never a good student.
I always preferred learning things on my own.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Tadao Ando's body of work is known for the creative use of natural light and for architectures that follow the natural forms of the landscape (rather than disturbing the landscape by making it conform to the constructed space of a building). The architect's buildings are often characterized by complex three-dimensional circulation paths. These paths interweave between interior and exterior spaces formed both inside large-scale geometric shapes and in the spaces between them.

His "Row House in Sumiyoshi" (Azuma House), a small two-story, cast-in-place concrete house completed in 1976, is an early work that begins to show elements of his characteristic style. It consists of three equally sized rectangular volumes: two enclosed volumes of interior spaces separated by an open courtyard. By nature of the courtyard's position between the two interior volumes, it becomes an integral part of the house's circulation system.

Ando's housing complex at Rokko, just outside Kobe, is a complex warren of terraces and balconies and atriums and shafts. The designs for Rokko Housing One (1983) and for Rokko Housing Two (1993) illustrate a range of issues in the traditional architectural vocabulary -- the interplay of solid and void, the alternatives of open and closed, the contrasts of light and darkness. More significantly, Ando's noteworthy achievement in these clustered buildings is site specific -- the structures survived undamaged after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. New York Times architectural critic Paul Goldberger argues convincingly that "Ando is right in the Japanese tradition: spareness has always been a part of Japanese architecture, at least since the 16th century; [and] it is not for nothing that Frank Lloyd Wright more freely admitted to the influences of Japanese architecture than of anything American." Like Ando, Wright's site specific decision-making anticipated seismic activity; and like Ando's several Hyōgo-Awaji buildings, Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo did survive the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

Office building near Lelystadt, The Netherlands

2008-07-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

There's no more explanation from _kel_ in Flickr about this building, but "Nothing in particular - the office of a building company near Lelystadt, The Netherlands."

The building is interesting, with wide glass wall on one side and artistic arrangement of the aluminum framing. Interesting work

Modern house design, in Flickr by Jason McMinn

2008-07-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Jason McMinn shows us great series of a contemporary house design in Flickr.

The house is quite simple, but has a lot of beautiful detail. Find new ideas with him.

Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar, Germany

2008-07-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

via building.co.uk:

The museum designed by David Chipperfield Architect won the RIBA Stirling Prize.

The museum brings together, for the first time since reunification, texts from a variety of German authors which had previously been dispersed in former East and West Germany.

The judges said: “This is a building that is simultaneously rich and restrained, a trick Chipperfield pulls off as well as any architect working today.

“The architect's control and discrimination in the choice of materials has by now become a signature but above all it is in the handling of the 'difficult whole' that the building excels.”

The judges added: “You can see that every penny spent has been carefully considered but that the right way to do things has always been chosen over the cheapest.

“Since the end of the war Germany has been sensitive to matters concerning the neo-classical in architecture. Had it been submitted a decade or two earlier it would surely have been eliminated for its formal manner.”

Remote interior designing

2008-07-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

Arthur, a designer from Chicago did this interior design remotely, and measure all space in occasional weekend visits. And the first time he stepped inside the house was after he was done with the interior design without ever stepping inside the house.

via ApartmentTherapy.com:

"...the space is so well organized! From a great landing strip with built-in shoe storage, a streamlined home office set up, and compact but fully functioning kitchen to the hands down neatest-closet-ever featured on AT:Chicago, this place simply works. But it is not all about function - the choices of furniture, artwork and all the details that make a house a home are there. The mementos and books and colorful art warm up the crisply designed and outfitted urban space, giving a glimpse of the interests of the owner and making it warm and inviting. A fantastic job, remotely done or not - we think Arthur is rightly proud of his new Chicago home!"

3D animation of a house in Lake Havasu, Arizona

2008-07-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

3D animation of a house in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

Wooden house in Vancouver, Canada

2008-07-23T12:11:00.001-07:00

First I saw this house in a book of houses compilation. Quite amazing design of wooden house.
The poster in Flickr said it:

A new modern west coast post and beam style house under construction in the Eagle Harbour neighbourhood of West Vancouver, BC, Canada.

More to see from this house:

This house is a very good example of wood construction.

(New House (?) in Paris

2008-07-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Flickr magical image of a house in Paris (?), I found this in here.
There's no further explanation. But I think this house really show simplicity of geometric forms. There's a Japanese de ja vu in the facade. Don't you think?

SHIGERU BAN New York City Shutter Houses

2008-07-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

Via Inhabita t.

Scaling his literal Curtain House into a larger and more dense development, Shigeru Ban’s Shutter Houses are one part architecture, one part art, and one part pure poetry from one of our favorite thoughtful architects. The 9-unit condo located in West Chelsea blurs the line between indoor and outdoor with a perforated metal shutter system that lets residence open and close their spaces on a whim.

Units range from 1,950 to 3,180-square-feet. The rolling shutters are inspired by Korean delis and Chelsea galleries that use industrial rolling grates to open and close their storefronts. Shigeru makes industrial chic, and allows urban dwellers to let the sunshine in and live among nature even in the bustling Big Apple. Metal Shutter Houses at 524 West 19th Street are scheduled for completion in Fall 2008.

Nice 3D rendering

2008-07-23T08:39:00.001-07:00

This building is so quite a temptation for me to post it here, because the sense of clarity in its design as well as the innovative idea.

made by Joel+Maria Pirela in blinkr.net, this design is an inspiration.

A Riverside house

2007-10-17T01:50:00.000-07:00

This building is located on a river bank is a simple yet powerful design, made of traditional building method from wood, in a contemporary design. The architect says that this house embrace the great natural view of the riverbank, named 'plat house'.

floating buildings

2007-10-17T01:26:00.000-07:00

Waterstudio.nl specializes in above water design, as their design expertise. Many floating houses can be seen in their website.

Urban Acupuncture for a 'sick' area below fly overs

2007-10-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

The design concentrate on 'healing' sick area below fly over road in Bandung, Indonesia. The architect being a suggester of the urban acupuncture said that this might be a way of making better land use without compromising the weakness of the government.

In Indonesia, known as a developing country, the problem of area below fly overs becoming slum and unattended area is common, and being repeatedly happened in Jakarta. This concept proposal derrives a method of healing such area. Via sa98

a white solid house placed on a hill ridge

2007-10-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Being a typically box house. this house on a hill ridge represent a great vista from inside out. The plan looks like a maze, and it's a house by guessing from the domestic scale. There's no opening at all, but doorways, but some part can be opened and create a new sense of complexity, said arkinetia.

The sun creates shading that changes the face of the house through out the day, becoming a theme of the facade. Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza wrote: “[It can be said] that the key lies in a profound understanding of light as matter, as material, as a modern material.”

Museum of Liverpool

2007-09-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

The museum of Liverpool at a riverside site, is a museum designed from a winning proposal that will display pop and contemporary culture of Brittain.

Ulster Museum Building

2007-09-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

See the development of Ulster Museum Building with the proposal included in the website. The building is said to be in connection with traditional style. Yet it looks very contemporary design.

Flickering effect of a fireplace

2007-09-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

An electric fireplace that is mounted on the wall is a good idea. It also has a flickering flame effect, the Oakhampton Contemporary Electric Fireplace.

The chair that is long lasting to be a modern icon

2007-09-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Eero Aarnio, via six different ways.

The chair that is still modist even after 50 years. These ball chair, mushroom chair or bubble chair still appealing and become one of the most modern icon in furniture design.

The ball chair and companions have been remarkably used in many movies, and print ads. It is still having an evolution, like addition of light fixtures, the use of different materials.

Fresh sustainable design

2007-09-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

BoabDesign offers a variety of fresh look contemporary building designs, said to be supporting sustainable design. Their website contains their work, full of those orange and lime juice of tasty look.

Superimposing forms

2007-09-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

Designed for a corporate office in Las Vegas, this building is dinamic, yet simple. The use of superimposing rectangular forms creates a sense of contemporary look.

Aspen Pacific Capital Corporate offce was designed by Dekker/Perich/Sabatini

Millions ideas open up for prefab houses

2007-09-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Prefab houses is considered an alternative way to own a house when custom designed houses are too expensive for many people. Prefab houses also express modern aesthetics because of the materials they use.

There are sure to be millions of chance to develop ideas for architects in this prefab houses issue. This is what fabprefab explains.

A perfect example from Chilearq

Blinds for wide windows

2007-09-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

Housecouture brings a luxury in modern houses in US. They produce electric operated blinds that fit modern statement. These blinds provide adjustment of lighting which is very important for creating ambience of your luxury houses.

Interior designs made more beautiful, while fixing some problems of wide aperture of oversized windows.

simple rectangular house

2007-09-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

Arkinetia shows us one simple house design in rectangle shape, minimalist form in Spain.

The house represent closure and openness to the open space of grass and the sense of horizontality.

meeting older style

2007-09-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

When added to older style of a house, contemporary style merge in this kind of look. This is absolutely a changing nature of a house. You can imagine to put a contemporary design in your grandmother's house.

This is the work of Khouri Architects, in Stourbridge, West Mindland.

Red, masculine, modern inclination

2007-09-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

Let's take a look closer to one of one design award by Texas Society of Architects / AIA, a house called 'the ramp house'. A nice looking house by geometrical composition.

The red color determine the house's masculine look. The owner said in the website that it is a 'time experience', rather than just racing upstairs. Finally there is the most of spatial experience in the house.

The architect also has a big consideration on scale and proportion, as well as connection with the history of the site and its surroundings.

House by Richard Neutra

2007-09-11T01:18:00.000-07:00

Richard Neutra designed this Grace Miller House in 1937. It was nice to have a modern look house by famous architect. The pool reflects the sun to the white ceiling of the house. After several decades of surviving the age and some owners with their own 'treatment' of the house, finally the house has its proper treatment.

Hargrave-Andrew Library in Monash Unversity

2007-09-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

Hargrave-Andrew Building Library in Monash University, Australia, has that look of contemporary design, so they call it 'contemporary architecture' in their website.

The letters placed inside glass wall giving its sense of unique look. This kind of letter placement within glass is also common in many contemporary architecture.

small condo in natural scene

2007-09-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

A nice simple condo in Argentina by Bak Arquitectos, found via http://arkinetia.com/Articulos/art364.aspx

This simple house looks almost for sure designed with Sketchup, by Google. Familiar to the eyes and keeps us connected to the spirit of the environment.

house up the hill by Pezo von Ellrichshausen Architects

2007-09-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

It is called 'Fasi House'. This under construction house up the hill, designed by PEZO VON ELLRICHSHAUSEN ARCHITECTS is a fine space that offers more to design. Imajine to place most of modern furniture inside this spacious home.

The environment also offers a spectacular view.

visit http://www.pezo.cl/pag_base/01_W_1.html for more.

villa in Netherland

2007-09-10T22:54:00.001-07:00

An exciting villa in Netherland by MVRDV, can be found in http://www.mvrdv.nl/_v2/

Looks very contemporary design with glass and steel structure.

The inside is also wonderful, filled by tasty modern look, sometimes with blue lights, mostly with cozy warm rooms.

Living in Small Spaces

2007-09-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

A book published by Loft publications, now available in Amazon. It is a design guide for cozy urban apartments with size 30-40m2. Quite small space that need special arrangements. This book might help to adapt with your urban lifestyle.

More can be found in Amazon

Introduction to now-architecture.blogspot.com

2007-09-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

Contemporary architecture is the architecture being made at the present time. It also includes that of the last few decades, from the 1980s to the present.

The idea of building this blog is to follow the most recent work of contemporary architecture design trough out the world.

This is Tuesday, September 11th 2007. Right with the happening of terroris attack in New York back in 2001. I hope this will be a start for something useful for us architect.

Thank you for visiting.

(the left picture is from the two towers in New York).