The Chesa Futura in St.Moritz Switzerland was built by renowned British architect, Lord Norman Foster and combines futuristic forms of construction with traditional building materials. 250,000 larch clapboards were used on the facades of the building, which houses 10exclusive private apartments.
photo source (openbuildings.com)
The Culture and Congress Centre in Lucerne Switzerland (or KKL for Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern) is a multi-functional building with a concert hall that is esteemed for its high-profile acoustics. It was built according to the plans of the architect Jean Nouvel and was inaugurated in 1998 with a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado.
interesting facts about the roof structure:
surface 12’000 square metres (2.9 acres)
weight: 2’400 tons
underside surface: 7000 square metres
materials: steel beams with wood supports, top: copper, underside: aluminum panels
longest roof overhand (north-east corner): 45 metres
withholding elements: up to 160km/h (99mph) winds and heavy snow weights
Located on a barrier island along Sarasota Bay in Florida, the Casey Key Guest House was designed by Sarasota-based firm TOTeMS Architecture. The design was inspired by the character of the live oaks, which have been shaped by the prevailing coastal winds from the west. Curved glulam pine beams curve up and over the entire space, reflecting the arching quality of the live oak limbs.
Starbucks Library in Tokyo by Nendo
A white Starbucks? Oh I’m in love. (Yes. I’m an addict…but c’mon..what about gettin a good soy latte at the end of the world?!)
Sparch Design Studio have completed the redesign of the existing façade of the Starhill Gallery shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur.
The “Town Hall Hotel” occupies the walls of an Edwardian Grade II listed building (built 1910 - 1937), the old Bethnal Green Town Hall, at London’s East End. Added was a modern extension by rare architects Michel da Costa Gonçalves and Nathalie Rozencwajg.
(photos: ed reeve, edmund sumner, calvin chua)
The Marqués de Riscal Hotel in Elciego, Spain is located in an amazing medieval town that sits in the heart of the Rioja wine region. Architect Frank O. Gehry - creator of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles designed the hotel building with its stunning red-, silver-, and gold-titanium ribbon roof and asymmetrical walls. The hotel has 43 guest rooms are dispersed over the hotel- and spa wing connected via a glass-enclosed bridge.
The “Leon’s Place”, is set in a XIXth century’s aristocratic palace in Rome, Italy. Once a historical and sacred place, it is now representing most contemporary hotel architecture. The width of the spaces, the majestic main hall, the enormous black velvet swing hanging from the central chandelier, made of elegant crystals and fabrics, all have a theatrical impact on the visitor.
The ‘Bondi Penthouse’ is a single family residence located in Bondi Beach, Australia completed by Australian firm Brian Meyerson Architects. It is a contemporary addition perched on top of an existing building constructed in the 1920s. (http://www.perfectlounge.ch/?p=14751)
The Hotel “the vine” in Funchal on the Portuguese Island of Madeira, is a hotel with soul, just like a good wine and offers panoramic pool, vinotherapy at the spa or a gourmet dinner with a view over the city.
The Contemporary elegant design is the creation of internationally acclaimed Madeiran interior designer Nini Andrade Silva.
Catalan architect, Ricardo Bofill in collaboration with architect João Francisco Caires are responsible for the unmistakable style, giving maximum representation to post-modern contemporary architecture.
The 556 rooms at the Titanic Beach Resort Hotel in Antalya, amid the sandy beaches of Lara, Turkey are an impressive structure resembling a large ocean liner.
The Titanic as we all know was not quite this white and also more impressive inside (from my perspective the guest rooms and other hotel facilities do not justify a post amongst all other beautiful hotels in my blog), but that said,…the “hull” & situation make for some great photo opportunities!
This wonderfully futuristic border checkpoint building in Sarpi on Georgia’s border with Turkey caught my online-eye this week!
J. Mayer H. Architects created this thin, curvacious building used as a viewpoint for the coast of the Black Sea, housing a cafeteria, staff- and conference rooms, in addition to the regular customs facilities.
The City Library in Stuttgart, Germany is marvelous new media center. This cavernous white wonder is unobtrusive in design, where the books and visitors provide the color to an otherwise neutral environment. The visual center of the Stuttgart City Library is its grand atrium, a five-story open chamber that feels like the work of a modernist MC Esher. The interior is bright without direct lighting, it is warm without paint color and intimate yet open. This work by Yi Architects is a success in design, instantly one of the world’s most beautiful libraries.
Lying on the slope of a hill, on the shores of Lake Lugano, in Brusino Arsizio, Switzerland the private Lake villa consists of two volumes on different levels. A glass pavilion with rounded edges stands above a linear underground block. The living and dining room, kitchen and storage spaces are located in the pavilion, while bedrooms, bathrooms and garage are in the lower level.
Great attention is given to the environmental aspects, as the use of geothermal energy, roof gardens, the rain-water collection system, the choice of highly efficient low-emittance glass insulated with argon gas, to optimize the thermal efficiency of the shell and the use of natural sun shading as the placement of deciduous trees in the south-west area of the building.
(photos: http://www.viralblender.com/2011/12/03/lake-lugano-house-by-jm-architecture/)
The Ryugyong Hotel is a 105-story (330 metres/1,080 ft) skyscraper under construction in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name (“capital of willows”) is also one of the historic names for Pyongyang. Construction began in 1987 with planned completion in 1989. However, after several delays, construction was eventually halted in 1992; the fall of the Soviet Union had resulted in widespread economic disruptions in North Korea and shortages of raw materials.
The building stood topped out but without windows or interior fittings for the next sixteen years. Construction resumed in April 2008 under the supervision of the Orascom Group of Egypt, which has invested heavily in the North Korean mobile telephony and construction Industries. The company completed exterior work on the building in 2011, and interior work on the building’s 360,000 square metres (3,900,000 sq ft) of floor space will continue until 2012 or later. Orascom has stated that the building will contain restaurants, hotel accommodation, apartments, and business facilities.
The building is the most prominent feature of Pyongyang’s skyline and by far the largest structure in North Korea. Construction of the Ryugyong was intended to be completed in time for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in June 1989; had this been achieved, it would have held the title of world’s tallest hotel. The unfinished building was not surpassed in height by any new hotel until the 2009 completion of the spire atop the Rose Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Ryugyong Hotel is currently the world’s 40th tallest building (alongside the China World Trade Center Tower III) in terms of total height and has the 4th highest number of floors.
