An architectural wonder with a glass crown of waves: the Elbphilharmonie, affectionately known as “Elphi”, has established itself as a new landmark in the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, after much squabbling during the construction period. The modern glass building above the multi-storey red-brick façade of the old Kaispeicher A warehouse on the River Elbe comprises two worl...
While trawling his archives for our Zvi Hecker issue, uncube became entranced with the architect’s “Mountains”, an urban housing masterplan imagined for European cities from London to Bucharest and inspired by undulating natural forms. “The ‘Mountains’ project doesn’t imitate Nature, but mimics it” argues Zvi, who sought to introduce a new paradigm for grand ensemble hou...
On January 16, ‘Implementation Day’ — when the International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran had met all commitments under last summer’s nuclear accord to restrain its nuclear programme — was finally announced. It signalled the end of 10 years of economically crippling nuclear-related sanctions, and Iran’s chance to reconnect with the global economy. It’s in a st...
The new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is a symbol of education, culture and sustainability, both for the people of Greece and in the wider international context. This project was awarded LEED Platinum Certification and is the largest construction project in recent Greek history. The buildings house the Greek National Opera (NGO) and the National Lib...
6mm Clear Marlon FSX Longlife was used to glaze this stunning rooflight on the new Salab Mall, ceramic show room in Cairo. The impressive dome rooflight which is oval in shape has a base diameter of 34m x 14m and is 4m high. The fixed mobile display of birds underneath the rooflight gives the appearance of looking up to the sky. Clear Marlon FSX Longlife is ideal for ...
The façades havean important role in urban construction because they determine the comfort in the acoustic sense of the inner environments and influence the architecture of the external context in which they are . Ventilated facade claddings are born precisely with the aim of responding to the protection of a building against the combined action of atmospheric agents ...
Philanthropic – International – Inclusive – Sustainable – these are all descriptions that apply to the new United World College (UWC) in the Armenian city of Dilijan. One element of the sustainability aspect is the green roof. About 7,000 m² of green roof contribute to the incorporation of the UWC building complex into the newly developed campus in the surrounding Nation...
The private dwelling house, Gleneagles Drive Residence with its spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean is in one of the most sought after neighbourhoods of West Vancouver. The flat-roof building on a hillside location, comprising a number of individual components, has an extensive green roof area totalling approx. 180 m² and presents itself as being just as cultivated an...
Having received numerous awards, the Chung Tai Chan Monastery, designed by the avant-garde architect C.Y. Lee, has become a landmark of 21st-century religious architecture. Its Buddhist temple is currently the largest in the world outside China. The design of the roofs, which confer so much identity to the monastery, is typical of Chinese temples built during the Tang ...
The European Football Championship 2016 will start June 10th in France. In addition to eight other venues the Stade Pierre-Mauroy is one of them. Opened in 2012 and named after the former mayor of the city, the multipurpose stadium “Stade Pierre-Mauroy” is located in Villeneuve d´Ascq, southeast of the metropolitan region Lille. Primarily, the Stade Pierre Mauroy is the ...
Changing Landscape is a photographic research about landscape transformations and urbanization along the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Working on the concept behind the development of contemporary cities I question how natural and manmade environments are commonly represented and how they interact with each other, in a country where architecture – and built environment – have...
6mm Clear Marlon FSX Longlife was used to glaze the BBC commentary box at the 2015 British Open Golf championships at St Andrew’s in Scotland. The impressive half round window was glazed with a single 7.7m long sheet of clear Marlon FSX Longlife to give the commentators a clear view of the golf course whilst protecting them from any rogue golf balls. The choice for M...
Moholt 50|50, Trondheim’s latest student accommodation, is set to become Europe’s largest cross laminated timber structure and a welcome addition to the city. With construction now drawing to a close, this new student village is expected to reach completion in December 2016. The sleek and stylish development has a sustainable Kebony façade and will comprise five blocks h...
The rear fascia features a series of windows and shutters that can be completely closed to form a uniform, semi-transparent screen, or opened to let natural light into the interior. This delicate canvas references patterns of traditional Portuguese tiles and functions like a skin that filters light and provides optimal levels of privacy for the residents. The architect ...
For what is one of Belfast’s most important civic buildings, the transformation of the Belfast Waterfront has seen the creation of a stunning new £29.5 million extension which has doubled the size of the existing facility and features a semi-transparent and colourful façade to form a dynamic frontage to the waterfront. The new 7000m² extension to Belfast Waterfront f...
JD Architects (JDA) has recently completed its ambitious redevelopment of Cinque Ports Street, the 1,050 sq. m. former Central Garage site in Rye. Derelict for fourteen years, these buildings have been given a new lease of life with a striking, angular wooden façade made from Kebony. With its clever design and sustainable focus, Cinque Ports Street was announced as a win...
Under his leadership, the boys helped design, build and paint the small structure. Not only that, but he also taught the boys how to source and use salvaged materials, making their project slightly more challenging. “I thought it’d [sic] not only be fun, but help them learn quite a bit by way of tool usage and re-using building supplies and salvaged goods, and that it...
Situated on a cliff face, the cocktail bar and restaurant design promises customers an amazing perspective for enjoying the canyon’s beauty in all directions, including straight down - thanks to a glass floor. Although there are no constructions plans in place yet, the design alone is enough to get us thinking about spending an afternoon in the sun, cocktail in hand, soa...
In the early 13th century, countries in the Middle East dreamt up intricate wall tiling for exterior walls. Progressively, the influence of Islamic architecture gradually spread to Spain and Italy, where ceramics were used extensively as external cladding on public buildings — think of the San Pedro Church, Teruel or the Chapel of Saint Sebastian in San Petronio at Bolog...
Installed at the foot of Mt Blanc, Biosphera 2.0 is the house of the future, an itinerant module moving from city to city and gauging the mental/physical wellbeing of users in an energy-efficient environment – all in online posts. Courmayeur is the first stop on a 12-month international road trip that will take the house of the future from Aosta to Milan, Rimini, Turin ...
Lin Wan, Roman Wendner and Gianluca Cusatis from Northwestern University have formulated a construction material that combines Martian soil with molten sulphur, which they claim could be used to build an entire village on Mars. The most important feature of the material is that – unlike regular concrete – it is produced without water, which is in scarce supply on Mars...
Each one seems to interpret its surroundings through a lens of creative futurism. Make sure to check out these gorgeous properties if you love extraordinary exteriors with extravagant pools and expansive glass walls. Los Angeles, California is a veritable playground for architects, its landscape graced with a unique array of geographical features including picturesque...
The winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects' (RIBA) House of the Year prize was announced as the climax of a TV series shown on Channel 4 last night. Commissioned by Jacob Rothschild, head of the historic banking family and lord of the Waddesdon Manor estate where the house is located, Flint House is a wedge-shaped home for a visiting art curator. Skene...
the structure, which will complete the block, is based on the original masterplan as created by professor antonín engel in the 1920s. in the plan, two types of monumental buildings compose the area: square, bulk forms, and concave shapes. the latter has been built only a single time in the near century that has passed, which is situated directly across the grounds fr...
However, many of the buildings themselves, from concepts to finished structures, are filled with empty space — in a very literal sense. Zaha Hadid Architects clearly has a penchant for atriums, and her latest may be the most dizzying yet. The recently completed Dominion Office Building in Moscow, Russia, possesses a huge, multistory void at its heart, visually connectin...
As we respond to the evolving nature of our cities, landscapes, and construction methods, how can we create new forms and uses for this widespread material? Continuing the thread grounded in our previous features on concrete façades, including Portugal and Japan, we’ve rounded up a collection of unique structures sited in South Korea. With distinct environmental conditio...
The eight projects featured in this collection embrace the challenges of a corner site. Instead of shying away from the site's imposing geometry, these designs exaggerate their site constrains and corner conditions. The acute corner is resolved both on the façade and interior of the building with innovative and inspired design. With a varied range of design resolutions, ...
Precious metals like gold and silver continue to be used for decoration and adornment, forming sculptural details and shining embellishments. Our understanding of metals has evolved over time, and we’ve learned to create powerful alloys like steel and bronze that freed our floor plans and gave rise to skyscrapers. The way we value metals has also changed. While we used t...
Upon glancing at the infamous photographs of the residence, which were carefully staged and manipulated by the infamous architecture photographer Julius Shulman, one perceives a distinctive American modernness: a union of nature and technology, and a sophisticated optimism that harks back to the golden age that is central to American Glamour. Often regarded as Neutra’s ...
The contest, sponsored by NASA and America Makes, sought innovative designs for a habitable four-person base 3D-printed from materials indigenous to Mars. New York studios SEArch (Space Exploration Architecture) and Clouds AO (Clouds Architecture Office) took home the $25,000 top prize for their space igloo-like design. Unlike the majority of entrants that primarily u...
The home was designed by the team at All Elements and covers a whopping 11,613 square feet (over 1000 square meters) and includes six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, four laundry rooms, two offices, and five fireplaces along with a detached guest house. While it certainly offers a retreat away from the city, it's not exactly a cozy cabin in the woods. Take a look inside to exp...
Barcelona-based design practice Forward Thinking Architecture proposes an innovative solution: Smart Floating Farms. Designed to complement traditional farming, these solar-powered and modular floating farms make use of underutilized water bodies to promote long-term food security and resilience. The Smart Floating Farms (SFF) are designed as smart and fully automated...
Architecture studio FAT and artist Grayson Perry renovated the existing derelict structure, covering it with funky tiling and filling it with surreal furniture and artwork inspired by the fictional character Julie Cope to create a vibrant space that is truly unique. Alain de Botton wanted a house that would be rich and small at the same time. Intricate tapestries and ...
Named Essence Skyscraper, the proposal by Polish architectural designers Ewa Odyjas, Agnieszka Morga, Konrad Basan and Jakub Pudo was awarded first prize in the eVolo Skyscraper Competition, an annual ideas contest run by eVolo Magazine. The designers, collectively known as BOMP, proposed a towering structure containing eleven different kinds of natural landscape, fro...
Richard Moreta Castillo has envisioned a grand offshore marine platform on stilts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of beginning of Cancun's development in 2020. Although the design for the mega Grand Cancun eco-complex will include all of the luxury amenities often associated with a project of this scale, including underwater dining and shopping galore, the project's ...
When we first came across this green, mountain-like resort, we had to do a double take to see if it was for real! Called the Magic Mountain Lodge, the 13 room hotel looks like it came straight from middle earth. The lodge sits in the private Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve in northern Chile's Patagonia and is a celebration of the rich natural heritage that the preserve ai...
