Paris Mayor’s Race Offers Chance to Reimagine City
This computer image provided Monday March 17, 2014 by the Press Office of socialist candidate to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, shows a tunnel of abandoned railway from the 19th century, now ramshackle and overgrown, turned into a cinema. Hidalgo’s plan envisions not just a green space but in the tunnels, places for farming fish and mushrooms. (Photo by AP Photo/Anne Hidalgo’s Press Office) Continue reading »
Norway Will Cut Through An Island In Tribute To Massacre Victims
How do you adequately craft a memorial for one of the worst days in a country’s modern history? That’s the question that was posed to architects and artists as part of a competition for a dual-site memorial commemorating the attacks in Norway on July 22nd, 2011. On that day, 77 people were killed, eight by an Oslo car bomb and 69 in a massacre at a youth event on the island of Utøya. After holding an open competition, Norway has decided to install a pair of memorials designed by Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the attacks. Continue reading »
Shanghai Tower Cranes Come Down
Cranes that have helped to build the Shanghai Tower, China’s tallest building and the world’s 2nd tallest, are seen being dismantled. (Photo by Rex Features) Continue reading »
Exclusive Photos Of Facebook’s Sprawling New HQ, Designed Frank Gehry
After Facebook assumed the former Sun Microsystems complex in Palo Alto in 2011, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg set out to find an architect capable of handling a grand design for its main main headquarters building. Zuckerberg chose world famous architect Frank Gehry for the job. At more than 435,000 square feet, spread across 22 acres, the new building dips and rises from 45 to 73 feet. It is built above a surface-level parking lot with a massive rooftop green space that resembles a park more than a small corporate outdoor garden. Continue reading »
Manipulated Photography by Victor Enrich of a Munich Hotel
Architectural photographer Victor Enrich has shared with ArchDaily a series of 88 images — one for every key in the classical piano — exploring the various formal possibilities of the NH Deutscher Kaiser Hotel in Munich, Germany. “I found it beautiful,” says Enrich, “to connect two distinct artistic disciplines such as photography and computer graphics with the piano.” See further illustrations and read a full description of his thought process following the break. Continue reading »
15 Heart-Stopping Skywalks That Will Turn Your Legs To Jelly
Spectators look at the city from a walkway perched a dizzying 268m up a landmark downtown tower in Sydney, Australia. The “Skywalk” is a 160m circuit running around the Sydney Tower. (Picture: Skywalk/AP) Continue reading »
Glass House by Harumi Yukutake
This project features a house covered (inside and out) with thousands of round mirrors that makes it nearly camouflaged. The round mirrors have different shapes and size because each one was handcut by the artist. Visitors are in for a unique experience when the mirrors interactive with nature, glistening as it reflects sunlight while gently flickers when the wind blows. Continue reading »
Moonlight Rainbow Fountain in Seoul, South Korea
The Moonlight Rainbow Fountain is the world’s longest bridge fountain that set a Guinness World Record with nearly 10,000 LED nozzles that run along both sides that is 1,140m long, shooting out 190 tons of water per minute. Installed in September 2009 on the Banpo Bridge, former mayor of Seoul Oh Se-hoon declared that the bridge will further beautify the city and showcase Seoul’s eco-friendliness, as the water is pumped directly from the river itself and continuously recycled. The bridge has 38 water pumps and 380 nozzles on either side, which draw 190 tons of water per minute from the river 20 meters below the deck, and shoots as far as 43 meters horizontall Continue reading »
The House that was Deliberately Built Upside Down
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
At first glance, it looks like the occupants in this home are stuck to the ceiling. But amazingly the house was built this way as a tourist attraction at the VVTs the All-Russia Exhibition Center in Moscow. As well as its impressive exterior the house is fully furnished with decor, belongings and even a Mini – all painstakingly installed upside down. Continue reading »
Perfectly Camouflaged Log Cabin by Hans Linberg Looks Like a Pile of Firewood
If you were walking through the woods and came across this looming in the distance, you would probably think that it was just a large stack of cut logs. From all angles, it seems like a normal pile of firewood. However, as you get closer, you’ll see that something doesn’t look quite right. It’s not just a bunch of logs, but something much, much better.
The cabin was designed by a man named Piet Hein Eek for Dutch performer, Hans Liberg (the man in the pictures). The outside is made of wood that is covering plastic and a steel frame, making the walls look like logs. Right now, the cabin is being used as a recording studio, but with this design, it could be used as a camping cabin or hunting blind. Continue reading »
The Photographer’s House – A Tiny House in the Deep Forest
Architect Bence Turanyi and photographer Zsolt Batar decided to unify their artistic and professional visions, and the result of their work is an extraordinary house in a forest. The idea behind the building was to create harmony among man, nature and economic aspects. The sustainable wooden house breathes together with the surrounding trees, and its life is documented by the artist who lives in it. The house was one of the favourites of the international jury for Hungary’s Media Architecture Prize 2013. Continue reading »
Inside the World’s Biggest Tree House by Horace Burgess
Located in Crossville, Tennessee, the Minister’s house is the world’s biggest tree house, and was built by Horace Burgess. It is 97 foot tall (3om), 10-story high, uses 6 trees as its foundations, and took over 14 years to be built. “I built it for everybody. It’s God’s treehouse. He keeps watch over it,” said Burgess, who got inspired in 1993 after a vision. “I was praying one day, and the Lord said, ‘If you build me a treehouse, I’ll see you never run out of material.” Cost of construction you might ask? $12,000! Let’s go live in the woods then! Hot water what? Continue reading »
A Rich Guy Buys a Water Tower
This 100ft (30 meters) water tower located in the small Belgian village of Steenokkerzeel was originally built between 1938 and 1941. Continue reading »
New Glass Room in French Alps Offers Amazingly Scary View
A brand new installation in the French Alps, called Step Into the Void, opens today for those who are not afraid of heights. On the uppermost terrace of Aiguille du Midi, Europe’s highest mountain peak, sits a glass cube that looks like it’s suspended in mid-air. Now the tallest attraction in Europe, the structure has five transparent sides made of three layers of glass binded together. Of course, when you step into the box the most vertigo-inducing feeling will come when you look straight down through the glass floor to the dizzying view 3,395 feet (or 1,035 meters) below.
The attraction was inspired by the Grand Canyon’s Skywalk and was three years in the making. It was designed by Pierre-Yves Chays who custom built it “to the highest standards for safety and clarity.” If you’re brave enough to enter this glass cube, you’ll of course be rewarded with one of the most breathtaking 360° views in all of the world – of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. Photo above: via Chamonix Continue reading »
The Image of an Orthodox Church in a Modern Architectural Solution
Some time ago, The Union of Architects of Russia and Union of Philanthropy Organizations of Russia have announced a competition called “The Image of an Orthodox Church in a Modern Architectural Solution”. The competition will conclude with the selection of the 10 best architectural projects, which wil be put on display at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, RIA Novosti reports.
“First of all the projects should be focused not on stylizing cathedral architecture of past eras but rather on expressing in the image of the cathedral traditional features alongside modern aesthetics,” the organizers note.
The jury and expert council include representatives of the architecture community and the Russian Orthodox Church as well as historians of church architecture.
Take a look at some fantastic examples below! Continue reading »
Incredible Libraries from Around the World
1. Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland. Continue reading »
The Tiny Home Built from Scratch for $11,000
In one small swoop, Idaho architect Macy Miller has opted out of paying rent or even a mortgage with her perfectly formed ‘Tiny House’ – that cost her only $11,416.16 and which she broke her back building. Finding herself divorced, unemployed and losing her home to foreclosure two years ago, the Boise resident enlisted the help of her dad and later her boyfriend to start building her 196-square-foot dream home. The house which is built atop a flatbed trailer – made complete with sustainable materials – has the unlikely boast of its $2,000 compost toilet being the most expensive amenity or appliance in the whole cute build.
Macy Miller’s tiny house in Boise, Idaho, which is only 196-square-feet – but boasts all the modern conveniences of a normal, lager home. Continue reading »
Most Beautiful Abandoned Places of the World
1. Mirny Mine is a former open pit diamond mine located in Mirny, Eastern Siberia, Russia. Continue reading »
European Communities by Immo Klink
As devotees of Cabin Porn, we have spent many an idle moment daydreaming about fleeing our noisy, stressful urban life for the isolated pleasures of a rustic shack. So we were immediately intrigued by German photographer Immo Klink’s beautiful images of remote dwellings, which we spotted at Feature Shoot. The photos are part of a series called ‘European Communities’, which documents the off-the-grid lives of people around the continent who have chosen to retreat from society and forge more environmentally sustainable existences. Continue reading »
16 Best Architecture Photos of the Year
The Architectural Photography Awards, hosted by Arcaid Images, have announced the winner, runner-up and shortlisted images for this year’s best architecture photos.
Overall Winner: Trollstigen, Norway by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekten
Category: Sense of Place — Images should show buildings or spaces in their wider context and environment. Photographer: Ken Schluchtmann. Continue reading »
Mortsafe: Protection from the Living Dead
Mortsafes were contraptions designed to protect graves from disturbance. Resurrectionists had supplied the schools of anatomy in Scotland since the early 18th century. This was due to the necessity for medical students to learn anatomy by attending dissections of human subjects, which was frustrated by the very limited allowance of dead bodies – for example the corpses of executed criminals – granted by the government, which controlled the supply. Continue reading »
The Buzludzha Monument
Buzludzha is a historical peak in the Central Stara Planina, Bulgaria and is 1441 metres high. In 1868 it was the place of the final battle between Bulgarian rebels led by Hadji Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha and the Ottoman Empire.
The Buzludzha Monument on the peak was built by the Bulgarian communist regime to commemorate the events in 1891 when the socialists led by Dimitar Blagoev assembled secretly in the area to form an organised socialist movement with the founding of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, a fore-runner of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The Monument was opened in 1981. No longer maintained by the Bulgarian government, it has fallen into disuse. Buzludzha is reached by a 12 km side road from the Shipka Pass. Continue reading »
Little Planets By Clement Celma
“My Little Planets” by Clement Celma takes an interactive and panoramic approach, exploring beautiful architecture from all angles Continue reading »
Floralis Generica – Buenos Aires
Floralis Genérica is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas, Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, Buenos Aires, a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower “is a synthesis of all the flowers and is both a hope that is reborn every day to open.”
It was created in 2002. The sculpture moves closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning, although this mechanism is currently disabled. The sculpture is located in the center of a park of four acres of wooded boundaries, surrounded by paths that get closer and provide different perspectives of the monument, and placed above a reflecting pool, which apart from fulfilling its aesthetic function, protects it. It represents a large flower made of stainless steel with aluminum skeleton and reinforced concrete, which looks at the sky, extending to it its six petals.
Weighs eighteen tons and is 23 meters high. Continue reading »
House in Black
Haus in Schwarz (House in Black) was a 2008 public art piece by artists Erik Sturm und Simon Jung in the city center of Möhringen, Germany. The piece was meant as a farewell to the building which was slated for demolition, with the matte black paint acting as a sort of final curtain to an exterior that had recently been used by numerous street artists, shown below.
After demolition, the owner, art gallery manager Karin Abt-Straubinger built a new gallery (but the House in Black still haunts Google Maps). Continue reading »
