Zaha Hadid, who has been making her mark in product design, such as with her footwear design, has most recently collaborated with Donna Karan to design the powerful new scented perfume. The scent, which evokes the complexity of a woman, is accompanied by a curving, fluid-seeming container made of ombré charcoal glass. With a shape that is distinctively elegant, the bottle represents a strong sense of femininity, while demonstrating the confidence of a woman. “The bottle’s dark, translucent qualities offer a sense of mystery that awakens our curiosity,” Hadid, the Pritzker Prize winner explains. The perfume, which is sure to awaken many, retails at $85, per 1.7 oz.
The basic idea of the Adana City Hall and Cultural Center building by MTF Proje was based on the surrounding of the building, which is mostly captured with green areas. Half of the building is designed just under the green land which is coherent due to the topography. Here in Adana Çukurova, the building is designed due to the human scale. The building is consisted of a four story city hall, a culture center which has the capacity of nearly 500 people, a city library, a wedding place, city information center and the ateliers. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat recently won the international competition for the new 32.000m2 Sberbank corporate University. As Russia’s largest and oldest state run bank with over 250.000 employees and 20.000 branch offices in the country, the new Sberbank University will provide education, seminars, and team building programs to the company’s top professionals to continuously improve their performance within the corporate standards. The Sberbank University is expected to be completed in 2013. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed for Bernard Khoury of DW5 for a private residence in Beirut, .PSLAB’s aim for the staircase in this space is to highlight the distinguishing features and shape of the staircase, all the while offering a distinctive experience. inspiration in this project came from the staircase’s main characteristics. The aim was to create a lighting concept that would not only mirror these distinguishing features but also complement the structure. The constraints encountered came not from the space but from the lighting fixture itself which required special handling to turn a concept into reality. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Berkeley Prize 2013, which launches on September 15, is dedicated to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the World Health Organization which is helping to promote and implement the Convention. The International Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence, which focuses on the social art of architecture, is celebrating its 15th prize cycle this year. The online, two-stage essay competition is open to undergraduate architecture majors in accredited schools of architecture throughout the world. Proposals are due on November 1, 2012. For more information, please visit here.
Designed by Saraiva + Associados, the design of the present office center in Ataşehir, located on the Asian side of Istanbul, provides a cost effective solution to the changing needs of office spaces. This development plays a significant role in the city and within the financial community since it is seen as an important investment. Therefore, in order to perform as a new landmark in Ataşehir, this new office center, located in a not very privileged spot, aims to be exceptional in an unexceptional context – an iconic complex full of identity and easily recognizable. More images and architects’ description after the break.
LEGO® has just announced the newest classic building to join the collection of renowned architectural replicas in their Architecture series, the Villa Savoye, designed by Le Corbusier. Capturing the essence of the modernist villa, the small scale replica also makes sure to touch on Corbusier’s well-known ‘five points’. One of the most easily recognizable and renowned examples of the International style, the LEGO version will be available September 1 at a suggested price of $69.99.
Lying on the outskirts of Paris, France, Villa Savoye was designed as a private country house in 1931 and quickly became one of the most influential buildings and cemented Le Corbusier’s reputation as one of the most important architects of the 20th century. More images after the break.
Armi OPEN Workshop – Urban Brain Stream is an international workshop that aims to develop our urban environment. It is part of the program of both World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 and the Helsinki Design Week. In a series of workshops, to be held around the world in a span of 24 hours on September 6, professionals in architecture, art, business, construction, design, graphic design, media and traffic planning, together with city residents, discuss current challenges in urban planning in the context of each city involved. The workshops will discuss topics that have to do with movement and communication – the redesigning of the experience of moving and communal urban spaces. The findings of the workshops will be summed up in an open public meeting at the Huutokonttori information center in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki, on Septmeber 7, from 3pm to 7pm. For more information, please visit here.
Organized by Singapore Institute of Architects, the annual month-long architecture festival is back for the sixth year running to celebrate the urban environment and the communities that make it alive. With the theme of ‘Rethink Singapore’, the event aims to consider the city in new ways – its people, spaces and the way we inhabit it. Taking place October 6-31, they hope to place Singapore under new light and be seen through new lenses, rethinking and re-framing it as an urban ecosystem, beyond singular architectural projects. For more information, please visit here.
Docomomo US welcomes all to their 6th annual Tour Day, which has become one of the largest national events devoted to the appreciation of American architecture, which will be taking place October 6 and continue throughout the week. Featuring architectural tours of buildings and interiors of the Modern Movement, the event seeks to raise the awareness of and appreciation for buildings, interiors, neighborhoods and landscapes designed in the United States during the mid-20th century. For more information, please visit here.
The first prize winning competition proposal for the Fishing Boat Harbor and ‘River’ of Liopetri was designed by the collaborative effort of architects Iereidis Vasilis, Michael Aimilios, Zomas Alexandros, Mitakou Eleni, Raisi Alexia, Hatzopoulos Dimitris, Fanou Paraskevi, and Lada Anastasia. With the challenge for a proposal that would provide all the necessary facilities for the fishing boat harbor and create a park that focuses on environmental education, this design stands as a binary between experience and function. As an outcome there are no clear boundaries between the fishing boat harbor and the park or in that sense between any other of the proposed interventions. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed as an iconic building in Ahmedabad, the hotel proposal by Studio Symbiosis focuses on interweaving the concepts of waves in nature. Using fold lines as movement trajectories and perception along with programmatic requirements, the project’s form demonstrates a sense of elegance with soft, subtle touches. Seamless waves flowing on the landscape and flowing on the façade are the focal point for this full service five star property. More images and architects’ description after the break.
With Greenland’s glaciers turning into icebergs, this could be considered as a sustainable motive force for Greenland economy by reactivating “white gold rush”. In response to this, the Iceberg Trading Post project, by Alexandre Bralerest, proposes icebergs as mass shipping supported by a constellation of ice-recycling trading posts along the west coast of Greenland. The “21st century Iceberg Trading Post” is a central rig system that mediates local market, iceberg transportation, price setting, harvesting deck and scientific facilities. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by, RMC (Raafat Miller Consulting) Architects & Engineers, their proposal for the National Museum of Afghanistan aims to best represent the heritage and the people of the country through a practical, innovative and enduring physical plan. This building would provide a clear and simple organization for the visitor to follow a natural progress through the site. They accomplish this by using a spatial concept where the visitor of the museum is led through a sequence of visual and physical experiences to draw them to the next encounter. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Established in June 2010, 100Landschaftsarchitektur shared with us the current status of Jardin de la Connaissance which is still up and thriving. With the knowledge truly disappearing into the forest, the book structures have decayed in the natural setting, but have also provided various micro-environments for a range of local creatures. Interacting with the forest, seedlings and insects have activated the walls, carpets and benches while mushrooms – those cultivated and those who have come by themselves – have made the garden their home. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Taking place September 4-15, the AA Muscat Visiting School, held by Kamvari Architects, will generate new architectural and urban solutions based on an investigation of patterns – which are seen as a means to translate the performance or appearance of historical structures into new concepts. Proposals will also take into account issues such as manufacturing, assembly and constructability. The aim is to apply these solutions to various scales, from facades and buildings to cities and regions. The workshop, taught in collaboration with professor Nikolaus Knebel of the German University of Technology, will end with a public exhibition of projects which will enable the students to present their ideas in a public forum and to discuss their views on the future direction of architecture in Oman. More images and workshop information after the break.
The Koloro Exhibition by Torafu Architects features their complete range of ‘koloro-desk / koloro-stool’, including versions which they collaborated with Mina Perhonen. Shown in CLASKA Gallery and Shop “DO” in Tokyo, the name ‘koloro’ is an Esperanto word, meaning color, many colors are used at the exhibition. They also display many colorful “airvase” throughout the space, including a new version where we collaborated with photographer Mikiya Takimoto, and a special version of“airvase”, which is enough large to cover your whole body, floating up and down with the help of a motor. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The proposal for the Natural History Museum of Denmark, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, Erik Møller Arkitekter, and JAJA Architects, focuses on creating a coherent and inseparable experience which mixes the experiences of the conventional museum and the classical garden into a series of remarkable spaces. Its location within the beautiful and historical setting of the city’s botanical garden creates a potential for a museum that is more authentic, more engaging and more open for everyone. More images and architects’ description after the break.
