Taipei Performing Arts Center Proposal by NL Architects

This design was proposed by NL Architects in a design competition for the Taipei Performing Arts Center to host a variety of large-scale performances.

There is something really amazing about the aesthetics of this project that I love yet can't quite put my finger to it. Perhaps it is the fact that I like large void spaces. I just love how the structure is actually a simple white cube with its inner volume subtracted, like a mouse eating in a cube of cheese with square teeth.

In the end, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) won the competition as other pragmatic concerns, such as the poor acoustics in such a huge structure, took over.

I would love to be inside this space. Looking up, peering down to the performances held within.
via designboom

Collective Housing in Tokyo

This is a collective housing project by Sou-Fujimoto which should be completed by now. It is located in the centre of Tokyo on a 143 sq m plot of land. Made of wood, it is designed so that you experience the house like it is a mountain. How fun!

World's Most Creative Work Environments

I saw this pic at the coolhunter under the call for submission for the "World's Most Creative Work Environments". I am so in love this idea although I wonder if one could get a little looney working in a cylinder... Does anyone know where this project is?

Shop in a church

Designed by Merkx+Girod architects, this contemporary bookshop is designed within a former Dominican church. I am sure many of you must have seen this but since I have been buried under a rock for a while, I don't recall seeing these images before.

From a design point of view, I really love how the neat rows of books lined up in a modern black steel structure form a contrast with the ornate interior of this gothic church. The colours of the books also stand out really well against the neutral tone of the stone surfaces.

I am not sure how to respond to the image above. I thought at first it was a reading area...but found out later it is a coffee shop. Beautiful as I think it is, I am not sure if it is quite appropriate to locate a crucifix-shaped coffee table at the location where the altar used to be. I guess in true Dutch fashion, the designers have succeeded in coming up with yet another controversial project... (via)

102 Dwelllings by Dosmasuno Architects

Spanish architects Dosmasuno have completed an apartment block in the Madrid suburb of Carabanchel. Encased in a pristine galvanished white mesh on a linear facade facing the sun, this block is designed with playful cantilevered modules on its opposite side. Kind of like a Sejima-meets-MVRDV project.

Despite the seeming irregularities on the protruding face, this apartment block actually consists of 102 dwelling units of the same layout. A wonderful example of how economies of scale achieved by repetition can also create interesting forms.

For more pictures, click here.

Les Bains des Docks by Jean Nouvel

The aquatic complex Les Bains des Docks designed by the 2008 Prtizker-prize winning architect Jean Nouvel has just opened in the historical Port of Le Havre. The design is inspired by the Roman thermal baths. From the pictures and video, the complex has the most beautiful play of natural light and labyrinth spaces. Looking at this inspiring building sure reminds me of what made me love architecture in the first place.

The builidng is primarily white, allowing the flowing water curtains to create different hues along the different textured surfaces. For more pictures, click here.

Drawerment

Via The Style Files, I found out about Drawerment, a composition of drawers collected from old office furniture. This simple but gorgeous installation is designed by Hubero Kororo for Dutch label Demakersvan, as a part of their renovated studio in Rotterdam.

I just love the way light and shadow is captured by the drawers and the different textures/colours of aged wood in this installation.

Reminds me a little of the WOZOCO housing project for the elderly (below) that propelled architecture design studio MVRDV to international stardom many years back.

Cloud

London-based architecture and design studio Voon Wong & Benson Saw have created a cloud-like installation using polystyrene cups for the opening of a design store in Malaysia. (Via Dezeen)

Wallpaper* Design Awards

The winners of the Wallpaper* Design Awards was unveiled in London last night. This event is held annually to honour the year’s highest design talents, whether it’s in the field of architecture, product design, media or fashion.

Rather than simply opening an envelope to reveal the winners, Wallpaper actually teamed-up with digital animators, Mainframe, to produce some really cool animations for each winner of the Judges’ Awards. Click here to check out the winners of each design category.

Here are some of my favourites in the field of architecture!

(above) Best new public building: New Museum, New York by Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA,

(above) Best new private house: The Ring House, by Takei-Nabeshima-Architects (TNA) architects. The height of each ring was decided by the function concealed behind it. The glass between the rings allow you to look straight into the forest, so the whole house appears to dissolve into the forest.

Andrew Maynard's Tattoo House

The home you see here is designed by Andrew Maynard Architects in Australia. The form is a simple box and the architect has ingenious employed low cost UV stable wall decals to fulfil the council's requirement for 75% opacity to second storey spaces (in order to minimise "overlooking"). The screening also reflects heat and glare away from the expansive glass windows and eliminates the need for curtains and expensive screening.

above: It is interesting how the (narrow, corridor-looking) space ends at the window here.
(above) I really like the way the kitchen bench becomes part of the stair to maximise the use of space underneath.


via Moco Loco.

House by Gianni Botsford

Fresh out of the newest issue of Wallpaper*, this house was designed by architect Gianni Botsford for his father's whopping 16,000 books. I really like the transparent open end of the house with the massive book collection. Framed by the natural landscape, this house on stilts also reminds me of the Farnsworth House. Simple but beautiful. via Kitsunenoir.

Klein Dytham Architecture

Japanese architecture has always intriqued me, especially the simplicity of their forms, their masterful use of modern materials and the creative ways they use to fit a building into a small footprint.

This is is a project by Klein Dytham Architecture. It is a home cum salon for a couple of young hairdressers in Jingumae, a hip area in Tokyo. I really love the powerful graphic images that seem to engulf the entire building. Like a large wall decal but for a building exterior...wonder if anyone makes these?

(via)

A house in a house

My heart skipped a beat when I first saw this at Debi van Zyl's blog. It reminded me why I loved architecture and interiors in the first place. The magic of creating that dream house to live in. Of making, reconstructing, rethinking, inhabiting, dreaming...

This house is reconstucted by fnp architeken in Stuttgart. Since the site is not in English, I guessed from the pictures that the architects preserved the decaying shell of the house and inserted a new interior like an inner sleeve into it. Simple and magical. Love it! Absolutely looove it to bits!

Beautiful Balconies

This housing block in Izola on the Slovenian coast was designed by Ofis Arhitekti. It was a winning entry for a national design competition calling for the design of two apartment buildings. While the units (ranging from studios to three-bedrooms) may be small, the unique trapezoidal-shaped balconies provide ample external space. Each balcony is also beautifully wrapped with colourful canvas awnings that provide both privacy and ventilation.
A visually pleasing building that is also responsive to Slovenia's Mediterranean climate. Really hope to see more of such projects, especially in tropical places like Singapore. (via the coolhunter)

Loft Cube

One of the highlights at the Milan fair 2007, the loft cube by Werner Aisslinger is a self-contained mobile living unit. Conceptualised to inhabit underutilised rooftops, this compact structure is meant to be a temporary structure to suit the nomadic lifestyles of people who live in large, dense cities. It even comes with the option of installing a swimming pool on your own roof!

Sketches of Gehry

Just watched the "Sketches of Gehry" with a few friends today. Although I can't say I am a total Gehry architecture fan, I really love his freehand sketches and enjoyed the glimpse into his design process in the documentary. Gehry's honest confession to close friend and director Sydney Pollack at the start of the documentary that "I'm always scared that I'm not going to know what to do," also made him very real.

Also found the following quote from Gehry in the documenatary very inspiring.

"Everything has been done before in some way or another, only thing that changes is technology. What bugs me is the goddamn rules that my profession has that what fits and what doesn't. There is a certain threatening aspect to taking a leap, but once you try that, once you say "I have a right"-- you can't stop." - Frank Gehry

{image: Gehry's sketch of Nationale-Nederlanden Building (1992 - 1996)Rasin EmbankmentPrague, Czech Republic}

Concrete pod

Made from fibre-reinforced concrete, this delicately perforated pod-for-all-occasions design by architect Kazuya Morita is simply magical. With the proportions of a chicken egg shell, the concrete skin (a mere 15mm thick) is immensely strong and can easily bear the weight of a person.