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Located on the city’s main street Tanum Karl Johan is the oldest bookstore in Oslo. The bookshop was founded I 1832 by Papen (Johan) Dahl in the name of J.W. Cappelen, and it was Oslo’s first bookshop. It offers a vast selection, including many English titles. The project is a full renovation, which means fairly tearing down the void interior. From having several floor levels, the store reappeared will all functions on one floor with a stronger visual homogeneity to the street and more rough materials to prioritize the evident appearance of the book.

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Architects: Park Associati , Filippo Pagliani, Michele Rossi
Location: Milan, Piazza Duomo, Italy
Client: Electrolux Home Appliances Emea N.V
Design team: Lorenzo Merloni, Alessandro Rossi, Alexia Caccavella, Alice Cuteri, Fabio Calciati_Rendering
Area: 140 sq. m
Photographs: Andrea Martiradonna, Carol Kohen

The concept is to build a small piece of architecture, a cabin, perhaps a nest, on high, at the top of a cliff, on a monument, on a public building, it doesn’t matter where but in a resplendent location and with an original and spectacular view. The idea is to create a restaurant that offers its clients an enchanting, unique atmosphere with sophisticated dishes cooked in Electrolux kitchens. The idea is to keep it open for six months and then change location on top of important monuments and amazing locations, change city, nation, continent and reinstate this restaurant-type object on some other roof for new surprises, in addition menus, new clients.

Continue reading Defying the paralysis of thinking and the imagination

Architects: Oyler Wu Collaborative
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Team: Oyler, Jenny Wu, Chris Eskew, Matt Evans, Richard Lucero, Sanjay Sukie
Year: 2011
Photos: Oyler Wu Collaborative

Anemone is an architectural creation designed by Oyler Wu Collaborative aimed at weaving together aesthetic experience again tactile engagement, a combination generally considered off limits within the world of contemporary art.

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Internationally renowned architecture studio UNstudio has completed “Galleria Centercity”, a multi-storey department store in Cheonan, South Korea. Recognizing the current behavioral tendencies in Asia where places of retail also serve a exceptionally conversable function, the project focuses on providing a appealing experience for the shoppers by treating the communal area as a point of cultural exchange. It’s a massive department store that also operates as a social a semi-cultural meeting place

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Ten years ago Miami was known mostly for its beaches and nightlife. Nowadays it is a cultural destination with burgeoning ambitions. The city’s museums are expanding and its private spaces for art are increasingly active. Major buildings by Frank Gehry, Herzog & de Meuron and Zaha Hadid have either been finished or are planned. New World Center by Frank Gehry Partners LLP is located in Miami beach’s new city center, the building serves as the new system symphony’s campus, dedicated to the artistic development also education of the next generation of classical musicians.

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The Foster + Partners have completed the first of a cluster of solar powered buildings in Masdar city, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The Masdar Institute is  a graduate level, research-oriented university which is focused on option energy, sustainability, and the environment, that will generate more solar energy than it consumes. The building features a perforated frontage made of glass-reinforced concrete colored with local sand and detailed with patterns found in traditional Islamic architecture.

Continue reading The world’s first carbon-neutral, zero-emissions city

This cultural monument has been marred by years of neglect but… The Union of Russian Architects, in co-operation with DuPont, YEM, Architizer and Karo Film, are pleased to announce an international competition to redesign the facade of the Pushkinsky Cinema, not to restore it to past glory but to create a landmark of the future. The Pushkinsky Cinema was built to display the most significant cinematic productions in Russia. Built at Pushkin Square, it became the landmark of the country’s film festivals, a palace in that the Moscow International Film Festivals (MIFF) for movie protagonists and moviegoers from Moscow and abroad.

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Originally opened in 1852, King’s Cross Central is one of the most significant development and regeneration opportunities in Central London. Its proximity to the St. Pancras mainline station makes it one of Britain’s biggest transport hubs. More than 50 million commuters use its 11 platforms each year. This solid built station was unfortunately known to be stand offish and dark, so one of the purposes of the renovation is to make it feel more attractive and liveliness. The three-part project involved the renovation of the train sheds and surrounding support buildings, as well as a detailed restoration of historic buildings and the classic Victorian facade.

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Designed by the GMP Architects, the Universiade Sports Center consists of a stadium, a multifunctional hall and a swimming pool. Universiades are World Games for students and are held every other year in winter and summer, hosted by the International University Sports Federation. The design for the Universiade Sports Center in the city of Shenzhen, China, is inspired by the surrounding undulating countryside and generates a formal dialog that references Chinese horticulture and temper toward the land.

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The Austrian-based architecture studio Coop Himmelblau has displayed the plans for their prime project in South Korea, the Busan Cinema Centre. The design by Coop Himmelblau owing to the Busan Cinema Center, and home of the Busan International Film Festival, suggests a new intersection between social space, cultural programs, technology and architecture to make lively and public landmarks within the urban scene in that icons of contemporary culture. Conceptualized to house the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the polished multimedia venue offers approximately 60,000 sq m of event, entertainment again performance space, supported by dining further administrative volumes. The complex houses cinemas, restaurants, a 1000 seat multifunctional theater, and numerous public spaces.

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