*️⃣Amazon Spheres

Architect #NBBJ
City #Seattle
Country #USA #NA

🔤Most technology companies occupy leafy campuses on the outskirts of urban areas, but Amazon has grown up in the center of Seattle and drawn much of its innovative energy from its big-city location. The giant online retailer’s new headquarters doubles down on its commitment to urban engagement, creating a neighborhood of buildings, plazas, and public open spaces that connects seamlessly with Seattle’s existing metropolitan fabric. The most iconic element is the trio of glass spheres housing a multi-level botanical garden.

Waterfalls and a pair of densely planted living walls create the sense of a jungle. To keep all of this flora happy, the climate in the Spheres is set at 22 degrees and 60 percent humidity during the day, then shifts to 12 degrees and 90 percent humidity at night.

NBBJ architects devised a steel frame made of 180 elongated pentagonal modules inspired by the work of Belgian mathematician Eugène Charles Catalan and defined by the points of five welded arches. While the frame is curved in two directions, the panes of clear, low-iron glass are flat. A ring beam at the base of the building transfers gravity, wind, and seismic forces from the glass-and-steel façade to concrete columns in the floors below and a central concrete core. The Spheres combine the mathematical and the organic, the pragmatic and the poetic.

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Material #glass
Function #office
Feature #greenery #interior
Address: 2111 7th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121, United States
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pics by Sean Airhart, #Damonte and Stuart Isett
text by Archdaily

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*️⃣Centro Niemeyer Avilés

Architect #OscarNiemeyer #Niemeyer
City #Aviles
Country #Spain #EU

🔤Following the example of cities like Bilbao, Avilés wanted to increase its touristic appeal and thus undertook a series of initiatives to recover the ria and the historic center.

The four curvilinear volumes, evoking a still life painting, occupy the large esplanade by the estuary.

Built next to the Avilés estuary, its predominantly white, modernist curvy lines contrast with the traditionally industrial landscape of the area. The centre is the first work by Niemeyer in Spain, and he had said he believes it is his most important in Europe, which is the reason for its name — Centro Niemeyer.

The collaboration between different world personalities (artists, Nobel Prize winners, United Nations meetings, etc.) made Centro Niemeyer the "Spanish cultural institution with more presence in national and international media" in 2011.

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Colour #white #mixed
Material #concrete
Function #entertainment #venue
Feature #district
Address: Av. del Zinc, s/n, 33490 Avilés, Asturias, Spain
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pics by #Malagamba and #JamesEwing
text by Arquitecturaviva and Wikipedia

*️⃣Watercube – National Swimming Centre

Architect #PTW
City #Beijing
Country #China #AP

🔤The Water Cube's design was initiated by a team effort: the Chinese partners felt a square was more symbolic to Chinese culture and its relationship to the Bird's Nest stadium while the Sydney-based partners came up with the idea of covering the 'cube' with bubbles, symbolizing water. Contextually, the Cube symbolizes Earth, while the circle (represented by the elliptic stadium) represents heaven, a common motif in ancient Chinese art.

Comprising a steel space frame, it is the largest ETFE-clad structure in the world with over 100,000 m2 of ETFE pillows that are only 0.2 mm in total thickness.

In July 2003 the Water Cube design was chosen from 10 proposals in an international architectural competition for the aquatic center project.

The Water Cube was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics. After renovation and adaptive configuration, the Water Cube also hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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Colour #white #blue
Material #polymer
Function #entertainment #sport
Feature #nightlight
Address: 11 Tianchen E Rd, Chaoyang, China, 100107
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pics by pinterest and architects
text by Wikipedia

*️⃣The Matrimandir

Architect #RogerAnger
City #Auroville close to #Puducherry
Country #India #AP

🔤The Matrimandir is an edifice of spiritual significance for practitioners of integral yoga, in the centre of Auroville. It is in the form of a huge sphere surrounded by twelve petals. The Geodesic dome is covered by #steel discs covered in gold wich reflects sunlight that gives the structure its characteristic radiance.

Inside the central dome is a meditation hall known as the inner chamber - this contains the largest optically-perfect glass globe in the world.

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Colour #golden
Function #public #park
Address: 2R46+V72, Matrimandir Rd, Auroville, Bommayapalayam, Tamil Nadu 605101, India
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pics by #JamesEwing and Wikipedia
text by Wikipedia

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*️⃣Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Architect #Hadid #ZahaHadid #ZHA
City #Seoul
Country #SouthKorea #AP

🔤The DDP is an architectural landscape that revolves around the ancient city wall and cultural artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations preceding DDP’s construction. These historic features form the central element of DDP’s composition; linking the park, plaza and city together.

The design integrates the park and plaza seamlessly as one, blurring the boundary between architecture and nature in a continuous, fluid landscape. Voids in the park’s surface give visitors glimpses into the innovative world of design below, making the DDP an important link between the city’s contemporary culture, emerging nature and history.

Construction the exterior envelope of DDP was a challenge as the cladding system consists of over 45,000 panels in various sizes and degrees of curvature. This was made possible by the use of parametric modelling with an advanced metal-forming and fabrication process to develop a mass-customization system.

At night, the building will reflect all the LED lights and neon signs of the surrounding buildings. With the interplay of the built-in façade lighting, the building’s appearance will be animated and take on the characteristics of its unique urban settings. #nightlight #context

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Colour #metallic
Material #aluminium
Function #entertainment #venue
Feature #adminvisited
Address: 281 Eulji-ro, Jung District, Seoul, South Korea
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pics by #Bertrand
text by architects and Archdaily

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