*️⃣Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa and The Silo Hotel

Architect #Heatherwick #ThomasHeatherwick
City #CapeTown
Country #SouthAfrica #AF

🔤Cape Town’s prominent grain silo was once used to store and grade maize from all over South Africa. But with the advent of containerised shipping, the huge piece of concrete infrastructure was decommissioned and in need of a new purpose.

The studio’s solution was to carve out a large central space from the cellular concrete structure to form a major social space that reveals the original intersecting geometries in an unexpected way. The perimeter tubes were then substantially cut back and converted into five floors of galleries for permanent and temporary exhibitions.

In the grading tower, concrete walls were cut away between the structural frame to create new three dimensionally shaped windows that reflect a kaleidoscope of textures and colours that change throughout the day. At night, the glow of lights inside transform the tower into a beacon in the harbor.

Project was selected by #Archdaily as the building of the year in cultural category in 2018. #award

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Material #rawconcrete
Function #public #museum #hospitality #hotel
Feature #refurbishment #interior
Address: V&A Waterfront Silo District, S Arm Rd, Waterfront, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
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Outside google street
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pics and text by architects

*️⃣Beijing Olympic stadium

Architect #HerzogdeMeuron #HdM #Herzog #Meuron
City #Beijing
Country #China #AP

🔤Significantly, the Chinese themselves nicknamed the stadium “Bird‘s Nest” in the very early stages of the project, thereby essentially assimilating it as their own, before it had even left the drawing board.

What is seen from afar as a geometrically clear-cut and rational overall configuration of lines, evaporates the closer one comes, finally separating into huge separate components. The components look like a chaotic thicket of supports, beams and stairs, almost like an artificial forest.

To make the roof weatherproof, the spaces in the structure of the stadium are filled with a translucent membrane, just as birds stuff the spaces between the woven twigs of their nests with soft filler.

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Colour #red
Material #rawconcrete
Function #entertainment #sport
Address: 1 Guojiatiyuchang S Rd, Chaoyang, China, 100101
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pics by architects and Wojtek Gurak
text by architects

*️⃣World Trade Center Transportation Hub

Architect #Calatrava #SantiagoCalatrava
City #NewYork
Country #USA #NA

🔤The structural steel ribs that form the Oculus extend upward, like outspread wings, to form a pair of canopies. Although suggestive of motifs from many traditions, the form may be summed up, according to Calatrava, by the image of a bird released from a child’s hands.

Between the ribs, glass allows natural light, a powerful symbol of hope and vitality, to flood the facility. Calatrava speaks of light as a structural element in the Hub, saying that the building is supported by “columns of light.” At night, the illuminated Oculus serves as a lantern in the reconstructed WTC site.

The structure's orientation serves as a lasting reminder of the attacks of September 11, 2001. It is in alignment with the sun’s solar angles on each September 11, from 8:46 am, when the first plane struck, until 10:28 am, when the second tower collapsed. Its central skylight fits this alignment and washes the Oculus floor with a beam of light.

More detailed history of the project – Wikipedia

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Colour #white
Material #steel
Function #mixeduse #transportation #metro #retail #mall
Feature #interior
Address: 50 Church Street
New York, NY 10007
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Night google street #BestGS@simoderna🔥
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pics by #HuftonCrow
text by Arch2o and TimeOut

*️⃣Yabuli Entrepreneurs’ Congress Centre

Architect #MAD architects
City #Harbin
Country #China #AP

🔤Cited along the axis of a mountain, MAD’s design of the “Yabuli Entrepreneurs’ Conference Centre” is a tent-like structure that is defined by soft, sloping lines. Casually mirroring its mountainous backdrop, it reaches a maximum height of 24 meters, allowing it to settle quietly into the landscape. While humble in its presence, it does not lose the dynamic atmosphere of northern China – integrated with the sky, the ground, the snow, the forest, and the mountains. #context

The focal point is a skylight positioned at the centre of the roof that allows natural light to flood into the interior. It acts as a symbolic metaphor for the bright ideas and brilliant discussions generated during the events held within.

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Colour #white
Material #wood
Function #entertainment #venue
Feature #interior
Address: 8QPCQCHX+P7, Shangzhi, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, 150628

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pics by #CreatAR, #ArchExist and Agovision
text by architects

*️⃣Harbin Opera House

Architect #MAD
City #Harbin
Country #China #AP

🔤Embedded within Harbin’s wetlands, the Harbin Opera House was designed in response to the force and spirit of the northern city’s untamed wilderness and frigid climate. Appearing as if sculpted by wind and water, the building seamlessly blends in with nature and the topography—a transfusion of local identity, art, and culture. #context

On the exterior, the architecture references the sinuous landscape of the surrounding area. The resulting curvilinear façade composed of smooth white aluminum panels becomes the poetry of edge and surface, softness and sharpness. The journey begins upon crossing the bridge onto Harbin Cultural Island, where the undulating architectural mass wraps a large public plaza, and during winter months, melts into the snowy winter environment.

Project was selected by #Archdaily as the best building of the year 2016. #award

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Colour #white
Material #aluminium #wood
Function #entertainment #concerthall
Feature #interior
Address: China, Heilongjiang, Harbin, Songbei District, 滨水大道 邮政编码: 150010
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pics by #AdamMork, #HuftonCrow and #IwanBaan
text by architects