*️⃣UAE pavilion at EXPO 2020

Architect #Calatrava #SantiagoCalatrava
City #Dubai
Country #UAE #ME

🔤Located in the Opportunity District of Expo 2020 Dubai, every aspect of the pavilion is representative of the host country, from the building's architecture, which resembles a falcon, the UAE’s national bird, to the surrounding landscape.

The four-storey pavilion was informed "by a falcon in flight" and is topped by a series of locally produced carbon fiber "wings" that can be closed to shelter the roof solar panels.

Each of the wings pivots around a single point and the entire roof can be opened in three minutes. #kinetic

“I am deeply honored that our firm will have the opportunity to design the national pavilion for Dubai Expo 2020, a project with national and global significance,” said Mr. Calatrava. “The final design will be a symbol of the UAE’s bold and daring spirit, reflected in what is poised to be the most inclusive and global Expo in history.”

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Colour #white
Material #carbonfiber
Function #entertainment #venue
Address: X562+GR Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Closed wings google street
Open wings google street

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pics by #Palladium
text by Dezeen

Digital platform for engineers and developers from Middle East

*️⃣China Wood Sculpture Museum

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

🔤The China Wood Sculpture Museum sits as a locational anomaly, seemingly out of place, surrounded by a densely populated Chinese-style neighborhood and residential complexes.

The museum embodies some of the foremost conceptual and formal ideals that define the work of MAD, bringing out an expression and abstraction of nature to an otherwise quotidian surrounding. The boundaries between solid and liquid are blurred throughout this 13,000 sqm building, referencing the local natural scenery and landscape.

🔤
Colour #metallic
Material #steel
Function #public #museum
Address: PHM6+FG9, Jingjiang W Rd, Daoli District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, 150076

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pics by #XiaZhi
text by architects

*️⃣Maison Hermes Ginza

Architect #Piano #RenzoPiano #RPBW
City #Tokyo
Country #Japan #AP

🔤By day, the facade is silvered and sparkling; by night it glows warm like a lantern, a distinctive presence in the crowded shopping district.

Its location at the heart of Tokyo’s densely built, neon-lit Ginza shopping district, and the stringent building regulations regarding earthquakes and fire, have influenced a compact and unique building with a distinctive glass façade.

It has a unique glass façade made of 13,000 bespoke, 450mm-square glass blocks (with special smaller, curved glass bricks at the building’s corners). Much larger than standard glass blocks, these were especially made by Vetroarredo in Florence, Italy and had to meet stringent fire and earthquake regulations. Their stamped textured glass finish means they are translucent rather than transparent, the overall effect of the facade being somewhat like a contemporary version of the traditional Japanese screen.

Hung from the structure on steel arms, the glass block facade is designed to act like a curtain in the event of an earthquake, allowing it to move via the flexible seals between the blocks by as much as 4mm, absorbing rather than resisting seismic shock.

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Material #glassbrick
Function #retail #shop
Feature #nightlight #adminvisited
Address: 5 Chome-4-1 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Google street
Night google street #BestGS@simoderna🔥

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pics by #Denance
text by architecture-tokyo.com and architecture-history.org

*️⃣Hungerburgbahn

Architect #Hadid #ZahaHadid #ZHA
City #Innsbruck
Country #Austria #EU

🔤The stations’ most striking feature, the roofs, create artificial landscapes meant to echo natural ice formations while simultaneously being reflections of the passenger circulation underneath. #context

“Each station has its own unique context, topography, altitude, and circulation. We studied natural phenomena such as glacial moraines and ice movements – as we wanted each station to use the fluid language of natural ice formations, like a frozen stream on the mountainside.” says Hadid.

"It is indeed an honour to complete my second project in Innsbruck. The railway reflects the city’s continued commitment to the highest standards of architecture and pushes the boundaries of design and construction technology. These stations are the global benchmark for the use of doublecurvature glass in construction.” states Zaha Hadid.

Project was selected by #RIBA as the best building in Europe in 2006. And by #WOHA as the building of the year 2008 in transport category. #award

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Colour #teal
Material #glass
Function #transportation #railway
Feature #district #nightlight
Address: 7CP2+G2 Innsbruck, Austria
Google street
Under google street
Other station google street

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pics by #Foddanu, bega.com and bollinger-grohmann.com
text by Archdaily and e-architect

*️⃣Beirut terraces

Architect #HdM #HerzogdeMeuron #Herzog #Meuron
City #Beirut
Country #Lebanon #ME

🔤The moderate climate of Beirut is undoubtedly one of the city’s greatest assets; it makes outdoor living an integral part of Beirut’s urban culture. The design therefore aims to cultivate this asset and incorporate it into the apartments. Indoor and outdoor spaces merge into each other so that the generous terraces truly become living spaces.

Extensive #concrete overhangs provide shade and reduce solar gain. The floor plates are thick enough to balance the daily temperature cycles by virtue of their thermal mass, storing cold through the night and releasing it during the day. Where necessary, perforations in the overhangs modulate the lighting and exposure to the sun. Their density, shape, and the shadows they generate form a striking pattern that gives the tower a distinctive identity and sets it off from its surroundings.

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Colour #white
Function #residential
Feature #skyscraper
Address: VFXW+VFP, Beirut, Lebanon
Google street

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pics by #IwanBaan
text by Dezeen and Archdaily