© Miran Kambič

Architect: Andrej Kalamar – Studio Kalamar
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Structural Engineering: Anton Berce, IZTR
HVAC Engineering: Lenassi
Electrical Engineering: Eldata
Client: Regal d.o.o. Murska Sobota
Contractor: SGP Pomgrad d.d.
Built Area: 4,200 sqm
Budget: 2,300,000 €
Project Year: 1999-2001
Year of Construction: 2002
Photographs: Miran Kambič

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© Ben Rahn, A-Frame Studio

Architect: Hariri Pontarini Architects
Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Partner in Charge: Siamak Hariri
Budget: $36M
Project size: 183,000 sf
Year: 2008
Photographs: Ben Rahn, A-Frame Studio / Tom Arban, Tom Arban Photography

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© Flickr - User: Jong Soo (Peter) Lee

There are few buildings as famous as the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. Arguably considered the eighth wonder of the world, the opera house has a long history behind its design. The story behind this magnificent structure began in 1956 when the New South Wales Government called an open competition for the design of two performance halls, for opera and for symphony concerts, that would put Sydney on the map. The Danish architect Jørn Utzon was unknown for his work at the time, yet his entry for the competition which consisted of a few simple sketches intrigued the famous Eero Saarinen who was part of the jury. The drawings submitted for this scheme are simple to the point of being diagrammatic,” observed the jury. “Nevertheless, we are convinced that they present a concept of an opera house that is capable of becoming one of the great buildings of the world.”

More images and information after the break. read more »

© Miran Kambič

Architect: Andrej Kalamar – Studio Kalamar
Location: Moravske toplice, Slovenia
Structural Engineering: Statikon
HVAC Engineering: Veling; Projektivni biro Murska Sobota; Makro 5 Investicije
Electrical Engineering: Elting
Client: Meteor turizem d.o.o.
Contractor: Vegrad d.d.
Built Area: 3.500 sqm
Budget: 2.800.000 €
Project Year: 2004-2005
Year of Construction: 2006
Photographs: Miran Kambič

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© Masao Nishikawa

Architects: Mutsue Hayakusa Cell Space Architects
Location : Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan
Design Period: August 2008 – May 2009
Construction Period: June 2009 – May 2010
Photographs: Masao Nishikawa

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© Andy Ryan - Steven Holl Architects

When Massachusetts Institute of Technology commissioned Steven Holl in 1999 to design a new a dormitory for the school they had one goal in sight: that the spaces around and within the building would stir up interaction among students. While MIT focused on the building’s use and function, Holl aimed to create a memorable building. With MIT’s vision in mind along with Holl’s artistic architectural ideas, the ten-story undergraduate dormitory became a small city in itself with balancing opposing architectural elements, such as solids and voids and opaqueness and transparency.

More on Simmons Hall after the break.

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© Paul Crosby Architectural Photography

Architects: Min | Day – E.B. Min, Jeffrey L. Day.
Location: West Lake Okoboji, Iowa, United States
Project team: Nicholas Papaefthimiou, Kristine Mummert, Matt Cavin, Christina Kaneva, Jeff Davis, Matt Goldsberry
Client: Paul & Annette Smith
Landscape design: Min | Day
Lighting Design: HLB Lighting Design / Min | Day
Size: 6000 square feet
Year: 2008
Photographs: Paul Crosby Architectural Photography

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© Timothy Hursley

Architects:  Eskew+Dumez+Ripple / Guidry Beazley Architects
Location:  Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Consultants:  J.B. Mouton, Inc. – General Contractor, Associated Design Group – MEP Engineers, Bellard and Associates – Structural Engineer, Visual Acuity – Visualization Systems, Global Data Systems – Communications/IT, Jon Emerson & Associates – Landscape Architect
Client: Lafayette Economic Development Authority
Project Size: 61,040 square feet
Year of Completion: 2006
Photography: Timothy Hursley read more »

Perspective

More than a century ago Frank Lloyd Wright, whom we just honored on his birthday last week, designed one of the most famous sacred buildings in the United States, the Unity Temple. It was designed for a Unitarian congregation in 1905 when the architect was 38 years old. Wright himself described the Unity Temple as his “contribution to modern architecture.” The building broke the convention for American and European religious architecture while introducing principles of modern architecture and applying the use of concrete in a daring way for its time.

Read more about Wright’s Unity Temple after the break. read more »

© Tarso Figueira and Luis Gomes

Architect: André Luque
Location: Camaçari, Bahía, Brasil
Built area: 445 sqm
Year: 2007
Photographs: Tarso Figueira and Luis Gomes read more »

© Flickr - User: Jeff B.

In a world where anything in your imagination can become a reality, Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida stayed true to their word and hired architect Michael Graves to design a resort consisting of two hotels that would become part of Disney’s famous collection of “entertainment architecture.” Graves’ postmodern, colorful style was the perfect choice for the playful themepark resort, and his whimsical design decisions and statues of grandeur contribute to the famous Disney kingdom. The theme for the design of the hotels sprung right from its early conceptual stages, where Graves developed an entire story to create characters for both the Swan and the Dolphin in a magical tale that he thought could potentially become Disney characters.

More images and information after the break. read more »

©Jeffrey Jacobs Photography

Architects: archimania
Project Location: Memphis, TN
Building Area: 2,833 SF
Cost per Square Foot: $100.81
Construction Cost: $285,616
Owner/Client: Pantik Home Builders
General Contractor: Pantik Home Builders
Year: 2005
Photographs: Jeffrey Jacobs Photography read more »

© conservapedia.com

In the 1970′s architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, both unknown at the time, collaborated and erected one of the most famous and radical buildings of our time, Centre Georges Pompidou. The cultural center in Paris, France turned our world inside out, literally. It all began with Georges Pompidou, President of France from 1969 to 1974, who wanted to construct a cultural center in Paris that would attract visitors and be a monumental aspect of the city. Receiving more than 150 million visitors since is completion thirty three years ago, there is no doubt that Pompidou’s vision became a successful reality.

More information on Centre Georges Pompidou after the break. read more »

© Tim Griffith

Architects: NBBJ
Location: Marina Boulevard, Central Business District, Republic of Singapore
Co-designer/Design Principal: Peter Pran, RA, FAIA, MNAL
Co-designer/Design Partner: Timothy Johnson, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Interior Design Partner: Rysia Suchecka, AIA, IIDA
Design Team Leader/Project Manager: Scott Hunter, AIA, LEED AP
Architecture Design Team: Reggie Aviles, Michael Ramsay, Karin Tehve, Jay Seibenmorgen, Angela Chang, Sara Agrest, Nnamdi Ugenyi, Heather Metzger, Catherine Smith
Interiors Design Team: Tara Schneider, IIDA; Pete Lorimer, LEED AP
Owner: City Developments Limited and AIG Asian Real Estate Partners, L.P.
Consulting Architect: Kiat Supattapone
Associate Architect: Team Design Architects
General Contractor: Dragages Singapore–Bouygues Construction
Structural Engineer: Precast Design Consultants
Mechanical Engineer: Meinhardt Pte, LTD
Interior Designer: NBBJ (Shell and Core Lobbies)
Interior Designer: AXIS Design (Units, Common areas)
Lighting: Lighting Planners Associates (LPA)
Landscape Architect: Belt Collins
Project Area: 1,200,000 sq ft
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Tim Griffith & Sean Airhart/NBBJ

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© SOM-William Lukes AIA

In 1954 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill were commissioned to design the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel. Located in El Paso Country, Colorado, just outside of Colorado Springs, the chapel is of the training center for officers of the United States Air Force which is a large self-contained community. At an elevation of 6500 feet on the East of the Rocky Mountains, the 3,000 acre Academy also contains housing for 8,000 people, a supply center, a hospital, an airfield, and an academic complex rising up the slope of the site. This program is split on three levels due to the slope, with the Administration Building, the Social Center, and the Cadet Chapel on the uppermost level. These spaces are used by both cadets and visitors, which with the beautiful peaks of of the Chapel rising towards the sky, attracts more than a million a year.

More on SOM’s USAFA Cadet Chapel after the break. read more »

© João Morgado

Architects: Wiel Arets Architects
Location: Maastricht, The Netherlands
Project Year: 2005-2009
Photographs: João Morgado

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© madrid2008-09.blogspot.com

Unlike the previously featured Vanna Venturi House, Peter Eisenman’s House VI includes disorientation in the work without the concept of relating it to the traditional home. The house is, in fact, anything but what one would consider a conventional house. Eisenman, one of the New York Five, designed the house for Mr. and Mrs. Richard Frank between 1972-1975 who found great admiration for the architect’s work despite previously being known as a “paper architect” and theorist. By giving Eisenman a chance to put his theories to practice, one of the most famous, and difficult, houses emerged in the United States.

More on House VI after the break. read more »

© Miran Kambič

Architects: Enota
Location: Podčetrtek, Slovenia
Project Team: Dean Lah, Milan Tomac, Maruša Zupančič, Nuša Završnik, Zana Starovič, Anna Kravcova, Polona Ruparčič, Marko Volf, Sabina Sakelšek, Esta Matkovič, Darja Zubac, Dean Jukić, Nebojša Vertovšek, Tjaša Marinšek
Client: Terme Olimia
Landscape Architecture: Bruto
Structure: Elea iC
Climatisation & Plumbing: Nombiro
Electrical Instalation: Forte inženiring
Project Area: 9,990 sqm
Budget: 13,000,000 EUR
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Miran Kambič

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© Flickr - User: skydeckchicago

Towering over the windy city of Chicago, the Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower) was once the tallest building in the world upon its completion in 1973. Sears, Roebuck, & Company commissioned Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill  to design an office building that would house their headquarters and the many offices they had scattered around Chicago in one building. The design also had to incorporate extra office space for the anticipated future growth of the company.

More on the Willis Tower after the break.

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© AIA

Hovering over the shores of Lake Michigan, the Douglas House was built by Richard Meier in 1971-1973 for Jim and Jean Douglas. The house is gently placed on a steep slope over the water, almost as if it is floating amongst the trees. As Meier stated about the house, “So steep is the slope to the water that the house appears to have been dropped into the site, a machine-crafted object that has landed in a natural world. The dramatic dialogue between the whiteness of the house and the primary blues and greens of the water, trees, and sky allows the house not only to assert its own presence but to enhance, by contrast, the beauty of its natural environment as well.”

More on the Douglas House after the break.

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