the architecture, Ernest Dimnet

"Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but the most surely, on the soul"

Ernest Dimnet
The Art of Thinking

Space and light and order, Le Corbusier

"Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep."

Le Corbusier
(October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965)

The Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi by Asymptote Architecture

"a perfect union and harmonious interplay between elegance and spectacle. The search here was inspired by what one could call the ‘art’ and poetics of motor racing, specifically Formula 1, coupled with the making of a place that celebrates Abu Dhabi as a cultural and technological tour de force."

Hani Rashid
Asymptote Architecture
The Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Images: © Asymptote Architecture

Cahill Center for Astrophysics, by Morphosis

"The building is the result of a series of forces that collide to produce unique spaces of discovery. Force lines track the movement of form and light through the building’s faceted façade, the central vertical volume, and the stitches. As one moves through the space, formal fragments coalesce to reconstruct the interactions among light, architectural elements, and bodies as physical traces of the institution’s new ideas."

Morphosis
Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California

via +MOOD

New Tamayo Museum, by BIG and Michel Rojkind

New Tamayo Museum overlooking Mexico City - BIG and Michel Rojkind win cultural competition in Mexico.

"Understanding that contemporary art spaces pretend to be more important than the art they contain, our proposal arises from the scheme of requirements previously studied by our clients, assuring maximum functionality in each area while focusing on the development of art projects. By enhancing the program and understanding the topography, a balance between form, function and visual impact for this important space was created. Once the functional part was improved, we could give attention to details that make the space not only a culture enclosure, but also a building that understands its surroundings to distinguish itself and transform from a simple form to a powerful symbol, controversial, but ideal to lodge this new space."

Michel Rojkind, Rojkind Arquitectos

"When you ask contemporary artists what kind of space they would prefer to exhibit their work in – they almost always describe old industrial warehouses or loft spaces. It is the kind of space where they have their studios, but most importantly the rough structures, with large spans and generous ceiling heights provides them with the maximum freedom of expression. On the other hand the museum director or the mayor might want an icon that to attract visitors."

Bjarke Ingels, BIG Partner-in-Charge

BIG and Rojkind Arquitectos
New Tamayo Museum
Mexico

Church in Foligno, by Massimiliano Fuksas

"The suspension of a volume within another. Seeing through concrete heaven, from outside, to inside, to outside."

Massimiliano Fuksas
Fuksas architects
Church in Foligno
Foligno, Italy

more @ +MOOD

Why are there so few women architects?

Click the play button and listen what well-known architect Robert A.M. Stern has said.

Thinking Architecture, Peter Zumthor

"I believe that architecture today needs to reflect on the tasks and possibilities which are inherently its own. Architecture is not a vehicle or a symbol for things that do not belong to its essence. In a society that celebrates the inessential, architecture can put up a resistance, counteract the waste of forms and meanings, and speak its own language. I believe that the language of architecture is not a question of a specific style. Every building is built for a specific use in a specific place and for a specific society. My buildings try to answer the questions that emerge from these simple facts as precisely and critically as they can."

Thinking Architecture
Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect and winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize.

UAE pavillion at shanghai expo 2010, Foster + Partner

“The cities of the UAE rise from the desert and the pavilion will similarly emerge to form a natural counterpoint to Shanghai’s urban landscape. Like a sand dune, it is oriented to the direction of the wind and is a powerful example of an organic and highly effective passive environmental design.”

Gerard Evenden
Foster + Partner Senior Partner
UAE pavillion at shanghai expo 2010

Embassy Of Finland In Tokyo, by Architects Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Ltd

"The most important is to create an image of Finland. The Embassy must represent Finland in the right way."

Rainer Mahlamäki

Architects Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Ltd
Embassy Of Finland In Tokyo
Tokyo

more @ +MOOD, AMNP, Bustler

Mourning House, by Pascal Arquitectos

"A project of this nature must encourage introspection and peaceful visual harmony through a discrete use of materials and lighting."

Mourning House
Pascal Arquitectos
Mexico City, Mexico
Images: © Víctor Benítez

The Absolute Towers, MAD studio

Yansong Ma of the Beijing-based architecture firm MAD created this stunningly curvaceous building for the a new 50-storey condo in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

"Our design forsakes the simplification principle of modernism. In fact, it expresses a higher level of complexity and diversity of modern society through multiple approaches. In the meantime, it caters to (ambiguous) social needs at multiple levels...The towers talk to each other and harmonize with each other. There is a synergy between them, an aura which transcends each of the individual buildings."


The Absolute Tower
MAD studio, Ma Yansong
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Modern and History, Le Corbusier

"To be modern is not a fashion, it is a state. It is necessary to understand history, and he who understands history knows how to find continuity between that which was, that which is, and that which will be."

Le Corbusier

Antwerp Port House, Zaha Hadid architects

"the concept is a free interpretation of a beam-shaped volume raised above the existing fire brigade building and supported on three sculptured concrete pillars housing the stairs and lifts. two of the pillars are situated on the covered inner courtyard of the firehouse, while the third is located beside an external support point and consists of a panoramic lift shaft...

I am absolutely delighted to be selected to build the headquarters for the APA. Antwerp is one of the world’s busiest shipping ports and the new port house design reflects the city’s worldwide significance in communication and transportation. The dichotomy between the reflective, faceted form of the new extension and the powerful structural mass of the existing fire station creates a bold and enigmatic statement for the city."


Antwerp Port House
Zaha Hadid architects
Antwerp, Belgium

Open Air swimming Pool Oostduinkerke, Dierendonck Blancke and L.U.S.T Architecten

A project impressed like an artificial dune outdoor swimming pool designed by DIERENDONCKBLANCKE architecten and L.U.S.T architecten. This project serves as a transitional place between sea and city. via +MOOD

Open Air swimming Pool Oostduinkerke
DIERENDONCKBLANCKE architecten association with L.U.S.T architecten
OOSTDUINKERKE, Belgium
Images: © Dierendonck Blancke + L.U.S.T Architecten

the architecture, Philip Johnson

“All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.”

Philip Johnson (July 8, 1906– January 25, 2005)

Xeros Residence by Blank Studio

"I wanted to wrap one material around the entire house—as sort of an architectural lingerie."

Xeros Residence
Blank Studio
Phoenix, Arizona

more @ Daily Icon, Dwell

Social, Spiro Konstantine Kostof

“Architecture is a social act and the material theater of human activity.”

Spiro Konstantine Kostof (7 May 1936 - 7 December 1991)

Form + Function, Frank Lloyd Wright

"Form follows function – that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union."

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)

Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre, Gareth Hoskins Architects

An interesting project - Culloden Memorial Battlefield Centre, located in Inverness, Scotland, designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects, is a result of wining competition which was held by the National Trust for Scotland in 2004.

The exhibition works of Gareth Hoskins Architects is held by the light house till 2009 January. Click here for the further of the exhibition.

Gareth Hoskins Architects
Culloden Memorial Battlefield Centre
Inverness, Scotland