Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport By Zaha Hadid Architects | Architecture

Photos © McAteer Photograph/Alan McAteer

The building, open at opposite ends, has a tunnel-like configuration between the city and the Clyde. However, within this connection between the city and river, the building diverts to create a journey away from its external context into the world of the exhibits. Here, the internal path within the museum becomes a mediator between city and river, which can either be hermetic or porous depending on the exhibition layout. Thus, the museum positions itself symbolically and functionally as open and fluid, engaging its context and content to ensure it is profoundly interlinked with not only Glasgow’s history, but also its future. Visitors build up a gradual sense of the external context as they move through the museum from exhibit to exhibit.

The design is a sectional extrusion, open at opposing ends along a diverted linear path. This cross-sectional outline could be seen as a cityscape and is a responsive gesture to encapsulate a waves on water. The outer waves or ‘pleats’ are enclosed to accommodate support services and the ‘black box’ exhibits. This leaves the main central space column-free and open, offering greatest flexibility to exhibit the museum’s world-class collection.

• Glasgow, United Kingdom
• 2004 – 2011
• Glasgow City Council
• Built
• 11,000m²
• Exhibition Area: 7,000m²
• Site Area: 22,400m²
• Footprint Area: 7,800m²

The museum, a sectional extrusion open at both ends, its outline encapsulating a wave or pleat, flows from city to waterfront, symbolizing dynamic relationship between Glasgow and the ship-building, seafaring and industrial legacy of the river Clyde. Clear glass facades allow light to flood through the main exhibition space.

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy 1st Blogoversary Un Peu De Kil Shi!

Well it’s been a year since I started this blog and it has come a long way thanks to all he readers and friends who have helped contribute in one way or the other.

This blog represents what I love, and there’s nothing better than to share it with everyone out there. During this “Blog” year I have made friends from many countries with various interests, I gained a lot, and hopefully helped pass along and share information as well. The blog has actually changed my life in so many ways and I am very grateful.

I will be adding categories and more personalized posts soon, just keep checking, and as usual I appreciate your feedback and interaction more than anything.

Make yourself at home, at Un Peu De Kil Shi!

I won’t take any longer, just a big thank you , and hopefully next year I’ll get an actual cake instead of a doughnut!

Cheers!

Porsche Design Introduces a Shisha Pipe

If you are a shisha fan looking for a designer branded one, look no further. Porsche-Design has designed a luxury Shisha pipe (argeeleh) as part of their Porsche Design World Collection.

Porsche-Design have created a wide range of personal use items such as tea and soup sets, chopsticks, fashion wear , and the shisha pipe which is manufactured in Germany and made of modern materials such as stainless steel. It kind of reminded me of the one at Café Blanc.

“ The tube is made using TecFlex, which the brand also uses on the Porsche Design pen range.

The Shisha was launched at Porsche Design’s store within Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, London.”

Luxuo

New Luxury Phone | Nokia Oro

Nokia Oro is a luxury phone by Nokia made with the finest finishes: 18 carat gold contours, fine Bridge of Weir luxury leather backing, and sapphire crystal home key. The combination of the three materials is exquisite, I got the chance to try it out while I was on vacation and enjoyed it very much. I’m not usually much of a Nokia person, but the luxury feeling of this phone was different.

With most people owning Blackberries and iPhones, this unique  luxury phone is for those who like to stand out from the crowd.

With an 8 megapixel camera, 8 GB internal memory, external memory slot, integrated GPS, web browsing and all the works, this phone is a luxury piece you will enjoy very much if you want to have something different that looks as good.

All the features and technical details of the phone can be found here.

It comes in two colors, white or black.

Price estimate: around $1300.

Read the rest of this entry »

Missoni Collaborates With Target

Its cool how affordable brands like Target are collaborating with top notch designers. This time Target will be providing a limited edition line designed by Missoni. The brand known for its beautiful colors, stripes, and zigzags will introduce over 400 items. The line will include clothing ranging from $7.99 – $199.99 in addition to personal and home accessories such as bed sheets and dinnerware. Take a look at the photos below and if you are in the U.S. or have access to Target stores, I advise you to grab a few items!

Info and photos from: styleite  and All the way up here

Architect Barbie Has an Eco-friendly Home

It was a thrill for women of our field when we heard of the new profession for Barbie, an architect. The announcement was made earlier this year and since, a competition to design her house was in the works. A “green” house is what was anticipated and its what the result was. The house has all forms of entertainment included, and conforming to the USGBC standards for green building. That’s probably a message to all architects out there to promote green building further. The 4 story building is very stylish meant to be overlooking the Pacific. It houses a large kitchen, open living room, office and library so she can work on her architectural projects. But since Architect Barbie is also very stylish and takes good care of her well being, the third floor is dedicated to her clothes, bedroom and bathroom. The fourth floor is mainly for meditation and exercise. The interesting part is that the rooftop deck has a landscaped green roof topped off with solar panels.

In addition to the green roof and solar panel, the windows have Clear View Secondary Glazing and operable shades to limit solar heat. Appliances that cut down electrical consumption, eco friendly materials,and a large garden are among its most interesting eco oriented features.

The Barbie dream house is designed by Ting Li and Maja Parklar, the announcement was made on August 2, 2011.

Images and info source: Inhabitat

Michael Kors Debuts A Jewelry Line This Fall | Fashion

Michael Kors will be introducing a jewelry line this August in collaboration with Fossil. The collection is supposed to be fashionable, accessible, and affordable just like the Michael Kors watch collection Fossil have been making since 2004. The line will include cuffs, stone rings, chains etc. Its expected to be a hit, especially with the rise in gold prices.

Prices will range from $45 to $395, and the collection is already in production to be in Michael Kors Stores in August 2011.

"I’ve always thought of accessories as the exclamation point of a woman’s outfit," Kors says. "Now, with my jewelry collection, I can deliver the full spectrum of the Michael Kors vision for a truly fabulous look."

Read the rest of this entry »

The Nestlé Chocolate Museum | Architecture

What an interesting concept is the Nestlé Chocolate Museum which is located in Brazil between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The large red glass structured building allows visitors to see the chocolate being produced inside.  The designers of this project are  Metro Brazilian architects.

The purpose of the design is to provide public viewing . The 1850 sq.m structure consists of two towers and an elevated runway, composed of steel and glass.

The Nestlé Chocolate Museum provides a roadmap for the visitors just like any museum, and allows them to experience the entire process of the manufacturing of Nestlé chocolates.

Read the rest of this entry »