Just when we thought libraries were a thing of the past, this magnificent structure shows up. Last September (2013), the 35,000 sq.m Library of Birmingham in the United Kingdom opened to the public. According to Yatzer, it is the largest library in Europe. The architecture and interior are out of this world, very intricately designed by Dutch designers Mecanoo Architects. The cost was estimated at around £188.8 million.
Foster + Partners designed the new National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) tower to be environmentally friendly, Gold LEED certified. The tower will be 300 meters high, the gross area is 120,000 sq.m. I was able to obtain the updated renderings of this tower located in the Sharq area in Kuwait.
The SSE Hydro, Scotland’s largest purpose-built public event arena, will open to the public with a concert by Rod Stewart on 30 September. Its free spanning roof of 120 metres, large enough to encompass Glasgow's Queen Street railway station, encloses a highly flexible amphitheatre for an audience of up to 13,000. Externally, the arena is wrapped in lightweight translucent panels taking the excitement of the concert to the city – the whole building can be illuminated to glow as a beacon of colour on the waterfront.
This is what a masterpiece looks like, a wonderful display of horizontal volumes with an intricate diagonal playful effect in the façade.
House Ber, by Nico van der Meulen Architects and M Square Lifestyle Design, is an indication of what happens when granite, steel, light and water come together. Situated in Midrand, House Ber presents itself as a sequence of irregular steel bars randomly placed creating patterned façades which initially were conceived to represent security but now have become the very feature which distinguishes this house from its surrounding.
Three Years ago I posted about Park 51 in New York, a project assigned to Michel Aboud , a Lebanese architect who graduated from American University of Beirut prior to continuing his studies in the U.S.A. His name shone then, since it was a controversial project, and continued since. He and his team opened an office in Beirut, Lebanon and have several Avant-garde projects at hand.It was lovely seeing one of their projects, Workshop, get awarded with the best restaurant in the Americas. Check out the photos in this post and description by SOMA below.
