Les Bébés Cupcakery is a concept bakery shop situated in Taipei, Taiwan. Interior was designed by JC Architecture. What is interesting is the house shaped façade and the fact that it is transparent with a massive door. The architects built the concept on the box itself and the way it opens and folds, thus creating a coherent project. this is perfectly why branding and architecture should go hand in hand. It looks so clean and fresh!
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.
Back in 2007, it was announced the Zaha Hadid Architects would be designing the Opus tower in Dubai. The construction of the Opus is currently in progress, however Zaha Hadid was asked to design the ME by melia hotel (the first in the Middle East) and service the apartments to be housed within the complex. It will include penthouse suites with private roof terraces and will be designed fully by Zaha Hadid, the interior & the exterior. The hotel is expected to operate in 2016.
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.
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.
O1NE is a club by Sky Management which will open this December near Biel. The facade of 2500 sq.m is being transformed to one of the largest privately owned grafitti murals in the world if not THE largest. Graffiti as an art is now one of the most loved arts in the Middle East, probably because it reprsents freedom of expression and thought, something we have been yearning for. 16 international artists are currently working on the project. Follow @o1ne_beirut on instagram to witness the progress of this beautiful project.
