To provide participants and guests of XXII Olympic games in Sochi with comfortable transit transportation there were realized six railway projects, the largest of which was a railway station in Adler. In the period of Games it served as “Olympic gates” accepting and attending thousands of passengers every hour.
In 2012, many of the best known technology firms were actively designing and building new corporate offices. It’s the first time Silicon Valley giants like Apple, Google and Facebook have done so from the ground up. The same is true for Amazon, which is building in Seattle pursuing a distinctive new campus design.
The initial aspiration of the assignment was simple: to erect a building that would house the activity of IDOM, while at the same time representing it and becoming as it were a visiting card for clients. Its culture and way of working should be clear from the building itself. This was an opportunity to turn a building into a showcase for its philosophy.
The new headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce of Prato, Italy, represents one of the first examples in Prato of the conversion of an existing structure originally used for production. It is a concrete sign of the desire to redevelop entire areas of the city through reconsideration of the existing heritage. The creation of the new Chamber of Commerce headquarters is also linked to the determination for Prato to bear witness to its established vocation for trade, mainly linked to textile production, in a district – namely Prato – that has been in search of a new propulsive phase for years.
The new public library in the town of Spijkenisse (Spijkenisse), the Netherlands, called the “Book Mountain” (Book Mountain). But it is not only a single feature that several tiers of pyramidal shape building can accommodate 150 thousand books, but also that they are in the fact all behind the glass.
In the Netherlands are used to adhere to strict building codes. Legislation, permits and schedules of requirements dictate how a building should be constructed. The new main building of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) currently under construction in Wageningen, however, is taking a very different approach. The process being applied here does not follow the standard A to B route – from schedule of requirements to final product, from drawing board to bricks.
In early February 2014, the Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development of Catalonia Santi Vila and the world-acclaimed chef de cuisine Ferran Adrià introduced the project of reconstruction of the famous restaurant elBulli1846, which is marked with 3-Michelin stars and five times(!) headed the ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the world. A project promoted by Ferran Adrià and Juli Soler aims to establish a unique centre in the world for innovation, research, and training in the field of avant-garde cuisine.
citizenM London Bankside, UK , designed by Concrete, has won the ‘World’s Best Hotel / Leisure Building’ award at the World Architecture Festival (WAF ) Awards 2013. The judging of the WAF Awards is taking place during the global celebration of architecture – the World Architecture Festival, which is being held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore this week. The building was selected by a jury of some of the world’s most dynamic architectural and urban designers. It overcame competition from a shortlist of 15 entries.
We continue to publish chapters from the book “Sustainable Architecture in Japan: The Continuing Challenge 1900–2010 & Beyond “, published to coincide with the 110th anniversary of Nikken Sekkei. In the previous issues of our magazine (“Green Buildings”, № 2–4, 2013), we brought to your attention the chapters, which deal with modern methods of the most optimal using of light, heat and wind for creation of comfortable working and living environment. Now let’s focus on water, how to use it the most economical way and thus promote energy efficiency.
The new Statoil regional and international offices at Fornebu is result of an open competition won by Norwegian architects a-lab in February 2009, with completion of the building in the autumn of 2012. The iconic structure seeks to reflect Statoil’s role as an innovative and internationally pioneering petroleum company as well as giving a new identity and pulse to the local environment.