Building/Ground: On Sticks 6

Source: Hiroyuki Oki archdaily.com

Kontum Indochine Café, Kontum, Vietnam, 2013 designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects

The roof of the main building is supported by a pure bamboo structure composed of 15 inverse-cone-shaped units. The form of these columns was inspired by a traditional Vietnamese basket for fishing which gradually narrows from the top toward the base. This open structure maximizes the wind flow into the building during the summer, while resisting harsh storms during the windy season. -- ArchDaily

Urban Elements: Charging Stations

Source: Miloš Milivojević archdaily.com

‘Black Tree’ Public Solar Charger, Tašmajdan Park, Belgrade, Serbia, 2012 designed by Miloš Milivojevic 

Strawberry Company invented the first public solar charger for mobile phones – The Strawberry Tree. The new Black Tree is conceived as an artificial tree which transforms the solar energy into the necessary electrical energy and this way joins the surrounding forest in a common struggle for the planet richer in oxygen. With its function, this Strawberry Tree reminds us of insufficiently exploited potential of the energy of Sun, through people’s everyday habits such as sitting under the tree and using the nature as a shelter from the Sun. -- ArchDaily

Source: popupcity.net

Source: popupcity.net

AT&T Launches Solar Mobile Charging Stations In NYC

As part of an ongoing effort to keep New Yorkers connected, telecom provider AT&T launches free solar mobile charging stations in public spaces across the five boroughs of the Big Apple. The Street Charge stations are obviously more than some piece of street furniture. The interesting thing here is that they seem to be function as little meeting places. Almost everyone needs a battery recharge from time to time, so the solar-powered stations make the perfect occasions for people to relax for a moment and say “Hi” to a stranger who is in the same situation. -- The PopUp City

Curved Forms 7

Source: Richard Meier & Partners

Plan, Source: richardmeier.com

Jubilee Church, Rome, Italy, 2003 designed by Richard Meier & Partners

These three walls vary in height and are, in fact, segments of a sphere. Each shell is built of pre-cast  concrete segments, post-tensioned in situ; by virtue of the curvature in plan, each is independently supported. -- architect's web site

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Source: Enforma Studio archdaily.com

Plan, Source: archdaily.com

Vila Stoliv, Stoliv, Montenegro, 2010 designed by Enforma Studio

....in formal expression of “seashell”, which is “opening” to the “views”, creating unique space, both in interior and exterior. Unique design approach is implemented in two aspects. First, radial stone walls are creating three primary parts, which are fuctionaly and structuraly parts of house and ,second, into a big glass surfaces of house which “bring” enviroment in interior, creating subtle mix of inner and outer space. -- ArchDaily

Cylindrical 12

Source: Luc Boegly arcdhaily.com

La Luciole Concert Hall, Alençon, France, 2008 designed by Moussafir Architectes Associés

....the buildingʼs forms evolve from rectangular to cylindrical, yet the core idea – two tilted, interconnected volumes containing the audience and the stage – remained intact. -- ArchDaily

Gardens in the Sky

Source: halvorsondesign.com

Ulfelder Healing Garden , Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA designed by Halvorson Design

The Ulfelder Healing Garden unites two contemporary trends in landscape architecture: green roofs and therapeutic landscapes. The garden is located on the 8th floor of Massachusetts General Hospital's Yawkey Center, which provides clinical care for patients with cancer and other serious illnesses.

Designed by Halvorson Design in collaboration with the Yawkey Center's architects, Cambridge Seven, this healing garden is a welcoming refuge for patients, families, friends and care givers. Directly adjacent to the pediatric cancer facility, the garden is an oasis away from the waiting rooms, machines, IVs, and treatments—a place for people to gather, talk, reflect, and be consoled. -- architect's web site

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Source: archrecord.construction.com

Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel, Barcelona, Spain, 2012 designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel

The literal oasis is a central open-air garden that runs vertically through the hotel's 26 floors, filling every level with palm trees and other vegetation. This vertiginous, north-facing void, animated by zigzagging fire stairs, rises between two solid volumes containing guest rooms. These are accessed from single-loaded open galleries that overlook the garden and its spectacular views to the city. -- Architectural Record

Source: Patrick Bingham-Hall archdaily.com

PARKROYAL on Pickering, Singapore, 2013 designed by WOHA

Massive curvaceous sky-gardens, draped with tropical plants and supporting swathes of frangipani and palm trees, are cantilevered at every fourth level between the blocks of guest rooms. Greenery flourishes throughout the entire complex, and the trees and gardens of the hotel appears to merge with those of the adjoining park as one continuous sweep of urban parkland. -- ArchDaily

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Curved Forms 6

Source: kpf.com

International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong, China, 2010 designed by KPF

The tower’s subtly tapered re-entrant corners and the gently sloped curves at its base are designed to optimize its structural performance. These curves splay out at the base of the tower, rooting the tower in its surroundings, while creating sheltering canopies on three sides, and a dramatic atrium on the north side. -- architect's web site

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Source: Hufton + Crow archdaily.com

CMA CGM Headquarters, Marseille, France, 2013 designed by Zaha Hadid Architects

However, although the tower’s vertical form may steal the spotlight, special attention was also placed upon the ground life of the tower. Situated on a busy site, surrounded by an elevated motorway viaduct and on top of a convergence of public transport facilities, the tower’s lower portion extends its horizontality in order to “relate to the extreme horizontal energy of pedestrian, automobile, tram and shipping movements at ground level. -- ArchDaily

Source: Miró Rivera Architects archdaily.com

Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Taxes, USA, 2013 designed by Miró Rivera Architects

The architects bring their innovative approach to the structural systems: rather than being concealed behind a building’s façade they are articulated and become significant parts of the design. An architectural theme reoccurring throughout the site is the use of red steel tubes. The tubes cascade down the side of the Observation Tower to form a canopy for the Amphitheater stage and also frame the Main Grandstand. Evocative of sports cars and movement, this element ties the structures together creating a consistent visual experience. -- ArchDaily

Folded Form 5

Source: Gabriel Saunders

Vivida, Hawthorn, Australia, 2011 designed by ROTHELOWMAN

Aware that the building would be seen from varying angles and distances, ROTHELOWMAN created a bespoke external wallpaper in direct response to the building’s internal cells, stacked up in neat, square boxes. This patterning served to re-skin the Telstra building, positively affect shading and heating requirements, and create a dynamic, metallic façade that changed in appearance at different times of the day, and when viewed at different angles.  -- ArchDaily

Source: Vincent Fillon archdaily.com

Origami, 36 Avenue de Friedland, Paris, France, 2011 designed by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture

An emblematic showcase of the building – the main façade is mostly glass, partially covered with a second-skin of screen-printed marble pattern. The rendered effect is a tremendous origami and the view of this delicate folded marble can be enjoyed both from exterior and interior of the building. -- ArchDaily

Source: Simon Menges archdaily.com

Keystone Office Building, Karlin, Prague, Czech Republic, 2012 designed by EM2N Architects

The external appearance of the building takes up geometrical themes found in Czech Cubism at the start of the 20th century. The volumetric concept of the façade creates an ambivalently legible network of forms oriented in different directions. The double-layered façade not only produces a sculptural outer skin, but also improves the performance of the windows in terms of thermal and acoustic insulation. -- ArchDaily

Source: Michael Compensis archdaily.com

Textilmacher, Munich, Germany, 2013 designed by tillicharchitektur

Its iconic feature is the geometrically folded facade, which deforms the simple cubature by an animated play of light and shadow.

The matt bright surface of the anthracite pigmented concrete responds to its environment. Depending on the season, time of day, weather, and light incidence, the facade continuously changes its character. -- ArchDaily

Source: Gerard Van Beek Fotografie archdaily.com

Veilige Veste, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands designed by KAW Architecten

Covering the whole building with especially designed square composite elements; that is how architect Beatrice Montesano translated the work of the previous mentioned artists in the transformation of the old police station.  The strict 12 by 12 feet grid constituting the building inspired Montesano to design the diagonally angled squares, that are positioned alternately to create the diamond shape pattern that covers the building. -- ArchDaily