Rainbow Office

Designed by Dutch architecture firm Hofman Dujardin, the DLA Piper office is a playful space intended to accentuate the variations in sunlight throughout a typical working day.

What does that mean? The side of the building that receives the most sunlight is balanced with cooler tones, while the side that receives the least is compensated with warm tones.

Meanwhile, the giant gradient of carpet connects the four main meeting rooms, while also creating a simple and clear sense of orientation within the building.

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Kinetic Wall: A Vertical Lake Building Facade

International design studio Urban Art Projects puts the soothing effects of water into an unlikely place; the side of Brisbane, Australia’s airport car park.

This project is being developed with artist Ned Kahn. It is called a “Kinetic Wall,” and it will essentially be an eight-story-tall public art installation. Seen from the outside, the installation will look like a vertical body of water, complete with gentle waves and natural movement. From the inside of the building, the movement of the facade will create beautiful patterns in sunlight on the interior surfaces.

The effect is created with 250,000 aluminum panels which are loosely suspended so as to move gently with the wind.

It also helps provide passive cooling and ventilation for the car park, cutting down on energy costs and keeping the building more comfortable all year long. The new parking garage, complete with the unique facade, will be completed in late 2011.

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120 Bikes On A Wall

A bicycle shop in Altlandsberg, Germany advertises their goods with a wall of around 120 bikes mounted on the building’s exterior in lieu of a sign.

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Beirut Terraces by Herzog & de Meuron

Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron have designed this apartment tower with overhanging floor plates and terraces for Beirut, Lebanon.

Created as part of a wider masterplan to regenerate this area of the city that includes a marina, the building will comprise five different modular floor slabs used in varying combinations to create a mixture of overhangs and terraces.

The building will have vegetation on the terraces to provide privacy and in the main entrance space to act as continuation of the neighbouring green boulevard.

The project is due for completion in 2013.

More information on the project website.

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Number House

Architecture by Matsunami Mitsutomo, a Studio from Japan.

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Spring Sprouts: Galeria Jorge Juan Welcomes Spring!

Galeria Jorge Juan, a shopping institution in the centre of Valencia, welcomes spring with an incredible installation. Flowers emerge from the buildings facade. They sprout from the joints of the tiles making their way among the huge shopping bags announcing the start of the new season.

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Nathan Sawaya: Brick By Brick

LEGO brick artist Nathan Sawaya's 'Brick by Brick' is the first solo exhibition of his art works, comprised entirely of LEGO bricks, in New York.

Sawaya quit his job as a corporate lawyer back in 2001 to pursue his childhood fascination with the ubiquitous building blocks, transforming them into an artistic medium.

He has used LEGO's shapes and bright colors to develop a range of sculptures including pop culture icons, the human form, planets.He's even created a life-sized self-portrait, expressing the limitless possibilities of this medium.

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Macquarie Building: Really Cool Office Space!

On behalf of the Macquarie Group, Clive Wilkinson Architects implemented a radical, large-scale workplace design that leverages mobility, transparency, multiple tailor-made work settings, destination work plazas, follow-me technology, and carbon neutral systems. The result is part space station, part cathedral, and part vertical Greek village.

Real cool!

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LEGO House by James May in the UK

James May is a toy fanatic from the UK and he's building his own real LEGO house.
It’s taken him millions of LEGO pieces so far and probably millions more to go. When I say a "real" house, I mean a REAL house with a working toilet and all!!!

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UPDATE: Workmen started breaking down the structure which consisted of 3.3 million Lego bricks after no-one showed any interest in taking on the building.

Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through because transport costs were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, no-one came forward.

The plastic bricks are to be donated to charity once the house on the Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey, has been demolished.

A spokesman for the estate said that the house had to be dismantled - because it did not have planning permission.
 
Read more about it here.

Thank you Brian!

Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE

A ceremony attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan marked the start of construction at May, 26 at the site of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first universal museum to be built in the capital city. In recognition of the importance of the event, the two world leaders accepted a time capsule for the museum from children of both the UAE and France.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is sited at Saadiyat Island’s new Cultural District, developed as the world’s largest single concentration of premier cultural institutions.

Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will be a 24,000 sq m complex of pavilions, plazas, alleyways and canals ‘evoking the image of a city floating on the sea’. Hovering over the complex will be a form inspired by traditional Arabic architecture: a vast, shallow, perforated dome—some 180 metres in diameter.

A presentation of Nouvel’s design, an illustrated talk and a guided tour of selected artworks to be displayed will be presented through 2 July in Gallery One of Emirates Palace. The building is set for completion in 2012/13.

via Design You Trust