Belgrade is a city that is at the crossroads of the old and the new. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe and has seen many invasions and wars. Most people in Belgrade even today are war weary and many people who live in the city suffer from various kinds of stress disorders. Belgrade citizens have a higher rate of blood pressure and other ailments, which makes them visit local chemists often.

The funny thing is that chemists in Belgrade are usually boring old places which drive people to boredom and they may even hesitate visiting the chemists often. Oaza Zdravlja Pharmacy by Karim Rashid comes with soft flowing walls and organic shapes and stresses on the beautiful intricacies of the human body and healing process.

This results in a sense of healing and comfort and the walls are glorified thanks to curvatures and the form is symbolic of the medicine’s journey through the body’s cellular framework. Any person who would visit the chemist would instantly feel better and healthy. However, the shop does not look very friendly for the aged or for the handicapped as there are too many steps.

Via: Contemporist

Our emotions for everyday necessary objects like furniture or clothes are far from showing awe. Though everyone knows these lifeless pieces to be vital and consider them almost impossibly to live without, they remain out of our consciousness, something that we deal with without truly thinking about or respecting.

Take a look into the works of Neri Oxman and all that would change for you in an instant. This designer from MIT, currently teaching ad pursuing her PhD there, may have been a medical scholar who gave up the med world for that of designing but she does not believe in completely giving up on things she learnt. Neri’s designs are inspired by everything in life; her design of a chair that changed shape with the user has been likened to a lover. Neri has shown the desire to make clothes that grow with the wearer and the designing of building without the angular lines seen today.

What makes Neri’s designs so amorous is not just her inspirations for these designs but the fact that her beauty and her deeply pleasant personality, zest for life and love for anything artistic, becomes obvious in the object. In essence, it is not the concept behind the design but Neri’s special touch that appears to give each the awe-factor that sets it apart. Currently, her works aren’t available commercially but can be viewed at the MoMa museum and the Boston Museum of Science, or check out MaterialEcology, founded by Neri.

Via: Esquire

The next Olympic Games, which will be held in the year 2012 at the Olympic Park in the city of London, will definitely leave its crowd spellbound with some of its jaw dropping structures built at the Olympic arena. “The Cloud” is one of the structures that will mesmerize the tourists. It is a 400 feet tall mesh tower, which has already been shortlisted as one of the entries for a competition to attract the tourists.

The Cloud is special in its own ways and has some of the most amazing designs that one could have never imagined. For instance, the beautiful tower is covered with solar powered plastic bubbles. These bubbles have a major role to function as they are responsible for showing images and data. They will forecast weather information, the Olympic race results, and also read the number of spectators present.

The Cloud can also be converted into an observation deck and a park. Indeed, it is very interesting that The Cloud has ramps, stairs, and lifts that will carry the tourists to the top of the tower where they can have a scenic view of the beautiful city below. The Cloud can generate its own energy with the use of the solar cells on the ground and in the plastic spheres. I will definitely not miss The Cloud even if I miss the London Olympics.

Via: IGreenSpot\RaiseTheCloud

If you happen to be a fan of the Prancing Horses and the scarlet, yellow and black, then the folk from Maranello have a surprise in store for you that will offer a scintillating journey clad in speed, speed and more speed. Set to open in the heart of the Middle East by 2010, the world’s very first Ferrari Theme Park and the largest indoor park ever, is already taking shape in full grandeur. Housing a wide range of accommodation and entertainment facilities including shopping and dining, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, set on Yas Island on the North East side of Abu Dhabi’s mainland is where hearts will skip a beat and the mind will experience the ultimate nirvana.

Shaping up to be the next global hotspot for daredevils and travel enthusiasts, the Ferrari Theme park will house the world’s fastest rollercoaster ride that will top off at more than 200 km/hr; barely a surprise knowing Ferrari over the years. But what will really interest the F1 die hards is the G-Force ride that the park promises which bring the passengers over 62m high in the air, through the roof and back down again… Yup, not designed for the faint of hearts or even those weak in the bones!

Ultra-modern scarlet roofing, a design inspired by the Ferrari GT and world class facilities will greet you at the park along with a giant symbol of the boys from Italy. As with everything else that is Ferrari expect precision, excellent safety features and complete luxury, all rolled into one… And of course, blinding speed will be a bonus!

Luxury-insider

Camenzind Evolution can be more than just proud of their brand new headquarters that is located in the beautiful city of Zurich in Switzerland. The architectural masterpiece that they have been gifted with is a compact, yet spacious structure that exudes a unique aura with its startling design, flowing form and exquisite features. The freestanding structure dubbed as the Cocoon sports a normal and sober look on the outside, but one little peep into its heart and you will be captivated by the form and functionality. With its spiral massing and a light-flooded, upwardly widening atrium that forms the centerpiece, Cocoon does away with the conventional way of marking personal space using partitions.

Unlike any other office room in the world, you are sure not going to find any tiny cubicles set in a robotic fashion inside this unconventional marvel. By doing so Camenzind Evolution wishes to create a unique work experience where sharing information and communication become a lot simpler and interactive. The winding ramps, twisted contours and warm lighting together create a less stressful environment to work in, while those visiting the place sure are bound to be taken in by its charm.

If you wish to give yourself a home court advantage in the corporate battles then an office space like this sure will tilt the balance in your favor. Subtle, minimalistic yet unconventional, Cocoon sure weaves a web around you!

worldarchitecturenews

Thinking outside the box is something that young designers are always told to practice but a recent DesignBoom competition are designers to do much more than that. With the growing number of vehicles on the road, finding a parking spot has become almost impossible. The competition called upon the participants to come up with a creative solution to this and one of the 66 shortlisted entries drew inspiration from nature.

The Qashqai and the Giant Dandelion is a robotic parking construction that looks like a giant dandelion made from huge chunks of steel. Designed by Shao Yung Yeh from Taiwan, the dandelion is one of the shortlisted entries in the DesignBoom competition titled ‘Think Outside The Parking Box’. The Giant Dandelion holds several long stalks attached to a central base that rotates much like a flower swaying in the breeze. Each stalk has a levelled base on its tip large enough to hold a car. The tips light up in red or green, so users can tell if the stalk is occupied or not.

The design is certainly creative and fascinating but is not very cost-effective and the amount of power required is a sure waste of energy. Built on three different levels, the glow-in-the-dark stalks and the parked cars would remain exposed to nature and this would certainly not impress most people.

Via: DesignBoom

Apple Inc. has announced that its next flagship store to be inaugurated at the prestigious Broadway, New York will be opened for operations on Nov. 14. The opening of the new Apple Store  coincides with the holiday shopping season, a time when the electronics industry generally witnesses a hike in sales and does everything possible in the trade book to attract as many consumers as possible. From slashing prices to providing endless goodies with their products, the holiday shopping season is a time, when a company with the right strategies can cover all the losses suffered in the last few months.

Same is in the case with Apple, minus the loss factor. The new Apple flagship located at Broadway and 67th and to charm the consumers to come to the store, Apple has also covered the store with a red curtain. Kind of a curtain raiser for Apple Inc. The red curtain it seems has become a calling card for Apple, as it has depicted the curtain on its website as well as the official invitations sent to the members of the press for the gala opening.

The new Apple Store stands at 54 feet tall, 75 feet wide and 30 feet deep and has a curved roof design made entirely from glass. Besides the ground floor of the store, there are two additional floors underground and the cost to the company for this elegant piece of architecture is estimated at $37.9 million.

The Broadway Apple Store is the fourth in a series of Apple outlets spread across Manhattan and the one on the Fifth Avenue is said to be one of the most profitable outlets for Apple with an annual sales figure of $350 million.

Via Apple Insider.

Since the day the world first lay its eyes on the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube in Beijing, people have been obsessed with creating the perfect stadium, to hold international sporting events. The trend is understandable though with television making these grand engineering and designing marvels appear as symbols of national pride, creativity and capability. The main stadium for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon is a multi-purpose delight that promises to provide us with some spectacular aerial shots as the opening and closing ceremony take place inside its expansive interior. Designed to ensure that 70,000 are comfortably seated and an additional 30,000 can easily take a stroll around it to enjoy the view, the flowing form of the stadium is in tandem with traditional Korean culture.

The design of the stadium is based on an uneven configuration with corporate and management facilities on its permanent western side, while the Eastern side sports a temporary seating arrangement that will give way to beautiful landscape once the games come to an end. The dynamic design, the integrated green parks around the main stadium, ample space that does away with congestion and the linking system to surrounding parks makes this design both practical and attractive. Of course, there still some time, lots of time, for the games to begin…

Populous

It was announced the construction of the first revolving hotel in Europe.

According to Gizmag site, the building will be the centerpiece of a new resort to be built near Split, the second largest city in Croatia, located on the Adriatic coast. The idea is to allow guests to have the views of the Adriatic from any hotel room. The new hotel, designed by a specialist in architecture resorts, Richard Hywel Evans, will be located on the island of Solta and rotates 1.3 times per day to provide a daily view of the bay for all guests.

The three-storey building will have 61 meters in diameter will be on a constant movement platform, which will circle a static center of 22 meters in diameter, which will be located in the reception area, stairs and elevators. The hotel entrance will be on the lower level of the building, below the pivotal area.

The building will be erected in the middle of a large artificial lake, seeming to float on it. The new resort will have a marina for 170 boats, a yacht club, villages and structure of a small town.
It was not give details about the technology used in the construction of the hotel, the costs involved, the date of inauguration and start of work.

Via: Gizmag.

The present fast paced lifestyle demands multi-functional centers which provide a shared hybrid place to cater to the needs of people. In unison, we also need these places to be equally environment-friendly. Organized around the concept of sharing and synergy, Denmark’s House of Music designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au is one such solar passive design wonder that recognizes and allows interaction between the various institutions within a single complex.

The complex comprises a U-shaped educational facility that is raised up behind a 1,300 seat symphonic concert hall that offers its audience a perfect balance of acoustics and sight-lines. The exterior exhibits a beautiful display of geometric designs with south-facing facade covered with thin-film photovoltaics that not only minimize the energy consumption, but also give a beautiful view of Aalborg city. The curvilinear and organic interior stands in total contrast to the exterior.

The building’s operable low windows bring in fresh air and optimum ventilation. The concrete walls and slab floors control the temperatures inside and store heat inside the structure. The Hall of Music also has auditoriums and public courtyards thus combining public and performance space with cultural and education functionality adding up to Denmark’s cultural heritage.

Via ArchDaily