Ten Daring New Buildings Around the World
Lyon, FranceNamed for its location at the confluence of the Rhone and Saône rivers in Lyon, France, the 500,000-square-foot Musée des Confluences takes Coop Himmelb(l)au’s steel-and-glass assemblages to a grand scale. The architects break down the complex structure into two elements they call the Crystal and the Cloud. The Crystal functions as a transparent urban forum facing the city, while the Cloud, sitting next to it and resembling a spaceship, features a sequence of black boxes ...
Ten Daring New Buildings Around the World
Kastrup, Denmark 3XN, 2013Denmark’s new national aquarium, located just outside Copenhagen, is both a spectacular showcase for marine life and an homage to the sea. The 105,000-square-foot structure’s five wings extend in a wavelike formation from a circular lobby. Diamond-shaped aluminum shingles clad the façade, resulting in a striking interplay of light and shadow that changes throughout the day. That imagery is in turn mirrored in the surrounding reflecting pools, which hint at the ...
Ten Daring New Buildings Around the World
Hong KongZaha Hadid’s dynamic Jockey Club Innovation Tower slices through its tight, irregularly shaped plot on the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Seamlessly integrating a concrete podium with a louvered glass façade on the upper levels, the 250-foot-tall building houses the institution’s design education and research programs and includes a lecture hall, classrooms, design studios, and workshops, as well as exhibition spaces and a communal viewing lounge.Tour Richard Meier's…
Ten Daring New Buildings Around the World
Monterrey, Mexico Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, 2013Like so many of the Pritzker Prize–winning Japanese architect’s impressive buildings, this new center at the University of Monterrey in Mexico combines a monolithic monumentality with a stark, poetic grace. Housing classrooms, studios, and meeting spaces, the sparely fenestrated concrete, cement, and steel edifice spans 223,000 square feet over six stories. A triangular void carved from its middle produces a dramatically angled canopy…