The extraordinary natural surroundings of the peninsula of Baja California with its semi-desert landscape in shades of ocher, contrasting with the deep blue of the Sea of Cortes, provides an ideal selected context for the construction of a new landmark hotel for the country.
Celebrating the integration between landscape, architecture and art, Solaz Los Cabos covers a total area of 9.8 hectares along a section of the coast that includes unique topographical formations. The architectural concept was guided by this need for the proper integration of the construction into its surroundings, achieved through the use of organic forms that refer to the movement of the waves, producing an attractive series of volumes that are adapted to the location. The selection of materials, planting and construction methods reinforce this concept of integration, and were meticulously studied to ensure they would suit this beautiful site.
Location: San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Photography: Rafael Gamo
Design Manager: Alejandro Espejel, Cándido Hernández, Luis Pucheta
Design Team: Iovany Fuentes, David Pazos, Miguel Baranda, Marco Pucheta, Santiago García de Letona, Giordana Rojas, Daniela Camarena, Carlos Nuñez, Francisco Barrera
Article source: gmp · Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner
A new high-rise building makes its impact on the skyline of Hangzhou, the Chinese metropolis with 9 million inhabitants. The 130-meter-high tower is part of the extension and redesign of the GDA Plaza, a business center in the traditional business quarter of the city, which includes a shopping mall and hotel. Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp), who had previously won the competition, were in charge of the design and implementation.
West Lake is considered a focal point and special attraction of the old, traditional city of Hangzhou. Its exemplary cultivated landscape is an outstanding feature of this 9-million-person metropolis to the south-west of Shanghai and, in 2011, was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. At Wulin Square, in the midst of the flourishing business center not far from the lake, the GDA Plaza Hotel and Business Center was reopened. As part of a redesign and extension, the existing complex with hotel and shopping mall was recreated and made into a completely new unit. The architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp), who had previously won the competition in 2007, were in charge of the design and implementation. At one cor-ner, the GDA Plaza was substantially extended by a new 28-story building with a gross floor area of 57,500 square meters, whilst the existing main building was retained as far as possible but completely reorganized. This has created additional offices and commercial premises, as well as new leisure facilities such as cinemas and restaurants.
Design: Meinhard von Gerkan and Nikolaus Goetze with Magdalene Weiss
Project Leader Competition: Jörn Ortmann
Competition Design Team: Jan Blasko, Cai Lei, Cheng Ying, Sun Ya-jin, Zhu Honghao
Project Leader Detail Design: Chen Ying, Fan Xiaodi, Huang Meng
Detail Design Team: Mareike Asmus, Jiang Yi, Kong Rui, Claudius Lange, Mao Yuqi, Alexander Schober, Martin Seibel, Sun Ya-jin, Tian Jinghai, Wang Qing, Zhao Chonghan
Cell phones have become as ubiquitous on our tabletops as our plates and cutlery. Perched amongst our meals and utensils, they relentlessly pull towards other people and places, interrupting the delight and the ritual of sharing a meal with company.
The concept for Sara Restaurant in Toronto’s Entertainment District imagined a more intimate setting, where guests could abandon their devices and be more present in the act of dining together. For emerging design studio Odami, it was important to provide a profound sense of place on one hand and a sense of calm on the other. This was achieved with a dedicated focus on texture, materiality, and atmosphere, offering a tangibility that the material-less and place-less realm of the Web can not.
Article source: KAAN Architecten and PRANLAS-DESCOURS architect & associates
Following the launch of its Paris outpost, Dutch architecture firm KAAN Architecten together with French office PRANLAS-DESCOURS architect & associates (PDAA), present the new Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat (CMA) Hauts-De-France in Lille (France). The winning entry of an international competition for Eurartisanat campus, this building works as a new gateway of the city and is part of its urban development initiated in the Eighties with Euralille district, Euratechnologies and Eurasanté.
The CMA is set along the edge of the former Seventeenth Century Vauban fortification, now replaced by a high-speed ring road. The northern border of the site is defined by a railway line and the botanical garden — Jardin des Plantes de Lille. To the south, Rue Abélard defines the perimeter of a wider masterplan area designed by KAAN Architecten and PDAA, and comprising of CMA headquarters, a future complex of five buildings and a lush park spanning the site as an extension of the nearby garden.
Tags: France, Lille Comments Off on Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat Hauts-De-France in Lille by KAAN Architecten and PRANLAS-DESCOURS architect & associates
This restaurant is a result of the collaboration between Mr. Kusuda Takuya, a connoisseur of the Japanese wine scene, and Mr. Miyanaga Hisatsugu, a famous chef. It’s located far from a busy thoroughfare in a quiet part of Ebisu, and access is via private intercom only. I wanted to create a feeling of exclusivity and a special place for diners, different from other restaurants in the area, changing the negative “inconvenient” into a more positive idea. I treated this restaurant not as a standard restaurant, but as a secret special dining space within a world class wine cellar, known only to a select clientele. Guests will gain access via an unmarked entrance, descending to a basement level where doors will open to reveal Mr. Kusuda’s private working space, where Mr. Kusuda will customize and select wines for each customer to purchase. Then a hidden door opens between the shelves, finally entering the dining space.
Wafra Beacon is a competition-winning proposal for a food and beverage mall development for the Sabah Al Ahmed Sea City area in Kuwait. The proposal transcends the barriers of traditional F&B developments in the region.
The project scope includes two rectangular plots facing a public square anchored by a mosque. Each plot contains a sectional podium housing independent multi-level restaurants and a multi-use tower. The Beacon is designed to be the destination of choice for the trendiest concepts in the Kuwait culinary scene while doubling up as the hub for a healthy and active beach lifestyle. Departing from the notion of a traditional F & B Mall, the design seeks to function as an Oasis for the young, active and creative demographic inhabiting the surrounding areas and visiting for the weekends.
Team: Hend Almatrouk, Gijo Paul George, Rui Goncalves, Pedro Varela, Abdul Rashed, Dionne Pereira, Ghanem Younes, Fabio Verissimos, Fernando Miranda, Filip Goncalves.
Scenic Architecture designed a series of buildings for public services in the Runway Park, which was renovated from 100-year old Longhua airport located at the west bank of Huangpu River, Shanghai. This project is a concentrated part of the whole series with three buildings including a community pavilion, a coffee shop, and a restaurant.
Being the primary unit of organization and habitation in India, villages over a period of time have become synonymous with the ‘identity of India’ itself. The cultural and architectural diversity found in villages across India can be mesmerizing yet the influence of globalized invasive materials and knowhow can be seen percolating unanimously. The merits and demerits of this invasion continue to spark attempts at discovering sensitive design solutions in an actively urbanizing India. The texture of which itself is heavily interwoven with various village like settlements.
“…while for (Mahatma) Gandhi the Village was a site of authenticity, for Nehru it was a site of backwardness and for Ambedkar the village was the site of oppression.”
-Economic and Political Weekly Vol.37, No.32 (Aug.10-16, 2002), pp. 3343-3345
Biga is the leading food chain in Israel with over 45 shops around the country. Biga is a combination of an Italian bistro with a small high-quality bakery, and a shop with fresh and great products and pasta made by Biga factory and other local small companies. All those located at every shop which serves all day food, great pastries and Cafe.
This multifunctional space deigned to give a great experience between a classical old street atmosphere with verity of seating systems and a cozy feeling.
RUST architects designed and planed over 30 shops for Biga already and five new ones will be open at the next year.
Four years after opening their first Malandrino bar in San Sebastian, its owners decided to open a new one in the city. A new project created with the aim of keeping the main essence of the bar: creating a young, warm and welcoming atmosphere to enjoy their delicious and authentic Italian specialties.
Our proposal seeks to open the bar to the street inviting to enter. In a city like San Sebastian with a mild but a rainy climate, we decided to create a covered terrace as a porch with a wooden pergola where climbing vines enhance the feeling of an outdoor garden.
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