My good friend and BMW employee, Brigitte Froschauer, informed me that Saturday was the grand opening BMW World in Munich, Germany. The building is designed by Austrian, Coop Himmelblau. Many Munich natives were a bit dissapointed in the translation of rendering and reality, saying that the building was not as transparent as they hoped it would be. However, after seeing it on Saturday, there was a resounding “WOW” once they experienced the double cone space.
http://www.coop-himmelblau.at/
As a member of the Designers Lighting Forum (DLF) of NYC, I attended an event this week which highlighted the illumination of Columbus Circle. This was a terrific example of a collaboration between city planning, lighting design and landscape design. Located at one of the principal entrances to the Park, Columbus Circle had fallen into general disuse due to its failure to serve as a functional, safe and inviting public space. In conjunction with the development of the Time Warner Center, the City of New York commissioned a redesign of the historic circle in 1997. In 2001, the landscape architecture team, Philadelplhia base Olin Partnership, New York based lighting designers L’Obervatoire International, and collaborating engineers developed a design that would transform the site into a powerful urban space attracting New York City residents and visitors with its vibrant planting, a series of fountains, striking benches, paving and lighting, all working together to accentuate the uniqueness and vitality of the Circle and the city as a whole.
http://www.lobsintl.com/first.html
This is Leoben Justice Centre of Steiermark, Austria; the world’s best-looking prison. It encompasses a complex of courts, offices of Judges, and prison. The prison cells look better than most university dorms or office parks. Only in Austria would a prison be this beautiful! I am sure that most of the people inside the prison would be leading a better life in there than outside. It goes to show that good design can make even the most undesireable places in the world, look glamorous. Now the question that begs to be asked is, wouldn’t such a luxury prison turn out to be encouraging people to commit a crime?
Honda’s latest concept car, the CR-Z was revealed at the Tokyo Auto Show on October 9th as the next-generation of lightweight sports car concept that stands for “Compact Renaissance Zero”. The CR-Z small sports compact concept car takes its styling from the CR-X from 1983, but features new additions like glass roof and sides and Honda’s gas-electric hybrid system. The theme for Honda’s automobile booth for this year is: “For the endless joy of mobility on our earth”. Based on this theme, Honda displayed a variety of advanced environmental technologies that address environmental issues such as a reduction in CO2 emissions, together with the fun of mobility.
http://car-reviews.automobile.com/Honda/concepts/5/
The City of Trenton and Cadwalader Park Alliance present
An Evening In The Park
with Witold Rybczynski
A Visual Presentation, Lecture, and Book Signing Friday October 19th, 7pm
Ellarslie Mansion, City Museum of Trenton
In the Olmsted Designed Cadwalader Park
Parkside and Bellevue Avenues, Trenton, NJ
Withold Rybczynski illuminates Fredrick Law Olmsted’s role as a major cultural figure at the epicenter of ninteenth century American history.
Known today through the legacy of his stunning landscapes; New York’s Central Park, Stanford University campus, Boston’s Back Bay Fens, Olmsted’s contemporaries knew a man of even more extraordinarily diverse talents.
Rybczynski’s passion for his subject and his understanding of Olmsted’s immense complexity and accomplishments make his book a triumphant work. In A Clearing in the Distance, the story of a great nineteenth-century American becomes an intellectual adventure. (Scribner)For the scope of its research, A Clearing In The Distance will appeal to designers and historians. For the compelling retelling of a rich and varied life, the book will delight readers who have no previous knowledge of architecture or landscape design.
http://www.cadwaladerpark.com/
Since I’m on an International thread here, I thought I’d blog about this astounding hotel design I saw recently, The Adam and Eve Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. The designer, Eren Talu, used specialty lighting and mirrors throughout the interior design to give the spaces each a different shimmering quality. It has been touted as “the world’s sexiest.” The claims also include; the world’s longest swimming pool (341 feet, twice Olympic size), largest lounge (108,000 square feet), and longest bar (315 feet). The ceiling of the hotel’s 108,000-square-foot Atrium, is covered with hand-laid mirrored mosaic tiles which sparkle as the space is bathed in dazzling colored light, matching your every mood!
On my recent trip to the Czech Republic, I was on the underground in Prague, and an advertisement caught my eye. It was for an affordable housing development (as far as I could tell). The houses on the poster intrigued me to learn more about the development. The houses must be modern styling, but maintain their vernacular traditions, yet also be ecologically friendly.
This Saturday, October 6th, the small, architecturally rich enclave of Cadwalader Heights in Trenton, New Jersey, will host it’s House Tour boasting 100 Years of Timeless Design. 21 homes will be on display offset by a lively street scene featuring signature dishes of local restarurants, craftsman, and trolley rides. The community is established around a beautiful public park designed by the great landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted Also established with the park, is the historic Ellarslie Mansion If you happen to miss the House Tour, you still have time to attend the Gala Event at Ellarslie on the following Saturday, October 13th.
http://www.cadwaladerheights.com/
Introduced to me by a collegue, Haley Driscoll, I learned of a Brooklyn-based artist, Aurora Robson. She creates dramatic sculptures from discarded plastic bottles. Her product is something out of a fantasy sci-fi movie. Her forms are very organic and almost look alive. They have such a beautiful translucent quality to the material, I would love to make a light fixture out of one of them! So think twice before throwing that plastic bottle in the trash…it could be a piece of art!