The De Vrouwe van Stavoren Hotel in the Netherlands salvaged four wine casks from Switzerland and converted them into rooms. Formerly filled with 14,500 liters of Beaujolais wine from the French chateau, each now holds a modest two-person room with standard amenities and even an attached bathroom and sitting room. Visitors from all around the world have traveled to the quaint northern port town of Stavoren to stay in one of these upcycled rooms.

‘The two main considerations in the design for the New Street Station by UNStudio are the station as a part of the urban fabric and as a node of the travelling network. The atrium plays an important role in the station’s identity.

Read the rest of this article »

The Lilium Tower by Zaha Hadid Architects is the winning design for a proposed addition to the Warsaw skyline that has been announced in 2007. The design is a light, transparent structure with a strong sense of identity and character.

The project followed the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, which was unveiled only a few hours earlier.

The tower has a gross area of 130 000m2 consisting of luxury residential apartments and an apartment hotel.

The project has been placed on hold January 2009.

Read the rest of this article »

Julien de Smedt architects have designed a new seascape for the coastal town of Rimini, Italy.

Read the rest of this article »

A team of Italian architects comprising Modostudio, CCDP and Studio Cattinari have won first prize in a competition to regenerate a former industrial area in Modena, Italy, into a mixed-use public space.

Read the rest of this article »

This is the View Box green home plan by FreeGreen.

The View Box plan comes in a few different versions ranging from 1397 to 1575 square feet, and two bedrooms/one bathroom to two bedrooms/two bathrooms. FreeGreen provides interior and exterior renderings, floor plans, energy features, and energy performance information based on computer simulations. Download the plan, order prints for $40, get customization services, or see how much the home is estimated to cost to construct.

Read the rest of this article »

Miralles Tagliabue EMBT will build the spanish pavilion for the universal exhibition of Shanghai in 2010.

The building, with an area of 8000 meters, is inspired on wicker baskets. Its façades will be covered by this material which is present both in spanish and chinese traditional arts & crafts.

For further information visit: www.mirallestagliabue.com.

This 9-unit condo by Shigeru Ban located in West Chelsea blurs the line between indoor and outdoor with a perforated metal shutter system that lets residence open and close their spaces on a whim. Metal Shutter Houses at 524 West 19th Street are scheduled for completion in Fall 2008.

Read the rest of this article »