AEWORLDMAP.COM (3,000+ posts)

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Building: Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Architect: Heatherwick Studio
MEP: Arup
Structural: Arup and Sutherland
Fire Consultant: Arup
Use: Museum
Awards: ArchDaily 2018 Building of the Year Awards
Year: 2017

AE Interest: It was a retrofit of an old silo which was a grain dissemination plant (originally built in 1921). The museum holds contemporary art of Africa, also showcasing art of artists from 54 nations. Constructed and carved from a series of forty-two sentinel-like concrete silos spanning the building’s height. Heatherwick scanned a corn kernel to use as the datum for the shape of the atrium’s void. The effect is a kaleidoscope of light and shadow into the floor space. The façade was inspired by Venetian blown-glass lanterns, geometric convex window. Leaving a windowless gallery, where spaces are carved out of the honeycomb interior exposing the building’s core.

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Building: Q1 Tower
Type: Skyscraper
Location: Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia
Architect: Innovarchi, Sunland Group Ltd, The Buchan Group
Façade: Arup  
Structural: Whaley Consulting Group
Glazing: G James
Awards:
2005 Silver Award winner of the Emporis Skyscraper Award
2006 RAIA Gold Coast Regional Architecture Awards – Building of the Year
2006 RAIA Queensland

AE Interest:
Tallest self-supported structure in Australia at 1,058.07 ft with Highest Swimming Pool in Australia. Teardrop canopy wraps around base, echoing the “boat like” geometry. Along with providing a majestic entrance, it is an “urban gesture” to the neighboring buildings on the block by linking them together. Tapered roof with oval spire. Elevators are fastest in Australia, traveling at 1772 ft/min. The level 60 sky garden holds a 30 meter high rainforest with an outdoor terrace observatory (with panoramic views) 180 meters above street level.

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The guesthouse at the La Silla Observatory is probably not as luxurious as the Residencia at Paranal, but the view out of the window at night is at least as good.

The swimming pool at the lowest floor of the Residencia was introduced into the project as a part of the humidification system. However, it also serves as an important psychological element that helps to overcome the harsh living conditions, especially for the permanent staff.

The entire arc of Milky Way, full of gas and dust, star clusters and emission nebulae, is a luminous background for the ESO-operated Very Large Telescope (VLT). The VLT is based at the Cerro Paranal site in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, and it houses four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, shown here lined up in front of a stunning starry backdrop. (Miguel Claro / ESO)

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Building: ESO Hotel (Residencia)
Location: Antofagasta, Chile (Atacama)
Architect: Auer + Weber + Assoziierte
Interior: Paula Gutiérrez Erlandsen
Structural: Mayr + Ludescher
MEP: HL-Technik
Client: European Southern Observatory
Use: Located beneath summit of Cerro Paranal, where the VLT (Very Large Telescope) is located (largest telescope in the world) 2500 m above. ESO scientist and engineers stay here on roster system.
Construction: 2002
Awards:
2005 Cityscape Architectural Review Awards,
2004 Leaf Awards Kategorien “New Build Overall” 

AE Interest:
It fits in a depression in the ground, so it does not impede the view of the landscape. Therefore the only thing visible above Verizon is the steel skeleton (35 meters in diameter). Long Brick Entrance and skylit dome. Mostly Concrete Structure because it’s economical and combats heat. Mist-like water sprays in the garden and natural evaporation from the pool create a subtropical climate (feeling of oasis inside). Earthquake protection: Concrete blocks anchored to ground with fiberglass mats.

Fun Fact: Bad guy lair in Quantum of Solace (James Bond)

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Mikimoto Ginza 2, Tokyo, Japan, Architect Toyo Ito + Taisei Design Pae, Mikimoto Ginza 2 Dusk Exterior View. (Photo by View Pictures/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Building: Mikimoto Ginza Honten

Address: Ginza 2

Location: Tokyo, Chuo-ku, Japan

Architect: Toyo Ito

Structural Engineer: SSC Sasaki Structural Consultants

Interior: Ichiro Nishiwaki Design Office

Lighting Designer: Ushio Spax Co

Contractor: Taisei Corporation

Completion: 2005

AE Interests:  Straight vertical walls with light pink exterior, like a pearl. ­­ Rectangular box looks like skyscraper from afar. The windows (of fractal composition) are bubbles or petal dancing arranged randomly through the building, like Swiss-Cheese­. But some windows are placed at corners (where columns usually are) to emphasize the sophisticated structure. Column-free interior, the building is a tubular structural system without columns, so that the load bearing walls. Formed by two layers of steel panels were interspersed with pins and then with concrete reinforced low viscosity. The slabs of the floors are formed by homogeneous layers 9. The design uses “method of finite element analysis”. Ito wants the user to “look for the technology” and “architecture you can touch and feel because the object is real”, as it is subtle and sewed seamlessly into the building.

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Building: Art Tower Mito

Address: 1-6-8 Goken-chō

Location: Mito, Japan

Architect: Arata Isozaki & Associates

Structural Engineer: ATM Structural Design

Acoustic Engineer: Nagata Acoustics

Construction:

1.Taisei Corporation

2.Takenaka Corporation

3.Totetsu Kogyo Co., Ltd., Akui Corporation

Completion: 1990

AE Interests: Built for 100^th year anniversary of Mito becoming a city. 100 meter tower is composed of spiraling titanium panel units, forming 28 tetrahedrons and 57 isosceles triangles.  Titanium was chosen because it is highly resistance to corrosion and weathering. Built to last. First titanium skyscraper in japan!

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Pictures: [1,2,3]

Building: Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku

Address: 4 Chome-30-3 Jingumae, Shibuya City

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Architect: NAP/Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Co., Ltd

Structural Design:  S.R.C + R.C. + S Structure

Structural Engineer: Takenaka Corporation

Construction: Takenaka Corporation

Completion: 2012

AE Interests: The idea of the space was to maximize the value of space for it cannot be replicated through online shopping. A Kaleidoscope-like Entrace tube makes the ride up through the escalators an unforgettable experience. Polygonal panels, as well as contributing to form, absorb seismic movement in desperate measures.

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