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Torre Agbar
The cigar-like shape of Barcelona’s 38-storey Torre Agbar was inspired, according to its principal architect Jean Nouvel, both by the image of a geyser rising into the air and the profile of the nearby mountain of Montserrat.
Images courtesy of Rafael Vargas
Architect Jean Nouvel Location Barcelona - Spain Company involved Alucoil Website http://www.alucoil.com -
Aluminium Centrum
Few buildings evoke the universal response ‘how on earth does it stand up?’ but the Aluminium Centrum in Houten, the Netherlands, is one of them. A flat simple slab of a building (although not as simple as it first looks) is supported on the slenderest possible of supports coming up out of the water. On a day when the light is right, with reflections in the still water, the effect is of the tentacles of a jellyfish – not the most structurally rigid of concepts.
Architect Abbink X De Haas architectures (Micha de Haas) Location Houten - The Netherlands Company involved 3A Composites Website http://www.3acomposites.com -
Drinking water reservoir
It’s a challenge to make a functional building look sleek or modern, but the designers of this vast drinking water reservoir in Germany, have managed to do both with great panache, thanks to the use of KS600 Optimo insulated panels from Kingspan, made using hot-dip zinc-coated steel from Metal Trade Comax.
Architect SIG Schroll Consult (Markus Jung) Location Göteborg - Sweden Company involved Metal Trade Comax (coil coater) / Kingspan (panel producer) Website www.mtcomax.cz