Ecca collection

College André Maurois

One of the driving forces in French school design and redesign has been the disastrous fire at the College Edouard Pailleron in 1973.Built to a mid century pattern common to many schools throughout the country, it was of lightweight steel construction with no fire protection. The fire spread rapidly through voids and 20 people died of whom 16 were children.   There were more than 1,000 schools in the country built in a similar way, of which 57 used the exact same technique. These became known as Paillerons and were, quite rightly, slated for improvement or replacement.

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Ville Verdi

The five residential blocks that make up the Ville Verdi in Vienna, Austria’s capital city, lean back almost lazily in a way that makes one imagine that the apartments might have sloping floors, with furniture sliding inexorably towards the rear elevation. Of course this is not the case, but that sense of fantasy is enhanced by their extraordinary location.

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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

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