Ecca collection

Ice Skating Arena

Until recently the university town of Enschede in the east of the Netherlands, was perhaps best known for having once had a thriving textile industry; this and the industrial decline that ensued when this historic industry came to a fairly abrupt end in the 1970s, owing to fierce competition from producers in the Far East.

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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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Copenhagen aquarium "The Blue Planet"

Inspired “by the shape of water in endless motion”, Denmark’s new national aquarium, the Blue Planet, is northern Europe’s largest and most modern.

The whirlpool concept on which this unusual edifice originates is, according to Copenhagen-based architectural practice 3XN: “in a narrative about water, and as an image, is at once both abstract and figurative”. The practice also cites shoals of fish and swirling starlings for influencing the vortex-like form of the building.

Images courtesy of Adam Mõrk

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