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Two Housing Blocks
The housing designed by Dubosc & Associes in Montargis, France, is certainly uncompromising. Clad entirely in metal, it eschews any of the conventional domestic touches but it does so in a manner that is refreshing and bright. The only punctuation to the neutral metallic colour comes from the front doors in a cheerful red, with large painted numbers, and sensibly generous vision panels. There is no chance here of forgetting where you live, and the sloping external staircases are both inviting and, argues Eric Dubosc, important places of social interaction. ‘People never talk on internal staircases,’ he says. ‘Here they are out of doors, so they talk and their children play together.’
Architect Dubosc & Associes Location Montargis - France -
Centre Pompidou-Metz
As the first regional offshoot of France’s biggest modern art space and a national cultural institution, the new Centre Pompidou-Metz is already helping to boost the economy of a struggling region. It has already become, according to several reports, France’s most visited cultural venue outside Paris.
Images courtesy of Centre Pompidou Metz - Photos by Didier Boy de la Tour
Architect Shigeru Ban - Jean de Gastines Location Metz - France Company involved 3A Composites (ALUCOBOND®) Website http://www.alucobond.com -
Quadrum Business Centre
When completed, in the next few years, Norwegian property development company Schage Real Estate’s innovative Quadrum Business City will provide more 40,000 square metre of office and retail space in the rapidly growing Snipiskes business district of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. It will also include a 30,000 square-metre three-story underground parking garage, and the input of more than 50 different contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.
Architect Lund and Slaatto Arkitekter (Donal Cassidy) Location Vilnius - Lithuania Company involved Apliband (Grupo Andalucia) Website www.apliband.com