Ecca collection

Las Arenas de Barcelona

Barcelona’s historic bull ring Las Arenas, constructed at the very end of the 19th century, fell largely into disuse during the 1970s, owing to the declining popularity of bull fighting in Catalonia.

Images courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

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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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Kameha Hotel

You do not need to go in to the Kameha hotel in Bonn, Germany, to know that you have arrived somewhere special. Set in a curve of the Rhine in the suburb of Oberkassel, it looks across the river to some of the main elements of the city, or in the other direction to the Siebengebirge mountains. It is a low-lying building, rising only to a maximum of six floors, which makes the most of its position. Luxurious rooms enjoy magnificent views, and the entire hotel is centred on a gigantic transparent hall, that pays tribute to the great glasshouses of the 19^th Century, but using 21^st Century technology.

Images courtesy of Tomas Riehle, Köln (Germany)

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