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China Pavilion - Shanghai Expo
One of the most striking pavilions at last year’s Shanghai Expo came, appropriately, from the home country. It was obvious immediately that it was Chinese, through both the inverted pyramid of its shape, with strong horizontals, and the bright red that is immediately reminiscent of monuments such as Beijing’s Forbidden City. The horizontals, with ends cantilevering a short distance beyond the supporting elements below, pay homage to one of the most typical forms in traditional Chinese architecture, interlocking ‘dougong’ brackets. These were always realised in timber but here, in this modern interpretation, are clad in aluminium.
Architect South China University of Technology Institute of Architectural Design (He Jingtang) Location Shanghai - China Company involved Hunter Douglas China Website http://www.hunterdouglasgroup.com -
City Hall Gauchy
Should you choose to get married in the town of Gauchy en Vermandois, in the Picardy region of France near the Belgian border, you may find yourself a little distracted while taking your vows. Architect Dubosc & Associes has carefully sited the city hall so that the marriage room enjoys spectacular views across the valley. This is calming, one hopes, for tattered nerves rather than a distraction for anyone who is wondering if they have made the right decision.
Architect Dubosc & Associés Location Gauchy - France -
Student Housing
How do you house students at a new university? This was the dilemma that faced architects Te Kiefte Architecten when asked to provide temporary student accommodation for a new university that was founded at The Hague in the Netherlands. Eventually the university will build permanent accommodation but for the present it needed studio rooms for 122 students – plus some common facilities – with a planned lifespan of five years.
Architect Te Kiefte Architecten Borne Location The Hague - The Netherlands Company involved Grupo Andalucia Website http://www.grupoandalucia.org