-
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
Architect Architects 3XN Location Copenhagen - Denmark Company involved Novelis Website http://www.novelis.com -
Bilbao Arena
Architectural practice ACXT admits that local geology and vegetation were both influential in the design of the striking Bilbao Arena and Sports Centre, which occupies a steeply inclined site, within a park, in the city’s central Miribilla district.
Images courtesy of Jorge Allende and Aitor Ortiz
Architect ACXT (Javier Pérez, Nicolás Espinosa) Location Bilbao - Spain Company involved ArcelorMittal Website http://www.arcelormittal.com/construction -
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 19th Century, but using 21st Century technology.
Images courtesy of Tomas Riehle, Köln (Germany)
Architect Architekturbüro Karl-Heinz Schommer Bonn Location Bonn - Germany Company involved Arconic Architectural Products Website http://www.arconic.com