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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
Architect Architects 3XN Location Copenhagen - Denmark Company involved Novelis Website http://www.novelis.com -
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 -
GDF Suez
The striking and somewhat stark appearance of the 800MW GDF Suez coal-burning power plant at Wilhelmshaven, in northern Germany, reflects the fact that this is one of the most modern and efficient power plants of its kind in the world.
Architect DHV Architects Location Wilhelmshaven - Germany Company involved Tata Steel Website http://www.colorcoat-online.com