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College André Maurois
One of the driving forces in French school design and redesign has been the disastrous fire at the College Edouard Pailleron in 1973.Built to a mid century pattern common to many schools throughout the country, it was of lightweight steel construction with no fire protection. The fire spread rapidly through voids and 20 people died of whom 16 were children. There were more than 1,000 schools in the country built in a similar way, of which 57 used the exact same technique. These became known as Paillerons and were, quite rightly, slated for improvement or replacement.
Architect Dubosc & Associés Location Limoges - France Company involved ArcelorMittal Website http://www.arcelormittal.com -
Swedish Pavilion - Shangai Expo
Designing the Swedish Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo was a slightly less daunting task than designing many of the other pavilions, because it had a clearly defined function. What makes these projects so difficult in general is the almost entirely open-ended nature of the brief – they have to convey something about the national character, and house an exhibition, but beyond that and the physical limitations of the site, it is possible to do anything. In the case of the Swedish Pavilion, however, there was at least a requirement to house meetings with potential trade partners, and this gave the design more of a functional programme than is customary.
Images courtesy of August Wiklund, Sweco, & Petter EldinArchitect Sweco (Johannes Tüll) Location Shangai - China Company involved SSAB Website http://www.ssab.com -
Maas Tower
On a misty day in Rotterdam, the taller of the two towers that make up the Maas Tower development seems to disappear into the sky. Oddly, on a clear day, the effect is not entirely different. Although the light silvery colour of the tower stands out sharply against a blue sky, there is a fading away at the top that cannot just be put down to the diminution that comes with distance.
Architect Diederick Dam (Dam and Partners) Location Rotterdam - The Netherlands Company involved Euramax Coated Products & Hunter Douglas Website http://www.euramax.nl