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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 -
Barco Headquarters
Barco, a global provider of audiovisual solutions, has just opened its new headquarters in Kortrijk (Belgium) which will bring the company’s 1,250 Belgian employees into one location. At the centre of the 230,000 square metre site is ‘The Circle’, a landmark new building which provides a direct link between head office staff, R&D, production, and Barco’s international customer base.
Architect Jaspers-Eyers Architects Location Kortrijk - Belgium Company involved Alucoil Website www.alucoil.com/europe -
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