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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 -
High school Clouet
'Transformation' is a word that is used too commonly in schools, but in the case of the high school Francois Clouet in Tours, central France, it is appropriate. The original school, built in the 1960s, was constructed inexpensively, and it showed. Now architect Dubosc & Associés has retained and upgraded one of the buildings and built two new ones, giving the school an entirely new look and feel. 'I must say - with a little pride,' said Eric Dubosc, ‘that the teachers and the pupils, who did not like the old school at all, adore the new one.'
Architect Dubosc & Associés Location Tours - France -
Aluminium Centrum
Few buildings evoke the universal response ‘how on earth does it stand up?’ but the Aluminium Centrum in Houten, the Netherlands, is one of them. A flat simple slab of a building (although not as simple as it first looks) is supported on the slenderest possible of supports coming up out of the water. On a day when the light is right, with reflections in the still water, the effect is of the tentacles of a jellyfish – not the most structurally rigid of concepts.
Architect Abbink X De Haas architectures (Micha de Haas) Location Houten - The Netherlands Company involved 3A Composites Website http://www.3acomposites.com