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Soweto Theatre
When the sun is setting in Soweto, South Africa, the walls of the new Soweto Theatre glow in a warm gold colour. In fact, these walls are clad in a grey colour, but their double curvature means that they reflect their surroundings, picking up not only the warm tones of the low sun but also the green of nearby trees. This visual richness is simply one manifestation of the wealth of ideas and ambition that are invested in a building that will serve both the local community and the national and international visitors who already come to the township, bringing much needed tourist income.
Architect Afritects (Tony de Oliviera) Location Soweto - South Africa Company involved ArcelorMittal Website http://www.arcelormittal.com -
L'Orangerie
The regeneration of the Belgian steel town of Seraing, on the outskirts of Liège, began more than 10 years ago. Among the most striking of buildings to herald the municipality’s metamorphosis is the L’Orangerie, a rectilinear golden filigree-clad building occupied by CMI (Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie) and constructed by Willemen Groep company Franki.
Architect Reichen et Robert & Associés Location Seraing - Belgium Company involved Novelis - CMI - Metal Yapi Website www.novelis.com -
ROC Carolus School
The first impression of the ROC Carolus building is deceptive, and deliberately so. Passers-by and visitors see a ‘crazy’ building, a fractured and playful facade, with irregularly polygonal windows breaking up the variety of shades of grey in the prepainted metal cladding that floats above a glazed ground floor. This cladding in turn has ‘fault lines’ along it, as if the whole could shatter in an instant. It takes a moment to realise that this is disguising the fact that the building in fact consists of relatively regular blocks joined by glazing. The overall assembly is largely rectilinear, but with one end curving to a point like the prow of a ship. Far from this being an example of unexplained exuberance, careful consideration has gone into making the facade, like the rest of the building, hard working and affordable.
Architect AGS Architekten & Planners Location Nijmegen - The Netherlands Company involved Euramax Coated Products Website http://www.euramax.nl