Skyline Residence by Belzberg Architects in Los Angeles. Learn more about this project here.

Summer blockbusters are here! It’s that time of year when Hollywood puts out the sequels, prequels, action flicks, and star-studded vehicles that it hopes will break box office records. If The Great Gatsby or Iron Man 3 aren’t your speed, there’s always Star Trek Into Darkness or The Hangover III coming up. But whatever your movie taste (we won’t judge), you’re sure to love this collection of unconventional, modern movie theaters. No banal multiplexes here! So grab some popcorn (because we can’t guarantee these venues offer concessions) and enjoy.

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Let’s be blunt: In New York City, there are a lot of tall buildings. So much so, that the idea of a scenic view involves nothing more than gazing out your office window at the wall of buildings across the street, or down at the scurrying crowds of people below. Some people take a trip to the top of the Empire State Building for a panoramic vista, but honestly, who does that besides tourists?

While most New Yorkers rarely admit it, sometimes all we want is to flee the city and surround ourselves with nature. And, what better way to appreciate the natural landscape than from a tall observation tower. Today, we bring you five truly unconventional observation towers that, unlike the skyscrapers of Manhattan, provide unobstructed views of the surrounding scenery. Click through to see them all!

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Rugged and frigid, the Norwegian coast inspires compelling architecture that provides more visual interest than that of the average seaside home. The post-glacial geographic crevices known as fjords offer these properties a secluded mystique that appeals to both the urbane Oslo weekender and one’s inner Norse god.

And to us! Drawing on vernacular woods and the clean geometry that characterizes Scandinavian design, these homes let the landscape’s perilous heights take prominence. The fjords’ combination of dense pine forests, glacial peaks and inherent isolation take the getaway cabin from trite to transcendent. Read on for our picks of the best of fjord-side living that you simply can’t a-fjord to miss!

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In only a few days, the biggest names in architecture and design across the world will descend upon New York City to attend the Architizer A+ Awards gala. Perhaps we’re just super exhilarated about the event and proud of our winners, but we can’t get over how big this has become, with honorees and guests flying from all over the world to be a part of it.

Take our A+ winners from Spain: Estudio A2arquitectos,  Josep MiAS ARCHITECTS, APARICIO + DONAIRE, and ÃBATON. These firms will not only be attending our party, but throwing their own the very next day! On Friday, May 17th, join the Center for Architecture and the Spain Culture New York-Consulate General of Spain in celebrating some of these extraordinary projects. The free event includes cocktails and runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Center for Architecture. (For more details, click here.)

Seeing these three remarkable Spanish projects made us think of all the amazing architecture going on in Spain lately. So in honor of La Furia Roja, we’ve rounded up some of the best examples of contemporary Spanish design, including, of course, our A+ winners. Click through to see them all!

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Photo: Scott Frances/Esto

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and if you’re (un)lucky enough to have a child working as an architect, you may be in for a big surprise come Sunday. Along with designing an iconic chair, building a house for one’s mother is a longstanding architectural tradition. So in honor of this holiday, we’ve rounded up five of the most important  of houses designed by famous architects for their parents, ranging from Le Corbusier to Richard Meier. Think of it as a long-overdue thank you for the years of emotional and financial support in the arduous process of becoming an architect!

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Ah, the Roaring Twenties, that decadent period when people tossed tradition out the window and really started living it up. Opulent parties, smokey jazz clubs, subterranean speakeasies—if only we could have been there! The auto, radio, and movie industries were flourishing; the literary world was on fire; and the fashion industry was going bonkers (what’s more fabulous than a slinky flapper dress?). Architecture was also having a glorious moment. Art Deco emerged as the era’s defining style, characterized by bold geometries and dramatic flourishes. It extended into the 1930s and ’40s and then faded after World War II.

Tomorrow, the latest film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, set in 1922, debuts in theaters. To celebrate, we’ve rounded up 15 magnificent examples of Art Deco design around the globe. Click through to see them all!

(Top): Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton from the new film, “The Great Gatsby.” (Above) Grand ballroom from the film. Photos: Warner Bros. via Architectural Digest 

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Johnny Rotten’s spikes have nothing on JDS Architects’ VM House. Photo of John Lydon, 1976, by Ray Stevenson/Rex USA

Studded leather jackets and spiked colors are back, thanks to the Metropolitan Museum’s highly publicized “Punk: Chaos to Couture” show, which opens tomorrow in New York City. And while we know that punk constitutes much more than just stapling some metal accouterments onto your shirt and calling it a day, well, we were so inspired by the exhibition’s spinous fashions that we decided to their architectural equivalents. So cue up some Sex Pistols and click through to see some seriously spiky, badass buildings.

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All this sunshine and warm weather in New York City has really got us at Architizer HQ pining for our youth—you know, when we could play outside for an hour in the middle of the day for recess.  Yep, those were the good old days.

It’s been many years since that sunny nostalgia was a reality, and playground design has come a long, long way. Standard wood-chip covered parks dotted with tire swings and possibly hazardous monkey bars are artifacts of the last millenium. For today’s roundup, we’ve found some truly innovative and unusual playgrounds that would cause your inner child to start jumping for joy. From a colorful crocheted alligator, to a surreal, warping jungle gym, to a playground made out of recycled iron drums, these outdoor fun zones will have you wishing you were still 10 years old. But what the heck, go play on them anyway! Click through to see them all. 

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Photo: HOK Architects

Spring is in the air—from the magnolia trees bursting into bloom in Brooklyn to the daffodils carpeting the Upper West Side, the last traces of a protracted wet winter are quickly vanishing. The old proverb, April showers bring May flowers, is proving true once again! In the spirit of the times (and the logical corollary to our April post, Architecture in the Rain), we’ve compiled a group of buildings whose forms are indebted to flowers, literally. From geometric inspiration to cultural responsiveness, these projects strut their stuff (petals?) across the globe. Click through to see them all!

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If you’re anything like, um, everyone else who uses the Internet, you spend a good chunk of your time online looking at animal photos. But while the World Wide Web abounds with images of writers and their dogs, or celebrities and their cats, or Salvador Dali and his lobsters, there are dismayingly few—if any—Architecture + Animal posts. (Believe us, we’ve Googled it. Lots.) So, inspired by our friends at Buzzfeed and their amazing Corgi roundups, we present: starchitects and dogs, specifically their doggy doppelgängers. Because, it’s Friday, and we—and you—deserve it. Click through to see them all!

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