May 15, 2013
Semantic satiation is a psychological phenomenon in which a spoken word or phrase temporarily sounds meaningless to the listener due to a steady stream of repetition. Kind of like when your dear old grandmother (bless her heart), compliments your good looks on repeat. While well-intentioned, the broken record reiteration starts to sound a little hollow. Thankfully this strange occurrence only happens in semantics, because the highly methodical repetition seen in Luigi Bonaventura‘s photographs feels anything but meaningless.
In fact, it is the hyper-repetition of pastel walls, closed windows, and not-so-private balconies that makes Bonaventura’s latest series ”Behind the Edge Jesolo Beach, Venice“ so enchanting. His images of vacant hotel façades embrace the unexpected power in redundancy. Bonaventura tells us that his photos are in no way a critique of uniformity; rather the homogeneity frees the artist to translate his passion for architecture into a captivating aesthetic. Click through to see more!
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April 18, 2013
Villa L, designed by Powerhouse Company with RAU Architecture
To celebrate the end of tax season, which oh-so-fittingly coincides with National Stress Awareness Month, we’ve pulled together our top ten projects that help us relax, just by looking. These serene cabins, calming spas, and tranquil retreats are ideal places to unwind after filing your federal income taxes. And if you wildly overestimated your paycheck witholding, you might just be able to swing a night or two at one of these splendid hideaways! Click through to see them all!
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April 8, 2013
This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Jury and Popular Choice Awards in the hotel/resort category, along with the architecture + sustainability category. See the full list of winners here.
Chile-based AATA Arquitectos was working on designing prefab modules for the local mining industry when a slightly different commission came along: Easter Island, a special territory off Chile and home to Rapa Nui National Park needed an ecologically sensitive new tourist complex, and AATA stepped up to the challenge.
While the firm’s first impulse was to utilize the exact modules produced for mining, the concept was abandoned when further research revealed that the site required something different. The concept of using prefabricated modules, however, stayed with AATA. “Easter Island or Rapa Nui is a very fragile ecosystem,” explained the firm, “which is why our approach to the design, construction, and operation of the cabins was to be as minimal[ly] invasive to the environment … as possible.” Learn more about the project after the jump.
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April 5, 2013
This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award in the Bars & Nightlife category. See the full list of winners here.
Mesmerizing the public with its sinuous curves and sleek finishes, the Drift Lobby Bar of the Pattaya Hilton hotel captured the Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award for best nightlife spot. Bankok-based design studio Department of ARCHITECTURE has managed to create the epitome of effortless chic in a rather challenging site: the 16th-floor lobby of a high-rise luxury hotel. Specifically, the architects had to devise a circulation system that would draw guests from the elevators deep in the tower’s core to the spectacular ocean views at the far extremities of the building.
The resulting spatial project is defined by the intricate ceiling installation—a serpentine river of suspended fabric that guides guests 40 meters across the protracted lobby space before unfurling onto the lounge. The terrace-side bar opens out onto a sleek exterior space, complete with shallow reflecting pools overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. The architects thus solved a major circulation challenge, proving that good design isn’t dependent on ideal sites or circumstances. Read more!
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March 18, 2013
Designed for a site on Senegal’s Cap-Vert peninsula, this project overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. The grand hotel is complete with infinity pool and accompanying lounge chairs, and gives a new face to architecture in Africa: that of a deluxe resort enclave. The lavish finishes and furniture are very nice, but are they too nice? Is this hotel real, or a rendering? Speak your mind in the comments section below!
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March 13, 2013
Project: Radisson Blu Dakar
Architect: SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects
Location: Dakar, Senegal
The opulent Radisson Blu hotel anchors a major urban development along the Atlantic coast in Dakar. Built just below road level, the hotel unfolds out toward the ocean and captures unobstructed views and sea breezes. The city-facing facade is distinguished by a curved canopy jutting atop an otherwise rectilinear composition of volumes. Architects SATOTA worked alongside interior architects Antonioni Associates to craft a strongly contemporary project with an assertive African aesthetic, inside and out.
Read more about this project in the Architizer database!
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Images courtesy Jon Case & Vauban Radi
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March 1, 2013
Project: Fletcher Hotel
Architect: Benthem Crouwel
Location: Amsterdam
Towering 60 meters above Amsterdam, this distinctive cylindrical hotel is a new landmark for the city. With a compact floor plan just 24 meters wide, the limited space is used efficiently as possible by circling the 120 rooms around the central staircase and elevators. The transparent glass façade sports a circular pattern and is outfitted with bright blue lights that illuminate the hotel at night, making it a welcomed addition to the Amsterdam “skyline.” Read more about this project in the Architizer database.
Photos courtesy of Benthem Crouwel
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February 26, 2013
Project: Viura Hotel
Architect: mup-arq
Location: Villabuena de Alava, Spain
Like a series of toppling stacked boulders, mup-arq designed this luxury hotel to reflect the rocky, rugged terrain of the local landscape and adhere to the vernacular aesthetics of the neighboring town square and church. To achieve a high level of sustainability, heating for the hotel comes from a biomass cauldron that burns local olive pits, filtering warmth through a radiant floor system. Products at the hotel come only from local sources, wine salt is manufactured on site, and bikes are available for hotel guests.
See more of this project in the Architizer database!
[Images via Designboom]
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February 13, 2013
Hotels these days will do anything to get customers’ attention, and we have gotten used to all sorts of marketing stunts. But the concept behind the Faktum Hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden, is really out there: It has no rooms. Charging customers 100 Swedish krona per night (about $16), the hotel’s website guides visitors through the grim urban spots where homeless people find shelter, and invites them to enjoy the “accommodations.” Read more!
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February 4, 2013
Project: Hôtel du Val d’Amblève [Addition and Renovation]
Architect: Artau Architects
Location: Stavelot, Belgium
The extensive renovation and expansion of the hotel pays special attention to the relationship between the mature parkland of the site and the materiality of the building. Located amid a grouping of enormous trees, the structure is carefully planned around them and clad in an elegant cedar rain screen. The use of wood as a signature element is carried throughout the interior of the 14-room hotel with cherry flooring and wall panelling.
Read more about this project in the Architizer database!
Images: Artau Architects
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