The holidays are just around the corner, and what better way to show your love than by giving your favorite architecture nerd her very own Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, heart-shaped private island! AHALife, an online directory of some of the most amazing products in the world, is offering the amazing Petra Island as part of its AHA100 Series of the season’s most coveted gifts. (The price: a cool $20 million.) Only 50 miles away from Manhattan — or a mere 15 minute luxury helicopter ride — the island highlights Wright’s signature melding of modern design with nature. Read more!

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As a 20- something living in New York off a diet of ramen noodles and $1 pizza slices, the idea of a multi-million dollar island resort dedicated to gambling seems unfathomable. But apparently they exist–and quite a number of them, too! Now, South Korea is looking to corner this extravagant market with a new $290 billion gambling paradise that will makes its rivals look like chopped liver. The incredible 8City, named after the lucky Chinese number 8, is a clear attempt to lure Chinese gamblers away from Macau, the Mainland’s biggest gambling hot spot, and the countless luxury resorts in Dubai. Looking like something out of a space-age movie, 8City could be one of the most expensive and impressive man-made super islands in history. Read more!

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This year Istanbul Design Week goes back to the future with a very ambitious project: HavvAda, a cutting-edge net-positive-energy residential island conceptualized by New York-based Studio Dror. Turkish developer Serdar Inan has commissioned the project, which will be unveiled in Istanbul on September 29. Read more.

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Building: Villa 921

Architect: Shoko Murakaji

Location: Iriomote Island, Japan

Why We Like This:

Everyone wants a private tropical getaway. Villa 921 is just that. Designed by Shoko Murakaji, the small dwelling features an open design and wall-length doors and windows that meld the home into the surrounding landscape. Tucked away on Iromote Island, which is 90% tropical forest and is designated as a national park, Villa 921 is a quaint place to be reminded of nature—and the simple things in life. Read more!

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Building: Island House

Architect: Arkitektstudio Widjedal Racki

Location: Archipelago of Stockholm, Sweden

What We Like:

Built to accommodate a young family, the Island House is a waterfront property that takes full advantage of the oceanic view without over-powering the coastline. Tucked behind a shelf of rock, the house is elevated on stubby legs just above the land yet set away from the coastline, to which it is connected by a narrow boardwalk. The home is composed of several zones, including the main volume and rear patio, the footbridge and lakeside deck, spaces which place a great importance on socialization. There is plenty of gathering space, but also room for more intimate moments as well. Read the complete project description here.

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All Photos © Roland Halbe

Constructed of various metals, an aluminum-framed curtain wall, and Corian panels, the new OCT Shenzhen Clubhouse is situated on an island in the middle of a harbor and provides guests with a host of luxury amenities. Designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects, the structure is defined by the stark contrast that exists between the sweeping curves of the clubhouse in relation to the geometrically planar design of the nearby fitness center. Connected by an outdoor pathway, a balance is found between the contrasting scale and form of the two structures. Read more.

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Rendering of the $1bn ‘Real Madrid Resort Island’; All images: Real Madrid via The Guardian

Writing in “Architecture and Utopia”, Manfredo Tafuri asserted that contemporary architecture had been neutered, so to speak, of its utopian impulse by capitalist development, which has left the field and its practitioners “obliged to return to pure architecture, to form without utopia; in the best cases, to sublime uselessness.” Tafuri’s words seem especially prescient today when one observes the landscape of current architectural production, where one can readily find the “sublime uselessness” of not only every project dreamed up by Lord Foster, Zaha, and Gehry, but also the ridiculous schemes peddled by developers everywhere from Dubai to Azerbaijan. All of this work carries the superficial indices of the “visionary”, but without any of the actual substance that accompanied and informed that of the most daring modernist utopias of yesteryear.

The newest frippery to be ogled is international football soccer club Real Madrid’s plans for a $1 billion holiday resort island in the United Arab Emirates. As the Guardian reports, the endeavor, which will be sponsored by the government of the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, was presented yesterday at Real’s home pitch, the Bernabéu, where high-res renderings of a marina, luxury hotels, an amusement park, a club museum, and a seaside 10,000-seat stadium were flashed before a fawning crowd. Commenting on the project, Real president Florentino Pérez endorsed the project as a “major tourist and sporting centre of great dimensions and the highest level,” with expectations to draw more than one million visitors upon the 430,000 square-meter complex’s completion in 2015. The resort will be constructed on the the artificial island of Al Marjan, equidistant between Europe and Asia, where 300 million fans of the club reside. The club, which ranks among the wealthiest sports teams in the world, is seeking to broker the project as a “decisive and strategic step” to strengthen the institution’s influence in emerging economies in the Middle East and Asia. Click through for all the renderings.

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Welcome to every design freak’s wet dream: A remote cottage. Designed by an architect sensitive to the surrounding landscape. Situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Bold, geometric lines. Simple, organic materials.

Saunders Architecture were tapped to build six art studios on Fogo Island in Newfoundland as part of an artists’ residency through the Shorefast Foundation.

Click through for images and enough images to make you green with envy:

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