Morrow Royal Pavillion - Recycled Glass; "Eco-Friendly" & Cool

Recently completed the Morrow Royal Pavilion is one of the more significant and notable "eco-friendly" buildings constructed in recent years. The building is not only "eco-friendly"; it is also architecturally and aesthetically interesting and it has generated a good deal of publicity garnering headlines such as "Cash not the only thing green in Sin City - Vegas now home to world's largest green building made with recycled beer bottles" and "Las Vegas Entrepreneur finds a creative way to recycle Beer Drinkers ...

Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Some of the most magnificent structures ever conceived were built in the Middle Ages. Few modern structures can match the awe inspiring gothic cathedrals of Europe. These massive monuments to times past were often constructed over decades and sometimes over hundreds of years; generations of craftsmen dedicated their lives to the projects never to see the final glory of the completed cathedrals. Take York Minster for example; started in 1220 the current cathedral took ...

Royal Ontario Museum "Crystal", Toronto, Canada

In 2002 the Royal Ontario Museum, a Canadian world culture and natural history museum located in Toronto, began a significant expansion and renovation project dubbed Renaissance ROM. By far the most significant part of this project was the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. The facility was designed by architect Daniel Libeskind who beat out around 50 other high profile architects in a competition for the project. The "Crystal" is certainly an eye catching creation with its sloping walls, angular...

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA, USA

In my recent article on Frank O. Gehry's Venice Beach House I used an image from the blog "What Do I Know". During some correspondence with the author of "What Do I Know" he mentioned the Walt Disney Concert Hall; one of Gehry's most iconic creations. While researching and writing my recent articles on Gehry and also on two of his buildings, the Venice Beach House and The Hotel Marques de Riscal, I had come across the Concert Hall but I had not looked closely at it. The mention of it ...

Kuchlbauer's Bierwelt, Abensberg, Germany

Breweries are not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about unique and inspired architecture but for German brewer Leonhard Salleck that was precisely what happened in the late 1990's. The Kuchlbauer´s Bierwelt has, to say the least, a lengthy history and can trace it origins back to the late 1400's. More recently the brewery has been in the Salleck family since 1904. The brewery brews specialty "Weissbier" or Wheat Beer and, while it is a relatively small operation, it is ...

Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria

Completed in 2003 the Kunsthaus Graz is a strange and yet very striking building. Affectionately dubbed the "Friendly Alien" by its creators its amoebic like form is a perfect example of what is sometimes termed "blob architecture" or "Blobitecture". The building was designed by architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier and they had more up their sleeve than just the creativity of the building's organic form when they formulated their plans. The entire eastern side of the building forms a high tech visual ...

Biorama aka The Water Tower House

Around 10 years or so ago while cycling Richard Hurding spotted an old run down water tower in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO nature reserve outside the town of Joachimsthal some 45 miles or so from the German capital, Berlin. Harding and his wife Sarah Philips, though both British, had worked in and explored many parts of the world and were looking for a new place to live. They had just found it. Both Harding and Philips were industrial designers ...

Hotel Marqués de Riscal, Elciego, Spain

Located in north central Spain the Rioja region is famed for its production of Rioja wines. The Rioja Denominación de Origen Calificada is named for the province of La Rioja though the wines are actually produced in three northern Spanish provinces; La Rioja, Navarre and Álava. In the province of Álava The Frank O. Gehry designed Hotel Marques de Riscal adds a touch of the ultra modern to the small, traditional town of Elciego. Erected in 2006 the hotel was a part of a plan to ...

Dome Of A Home, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA

Valerie and Mark Sigler had had just about enough after their home was severely damaged for the third time by a hurricane. In 1998 following Hurricane Georges they had what remained of their home demolished and started the search for the architect who would build them their new home. After a lengthy search they came upon Jonathan Zimmerman [who passed away 2005], the architect behind the "Dome Of A Home" which was constructed in 2003. The Sigler house is without doubt ...

The Hole House, Houston, TX, USA

The Texas "Hole House" as it became known was in existence for only a few months in 2005. A disaster of the space time continuum? A tragic and curious result of an earthquake? An ominous omen? Just what the heck was going on with this extremely bizarre and short lived building? Of course the answer is nothing so outlandish or alien; it turns out that in the spring of 2005 two houses slated for demolition were turned into a limited time art project that came to be known...