Apart from thousands of equally looking
buildings in stone jungles of modern megalopolises, one can also find real
works of building art from time to time. In this review, we are going to show
you some unusual examples of architectural masterpieces that are truly
inspiring.
Cubic houses
Cubic houses (Kubuswoningen) in Rotterdam are well known around the
world due to their peculiar and bright design. They were designed and built
according to the project of the Dutch architect Piet Blom in 1984.
What is Kubuswoningen? Following his imagination, Blom turned an
ordinary cube by 45 degrees and placed it on one of the corners of the hexagon.
According to the architect, the design of a separate building should resemble a
tree, and the complex as a whole, consisting of 38 houses, should look like a
real forest. Blom's idea was to create a kind of village in the big city, a
quiet oasis. Courtyards inside the complex are really quiet and pretty.
From the gallery of the Kubuswoningen complex, you have a beautiful view
of the Old Harbor of Rotterdam, with numerous café terraces where one can enjoy
a quiet day.
The
Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was opened in 1997. The construction of
this amazing building was made possible thanks to the project of the
American-Canadian architect Frank Gehry.
This titan-shaped phenomenon turned the world's notions of architecture
and art museums. Today, the shiny hilly museum no longer looks so shocking as
it once was, but it still embodies certain ideas of the late 20th century - an
exciting mix of formal complexity and high art.
The founder and leading representative of the international style in
American architecture of the mid-20th century Philip Johnson called the
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao "the greatest building of our time."
Catherine
Palace
Named after Catherine I of Russia, the wife of Peter the Great, this
18th-century palace with a characteristic blue facade was built mostly due to
her daughter, Empress Elizabeth. While most visitors come to see the Amber Room,
a modern reproduction of the long lost and once luxuriously decorated room,
there are still many other interesting features to see. For example, the palace
wing, designed by Catherine II favorite architect Charles Cameron. In winter
you can ride around the palace on a horse-drawn sleigh. Besides, it’s the best
place for a wedding photo shoot if you’re marrying a Russian woman in St
Petersburg.
One Central
Park
In 2014, architect Jean Nouvel, together with the engineer and botanist
Patrick Blanc, created the highest vertical garden in the world. Their approach
is a way to humanize the environment and even take a peek into the future.
To create a garden a hundred meters high, 360 species of plants,
resistant to strong winds, were used. On the roof of the building, there are
heliostats, and the atrium of the skyscraper and the parts of the facade that
are closed from the sun are illuminated by three hundred mirrors mounted on a
massive console.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat named the building the
best skyscraper in 2014.
Louis Vuitton
Foundation
The creation of the Louis Vuitton Foundation, a private museum of
contemporary art, cost the billionaire and the richest man in France Bernard
Arnault 150 million dollars and lasted for eight years. When designing curved
forms of the museum, the architect Frank Gehry had to apply software used in
the aviation and aerospace industries.
Inside the building, covered with a dozen glass plates, there are 11
rooms, in which works of contemporary artists from the Arnault’s collection are
exhibited. But only one-third of the total space is used for exhibitions, the
rest of the museum is a hall for 350 seats and public areas, including a café
and a bookstore.
Image credit: Pinterest, Google
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