Mountaintop Museum: Underground Rooms Tunnel into Peak
In a bold yet beautifully contextual move, this embedded mountaintop museum structure is part of a series of buildings set high in the mountains of Tyrol, Italy, and designed by Zaha Hadid ...
Category: Public & Institutional
Civic structures shape cities – the best examples of institutional architecture stand out from the crowd and declare themselves as objects rather than infill. From sensational schools, colleges and universities to magnificent museums, theaters and opera halls, here are some buildings well worth viewing (and visiting should you ever find yourself in the relevant city!).
Rad Restroom Designs: 15 Actually-Awesome Public Potties
Little architectural effort is typically spent on public restrooms - they're perfunctory, with looks reflecting embarrassment about the functions carried out within. But they're a necessary part ...
Transformer Theater: Deserted House, Upcycled in Disguise
This incredible transforming theater, built from salvaged pieces of a deserted home, is more than meets the eye. A community theater in disguise, its contents unfold from a conventional A-frame ...
War and Peace: 15 Repurposed Military Structures
Once they were no longer needed as bunkers, flak towers, forts, airfields and barracks, these military structures sat empty and abandoned, a stark reminder of wars past and those that may occur ...
Sky Park: Design Idea Floats City Block Over Penn Station
Out of four recent proposals for a radical overhaul of Penn Station in New York City, this concept by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP is far and away the most dramatic - and arguably the most ...
Earthscraper: Inverted Pyramid Spans 1000 Vertical Feet Down
Skyscrapers are the traditional small-footprint solution for growing square footage in big cities, but what are developers to do in growing places like Mexico City where new building construction ...
Alternative Landmarks: 12 Monuments As They Almost Were
The Sydney Opera House might have been little more than a squat concrete building resembling a factory, and a visit to the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial could have required ...
Algae-Fueled Building: World’s First Bio-Adaptive Facade
Bio-reactors and micro-algae sound like the stuff of science fiction, but this is the real deal: biomass built into panel glass generates heat and power, also acting as a responsive light and ...
World’s Most Powerful Man-Made Tornado in a Museum
Experience the awe-inspiring power of a tornado, up-close and personal, without putting yourself in serious danger chasing a real one. The Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart hosts the strongest ...
Origami Shelter: Instant Flat-Pack Architecture on Demand
Take a structure, strip away all of the non-essentials, and squeeze out every last unused bit of air space, and what do you get? Something a lot like a folded sheet of paper. This folding ...
