Beach Read: Monumental Concrete Library on the Edge of a Bay
If you’ve ever gotten bored with the book you’re reading on the beach and wished you could just run into a seaside library for a new one, here’s the building of your dreams: a stunning ...
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!).
Neolithic Modernism: History Museum Appears Carved from Stone
A bold break from traditional closed-box museums, this gorgeous open Museum of Indigenous Knowledge design is as much an interactive rock-hewn landscape as a work of contemporary ...
Concrete Wonders: 13 Brutalist Buildings in the USA & Britain
While the most theatrical Brutalist buildings remain in the former USSR, there are plenty more of these controversial concrete complexes around the world, and they draw both admiration and ire in ...
Volcanic Architecture: World’s Largest 3D-Printed Structure
Inspired by the complex organic shape of a volcanic eruption, this 1,086-piece pavilion in Beijing has just been awarded a Guinness Book of World Records distinction for the largest ...
Bold Border Checkpoint: Cantilevered Curves Welcome Visitors
Passing over the border between Turkey and Georgia isn’t an experience you’re soon to forget thanks to the surreal, undulating concrete customs checkpoint structure looming over the Black ...
Tasty Toilet: Cake-Shaped Bathroom for Public Restroom Festival
Maybe it’s a little weird to stare at oversized images of whipped cream and cherries plastered onto the wall while you’re relieving yourself, but hey, at least it’s not the other way ...
Floating Farms: Agricultural Barges to Yield 10 Tons Per Year
Powered by solar-paneled roofs overhead, these barge farms feature hydroponic space for produce above and support fish farming below, using extant technologies to offshore vast quantities of ...
Droneport: New UAV Hub to Ship Medical Supplies Across Rwanda
This architect-designed drone airport will be the first of its kind, created to facilitate an unmanned aerial vehicle supply chain servicing remote areas of Africa, addressing urgent medical ...
Room to Read in a Digital World: 14 Modern Library Designs
Shifting from paper to digital media hasn’t diminished the role of libraries in our communities, with many modern designs expanding to serve as cultural hubs with cafes, soundproof video rooms ...
Pink Marble Public Pissoir: Open-Air Urinal in Urban Zurich
This giant hunk of pink marble in the middle of a Zurich car park isn’t a sculpture, exactly; it’s a place to relieve yourself in the open air so you don’t go stinking up the city. ...
