Let's take a look at some of the world's latest innovations in architecture and design.
Out-of-this-world outdoor cinema planned for Paris
Images: UNStudio
UNStudio’s design for a new outdoor cinema in Paris looks almost otherworldly. Its dramatic angles and Machu Pichu-like terrace steps make it almost look like a place of cinematic worship as it sits among the architecturally-designed rolling hills and idyllic landscaping that are a part of Big’s EuropaCity masterplan.
“The new Centre Culturel Dédié Au 7é Art is designed as a cultural destination with an extensive and varied indoor and outdoor programme that celebrates the full experience of cinema in a truly public way. Going beyond the traditional cinema complex, in which the building functions primarily as a container for a ‘black box’ audience experience, the Centre Culturel is designed as both a public space and a cultural laboratory.
“Three intertwined volumes emerge from the ground, whilst the surrounding landscape continues as a sloping green carpet atop the roof of the building. These rooftop spaces not only provide outdoor screening areas, restaurants and cafes, but also offer 360 degree views and new vantage points towards the rest of EuropaCity and the skyline of Paris.” – UNStudio
Korean home makes ordinary life beautiful
Images: Rieuldorong Atelier
A combination of simple, classic shapes and a muted colour palette make this Korean house by Rieuldorang Atelier anything but boring. The use of these shapes has been cleverly done to frame a person’s view of the world in unique and thought-provoking ways.
“The project site is plain and the surrounding houses are in various forms. From a different point of view, there was the usual variety. I thought that the paradoxical way of reversing the existing grammar would be effective in feeling special emotions in ordinary scenery. Specifically, the general form is reversed. It is a way to empty the gable roof form of a square box. In other words, it reverses the normal form and intends to ask what is normal.
“The vacated space in the form of a gable becomes one of the sequences going into the house. And let it shine the sunshine indirectly. The vacated space in the form of gaps changes with time, and the feeling of space also changes. The vacated space of the normal form changes with time due to indirect sunlight and creates a point where ordinariness changes into specialness.” – Rieuldorang Atelier
Anger over new avant-garde Iranian mosque
Image: Fluid Motion Architects
Designed by Fluid Motion Architects, Vali-e-Asr Mosque is a modern, avant-garde interpretation of the traditional Islamic mosque. Some religious conservatives have expressed their anger about the architects’ choice to exclude the traditional rounded domes and towering minarets from its design, feeling that the structure has an “atheistic approach”. The architects have defended the contemporary design, arguing that the mosque is in a neighbourhood of young, bohemian Iranians, and that rounded domes and towering minarets were not actually used in the original Islamic mosques.
“Realistically speaking, how many people in large cities of Iran are actually happy with the architectural design of their home? This was a subject that came up during the discussions regarding the design of Vali-e-Asr Mosque.
“The project is Vali-e-Asr Mosque provided an appropriate opportunity to break away from the process of previously delineated designs. A start for a different type of viewing subjects and solutions and evaluating the current conditions and the requests of contemporary humans. The issue that architectural projects frequently face is forgetting the main idea, foundation, meaning and goal of the project, which is meeting needs such as: diversity; challenging different schools of thought; transforming beliefs; and creating questions.” – Fluid Motion Architects
