Hamburg’s music and glass ice sculpture

Unilever Headquarters, Hamburg

The striking new building that houses the Unilever Headquarters for Northern Europe in Hamburg, Germany, is an attempt by the company to put sustainability at the forefront of their identity. The structure, designed by Benisch Architekten, consumes less than 100 Kwh/a m² of energy, and features a transparent “outer skin” to minimize heat gain from the sun and wind effect from the adjoining river. Read more

Nicolas Arnold

Nicolas Arnold comes from a small village in northern Germany, where he spent 19 years of his life. After he graduated from school he moved to Hamburg, where he currently resides. He had an apprenticeship at a multimedia studio until 2005 when he started studying at the Hamburg Academy of Arts. He now works as a motion designer and photographs for a motion graphics studio. Read more

Hamburg’s illustrated Fitting Forward store

Fitting Forward is a new Hamburg based Concept-Store which shows what simmers secretly behind the scenes. Every two months a new headstrong theme world will evolve out of a composition of fashion, product, accessories and illustration. The platform of the shop is a deep black lacquered room-in-room installation. Read more

Floating House

This house has many facets that make it an intriguing example. First of all, it is a very aesthetically pleasing project with the use of light horizontal timbers and a clean pitched roof. Designed by MOS, an interesting design collective based in America, the secret to the Floating House is that it floats on a structure of steel pontoons. The house rises and falls with the changing waters and is frozen in place depending on the season. The steel pontoons were constructed first and towed to the lake outside the contractor’s factory and then the house was built atop of it. When finished it was towed to its position, anchored and enjoyed in its unique position. Finally, it forms a bridge between the land and an island. Wonderful!

Torre Bicentenario

Dutch uber-firm OMA, headed by Rem Koolhaas, has created this concept in Mexico City to symbolize the coming two hundred years of Mexico’s independence. There are many layers of symbolism in this building, from Mayan pyramids to which part of the building controls the park and which part controls the city, to the fact that the bulge of the building is below the centre height, and that it all happens on a relatively small footprint. Most of all, in this building there is a barely contained energy that seems near to release and it may be that this is what Torre Bicentenario represents.

Danish Building Bridge

The Danes are renowned for their considered and subtle design. However, in these times of change, they must feel they need something with this selection of a bridge building as the winner of a recent architectural competition in Denmark. The American architect Steven Holl designed this building with a pedestrian bridge that links two sides of the harbour in the distinctly low-rise Copenhagen. Read more