Spiraling Cycling Pavilion

BIG Unveils Spiraling Cycling Pavilion in Shanghai architects recently completed construction on the Danish Pavilion, a stunning beacon for sustainable transportation at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Conceived as an elegantly sloping circular loop, the structure is topped with a rooftop garden that holds 300 bicycles that give visitors a chance to experience Denmark’s favorite mode of transportation. The pavilion is wrapped with a punctured facade that allows daylight to filter in, and when the sun sets the exterior ignites with light as pedestrians and cyclists zip through the interior spaces.

BIG’s Danish Pavilion encourages the use of pedal power and walking as sustainable methods of transportation, giving visitors a chance to experience the best aspects of Danish city life. The building is constructed from white painted steel, which reflects head to keep the interior cool throughout Shanghai’s summer. Bike paths are paved throughout the structure using a light blue surfacing texture that is also featured on Danish cycle paths. After the 2010 Shanghai Expo has run its course the Danish Pavilion can be moved and relocated to act as a hub for Shanghai’s new fleet of city bikes.







Source:- Inhabitat

ciudad ciencias y artes | The City of Arts and Sciences

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències The City of Arts and Sciences (Valencian: Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Spanish: Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias) is an entertainment-based cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia.

The City of the Arts and the Sciences is situated at the end of the old riverbed Turia. Turia became a garden in 1980, after the bypass of the river by the great flood of Valencia in 1957.

Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the project underwent the first stages of construction in July, 1996 and the finished "city" was inaugurated April 16, 1998 with the opening of L'Hemisfèric. The last great component of the City of the Arts and the Sciences, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, was presented in October 9, 2005, Valencian Community Day.

Image Source:- flickr.com
Source:- en.wikipedia.org
Video Source:- youtube.com

luxury dog house $20,000 mansions

A dog-owner has gone to amazing lengths to make sure her beloved pets live in the lap of luxury - by building them their very own mansion.

Now Chelsea, Darla and Coco Puff share an extraordinary 'home' that features vaulted celings, hardwood floors, heating and air conditioning, hand-made curtains and pricey wallpaper.

The dogs' have their own beds or they can lounge on their front lawn surrounded by a white picket fence.

Life of luxury: Tammy Kassis' 11-foot tall Victorian doggie mansion sits in her backyard for her dogs Chelsea, Darla and Coco Puff

Darla the Pomeranian stand proudly in her 'living room' while Yorkies Chelsea and Coco Puff look on from one of the three beds

They even enjoy music from a classic RCA Victor radio.

Little wonder the sign over the front door reads: 'Three spoiled dogs live here.'

Yorkies Chelsea and Coco Puff and Pomeranian Darla have their 47-year-old owner Tammy Kassis to thank for their plush pad on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Ms Kassis, a former insurance agent, said: 'My dogs are my life.'

She and her advertising executive husband, Sam, decided the dogs needed their own place when Cocdo Puff was almost carried away by an owl.

The couple turned to Alan Mowrer's La Petite Maison, a builder of deluxe kennels.

Tammy Kassis, sits with her dogs Chelsea, Darla and Coco Puff, in front of their 11-foot tall Victorian doggie mansion in Winchester, on the outskirts of Los Angeles

The Victorian doggie mansion has its own yard, white picket fence, porch, doggie door, turret and doorbell on the outside

Mr Mowrer has built dog houses in the style of French French châteaux, Tudor mansions and Swiss chalets.

Mrs Kassis asked him to build a replica of her own home.

She lavished $20,000 (£13,200) on the doggy mansion, icluding things like painting, landscaping, screened doors and windows, mini-blinds and ceiling fans.

When the couple decided to move home, the kennel came with them - although they had to hire a 45-ton crane and a truck to move the thing.

The three little dogs feel perfectly at home in the the tiny mansion.

She told the Los Angeles Times: 'My mother buys them most of the outfits - she treats them like they're grandchildren.'

The next thing on Mrs Kassis's shopping list: a tiny plasma screen TV

'They love to watch Animal Planet,' Kassis says. 'It's their favourite.'

Source:- Dailymail.co.uk

Dalat Crazy House in Vietnam

Da Lat, or Dalat is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province in Vietnam Hang Nga guesthouse, popularly known as The Crazy House, is an unconventional hotel building constructed from a project by Hang Viet Nga in Da Lat, Vietnam. The building conveys a distinctive fairy-tale-like mood, and is made up of complex, organic,non-rectilinear shapes, much in the spirit of Gaudi and Hundertwasser.

complex of unconventional, misshapen concrete structures serving as both a tourist attraction and a place to stay. It is decorated with animal figures with glowing eyes, wire spiderwebs and other, equally unexpected things. The designer and namesake, Hang Nga, holds a PhD in architecture from Moscow State University.