Dochodo Zoo Island is an Eden at Sea

by: Ariel Schwartz

It sounds like the plot of the movie Jurassic Park (minus the dinosaurs), but JDS Architects’ have created an incredible plan for a zoo located on the South Korean island of Dochodo. The island could, according to the architecture firm, be a “case study to define a tourist region based on sustainable development only, where natures and structures function in equilibrium, symbiotically feeding one another.”

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/12/14/dochodo-zoo-is-an-island-eden/#more-75172

Vodafone Headquarters

Barbosa & Guimaraes designed the new headquarters for mobile phone brand Vodafone in Porto, Portugal.
The new building is faithful to the Vodafone
slogan “Vodafone Life, Life in Motion”, adopting a dynamic image, covering the sense of movement, challenging the static.
The formalization of this concept is based on the concrete, which through its plasticity, allows to create irregular and free-form shapes, working both as a structural solution and exterior appearance, creating a unique shape, a monolithic building, bringing cohesion and unity to the set.


http://coolboom.net/architecture/vodafone-headquarters/#more-7883

The Überstairs of Cooper Union

By Reid Pillifant

The timing of architecture reviews is a mystery. The Cooper Union building has been open for months--The Times reviewed it in June--but the Wall Street Journal is just now weighing in.
To date, the outside of the building has gotten most of the attention. Local residents have opposed its size and said its hulking waves are out of context for the neighborhood. Lately, its exterior rises doubled as a BMX ramp and a slide.

http://www.observer.com/2009/daily-transom/uberstairs-cooper-union

Godiva Chocoiste by Wonderwall

Japanese interior design company Wonderwall have completed a chocolatier’s shop in Harajuku, Japan, where chocolate seems to drip from the walls and ceiling.

The lower section of the downstairs walls is painted white, contrasting with the chocolate-coloured paint that appears to seep down from the moulded ceiling on the second floor.

Designed for chocolatier Godiva, the two-storey shop has a glass front making the effect clearly visible from the street.

http://www.dezeen.com/2009/12/03/godiva-chocoiste-by-wonderwall/#more-54460

Found by Stuart Haygarth

This chandelier made of spectacle frames (above) is on show at the Haunch of Venison gallery in London as part of an exhibition of work by London designer Stuart Haygarth.



http://www.dezeen.com/2009/12/04/found-by-stuart-haygarth-at-haunch-of-venison/

ShowCase: 3.1 Phillip Lim Seoul Flagship Store

The second flagship store designed by Leong Leong Architecture for 3.1 Phillip Lim is located in Cheongdam-Dong, Seoul’s premiere fashion district. In a period of eight months, Leong Leong designed and oversaw the construction of the 550-square-meter store in an existing four-story building.The Flagship Typology - Sameness vs. DifferenceThis project is a single store within 3.1 Phillip Lim's global roll-out campaign, which will include many international locations. Aware of the inevitable repetition that is necessary for such a commercial expansion, we thought of the typology of a flagship store as being characterized by the simultaneous need for sameness and difference. Typically, the consistent repetition of brand traits is necessary to reinforce an identity, while novelty can refresh the aura and desire for the brand. In this particular case the client, a relatively new fashion house launched in 2004, emphasized the need to establish a legible consistency in order to unify the different existing stores in New York, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=94255_0_23_0_M

Out-of-Site: Young Art in Miami

by Alex Gartenfeld

Art Basel Miami Beach is as blue-chip as an American art fair gets. In the past few years, even NADA has moved upscale. But in a less than blue-chip year, we look at the young art galleries presenting exhibitions off-site, many of them in the less than prosperous Design District.



http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/the-market/2009-12-01/young-art-in-miami/