Magazine

There are a number of materials that are used primarily indoors. Cork is one of them. It can be out of sight, used as a backing for floor coverings, for instance, or exposed, turned into a tackable wall surface. For a single-family house in Berlin rundzwei Architekten applied cork in an... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Since opening an office in Ahmedabad ten years ago Stuttgart's blocher partners has realized a trio of projects in the Indian city. Most recent is Mondeal Heights, an office complex comprised of two towers covered in a prefabricated concrete facade. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden (State Opera House) in Berlin traces its origins to 1742, though the building was rebuilt following a fire in the 1840s and bombing in World War II. Although the latest renovation maintains the building's historical architecture, at its heart is an innovative... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

During the London Design Festival in September, the Victoria & Albert Museum's recently redesigned Sackler Courtyard was occupied by "MultiPly," an installation designed by Waugh Thistleton Architects that was made with prefabricated tulipwood modules. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

In Unterengstringen near Zurich, architect Tilla Theus shows that architecture is ideally more than just a shelter: The facade of the town's new community center expresses a piece of the town's identity. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Buildings for banks often express their brand rather than anything of architectural interest. An exception is found in Tourcoing in northern France, where architects D’Houndt + Bajart have created a facade whose design was inspired by a material integral to the bankers' core business. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

In the midst of typical narrow-walled facades in Berlin, Richter Musikowski has built an exhibition and event building that breaks with this monotony, creates urban spaces through its massing, and stands out from its neighbors through a carefully detailed glass skin. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

On the first day of June, the Kunsthalle Mannheim will celebrate its grand opening, with a new extension designed by Hamburg's gmp. The architects conceptualized the extension as a "city in the city," using the metal panels and metal mesh on the facade to express it. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The real estate mantra of "location, location, location" is particularly important for hotels, which position themselves for the convenience of travelers. The Hotel Tivoli in Aachen is located appropriately on a busy, four-lane thoroughfare, a site that gave CROSS Architecture the... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Barozzi / Veiga's extension to the Graubünden Museum of Fine Arts in Chur, Switzerland, is a strong architectural statement that relates to its predecessor through prefabricated concrete elements that cover its facade in a regular grid. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Leuphana University of Lüneburg is one of the best known universities in Germany and one where Daniel Libeskind has served as a visiting professor. The architect has now supplied the university with a new Central Building in his recognizable style. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

In June London architect Norman Foster opened an eponymous foundation in Madrid focused on interdisciplinary thinking and research. In addition to the historic main building it occupies, the Norman Foster Foundation consists of a pavilion with a transparent façade and some glossy... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

In Oldham, England, Maggie's recently realized another one of its helpful and inspiring cancer centers. With a growing awareness of wood's soothing effect on people, dRMM designed a building with restorative spaces full of American Tulipwood. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Expanding a famous museum that so happens to also be an industrial icon in brick requires an expressive architectural solution. Herzog & de Meuron achieved a balancing act with a new building for the Tate Modern that is elegantly linked to its South Bank London surroundings. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The Mainzer Landstraße, a major roadway in Frankfurt am Main, has been characterized by some pretty sober commercial architecture. A new eight-story office building designed by TEK TO NIK Architekten features a complex natural stone façade that adds some movement to the street. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

How does an architect deal with adding to a historical building in a highly visible context? For Antwerp's Port House, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) lifted the addition above an old fire station for both historical and architectural reasons. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

​Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas worked on the New Convention Center in Rome's EUR district from 1998, when they won a competition for its design, until October 2016, when it officially opened. Most striking is the Cloud suspended within the glass box exterior. The engineers at formTL oversaw... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Think "Bordeaux" and most likely the French wine comes to mind. Yet Bordeaux is also a city that wants to modernize its image, and is doing it partly with contemporary architecture. Herzog & de Meuron's new stadium is one recent example, as is XTU Architects' La Cité... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

This year's London Design Festival had a lot to offer for design enthusiasts. A standout project was "The Smile," a 34-meter-long sculpture by Alison Brooks Architects and Arup that was on display at the Chelsea College of Arts. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

An area of 45 square meters is not much for the planning of a house. Nevertheless L3P Architekten managed to make room for a family of four in Dielsdorf near Zurich – using the logic of the surrounding grapevines to articulate the structure. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

In London's Shepherd's Bush area, Henning Stummel Architects has built a house whose rooms are arranged like monks' cells around a courtyard. The roofs and walls are clad in standing seam metal panels covered with a unique bio-based coating. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Riegler Riewe Architekten designed the Silesian Museum in Katowice, Poland, with primarily underground galleries. The building reveals itself on the surface as glass cubes with an almost icy appearance. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The much anticipated extension of the Kunstmuseum Basel opened to the public in April. Architects Emanuel Christ and Chrisoph Gantenbein have crafted a building that interprets the classical elements of architecture found in the museum's main building. A dynamic Light Frieze across the facade... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

"A warmly glowing, floating metal sculpture" is how the architects at pape + pape describe the new bus station they designed for Gummersbach, Germany. Sited by the train station, the new structure creates a striking image at the entrance to the country town. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Stuttgart-based architects h4a have completed the new sports hall for the Kepler- and Humboldt-Gymnasiums in Ulm, a boxy building stacked with three gyms one above the other. The interior is elegantly blurred by a sculptural facade of twisting aluminum fins. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The motto of Expo 2015 in Milan, "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," was translated in the French pavilion into a built landscape designed by Parisian architecture firm XTU, with lighting design by Bonn's Licht Kunst Licht. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The campus of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is known best for SANAA's Rolex Learning Center built in 2010. Dominique Perrault has just completed an adjacent building whose facade dissolves through the use of a custom, movable aluminum mesh. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

In Münster, Germany, HPP Architects have realized, together with Duk-Kyu Ryang, an office building for LVM that adds character to the city's skyline. Inside, employees can look forward to seasonal moods of color that emanate from the flooring. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The facade of SEHW Architektur's design for the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) in Darmstadt, Germany, appears to form some kind of secret code, appropriate given the site's history. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Good architecture takes its environment into account, particularly surrounding buildings. In Frankfurt am Main, Franken Architekten has taken a literal approach through a digitally drawn façade for a new home and studio in old town Sachsenhausen. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

The sophisticated, multi-layered glass façade of Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer's Würth House in Rorschach, Switzerland, appears rippling; fitting for its setting on Lake Constance. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Lightweight printed facades offer the opportunity for artistic expression while also enabling easy and inexpensive change in the future. For a daycare center in a new urban district under development on an old airfield in southern Germany, (se)arch Freie Architekten employed SergeFerrari's... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

A senior housing project in Düren, Germany, designed by JSWD Architects shows a rippling alternative to flat metal panels, courtesy of Fielitz GmbH's "Water Wave Vision" product. John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Brooklyn's Barclays Center—home to the Nets basketball team as well as a venue for music and other events—presents a face to the neighborhood of predominantly one material: rusted steel. But against the urban grit can be found LED screens that extend inside where they are... John Hill, Thomas Geuder

Due to the dual nature of its program, the Daeyang Gallery and House in Seoul, designed by Steven Holl Architects, includes spaces for the display of art that do not want direct sunlight. To achieve this, Okalux's KAPILUX T insulating glass is incorporated into skylights capping the gallery... John Hill, Thomas Geuder