ARCHITECT / DESIGN – KOLONIHAVEHUS BY TOM FRUIN

New York artist Tom Fruin’s outdoor sculpture Kolonihavehus in the plaza of the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen has the appearance of a friendly and colorful stained-glass house, yet it also evokes thoughts of churches and Charles Rennie Macintosh.

Fruin’s sculpture is constructed of a thousand reclaimed pieces of plexiglass ranging in size from 2x2 to 24x36 inches. They originate from many sources, including a closed- down plexi distributorship near Copenhagen, a framing shop, the basement of the Danish State Art Workshops, and the dumpsters outside the Danish Architecture Center.

The sculpture was brought to life by daily performances by Copenhagen-based CoreAct headed by Anika Barkan and Helene Kvint. The performances included poetry of the Danish Vagn Steen, Computer-controlled light sequences by Nuno Neto and a sound installation by Astrid Lomholt.

Kolonihavehuses were originally small garden sheds that were designed to give cramped and often impoverished city-dwellers a small plot and a refuge from city life. - Bill Tikos

http://thecoolhunter.net

ART - SEEBRUHNE BREGENZ THEATER

Bregenz Festival - Floating Stage

Every year, the Bregenz Festival takes place in the Austrian city of Bregenz at the Lake Constance. Every summer the audience can experience excellent open-air opera performances 

on the biggest floating stage worldwide.

The creative spirit is perhaps one of the greatest gifts which we humans have been endowed with. Our task as a festival is not only to act as custodians of past creativity, but also to carry this creative power into the lives of our visitors.  

This year we celebrate the courage of the poet André Chénier, whose dedication to justice did not falter even in the face of revolutionary terror. Giordano's opera tells the story of a life that experienced both the wasteful luxury of the Ancien Régime and the radical policies of the Revolution; in the centre stands a passionate individual compelled by his conscience to place his hand in the hellfire of history. This is the stuff that perfect Seebühne operas are made of! All the more so if they come with music of such breathtaking emotional intensity as is the case with Umberto Giordano's André Chénier. 

With the opera in the Festspielhaus, we celebrate creation and creativity in a more direct way, having commissioned a new work from the Scottish composer Judith Weir. With the same single-mindedness with which we placed Mieczysław Weinberg centre-stage in the 2010 festival, this season we are assisting in the birth of a new opera: an opera written just for you! 

Judith Weir has always been fascinated by the age-old art of storytelling. In her very beautiful and accessible works, she draws on the mythical power of folk tales, many of which deal with age-old problems of human existence. Achterbahn / Miss Fortune is the modern retelling of such a tale – a story about the dizzying vicissitudes of life where, in the blink of an eye, a millionaire can be reduced to washing dishes for a living.

Many have called our programme daring, even risky.

We reply in Chénier's own words: "Obstacles make us great!"

http://bregenzerfestspiele.com

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE - PORTLAND

Eco Factor: 1949 sleeper car converted into lux home.
Have you ever wondered about what exactly happens to all those rail cars after they’re no longer in use? While most of them go for a complex recycling process, there are a few which have a different fate altogether. The Train Car Home in Portland is a stunning example where an old 1949 sleeper car is converted into a luxurious and green home with all the modern amenities.


The designers removed all sleepers and chairs from the rail car and replaced them with a fully electric kitchen, DSL, incinerator toilet and luxurious bedding. Impressively, the interior is built from the finest materials available on the markets. The railcar home is 85 feet long, 9.5 feet wide and has a 10-foot domed ceiling. The home is listed for sale at Laurie Holland, bearing a price tag of $225,000.

ARCHITECT/DESIGN

ARCHITECT - THE DOLDER GRAND

After 4 years of construction, Zurich celebrates the return of one of its most prominent landmarks, the Dolder Grand. The original "Curhaus" (health spa), built in 1899, has been transformed into a luxury-class city resort in Switzerland. In the process, the hotel's glittering past and vibrant future have been fused together, as reflected in the architecture by renowned architect Sir Norman Foster.

The Dolder Grand located on a hilltop above Zurich, the Dolder boasts sweeping city/lake views, an 18 hole gold course (a rarity in zurich) surrounded by prestine woods. The historic Main Building and the two new wings together offer 173 luxurious rooms and suites. The Main Building installs a sense of history, while the two wings are modern and minimalistic. European and Japanese influences shape the 4000 square meter spa complex. It comprises a pool with panoramic views, Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Spas, Workout, Movement and Mind-Body Studios, as well as 19 Treatment Rooms and two Spa Suites for private relaxation.


http://thedoldergrand.com/en/
http://kiwicollection.com/property/the-dolder-grand

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECT - POBLET MONASTERY, Catalonia

This stunning Cistercian abbey in Catalonia located an hour and a half from Barcelona is one of the largest in Spain. Poblet was founded in the middle of the 12th century by French Fontfroide monks.

Located at the end of a winding road in the Prades mountains, inland from the ancient Spanish city of Tarragona, the Cistercian monastery of Poblet is not only difficult to find but hard to leave behind.

The monastery has a natural spring in a center of the main cloister and is surrounded by fertile fields and silver mountain peaks balancing both the spiritual and practical.

The Cistercians did full honor to the site with architecture that was not only noble in scale but, harmonious in proportion and austere in detail.

Although Poblet remains partly in ruin it is serene inspiration for those who reach it.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poblet_Monastery