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Looking like an outsized piece of elaborately folded paper, the new Bella Sky hotel just outside of Copenhagen stands out on the horizon--lust what Danish architectural firm 3XN and the [...]

The lighting design of French luxury retailer, Louis Vuitton, is described. George Sexton Associates are the lighting designers of the stores, which is located on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Iole Alessandrini, a multimedia expert, discusses lighting effects in architecture. A brief profile of Alessandrini is also presented.

A description of the lighting designs created by the young British designer, Paul Cocksedge, is presented.

London's Southwark Council has just begun deliberations on the London Bridge Tower. Billed as the tallest building in Europe, the project, designed by Renzo Piano and developed by Irvine Sellar, [...]

The race for the right to host the 2008 Olympics is on. Once more among the pack is the city that environmentalists have labeled a 'black spot,' and human rights [...]

The door may have closed at the much-maligned Millennium Dome in London on New Year's Day but the show still goes on. Who gets the Dome and at what price [...]

London's Alsop & Stormer may have won this year's stirling Prize, Britain's biggest architecture award, but critics won't left the firm enjoy it. Naysayers have denounced the shortlist of this [...]

Exposure Architects built a cafeteria above the waters of a lake for the workers of Satin Textiles Company. The unique structure and design of the building is discussed.

Son-O-House is a permanent public artwork located on the outskirts of Son en Breugel in Netherlands. Architecture and sound have been enmeshed in this unique work of art. Sound is captured as you move along the place and is replayed.

Citroen has selected architect Manuelle Gautrand to design its new car showroom.

The article profiles multimedia artist Iole Alessandrini. Trained as an architect and fine artist in Italy and as a lighting designer at the University of Washington, the Seattle resident employs daylight, electric illumination, sound, and video in ephemeral, site-specific installations, often within industrial buildings and urban ruins. Her goal is to enhance and bring attention to neglected built environments, perhaps sparking public debate.

This article features the architectural lamps designed by designer Paul Cocksedge. His fixtures transform the familiar into something engaging, while eliciting a measure of mystery. Styrene, a lamp made from melted polystyrene cups, was one of his early works. Figuring out that it was caused by ultraviolet (UV) light, he went out and purchased a blacklight. The more powerful UV light source made the drink glow an eerie blue, produced by quinine molecules in the tonic water fluorescing in the light.

This article features the architectural lamps designed by Australian visual artist Stephen Hennessy. Ranging from freestanding sculptural works to monumental chandeliers of technical ingenuity, Hennessy's fixtures grace the walls, floors, and ceilings of some of the most prominent buildings in Melbourne, Victoria. His earliest works were far from monumental in size. Hennessy's first lamps resembled primitive wooden masks. The curved birch-ply forms hung away from the wall, their sinuous edges casting shadowy patterns around the light fixture.

This article offers news briefs related to architecture as of June 2006. The documentary television program, e2, the Economics of Being Environmentally Conscious, will examine built and planned green buildings in the U.S. and abroad. The New York Mets baseball team announced that Shea Stadium will be replace by a new ballpark designed by HOK Sport. Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, the 1989 recipient of Spain's Prince of Asturias Prize, is designing a cultural complex dedicated to the prizes.

The article offers news briefs on architecture as of April 2006. The glass canopy roof for the Hong Kong government's West Kowloon Cultural Complex proposed by Norman Foster has been scrapped. The exhibition entitled, A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City, created by Doctors Without Borders will be held in New York's Central and Prospect Parks in September 2007. An out-of-court settlement has been reached between lawyers from Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and New York-based Rafael Viñoly Architects.

The article presents architectural information about the Tour de Moron, named for the mountain range in which it is located, which stands on the edge of a forested slope in French-speaking Switzerland. Designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta, the stone-and-metal tower was realized by local apprentice stonemasons. The double-walled masonry of the central support is faced with yellow Corton limestone, shipped from France's Burgundy region, and filled with reinforced concrete. Born in 1943 in Mendrisio, Switzerland, Mario Botta was influenced early in his career by Louis Kahn and Carlo Scarpa.

The article reports that architectural firm Perkins+Will, Brussels architect Emile Verhaegen, and sustainability consultant MATRIciel won a competition to create a new art museum for the Université Catholique de Louvain. The two buildings will serve as a gateway to the university, which is located near Brussels, Belgium.

The article reports that containers and cranes are being shipped out to make way for residents and workers in the Light house district, a $361 million waterfront redevelopment in Århus, Denmark. The Dutch practice UNStudio and the Danish firm 3XN have designed a 15-acre, bicycle-friendly neighborhood of apartments, single-family residences, offices, and shops. The project's most distinctive visual feature is its homogenous facade design.

The article reports that 3XN, a Danish architecture firm, won a design competition for the redevelopment of Nedre Malmø, a waterfront property in Mandal, Norway. A description of the six acres to be developed is presented. The detail of the development is described, the construction schedule is provided, and the companies that lost the design competition are given.

This article describes a mixed-use project designed by French architect Rudy Ricciotti in Paris, France. Wrapped in a bamboo latticework skin, the building is divided into three parts by a T-shaped courtyard. The $41 million project, dubbed "T8" after its plot number, will provide offices, shops, and 40 apartments.

This section offers news briefs on architectural projects as of July 2007. Agence Search designed the Paris headquarters for the Human Sciences Institute. Morphosis designed for the Giant Group Pharmaceuticals near Shanghai, China a metal-clad building that resembles a dragon. The Office for Metropolitan Architecture in its Beijing branch, has designed the 36-story condominium Singapore Scotts Tower.

The article reports that Massimiliano Fuksas won the Marseilles-Euroméditerranée Development Agency's competition to design Euromed Center, a multi-purpose urban complex in the Mediterranean port city of Marseilles, France. According to Fuksas, the project is not intended to be an isolated and introverted block next to the city, but a real urban generator.

The article focuses on the development of a new resort in Singapore, called the Marina Bay Sands resort, that will include three 50-storey hotel towers and a 1,000-foot-long public sky garden, as of July 2006. Moshe Safdie and Associates has been selected to design this project. The resort is set to open in 2009.

This article reports on the design proposal of Rafael Viñoly for the Frenchurch Street Tower building in London, England in 2006. It cites the location of the building, outlines the key features of the tower and discusses the consequences of the approval for the tower's construction. Developer Land Securities invited Viñoly to propose a design for the tower in 2005, and at the beginning of 2006 the company submitted its application for planning permission.

The article reports that UN Studio has won a competition to design the Te Papa museum extension in Wellington, New Zealand. The company plans a free-form structure that recalls the flowing design of its Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Architect John Wardle was the recipient of the first prize award in the competition for his design of a neighboring mixed-use development. The construction of the whole waterfront redevelopment scheme is planned to begin in late 2007.

The article reports on the Charles Garnier's Beaux-Arts-style Monte Carlo Opera House which reopened, after closing for a renovation by architects Alain-Charles Perrot and Rainier Boisson, in January 2006. Inaugurated in 1879, it was completed four years after Garnier's Paris Opera House. The restoration included an overhaul of the roof, the stage, the orchestra pit, and the replacement of backstage mechanical equipment, as well as structural work on the foundations.

Presents news briefs on issues and events related to architecture, as of November 2005. Reopening of Paris, France's Beaux Arts-style Musée du Grand Palais; Award won by the Scottish Parliament building; Selection of British architect Richard Rogers to design an expansion to New York City's Jacob Javits Convention Center.

Presents news briefs on architecture as of August 2005. Contract awarded to Stephen Yablon Architect to design a visitor center on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, Massachusetts; Winners of the architectural competition sponsored by Archiprix International; Appointment of Marilyn Jordan at the Urban Land Institute.

Reports on the architectural contract won by Massimiliano Fuksas to design the State Archives Centre in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine in Paris, France. Budget for the construction project; Features of the architectural design submitted by Fuksas; Completion date of the project.

This article reports that the French firm Seura, headed by architect David Mangin, has been selected to redesign the much-maligned Les Halles quarter in Paris, France. Seura defeated three other notable firms — Architectures Jean Nouvel, MVRDV, and OMA — in the final stage of an international competition that was launched in March 2003. The $267 million plan includes a 72-foot-wide avenue cutting through the rectangular Les Halles site, dividing a wide grassy area on one side and seating areas and pathways on the other, and a simple garden at ground level (photo). A 26-foot-high flat glass canopy, measuring 476 feet by 476 feet, will cover the underground shopping levels and subway interchange.

This article reports that Paris 2012, the promoters of Paris, France, as the venue for the 2012 Olympics, announced the winning design in its Olympic Landmark Architecture Competition. French firm Explorations Architecture's design for an inflatable construction was selected by a 19-member jury, which included Shigeru Ban, Peter Cook, and Jean Nouvel. The winning design consists of 17 inflatable rings made of synthetic material. Appearing to lift off into the air, the top five rings show off the Olympic colors. A visitors' platform at 128 feet will afford panoramic views over Paris. The team still needs to work out the structural engineering that will allow the tower to move in the wind.

Jean Nouvel last month beat finalists MVRDV and Daniel Libeskind in an open competition to build Le Havre, France's new Marine Center and swimming pool complex. The $39 million project is part of a large-scale investment scheme to turn the city's port into a culture, leisure, and shopping quarter. The surrounding industrial aesthetic of the area influenced Nouvel's design, which includes a 394-foot-high glass-and-steel tower. Two cantilevered platforms will house exhibitions on port economy, history, and environment. The pool complex and Marine Center are tentatively scheduled for completion at the end of 2006 and the end of 2007, respectively.