Asia de Cuba at London, UK

At the entrance to the Rum Bar – one of the few overt references to Cuban culture – guests find themselves before a series of tall, slender steel tables with just enough room on the surface for a couple of drinks. These were custom designed for the project by Starck, as were the upholstered banquettes in the restaurant, set against white walls.

Neutral elements such as a maple floor and Scandinavian-style laminate chairs, featuring back slipcovers with insets of Italian lace, are offset by the more dramatic presence of rows of massive columns, each of displaying a different motif.

More than mere static and functional supports, these columns become a central element of the design. Shelves running the perimeter are overflowing with black and white photographs, flowerpots filled with plants or fresh flowers, or books on geography and history. Others may be upholstered in quilted cotton or clad in iridescent silk. One is simply covered in blackboard paint for customers to freely draw on.

Unadorned hanging light bulbs are a simple lighting solution which serves as a counterpoint to the visually-heavy volume of the columns.

The overall atmosphere is unique and somewhat surreal, but not fixed: in adhering to the desire to be able to change the look of this space on a regular basis, the open design scheme is intended to provide endless options for rearranging and restructuring.

Cafe Bravo at Berlin, Germany

This construction of shimmering greenish-silver, mirrored glass and highly polished steel lies in contrast to the classicist facades lining the courtyard. The steel skeleton was prefabricated off-site and lifted in by crane.

The structure’s visual effects are stunning: day or night, the facade reflects its surroundings, its glass melting and blending into the steel. The composition, hastily sketched by the artist and faxed to Berlin, is a work of art in itself, knowing how to confuse, distract and delight the senses with distorted, mirrored, refracted images.

Although the café occupies only 87 meter square of the total usable surface space of 1,485 meter square – leaving the rest for cultural activities- its unique composition is the focal point of the entire project. It consists of two glazed square cubes set at an angle against each other and projecting into the courtyard. The glazed, floor-to-ceiling doors with automatic controls are integrated seamlessly into the design. The roof of the cubes is also glass, giving patrons the sensation of sitting out in the courtyard, without having to endure the inconvenience of cold weather. Mirrors entirely cove the rear concrete wall, ingeniously reflecting the courtyard back toward the café.

The smooth concrete floor and exposed concrete late-a walls are a discreet, understated contrast to the facades

Bar-Restaurant L'Arca at Follonica, Italy

Just past the entrance door, with its two round windows like portholes, is the bar area. Here, two tapered pilasters covered in stainless steel contrasts with the cherry wood panels that line the walls. Sheets of stainless steel mesh line the bar, behind which are simple ground glass shelves and back-lit wooden panels.

A row of round lights embedded in the floor leads to the dining room, which is opened up to include an outdoor terrace in the warmer months. The choice of materials corresponds to their usage and role. Hence the walls are lined with wood to absorb sound in the space set aside for live music. Stainless steel is used in the dining room for its resistance to daily use. Particular care has been taken with the lighting. The only sources of light in the bar are two delicate rows of small, evenly-spaced round lights in the wood panelling and a number of round lights embedded into the ceiling and floor. In the concert area a mixture of bright halogen lighting and hanging lamps creates a unique atmosphere. In the dining room, the tables are illuminated by a large custom- made lamp with an imaginative motif recalling either a mass of cumulous clouds or a coral reef. In the bathroom, a cluster of tiny lights set into a blue ceiling are reflected on the surrounding walls, creating the effect of a starry sky.

LoftCube on rooftop

The spot chosen for the prototype. a former cold-storage depot overlooking the Spree River and now used as record company offices, is typical of many industrial sites – large expanses of flat roof going to waste. Aisslinger envisions the concept as functioning like an upscale hotel, a temporary home from home where like-minded people can spend short periods of time ‘congregating in rooftop communities – floating on top of the city. yet being where the action is’. A LoftCube would cost around ?55,000, but the price of a suitable site could be far higher.

The master bedroom, with its combination of transparent and translucent wall panels

Drawing on earlier housing concepts such as Pierre Botschi’s 1973 moulded GRP ‘mobile house’. The LoftCube has a lightweight construction to maximise the number of sites for which it is suited. A structure of Bankirai wood is infilled with honeycomb panels, coated with a white laminate and specially developed plastic sheets; inside extensive use has been made of Conan to create a series of movable, transformable function panels. This means that the bath and kitchen share a tap, which can be swung between the two zones. The same goes for the shower and plant basin that separate the bathing and living areas. In this way, Aisslinger ensures that the LoftCube’s living spaces appear much larger than they are, in keeping with the penthouse’s traditional emphasis on space. Wall panels are constructed from translucent acrylic glass.

Interior view of the kitchen and bathroom showing the transformable function panels that divide the living spaces

The association of the high life with high achievement is clear, if slightly tongue in cheek, yet the concept makes a more serious point about ‘flying buildings’, temporary architecture and transportability. The LoftCube, it is mooted, could be transported to its perch by freight helicopter (bringing to mind the iconic image of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome suspended beneath a Sikorsky S-55) or via a crane. The idea of a private rooftop society is also paradoxical, suggesting people who seek to remove themselves from the real world at street level, a development of the science fiction device of the socially layered city where height and security are inextricably linked.

Zholtovsky House

It features an unusual mixture of basic classical elements and the Art-Deco forms found in this area and uniquely incorporates them into a large corner building. The facade’s basic architectural pattern is unpretentious. The ground level, clad in stone and with semi-basement and plinth cornice, is followed by a one-storey piano nobile with cross windows and light and dark brickwork. An attic level rises above the building with a blind wall. A glazed rotunda with pergolas serves as a crowning finish.

Main View of Moscow Clubhouse

It includes offices for personnel, technical services for the shooting range, public areas, shops and a restaurant.

Detail Porch of Moscow Clubhouse

Three blocks are brought together on one side by an open terrace. Glazed passageways connect the bright-red wooden structures with one another. The visually uniform facade of the divergently styled buildings underscores the functional unity of the wooden structures. The middle section, the center of the obtusely-angled complex, is defined by a covered veranda which can be reached by an open stairway.

Southern Perspective of Cultural Center Brno

From the urban aspect the new building is closing a present housing block. To identify its function an organic shell was projected, which revises the building volume and relays it to the surroundings. Configuration of the building is projected as the composition of the separate parts – big auditorium, small auditorium, restaurants, entrance foyer and rear linked up in complex with the shell. Inner molding of the main auditorium respects hard acoustic standards of the non-amplified operating space.

Cultural Center Brno - Longitudinal Section

Strastnoi Boulevard 9 Office Building

The windows towards the street give an impression of a refined but radical design. While emphasizing the complex architectural heterogeneity and history of the site, no direct reference or style orientation can be found.

Site Plan - A.Venue Boardwalk Pavilion

In a Modern Asian style this development has sidewalks shaded with trellises and a promenade carefully orchestrated with landscapes and a lined series of al-fresco dining areas. Its subtle modern contemporary design combines geometric forms, simplicity and fine lines. The architecture depicts clean lines, earth tone colors, concrete pedestals with stone cladding finishes, steel grilles, on-stilts roofing and a variety of murals.

A.Venue Boardwalk Pavilion, Makati Avenue, Makati City Metro Manila, Philippines

A.venue Boardwalk is stage-set architecture designed for visual pleasure, veiling the exchange relationship between consumer and producer. Here the rustic architecture of old Makati is combined with a unique blend of modern influences. Besides retail establishments, the boardwalk has rows of restaurants and bars with entertainment ranging from videoke, a comedy club, a dance club, live bands, exclusive clubs and a night market. Dining areas on the second floor level have generous balconies for alfresco dining. The third floor functions as a place for food enthusiasts, micro retailing and a tiangge market.

A.venue Pavillion is an events venue; completely soundproof and equipped with the high-tech lighting and sound systems. The venue is designed for multiple uses such as foreign trade expos, dance parties, car shows and product launches.

Louvre Pyramid I. M. Pei

For centuries the Louvre has served as the architectural representation of French authority in both the political and cultural realms, first as the royal residence and later as one of the world’s foremost museums. Thus the decision to undertake a major reconfiguration of the building signalled the importance of the grand projets. In 1981 President Mitterand awarded the commission for the remodelling of the Louvre to the American architect I. M. Pei, one of the leading modernists of his generation who had recently completed a major addition to the National Gallery in Washington DC. Plans called for the Ministry of Finance, which shared space in the Louvre with the museum, to be relocated to a new building and the museum’s facilities to be modernized and substantially enlarged. Historic parts of the structure were refurbished and new space created by excavating the Louvre’s enormous forecourt and inserting various public services including a new lobby below ground.

The signature piece of Pei’s design is a glass pyramid that rises out of the Cour Napoleon. Twenty-one meters high and thirty-three meters to a side at the base, the pyramid serves as the museum’s main entrance and allows natural light to reach the lower level of the public spaces. In a reversal of a tradition stretching back to ancient Egypt, the Louvre pyramid is a transparent volume instead of a massive solid. Surrounded by the ornate architecture of the Louvre, the pyramid is an ethereal presence in its historic setting; its design combines formal abstraction with technologically advanced construction. The Louvre pyramid affirmed the continued vitality of the formal language of modernism in an era of postmodern.