Namba Parks is a really amazing piece of architecture, a place where you’ll spend half your time shopping and the other half admiring the design. It stands where Osaka’s baseball stadium used to be until 2003, and consists of a 30-floor skyscraper, Parks Tower, and 120-tenant shopping mall which includes many restaurants and a cinema. The eight floors of terraced gardens, boutique stores, big brands and trendy dining have been an instant hit in shopping-mad Osaka. In addition to providing a highly visible green component in a city where nature is sparse, the sloping park connects to the street, welcoming passers-by to enjoy its groves of trees, clusters of rocks, cliffs, lawn, streams, waterfalls, ponds and outdoor terraces.
Beneath the park, a canyon carves an experiential path through specialty retail, entertainment and dining venues. Namba Parks creates a new natural experience for Osaka that celebrates the interaction of people, culture and recreation. The project was so successful that Namba Parks construction is already underway for an extension – almost doubling the facility and due for completion in the middle of 2007. Finally this project is so amazing, that personally I would include it as the 8th wonder of the world. – Namba Parks on Wikipedia & Namba Parks website + Images at higher resolution – 1, 2
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It seems that when you are a celebrity you know everything, or at least media shows that you know everything and you can do anything easily. For example recently actor Brad Pitt has signed on as the designer of a luxury eco-friendly hotel with Zabeel Properties, that will be built Dubai. The project, which aims to be an “environmentally sustainable” 800-room luxury property, will include Pitt as a designer working with GRAFT. “Whilst acting is my career, architecture is my passion” said Brad in a statement. Now I know that an architect has to study hard for about 6 or 7 years in college, to be able to create something, and I really hope Brad isn’t the lead architect on this thing. It’ll probably collapse whilst they’re working on it. Finally I think that the company that started this project got Brad Pitt involved in this project for a big boost of publicity and not really for his designer services. What do you think ? Via Telegraph and People.
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The 700 Palms Residence was designed and completed in 2003 by Steven Ehrlich, and is located in Venice, Los Angeles, California. The house expresses a counterpoint between a sense of harmony and tranquility with flowing, dynamic spaces. Flexibility and transformation are fully realized through the use of wood-and-steel frame structure, enclosed and shielded for privacy by a roll-down scrim hung on a skeletal steel frame. By maximizing volume, light and privacy on a narrow lot with sensitivity to scale and context, the design presents raw, honest materials appropriate to the grittiness of the Venice environment. The house dissolves the barriers between indoors and out, creating flexible spaces that take advantage of the benign climate. As sustainability was a major concern, the design integrates concrete flooring to absorb the sun’s warmth in the winter, operable windows and large sliding doors to facilitate natural ventilation and low-maintenance recycled materials.
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In these days wall mounted flat-screen TV’s are more and more popular and affordable. A lot of people buy them, because they look good mounted on the wall, and they also save space. Inca is in the business of helping you decide what to do with your flat panel. Their newest creation is the P/N 900810-5A-WPS “Off the Wall” unit. At the press of a button, you can bring your TV out from the wall and rotate it to the most desired viewing position. With the touch of a button, you can also initiate automatic commands that reverse motions, from any position, to bring the fl at-screen back to the wall. Based on a swivel and pull-out, the TV Mount is controlled by remote. The system features a recessed box and cable management, so your wall will be clutter-free of wires. If you have adjoining rooms where you might want, say, to view your kitchen TV in the dining room, you’ll get plenty of good use from the swivel feature. If you are interested in this system you can check out Inca’s site for the Motorized Wall-Mounted Pullout and Swivel System and some of their other creative pull-down and lifting ideas. – Via
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