It is no secret that Marcio Kogan and his team are amongst TheCoolist’s favorite residential architects, so it should be no surprise to see their work on this list. House 6 is one of Marcio Kogan’s latest, a work that continues the architect’s signature style with rectangular structures, stone walls, wood-slatted windows and a focus on the environment around it. Like other Kogan works, House 6 places an emphasis on outside relaxation and entertainment, with a sprawling patio and pool that has enough space for a great party.

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Shortly before the calendar rolled over to the year 2010, Vodaphone revealed a new international headquarters as designed by Barbosa Guimaraes, a truly wonderous building. The Vodaphone Headquarters, located in Porto, Portugal is a wild work of sculptural architecture, a building that appears to be born in dreams, not reality. The design was envisioned as an extension of Vodafone’s slogan, “Life in Motion“, as the headquarters building appears to be growing, and developing in a fashion far outside of conventional thinking. While the structure is sculptural, its execution is purely functional. This unconventional building does not hinder its purpose by being overly flashy or different. It is at once functional and progressive, a success in the world of modern architecture. [photos by friend of TheCoolist Nelson Garrido

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This stunning work of modern architecture is special not only for its contemporary structure, but the landscape around it. The Bridle Road Residence by Antonio Zaninovic earned honors by the American Society of Landscape Architects for having one of 2010′s best landscape architecture designs. The home was built at the base of a mountain overlooking the Atlantic Ocean from the heights of Cape Town, South Africa. The home features a landscape with a rare local species of plants that is endangered by local development, but is the central focus of this home’s garden.

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Tabanlioglu design a wooden and metalic congress centre in the Libyan capital inspired by the surrounding trees

Surrounded by the woods, the rectangular two-storey ‘block' is nested in a semi-transparent metal envelop as a "shield" that opens up to the external landscape with a wide portico that defines the main entrance. Between the mesh and the inner glass walls a semi-open shady circulation area is created as an extension of the landscape. Incise patterns inspired by the trees around the site, permit controlled daylight to diffuse into the central space and at night the oozing beams through the slits integrate with the wood at the background.

A semi-transparent perimeter "shield" of designed bronze mesh application flows around the building, protecting the inner glass walls; an 8 meter corridor encircles all three sides; the main building is flanked by a 4-meter wide reflection pool and another 4 meter is left as a semi-open shady circulation area. The water elements provide a cooling effect before the building, in addition to its aesthetic contribution. The semi-open corridors create a sound waft in the circulation zone. The entrance is enlivened by the 350sqm media mesh that improves the communicative nature of the Congress Center.
Glass wall systems allow for the maximum viewing area with no horizontal or vertical mullions to obstruct the vision. By transparency, the interiors benefit the optimum daylight in a controlled manner also by the mesh installation around the alleys surrounding the building. . The "open" character of the building is supported by the 350sqm media mesh with a computer controlled LED system, installed at the entrance. The media façade enriches the communicative nature of the Congress Center

New model for flexible play space by David Rockwell crosses the pond

One of America’s most revered architects, David Rockwell yesterday brought his tried and tested Imagination Playground scheme to London for the first time. Launched at Coram’s Fields - a designated public playspace for the city’s children and young people - Imagination Playground is an educational approach to physical play, where children are encouraged to design and build their own climbing frames using large bright blue shapes.

The original scheme is now up and running at a permanent venue in New York - Burling Slip - however the London equivalent will only be in place until 22nd August 2011. Despite this, Rockwell has donated a ‘Playground in a Cart’ set to the Coram’s Fields development so that London’s children can continue their playtime development.

This transportable kit includes a full set of the Imagination Playground blocks in a storage unit that fits easily through a standard door frame meaning the toys can be used either indoors or outdoors, and is lightweight, cost-effective and easy to install. Distributed by Play Direct UK.com, the set also comes in a Playground in a Box form.

Rockwell explains: “The driving force behind Imagination Playground has always been to provide a way to encourage kids to do what they do best: to be creative and to use their imaginations. Imagination Playground in a Cart will allow us to present this opportunity to the children of the world. The global expansion is so exciting, and I hope we can only continue to bring Imagination Playground to more and more corners of the world.”

Architectural Drafting and Design3D Proview will be generating many architectural renderings. I have 1 years experience in the field of architectural rendering, and will be posting my best examples and some key rendering software tricks I use. There is however one thing to know about rendering, that is patience is a must if you dont have the mega computers needed for this industry.

Update soon

Will be constructing this blog for you!

Work In progress! Hang around for developments