25 GREEN by Luciano Pia

25 GREEN

Luciano Pia

Torino, Italy, completed 2012

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When Luciano Pia undertook to design a five-story, 63-unit residential apartment building in Turin, Italy, he sought to break from the homogenous urban development that was consuming the area. What resulted was 25 Verde, an extraordinary urban treehouse that blurs the lines been the domestic and the wild, captures a certain childlike imagination with branches rendered in steel, and whose exterior is melded with 150 trees, as well as a vast array of additional plants to which protect residents against noise pollution, and reduce air pollution in the neighborhood.

KAPSARC MOSQUE by HOK

KAPSARC MOSQUE

HOK

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, completed 2014

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The spiritual center of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) community is a mosque within the linear park at the heart of the site.  Highly visible throughout the community, the sanctuary is approached through outdoor courtyards aligned with Mecca and Al Kaaba, the most sacred places in Islam.

SANCAKLAR MOSQUE by Emre Arolat Architects

SANCAKLAR MOSQUE

Emre Arolat Architects

İstanbul, Turkey, completed 2012

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This mosque near Istanbul by Emre Arolat Architects, which features cast concrete walls and a "cave-like" prayer hall, has been shortlisted for this year's Design of the Year award. Turkish firm Emre Arolat Architects used a combination of light grey stone and reinforced concrete to construct the Sancaklar Mosque, which is set into a plaza made up of shallow terraced steps. The 700-square-metre structure is situated in Buyukçekmece, a suburb on the outskirts of Istanbul and is separated from the surrounding gated communities by a busy highway and tall stone walls. The pared-back and unornamented structure is set into a depression in the landscape, with only the stone roof and a tall minaret visible from certain points around the perimeter.

10CAL TOWER by Supermachine Studio

10CAL TOWER

a project by Supermachine Studio

Bang Saen Beach, Thailand, completed 2014

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This concrete tower of interconnecting red staircases was designed by Thai firm Supermachine Studio for an elevated game of hide and seek. The Labyrinth was designed by Bangkok-based Supermachine Studio for a spot on the edge of a park near Bang Saen Beach, a coastal resort 60 miles east of the Thai capital.

LEARNING HUB by Heatherwick Studio

LEARNING HUB

a project by Heatherwick Studio

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, completed 2015

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London-based Heatherwick Studio collaborated with local firm CPG Consultants on the Learning Hub, a new eight-storey teaching facility at Nanyang Technological University. To avoid creating "miles of corridors linking box-like lecture rooms", the building was designed as a cluster of tapered towers surrounding an expansive atrium. The idea was to combine learning facilities with social spaces including balconies, gardens and open-air corridors, to encourage as many opportunities for staff and student interactions as possible.

RIBBON CHAPEL by NAP Architects

RIBBON CHAPEL

a project by NAP Architects

Hiroshima, Japan, completed 2013

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Two curving staircases encircle the exterior of this wedding chapel by Tokyo-based architect Hiroshi Nakamura, meeting at a rooftop platform that overlooks the Hiroshima coastline. The Ribbon Chapel by Hiroshi Nakamura takes its name from the pair of timber-clad staircases that wind around the exterior of the glazed wedding chapel.

TOWER 41 by Alberto Kalach

TOWER 41

a project by Alberto Kalach

Mexico City, Mexico, completed 2014

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Located in a strategic point of Mexico City, facing the majestic Chapultepec Park, Tower 41 designed by Alberto Kalach’s office TAX is displayed to the immediate context as a light sculpture at nightfall. The interior spaces were designed as a consequence of the structure of the volume, two structural concrete walls supporting steel mezzanines, reinforced by a secondary steel structure on the facade. Thus, the structural configuration generates free plans, allowing flexible spaces for any office use.