Design News

The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angels

         When the Staples Center opened in downtown Los Angeles in 1999, the visitors of the venue’s sporting and entertainment facilities had to venture far afield for a good meal. Just over a decade later, the area near the arena is full of eateries, cinemas, a massive entertainment complex that was finally opened this May with the opening of the Ritz-Carlton. The Ritz-Carlton occupies floors 22 to 26 of a translucent-blue 54-storey skyscraper. The hotel offers a lot of interesting space, including the famous restaurant Wolfgang Puck. The 24th floor venue serves Chinese delicacies, while appetizers and sushi are available in the adjacent lounge. Set on the 23rd floor, Club Lounge looks out toward the beaches of Santa Monica located 15 miles west. Telescopes which were placed near the windows allow for up-close exploration of the ocean and the Hollywood sign.

Shade Club

         Shade Club is an interesting experiment of a group of architects called SquareONE. They have constructed an unusual interior of a night club in the basement of a residential house in the city center of Bucarest, Romania. For 90 past years, there were only night clubs on this very spot. Some of them were successful, the others scandalous, so there was a good chance that the club can become a popular place if it has a good reputation. Two young people have got the idea to rent the place and start to build the good reputation by hiring a team of great architects. The project was a challenge, the plan is very small and segmented. New owners have chosen elegant and stylish interior with a little bit of humourous details. Furniture is displayed on walls in 2D and their shapes are printed in an open space. The existing structure was a space divided into three parts that is why architects have decided to create several patterns and graphic designs and change the dispositions of this space. Whole design is accentuated by a colour lighting.

Residential Bridge

      Studio Ja has come with an idea of a residential bridge as the one from the Inception movie. The project called Solar Park South has been part of an international competition “Zero Emission”. Architects from studio Ja have developped an idea how to hold up the growth of widening cities. To build a new city beneath a bridge could be the solution. Pariticipants of the competition were asked to create designs with respect to sustainable development; economic, energetic and cultural aspects. The goal was to design a building which will capitalize 10km of a highway between cities of Scilla and Bagnara in Italy. Ja Studio has create a design of a residential bridge, which would connect the upper side of the valley with a bottom of the valley.

Church from Future

      London studio DOS Architects has designed a catholic church as one would expect in a movie from future. The church should be build in the city of Lagos in Nigeria, Africa and be able to host up to 2000 people. The interior is covered by an aerodynamic skin divided into two parts – two waves, first one is smaller than the other one. The main entrance is situated in the bottom and the narrowest part and leads into a spectacular foyer, where a direct access to both two floors is located. Space assigned for prayers has been designed to fulfil needs of the congregation; not to be disturbed, to feel comfortable and relaxed, to have a view at the altar. Spectacular glass facades provide enough of natural lighting and accentuate the height of the building. Construction of the church should start in 2011.