Cool Design News

Cool Design News

Cool Design News featuring great design, architecture, fashion, graphics and innovation from across the globe.

 

Flowing Cloud Township Villa

Flowing Cloud Township Villa is located in Qinglongwu, a centennial village in Tonglu County, Hangzhou, which is composed of 4 ancestral houses of different ages and 2 new buildings. MDO will create a new rural retreat that celebrates local culture and tradition through the sensitive renovation of the old structures, using local techniques, materials, and craftsmen. Here people can have a closer connection to nature, be able to relax and unwind, free from the distractions of modern life. To see local tradition, to taste local foods.

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Yantai Experience

Mdo imagined the Yantai Experience Sales Centre as a contrast to the homogeneity of the new development, through form, materiality, and relationship with the landscape. Around the main central lounge and discussion area, all the other functions are placed equally accessible from the centre, encouraging more lines of communication and rendering an overall feeling of openness and link with the surroundings. The architecture becomes a unity of positive and negative spaces. Like a snow-crystal structure that can be read as a pattern in its presence or absence of matter.

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The Kaleidoscope

The Kaleidoscope is an office and residential building located at a factory site in central Vietnam. The building stands between a hill and the sea, and frames diverse views in different directions and at different times of day. The roof follows the form of the Non La, a traditional Vietnamese farmer's hat that blocks sun and rain while letting wind pass underneath. V-shaped solid walls create triangular private rooms and larger shared spaces between them. Custom perforated precast concrete blocks provide privacy and natural ventilation.

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Askianos

Askianos is a single family summer house located in Listaros, Crete, Greece. The home is divided into two volumes by a staircase that leads the view towards the sea and the summer sunset. The volumes are embedded into the hillside, while the pool and the outdoor shower are built into the rock. Local stone and ocher are used in the construction. The windows, doors and shutters are made of wood, and the built in furniture was made by local craftsmen. Traditional Cretan elements meet minimal design, joining indoor and outdoor living.

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CETC Research Institute

Cetc Research Institute is a research and testing center located in the High-tech Zone of Hefei, Anhui Province, China. The complex brings together research and development, system testing and an information center. Buildings are arranged freely according to industry classification, forming enclosed and open spatial patterns. The courtyard layout draws on local Hui-style houses, and the atrium supports daylighting, ventilation and rainwater collection. Cast-in-place reinforced concrete frames form the main structure, while red and blue aluminium curtain walls define the facades.

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BLS World

BLS World is a mixed-use complex in Haining, China, combining offices, a hotel and commercial facilities. The development consists of a 268 meter high tower and several podiums. The 51-floor tower holds office floors and a five-star hotel, with a sky lobby and a sky observatory placed at a height of 222.8 meters. The podiums contain shops, a conference center and a media center. The tower is clad in an all-glass unitized curtain wall system that helps save energy. Parametric design methods shaped the form and the flexible interior spaces.

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