Nothing’s better than driving around in a Ferrari, grabbing all the attention and making all the heads turn. Even Michael Schumacher loves these sweet, fast and usually iconic red machines by the Italian automobile giant. The company has spun out some pretty remarkable vehicles in its time that burn the asphalt to smithereens, roaring with power. Well, just like the rest of the world, Abu Dhabi loves its Ferraris too. 
The exterior of this apartment building located in Kyoto, Japan, is inspired by nature. The outside of the Villa Saitan building, designed by Eastern Design Office, is covered with leaf shaped holes that add design and character to the structure. The segregation of the building into independent apartments with balconies is completely hidden here. Instead it is built to be viewed as one big house. It looks very attractive, but the leaf-shaped holes seem to be blocking sunlight. But when a person breaks rules in creative designing, the result is always controversial. The amount of sunlight let in aside, the villa looks beautiful. 
A translucent membrane that stuffs into the back of a van can be inflated to create a temporary pavilion. The portavilion designed by Raumlaborberlin can be taken to the desired location, and then inflated and supported by air to act as a temporary pavilion. It can be squeezed under bridges, setup in gardens and open spaces, wrap around trees, fit inside courtyards or even inside a building etc. When inflated it looks like a mouse’s head, but will be able to hold a seminar, feature a ballet or concert inside etc. This summer the Portavilion will be touring through various parks and green spaces all around London. It will play host to a number of dynamic cultural programs, including dance programs, festivals and music events led by leading organizations. 
MOS has designed the Element House as an architecture concept for a new ecology. An entirely unique creation, the living space is done up using living organism patterns algorithms. The concept comprises of using the archetypal shapes of a house, a rectangle, a triangle on top and a chimney, as a base. From there forms are extruded and modulated to grow according the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical algorithm describing the developmental patterns in living organisms. Courtesy the unique shapes, the house expands and contracts to welcome multiple or extended families. The unique concept home also redefines the idea of a village. The house also features no fireplace. The fireplace is replaced with an atmospheric inlet, bringing the light and weather from outside the house in. Totally green, the homes would be completely “off the grid,” operating independently of traditional utility services. Furthermore, the pre-fabricated modules, limited to a footprint of 1500 square feet maximum, would follow strict LEED design criteria. 
Architects EM2N have designed this amazing Swiss chalet. A design masterpiece, this beautiful Chalet located in the scenic Swiss Alps is truly amazing. Its unique structure and design make it stand apart from the rest. Inside too, the Chalet brims with unique furnishings and décor. A spiral staircase connects the various storeys of this home. Large glass windows give a beautiful view while a modern fireplace provides warmth. A cozy abode, it is just awesome. 
Eco-building concepts are on a steady rise owing to the need of the hour and a necessity to capture renewable sources of energy. The Strata Tower in London’s Elephant and Castle Area is one such building concept that incorporates wind turbines in its original design. The building is said to be completed in July, and developers hope that the 42-floor, 408 unit apartment building will generate 8% of its electricity from the turbines. “The Razor” with construction cost of $19.7 million will feature 29.5 foot blades in its 19 kilowatt turbines on the roof. The turbines employ Venturi Effect to produce 50 megawatt hours of power each year. However, skeptics have their own doubts about this novel concept.
Polish architects at mode:lina are probably too weary of windmills and linear-efficient modes of energy, to have come up with the concept of energy-producing skyscraper. The pasta-like structure mixes wind, kinetic and water production for maximum efficiency. Besides that, it manages to look organic and functionally efficient as well. It somehow looks like the ‘life-tree’ in Avatar to me. Any stolen ideas, mode:lina? 
Some people believe that post-release offenses are high and these need to be prevented. I agree but the Vertical Prison idea takes it so seriously that it doesn’t allow the criminal to even stay on the ground. This project will be vertical prison in the sky, above the crime-prone land where inmates will have to work and live in a community that will contribute to the host city below. They will give back their due to the city by working. This idea is really swell also the inmates will leave a free life up in the air till the completion of their sentence.
We have massive structures being built everyday, but very few of them have revolutionary social significance as the Pedestrian Bridge constructed by American architect Bernard Tschumi and French firm Hugh Dutton Associes. The bridge has opened in La Roche-sur-Yon in France, where it connects the old centre of Atlantic coast town with newer districts across the TGV railway tracks. The massive tubular lattice bridge is a collaboration between the fields of engineering and architecture, and expresses a dynamic vector in both its usage and urban perception. The Pedestrian bridge crosses above high-speed railway tracks, providing an important urban connection for the two. The dynamic characteristics of the complicated structure are expressed through finished materials and the bright-red orange color is chosen to emphasize the urban significance of the bridge as a pedestrian vector. 
With invention of many electronic gadgets, energy consumption has increased today than what was say 20 years back. Similarly carbon emissions or so-called greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere and help to warm it. These problems appear insurmountable in the near or even long-term future, unless proper understanding and correct implementation is undertaken on priority basis. Keeping this in mind Architect Enric Ruiz-Geli has designed an inflatable membrane façade from the Media- TIC building that will help it save energy and reduce carbon emissions. The building features four facades to provide different levels of insulation. Moreover the roof of the building will also feature photovoltaic panels or solar panels and a green cover. The green roof collects rainwater which is then directed to a tank and re-used for sanitation and landscaping. 
If reports are to be believed, Korea will house the world’s first Robot theme park. According to Korea Herald, the robot magic kingdom will be part of a giant residential and industrial complex called Robot Land in Incheon, one of South Korea's largest cities. The Korean government has just authorized Incheon to build the park, which will cost 784.5 billion won (about $687 million). The bidding process for this park lasted for several years with $596 million coming from private investors, about $46 million from the central government, and about $46 million from the local government. The Robot Land website says the theme park will feature various robot entertainment including exhibitions of robot characters from films and cartoons; reconstructions of robot-oriented movie sets like "Minority Report," "I,Robot," and "Matrix"; a robotic-arm ride; an aquarium where visitors can watch and manipulate robotic fish; rides; and even droid cashiers and performers.
Just as fashion in terms of clothes and hairstyles goes through a revolutionary change every now and then, architectural structures and building patterns also transform in their styles. But one cannot do away with the old buildings, just because their styles are not in vogue anymore. The Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) has come up with a simple, cost-effective, easily constructed skin that promises to transform dated structures into sustainable and stunning buildings. The “Tower Skin” concept is a transparent cover composed of high-performance composite mesh textile that is wrapped around an existing structure to act as a “micro-climate”. It generates energy with photovoltaic cells, collects rainwater, improves day lighting and uses available convective energy to power the towers’ ventilation requirements. The skin not only uses the vented air from existing rooms to convert into energy, but also acts as an intelligent media surface that can be used for dynamic animation and communicating information such as performances and campus events in real time. Through the Tower Skin, the need for demolition and rebuilding is eliminated.
‘Don’t throw stones at others if your own house is made of glass’ is now quite an old saying. But it literally applies here where the house is made of a glass wall. Alexander Frangoul from Germany has designed this unique home which consists of a 19 m long folding glass. And I still don’t know if it is anti-breakable or not!
Telecom magnate Carlos Slim’s son-in-law, Fernando Romero is quite an architect we hear. He is a star in the Mexico’s architectural community and has won several praises in international design competitions. He is currently working on Mexico City’s Soumaya Museum which is funded by his father-in-law. The curvaceous edifice features very complex, undulating geometries which is made possible by CAD. Romero is working with engineering firm Ove Arup, who helped erect the Sydney Opera House as well as the Beijing Olympics’ Bird Nest and Water Cube Structures.
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Kacey Wong from Hong Kong has created a tiny floating house called “Paddling Home” as part of the 2009 Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/ Architecture showing till 2/27/2010. It is a 4’x 4’x 4’ small house covered with pink tiling on the outside, protruded bay window and amenities such as such as air conditioning, stainless steel gate etc. It is fixed atop four barrels which float on water. Last week Wong launched the boat playing golf on the roof and also fishing on it. The boat house boasts of a 360 degree sea view. Though it is quite a small boat house but the ingenuity and enthusiasm portrayed by Wong is admirable. 
