Cool Design News

Cool Design News

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

 

Jiangnan No.1 Courtyard

Jiangnan No.1 Courtyard is an exhibition hall located at Xiaoshan Innovation Polis in Hangzhou, China. The building stands next to a lake, and the setting recalls a Jiangnan watery town. Herringbone sloping roofs, white walls and black tiles form a continuous and rhythmic image. The interior is organized around a landscape atrium with a light well, following the spirit of the traditional courtyard. Natural light enters the rooms through the atrium glass. The entrance uses imitation wood poles that form a semi-transparent screen.

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Skyboat

Skyboat is a two-storey building set above a 613 metre deep sinkhole in Leye, China. Hotel rooms are placed on the ground floor, a cafe on the first floor and a viewing platform on the roof. The platform includes a walk-on glass floor measuring 10 by 12.5 metres. The building spans the narrow passageway at the top of the sinkhole and cantilevers 34 metres and 22 metres to each side of the mountain ridge. A low centre of gravity allows the structure to balance itself. Only five supports are used, which limits damage to the local plants.

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Haus am See

Haus Am See is a residential house built beside a lake in Potsdam, Germany. The building rests on a steel skeleton carried by 40 diagonal stilts set on ten separate foundations, so the centuries old trees on the site remain untouched. One tree grows through the house. Ceilings, floors and walls are made of pine wood, the thermal insulation is cellulose fiber, and the facade is formed of narrow vertical larch slats. The roof surfaces are planted. Sliding windows three meters high and seven meters wide open the living spaces toward the water.

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Kaisa Yuebanshan

Kaisa Yuebanshan is a community center in Zhongshan, China. The building covers 2100 square meters and is organized on two floors. A three-story volume connects two terraces with a height difference of about four meters. The design draws on local Lingnan architecture, including patio spaces and curved walls. Arc-shaped white walls are repeated to give the facade a soft and rhythmic appearance. A 12-meter span and a 5-meter cantilever keep the interior open. Public spaces on both floors support daily life and frame the mountain views to the north and south.

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Taizhou Z Center

Taizhou Z Center is an office building with commercial areas in the central business district of Taizhou, Zhejiang. The L-shaped main slab building rises 90 meters and extends along Shifu Avenue. Cantilevered and overhead volumes create sheltered space for shops on the ground floor. A diagonal path crosses the site and links the high-rise and the shopping center. The main building and neighboring buildings enclose an open public square. Glass and perforated aluminum panels wrap the folded plate facade. A sky garden divides the two functional blocks and offers a shared view of the landscape.

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Nanning Tanjing

Nanning Tanjing is a display center located in Nanning, China. The building group is integrated with the surrounding landscape. Curves drawn from local mountain and water forms shape the facade, and rock slices are stacked into spreading curves at the main entrance. The complex includes an entrance square, landscape steps, an art corridor, a semi-outdoor swimming pool and a health technology clubhouse. A tandem circulation route guides visitors through the spaces and reduces crowding. Open courtyards return public space to the city.

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