Cool Design News

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

 
Pingyuan Mysterious Stone Art Museum

Pingyuan Mysterious Stone Art

Pingyuan Mysterious Stone Art is a museum for the exhibition and trade of rare stones. The building stands on a quiet site, with the eastern side facing a stone garden and open plains along the rest of the perimeter. The museum is shaped as one large stone divided into four parts, each holding a separate exhibition. A central atrium with skylights links the four halls and forms a circular visitor route. The main facade is made of stone panels, while large glass areas and an overhanging structure open the southern and eastern sides. A public terrace offers views toward the stone garden.

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NamKwong Diehu Center Complex

NamKwong Diehu Center

Nam Kwong Diehu Center is a mixed-use complex designed for Qidong, Jiangsu, China. The site lies in the central business district, next to Diehu Lake. The design is divided into three plots. One plot holds the working and commercial areas, and two plots hold the residential areas. The form of the twin towers is inspired by the shape of a butterfly, following the local name of Diehu Lake. The complex covers a total area of 304,000 square meters. Ecological residences and fitness parks support a healthy community.

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Beach Cabin on the Baltic Sea Hospitality

Beach Cabin on the Baltic Sea

This small diner on a Baltic Sea beach near Gdansk with its simple form fits naturally into the beach environment. The building offers two areas: an opaque part with windows and a fully glazed winter garden. The transparent glass house not only offers an unrestricted view of the sea and the beach but also uses solar energy in a passive way to improve indoor comfort in a relatively cool climate in northern Poland. The Solarlux system construction of the winter garden with its slim wood-aluminum profiles enables a filigree effect.

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Taizhou Z Center Office Building

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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Haus am See Residential House

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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 City Above The Clouds Multifunctional Office

City Above The Clouds

City Above the Clouds is a mixed-use office and commercial complex in Hangzhou. Four main buildings are stacked on two-storey circular commercial podiums, and the arrangement forms a central green park. The ground level has several entrances that connect the complex to the surrounding city. Glass curtain walls give the facades a calm and open appearance. A vertical greening system links shared spaces on different levels. The combination of work areas, shops and social spaces supports a balanced way of working and living.

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