Museum extensions are a tricky predicament and something of a teeth-cutting exercise for any architect. Steven Holl Architects’ extension to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has torn up the rule book of established codes of extension conduct and transformed the existing building into one of the most exciting exhibition spaces we’ve seen.
The existing Nelson-Atkins museum is a ceremonial, classical structure – all colonnades, porticos and grand facades, sitting atop the undulating hillocks looking down on Kansas City. When in 1999, Steven Holl Architects entered the competition to build a suitable extension, it was the only firm daring enough to tamper with the existing façade and not hide its proposed structure in the shadow of the grand building. And it clearly paid off.
The Bloch Building, as the extension is called, consists of five glass ‘lenses’ that rise up in front and to the side of the original museum in striking contrast to its heavy stone material. Rolling away from the museum, echoing the landscape, it is the luminary effect of the glass that is the most striking feature. By day, the multiple layers of glass diffuse and refract light into the galleries creating an otherworldly atmosphere within, whilst by night, the glass structures glow, flooding light across the sculpture gardens they encircle.
Quite apart from the external visual effect of the extension, the five new galleries have added 70 per cent more gallery space, the unveiling of which marks the final stage of the reinstallation
Architect: Steve Holl
This dominos-inspired skyscraper could become Africa’s second-tallest tower at 70-stories high!
If brought to fruition, the Zanzibar Domino Commerical Tower will become Africa’s second-tallest building and a landmark tourist destination to help stimulate the country’s economy and tourism industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen some crushing setbacks on the tourism industry, in particular for countries that rely on it for their economic output. In response, architects have churned out some of their most daring and inspired plans, from apartment skyscrapers to floating museums, all with the hope of luring in tourists from across the world. Architecture and interiors firm xCassia unveiled its plans for Zanzibar Domino Commerical Tower, a dominos-inspired skyscraper slated for Zanzibar, an autonomous archipelago off the coast of East Africa, to become the second tallest building at 70-stories high in Africa and help stimulate Zanzibar’s local tourism industry.
If the building’s plans ever come to fruition, the multipurpose skyscraper will cover a sweeping 370,000 square meters and be composed of 360 scalloped slates with an observation deck at its highest point. One day, the tower is designed to function as a landmark tourist destination. xCassia initially developed the dominos-inspired tower for different sites in Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, but a recent contract was signed by Tanzanian AICL Group and Edinburgh Crowland Management for xCassia to begin progress on the skyscraper in Zanzibar.
The tower itself will be host to a 560-unit resident complex and five to six-star hotel and spa facilities. Covering 20-hectares on a 4km-long plot of land, the larger site will give rise to the largest resort in East and Central Africa, and will see a golf course, wedding chapel, and marina for yachts and cruise ships on the island’s private islet.
Jean-Paul Cassia, founder and design director of xCassia, described the tower’s initial inspiration, “First sketched in Paris in 2009, after my late father, two sons, and I played a round of dominos–I dreamed of building this project for over a decade. Between its innate mathematical order and geometries found in nature, its pure lines and proportions that evoke growth, progress, and freedom, it had all the bearings of an icon anyone could remember and draw on a paper napkin. All it lacked was the right visionary investor and site to make it come true.”
During the signing ceremony between AICL Group, Edinburgh Crowland Management, and xCassia, CEO of Crowland Management Ltd Dr. Emmanuel Umoh mentioned, “The building which will be called Zanzibar Domino Commercial Tower is expected to be one of the international iconic features, facilitating tourism, culture, and business opportunities.”
Designer: xCassia
Sphere-shaped Emergency Shelter Bonds Community
Emergency shelter during disaster that provides physical & psychological needs. The concept behind “sphere” not only considers taking shelter from extreme weather conditions but also reestablishing the feeling of security and companionship without losing ones privacy. The center of “sphere” is constructed as a social place, which consists of single families and inhabitants. These people constitute a community, a circle. This place offers the opportunity of once again getting in contact to others, cooking and simply getting together in a social way. In this way every “sphere” becomes a germ cell for a community working properly.
19 units of tents offer room for 3 persons at a time, however, partition walls can be unbuttoned in order to create bigger sections for families wards and the like. The inner tent, made of lighter nylon permeable to air, is independent from the outer part which consists of waterproof canvas. The stakes are made of fibre glass plastic and guarantee stability of the whole construction. The design as such is long-lasting and can be recycled if required.
Designer: Felix Stark
