WHITE SPACE

 

The stunning geometric marble floors and bespoke metal door of a jaw-droppingly decadent home in Singapore.

 

 

 

SWIMMINGLY

The Olympic Acquatic Center, designed by Zaha Hadid, has come under unflattering scrutiny for a design flaw said to obstruct the view of some spectators. No matter; I, for one, would be just as thrilled with a view of this stunningly decorative poured concrete ceiling.

THE EQUALIZER

This isn’t the first time the great illustrator Bob Staake has used architecture to symbolize a watershed moment in American politics. His 2008 image for The New Yorker’s post-election issue (below) was one of the most memorable covers of any year.

Fittingly, this week’s cover trades the gravitas of that year’s transcendent moment, for a touch of pitch-perfect whimsy. “I don’t especially like those rainbow colors, but…I had to use them,” he says. Of course–and to such pleasing effect.

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CONCRETE LESSONS

Any presumptions about concrete being the ugly stepchild of expressive architecture will surely be dispelled by these ravishing images from Architectonic, a recent exhibition that graphically displayed its breathtakingly imaginative possibilities as building material.

 

RIGHT ANGLES

 

Sublime geometry by the Swedish photographer Patrik Lindell.

 

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

Mid-century chairs have been frequently deified by collectors and interior stylists, but they’re a rare presence in actual houses of worship.  That rare exception may be St. Bartholomew’s Church in the Czech Republic, which underwent a secular refurbishment of sorts in 2007. Amongst the inspired touches overseen by the Czech designers Jakub Berdych and Maxim Velcovsky was the pairing of its exquisite Baroque interior with a selection of pure white Eames and customized Panton chairs. Pretty transcendent stuff.

LOOKING UP

Recent snapshots of eye-catching architecture.  Eye-chitecture.

STIJL LIFE

 

 

Paul Batt is an Australian photographer whose Abandon Series documents the surreal interior/exterior tableau created by discarded sofas (NYC would be a bonanza for him, incidentally). This found arrangement, with its De Stijl backdrop, is almost too fortuitous to believe.

NEW AND OLD

 

 

Recent pictures of old buildings.

LOOKING UP

 

 

An uplifting New Year’s Eve view of New York City’s New Museum, the city’s only building by the 2010 Pritzker Prize winning, Tokyo-based architectural firm, SANAA.