Emergent North

The graphics by Lateral Office are lovely. There are for my future inspiration... I'm sure I'll need a lot in studio this fall.

Images from Architizer.

Museum Aan de Stroom

This building, by Neutelings Riedijk Architects, is in Antwerp, Belgium. I really admire its lightness and now I am a bit tempted to make a day trip to Antwerp from Brussels...

Images from ArchiCentral and Bustler.

ExCel Phase II

The colors, the colors! It's like a sickness, I swear. This extension in London by Grimshaw is so interesting. It's very modern-industrial, but the bright color adds a pop of warmth to the design. I wish I was visiting London this summer!

Images from Dezeen.

Grape Pie

This is such a GENIUS idea. Why ARE there no grape pies? It's baffling! Apparently it's super juicy, so the crust gets a little soggy, but I hope I get to try this anyway. I do like grapes.

Recipe from The Kitchn.

Ingredients
2 unbaked pie crusts, such as those from this recipe
Approximately 2 1/2 pounds green grapes (weighed before stemming)
1 cup white sugar, plus extra for top crust
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup elderberry flower syrup
1/4 cup dark honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Directions
Heat the oven to 425°F. Pat one pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Place the pie pan into the freezer while you prep the filling.

Pluck the grapes off their stems and place them in a large saucepan or pot. Add the sugar, nutmeg, lemon juice, elderberry flower syrup, and honey. Turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently. When the mixture is quite warm to the touch, whisk in the salt and cornstarch. Cook, whisking frequently, until the mixture is boiling and thickened slightly.

Remove from the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the grapes from the liquid. Put all the grapes into the frozen pie crust, then pour in enough of the syrup liquid to fill the pie crust. Leave about 1/2 inch space between the top of the crust and the liquid. Top the grape mixture with the pieces of butter. Press the second disc of pie dough on top of the pan, and crimp the edges together. Cut a few small slits in the top, and sprinkle the top crust generously with sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is well-browned and filling is bubbly. Let cool completely before serving.

OR^2

I can't decide if this is visually intriguing or kind of grossing me out. Something about the close-up images makes it look like people's insides, or something. Anyway, still interesting. This was designed by Orproject.

Images from Dezeen.

Menzies Research Building

Images from Dezeen. Designed by Lyon.

House of Culture and Movement

The House of Culture and Movement is a project designed for a competition. It was designed by MVRDV and ADEPT as well as SLA landscape architects, Søren Jensen engineers, Imitio, Winnie Ricken, Max Fordham, and Ducks Scèno. I haven't really developed a definite opinion about the building, but I do like the way that they depict the program of the building and some of the images are beautiful. I also seem to be very attracted to bright colors.

Images from ArchiCentral.






If you were wondering why I tend to post buildings that are depicted beautifully quite often rather than examples of great buildings, it's largely because 1) My ability to beautifully represent my buildings through graphics really needs to be further developed, so I like to post inspiration for myself here. I'm getting better, but after seeing these images, I definitely can improve much more. and 2) There are few case studies of built buildings posted on the blogs that I frequent for quick inspiration that really demonstrate that the building was successful both functionally and aesthetically. And that is why.