Latest news with #Brutalist
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Inside an Ultra-Modern Las Vegas Home That Turns the Harsh Desert into a True Oasis
Just outside Las Vegas's city center, in the affluent, master-planned suburb of Summerlin, you'll find a contemporary residence that forgoes the typically glitzy OTT aesthetic of the Strip in favor of a crisp linearity and industrial finishes. Designed by Faulkner Architects, the house's block-like forms and concrete construction take their design cues from the Brutalist aesthetic. Making sure that the residence could withstand the area's extreme weather variations was a priority: Winters bring strong winds and cold, dry days, while summers are intensely hot with monsoon rainstorms that add humidity. To this end, the architects worked to emphasize durability and protection from the sun and wind. More from Robb Report Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi List Their English Countryside Estate for $30 Million 'The A-Team' Producer's Former SoCal Estate Lists for $20 Million This $65 Million Florida Mansion Has Both Indoor and Outdoor Pools A narrow opening serves as the entry point, leading into a passage that's open to the sky and lined with a wall of native plantings. Interior spaces courtesy of Concept Lighting Lab are warmer than the exterior might suggest. The large, open kitchen is done up with pale wood cabinetry and sports an extra-long white marble island with seating for six or more, and in the adjoining living room, a bulbous fireplace and wood-clad ceiling bring in organic forms and materials, while a disappearing wall of glass opens the room completely to the desert landscape. Bedrooms are found upstairs, with windows covered in perforated steel panels that both provide privacy and filter harsh sunlight. The centerpiece of the estate is the dramatic, elevated pool from which you can see the Las Vegas Strip to the east and Red Rock Canyon to the west. A spacious patio offers plenty of room for alfresco dining and lounging around a built-in fire pit—there are other fire-warmed areas tucked away within concrete nooks— and, on the south side of the home, perforated steel mesh wraps around a terrace that cantilevers over the garage and driveway below. Summerlin, about 10 miles west of the Strip, has become a hotbed for design-forward abodes. Back in 2016, the illusionist David Copperfield shelled out $17.5 million for a 31,000-square-foot showpiece—at that point the most expensive residence ever sold in Las Vegas—and earlier this year, at the ultra-exclusive Summit Club, a 5,000-square-foot penthouse with a jetted lap pool on the terrace hit the market for $25 of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article.
Time Out
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The Projector returns to Golden Mile Tower this August
Local indie cinema The Projector is going back to its roots. The Projector will officially reopen at Golden Mile Tower this August, marking a homecoming for the beloved picture palace after the building's en bloc process ended without a sale. The Projector made the decision earlier this year to scale back on daily screenings in April 2025 due to the ongoing en bloc discussions. This return comes in the year of The Projector's 10th anniversary, and with it, a renewed focus on bold, diverse film programming and the vibrant community spirit that first made it a darling of the film scene. What is The Projector? The Projector is Singapore's go-to indie cinema, celebrated for its offbeat curation of arthouse, indie, cult classics and foreign-language films rarely screened in mainstream theatres. It also regularly hosts themed events, comedy shows, live music performances and more. It first opened in 2014 on the top floor of Golden Mile Tower, transforming a forgotten corner of a Brutalist building into a creative oasis with two cinema halls. A decade on, The Projector now screens over 250 films a year, with more than half comprising indie titles, auteur retrospectives and international cultural festivals. When will The Projector open at Golden Mile? Screenings resume in August 2025, so mark your calendars and get ready for late-night cult classics, indie premieres and curated film events. Golden Mile Tower opening hours: Mon–Thu: 4pm–10.30pm Fri–Sun & PH: 1pm–10.30pm More information can be found on The Projector's website. How do I get to The Projector Golden Mile? By MRT: By car: Golden Mile Tower has limited parking on-site
CairoScene
12-07-2025
- General
- CairoScene
Concrete Statements: Brutalist Beauties in the Arab World
Concrete Statements: Brutalist Beauties in the Arab World Brutalism in the Middle East emerged with ambition and urgency offering concrete answers to postcolonial futures, urban growth, and national identity. Many of these buildings were conceived as architectural displays of power and autonomy. Today, their raw forms remain to remind us of a time when architecture dared to be bold and unapologetically modern. Jameel Centre – Cairo, Egypt Originally built in 1989 for AUC and now anchoring the GrEEK Campus, the Jameel Center is a bold Brutalist landmark defined by fair-faced concrete, deep arches, and exposed structural grids. Its mashrabiyyas and marble details nod to Cairo's Mamluk heritage without softening its raw, geometric form. The building's coffered concrete ceilings and circular façade indents - left behind by bolts in the structure - embrace the expressive imperfections of cast-in-place construction. Inside and out, the design celebrates clarity and function. National Assembly Building – Kuwait Utzon's 1989 design for Kuwait's parliament makes concrete feel like cloth, with a sweeping tent-like canopy that anchors the public plaza. Its weightless billow offers a poetic yet uneasy nod to Bedouin heritage. The grid-based interiors and precast concrete forms draw from Arabian bazaars and bureaucratic order. While it gestures toward regional identity, the result is an eclectic collision of imported modernism and selective tradition The Koujak-Jaber Building – Beirut, Lebanon Nicknamed the Gruyère for its perforated concrete façade, this apartment block turns Brutalism into visual play. Circular and elliptical voids pierce a flat concrete skin, revealing glimpses of the building's internal rhythm, windows, terraces, and structural slabs. From below, the shifting geometry distorts into a surreal optical effect, where circles become ellipses and the static appears in motion. Designed by Victor Bisharat, the building channels expressionism over function. Le Corbusier Gymnasium – Baghdad, Iraq A rare Le Corbusier Brutalist gem in the Middle East, the gymnasium is part of a visionary sports complex, its bold massing, sweeping ramp, and cable-suspended curved roof echo Le Corbusier's obsession with light, movement, and the architectural promenade. Originally it was imagined as a translucent "boîte à miracles" - a miraculous box of light and concrete. However, it evolved into a more grounded structure - still monumental, still modern. Hotel du Lac – Tunis Built in the 1960s on the banks of Lake Tunis, Hotel du Lac is a brutalist icon defined by its dramatic reverse-pyramid form - each floor cantilevering outward to make the top level twice as wide as the base. Its stacked concrete massing and unapologetically heavy profile symbolised Tunisia's post-independence leap into modernity. The building quickly became both a tourist landmark and pop culture reference, often cited as an inspiration for Star Wars' sandcrawler. Bloc des Salles de Classe IV – Algiers, Algeria Part of Niemeyer's visionary university complex in Algiers, the Bloc des Salles de Classe is a sculptural brutalist mass shaped by revolution - both political and architectural. Cast in raw concrete and arranged in monumental slabs and voids, it was built to embody post-independence Algeria's socialist ambitions. The severe geometry, rhythmic repetition, and sheer scale echo Niemeyer's signature language of expressive modernism. Once imagined as the nucleus of a utopian new capital, the complex now stands as a relic of an unfinished revolution - haunting, poetic, and present. Al-Burj – Amman, Jordan Completed in 1985, Al-Burj once stood as the tallest building in Amman, a 22-story brutalist monument that once defined the city's skyline and anchored one of the capital's busiest streets. It was designed as a self-contained commercial hub with a cinema, rooftop restaurant, and retail floors to embody Amman's urban optimism. Now semi-abandoned, its weathered shell remains an enduring imprint of Amman's modernist ambitions. General Post Office Headquarters – Doha, Qatar Completed in 1988, Doha's Central Post Office is a striking brutalist landmark that embodies the formal ambition of Qatar's state-building era. With its monolithic concrete massing, sculpted volumes, and rhythmic façade, the building conveys institutional authority and architectural clarity. Designed by the British firm Comconsult, its bold form has remained a fixture in the city's collective memory Center for Marine Research – Latakia, Syria Completed in the 1980s just north of Latakia, Syria's Center for Marine Research is a striking pyramidal form of raw concrete rising from the sea. Designed by Bourhan Tayara, the cruciform plan features trapezoidal walls, a central atrium, and cantilevered dormitories, echoing the rhythm of sails and the logic of modernist structure. Though now weathered and abandoned, its bold silhouette still anchors the shoreline bearing the visible scars of time. Al Ibrahimi Tower – Abu Dhabi, UAE The Ibrahimi Tower was constructed in the 1980s when Abu Dhabi saw its first skyscrapers, asserting itself on Abu Dhabi's Electra Street with a striking brutalist language as a reminder of the Emirati capital's modernity at the time. Designed by Egyptian architect Farouk El Gohary, the 16-storey concrete cylinder is wrapped in a dense mesh of interlocking panels refined from an earlier prototype by El Gohary in Cairo.
San Francisco Chronicle
10-07-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Controversial S.F. fountain not part of Embarcadero Plaza renovation plans, officials say
The fight for Vaillancourt Fountain heated up Tuesday night at a community meeting where a San Francisco city official said publicly for the first time that the controversial concrete sculpture is not part of the renovation plan for Embarcadero Plaza. 'We did look into keeping the fountain on-site,' Recreation and Park Department Project Manager Eoanna Harrison Goodwin told a decidedly pro-fountain audience, 'but once we got the cost estimate, it is beyond our project budget.' The revelation, while not the final word on the 710-ton sculpture, was perhaps the most discouraging sign yet for its ardent supporters that its days on Embarcadero Plaza may be numbered. The blocky Brutalist fountain, a lightning rod for public opinion since its debut a half-century ago, has deteriorated and broken down in recent years. In June, the park department fenced it off after declaring it a public hazard based on a report that concluded a full renovation would cost roughly $17 million. A new independent estimate now pegs the cost at $29 million, Goodwin said Tuesday — a dramatic jump that earned a collective groan from the crowd. That number did not include the cost of plans, permits and annual upkeep of at least $100,000. That means fixing the fountain would cost nearly as much as the entire Embarcadero Plaza makeover project, budgeted at $32.5 million, Goodwin said. The plan is to combine Embarcadero Plaza and the adjacent Sue Bierman Park to form a single 5-acre multiuse park, twice the size of Union Square. The complicated project is a public-private partnership between the Recreation and Park Department, which manages the land; BXP, which owns the four Embarcadero office towers; the Downtown SF Partnership; and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Though the park department maintains the fountain and is indicating it no longer wants it, it does not own the sculpture and has no authority over its possible removal. It is part of the Civic Art Collection, and its fate will eventually be determined by the San Francisco Arts Commission and possibly the Board of Supervisors. Tuesday's community forum at Codi, a meeting popup at Embarcadero Three, came just one month after the fountain's creator, 95-year-old artist Armand Vaillancourt, made a rare visit from his Montreal home to lobby the park department and the arts commission to preserve his namesake work. The fountain has been shut off for a year since its pumps broke, but Vaillancourt told the Chronicle that with some cleaning and repairs it would last another 50 years or more. Vaillancourt was not among the 200 people who RSVP'd for Tuesday's meeting, but his daughter, San Francisco resident Oceania Vaillancourt, attended and made an emotional plea for her father's creation. 'My dad asked me to help him,' said Vaillancourt during the Q&A session after the city's presentation, noting she lives two blocks away and goes by the fountain every day. 'I just can't imagine the fountain not being there,' she said through tears. 'I just hope we can gather the community and hopefully change the decision of removing the fountain.' Also in attendance were members of the Northern California chapter of Docomomo US, a modernist architecture preservation group that has been staging actions to save the fountain. The sculpture, which currently sits in the middle of the multiuse area, was not on any of the diagrams presented Tuesday by HOK, the design firm hired for the project. The diagrams showed a location for a 'permanent art piece,' though apparently not the one that is already there, Petra Marar of Docomomo noted. 'The fountain is not on any of the options,' said Marar. 'It feels like it is all or nothing, keeping it or removing it, and it feels like they are removing it.' Andrew Sullivan, a landscape architect who worked with the famed Embarcadero Plaza designer Lawrence Halprin, said, 'The process that the city went through to determine that the fountain needs to be removed is disingenuous. They predetermined that the demolition of the fountain is a given without any actual design. They just created excuses to get rid of it without any meaningful discussion.' The design of the park has also yet to be determined. The future unification of Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park will be continued at a third meeting to be scheduled this fall. The park will then enter the design phase.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Forbes
A Modernist Masterpiece Hotel Is Hiding In Plain Sight On The Thames.
James McDonald The Sea Containers hotel occupies a historic Brutalist building in an enviable spot on the South Bank of the Thames, but it doesn't seem to get the attention of other design-forward hotels in London. Which is a head scratcher, to be sure. The building itself was designed by American Modernist architect Warren Platner, and the hotel's original interiors were by Tom Dixon's Design Research Studio (it was his first ever hotel project). For over a decade, the intriguing property — with 354 rooms, three restaurant/bar options, a cinema, and a spa — has been an IYKYK situation. Which is how regulars would love to keep it. But the tides are turning and the debut of four new over-the-top-in-the-best-way suites are thrusting this notable introvert into the spotlight. The lobby of the hotel boasts a dramatic, 223-fppt-long curved copper wall meant to resemble a ship's hull, complete with 160,000 rivets. Niall Clutton 'Everything in the hotel has a story. Entering the lobby is like arriving at a shipyard before going on your trans-Atlantic voyage, and all the rooms were designed to be cabins,' noted Jacu Strauss, creative director of Lore Group, operators of this property, as well as the Pulitzer in Amsterdam and the Riggs in Washington, DC. 'We wanted to add to the story. I looked back at key moments in trans-Atlantic travel over the last 125 years and there were, to me, four distinct eras of sea travel that correlated to interesting shifts in design, society and engineering.' The four eras Strauss identified were: Edwardian, Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern and the 1980s; he combined eight standard rooms on the 15th floor to create the four suites representing these eras, each with a bedroom, sitting room, bathroom and powder room. (Fun fact: as a young architect/designer, Strauss was employed by Tom Dixon and worked on the original designs for this very hotel). Red lighting becons those walking down the red-carpeted corridor towards these suites; each has a unique door that hints to what lies behind. The Edwardian Suite. James McDonald 'The Edwardian era was the first time travel became recreational. Ships were engineered like never before, and this was celebrated fully through decadence, elegance and grandeur,' explained Strauss. His Edwardian Suite features a 120 year-old kidney-shaped desk, artwork from that era including a large painting of a cruise liner at sea and even a plaque featuring the profile of King Edward VII, who, Strauss notes, is the era's namesake. James McDonald An antique oak cabinet in the bathroom is styled with ships in a bottle – 'a playful and nostalgic surprise.' At the time of this writing, this particular suite was proving to be a guest favorite overall. Strauss postulates that perhaps nostalgia plays a role: 'this reminds a little bit of something I saw or experienced when I as younger.' Or it could be the large copper soaking tub, set in a marble niche clad with vintage photos of sailing ships. Or the view of St. Paul's Cathedral, just across the way. The Art Deco Suite ©James McDonald 'Art Deco was the period between the two world wars, a celebration of style and simplicity, with strong forms combined with rich textures. People built their homes to look like big ships, for example.' James McDonald Strauss spent months sourcing treasures for the room, including vintage glassware appropriate for that era, as well as the reproduction full scale diving helmet in the powder room, and the gleaming nickel bath tub with a Tamara Lempika-inspired portrait above. ©James McDonald Strauss recalled that he 'personally collected [the artwork] from the seller in North London and drove it myself in my convertible Mini. Definitely got a few looks on that journey!' The Mid-Century Modern Suite James McDonald The mid-century modern era, Strauss notes, dates to the 1950s, but it could be argued that it continued through a portion of the 1970s as designs with mass appeal and staying power. 'It was a stylistic and social revolution driven through what was happening in the US in particular. And this included a new social environment of recreation, practicality, and technology.' James McDonald Many iconic pieces from that era combine certain shades of wood, laminate and steel – three materials Strauss employed to great effect. There are distinctive pieces by USM Haller, a Swiss-based furniture company, vintage glass and ceramic pieces, a color blocked rug, lighting that nods to George Nelson and Noguchi and sideboards that Strauss repurposed as bathroom vanities. James McDonald The Dynasty Suite James McDonald The fourth and final suite is the Dynasty Suite. Which celebrates everything '80s but, Strauss is quick to point out, 'not the dress up party 80's…. the bold and confident and very decadent 80's. Bigger was better and this applied to ocean travel. Recreational cruise programs became more diverse, ships got bigger, focused on having a good time and exploring even more exotic destinations.' James McDonald Those who remember the iconic television show will appreciate the color palette, the curvaceous furniture (those scallop chairs were sourced f the U.S. and reupholstered), the spot-on accessories, the gold-toned swan faucets in the bathroom, and that fabulously over-the-top headboard. James McDonald James McDonald Collectors take note: Strauss observed that of all the suites, items for the Dynasty era were the hardest to find. He predicts an '80s interiors comeback, advising interest parties to 'snap up post-modern 80's items!' tout de suite. Sea Containers London, 20 Upper Ground, Sea Containers London occupies a 1974 Warren Platner-designed building on the Thames Niall Clutton
