Tampa Covenant Church by Alfonso Architects, photo by Al Hurley

This church in Tampa, Florida was recently completed by the US based Alfonso Architects. In order to achieve a consistent complex and establish an intimate church campus two existing buildings needed to be renovated and adapted and a redesign of the site’s infrastructure was required.

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Sapphire Gallery by XTEN Architecture

The Californian practice XTEN Architetects realised this residential extension designed to display a private collection of contemporary art and a home office. The cantilevered new structure, a system of lightweight braced frames, is grafted onto the circulation spine of the existing house and lifted off the ground to provide a minimal footprint.

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'Breakdown' desk by Louie Rigano

The US designer and graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design Louie Rigano realised this series of furniture. The construction is based on joineries which take a backseat to alternative methods that require no tools for assembly.

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'South Pond' by Studio Gang, photo by Steve Hall ©Hedrich Blessing

The Chicago based Studio Gang realised this boardwalk for the redesigned ‘South Pond’ of the Lincoln Park Zoo. Made of recycled plastic milk bottles the pavilion circumscribes the pond and passes through different educational zones describing animals, plants and habitats and provides shelter for open-air classrooms on the site. Their structures, inspired by the tortoise shell, consist of a series of pre-fabricated wooden members interconnected and milled to give global curvature to the surface, creating a column-free space for gathering.

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Carrasco International Airport by Rafael Viñoly Architects, photo by Daniela Mac Adden

The New York based practice Rafael Viñoly Architects was commissioned to expand and modernize the existing facilities of the Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, with a spacious new passenger terminal to expand capacity and spur commercial growth and tourism in the region.

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John E. Jaqua Center for Student Athletes by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, photo by Eckert & Eckert

Having a look at the new John E. Jaqua Center for Student Athletes at the University of Oregon the Portland based Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects recently unveiled, it seems that the times when ‘studying’ stood for antique autitoriums and dusty libraries are over.

The relation to the local environment was one of the major intentions of the architectural concept. The completely glazed facade provides an uninterrupted visual connection between internal rooms and the surrounding landscape. The classy interior architecture is characterised by a minimal materials palette which relates to the Pacific Northwest region.

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'A Band Apart' upholstery fabric by Sarah Morris

The New York based textile manufacturer Maharam is a fourth generation family-run business which produces high-quality fabrics for wall coverings, windows and upholstery. The collection includes beautiful graphical designs, such as those of the American artist Sarah Morris and playful and vivid prints by Paul Smith.

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Case Study House 21, Los Angeles, 2006, architect: Pierre Koenig, photo: Julius Shulman/Jürgen Nogai © J. Nogai

With his narrative, almost filmic and precisely arranged stagings the American architectural photographer Julius Shulman breathed life into the clean, modernist buildings he captured with his iconic images. It was his photography which especially defined the world’s perception of California and its modern architectural roots.

On the occasion of his 100th birthday on October 10th the ZEPHYR Raum für Fotografie in Mannheim / Germany, gives us the chance to look at 220 pieces of Julius Shulman’s artwork from the years 1938 to 1982 and his almost unknown late work, which he realised together with the German photographer Jürgen Nogai from 1999 until his death in 2009.

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