Studio di Architettura Zermani Associati   Italy   Saint Matthew left word in the Gospel that the gate to life is small. And that is how visitors may feel as they complete their rounds of the Medici chapels in Florence’s Basilica di San Lorenzo: a walk – separate from the actual temple’s – which used

Renzo Piano Building Workshop   Switzerland   The organization that operates the world’s largest particle physics laboratory has opened a facility for scientific education and outreach, composed of several blocks pierced by a raised walkway.

Shulin Architectural Design   China   Amid an imposing landscape, these pavilions serve as a gateway to the southern part of the Qinling Mountains in Liuba County, China; a threshold between contemporary architecture and nature. Three large inclined roofs protect the functional zones tha

Dorte Mandrup   Canada   The Danish architect Dorte Mandrup has won an international competition to build an institution for the preservation and celebration of Inuit culture, linked to the indigenous populations of the Arctic regions of North America. The project for the In

Kengo Kuma   Albania   Located 25 kilometers from Saranda, very near Albania’s south border with Greece, the Butrint National Park is a natural place with archaeological remains and a high a degree of biodiversity, including within it Lake Butrint and the Vivari Channel, w

Foster + Partners   Spain   A scheme drawn up by Norman Foster for the company Familia Martínez Zabala – which runs six wineries: Faustino, Campillo, Portia, Marqués de Vitoria, Valcarlos, Condesa de Leganza – has been unveiled. He previously carried out a design for Bodegas Po

Renzo Piano Building Workshop   Switzerland   As part of its mission to engage the public in science, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (known by its French acronym, CERN) is launching the Science Gateway, a new facility for scientific education and outreach. The purpose of the proj

haas cook zemmrich STUDIO 2050   Germany   Stuttgart-based haascookzemmrich STUDIO2050 (Martin Haas, David Cook, Stephan Zemmrich) was commissioned to design this center for the preparation of Rapunzel Naturkost's organic food products, in the Bavarian municipality of Legau. The fairy tale pu

Tuñón y Albornoz Arquitectos   Spain   A refined cottage for excursionists helps itself to the local building tradition of solid stonework walls and tiled roofs to blend into a beautiful natural spot in the province of Soria. Clad in panels of black bakelite, a space unfolding around a fi

Foster + Partners   Saudi Arabia   This research and visitor center is devoted to the marine environment and the challenges of conserving the hábitats of the Red Sea. Located in the Triple Bay Marina at Amaala, the scheme of coral forms perforated with skylights is wrapped in prefabri

Neri & Hu Design and Research Office   China   A leading producer of spirits has opened its first distillery on Chinese soil, set in a beautiful landscape with views of Mount Emei, one of the four sacred spots of Buddhism.

BIG Bjarke Ingels Group   Norway   The Danish architecture office BIG has designed a factory for the furniture manufacturer Vestre, inserted into a forest near the village of Magnor, in eastern Norway. It has a built area of 7,000 square meters, and takes its name, The Plus, from its

CEBRA Architecture   Denmark   Skamlingsbanken is a lateral moraine that was formed during the last ice age (22,000-25,000 years ago). Belonging to the Danish municipality of Kolding, this visitor center is embedded in the ground, forming another hill in the rolling landscape. Mea

Dorte Mandrup   Denmark   The thorough renovation of the visitor center went hand in hand with an expansion designed to complete one’s experience of the world’s largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats. The original massing was modified in a way that would mak

gon architects   Spain   The project ‘Stone and Earth’ – drawn up by Gon Architects, the Madrid practice of Gonzalo Pardo Díaz – has won the competition coordinated by the León Institute of Culture for the purpose of building a research center and visitor reception facility

Dorte Mandrup   Greenland   On Greenland’s rugged coastal landscape, a twisted triangular structure offers a point from which to observe the area’s icebergs as well as a hub for residents and visitors alike. Minimizing contact with the ground in order to allow natural surface r

Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter - RRA   Denmark   In the fields of North Jutland, a food education center open to townspeople and visitors alike seeks to celebrate the region’s farming tradition and promote its rich cereal-based culture. Intended as a laboratory for experimentation in the processes

petrjanda/brainwork   United Arab Emirates   The firm of the Czech architect Petr Janda has won the competition to build a visitor center in the Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, located in the United Arab Emirates capital, where flamingos abound. The project seeks to make the building blend into the

Foster + Partners   Switzerland   InnHub La Punt is a new centre for innovation in the heart of the Engadin valley that seeks to bring new visitors together with the local community to increase prosperity, create new jobs, and revitalize local crafts and produce. It is based on the i

IDOM   Colombia   In Dosquebradas, a municipality in Colombia's Risaralda department, stands this mixed-use building, an Idom project directed by Jabier Fernández Sánchez. The region is known for its rich fauna and flora, thanks to varying climates. Encompassing

Trahan Architects   United States   The center, which aims to illustrate the French Creole lifestyle of Magnolia Mound – a plantation established in 1791 along the Mississippi River – is completed with translucent glass profiles that make the building blend with the landscape... [+]

Kengo Kuma   United States   At Portland Japanese Garden, designed by professor Takuma Tono in 1967, the new Cultural Village connects a sequence of buildings to offer a complete and uninterrupted journey from the city to the top of the hill. The ensemble includes a first pavili

Kengo Kuma   China   Yangcheng Lake – located three kilometers from Suzhou in Jiangsu Province – is famous for producing the best mitten crab in China, a seawater crustacean that is considered to be a rare world delicacy. The growing interest in gastronomic tourism has s

Among the thousands of cultural facilities that have enriched China’s tourist infrastructure in the course of the past years, the Wencheng Forest Visitor Center in Xikeng, near the city of Wenzhou, stands out. Carried out by GLA Design, the building

In collaboration with a large multidisciplinary team, the American firm wHY has turned out the winner, among 125 participants, of the competition for the chance to design the Ross Pavilion: a visitor center and café in West Princes Street Gardens, in

El áspero entorno de Arcos de Salinas, el pueblo más meridional de Aragón, pronto estará colonizado con un artefacto ‘cósmico’: el óvalo minimalista y blanco con que el joven colectivo granadino Mytaki acaba de ganar el concurso de ideas para el Cent

Situado en el acceso al Parque Natural de Sierra Nevada, en Granada, junto al río Lanjarón, el Museo del Agua de Juan Domingo Santos adapta como museo las naves del antiguo matadero e incorpora láminas de agua conectadas y abastecidas por la acequia

Situado en el surafricano Parque Nacional de Mapungubwe, el Centro de Interpretación proyectado por el arquitecto de Johanesburgo Peter Rich está inspirado en la arquitectura vernácula, en el paisaje y en la riqueza arqueológica del lugar. El edifici

El estudio de Julio Grijalba, Alberto Grijalba, Paloma Gil, Eduardo Carazo y Víctor Ruiz han completado el Centro de Recursos Ambientales en Valladolid. Construido con materiales reciclados y diseñado para aprovechar las inercias térmicas, el volume

El equipo Qve, formado por José María García del Monte y Ana María Montiel Jiménez, ha inaugurado el Centro de Interpretación de la Naturaleza Ataria en Salburúa, Vitoria; un volumen de dos plantas con un brazo de acero y vidrio que expone al visitan