Serpentine Gallery pavilion 2013

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has designed this year's pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, which will be a cloud-like structure made from a lattice of steel poles.

The temporary semi-transparent pavilion, which will be open from 8th June until 20th October, will have two entrances, provide a seating area for a central cafe, and will occupy 350 square-metres of lawn outside the London gallery.

This is the third time a Japanese architect has accepted the annual unpaid commission, which is one of the most highly sought-after small projects in world architecture and goes to a major architect who hasn't yet built in the UK.

Last year's pavilion was a cork-lined archaeological dig created by Herzog & de Meuron with Ai Weiwei, who was forbidden to leave China at the time.

The Rainbow Igloo

While spending time in Edmonton, Canada with his girlfriends family, New Zealand engineering student Daniel Gray was given the task of trying to build an igloo from ice blocks his girlfriend’s mother had prepared for his arrival.

To make the blocks, Brigid Burton, mother of Gray's girlfriend, poured water with food colouring into empty milk cartons then froze them.

Gray took on the task over 5 days with help from the family and neighbours and this was the result.  

Check out the full story with more images here

Stunning artists studios

Looking for a retreat to cleanse your soul then this three storey studio in Norway may fit the bill.

This structure is one of six studios designed by Saunders Architecture and is only reachable by hiking.

Saunders web site tells us, 'The Shorefast Foundation and the Fogo Island Arts Corporation commissioned Todd Saunders to design a series of six artists’ studios on various Fogo Island locations. The organization is committed to preserving the Islanders’ traditions and aims at rejuvenating the island through the arts and culture.'

A stunning structure in a beautiful environment however some purists may disagree.

See more here.

Amazing structures made from Flowers

We had to do a double take when we saw these floats at the Bloemencorso, an annual parade in Zundert, Netherlands.

Every float is made from natural flowers and specifically dahlias.

This is an amazing feat of design including architectural structures the size of houses to weird animatronic birds and puppets.

Zundert is just a small town, north east of Belgium, with a population of about 20,000 but the variety and ingenuity of these sculptures is fantastic.

See the whole parade in the video below or click here to see more.

Kreod pavilion launches in Greenwich

Kreod launches this week at the Greenwich Peninsular, London. In fact the Grand Launch takes place at 10.30 am on 18th September.

According to their website, Kreod is London's newest architectural landmark, an innovative architectural sculpture that is sustainable and organic in form.

The structure is created by Pavilion Architecture and is the brainchild of architect, Chun Qing Li. It is a sustainable, portable, demountable and multi-functional indoor or outdoor exhibition space in an organic form that is inspired by nature, resembling a seed. It celebrates new life and power of nature.

Find out more about this interesting space and forthcoming events by clicking here.

Photos By Ed Kingsford

Volkswagen takes to the skies for parking

This amazing feat of engineering is Volkswagen's temporary vertical parking lot at their production facility in Wolfsburg, Germany.

16 storeys high, the silos are composed of glass and galvanized steel and are illuminated by night. A conveyor belt system transports finished cars directly from the adjacent manufacturing plant to the towers' basement and then lifts them into position via mechanical arms that rotate and run along a central beam.

Each silo can hold up to 400 cars at a time and deliver, with fitted number plates, around 600 vehicles to customers each day as well as acting as part of VW's Autostadt visitor attraction.

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