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Fun_Topicz is all about giving a SMILE on people's face. Since now days everyone's life is so stressful, so this is an attempt to reduce a bit.
May 30, 2011
GR230 by Code
This motorway service station along Route 230 in northern Japan, by architects Code, has a black, rectangular form that snakes up from the ground towards a nearby mountain.
The shape of the building was influenced by the curves of the landscape, but internally it has a simple single-storey arrangement.
A number of shops and food outlets are contained within, serving drivers travelling between the towns of Kutchan and Rusutsu.
More Japanese architecture on Dezeen »
Here are some more details about the project from the architect:
GR230
Concept Text
GR230 is a highway service centre located in the town of Kimobetsu, Hokkaido. Situated along Route 230 at the crossroads leading towards Kutchan and Rusutsu, the facility is a vital hub that connects various towns and areas in the Shiribeshi sub prefecture, including popular tourist spots, museums, workplaces, homes and a diverse range of other everyday destinations.
GR230’s primary function is to provide services centring on food from the local area. It features a simple, flat layout that consists of shops and kiosks, rest areas, and food and beverage outlets.
This project began in 2005 as part of a plan to widen Route 230, a national highway that runs right through the centre of Kimobetsu. The town offered us the use of a site for our proposed building, with the car park, toilets and tourist office managed by the local municipal government. Construction and business operations were undertaken by private corporations.
A town planning committee was launched in Kimobetsu at the same time that the project was getting started, which we joined from the outset. One of the issues involved in planning this highway service centre was how to project its presence in relation to the passing traffic. We made careful, repeated studies of building forms that would be appropriate to the location as well as how the centre would serve as a local landmark, finally deciding that the architecture itself ought to serve as a kind of signboard.
Although the completed form of the building was designed to incorporate multiple meanings within it, the motif on which the shape of the facility was based is in fact concealed within the landscape of ravines and gorges, with Mount Shiribetsu to the south and Mount Yotei to the west.
Click above for larger image
While the magnificent scenery that surrounds the building may bring to mind a lush, green summer season, this part of Hokkaido actually sees long winters that last for almost half the year. The black band made up of various trees whose leaves have fallen is a bare expression of the vast land that is obscured during the warmer months. Undulations in the structure, combined with colour gradations in the black band and the contrast with the white snow-covered fields in the distance, create an abstract visual effect.
When the architectural form of the building first emerged over the course of our studies, we felt as if a vision of the pristine winter landscapes of northern Japan had surfaced from the depths of our memory.
With GR230, we have created a beautiful piece of architecture that commands a dignified presence during the foliage-rich summer months, and a quieter one that seemingly dissolves into the surrounding landscape during the long, reclusive winters.
Project credits/data
Architects: Naoji maekawa
Total floor space: 371.38sq m
Structure: Wooden flat building
Monte St Angelo Subway Station by Amanda Levete Architects and Anish Kapoor
Construction has begun on a subway station in Naples, Italy, designed by London studio Amanda Levete Architects and artist Anish Kapoor.
Called Monte St Angelo Subway Station, the project was inspired by a network of unfinished tunnels.
It will have two entrances – one made of Corten steel that will appear to have been pulled up from the ground, and another made of aluminium that will appear to sink into the earth.
Photographs are by Peppe Testa.
Here’s some more information from Amanda Levete Architects:
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Construction begins on Naples subway station
Monte St Angelo Subway station in Naples, a project in collaboration with Anish Kapoor is now on site. The brief from the City of Naples, to create a fully-functioning tube station that is in itself a work of art, demanded a synthesis of purpose and beauty that was fundamental to our creative process. A second primary point of inspiration was the site. At the surface the station will be the central element in the urban and cultural regeneration of the Traiano district that has suffered in its recent history from infrastructural isolation and neglect.
Simultaneously the network of tunnels and vaults designed and subsequently abandoned midway through a previous tube station project, describes an underworld barely tangible in the gleaming and sanitary underground spaces of contemporary subway projects. In the shadow of Vesuvius and embedded in layers of early civilisation, these dark and brutal concrete shells have been inspirational to our formal and material approach.
We began the process by stretching and moulding plasticine forms, synthesising the primary access requirements within and around the existing negative volumes. As layers of programme were introduced, the eternal tension between form and function was worked through while preserving the singular purpose and integrity of the forms.
The two entrances to the subway are a response to their particular urban condition. With the backdrop of a mountain the Universita entrance in Corten steel appears to have been pulled from the underground to create a dramatic, powerful and almost primal form. The Triano entrance is a typical urban condition bordered by medium rise residential buildings. Here the more refined aluminium form appears almost impossibly supported as it slips into the void below.
May 29, 2011
Your Guide to the Best Memorial Day Sales
Memorial Day might be all about the outdoors, but indoors is where you'll find the best sales. Not only are the biggest discounts on clothing, but shoppers can find the top deals through their Internet connections. In fact, experts say many retailers are offering the deepest cuts to online shoppers this year, largely through "stacking coupons," where shoppers can apply discount codes on top of site-wide sales.
[In Pictures: 10 Smart Ways to Improve Your Budget.]
"When you combine those with the sales already going on, that will end up being the largest discount," says Jeff Contray, managing editor of coupon site dealnews.com. But not all shoppers will be saving this weekend; some items, including sought-after grills and patio furniture, will stay pricey until the end of the season. Here's a round-up of the top deals you'll find throughout the holiday weekend:
Apparel: Historically, Memorial Day is one of the best times of the year to update your wardrobe. That's because retailers know the warm weather inspires shoppers to pick up new shorts and tops, and they mark down their items accordingly, says Contray. Many retailers got a head start on that tradition this year, with Gap Outlet emailing additional discounts to customers that can be used on top of site-wide sales earlier in the week. (Gap.com is also offering an online-only sale through Monday, with some items more than half off.) Sears.com is selling swimsuits, shorts, and summer tops for up to 60 percent off.
Neiman Marcus is offering up to 40 percent off regular prices and American Eagle's website features a 30-percent-off code through Monday. Macys.com features a range of discounts throughout the weekend as well, with extra discounts on swimsuits and beach towels. Kohl's will also take 15 percent off storewide in honor of the holiday. Ann Taylor's "$25 and under event," available both online and in stores, features shoes, tops, and shorts, and some styles are eligible for 50-percent-off discounts.
Tools and appliances: Sears, Home Depot, and Lowe's are all featuring discounts on tool sets, with Home Depot offering one cordless set for just $64, which Contray says is even lower than its Black Friday price. Sears is offering 30 percent off Kenmore appliances, 25 percent off Samsung appliances, and a variety of discounts on other brands with the code "memorialday."
E-readers: Amazon and Barnes & Noble continue to try to undercut each other's e-reader prices, which means consumers can snag better and better deals. Since summer is a big time of year for reading--especially lazy beach novels--Memorial Day is a good time to pick an e-reader, as well as new ebooks. (The lowest-priced Kindle is now $114, while the new Nook, which will be available June 10, is $139.)
[In Pictures: 10 Baby Products You Should Never Buy]
Meanwhile, shoppers will benefit by waiting to buy traditional summer items such as grills, patio furniture, and air conditioner units, because prices are higher now than they will be at the end of the season. According to Contray's research, portable air conditioners that sold for $400 at the beginning of last summer dropped to $300 by the end of summer, and he saw the same trend with grills. "If you can wait to update those items you associate with summer until the end of the summer, then it's best to wait," he says. (Home Depot, however, is offering free shipping on grills and patio sets through June 1.)
Something else to skip: electronics. Televisions, computers, and cameras typically fall to their lowest prices around winter holiday sales, such as Black Friday. Early summer is not usually the best time to make those mega-purchases. But Contray adds that a few select retailers, including Newegg and MacMall, will be offering Memorial Day sales. Those desperate for new gadgets can also turn to Pricegrabber.com, which is currently featuring a "Dads and grads" guide that includes deals on smartphones, LED televisions, and audio receivers.
Across almost all categories, the best strategy for shopping success this weekend is to shop online, and to search for any last-minute additional discounts before checking out. With many retailers emailing coupon codes to subscribers that can stack on top of the deals available to everyone, the savviest shoppers will apply not one, but two or more discounts to each purchase. Free shipping might also apply with an extra promotional code; check freeshipping.org for available codes.
Don't wait until Monday evening to shop, because many retailers got a head start on the holiday with some of the best deals launching well before the kick-off of the long weekend.
[In Pictures: 10 Smart Ways to Improve Your Budget.]
"When you combine those with the sales already going on, that will end up being the largest discount," says Jeff Contray, managing editor of coupon site dealnews.com. But not all shoppers will be saving this weekend; some items, including sought-after grills and patio furniture, will stay pricey until the end of the season. Here's a round-up of the top deals you'll find throughout the holiday weekend:
Apparel: Historically, Memorial Day is one of the best times of the year to update your wardrobe. That's because retailers know the warm weather inspires shoppers to pick up new shorts and tops, and they mark down their items accordingly, says Contray. Many retailers got a head start on that tradition this year, with Gap Outlet emailing additional discounts to customers that can be used on top of site-wide sales earlier in the week. (Gap.com is also offering an online-only sale through Monday, with some items more than half off.) Sears.com is selling swimsuits, shorts, and summer tops for up to 60 percent off.
Neiman Marcus is offering up to 40 percent off regular prices and American Eagle's website features a 30-percent-off code through Monday. Macys.com features a range of discounts throughout the weekend as well, with extra discounts on swimsuits and beach towels. Kohl's will also take 15 percent off storewide in honor of the holiday. Ann Taylor's "$25 and under event," available both online and in stores, features shoes, tops, and shorts, and some styles are eligible for 50-percent-off discounts.
Tools and appliances: Sears, Home Depot, and Lowe's are all featuring discounts on tool sets, with Home Depot offering one cordless set for just $64, which Contray says is even lower than its Black Friday price. Sears is offering 30 percent off Kenmore appliances, 25 percent off Samsung appliances, and a variety of discounts on other brands with the code "memorialday."
E-readers: Amazon and Barnes & Noble continue to try to undercut each other's e-reader prices, which means consumers can snag better and better deals. Since summer is a big time of year for reading--especially lazy beach novels--Memorial Day is a good time to pick an e-reader, as well as new ebooks. (The lowest-priced Kindle is now $114, while the new Nook, which will be available June 10, is $139.)
[In Pictures: 10 Baby Products You Should Never Buy]
Meanwhile, shoppers will benefit by waiting to buy traditional summer items such as grills, patio furniture, and air conditioner units, because prices are higher now than they will be at the end of the season. According to Contray's research, portable air conditioners that sold for $400 at the beginning of last summer dropped to $300 by the end of summer, and he saw the same trend with grills. "If you can wait to update those items you associate with summer until the end of the summer, then it's best to wait," he says. (Home Depot, however, is offering free shipping on grills and patio sets through June 1.)
Something else to skip: electronics. Televisions, computers, and cameras typically fall to their lowest prices around winter holiday sales, such as Black Friday. Early summer is not usually the best time to make those mega-purchases. But Contray adds that a few select retailers, including Newegg and MacMall, will be offering Memorial Day sales. Those desperate for new gadgets can also turn to Pricegrabber.com, which is currently featuring a "Dads and grads" guide that includes deals on smartphones, LED televisions, and audio receivers.
Across almost all categories, the best strategy for shopping success this weekend is to shop online, and to search for any last-minute additional discounts before checking out. With many retailers emailing coupon codes to subscribers that can stack on top of the deals available to everyone, the savviest shoppers will apply not one, but two or more discounts to each purchase. Free shipping might also apply with an extra promotional code; check freeshipping.org for available codes.
Don't wait until Monday evening to shop, because many retailers got a head start on the holiday with some of the best deals launching well before the kick-off of the long weekend.