F

Flavorwire

Antoni Gaudí

Architecture

The Most Spectacular Buildings That Were Never Built

By Claire Cottrell on

From Frank Lloyd Wright’s daring design for a resort high atop the Hollywood Hills to Antonio Gaudi’s grand, unrealized hotel in Manhattan, click through to check out some of the world’s most spectacular buildings that never made it off the drawing board.… Read More

Architecture

15 Essential Films About Famous Architects

By Claire Cottrell on

There’s been a flurry of activity in the world of film and architecture this week. Notable LA filmmaker and film critic Thom Andersen released his unconventional documentary Reconversão about last year’s Pritzker Prize-winning architect Eduardo Souto de Moura and their mutual fascination — one you know we share — with abandoned spaces, contemporary ruins and the societal conflicts that create them. Add to that an intriguing Kickstarter for Great Spaces, a web series by four young design enthusiasts exploring the world one space at a time, showed up in our inbox and persuaded us to champion their worthy cause.

To celebrate the very best of multidisciplinary mash-ups, we thought we’d take a look at some of the fantastic films about architects that have been made over the years. From one of the most inspiring films you will ever see about husband-wife creative powerhouse Charles and Ray Eames (notably narrated by our favorite art house badboy James Franco) to Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack’s look at America’s design darling, Frank Gehry, click through to check out our picks for must-see films focused on one of the most enigmatic and conflicted characters in the world: the architect. … Read More

Architecture

Grow Your Own Architecture: Unusual Structures Made Out of Trees

By Claire Cottrell on

Today would be the 160th birthday of our favorite nature-loving Spanish Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudí. His appreciation and love of nature is often credited to the sun-drenched summers he spent as a child in the Tarragona province of Spain, an idyllic landscape known for hazelnuts, olive oil, and a raucous festival featuring human castles and bestiary.

In honor of Gaudí’s greatest achievement, the mind-blowing Sagrada Família in Barcelona whose stunning nave is without a doubt the most beautiful architectural and artistic representation of a tree ever created, we’ve taken a look at some of today’s most inspired contemporary living designs. From nest houses to cherry blossom retreats, click through to check out the very best of architecture you can grow. … Read More

Architecture

Spectacular Hotels Designed by Famous Architects

By Claire Cottrell on

When Frank Lloyd Wright said that “a great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart,” surely he was alluding to the fact that travel and exploration are important aspects of any designer’s process. Seriously, what better way to feed your soul and get the creative juices flowing than a fabulous get-away in an inspiring and culturally significant hotel?

A testament to the splendor of heart-driven design, we’ve married two of our favorite things – extraordinary hotels and stunning architecture – to bring you our guide to the most architecturally significant hotels in the world. From Frank Gehry’s iridescent design set against a medieval backdrop in Spain’s Rioja wine region to a recently renovated mid-century icon by John Lautner to Renzo Piano’s whimsical update of an old Fiat factory in Italy, click through to check out these visionary and inspiring designs. Let us know in the comments which one you’ll be booking for your next creative crusade! … Read More

Architecture

10 Buildings Shaped Like Fruit

By Claire Cottrell on

There’s nothing that gets our day going like a healthy dose of novelty architecture. What’s more fun than imagining life in a giant seashell, an oversized picnic basket or better yet, a strawberry?

Stemming from a childhood obsession with Roald Dahl’s magical and macabre adventure tale, James and the Giant Peach, Old Mother Hubbard’s shoe, and the best ride in Fantasyland — the Mad Hatter’s spinning teacups — we admit that there’s a special place in our hearts for all things larger than life. From the historic orange juice stands of California’s Central Valley to a restaurant shaped like a pineapple to the cutest extra large strawberry we’ve ever seen, click through to check out our adult exploration of real world architecture shaped like giant pieces of fruit. Then, let us know in the comments if we missed your favorite jumbo fruit building. … Read More