Design Files
The British Design Museum has announced nominees for the best designs of 2011. Here’s a peek.
1. Guangzhou Opera House
What: Opera house
Where: Guangzhou, China
The structure was designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid; its freestanding concrete auditorium set within an audacious exposed granite and glass-clad steel frame took over five years to build, and was praised upon opening by architectural critic Jonathan Glancey in The Guardian, who called it “at once highly theatrical and insistently subtle.” The dramatic structure was the source of inspiration behind fashion designer Vivienne Tam’s fall ‘10 collection.
2. Hepworth Wakefield
What: Art gallery
Where: Wakefield, England
The Hepworth Wakefield is a cluster of 10 trapezoidal blocks, which form the structure; the upper-level galleries are lit by natural light from large windows in the pitched roofs. Its windows frame views of the river and historic waterfront and the city skyline. The façade of the building was made on site using self-compacting pigmented concrete, the first of its kind in the UK. The material was selected by the architects to emphasise the sculptural appearance of the building.
Category: Art & Design
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