gobi

MAD Architects out of Beijing recently finished this museum in the Gobi.  Constructed like saturated armour to protect the region's vernacular art collection, it stands as a Botero-inspired mirage in the desert surround.  I'm fascinated by the glassed courtyard to the lower left.  That space must be fantastic to occupy.

ArcelorMittal Orbit

Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond have crafted the ArcelorMittal Orbit in London's Olympic Park.  A modern day Eiffel Tower, it stands as Britain's tallest sculpture.  Take a trip to the top viewing platform to truly enjoy the machine aesthetic.

In Plane View

Last month, Alex MacLean released his latest book Up on the Roof:New York's Hidden Skyline Spaces.  Piloting his own helicopter with camera in hand, he captured the pockets of open space that elude the pedestrian.  Very voyeuristic.
(His previous book Taking Measures Across the American Landscape was jointly written with James Corner, the landscape architect of the High Line.  It is stunning).

theselby.com

Todd Selby has a new blog to complement his swelling panopoly of coffee table books.  Dedicated to capturing photographs of artists and designers in the interstial shadows of their homes, it is a wonderful introspective to the everyday routines of these creative characters.

cloud city

This month,  the MET opened Tomas Sarace's Cloud City on it's rooftop garden.  Constructed from transparent and reflective materials, the interconnected modules are meant to reference a model for future cities.  With an Epcot collision with the Modern Movement, I love the almost porous barrier it suggests between indoor and outdoor space.

stadel museum

Architectural Digest featured Germany's Stadel Museum in last month's magazine.  It doesn't send me.  The renovated below ground gallery designed by Schneider and Schumacher reminds me of the Teletubbie playhouse. 

mulholland

Rob Mulholland has dedicated his art career to spawning mirrored sculpture of human forms and then, tucks them into varied landscape settings. The installations are meant to suggest the delicate balance between man and nature.
The delivery is too literal for me but, the Terminator 2/ Anish Kapoor union has me hooked.