Sweden's Stockholm Archipelago Home Architecture

A wrap up Sauna facilities and the needs of this modern seaside cottage homes. A comfortable, cozy home style suited to socialize in groups and just relax. The main house is open to the sea, while the bedrooms and more private bathroom, overlooking a remote page set by the old oak tree and rock. Located in Sweden Stockholm Archipelago, Island House by WRB Architects is a cool beach house designed to complement the settings of the beautiful waterfront. A sheltered timber deck allows for all weather outdoor entertaining, while also inviting natural home in the extensive use of natural wood to finish the floors, walls and ceilings. Holidays in this simple house offers a different design cottage style is marked by a panoramic sea life from outer space and the same glass-covered interior.

Amazing bridge Architecture ever

This bridge (the Slauerhoffbrug) is located in Leeuwarden, Netherlands and is seriously cool... Unlike most drawbridges which open at the center, pivoting at the street level (or even others that have only one operable piece pivoting at the street level), this bridge is lifted up and over the street using a cantilever system. I'm not sure who did the bridge, but its asymmetrical design is not something I've seen before, but I like it!

Clean Architecture with minimal design concepts

A very clean, minimal design. This minimalist design is really lovely - I particularly like the way they integrated the texture of the living wall into the design - but it is also very unusual for a Dutch firm! Of course, I realize that is a complete generalization, but I'd have to say that the Dutch aren't typically known for their minimalism. Innovation? Yes. Humor? Definitely. Restraint? Not usually. And in this case, it is really working for them.

The house mimetic, Green Architecture Concept

this unique summer cottage built mainly of concrete and glass that blends with the vegetation of the maritime forest where it is located. When carrying out the project, the architects had to solve the problem of lack of light there and meet two primary requirements: to conform to the low budget available and that its maintenance was nil.

The house to be used for much of the year, only two bedrooms and two bathrooms, one en suite, with the peculiarity that the social area should be generously sized and offer the possibility to adapt to different uses, as it was supposed to be frequently receive friends as occasional guests. The kitchen should be integrated into the social area and all rooms have large expansions were outdoors.

The place where you should build the house is an area of 20 x 30 m, filled with majestic pines and a very high compared the level of the street. This situation made it difficult to access while offering the advantage of being very little exposed to the stares from the street while providing views of the landscape over the neighboring buildings.

The integration of all these factors make housing design as a "half-covered" by that gave extensive glass walls that ensure the maximum number of hours of daylight and full integration with the environment, causing him to lose presence in front of the landscape. The need to accelerate time to implementation of the work and avoid maintenance were decisive factors in choosing to build concrete saw. In short, an envelope of only two materials - concrete and glass - that solves the integration with the landscape and responds to formal issues, structural, functional, finishing and maintenance.

On the other hand, the shadow ruling allowing the use of exposed concrete as a building material since it provides sufficient thermal protection from spring to late autumn. Preparation for winter was not too important (although of course was expected) given its status as a summer house. The insulation waterproof concrete was resolved with high compactness and a study of the shape of the envelope so that the rain water drainage be performed very quickly. In addition, the color and texture of concrete formwork made of wooden boards was a forceful presence and mimetic at a time, allowing the work to be expressed in harmony with the landscape.

World Football's Top 10 Stadiums

A football match is not just about the 22 players on the pitch. Spectators play a huge part in the occasion. The design of a stadium and the atmosphere it generates can have an intimidating effect on players and officials which can even influence the result. As new stadiums start to dominate the sporting skyline around the world, this list pays homage to great venues which have stood the test of time.

1. Maracana, Rio De Janeiro

Home to the Brazilian national side and Rio's Vasco De Gama club, the first side back in the 1920's to sign African players. The Maracana was built for the 1950 World Cup Finals and at one time crowds of 200,000 were not unknown. Today capacity has been reduced to 96,000 but the stadium still retains a great aura.

Maracana, Rio De Janeiro

2. Nou Camp, Barcelona

Home to FC Barcalona, the Nou Camp has a capacity of just under 100,000 and has hosted many great games, including European finals and World Cup matches. It was completed in 1957 and with various enhancements the tiered structure now reaches to a height of 48 metres in one side of the ground.

3. Santiago Bernabau, Madrid

Built in 1947, the Santiago Bernabau stadium is the home of Real Madrid, one of the world's most famous clubs. It was also the host for the 1982 World Cup Final and various European club finals over the years.

4. Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

The Azteca has played host to two World Cup finals, one of which was the great Brazil v Italy match in 1970. The Mexican national team play here as does the Club America side. It was inaugurated in 1966 and has a capacity of 105,000. An imposing venue, it is known as "Il Coloso de Santa Úrsula" (the Colossus of Saint Úrsula).

5. San Siro, Milan

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as the San Siro, is home Inter Milan and AC Milan, historically two of Europe's most successful club sides. The stadium has a capacity of 80,000 fans, and is one of the largest stadiums in Italy. A common feature at matches are flares, banners and chanting from the Ultras.

6. Westfalenstadion, Dortmund

The home of Borussia Dortmund, the Westfalenstadion is officially know as Signal Iduna Park, the name of it's sponsor. It is one of Germany's largest sporting venues and has a fanatical support base, regularly selling over 50,000 season tickets. It is famous for it's unique "Südtribüne" (Southern Stand), where 24,000 fans populate Europe's largest standing terrace.

7. La Bombonera, Buenes Aires

Based in the Boca neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, La Bombonera is home to the Boca Juniors, the team that brought us Diego Maradona. Not the prettiest stadium in the world but the steep banking and closeness to the pitch create a very special atmosphere. The local derby against River Plate is not for the faint hearted.

8. Wembley Stadium, London

The fame of Wembley spreads beyond the world of football. Originally built in the 1920's, the reconstructed Wembley opened for business again in 2007 at a cost of £800 million. It has hosted the Olympic Games, a World Cup final and many European club finals. It now has an all seater capacity of 90,000 and features not just football but many other sporting and non sporting events.

Wembley Stadium, London

9. Azadi Stadium, Tehran

The Azadi Stadium is home to the Iranian national team and has a capacity of 100,000. It is an intimidating venue for visiting teams and is home to Tehran's two major football clubs, Perespolis FC and Esteghlal FC. The atmosphere at games between these two sides at the Azadi (known as the Sorkhabi) rivals anything offered by big city derbies the world over.

10. La Casa Blanca, Quito

Estadio de Liga Deportiva Universitaria, commonly called La Casa Blanca is the home ground of LDU Quito. It's a rogue entry in this top ten list as it was only finished in 1997. With a capacity of 55,400, it is only the second largest stadium in Ecuador but it enters our top ten because at 2800 metres, the altitude confers a significant advantage for the Ecuador national team in international competition.

Top fifteen church architectures in the World

1. The Church of Hallgra­mur (Reykjava­k, Iceland)

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The Church of Hallgramur is a Lutheran parish church which is also a very tall one, reaching 74.5 meters (244 ft) height. It is the fourth tallest architectural structure in Iceland.

It took incredibly long to build it (38 years!) Construction work began in 1945 and ended in 1986.

2. Las Lajas Cathedral (Colombia, South America)

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Las Lajas Cathedral was built in 1916 inside the canyon of the Guaitara river where, according to local legend, the Virgin Mary appeared.

You can find it in southern Colombian Department of Nariño, municipality of Ipiales, near the border with Ecuador.

3. Device to Root Out Evil (Calgary, AB, Canada)

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It was too hot for New York City; too hot for Stanford University. But a controversial, imposing sculpture by renowned international artist Dennis Oppenheim finally found a public home in laid-back Vancouver.

A country church is seen balancing on it’s steeple, as if it had been lifted by a terrific force and brought to the site as a device or method of rooting out evil forces.

4. Chapel of St. Gildas (Brittany, France)

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This is the chapel of St-Gildas, which sits upon the bank of the Canal du Blavet in Brittany, France. Built like a stone barn into the base of a bare rocky cliff, this was once a holy place of the Druids. Gildas appears to have travelled widely throughout the Celtic world of Corwall, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. He arrived in Brittany in about AD 540 and is said to have preached Christianity to the people from a rough pulpit, now contained within the chapel.

5. Shell Church (Huntington Beach, CA, USA)

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We has no info on this one, only the location – Huntington Beach, CA, USA. The best thing about this church is a huge Shell logo.

6. Notre Dame du Haut (Ronchamp, France)

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People say that the roof of this building looks like Elvisa hair

Informally known as Ronchamp, the chapel of Notre Dame du Haut was completed in 1954 and is considered one of the finest examples of architecture by the late French/Swiss architect Le Corbusier.

Interesting fact: when it rains, water pours off the slanted roof onto a fountain, creating a dramatic waterfall.

7. St Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church (Chicago, IL, USA)

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Its massiveness and gray color looks like Soviet architecture. I was amazed when I read that it was actually in USA and not in Soviet Union.

St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic church is best known for its ultra-modern thirteen gold domed roof symbolizing the twelve apostles and Jesus Christ as the largest center dome.

It is celebrating its 53 years, so it was built in 1956

8. Jubilee Church (Rome, Italy)

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Jubilee Church has very distinctive curved walls which look like sails and serve the engineering purpose of minimizing thermal peak loads in the interior space.

The walls are made from a special cement, which contain titanium dioxide, so it destroys air pollution.

According to Borgarello When the titanium dioxide absorbs ultraviolet light, it becomes powerfully reactive, breaking down pollutants that come in contact with the concrete

9. Grace Fellowship Baptist Church (Baltimore Road in Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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This weird building is actually a church. Once it was famous for being Detroit's most beautiful Chinese-American restaurant. Later it closed down and became the Omega Baptist Church and then the Grace Fellowship Baptist Church. Located at 265 Baltimore, MD, USA.

10. Basilica de Higuey (Dominican Republic)

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Basilica de Higuey, inaugurated on January 21, 1971, is one of the most respected monuments of the Dominican Republic. It was built by French architects, and is located in the city of Higuey, Dominican Republic.

11. Church in Stykkish lmur (Iceland)

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No, this is not an alien structure, it is another weird church in Iceland.

It has two different emails giving different info about the alien structure, oh I mean this church.

12. St. Basila's Cathedral (Moscow, Russia)

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Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed was built in 1555 -1561 by Ivan IV (a.k.a Ivan the Terrible) to celebrate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. The multi-tented church stands at the very heart of Moscow,the Red Square.

A legend says that Ivan had the architect,Postnik Yakovlev, blinded to prevent him from building a more magnificent building for anyone else. In fact, Postnik Yakovlev built a number of churches after Saint Basilas.

13. Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

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Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro was built between 1964 and 1979. Conical in form it has internal diameter of 96 meters (315 ft) and an overall height of 75 meters (246 ft).

The church has a standing-room capacity of 20,000 people.

Four rectilinear stained glass windows soar 64 meters (210 ft) from floor to ceiling.

Looks like a Pyramid of Egypt or Aztecs, doesn’t it?

14. Sagrada Familia (Barcelona, Spain)

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Sagrada Família is a very massive Roman Catholic basilica under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Construction began in 1882 and continues to this day. A very famous architect Antoni Gaudí worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavor.

In the center there is going to be a tower of Jesus Christ, surmounted by a giant cross; the towera's total height will be 170 m (557,7ft).

15. Paraportiani Church (Mykonos, Greece)

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Paraportian Church is one of the most famous architectural structures in Greece. Its name means secondary gate, because it was built on the site of one of the gates of the Medieval stone walls. Some parts of this beautiful church date from 1425 and the rest was built during the 16th and 17th centuries.