A Nordic Pavilion for Reindeer-Spotting

Located in the breathtaking Dovrefjell National Park north of Oslo and designed by Snohetta Architects, we find a beautiful (to say the least) shelter. This small building was commissioned by the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Foundation and is meant as a sanctuary for reindeer watching. A warm spot, were visitors and school groups wanting to learn about reindeer can sit and enjoy.
Snohetta created a space that resembles the surface of rock or ice which has been exposed to the elements such as wind and water to create it's smooth organic finish. Framed in a box like structure, this organic form is divided into an external and internal space, whilst the curves also serve as seating for the users.
I'm not sure about Reindeer watching, but I wouldn't mind going up there to check out this fantastic pavilion

Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Mamilla Hotel by Piero Lissoni

A significant cultural, architectural and touristic evolution of the urban fabric of one of the world’s most iconic and timelessly beautiful cities has occurred with the opening of the first luxury lifestyle hotel in Jerusalem and Israel: Mamilla Hotel. Located in a remarkable position in the city centre with breath-taking views of the Old City walls, the Tower of David and Jaffa Gate, the Mamilla is a modern, world-class hotel that combines a distinctly international outlook with the unique cultural heritage of this most magnetic, frenetic, incredible city.
The Moshe Safdie-built and Piero Lissoni-designed Mamilla Hotel is a pivotal emblem of the fascinating development and modernization of the local region. Jerusalem’s long history – arguably unparalleled in its universal human appeal and importance – is etched onto the city’s architectural façades in a rich and sometimes truly jaw-dropping display of different forms, styles and shapes, manifesting in monumental icons such as the Western Wall of the Second Temple (dating from 19 BCE) and The Dome of the Rock (685 – 691 CE), and contemporary masterpieces such as Santiago Calatrava’s harp-like bridge for the new city tram system (2008). With this vast architectural history and diversity as a profound context, the prime position within Jerusalem of the Mamilla site and the hotel’s pioneering mission represented the ultimate design brief; one that both Israeli-born Moshe Safdie and Italian Piero Lissoni were inevitably drawn to.
Known outside Israel for buildings such as the Shenzhen Cultural Centre in China, Montreal’s Habitat 67 residential community (which has recently been awarded historical status by the Government of Québec) and the new Marina Bay Sands Casino complex in Singapore, and inside Israel for Ben Gurion airport’s new Terminal 3 building, the new Yad VaShem holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and the Alrov Mamilla Avenue – a shopping and entertainment experience overlooking the Old City, alongside the hotel – Moshe Safdie’s appointment as project architect places the Mamilla amongst some of the most important and visually arresting buildings in the world. Heeding Jerusalem law which dictates that all new 3 construction utilizes Jerusalem Stone – a local limestone with a distinctive, light hue, designed to protect and respect the city’s precious architectural beauty – Safdie has created a stunning structure that emanates the characteristic shine of the stone, and in doing so has developed a true Jerusalem aesthetic that is both modern and in keeping with the very ancient walls and buildings next door.
Piero Lissoni brings to the Mamilla a wealth of product and furniture design, interiors and architectural experience, all of which have firmly positioned him as one of the most globally respected and in-demand designers currently working. Lissoni has designed for a stellar list of brands including Boffi, Cassina, Kartell, Alessi, Poltrona Frau, Living Divani and Porro, whilst key interiors and architectural projects include the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal, the Mitzui Garden Hotel in Tokyo, store design for Ellie Tahari and new private residences at Dellis Cay for Mandarin Oriental. Lissoni’s signature paired-back, Italian minimalist aesthetic – a debut for a Jerusalem hotel – is magnificently contextualized and framed by the historic Jerusalem architecture, and through unique emboldening touches, producing an extraordinary result when housed in Safdie’s modern classic edifice.
 Lissoni’s design plays with light throughout the hotel. Inspired by the strong Jerusalem sun, dark colors of the public areas are broken up by the outside light. Intimacy and simple sophistication are key, with the manipulation of light designed to create unique – and special – experiences. A heterogeneous approach to furnishing sees modern alongside antique and Chinese pieces next to Italian, producing a rich and detailed aesthetic that is at the same time quiet and clean, toned down with simple finishes and the pervasive, uplifting Jerusalem light.

Hirata No Boshi // Spiral Garden

The graphic and exhibition design for the first major Japanese retrospective of internationally-known milliner Hirata Akio’s seventy years of work. For the exhibition space, Nendo wanted to make Hirata’s hats stand out. The mass-produced non-woven fabric hats they created for the space are the antithesis of Hirata’s carefully handmade hats, and bring them into sharp relief through dramatic contrast. Hirata oversaw the shape of these hats, which float and stream through the exhibition like ghosts or shells of the real hats exhibited. Some are exhibition stands; others become walls, ceilings and diffusers to scatter light through the space.
Flooded with roughly 4000 of these ‘ghost hats’ as though shrouded in a cloud, the exhibition space softly invites visitors inside. There, they find not clear-cut paths to follow but an environment in which they can wander and discover Hirata’s creations as they like, as a way of physically experiencing the creative freedom that underlies Hirata’s work.

Restaurant Mordisco by Sandra Tarruella

The first impression that Sandra Tarruella Interioristas meant to create when entering restaurant Mordisco [Bite] was that of being “at home”. For that purpose, the renovation of this old residential building in Barcelona’s district of Eixample, close to Paseo de Gracia, where a family used to live, deliberately preserved all its original elements and proportions, including the floor distribution, the large staircase and all the ceiling cornices. By covering the patio with a large greenhouse-like structure, they could create a new dining room which expands the contiguous rooms and offers the possibility of enjoying the vegetation.
The entrance to this new restaurant is through a small grocery of fine products that the customer may buy to cook at home, but that are also used to prepare the dishes served at the restaurant. Fresh vegetables, cheeses, preserves and other goods are displayed on a set of wooden cubic blocks inside the renovated structure of a shelving unit that was once part of the furniture of a jewellery shop located at the entrance of this house. From the small grocery, one can see the patio and main dining room in the back, after passing by a waiting area with a long bench and low small tables, or by the main staircase, with a new volume resembling a wooden merchandise box that conceals the lavatories.
The bar, where it is also possible to dine, is located in the former living room of the house. It is a clean white marble volume, with a large white iron structure hanging above it from the ceiling, with wooden boxes that serve as bottle shelves, similar to those in the grocery shop, as well as parchment paper lamps.This project also recovers a few elements from the first Mordisco restaurant of Grupo Tragaluz, like the communal table under the painting by Mariscal, photographs and other souvenirs of the various artists that were regular customers of the restaurant, as well as the salad bar, now placed in the patio.The new concrete flooring that also forms the bench in the patio, the combination of tables and chairs, the t-shirt fabric pillows, the plywood and white-lacquered iron, together with a few restored pieces of furniture give this project a Nordic, fresh, youthful and dynamic flavour, while preserving a very homey atmosphere. The first floor, unlike the ground floor, was designed to create a warmer and more elegant atmosphere in the lounges, with a new stone-covered cocktail bar. These former sleeping rooms have been furnished with sofas upholstered in aged velvet, different lounge chairs and low tables. There is also a reading area with a fireplace, all covered in aged wood.