A few weeks ago we set out on a virtual adventure to find the most beautiful train stations in the world. Our imaginations were set adrift by the romance of train travel and we were left daydreaming about frolicking in exotic indoor botanical gardens, dancing with whirling dervishes, and having high tea in colonial era waiting rooms before catching the Orient Express to Constantinople. The more we learn about one of the greatest ways to travel the world, the more we can’t believe that this enchanting mode of transport was predicted to be replaced by what was supposed to be a sexier, more efficient alternative: air travel. If you’ve flown anywhere lately you know that the airport experience today is a far cry from the much more civilized approach to globe-trotting represented by the drop dead gorgeous constructions we’ve rounded up here.
To fuel our new obsession with traveling by train, we decided to expand on our original list with the help of you, dear reader. After an overwhelming response, we’ve picked our ten favorites from the stations nominated by you to be the most beautiful in the world. Click through to see what made the cut, and feel free to add more of your favorites in the comments below.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. To celebrate, the studios behind the longest running series in film history are releasing Bond 50, a special edition Blu-ray package that includes all 22 Bond films to date and over 130 hours of bonus features, and we couldn’t be more excited. In true Flavorpill fashion we’re honoring the world’s most dashing Brit licensed to kill’s cultural milestone by combining two of our very favorite things: super sexy secret agents and architecture. If you’re a fan of Bond then you know the design legacy of the films is as exotic and varied as the celebrated women who call themselves Bond Girls. What you may not know is the deep-seated relationship between design and the Bond character’s creator, Ian Fleming.
Legend has it, as The Guardian reports, that Fleming was an outspoken hater of modernism. So much so that he named one of his most evil villains after Erno Goldfinger, architect of London’s famed Trellick Tower. Apparently the architect was a neighbor of Fleming’s in Hampstead, and “the conservation-minded author was incensed when he demolished two Victorian houses to build his now-classic modern villas on Willow Road. He returned the insult by lending Goldfinger’s name to his fictional gold-loving megalomaniac.” It’s no accident that all of the Bond villains reside in modernist lairs with obvious influences from the likes of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Chamberlin Powell & Bon, the firm responsible for what’s been deemed London’s ugliest building, the brutalist Barbican Center. Fleming openly admits the correlation and in doing so — we think — can officially lay claim to the greatest cerebral snub in pop culture history.
From John Lautner’s iconic mid-century masterpieces to the world’s first revolving mountaintop restaurant to a stunning observatory residence in the Chilean desert, here’s our roundup of some of the most incredible statement architecture featured in the franchise to date.
In 1972, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and The New York Times’ very first architecture critic, Ada Louise Huxtable observed that “nothing was more up-to-date when it was built, or is more obsolete today, than the railroad station.” A comment on the emerging age of the jetliner and a swanky commercial air travel industry that made the behemoth train stations of the time appear as cumbersome relics of an outdated industrial era, we don’t think the judgment holds up today — at all. Like so many things that we wrote off in favor of what was seemingly more modern and efficient (ahem, vinyl records and Polaroid film), the train station is back and better than ever. So, we’re taking the time to look back at some of the greatest stations still standing.
From New York’s grande dame of a terminal to a station complete with its own indoor rainforest to the home of the world’s most luxurious train, the Orient Express, here’s our roundup of the most beautiful train stations in the world. Let us know in the comments what we’ve missed!
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!
What remains of the Nazi Europe? Mostly reinforced concrete towers and bunkers, whose immense size and incredibly thick walls proved difficult, even impractical, to destroy. In the 70 years or so since their construction, the structures, usually scattered along the beach or stranded in fields, have cultivated an aesthetic aura that continues to intensify as the generational gap and cultural gulf between the war and contemporary life widens. In France, for example, families in coastal towns near the Atlantic Wall have integrated some of the local bunkers into opulent single family homes. Similarly, in Belgium, architects Bham Design Studio have rehabilitated another Nazi infrastructural relic for domestic life, in what we think is a much more successful, if spurious, effort.
Built between 1938 and 1941 near the village of Steenokkerzeel, the 30-meter tall structure functioned as a water tower – briefly used by the Nazis – up until the ’90s, when it was decommissioned and preserved as a war monument. The exterior was completely restored to its original condition, while the interior was completely gutted, save for the concrete ceilings, stairs, and other elements which were left intact, repainted, and repaired where needed. The windows on the top floor were widened to accommodate a “sculptural” kitchen, library, cat house, and general living space. A steel bridge connects this floor to a rooftop panoramic terrace that offers expansive views of the region. The house was designed for two permanent residents, while a guest room on the second level may be rented throughout the month. Click through to check out some images.
Everyone knows that the best part of any cathedral is the ceiling, a point driven home by Heavenly Vaults, a book that features photographer David Stephenson’s beautiful shots of Europe’s Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and churches. Flattened out by Stephenson’s worm’s-eye view perspective, these kaleidoscopic images allow you to appreciate the pleasing symmetry created by the repeating geometric patterns. The longer you look at each of his mesmerizing photos, the more new details emerge. It’s crazy to think that these architectural marvels were conceived and constructed by hand hundreds and hundreds of years ago; in fact, it makes you feel incredibly small, which from our understanding, was kind of the point. Click through to experience all of the eye candy, minus the inevitable neck-ache.
Albert Pike, poet, Freemason, and Confederate man about town, astutely commented that “one man is equivalent to all Creation. One man is a World in miniature.” If one man represents the world than the roof over his head, and a mini version of that roof surely has some fundamental universal importance.
We love sensible and profound quotes as much as we love micro architecture, and in discovering Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor’s strangely compelling large-scale models, we’ve found a new means to satisfy our obsession with little buildings. A study in micro representation, the model, as Zumthor explains, is the only way to consider the “atmosphere” of a space. Or, what we like to think of as the best way to design good vibes.
We invite you to get out some construction paper, a pair of scissors, and that old crafty standby, Elmer’s Glue, and be inspired to build your own mini proverbial universe. Made out of wacky materials like organic milk cartons, pepto bismol pink styrofoam and paper dinner napkins, click through to check out our roundup of remarkable models made by some of the world’s most important architects.
Paris-based photographer Franck Bohbot got his start working on movie sets, and you can see the evidence in his carefully-composed images of European architecture; in fact, many of the stunning shots in his aptly-titled series Respect the Architect, which we spotted thanks to iGNANT, look like they could have been pulled straight out of a Stanley Kubrick film. Such an eye for symmetry! From his photos of the Pantheon and Versailles to lesser known gems that you’ll probably be seeing for the first time, take a virtual tour of a variety of eye-catching locations throughout Europe after the jump, and let us know in the comments which building is your favorite of the bunch.
We love collisions of culture as much as the next guy, but we have to admit to having a soft spot for those involving provocative hip-hop artists and legendary New York cultural institutions. A few months ago the most venerable of concert halls welcomed Jay-Z’s charity performance in what The New York Timeshailed as “the highest-profile hip-hop show ever at Carnegie Hall.” Decked out in a white satin Tom Ford dinner jacket adorned with a diamond Cartier lapel pin, Jay-Z defined blinged-out class. As the Times’ music reviewer went on to write, “more than any of his peers Jay-Z understands the cultural politics of infiltration, and as he gets older, he has made it more the subject of his music.”
We were reminded that bling has transcended the world of rap, even sneaking in to the bourgeois world of architecture, when we stumbled across the whimsical large-scale sequin architectural installations of Theresa Himmer. We couldn’t help but wonder what other sparkling structures might exist in the world. From a blue crystal encrusted urban revitalization project in London to Margiela’s shimmering Beverly Hills boutique to a small gold glitter covered house in the Egyptian desert, click through to check out some of the best building bling out there (and, yes, we will be taking credit for coining that phrase).
What we like to think of as the greatest French invasion since Ladurée opened its doors on Madison Avenue, Patrick Blanc’s revolutionary mur végétal was installed at The New York Botanical Garden last month. Described as “mesmerizing and seductive,” the Orchid Show is not only the nation’s largest exhibition of the mysterious, exotic plant, but it’s also one of the few places in the States where you can experience what Time Magazine called one of The 50 Best Inventions of 2009: the vertical garden.
Inspiring architects and designers the world over to explore everything from vertical farms, skyscraper greenhouses, living murals, and restaurants with edible façades that take the notion of locavore to another level entirely, our favorite green-haired botanist has helped to usher in the post-industrial era’s successor — a new design epoch that we think should be classified as The Age of the Plant.
From Plantagon’s skyscraper farms in Sweden to the world’s first vertical forest in Italy to Singapore’s modern reinterpretation of the hanging gardens of Babylon, click through to check out our favorite living projects that are a welcome sign of today’s wilder, nature-loving times.
