Hawkins\Brown’s striking glazed Corby Cube, the focal point of a major regeneration program to revitalize the former steel making town in Northants, UK has completed and is now open to the public.

Won in international competition in 2004, the Corby Cube combines a diverse program of civic and arts uses into a new model for civic architecture.

Maximizing its central location at the heart of a new town square, the building’s array of uses are arranged around an internal ‘promenade architecturale’ composed into a coherent glazed cube form with four ‘live’ elevations, each articulating the uses contained within.

Kenneth E. Hobgood Architects in Raleigh recently completed the renovation phase of a mid-century modern house in Durham and is about to begin construction on phase two: a 1200-square-foot addition that will honor, without imitating, the original house.

When new owners hired the firm to renovate and enlarge the 2337-square-foot house that architect Kenneth Scott, AIA, designed in 1958, the design team immediately recognized the challenges they faced.

“We knew it was going to be difficult because of our respect for the original house,” said project architect Bob Thomas, AIA, a principal in the firm. “This was a renovation, not a restoration, so it needed to accommodate a family of five, including three young children, and lifestyle changes from the Fifties to today. So we had to strike a balance between opening up the space yet transforming the interior respectfully.”

Nowadays obsession for ethnicity seals national identities. Most people seem to ignore the erratic unfolding of ancient fluxes which moulded European lands. Lost in their dull present, they forget the rich pathways leading from the past to our time.

Just a few memories. By the middle ages, between 1130 and 1194, England and to some extent Wales and Ireland, shared with Sicily a common Norman domain: Byzantine mercenaries and recognizers of Arabian culture after capturing Sicily, these conquerors from the North Sea introduced a fascinating network between the shorelines of the north and Mediterranean. Making British history for the first time since the Roman era, they broke once more the islands’ isolation. Introducing the number zero and many innovations from Middle-Eastern regions into Europe – not least bringing back ancient Greek and Roman classical text manuscripts – they laid the foundation for the birth of a Modern European era.

LEO A DALY is providing the master plan and concept design for Aegean Breeze at Alaçati, a five-star, contemporary beach destination resort that will break ground on the western coast of Turkey this year, with a grand opening planned in summer 2012.
Marine Park
The concept design includes three main components: a large-scale marine park with state-of-the-art pools and refreshment areas; an 80-room boutique luxury hotel featuring retail, restaurants and a thermal spa; and 120 beach villas situated in a private enclave for long-term residents. Several expansive tensile fabric roofs create an identity for the resort while providing shade and visual impact for visitors throughout its public spaces.