Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century, with a number of influential works to his name, most notably including the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, his school in Scottsdale, Arizona, has continued his legacy by training future architects under his unique method — having them build their own home. Sadly, the institution just announced its closing after 88 years.
Earlier, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation regained control of the property and could not reach an agreement to continue operating. A major loss for the industry, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture provided students the education on industrial design theory, planning for nature’s extremes (including the desert it’s set in) and to value the pillars of midcentury design. Wright’s own legacy is not just the exceptional buildings he has designed, but also a crew of talented students who went on to design other iconic modern American structures. While tours of the territory will persist, the foundation will focus on programs for students grades K-12. The school will close following the Spring semester in June.
Anchored at the southernmost point of Norway in the city of Lindesnes is a marvelous new dining destination that defies conventional architectural limits. Officially heralded as Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under is a design triumph that seamlessly integrates state-of-the-art construction into the natural coastline.
The innovative establishment was designed by Snøhetta, an Oslo and New York-based multidisciplinary design firm that specializes in interior and landscape architecture. Half of the tube-like structure is mounted on the rocky Norwegian shore, tilted at an angle that allows the rest of the 112-feet long building to gradually submerge 16-feet underwater. The outpost’s almost two-feet-thick concrete walls—which are left raw so that they can adapt to the environment and evolve into a new ecosystem for existing wildlife—ensure the structure can sustain pressure from the inclement seas and provide its guests with optimum security while enjoying the architectural feat from within.
Lindesnes is home to an intense, volatile climate. Under syncs to its environment with a minimal interior composed of locally sourced natural materials. Exposed steel railings are juxtaposed against textile-clad ceiling panels that gradually change color (a metaphor for the journey of descent) as the restaurant submerges, establishing a warm and welcoming tone against the sometimes harsh exterior conditions.
To enter the site, guests must walk a 40-foot, wood-paneled bridge to enter the concrete tube. Once inside, they can enjoy a cocktail at the bar located in the mezzanine above sea level, with a vertical window that showcases the view above and below the water’s surface—a perfect framing of the duality of the structure. The restaurant itself is housed towards the base of the building—intimate in nature, the 40-person dining room is enhanced by panoramic views of the native marine life that envelopes the space. Furthermore, handcrafted furniture commissioned from local design firms accents the open interior.
Head chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard oversees the menu with the aid of 16 international chefs, offering a curated selection of sustainably sourced local produce and seafood. Under specializes in delicacies exclusive to its semi-remote location, including rugose squat lobster and stone crab, while also limiting the amount of waste it produces.
In an effort to give back to the environment it occupies, Under also hosts a marine research lab that provides specialists a unique setting to study the regional species in their natural habitat. It’s a win-win: sea-life gains a new addition to its ecosystem, scientists get a rare look at the organisms, and fine dining patrons are witness to a natural spectacle in true symbiotic fashion.
Miami architecture is a separate concept of its own both historically and now facing rising environmental concerns (namely waves and floods) leaving architects and designers to find innovative solutions. Pioneering Miami design, Kobi Karp and Jean Nouvel have designed a luxury condominium called Monad Terrace that hangs over Biscayne Bay as the ultimate example of sustainable, resilient, and chic design.
“I think Monad Terrace is certainly a step in the right direction and its vernacular of being environmentally conscious to the neighboring buildings and around Biscayne Bay has been historically the DNA of this architecturally-rich environment,” commented Karp. Alongside the prize-winning architect, Kobi’s firm took the project a step above Miami Beach — literally. The building lobby has been raised a level just above a lagoon visually deceiving as if pouring over from the bay.
Monad Terrace.
Monad is set to be the first of its kind in the Biscayne area, but also quite the norm for Korp who’s background is originally in environmental design. He is passionate about environmental aspects of a construction site– building vertical gardens, adding water elements, and always a unique facade. Monad’s facade is a translucent screen system in a honeycomb pattern that captures, diffuses, and reflects incoming light framing views and adding that extra bit of sparkle to each nook.
The building itself is a J-shape to the south side with an erect point on the northwest corner. The rest is dramatic and undeniably sleek. As the tropical breeze floats over the water it cools and then saunters through the vertical gardens offering a fresh repose from mucky local weather.
Karp has worked on The Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale, the 1 Hotel in South Beach, The Surf Club, and Fisher Island to name a few. “We are designers that look at neighborhoods and the context and create the DNA of the projects,” says Karp. “I see that buildings are a unique opportunity to create a sculpture in each and every location.” With that, Biscayne Bay is about to get its most epic sculpture estimated by the end of the year.
The jet-set lifestyle of luxury escapes is fine and all, but sometimes you just need a home away from home. Somewhere to see old friends and make new ones, with the comfort of a dream house and the amenities of the grandest hotel—a clubhouse, in other words. Fresh from finishing a glass-box-and-palapa resort in Tulum, Mexico, global hospitality company Habitas has opened two stateside.
For the East Coast location, Habitas transformed a six-story 1895 firehouse in midtown Manhattan into an urban hideaway. Upon entry, members are greeted at a reception desk made of repurposed luggage from a famed 1940s jazz singer, whose repertoire they can make their own at the 1955 Steinway Upright Studio piano by a fireplace in the ground-floor living room. Patrons can also enjoy a communal wet bar, refuel with espresso, and enjoy some snacks and tea service from House of Waris. Should they bring down the house, guests can set up shop in a state-of-the-art recording studio in the former firehouse stables across the courtyard, or access additional workspaces in the second-floor creative lab, break-out suites, or The Nest—a private event space for dinners and performances.
Additionally, Chef Jared Dowling of Anglophilic farm-to-table hotspot The Fat Radish has set up a program of de rigueur grain bowls and chia puddings freshened up with seasonal goodies. Plus, he regularly orchestrates full dinner events with one-of-a-kind menus served family style.
The Venice Beach branch, fittingly, is a little less about indulgence and more focused on health and fun in the sun while networking and socializing. The 1940s beach house on Abbot Kinney Boulevard has been furnished in a bohemian mix of Hollywood Regency and hippie-chic décor. Safari chairs and chaise lounges relax in pools of natural light pouring through antique windows still framed in their original redwood. An upstairs loft offers meeting and brainstorming spaces lined with Tatami mats; brainfood comes courtesy of the kitchen’s array of healthy snacks and an honor-system bar hidden behind a bookcase. Local artists installed pieces throughout the house, all overseen by an exterior mural nearby courtesy of the beloved Portuguese graffiti and street artist Vhils.
But the real star is the garden, with its glossy black benches and bright floral seating. Members can grab a complimentary surfboard to hit the waves or a beach cruiser to take a spin, then return and wash off the heat in the outdoor shower. Once the body is nurtured, guests can focus on the spirit in the wellness center, housed in a converted garage: some yoga, some meditation, and a little om sweet om.
When Zaha Hadid, the revolutionary designer and first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, passed away in 2016, she left a hole in the world of contemporary architecture. Her unmistakable creations mixed rationality with surreality: from the Messner Mountain Museum Corones, which set jewel boxes of glass-reinforced fibre concrete into the peak of the Italian Alpines, to the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan, which folded the midcentury International Style in on itself, Hadid’s aesthetic remains way ahead of the curve.
Her spirit lives on in the Morpheus Hotel, an unforgettable arrival to the Cotai strip in Macau, China, the world’s gambling center. Aptly named for the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus is the newest spot within Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s City of Dreams complex, which already boasts three smaller hotels; countless Chinese and global fine-dining options; Club Cubic, the city’s largest club; and three unique spas. Zaha Hadid Architects’ Morpheus Hotel is the true flagship, though: the $1 billion project encases 1.6 million square feet within a rectangular frame, whose multiple voids make the building seem to melt. Holding it all together are crisp white spokes that stretch around and through the voids, an innovative solution that makes Morpheus the world’s first free-form high rise with a steel exoskeleton.
But it’s more than just a pretty face. Morpheus’ 780 guest rooms and suites were designed by Remedios Studio, famed for their interiors at Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental Landmark and the Four Seasons in New York, as were the top levels’ duplex villas. Triple Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse has taken over the entirety of one of the hotel’s 40 floors for two restaurants—one serving French haute cuisine, the other Asian fusion—along with what’s sure to be the city’s buzziest bar. VIP gaming areas will satiate those with an urge to play, after which they can retire to the rooftop infinity pool. A full 40 stories in the air, the pool offers views almost as good as those from the atrium’s fleet of panoramic elevators, the best spot for guests to get deeper inside one of Hadid’s final architectural achievements.
