Italian architectural firm Park Associati designed the MilanoFiori NORD Office Building located in Assago, Milan Italy. The project is influenced and developed by the analytical approach of access routes, pedestrian walkways and roads and the local climatic conditions. The building skin is conceived as a continuous surface that shades the office complex from direct sunlight, generating a high-quality working environment.

Besides a necessarily flexible planimetric system, the frontage remains the focal point of the scheme; conceived as a continuous surface which consists of a technological strip that adapts itself to the different surrounding conditions. Due to its ability to filter light and adapt to different situations, the building generates a high-quality working environment both in terms of comfort and lighting. The project is expected to be completed this year. [via plus mood ]

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Esma Sultan is a multi-purpose event space in Ortakoy, Istanbul – a busy entertainment district on the banks of the Bosphorus. What we have here is essentially a glass and steel box inside the ruins of a palace to create a covered venue. The brick palace was built about 200 years ago for Esma Sultan, an Ottoman Sultan’s wife as a summer palace — but you knew that. Destroyed by fire over a century ago, the exterior brick walls are all that remain of the building.

The Marmara Hotel adapted the land-marked ruin in 1999, keeping the walls as a framework for a modern interior. GAD designed a stainless steel and glass box that is suspended within the brick structure. The brick walls inadvertently create a shelter for the transparent glass box from the sun, rain and wind. From the outside, the building gives the illusion that the palace remains in its original state. Once inside, guests are reminded of the building’s former incarnation with views of the Bosphorus made possible though the original, arched brick window frames. [via gad]

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Yes, you must make it a point to change the tabs everyday, but that shouldn’t dissuade you from owning this very stylish calendar from Furni. The solid, walnut-based perpetual calendar features 1/16″ white acrylic tabs with black and orange lettering in the always impressive Helvetica font.

Each set comes complete with full set of days, months and dates; the walnut base is slathered with danish oil to highlight the woods natural beauty – each calendar design is unique and the wood grain patterns will vary. [via stilsucht]

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Let’s be honest – every website on the planet that features even the slightest bit of ‘entertainment’ content is posting about Jennifer Aniston and her newly-renovated Beverly Hills house in Architectural Digest. So because there is a ‘design’ element to the story, and because I think she’s pretty, an editorial decision was made to post  something about Aniston’s swingin’ new bachelorette pad.

The March issue of Architectural Digest features photos of the house by Scott Frances – following a 2½-year renovation. Designer Stephen Shadley collaborated with the 40-year-old Aniston on the house, which was originally designed by architect Harold W. Levitt in 1970. Built on a hillside in 1970 with sweeping views of Los Angeles, Aniston calls the house “Ohana,” a reference to the Hawaiian idea of extended family. The single-but-lovin’ it/single-but-looking Aniston said the single-level home “vibrates with the love that created it.” Oh, good grief.

There are no images of Aniston’s renovated house on the ‘net (just yet), so in the meantime click below to see our gallery of random, though quite lovely, photos of the beautiful homeowner.

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I love a good sporting facility. Here’s one that caught my eye, the new Skilled Park in Queensland designed by Populous. Home to the Gold Coast Rugby League NRL team, the rectangular stadium also accommodates rugby union and soccer and host entertainment events.

The design focus here is squarely on atmosphere and cost-effectiveness; the seating bowl is a single wrap around tier designed to achieve the closest possible seating configuration, plus the maximum coliseum effect. The cantilever roof is also built to provide a sense of enclosure as well as providing retention of sound and light and protection from weather. Skilled Park is looked upon as a key design anchor for a regional urban precinct in a developing area. [via aioa]

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If I were going to South Africa for the World Cup this year, this particularly gorgeous villa is where I would like to stay. In fact, I’d like to live forever in this beautiful dwelling from designer Rudolph van der Meulen of Nico van der Meulen Architects.

Key features of the private residence include the entrance hall, which overlooks a double volume, open plan family/ dining room, a kitchen leading through frame-less glass doors onto an expansive lanai and infinity edge pool, framed by a massive beam. The other wing consists of a study and guest bedroom downstairs and three kid’s suites upstairs. All the habitable rooms in the house are north facing, with solar control carefully considered resulting in a cool house in summer and a bright, sunny and warm house in winter. Sounds nice. [via e-architect]

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Architecture firm schmidt hammer lassen have won a competition for a Congress and Hotel Centre on the central harbour front of Helsingborg in Sweden. The competition was won in conjunction with Swedish developer Midroc and engineering/architect consultants Sweco.

The two new structures are viewed as an important catalyst for city life in the harbour area – with cafés, shops and several squares and green spaces for citizens and visitors. The building is characterized by a deformation of the grid into a crystalline expression that has coined the nickname ‘The Salt Crystals.’ The 12-story hotel in the south east corner, with its light, generic and broken facades, will hope to become the new landmark of the city. [via arch daily]

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In a global appeal following the devastation in Haiti, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) has launched a call to designers from all disciplines to unite in an open dialogue with international relief organisations to assess potential design-effective rehabilitation projects.

In support of the UN’s efforts to help the Haitian people overcome challenges in relation to the country’s reconstruction plans, designers, academics and design students, as well as experienced developmental workers are encouraged to join the discussion and become a fan of the ‘Uniting Designers in Disaster‘ page on Facebook.

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No self-important actor types here, or insufferable directors. For the 82nd Academy Awards DesignCrave is all about Art Direction and the talented production designers and art directors who make the movies look so damn good. The lovely Anne Hathaway announced the nominees Tuesday morning. The Oscars will be presented March 7 from Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

Check below to read about all five Oscar nominees in the Art Direction category.

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