TED Video:Turning dunes into architecture

Architecture student Magnus Larsson wants to use sand and bacteria to build civilizations in Africa's Sahara desert:

Reynolds Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum Washington DC

Reynolds Center
Norman Foster of Foster + Partners designed the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard for the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. The museum contains both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. It opened in 2007.

A carbon copy of the Foster's British Museum renovation, the modern structure adds to the blend of architectural styles in the large museum. This is appropriate for the mix of artwork in the building, from communist futurism, to modern, to American impressionism. The Luce Foundation is on the 3rd floor.

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[images: dchasteen, Allie_Caulfield, cliff1066™, angela n., clgregor, krossbow, joelogon, moonlightbulb, marialgilberton flickr]

Médiathèque José Cabanis ZAC Marengo, Toulouse France

Buffi Associés designed the Toulouse Regional Library in France, completed in 2004. The library arch structure is the main part of the overall Marengo renewal project, terminating the city layout's main axis.

Earth-bound and heaven-bound volumes come together in stacked layers. A pedestrian bridge crosses a sunken urban park to enter the terrestrial building. One may proceed through vertical transitions to the heavy basement or to the airy roof look-out.

Large glazed walls are covered by wood exterior shadings, giving a distinctive look that gives a certain earthy tone that looks nice close up.

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[images: UggBoy ( have fun doing it ), aleske on flickr]