From the website:
JS BACH / ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS CHAMBER MUSIC HALL AT MANCHESTER ART GALLERY FOR MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL.Zaha Hadid Architects have created a unique chamber music hall specially designed to house solo performances of the exquisite music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

A voluminous ribbon swirls within the room, carving out a spatial and visual response to the intricate relationships of Bach’s harmonies. As the ribbon careens above the performer, cascades into the ground and wraps around the audience, the original room as a box is sculpted into fluid spaces swelling, merging, and slipping through one another.

“The design enhances the multiplicity of Bach’s work through a coherent integration of formal and structural logic. A single continuous ribbon of fabric swirls around itself, creating layered spaces to cocoon the performers and audience with in an intimate fluid space.” said Hadid.The process of realizing the design involved architectural considerations of scale, structure and acoustics to develop a dynamic formal dialogue inseparable from its intended purpose as an intimate chamber music hall.

A layering of spaces and functions is achieved through the ribbon wrapping around itself, alternately compressing to the size of a handrail then stretching to enclose the full height of the room. Circulatory and visual connections are continually discovered as one passes through the multiple layers of space delineated by the ribbon.

The ribbon itself consists of a translucent fabric membrane articulated by an internal steel structure suspended from the ceiling. The surface of the fabric shell undulates in a constant but changing rhythm as it is stretched over the internal structure.It varies between the highly tensioned skin on the exterior of the ribbon and the soft billowing effect of the same fabric on the interior of the ribbon. Clear acrylic acoustic panels are suspended above the stage to reflect and disperse the sound, while remaining visually imperceptible within the fabric membrane.

Programmed lighting and a series of dispersed musical recordings activate the spaces between the ribbon outside of performance times. The installation is designed to be transportable and re-installed in other similar venues.

Pivotal to its function is the performance of the ribbon. It has been designed to simultaneously enhance the acoustic experience of the concert while spatially defining a stage, an intimate enclosure, and passageways. It exists at a scale in which it is perceived as both an object floating in a room as well as a temporal architecture that invites one to enter, inhabit and explore.

Designer : Zaha Hadid Architects via Dezeen

Designer : Nuno Teixeira

Designer : Emanuel Maia

Designer : Aaron Jackson

The Blue Planet building site is in Copenhagen, at the island of Amager, right at the coast of Øresund, north of Kastrup Havn, close to the Copenhagen Airport, and viewed from a plane the whirlpool shape will show in its full. Approaching on the ground, one will experience the building as floating in a circular reflection pool, and a walk through its interior is a travel through several organic worlds.

Designing The Blue Planet, the architects team was indeed inspired by nature, says principal of 3XN, Kim Herforth Nielsen. “We wanted to stage a totality of the experience one has visiting an aquarium. The starting point was this magnificent experience of actually watching fish in their element. We wanted to create that adventurous feeling, and we took inspiration in the natural phenomenon of the whirlpool or maelstrom drawing you into the deep. A sculpture at the coast it unites the natural elements of water, air and earth.”

Thus situated in the borderland between the worlds of Poseidon and Zeus, the walls and roofs form a single, continuous flow and are clad in a way which emphasizes the wavy outline of the building, thereby telling a story of this union. The first and longest of the whirlpool’s arms follows the shape of the landscape and the building, moving into the land.

Entering The Blue Planet, the building will convey a sense of the special experience that awaits them inside. Here, the whirlpool has pulled you into another world – a world beneath the surface of the sea. If you tilt your head backwards, you understand that you are really a part of this aquarium because the roof above the foyer is made of glass, and at the same time it is the bottom of a pool. High above, through the pool water, you can see the sky with sunlight being reflected in the water and forming flickering, shimmering sunspots on the floor and walls of this light, welcoming and at the same time mysterious entrance area.

The Round Room is a center of navigation in the aquarium, and this is where visitors choose which river, lake or ocean to explore. Each exhibition has its own face towards the Round Room, each with its own entrance, starting with a buffer zone – a platform where sound and images are used to introduce the atmosphere communicated in the ensuing exhibition room.

Raised a few meters above the terrain, The Blue Planet is a reflection of strong coherence; greatness in the smallest of things, all water in the world being inextricably linked, from the enormous forces of tsunamis to the infinitely tiny, spinning molecules. Overlooking the Øresund, the building connects land and sea, drawing both the great outdoors and visitors inside.

In the landscape, the great whirlpool continues through the terrain, the pools and the sea surrounding the building. Like watery currents, the building is not static – the movement continues into the future by virtue of always allowing possible extensions to add more, simply by letting the lines of the whirlpool grow further out.

Designer : 3XN via Bustler

miBook Title Topics

Cooking

Not since the Joy of Cooking was published in 1931 has there been a major update to the cookbook – until now. miBook takes the guesswork out of translating a recipe on the page into a feast on the table. Step-by-step, miBook shows home cooks exactly how to cook a recipe, including what the dish should look like at every stage and how to do everything from sauté to flambé. miBook stops automatically after each step to allow the cook to perform the action. When ready, the cook pushes play to move on.

miBook also aids in choosing a recipe, which can be a task in itself. Simply select your desired main ingredient (beef, chicken, fish, pasta, etc.), cooking method (grilling, pan-frying, broiling, etc.), and the amount of time you have, and miBook automatically serves up the recipes that match your criteria.

miBook cooking titles include: Quick & Easy Meals, Irresistible Desserts, Healthy Cooking, Pastas Pizzas & Salads, Amazing Party Food: Appetizers & Desserts, and Healthy Cooking for Kids. Each title features 150 recipes, including ones featured on popular Food Network shows such as 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray, Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller, Cooking Class with Wolfgang Puck, Ace of Cakes, Food 911, and Food Nation with Bobby Flay.

Home and Garden

Whether trying to fix a leaky faucet, redecorate a room, plant a tree, or build a deck, it helps to see exactly how it’s done. miBook goes step-by-step with up-close video clips to ensure that home projects get done correctly the first time.

Decorating and gardening titles guide users through both design and execution. The Home Decorating title, for example, helps decorators choose from suggested room styles, color palettes, furniture layouts, wall treatments, and more. Then it helps users complete the makeover with step-by-step guides on stenciling, wallpapering, staining, and applying faux finishes.

miBook home titles include: Decorating, Gardening, Simple Home Organizing, Home Projects, Home Repairs, and Outdoor living Projects. Project assistance comes from HGTV and the DIY Network, including such shows as Design on a Dime, Mission Organization, First Time Gardener, and Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean.

Parenting

Next time dad conveniently whines that he doesn’t know how to change a diaper, hand him one of miBook’s parenting titles. You’ll hear no more excuses. With content from Parents.tv, the sister network to Parents magazine, miBook brings every parenting activity vividly to life. See and hear how it’s done, from basic baby care like swaddling to fostering cognitive development. Each month, pregnant moms can see how a baby develops in the womb. Video interviews with OB/GYNs, pediatricians, nutritionists, parents, and kids help to illustrate tasks and development. miBook parenting titles include: Your Pregnancy, Baby’s First Year, Your Toddler, Your Child’s Health (0-12), Potty Training, and Games & Activities for Babies & Toddlers.

Travel

In a travel guide come to life with video clips, images and sound, travelers can explore attractions and museums, tour neighborhoods, and preview restaurants interactively and at their own pace.

miBook has a guide for every type of adventure. City guides include neighborhood walking tours, which show historical footage that bring the past to life. Inside museums, the miBook guides visitors to must-see exhibits, shows interviews with artists, clips of their hometown, and examples of their other works. Attraction guides highlight top rides and events. Highly interactive, miBook stops after each step, letting travelers proceed at their own pace. When it’s time to eat, by simply inputting preferred cuisine, neighborhood, ambience, and price range, the miBook instantly serves up the best choices. Discerning diners can even choose their meal locations before leaving their homes with video tours of each restaurant, including interior and exterior views, signature dishes, and menus – even hearing an interview with the chef.

miBook travel titles include: Boston, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and The National Parks.

miBook can also be used as a digital photo album and frame, allowing users to show their photos individually or as a slideshow. miBook also plays home videos, Internet videos, and MP3s; it can either be wirelessly powered through its changeable lithium battery or with the included AC adaptor. The miBook menus can be conveniently navigated either with controls on the device or via the included wireless remote.

Designer : miBook via Gizmodo