French architect Jean Nouvel has been tapped to design a new orchestra hall for Paris, the prime minister’s office said Thursday April 5, 2007. The 2,400-seat hall, called the Philharmonie de Paris, will be home base for the Orchestre de Paris and other groups, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin’s office said in a statement. Nouvel’s project will be “one of the powerful new architectural gestures that Paris needs,” Villepin said. The architect beat out 97 others who competed for the project. …

From now on you can also listen to your favorite music in the kitchen. Forget that the hood is on and you are carrying on with your excellent work. Elica has patented an innovative system of noise reduction called Elica Deep Silence (EDS³) that allows the decorative hood to function extremely silently, indeed up to being imperceptible at low speeds. The futuristic piece is mounted on the wall above the cooktop and can be considered part appliance, part art. Space launched onto the European market in March and will be available in the U.S. by late spring 2007. …

Ren Building is an interesting design by PLOT that has since split up into BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and JDS (Julien De Smedt). As we all know, Chinese characters evolved from pictures, this one “人” in particular from a picture of a man walking. There are lots of discussions going on about the building such as the cultural image used is translated too literally, communism promotes ‘better’ architecture than capitalism, staircase vs elevator vs escalator, and so on. …

Belgian-born architect Carsten Höller has developed a unique sculpture, which resembles a giant floating crystal on the sea. The sculpture, which doubles as a hotel room, is constructed from semi transparent glass which allows one way viewing from the inside. …

Richard Rogers, whose firm Richard Rogers Partnership is headquartered in London, has been chosen as the 2007 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The formal ceremony for what has come to be known throughout the world as architecture’s highest honor will be held on June 4 in London. At that time, a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion will be bestowed on the 73-year old architect at The Banqueting House, designed in 1619 by Inigo Jones. …

By day, light is reflected into galleries below. At night, gallery lights will glow softly through the mix of translucent and transparent glass panels, like Japanese lanterns illuminating the Sculpture Park. The interplay between the interior and exterior makes this one of the most cap­tivating contemporary museum experiences since the opening of the Tate Modern, London. The new Bloch Building opens on June 9, 2007. …

The Architect’s Newspaper published a piece by Michael McDonough, the accomplished New York-based architect, writer and teacher, called “The Top 10 Things They Never Taught Me in Design School.” Everyone reads lots of similar things. McDonough’s is different, not just entertaining but quite useful, and valid for any kind of design discipline. …

The winners of the red dot award, one of the largest and most renowned international design competitions, have been chosen. From the absolute record number of 2,548 submitted products, which had been sent to Essen for assessment by the experts, a total of 43 top products have received the ‘red dot: best of the best’ for their outstanding and innovative design. (The photo is Yin Yang Chaise longue - DEDON GmbH.) …

When computer aided design (CAD) became a common ground for designers, everyone’s vision was not to draw but also to build it in the computer and then drive the machinery to build it. Softwares, such as AutoCAD, Revit, build electronic versions of buildings, and a lot of architectural cabinetry is produced from CAD drawings using numerically controlled tools. …

The Cube is a unique and innovative landmark tower that will occupy a prime location within Dubai Sports City. The Cube Condo Residence is the first German developed, designed and contracted tower to be built in Dubai and the world’s first integrated athletics, sports and lifestyle venue. In short, The Cube is prestigious condo residence delivering the highest quality finishes by wholesome detail and a zest for sports. …