In Brazil, a bridge built on curves. Alexandre Chan calls his design of the President Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge in Brasilia a product of research.
Chan was interviewed about the prize-winning bridge design.
Here are excerpts:Some of the criteria were objective, others subjective, the Rio de Janeiro architect said.Some decisions were basic, others sophisticated. Some ideas were "touchable," while others were "untouchable."
He considered dozens of issues, ranging from the geological profile of the region to the importance of architectural shapes in the city of about 2 million people. Chan considered the bridge's position with the Brasilian sunset and the principle of avoiding straight lines on the deck to offer a varying landscape view for drivers.
"The JK Bridge project was not an explosion of artistic enthusiasm but an answer to the conditions of a government contest organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil," Chan told The Buffalo News.
"Adequate monumentality was an intention, but magnificence was somehow done by the synthesis of all those items," he said.
owners .. We built Hapuku Lodge to give our guests a great night's sleep in one the most beautiful places in the world.The Lodge sits tight between the mountains and the ocean, on a deer stud and olive farm.Designed as a contemporary country inn, with six guest rooms, a separate apartment and its own cafe, Hapuku Lodge positions guests to take full advantage of the Kaikoura experience.
Palácio do Planalto is the seat of the Brazilian Government.
The name means "Palace of the Plateau".
Brasilia was built on the Central Brazilian Plateau, a large area which covers a few States in central Brazil. Often Brasilia is referred to as "o Planalto".
The main working office of the President of the Republic is in the Palácio do Planalto. The President and his family, however, do not live in this palace; the official residence of the President is the Palácio da Alvorada.Besides the President, a few high advisors also have offices in the Planalto, including the vice-President and the Chief of Staff (one of the most influential Ministers in Brazil); the other Ministries are laid along the Esplanada dos Ministérios.
The Palace is open to visitations on Sundays only, from 9:30 am to 1 pm. The tours last 20 minutes.
The website of the Presidency offers this virtual tour around the Palácio do Planalto.It is difficult to see the President. Only in special occasions does the President walk up or down the ramp in the front of the Palace. More often, he is escorted into the Palace through the back door.
Le Corbusier's planned utopia in central India. Here is the first building of a larger set. The Palace of Assembly is the first of these monumental buildings.
'One of the interesting points to call attention to is the adoption of a circular form for the hall which seems contrary to the development of good acoustics. The Assembly Hall is made in a hyperbolic shell with an average thickness of 15 cm, constant throughout its surface, resulting in a very low cost and a minimum of weight (here the principle of industrial cooling towers has been applied to the architectural intentions). This shell does not terminate in a horizontal but in an oblique section which shall receive a metallic framework (aluminum). This framework will become a veritable physical laboratory destined to ensure the interplay of natural lighting, artificial lighting, ventilation and acoustic-electronic mechanisms.'
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The Cathedral, designed by Niemeyer, lies on the central axis, near the intersection with the Eixo Rodoviário and diagonally opposite the Law Courts.
This concrete-framed structure, hyperboloid in form and extraordinarily light in effect, seems with its glass roof to be reaching up, open, to heaven.
In Brazil, a bridge built on curves. 
