Author: Marianna Wahlsten

All about context – new museums in Lisbon and Tartu

On the edges of EU, two museums opened in the fall of 2016, both designed as a continuation to the surrounding landscape. In Tartu, the Estonian National Museum was designed by Paris-based firm Dorell Ghotmet Tane. Near the Atlantic coast in Lisbon, a new addition to the MAAT museum was designed by Amanda Levete’s London firm AL_A Architects.

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The year in Review

Architecture has always been a prism to perceive the world, and this year offers all the trappings of world in flux, of a world in conceptual misalignment as it comes to the apex point of a social, political and economic entanglement. By Stephen Smith

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LX Factory, Lisbon’s industrial district saved from developers

Cobbled streets lined with artists studios, shops, great bars and restaurants – LX Factory exemplifies local creative culture at its best

By Marianna Wahlsten and Sofia Andrews

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New heights: my flight up the new BAi360

BAi360, Brighton — BAi360 reaching up opposite the remains of the historic pier, image British Airways

A triumph of high-tech engineering on East Sussex coastline, designed by Marks Barfield

by Harri Närhi

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Helsinki waterfront hotspot – Löyly Sauna

A new take on a favourite summer ritual – the most spectacular public sauna by Avanto Architects

Löyly sauna by Avanto Architects — Wooden terrace constructed over the water, photo ©Kuvio

During high summer, from mid-June to mid-July, sun hardly sets down in the Finnish capital. Many locals escape to their waterside cottages to enjoy the long days. But now there is one more reason for staying in the city. The latest architectural hotspot is Löyly, a public sauna with a bar and restaurant designed by Avanto Architects on the Southern waterfront – literally the hottest meeting place this summer.

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Magic in brick – new Tate Modern extension

The new extension of Tate Modern, designed by Herzog de Meuron, is now open to the public. In twenty years the museum became so popular more space was needed. The extension tower, which cost £260m, fits there beautifully .

“We did not set out to build an iconic building”, Tate director Nicholas Serota states before the opening of the new extension. But of course it will be. It is designed by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the Swiss architects who had already transformed the derelict power station into Tate Modern. It has since become the world’s most visited museum for modern and contemporary art, making London a global cultural centre.

Switch House extension, Tate Modern — Close-up of façade, built with sheets of brick panels

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