Awe-Inspiring Architecture around the World - V.2

As we continue to celebrate the awe-inspiring architecture of the last 20 years, this month our second pick is the Red Ribbon in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao.

The Red Ribbon, China

Designed in 2006 principally by Kongjian Yu of Turenscape, the Red Ribbon is a kind of scarlet snake that spans about five hundred metres through the Tanghe River Park, a reclaimed green space in the city of Qinhuangdao in China. The Red Ribbon is made of steel and fibre glass and has four pavilions which are dotted along its length. They consist of white canopies in irregular, ink-blot shapes, where you can sit and contemplate the strip of the adjacent river. But the Red Ribbon is more than a place to sit: it is also a children’s climbing frame and a walkers’ path. It is perhaps at its most attractive and spectacular at night, when it glows like a tightly packed string of Chinese lanterns.

Awe-Inspiring Architecture around the World - V.1

In the last 20 years architecture has been making a dramatic and sometimes surreal impression on the world’s landscape. Over the next few months our blog will celebrate some of the most inspiring creations from hotels for enotourism lovers to incredible modern-art museums. Here is our first pick:

Der Neue Zollhof

Considered one of Düsseldorf’s landmarks, Der Neue Zollhof (The New Zollhof) is situated in the Media Harbour, part of the redeveloped port of Düsseldorf, Germany. The building complex, consisting of three separate buildings, was designed by Canadian-American architect Frank O. Gehry and completed in 1998.

Floorplans and facades of all three buildings curve and lean. The tallest building is 14 stories high and just under 50m tall and each building has a different type of cladding - the outer two in white plaster and red brick respectively; the central building's stainless steel facade reflects material and shapes of its two neighbour buildings.

Culturally, Düsseldorf is known for its Academy of Fine Arts (notable artists who attended include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, August Macke and Andreas Gursky). It is also known for its pioneering influence on electronic music (Kraftwerk), and its large Japanese community.