View from the dining room leading into the kitchen.
The stairs leading to the study area from the dining room.
The living room leads on from the study.
The view of the bathroom from the passageway.
The bedroom.
The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in the north of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. Both clubs had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium since 1972, where FC Bayern Munich played all of their games and TSV 1860 München most of their games.
The large financial services provider, Allianz purchased the rights to name the stadium for 30 years. During the 2006 World Cup it was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich. Near Allianz Arena , Frottmaning U-Bahn station , on U6 can be seen.
The stadium will be the venue for the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final
The arena facade is constructed of 2,874 ETFE-foil air panels that are kept inflated with dry air to a differential pressure of 0.038 hPa. The panels appear white from far away but when examined closely, there are little dots on the panels. When viewed from far away, the eye combines the dots and sees white. When viewed close up however, it is possible to see through the foil. The foil has a thickness of 0.2 mm. Each panel can be independently lit with white, red, or blue light. The intention is to light the panels at each game with the colors of the respective home team, or white if the home team is the German national football team or on a neutral venue like the 2012 Final of UEFA Champions League. Multicolor Lightings are also possible, but Munich Police now insist on one-color only due to several car accidents on the nearby autobahn A9 with drivers being distracted by the changing lights. (In the US, a similar scheme is used for the New Meadowlands Stadium, which will light up in blue for the Giants, green for the Jets, and red for a concert.)
To light Allianz Arena up for one hour costs about 50 Euros (75 USD). Roller blinds installed under the roof may be drawn during games to provide protection from the sun.
The National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing has received a unique architectural shape through the well-made deployment of water. The semi-oval visually becomes full through the reflection in the water – it turns into an egg or a water drop, respectively.
In order to get this effect, an artificial lake was built in the middle of which the theater has found its place.
French architect Paul Andreu did not only designed a modern shape, but also emphasized this new form by carefully selecting the materials. Through the combination of titanium, glass and water, the National Theater appears like a spaceship when looking at it for the first time rather than a theater. Exactly this futurism has been heavily criticized, since the theater is located amidst old, traditional architecture.
The architect’s idea was, however, that Beijing needs to have this modern architecture apart from its traditional one, and that the building requires a high recognition value. Also the increasing costs of the theater resulted in heavy debates. The main reason for this increase was the building freeze after Paris airport had collapsed, since it has also been designed by Paul Andreu. All in all, the theater’s construction period lasted for eight years. Together with the very high prices for water treatment, this results in that each seat of the all in all 5,452 seats has a value of approx. 50,000 Euros.
The theater was completed in 2007 and has a size of 12,000 m².
The deployment of the titanium façade has been chosen in a way that it appears like an opened stage curtain when looking at it from outside, allowing to get a glimpse of what’s going on inside through the glass façade at the front. Especially at night the “drop” displays its architectural peculiarity. Through the reflection of the building and the illumination in the water it reminds of a sunken treasure. The entrances have been placed below the surface, so that the theater seems to downright float on the water – just like a water drop.
Inside, the theater offers three halls with various functionalities, an opera hall, a theater hall and a music hall. The view from inside the reception hall to the outside leads across a free water surface onto the city’s old downtown area.
Thus, the National Center for the Performing Arts is considered an architectural work of art despite all the criticism and finds a suitable place in the list of 21st century architecture.
I love the optical illusion that the lake causes, and the materials used on the building. This is very modern and reminds me of The Sage Gatesheads exterior.
