The Peak is a residential project in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 2018. This affordable and sustainable housing prototype was designed for a local social enterprise that works to prevent youth homelessness. 

The building is only 32.5 square meters/ 350 square feet in size. However, it contains essential facilities such as kitchen, bathroom, laundry, bedroom, and couch spaces. The structure is relocatable. It is also designed to accommodate affordable modular furniture such as IKEA to maximize storage space. 

The building uses sustainably sourced material and the roof carries solar panels. The timber finish in the interior provides a sense of comfort. The high ceiling and the large window allow the room to seem more spacious.

Reference:  https://grimshaw.global/projects/the-peak/

The science museum is located at a waterfront near downtown Miami, Florida. The complex consists of four buildings connected with open-air corridors and pathways. The project was completed in 2017.

The building is designed to adapt to the local climate. The shape and composition of the buildings allow for the circulation of air, lowering energy consumption, as well as allowing the visitors to experience breeze and sunlight in the area. 

The main feature of the complex is the large aquarium suspended at the center of the building. The display of marine environment connections between the visitors and nature in Miami. 

The spherical structure of the planetarium is visible from the highway. The irregular arrangement of windows on the side walls also adds a recognizable character to the building. 

  Reference: https://grimshaw.global/projects/phillip-and-patricia-frost-museum-of-science/

Southern Cross Station is located in Melbourne, Australia. This project was designed by Grimshaw Architects in collaboration with Jackson Architecture. It was completed in 2007 and won the RIBA Lubetkin Prize in the same year.

Southern Cross Station serves not only as a hub for public transportation but also as a retail plaza adjacent to the central business district. The mixed-use development is covered by repeating wavy roof structures. They offer protection from the harsh sun and heat, ensuring a safe and healthy environment for both visitors and workers. The roof structure is also designed to enable natural ventilation, reducing energy use and preventing negative impacts on the environment.

There are freestanding pods underneath the roof that are used for accommodation service. These structures also help to define space for retail services. The efficiency of circulation for passengers is achieved by a careful arrangement of seating, lighting and information displays.

Reference: https://grimshaw.global/projects/southern-cross-station/

Pulkovo Airport is located in St. Petersburg, Russia. The building was designed by Grimshaw Architects, and the construction was completed in 2014. 

The architects recognized the importance of an airport as a gateway to the city and sought to reflect the cultural identity of St. Peterburg. The building was also designed to adapt to the extreme climate in Russia. The flat roof structure helps to distribute the weight of the snow in winter.  The faceted geometric shape of the ceiling was inspired by the patterns of snowflakes. The shape also helps to drain runoff from melting snow. The ceiling also has skylights to let in natural light to the terminal buildings. The gold color of the ceiling is a reference to the gold dome of St. Issac’s Cathedral, and the reflection of the architects’ attempt to make this modern building a part of St. Petersburg. 

Reference: https://grimshaw.global/projects/pulkovo-airport/

The Umeda Sky Buiding is one of the landmarks in Osaka, Japan. It was designed by Hiroshi Hara, and its construction was completed in 1993. 

My aunt took me out to this building when I visited Osaka for the first time. We got to the bottom of the building after a ten-minute walk away from the central station. From there, it looked like a regular office building complex.

 The building consists of two towers connected at the top. As I went up the elevator, I noticed that the diagonal structures between the towers are actually escalators to the observatory at the top. 

Ascending inside a tube structure in the air was probably the most dramatic escalator experience I had. The top floor is an open-air observatory, where I could see the entire city of Osaka. 

The floor below the observatory had an exhibit about the construction techniques used for the Umeda Sky Building. First, the two towers were constructed. Then the observatory was pre-assembled on the ground and pulled up to the top by four cranes attached to the two towers. I was very surprised and impressed by the precision and control they had to lift such a large structure, especially after feeling the strong wind on the 560ft – high observatory.

This castle is located in Matsumoto City in central Japan. It is about two hours away from home, and near where I went to high school. It is one of the most symbolic buildings in this region, and the park around the castle is often used for regional festivals. I have many memories with my family and friends in that area from childhood. 

The original construction of the Castle dates back to the early 16th century. The castle was once abandoned and sold at an auction for re-development in 1872. However, it is now designated as a national treasure of Japan, thanks to the preservation efforts made by the local community members. 

The castle has many defense features such as the moat surrounding the area, steep rock wall of the foundation, and small slits on walls shoot arrows and guns. The circulation inside the building is intentionally designed to be inefficient,  in order to prevent the intruders from reaching the top level, where the warlord stayed during attacks. The steepest staircase has an incline of 61 degrees. The floors are very slippery, and some beams run very low above staircases that even I (5’3 tall) have to bend down not to hit my head. 

It is a little hustle to get to the top level. But the view from there is very rewarding. It is still my favorite place to take my friends from abroad to showcase Japanese history, and experience life during 16th-century wartime. 

In the summer of 2017, I lived in Kyoto, Japan for two months for an internship.  During that summer I spent much time during weekends visiting historical sites around Kyoto. Byodo-In was at the top of my travel as it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is also printed on the Japanese ten yen coin. This Buddhist temple was originally built in 1052 AC. It was built to visualize Buddhist paradise. 

‘Byodo’ means equality or symmetry, and ‘In’ means temple. As the name suggests, it has a perfectly symmetric facade that consists of a central hall storing the Buddha statue, and two wings on each side. The entire structure stands on an artificially made lake. The reflection on the water surface creates a visual effect as if the temple is floating. 

The central hall is filled with ornate wood carvings, metal sculptures, and paintings. It was a very spiritual experience to see the world that Buddhists from 900 years ago imagined and spent hours creating.

Koo Chen-Fu Memorial Library is located on the National Taiwan University campus in Taipei, Taiwan. It was designed by Toyo Ito and was completed in 2014. 

The roof of the single-story library is supported by organic shaped white columns that resemble lotus leaves in water. The bookshelves of various height and curved shapes create a maze-like plan (it looked like a fingerprint in my opinion), providing partitions for reading and group study areas. 

The roof structure has skylights to allow for natural lighting. The building is surrounded by a shallow pool, and the reflection of the sunlight on the water comes into the interior through the glass wall. 

I had a chance to visit the library and attend classes in the adjacent College of Social Science building while I was studying abroad at the National Taiwan University. This was by far my favorite space on campus that I would go to study because of its relaxing atmosphere.