Extension to the Denver Art Museum, Frederic C. Hamilton Building

The Extension to the Denver Art Museum, The Frederic C. Hamilton Building, is an expansion and addition to the existing museum, designed by the Italian Architect Gio Ponti.  Inspired by the vitality and growth of Denver, the addition currently houses the Modern and Contemporary art collections as well as the collection of Oceanic and African Art.  The extension, which opened in October 2006, was a joint venture with Davis Partnership Architects, the Architect of Record, working with M.A. Mortensen Co.

Slim invested 800 million dollars to build "Plaza Carso"

Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, possessor of one of the three mayor fortunes in the world, erected a satellite city of the Mexican capital with an investment of 800 million USD which will house 430 apartments, a shopping centre and a corporate building.

The real estate director of Grupo Carso, Alfonso Salem Slim, said the project includes development of 430 apartment units in three towers and a shopping centre, which will house the main group's stores: Sears, Sanborn, Mixup, and the Inbursa Bank.

At the site, located in the north side of Mexico City, a corporate building was built-up for some of the companies of Grupe Carso, a space fo the Museum Soumaya, a space that will house the collection of Jumex,  a first-class theater, and some 9,000 parking spaces.

According to the company, Plaza Carso was built over an area of 54,000 square meters of land and erected a whole is more than 500,000 square meters of construction.

The Mexican entrepreneur owns a conglomerate of companies in different industries led by telecoms giant Telmex.

Scandinavian Design

Say "Scandinavian Design" and most people visualise furniture, glass and domestic ware with forms and simple, clean lines. The aesthetic is immedietely recognisable, especially since the Swedish home-furnishing giant IKEA invaded the world.
Elegant, light, sparse - these are all descriptive of the Scandinavian look - along with a respect for natural materials and superb cratsmanship. The key is not only good looks, but also utility. This picture of Scandinavian design, whie having roots in traditional crafts, is very much a product of the 20th century and the age of Functionalism.

Functionalism applies to various movements such as the International Style and Bauhaus. In Scandinavia it has been a source of inspiration since the 1930s.
The move away from ornamentation in favour of clean shapes and lines, allowing for the pure expression of the essence of stractures, was more than a mere change in taste. Adherents to this style, which manifested itself in the new materials(tubular metal, steel and glass), also embraces a vision for a new world, one where architecture and design could contribue to the levelling out of injustice in modern society. In Scandinavia, not only were the aesthetics of the modern, international style eagerly adopted, the social agenda behind the style was also very popular.

Designers also began to heed ergonomic research at industrial companies like the car-makers Saab and Volvo. Today, the adage "form follows fiction" is taken to a high science in Scandinavia. Aesthetics are fused with efficiency for everything from utensils to welding equipment, as seen in the products of Ergonomi Design Gruppen(Sweden). Numerous pieces from the early 20th century remain as popular as ever, for example, stools by the Finnish architect and designer, Alvar Aalto.

 The success for Nordic design has made it a standard far beyond the boundries of Northern Europe - from time-tested pieces, such as the Stokke Tripp Trapp chairs by the Norwegian, Peter Opsvik, to the works of the multitalented Stefan Lindfors, whose output includes designs for Finnish companies Arabia (porcelain) and Marimekko (textiles); from glass and crystal designed for Kosta Boda and Orrefors (Sweden) by Ulrika Hydman-Vallien to Nokia telephones (Finland) by Frank Nuovo.

                                                
In part of the world forsaken by the sun for half the year, Scandinavians exploit interiors to maximise light. Even national characteristics may be seen as a source of style. Just as their design is characterised as rather stark, cool, unadorned, the Scandinavian character is often reserved sombre - hardly excessevely embellished.