After designing Aesop's unique Prinsens Gate store, the global skin care brand engaged Snøhetta to create their second Norway outlet in Oslo. Situated on the ground floor of a functionalist 1940s apartment building, the interior is populated by three-dimensional oak panels and soft, welcoming lighting.
As technological advances abstract us from the natural world, some architects and built environment specialists seek to emphasise the impact of the elements through their work – creating seemingly impossible homes on cliff faces, and forming remarkable structures that mirror the ravages of geological processes.
The Shanghai Tower, the second tallest building in the world, features significant technological innovations, including a tapering asymmetrical form designed to reduce wind loads and a double curtain wall that creates space for garden atrium sky lobbies. The latest issue of AR explores the intimate elements of this giant, spiralling structure.