Do you have an architectural bucket list? These are places you want to visit before you die, and don’t get hung up on the word “architectural” – just think of any buit work. For instance, Hoover Dam and the Brooklyn Bridge were big ones for me, and they were not all that hard to check off the list.

Sometimes these spots may require you to be a totally dorky tourist – there’s no poo-pooing a trip to the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower here – just try to resist sporting the fanny pack. Here are three spots at the top of my current list:

This is Aurland Lookout in Norway. I remember pictures of this crazy lookout taking my breath away the first time I saw them (assuming it was in Wallpaper*). Designed by Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen, this is one experience worth pulling off the road for:

photos via Saunders Architecture

The Langston Hughes Library, designed by Maya Lin, in Clinton, Tennessee is still one of my all-time favorites in photos, yet I have not made it there yet. It’s a whole lost closer to where I live than Norway, so I’m thinking it should be viable:

photos via Maya Lin Studio

From the “it’s probably not going to happen” file – it’s the Taj Mahal.  I hate long flights and humidity, so a trip to India isn’t likely (I’m going to take a pass on the Donald Trump Atlantic City version, unless there’s a Neil Diamond concert involved or something):

Anyway, enough about me – what about you? Is there a built work you’re dying to visit? Is there one you’ve crossed off your bucket list recently? Do tell!

This week I couldn’t stop seeking out architecture all over the world – I must be itching to take a trip or something.

UTAH: It started domestic; though the places I looked at did not look like they could possibly be in the same country as Atlanta! I was virtually transported west, via Wendell Burnette’s site and I immediately decided to start saving every penny for a trip to the Amangiri Spa they designed:

CANADA: Since the first time I saw them, I’ve never forgotten the the six poetic cabins designed by Saunders Architects on the Fogo Islands (off the coast of Newfoundland). The cabins interact with this sublime landscape:

Nothing inside detracts from or competes with the views:

SPAIN: All that dry air got me thinking of Spain, and I stumbled onto Abaton Architects’ site. This villa in Extremadura juxtaposes worn historic stones on it facade with crisp white walls inside:

While the vernacular architecture this resembles would likely be filled with dark cozy rooms, this home has large glass openings that let in all the natural light and give the spectacular expansive views their due:

Part of it disappears right into the hillside, making this bedroom nice and tucked in on one side, very open to nature on the other:

VIETNAM: Architect Vo Trong Nghia’s bamboo dome made the blog rounds and I thought it as time for a revisit, especially since we didn’t have Pinterest then.

Where have you traveled to look at architecture this week? Are there any dream sites on your list you recommend we check out? Let us know in the comments section!

Hey All! Where have you been whiling away your break time on the web this week? I can’t stop with the Street Art Utopia. Each one delights more than the last. However this week, this leaning tower of a concrete post made me smile the most:

I love it when a public works building gets turned into some sort of kick-butt residence, and water towers always seem to be the coolest ones; maybe because of their big old curves, uncommon in most residential architecture. This tour over at FreshHome takes us through a Belgian water tower converted by BAHM Design Studio.

I enjoyed seeing the kitchens that Dwell magazine dubbed their coolest ones from their archives. I love some of the ones like you see below, I imagined Unhappy Hipster captions for others. Either way, it’s a fun slideshow!

This guy, Andrew, the latest addition through the revolving door that is Jeff Lewis’s team  on Flipping Out, cracked  me up. Apparently he has a trust fund that only kicks in when he has a full time job, so he is a nervous wreck he’ll lose the most ridiculous job on earth. Jeff always sheds an employee or three each season, so the poor guy should be nervous.

Finally, I swear, Passive-Aggressive Notes is still one of the most genius sites I’ve read. What better passive-aggressive way is there to get back at a crazy note-leaver than to submit it to the site? This one about the deck blew my mind; it brings up the very serious issue of deck envy. If I received it, I think I’d have to move knowing I lived close to such a nut job.

From the “Say Whaaaaaaaat?” files:

image from theinspiration.com

While a picture is worth a thousand words, I still have questions. Do people live here? Does the mailman drive from house to house? Would kids trick or treat from house to house to house to house? Do the houses have private elevators down into the mall below? I don’t know, because the only information on the blog was the title, “Houses on top of mall in Zhuzhou.”

From the “huuuuhhhhhh?!?” files:

All I can say is, she did have a rockin’ townhouse back in the early ’80s, but still … at least they got the glasses right. Join the discussion over at ArchDaily.

From the “What does it mean?!?!?!” files:

image via fubiz.com

I mean, technically it’s a double double rainbow if you count the reflection on the water, right? I’m thinking this awesome bridge located in Penghu, Taiwan, should be the ultimate destination for all future Pride Parades.

From the “tee-hee” files:

Yeah, I’m thinking it’s the donut shop drive-thru convenience for me and my wood-paneled family truckster than the quality, but this building is a beaut. This post is over a year old, but the collection of “Crazy California” architecture at build a fort is getting a permanent bookmark in my browser. It’s impossible to choose a favorite, mine change daily. Today it’s the Herb Tarlick-style white lace-up atop the shoe repair shop but tomorrow it could very well be the sombrero roof.

What kind of wacky design stuff have you spied on the web this week? I think the wackiest was in real estate news – did you hear that Taylor Swift bought a $4.9 million house that’s Kennedy compound-adjacent down at the Port?

Decades before the likes of Jonathan Adler were bedecking chic hotels with their designer touches, there was Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971). Jacobsen was a pioneering Danish architect who designed every last detail of the S.A.S. Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. He even designed two chairs that went onto become modern icons, the Swan Chair and the Egg Chair for the lobby in 1958.

While many hotels tend to update and remodel periodically, the remodel of the S.A.S. Royal Copenhagen that occurred in the early 1980s was especially tragic. Well, not tragic for those who scored the original Swan and Egg chairs, which were not yet coveted by people the way they are today. Apparently, the hotel gave them away for a song. Fortunately, they did preserve one room, room 606. You have a good chance of scoring this room or at least getting a peek inside if you ask ahead of time (the hotel is now a Radisson). Flickr member Niquinho posted this great shot of room 606. How great is that aqua? It’s all very Don Draper-esque. Well, if Don Draper was Danish.

A more recent renovation honors Jacobsen’ legacy in a fresh way, with smart, contemporary spaces that give Danish modern style a big nod and incorporate the Jacobsen classics. In fact, I read somewhere that they spent about $500,000 snapping up a slew of licensed Swan and Egg chairs for this much-improved remodel. Here two Swan Chairs prove their versatility, serving as versatile occasional/office/dining chairs in a hotel room:

Two inviting Egg Chairs and ottomans in moss green provide great perches for reading the paper, catching a catnap or chatting with a colleague:

The new grand lobby enchants as its predecessor did during it’s grand debut over fifty years ago:

Planning a trip? Book a room here.