If you were a kid and this was your community centre, would you ever want to go home? The Sports and Leisure Centre in Saint-Cloud, France was opened over a year and half ago but I still can’t get over the fantastic use of colour. Designed by KOZ Architectes, the environment-friendly building is a bold gem of architecture. Arch Daily called it a “little castle and cubist mountain” which is a pretty perfect description for a building that houses the imaginations of so many children. The colourful exterior glass is a palette of pure harmony. The thick stripes could have gone horribly wrong but, with fantastic colour selection, they seamlessly compliment each other like a perfectly organized crayon box. I love the night shots of the centre as the illuminated horizontal rooms “light up” numerous vertical swatches of colour. Inside the building, the architects repeated the same systematic colour system to create an easy navigation system for children and reflect a bold graffiti-like style. If I lived in Saint-Cloud, I would try to find an apartment with a direct view of this beautiful building. Oh and I might try out that climbing wall bathed in chartreuse light… More city councils need to follow the lead of Saint-Cloud and explore vibrant architecture for community centres and other public spaces as they really can become sources of city design pride and more imporantly, colourful castles of child-like wonder.

(photographs by stephan lucas and via arch daily)

On a very rainy Monday here in Vancouver, this photograph by Sërch is making everything seem brighter. The world needs more rustic hot pink staircases, don’t you think? Love how the light is bouncing from the pink wall to the white one resulting in a beautiful shade of light pink. I don’t know where that staircase ends but I imagine it is something pretty magical…

(image via sërch and spotted on buddha interiors)

Pantone Hotel is a boutique hotel in Brussels devoted to colour and designed around the famous Pantone Matching System. Although it opened last year, my obsession with visiting has not dimmed one bit so I decided I had to post about it. Designed by architect Olivier Hannaert and interior designer Michel Penneman, the building feels very similar to Pantone swatches with bright white features creating a canvas for saturated bursts of colour. Each of the seven floors is focused on a different hue so you can decide if you want to stay in a passionate red room or a tranquil blue one. I like how the room numbers are three Pantone swatch numbers. The hotel lobby is the cheerful heart of the colour drenched building and houses the biggest selection of Pantone licensed products worldwide. From the coloured glass on the exterior to the rugs of small vivid squares, I love how every detail has been thought of and that they all embrace Pantone swatches with wit and style. Maybe one day, we will have a conference in this embassy of colour and discuss the world of hue with a Pantone mug in hand?

(photographs © sven laurent – let me shoot for you except 5th from top by serge anton; all via pantone hotel)

These images are from a couple of years ago but they had such jaw-dropping effects on me yesterday when I saw them for the first time, I knew I had to share! Tham & Videgård Arkitekter re-imagined this traditional Art Nouveau apartment in Stockholm in the most striking of ways. The entire space features dramatic oversized and multicoloured parquet flooring inspired by the seasonally changing colours of adjacent Humlegården Park “from winter grey and black to summertime bright and deep green, to orange, red and yellow in autumn”. I don’t think it would be humanly possible to have a bad day in this apartment. Colour therapy meets architecture? It is definitely a feat of colour mixing and pattern. My personal favourite are the rooms with a neon orange, hot pink and black hues. Do you think you could live in a space this uniquely dazzling? At the very least, this apartment has inspired me to paint some doorways in vibrant colours!

(photographs by Åke E:son Lindman; spotted on yatzer and fine little home)

Architect Armin Blasbichler’s home in Northern Italy has a magnificent door that features little transparent colour swatches for every hue seen in the nature surrounding the house. I love the handwritten names of flowers, trees and other natural Italian colour sources. As the light changes throughout the day, this door must create one stunning light show after another. How do you get anything done when your home has something so full of wonder? See the rest of Armin’s home here.

Thanks for the inspiration thirdpearl!

(photography by ingrid heiss via design*sponge)

Curaçao is a brightly hued island country surrounded by the sparkling turquoise of the Southern Caribbean Sea. It recently became an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands but the architecture and design soul of its native country remains a distinct characteristic. In fact, Curaçao is often called Caribbean’s “Little Netherlands”. The neon blue liqueur “curacao” is probably the first thing that comes to mind when the country name is mentioned but aside from insanely bright booze, it is an absolutely stunning country. The island is covered in gorgeous natural hues from uniquely vibrant flowers to a lush green landscape edged with a vibrant blue sea. In addition, the capital city of Willemstad is full of beautiful historical buildings that feature Dutch details and a crayon box’s worth of colourful paint. The cityscape is so unique that UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. Thank goodness. That means these vibrant shops and homes are here to stay. Curaçao is full of spectacular nature, colourful building and festivals, intriguing history and beaches with dazzling sea vistas. I could post endless pictures and adjectives but the bottom line is that I have a major crush on this colour saturated jewel in the Caribbean Sea!

(photography via infinite magic photography, infinite magic photography, mari ward foster, peter koke, keith delong, pietcur, versgeperst, haroldo castro, dksluis, scout13ca, derpunk, bea moedt, greetje dijkstra, michael from minnesota, syncronaut, haroldo castro, pietcur, soul aperture, syncronaut, derplunk, hawkfish, air farce and duenitas digital world)

Glittering sequins displays in Iceland. I don’t think a string of words has ever made me so happy! Danish/Czech artist Theresa Himmer created these graffiti-like sequin installations in Reykjavik, Iceland. The pieces, inspired by a glacier, volcano and waterfall, add a layer of sparkling dimension to city walls while highlighting the interplay of nature and urban life. The movement of the sequins mimic the beauty of ice, lava and water while recalling “how landscapes respond to changes in wind and light”. Oh and did I mention they are insanely, jaw-droppingly gorgeous? My list of favourite pieces of art ever just got a new addition!

(p.s. for more photographs of beautiful Iceland, take a look at my previous post)

(photography by gunnar tór nilsen and kristinn magnússon; spotted on yatzer)

Buenos Aires has been at the very top of my wanderlust list for a decade or so. Often called “Paris of South America”, the port city is a mosaic of Latin American flavour with a distinct European influence. The birthplace of tango, Buenos Aires seems to echo the dance’s passion across all aspects of its culture. From fashion to football to art and architecture, there is so much character and colour in this eclectic city. I found it almost impossible to stop looking for images! One particularly colourful area is La Boca, a working-class neighbourhood and tourist hub that that features tango clubs and vividly-hued tin houses. I can’t wait to visit Buenos Aires one day and see this seductive city in person. Any place where tango just randomly breaks out on city streets just needs to be seen, right? Even the subways have elaborate and colourful tile patterns! I’m hoping to feature Argentina as a whole one of these days as there are gorgeous landscapes and unique areas all over this beautiful, one-of-a-kind country.

(photographs via bob krist, hanna ali, for 91 days, paulete matos, robbie ewing, monica l, paulo capiotti, robert o’duill, argentina countrywide, carlosmf, clelia pellicano, kk_wpg, thomas locke hobbs, juan ignacio rela, thomas locke hobbs, carlos a. redondo, stephen weaver, daniel-on-tour, azotesdivinos, junior reis, nina’s clicks, hardieboys, for 91 days, paulo capiotti, thought for thought, globe trodden, peter mcbride & ryan murphy)

I think I just figured out where I could spend an entire day and never get bored. Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson recently finished his five year installation titled ‘Your rainbow panorama‘ – a brilliant, rainbow-hued viewing gallery on top of the ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum in Denmark. A beautiful love poem to colour and vibrant addition to the cityscape that transforms as the light of each day changes. I particularly love the vibrant glow at night. If I am ever missing in Denmark, look here first! I’ll probably be the one looking dreamily out the magenta section or perhaps jumping up and down in the turquoise area…

In his artist statement, Olafur expands on how the viewing gallery works and the meaning behind the project: “Enveloped in the rainbow environment, you produce afterimages in hues complementary to the colours in the glass panes around you. If you look at the city through red glass, your eyes develop a green afterimage. If you maintain a quick pace, the colours remain vibrant. But if you pause in one colour zone, the hue around you grows pale while the colours in your peripheral vision, where the walkway curves, intensify. Colour intensities depend on your speed… The colour spectrum speaks to the museum collections below… Colour intensifies reality at all times.”

(photographs via Studio Olafur Eliasson)

If someone asked you to visualize the architecture colours of most banks, what would pop into your mind? Conservative hues and neutrals? Well, after spotting Japan’s Sugamo Shinkin Bank, I may never look at a financial building the same way again! Designed in Shimura by Emmanuelle Moureaux Architecture + Design, the exterior of the building is a feat of twelve beautifully stacked rainbow-hued layers. The vibrant colours were arranged from warm to cool so the blue hues on top of the building would seamlessly disappear into the sky. The interior features furniture to match the exterior hues as well as white open space and three cylindrical skylights that fill the building with natural light and warmth. At night and according to weather or season, the building is lightly illuminated. The glowing layers not only make the bank visible but create a colourful warmth on the urban landscape. Sugamo Shinkin Bank is a gorgeous work of art that proves banking or governmental buildings need not be neutral to be official. (p.s. the final picture is of colour swatches for the exterior layers. What a dream it would be to sit in on a planning meeting like that!)

(via design boom; images via emmanuelle moureaux architecture + design)

If your child’s school looked anything like Wahroonga Preparatory School in Australia, I don’t think you would have as much trouble convincing them to wake up for class! Designed by GGF Architects, the use of colourful fibre-cement panels creates an engaging environment for learning, compliments the stained glass windows of the adjacent historical church and serves as an architectural feature in the city. I can’t help but think that this wildly creative and Lego-like building will nuture and inspire some very talented creative thinkers of the future…

(spotted on design milk; photographs via ggf architects)

I love the clean and colourful design for The Gourmet Tea store in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Architect Alan Chu was inspired by the brand’s 35 brightly hued tea tins to create rectangles of colour that serve as a focal point in the space. With the addition of beautiful white neon typography and vibrant hanging lamps, Alan crafted a small house into the modern, bright and airy teahouse. I would love to grab a chair this colour happy shop and think up some colourful places and space to visit in Brazil…

I can’t say I’ve ever seen a stepladder that I would consider to be a piece of fabulous design. That all changes with Strep by Workshop Peekaboo. The painted wood stepladder was inspired by Japanese steps. The angles and blue are just so gorgeous. I have my fingers crossed Strep becomes widely available and in a wide range of colour. How amazing would a couple of these look in front of a studio bookshelf?

(via muuuz)

Cinque Terre is a region on the Italian Rivera consisting of five small fishing towns that hug the cliffs along the turquoise Ligurian Sea. The area has avoided modern development and as result, has retained its unique Italian culture and natural beauty. Every image I see of Cinque Terre is full of an almost indescribable glow. The warm colours of the town buildings, especially at dusk, are just breathtaking. At night, the towns look simply magical as they sparkle along the rugged coastline. I think I could stare at the first image in this post for hours on end. If the photographs of Cinque Terre are this beautiful, I can’t even imagine how colourful and luminious it must be in person. I think Cinque Terre has definitely shot to the top of my “must travel to” list.

(images via robert crum, jeff, andrew dobney, ian jeanneret, federico, trek earth, andy kaye, mirko caserta, alex roe, anita, andy kaye, eduard ballestero, lena q, travelpix, christopher schoenbohm, simon, gianluca)

To say I am a Douglas Coupland fan would be a rather large understatement. He is one of my true design heros and I plan to do a special post on Douglas under my colour hero feature in the next bit. Although his Digital Orca sculpture outside of the Vancouver Convention Centre has been in place for 10 months or so, it still continues to dazzle and inspire me. For a city where marine life plays at the foot of our urban core while technology, innovation and video games grow as vital industries, it is simply poetic to create an orca out of pixels. We are, after all, a city where nature and urban life overlap but fuse together in harmony. Digital Orca has quickly become one of my favourite pieces of art. If I win the lottery tomorrow, I will see to it that Douglas Coupland designs many more sculptures in Vancouver!

I like the words written on the plaque beside the sculpture: “The digital orca sculpture breaks down a 3D Orca whale into cubic pixels – making a familiar symbol of the West Coast become something unexpected and new. This use of natural imagery modified by technology bridges the past to the future. It speaks to the people and activities that created Vancouver’s thriving harbour culture, while addressing the massive changes reshaping the BC economy. The sculpture’s metal construction and lighting components evoke the daily moods of the harbour and the diversity of those who work here.”

(images via douglas coupland & claire fossey)

Bo-Kaap is a brilliantly-coloured area located on the slopes of Signal Hill in Cape Town, South Africa. One of the oldest communities in South Africa, the area is rich with influences from the nations of its original inhabitants – India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Holland among others. These influences are apparent throughout Bo-Kaap and its incredibly colourful flat-roofed houses, mosques, patterns and architecture. Stunning use of warm colour mixed with fascinating history and culture? Yet another community that must be added to my travel wish-list!

(images via joanne, linda g, linda g, jochen hoesch, michael hansen, linda g, rebecca jacobson, rebecca jacobson, julian k, marcy bidney, tim rebecca)