‘Actually cool, day or evening’: readers’ prime fashionable European structure | Europe holidays

Successful tip: Tickle Knut Hamsun’s backbone in Norway

The Hamsun Centre in Hamarøy, northern Norway (a few hours by boat from Bodø), is devoted to Norway’s most well-known novelist, Knut Hamsun (1859-1952), hailed by many as the daddy of contemporary Norwegian literature. Designed by the American architect Steven Holl, the hanging constructing, which dominates the panorama for miles, affords references to the person and his work, together with “hair” on its head (the roof), a metallic “backbone” operating by the constructing and a beckoning hand (a yellow balcony jutting out from the darkish facade).
M Peyre

Music of the pods in Rome

Sala Santa Cecilia appears to be like like a large silver beetle or, probably, a pc mouse. It’s considered one of three metallic-roofed “pods”, every with particular acoustic options, that are a part of the huge complicated making up Parco della Musica Auditorium. Designed by Renzo Piano, and completed in 2002, it stands on the positioning of the 1960 Olympic Park on the outskirts of Rome. Although the pods are undoubtedly modernist, the two,700-capacity outside theatre is a transparent nod to historic Rome, as is using Travertine marble all through. We loved the timeless expertise of listening to music within the balmy Italian night air.
Sherry

Grayson Perry’s secret gingerbread cottage, Essex

The tiny village of Wrabness in north Essex hosts Grayson Perry’s A Home for Essex. 5 years within the making, it was designed as a shrine to the fictional character Julie Cope. This folly is the gingerbread home out of the Hansel and Gretel fairytale. The constructing, clad in vibrant aid tiles with a vivid gold roof, has been in comparison with a Scandinavian stave church or a Russian chapel. Set in a tranquil panorama with views over inexperienced fields to the Stour estuary, it’s a should in the event you ever end up in “England’s most misunderstood nation”.
Alison Barker

Cocktails with Le Corbusier, Marseille

Take a tour of frequent areas and a typical residence at Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille, France. Snap ’grammable particulars just like the modernist stained glass within the foyer or the daring doorways, handles and light-weight fittings within the corridors. Take in the solar on the azure tiles and crisp concrete of the rooftop, then admire the ingenious pan cabinet within the flat’s authentic kitchen cupboards. Find yourself within the bar, the place you possibly can sit, sip a gradual apéro and watch the sundown. Tip: chat to the concierge on the desk on the entrance or the server behind the bar for extra native data.
Judith Moore

Slide down a large’s leg, Valencia

I like to recommend Gulliver (from Jonathan Swift’s novel) at Gulliver Park, Valencia, Spain. It’s a nice fashionable construction for youths to take pleasure in. It’s actually a playground primarily based on Big Gulliver. He’s mendacity on the bottom and the totally different elements of him type stairs and slides for the youngsters to play on! Entrance is free however do verify the opening hours as they will range. The park is within the east a part of the Túria Gardens, near the Metropolis of Arts and Sciences, one other fantastic fashionable construction in Valencia.
Sue O’Brien

Straddle continents within the Dardanelles

Cross from Asia to Europe in simply 13 minutes: that’s how lengthy it’s going to take you to traverse the brand-new 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, straddling the Dardanelles strait, 40 miles north-east of the traditional metropolis of Troy, throughout to the Gallipoli peninsula on the north aspect, slightly means west of Istanbul. The bridge, which boasts the longest suspension span on this planet, is a phenomenal construction in its personal proper – like a modern Twenty first-century model of San Francisco’s Golden Gate. The primary attraction right here, although, needs to be the unbelievable views alongside the Dardanelles in direction of the Sea of Marmara to 1 aspect and the open Mediterranean to the opposite.
Jayne Pearson

An in depth encounter in Graz

I staggered off the evening practice from Venice lately in Graz, Austria, and determined to go for an early-morning stroll across the outdated city. After I got here throughout an enormous alien spaceship-type building, I needed to pinch myself then drink some robust espresso. The Kunsthaus is a surreal construction, a contemporary artwork gallery in-built 2003, and it appears to be like much more beautiful at evening when 1,000 photo voltaic lights come on – it appears to be like prefer it’s preparing for takeoff.
Greta

A whale basks by the Danube, Budapest

The Bálna (“whale”) in Budapest, Hungary, is a large-scale, glass-fronted constructing on the financial institution of the Danube close to the Nice Market Corridor. It’s a mixed-use constructing, with retailers, cafes, bars and an important artwork gallery focusing totally on up to date artwork. It has a improbable terrace with nice views on the town, however the structure itself can be very attention-grabbing: designed by Dutch architect Kas Oosterhuis, it’s a combination of historic brick warehouses and a hanging hi-tech metal-glass construction. Visiting is totally free; for more information see balnabudapest.hu.
Magdolna Decker

Beautiful distortion, Prague

The Dancing Home in Prague, typically nicknamed “Fred and Ginger”, is a very cool construction. It was constructed within the early Nineteen Nineties – I feel that qualifies as fashionable in structure! It’s so uncommon as a result of it stands proud from the gothic/baroque structure that Prague is thought for. It’s proper on the river within the New City district. After I noticed it for the primary time, it actually appeared that it was falling into itself, type of like when a fantasy/sci-fi film visualises a black gap orwormhole, the place all the things turns into distorted and onerous buildings seem liquid. Actually cool, day or evening.
Jordan Gale

A metallic web of geometric shapes, Pristina

“Magnificence is within the eye of the beholder” definitely applies to the Nationwide Library of Kosovo, in Pristina. On its inauguration in 1982, the top of the Communist get together requested why the scaffolding hadn’t been eliminated. Nonetheless, I discovered the distinctive dice and dome options, relics from the Byzantine and Ottoman custom, intriguing. It appeared as if a metallic web of geometric shapes had been thrown over the outside, whereas 99 cupolas of various sizes added magnificence and flooded the studying rooms with pure mild. Inside, we discovered the doorway partitions adorned with copper börek-shaped coils and silver filigree panels studded with treasured stones.
Helen Jackson