The winery sits at the base of a small hill surmounted by a medieval castle. Bodegas Protos already utilises the subterranean area beneath the castle with more than 2 kilometres of tunnels and galleries used for ageing wine.

Architect: Jordi Badia /Josep Val Location: León, Spain Project: 1999 Construction: 2000 Collaborators: Elena Valls, Tirma Balagué, Albert Cibiach , Marcos Catalán, Juan Carlos Castro, Frans Massana, Lorena Maristany, Rafael Berengena, Francesc Belart, Santi Vinuesa, Bárbara Camarero, Ginés Egea, Josep Martínez, Luis Victori, Sergi Serrat, Lluis Carreras, Jordi Mercadé Structure: Eduard Doce, architect Engineering Assistance: Mariano Fernández, José Manuel Pérez Budget Consultant: Francesc Belart Services: Consulting Lluís Duart Client: SERFUNLE/Ayuntamiento de León Photographs: Eugeni Pons

It is difficult to ignore the designs of Pritzker Prize winning architect Zaha Hadid. Bold, brave, often controversial - her ambitious experiments in form always seem to stir discourse and debate. Hadid’s design for the new civil courts building in Madrid is no exception. Planned as part of the new Campus de la Justicia at Valdebebas in the Spanish capital city, Hadid’s Civil Court is expected to become a focal point among works from Norman Foster, IM Pei and others. While we are not always big fans of Hadid’s obsession with form, we are intrigued by the “intelligent” façade of this Madrid courthouse, that in addition to being extremely eye-catching, is intended to regulate the building’s indoor environment.

The city of Madrid soon plans to add a striking new structure that will “climatically transform” its urban architecture. Designed by Urban Ecosystems, the Air Tree pavilion is to be built from recycled materials and will be 100% energy self-sufficient. Using photovoltaic cells, the Air Tree produces a substantial amount of energy, which is then sold back to the local electric companies, the profits being used for maintenance of the structure. The second byproduct is of course oxygen - hence the name ‘Air Tree’!

Wow! I love it! Design like his make me want to be football fan, the kind of it that actually goes to the games or watches on... whatever. I think I ll just stick to reading your blog. Posted by: rabbi ybocher | October 10, 2007 at 05:51 PM