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Park Hyatt in Tokyo

Park Hyatt in Tokyo
	Why It's Cool: Sure, Bill Murray took a dip here in Lost in Translation, but it's the view from this sleek, 47th-floor swimming pool that's truly remarkable: Floor-to-ceiling windows frame jaw-dropping vistas of Tokyo, and even venerable Mount Fuji, while the steel-and-glass pyramid-shaped ceiling floods the pool with natural light. The 65-foot-long, four-lane pool is striking at night, too, when the city's skyscrapers light up.
San Alfonso del Mar:  Algarrobo, Chile
	Why It's Cool: You can take small sailboats out on this saltwater pool that Guinness World Records calls the largest in the world. At two thirds of a mile in length, the massive stretch of water has room for several man-made sand beaches. For nighttime swimming, head to the temperature-controlled beach inside the pool's centrally located glass pyramid—the water and the sand are heated.
Hotel Caruso Belvedere:  Ravello, Italy
	Why It's Cool: The Hotel Caruso Belvedere is set at the highest point in the sun-splashed Amalfi Coast town of Ravello, so the open-air infinity pool offers unobstructed, panoramic views of one of the world's most dramatic coastlines—and the sea beyond. It doesn't hurt that the pool itself is flanked by 11th-century Roman ruins.
Umaid Bhawan Palace:  Jodhpur, India
	Why It's Cool: In a massive, 347-room palace overlooking the Blue City of Jodhpur in the Indian state of Rajasthan, this serene, temperature-controlled swimming basin takes advantage of natural candlelight—with rose petals sometimes strewn on the surface. The hotel is run by the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, which shares the property with the palace's owner, the Maharaja of Jodhpur—who has been known to swim laps with the guests from time to time.
Viceroy:  Miami
	Why It's Cool: In a city loaded with cool pools, the recently opened pool at the Viceroy stands out. The two-acre pool deck—with Japanese blueberry trees and swanky chaise lounges and beds—features three types of pools: an 80-person hot tub, a wading pool, and a football-field-size swimming pool. Perhaps coolest of all, it's 15 floors above the street, with in-the-middle-of-it-all views of downtown Miami and glimpses of Biscayne Bay in the distance.
InterContinental:  Hong Kong
	Why It's Cool: Set on the third floor of the InterContinental Hong Kong, the hotel's three pools—two hot and one cold, but all with underwater music piped in—give the almost unnerving illusion that you're floating in Victoria Harbor. After your swim, park yourself in one of the poolside cabanas and gaze out at Hong Kong's skyline.
Golden Nugget: Las Vegas
	Why It's Cool: You'll swim with five species of sharks (16 sharks in all) at the Nugget's $30 million pool complex. The Tank, as it's called, houses a three-story waterslide, waterfalls, and the pool's pièce de resistance, the 200,000-gallon shark tank. You're in more danger at the Golden Nugget's roulette wheel: The sharks, stingrays, massive Queensland grouper, and silvery jack crevalle are separated from the swimming pool by a four-inch clear acrylic wall.
Quincy Hotel: Singapore
	Why It's Cool: This brand-new, glass-enclosed pool is cantilevered from the 12th floor of the futuristic-looking Quincy Hotel, suspending swimmers high above the passing cars and pedestrians at street level. At night, special lighting effects make the pool appear to glow. Bask and swim for a bit, then retire to one of the rattan chairs at poolside for a nap.
Al Bustan Palace InterContinental Muscat: Muttrah, Oman
	Why It's Cool: After an extensive 18-month renovation, this InterContinental property in Oman recently reopened with a major pool upgrade—which the roving pool butlers (you heard us) are more than happy to tell you about, after refreshing your rose-scented spritzer. The spacious, 164-foot-long infinity pool is flanked by shady, palm-studded islands. The water is temperature controlled, so it's always an oasis-like 84 degrees.
Anantara Koh Samui Resort & Spa: Koh Samui, Thailand
	Why It's Cool: You look straight out into the Gulf of Thailand from the 98-foot-long infinity pool at this stylish resort on the island of Samui, Thailand. If the views aren't soothing enough, order a stiff drink at the swim-up bar and laugh it off with the comical, spitting monkey statues along the pool's perimeter.

At one point in our lives, we all love to color - and for some of us whose love of coloring things go beyond coloring books, artist Jon Burgerman has made this wonderful thing: the color-in wallpaper!

Now that is an awesome staircase! The creative "floating" stairs are designed by Florence architect Guido Ciompi for The Gray Hotel in Milan, Italy. The Contemporist Blog has more: Link - via stair porn (SFW actually, the blog features a lot of wonderful stairs)

As more and more people live without children in Japan (the country has an alarmingly low birth rate), home builders have to adjust. So they’re now coming up with houses optimized for … pets!

Home builder Asahi Kasei has houses optimized for cats

Ted Hunter of Thin Air Press fittingly created this awesome set of skateboard deck stairs for the Roarockit skateboard deck woodworking school: Link - via Treehugger, Thanks Chris Tackett!

Joanne Ussery, a hairdresser, was looking for a new mobile home to put next to the lake when her brother-in-law, an air traffic controller, had an unorthodox suggestion. She paid $2,000 for the 727 fuselage, $4,000 for a house-moving company to move it to her lot, and six months and $25,000 to renovate it. The resulting house has some unusual features, and is built to last; (Source)

The Zižkov television tower in Prague, Czech Republic features crawling babies by artist David Cerný. They were attached in 2000 as a temporary exhibit, but people liked them so much, they are still there! See many more pictures at deputy dog.

Jordi Vayreda of Spanish design studio Jordivayreda Project team created this floating staircase for a client’s home that looks awesome, but a little bit too dangerous for klutzy old me!

Those two amazing sets of stairs are from the Didden Village project by Dutch architectural firm MVRDV. The project itself is a rooftop addition in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The exterior is a stark contrast to its surrounding (and may not be to everyone’s tastes), as you can see in the link below, but the interior stairs are amazing!

In the 1960s, Heineken got the brilliant idea of making square beer bottles … so that after you’re done drinking the beer, you can use the bottles as bricks!

The cube is a light and empty space, free from connotations and open to its user’s needs. While still being inside a private atmosphere, one has the impression of floating outside of the confines of the actual dwelling above the public space. Folddown furnishings and a multitude of built-in openings on the inside provide extra living space with direct daylight. Sections of the walls unfold, with the help of hidden magnets, into a desk, shelves, and a platform for reading or sleeping. The Rucksack box is suspended from steel cables that are anchored to the roof or to the facade of the existing building. The construction is a welded steel cage with a light birch veneered plywood interior cladding. The outside cladding is exterior grade plywood with an absorbent resin surface punctuated by plexiglas inserts.

We created a ’secret’ staircase, hidden from the main reception room, to access a new loft bedroom lit by roof lights. Limited by space, we melded the idea of a staircase with our client’s desire for a library to form a ‘library staircase’ in which English oak stair treads and shelves are both completely lined with books.

French artist Etienne Meneau created this maison elastique (elastic house) out of modular riggings for those "who like instability" in their lives.

The pool at the Nemo 33 recreational diving center in Belgium, is over 100 ft deep, making it the worlds deepest recreational pool

This is a classic case of an ambitious architectural gesture with utterly pedestrian execution. a glass swimming pool over an entrance is a spectacular thing, unfortunately the surrounding structure looks like a freeway overpass

Most people saw this small plot of land in southeast London and thought it was too small for anything but a broom closet, but not Monty Ravenscroft. After buying the land, he built an amazing house with a retractable roof and tons of space-saving tricks:

Monty’s particular ideas and vision are found all over the house. It is full of unusual touches. A bathroom sink concealed in a drawer. An open-plan ensuite shower. A translucent glass toilet wall that adjoins the lounge: ‘When it’s backlit you get silhouettes - which is more of a problem for men than women.’

Possibly the quirkiest feature can be found in the bedroom, where you’ll find a bed that can be slid sideways to reveal a bath. ‘I don’t have time for baths,’ Monty explains. ‘Most houses have baths because it’s what you’re supposed to have - they take up lots of space but are never used. People have showers in baths, which is fine but tedious. With this bath, bathing is a special occasion, a theatrical thing.’

Monty is proud of all these details. How every wall ‘floats’ without touching ceiling, floor or another wall. The hidden stair rail fixings. The space-saving pigeon steps to the two mezzanine bedrooms that not only float but also gently spring as you ascend them - ‘People find them more disconcerting than I thought.’

When the Capuchin monastery in Palermo, Italy, outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century, monks excavated the catacomb below it and began a bizarre tradition that lasted until the 19th century.

The Capuchin monks mummified the bodies of the dead, dressed them up in everyday clothing and then put them on display on the monastery walls. Apparently, it was quite a status symbol to be entombed in the Capuchin monastery - prominent citizens of the town would ask to be preserved in certain clothing or even have the clothes changed on a regular basis according to contemporary fashion!

When the last body was interred in the late 1800s, there were 8,000 mummies on the walls of the Capuchin monastery and in the catacombs.

The “Single Hauz” concept house by Poland’s Front Architects is ready for the oceans, fields etc. The question is how ready is it for strong wind?

This upside-down house can be seen in the village of Szymbark in northern Poland.

The house was created by Daniel Czapiewski to describe the former communist era and the present times in which we live.

In the comment section of our previous This Bold House post, Neatorama reader Laura told us about this gem of a home in Fresno, California: the Forestiere Underground Gardens, which was built by a Sicilian immigrant named Balsadare Forestiere.

In 1906, Forestiere spent 40 years building (using only his farmer’s tools and two mules, with no dynamites) a complex of underground rooms, passageways, and garden, complete with skylights and catchbasins for water. The garden has a variety of full trees and vines. It is now a historical landmark.

Why did he do it?

After a bitter argument with his father over the 22-year-old Baldassare’s future, Forestiere came to America to fulfill his dreams of independence and good fortune as a fruit merchant, only to tragically discover that the California land he purchased for agricultural purposes would be useless for such. To make matters worse, the staggering summer temperatures of Fresno, which routinely reached 115 to 120 degrees, tormented him.

Forestiere desperately needed a way to escape the crushing summer heat. He remembered the coolness of the underground cellars where he grew up and decided to excavate a cellar on his land where he could cool off during the hottest parts of the day. It was so effective in giving him relief that he carved a few more rooms. ventually he “moved in” and installed a small wood stove for cooking his meals and heating the cellar during the winter. While others in Fresno baked inside their stifling wood houses built above ground, Baldassare enjoyed the air-conditioned privacy of his novel underground hideaway.

Then Forestiere had an idea–could he get a tree to grow underground? He began to experiment. He built a planter from the hardpan chunks he dug out and filled it with soil he reconditioned. A skylight was cut at the top of the experimental room, and the tree then planted. He found that with the right amount of sunlight, water, and care, his
citrus tree would not only flourish, but would be protected from the frost.

From the Queen’s University Live Building site:

Both useful and decorative. Nice. Lots more information about how the mechanism works at the link.

In the early Eighties, fashion designer Pierre Cardin wanted to buy an atypical summer house in Cannes. While searching, he stumbled across a construction site being built by architect Antti Lovag for a French industrialist. When the owner died before the Bubble home’s completion, Cardin bought asked the architect to complete it for him. The finished home is all curves, inside and out. Pretty neat!

See more great pictures at Ken Sparkes Photography, or read more on the home at Interior Design.

The Chinese have built this swing on top of a 700 foot tall viewing platform in China. Swingers are propelled out over the edge of the platform for a terrific (or terrifying) view of Harbin city in the Heilongjiang province. Link

While this may be the swing with the longest potential fall, the world’s highest swing highlighted here in March still seems much scarier (particularly with its stomach turning 33 story freefall).

This awesome rolling bridge is made by Heatherwick Studio and is located in Paddington Basin, London, UK:

Rather than a conventional opening bridge mechanism, consisting of a single rigid element that lifts to let boats pass, the Rolling Bridge gets out of the way by curling up until its two ends touch. While in its horizontal position, the bridge is a normal, inconspicuous steel and timber footbridge; fully open, it forms a circle on one bank of the water that bears little resemblance to its former self.

Twelve metres long, the bridge is made in eight steel and timber sections, and is made to curl by hydraulic rams set into the handrail between each section.
 

Jaime Salm designed this modular and paintable 3D wallpaper tiles to instantly transform your boring walls into a conversation piece: Link | More fun wallpapers at FunForever

Fluid Stairway by Bosch & Fjord. If this is what I think it is - a stairway carpet made to look like a pool of blood, then it’s awesome (in a gruesome way!). If anyone can translate, I’d appreciate it.

Habitat 67. Neatorama reader AC wrote:

Habitat 67 is a one-of-a-kind housing complex located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Habitat 67 developed out of architect Moshe Safdie’s 1961 thesis design project and report ("A Three-Dimensional Modular Building System" and "A Case for City Living" respectively). The building was realized as the main pavilion and thematic emblem for the International World Exposition and its theme, Man and His World, held in Montreal in 1967.