The Scottish Parliament

Unfortunately, since I don't have the resources to jet about the world and see organic architecture in person, I'm forced to develop an opinion based on tiny pictures of buildings on a computer screen. It's a bit ridiculous, but sometimes engaging in a ridiculous activity can have benefits.

With that in mind, below is a link to the BBC's review of the new Scottish Parliament buildings, famous already for running 400% over budget and for both chief architects (Enric Miralles and Donald Dewar) dying en route to completion. From what I can tell, however, they've done a wonderful job of transforming the concept of a stuffy, weighty, tradition-bound meeting hall/palace into a light, airy, organic, optimistic series of spaces with human-scale features and warm materials.

Link to the review.

Ron Arad

Israeli-born Londoner Ron Arad fits the bill as far as MYO is concerned. There's an article on his new Madrid hotel in the Times (Link). Unfortunately the site for the hotel got screwed up in the my computer's Flash, but it sounds cool.

Also, here's a short interview with him with some pictures from the Designboom site (Link).

Arad's own site is under construction, but has the best 'under construction' page I've ever seen: (Link - click the 'enter' link).

Groovy organic speakers

A British company (Si-fi) produces the Orb speaker range. They're curvy alright!

Link

Featherstone's flower bud

A new development in England in the middle of a nature reserve will see many star architects build one house each. The first, by Sarah Featherstone, looks (from what I can tell in the photo online) like a masterpiece of organic architechture. If the rest are as good then the Landmark Homes project could be a paradise for MYO design.

Link