In the project for SanHe kindergarten, a 5,000-square-metre educational building for 540 children on the outskirts of Beijing, OBRA Architects has characterized the grand construction with domestic spaces which are more suited to the functionality of the building, at the same time experimenting with a configuration of the classrooms which is completely new to Chinese standards.

In Shanghai, a mother designer also put her own idea about childishness into the design, and built up the 123+ Growth Center that is completely belong to kids. By using abstract and figurative elements, such as the continuous interior walls wrapped with plain pine veneer, a transitional space was offered between the kids’ inner world and the outside normal life.

In this issue we feature Olympia 66, a 7-storey shopping mall designed by Aedas in the city of Dalian, China. It is a statement of innovative design which grasps the balance between a complex form and functions, respecting Chinese culture and urban context, with the thoughtful approach to its relationship to the street providing generous community space and plazas with integrated landscape.

In Confetti is a series of remarkable exhibitions for masterpieces, including “Roverto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist” in Jewish Museum in New York City; “Mimmo Jodice. Attesa 1960-2016” in Museo MADRE, Napoli; and “Think/Neon Multiples” by Maurizio Nannucci in Colli Independent Art Gallery, Roma.

International projects include the New Tate Modern (Switch House) by Herzog & de Meuron, which manages to dig its roots deep into London’s urban fabric as a genuine piece of the contemporary city, and the LEE Building of ETH Zurich, an exemplary project that illustrates how a unitary design gesture can encapsulate functional, structural and urbanistic requirements all at once.