There are just three days to go until the Wallpaper* Design Awards. Every day during the run-up to the awards ceremony, we are presenting the shortlist for the ten International Judges' Awards, exclusively on Wallpaper.com. Day 7 sees the world's greatest cities battling it out for the top spot. All winners will be announced on the 11th of January.
Beijing
A year or two ago, Beijing would barely have made it into a top 20 of our favourite cities. However, Beijing has vaporised much of its past in materialising its future, particularly as the host of the next Olympics. While the city boggles the mind with its endless contradictions, it remains a hotbed of possibilities, and it must be this mix of tensions that fires up its inhabitants enough to struggle on. Recently, their struggles have resulted in a wealth of smart new and revamped venues, such as the Beijing Peninsula hotel (below).
Istanbul
Having carved out a niche as an art city with its new modern art gallery and Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul's latest incarnation is as a shopping paradise and chic nightspot. A host of new stores and bars have opened in Nisantasi, not to mention design specialist Addresistanbul (below). But perhaps most impressive has been the emergence of a daring design scene. Derin Design and Gaia & Gino are already stars, while Autoban points to Istanbul's exciting design future. The city is rapidly turning into an elegant party capital.
New York City
Since the Twin Towers tragedy, New York has rediscovered its enthusiasm for the majestic, such as lavish Japanese restaurant Matsuri (below), and the new. The greatest names in architecture (Foster, Gehry, Calatrava, Meier, Piano) are currently reshaping the skyline for a new generation of New Yorkers. Williamsburg is now as cool (and as pricey) as Tribeca and Nolita, while in Manhattan itself, areas once considered down-at-heel are rapidly becoming the new epicentres of cool - notably the Lower East Side and Harlem.
Stockholm
The sleek white minimalism of late 1990s Stockholm has shifted stylistically and many commercial interiors have now adopted more experimental and even fun undertones. The locals, with their zest for life and love of travelling, have recently taken more foreign influences to heart. Yet Stockholmers have an incredible quality of never taking things too far. Whatever the creative field, Swedes just seem to achieve the ideal balance, like the Moderna art museum (below), which is so very impressive both inside and out.
Vienna
After joining the EU back in 1995, Vienna today is looking at an
ever-expanding and culturally diverse Europe with fresh, if still slightly nervous, eyes. Once a revered capital that ruled a powerful empire, the city has seen dramatic change over the last century, but today's visitors will find a relaxed, compact city packed with traditional and avant-garde artistic and architectural attractions, such as the Osterreicher im MAK restaurant (below), and an almost embarrassingly effective transport system.
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