Rio Inspiration

I am just starting a new project in my 3rd year of M.Arch at the University of Kansas, and no, it is not this blog. I will be designing a hotel next to the Copacabana Palace in Rio for the rest of the semester. It's larger project than I have ever attempted to tackle but I know I can produce something extraordinary in this amount of time. I will try to continue to keep ideas up to date as I dive into the design process, although sleep might beat out blogging, following school and work that is, at some points. So far I have decided to emphasize the lush environment Rio offers by installling a trellis system on the exterior walls of the building to encourage vine growth, after all the year round average temperature in Rio is 86/69 F. Here are a few photos of my initial inspirations: