Left:Charles Renfro.Photo:Alessio Boni | Right:Original home advertisement.Image Courtesy:Alessio Boni and Vincent Lisanti ;via Chris Rawlins,creator of horacegifford.org

Behold the hot tub, source of man’s best ideas.You and three friends will join architect Charles Renfro for a lazy summer Sunday at his home on Fire Island.When you arrive that afternoon,you will be invited to slip into the hot tub for a roundtable discussion with cocktails. Don’t forget your swimsuit!

Van Alen Institute and online auction platform Paddle8 recently started an auction with famous architects that will feed its cross disciplinary research, provocative public programs, and inventive design competitions.

Van Alen Institute&Paddle8's auctions include 24 leading architects&creatives from around the world that create different types of actions and activities by participating to the events on the spot.This year's auctions involves like sitting in a hot-tub roundtable with Charles Renfro in his summer house,testing the smoke ring generator at Copenhagen's waste-to-energy power plant with Bjarke Ingels and BIG partner Jakob Lange,birdwatching New York's Central Park or one of Chicago's lakefront parks with Jeanne Gang,flying with Norman Foster's helicopter over the River Thames and taking part in Ben Van Berkel's design studio by sitting on meetings with power brokers and witness the operations of a major architecture studio.

Left;Bjarke Ingles;image Courtesy:Steve Benisty,Right:Copenhagen's waste-to-energy power plant:images via paddle8.com.

Accompany BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group’s Founding Partner Bjarke Ingels and Partner Jakob Lange as they test their self built smoke ring generator for BIG's new waste-to-energy power plant at the Amager Resource Center in Copenhagen.The plant's defining smokestack emits a steam ring every time one ton of CO2 is emitted, acting as a subtle yet visceral reminder of the environmental impacts of our fuel choices.

Left:Jeanne Gang-Eye in the Sky;Image courtesy:Kevin Miyazaki,Right:Jeanne Gang-Eye in the Sky;images via paddle8.com.

Add this to your life list:Join Jeanne Gang for a birdwatching expedition in an iconic urban nature destination - New York's Central Park or one of Chicago's lakefront parks.You'll watch for herons at Bow Bridge, stalk indigo buntings at the edge of Sheep's Meadow, and talk birds and buildings with one the greatest architects working today.

Left:Norman Foster-Helicopter flight over London;photo credits:Manolo Yllera and Aaron Hargreaves-Foster + Partners:Right:London;images via paddle8.com.

Architect, Norman Foster offers a helicopter ride along the River Thames from a helipad in Southwest London to view the British capital's transforming skyline. You will enjoy a privileged view of the architect's own iconic designs, including the Gherkin, London's City Hall, and in the distance the faceted courtyard of the British Museum.

Left:Ben Van Berkel-Amsterdam Architecture Role-Play;Images Courtesy:Inga Powilleit:Right:Amsterdam, Netherlands;images via paddle8.com.

Be the Art Vandelay of UNStudio for a day.Ben van Berkel will welcome you into his studio for a day of work and design in Amsterdam:You'll sit in on meetings with power brokers and witness the operations of a major architecture studio. As a midday break, van Berkel will take you to his favorite lunch spot, Odette, to enjoy a well-earned meal.

image via vanalen.org

All the biddings will be closed on May 20 and after that Van Alen will host their annual Spring Party on May 13 at The Surrogate's Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

> via paddle8.com