Oslo has topped a list of the world’s most expensive cities compiled by price comparison site PriceRunner.

The Norwegian capital was the most expensive city of 32 countries surveyed in the International Price Comparison survey, topping the list for the fourth year running.

The survey, which looked at a range of products that included everyday items such as milk and petrol as well as luxury items and technology, found that prices in the city were a third more expensive on average than the global average.

Brazil kicked off Latin America’s premier fashion event, Sao Paulo Fashion Week, Wednesday, with parades showcasing its economic prosperity and optimism.

“We’re a young country, a young culture, with an enormous potential for growth, for development,” organizer Paulo Borges told reporters ahead of the first shows.

Brazil‘s designs for the 2010-2011 summer season — including the inevitable sexy bikinis — are sashaying down the catwalks daily to next Monday under the overarching theme “Anima” (“animated” or “lively” in Portuguese).

Luxury car marque Bentley has opened its first showroom in South America, in a bid to gain a foothold in the area’s rapidly developing market.

The firm opened its Sao Paulo showroom on March 18, describing the Brazilian capital as “a major center of commerce, luxury and culture in South America”.

Unsurprisingly, Bentley Sao Paulo is located in the borough of Pinheiros, Sao Paulo’s wealthiest area.

The Sao Paulo location will increase Bentley’s showroom count to 48 in the Americas — despite that fact that the region’s 2009 sales total was small by most standards at “more than 1,450″.

On October 23 Italian supercar maker Lamborghini announced the official opening of their franchise in Sao Paulo, its first store in South America.

The store will be located on posh Avenida Europa. Sao Paulo was chosen due to its status as one of the most modern and luxurious cities in South America.

This marks only the second Latin American store for “The Raging Bull,” which operates a shop in Mexico.

A reference in modern architecture and originality, Unique’s spacey, green copper façade alone makes this hotel unlike any other. The imposing hotel, shaped like a modern Noah’s Arkbalances on two thin concrete walls, which anchor the semi-circular monolith to the ground.

Located in the well-heeled residential area of Jardins, and just meters from Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo’s largest green area, the building rises like a gracious ocean liner in dry-dock.

The funny thing is that when pharmaceutical heir Jonas Siaulys decided at the last minute to scrap a shopping mall project and build a boutique hotel instead, his architect Ruy Ohtake delivered new sketches within 48 hours. “I think he realized that the possibilities for a hotel were greater than for a mall,” says Siaulys. “And he knew that we’d give him creative freedom.”

Shielding dark glass and a desert garden of mini, sand-toned cubes of rock, palms and agaves are the first impressionsthat the hotel offers. Dramatic high internal spaces such as the lobby are excentuated and illuminated with walls of beige marble, and sharp, geometric themes make the spectacle even grander.

In the rooms, the bathrooms borrow a page from the driver’s manual of a Ferrari convertible. Pop open the vertically sliding divider and guests can soak in the bathtub with a full view of the bedroom and television. Pop it closed for privacy.

And when the time comes to go for a swim, backstrokes can be done in a slender red pool on the top floor. The sun deck offers a privileged view of São Paulo’s imposing skyline.

Source : designhotel
A great article about Unique Hotel