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“It is certainly unpleasant and tedious to be confronted day-in, day-out with products which are confusing, which literally get on our nerves, and with which we cannot relate,” industrial design deity Dieter Rams of Braun once said. In order to steer us away from the creation of such products, he formulated the "10 Principles of Good Design." First embedded into our cultural lexicon in the 1970s, they still hold true today: good design is innovative, useful, intuitive, unobtrusive, and thorough down to the last detail. Most important of all, good design, like Rams’ tenets, is never outdated — although your kitchen may very well be. Luckily, Miele offers the perfect solution: The newly launched Range Series marries Rams’ classic ideals with cutting-edge technology to bring its products in better sync with our everyday lives. On an aesthetic level, Rams’ rules translate to immaculate cleanliness, both in form and maintenance, while performance remains paramount. The continuity of the cooktop’s cast-iron grates, demonstrates perfect form, resulting in unhindered movement of pots and pans from one burner to the next, and their ability to be cleaned in the dishwasher for easy maintenance. Meanwhile, the fingerprint-resistant Clean Touch Steel™ front— ...
Our client’s grandmother had acquired this house in the 1940s, renovated it herself into a quadraplex, and rented it for income during difficult economic times of the 1940s. Our client and his wife approached us to make it a modern family home for themselves. Because of the family’s history, preserving as much of the old house as possible was particularly meaningful, and how we introduced new elements and materials would be emblematic of a house adapting to one family over several generations — a unique and valued task for us. Our approach on the interior evolved into an effort to reveal the older materials by juxtaposing them with new elements such as a long, space-organizing cabinet ‘spine’ — all within a fairly restrained but varied palate of wood and white materials. On the exterior, we wanted to be clear that our slim tower addition was new, but that it was also ‘stitched’ formally to the old house — for continuity for the project and for the perception of scale from the street and neighbors.
A quarter of a century after the eastern German Democratic Republic opened its borders to the West, the once looming legacies of the socialist state are slowly disappearing from sight and mind. East Berlin is almost unrecognizable as the former capital that was characterized by un-renovated 19th-century buildings, concrete towers, and the ruins of World War II in the late 80’s and early 90’s. As Berlin firmly establishes itself in brighter, more affluent times, the city is receiving a facelift and new façades for its prefabricated buildings, the architectural remains of the GDR. But in which contexts is it worth it? With rising rents, limited success in renovation, and a high number of buildings that are still functioning well, is a cultural legacy — and a community — being erased too soon? Konrad-Wolf-Straße 45/46. Photos courtesy GPU GmbH, Dernbach Plattenbauten, or large-panel prefabricated buildings, were East Germany’s response to the poor inheritances of Soviet Socialism and World War II. When conventional methods, such as bricklaying, failed to keep pace with the effort to rebuild cities and meet housing demands, the GDR began exploring methods of prefabrication in the 1950’s. Composed of large ...
The $400 software is now $0.
The Steger Gibbons and Pickwick Renovation (renamed "Infinite Chicago") comprises the redevelopment of three historic buildings in Chicago’s Loop into a mixed-use student housing and retail complex. The renovation of the 17-story and 19-story buildings retains street-oriented commercial functions at the ground level. The second floor is dedicated to residents services and amenity functions. Resident access is focused through the Steger Building lobby where security, mail, and messaging services are located. Modern accessibility and life safety codes are addressed by joining the buildings with a connecting bridge at all floors above the fifth level. The roof of the Gibbons Building is improved with a new outdoor terrace and event room addition with height and massing carefully coordinated for compliance with historic site line requirements. The masonry-clad steel frame buildings have had fire escapes removed and their façades carefully repaired in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. The Steger Building also has had a missing terra-cotta cornice replaced together with historically accurate storefront replacements along Jackson Boulevard and Wabash Avenue. Along with a restored lobby and tree-lined streetscape, these buildings revive an important corner in Chicago’s largest student campus. ...
LG Chem, the chemical branch of the South-Korean tech conglomerate, has just made two major breakthroughs in OLED technology: They’ve begun mass-producing the world’s largest super-slim OLED panel, .88 millimeters (.03 inches) thick with a surface of 320-by-320 millimeters (12.5-by-12.5 inches), and selling engineering samples of a new super-flexible plastic OLED panel, perhaps the bendiest light ever. LG Chem’s new plastic OLED panels. Images via LG Chem The unique advantage of an OLED is in its form. While LEDs typically come in bulb form with requisite hardware — heat sinks, module frames, diffusers, etc. — OLEDs are made of layers of thin semiconductor materials, making them inherently sheet-like. With an output of 60 lumens per watt, they’re also energy-efficient. They’re lightweight, glare-free, and possess a spectral distribution similar to that of natural light. Through LG Chem’s encapsulation technology, they can function while submerged in water, and the new extra-large sheets have roughly the same brightness as a 60- to 75-watt incandescent bulb. Its potential uses are myriad. In addition to high-def curved TV screens, Vampire protection, and some groovy lamps (including the unfortunately named SMALP smart lamp), the ...
Set within Brighton Common Park, this outdoor performance theater and pavilion with seating is designed for the use of the surrounding community. From the outset, the park and new pavilion were to be used as a catalyst to transform an underutilized public space and to provide an armature for public events and performances. The form and detailing are derived from the rich rail-yard history of the surrounding Brighton area. Once the center of all livestock trade, the Brighton community was a hub of commerce where numerous train companies converged. The pavilion’s form captures the history of converging and diverging railroad tracks and railway pavilions with strong roof-line forms. The alternating steel frame and wood louver angles provide shade for the sitting and performance areas and sunlight for the green wall-screen-climbing vines. The painted steel utilizes standard shapes in unique combinations and is combined with solid stainless steel rods, stainless steel cables, and turnbuckles.
While drones are changing the way we document architecture and cities, both from the perspective of architectural photography and grassroots activism, the technology remains a complex and sometimes controversial topic. Just last week, the FAA posted a friendly reminder that the University of Phoenix Stadium would be a "No Drone Zone" during the Super Bowl. It is like an ironic PSA from a dark, futuristic movie. But now that ISIS has drones, it is not so easy to assume that every drone is for photography, and not armed with a cell phone bomb. The other issue with drones is that they can fall out of the sky and injure people or land in a very important front yard. There is even the case of a Mexican drug cartel drone crashing in a parking lot with a load of meth. Even as each of these are unprecedented incidents raises new questions, UAVs are still, for the most part, remote-controlled helicopters retrofitted with bombs, missiles, cameras, sensors, and cargo. The reason that this ad seems so futuristic is that it talks about them like they are intelligent beings, like pets or members of the family. This is when drones become really creepily ...
A plywood frame, velvet fabric upholstery, and single seat on an Amercian walnut base. Designed by Working Hands Factory
“It is certainly unpleasant and tedious to be confronted day-in, day-out with products which are confusing, which literally get on our nerves, and with which we cannot relate,” industrial design deity Dieter Rams of Braun once said. In order to steer us away from the creation of such products, he formulated the "10 Principles of Good Design." First embedded into our cultural lexicon in the 1970s, they still hold true today: good design is innovative, useful, intuitive, unobtrusive, and thorough down to the last detail. Most important of all, good design, like Rams’ tenets, is never outdated — although your kitchen may very well be. Luckily, Miele offers the perfect solution: The newly launched Range Series marries Rams’ classic ideals with cutting-edge technology to bring its products in better sync with our everyday lives. On an aesthetic level, Rams’ rules translate to immaculate cleanliness, both in form and maintenance, while performance remains paramount. The continuity of the cooktop’s cast-iron grates, demonstrates perfect form, resulting in unhindered movement of pots and pans from one burner to the next, and their ability to be cleaned in the dishwasher for easy maintenance. Meanwhile, the fingerprint-resistant Clean Touch Steel™ front— ...
High in the mountains above Guaimaca, Honduras (population 10,000), Proyecto Clamor de Paz was built as a memorial and community space honoring the memory of two inspiring young children. The project seeks healing over their loss. Over 65 family members, 70 girls from Jennie’s school, as well as foreign groups collaborated on this project. Its architect raised $30,000 to fund construction. The mayor donated some building materials. The story On June 3, 2008, four men murdered Jennie Lizeth Lopez (12) and Karlin Adali Valdez (10) in their home. Jennie’s love of learning and infectious enthusiasm promised her a bright future. Enraged, the community protested for justice. Three of the killers were tried and convicted. After visiting the event’s site and speaking with the community, we sensed a need to memorialize Jennie and Karlin on their house’s site. The site The original simple three-room home (and scene of the crime) was surrounded by lush tropical vegetation and coffee farms. It was built of stucco-clad mud bricks reinforced with straw and horsehair. Vertical slats atop the masonry filtered in light and breezes. Design decisions Because the house was decrepit and falling apart, it was decided that a new structure would be built ...
Andrés Jaque/Office for Political Innovation has been named the winner of the 2015 MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program (YAP) in New York. Selected from five finalists, Jaque and his team designed a "movable artifact" called COSMO. The temporary, outdoor installation will occupy the courtyard at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens, during the summer music series "Warm Up." The spectacular tropical spaceship-gazebo-on-wheels will provide shade, seating, and water via customized irrigation components "to make visible and enjoyable the so-far hidden urbanism of pipes we live by." It will gather people together in an environment as pleasant and climatically comfortable as a garden and as visually textured as a mirrored disco ball, providing a unique backdrop for the Warm Up series. The landscape utilizes advanced environmental design to filter and purify 3,000 gallons of water. Besides the atmospheric nature of the construction, COSMO raises awareness about (clean) water scarcity. The United Nations, estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the global population will live in countries that lack sufficient water. COSMO is also reproducible, serving as a prototype that could be built around the world to purify water. The stretched-out plastic mesh at the core of the construction ...
The top floor and roof of an 1884 warehouse are reconceived as a warm and welcoming residence with open entertaining areas and a fluid connection to the outdoors. The residence is transformed by a relocated mezzanine where a sunken interior court with a retractable glass roof connects to the planted green roof garden above. This gesture of subtracting volume from the interior brings the outdoors into the primary living zones. Embracing the building’s industrial past, a visual discourse between new and old is devised through insertions of modern materials along with restored or reclaimed materials.
Sometimes a company comes along that does something so well that it can only be categorized as "next level" — there is no other way to put it. Case in point: Rotor Deconstruction takes architectural salvage as far as it can possibly go, and they do it exquisitely. Reclamation is important for several reasons. First, it makes economic sense. Why buy new when something just as good might be available used — even if its something as heavily used as a staircase? Secondly, the historical and cultural value of artifacts preserves the heritage and memory of the past, integrated and given new life in contemporary terms (buildings). And of course it makes environmental sense: Throwing old stuff away not only creates waste, but it also requires new resources to be extracted to replace what didn't need to be replaced. Rotor understands this, and they have the inside track to some of the finest bits and pieces of Belgian modernism, ready to buy on their website. This includes everything from light fixtures to whole glass façades that can be purchased by the panel. There is even an entire candy shop interior, complete with windows and a sweet (hoho) mid-century display case. ...
The Green Pulse SK Yee Healthy Life Centre The SK Yee Healthy Life Centre is a modest yet meaningful project. Ronald Lu & Partners (RLP) completed the architectural design, including the interior fit-out, for a rooftop addition with the construction of a lightweight 1,250-square-foot structure. Its “lean and green” design allows the SK Yee Healthy Life Centre to provide more than just a healing environment — it also acts as a home, a garden, and a playground for patients. Its quiet rooftop location offers an ambience of calmness and serenity throughout, immersing patients in nature and daylight and offering them a stress-free healing experience. It demonstrates an exceptional example of the integration of sustainable design into healthcare architecture. A Lean and Green Addition The concept is simple yet profound – the building embodies a number of green elements, beginning with its lightweight steel structure and low-carbon design features. The concept of “pulsation” informs the internal planning of the space, with each counseling room and functional area attached to a garden, creating a constant interplay between interior and exterior, continually drawing light and air into the structure. A Light and Airy Interior The building structure is modest, yet at the same ...
A collection of courthouses that redefine the architecture of the judicial system.
There has been no end of attempts by London’s army of urban planners to address the issues caused by the capital’s burgeoning population, and the traffic that comes with it. In 2003 we were treated to the congestion charge, aiming to deter car users from entering the city’s congested heart, and 2010 saw the launch of the brashly branded ‘Boris bikes,' intended to encourage people to cycle instead. Despite these initiatives, the streets are as snarled up as ever, and city officials are now looking to architects to come up with fresh solutions. Following Norman Foster's audacious SkyCycle proposal, Gensler received a London Planning Award last week for their conceptual project to repurpose abandoned Tube tunnels for cyclists and pedestrians: The London Underline. Via Archdaily Gensler’s vision employs a hybrid of design concepts that combines the adaptive reuse of existing subterranean space in the center of London with the planning buzzword of the millennium: sustainability. Their proposal aims to bring unused tunnels back to life in the form of multifunctional rail trails, allowing cyclists and walkers to move unimpeded by the cars, buses and taxis that dominate the roads at surface level. Its sustainability credibility comes ...
Room on the Roof is located in the small tower on de Bijenkorf in Amsterdam, a unique spot in the historic heart of the city that has been converted into a cultural haven. Together with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, de Bijenkorf has invited national and international artists to work on their projects in the studio, ranging from performances, poetry, and light art to dance, music, film, and photography. Room on the Roof is fully equipped for the artists, with a telescope for enjoying panoramic views of the city, a bed for dreaming, a special menu for meals, and its Dam Square location providing a source of inspiration. The works resulting from time spent in Room on the Roof will be shared with the public through an exhibition in the store windows, an online live performance, or an installation in or around de Bijenkorf. Rijksmuseum For the first two years of the project, the Rijksmuseum will be the cultural partner of Room on the Roof. Since it was founded in 1870, de Bijenkorf has had a clear vision of retail and a strong affiliation with art. Through the course of the 20th century, a special bond has been forged with architects, ...
Offering a wide selection of the most innovative product materials available, Mills partitions are suited for a variety of applications and environments. The quality materials used provide key features to architects and specifiers, such as aesthetic appeal, vandal resistance, low cost, and warranties. From high-performance material options to creative style solutions, Mills partitions provide architects smart, economical choices.
“Geologists talk about the age where we are living as Anthropocene... this idea that we are living in a time where human presence is the strongest force of change.” So says Bjarke Ingels, enfant prodige of contemporary architecture — borrowing the words of a scientific community that has yet to reach a consensus on when this current era actually began. In the words of a more authoritative source, 1995 Nobel laureate in chemistry Paul Crutzen (who is credited with popularizing the term) puts it best : “For millennia, humans have behaved as rebels against a superpower we call ‘Nature.’ In the 20th century, however, new technologies, fossil fuels, and a fast-growing population resulted in a ‘Great Acceleration’ of our own powers.” Indeed, a recent account posits that the Anthropocene began with the first nuclear test, though Ingels begs to differ, siding with theorists who speculate that this era started at some 8,000 years ago, "when we domesticated animals, and plants — when we became sedentary. We're not roaming around; we're actually staying put... and we started building buildings." Thus, architects, according with Ingels, should recognize their untold influence on the shift to a settled, sheltered livelihood and look to break ...
Poole harbor in Southern England is the second-largest natural harbor in the world, with residences benefitting from views of this specular waterway being particularly sought after. The site faces southwest on a steep slope with views from the first and second floors. Large expanses of glass take full advantage of these views, while a flowing relationship with the ground floor garden is maintained. There is ample living space, four generous ensuite bedrooms, an integral double garage, home cinema, and a separate study. The pinnacle is the sunroom on the third floor with 180-degree views and a flowing indoor-outdoor terrace. This house has a remarkable street presence enhanced by its siting on the slope, the use of a diversity of textured materials and curved forms. The house grows out of the site with two vertical design features; a cylindrical rendered form juxtaposed against a vertical stone wall. Set against the verticality of these two forms the house expands horizontally with strong gray aluminum lines defining the ground and first floor accommodation. Ventura has a number of bold features. The entrance is set with a vertical stone wall that sits parallel to a curved sculptured internal stairwell. This staircase forms a dynamic ...