LEGO Group has a rich history of making Star Wars-themed sets for 25 years, and for the holiday season, there’s something new that builders will want to add to their collection. The official 2024 Advent Calendar is a Star Wars-themed set that is selling like hotcakes as more than 60,000 units are already gone.

The interactive buildable set for both kids and adults comes with new Star Wars minifigures and vehicles that can be assembled each day leading up to Christmas time. The 368-piece LEGO set has miniature versions of the Holiday Princess Lia, Mandalorian Gauntlet, Jabba’s Sail Barge, Emperor’s Shuttle, Praetorian Guard, Super Battle Droid and many more.

Designer: LEGO Group

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Accompanying these cute minifigures are the 18 mini-vehicle models representing the respective franchise. These include Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder, Millennium Falcon, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, AT-AT, Y-wing, Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser, Emperor’s Shuttle, U-wing, and T-6 Jedi Shuttle. This set is about imaginative story building to keep everyone engaged for 24 days and revere in the spirit of the Star Wars universe. Every morning there is a new surprise hidden for Star Wars fans to engage with and rejoice in the final build on Christmas day.

To create your personalized element of adventure and X-Mas spirit, the set can be combined with other Star Wars sets by LEGO. So, the permutations and combinations for having a fresh build are limitless. This gives LEGO builders the freedom to tinker around with any set element.

Star Wars Advent Calendar 2024 glorifies the 25^th anniversary of LEGO and the Star Wars franchise just as the fans would desire. It is priced at $45 but can be bought for a discount at $36. This set along with the Harry Potter Advent Calendar gives LEGO lovers plenty of ways to set up their advent calendars for family fun. Otherwise, it can be displayed as a part of your Star Wars or LEGO collection on the workspace shelves in your geeky den.

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The post LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2024 gets you in the Sci-Fi Christmas spirit first appeared on Yanko Design.

With concerns rising about climate change and the demand for eco-friendly solutions, bamboo has become a top choice. The growing popularity of bamboo products is largely due to their positive environmental impact. Though bamboo is commonly found in furniture and flooring, it’s not considered wood but rather a grass with distinct composition and growth patterns compared to tree wood where its tightly packed fibers contribute to its durability and strength.

Those very properties, however, make it quite ideal for some designs, and there is a wide range of applications of bamboo in furniture, accessories, or even architecture. It is becoming a widely-used alternative to wood because of its faster growth rate and ubiquity, not to mention its unique properties and deep roots in antiquity. Here we explore not only the reasons why bamboo is such a popular choice but also the variety of uses it has in contemporary product design.

Designer: Deepak Dadheech

Why is Bamboo the best material for sustainable product design?

Just like regular wood, bamboo is a renewable resource for production materials. Unlike typical trees, however, it’s often easier to grow and take care of. With minimal chemical and water requirements, bamboo stands out as an eco-friendly material that absorbs more carbon dioxide than cotton or timber and releases oxygen to enhance air quality.

As a material, it also offers plenty of unique properties that make it suitable to replace not just hardwood or metal but even plastic or fabric. Here are some of the reasons why bamboo has become such a darling in the product design industry, especially compared to less sustainable options.

Image courtesy of: wirestock

• Eco-Friendly Material – Bamboo’s self-regenerating nature and rapid growth with minimal care make it one of the most sustainable alternatives to plastic or metal.
• Cost-Effective – Bamboo is an affordable material that allows designers to experiment with the material and integrate it into their designs.
• Versatile Material – Bamboo is a versatile material that can be used to create various products like fabrics, towels, brushes, and furniture.
• Highly Durable – Despite its lightweight, bamboo offers remarkable tensile strength, flexibility, and durability, making it resistant to wear and tear over time, unlike many other materials.
• Strong yet Soft – Bamboo offers durability comparable to popular hardwoods, ensuring long-lasting beauty and functionality.
• Grown Naturally without Chemicals – Bamboo is grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and its 100% biodegradable fiber grows rapidly due to its grass-like nature
• Aesthetically Appealing – Bamboo’s natural sheen and silk-like texture enhance the visual appeal of different products and provide a luxurious feel.

Image courtesy of: Lobachad

What are the trending uses of bamboo?

Given the versatility of bamboo, it’s no surprise that it has been used in a wide variety of product designs. It’s not just the usual furniture or accessories either, as some consumer electronics have even adopted this wonder material. Bamboo doesn’t just bring sustainability but also a touch of style to designs that use it.

Of course, not all products can simply use bamboo material willy-nilly, since the material is still wood. With some creative thinking, however, bamboo can be utilized for almost anything, including textile! Here are ten examples of bamboo being used in modern products to elevate their quality both from without and within.

1. Bamboo Furniture

In the Kana Pro Bamboo Standing Desk by FlexiSpot, form meets function in a sustainable package. Crafted with a bamboo desktop that exudes warmth and durability, this desk elevates any home office aesthetic. With its dual-motor lifting system, one can adjust the desk’s height to one’s, ensuring ergonomic comfort. Safety features like anti-collision technology and a child lock alongside an integrated cable tray keep wires organized, while the additional lacquer coating enhances resistance to scratches, water, and insects.

Designer: FlexiSpot

The design is simple and doesn’t hide the wooden nature of the bamboo tabletop. Instead, it proudly displays the grain patterns unique to wood that give the slab its own character. It takes the elegance of natural bamboo strips and puts them on top of an ergonomic desk for a luxurious and comfortable working experience.

2. Electronic Devices

Using wood with electronics isn’t a popular design, especially ones that get exposed to moisture and the elements regularly. Used properly, however, it can turn a utilitarian product into a fashion statement, making a device an extension of one’s character and tastes.

Designer: Aakansh Chaturvedi

The Bambass headphones are a sustainable innovation that merges bamboo weaving with modern design. Crafted with eco-friendly materials like bamboo and vegan leather, these open-back headphones offer both style and functionality. The adjustable design ensures comfort, while the use of bamboo provides enhanced sound insulation. With a commitment to reducing e-waste, Bambass represents a step forward in eco-conscious electronic accessories.

3. Bamboo Towels

Bamboo is wood and wood is hard, so you’d presume that you can only use bamboo for similarly hard products. Unlike most trees, however, bamboo stalks are actually flexible and fibrous, making it possible to actually transform them into yarn and fabrics. What you get is textile that’s sustainable on many levels while still providing the basic properties of regular cloth.

Designers: Marcos Bulacio, William Di Ricco & Juan Sebastian Duque of Pangea Movement

PANGEA’s Bamboo Adventure Towel 2.0 is not just eco-friendly; it’s carbon-negative, actively removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits. Crafted entirely from 100% bamboo fibers, dyed with natural colors, and featuring a waffle pattern for enhanced absorption, it outperforms traditional microfiber towels. Designed for outdoor use, it’s naturally hypoallergenic, and antibacterial.

4. Bamboo Plates

Plates made of wood aren’t exactly new, especially in some cultures that emphasize a strong association with food and nature. Bamboo, however, opens up even more possibilities not only in terms of design but also sustainability. Reusing cutoffs, for example, helps reduce the need for raw materials even further, as demonstrated by this creative plate design.

Designer: KNORK

Knork’s Sustainable Eco Plates feature a unique shape that comfortably holds wine glasses, perfect for eco-conscious entertaining. Made from bamboo and sugarcane offcuts, they contribute to a zero-waste future. The plates’ intelligent design includes space for wine glasses and hanging Knork Eco utensils. Crafted from Astrik resin, they’re biodegradable, dishwasher-safe, and decompose into compost in two years. These durable, sustainable plates minimize environmental impact, setting the stage for eco-friendly parties.

5. Bamboo Inspired Aesthetics

Designer: Kim Minsu

These minimal bamboo-inspired pens feature a magnetic base for self-organization. Designed by Kim Minsu, they resemble the aesthetic appeal of bamboo plants. The pens return to an upright position on the flat base, ensuring easy access whenever needed while adding a stylish touch to any workspace.

Designer: RONG Design

This minimalist tea set, designed for a luxury hotel brand in Jintan District, southern China, integrates the region’s renowned bamboo and high-grade green tea. The set, resembling bamboo, comprises a teacup, teapot, and tea spoon that stack to form a bamboo shape, symbolizing the traditional tea brewing process. This design seamlessly blends elegance with functionality, offering a serene addition to any kitchen.

6. Bamboo Toothbrush

There is so much plastic around us that we have become desensitized to their presence and effects on the environment. Even the toothbrushes we use to keep your teeth healthy is pretty much completely made of different kinds of plastic. Considering how often we replace these products, their accumulated numbers in landfills can be quite staggering.

Designer: NOS

The Everloop Toothbrush features an innovative design that allows for the replacement of its bamboo bristles. Made by NOS, this toothbrush addresses the alarming issue of plastic waste, with billions of toothbrushes being discarded each year. Its handle is crafted from recycled toothbrushes, while a clamping mechanism enables the attachment of 100% natural bamboo bristles. The plastic handle can be retained and the bamboo bristles can be periodically replaced to ensure that minimal plastic waste enters the environment.

7. Bamboo Pet Furniture

Humans aren’t the only ones who can enjoy bamboo-based products. With the rise in the number of pets in households, it’s only natural for pet furniture to also increase, most of which are made using plastic. Of course, not every piece or part of the pet furniture should be made of wood, but careful design can yield interesting results. CatYou in a Circle, for example, is an innovative modular cat furniture designed to serve as a lounge for both owners and pets. This set includes a floor sofa and coffee table, offering a relaxing space for cats and their owners.

Designer: Jack Dogson

Crafted with urban living in mind, it addresses common challenges faced by cat owners in compact spaces, providing hiding spots and play areas within the furniture. The woven bamboo design allows for visibility while maintaining boundaries, and adjustable armrests and washable cushions enhance comfort and versatility. CatYou in a Circle’s design balances functionality, style, and the behavioral needs of both pets and humans, making it an ideal solution for modern living spaces.

8. Bamboo Architecture

Designer: Thilina Liyanage

Thilina Liyanage’s “Birdie” is a picturesque bamboo glamping villa that resembles a majestic bird in flight. Located amidst a forest in Sri Lanka, this stunning creation showcases Liyanage’s talent for crafting nature-inspired structures using bamboo and wood. Elevated on stilts, Birdie offers occupants a serene view of the surrounding forest, with two levels providing ample space for a family of three. The upper level features a bedroom with a balcony, while the lower level includes a living space, a toilet, and a cantilever hammock for relaxation. With its bamboo, wood, and tile exterior, Birdie exudes the elegance of a swan about to take flight, creating an illusion of being suspended in the air. The spacious interior, cleverly integrated into the bird’s chest and wingspan, offers a comfortable retreat amidst nature.

Designer: Sarawoot Jansaeng-Aram from Dersyn Studio Co., Ltd.

Turtle Bay, situated by Thailand’s Khao Tao Reservoir in Hua Hin, exemplifies eco-tourism through its sustainable design and use of local materials. Architect Sarawoot Jansaeng-Aram’s concept includes floating bungalows crafted to resemble bamboo turtles, featuring shingled roofs and locally sourced bamboo. Embracing the renowned “Poon Tum” technique, known for its natural ventilation and resilience, Turtle Bay showcases a commitment to preserving the ecosystem.

9. Bamboo Cleaning Brush

Just like with toothbrushes, household cleaning tools are mostly made of plastic. Though some brushes do have wooden handles, their bristles are still made of plastic. It’s possible to use different materials, but the usual plastic alternatives are often too expensive to produce.

Designer: NOS Design

This sustainable dish brush features replaceable bamboo bristles, ensuring infinite reusability. Introduced by NOS, the creators of the successful Everloop Toothbrush, this innovation addresses the mounting plastic waste issue. The brush’s concave lid mechanism doubles as a soap container, while its replaceable bristles, made from natural fibers like bamboo and castor beans, are 100% compostable.

10. Bamboo Packaging

Although phone manufacturers have started removing plastic from their boxes, other products continue to ship packaging with plastic wrap or even plastic containers. Wood isn’t always a better choice for this purpose, but bamboo-based materials can actually help bridge the gaps between plastic, paper, and wood.

Designer: Sony

Global brands are increasingly prioritizing sustainability, with initiatives ranging from extending product lifecycles to sourcing eco-friendly materials for packaging. Sony, for instance, has launched its sustainability campaign by adopting recycled paper goods and locally sourced annuals for packaging. Their Original Blended Material, made from bamboo, sugarcane, and recycled paper, reduces CO2 emissions compared to traditional packaging materials sourced from mature trees. By sourcing materials locally and promoting sustainable practices, Sony aims to minimize environmental impact while delivering quality products.

The post Top 10 Ways to Use Bamboo in Contemporary Design first appeared on Yanko Design.

When it comes to choosing speakers to adorn your home and play your favorite music in your space, the look or design is not always the priority. The first thing you’re probably looking at is the sound quality (or maybe the cost if you’re working on a tight budget) and how it looks is just an afterthought. There are brands though that have teamed up with designers to make their speakers stand out in the sometimes overly crowded audio market.

Designer: Tom Fereday for Pitt & Giblin

Tasmanian audio brand have teamed up wtih Australian designer Tom Fereday to bring something called the Cast speaker. It has an industrial but aesthetic design, if the look you’re going for is simple but steely. The speaker is mostly made from marine-grade aluminum that not only adds to the acoustic properties of the device but also makes it more durable. This kind of aluminum can combat oxidation and degradation so it can last for a long time without looking so old.

Each speaker is made from four aluminum elements whose casting brings about a soft texture with a certain sheen. This is because the external surfaces are honed and hot waxed. The speaker itself has a complex curve on a circular pattern with a small opening at the center, the only interruption in its cohesive design. The casting is both the cubic framework and the acoustic design for the speaker.

When it comes to quality, the Cast speaker has a Hypex FusionAmp module that is able to power a 10″ subwoofer, four 4″midrange drivers, and a high frequency unit. The Digital Signal Processing is able to re-align the 3-way geometry that powers the unit. It’s a pretty high-end piece of audio equipment so the price is pretty steep. But if the look and the quality is what you’re looking for, you wouldn’t mind spending that much,

The post Cast metal speaker is made from marine-grade aluminum for aesthetics and acoustics first appeared on Yanko Design.

Dezeen School Shows: a pavilion informed by the Bauhaus artist Paul Klee is included in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at Rensslear Polytechnic University, the oldest technology research university in America.

Also included is a waterfront restoration project in New York, USA, and a gallery situated within a sculpture park.

Rensslear Polytechnic University

Institution: Rensslear Polytechnic University
School: School of Architecture
Courses: Architectural Design 1, First Year, Architectural Design 2, First Year, Architectural Design 4, Second Year, Vertical Design Studio, Third, Fourth and Fifth Year, Final Project, Fifth Year Thesis, Final Project, Fifth Year Thesis, Vertical Design Studio, Third, Fourth and Fifth Year, Architectural Design 3, Second Year
Tutors: Walaid Sehwail, Caleb White, Kyle Troyer, Adam Dayem, Crio Najle, Marcus Carter, Ryosuke Imaeda, Chris Perry, Riley Studebaker and Benjamin Vanmuysen

School statement:

“Situated within one of the premier technological research universities in the US, the School of Architecture at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute works in collaboration with leading scientists, engineers, technologists, artists and entrepreneurs.

“Together, we reimagine the future built environment as an ecologically responsive, energy-efficient, socially conscious and poetically charged constellation of buildings and infrastructures that reinvigorate and empower diverse communities around the world.

“We believe in the benevolent power of architecture to contribute to the environmental restoration of our planet, to establish a more productive, harmonious and symbiotic relationship with the natural world, and to imbue our buildings with an awe-inspiring sense of wonder and delight.”

Figural Cohesion by Emma Tommell

“There exists a relationship between part-to-whole assemblies that focuses on how disjointed figural elements unify through graphic and at times elegant pattern overlays; specifically systemised gradient patterns visually tying fragmented parts together.

“Series of figural volumes were created and nestled together to produce a larger disjointed whole – while in parallel a series of graphic patterns were produced to drape onto the whole assembly, to form a tension between the disordered figural parts and systemised order of the graphic patterns.

“Dissonance is resolved through altering the graphic patterns into gradient patterns and material transitions that visually unify the different parts into a cohesive whole.

“Additionally, duality exists between the similar patterns utilised either as flat graphic patterns on the ground plane or as relief patterns in the volumetric figures, that introduce machine-like aesthetics due to material effect from the relief introduced.

“These patterns, influenced by materiality, blur the lines between two-dimensional graphic representation and three-dimensional, machined precision. The result is a design where flatness and industrial reliefs coexist, challenging conventional perceptions and enhancing the sense of visual complexity.

“This tension between graphic flatness and mechanical texture highlights the project’s exploration of contrast and cohesion.”

Student: Emma Tommell
Course: Architectural Design 2, First Year
Tutor: Walaid Sehwail
Email: tommee[at]rpi.edu

New Spatial Matrices for Housing by Allison Motler and Katherine Wright

“In this housing studio, students developed novel spatial matrices to resist the normative tendencies of apartment blocks to become highly repetitive floors connected by vertical structure.

“Complexities introduced by these matrices provided a framework in which to resolve program and spatial networks as support for social relationships within and adjacent to the housing project.

“Students developed these spatial matrices in a two-stage modelling process intended to take advantage of digital thinking, while also layering in a specific type of indeterminacy enabled by a structuralist critique of modernism.

“The first stage of modelling started with two parametrically controlled digital models, one exploring the overall figure of the building, and another exploring an aggregation of an abstract repetitive unit.

“In the second stage of modelling students were asked to move away from a direct link between a digital input and a spatial idea.

“They were asked to make one model that brought the large scale of the overall building figure model together with the small scale of the repetitive unit, and another that looked at a portion of the building in detail. They were required to negotiate the indeterminate complexities of combining architectural scales and details expressing the collective nature of the building.”

Students: Allison Motler and Katherine Wright
Course: Architectural Design 4, Second Year
Tutor: Adam Dayem
Emails: motlea[at]rpi.edu and wrighk4[at]rpi.edu

Fading Domino Towers by Ryan Bedell and Hannah Taylor

“What happens with the canon in architecture when its alleged norm, which defines the status quo of architecture as we know it, is heretically merged with the orthodoxy of another canon, an uncanny integration is stretched beyond the standards of its predecessors, through a pliant but inertial rule set of variations?

“By configuring complex architectural artefacts through integration and differentiation, the creativity of the normative is driven to arise out of the normal, the singular out of the dogmatic and the profane out of the sacred, constituting architectural models that, while strictly rooted in history, turn history upside down.

“Hypercanon engenders offbeat forms of canon through the saturated promiscuity of existing ones, disputing the architectural canon from within through abstraction, mixture, variation and redundancy.

“Fading Domino Towers is a housing gradient field that integrates the amusingly non-repetitive Seijo Town Houses, by Kazuyo Sejima and the obsessively regularly repetitive Carabanchel Housing bar, by the architects formerly known as FOA.

“While constituting vastly disparate approaches to collective residential living, the former operating as a seemingly random field of delicately displaced minute single space units that subtly change in height and width, creating pockets and paths of common space and the latter configuring an extremely long six-story building that minimises public space to optimise private space.

“Fading Domino Towers transitions their organisation and rationality in a field with a wide variety of minimum existence and joyful living housing units that merge the radical and the playful in an apparent architectural oxymoron.”

Students: Ryan Bedell and Hannah Taylor
Course: Architectural Design 4, Second Year
Tutor: Crio Najle
Emails: bedelr2[at]rpi.edu and tayloh[at]rpi.edu

Y-Wave by Ethan Aspiras and Marcus Morgan

“This studio focused on design and construction of ecological coastal armouring units and sea wall panels, to be installed in the intertidal zone along the shoreline of Governors Island in New York City.

“Working with The Fort Miller Group, a precast concrete fabricator located in Greenwich, New York, students engaged in digital and material fabrication to realise their proposals.

“The work considered a range of issues including urban ecology, waterfront restoration, material science and advanced fabrication techniques.

“This proposal focused on varied surface rugosity, understanding tidal zones, regulating surface temperature, providing erosion protection and increasing vegetation as a nursery for various species.

“It considered three scales of efficacy: the overall mass and how it aggregates with other units or existing riprap, a middle scale of texture for juvenile species to inhabit in small pools and the micro-texture for algae, bacteria and other tiny organisms. CNC milled molds with silicone form liners were created to cast the geometries in concrete.”

Student: Ethan Aspiras and Marcus Morgan
Course: Vertical Design Studio, Third, Forth and Fifth Year
Tutor: Marcus Carter
Email: aspire[at]rpi.edu and morgam13[at]rpi.edu

Breaths and Echoes: Carving Spaces in Time by Clara Cruz

“In today’s rapidly changing world, stillness has shifted its definition from a stationary to that which torpidly mutates beyond our perception.

“We appreciate both the dynamic nature of society and the stacicity of artefacts – within the paradigm, objects continue to evolve, affording the awe and wonder of past events inscribed in their timeless existence.

“Located on Hormuz Island, an island entirely formed from a salt dome embedded in clay, this project offers spaces for miners, worshippers and caregivers. By reclaiming land scarred by material extraction, the space adapts to cultural needs, allowing local skills and traditions to persist. As workers carve the land, the salt mine transforms into a mosque.

“Although excavation is driven by economic reasons to benefit from mineral trade, the ongoing process gradually reveals spaces by finding what can be carved and what must remain structural. The discovery of specific bedrocks also forges halotherapy chambers for respiratory treatment.

“In the absence of blueprints, architecture becomes a process of archaeological discovery. Traces of human interaction – touches, climbs, footprints, scratched surfaces, drill marks and exposed bedrock – are all integral to the formation of these spaces. Tangential to existing nature and its demand, the project views design as a tactile dialogue with materials, thereby loosely operating between the land and the space.”

Student: Clara Cruz
Course: Final Project, Fifth Year Thesis
Tutor: Ryosuke Imaeda
Email: clara.alho.cruz[at]gmail.com

The Arborous Ruin by Sami Detwiler

“This thesis engages our final project section prompt of ambiguous territory through an exploration of ambiguities regarding the relationship between architecture and nature, in terms of the discipline’s origin story, as rooted in the natural, as well as qualities of permanence and impermanence; while architecture has historically aspired to the former, the natural environment exemplifies the latter.

“To this extent, the architectural ruin became a point of interest, in terms of its ambiguous status as situated somewhere between such conditions; at once architectural and natural (given the emergence of plant and wildlife in lieu of human inhabitation), as well as permanent and impermanent (given the building’s gradual erosion in lieu of regular maintenance).

“Additionally, the ruin introduces ambiguities regarding its status as being situated between the past and the present; at once a monument to history, the ruin continues to function, albeit in new and unexpected ways.”

Student: Sami Detwiler
Course: Final Project, Fifth Year Thesis
Tutor: Chris Perry
Email: samidetwiler[at]gmail.com

FloraForge: Slow Autonomy for Ecological Husbandry by Colin Bentley, Colin Dorsey and Bryn Peterson

“In 2023, led by Professor Riley Studebaker, Rensselaer Architecture students utilised robotic-arm and mixed-reality fabrication to develop a full-scale structural prototype for non-humans.

“Students Bryn Peterson, Collin Bentley and Collin Dorsey envisioned speculative futures of post-human Florida, proposing the use of embedded robotics in Amazon Mega-Fulfillment centres as autonomous labor for adaptive reuse.

“The project functioned both as a thought experiment and an R&D prototype; the team imagined how robotics can intersect with adaptive reuse and non-human ecologies and then literally constructed a ‘live’ prototype to demonstrate its fabrication and operation.

“The team’s prototype, built from bolted EMT steel, was assembled using an ABB robotic arm and a Hololense 2 mixed-reality headset with Fologram. Sensors embedded in the structure monitored and directed the growth of Dactylis glomerata grass by autonomously controlling soil moisture, temperature, and light levels.

“Now permanently displayed in the RPI Folsom Library, prototypes from the studio serve as templates for future students in robotic design. By integrating robotic labour into adaptive reuse, the studio has reinforced the Rensselaer School of Architecture’s innovative approach to technology, not only teaching the technical operation of emerging tools, but also exploring the meaningful and responsible impacts of those emerging tools in the built environment.”

Students: Colin Bentley, Colin Dorsey and Bryn Peterson
Course: Vertical Design Studio, Third, Fourth and Fifth Year
Tutor: Riley Studebaker
Emails: bentlc[at]rpi.edu, dorsec2[at]rpi.edu and peterb5[at]rpi.edu

Violated Perfection by Jack Zhang

“Situated within the Art OMI arts centre in the Hudson Valley, this studio project connects the institution’s artist residencies with its sculpture park.

“The proposed gallery offers an exhibition space within the public park for artists to display their work produced during the residency.

“As such, the gallery doesn’t only provide a container for art display, but also a contribution to the sculpture park.

“Exhausted by the impervious search for perfection, this project embraces the inherent beauty of spontaneity, discontinuity and misalignment.

“The main entrance of the project is articulated with two warped surfaces which emphasise the connection between the gallery and the ground.

“While the entrance is ductile, the exterior is clad with broken and fragmented pieces of concrete, creating light crevasses to illuminate the exhibition space.

“The project intentionally disrupts the traditional perception of a gallery to not only enhance the experience of its visitors, but also to stimulate its art residents.”

Student: Jack Zhang
Course: Architectural Design 3, Second Year
Tutor: Benjamin Vanmuysen
Email: zhangj49[at]rpi.edu

Ambiguous Figures by Natalie Simpson

“This project began with a formal analysis of an artwork by Paul Klee from his book, The Thinking Eye.

“Students were challenged to excavate figures from the multiplicity of possible readings and then to recompose these figures into their own compositions.

“Ambiguous Figures relies on the simultaneity that emerges from provoking the extracted figures into three-dimensional space, and then through orthographic projection, muddling and blurring their relationships to create rich and interdependent spatial relationships.

“This formal agenda is brought to bear on a small two-story pavilion which students were asked to model with multiple materials and strategies of assembly.

“This project contemplates the capacity of our perception to read simultaneous and sometimes conflicting forms and to untangle these into a coherent spatial reading.”

Student: Natalie Simpson
Course: Architectural Design 1, First Year
Tutor: Caleb White
Email: simpsn[at]rpi.edu

Grain Stack by Sofia Amato

“The project site, located at Lock E17 in Little Falls, New York, encouraged students to explore the themes of water flow and containment and the integration of non-human occupants.

“Given the Erie Canal’s historical role in transporting agricultural products such as wheat and corn, the studio brief called for the design of a granary hybridised with a bakery to facilitate a connection to the public, with the non-human occupant for this studio conceptualised as wheat and other commonly farmed crops.

“Granaries, as ubiquitous agrarian typologies, were studied to examine dichotomies such as nature versus architecture, the raw versus the synthetic and functionalism versus inefficiency.

“Students investigated informal geometric relationships that referenced found granaries and how residual spaces emerge through stacking, peeling, shifting, leaning and intersecting simple forms.

“This project consists of cubic volumes that shift and misalign to create dynamic spaces for both agriculture and human use. The residual gaps allow natural light to penetrate the interior, welcoming crop farming inside the building. The design explores how basic volumes can produce spatial complexity, blending utility with an expression of an agrarian aesthetic.”

Student: Sofia Amato
Course: Architectural Design 2, First Year
Tutor: Kyle Troyer
Email: amatos[at]rpi.edu

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Rensslear Polytechnic University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Rensslear Polytechnic University presents ten architecture projects appeared first on Dezeen.

Maserati Biturbo-Shamal was one of Maserati’s finest creations when it was released in the 90s. Co-designed by Marcello Gandini, the performance grand tourer fitted with a V8 engine only sold a limited edition of 369 units. Now, Automobili Modena has brought back the sharp Italian classic as a restomod version.

Dubbed MA-01 Biturbo-Shamal Restomod, the car retains the bodywork’s angular, sharp flowing lines, right from the front grille to the LED light clusters on the rear. Eye-pleasing muscle is added in the form of wheel arches, high tail, fixed wing, smoothness of the flanks, and beefy exhausts (two on each side) bulging from the valence.

Designer: Modena Automobili

Lucky ones who own the original Shamal, and ones who are motorheads will instantly recognize the semblance of grille design, center pillar, and Trident on the rear pillars and door handles. The facelift comes in the shape of a more aggressive frontal stance, bigger air intakes, side skirtings and sharper wheel arches. Of them all, the LED light pack and the large spoiler give it a sportier look. The lightweight body features steel and carbon fiber make. Integrated into the frame is an exposed carbon central pillar that doubles as a rollbar for protection.

Although not many details of the interior have been shared, it will likely have an oval digital instrument cluster just like the original. Other details about the innards are left out for now to everyone’s imagination. Under the hood is where most of the work has been invested in. Gone is the original Maserati Biturbo Shamal’s 326-hp 3.2-liter V8 replaced by the modern Maserati Ghibli S’ twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. The engine is custom-tuned to generate more power in coordination with a Ghibli S’ eight-speed ZF gearbox that’s capable of gear shifting in a mere 150 milliseconds. More internal components push the twin-turbo V6’s capability to generate 500hp. In the end, the Shamal hits a top speed of 177 mph and goes from 0-60mph in 4.7 seconds.

The ambitious Modena Automobili Project is only going to take shape as 33 limited edition units. Priced at approximately 638,000 the Maserati Biturbo-Shamal restomod will go up for sale in Spring of 2025, so better mark your calendars.

The post Maserati Biturbo-Shamal restomod reincarnates the 90s Italian coupe into a desirable hunk first appeared on Yanko Design.