It is always nice to be welcomed by a new stockists, and a particular honour when a brand new shop wants to open their doors with your wares on their shelves. Inkwell Modern Handmade and Letterpress Boutique in Halifax, Nova Scotia has just opened a few days ago. Congratulations, Andrea — and thank you! From the few photos on their blog, it looks like a nicely curated shop.
Anchored by the ICFF, the real fun of New York Design Week is exploring the various exhibitions that pop-up in new and familiar places, and the parties help to make everything seem a lot less like work! This year saw the third edition of Model Citizens NYC, newcomer Wanted Design, and the return of the Meatpacking Design District where New Finnish Design was eager to live up to their title as World Design Capital 2012. MatterMade was a highlight in Soho, while Gallery R’Pure’s “BrokenOff BrokenOff,” the highly-anticipated exhibition in memory of the inimitable Tobias Wong, did not disappoint.
Playful minimalism in the work of a well-rounded Spanish designer
Spanish designer JM Ferrero recently sat down during ICFF to discuss his singular vision in the areas of lighting, furniture, interior design and textiles. With a miniature version of his first lamp pinned to his sweater, I quickly learned that Ferrero (who’s helmed his own studio since 2003) might be serious about his work but he always adds a touch of underlying humor. His thoughtful approach even comes through in the naming of his atelier. Called estudi{H}ac, the silent “H” isn’t pronounced in Spanish, but without it the word doesn’t make sense. Ferrero chalks this up to the way he designs, weaving important design details into the overall scheme to the point they’re unnoticeable.
The industrious designer calls what he does “bespoke projects,” because no matter the client or field he’s working within, he customizes every design and experience. Rather than repeat work, he instead chooses to work with a new set of challenges for each project. But he does of course have some tendencies. Repeating patterns show up often, such as in the Tea collection he designed for the family-run furniture brand Sancal. Following the molecular structure of tea, Ferrero plays with the hexagonal quilted pattern in a series of chairs, couches and wall coverings—which can also double as a headboard.
His understanding of textile design stems from earlier work he did after graduating from college. Ferrero, originally from Valencia, moved to Barcelona and first worked with renowned designer Oscar Tusquets before joining the team at textile design firm Manterol, where he developed graphics and packaging. This experience not only laid the foundation for a keen interest in fabrics, but the packaging and graphic design side seemingly aided to his overall ability to design a concept from top to bottom. For SIE7E Jewels Gallery, Ferrero designed the jewelry brand’s boutique, website and most recently a collection of small home accessories using the reconfigured “7” he conceived.
The collection spans desk caddies to serving trays and includes a shoe horn, an object with personal meaning for Ferrero. A slight shoe fanatic (he wore leather Paul Smith oxfords with playful socks when we met), Ferrero takes photos of his feet in front of meaningful places around the world during his travels, which hang on the wall of his studio and serve as a conversational starting point for explaining his design inspiration. For example, the Tea collection reflects how much he enjoyed the afternoon tea experience during his years living in London.
One of his favorite countries to spend time in is Japan. Designing colorfully simple indoor and outdoor furniture along with conceptual bath fixtures that express the Japanese lifestyle, Ferrero also won Toyota Japan’s competition to design the interior of a new car. Honing in on the fact that for many, a car is an extension of their personality, his approach was to allow customers to personalize the car’s interior using a mix-and-match assortment of upholstery choices and colors. This has led estudi{H}ac a permanent place as a collaborator on interiors with Toyota’s European Studio.
While his first lamp, dubbed “Sister Lamp” was a playful nod to ’60s nuns with their oversized caps as the shade and a long rosary as the chain, his most recent lighting project for Vondom is a slightly glossier concept. Initially conceiving a collection of giant pot planters ideal for upscale hotel patios, when Ferrero presented the plans to Valencia-based Vondom they noticed a drawing where he had turned the shape upside down into a floor lamp, and commissioned the young designer to continue the series.
For Valencia’s new gastro bar, Cuina al Quadrat, Ferrero designed a space centered around the woven baskets women carry to the local food market—a symbol of the restaurant’s desire to deliver a high-quality menu at a reasonable price. The warm earth tones present an inviting environment, and the simple decor of plants and fruits allow the food to speak for itself.
Sincere and extremely hopeful for the future of Spanish design, JM Ferrero’s estudi{H}ac demonstrates the wide range of potential one studio can possess when focused on exploring new materials, styles and projects.
The Audi Icons series, inspired by the all-new Audi A7, showcases 16 leading figures united by their dedication to innovation and design.
This former bullring in Barcelona has been converted into a leisure complex by architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, retaining the original facade.
The reopened building, now named Las Arenas, has been given a 76m wide domed roof that is braced to the original structure, providing roof terraces overlooking the city.
The plinth that the historic building sat upon has also been demolished, creating new entrances directly from the street rather than via ramps and staircases.
This has enabled two new access routes to be created through the building, as well as plazas around the perimeter, improving connectivity with the nearby park and metro station.
Removal of the plinth revealed a previously buried part of the original facade, where two storeys of shops and restaurants have been inserted under new supporting columns.
The building also provides a central event space, a cinema, a gym and offices.
More stories about Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on Dezeen »
More projects in Barcelona on Dezeen »
Below is a detailed project description from RSH+P:
Las Arenas, Barcelona, Spain 2000—2011
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners was originally appointed by Barcelona-based developer Sacresa to redevelop an existing bullring in the city of Barcelona into a major new mixed-use leisure and entertainment complex. The scheme was subsequently taken over by Metrovacesa and was formally opened to the public in March 2011.
Las Arenas is strategically located at the foothill of Montjuic at the intersection of Gran Via and Avenue Paral∙lel, two major city highways, and acts as a major landmark for the Plaça d’Espanya transport interchange.
The historic bullring, constructed at the very end of the 19th century, fell largely into disuse during the 1970s due to the declining popularity of bull fighting in Catalonia. However, the strong civic and cultural role which the building played in the life of Barcelona over nearly a century – not only as a bullring but also as a venue for opera and theatre productions, rock concerts, political gatherings and even as a barracks during the Civil war – led to a decision by the city council that the façade should not be demolished. As a result, the redevelopment has retained and refurbished the striking neo-mudéjar façade, while creating an open and accessible entrance to the new building at street level. Within the façade of the former bullring, approximately 47,000 m² of mixed activities has been created plus a 1,250-space car park in the basement. The main activities offered are commercial, entertainment, health and leisure spaces focused around a central event space, including multiplex cinemas on the third floor and a gym and the ‘Museum of Rock’ on the fourth floor. In addition, a separate building – the ‘Eforum’ – in Carrer de Llançà, adjacent to the bullring, will provide retail and restaurants at ground and first-floor levels, with four levels of offices above.
The original 19th century bullring was raised above the levels of the surrounding streets with ramps and stairs within the surrounding plinth providing access. However, the redevelopment – which involved the excavation of the base of the façade and the insertion of composite arches to support the existing wall and create new spaces for shops and restaurants – establishes a new, open public realm around the building providing level access to a wide range of retail facilities. In contrast, the Eforum building follows the typical, historic street alignment of the Pla Cerda grid pattern of streets which are typical of the 19th century Barcelona streetscape.
The approach for the bullring uses the most advanced architectural and engineering technologies in response to the brief, while respecting and celebrating the fabric of the historical bullring to re-establish the building as a visually striking landmark for the city. The most spectacular aspect of the intervention is the inclusion of a 100-metrediameter habitable ‘dish’ with a 76-metrediameter domed roof, floating over the façade – and structurally independent from it – providing flexible, column-free spaces beneath the dome (as well as below on level 4). This ‘plaza in the sky’ incorporates large terraces around the perimeter with space for cafés and restaurants, providing stunning views across the city.
Two main access routes cut through the building at 180-degrees to each other, providing access from Gran Via and Parc Joan Miró as well as Carrer Tarragona and Carrer de Llançà and forming a cruciform system leading into the central atrium space. Within these zones, escalators are located to provide access to all levels including the rooftop plaza. Two large, partially-glazed passenger lifts are located on one side of the circular atrium serving the parking and retail (-1) levels; on the other side of the atrium, two fully-glazed, panoramic passenger lifts serve the upper floors.
In addition, there are two fully-glazed external lifts on Carrer de Llançà at the entrance to the Eforum office building and two panoramic passenger lifts (partially glazed) on the outside of the telecommunications tower facing Plaça d’Espanya. This tower reinforces the presence of the bullring and – at its base – provides direct access from the metro station Espanya to the building. The multifunctional area within the dome and the restaurants around its perimeter can be accessed from this elevated public space.
Equally important is the resolution of the ground plane surrounding the bullring, where new plazas are created to provide connections with the existing metro station and neighbouring Parc Joan Miró. In addition, the development links strongly to the nearby Fira de Barcelona – a key European business exhibition venue attracting 3.5 million visitors annually – and the neighbouring districts of Eixample and Sants-Montjuic, one of Barcelona’s fastest growing and most dynamic areas.
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The roof and the giant dish are supported on huge pylons, with services and circulation, such as escalators and stairways, accommodated in the cruciform-shaped zone, defined by the four raked pylon structures.
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The design is based on a series of separate and complementary structural systems which allows a variety of activities and user requirements to take place on different levels inside the building. The dish supports the cupola/dome, creating an open and flexible space. Its columns travel down to ground level within the four atria; bridges, lifts, escalators and walkways either pass through these columns or on either side of them. This also allows for an open, columnfree space at level 4 and removes the need for any structural members to pass through the cinema spaces below at levels 2 and 3. These cinema spaces are formed by large steel cantilevered boxes that effectively constitute a separate, self-contained structural system within the building and rest on a concrete base at level 2.
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From level 2 downwards, a more conventional concrete column and floor slab construction has been used for the retail areas. The design of the column layout has provided the spaces required by the client for different retail zones; these columns continue into the four levels of car park below, creating a logical layout for vehicle access and parking.
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Additional, separate structural systems support the existing façade of the historic bullring (providing maintenance, fire escape, services and access gantries) and the adjacent Eforum, which connects with the retail at ground level and also with the car park and basement ramps. Between the bullring façade and the Eforum is a services spine and large goods lifts, with other services for the bullring complex placed on the roof of the Eforum.
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The roof dome is finished with a plastic coating which helps to reduce glare from reflected sunlight. The relatively shallow dome rises only ten metres from its perimeter to the centre. While this geometry is structurally challenging, with its susceptibility to buckling and large deflections, the dimensions were nonnegotiable, having to keep within an envelope agreed during the initial planning consent. The maximum crown height was
fixed to reduce the visual impact of the roof from a nearby historic fountain.
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Several structural options were researched for the roof with the preferred solution being a lamella structure in which the timber members form a pattern of lozenges creating a grid-shell of timber. This works by having simple, repetitive short lengths of timber glu-lam beams, made of fir and joined together to form the dome. The pattern changes at the crown where the structure terminates in a circular ring beam, defining a 30 metre-diameter oculus constructed from a simplified pattern of glu-lam members. The primary members of the dome are connected invisibly. As a result, even though they are bolted together, all of the metal is hidden within the wood so that observers beneath the dome will perceive only a continuous timber structure. The laminated beams are topped with two layers of plywood – ‘Kerto’ panels which aid structural stiffness – and a layer of insulation, topped with a seamless liquid application roofing system for a weather-proof finish. The entire roof sits on a three-metre-high ‘skirt’ to overcome the possibility of unusable low space at the perimeter of the dome. The skirt is comprised of 20 boomerang-shaped columns supporting the dome’s perimeter beam. Inclined struts spring from these columns to directly support the ring beam where it meets the timber grid-shell, while providing stability to the entire structure. This approach not only provides a visual contrast with the steel used to construct the dish, but has the environmental advantage of being a sustainable and renewable natural resource. The choice of timber also meant that the structure could be exposed to dramatic visual effect, as fire performance is achieved by sacrificing charring layers.
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All the constituent parts – the façade, the roof-level spaces, the four internal segments and the adjacent Eforum – are structurally independent, allowing for future flexibility and change to encourage a wide variety and rotation of activities, including sports events, fashion shows and exhibitions.
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Location: Barcelona, Spain
Use: Cultural & Leisure
Dates: 2000-2011
Areas: Gross internal area – 105,816m², Bullring – 46,973m², Eforum – 5,500m², Parking – 53,343m²
Number of floors (above ground): 5
Client: Metrovacesa (originally Sacresa)
Architect: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Co-architect: Alonso Balaguer y Arquitectos Asociados
Structural engineers: Expedition Engineering and BOMA
Services engineers: BDSP and JG
Quantity surveyor: TG3
Acoustic consultants: BDSP and Audioscan
Existing façade consultants: Expedition Engineering and BOMA
Project & construction manager: Bovis
Main contractor: Dragados
Roofing contractor: Finnforest
Services contractors: MTECH and EMTE
Steel contractor (for dish): Martifer
Building façades contractor: Joan Obré
Office façades contractor: Strunor
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| Cultural and Leisure Center by Philippe Starck | House of Culture and Movement | Bodegas Protos winery by RSH+P |
Last night, Brooklyn’s Open Air Modern—a well-curated hybrid vintage book & furniture store—hosted a film screening of To Inform and Delight, Wendy Keys’ documentary about Milton Glaser, followed by an informal Q&A with archivist Beth Kleber and coordinator Zachary Sachs of The Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives.
I can’t imagine Glaser would need any kind of introduction to the average Core77 reader, but for the uninitiated: Milton Glaser is a seminal graphic designer, best known for designing the “I ♥ NY” logo and the iconic Bob Dylan poster (featured on the cover of the DVD)—not to mention the logo for Brooklyn Brewery—and countless magazine, record and book covers, posters, flyers, brand identities, etc. ad infinitum.
Photo credit: Andy Smith
Avec cette campagne signée BBDO Berlin dévoilée en 3 spots, Smart met en avant son modèle Fortwo autour d’animations incrustées dans le monde réel. Insistant sur l’aspect personnalisable et intime de la voiture, ce rendu frais et intéressant est à découvrir en vidéo dans la suite.
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Bamboo bikes have apparently been documented as early as 1894, but there seems to be a recent surge of interest in the concept, which takes the sustainable appeal of cycling to the next level. The Bamboo Bike Studio (BBS) was founded by Marty Odlin, Justin Aguinaldo, and Sean Murray in 2008. Located in Brooklyn, NY, the BBS teaches workshops on bamboo bike building. We had a chance to talk to them about where they come from and where they’re headed.
Core77: What exactly is the Bamboo Bike Studio?
Marty Odlin: The Bamboo Bike Studio is a collaborative workshop for bicycle design and bicycle making. We have shops in Brooklyn and San Francisco, we are opening in Toronto this summer, and have launched a build-at-home or build-at-school kit. It is built around the idea of giving access to the bike making to as many people as possible. We are a social venture, and have set up the world’s first mass production bamboo bicycle factory to provide low-cost bicycles to local markets in Kumasi, Ghana. We have also taught dozens of high school students how to build a frame from scratch.
Where did the concept come from?
The concept for the Bamboo Bike Studio grew directly out of my experiences as a product designer at K2 Sports. I had an incredible experience getting products made, pulling together a diverse supply chain, traveling around China and Korea, seeing the factory floors. When it came time to ship the products back to the States, we stuffed everything in cardboard boxes and containers and just stripped all this value, all the stories and experiences of the makers, out of the product. On the other side of the ocean, the marketing group had to work doubly hard to try to put value back in. It just seemed like a system that left a lot of value for the customer on the table.
At the same time, I was looking to get back into fabrication (I am a lifelong maker and fixer). I had a really bad experience at a bike shop with the typical bike snob, and it seemed so silly to me that someone could make me feel so terrible when I could make all the stuff that they were selling. So as a personal F-you to this guy, I decided to build my own bike. I needed to prototype and bamboo seemed like a cheap way to iterate. After my first bike, a good friend of mine asked if I could show him how to make one… and Bamboo Bike Studio was born.
Hot on the heels of this morning’s announcement about Ponoko, we have some more news from the exciting world of 3D printing: South Carolina-based, Nasdaq-listed (TDSC) 3D printing institution 3D Systems has acquired Amsterdam’s Freedom of Creation, a design and research company that specializes in the same.
Over the past years the 3D printing industry has been picking up speed, moving the technology towards mainstream adoption… This strategic move helps to realize Freedom Of Creations’ bold plans with 3D printing for both the near and distant future.
The acquisition was actually finalized and announced a couple weeks ago (at the cusp of our NY Design Week coverage), but it’s definitely worth mentioning here. Considering that 3D Systems was founded in 1986—”with the invention of the first Stereolithography Rapid Prototyping system”—and FOC has been honing their 3D craft for over a decade now as well, it’s safe to say that their shared expertise will raise the bar for rapid prototyping design and technologies in years to come.
Next time you think you’ve got a crappy, complaint-worthy seat on an airplane, take a look at how the U.S. Armed Forces fly troops out to Afghanistan and you’ll probably change your tune. As you can see there’s not a lot of overhead bin space, there’s no such thing as a window seat and the troops fly with most of their gear on.
This image is from The New York Times’ excellent “A Year at War” multimedia feature, which combines still photos and video with narration from the troops to provide an eye-opening look at what deployment entails. (If you’re sneaking a look at work, plug in some headphones; you’ll need the audio explanations to understand what’s being shown on-screen.)
A few words with the artist behind a new line of handmade snowboards
Bored with the current direction of mainstream snowboarding, artist and professional snowboarder Corey Smith decided to do something about it. The resulting line Spring Break Snowboards brings the sport back to the basics with handmade wooden snowboards meant for making beautiful powder turns and reviving a love for nature.
Not only do these wooden beasts look like a blast to ride, Smith hand shapes and paints each for a one-of-a-kind board worthy of hanging on a wall. The “business model” is unconventional too; rather than buy a board, Smith asks interested parties to donate to Spring Break to replenish materials and otherwise keep the company alive. Five hundred bucks gets you a board of your choice from the “collective” quiver, but existing and future work will sell at to-be-announced Spring Break art shows next fall.
Smith, current Art Director of COMUNE clothing, has always been a strong presence in the evolution of style and individuality in snowboarding (pioneering today’s “tight pants” movement), and may very well spark another trend with his newest venture. We recently caught up with the mastermind behind Spring Break Snowboards to learn more.
I was in Tahoe for most of the winter filming for the upcoming
COMUNE snowboard video. It didn’t snow for the month of January and I was getting cabin fever, just dreaming about riding fresh powder. I thought, “Why not see if I can make some handmade boards?” Once I had a few boards built and realized they were functional I decided to start a fake snowboard company as an art
project. .
I was reading a book about this surfer in the ’70s named Bunker
Spreckels and how he shaped really unique boards. It really
inspired me to think differently about contemporary snowboard design. Many
of the shapes come from conversations with friends and just thinking about
what kind of wild shapes we can come up with. The pill shape seems to work
really well. I was surprised how well the powder holes in the back worked.
They really allowed the tail to sink in the deep snow just like a swallow
tail board.
Well, I’ve never shaped a surfboard. I grew up in Portland, OR
skateboarding and snowboarding so surf culture is pretty foreign to me.
I am really interested in learning more about surf history and board
development though, since snowboarding and skateboarding were born from that.
I really just use wood, fiberglass, polyurethane and the
t-bolts for the bindings. I’m embarrassed to even let people know the
redneck technique I use to bend the shape into the boards haha! It’s
really just been trial and error learning how to make a functional
snowboard by hand.
I live in Los Angeles in the summer and Lake Tahoe in the winter. I’d really like to build more boards this summer so I have a bunch for all my friends next winter when I hope to return to Tahoe.
It makes deep fresh powder accessible to anyone. Since the boards float so well in powder you can ride mellow, relatively avalanche safe terrain. If you ride a traditional
board in deep snow you can only move on steeper terrain. With these boards
you can just hike stuff off the side of the road, you don’t need a
helicopter, snowmobile or even a lift ticket.
Thanks to Comune and Kevin Castanheira for helping make my vision a
reality and documenting it.
Photos by Kealan Shilling
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