Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen promotion: an exhibition of digital technology in architecture opened last week, as the inaugural event at The Turbulences extension to the FRAC Centre in Orléans, France.

Titled Naturalizing Architecture, the ninth in the series of Archilab exhibitions is being held in the new faceted aluminium extension to the museum by architects Jakob + MacFarlane.

ArchiLab was first started in 1999 to explore how digital technology is redefining the way architects and other creatives design.

This edition presents projects by over 40 architects, designers and artists who all use biotechnology, robotics, nanotechnology, and simulation in their work.

The “world’s first 3D-printed room” by architects Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger has been installed in the gallery.

Designs by Beijing architecture studio Mad and fashion designer Iris van Herpen are also on display.

The exhibition runs until 2 February 2014. For further details visit the Frac Centre website.

More information from the museum follows:

The Turbulences – Frac Centre

Inaugural Event: 9th ArchiLab, Naturalizing Architecture, 14 September 2013 – 2 February 2014.

In 1999, the first ArchiLab edition – an international laboratory of architecture – explored the revolution brought about by the emergence of digital technologies and focused on redefining the arena of architecture.

Going well beyond the boundaries of their discipline, architects are now developing a praxis at the crossroads of computer sciences, engineering, and biology.

Today digital simulation tools, borrowed from the sciences, are opening up unprecedented areas of investigation, allowing for the exploration of evolutionary principles peculiar to the living world.

Thanks to advanced mathematical mastery, architecture is now being enacted at the level of matter and tends towards a comprehensive re-creation of the organic, made possible by science.

Over and above a so-called “sustainable” approach, it is the change in the very concept of nature which is being questioned here, inseparable as it now is from technical and technological production.

It is these challenges, somewhere between architecture and science, that this new ArchiLab exhibition is keen to illustrate by way of an international show presenting the projects of some 40 architects, designers and artists, from a new generation of creative people at the forefront in terms of biotechnology, robotics, nanotechnology, and simulation.

Curators: Marie-Ange Brayer, Frédéric Migayrou
Assistant curator: Emmanuelle Chiappone-Piriou

Architects

Designers and stylists

Cmmnwlth., Iris van Herpen, Joris Laarman Lab.

Artists

Federico Díaz, Perry Hall, Casey Reas, Marius Watz.

International Symposium

Architecture and Sciences: A New Naturalness – Scène Nationale, Orléans, Thursday 24 October 2013, 9.30am-6.30pm

In partnership with Réseau des maisons de l’architecture and Maison de l’Architecture du Centre. The problematics of ArchiLab 2013 will be broached at an international symposium which will bring together ten exhibited architects. Thanks to the new digital technologies, the same processes of “naturalization” are at work in architecture and design, as well as in the scientific disciplines.

Free entrance. Necessary registration here.

Interdisciplinary Symposium

The Nature(s) of the Artefact – Domaine national de Chambord (Chambord Castle), Friday 25 October 2013, 9.30am-5.30pm (fully booked).

Under the scientific supervision of Frédéric Migayrou. This interdisciplinary conference will encompass human sciences and fundamental sciences. Art and architectural historians and scientists (biologists, geneticists, specialists in living world simulation systems) will question the sources of the Renaissance and Mannerism by linking them with the present-day field of digital technologies, marked by the simulation of living world growth phenomena.

The Turbulences – Frac Centre, 88 rue du Colombier, 45000 Orléans, France. Tel. +33 (0)2 38 62 52 00

www.frac-centre.fr

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– FRAC Centre, Orléans appeared first on Dezeen.

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News: architectural historian Joseph Rykwert has been named as the recipient of this year’s Royal Gold Medal for architecture.

Architects David Chipperfield, Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano supported the nomination for Rykwert, who has taught at many architecture schools around the world from Princeton and Harvard to Institut d’Urbanisme in Paris and the University of Sydney. His books include the seminal The Idea of a Town, published in 1963, as well as The Necessity of Artifice and The Seduction of Place.

The Royal Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to an architect or individual who has made a significant contribution to the profession. Other theoreticians to receive the accolade include Nikolaus Pevsner and Colin Rowe.

Commenting on his selection, Rykwert said: “If we all had our desserts’, the poet asked, ‘who would scape a whipping?’ Certainly not I. So I can’t think of a Gold Medal as my dessert. It is a wonderful gift which my colleagues have made me and adds weight and authority to my words to which they could never otherwise pretend.”

He added: “What makes the gift doubly precious is that it does not come from my fellow-scriveners, but from architects and builders – and suggests that what I have written has engaged their attention and been of use, even though I have never sought to be impartial but have taken sides, sometimes combatively.”

Rykwert will receive the award in a ceremony at the RIBA headquarters in London on 25 February 2014.

Last year the prize went to Peter Zumthor, who rejected architecture as form-making in his Royal Gold Medal lecture, while other recent winners include Herman Hertzberger, David Chipperfield and I. M. Pei.

Here’s the announcement from the RIBA:

Joseph Rykwert to receive the 2014 Royal Gold Medal for architecture

The celebrated architectural critic, historian and writer Joseph Rykwert has been named today (Wednesday 18 September) as the recipient of the 2014 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, one of the world’s most prestigious architecture awards.

Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty the Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence “either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture”.

Joseph Rykwert is a world-leading authority on the history of art and architecture; his groundbreaking ideas and work have had a major impact on the thinking of architects and designers since the 1960s and continue to do so to this day.

His seminal book The Idea of a Town (1963) remains the pivotal text on understanding why and how cities were and can be formed. He has written numerous influential works of architectural criticism and history, published over a sixty-year period and translated into several languages. The most significant of these are On Adam’s House in Paradise (1972), The First Moderns (1980), The Necessity of Artifice (1982), The Dancing Column: On Order in Architecture (1996), and The Seduction of Place (2002); all have changed the way modern architects and planners think about cities and buildings, and how historians view the architectural roots of the modern era.

Rykwert’s works have influenced generations of architects with many either having been taught by him directly or taught in a school where his influence has had a profound effect on a department’s teaching. Distinguished architects David Chipperfield, Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano are amongst the previous Royal Gold Medallists who have personally supported Joseph’s nomination.

Joseph Rykwert said about his selection for the Royal Gold Medal:

“If we all had our desserts’, the poet asked, ‘who would scape a whipping?’ Certainly not I. So I can’t think of a Gold Medal as my dessert. It is a wonderful gift which my colleagues have made me and adds weight and authority to my words to which they could never otherwise pretend.

“What makes the gift doubly precious is that it does not come from my fellow-scriveners, but from architects and builders – and suggests that what I have written has engaged their attention and been of use, even though I have never sought to be impartial but have taken sides, sometimes combatively. So I feel both elated and enormously grateful.”

RIBA President Stephen Hodder said today,

“The recognition of Joseph with this prestigious award is long overdue; that it has gone to a man whose writings have provided inspiration to so many who practice in the heart of our cities, gives me particular personal pleasure. Joseph’s writing and teaching are rare in that he can deliver the most profound thinking on architecture in an accessible way. All our lives are the richer for it.”

Born in Warsaw in 1926, Joseph Rykwert is a naturalized British citizen. He has held a number of university teaching posts in Britain and the United States. He is currently Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture Emeritus and was Professor of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania.

Joseph Rykwert has lectured or taught at most of the world’s major schools of architecture and has held visiting appointments at Princeton, the Cooper Union, New York, Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Sydney, Louvain, the Institut d’Urbanisme, Paris, the Central European University and others. He has held fellowships at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, Washington and the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities.

In 1984, he was appointed Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Cordoba, Argentina, the University of Bath, Toronto and Trieste and Rome, and is a member of the Italian Accademia di San Luca and the Polish Academy. In 2000, he was awarded the Bruno Zevi prize in architectural history by the Biennale of Venice and in 2009 the Gold Medal Bellas Artes, Madrid. He has been president of the international council of architectural critics (CICA) since 1996.

He joins previous theorists and largely non-practitioners to have been honoured with the Royal Gold Medal including Colin Rowe (1995), Sir John Summerson (1976) and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1967).

Joseph Rykwert will be presented with the 2014 Royal Gold Medal at a special event at the RIBA at 66 Portland Place, London W1 on the 25 February 2014.

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Royal Gold Medal for architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

News: these exclusive images reveal the first in a chain of boutiques that Zaha Hadid is designing for American shoe designer Stuart Weitzman.

Opening tomorrow, the first store is located on Via Sant’Andrea in Milan and features a monochrome interior where curved forms will integrate modular shelving systems with seating areas for customers.

Zaha Hadid will also design five further interiors for the Stuart Weitzman brand, with stores in Hong Kong, Rome and New York planned for 2014.

A new concept will be developed for each location, but Hadid says they will all feel like part of the same family. “The design is divided into invariant and adaptive elements to establish unique relationships within each worldwide location, yet also enable every store to be recognised as a Stuart Weitzman space,” she explained.

“This is a major new initiative that will help achieve the next phase of growth and raise brand recognition worldwide,” added Weitzman. “I know that the marriage of Zaha Hadid’s incredible architecture and my collection will create a one-of-a-kind retail experience.”

Zaha Hadid has previously designed shop interiors for fashion designer Neil Barrett, as well as salons for hairdressing brand Fudge. See more design by Zaha Hadid »

Here’s some extra information from the brand:

Stuart Weitzman debuts innovative retail initiative with Zaha Hadid in Milan

Five additional Zaha Hadid-designed retail stores planned

Stuart Weitzman will debut an innovative retail concept designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid with the opening of an international flagship store on the iconic Via Sant’Andrea in Milan, Italy. The 3,000-square-foot boutique will be unveiled in mid-September during an exclusive Milan Fashion Week event hosted by designer Stuart Weitzman and the iconic Kate Moss, who stars in the brand’s fall campaign.

The six-window storefront located at Via Sant’Andrea, 10/A was chosen as the debut location for the new retail concept because of its reputation as one of the world’s premiere shopping destinations. Additional flagship stores designed by Zaha Hadid Architects are planned over the next few years and will be strategically located around the globe. 2014 openings are slated for Hong Kong, Rome and New York.

As Stuart Weitzman is at the forefront of style and design, the selection of Zaha Hadid to develop these retail concept stores reinforces his vision and commitment to breaking new ground. The MAXXI: National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, Italy and the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games demonstrate the spatial sensibility of her work. Further seminal buildings such as the Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati and the Guangzhou Opera House in China have also been hailed as architecture that transforms our idea of the future with innovative concepts and bold, visionary forms.

The Milan flagship is fluid and playful. A dialogue of geometry and materiality creates an enchanting rhythm of folds and recesses further shaped by functional and ergonomic considerations. Modular display units showcase shoes and also provide seating, while a seamless integration of diverse forms invites our curiosity. The juxtaposition of these distinct elements of the design defines the different areas of the store. Rooted in a palette of subtle monochromatic shades, Hadid created an interior landscape of discovery centred on two separate zones to enhance the relationship between the customer and the collection.

Experimentation with materials and construction technologies further define the unique space. The curved modular seating and freestanding display elements have been constructed from fibreglass dipped in rose gold – a technique similar to that used in boat manufacturing. Also, the glass-reinforced concrete (GRC) of the store’s walls and ceiling expresses solidity whilst at the same time the delicate precision of complex curvatures focus on special areas for display.

The opening of the Milan flagship boutique also marks the 100th Stuart Weitzman global retail store. This collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects is a major component of the strategic global retail expansion of the Stuart Weitzman brand within the luxury sector. International growth includes an emphasis in Asia, especially Mainland China over next three years with additional stores planned for Korea, Taiwan, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, India and Philippines.

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for Stuart Weitzman appeared first on Dezeen.

Movie: Miguel Fluxá, head of shoe brand Camper, says the company’s use of high-profile designers for its stores is more about brand-building than making money in this movie filmed at the opening of the latest New York store. 

Camper has commissioned a host of internationally renowned designers to design its stores around the world.

“We’ve worked with many people, from Martí Guixé to the Bouroullec brothers, the Campana brothers, Alfredo Häberli, Tokujin Yoshioka and Shigeru Ban,” says Fluxá, who was speaking at the opening of the brand’s store on Fifth Avenue in New York designed by Japanese design company Nendo.

Fluxá says the company took this approach to its store design when it first started expanding outside of Spain.

“We thought it was interesting not to repeat [the design of the Spanish stores],” he explains. “The world today is becoming a little bit boring, everything is becoming the same. So we thought it was interesting for the brand, and for the cities, to do different designs from one place to the other.”

Camper is a family-owned company; Fluxá’s great-grandfather, a Mallorca farmer, founded the business in 1877 and his father went on to establish the brand as we know it today in the 1970s.

Fluxá says that this allows the company to experiment with different design approaches for its stores without worrying about the commercial impact.

“We’re lucky to be a privately-owned company, a family-owned company, so we look at the long term and we try to do things that we like to do,” he says.

“Of course, we think it’s of benefit to the brand. It’s given a lot of identity to the brand, and customers recognise it. Some concepts work better than others but the reality is that we don’t measure it.”

Other recently opened Camper stores include one in Shanghai by Chinese architects Neri&Hu, which features a house that appears to be cut in half, and one in Sweden by Note Design Studio filled with mobile metal trolleys. See more Camper stores on Dezeen »

The post “We’re lucky to be a family-owned company;
we can do things we like to do” appeared first on Dezeen.