Le designer parisien Simon Delart a souhaité rendre hommage aux bandes originales de ses films préférées en imaginant des pochettes d’album de vinyls. Le dessin fait toute l’originalité des visuels car il est entièrement formé avec des triangles. De Star Wars à Jurassic Park, la série est à découvrir dans la suite.
Beijing office Vector Architects installed a louvred wall of weathered steel mesh along one facade of this visitor centre on a farm near Kunshan, China, to shade the interior from the low evening sun (+ slideshow).
Vector Architects – whose previous projects include a farm pavilion used for preparing crops – was asked to create a multi-purpose events space, offices and kennels in a restored outhouse on the site of the Yue Feng Island Organic Farm, which supplies produce and also provides a visitor attraction for guests to the nearby Fairmont Yangcheng Lake Hotel.
Responding to the flat site and agrarian surroundings of fields, trees and water, the architects created a long, single storey structure to house the centre’s reception, events area, storage and offices.
Approaching the site from the entry road, the building presents a long facade clad in ridged Corten steel mesh that prevents direct sunlight from overheating the interior.
“The empty flatness of the site is an essential character that we believe the design should respond to,” said the architects. “The architecture appears as two horizontal translucent screens from the farm side.”
Related story: Harvest Pavilion by Vector Architects
Daylight and cooling breezes are able to penetrate the mesh surface, while views of the rural landscape from inside the centre are retained.
The ridged structure of the mesh wall adds reinforcement and enables a long span that doesn’t require a supporting stud system.
A corridor that occupies the space between the diaphanous surface and the building’s external wall connects sheltered terraces at either end of the centre.
The rear of the building is also clad in rusted steel in the form of flat panels, interrupted by staggered vertical fins that cast a pattern of shadow across the surface.
A short set of stairs leads down from the covered terrace at the centre’s entrance to a walkway that connects the main building with the kennels behind and the building housing additional offices.
Timber louvres flank the path on one side, creating a shaded passageway with a view of the visitor centre and the surrounding farmland.
The entrance to the main building leads to a glass-walled reception area with a skylight inserted into its slatted timber ceiling, which projects at an angle from the roof.
The walls of the reception, corridors and events space are clad in wooden tiles showing the end grain of the timber, which lends the interior a natural feel.
Photography is by Susheng Liang.
Here’s a project description from Vector Architects:
Visitor Center, Kunshan, China
Sited in southeast corner of Yuefeng Island Eco-farm alongside the Yang Cheng Lake, Kunshan, the visitor centre consists of a multi-functional activity space, a pet dorm, and a preserved house used as office.
Our design task is to explore how architecture should be integrated into such a context, to create a new and unique place, however harmonise with nature.
The empty flatness of the site is an essential character that we believe the design should respond to. The architecture appears as two horizontal translucent screens from the farm side. The first screen is made of perforated Corten steel.
The corrugation reinforces the material and ultimately saves the supporting stud system at the back. The second screen surface is made of wood louver. The corridor behind it connects the three major programs of the building.
Both surfaces allow the penetration of wind, light and vision. While protecting the space from the western sun, they as well establish a blurred view of farm landscape for the people in the space.
The translucencies are sensitive of capturing the light, subtly shift the architectural image through the different season, weather, and the time of the day.
Location: Kunshan, China
Building Area: 280 sqm
Client: Kunshan City Investment Company
Architect:Vector Architects
Design-partner-in-charge: Gong Dong
Architects: Zhimin Zhou, Xiangdong Kong, Feng Xu, Ran Huo
Project Advisor: Nan Wang
Structural and MEP Engineer: Yuangui Design Institute, Shanghai
The post Red mesh shades the interior of a farm
visitor centre by Vector Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
Clockwise from top left: Glider, Kammok; Curface composite panels, Adam Fairweather; Microbial Home Probe, Phillips Design; Bogobrush, photo by Mike Glinski
While the Internet is a seemingly limitless resource when it comes to research or reference, sometimes it’s nice to peruse the information in print. Short of actually including samples of ABS, flyknit, etc., Material ConneXion‘s new book series serves as a handy guide to what’s new and what’s next in materials for architects and designers (the samples, of course, are available at their materials libraries). Written with an audience of design students and professionals in mind, the first two volumes, on Architecture and Product Design, were published by Thames & Hudson just last week. (The latter, pictured above, includes a preface by our own Allan Chochinov.)
From cutting-edge technological advances to novel applications of tried-and-true methodologies, co-authors Andrew Dent, Ph.D, and Leslie Sherr present a well-curated selection of materials in an impressive series of highly visual, broadly informative compendia. According to the press release, the books also “include a Materials Directory that provides insight on additional materials that are part of the Material ConneXion library and that can be used as substitutes for the projects featured.” We had a chance to speak to Dent on the occasion of the launch.
Core77: How did you determine which projects to include in this book? Did you make a conscious effort to include a diverse range of projects in each of the six sections?
Andrew Dent: Diversity was essential to demonstrate our thesis, that the material trends we see are independent of product type. The decision about which projects to feature was determined by a group at Material ConneXion along with my co-author Leslie Sherr. Though we looked at predominantly very recent projects, where an slightly older project could exemplify an arc in a material type’s trajectory, it was included. Clear presentation of material innovation was essential, though it should not detract from the overall value of design.
The inclusion of Iron Man 2 body armor, in particular, points to noncommercial (or at least non-traditional) applications of new technologies, yet it also suggests a potential use case for 3D printing, while student projects, concepts and prototypes depict possibilities that may be years away from becoming a reality. As a resource and reference, do you have the sense that the Material Innovation series may shape the future of design (i.e. by introducing designers to new or alternative materials) as much as it documents it in the present?
Our hope is that the series opens designers’ eyes to the value of material innovation and the range of material possibilities that exist beyond what they currently know (the “unknown unknowns”). We also hope that it can show how materials can jump product type, from say consumer electronics to automotive, or from sports equipment to home appliances. This cross-pollination gives designers greater freedom to design, and offers the potential to stretch existing beliefs about how a product should be.
Stockholm designers Erik Olovsson and Kyuhyung Cho added different shaped holes to the stackable wooden blocks that make up this flexible shelving unit, creating spaces suited to displaying various items.
With the Room system, Olovsson and Cho wanted to challenge the assumption that objects should always be displayed within a rectangular space.
They created a modular system of 25 stackable blocks, a low table and a stainless mirror piece. Each part features a geometric void, the shape of which is defined by the objects it might hold, from books to vases, bottles and plants.
Related story: Stackle modular shelving system designed by THINKK Studio
“We put things into square spaces without thinking about the relationship between the object and the room it’s in,” Olovsson told Dezeen. “The Room collection has various different voids, in a bold and unconventional way, to give each object a greater focus by giving it its own room.”
“Each block was inspired by a specific object, creating various shapes and sizes,” he continued. “The round for wine, zigzag for phones, tablets and laptops, or peaked for an open book. Each block can be a room to invite any object – the composition is unlimited.”
The elements can be combined to form a long shelf or a tall cabinet with a variety of different sculptural compositions.
“Our intention is also to let people to explore their own composition with just a few pieces or the whole set as a shelf, which maximises flexibility of the relationship between object and space,” said Olovsson.
The collection is made from matte-lacquered plywood. “Although the mix-and-match system is flexible, the form and structure is strict,” Olovsson explained. “We wanted to add warmth and softness with the natural pattern of wood. A matte-lacquer finish is less affected by reflection and allows the wood grain and the form to present in a gentle way.”
The design is currently at prototype stage, and Olovsson and Cho are looking for a manufacturer.
The duo has also collaborated on designs for a wave-shaped coat rail that keeps items evenly spaced.
Photography is by Gustav Almestål.
The post Room shelving system functions
like a huge shape-sorter toy appeared first on Dezeen.
In the living room of a brownstone apartment on a tree-lined block in Brooklyn, designer Brit Kleinman uses non-toxic dyes to stain leather for a collection of striking rugs, which combine modern pattern-making with ancient materials…
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Every once in a while there comes a situation where you need to mount your phone or tablet, to a surface. Sticko is the answer for such situations. Why? It’s light, portable, sticks to any surface (curved surfaces like a mug), madder from heatproof and U.V protected materials. If these reasons are not enough then sleek and stylish nails it.
We got in touch with the team to know more about why and how the product idea came about. Designer Boaz Zucker says, “My wife, Gal and I are dependent on our smart phones but both are very aware of the dangers of driving while being on our phones. Gal surprised me one day and got me a phone mount for our car, however, as an industrial designer it is important to me that the gadgets I own are not only easy to use and versatile, but look good too. The phone mount she got me was bulky and difficult to set up, plus, once I got out of my car and went to where I had to go I was left with no mount for my phone.”
After doing some research on phone mounts that exist in today’s market, Boaz found that they were not easy to use, and lacked in design. So the solution was Sticko, a portable mount that can attach to any smooth surface and is flexible due to the suction cup material it’s made out of.
Safely in View: Keep your smart phone in sight at eye level and ready for GPS directions, streaming music, and hands-free calls. Eliminates fumbling searches, looking away from the road, and other unsafe behaviors.
Pocket Potable: Weighing of 5 grams and small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, Sticko makes the perfect travel companion for everyday use, vacations, and business trips.
The design uses four suction cups two on each side that securely mounts Sticko onto any smooth surface (horizontal, vertical, and angled). Two plastic spacers add stability to your phone while driving.
Cables: Sticko allows easy access to audio cables, and power cords! Keep your phone charged while listening to your favorite tunes.
Simplicity: Sticko’s simple, yet highly functional design does not require any car mount adhesives, magnets, or special cases.
Materials: Sticko uses the highest quality materials (suitable for hot summer days and cold winter nights).
Designer: Sticko [ Buy it Here ]
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(Sticko Your iPhone was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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La photographe allemande Frauke Thielking a réalisé la série « Ready, steady, go » pour illustrer les changements constants que l’Homme doit opérer dans sa vie pour éviter de stagner. Les modèles prennent donc des positions différentes tout en paraissant paradoxalement figés comme des automates.
Handcrafted woven bamboo screens are suspended in sections to cover the ceiling and walls of this Isabel Marant boutique in Bangkok by Parisian studio Ciguë.
Ciguë created 236 screens in different shapes and sizes for the flagship Thailand store of French fashion house Isabel Marant, covering the walls with up to three layers to create an overlapping effect.
Located in the new Central Embassy department store, the boutique was designed to reference Thai craft culture, providing a counterpoint to “the generic slickness of globalised branding”.
The intricate bamboo screens were handmade by local Thai craftsmen, and woven in three different patterns and densities.
“The final pattern was obtained by covering the entire surface of the space with a giant and continuous skin made of the screens,” the studio told Dezeen. “Then little by little some screens were removed or ‘erased’ and the white walls appeared, to bring more light and air around the clothes.”
While some screens are suspended from the ceiling to form a hanging installation that resembles a chandelier, others cover the walls in the corners of the store, spanning all the way down to the floor.
One wall is lined with floor-to-ceiling tinted mirrors, while the others feature exposed concrete surfaces that offer a continuation of the bare concrete floor. These are complemented by additional details in brass and dark wood.
Hexagonal wooden tables covered with a layer of white plaster provide display platforms for shoes and accessories.
Isabel Marant Bangkok is one of six international stores that Ciguë has designed for Isabel Marant, including one in Shanghai with a wooden cabin at its centre. The firm has also worked with skincare brand Aesop, creating stores in London’s Covent Garden and Le Marais in Paris.
The post Ciguë designs woven bamboo screens
for Isabel Marant’s Bangkok store appeared first on Dezeen.
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