Biennale Interieur "gives chances to a new generation of designers"

In this movie produced by Dezeen for Biennale Interieur, Joost Vanhecke introduces this year’s festival and explains why it runs a workshop for the 20 young designers selected for its Interieur Awards.

Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop
Interieur Awards winners outside Domaine du Boisbuchet. Photo by Carlo Cialli. Copyright: Boisbuchet

This year is the first time that Biennale Interieur has run a free workshop for the winners of its awards programme, which took place over a week at Domaine de Boisbuchet in France.

Joost Vanhecke, Biennale Interieur project manager
Joost Vanhecke, Biennale Interieur project manager. Copyright: Dezeen

“What we do here is something that no other festival or fair in the world is doing,” claims Biennale Interieur project manager Vanhecke. “Biennale Interieur is doing it because it’s a not-for-profit organisation and we want to really give chances and possibilities to a new generation of designers.”

Magnum by Patrycja Domanska and Felix Gieselmann
Magnum by Patrycja Domanska and Felix Gieselmann, which won an Interieur Award

Biennale Interieur, now in it’s 24th edition, will present a showcase of international design in Kortrijk, Belgium, from 17 to 26 October 2014.

Svampe by Alice Viallet
Svampe by Alice Viallet, which won an Interieur Award

“The unique identity of Biennale Interieur is the mix between culture and commerce,” Vanhecke explains.



“We have more than 250 brands on show and we have a large cultural programme, which is this year curated by Joseph Grima of Space Caviar.”

Tumble by Koen Devos
Tumble by Koen Devos

The Interieur Awards programme is an integral part of the show, which gives young designers and architects an opportunity to present new projects at the festival.

Keystones by Minale-Maeda
Keystones by Minale-Maeda

Winning products this year include Minale-Maeda’s Keystones project, a set of 3D-printed connectors that combine with standard wooden parts to make a range of furniture, as well as Phytophiler by Italian studio Dossofiorito, a plant pot with a range of appendices to enable plant lovers to observe their flowers more closely.

Phytophiler pot by Dossofiorito
Phytophiler pot by Dossofiorito

“The workshop is divided into two groups,” workshop leader Jörg Mennickheim explains. “On the one hand I’m helping the designers work on their prototypes, to bring them to finished objects.”

Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop
Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop. Photo by Carlo Cialli. Copyright: Boisbuchet

He adds: “There’s another group that have already finished their prototypes and they’re working on the exhibition design for all the designers’ work at the biennale in Kortrijk.”

Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop
Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop. Photo by Carlo Cialli. Copyright: Boisbuchet

The exhibition design concept the 20 young designers developed throughout the workshop was to create an optical illusion so that, when viewed from a certain perspective, all 20 products will seem to be encompassed by a circle.

Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop
Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop. Photo by Carlo Cialli. Copyright: Boisbuchet

“We have a huge strip [to design the exhibition in],” explains Alessandro Squadrito of Minale-Maeda. “It’s really long. So the idea was to have a single point of view where you can see the final image of every product all together in a circle.”

Perimeter shelf by LeviSarha
Perimeter shelf by LeviSarha

Levi Dethier of Belgian studio LeviSarha, who will present a customisable bookshelf called Perimeter at the biennale, says that being able to design the exhibition enabled each designer to make sure their work is presented in the best possible light.

“We are working together to really try to make the exhibition about our objects,” he says. “I think it’s a great opportunity to show ourselves and our way.”

Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop
Biennale Interieur 2014 workshop. Photo by Carlo Cialli. Copyright: Boisbuchet

For Livia Rossi of Italian studio Dossofiorito, the collaborative nature of the workshop is what really stuck out.

“It’s been really stimulating to work all together because you have 20 people with very different attitudes and different ways of thinking,” she says. “So it’s really challenging, but also really beautiful.”

Samples of Dune Carpet by Hanna Emelie Ernsting and Sarah Böttger
Samples of Dune Carpet by Hanna Emelie Ernsting and Sarah Böttger

Biennale Interieur will run from 17 to 26 October 2014 in Kortrijk, Belgium.

Dezeen are media partners for Biennale Interieur 2014 and will be bringing you all the latest news from the event.

The music used in the movie is a track called Honey in the Mud by Jordan Mitchell. Additional footage of Biennale Interieur 2012 used in the movie is courtesy of Cnocspot.

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new generation of designers”
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Honda introduces automated driving technologies for a "collision-free society"

News: Honda has launched a riposte to Google’s driverless cars with a new saloon that incorporates automated collision prevention technologies and can connect with other road users (+ movie).

Honda driverless car

Honda’s 2015 Acura TLX saloon is designed to automatically merge, exit and change lanes on a motorway, which is being shown in a live traffic scenario on an eight-mile motorway loop in the downtown Detroit area.



The demo will take place for the first time in the US at this week’s ITS World Congress.

Honda driverless car

Offering a mid-way point between fully manual cars and Google’s completely driverless vehicles, currently being trialled in California, Honda’s saloon has a mixture of automated responses to detect potential collisions and uses connected technology to interact with other road users.

Honda driverless car

Like the Google car, the Acura TLX uses cameras and radar systems to detect road infrastructure and other vehicles, paired with automatic steering and braking to safely navigate busy highway intersections.

Honda driverless car

“The creation and deployment of advanced, intelligent transportation systems represent the new frontier in the effort to one day eliminate traffic collisions, injuries and fatalities,” said Frank Paluch, president of Honda’s American research and development.

Honda driverless car

“We will demonstrate our vision for realising Honda’s dream of a collision-free society by showcasing our continued technological innovations in active safety, connected and automated vehicle technology.”

Honda driverless car

Honda is also highlighting advancements in vehicle-to-bicycle and vehicle-to-pedestrian safety features using connected devices.

Honda driverless car

Short-range communications between vehicles and the smartphones of cyclists and pedestrians will warn both parties of a potential collision threat.

Honda driverless car

The car will brake automatically if a collision is imminent. The technology will also work with motorcycles.

Honda driverless car

Drivers and cyclists or pedestrians will be able to send messages to each other using the communications software.

Honda driverless car

Finally, a “virtual tow” system will allow drivers in distress to alert surrounding vehicles.

Honda driverless car

The two cars will link up allowing the trailing vehicle to automatically follow the driving cues of the leader, so the driver and car can be safely delivered to a destination such as a hospital.

Honda driverless car

The future of driving is the subject of the Dezeen and MINI Frontiers exhibition, taking place at the designjunction trade event during next week’s London Design Festival.

Honda driverless car

Opening from 17 to 21 September, the exhibition will showcase six proposals for transport by emerging designers.

Honda driverless car

These include cars made from biological materials that would mutate, personalised driving avatars in the form of dashboard bobble heads, and augmented reality road markings and signage.

Honda driverless car

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Meloy Architects "encourages outdoor living" with British seaside chalet

The entire glazed front of this beach house in Hampshire, England, was designed by Meloy Architects to concertina open to join a waterfront terrace (+ slideshow).

The Kench by Meloy Architects

The Kench, which is one of six projects shortlisted to receive this year’s RIBA Manser Medal for best British house, is named after the outcrop of land it sits on to the west of Hayling Island.



It provides a family summerhouse for clients John and Tanya Young, who played an active role in the design process.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

“The beach house sits within a small community of holiday chalets and although designed principally for summertime use, is capable of year-round occupation,” said Charles Meloy of Meloy Architects.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

Sandwiched between an overhanging roof and a decked base, the T-shaped plan accommodates a sea-facing open-plan living and kitchen area, and has two bedrooms and a separate bathroom and toilet to the rear.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

The glass facade of the single-storey residence folds to connect the living space with the Oregon pine decking that wraps around the house. A white roof and rendered walls help to blend the new building with its more aged neighbours.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

“An open plan living area and integral kitchen are orientated towards the harbour views and a full-height glass wall can be folded away to encourage outdoor living,” said Meloy.

The outdoor decking aligns with the Douglas Fir floorboards of the living space to give a sense of continuity between interior and exterior, maximising the 70-square-metre floor plan permitted by the local residents’ association.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

On the north side of the property a timber ramp leads up to the main entrance.

The bedrooms, which occupy identical footprints at the back of the trapezium-shaped plot, each contain a full-height glazed door.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

The doors face seaward, providing views over the water and access to the external deck. A section of floor-to-ceiling mirroring in each reflects the light and conceals built-in storage.

Responding to the need to protect the building from seasonal flooding, the architects raised the building on a concrete slab.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

“The flood-risk designation for the site dictated a higher elevation than neighbouring chalets so that the structure ‘floats’ above ground level,” said Meloy.

A set of steps below the concrete platform leads down to the foreshore.

The Kench by Meloy Architects

Projects also shortlisted for the Manser Medal include Jamie Fobert’s brick-faced Luker House and Stormy Castle house by Loyn & Co, a concrete and glass structure topped by a former schoolhouse and stone outbuilding. The winner of the 2014 Manser Medal will be announced on 16 October.

Photography is by Jim Stephenson.

The Kench by Meloy Architects
Site plan – click for larger image
The Kench by Meloy Architects
Floor plan – click for larger image
The Kench by Meloy Architects
East and north elevations – click for larger image
The Kench by Meloy Architects
West and south elevations – click for larger image

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with British seaside chalet
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Word of Mouth: Porto: Vintage furniture, vegetarian fare, obscure records and everything in between in Portugal's northern metropolis

Word of Mouth: Porto


by Ross Belfer Porto is no longer limited to its UNESCO World Heritage-recognized Old City, replete with meticulously preserved Romanesque, Gothic and Manueline-style architectural structures and seven river-expanding bridges—not to mention its renowned wine culture. The city evokes an industrial-hip vibe supported by a vibrant nightlife and thriving music and art…

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Visa Pour L’Image Annual Edition 2014

Basé à Perpignan, le festival annuel de photo-journalisme Visa Pour l’Image vient de compléter sa 26ème édition. La ville est remplie de plus de 3000 photo-journalistes talentueux et agences de presse du monde entier. Cette année, 26 expositions ont eu lieu et ont présenté les images les plus puissantes et poignantes de ce qui s’est passé en 2014. Des images qui ne laissent pas de marbre, à parcourir dans la galerie.

Photo by Maxim Dondyuk : Euromaidan: a Culture of Confrontation. The announcement by the President of Ukraine that the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union would not be signed was the starting point of Euromaidan, a completely peaceful protest by pro-EU Ukrainians. But a violent crackdown on protesters, plus provocation, brought massive crowds out, assembling on the main square of the capital, demanding respect for human rights, and calling for an end to the regime and the country’s political elite. Euromaidan became a dramatic spectacle, with battle scenes reminiscent of the worst days of war, with frost and flames turning Maidan Nezalezhnosti – Independence Square – into a phantasmagoria, destroying the familiar features of the once carefree and bold city of Kiev. Here: After the clashes, police and riot police remained on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, on February 19, 2014. Winner of the Ville de Perpignan Rémi Ochlik Award 2014.

Photo by Anne Rearick/Agence VU. South Africa – Chronicles of a Township by Anne Rearick – For the past decade Anne Rearick has photographed life in predominantly black townships outside Cape Town. Her pictures display humanist sensibility and convey the spirit of South Africans who face endemic violence, extreme economic hardship, and unabated racism, yet still maintain dignity, hope and courage. Rearick’s work has taken her into the classrooms of over- crowded schools and the emergency room of an underfunded public hospital, into churches and people’s homes. With South Africa’s current political climate, economic instability and increasing social unrest, the images show what is at stake in this fragile new democracy. Here: Khayelitsha, South Africa, 2004.

Photo by Michael Zumstein/Agence VU for Le Monde/AFP Photo. Central African Republic, December 15, 2013. Men from the Popular Rebel Movement of the Central African Armed Forces [Mouvement de révolte des forces armées centrafricaines pour le peuple], a mainly Christian group, being given military training in a school in a suburb of Bangui.

Photo by Bruno Amsellem/Signatures. Rohingyas, a Silenced Minority by Bruno Amsellem/Signatures – Since June 2012, the Rohingya people of Burma have been victims of violent and sometimes deadly attacks by local communities, as the authorities stand by, virtually condoning the attacks. The Rohingya Muslim minority were rendered stateless in Burma’s 1982 citizenship act, and according to the United Nations they are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Over the past two years, prominent Buddhists have been inciting the Burmese people to hate. Entire villages have been burned and razed in Arakan (Rakhine) State in north-west Burma. Hundreds have been left dead in the wake of the violence which has spread to the center of the country. Camps for displaced persons near the city of Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, now house 140 000 Rohingyas who are denied freedom of movement and healthcare. Bruno Amsellem visited the camps where westerners and humanitarian workers are kept under strict surveillance by the authorities. Here: Since the riots in June 2012, more than 140 000 Rohingyas, the Muslim minority community in Burma, have been living in camps for internally displaced persons in Arakan state. Sittwe, Burma (Myanmar), August 2013.

Photo by livier Laban-Mattei/The Mongolian Project/MYOP. Mongolia – there is no El Dorado by Olivier Laban-Mattei – It is time to put an end to the latter-day myth that Mongolia is the new El Dorado. It certainly is not. Mongolia is not a land blessed by the gods, a rich land offering wealth to any and every fortune hunter as the international media would have us believe. Quite the opposite. Social inequality has been made dramatically worse by intensive mining, with serious effects on human health and the environ- ment. The first victims are, of course, the people of Mongolia. With polluted air, water and land, the prevalence of pollution-related disease and appalling hygiene and health has soared, but the authorities persistently deny this, preferring to promote an idyllic image of their country in a bid to attract ever more foreign investors. Here: Winter in Bayan Khoshuu, a poor district known as the yurt neighborhood, in Ulan Bator. Winter temperatures go down to 40° or 50º C ( 40°/ 60° F) forcing thousands to burn vast quantities of coal for heating, leaving a thick cloud of smoke over the city, and causing serious diseases from air pollution. In winter Ulan Bator is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Photo by Mary F. Calvert/Zuma Press. Mary F. Calvert/Zuma Press – Canon Female Photojournalist Award 2013 presented by the AFJ. The Battle Within: Sexual Assault in America’s Military – Women who join the US Armed Forces are being raped and sexually assaulted by their colleagues in record numbers. An estimated 26,000 rapes and sexual assaults took place in the armed forces last year; only one in seven victims reported their attacks, and just one in ten of those cases went to trial. Many victims fear retaliation, demotion or being kicked out of the military, because they have seen it happen to others. The abuse is often considered simply a breach of conduct and not a criminal offense. The effects of Military Sexual Trauma, include depression, substance abuse, paranoia and feelings of isolation. Victims spend years drowning in shame and fear as the psychological damage silently eats away at their lives: many frequently end up addicted to drugs and alcohol, homeless or take their own lives. Here: Sergeant Jennifer Norris was 21 when she joined the US Air Force, and was drugged and raped by her recruiter at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Nancy Parrish, President of the association “Protect Our Defenders”, is seen comforting her after she testified at the hearing of the US House Committee on Armed Services on Capitol Hill.

Photo by William Daniels/Panos Pictures. Humanitarian Crisis in the Central African Republic – The Central African Republic has been plunged into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. After a year of terror led by the mainly Muslim rebel Seleka group, anti-Balaka militia wreaked revenge on the Muslims in the west of the country who fled or were killed. Entire districts were tar- geted; even women and children were victims of grenade attacks. There was little response from the international community; soldiers with the African-led International Support Mission in the CAR (MISCA) and French troops struggled to stop the massacres and ethnic cleansing. Nearly one million (one fourth of the population) fled, be- coming displaced persons, needing food and medical care in conditions with no proper security. Here: A grieving relative of Sept-Abel Sangomalet, a 20-year-old Christian killed by Muslims who entered the family home and stabbed him in his sleep. Winner of the Humanitarian Visa d’or award – International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 2014.

Photo by Pierre Terdjman/Paris Match. Central African Republic by Pierre Terdjman – The Seleka militia took over in March 2013, and perpetrated massive violations of human rights – massacres, rape, torture and executions, and burning villages to the ground. Nearly one fifth of the population has had to flee and they are now living in appalling conditions in the bush and IDP camps. In September, the predominantly Christian anti- Balaka militia embarked on a wave of reprisals against the Muslims with massacres, summary executions and looting; the sides had changed, but the violence continued. Terrified Muslims fled north-west, to towns such as Bossangoa and Bouca which are traditionally Muslim. Of the 100 000 Muslims that lived in Bangui, only one thousand are left; the others have fled across the border. Today it seems unlikely that any change will occur. The rift may very well be permanent. Here: A wounded man in the community hospital.

Photo by William Daniels/Panos Pictures/National Geographic Magazine. Train for the Forgotten by William Daniels – It was the most expensive infrastructure project of the Soviet era. The BAM, the Baikal-Amur Mainline, is the railway crossing Eastern Russia, running for more than 4000 kilometers, passing through remote villages with no amenities, and certainly no healthcare facilities, and where it can take a day or more to reach the nearest hospital. So the authorities set up a medical train – the Matvey Mudrov – stopping at almost every village along the line. For the people, it is more than just a mobile hospital; it is their sole point of contact with the rest of Russia, with Western Russia which has surged ahead over the past decade, leaving the East behind. Here: A stopover in the deserted town of Elban, where the Matvey Mudrov crew are celebrating Maslenitsa, marking the end of winter, drinking vodka, eating kebabs and burning a doll.

Photo by Adrian Fussell. Ian Parry was a photojournalist working for The Sunday Times and covering the Romanian Revolution in 1989 when the aircraft he was traveling in to leave Bucharest was hit by a missile, killing all on board. Ian was just 24 years old. A scholarship was set up to support young photojournalists wanting to follow Ian’s dream. Many of the recipients have gone on to become some of the finest news photographers today. The exhibition presents work by the scholarship patron, Don McCullin CBE, and the winners. Here: March 30, 2012, the day before the National Championships of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in Louisville, Kentucky. Cadet William Wiedenbaum, commander of the Patriot Guard, shooting a toy gun at his hotel roommates. From the series “My Name is Victory”, Ian Parry Scholarship Winner 2012.

Photo by Yunghi Kim/Contact Press Images. The Long Road Home in Africa: Famine to Reconciliation 1992-1996 by Yunghi Kim – Working up close and finding intimate and emotional glimmers of humanity in the darkest and bleakest of moments are hallmarks of Yunghi Kim’s work. These four years of intense work in Africa were seminal chapters in Yunghi’s life. As Boston Globe staff photographer, she was taken hostage in Somalia and, only days after being released, found the courage to return there to complete her assignment. She was exposed to the worst and best of mankind, and was always able to see the beauty of Africa and the people of Africa. Revisiting the work twenty years later has proven to be a humbling experience. Here: Baidoa, Somalia, 1992. The shadow cast by US Marines entering the town of Baidoa, hit by famine and held by bandits.

Photo by Sebastián Liste/NOOR for Time Magazine and Fotopres “La Caixa” Grant. On the Inside: Venezuelan Prisons Under Inmate Control – Vista Hermosa is a notorious prison in Venezuela. With violence plaguing the country, there are more and more prisoners, and more clashes between prisoners and guards. The authorities have made no attempt to improve conditions, and have let the situation degenerate into near chaos. National Guards patrol outside the walls, while the inmates live and die in a world of their own making on the inside. Exhibition co-produced with the Photographic Social Vision Foundation. Here: Vista Hermosa prison, Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, March 2013. A celebration inside the prison while family members are visiting. Wilmito and his gang took control of the prison by force, and the inmates are now allowed two family visits a week. In September 2008, family overnights were instituted as part of a prison humanization plan.

Photo by Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press. Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press – Tribute. Anja Niedringhaus was one of the most talented, bravest and accomplished photojournalists of her generation. Her senseless death at the hands of Afghan police officer on April 4, 2014 deprived the world of an extraordinary person. Her storytelling skill with a camera was extraordinarily effective, a reflection of her own open gaze and genuine compassion for her subjects. Her enthusiasm and good cheer were infectious, even in the darkest of circumstances. She consistently volunteered for the hardest assign- ments and was remarkably resilient in carrying them out time after time. She truly believed in the need to bear witness. Here: A Libyan rebel urging people to leave as shells fired by Gadhafi’s forces landed on the front outside Bin Jawaad, 150 km east of Sirte. Central Libya, March 29, 2011.

Photo by Klaus Nigge/National Geographic Creative for National Geographic Magazine. The Bald Eagle, as the national symbol of the United States of America, is grand and majestic, but is also a bird living in a world of rain and dirt, of skies bright and dark, hunting and fighting – a true eagle. Klaus Nigge traveled to the Aleutian Islands where there is a large population of bald eagles. There it is either raining, or just lousy weather. At Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, the largest fishing port in the States, the eagles are not shy, being used to human contact, offering original opportunities to the photographer. Here: Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), in the rain. Unalaska, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, January 2007.

Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP Photo. Christophe Simon, AFP chief photographer in Brazil, gathered together a group of 18 teen- agers in Cidade de Deus favela in Rio de Janeiro, and, working together, they photographed their everyday life featuring their love of football, and at a time before every camera in the world was focused on Brazil and the 2014 Football World Cup. While covering “pacification” in the favelas, Christophe had realized just how fascinated the teenagers in these neighborhoods were by the job of photoreporter. Here: Children playing football in Cidade de Deus favela on April, 2013.

Photo by Sean Sutton/MAG/Panos Pictures. The Eye of the Storm by Sean Sutton – Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on 8 November 2013 killing more than 6,000 people. Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, had sustained winds of 315kph, making it the strongest typhoon ever to reach landfall. Much of the city of Tacloban on Leyte Island was directly in the path of the storm and was completely devas- tated by the intense winds and a storm surge between five and eight meters high. Many thousands lost their homes and were displaced. What was left was an apocalyptic landscape, testament to the awesome power of nature. Here: Village de Mahagnau, Leyte, Philippines, 20 novembre 2013. Local people helping unload a helicopter, the first aid to reach the remote community after Typhoon Haiyan.

Photo by Gaël Turine/Agence VU. India and Bangladesh – The Wall and Fear by Gaël Turine – In 1993, India began building a dividing wall over a distance of 3 200 kilometers [approximately 2000 miles], separating it from neighboring Bangladesh. Officially it was to protect the country from Islamist terrorists and illegal migrants. Here people are arrested, tortured and killed, making this the most dangerous border in the world. Nearly all victims are Bangladeshi citizens trying to cross illegally to the other side, and for any number of reasons – economic, family, health or environmental – as their country suffers from every possible affliction. Here: Hili, West Bengal, India, on the border with Bangladesh. Between rounds by the Border Security Force, two Bangladeshi women cross the wall between the countries. They enter the country empty-handed and leave laden down with smuggled goods. Indian BSF troops accuse the Bangladeshi border guards of letting them through, thus forcing the BSF troops to take more violent action.

Photo by Chu Chi Thành. The Photographers in the North. Forty years ago, the Vietnam War came to an end. It had been a war with massive media coverage, with memorable photos by names such as Larry Burrows, Don McCullin, Philip Jones Griffiths, Gilles Caron, Horst Faas and Henri Huet, the photojournalists covering the war from the American side, the “photographers in the South”. Very little is known about the work of the men covering the war on the other side where B52 bombers were flying overhead, the Vietnamese soldiers who became photographers – the “photographers in the North”. Photographers Doan Càng Tinh, Chu Chi Thành and Hua Kiem are making the journey to Perpignan this year with the help of Patrick Chauvel. The exhibition has been organized with the support of Marie-Christine Blandin, President of the Culture Committee of the French Senate, and Patrick Bloche, President of the Committee on Cultural Affairs of the French National Assembly. Event organized as part of the France-Vietnam Year, Nam Viet Nam Phap, 2013-2014. Here: November 16, 1967. The ageing militiaman, Tran Van Ong, from Duc Ninh (Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh province), after bringing down an F4H Phantom Fighter.

Photo by Alvaro Ybarra Zavala/Reportage by Getty Images. “Stories of a Wounded Land” documents one of today’s most complex issues affecting the majority of people around the world and the planet itself: agribusiness. Agribusiness is global in scale, extending, for example, from a local producer in Latin America or an African tribe to large corporations and consumers in the First World. Is agribusiness the solution to world hunger, or is it poisoning both the land and the people? Over the past two years, Alvaro Ybarra Zavala has been documenting agribusiness in practice in Latin America, in particular in Argentina and Brazil, two of the world’s major breadbaskets. Here: Avia Terai, Chaco, Argentina, November 2012. Milagros Alcaraz (6) has spina bifida and has been given no medical care. She can barely walk. The local community is affected by crop dusting using equipment that does not comply with legal requirements, and which is done with the consent of the authorities and total impunity.

Photo by Pierre Terdjman/Paris Match. Christians looting a Muslim shop in the “Combattants” district of Bangui.

Photo by Noel Celis/Agence France-Presse. Typhoon in the Philippines: AFP, leading in the wake of Haiyan. On November 8, 2013, eyes around the world were focused on the Philippines after typhoon Haiyan struck. Within a few minutes, whole districts had been flattened, demolished by the extraordinary force of the typhoon with winds gusting over 315 km/h (c. 200 mph). The toll was more than 8000 dead and missing. The AFP reporters who reached the site the next day discovered an apocalyptic landscape. Their photos vividly convey the extent of the disaster and the distress of the survivors. Here: A survivor in the midst of the debris after Super Typhoon Haiyan. Tacloban, island of Leyte, eastern Philippines, November 11, 2013.

Photo by Michael Zumstein/Agence VU. In March 2013, the Muslim-dominated Seleka rebel movement seized power in Bangui, bringing the corrupt regime of François Bozizé to an end. But a reign of terror ensued, for weeks, as soldiers backing the new president, Michel Djotodia, led a wave of violence and looting targeting Christian communities. Michael Zumstein has made a number of trips to the Central African Republic, the first in September 2013 when he saw violent attacks on Christian civilians. And he was there when Christian self-defense anti-Balaka militia gained control and Muslims were forced to flee. His photographs stand as a record of the unprecedented violence that continues unabated. Here: Central African Republic, Njoh, 24 September 2013. Men who claim to be members of the Anti-Balaka movement, which fights the former-Seleka, are posing with guns in the main street of Njoh.

Photo by Guillaume Herbaut/Institute. Ukraine, from Independence Square to the Donbas by Guillaume Herbaut/Institute – It all started with a few tweets calling protestors to demonstrate on Independence Square. Students were angry that President Yanukovych had refused to sign an EU association agreement, opting instead for the Eurasian union proposed by Vladimir Putin. Then the corrupt president fled the country and it turned into revolution. Next Russia annexed Crimea, and since then Ukraine has been falling apart. So what is happening? Is this the emergence of a new nation? Is this a latter day manifestation of the Soviet era, or is it a revival of Russian imperialism on the global stage? The crisis in Ukraine may very well be the beginning of an international crisis. Here: Kiev, Khreshchatyk Avenue, December 9, 2013, 9.29 am. Two Cossacks on a barricade manned by pro-EU activists near Independence Square.

Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images. On April 20, 2011, Chris Hondros was killed in Libya, at the same time as Tim Hetherington. Chris was one of the photographers whose work was regularly shown in Perpignan, but he had never had an exhibition; we were always so sure that he would produce something even better the next year. Now, three years after his death, his friends and colleagues have pub- lished a collection of his best shots: Testament. Chris worked as a photographer in the most challen- ging and dangerous parts of the world, presenting the plight of individuals and communities caught in the turmoil of conflict, often in remote areas and sometimes for obscure causes, showing the rest of the world how they lived, endeavoring to raise awareness, to make people think and seek to understand. Here: Ali Salem el-Faizani (10) at a street corner while working as a traffic officer. With schools across eastern Libya closed for nearly two months because of the ongoing civil conflict, some children such as Al, chose to work to pass the time. Benghazi, Libya, April 15, 2011.

Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images. A soldier loyal to the government shouting a battle cry after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces at a key frontline bridge. Clashes continued in Monrovia, despite a call for a cease-fire by the leaders of the LURD rebel group. Monrovia, Liberia, July 23, 2003.

Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters. The Skyscraper Slum by Jorge Silva/Reuters – A 45-story skyscraper in the center of Caracas boasts glorious views of the Avila mountains, plus large balconies for weekend barbecues. Yet it is no five-star hotel or swanky apartment block: it is a slum, probably the tallest in the world. Dubbed “The Tower of David”, it was intended to be a shining new financial center, but was abandoned – for financial reasons. Squatters seized the huge concrete skeleton, and now some 3000 people call the tower their home. Here: Genesis (9) on the balcony of the apartment where she lives with her parents and four siblings.

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"What might the future of Scottish architecture be in an independent state?"

Glasgow aerial view

Opinion: Scotland once boasted its own distinct regional building styles, but since devolution began in the 1990s Scottish architecture has fallen foul of the profit-chasing short-termism that has blighted the rest of the UK, says Owen Hatherley.


The United Kingdom is one of the last of the big multinational empires, a country made up of (at least) four distinct nations. American commentators used to call the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the “prison house of nations”. A multinational empire is often supposed to be a prison house of some specifically national architecture. Yet even in the Union, the first thing an English visitor to Scotland will always notice, aside from the banknotes, is how different its architecture and its cities are to the English.

The materials – the hard, vivid red and yellow sandstones – the love of metropolitan scale – tall tenements, grid plans – and the overall sense of sublimity, with nothing village-like in the city, are obvious in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, but are not common qualities in Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham. Aside from freaks like the odd red-brick Mancunian mill on Clydeside or the suspiciously Glaswegian Barrow Island in north-west England, architecture was independent even during the Union’s Victorian peak. Would independence make any difference to this? It shouldn’t influence voting in any way – Scots have more important things to think about in pondering their choice – but what might the future of Scottish architecture be in an independent state?

The evidence both from the nations that left their “prison house” in the 1990s is mixed. “National” styles and what could be called, after Kenneth Frampton, “critical regionalist” architecture, flourished in Soviet-dominated Europe in the 1980s, much as it did in the late Hapsburg Empire, or in post-Franco Catalonia and post-Salazar Portugal around the same time.



This took various forms, inflected by the culture of each region. The Baltic States favoured an Aalto-esque small-scale Scandinavian modernism over Soviet monumentality, seemingly as a gesture towards its wealthy, comfortable neighbours with the implicit suggestion that if only they hadn’t been annexed in the 1940s, the Baltics would be in the position of Finland.

Yet the most interesting architects, such as the Estonian Raine Karp, owed little to either Aalto or to Soviet precedent, creating harshly original buildings – such as the National Library in Tallinn – that seemed to emerge from the landscape, or were themselves landscape, such as the Linnahall on the Baltic sea itself. Likewise, Central Asian, Georgian or Azerbaijani architects favoured adaptations of modernism to their own particular climate, with or without a skein of local “reference” draped over it. Yet few of these countries managed to maintain this originality after 1991, preferring either either good taste western pseudomodernism (in the Baltics) or monumental neo-Soviet bling (everywhere else).

A contrasting example is Hungarian Organic Architecture. Flourishing at the turn of the ’90s, this style and its exponents – most famous being the late Imre Makovecs – favoured tapering, wormlike or phallic forms allegedly inspired by the Yurts carried by nomadic pre-medieval Magyars. In Makovecs case, “national style” corresponded with passionately held and deeply unpleasant nationalist convictions.

If Scotland does become independent, it will be ruled from a building designed by Catalan architects: Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue’s Scottish Parliament, unveiled to some controversy after the obligatory cost overruns in the early 2000s. Both its provenance – from Catalonia to Scotland, from one semi-autonomous nation claiming its rights to another – and its scrupulously unique, individualist design were very deliberate moves towards a style that was both locally specific and outward-looking. In this, it’s possible to argue that EMBT’s building was in a certain Scottish internationalist tradition; certainly it looks a great deal more progressive than Michael Hopkins’ stodgy Porticullis House, designed for British Parliamentarians in London around the same time. It could be placed in a lineage with the way that Glasgow architecture in the early 20th century was far more open to outside influence than the architecture of London or Manchester.

Any visit to what was once the Second City of Empire in terms of power, population and influence shows its closeness to Chicago, Stockholm or Berlin is far more apparent than any closeness to London. Glasgow architecture from the 1880s to the 1920s, whether steel-frame classicism or perpendicular art nouveau, is strikingly unlike the Queen Anne, French baroque or Arts and Crafts styles fashionable in the capital, and vastly more convincing as confident, metropolitan architecture. And famously, in the case of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his fan club in 1910s Vienna and Berlin, Glasgow’s architecture went on to influence the development of the Modern movement on the continent. Yet at this point, the city, and the country in general, was ruled from a Scottish Office in Whitehall.

Since devolution began, after some false starts, in the late 1990s, is much less easy to differentiate Scottish architecture from English. This isn’t the fault of devolution itself – apart from that continued revelling in sublime scale, there’s not much in Scottish modernism to differentiate it from English, aside maybe from a certain regional rhetoric in some of the buildings of Basil Spence and his ilk. The architecture of the late Izi Metzstein and Andy Macmillan was regional in the sense that it was fitted to its site, climate and materials, but you can find them doing much the same thing in Cambridge or Hull. Scottish new towns like Cumbernauld were lushly integrated into the landscape, as were the first phases of Milton Keynes in England.

But the panorama of Scottish architecture in the ’90s, 2000s and 2010s is the same landscape of tacky, multi-materials luxury flats, botched non-planning and iconic grand projects that you would find in the north of England at the same time. The largest scale developments, such as Edinburgh Harbour in Leith or the redevelopment of the Clyde with call centres and luxury flats, have been indistinguishable from contemporary practice in Bristol or Birmingham, as are the closes of anti-urban cul-de-sacs on the edge of every Scottish city.

It all shows a profit-chasing short-termism, architectural compromise and urban ineptitude that feels distinctly Anglo-Saxon. Investment has been directed to Edinburgh, which boasts some monstrous postmodernist banks, but there has been absolutely nothing in Glasgow since the 1970s to show anything remotely resembling the fearless monumentality and harsh rectitude of its finest buildings.

This is not an argument against Scotland’s independence, which is it’s own business. Scotland’s urban traditions are far closer to contemporary European norms than is contemporary English practice, and greater local government should give them the opportunity to develop this. Yet the experience of devolution shows that the full neoliberalism of a government in London or the tempered neoliberalism of a government in Edinburgh may have rather similar effects on architecture and the city.


Owen Hatherley is a critic and author, focussing on architecture, politics and culture. His books include Militant Modernism (2009), A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain (2010), and A New Kind of Bleak: Journeys Through urban Britain (2012). 

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SCP launches Autumn Winter 2014 collection during London Design Festival

London Design Festival 2014: design brand SCP is launching its latest collection of products, furniture and accessories across its two London shops next week, including new designs from Reiko Kaneko, Lucy Kurrein and Donna Wilson (+ slideshow).

SCP at London Design Festival
Quilts by Donna Wilson

Scottish designer Donna Wilson has created a collection of hand block printed quilts featuring a repeated diamond motif in orange and teal for the Autumn Winter 2014 range.



SCP at London Design Festival
Light by Reiko Kaneko

Reiko Kaneko‘s light is a simple pendant made from white ceramic typical of her designs. The Japanese designer also reveals new developments in her terracotta tableware collection for SCP, including a pitcher, bowl, platter and tumbler. All of the pieces are partly glazed white, leaving some of the terracotta exposed.

SCP at London Design Festival
Hairy Man by Marc McGinnis

A range of colourful, graphic trays and tea towels are the work of Brooklyn-based illustrator and designer Mark McGinnis.

SCP at London Design Festival
Elmer by Lucy Kurrein

Lucy Kurrein has designed Elmer, a generously proportioned two-seater sofa in pink.

SCP at London Design Festival
Lily side table by Lucy Kurrein

The Max bar stool by Andrea Stemmer features a half-disc seat and spindly legs in either grey or white.

SCP at London Design Festival
Max bar stool by Andrea Stemmer

Alex Hellum has combined a wooden stool and traditional toolbox into one work stool.

SCP at London Design Festival
Parallel Shelving by Terence Woodgate

Also on show are updates to Faudet-Harrison‘s wall-mounted coat-hooks and Terence Woodgate‘s Parallel shelving and Lansdowne sofas, alongside the complete Spring Summer 2014 collection that launched during Milan design week in April.

SCP at London Design Festival
Lansdowne sofa by Terence Woodgate

As well as the launch of the new collection, SCP will be hosting Simplified Beauty: an exhibition of contemporary design and a “celebration of things made as they should be,” curated by SCP founder Sheridan Coakley and British-Japanese designer Reiko Kaneko.

SCP at London Design Festival
Range bench by Fort Standard

Both showcases coincide with this year’s London Design Festival, taking place from 13 to 21 September.

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during London Design Festival
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