Oct 13
Oct 13
Li Xiaodong wins inaugural Moriyama Prize for "modest" Liyuan Library
Posted in: UncategorizedNews: Chinese architect Li Xiaodong has become the first recipient of the Moriyama Prize – a new award launched by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and architect Raymond Moriyama to rival the Pritzker and Stirling prizes.
Launched earlier this year, the CAD$100,000 (£55,000) Moriyama Prize is one of the highest value award in architecture and one of few that is awarded specifically to a building that is already in use, rather than a new project or body of work.
Li Xiaodong was named the inaugural winner at a prize ceremony on Saturday at the Fumihiko Maki-designed Aga Khan Museum in Toronto for his Liyuan Library project, which completed in 2011.
Related story: Liyuan Library by Li Xiaodong
“The Moriyama RAIC International Prize is awarded to a building that is judged to be transformative, inspired as well as inspiring, and emblematic of the human values of respect and inclusiveness,” said the organisers of the award in a statement.
“In the two and a half years of its operation, the Liyuan Library has experienced unexpected levels of use and appreciation,” it said. “A new bus stop has opened close by to accommodate the frequent visits by thousands of people, including local villagers, tourists from the Beijing urban area, and many international visitors as well.”
Located in a small village on the outskirts of Beijing, the single-storey Liyuan Library is wrapped in a glazed shell covered in sticks of firewood. The frame of the building is made from chunky timber beams. Inside, stepped platforms integrate low level shelves and provide seating areas for readers.
In an interview with Dezeen, Xiaodong explained that the building was designed to attract tourism to the village as well as provide a public service and was a test in combining architecture and technology seamlessly.
“Every project of mine is actually a test, an experimental effort, in how we can engage some different issues and how do we address those issues… in this case, how I can test our understanding about technology,” he told Dezeen. “Normally we understand technology as a separate entity from architecture.”
Although the building looks “untechnologically expressive,” it features an integrated cooling system that draws cold air from the surface of a lake in summer and pulls it up through the building, explained Xiaodong, and 99 per cent of the materials used in the project can be recycled.
The Library “is a lovely object in a dramatic landscape, a wondrous thing to use and be in,” said a statement from the six-strong prize jury, which included British architect Edward Cullinan and Royal Architectural Institute of Canada gold medallists Bing Thom and Patricia Patkau.
Also on the jury were Canada based architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, Maxime-Alexis Frappier, winner of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s 2013 Young Architect Award, and architect and chancellor of the RAIC College of Fellows Barry Johns.
“We need more of these types of perhaps modest, yet powerful buildings, which make architecture from a deep understanding of people, culture, context, site, materiality and light,” said Johns.
Xiaodong’s project was selected via an open competition process that saw projects submitted from nine countries including Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Tajikistan.
Three CAD$5,000 scholarships were also awarded to students at Canadian universities who submitted essays on the question: Why do I want to be an architect?
The post Li Xiaodong wins inaugural Moriyama Prize
for “modest” Liyuan Library appeared first on Dezeen.
Oct 13
Genesin Studio renovates Victorian shop in Adelaide for Aesop
Posted in: UncategorizedGenesin Studio has designed a pale wood and antique marble interior behind a dusky-green Victorian shopfront for skincare brand Aesop‘s new Adelaide store (+ slideshow).
Genesin Studio created the interior for Aesop on Rundle Street – a popular shopping area within the studio’s hometown of Adelaide, South Australia.
The studio maintained the original moulding and wood paneling of the historic shopfront, while introducing contemporary fittings to the interior, including three light oak display islands.
“Materials were reinvented into the space to encourage nostalgia of the site’s heritage, but also to create interesting design components to platform the Aesop shopping experience,” said studio founder Ryan Genesin.
The studio used Tasmanian oak as the predominant material for the interior, cladding floors, sections of wall and three display islands in the wood. Sections of the timber are arranged with the grain running in opposing directions to differentiate various components.
Three oblong islands with rounded ends are clad in vertical strips of oak, sat on parquet flooring made from the same species. Ten oil burners concealed beneath grates in the floor pump fragrance around the interior to “aromatically brand the store.”
“The hard-wearing Tasmanian oak was used to display Australian timbers to international shoppers and to give longevity to the design of space with its honey tones; these tones also give the Aesop brown bottles an honest, earthy contrast,” said the architect.
The three islands have green antique-marble countertops with recesses shaped for their specific uses. The first – a cash desk positioned at the rear of the shop – has a rectangular section of marble removed from its surface to hold a laptop.
A second flat counter top for displaying products in the centre of the store has integrated planting, while a third forms a marble wash basin – with a strip of metal mesh inserted into the base to allow water to drain away and a wooden display slat across its middle.
“Antique green marble was used to modestly celebrate the Victorian period of the building and to give foundation to the interiors, but detailed and applied in a contemporary way,” the architect said.
The brand’s products are displayed around the walls on rows of wooden shelves with curved metal surrounds, and on suspended shelves over the wash basin and in the shop window.
“Blackened steel rod shelving was used for its simplicity and rawness that also pays homage to the old building,” said Genesin.
Smaller items are presented in large glass beakers on a podium made of stacked circular disks. Pendant lights hung on steel rods are positioned over the counter tops and moulded concrete plant pots.
Behind the cash desk, a section of wall is clad in chunky planks of oak. To the right, a lounge area with armchairs and beige linen curtains creates a space where customers can enjoy a coffee and browse the store’s library.
The woodwork is offset by the white on the walls and ceiling, which is dotted with spotlights.
“The white space also gives emphasis to the merchandise and helps to exhibit and display without distraction, like a gallery,” said the architect.
The moulded and panelled shop front has been painted a dusky-green to contrast with the light interior space. A three-tiered shelf is suspended on metal framework in one window, above marble-lined sills.
“The signature Aesop dusty green painted facade sits perfectly with the old building facade and understatedly gives Aesop street presence,” said the architect.
A monochrome Aesop sign is hung perpendicular to the green shop front.
Photography by Jonathan VDK.
The post Genesin Studio renovates Victorian shop
in Adelaide for Aesop appeared first on Dezeen.
Oct 13
Spire Wins People’s Design Award
Posted in: Uncategorized
The people have spoken, and selected Spire as the winner of the 2014 People’s Design Award, announced by presenter Bruce Mau at the Cooper-Hewitt‘s National Design Awards ceremony and gala held last night in New York. Designed by Zhao Zhao (pictured), Spire—a wearable device that senses and tracks physical movement, position, and breathing patterns—takes its place alongside past winners such as PackH2O, Trek’s Lime Bike, and Toms Shoes.
The mission of Spire, which began shipping this month after three years of R&D, is to “change the way the world breathes.” Data from the device, which is zapped to a mobile app, can provide the wearer with insights about his or her daily activity and state of mind, according to the San Francisco-based team. The app also can help users to boost their activity, relaxation, and focus. Spire bested a slate of 20 nominated works, ranging from elegant and inventive consumer products (Drift Light, Lumio, Soma Water Bottle) and eco-friendly construction materials (Mushroom Building Blocks) to emergency tools (SAM Junctional Tourniquet) and design solutions for human and environmental problems (Deka Arm, Ecozoom Stove).
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Oct 13
Holy Philately! USPS Debuts Batman Stamps in Gotham City
Posted in: Uncategorized
Batman turns 75 this year (and yet, riddle us this, Adam West just turned 86), and the U.S. Postal Service is celebrating with—you guessed it—stamps! The collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Entertainment debuted last week in Gotham City at the Batcave-like Javits Center, where legions of Batfans had conveniently already gathered for Comic Con. No one mentioned Robin. The stamps, a limited-edition Forever affair (which only sounds oxymoronic) now available at a post office near you and on the USPS website, follow the Caped Crusader and his trusty Bat emblem, through four eras of comic book history.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Oct 13
New Tube for London by Priestmangoode
Posted in: Uncategorized
About this time last year, Siemens unveiled their vision for the future of the London Underground: an innovative, lightweight and energy-efficient ‘mass transportation solution’ with the exterior styling grace of a plastic worm, and all the interior character of a hospital waiting room. When Priestmangoode unveiled their design for the New Tube for London last week, we breathed a sigh of relief that they didn’t let the engineers design it.
The New Tube design comes two and half years after the Heatherwick’s New Routemaster hit the roads of the capital and follows recent news that the city’s upcoming Crossrail project (the hugely ambitious underground rail line cutting directly through the centre of London) will have exterior, interior and livery designed by Barber Osgerby when it opens doors to commuters in 2017. All told, we’re pleased to see that London is turning to top British designers to shape the city’s public realm.
Oct 13
Tove Jansson's Moomins on the Riviera: The new animated film retells a 60-year-old story of the curious characters that's still relevant today
Posted in: Uncategorized
100 years ago Finnish novelist, illustrator and painter Tove Jansson—creator of cult comic strip family the Moomins—was born. Since the first Moomin strip was published in 1945, their stories…
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Oct 13
Halloween 2014 Light Show: Thomas Halloween House
Posted in: UncategorizedHalloween 2014 Light Show. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody. Thomas Halloween House, Naperville IL ..(Read…)
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