Hasta La Ideas

The Matryomin is a single-antenna Theremin-type device mounted inside a Matryoshka doll. The..(Read…)

A screen of hollow concrete bricks provides privacy for students using this shower and changing facility at a Shanghai technical college (+ slideshow).

The student bathrooms were designed by WuYang Architecture to occupy one of several former factory buildings from the 1980s that make up the campus of the Shanghai Technical Institute of Electronics and Information.

The works involved stripping the two-storey building back to its concrete frame and replacing all of the original walls, including the addition of the new concrete-brick facade.

Each of the bricks has been arranged diagonally, creating a textured surface that changes appearance from solid to perforated, depending on the viewing angle. This screens the interior from a series of neighbouring sports pitches.

“Besides the works of structural reinforcement and spatial rearrangement, the design tries to create an attractive environment for students,” explained architect Feng Lu, who studied in the UK before founding his Shanghai-based design studio.

“A wall of concrete hollow blocks is used to make a translucent interface between inside and outside,” he told Dezeen. “This material is cheap and good for insulation.”

Rear and side walls have been rendered white, contrasting with the dark grey tones of this facade skin, which Feng says was “kept as naked”.

The ground floor level of the 503-square-metre building is assigned to boys with 63 showers, while the upper level offers facilities for girls, including 24 shower spaces.

Both storeys have their own entrances and separate exits. Boys enter through a double-height opening on the right-hand side of the facade, while the way in for girls is a staircase that climbs up alongside the adjacent sidewall and bridges over the opening.

A sequence of skylights help to bring additional daylight into this area. There are also clerestory windows that allow light to filter into the shower rooms.

Photography is by SU Shengliang.

Project credits:

Project architect: Feng Lu
Architects: Wuyang Architecture
Engineering: SRIBS
Client: China Fortune Properties, Shanghai Technical Institute of Electronics and Information

The post Hollow concrete blocks form a textured frontage
for Wuyang Architecture’s student shower block appeared first on Dezeen.

While waiting for his plane to board so he can immigrate to America, Augusto Ramirez recalls the..(Read…)

Design student Eden Lew has created a prototype for a portable fabric pod called Nutshell that can be used to encase the top half of the body when time out from the workplace is required.

Part of Eden Lew‘s work for the Products of Design course at New York’s School of Visual Arts, Nutshell was designed for students and workers who habitually skip proper work breaks as a device to encourage them to rest.

When fully extended, the product surrounds the user in fabric from the torso and up over the head, supported by circular ribs, concealing them inside a canvas “shell”.

Available in three different styles, it is wearable and collapsible, meaning that it can be used throughout the day for activities like snatching naps or eating lunch in solitude.

Nutshell has been developed in several varieties – the Nutshell Go is a simple model and can be pulled over the wearer’s head. Nutshell Black is similar except that it is made from opaque material that plunges the user into a dark, warm and isolated space, while Headshell is a padded hood that is worn over the shoulders like a backpack.

Lew’s inspiration for Nutshell stemmed from her own personal experiences with a hectic lifestyle.

“I’m a new New York transplant from Texas and the culture shock has been incredible,” Lew told Dezeen. “I was swept away by the city’s never-ending activity and graduate school has been fast-paced and demanding.”

“I forget to eat meals because I never want to stop designing, and I’m constantly surrounded by excitement and activities,” she said. “The Nutshell became my way of finding some personal peace and quiet, and I bet there are others out there who feel the same way.”

As part of the project, Lew created a concept enterprise called Nutshell Labs to promote “social solitude” – her idea that embracing seclusion does not have to be a lonely act, but a supported one. The designer also drafted an accompanying conceptual app that would offer guided meditation and curated podcasts for the user to listen to from within the Nutshell.

Describing the user experience, Lew told Dezeen that the prototypes work “pretty well”.

“The Nutshell Go is fun to wear and easy to pull over the head,” she said. “When inside, I feel vulnerable yet safe, however I’ve only worn it in the studio around my peers. I’ve fallen asleep countless times in the Nutshell Blackout – it’s called Blackout for a reason.”

“If I create more Nutshells I’ll have to figure out ventilation, it’s a little warm in there,” Lew added.

The post Nutshell helps workers reclaim “social solitude”
by shrouding them in fabric appeared first on Dezeen.

Photos by Matteo de Mayda

Architects Antonio Girardi and Cristiana Favretto of StudioMobile in Treviso, Italy, have created what has been dubbed a “floating agricultural greenhouse” that produces food, almost miraculously, without consuming land, fresh water or energy.

Built with simple technologies and with low cost and recycled materials, the “Jellyfist Barge” has been conceived for communities vulnerable to water and food scarcity. The structure reportedly harvests up to 150 liters of fresh water per day from the seven solar stills arranged along its edge, the design employs a technologically simple hydroponics system—which can also draw 15% of its needs from sea water to ensure greater water efficiency.

(more…)