Hasta La Ideas

These renders by London architect James Whitaker depict a proposal for a low-cost studio space in Germany comprising a cluster of shipping containers, which are arranged to direct sunlight into the interior at different times of day (+ slideshow).

Whitaker developed the concept in 2010 while working as a photographer, after he was approached by an advertising agency interested in building a workspace in the Black Forest near the town of Hechingen.

The agency closed before the project could be realised but Whitaker recently created some detailed renderings to promote his studio’s move into digital imagery production.

The client had originally requested a design using shipping containers to reduce its cost, which formed the basis for the architect’s suggestion to cluster the metal boxes in a radial composition.

“The inspiration for the design came from crystal growths in a science laboratory and the eleventh-century castle that overlooks Hechingen,” Whitaker told Dezeen.

Hohenzollern Castle, which was reconstructed in the 19th century by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, is positioned on top of a hill near the town and features an ornate arrangement of towers in the Gothic Revival style.

The verticality of the castle’s turrets is evoked in the steeply sloping forms of the containers, which would be directed to track the path of the sun as it travels across the sky.

Before the project was halted, Whitaker had sourced a supplier for the containers in Rotterdam and a metal fabricator in Hamburg that would adapt the structures so they could be bolted together on site. The bases of the cantilevered boxes would be fixed to the tops of the lower containers to anchor them and prevent them tipping forward.

Daylight would be funnelled through the complex roof design into a central meeting area, surrounded by workspaces accommodated within the spoked single-storey interior. The structure would be raised above the ground on concrete pillars.

The proposal was created for a rural site outside the town but Whitaker believes the design could be located anywhere. He added that he would like to work with a new client on developing the project further for a different site.

Whitaker also explained that his move into the world of computer-generated imagery has been informed by his experiences as a photographer and his understanding of how light, shadows and reflections alter the appearance of a building.

“In many ways visualisations and photography are very similar,” he said. “A good photograph should seduce the viewer and intrigue them to find out more; it should draw them in and trigger an emotion. Visualisations are just the same, and as such I approach them in the same way that I approach photographs.”

“With visualisations you can approach the image as you would a photo shoot in a studio,” the architect added, “manipulating the light and the materials to achieve exactly the moment you are seeking. The key then becomes bringing in that element of serendipity – making the image feel human and triggering an emotion.”

The post James Whitaker proposes cluster of shipping
containers as an affordable workplace appeared first on Dezeen.

The announcement that Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative health reporter Meg Kissinger will serve as DePauw University’s 2015-16 Eugene S. Pullam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism is extra-special for two reasons.

Kissinger, who graduated from DePauw in 1979, is coming back to the campus where she was once editor-in-chief of The DePauw. And her tenure will reconfirm the solid advice she once received from mom. From today’s announcement:

“Somewhere up there, my mother surely is smiling,” says Kissinger, who majored in political science as an undergraduate. “It was she who told me, lo, these many years ago that I shouldn’t go to the University of Missouri because I needed to be ‘a big fish in a little pond.’ Though I nearly fainted when the station wagon pulled up to the back door of Lucy Rowland Hall, I learned to love what DePauw offered me in the ensuing four years. I’m thrilled to be ‘swimming back’ to the place that taught me to believe in myself. And I aim to motivate students in the same way my DePauw professors inspired me.”

Kissinger returns to the school with a Pulitzer nomination, a pair of George Polk Awards and a life’s worth of newspaper experience.

British designer Paul Smith has teamed up with Land Rover to create a one-of-a-kind Defender as production of the iconic car enters its final months. Smith reimagines the 4×4 vehicle with rich color-blocked hues, a pop of yellow and a hand-painted……

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As a tribute to books (remember those?), the SIVU table lamp utilizes an intuitive folding action to activate and deactivate its light source. However unconventional, the design is practical and that it takes up little space in its closed form and is highly adaptable for casting diffused light in one or more desired directions simply by adjusting its width. Crafted from solid walnut, leather and plexiglass, it’s as dapper as it is durable making it a perfect desk top accessory.

Designer: Simo Lahtinen

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(Open to Light was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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La créative française Beatrix Gevigney est derrière le projet « Human Type » : une série de portraits qui relie une émotion à un caractère typographique Helvetica, où chaque lettre représente un sentiment qui peut se lire sur le visage du modèle. Elle s’est appuyée sur une citation de Victor Hugo : « La forme, c’est le fond qui remonte à la surface ».

Credits :

Film directors : Alexandre Journo & Beax
Music : Bonobo

With Dorothée Thorel « A », Caroline Ledoze « B », Jennifer Klein « C », Jacques de Gevigney « D », Jean-Christophe Olivier « E », Alexandre Corjon « F », Dominique de Gevigney « G », Bertrand Pochard « H », Damien Clanet « I », Jessica Dorville « J », Jean-Baptiste Vachette « K », Frédérique Morbieu « L », Alexandre Journo « M », Hélène Cezanne « N », Laurie Déchasx « O », Xavier de Gevigney « P », Jérémy Dorte « Q », Loic Larrere « R », Marie-Louise Delaunay « S », Timandra Bréot « T », Laure Benoist « U », Olivier Lafaysse « V », Audrey Gindt « W », Coraline Charles « X », Sabiha Chaachoua »Y », Julie Poignonnec Z ».