This week’s Dezeen Mail includes Vietnamese architecture studio Kientruc O’s conversion of a Ho Chi Minh City house into a plant-filled restaurant and IKEA’s sustainable Odger chair by Form Us With Love. Subscribe to Dezeen Mail ›
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Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo has unveiled its masterplan to overhaul the New York Public Library‘s main beaux-arts building on Fifth Avenue.
The newly released visuals and details reveal Mecanoo‘s intentions for the Stephen A Schwarzman Building – the library’s main branch at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street – which the studio has developed with local practice Beyer Blinder Belle.
The masterplan reconfigures the historic building to increase its publicly accessible space by 20 per cent. Only a third is currently open to the public.
Underused spaces like former staff and storage areas, and some of the library’s decorative rooms, will be transformed into places for research, exhibitions, and educational programmes.
“We have developed a masterplan that inherently adheres to the logic of a beaux-arts building,” said Mecanoo architect Francine Houben.
“Our changes are both subtle and clever – to direct the flow for different user groups, for example, or to improve the quality and function of currently underused spaces.”
The New York Public Library released visuals outlining the masterplan to garner investment for the project, which will be completed in two stages between 2018 and 2020, and is estimated to cost $317 million (£240 million).
Renderings show a new entrance and raised public plaza on 40th Street, which will lead into a new area for university and school children called the Center for Research and Learning.
Another new space – the Lenox and Astor Room – will host a display of books and artwork. Other additions include a cafe and an extended shop, and the introduction of a permanent exhibition space in the library’s existing Gottesman Hall.
By teaming with Beyer Blinder Belle – a firm known for its historic preservation – Mecanoo will seek to complement historic elements of the beaux-arts building, designed by New York firm Carrère and Hastings and opened in 1911.
Landmarked spaces in the library include the ornate Rose Main Reading Room, the Maps, Periodicals, and Genealogy reading rooms, and Astor Hall.
“The masterplan builds on the framework of this historic building and icon of New York City architecture,” said Beyer Blinder Belle architect Elizabeth Leber.
“We are seeking to instill clarity and ease of circulation, and to support new uses and programmes, while only enhancing its significant architectural features.”
The library’s leaders selected Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle for the project in 2015, after they abandoned a controversial $300 million renovation plan by British firm Foster + Partners.
The contentious scheme proposed the removal of many book stacks in the Schwarzman building to create a large new reading room.
Mecanoo and Beyer Blinder Belle are yet to disclose how they will tackle this 175,000-square-foot (16,300-square-metre) space, which features seven floors of shelving, but will conduct a study to develop potential options and invite the public to offer their opinion.
The rest of the masterplan was similarly developed through discussions with stakeholders and a group of trustees, as well as staff, researchers and scholars.
The New York Public Library has a total of 92 locations across the city. The Schwarzman building, at the eastern end of Bryant Park, is commonly referred to as its main branch and houses more than 15 million items.
The two firms are also designing the renovation of the smaller Mid-Manhattan Library lending branch. Its completion is slated for 2020, when it will reopen as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library.
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With a track list that includes flute, various birdsong from Iceland and the music of Kelela, Kelly Lee Owens, Arca, Steve Reich and Serpentwithfeet, Björk’s “The Cover Mix” is a mind-bending sonic adventure stretched across 46+ minutes. Assembled……
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Herzog & de Meuron‘s Pierre de Meuron and architecture critic Charles Jencks swap roles in this panel discussion at the World Architecture Festival 2017 in Berlin. Watch the livestream here from 5.15pm UK time.
The livestream has now ended, but you can still watch the talk in full above or on Dezeen’s Facebook page.
In this panel discussion Jencks will take on the role of the architect and present the Herzog & de Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall for Hamburg, while de Meuron will adopt the role of architectural critic.
Dezeen is media partners for World Architecture Festival 2017, which this year takes place in Berlin in conjunction with the Inside festival of interior design.
We will be broadcasting a number of talks and seminars over the next two days from both events – including talks by Kim Cook and Terry Farrell – as well as conducting video interviews with the winners.
World Architecture Festival takes place from 15-17 November 2017 at Arena Berlin. Take a look at the full programme.
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Mattel has launched a Barbie based on Olympic athlete Ibtihaj Muhammad – the brand’s first ever doll to come with its own hijab.
The children’s toy is part of Sheroes, a collection of Barbies designed in celebration of inspirational women from around the world.
California-based Mattel says the line of dolls recognises “female heroes who inspire girls by breaking boundaries and expanding possibilities for women everywhere”.
Muhammad is an American fencer who won a bronze model in the women’s team sabre event at the 2016 Olympics.
She was the first Muslim American woman to wear the religious headscarf, called a hijab, while competing for the United States.
The Barbie version of Muhammad wears an all-white fencing outfit, and comes with a matching sabre-fencing sword and helmet. She has a more muscled and appropriately athletic body than traditional Barbie dolls.
Muhammad worked with designers at Mattel on mock ups of the doll, helping them with decisions such as styling the hair underneath the scarf and showing them how to tie the hijab correctly.
The doll’s skin is matched to the athlete’s skin tone, and even boasts the same distinctive eye make-up.
“Barbie is celebrating Ibtihaj, not only for her accolades as an Olympian, but for embracing what makes her stand out,” Sejal Shah Miller, vice president of global marketing for Barbie, told Dezeen.
“Ibtihaj is an inspiration to countless girls who never saw themselves represented, and by honouring her story, we hope this doll reminds them that they can be and do anything.”
The doll was revealed at this year’s Glamour Women of the Year Summit 2017, where Muhammad was handed her replica.
Barbie has donned many looks since she debuted in 1959 – with highlights including a dress designed by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and a bridal outfit designed by Carolina Herrera.
But Mattel has long faced criticism over how its thin-wasted, big-busted female dolls excluded many body types, races and religions.
In recent years, the toy maker has introduced several new Barbie lines, in a step towards creating a more diverse range of dolls. These include the Barbie Fashionista line, released in early 2016, which featured curvy, petite and tall models.
The Ibtihaj Muhammad doll continues this diversification – although it is not the first doll to be modelled on an Olympic athlete.
Last year, a Barbie was released in tribute to Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas – the first African American to become an individual all-around champion, and the first US gymnast to win both the individual all-around and the team competitions at the same Olympic games.
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A garage and offices located within a former Beijing missile factory and a tiny hutong cafe, also in Beijing, are among the category winners from day two of this year’s Inside festival awards.
Each category winner for the Inside awards, which aims to showcase the world’s best interior design, will be put forward for the title World Interior of the Year. The winner will be selected tomorrow.
Dezeen is media partner for both the World Architecture Festival (WAF) and Inside festival of interiors, which are taking place at Arena Berlin in Germany until 17 November 2017.
Here are the full details of category winners from day two of Inside festival:
Creative Re-use: The Garage: Beijing B+ Automobile Service Center, Beijing, China, by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Neri&Hu transformed a former missile factory in Beijing into a car repair garage and offices with an industrial-style metal staircase, mesh cages and painted brickwork in this project with an “eclectic and unusual mix of programmes”.
“This project creates a benchmark for what is possible for the future of Beijing’s industrial neighbourhoods,” said the jury.
Bars and Restaurants: Big Small Coffee and Guestroom, Beijing, China, by Office AIO
Office AIO converted a courtyard residence in Beijing’s Xiang’er Hutong to create this tiny cork- and tile-lined coffee bar with a traditionally styled guest room – all crammed into an area of just 34 square metres.
“In this extremely small project, the designers have been able to create a very poetic sense of space,” said the judges.
Civic, Culture and Transport: Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth, United Kingdom, by Perkins+Will
The wreck of a Tudor war ship named the Mary Rose is bathed in blue light inside this maritime museum in Portsmouth by Perkins+Will .
“It’s design with a clear statement,” noted the judges, “not to compete but to support and strengthen the exhibited object.”
Display: Fabricwood, Singapore, by Produce Workshop
A “clever, innovative installation with a resonance well beyond the brief”, this cavernous plywood structure created for office furniture manufacturer Herman Miller features studded details, designed to mimics the look of upholstery.
Hotels: Ir-On Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, by Hypothesis
The judges praised this central Bangkok hotel for being “expressive of its cultural context”. Bare walls and plenty of metalwork lend the space an industrial feel, in keeping with the building’s former role in the steel industry.
“Ir-On Hotel is the imperfect/perfect,” added the jury.
Residential: Cleveland Rooftop, Sydney, Australia, by SJB
This concrete-lined apartment occupies the roof of the Demco Machinery building in Sydney. Arched and rectangular opens frame views of its private garden, which directly adjoins the building’s communal roof garden.
“It cleverly negotiates the programmatic requirement of a developer, finely balances the public and private realm and does so with a high degree of design,” said the judges.
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Dezeen has teamed up with design brand Dornbracht to host a conversation with Neri&Hu and Rafael de Cárdenas in Berlin on the theme of eclectic design. Tune in from 7pm UK time to watch it live.
The livestream has not started yet. You will be able to watch it here or on Dezeen’s Facebook page from 7pm UK time.
Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs will ask leading architects and Dornbracht collaborators Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu, and Rafael de Cárdenas whether we have run out of design “isms” and if eclecticism is here to stay.
Neri and Hu are the founders of Shanghai studio Neri&Hu, and Rafael de Cárdenas heads up New York-based practice Architecture at Large.
They were invited by Dornbracht, a manufacturer of designer fittings for the bathroom and kitchen, to interpret eclecticism in their own way.
The architects developed mood boards, sketches, material collages and architectural designs based around this theme. These informed a series of bathrooms created using Dornbracht’s eclecticism-inspired Vaia fittings, which were photographed by communications agency Meiré und Meiré.
Using the hashtag #createanewbalance, Dornbracht are sharing the collaboration to inspire architects, designers and interested consumers to share their own eclectic designs.
This talk is the eighth in the Dornbracht Conversations series, a platform for public discourse between the disciplines of architecture, design and art.
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At first glance, the minimalist INA chair might not even be recognizable as one. It’s all about a reduction in material volume without sacrificing style. Its purposefully constructed with wood where it matters: the seat and back rest. The resulting aesthetic is sculptural and light. While it’s not the most comfortable, it does prevent slouching and requires the user to have perfect posture while sitting.
Designer: Miroslav Truben
Jeff Edwards was thrilled when his Golden State Warriors won the NBA title this past summer. But the Fox Racing executive seems almost as excited by something seemingly more mundane—a new polyester fabric.
That’s important to Edwards since, in his role as global director of hard goods for the Irvine, Calif.-based producer of motocross and mountain biking gear and apparel, he is always looking to upgrade the materials used in his firm’s product portfolio. And now, he thinks he has found just such an upgrade—Avra™ Performance Fibers.
Adding Avra™ to other fibers like cotton can make them softer and perform better. Developed by Kingsport, Tenn.-based Eastman Chemical Co., Avra’s ultra-thin polyester fibers are extruded and held together by a proprietary, removable polymer, enabling easy knitting or weaving of these bi-component fibers on conventional equipment. Once the fabric is made, the removable polymer washes away in hot water, resulting in ribbon-like fibers that have a combined small size and flat shape that is unique compared to conventional polyester fibers.
“The result is a distinctly silky fabric that keeps wearers drier and more comfortable than ever before,” according to Eastman Vice President Tim Dell. This first Avra product offers exceptional moisture management and a distinct, “cool to the touch” sensation that is inherent in the fabric, not requiring added chemistry for the effect. Fabrics made with Avra dry up to 50% faster than conventional polyester fabrics, helping wearers stay cooler and more comfortable during demanding physical activities.
In addition, Eastman claims, the highly flexible fibers enabled by Avra “further enhance wearer comfort through the superior drape and remarkable softness they provide.” As Dell says, “That’s performance you can feel.”
Edwards clearly concurs. He first saw Avra when Eastman launched the fibers at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Show in August 2016, when he was in a different role, as director of performance product development.
“For me, it changed what poly can be,” the 15-year Fox veteran said in a recent telephone interview, referring to long-established polyester fiber. “That’s what made it so exciting. There are endless ways in which you can use it. Besides just jerseys, you can use it in hard goods products, as well. It created a different sense of what … the end user would feel vs. just basic polyester.”
“When I saw it at [the OR show],” Edward recounted, “I said, ‘Oh man, you guys have got something here.’ He says he told Eastman then, “You’re on the right track, but can you go even a little farther on this? … You can create a new standard for polyester with this. The yarn is amazing, but now you have to think about the finished product.”
Brandon Cantrell, Eastman’s global business manager for performance fibers, said it’s been more than 20 years since the latest breakthrough in textiles. Eastman began working on Avra about five years ago, first on the nonwovens side, and then realized the fibers’ potential in textiles, as well.
Avra™ is creating new standards for what polyester can do. Edwards wants Fox to be able to use Avra across its whole spectrum of products. Edwards loved what he saw last fall, and is waiting to see the next iterations. “I want to use it for helmet liners, I want to use it for guards, for gloves, it’s endless,” Edwards said, “I want to use it in more than just jerseys. It creates such a different feel, and the benefits of the drying time are just huge.”
Eastman’s proprietary carrier polymer holds the key to Avra technology. While bi-component fibers have long existed, finding use in such applications as microfiber cleaning cloths, most of the current commercial processes require the use of a caustic solution to remove the binder. Instead, Cantrell said, “We use hot water in our post-knit scour,” in a pressure jet.
Once the removable polymer washes away, it results in fibers that are a unique ribbon shape with a much smaller cross section than traditional round polyester fibers. These fibers are significantly more flexible, creating fabric that is noticeably softer to the touch. Fabrics knit or woven with Avra, even as a moderate percentage of the overall blend, also provide performance benefits such as faster wicking speeds, faster dry times and a cool-to-the-touch sensation that Eastman says “you have to feel to believe.” Not only that, but Eastman also can bundle round fibers instead of the flat slices, and get an entirely different set of performance characteristics; the small round fiber version of Avra is currently under development.
Avra™ represents a whole portfolio of potential products. The current flat fibers are only the start. Fabrics made with the flat slices have a distinctive, silky hand and improved drape. “We’ve had customers say that it ‘feels like butter’,” Cantrell said. “Interest is far greater than we expected,” he added, noting there is pent-up demand for new textiles that offer improved performance.
Eastman is working with Unifi Inc., a multinational textile manufacturing company that is making the Avra fibers at its mill in Yadkinville, N.C. Unifi expanded Avra production capacity at the plant earlier this year, to an unspecified amount.
Edwards is eagerly awaiting Eastman’s next advance with the technology.
“This could be a bigger story for our company, across multiple categories,” he said. “In our company, I think we could use it in more areas than a lot of other companies could.” Fox, which works well ahead in its product scheduling, is already done with its 2018 product planning. “We would push this for a ’19 product line. The strategy has to be right, and broad line. I’d rather wait and do it right,” Edwards said.
Eastman, meanwhile, is targeting mid-2018 for ramping up commercial production for the fibers. “We are engaged with brands, and are working toward commercialization by fall 2018,” Cantrell said.
The company took a different approach on its stand at this July’s Outdoor Retailer show. “We launched a fiber initially,” Cantrell said, referring to the product introduction last August. At the OR summer market in Salt Lake City, Utah, in late July, Eastman had a mocked up retail store layout in its booth, displaying product applications for Avra, such as, t-shirts, boxer shorts, tank tops, basketball shorts, golf shirts and the like.
“It’s Avra—head to ankle. It’s not head-to-toe” he said with a chuckle, “because we haven’t made socks yet.”
Learn more about Avra and the ways that #MaterialsMatter at innovationlab.eastman.com.
Now that technology has freed us from the lightbulb fixture, designers are continuing to exploit the new form factors made possible by LEDs. Power Practical’s Luminoodle Task design is not only powerful, but portable, lightweight and flexible, which opens up a whole new world of lighting possibilities:
I’m digging the practicality of the magnets and the hanging loops at either end. The strip will pump out 3,600 lumens at 5000k, and is dimmable. You can choose between a two-foot-long USB-powered model, a five-foot-long 12V-powered model, or a trio of daisy-chainable (three max) two-foot-long models.
The project has been successfully Kickstarted, with $109,933 pledged on a $50,000 goal. At press time there were still 27 days left in the campaign.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
