Ocean-themed restaurant by Alexander & Co and Tribe Studio opens on rooftop of Dubai Opera

A carpet designed to look like the ocean and an octopus-inspired artwork feature inside Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera, a restaurant atop Dubai‘s opera house, designed by Sydney studios Alexander & Co and Tribe Studio.

The ocean-themed restaurant and bar is located on the rooftop of Dubai Opera – a glass-wrapped performing arts centre designed to resemble a local dhow boat with its swooping roof.

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

Taking advantage of this, the 350-person restaurant features an external courtyard and sky garden, which offers diners impressive views of the city skyline, including the Burj Khalifa.

This garden is used to grow produce for a kitchen run by chef Sean Connolly, who is known for his oceanic Australian- and New Zealand-influenced cuisine.

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

His involvement provided the inspiration behind the restaurant’s oceanic design, which Alexander & Co describes as an “underwater modernist salon”.

“The bistro explores the colours and tones of the sea, oyster, sea cliff and coastal escarpment,” explained the Sydney-based design interiors studio, which completed the project in partnership with architecture office Tribe Studio.

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

Although largely open-plan, the venue is carved up into various different areas defined by changes in materials and finishes. Spaces include the Raw and Fire bars, a brasserie, a main bar, a private dining room, a chef’s table and an external bar.

“The project was very ambitious and quite large,” said Alexander & Co. “The design DNA developed from what was initially a coarse-grained Tasman inspiration – rugged, worn and sun bleached.”

“However realities of the many Dubai Opera stakeholders and their own ambitions shaped the restaurant to become more refined, and a bit more delicate.”

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

The team were influenced by various 20th century buildings with swopping curved lines, such as the wing-shaped concrete roof of New York’s TWA Terminal at JFK airport by Eero Saarinen, and the shell geometries of the Sydney Opera House.

“Each design element within the venue explores ideas of the sea, from the oyster with its combination of smooth sensual surfaces and textured outer surfaces, to the oceanic tones and colours of corals and pearlescent hues,” they explained.

For example, the designers used a combination of matt and gloss tiles on the restaurant’s vaulted ceiling to evoke the sheen of oyster shells, while the grey marble banquettes with pink leather upholstery in the central Pearl Bar are inspired by the delicate contrasts of ocean corals and sea creatures.

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

The Pearl Bar, which functions as a central cocktail bar, is constructed from grey leather, walnut timber and yellow marble, while the decor of the raw and fire bars is influenced by the outer edges of blackened seashells.

Extreme knitter Jacqui Fink created a custom six-metre-high Merino Wool hanging artwork that references the tentacles of sea creatures. Meanwhile local Sydney artist Tracey Deep, known for her floral installations using found and native flora, created three hanging sculptures based on the ocean.

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

A dappled blue woollen carpet that recalls ocean waters was custom designed by Alexander & Co, while classic Serge Mouille lighting was custom made in curving white enamel steel and brass finishes to tie in with the references to the curvaceous 20th century buildings.

The spaces are furnished with various pieces of 20th century furniture in green, grey, blue and white tones combined with natural walnut timbers.

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

“Central to our innovation at Sean Connolly at Dubai opera was an ambition to arrange inexpensive materials in a way that would give them architectural value and a historical reverence,” concluded the team.

“Noting that the local trends within Dubai are recognised for a design tendency to overuse expensive materials to the point of cheapening them, our goal was to utilise where ever possible inexpensive or mass produced materials in a very focused and detailed way so as to almost through alchemy, turn them into something magically beautiful.”

Alexander & Co create an ocean-themed rooftop restaurant in Dubai

Alexander & Co is shortlisted for emerging interior designer of the year in the inaugural Dezeen Awards. Other projects by the studio include a renovation of a waterfront holiday home in Sydney featuring a monochrome colour palette.

Tribe Studio’s other recent projects include a house extension featuring a “brick sunburst”.

The post Ocean-themed restaurant by Alexander & Co and Tribe Studio opens on rooftop of Dubai Opera appeared first on Dezeen.

Cliff House in Idaho steps down a granite slope to a lake

This waterfront property by US studio McCall Design and Planning is built into rugged granite boulders that face Idaho‘s Payette Lake.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

The five-bedroom Cliff House is named for its placement on a steep slope in a wooded area. The design was informed by the natural context, which helped determine the layout of the home’s three levels as they step down the hillside.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

“The stepping of the site to the lake drove the design towards horizontal layers, creating a strong sense of grounding into the site,” said Idaho-based firm McCall Design and Planning in a project description.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

Entrance to the wood-clad home is on the middle level, into an open vestibule that leads to the dining area on one side, and the living room on the other.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around this space, providing the main social areas with expansive landscape vistas. The zig-zagging outline of the plan means that these rooms benefit from double exposures to the wooded scenery, making them feel “as though you’re outside”, according to the architects.

Just off the dining room is the kitchen, which feels separate due to a change in the plan’s orientation. From this area, residents can access outdoor spaces carved out of the site’s rocky topography.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

The other end of the main level is occupied by the master suite, which the architects describe as a “sophisticated treehouse for grown-ups”. Its low wooden ceiling is meant to contrast the wide panes of glass that occupy two full walls of the space.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

From the living room, a circular stair leads down to the den, where the architects laid out a bar and game room. An exposed boulder is visible here, reinforcing the connection to the site.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

“Staircases were treated as sculptural elements, floating above existing and introduced rock elements,” said McCall Design and Planning. “The flaring circular staircase to the game room was built using I-beams bent in Seattle after a full-scale mock-up was created on site in wood.”

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

The topmost level of the home contains several bedrooms for guests and children, as well as an exercise room.

According to McCall Design and Planning, the original scheme had a more traditional appearance. The home’s modern outcome was the result of several design iterations.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

“Time allowed the design team to try just about every roof form possible, before settling upon a flat roof that integrated the house into the site the most successfully,” the team explained.

“As time passed, the clients warmed up to a more contemporary direction with the architecture and finishes that were in keeping with their desire for a lot of glass.”

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

Idaho’s remote landscape is a popular setting for vacation homes and secluded retreats. Other residences in the US state include a property lifted on stone walls by Ro Rockett Design, and a house by Olson Kundig that includes a variety of automated features, such as pivoting doors and moveable light fixtures.

Photography is by Gabe Border.

The post Cliff House in Idaho steps down a granite slope to a lake appeared first on Dezeen.

Cliff House in Idaho steps down a granite slope to a lake

This waterfront property by US studio McCall Design and Planning is built into rugged granite boulders that face Idaho‘s Payette Lake.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

The five-bedroom Cliff House is named for its placement on a steep slope in a wooded area. The design was informed by the natural context, which helped determine the layout of the home’s three levels as they step down the hillside.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

“The stepping of the site to the lake drove the design towards horizontal layers, creating a strong sense of grounding into the site,” said Idaho-based firm McCall Design and Planning in a project description.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

Entrance to the wood-clad home is on the middle level, into an open vestibule that leads to the dining area on one side, and the living room on the other.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around this space, providing the main social areas with expansive landscape vistas. The zig-zagging outline of the plan means that these rooms benefit from double exposures to the wooded scenery, making them feel “as though you’re outside”, according to the architects.

Just off the dining room is the kitchen, which feels separate due to a change in the plan’s orientation. From this area, residents can access outdoor spaces carved out of the site’s rocky topography.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

The other end of the main level is occupied by the master suite, which the architects describe as a “sophisticated treehouse for grown-ups”. Its low wooden ceiling is meant to contrast the wide panes of glass that occupy two full walls of the space.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

From the living room, a circular stair leads down to the den, where the architects laid out a bar and game room. An exposed boulder is visible here, reinforcing the connection to the site.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

“Staircases were treated as sculptural elements, floating above existing and introduced rock elements,” said McCall Design and Planning. “The flaring circular staircase to the game room was built using I-beams bent in Seattle after a full-scale mock-up was created on site in wood.”

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

The topmost level of the home contains several bedrooms for guests and children, as well as an exercise room.

According to McCall Design and Planning, the original scheme had a more traditional appearance. The home’s modern outcome was the result of several design iterations.

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

“Time allowed the design team to try just about every roof form possible, before settling upon a flat roof that integrated the house into the site the most successfully,” the team explained.

“As time passed, the clients warmed up to a more contemporary direction with the architecture and finishes that were in keeping with their desire for a lot of glass.”

Cliff House by McCall Design and Planning

Idaho’s remote landscape is a popular setting for vacation homes and secluded retreats. Other residences in the US state include a property lifted on stone walls by Ro Rockett Design, and a house by Olson Kundig that includes a variety of automated features, such as pivoting doors and moveable light fixtures.

Photography is by Gabe Border.

The post Cliff House in Idaho steps down a granite slope to a lake appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese furniture and saddle bags influence Vidivixi's furniture collection

Designs in Mexico City studio Vidivixi’s debut furniture collection include a bed cradled by cotton-covered rolls, and a bronze glass table with a base of interlocking, blackened wood tubes.

Vidivixi – named after the Latin phrase vidi vixi, which translates to “I saw, I’ve lived” – launched the collection in September 2018. It comprises five pieces, including a bed, a cabinet and three tables in circular forms and a variety of materials like stained oak, leather and bronze glass.

New collection by Vidivixi

A standout piece is the bed called Docked en Rio. Rounded modules covered in cotton are placed around a walnut frame, to create rolled detailing at the headboard and the foot.

The mattress slots into this base, which then folds underneath each end – a feature that the studio said draws on “traditional Japanese furniture”.

New collection by Vidivixi

Similar tube shapes are found in the support of the square coffee table, aptly named Café Con Leche. It comprises eight U-shaped oak forms – two on each side – that interlock to bolster the structure. The wood is stained black with a matte finish.

Café Con Leche’s round-edged top is made of bronze glass, matching that of the circular Vivien’s Table in the series. This dining table is also set on eight blackened-oak legs, although these are more chunky and vertical.

New collection by Vidivixi

“The legs are paired and create linear negative space rotating around the elliptic apron that follows the contour of the tabletop,” said Vidivixi in a description on its website.

The third table in the set is semi-circular, and features a black lacquered underbelly cradled by a “hammock-like” strip of cowhide. The leather detail is reminiscent of the strap that secures a saddle bag to a horse or donkey, and gives the piece its name Packsaddle Side Table.

Half-circle dark walnut and black lacquered doors are placed on each side of the table, with bronze handles between the two materials. A bronze-coloured glass shelf can be found inside.

Vidivixi’s gridded Collector’s Cabinet is a departure from the circular and rounded shapes in the rest of the collection.

New collection by Vidivixi

Open shelves are placed in the blackened steel frame, while blackened-oak drawers slot into the bottom and are lined with pink suede.

Other materials include black marble, used to weigh the structure down, and bronze-tinted glass at the edges.

New collection by Vidivixi

Vidivixi is led by British designer Adam Caplowe and American designer Mark Grattan.

The duo recently relocated from New York to Mexico City so that they could produce the new collection free from financial stresses.

New collection by Vidivixi

“Mexico allows you time to develop and focus,” Grattan told Dezeen. “However easily distracting it can be, it really allows the design process and development to take its course without pressure of success or rent.”

New collection by Vidivixi

Another studio that transplanted to the Mexican capital belongs to Austrian-Mexican designer David Pompa.

Established in 2013, after Pompa graduated from product design at Kingston University in London, it produces furniture, accessories and tiles, along with lighting, and recently revamped its showroom in the city.

The post Japanese furniture and saddle bags influence Vidivixi’s furniture collection appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese furniture and saddle bags influence Vidivixi's furniture collection

Designs in Mexico City studio Vidivixi’s debut furniture collection include a bed cradled by cotton-covered rolls, and a bronze glass table with a base of interlocking, blackened wood tubes.

Vidivixi – named after the Latin phrase vidi vixi, which translates to “I saw, I’ve lived” – launched the collection in September 2018. It comprises five pieces, including a bed, a cabinet and three tables in circular forms and a variety of materials like stained oak, leather and bronze glass.

New collection by Vidivixi

A standout piece is the bed called Docked en Rio. Rounded modules covered in cotton are placed around a walnut frame, to create rolled detailing at the headboard and the foot.

The mattress slots into this base, which then folds underneath each end – a feature that the studio said draws on “traditional Japanese furniture”.

New collection by Vidivixi

Similar tube shapes are found in the support of the square coffee table, aptly named Café Con Leche. It comprises eight U-shaped oak forms – two on each side – that interlock to bolster the structure. The wood is stained black with a matte finish.

Café Con Leche’s round-edged top is made of bronze glass, matching that of the circular Vivien’s Table in the series. This dining table is also set on eight blackened-oak legs, although these are more chunky and vertical.

New collection by Vidivixi

“The legs are paired and create linear negative space rotating around the elliptic apron that follows the contour of the tabletop,” said Vidivixi in a description on its website.

The third table in the set is semi-circular, and features a black lacquered underbelly cradled by a “hammock-like” strip of cowhide. The leather detail is reminiscent of the strap that secures a saddle bag to a horse or donkey, and gives the piece its name Packsaddle Side Table.

Half-circle dark walnut and black lacquered doors are placed on each side of the table, with bronze handles between the two materials. A bronze-coloured glass shelf can be found inside.

Vidivixi’s gridded Collector’s Cabinet is a departure from the circular and rounded shapes in the rest of the collection.

New collection by Vidivixi

Open shelves are placed in the blackened steel frame, while blackened-oak drawers slot into the bottom and are lined with pink suede.

Other materials include black marble, used to weigh the structure down, and bronze-tinted glass at the edges.

New collection by Vidivixi

Vidivixi is led by British designer Adam Caplowe and American designer Mark Grattan.

The duo recently relocated from New York to Mexico City so that they could produce the new collection free from financial stresses.

New collection by Vidivixi

“Mexico allows you time to develop and focus,” Grattan told Dezeen. “However easily distracting it can be, it really allows the design process and development to take its course without pressure of success or rent.”

New collection by Vidivixi

Another studio that transplanted to the Mexican capital belongs to Austrian-Mexican designer David Pompa.

Established in 2013, after Pompa graduated from product design at Kingston University in London, it produces furniture, accessories and tiles, along with lighting, and recently revamped its showroom in the city.

The post Japanese furniture and saddle bags influence Vidivixi’s furniture collection appeared first on Dezeen.

This week, homes of drug lord Pablo Escobar and architect Amin Taha faced demolition

This week on Dezeen, architect Amin Taha faced an order to demolish his RIBA Award-winning home and office in London and it was announced Pablo Escobar’s former home in Colombia will be torn down and replaced with a public memorial.

Islington Council issued the order to demolish Taha’s six-storey block of flats at 15 Clerkenwell Close, which the architect lives in himself, with claims that the facade’s natural stone was not fully detailed in the planning documents.

Taha said he believes the demolition notice is fuelled by personal dislikes of the Dezeen Award-nominated building. He has launched an appeal against the order.

Pablo Escobar’s former Medellín home to be torn down

In Medellín, it was announced that the concrete Mónaco building, which once served as a fortress-like home to narcotics baron Pablo Escobar, is to be demolished to make way for a public space that will serve as a memorial to victims of Colombia’s drug war.

Nicholas Grimshaw to receive “well overdue” 2019 RIBA Royal Gold Medal

RIBA announced that architect Nicholas Grimshaw is to receive the 2019 Royal Gold Medal for a lifetime of landmark projects, including the famous Eden Project in Cornwall and the International Terminal at London’s Waterloo train station.

Dutch graphic designer Anthon Beeke, famous for creating the 1969 Naked Ladies typeface and provocative posters designs, passed away this week aged 78, following a stroke. Beeke is survived by his wife, the trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort.

Foster + Partners breaks ground on Shanghai skyscraper

Foster + Partners’ 200-metre-high office skyscraper in Shanghai broke ground this week. The 42-storey tower is being built for property development company China Resources Land in the city’s Suhewan district.

The firm was also in the headlines this week for winning the top prize at the Archiboo Web Awards 2018 for the best overall website, which judges described as “a tour de force in making so much content accessible and easily navigable”.

NASA Glenn Research Center by TEN Arquitectos begins construction in Ohio

In Cleveland, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new office building at the NASA Glenn Research Center, designed by TEN Arquitectos, took place to coincide with the space agency’s 60th anniversary.

Elsewhere in the US, Michael Kors Holdings acquired the iconic fashion house Versace in a £1.67 billion deal, following its purchase of shoe brand Jimmy Choo last summer for £900 million – the three brands are set to form a new fashion conglomerate.

Rose-flavoured breast wins Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition

In design news, a rose and chai-flavoured ice cream in the form of a woman’s breast, by New York-based Sally Reynolds, was selected as the winner of Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition from London Design Festival.

A new stained-glass window was installed at London’s Westminster Abbey to commemorate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and her “deep affection for and connection to the countryside”, designed by British artist David Hockney on his iPad.

BIG overhauls Copenhagen warehouse for Noma 2.0 restaurant

Popular projects on Dezeen this week included a London restaurant with green fixtures by Australian studio Biasol, ecological packaging for fries made from potato skins and BIG’s overhaul of a Copenhagen warehouse to create the Noma 2.0 restaurant.

The post This week, homes of drug lord Pablo Escobar and architect Amin Taha faced demolition appeared first on Dezeen.

This week, homes of drug lord Pablo Escobar and architect Amin Taha faced demolition

This week on Dezeen, architect Amin Taha faced an order to demolish his RIBA Award-winning home and office in London and it was announced Pablo Escobar’s former home in Colombia will be torn down and replaced with a public memorial.

Islington Council issued the order to demolish Taha’s six-storey block of flats at 15 Clerkenwell Close, which the architect lives in himself, with claims that the facade’s natural stone was not fully detailed in the planning documents.

Taha said he believes the demolition notice is fuelled by personal dislikes of the Dezeen Award-nominated building. He has launched an appeal against the order.

Pablo Escobar’s former Medellín home to be torn down

In Medellín, it was announced that the concrete Mónaco building, which once served as a fortress-like home to narcotics baron Pablo Escobar, is to be demolished to make way for a public space that will serve as a memorial to victims of Colombia’s drug war.

Nicholas Grimshaw to receive “well overdue” 2019 RIBA Royal Gold Medal

RIBA announced that architect Nicholas Grimshaw is to receive the 2019 Royal Gold Medal for a lifetime of landmark projects, including the famous Eden Project in Cornwall and the International Terminal at London’s Waterloo train station.

Dutch graphic designer Anthon Beeke, famous for creating the 1969 Naked Ladies typeface and provocative posters designs, passed away this week aged 78, following a stroke. Beeke is survived by his wife, the trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort.

Foster + Partners breaks ground on Shanghai skyscraper

Foster + Partners’ 200-metre-high office skyscraper in Shanghai broke ground this week. The 42-storey tower is being built for property development company China Resources Land in the city’s Suhewan district.

The firm was also in the headlines this week for winning the top prize at the Archiboo Web Awards 2018 for the best overall website, which judges described as “a tour de force in making so much content accessible and easily navigable”.

NASA Glenn Research Center by TEN Arquitectos begins construction in Ohio

In Cleveland, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new office building at the NASA Glenn Research Center, designed by TEN Arquitectos, took place to coincide with the space agency’s 60th anniversary.

Elsewhere in the US, Michael Kors Holdings acquired the iconic fashion house Versace in a £1.67 billion deal, following its purchase of shoe brand Jimmy Choo last summer for £900 million – the three brands are set to form a new fashion conglomerate.

Rose-flavoured breast wins Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition

In design news, a rose and chai-flavoured ice cream in the form of a woman’s breast, by New York-based Sally Reynolds, was selected as the winner of Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition from London Design Festival.

A new stained-glass window was installed at London’s Westminster Abbey to commemorate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and her “deep affection for and connection to the countryside”, designed by British artist David Hockney on his iPad.

BIG overhauls Copenhagen warehouse for Noma 2.0 restaurant

Popular projects on Dezeen this week included a London restaurant with green fixtures by Australian studio Biasol, ecological packaging for fries made from potato skins and BIG’s overhaul of a Copenhagen warehouse to create the Noma 2.0 restaurant.

The post This week, homes of drug lord Pablo Escobar and architect Amin Taha faced demolition appeared first on Dezeen.

Trewhela Williams' Sinter House extension "celebrates the sculptural potential of brickwork"

This extension to an Edwardian house in north London by Trewhela Williams features carefully detailed brick surfaces that extend from the exterior into a minimal kitchen and dining room.

The south London-based studio has modernised and expanded the ground floor of the terraced house in East Finchley to create a more liveable family home.

Sinter House by Trewhela Williams

The clients wanted the focus of the house to be an open-plan kitchen and dining space, which necessitated the creation of a rear extension that also improves the connection between the interior spaces and the garden.

The extension features an asymmetric pitched roof and a simple form that is given a sense of uniformity by the consistent use of a clay brick from the Lower Rhine region, in Germany.

Sinter House by Trewhela Williams

“The clients highly valued the material robustness and sense of timeless offered by brick buildings,” Trewhela Williams pointed out.

“This informed the emphasis on celebrating brickwork and its craft through a sculptural approach to the overall built form.”

Sinter House by Trewhela Williams

The homogenous brick surfaces lend the new addition a monumental quality that is accentuated by details such as the subtly folded facade, concealed structure and lack of extraneous details.

The extension’s end facade features a seamless brick surface with matching maroon mortar. Sloped brick coping, a brick-slip soffit system and various custom-made brick specials ensure that no other materials are visible.

The bricks used for the project were carefully selected to complement the red Fletton brick of the original house. Their variegated tones result from the traditional sintering process used in their production, which also informed the project’s name – Sinter House.

Sinter House by Trewhela Williams

Internally, the brickwork extends along one side of the new room and helps to create a seamless transition between the exterior and interior.

The treatment of materials and the way different surfaces meet is precisely considered and is embodied in the minimal frames surrounding the openings in the brick surfaces.

Sinter House by Trewhela Williams

“Subtle details such as shadow gap junctions between finishes help reinforce the overall appearance of elemental simplicity, allowing the qualities of the finishes to come to the fore,” the architects added.

A muted material palette including polished marble, concrete-effect floor tiles and white painted walls forms a neutral backdrop for the richly textured and warm toned brick.

Sinter House by Trewhela Williams

The space is flooded with daylight that enters through the glass sliding doors, as well as a roof light set above a section of the brick wall.

A row of exposed rafters that extends past the roof light creates a vertical rhythm within the room that is accentuated by the play of light and shadow across their surfaces.

Sinter House by Trewhela Williams

Additional daylight is introduced by a small, planted lightwell inserted between the old and new parts of the building. An original sash window looking onto this compact feature ensures light also reaches a reception room at the front of the house.

Also in London Matheson Whiteley added a pared-back brick extension to Sebastian Wrong’s Victorian house, while Simon Astridge added a white-brick extension to a home in north London.

Photography is by Simone Bossi.

The post Trewhela Williams’ Sinter House extension “celebrates the sculptural potential of brickwork” appeared first on Dezeen.

This week, homes of drug lord Pablo Escobar and architect Amin Taha faced demolition

This week on Dezeen, architect Amin Taha faced an order to demolish his RIBA Award-winning home and office in London and it was announced Pablo Escobar’s former home in Colombia will be torn down and replaced with a public memorial.

Islington Council issued the order to demolish Taha’s six-storey block of flats at 15 Clerkenwell Close, which the architect lives in himself, with claims that the facade’s natural stone was not fully detailed in the planning documents.

Taha said he believes the demolition notice is fuelled by personal dislikes of the Dezeen Award-nominated building. He has launched an appeal against the order.

Pablo Escobar’s former Medellín home to be torn down

In Medellín, it was announced that the concrete Mónaco building, which once served as a fortress-like home to narcotics baron Pablo Escobar, is to be demolished to make way for a public space that will serve as a memorial to victims of Colombia’s drug war.

Nicholas Grimshaw to receive “well overdue” 2019 RIBA Royal Gold Medal

RIBA announced that architect Nicholas Grimshaw is to receive the 2019 Royal Gold Medal for a lifetime of landmark projects, including the famous Eden Project in Cornwall and the International Terminal at London’s Waterloo train station.

Dutch graphic designer Anthon Beeke, famous for creating the 1969 Naked Ladies typeface and provocative posters designs, passed away this week aged 78, following a stroke. Beeke is survived by his wife, the trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort.

Foster + Partners breaks ground on Shanghai skyscraper

Foster + Partners’ 200-metre-high office skyscraper in Shanghai broke ground this week. The 42-storey tower is being built for property development company China Resources Land in the city’s Suhewan district.

The firm was also in the headlines this week for winning the top prize at the Archiboo Web Awards 2018 for the best overall website, which judges described as “a tour de force in making so much content accessible and easily navigable”.

NASA Glenn Research Center by TEN Arquitectos begins construction in Ohio

In Cleveland, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new office building at the NASA Glenn Research Center, designed by TEN Arquitectos, took place to coincide with the space agency’s 60th anniversary.

Elsewhere in the US, Michael Kors Holdings acquired the iconic fashion house Versace in a £1.67 billion deal, following its purchase of shoe brand Jimmy Choo last summer for £900 million – the three brands are set to form a new fashion conglomerate.

Rose-flavoured breast wins Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition

In design news, a rose and chai-flavoured ice cream in the form of a woman’s breast, by New York-based Sally Reynolds, was selected as the winner of Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition from London Design Festival.

A new stained-glass window was installed at London’s Westminster Abbey to commemorate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and her “deep affection for and connection to the countryside”, designed by British artist David Hockney on his iPad.

BIG overhauls Copenhagen warehouse for Noma 2.0 restaurant

Popular projects on Dezeen this week included a London restaurant with green fixtures by Australian studio Biasol, ecological packaging for fries made from potato skins and BIG’s overhaul of a Copenhagen warehouse to create the Noma 2.0 restaurant.

The post This week, homes of drug lord Pablo Escobar and architect Amin Taha faced demolition appeared first on Dezeen.

This week, homes of drug lord Pablo Escobar and architect Amin Taha faced demolition

This week on Dezeen, architect Amin Taha faced an order to demolish his RIBA Award-winning home and office in London and it was announced Pablo Escobar’s former home in Colombia will be torn down and replaced with a public memorial.

Islington Council issued the order to demolish Taha’s six-storey block of flats at 15 Clerkenwell Close, which the architect lives in himself, with claims that the facade’s natural stone was not fully detailed in the planning documents.

Taha said he believes the demolition notice is fuelled by personal dislikes of the Dezeen Award-nominated building. He has launched an appeal against the order.

Pablo Escobar’s former Medellín home to be torn down

In Medellín, it was announced that the concrete Mónaco building, which once served as a fortress-like home to narcotics baron Pablo Escobar, is to be demolished to make way for a public space that will serve as a memorial to victims of Colombia’s drug war.

Nicholas Grimshaw to receive “well overdue” 2019 RIBA Royal Gold Medal

RIBA announced that architect Nicholas Grimshaw is to receive the 2019 Royal Gold Medal for a lifetime of landmark projects, including the famous Eden Project in Cornwall and the International Terminal at London’s Waterloo train station.

Dutch graphic designer Anthon Beeke, famous for creating the 1969 Naked Ladies typeface and provocative posters designs, passed away this week aged 78, following a stroke. Beeke is survived by his wife, the trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort.

Foster + Partners breaks ground on Shanghai skyscraper

Foster + Partners’ 200-metre-high office skyscraper in Shanghai broke ground this week. The 42-storey tower is being built for property development company China Resources Land in the city’s Suhewan district.

The firm was also in the headlines this week for winning the top prize at the Archiboo Web Awards 2018 for the best overall website, which judges described as “a tour de force in making so much content accessible and easily navigable”.

NASA Glenn Research Center by TEN Arquitectos begins construction in Ohio

In Cleveland, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new office building at the NASA Glenn Research Center, designed by TEN Arquitectos, took place to coincide with the space agency’s 60th anniversary.

Elsewhere in the US, Michael Kors Holdings acquired the iconic fashion house Versace in a £1.67 billion deal, following its purchase of shoe brand Jimmy Choo last summer for £900 million – the three brands are set to form a new fashion conglomerate.

Rose-flavoured breast wins Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition

In design news, a rose and chai-flavoured ice cream in the form of a woman’s breast, by New York-based Sally Reynolds, was selected as the winner of Bompas & Parr’s ice cream competition from London Design Festival.

A new stained-glass window was installed at London’s Westminster Abbey to commemorate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and her “deep affection for and connection to the countryside”, designed by British artist David Hockney on his iPad.

BIG overhauls Copenhagen warehouse for Noma 2.0 restaurant

Popular projects on Dezeen this week included a London restaurant with green fixtures by Australian studio Biasol, ecological packaging for fries made from potato skins and BIG’s overhaul of a Copenhagen warehouse to create the Noma 2.0 restaurant.

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