Japanese-influenced Shou Sugi Ban House provides a wellness retreat in the Hamptons

New York architect Debbie Kropf has designed a boutique hotel in the Hamptons, Long Island, which teams Japanese details and elements of the local architecture.

Shou Sugi Ban House is the brainchild of Amy Cherry-Abitbol and her business partner, Kathleen Kapnick. They purchased land in Water Mill hamlet in the Long Island town of Southhampton in 2015, including a fire-destroyed barn, with the aim to create an upscale wellness retreat.

Local architect Debbie Kropf of DSK designed the property to draw on the “ryokan” – a traditional Japanese inn. It accommodates 13 guest rooms, a gathering barn and a spa, along with a Japanese-style tea lounge, meditation hall and gardens.

The project’s name also refers to the ancient Japanese technique shou sugi ban, which describes a process of burning wood to make it black and resilient to damage. The volumes at the retreat, however, are clad in pale timber.

Wood shingles cover some of the buildings to provide a nod to the traditional houses in the Hamptons. Others are clad in vertical boards that take cues from other new beach houses in the popular holiday spot.

“The property boasts two Hamptons architectural vernaculars – renovated old barns and modern beach cottages – which have been cohesively integrated,” said a statement from Shou Sugi Ban House.

For the meditation building, Kropf built a rectangular, flat-roofed structure lined in sliding glass doors that open up the interior space on either side. This allows a breeze to pass inside, where cushions and a gong are used for meditation.

There is also tea lounge, featuring a black counter, stools and shelves. This starkness complements the grey walls and wood floors.

The grounds are intended to form an important element of the upscale retreat. They comprise a pebbled courtyard and a three-acre (1.2-hectare) garden that landscape firm Studio Lily Qwong, who arecently completed a pop-up for Glossier, designed with Lisbon-based Topiaris.

“Winding pathways, reflective pools, fountains, and a landscape inspired by the local dunescape and Japanese gardens allow guests to connect with the natural world around them,” said Shou Sugi Ban House.

Guests can enjoy a suite of outdoor activities, including dining among a cherry orchard, relaxing on a roof deck with a spa, and walking meditations among garden paths. There is also an organic vegetable and herb garden, where the retreat grows plants for both spa treatments and culinary creations.

Other amenities include a saltwater swimming pool, hydrotherapy plunge pools and different saunas and steam rooms. A “ceremonial fire circle” with a fire bowl, designed by local artist Elena Colombo of Fire Features, and a large Buddha sculpture also feature on the property.

The Buddha fronts a linear building called the Main Barn, designed around a light-filled space for gathering. It also comprises conference rooms and a demonstration kitchen for culinary workshops.

Each guest room measures 400 square feet (37 square metres) and is equipped with a gas fireplace adjacent to a tokonoma – a raised alcove that is a traditional fixture in Japanese homes. Other elements include a Japanese wood soaking tub, called Hinoki ofuro, modern air massage soaking tubs and private gardens.

Suites feature a “stone and biscuit” colour palette with pale walls, wooden floors, floor-to-ceiling glass walls, custom-made Kobe-style wood bedframes and wall finishes by paint studio Anthony Chase.

Shou Sugi Ban House also incorporates solar energy, a geothermal heating and cooling system and structured water filtration.

The greater area of Long Island is a thriving holiday spot for those working in New York City. Another project closeby includes A Room at the Beach, a boutique hotel once owned by American fashion designer Donna Karan.

Photography is by Frederika Stjerne, courtsey of Shou Sugi Ban House.

Project credits:

Architect: Debbie Kropf of DSK Architect
Site planning: Araiys Design
Construction and furniture: RLW4
Lighting: Orsman Design
Plantings: Julian Kohl of Coastal Arborcare

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The Spot A.I. Camera is like Google Lens for children who are curious about the world

The Spot comes with a camera, a pico-projector, artificial intelligence, and the answer to every child’s perpetual string of “what”, “why”, and “how” questions about the world around them. Designed to be the magnifying glass to everything that makes up their immediate world, this handheld devices encourages creativity, promotes the asking of questions, and turns everyday imagery into stories to educate and fascinate children.

Spot fulfills the role of a toy, encyclopedia, and bedtime-storybook, all in a single handheld device. The camera allows children to capture objects, living things, and phenomena around them, while inbuilt A.I. helps children understand what they are by using optics, object recognition and machine learning. The in-built AI weaves explanations into storylike narratives, pushing the child to be empathetic, curious, and at the same time, get answers to every question they have. The Spot’s design combines tech and toy-design too, with a toyish form factor made up of simple geometric shapes, and the use of materials like wood and colorful plastic trims.

The rather noticeable lack of a screen comes with reason too. Spot fosters a natural form of interaction, getting children to learn by voice, rather than consume content by screens, icons, and apps. Introducing children to powerful technologies like object recognition and information dissemination, Spot takes the more natural route of being quite similar to the way a parent answers a child’s burgeoning questions about the world around them. By promoting curiosity and involvement, Spot battles the ‘Distraction Economy’ at a crucial stage of development. “Being ‘present’ and ‘in-the-moment’ is a skill that can be taught”, says Gadi Amit, founder of New Deal Design, and Spot elicits excitement and joy in the little things in life, be it a bird, a beehive, or even a potted plant. At the end of the day, Spot ties together all the objects it identified into a unique narrative, turning them all into a bedtime story that the device projects onto the child’s wall via the pico-projector, reinforcing everything they saw and learnt during the day, as well as enchanting them with the possibility of seeing new things tomorrow!

Designer: New Deal Design

Call for Entries: 2019 Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant

Sappi North America’s Ideas that Matter program supports designers partnering with nonprofit organizations to bring social impact design campaigns to life. Sappi, a maker of high quality printing papers, packaging, release papers and dissolving wood pulp, has offered this program to the design community for 20 years and has funded more than 500 projects with grants totaling over $13 million worldwide. Annually selected projects receive funding from $5,000 to $50,000 to produce communications campaigns to raise awareness of important social issues such as healthcare, education, sustainability, nutrition and more.

The 2019 deadline to apply for an Ideas that Matter grant is July 19. The jury for this 20th anniversary year includes Sam Aquillano, Founder and Executive Director of Design Museum Foundation; Ashleigh Axios, Creative Director, Obama White House and Executive Board Member of AIGA; George Aye, Co-Founder and Director of Innovation at Greater Good Studio; Antionette Carroll, M.A., President and CEO, Founder of Creative Reaction Lab, and; Christine Taylor, Licensing Creative Manager at Hallmark Cards and Creative Director of PopMinded by Hallmark.

If you’d like to submit a project you care about, you can do so until July 19. To learn more about the program and process, visit sappi.com/ideas-that-matter.

Below are a few of our favorite winning projects from the past.

826 LA

With an Ideas That Matter grant in 2015, 826LA was able to conduct its most successful holiday giving campaign in its then eleven-year history. Design elements included a holiday mailer as well as life-size versions of the characters featured in the mailer. These were displayed in 826LA’s storefront windows, facing busy Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. By bringing the story out of the mailer and into real life, the campaign generated interest and conversation, and ultimately more donations, than it otherwise would have.

Adopt Ugly

Julia Radke received a grant in 2014 for The Bella Foundation SPCA. The campaign, called AdoptUgly, promoted an adoption event in Oklahoma City with a fun and lighthearted design approach. The event included over 250 adoptable dogs, food trucks, and a photo booth for attendees. Adopters received receive an “Ugly Little Kit”, which included shampoo, a toy, a brush, and vet information for their new pup.

Project Dose

A winning 2012 Ideas that Matter project, Project Dose is a program which addresses the issue of improper medication delivery affecting millions of sick children in developing countries. Developed by Bao Design Lab in collaboration with Ugandan partner Technology for Tomorrow, the project uses a prototype-based system to enable nurses, pharmacists and parents to safely and reliably divide and re-package adult tablets into smaller doses for children. As a result, this program is providing children with the dosage they need to stay protected from life-threatening diseases such as malaria and HIV infection.

You can see all winners at the Ideas That Matter web site.

Novus modular smartphone for kids, is the world’s first!

We have been through the rage where smartwatches kept track of the kids via the inbuilt GPS system, and then connected with parents via an app. Building on the theory that ‘parents should know where their kids are’ and marrying it with the expectations of gizmo-savvy kids, we have here the Novus. It is the World’s First 3-in-1 Modular Phone for children, and it keeps them super busy and entertained.

This transformational device, works as a smartphone and a smartwatch, and even morphs into an AI speaker. Designed by Abardeen, who have been in the ‘smartphones for kids’ zone for more than a decade, the 3-in-1wearable offers reliable communication, location services and features to kids entertained.

The Novus wearable combines phone, smartwatch and home assistant functions into one device. It allows kids to safely use the internet and stay connected with parents. In the smartwatch mode, it fits perfectly on the wrist and in the smartphone mode, it makes for the perfect mini phone with a touch wheel controller.

Novus is also a multimedia player powered by Google Assistant and can be used with simple voice commands.

Designer: Abardeen

Click Here To Buy Now: $149 $199 (25% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left!

About Novus

The perfect 3-in-1 modular gadget for kids that can be used as a phone, a watch or a home assistant. It is the perfect solution to keep kids entertained and parents connected with their kids and enjoy peace of mind.

Novus Phone

Novus Phone is ergonomically designed to fit small hands, easy and fun for kids to use. The battery can last three days with one full charge which is three times longer than Novus Watch. It is also suitable for children, who may need more privacy and don’t want others to hear their calls, to talk through the phone.

Novus Watch

In the watch mode Novus becomes a sleek, useful smartwatch for daily wear that stays put and won’t get lost or left behind when kids are playing in park, going to school or on-the-go. The battery can last for one day with one full charge.

Novus Home

The home module has a built-in 4400 mAh battery and Bluetooth speaker. When Novus Phone or Novus Watch are plugged into the home module, they will immediately get charged and turn into an AI speaker. Equipped with Google Assistant, Novus can play music and multimedia by voice command.

Stay Connected Anytime & Anywhere

Parents can make a video call, phone call or send voice/text message to Novus via the Novus App, keeping in touch with their children at all times. Children can use Novus to connect with their friends, or reach their parents in times of need or to just say hello.

Always Know Your Child’s Location

Multiple positioning methods including GPS, A-GPS, LBS, Wi-Fi, and more, allows parents to track their kid’s location activities at any distance via the Novus app. Precise, secure, and always connected, the Novus App gives parents peace of mind, knowing exactly where their little ones are at.

SOS Mode

Safety first! In an emergency, kids can trigger the SOS mode by pressing the power button 3 times continuously. It’s like having help along at all times.

Parental Control Functions

In addition to its on-board safety features, the Novus app allows parents to manage their kids’ device in a number of useful ways, including contact filter, disable period, home-school reminder and more. It provides a good solution to know your child is safe and prevent them from overdoing with screen time. It is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Click Here To Buy Now: $149 $199 (25% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left!

John Makepeace Talks Trees, Wood Science, and the Future of Furniture

Upon leaving school, not many people find themselves at a crossroads with career signs pointing to either priest, architect, stockbroker or furniture designer. But then again, John Makepeace doesn’t easily fall into a single category. I’ve gotten to know John over the past few months whilst helping craft one of his latest commissions, and what became clear is that he’s somewhat a combination of all these professions.

Forging his career as a furniture designer over the past 60 years, Makepeace has been fascinated with exploring structure and the science of material, much like an architect. He’s also collaborated on the construction innovative buildings. He’s been an entrepreneur, developing his business, designing production furniture before moving into one-of-a-kind commissioned work for clients around the world. He’s raised significant investment over the years and taken big risks—perhaps most notably in launching and running an innovative furniture making school in the mid 70s called Parnham. Plus, he’s almost as quiet as a church mouse. But when we sit down in his kitchen over a cup of tea to talk, although softly spoken, John remains much like his work: Deliberate, precise and often surprising:

You’ve been designing furniture for over half a century. What is it about chairs, tables and storage that continues to keep your creative fire burning after all these years?

I think it’s partially the intimacy of our relationship with objects we use on a daily basis. And the fact that normally furniture is somewhat compromised, but the desire to try and produce something that’s free from that compromise is endlessly exciting. And I love the concept that furniture design uses all our capacity, from our physical ability for actually making, and the whole relationship of choosing a tree that’s standing in a woodland, to actually seeing that object being used. And then seeing it perhaps five, ten, twenty years later and seeing how that piece has blossomed in use.

Black Trine Variations (2018), John Makepeace

Black Trine Table, John Makepeace

Where do you now look for inspiration?

To me the most exciting territory is the science that one needs to attach to the art. And access to the science is quite hard, because there’s so little research commissioned into wood as a structural material. It’s the specific nature of the properties of timber that need very focussed research.

So do you feel designers working today were armed with greater scientific understanding of the material properties and potential of wood, and could open up greater design opportunities as a result?

Yes it’s both their positive properties but also the negative properties. Timber is not terribly good at junctions. And we all know about the boring dovetails and mortices and tenons, and I avoid them like the plague because they are so dated. But actually there are whole new ways of doing it, and so we laminate and we make connections with steel, and resin, and all sorts of things that free us from that linear nature of timber that can actually be translated and transformed.

You only use native British hardwoods now. How did you arrive at that decision?

When I started out I wanted to use the most luxurious materials I could find. And as I came to know a little more about forestry it dawned on me really that one should be using material from our own environment rather than bringing timber from the four corners of the Earth. And so if we want trees in the landscape, then the logic is that we give them a life beyond their own life.

Parnham House: Home to a rare breed of furniture making course

Parnham College (1977-2001) produced a raft of global design talent, including industrial designer Konstantin Grcic. It was an intensive 2-year course where students lived above the workshop and where they lived and breathed design, making and business. Are there any places out there like Parnham any more?

No, not really. I’ve had various people talk to me since Parnham saying they would like to do something, and none of them have done it yet.
I think what was extraordinary at Parnham was that having announced the course, there was an immediate response by professional people who recognised the whole logic of that idea. So right from the start there was a very good quality of applications.

Parnham students learning their craft

It seems to me education should be about opening up potential. Training to a large degree is about learning how to do something. And that to me seems to be a convergent approach. And what Parnham was attempting to do was blend the two of those, so that people were able to think more in the abstract than most makers.

But it came to a point, having done it for 25 years I was flagging a bit, because I was not only running the programme, I was running a business, and raising money which was probably the largest consumer of my time – in the first place to get Parnham off the ground and then subsequently to develop Hooke Park. And it was really time to hand over to somebody else, but unfortunately the person who took it on couldn’t hack it, so the trustees decided to amalgamate with the Architectural Association.

Hooke Park, Westminster Lodge

Prototype house at Hooke Park

Workshop at Hooke Park

Can you tell me about Hooke Park and the Architectural Association?

It’s a 350 acre forest in Dorset, England, which as director of the trust we purchased with the view to establishing a new campus within the woodland. It’s now the practical base for the Architectural Association, a wonderful international school of architecture. And that was logical because we could bring so many good architects on the site. And so they were really excited by the whole idea that it could become a place for young architects, building new buildings.

Design + Make Headquarters V2 from Hooke Park on Vimeo.

In our age of ever advancing digital design tools and machines, what role and benefits are there to being taught and retaining fine hand-making skills? Will digital and mechanisation ever entirely rule the world of making?
What I see happening is there’s a kind of mythical notion of hand work being superior. And in psychology terms there is some benefit in people mastering a process, mastering tools and handling them, but I think it’s closer to a psychologists tool rather than necessity.

The very fact that we now design digitally, we can see things from three dimensions, that has fundamentally changed the way we think. Because we can do it, we do it. And for me that’s really wonderful to be able to create objects that are free within space, because we can move the material as we want to. In CAD, but also in the physical making, because we’re prepared to understand how we can bend timber in three dimensions and we can assemble things into patterns and whatever forms we want. That is quite different from anything that came before. And so my suspicion is that once we have a generation of people who are really capable in CAD they will become even more creative than we’ve ever been in the past.

Knot chair (c.1989), John Makepeace

There have been some incredibly strong furniture design identities emerge from different parts of the world. Particularly when it comes to furniture. Take Japan, or the UK with its Windsor and Welsh stick chair tradition for example. But the most obvious being Scandinavia, or Danish design. What is it about Danish Design and the mid-century designers that continues to capture people’s imagination?

It takes a long time for a change to aesthetic to be accepted, so when Danish furniture was at its peak in the 50s and 60s it was quite novel. But of course what was very beautiful about it was that they learned from many cultures, and there is a very strong correlation between Danish furniture and Chinese traditions. So they were drawing on an aesthetic that was very solidly grounded, and they were prepared to go to more trouble than most manufacturers in the way they shaped components in a way that related to humanity. In the same way that the cabinet makers of China had done over previous centuries. And it certainly struck an international market, and it was substantial enough to reach out across the world.

Millenium chair (c.1990), John Makepeace

Do you have a particular movement of furniture that you’re drawn to? Or a country (other than Denmark) that you feel has produced some really interesting work of the past?

I do love some periods of Chinese furniture of the Ming Dynasty era. Their cabinets and particularly their tables, because I can see the way the makers were thinking about how to use the material better. Their chairs were beautiful but I think less acceptable in contemporary terms.

Making Process, Trine Benches

Who are the designers that have had the most impact on you, or who’s work you admire?

Thomas Hope [1769–1831]. That was really gutsy. Hugely bold items, which were inventive and seemed to have a sculptural quality that I admire. And then I suppose people like Eames. I mean I think we’re all probably disciples of Eames. I think their use of aluminum and that range of chairs they developed is hard to beat. I love the work of Joe Columbo. That was very inspirational. Very sculptural but mostly in synthetic materials.

In terms of buildings, I love the fact that the engineering in architecture is making itself apparent, and that would leap onto things like the Gherkin building in London.

And then people like Frank Gehry and his more sculptural forms. A lot of that innovation really evolved because the architects were talking to engineers and it’s that cross disciplinary point at which invention often occurs. People working in a single discipline often seem to be constrained by it, and the second discipline is what provides the release.

Is there a chair that you look at and think, “I wish I’d designed that”?

The Aluminium Chair by Eames would be one obviously.

Who do you think is the most exciting UK-based designer working today?

Thomas Heatherwick is amazing, but I guess that’s commonplace. He’s been doing some furniture. You might’ve come across an extending table, which was a beautiful piece of engineering. It moves from a circle to an ellipse, and it becomes slatted as an ellipse.

Friction Table Extending Richlite table by Heatherwick Studio from Surface Matter on Vimeo.

What will the furniture of the future look like?

Well there’s less of it. Our buildings are providing more and more of what we need, and of course it would make sense for builders to develop forms of housing that are more complete in terms of furniture being a part of it. There’s so much built-in furniture now, which means storage furniture is almost non existent.

I think soft furnishing seems to have a distinct place in people’s lives, which is likely to continue, although hopefully in more interesting forms. In terms of hard furniture, I think it’s going to be statement pieces. So in a building that is largely anonymous in terms of storage, people will actually want some items that are special. And they may well be more sculptural, and a lot of synthetics are going to enable a much greater sculptural quality within furniture.

Flow chest of drawers (2007), John Makepeace

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing new designers in today’s world?

People seem to be less interested in objects than experiences. And that’s a big shift in the market. And so it’s relatively few people who are thinking in terms of having the very best. There’s often a kind of acceptance of good enough.
Design is a about communication. And a certain amount of communication that is run of the mill if fine, but actually in a world where there is more communication you do need to be able to shout and to stand out of line, because that’s actually a raison d’être for an individual. We don’t want to sublimate our identity, so to me it’s really important that there’s an integrity to yourself, whatever that might amount to.

Six design studios shaping the Los Angeles design scene

ET Collection by Another Human

The LA Design Festival 2019 kicked off yesterday with an exhibition spotlighting the city‘s top talent. US editor Eleanor Gibson selects six local designers and studios from the showcase to watch.

INTRO/LA is an annual feature of the LA Design Festival, curated by American design agency Small Office to offer a platform to both emerging and established brands.

The 2019 event marks its fifth edition and for the first time focuses solely on the designers and studios that are forming part of Los Angeles’ burgeoning design scene.

INTRO/LA is located in the city’s former Terminal Market, which has been transformed into a trendy hub of shops and restaurants with called Row DTLA. It will run for the duration of the LA Design Festival 2019, which runs from 20 to 23 June.

Here are our pick of six exhibitors shaping the city’s design scene:


Another Human

Another Human‘s eye-catching booth comprises a blue velvet chair based on the fluid shapes found in Matisse’s artworks and an “extraterrestrial chair” punctuated by an antenna-like frame.

The bizarre creations are the latest outputs from designer Leah Ring, who launched Another Human at the Sight Unseen exhibit during New York City’s design week in 2017. Although New York kickstarted her studio, Ring has firmly established its roots in LA.


The Coast

Hong Kong-born Paul Chan founded his architecture and design studio The Coast in New York in 2018. He moved to Los Angeles this year in search of a slower pace of life.

His latest works are simple and playful, including the Either/Or Pendant light formed of metallic semi-circles that light up in response to motion. Chan is also showcasing a set of larger circular lights that rock around on the floor.


Klein Agency

Klein Agency is run by husband and wife Jon and Maša Kleinhample. The American-Slovenian duo established the firm in Antwerp, Belgium in 2012. They have since moved to LA, where they run a studio out of the city’s Arts District.

The Kleinhamples’ work ranges from furniture, objects to architecture and interiors. They revealed new products in the Klein Home Collection for INTRO/LA, including prototype for a new sofa, called The Pillow, which is made up of leathery cushions.


Rachel DuVall

Textile artist Rachel DuVall has been located in Los Angeles for 11 years, with a studio in Chinatown since 2014.

She creates hand-woven pieces made from linen coloured with natural dyes, such as madder root, cochineal, indigo, and osage. Her new works, called Untitled, 2019, comprise six square designs that juxtapose blocky, geometric shapes with the uneven, organic shapes formed by weaving.

“The work is characterised by repetition and geometric motifs contrasting with soft variation in color and hand-woven imperfection of the cloth,” she said.


Block Shop

Block Shop is a textile design studio established by artist sisters Hopie and Lily Stockman. The duo’s presentation is “imagined a theatrical throne for the queen of lyrical geometric abstraction, Sonia Delaunay”, and characterised by bright colours, repetitive patterns and simple shapes.

The siblings started their studio with a collection of scarves that they made in Jaipur. They head back to India every year to research techniques and materials.


Estudio Persona

Designers Emiliana Gonzalez and Jessie Young, the duo behind Estudio Persona, describe their style as “female minimalism”.

Based in a downtown Los Angeles studio, Gonzalez and Young take cues from their Uruguayan roots for the “distinctly neutral and minimal” aesthetic of the works. Designs feature soft forms, a minimal palette and simple materials, such as leather, wood, steel and glass.

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Reader Submitted: Place Your Smartphone in This Vat of Conductive Microspheres, Enjoy a Moment of Notification-Free Bliss

Komoru is a material solution to a technological problem: smartphone addiction and signal interception. Cohda has adapted the principles of Michael Faraday’s Cage by replacing the rigid structure with a sea of conductive microspheres capable of stopping electromagnetic signals reaching anything placed within them, including smartphones (4G, 5G and WiFi) and electronic key fobs.

Drawing from the concept of the traditional Japanese Zen Garden, Komoru, meaning to seclude one’s self, creates a space to decrease stress and anxiety by burying the devices that cause them.

View the full project here

Iris Ceramica Group opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

Iris Ceramica opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

Dezeen promotion: Italian ceramic tile manufacturer Iris Ceramica Group has transformed an office space in Clerkenwell, London, into its first showroom in the UK.

Iris Ceramica Group has opened the showroom to mark its surface collections being brought to the UK for the first time.

Iris Ceramica opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

Iris Ceramica Group is a leading brand in the design, production and distribution of high-quality porcelain and ceramic products for residential, commercial and industrial architecture.

Having recently opened showrooms in Berlin and New York, the new London opening is a continuation of the company’s move to expand its group throughout Europe.

Located in Old Street, the ceramic tile-covered showroom, in the bustling design district of Clerkenwell in central London, was formerly an office space.

It now gives visitors a glimpse of some of Iris Ceramica Group’s collections, from porcelain stoneware flooring to home wall coverings and ventilated walls.

Iris Ceramica opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

The industrial-style showroom has been designed as a flexible co-working space, which can be easily adapted to host events or conferences, with each floor boasting its own unique design.

“The space has been conceived as a meeting place, somewhere members of the public can use to work independently, to co-work or to enjoy a coffee and relax with free wifi, whilst enjoying the luxury design aspect of Iris Ceramica Group,” said the company.

The brand hopes that its new space will encourage interaction between visitors where they can share information and spark inspiration and creativity.

Iris Ceramica opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

The ground floor offers a “city boutique hotel” atmosphere, where floor-to-wall ceilings allow plenty of light to illuminate the space in a bid to bring the outside in.

A striking white staircase leads to the top floor, which hosts Iris Ceramica Group’s Diesel Living collection of contemporary floor and wall tiling solutions inspired by the industrial and metropolitan world. This “business-oriented” area is also suitable for co-working and studying.

Down in the basement is a more private space, which boasts a “spa-like” layout with a backdrop of traditional tile formats and a water feature. Private booths around the edges of the room make this floor ideal for independent working.

Iris Ceramica opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

Federica Minozzi, the daughter of Iris Ceramica Group founder Romano Minozzi, now acts as the company’s CEO. “Their mutual passion for the brand is evident from both a design perspective as well as a business one,” said a spokesperson for the company.

“They hope to keep the company within their family for many years to come, in order to maintain their brands key ethos,” they added. “Having been in the business for almost 60 years, they are excited to bring their collections to the UK for the very first time.”

Iris Ceramica opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

Iris Ceramica Group places an emphasis on sustainability within its design processes, and has been operating a zero-impact production process since March 2018. This is achieved by using abundant raw materials such as clay, feldspar sand, silica and quartz in its products.

In addition to this, materials are taken and transported from only a few miles from the factories in the city of Sassuolo.

Iris Ceramica opens first UK showroom in London's Clerkenwell

Iris Ceramica Group consistently carries out studies and innovation activities, including research into a production method that involved applying titanium dioxide to ceramic slabs to make them anti-pollutant and anti-bacterial, which works with the help of light and water.

“This amazing technology makes it possible for indoor and outdoor spaces, and also the interior and exterior of buildings, to actively help create a better environment and improve the quality of life,” added the company.

The group has also created a “Design your Slab” technology – a digital decoration service system that allows you to apply any image or illustration to large-scale ceramics.

Find out more about Iris Ceramica Group on its website.

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OJT creates Bastion Community housing complex for war veterans in New Orleans

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

New Orleans firm Office of Jonathan Tate has transformed a vacant, tree-studded site into a residential complex for soldiers and their families, with dwellings arranged in a way that aims to foster social bonding and prevent isolation.

The Bastion Community development is located in Gentilly, a suburban neighbourhood largely dominated by single-family homes. The project occupies a relatively flat, 6.4-acre (2.6-hectare) site studded with mature oak trees.

The complex was designed by local studio Office of Jonathan Tate, or OJT, which has created a number of affordable housing projects in New Orleans.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

The Bastion project is meant to offer a “protected but inclusive and thriving live-work environment” for post-September 11 combat veterans and their families. A large portion of the units are set aside for low-income residents.

The design follows the “intentional neighbouring” model devised by Generations of Hope, a non-profit organisation focused on creating housing developments occupied by foster children, their caregivers and seniors who receive discounted rents in exchange for volunteering.

The group’s first site, Hope Meadows in Illinois, opened in 1994 and has influenced similar developments, such as the Bastion Community.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

“Bastion adapts the potential of intergenerational communities to fill a gap in public and privately developed veteran housing programs,” said OJT in a project description.

While conceiving the Bastion design, the architects faced a number of challenges. For one, they needed to balance high density with a respect for the suburban context.

Providing open space was also essential, as was anticipating flooding and preserving the site’s 60-year-old trees. The development also needed to offer community space, and it needed to be mindful of the unique challenges facing veterans who have endured war and trauma.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

“The objectives were to develop a massing and spatial organisation that both supported the mission and integrated into the surrounding neighbourhood,” the team said. “The result was a building design and site configuration that was economical, sustainable and socially resilient.”

OJT ended up proposing 29 discrete apartment buildings, each containing two units – for a total of 58 residences. The apartments contain one, two or three bedrooms and range from 720 square feet (67 square metres) to 1,200 square feet (111 square metres).

Each unit features vaulted ceilings and operable windows to help facilitate natural ventilation.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

Topped with gabled roofs, the buildings are clad in cementitious panels and board-and-batten siding. The dwellings are clustered in groups of two, with the four units facing a slender central courtyard.

This configuration was chosen based on research into how living conditions can foster social bonds and help prevent isolation.

“Further, units were designed to either be fully ADA accessible or easily adaptable at a later date, including blocking or bracing for advanced in-home medical equipment,” the studio said.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

Given the project’s tight budget, the team used efficient construction techniques and a housing design that was “conventional, simple and easily repeatable”. Each unit cost $145,000 to construct (£115,638).

Basic timber framing, factory-assembled roof trusses and metal cladding were employed. The materials are highly durable and low-maintenance, and many come with long-term warranties.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

The development also features an 1,800-square-foot (167-square-metre) community and wellness enter, which will be completed during phase two. All of the buildings are arranged around a central pedestrian spine.

“In terms of building footprints, the development precisely mirrors the scale and rhythm of the surrounding suburban neighbourhood,” the team said.

“Each building is detached and spaced to mimic the visual porosity of the single-family homes across adjacent streets.”

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

Resiliency was a key concern, as the development is close to the London Canal, where a protective flood wall failed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Gentilly district endured severe flooring as a result, and the former buildings on the site of the Bastion Community had to be razed.

Given this history, the design team used piers to elevate the Bastion buildings, which allows water to flow through the site. Strategies for filtering, storing and returning water to the soil were also incorporated into the scheme.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

In addition to the stormwater management, the project has a number of sustainable features, including enhanced insulation and high-performance HVAC equipment. Provisions have been made to include photovoltaic panels in the future.

Because the project received government funding, it was subject to an array of special requirements, such as mandates to hire local workers and historically disadvantaged businesses. The project has also received funding from individual and corporate donors.

OJT became involved years ago, when it served as a coordinator for a charrette aimed at identifying the specific needs of soldiers returning from war.

Bastion Community housing complex in New Orleans by Office Of Jonathan Tate

“Information gathered from this and other subsequent sessions were used to develop a site and housing-unit design that assisted veterans who have suffered traumatic injuries and veterans who require assistance, as well as other vulnerable veterans needing life-long rehabilitative care,” the team said.

OJT has become well-known for its Starter Home programme, which creates affordable housing within gentrifying urban neighbourhoods in New Orleans.

The firm teams up with developers to build the speculative projects, which include single-family homes such as 3106 St Thomas and 4514 S Saratoga. The firm also designed Saint Thomas at Ninth, a condo complex that consists of sculptural white buildings wrapped in corrugated metal and cementitious panels.

Photography is by William Crocker. Aerial photography is by Jackson Hill.


Project credits:

Architect: OJT (Office of Jonathan Tate)
Project team: Robert Baddour, Travis Bost, Patrick Daurio, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Sabeen Hasan, Lauren Hickman, Kristian Mizes, Jessica O’Dell, Jonathan Tate
Structural engineer: Robert B. Anderson Consulting Engineers LLC
Civil engineer: Schrenk, Endom & Flanagan
Developer: Renaissance Property Group

The post OJT creates Bastion Community housing complex for war veterans in New Orleans appeared first on Dezeen.

Winners of 2019’s National Geographic Travel Photo Contest

Si vous êtes encore en train de songer où passer vos prochaines vacances, n’ayez crainte : le National Geographic Travel Photo Contest 2019 vient de publier les images gagnantes, et cela ne pouvait tomber mieux. Traitant des thèmes de la nature, des villes et des gens, les propositions de cette année ont été véritablement révélatrices, transportantes et inspirantes, nous emmenant du pittoresque Groenland aux rues colorées de Dhaka ; des coulisses d’un opéra chinois à un terrain de basket à Hong Kong. Les lauréats du grand prix ont gagné 7500 $… second prix après le prestige de capturer le coup gagnant de ce célèbre concours photo. Profitez des images gagnantes ci-dessous et rendez-vous sur le site Web de National Geographic pour obtenir la liste complète des photos.


© Weimin Chu, Grand Prize, Places Category


© Jassen Todorvo, Second Place, Places Category


© Sandipani Chattopadhyay, Third Place, Places Category


© Tamara Blazquez Haik, Grand Prize, Nature Category


© Scott Portelli, Third Place, Nature Category


© Huaifeng Li, Grand Prize, People Category


© Yoshiki Fujiwara, Second Place, People Category


© Jose Antonio Zamora, Third Place, People Category