Hasta La Ideas

Customers can peek inside cabinet drawers to see the glasses on offer inside this mint-green eyewear store in Berlin, which has been designed by Oskar Kohnen Studio.

Located just a short walk from major Berlin shopping street Kurfürstendamm, Lunettes Selection‘s pastel interiors are dressed with a handful of decor pieces that subtly nod to the past.

“Lunettes Selection Charlottenburg functions as an essay on vintage West Berlin retail spaces through a contemporary lens, and draws extensively on the local area’s heritage and history,” explained Oskar Kohnen, whose eponymous studio designed the store.

This is the eyewear brand’s third retail space in the German capital, joining branches in the city’s Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhoods.

The two-level store, which was formerly a fast-food restaurant, has been completely stripped back to feature a floor-to-ceiling mint-green cabinet, assembled out of disused tool cupboards from the 1960s.

Different glasses models are presented inside each of the unit’s 375 pull-out drawers instead of on typical display plinths, a move the brand hopes will “invite discovery” amongst customers.

“The large-scale, modular repeat of the drawers along with the unifying colour give it a sculptural quality, punctuating the store’s white cube of a front room,” explained Kohen.

Unattractive vinyl flooring from the store’s previous fit-out has also been ripped up to reveal pale grey slabs of marble that were originally laid in the 1970s.

“[The floor’s] muted complexity also works in harmony with the reduced architectural look of the space,” added Kohen.

Two metal-frame chairs with sloping brown-leather seats have been used to dress the rest of the ground floor, along with a 1980s table by Dutch designer Hank Kwint which has a mottled-glass surface counter.

Above hangs a contemporary lighting fixture comprised of glass tubes that are bunched together by steel rings.

A doorway then leads through to an optometry room centred by a pistachio-coloured chair, where customers can get their eyesight examined. More glasses can be found down at the store’s basement level, accessed via a staircase with a mint-green balustrade.

Other striking glasses shops include London’s Ace & Tate, which features a “voyeuristic” pair of neon eyes that stare out at customers and Seattle’s Eye Eye, which is centred by a bright-blue enclosure that’s shaped like a house.

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Rimal Bhatt has developed a fire evacuation mask that allows additional time to evacuate a burning building, designed in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Bhatt’s proposal for a simple and easy-to-use respirator allows for up to 15 minutes additional breathing time and represents a streamlined alternative to existing full-face masks, which form a seal around the lower half of the face.

His design is intended to be more efficient and universal as it directs airflow through the mouth only, making it suitable for anyone to use.

Nose clips covering the nostrils cause the user to inhale through a mouthpiece that ensures a tight seal to prevent smoke inhalation.

Bhatt began exploring potential solutions to help people evacuate smoke-filled buildings safely, following the fire at the north-London tower block in 2017 that resulted in the deaths of 72 people.

During the research phase, the final-year student on the University of Hertfordshire’s Bachelor of Science programme met with firefighters to identify issues that affect how people evacuate a building.

He discovered that differences in the number of fire exits can lead to longer evacuation times. This led him to propose using a combination of charcoal and several gauzes to capture toxins and give users as much breathable air as possible.

The mask is made from durable and affordable ABS plastic in order to facilitate low-cost mass manufacture so every occupant in a building can be provided with a respirator.

Bhatt’s design also includes a technological feature intended to help the fire brigade account for the whereabouts of a building’s occupants and ensure they have evacuated safely.

When users pass through a fire exit, a built-in radio frequency tracker sends a message to a reader operated by the fire brigade so they know that person is safe. The technology would also allow the authorities to log how many people may still be inside.

The mask’s elastic head straps feature high-visibility details so that users can see each other in the smoky corridors and follow each other out of the building.

Bhatt’s design was awarded the top accolade at New Designers, which sees students from more than 170 creative courses exhibit their work at the Business Design Centre in London over the course of two weeks in June and July.

The judges described the proposal as “a very simple and easy to implement solution to a very current issue,” adding that it was “good to see a very positive and worthwhile response at a timely moment to a pertinent cause.”

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Vietnamese practice K59 Atelier has designed its own architecture office and home for a family in Ho Chi Minh City, connecting two alleyways with an open and airy ground floor.

The four storey block, which contains a three-bedroom home along with office and workshop space for the architecture studio, has been designed around a tall, skinny concrete frame.

Spaces are divided by open voids and communal spaces that are designed to invite the site’s busy surroundings in rather than shutting them out.

K59 Atelier designed the block to be an evolution of the existing buildings in the local area, with an open ground floor space that people can use to get between two parallel alleys.

“We prefer adaption and self-change rather than resisting what is happening around us,” explained the architecture studio.

“Gaps and open volumes are the methods we used to link and split space. The house is divided in two by a big atrium, and the ground floor is empty to allow the flow of people and air between the two alleys.”

A central, skylit void cuts through all four floors of the home and is occupied by an industrial-feeling steel and wood stair.

This open space separates the more public office and worship areas that occupy the first and second floor spaces at the front of the home, from the private bedroom spaces at the rear.

Each space benefits from views inwards to the central void, and outwards to the street at either end of the home.

Small strips of garden space create a buffer area between the street and the interiors, and a large tree at the home’s centre grows up through the void.

“Living in a crowded and stuffy city doesn’t mean we have to disconnect and close the door,” said the architecture studio.

“On the contrary, we need flexibility and generosity in design.”

A material palette of rough blockwork, wood and steel complements the exposed concrete frame to create rough, flexible interiors, with sliding and concertina windows and doors, allowing spaces to be opened up to each other and the outdoors.

“The hollow structure helps the building to breathe, instead of long walls or fixed glazing. We believe this method will be the dialogue between people, nature and society.”

Externally, the concrete grid of the home’s structure can be clearly read, infilled with blockwork or with metal bars that filter in air and sunlight.

K59atelier recently completed a home in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, with a giant terracotta tile roof that draws on the appearance of traditional Vietnamese houses.

Photography is courtesy of K59 Atelier.

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An experimental cork house, Grimshaw’s London Bridge Station, and Feilden Fowles Architects’ visitor centre at Yorkshire Sculpture Park are among the projects shortlisted for this year’s Stirling Prize.

The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the six finalists vying for the accolade, which is awarded annually to the building judged to have made the greatest contribution to British architecture.

This year’s shortlisted projects are: The Macallan Distillery by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Nevill Holt Opera by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, Cork House by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton, London Bridge Station by Grimshaw, Goldsmith Street housing by Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley, and The Weston by Feilden Fowles Architects.

“The RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist epitomises the enviable global reputation of UK architecture,” said RIBA president Ben Derbyshire.

“These six buildings could hardly be more diverse in typology and scale – from a rustic stable block-turned- theatre to a vast national railway station,” he continued.

“But what they have in common – ground-breaking innovation, extraordinary creativity and the highest quality materials and detailing – sets them apart, rightfully earning them a chance to win the highest accolade in architecture.”

Two of the projects shortlisted for this year’s prize rejuvenated existing structures – Grimshaw‘s overhaul one of London’s busiest stations and Witherford Watson Mann Architects‘ construction of a opera theatre within a 17th-century stable block in Leicestershire.

Meanwhile, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Macallan Distillery in Speyside and Feilden Fowles visitor centre within Yorkshire Sculpture Park are both designed to merge with their surroundings and ensure there is a minimal impact on their historic landscapes.

The most unusual of the shortlisted buildings is Cork House, which is made from a self-build construction kit of sustainable cork parts and designed to emit next to zero carbon.

It is one of two residential projects that made the shortlist, alongside the energy-efficient council housing by Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley in Norwich.

Derbyshire said that this is a demonstration UK architects’ ability to tackle “the most pressing challenges of our times”, such as the climate and housing crisis.

“Given the fact the UK faces the worst housing crisis for generations and a global climate emergency, we must encourage their architectural ambition, innovation, bravery and skill,” explained Derbyshire.

“From the way that Cork House experiments with entirely plant-based materials, to Goldsmith Street’s ultra-low energy affordable homes, each of these six buildings push the boundaries of architecture, exceeding what has been done before, and providing solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of our times.”

The shortlist is drawn from the 54 winners of the RIBA National Awards 2019, which celebrates Britain’s best new buildings.

For Feilden Fowles Architects, Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton, Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley, it is the first time on the Stirling Prize shortlist.

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has now been shortlisted seven times. It has also won twice, once in 2006 for Barajas Airport and again in 2009 for Maggie’s Centre London.

Witherford Watson Mann Architects also won the Stirling Prize in 2013 for Astley Castle, while Grimshaw has been shortlisted for the Eden Project in 2001 and Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA in 2008, but missing out on the prize both times.

Several well-know projects missed out on the shortlist is the V&A Dundee by Kengo Kuma, as well as Coal Drops Yards shopping centre by Heatherwick Studio at London’s King’s Cross.

Peter Zumthor’s Secular Retreat, which is shortlisted for RIBA’s House of the Year 2019, also missed out on a place.

The winner of the 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize will be announced on Tuesday 8 October 2019 at the Roundhouse in London.

Last year the prize was awarded to Bloomberg by Foster + Partners, which was picked from a shortlist dominated by buildings commissioned by universities. In 2017, dRMM received the award for Hastings Pier and the year before Caruso St John won for Newport Street Gallery.

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I assume somewhere in VolleBak’s headquarters lies a massive whiteboard with the words “WHY NOT” scrawled on it, because if the past few months have been any indication, the company’s product launches have been getting progressively stranger but at the same time, exciting just because we’re witnessing one of the most avant-garde movements in apparel and fashion design.

After making kevlar, iridescent, and graphene jackets, VolleBak’s latest uses a material found exclusively in jet engines, missile housings, and supercars. I’m talking about Carbon Fiber, the material that’s lighter than aluminum and stronger than steel. VolleBak’s Carbon Fiber shirt comes with a price tag of $110 which seems pretty reasonable considering it comes made with woven strands of carbon fiber in it. Designed to be worn close to the skin, the material is breathable, lightweight, and wicks moisture incredibly well.

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering why (and also how) would VolleBak integrate carbon fibers into fashion. Carbon Fiber is known for its incredible strength, which lends its properties to the shirt, making it practically abrasion-proof. Designed to last much longer than any traditional tee shirt, even in the most demanding of scenarios, the Carbon Fiber tee shirt will not scuff, rip, shred, or tear if you accidentally fall off a bike or slip while trekking or bump your shoulder against a tree’s rough bark. In extension, the fabric even protects your skin, preventing damage to itself as well as you. The fabric itself comes made from a yarn that contains thousands of intertwined individual carbon fibers. While you’d expect these fibers to be incredibly tough, the fabric also comprises 36% elastane, giving it strength but also a 4-way stretch, making the VolleBak Carbon Fiber Tee look like just about any other tee shirt you’ve seen, but behave unlike any other. Why not, eh?

Designer: VolleBak