Low-lying volumes topped with overhanging roofs form this holiday home in the Pacific Northwest, which was designed by US studio Wittman Estes for a family of impassioned naturalists.
The Hood Cliff Retreat sits on a wooded site overlooking the Hood Canal, a natural waterway in the Puget Sound. The project, designed by Seattle firm Wittman Estes, entailed creating a main dwelling and detached bunkhouse that immerse the family “in the stillness of the forest”.
The clients are a family of avid naturalists. Together, the parents have led careers in hydrology and forestry, and international wildlife photography. The couple’s two grown children are natural resource scientists.
The family is spread out, with the parents based in Indiana, and their kids based in Toronto and North Carolina. The Washington dwelling serves as a place for everyone to come together and “celebrate their passion for being outdoors”.
The retreat consists of low-slung, rectilinear volumes with overhanging roofs. The site was formerly occupied by a dark, single-room cabin built in 1962. While its concrete foundation and floor framing were retained, the small building was razed to make way for a larger and more transparent dwelling.
The team used economical strategies throughout the project in order to reduce costs.
“Simple details and a restrained material palette kept the construction budget to a minimum,” the studio said in a project description.
Exterior walls are clad in rough-sawn cedar and cement panels, both of which are intended to weather over time. Large expanses of glass bring in natural light and dissolve the barrier between inside and out.
The main dwelling is roughly L-shaped in plan. The portion built atop the former cabin contains a living room and kitchen, along with a built-in Murphy bed that enables the public space to be used as a sleeping area.
The living space flows through sliding, glazed doors onto a wooden deck, which features a concrete counter with a built-in barbecue grill. A pass-through window allows the kitchen to merge with the outdoor cooking area.
The other side of the main dwelling houses more private areas, including a master suite. A gravel pathway connects the primary home to the bunkhouse, which contains sleeping areas, a bathroom and an outdoor terrace.
Warm and earthy materials were incorporated throughout the retreat. White oak floors are paired with walls and ceilings wrapped in pine plywood. Certain elements, such as countertops, were fabricated using wood salvaged from the old cabin.
Rooms are furnished with contemporary decor, including a rocking chair by Hans Wegner and a small table designed by Charles and Ray Eames. In the master bathroom, a cast-iron tub adds a vintage touch.
Wittman Estes says the retreat balances an intimate connection to nature with a sense of being sheltered and protected. The team drew inspiration from the killdeer bird, a native species that has a unique strategy for constructing its nest.
“Unlike most birds, the killdeer doesn’t bring outside vegetation to build its nest,” said architect Matt Wittman in a project description. “It pulls away the existing brush, burrowing into the existing forest and nesting on the ground.”
“Hood Cliff Retreat seeks a similar relationship with the ground that feels both connected to and protected from the elements of nature,” he added.
Wittman Estes was founded by Wittman and landscape designer Jody Estes. Other projects by the firm include a studio building and Chinese-inspired courtyard in Seattle that was added to a 1940s home.
Italian curator and critic Beatrice Leanza has joined the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon as its new executive director.The move comes as part of an overhaul of the Amanda Levete-designed museum’s organisational structure instigated by EDP Foundation, the private arts body that funds the museum.
“The EDP Foundation chose someone with a diverse background in the fields of art, design and architecture and an extensive experience in project and team management, having decided to change MAAT’s internal organisation with the new executive director and a curatorial council,” said the foundation in a statement.
The sinuous MAAT museum, located beside the river Tagus in the Belém suburb of the Portuguese capital, was designed by AL_A, the studio of British architect Amanda Levete, and opened in 2016.
Beatrice Leanza has become executive director at the Amanda Levete-designed Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon
Leanza joins MAAT after spending several years in Beijing, where she first worked as a curator at China Art Archives and Warehouse (CAAW), the alternative art space founded by artist Ai Weiwei.
She then founded research studio Bao Atelier and was creative director for Beijing Design Week from 2013 to 2016.
After that she co-founded urban and social impact organisation B/Side Design, and helped set up The Global School, a design and creative research institute.
“The EDP Foundation believes that Leanza’s approach in the exploration of new practical and conceptual relations among art, design and architecture, as well as her experience in the implementation of cultural strategies of community involvement and participation, will be decisive to MAAT’s consolidation as a cultural institution,” said EDP Foundation.
Leanza holds an MA in asian studies from the Ca ‘Foscari University in Venice. She has written extensively about art and design for publications including The Guardian and The New York Times.
“It will be great until the first piece of space junk goes ripping through someone’s cabin,” said Just Me.
Moral Hazard was also sceptical: “As much as I love the idea of space tourism and space travel, I think this is just a pipe dream. If it’s ever realised though, no way am I going to wear boat shoes in space. I didn’t watch 30 years of science fiction to be dressed business casual if I ever make it up there.”
“I wonder what the carbon footprint would be for a space tourist, especially as all food and potable water seems to be uplifted from Earth,” continued Ian Byrne.
“If you think cell phone towers cause cancer, wait until you book the Gamma Room at Chez Curie,” warned Yucca Boy.
This reader was more concerned about the sporting facilities:
“One can only hope that they were issued with condoms for their feet too,” said Cezary Marke.
“One might laugh but it had 33.5 billion visits to the website in 2018 and its top 20 countries by web traffic are majority OECD member countries,” replied Archboi92. “I think they are putting their platform to good use. This reaches more people than a lot of newspapers.”
“Cycling a bike? Wear fluorescent yellow clothing, lights, reflectors etc. Driving a car? Hey, let’s make it invisible!” said Ciarán Ferrie sarcastically.
Spadestick elaborated: “Stats show that black cars get into more accidents than any other colour… now this stupidity. Let’s hope it stays off the road and production.”
Aus-arch was less negative: “For a design-based website, the comments here are pretty petty. This won’t be rolling around your suburbs preying on cyclists to hit. It’s an art installation and looks cool as hell. Simple. Lighten up.”
“Perfect for a Wes Anderson scene,” replied Rodrigro Galván-Duque in contrast. “I love how simple and elegant Sejima has made this transportation design.”
A historic house in Tel Aviv‘s Neve Tzedek neighbourhood has been transformed into luxury accommodation with a slatted steel addition on top by local firm Bar Orian Architects.
The Levee comprises eight rental apartments in Tel Aviv across the extended historic villa building in the city’s oldest neighbourhood, Neve Tzedek.
The two-storey structure was built in 1913 as a private home called Gurevitch house. It is one of Tel Aviv’s many eclectic-style and Bauhaus buildings that make the Israeli city a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Bar Orian Architects preserved its early-1900s features like moulding, shutters, arched windows and white details to meet strict guidelines from Tel Aviv’s organisation of architectural preservation.
The firm also extended the property, adding a volume to the roof that is wrapped in thin, horizontal strips of steel, with portions forming seamless shutters over windows. An addition was also added to the back to accommodate gardens, balconies and additional rooms.
Bar Orian Architects describes the result as “a unique contrast between Bauhaus and industrial, modern and classic”.
“This is not only an aesthetic decision, but an ideological statement that declares architecture from different periods should be faithful to the spirit and principles of that time period,” the firm added.
Several differently-designed floors comprise The Levee. A glass-lined level is placed in between the preserved house and the upper extension and is set back to amplify the contrasting designs.
Decor was created by Israeli-Belgian interior designer Yael Siso. Units feature wood floors, minimal furnishings, and several walls with original sandstone that has been left exposed.
“When I started planning The Levee, I knew I wanted it to represent Tel Aviv in an authentic way,” Siso told Dezeen.
“The city’s Bauhaus architecture, the smells, people, and the beauty in the crumbling buildings awaiting restoration together with the new, and innovative energy that pulses through the city,” she said.
“I knew the design had to have pieces from both of these worlds to be authentic.”
Filling the apartments is contemporary furniture from Italian brands such as Molteni and Moroso. In one unit is a blue tufted couch by furniture brand Baxter, a black-and-white photograph by Dor Sharon and an Artemide light.
Other art is by Israeli artist Galit Deutsch, while carpenter Guy Ofer designed cabinets to house televisions. Kitchen cabinets are either black or white, and white drapes soften some of the spaces.
Another apartment features a cream Cassina L-shaped sofa, pink Hay pillows and a light blue carpet by Danish design company Linie Design. Several oversized chairs are by Moooi, and many rugs are by Nanimarquina.
The rooftop penthouse at The Levee comprises a duplex with a glass-contoured bedroom, a bathroom with an open shower and a private terrace. Also in the box-like addition is a unit with a monochrome palette, and two other apartments with more colourful furnishings, two bedrooms and two bathrooms are on the second floor.
Rounding out project are two other suites with balconies on the first floor, and two apartments on the original ground floor. The lower-level units are two storeys and have terraces, English-style courtyards, three bedrooms and four bathrooms. They feature wide staircases and light, neutral palettes to evoke a summer villa.
Produced by visualisation company The Boundary, the set documents the interior and exterior of the 611 West 56th Street residential tower, which is currently under construction in New York’s West Side overlooking the Hudson River.
Pritzker Prize-winner Siza has designed the 37-storey condo building with a stepped form featuring pale Turkish limestone cladding. This facade is punctuated by large windows with thin frames that offer views of the New York surroundings.
“In all the residences, maximising far-reaching views of Midtown, Downtown, and the Hudson River was a top priority,” said Siza.
A four-storey crown, also covered in limestone, rises on the top.
The images also preview the tower’s 80 boutique residences, designed by Michael Gabellini and Kimberly Sheppard, who run New York firm Gabellini Sheppard Associates.
Among the homes are a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, penthouses and duplex maisonettes with access to private terraces. The decor is minimal, comprising pale stone and marble, bright white walls and wooden flooring.
These pared-back details continue into the building’s amenities, which include a fitness centre, a yoga studio, a boxing gym and a children’s playroom. Residents will also have access to a large lounge area, dining room and kitchen for entertaining guests.
An outdoor garden on the fourth floor designed by landscape architect M Paul Friedberg, which will include a sculpture designed by Siza, are among other features.
Sumaida + Khurana and LENY, the real estate firms behind the project, released the final details ahead of the sales opening later this month. The cost of a one-bedroom residence is expected to start at $1.26 million (£1.04 million).
Siza, who won the Pritzker Prize in 1992, is based in Matosinhos, a small coastal city near Porto, Portugal. He began his architecture career in 1954 and has designed buildings in several European and South American countries, along with Korea and China.
611 West 56th Street is among a host of residential towers that high-profile architect have designed for the city, including the neighbouring Via 57 tower by Bjarke Ingel’s firm BIG.
Designer Melanie Abrantes has used cork and wood leftover from her old projects to create sculptural vases, canisters and baskets influenced by the colours, forms and textures of California’s coast.
Melanie Abrantes used a mixture of scrap materials to create the Modern California series
The Oakland designer’s Modern California series comprises canisters, vases , candle holders and wine coolers “inspired by colours and forms from the California Coast”.
Abrantes sourced glass from either local artists or second-hand shops, and used scrap cork and wood from her previous projects.
The Marais vases feature a tall glass body. Recycled cork and wood fit inside the glass container to form the neck and lip
Among the designs are the Marais vases, which feature a tall glass body produced by San Francisco glassmaker Jason Stropko Glass. Abrantes used machinery to blend her old cork and wood to fit inside the glass container, forming the neck and lip.
“In every Marais vase, the materials – coloured glass, cork and hardwood – combine to create an object that is both art sculpture and functional,” Abrantes said.
The wine coolers comprise a cork base finished with a strip of wood
“The cork and wood are laminated together and sculpted on a woodturning lathe to fit each individual glass vessel.”
Abrantes’ Hardwood Candle Holders are among several of the pieces in the collection that require the use of the lathe machinery to define their shape.
Other large jars in the collection include the Maple Bud. Abrantes hand-dyed the wooden vases to create a marbled design influenced by the pattern found on the blossoms of maple trees.
A different mix of pink and purple hues decorate the Maple Bud, which comes in a variety of sizes and widths.
Mismatched cork top and bottoms and round wooden handle make up the Bolo canisters
Also in the series is the Bolo – a small rounded canister that consists of two mismatched pieces of cork that detach allowing for storage inside. Each capsule is topped with a wooden ball used for opening the item.
The designer created a handle from rope and leather for this small basket
“Bolo explores the playful silhouette and shapes of a Bolo, the Portuguese translation for cake,” the artist said. “Each ‘Bolo’ canister is perfectly balanced to highlight its unique materials.”
In the collection, cork is also used to form baskets and wine coolers. The round basket has a flat bottom and two rope handles that are joined together with leather to form a single handle, allowing for the piece to be easily transported.
Abrantes used a woodturning machine to create these cylindrical candle holders
The wine coolers feature a cork base and are topped with a strip of wood that circles the object, which can be used to elegantly store beverage bottles.
Modern California is available for sale on Abrantes’ website for a limited time and will also be featured at this year’s London Design Fair, which runs from 19 to 22 September.
The Maple Bud vases are hand-dyed to mirror the marble pattern found on the blossoms of maple trees
Abrantes joins a number of designers that are experimenting with making the most of scrap materials, such as Madrid designer Jorge Penadés who turned recycled aluminium from old lamps into new jars.
The Scrap Life Project by a group of German designers, meanwhile, created stool seats from oddly shaped pieces of recycled plastic produced at an injection-moulding factory.
The movie shot by Pedro Pegenaute shows the art gallery, which is built around a circular courtyard, now in use.
Drone footage shows the central gathering space from above, as well as the building’s rooftop viewing platform and its urban context. Film shot from ground level shows people moving around the gallery.
The Aranya Art Center opened in May this year. It contains five gallery spaces along with a cafe inside a building clad in distinctive faceted concrete blocks.
IKEA has committed to becoming a circular business by 2030, by eliminating waste and reusing resources. A year into the project, sustainability head Lena Pripp-Kovac tells Dezeen how they’re getting on.
The Swedish furniture giant announced last year that it plans to make all its products according to circular principles by 2030, meaning that they can be reused, refurbished or recycled. It will use only renewable or recycled materials across its entire range.
Called People and Planet Positive, the strategy was launched in June 2018, with the first report following earlier this year. Lena Pripp-Kovac, who is head of sustainability at IKEA, is the person responsible for making the transformation happen.
“The aim is to remove waste,” Pripp-Kovac told Dezeen in an exclusive interview. “It’s a big journey but it’s also quite exciting because it’s possible.”
“People need to sleep, people need to eat and people need to play and provide for their families,” she continued. “How do we do that without being wasteful?”
Lena Pripp-Kovac, head of sustainability at IKEA, is tasked with implementing circular principles
One of the world’s biggest companies, IKEA last year generated 38.8 billion euros in retail sales at 422 stores in more than 50 countries and online. It accounts for 0.1 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, if you include everything from sourcing materials to customers’ use of products in their own homes.
The entire range of around 12,000 IKEA products will need to be reconsidered in line with the strategy. Pripp-Kovac’s role covers the product and food range, as well as supply, production and franchising.
A circular business is one that eliminates waste and pollution while restoring natural systems. If the entire global economy could become circular, then human society could thrive without depleting the earth of its resources or destroying ecosystems.
“[Today’s] linear economy is a straight line, no matter how efficient you make it,” MacArthur explained. “If you make a car with less material, if you make a car using less energy, you’re still using stuff. You’re still consuming materials.”
“Whereas within a circular model, from the outset you design in a way whereby that product comes back into the system: the components are recovered, the materials are recovered.”
“It is turning from the linear to the circular, of course, but the major purpose is to have a completely new take on providing more for more people, but with less resources,” she said.
“It means that you can’t just reduce the materials only, you need to reuse them, you need to start to recycle them. And you need to phase out very unsustainable processes.”
IKEA set out its goals – which are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 – and how it plans to achieve them, in a sustainability report published last year.
“We’re looking at a change of our total business,” said Pripp-Kovac.
“It requires that you prepare the enablers to become a circular business,” she continued. “It’s not just at the end of the process that you become circular, you really have to look, number one, at what are the materials you’re using.”
Botanisk products are made with to encourage growing and produced with social entrepreneurs
The company will review its milestones year-0n-year over the coming 11 years, with the latest report due to be published early next year.
“We want to do it with facts. You want to know what it all actually means,” said Pripp-Kovac. “Does the new material prolong the life of a product? Does it change our consumption behaviour?”
Currently, 60 per cent of IKEA’s collections are made from renewable materials and 10 per cent contain – but are not solely made from – recycled materials.
Making the changes will require “big movements”. IKEA has committed to reducing its carbon footprint, whilst growing the business and without purchasing carbon offsetting certificates.
To achieve this, the company will need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15 per cent across the whole IKEA value chain, in absolute terms, by 2030. This is the equivalent of cutting the climate footprint of each product by 70 per cent.
“I think the most important part is to really look at this as a change. It’s not just increasing recycled materials, or putting a bin outside the store. That’s just a starting point, but what happens after that?” said Pripp-Kovac.
“For the consumer it’s a different way of consuming in the future. It’s a huge shift. We’re all changing and I think society is changing,” she continued.
“If you want to create something new, you have to be optimistic about the possibilities to change, but the challenges are very daunting.”
As the materials that make up IKEA products are the company’s largest source of CO2 emissions at 36.4 per cent, Pripp-Kovac sees sourcing as a key area to tackle.
“The whole change of the materials is huge for us; making sure that we are able to use recycled materials in the best way and also being able to source differently,” she explained.
“There are definitely things that we will need to work together with others on, such as the amount of recycled materials that are even available today,” she continued.
“Our suppliers are the most innovative ones in finding new solutions.”
By 2020 IKEA will only use recycled polyester in its product range
At the start of the project, the company mapped all its global waste materials, which they see as their future resources. It also made a “roadmap” for each material that it uses, to identify areas of improvement.
For example, wood is the primary raw material in much IKEA furniture, so it has been planting fast-growing, renewable poplar plantations in Slovakia since 2016 as a more sustainable source of timber. It is developing a more sustainable glue, which is an essential component of the particle board in many IKEA products.
To meet fire regulations, much of the company’s wooden furniture must be coated with a fire retardant, that until now has been fossil-based. With an innovation partner, IKEA has developed a biodegradable, cellulose-based alternative that is recyclable.
One of the top priorities in this first year, according to Pripp-Kovac, has been the “big shift” of moving to recycled polyester.
“Some of the bigger moves during this year have been in polyester, as we are aiming by 2020 to have all our textile products made from recycled polyester, which is quite a big volume,” she said.
Surprisingly, the transportation of products contributes a relatively small amount of their carbon footprint at just 3.9 per cent.
“Yes, transport is important, but we also know that it is a few per cent of our total footprint,” said Pripp-Kovac. “So if we do everything good in transport, which of course is on our agenda, still we will never reach our climate goals.”
How customers travel to the stores, which are usually outside the town centre, and the energy required for home deliveries, make up a much larger proportion at 15.5 per cent.
Some targets will be implemented well before 2030, such as the elimination of single-use plastic products from the IKEA home furnishing range globally by January next year.
IKEA works with artisans and suppliers around the world to improve its supply chain
Prolonging the life of products and materials is something that designers at IKEA are now putting at the forefront of the design process.
“Sometimes when we talk about making sure that we prolong the life of products we talk very much about the end of it,” said Pripp-Kovac.
“I think the idea of circular really makes the point of saying that it is already in the design phase, when you start to think that you have to incorporate the whole life-cycle into what you do and how its owned and what’s going to happen with it,” she continued.
“It’s also important you put it in the context of an economy, you can’t be a circular economy as a big company by yourself. You need to have a network and fit into the society in order to have a circular economy.”
According to Pripp-Kovac, changing people’s behaviours is as important as designing with circularity in mind, if the move from a linear to a circular economy is to be successful.
“It’s a huge shift. We’re all changing and I think society is changing,” said Pripp-Kovac.
“If you want to create something new, you have to be optimistic about the possibilities to change, but the challenges are very daunting.”
Pamela Tan est une architecte qui explore divers domaines de l’art, de l’architecture et du design. Avec sa nouvelle installation, « kite », elle créée un espace immersif coloré et spéculaire à base de centaines de cordes colorées.
Cette installation flottant dans le ciel symbolise la vie et la fête. Elle a d’ailleurs été créée à l’occasion du « Good Vibes Festival » en Malaisie. Parfaitement adaptée au paysage de l’événement, elle vibrait avec le public grâce aux cordes laches qui réagissaient aux vibration de la musique et au vent.
Alena Shymchonak est une artiste peintre qui vient d’Estonie. Elle produit des peintures pour des collectionneurs de différents pays.
Elle aime utiliser la peinture à l’huile et le couteau pour produire ses peintures. Comme elle le dit : « Mes peintures sont inspirées par les couleurs et les textures que j’imagine ou que je vois lors de mes voyages. Les peintures acquièrent grâce à elles de la profondeur, de la vie et de l’énergie. Si je peux transmettre cette énergie à celle ou celui qui voit ma peinture, alors j’ai réussi mon défi. » dit-elle.
Qui a t-il de mieux que d’aller à la plage pour profiter de l’été ? Rien ? Aucun doute. Alena l’a bien compris ; elle a réalisé une série de peintures représentant la vie à la plage, qu’elle présente sur son compte Instagram. Voyons ci-dessous à quel point elles sont géniales !
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
