Hasta La Ideas

American firm Hendricks Churchill has rebuilt a house in Connecticut to merge the aesthetic of a traditional farmhouse and contemporary details.

The project Levine was designed for the owner of an art-moving business, who wanted a traditional home with modern features for his family.

“The goal was to design a somewhat traditional house with a few key contemporary elements,” Hendricks Churchill’s creative director Rafe Churchill told Dezeen.

“Generally, the idea was to deliver a modern farmhouse.”

The original structure was a low-lying bungalow positioned on the property to provide views of the distant Lake Wononscopomuc.

The studio partially demolished the existing structure, leaving only the ground floor framing and foundation to create the open-plan 3,900-square-foot (362-square-metre) house.

Large black window frames on the exterior and large rooms that open to a central hallway are among the modern touches the architects added as part of the redesign.

“The open floor plan was key to the success of the project,” Churchill added. “With large cased openings linking rooms, a wide centre hall, and large black framed windows, the project feels distinctly contemporary.”

A covered porch lined by a series of columns and steps form the main entrance. White panels constructed underneath the porch conceal the original foundation, which was built into the sloping site.

Windows detailed with black frames are arranged in rows on all faces of the white house and saturate the interiors with natural light. Beige and white-painted walls, high ceilings and large openings also brighten the interiors.

A large living room situated at the front of the house has windows across three sides. At one end of the large living space, there is a brick fireplace outlined with white trim.

In the kitchen, the doorways and window frames are painted green to match a series of built-in cabinets. White tiles cover the walls behind the massive farm sink and stainless steel range.

A simple wood table provides space both food preparation and sharing meals instead of a kitchen island.

The residence also includes a small study that is painted pale blue. It is decorated with a beige couch, orange armchair and a wall of built-in shelving and cabinets that create storage for books.

Patterned and textured area rugs lay over the hardwood floors that run throughout the space. Other furnishings include antique wood cupboards and neutral couches accented by colourful pillows.

Churchill founded the architecture and interior design firm Hendricks Churchill with Heide Hendricks. It has offices in New York City and Sharon, Connecticut.

Other recently completed houses in Connecticut include a property overlooking Lake Wononscopomuc. Allee Architecture designed the residences as two distinct volumes, topped with a roof garden.

Photography is by Tim Lenz.

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Architects across America including BIG, KPF and Höweler + Yoon have teamed up as part of an open-source project to manufacture face shields to protect hospital workers treating coronavirus patients.

Firms across the country are using their own 3D printers and laser cutters to make the visors, which are being delivered to hospitals for distribution to front-line medical staff amid shortages of the safety devices.

Many of the architects are basing their visors on open-source files created by Eric Ceserberg of Swedish 3D-printing company 3DVerkstan. The simple design consists of a laser-cut clear plastic shield that covers the face and a printed visor band that fits across the user’s forehead.

A standard three-hole punch is used to make holes in the plastic shield so it can clip onto the visor.

“It is brilliant in its simplicity,” said architect Eric Höweler, principal at Boston studio Höweler + Yoon, one of the firms helping to make visors.

“A simple 3D-printed PLA [polylactic acid] part plus a clear sheet with three punched holes and we get a pretty effective face shield,” he said.

Face shields help protect the wearer’s face from body fluids and can be worn in conjunction with masks.

Other architects printing the shields include Handel Architects, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Grimshaw, Terreform One, Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), Gensler, Weiss Manfredi and Brooks + Scarpa.

The effort is being coordinated by the Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) faculty at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York State.

“Yesterday morning we delivered hundreds of printed visors and laser-cut shields directly to Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City,” said Jenny Sabin, professor of architecture at Cornell and head of Ithaca architect Jenny Sabin Studio.

“They will go through a sanitising process and then will be distributed to doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals on the front lines.”

Sabin added: “It’s just amazing how the network has grown in less than four days!”

The visors, which are based on the 3DVerkstan design, have been tested and verified by Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell’s medical school in New York City. Sabin has uploaded manufacturing instructions and advice for others who want to participate.

“Weill Cornell Medicine estimated a need for 20,000-50,000 protective face shields per day in NYC,” Sabin added. “We have since learned that their need for the visor’s printed component is much lower at around 3,000 parts [per day].”

The transparent plastic sheet that forms the shield, and which needs to be replaced or sanitised after each shift, is in greater need, Sabin said.

The mobilisation followed a request for help from colleagues at Weill Cornell Medicine.

“Last week Weill Cornell Medicine in NYC reached out to see if Cornell faculty could help with the need for PPEs [personal protective equipment],” said Meejin Yoon, dean of Cornell’s Architecture, Art and Planning school and partner at Höweler + Yoon.

“As you know, there is a national shortage and a supply chain issue.”

Since the school’s workshops have been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the faculty decided to call on fellow architects to help out.

“We decided this was an essential need and critical to support this effort,” said Yoon. “Jenny started 3D printing immediately from her lab, and we used all our rapid prototyping machines towards this effort in college as well.”

Architecture firms across America have joined the effort, with BIG in New York City dedicating its model shop to producing the visors.

“In response to the acute and escalating need for personal protection equipment here in New York City and the plea of governor Andrew Cuomo and being personally reached out to by doctors and nurses from both Cornell and Mount Sinai Hospitals here in New York we had the possibility to mobilise our 3D printing and modelmaking capabilities to make this scarce life-saving equipment,” said BIG partner Kai-Uwe Bergmann.

BIG expects to be able to produce 5,000 visors per week after adapting Eric Ceserberg’s open-source file to allow up to 50 visor components to be printed simultaneously instead of one at a time.

“As of next week we will also be adding our London and Copenhagen offices towards this production as we have established ties to medical institutions,” added Bergmann.

The global architecture and design community has mobilised in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Spanish studio Nagami Design has adapted its furniture production facilities to make face shields while leading fashion brands are producing surgical masks and architects Carlo Ratti Associati has developed a design for intensive care units made from converted shipping containers.

Read all Dezeen’s coverage about the coronavirus pandemic.

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A glitzy house track, a sonic survey of our relationship with our phones, meditative storytelling from a Wu-Tang founding member, and more new music

RZA: Guided Explorations

Rapper/producer RZA’s Guided Explorations consists of five episodes of meditations for creatives (along with an introduction). While the release of a guided meditation album may surprise some, the Wu-Tang founding member is dedicated to his Shaolin practice and meditation, and has explored spirituality through religion and philosophy (be it Taoism, Christianity, Confucianism or Buddhism). These meditations trace his own stories—from feeling isolated in Staten Island to founding Wu-Tang Clan and finding success—as an entry-point to breathing exercises and guided physical and mental journeys. The goal for each episode is to help listeners abandon distraction and self-doubt, make plans, and ultimately feel inspired to create.

Angela Muñoz: In My Mind

Written and performed by 18-year-old Angela Muñoz, “In My Mind” is laden with strings, velvety vocals, and twinkling harps. “I wrote this song thinking about the journey of love. Despite my age I have an awareness of what expressing love looks like. As I was writing this song, I wanted to challenge myself as a songwriter. This led me to imagine myself in the place of George Gershwin. If I could choose anyone to interpret this song it would be Sarah Vaughan. Ultimately love can manifest itself in many ways,” Muñoz says in a statement. Jazzy, soulful and entirely mesmerizing, the song features production by composer/arranger/producer Adrian Younge (member of The Midnight Hour, and collaborator with Kendrick Lamar and Ghostface Killah, among others) who created a polished but nostalgic sound. Ultimately the listener is treated to an ethereal, serene lullaby.

Yaeji: Waking Up Down

Korean-American electronic music artist Yaeji (aka Kathy Yaeji Lee) is set to release her new playlist WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던 on 2 April, on which her new track “Waking Up Down” will appear. With plenty of 808s, harmonies and monotone mantra-like vocals, the track glides along—equal parts mesmerizing and ominous. She also made the animated video (with additional illustrations from Annie Zhao and production by Studio Yotta) which features her own likeness along with her companion Woofa.

Duck Sauce: Captain Duck

Duck Sauce (aka Armand Van Helden and A-Trak) returns with an upbeat tune driven by a danceable groove, soulful samples and glitzy house elements. “Captain Duck” marks the third release of 2020 for the duo, which had been on pause for six years. Transportive and optimistic, this infectious track could be the soundtrack for an ’80s-inspired aerobics class, and it’s sure to be cherished like Duck Sauce’s 2010 bop “Barbara Streisand.”

Bearcubs: Screentime

Reminiscent of a room lit only by the blue glow of a phone, all in the dead of night, the song “Screentime” looks at the technology we have and questions whether it will ever come close to filling the void left by people not there with us. The moody, textured track by Berlin-based Bearcubs (aka Jack Ritchie) channels downbeat vocals through languid sonic layers. It will appear on Bearcubs’ second album, Early Hours, out 15 May.

Feng Suave: Maybe Another Time

From Amsterdam-based Feng Suave (aka Daniël De Jong and Daniël Leonard Elvis), “Maybe Another Time” showcases the duo’s talent for soulful songwriting and sleek production. This 6/8-speed single (which has no chorus) melts into a psych-inflected tune that also harkens to the sound of soul groups from the past. The sweet, falsetto-laden track will appear on Feng Suave’s forthcoming second EP, Warping Youth, out 26 June.

COLORS’ Live Broadcast

Launching yesterday, music platform COLORS’ livestream offers a place for music fans to connect with each other and their favorite artists in a chat room. At 2PM EST each day, an artist will appear on the COLORS stream to perform—without post-production or show crew. Launched in partnership with YouTube Music, these livestreams also act as fundraisers (which will run for 30 days or until the NHS says it’s safe to gather again) and the proceeds will be split between the musicians who play. Yesterday’s show featured UK rapper Kojey Radical. Stay tuned to the stream for future virtual concerts.

Listen Up is published every Sunday and rounds up the new music we found throughout the week. Hear the year so far on our Spotify channel.

Chinese 3D-printer manufacturer Creality is fabricating thousands of buckles that make face masks less painful to wear for medical workers treating coronavirus patients.

Small bars on either side of the plastic buckle hold the elastic taut behind the mask-wearer’s head, so that it doesn’t put painful pressure on their ears.

Face masks are a key part of protecting front line medical workers from contracting coronavirus, but wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for an extended period of time can be very uncomfortable for the wearer.

“Seeing that doctors and nurses in the reports were suffering great physical pain on face and ears caused by face masks, I started thinking about what could help them relieve some discomfort,” said Creality senior designer Guoliang Ji.

“By taking advantage of the 3D printing that I am good at, I want to offer medics some help.”

Ji looked at handles on packaging to create the simple buckle design. Five buckles can be printed at one go in an hour on a Creality Ender-3 3D printer.

Creality, which is based in Shenzhen, has been printing the buckles to donate to hospitals in China, and has encouraged people with 3D printers to do the same at home.

They began printing the buckles on 21 February 2020, when the disease had spread rapidly within China and cases had been discovered in 28 other countries. Viral pictures had circulated of Chinese medical workers with cuts on their faces from long shifts wearing masks, goggles and other protective gear.

Each day, 100 of Creality’s 3D printers run for 10 hours, manufacturing 1,600 masks. By 4th March 2020, 7,800 buckles had been given to two hospitals and other organisations and families in Shenzhen, and another 2,000 pieces donated to four hospitals in Wuhan.

Now that China has contained its coronavirus outbreak, factories and design studios are beginning to re-open.

Creality has made the buckle design free to download, so that anyone with a suitable 3D printer can print buckles to use or donate.

3D printing has allowed companies to quickly fill manufacturing gaps when countries are struggling to keep up with demand for medical equipment.

In Italy crucial valves for ventilators have been reverse engineered and made by startup Issinova, while Spain, 3D printing company Nagami Design has switched from making furniture to using their robotic arm for manufacturing face shields for hospital workers.

Architectural designers have created a 3D-printed door handle that lets people open doors with their arms rather than their hands to help stop the spread of the virus.

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Canadian firm Ancerl Studio has designed a pair of houses in Toronto to make them look like a single building.

The two houses are located on very tight lots on Sorauren Street in the city’s Parkdale neighbourhood, as is typical in Toronto’s residential neighbourhoods.

Called 116 Sorauren and 118 Sorauren, they each have angled roofs that are intended to look like one pitched roof from a distance. But they are separated by a slender gap.

“The detached homes have been conceptualised to visually appear as one single volume defined by its traditional triangular architecture,” said the studio. “Only from up close will the observer notice a crisp breakpoint between the properties.”

The two four-storey homes are also clad in different materials: one is covered in weathered wood, while the other has brick walls.

Visitors enter the long, narrow properties into a foyer, which reveals sightlines to the open living area and back yard. “With great attention to space planning and through the creation of awe-inspiring open volumes, the guests are fully engaged as they explore the property,” Ancerl Studio said.

At the centre of the homes is a central staircase, illuminated by a skylight and clerestory windows.

Both properties include three bedrooms. In Sorauren 116, the master suite occupies the entire top floor of the house. A balcony opens from the bedroom towards the backyard, and the bathroom is separated from the bedroom by a spacious walk-through closet.

In the other home, the master suite also occupies an entire floor. A catwalk traverses above the kitchen, living and dining room to connect the master bathroom to the bedroom.

The interiors feature a variety of finishes, such as steel, reclaimed wood, weathered bricks and minimal strip light fixtures. “The Sorauren Houses merge Canadian heritage with touches of industrialism in a relevant statement of modernity,” the studio added.

Ancerl Studio was founded by Nicholas Ancerl and is based in Toronto neighbourhood’s North York. Its previous projects include the transformation of a Toronto house into “modern yet warm” residence.

In the same city, COMN Architects has divided a single-family lot into two homes, a property that the architects live in, and an income-producing property that they rent out to tenants.

Reigo and Bauer have also built a small home on a subdivided lot in the city, which the owners wanted to move into to downsize their living space.

Photography is by Gillian Jackson, unless otherwise indicated.

Project credits:

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