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Dutch studio Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven has used red glazed bricks to make a new Antwerp fire station stand out.

Fire Station Wilrijk is located on a main road, in a neighbourhood to the south of the Belgian city.

Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven wanted to make a statement, to help the building quickly develop its own identity, so chose to clad the entire exterior in bright red bricks.

The colour of these bricks is emphasised by the use of vertical piers and bright white grout.

According to Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven, the aim was to make an “architecture parlante” – a type of building where the architectural form explains the structure’s function.

“The monochrome character provides a recognisable identity in the neighbourhood, an architecture parlante in which form and appearance irrevocably remind us of the function of the building and the urgency of its users,” said the Rotterdam-based studio.

The fire station is a three-storey building, with a double-height station garage on one side and additional rooms wrapping up and over.

Its volume is made asymmetric by a tower in one corner, with bold white signage spelling out the word Brandweer – meaning fire brigade.

Graphic designer Reynoud Homan designed this signage by adapting the font Univers, designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1957. This sans-serif font helps to reinforce the functional aesthetic to the elevation.

Below this sign, the brick facade is designed in two layers. The outer layer takes the form of a grid, creating a series of thick vertical piers at ground-floor level, and thinner ones on the level above.

Bricks on the outer layer twice as tall as those behind, creating a visual hierarchy.

“Particular attention has been paid to the tectonics of the facades, which express the typological stacking of the garage, residence and tower” said Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven.

“This stacking decreases proportionally in height and is emphasized by a mutual setback of 10 centimetres.”

The building is more modest and utilitarian inside, with no traces of red to be found. A hybrid structure of concrete and cross-laminated timber (CLT) is matched by wall partitions on all three floors.

Workshop spaces and office are located on the two lower levels, while the upper floor is designed to feel more domestic. It includes sleeping quarters, dressing rooms and living spaces, so that firefighters can be on call 24/7.

The building generates its own energy, thanks to a solar boiler, a heat pump and rooftop solar panels.

Other examples of architect-designed fire stations include a copper-clad building in Chamonix and a rose-hued building in South Tyrol.

Photography is by Karin Borghouts.

Project credits:

Client: AG Vespa
Architect: Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven
Contractor: dhulst’
Constructional engineer: Vervest Constructief Advies & Ontwerp
Technical engineer: SB Heedfeld NV
EPB Reporting: GHW bvba

The post Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven builds bright red fire station in Antwerp appeared first on Dezeen.

British sculptor Antony Gormley is among a handful of artists who have collaborated with White Cube gallery to document their life and work in lockdown via Instagram, in a bid to stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic.

From miniature versions of Gormley’s blocky human sculptures to a sneak peak of a family activity pack that he is making, each of the Instagram snapshots aim to offer a more “intimate” insight into the artist’s life.

As Susan May, artistic director at White Cube, told Dezeen, the seven-day diaries were part of the gallery’s attempt to keep people connected to art and its creators at a time when they are unable to visit exhibitions.

 

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“When lockdown first began, it was clear we needed to think about innovative ways to try to stay connected with both our artists and audience, and digital channels are one of the best tools to achieve this,” said May.

“We thought that a daily dispatch on Instagram would be a good way for followers to get a more intimate insight into our artists’ lives both inside and outside of the studio, depending on where they are isolating,” she continued.

“The message that we hope to send is that during these challenging times, everyone can help each other by staying connected.”

 

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Day one at Gormley’s workbench saw the artist work on a family activity he is making for the Firstsite art gallery in Colchester, England, which is putting together a free downloadable pack of activities for kids and parents staying at home.

The second day, on the other hand, saw Gormley repairing nine of the “squashed lead cases” from his One Apple artwork, which comprises 53 pieces wrapped in lead set out in a line that record the stages of the season’s growth from the blossom to the fruit.

 

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For day three, the artist created a miniature version of his Hold sculpture from 1986 that depicts a figure crouched down on the floor cradling their head in their hands. He recreated this sculpture in 2018 from various cubic forms.

“In a way, these insights into artists’ lives offer a sense of collective experience and show that art and artists can in some way try to help us make sense of the situation and, in doing so, hopefully maybe even inspire the audience to get creative themselves,” May told Dezeen.

 

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On day four Gormley created six biscuit (also known as bisque) fired plates, and by day five the squashed lead cases he was fixing had been mended, to form complete apples.

On the penultimate day Gormley showed his process of making a dolomite-black glaze and weighing out the powdered rock, while the final day saw him create another miniature sculpture of a reclining figure from terracotta-coloured clay, titled Slip.

British artist Tracey Emin also participated in the seven-day diary series, sharing images of her paintings in progress and paragraphs of her thoughts and feelings during the lockdown.

“Today I would be happy… today I would celebrate my solitude… if I were not filled with an over powering sense of fear… A darkness… that has made me want to live more than ever,” reads one entry.

Another day she shares an unfinished painting she has been working on for nearly six months, having painted over it five times before.

 

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Other artists that have taken part in the Instagram, diary include American artist Sarah Morris and installation artist Theaster Gates, whose previous work has seen him convert an abandoned Chicago bank into a public arts centre.

There will be more diaries to follow from Indian artist Raqib Shaw and Korean painter Park Seo-Bo.

Earlier this year, Gormley created an installation in New York’s Brooklyn Bridge Park, made up of 18 kilometres of wound aluminium tubing arranged like a giant scribble.

Titled New York Clearing, the installation was designed to be an interactive public work, facing the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge.

The post Antony Gormley shares seven-day Instagram diary of life in lockdown appeared first on Dezeen.

Celebrities including Stephen Fry, David Baddiel and Elizabeth Hurley have modelled face masks designed by Ron Arad that will be sold to raise money for the UK’s National Health Service.

The cotton masks are printed with portraits of famous artists including Picasso, Matisse and Dalí.

Launched today, the Smile for our NHS campaign aims to help healthcare workers treating coronavirus patients.

“We’re doing masks to raise money for the NHS,” Arad told Dezeen in a video interview on Thursday during which he wore a prototype of a mask featuring a drawing of William Shakespeare by Arad.

“People cover their faces and I thought it would be a nice idea to have the bottom part of the face cheering people up.”

“There’ll be lots of art on faces; there’ll be lots of Picassos, Matisses, Dalís,” Arad told Dezeen. “Hopefully, it will be very successful and raise a lot of money for the health services.”

Celebrities including actor and comedian Stephen Fry, actress and model Elizabeth Hurley, comedian David Baddiel and TV presenters Natasha Kaplinsky and Robert Peston have endorsed the launch and modelled the masks.

“These amazing masks, designed by Ron Arad, raise a smile, protect others and raise money for the NHS,” Fry tweeted.

“People look funny in the masks,” Arad added. “People like the idea.”

Face masks can help protect people from contracting coronavirus and help prevent those with the virus from infecting others.

“Besides the benefits of limiting harm from coughs and sneezes, and reducing the instances of people touching their faces, the primary benefit of these non-medical face masks is to others: these designs turn them from something impersonal and frightening into coverings that will make people smile,” said the campaign.

“Discussions are underway to make the masks available to members of the public, both in the form of ready-made masks and by making the designs available for home-made assembly.”

The UK’s taxpayer-funded NHS has suffered shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks.

“Crucially, the project plans to bring new manufacturers on stream, to ensure there is no diversion from valuable NHS supplies,” said the campaign. “Proceeds raised will be in aid of the NHS and causes dealing with the Covid crisis.”

The project is a collaboration between Arad and the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation.

“I wanted to do something to use the power of art to help in this terrible crisis,” Arad said. “We all have a duty to use our creativity, resources and compassion however we can. Hopefully, this project will support our wonderful NHS, as well as provide some cheer and amusement.”

London-based Arad is an industrial designer, artist and architect. He explained his latest project, a range of hand-finished moulded chairs called Don’t F**k With The Mouse, in a video made for Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival.

Other key projects by Arad include the Tom Vac chair, the Big Easy chair and the Rover Chair.

The post Ron Arad launches “Smile for our NHS” fundraiser with masks featuring famous artists appeared first on Dezeen.

MagnetCube vividly reminds me of one of the greatest online games of our time. No, not Minecraft. Try a little older. Remember Rollercoaster Tycoon? And how if you didn’t have enough money to buy preset Rollercoaster designs, you had to build your own? Between you and me, I’d try to make the most outrageous coasters even if I DID have the money. Building a track together piece by piece, aligning the last piece to the end of the station to complete the track, and just watching as the virtual park-visitors screamed in sheer delight through the coaster ride. There’s something about that joy of creation that the MagnetCubes captures. Part creation, part elaborate gravity trick, MagnetCubes lets you build your own ball-bearing racetrack using its modular setup. With an incredibly exhaustive variety of track-shapes that let you build the ball-bearing rollercoaster of your dreams and a transparent framework to hold your creation up, the MagnetCubes is an engaging toy that’s infinitely customizable so you’re never bored, and it teaches you a fair bit about physics too – just like how RC Tycoon taught me never to bump up the velocity of the coaster beyond a certain limit, or that rollercoaster paths should always be closed and continuous.

Using a transparent framework of pillars and beams held in place by magnets, MagnetCube lets you build and test your ballbearing racetracks. The cube construction is much more versatile than the plug-and use tracks in Hot Wheels kits. With MagnetCubes, you can build in the third dimension too, and the hollow cubes let you see your track as you build it, making the construction process as engaging and fun as the playing process. Available in Standard and Advanced variants the MagnetCube kit is modular, allowing you to be small and efficient, or embrace a go-big-or-go-home attitude and make a wild track that’s filled with twists and turns. Each kit comes with ball-bearings that ride on the tracks you build, relying on their design and a combination of gravity, inertia, and potential/kinetic energy to get from A to B. It’s this fun approach to learning that allows kids to embrace concepts of physics, architecture, and even a fair share of mathematics… all while exercising their creativity, testing the limits of nature, and staying entertained without being attached to a screen – unless they’re filming it for their Instagram. I probably would.

Designer: Steven Wolfe of DesignNest

Click Here to Buy Now: $35 $50 (30% off). Hurry, only 13/80 left! Raised over $175,000.

MagnetCubes – Modular Magnetic Blocks With Dynamic Marble Run

Using the power of gravity and inspired imagination, MagnetCubes is a fun way to relax and have fun. This interactive new building system promotes learning, stress relief and fun with a simple way to build an infinite number of marble runs and roller coasters for fun and education.

Most of the marble runs include the track and the holes on the same molded pieces, limiting your options for how the pieces can be fitted together. With the modular design of MagnetCubes, you can easily connect multiple structures together.

The structure becomes a complex and impressive multi-level design. Build and rebuild whatever you can imagine. You could sit down again and again, with new creations every time.

Build Your Imagination Freely

This intuitive building system is fun for all ages and can be configured in endless ways.

This toy is a modern take on the simple building blocks and construction sets that we all grow up with. MagnetCubes is great for getting kids curious and interested in STEM concepts by challenging spatial reasoning and understanding of physics principles.

People of all ages have a natural desire to build and create. It’s the reason that all generations grew up with some kind of building toy such as blocks, Legos or other construction sets. This kind of toys engage kids and satisfy their curiosity while developing important motor and coordination skills.

Unlimited Possibilities & Endless Fun

The sets use open cubes with magnets in each corner that easily snap together without the need for special connectors or any prior experience. Simply unpack and build!

With 64 cubes and multiple action pieces, the design possibilities are endless. Each set can be added onto the next, allowing you to build big and fantastic marble runs as you imagine.

The open design of MagnetCubes makes all the action visible. With the panels included in the AdvancedPack, you can weave marble tracks in and out of the architectural structures.

Fun For All Age-Groups

This building set is not just for kids. Building MagnetCubes is also a joyful experience for parents and adults. Join in the fun and build with the kids to make more complex designs.

Keep stacking the modular and magnetic building blocks together. Be amazed at how easily, quickly and massively tall structures can be made without toppling over. It’s more fun to play together, with your friends, family, co-workers.

Great for quick breaks from the screen. Relieve stress by fidgeting with beautiful structures and relaxing kinetic movement.

MagnetCubes is a building system that inspires children to learn STEM principles. The combination of play, exploration, and iterative testing will help children develop critical thinking skills needed to excel in multiple fields. In no time at all, you will have a creative engineer and designer on your hands.

How to assemble MagnetCubes

Click Here to Buy Now: $35 $50 (30% off). Hurry, only 13/80 left! Raised over $175,000.

An ancient mystery solved, architectural advancements, photographing natural wonders, and inspiration aplenty in our look around the web

Quentin Blake’s Cheerful Rainbow E-Cards

Legendary artist Sir Quentin Blake has created 10 new artworks, featuring watercolor rainbows and a cast of characters, that can each be sent as e-cards free of charge. The 86-year-old illustrator drew the pictures in order to share a little humor and bolster optimism, saying “It seems like a time when a few straightforward jokes might not come amiss, so that as I know that people have been putting rainbows into their windows to express solidarity, I took the liberty of borrowing them.” Rainbows appear as meals, mustaches and more in the illustrations, all of which are available to send online now. Read more at It’s Nice That.

Studio Gang’s Brooklyn Firehouse + Training Facility

When thinking about architectural advancements in a city, a firehouse might be an unlikely consideration; it’s a utilitarian structure often defined by historic attributes, not innovative ones. That’s part of what makes Studio Gang’s FDNY Rescue Company 2 in Brownsville so compelling. Architect Jeanne Gang designed the beautiful facade (accented with fire-engine-red terra-cotta tiles) and thoughtful, dynamic interiors for the needs of firefighters today: from training to resting and even engaging with the neighborhood. “It’s all about the relationship between the rescue workers and their neighbors,” Gang tells Architectural Digest, where you can read about all of the aesthetic and technical aspects.

Design Your Own Virtual Art Museum in Steam’s Free Occupy White Walls Game

With 2,200 architectural elements and more than 6,000 artworks to choose from, StikiPixels’ free Steam game, Occupy White Walls, lets players build the virtual art gallery (or museum) of their dreams. Users can also explore the 215 million virtual square feet of gallery space that’s been imagined by other players thus far. Options range from the marbled and magnificent to fields of grass. An artificial intelligence assistant curator named Daisy is also available to help. Read more at Smithsonian Magazine.

Imaginative Maps of Life in Lockdown

CityLab asked its currently locked-down readers to map out their lives at home. Editors received 150+ intimate illustrations of apartment floor plans, neighborhood gems, routes for “sanity walks,” and even the sounds that surround us. While the results don’t reveal too much about architectural successes or design theories, they are an endearing and intimate look into the spaces we exist within. Through these maps—perhaps the three rooms we shuffle between or a chart tracking bird noises or the clanging of a suddenly loud neighbor—we learn a little about one another and how we fit into the world around us. Take a look at some of the results at CityLab.

Touring James Turrell’s House of Light

Through their online journal, retailer Nalata Nalata offers reflection on spaces they find inspiring and envy-inducing. One instance is prolific artist James Turrell’s 2,260-square-foot House of Light in Tokamachi, Niigata, Japan. “We’ve traveled to Japan more times than we can count yet there are still so many moments and places that leave us feeling marveled,” Nalata Nalata cofounder Stevenson Aung writes. “One such experience was our stay at House of Light created by James Turrell—a house that is at once an accommodation, a meditation house and a private art installation.” Check out more photos at Nalata Nalata.

Uncovering The Formula For a Mysterious, Medieval Blue Ink

For thousands and thousands of years a purple-blue ink known as folium was used to color all kinds of books, cheese rinds and more, but its formula was lost until a team of researchers recently deciphered the recipe through three ancient texts. It’s long been confirmed that the dye comes from the fruit of chrozophora tinctoria, but this isn’t a complete assessment. By poring over the manuscripts (one from the 12th century, another from the 14th century and a 15th-century manual literally called The Book on How to Make All the Colour Paints for Illuminating Books), scientists found that the fruit needs to be carefully soaked in a mixture of methanol and water, before further steps are taken. Maria João Melo (a scientist and co-author of the study) says “They were able to produce paints that last centuries. We don’t have such paints now. So this is part of our research—to know as much as possible about this material that was completely lost with the advent of the synthetic dyes.” Find out more at Atlas Obscura.

Vibrant Blue Bioluminescence Photographed at Newport Beach

Thanks to a friend’s tip-off, photographer Patrick Coyne ventured to Newport Beach from his Orange County home to capture images of a bioluminescence show dancing atop the waves. The friend recognized a “red tide,” which sometimes washes a specific type of bioluminescent phytoplankton close to shore. When night arrived, Coyne walked toward the water, capturing video and taking photos that have since attracted the attention of local and national media, and plenty of nature-loving Instagram followers. See Coyne’s full video at PetaPixel.

The “hid-den” Multifunctional Home-Office Concept

hid-den, a concept project by Sidegiggle, is “an exploration of the mini-den, a private space for focus and creativity.” The modular system can work in “BookcaseMode,” which features three movable bookshelves, or in “DenMode” which uses the bookcases as three of its walls, and a contrasting shelf- and mirror-clad cutout as its door. Inside, the square footage allows for a small desk or a little reading room. Overall, the concept provides a little escape and solace for those living in smaller spaces. Read more at Sidegiggle.

Pioneer Works Launches Broadcast, an Online “Station for the Presently Stationary”

“There are times in history, defining moments in many of our lives, when we have taken that astronomical perspective… to view the sight of humanity as a whole: vulnerable, brave, afraid, cruel, compassionate,” Janna Levin (author, astrophysicist and Director of Sciences at Pioneer Works) writes. “From that astronomical perspective, humanity—in all its hyper-finely pixelated colors and languages and traditions and beliefs—resolves into a crisp portrait of one species on one Earth.” This statement introduces Broadcast, Pioneer Works’ online platform which aims to provoke thought and curiosity and “cultivates conversations on music, technology, science, and the arts.” Each transmission will be delivered to your inbox, should you subscribe, or the published articles can be accessed at any time on their site. Broadcast begins with a dedication to the late Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, an interview with Nick Flynn, an exhibition of virtual artwork. Find out more at Pioneer Works.

Travis Scott + Kid Cudi’s Record-Breaking Fortnite Virtual Concert

Using the popular cross-platform video game Fornite as an arena, Travis Scott and Kid Cudi premiered a collaborative track, “THE SCOTTS,” and shattered “attendance” records with 12.3 million viewers tuning in. As with similar Fortnite events held previously, themed merchandise, accessories, and upgrades were made available for players prior to the show. But a new component let viewers witness the building excitement more literally: developers coded the show’s stage, surrounding theatrics, and more in real-time in the week prior so players could watch as construction took place. Between the audience numbers and additional upgrades, a new standard has been set for virtual productions. You can now watch the performance on YouTube.

Porsche Launches Classics-Compatible CarPlay Radios

Currently exclusive to Europe, Porsche’s new classics-compatible CarPlay-equipped radios are designed for cars produced from the 1960s onward. They allow those driving older vehicles by the German manufacturer the option to upgrade their sound system while keeping with the brand’s style. Each of the audio systems features streaming services, satellite radio, texting and calling, and navigation. The kits come in a 1-DIN size specifically designed for the 911 and a 2-DIN size for 986 and 996 models. Read more at MacRumors.

Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.