Hasta La Ideas

Graeme Nicholls Architects has extrapolated the form of a former greyhound stadium for a proposed oval of red-brick housing by Ibrox football stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Albion Housing scheme, which would contain 160 dual-aspect apartments, would consist of two four-storey, U-shaped blocks that face each other to create an oval.

Its form is directly informed by a greyhound track that used to occupy the site and local sporting connections as it would be built adjacent to Ibrox stadium, which is home of Glasgow Rangers football club.

“All of our projects use narrative as a key design driver – Form Follows Fiction we call it,” explained Graeme Nicholls Architects founder Graeme Nicholls.

“The historical and current association with sports on the site is something we are keen to express in our design for the new development,” he told Dezeen.

“Historical maps show that the site contained a greyhound track with a bowl footprint, which we thought would be interesting to express in any new development. This plan form also fits the unusual shape of the site really well.”

Albion Housing, which is currently in pre-planning consultation, would be arranged following the model of historic Glasgow Tenements, with two flats per storey accessed by a communal entrance on the ground floor.

Both the facades within the oval and exterior facades of the blocks are divided into bays reminiscent of early 20th-century stadiums. Each are articulated with an elongated arch with windows arranged inside them.

The red brick that would be used is a reference to the colour of the main stand at Ibrox and the surrounding red sandstone tenement housing blocks.

“The ambition for this site is to create a residential development that is both sympathetic to and celebratory of, the history of the Ibrox area in Glasgow,” said Nicholls.

“The historic housing in the neighbourhood is typified by tenemental style perimeter blocks built of red sandstone – quite monochromatic, and with only light decoration/articulation. So, we thought it would be good to do something that shared that DNA.”

Nicholls believes that if built this unique project is one that could only exist in this location.

“We wanted to make something appropriate, that could only really exist in this place,” he explained.

“I like to make ‘slow-cooked’ architecture. To drop a lot of ingredients in the pot, and let the flavour of the design emerge. We were certainly taking lots of varied ideas and bringing them together on this one.”

Although the scheme is extremely unusual, it has been compared to well-known buildings in Germany, Italy, France and the UK.

“It’s interesting to hear people’s reaction to the project,” said Nicholls. “It seems to remind them of a whole series of varied references, including many we hadn’t thought of ourselves.”

“We’ve had people say it reminds them of Bruno Taut’s Hufeisensiedlung project in Berlin, Ricardo Bofill’s Les Espaces d’Abraxas in Paris, St Andrews Gardens in Liverpool, and of course the Colosseum!”

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A few months ago Sabrina Paseman was working as a mechanical engineer for Apple. It’s safe to say that this pandemic changed the course of her life, at least professionally. Teaming up with ex-Apple marketer Megan Duong, Paseman decided to bring her creative skills over to a domain that really needed it. Together, the duo formed Fix The Mask, a project that helps make surgical masks as effective as N95 masks. The idea for a DIY hack came to Paseman around the time when the country was facing a severe shortage of N95 masks, forcing doctors and nurses to wear readily available loosely-fitted surgical masks. Paseman first tried scouting her area for N95 masks, hoping to donate them to medical facilities, and when she couldn’t find any N95 masks available in her vicinity, she decided to create a life-saving lifehack to turn surgical masks into well-fitted N95 masks. The solution? A simple DIY seal that closes all air gaps around your nose and mouth so there’s no air leakage anywhere caused by a loosely fitted mask.

Paseman and Duong’s first iteration of the Fix The Mask solution involved the MacGyverian use of a handful of rubber bands that could be strung together to create a tight brace to secure the mask’s fit (video at the end of the article). A few iterations later, the two developed a more robust solution by cutting into rubber sheets to create a better, more effective harness. The harness design is available on the Fix The Mask website as a free resource, to allow health professionals and regular citizens to get the most out of their face-gear while remaining safe from the virus.

Designers: Sabrina Paseman & Megan Duong (Fix The Mask)

Celeste’s expressive, velvety, soulful vocals take centerstage for “I Can See The Change,” a piano-led orchestral song about finding hope. The moving ballad (produced by Finneas O’Connell, aka FINNEAS, who is best known for his work with sister Billie Eilish) will appear on her eponymous debut studio album, which is set for release this summer.

The Levigato fitness mat’s unique design is proof that everything should be questioned and nothing should be taken for granted. Perhaps the only yoga mat that’s also designed to transform into other sorts of workout equipment, the Levigato hopes to alter what the humble exercise mat is capable of. Unlike mats that are just made from rubber, foam, or cloth, the Levigato fitness mat comes with a dual-sided surface and a stiff design that opens and closes like origami. Not only does this make folding the Levigato MUCH easier than rolling up those fabric mats, it also allows the Levigato to turn into a cuboid when folded, allowing you to use it as a support block, a pushup-bar, or a stand for your laptop while you exercise while watching fitness videos online. It’s sort of like the Swiss-army multitool of yoga mats.

The Levigato Fitness Mat comes with two distinct surfaces that suit the varying needs of exercise and of meditation/stretching. A brushed surface helps provide traction, preventing you from slipping while you’re doing yoga poses, while a cushioned surface on the reverse side helps you do more intense exercises that require shock-absorption, like running in place or burpees. The mat itself comes with folding lines that allow it to fold up like a partition, while inbuilt magnets allow it to easily close with a quick, satisfying snap, because the last thing you need after a grueling workout is to fumble with a yoga mat that keeps unrolling as you roll it up. Once folded, the Levigato turns into the perfect block for exercises like pushups, handstands, step-ups, and a variety of other exercises. You can dock more than one mat to increase its height, bringing levels of intensity to your workout too.

Made from non-porous materials, the Levigato is exceptionally easy to clean too, whether it’s under running water, or just a wipe-down with a damp towel after a sweaty exercise. The mats even resist bacterial growth and mildew, keeping them sanitized and fresh for longer, unlike foam or cloth mats that tend to absorb sweat, dirt, and humidity from the air. It’s a pretty impressive feature list for a product in a category that’s so often taken for granted. The yoga mat itself is such a plain and simple product, it didn’t even seem to me like something that could be redesigned or innovated upon, but Levigato’s ability to A. prove me wrong, and B. actually design a mat that’s functional, durable, and incredibly versatile, makes me believe in the power of creativity and the drive for innovation! I won’t be going back to my basic foam yoga mat any time soon…

Designer: Nicholas Christ

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Gensler has added a black metal volume to an airport servicing ski resorts in Vail, Colorado, containing lounges with fireplaces and pale wood ceilings.

The project was designed for Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) in the town of Gypsum that services Vail, Beaver Creek and other towns.

The international architecture firm and Colorado contractor Hensel Phelps designed a two-storey black metal addition for the existing airport, which was built in 1996 in a log cabin-style with exposed timber beam interiors and a green metal roof.

Designed as a collaborative design-build project, it was created to improve EGE’s operations and interior design. The airport now measures 65,000 square feet (6,038 square metres).

“The airport needed improvements to address both operational needs and enhance user experience,” the team said.

“The concourse suffered from crowding, especially during the peak winter season when flights were often cancelled due to inclement weather.”

The gabled addition is mostly open-plan with long glass walls that provide expansive views of the surrounding Rocky Mountains. Cross braces across the glazing inside support the metal construction.

The linear layout has seating and gates on one side and amenities tucked into the structural core. The form of the terminal responds to the function of the project and also takes cues barn buildings, according to the team.

“The design is inspired by the region’s agrarian nature using unassuming materials and a subdued natural palate,” it said.

Several lounge areas, a bar, restaurant and bathrooms are housed in the addition. A concession area, which offers on-the-go snacks, food and drinks, is integrated into the existing terminal building.

The addition also includes six new airline gates with two loading gates outside on the ground level and four gates upstairs with new jet bridges for airside passenger arrival and departure.

Interiors feature exposed black steel that frames the large windows with views to the airfield and out beyond, vaulted ceilings clad in strips of maple wood ceiling and polished concrete floors.

Many of the details are designed to make the airport fit in with its rugged surroundings, are durable and hand-crafted. The aim is to create a contemporary space that is more akin to a home than an airport.

A sitting area on the first floor is arranged around a fireplace with cushioned seating, Last bar stools by Hem, leather chairs and plaid textiles.

“Two fireplaces, a bar area, and more comfortable seating create a lodge-like environment for guests,” the team added.

Wood benches were created using Douglas fir sourced sustainably from Knapp Ranch about a 30-minute drive away.

The project also includes a central hall, departure and arrival passenger hold room areas, renovated offices and space for baggage handling equipment. The checkpoint area was also expanded and relocated for the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The airport has only one runway and is considered one of the most extreme and dangerous airports in the world because of its mountainous terrain at such a high elevation and ever-changing weather conditions.

Other airport designs are Zaha Hadid Architects’ Beijing Daxing International Airport, an airport in Israel’s Negev desert by Amir Mann-Ami Shinar Architects and Moshe Zur Architects, Morocco’s Guelmim Airport with perforated panes and Platov airport in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

Photography is by David Lauer Photography.

Project credits:

Aviation director: David Reid
Project manager: Josh Miller
Lead designer: Adam Ambro

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