A snaking bridge that incorporates spaces for play, rest and planting connects two areas of wetland across Shanghai‘s Yuandang Lake, in this project by Brearley Architects + Urbanists.
The China and Australia-based Brearley Architects + Urbanists (BAU) designed the 586-metre bridge for cyclists and pedestrians as a “hybrid structure”, blending architecture, infrastructure and landscape with the existing pathways and nature on the site.
Brearley Architects + Urbanists (BAU) has designed a snaking bridge over Yuandang Lake
Running east-west across the southern end of Yuandang Lake, the bridge has provided a new connection between Shanghai municipality and Jiangsu province since it opened in 2020.
“The serpentine plan of both the park’s networks is adopted for the bridge, making it a smooth and formal extension,” BAU director James Brearley told Dezeen. “It also provides the benefit of varying progressive views, a Chinese classical garden principle.”
It is designed as a “hybrid structure” that blends architecture and landscape
“The bridge is a hybrid of several elements not usually seen in a bridge, combining vegetation, pavilions, sculptural play spaces and plazas with seating,” he continued.
“The client did not plan on the vegetation or pavilion on the bridge, but embraced these initiatives.”
Y-shaped steel columns support the bridge
Y-shaped steel columns support the bridge’s steel box girder structure, topped by a snaking walkway that widens in three places to create space for a covered pavilion and rest areas looking out across the lake.
The bridge is divided into three strips demarcated by graphics. Pedestrian and bicycle lanes run either side of a central area featuring trees, plants and elongated seating areas that follow the bend of the bridge.
At the Yuandang Bridge’s midpoint, a large canopy of hammered metal supported by thin steel columns covers a pavilion space. Here, seating and a “pavilion playground” are incorporated by a sculptural tunnel of white perforated metal sheets.
“The pavilion playground is based on a minimal surface mathematical model,” explained Brearley. “We first explored minimal surfaces in our playground designs with rope nets and solid forms 15 years ago.”
A “pavilion playground” sits at the middle of the bridge
“Maximum perforation giving transparency is achieved where the load is lowest and minimal perforation where the surface requires strength,” he added.
Strips of lighting on the base of the bridge’s walkway create a glowing effect on the lake at night, complemented by lights at the base of seating areas, along the balustrades. Uplighting also creates shadows and reflections in the pavilion playground.
The pavilion contains a sculptural tunnel of white metal sheets
Architect: Brearley Architects + Urbanists Project leader: Huang Fang Team: Berry Pan Linlu, Zhu Qizhen, Yan Xiaoxi, Guo Liexia, Shi Zhengting, Sheng Bailu, Zhao Zheng Client: Construction Bureau of Fen Lake High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Jiangsu Province, Shanghai Qingpu District Water Conservancy Management Institute General coordinator: Yangtze River Delta Ecological Integration Development
As a pioneer of performance art (whose work doesn’t shy away from pain, blood or pushing limits), Marina Abramović is well-versed in endurance, concentration and overcoming mental and physical blocks. As such, her 30-card set—The Marina Abramović Method—incorporates exercises that the artist developed to aid in her preparation for intense performances, and aim to help users confront challenges, remain present and unlock higher creative potential. Each card features an instruction (one being “complain to a tree”) that corresponds to a stage in Abramović’s career. Used alone or with friends, this set is a unique tool for training, expanding and growing.
I love coffee, I need it to start my day, or else I simply refuse to start my day! It’s the boost of energy, dose of motivation, and rush of serotonin that I need every morning. And, I’m pretty sure that’s the case for most of us. However, with the pandemic caging us to our homes, we’ve been unable to grab some coffee from our preferred baristas and coffee shops! Hence, learning to brew my own coffee is something I’ve had to learn, and it’s really not so bad. There is a different satisfaction and pleasure in sipping caffeine that you know is the result of your own hard work, something precariously prepared with your own personal touch to it. A unique, innovative, and interactive coffee machine is all you need, and ninety-five percent of the battle is won (the other five percent is you setting aside your laziness and actually operating the machine)! From a sleek coffee grinder and brewer designed to replace your Keurig to a Jenga-inspired modular coffee maker – this collection of super cool and easy-to-use coffee machines will start you off on your coffee brewing journey. Cheers!
1. The Gevi
A 2021 winner of the Red Dot Design Award, the Gevi rubbishes the notion that a coffee machine needs to look like a large, bulky, boxy appliance. The 2-in-1 coffee grinder and brewer are visually separated into their two parts. The appliance comes with a base platform that has its own dedicated weighing scale to help you weigh the beans before you add them to the grinder. The grinder comes with a bean hopper on the top to feed the beans in, while commercial-level 60mm flat steel burrs help create a consistent grind of your beans (while anti-static measures help prevent particles from sticking/clumping). The dose consistency from beans to powder of the appliance is around 0.2g.
2. X&Y
Introducing their take on the brewing system, Kurz Kurz Design unveiled their X & Y pour-over set, featuring a stainless steel gooseneck kettle and brewer coated in charcoal black and cobalt blue. X&Y comes in both charcoal black and cobalt blue. Developed in stainless steel, the gooseneck kettle and filter stand come complete with added thermal insulation from a banded construction. On top of that, a strip of cobalt blue-dyed leather comes with the package specifically designed to wrap around the gooseneck kettle’s handle, doubly ensuring a safe pour.
3. The Brewster DCM5000
Designed especially for those of us who work from home, the Brewster DCM5000 is compact and highly technical to limit the mess of making coffee and make it easier to use. The team of India-based designers conceptualized the Brewster DCM5000 as a coffee maker that could be placed on a desk without taking up too much space. Downsized to fit in any workspace, the Brewster DCM5000’s bulkiest part is the 250ml water tank.
4. The Oblic Dropper
Reinterpreting the classic coffee dripper through a portable, compact lens, industrial designer JenFu Yang conceptualized the Oblic Dropper, a handheld pour-over device ideal for bringing coffee with you on the go. Following a similar build to conventional immersion coffee drippers, the Oblic Dropper allows users to brew pour-over sin record time across multiple coffee mugs. Equipped with an integrated stopper, transferring Oblic Dropper from one cup to the next can be a clean, seamless transition without any spillage.
5. The Rapha + Rocket R58 Espresso Machine
The Rapha + Rocket R58 Espresso Machine features two PID-controlled boilers that ensure optimal extraction of any type of coffee. It boasts a touchscreen display with a variety of functions to help you prepare the perfect cup of coffee! A twin stainless steel portafilter and a wooden handle seal the deal on this intriguing coffee maker. A no-burn steam and water wand prevent you from burning yourself.
6. The Qterra Craft
As portable as an ordinary Starbucks travel mug, the Qterra Craft is designed to give you coffee so fresh you’ll feel like it was brewed right inside it… and you’d be right! The Qterra Craft is a pretty clever little device, giving you the freshest coffee or tea—even while you’re traveling—by simply brewing it on the spot. The mug comes with a lid that holds tea leaves or coffee grounds in a telescopic Q-Brew Basket that extends downwards into the vessel when the lid is twisted. Fill the vessel with piping hot water and twist the lid just minutes before you actually want your beverage. Then twist the lid when you’re done and the used leaves or grounds ascend back into the lid, secured with an air-tight seal.
7. Cenga
Inspired by the build of Jenga towers, Cenga is a modular, handmade coffee set with a grinder, dripper, and canister included in a single unit. Piled together like a Jenga tower, Cenga is a handmade modular coffee set conceptualized by a team of designers to bring home everything you’d find in a cafe. Starting from the top of Cenga, a grinder for coffee beans funnels the grounds into a dripper before heating up some water and dripping that into a canister to serve.
8. Cosie
Cosie is a siphon coffee maker designed to bring the emotional experience of watching your coffee brew at a cafe into the comfort of your own kitchen. Since Cosie is a siphon machine, the coffee inside the canisters is extracted through steam pressure generated by boiling water, a process that users can watch while brewing their own coffee. The integrated siphon also makes the general upkeep and management of Cosie much easier to keep up with. After spooning in their desired amount of coffee grinds into the machine’s top compartment, users need only fill the main cartridge with water and turn its handle clockwise to kickstart the brewing process.
9. Niche Zero
Designed by UK-based brand Niche Coffee, Niche Zero is a specially designed single-dose grinder that refreshes you with not just a cup of coffee, but also with its eye-catching design. The grinder, which comes in either white or black, features a gently curved metal body, retro-style switches, and wooden accents and stubby legs that make it look warm and approachable.
10. Minimal
Encased in a vinyl travel case, Minimal is made up of a glass dripper and cup, and a filter stand stocked with reusable cloth filters. Both the glass dripper and cup are made from borosilicate glass to ensure the same quality heat resistance found in glassware like Pyrex and lab flasks. Minimal also comes with a wooden lid that doubles as a coaster so when you’re camping, you’ll always have a place to set your cup.
Dezeen Showroom:textile brand Lelièvre Paris has released its Résonance collection, which reimagines classic patterns such as ikat, stripes and animal print.
Lelièvre Paris wanted to avoid transient trends with its Résonance textiles, which includes recognisable prints recomposed for a timeless effect.
The Résonance collection is made up of textiles such as Sculpture, which has an elegant jacquard weave
The textile collection includes leopard-like Fauve, the brushstroke-patterned Palettes, the baroque jacquard weave of Sculpture, and the interlocking stripes of Nuance.
The fabrics range from luxurious jacquards to light linens and from velvets to cotton satins, and are available in a subtle palette of modern colours.
Designs such as Fauve recompose classic prints for a timeless effect
Lelièvre Paris aims for the fabrics to shine when mixed and matched, and describes the collection as “graphic, poetic and artistic”.
“It gives spirit and rhythm to interior fabrics intended to coexist, to approach, to resonate, in harmony,” said the brand.
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Engineering firm Buro Happold has become the latest signatory to the SE 2050 Commitment Program, which unites structural engineering firms behind the common goal to slash embodied carbon emissions from their projects by 2050.
Spearheaded by the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the pledge focuses specifically on tackling the emissions associated with structural systems, their construction and material use.
This accounts for the largest portion of a building’s embodied carbon footprint, typically around 50 per cent, while the two most-used structural materials – steel and concrete – are together responsible for almost 12 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
It is here that structural engineers can make the biggest impact in the race to create a net-zero built environment by 2050 and help limit global warming to around 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with the Paris Agreement, according to Buro Happold principal Stephen Curtis.
“There has been, to date, a focus on operational carbon,” he told Dezeen. “As structural engineers, we are more able to influence embodied carbon, so that is the focus for us.”
“This is more than just a concrete and steel issue”
Buro Happold has already set a goal to halve the embodied carbon footprint of its projects by 2030.
By joining the Structural Engineers 2050 Commitment Program, the firm has extended this commitment to measuring, reducing and ultimately eliminating all embodied carbon emissions in its projects from structural systems by 2050.
The programme, which already counts Arup and SOM among its 69 signatories, provides engineering practices with the resources and guidance to achieve this goal, as well as for offsetting any hard-to-remove emissions that cannot be eliminated.
Buro Happold says this process will involve not just replacing and reducing polluting materials in its projects but, crucially, also educating the many other stakeholders that are involved in the process of getting a project built, from clients to planners and architects.
Stephen Curtis (above), who is leading Buro Happold’s SE 2050 commitment, has also spearheaded the structural design of projects including the Science and Engineering Complex at Harvard University (top image)
“This is more than just a concrete and steel issue,” Curtis said. “Structural engineers have been requiring cement replacement in concrete and recycled content in steel for a long time.”
“We know we will need to educate and explain to the other stakeholders on our projects why this issue is important and what may be viable alternate options, whether that means timber construction or other alternate technologies,” he added.
“To support this, we plan to undertake comparative embodied carbon assessments of our structural design options during the initial project phases, making carbon part of the decision-making process.”
Architecture lagging behind other industries
The SE 2050 Commitment Program was formulated in response to a challenge originally put forward in 2019 by the Carbon Leadership Forum, a non-profit based at the University of Washington that is dedicated to radically reducing embodied carbon in the built environment through collective action.
On the other side of the Atlantic, more than 234 British structural engineers and their firms – including Buro Happold – have so far set their own net-zero carbon targets as signatories of Structural Engineers Declare.
Similar efforts are happening across the built environment sector, with the cement and concrete industry committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Architects should use their influence to help bring an end to London’s homelessness crisis, said housing specialist Peter Barber in an exclusive interview with Dezeen, but admits his projects are “just scratching the surface” of the problem.
Barber has designed numerous homeless housing projects in London including Mount Pleasant and Spring Gardens schemes. However, he is aware that these projects are only a small part of what needs to be done to solve London’s homelessness crisis.
“The hostel projects are really rewarding and they feel like big achievements, although it’s a bit of a Band-Aid,” he told Dezeen.
“I’m quite pleased with the designs, but the danger is thinking ‘oh that’s nice, aren’t we good?’ when it’s just scratching the surface,” he added.
Everyone responsible “for sorting the situation out”
Barber estimates he has designed buildings with 250 rough sleeper bed spaces in London during his career of 40-plus years.
The Greater London Authority’s best estimate is that more than 11,000 people slept rough in the city between April 2020 and April 2021, with outreach workers spotting 7,531 people bedding down outside for the first time during that period.
Barber also designed Mount Pleasant homeless housing in London
Barber believes that everyone bears “responsibility for sorting the situation out”, but that architects have “direct access” to make an impact on helping to solve homelessness in London.
“I think it’s important not just to see ourselves as architects,” said Barber. “We are also citizens. And those two things go together.”
“So I feel like anybody feels, I suppose, as they step over somebody [sleeping rough] as they come out of the tube,” he continued. “I feel a great sense of guilt about that.”
Decline of social housing
Barber began studying to become an architect in the late 1970s when “things were actually a lot better” for housing in the UK, he said.
Since then, the housing market has been marked by a steep decline in the proportion of people living in social housing, principally as a result of Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy policy, which allows council tenants to purchase their home at a large discount.
Housing experts have linked an undersupply of social housing to the steady rise in homelessness witnessed since 2010.
“All those people who enjoyed the benefits of living in social housing don’t have that anymore,” reflected Barber. “It’s quite dispiriting that on our watch, we’ve seen things become so problematic.
Peter Barber (top image) is the architect behind the award-winning McGrath Road housing (above)
He wants to see the Right to Buy scrapped and for the government to launch a “new public housing programme” focused on rejuvenating deprived urban areas where homes sit empty as well as new supply.
In addition, he would like an enhanced role for housing co-operatives working on small, local projects.
“One is full of admiration for the postwar generation building vast 150,000 times a year in the social sector,” he continued. “But maybe if we do have a new programme, it could kind of bubble up from beneath with money from above.”
“Always challenge a brief”
Barber began his career as a practising architect under the guidance of the late architect Richard Rogers, before moving on to work for architecture studio Jestico + Whiles where he gained a “great deal of experience in housing in London”.
Those experiences, he said “taught me to always challenge a brief and really try to look beyond the constraints as they’re presented, and to add your own ingredients, not just to take things at face value”.
His first solo project was a house in Saudi Arabia, which led him to be commissioned for Donnybrook Quarter, a housing scheme Barber describes as the studio’s breakthrough.
He founded Peter Barber Architects in London in 1989. The studio has operated from a homely office in an old Victorian printworks since 2002.
A glimpse of its extensive portfolio can be seen by looking through the office windows, behind which the walls are covered with architectural models and photos of almshouses, terraced housing and flats.
Today, the majority of his studio’s housing projects are characterised by the transformation of tricky or neglected sites, the incorporation of public spaces and a mix of home types to meet different needs.
“I don’t think affordable housing needs to be any different from any other housing,” he explained.
“The thing that I think is important is the shared space of the street,” he continued. “Very often people like a bit of outside space, very often people like their own front door on the street and not sharing the front door with 100 other flats.”
“The other thing to be said is that there is no one size fits all.”
Interest in timber construction
His studio’s projects are also known for their monolithic forms crafted from brick and concrete, which Barber said are intended to offer a sense of permanence, challenging contemporary housing developments in the UK that he describes as “half-hearted” and “framey”.
“This is the idea of a building being really solid and permanent, that’s one of the features,” he said.
However, Barber anticipates these trademark material choices could soon change in light of the climate crisis.
“I’m not happy that we’re building in brick and concrete,” he explained, pointing to their carbon footprints.
He added that he is “very interested in timber construction”, but using wood-based products is becoming increasingly inaccessible.
Regulations restricting the use of combustible materials introduced by the government and London mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire make it difficult for architects to specify timber.
“[Using timber is] becoming very difficult with the new mayoral directive against timber construction,” Barber said. “Properly detailed timber buildings are fine, it’s nonsense.”
One thing Barber is certain will not change is the size of his studio. Since its founding, he has deliberately kept the team small. In fact, with between eight to 10 people, meetings there have previously been likened to “a dinner party”, he said.
His decision to limit the size of the studio rejects the trend for creating giant architectural firms of the 21st century, and according to Barber, is an effort to uphold the standards of the studio.
“One of my objectives apart from trying to make some good architecture and make some money has been to keep the practice really small,” he explained.
“I’ve worked from practices that have grown and their architecture got worse, and it’s got less fun. And I wanted to avoid that, really,” he said. “That happens every time.”
Sifting through photos of the studio’s latest projects scattered over the meeting table, Barber added that he is confident his penchant for housing will also remain unchanged.
“Somebody did say to me once about 15 years ago, ‘don’t you think you should diversify?’, and I’m thinking well, I just love it, I’m so happy doing it,” he recalled.
“[Housing is] such a fascinating thing and sometimes the most everyday and ordinary things are the most interesting.”
So what have 40 years of designing housing taught him?
“Keep sketching,” answered Barber. “Keep sketching, keep dreaming, and be optimistic and hopeful about things getting better.”
New York gallery Friedman Benda‘s latest exhibition, Accidents Will Happen: Creative Salvage 1981-1991, showcases early furniture pieces from designers including Tom Dixon and Ron Arad. Curator Gareth Williams selects his favourites.
On show until 12 February, Accidents Will Happen exhibits works from the Creative Salvage movement – an informal design movement that originated in London in the 1980s.
Accidents Will Happen exhibits early work by Tom Dixon and Ron Arad
Designers Dixon, Arad and Mark Brazier-Jones spearheaded the movement and made pieces from scrap metals, recycled building materials and industrial debris.
“There was a certain punk rock atmosphere, in the sense that they almost unwittingly made you realise that anybody can be a good designer,” Friedman Benda guest curator Williams told Dezeen.
“All you need is the imagination and the most rudimentary materials and you can make design,” he said. “Anyone could be a designer and anything could be designed.”
Furniture made from salvaged and scrap materials feature in the exhibition
Williams based the exhibition on a book he co-wrote ten years ago on the movement called “Cut and Shut: The History of Creative Salvage”.
He believes that the influential period is often disregarded and overshadowed by the designers’ later work. With Accidents Will Happen, he aims to reinsert the movement into the history of design.
“It was about looking at the best pieces by the key designers that formed that kind of core early work,” Williams explained.
“That earlier work, which should be an exciting dynamic, has often been overlooked. So this was what I thought was a chance to kind of redress that.”
Below, Williams shares why these five designs are his highlights of the exhibition:
Horns Armchair by Ron Arad, 1985
“Ron started off earlier than everybody else in 1981. And at that time, he was well known for his Rover chairs which incorporated old car seats. He was doing so well after the early stuff that it became a little bit creatively unexciting for him – he wanted to be more adventurous.
“This chair reflects that period where he first starts to transition. He makes it out of aluminium and sheet steel. It’s a transitional piece where he starts using metal and that becomes volumetric metal and that becomes all the shiny, highly polished, curvaceous pieces that we know today.”
Chair by André Dubreuil, 1986
“André joined the group and added a certain French sophistication to the kind of rawness that these guys were doing. He was much more business-minded and he was eager to refine things. When he started off, he created three fully formed design classics almost immediately – some of which are in the show. It was just incredible. He came from nothing and then suddenly he was making these design icons.
“His primary material early on was interesting. He used rebar, which is the metal reinforcement rods they put inside concrete to reinforce it. He basically shaped, bent and welded it into these elegant chair shapes.
“The reason I’ve included this chair is because it’s a unique chair. This was a one-off and not many of these kinds of early pieces are around anymore, so it’s important.”
Blue Flame Wall Light Installation by Deborah Thomas, 1987
“Deborah had a slightly different background. She studied theatre design and her pieces are all lighting. I love her lighting and really wanted to do them justice by showcasing them to a much wider audience.
“As they’re so labour-intensive to produce, Deborah isn’t that prolific and you’d have to visit either the V&A or the Ashmolean Museum to see them in person.
“They have this incredible balance, of being beautiful without losing their rawness, or ‘punk-inspired anarchy’ as Deborah herself describes it. The fragments of bottle she uses are carefully broken into smaller pieces using a small metal hammer before being suspended from wire. It’s amazing that this level of control and patience results in such riotous organic forms.”
Robot Table by Mark Brazier-Jones, 1989
“To me, that [the table] sums up what Creative Salvage was about. These designers broke all the rules. Partly, I think because they didn’t know what the rules were. None of them were trained: none of them had been to design school. They were almost accidental furniture designers in many ways.
“The table looks like it could come out of the demolition derby. It’s made of recycled materials. The granite tops were rescued from a skip: Mark was walking past a bank that was being renovated in Notting Hill in the 1980s and that was the facade of the building. He thought: ‘I could make something out of that’. That’s how this piece came about.
“I think that exemplifies the creative side of the movement and seeing opportunity in found objects.”
Pylon Mirror by Tom Dixon, 1989
“This marks a transition for Tom from the realisation that he was becoming a furniture designer by profession. They [the designers] started off doing it for fun, not taking it too seriously, enjoying what they’re doing and then it morphed into this career.
“This is the Pylon Mirror. It’s unique. It was a special commission for fashion shoots and it coincides with when Tom’s stuff was also starting to be made in Italy. At this particular time Italians started taking notice, and they were in London looking for designers to represent.
“Capellini put some of Tom’s pieces into serial production, including the Pylon Chair which is among Tom’s most iconic pieces.
“So you almost have this two-tier thing where the serial production from furniture manufacturers and the pieces that Tom was making in the studio crossed over for a while. He never stopped making pieces hands-on in the studio, even though the big furniture makers were starting to take on this design.”
A classic speaker design fused with the most upbeat features and audio technology gives me no reason to disbelief this concept’s potential to rock the audio market, just like Marshall does!
Most of the speakers on the market have adopted a more modern approach that zooms in on the aesthetic appeal and of course the audio output. However, brands like Marshall have created a niche with a very exciting fusion of retro with the modern, and their audio prowess is at the next level. All this gives them a distinct space and a dedicated fan following amongst audiophiles. Now another cool speaker concept ignites my excitement in the retro-modern fusion of audio equipment, and it is more like a classic low-rider of the speaker world.
Designer: Back Quote
This is the Memory retro-style speaker which looks like a 1967 radio taken for a spin and magically turned into a shiny new audio boombox ready to rock any party. A speaker Elvis Presley would have loved to own in his era. Memory has the typical shiny chrome feel to it, perfectly complemented by the off-white hue. The speaker has a frequency response of 50Hz – 20KHz which should cover all the human audible frequency ranges in the music. It can connect to mobile devices via Bluetooth or wired connection. Also, it gets wireless charging capability which is a big advantage. All these features make the Memory retro speaker utterly desirable from every perspective.
The volume toggle and the bass boost knobs are so dope, I instantly traverse to another realm. A time and place in the yesteryears where things were a lot simpler and the little material joys of life meant like the whole world. This retro speaker evokes that comforting feeling every time I look at it. No doubt, I desperately want this accessory to see the light of day, and I’m sure all you audiophiles too want this to be a real thing!
Overloaded cyberpunk masks, hulking exoskeletons and other imagined wearable tech feature in an exhibition by artist Ikeuchi Hiroto, who mixes pop culture references and model-making.
Running until 30 January 2022 at Tokyo’s Sai Gallery, the Ikeuchi Hiroto exhibition shows several years of the artist’s work, which combines readymade plastic models with technological hardware and industrial parts.
The artist draws on the pop culture influences of his childhood – such as Star Wars, Zoids and Gundam – to inspire his creations, as well as model making, a popular hobby in Japan.
Gadgets, industrial parts and readymade model kits combine in the works of Ikeuchi Hiroto
The result is a series of wearable sculptures that are both futuristic and nostalgic, with a cyberpunk aesthetic.
A key component of the Sai Gallery exhibition is Hiroto’s series of headgear, each laden with an intricate assemblage of gadgetry and small parts, including items such as virtual reality masks, headphones and flash drives.
As in all of Hiroto’s works, the products buried within the sculptures still function, so a wearer can use them from inside the artwork, giving each piece its own experiential component.
He has also made full-body suits utilising a similar approach
Unfortunately, this is only available to the buyer of the artwork, as the pieces are too fragile to be handled within the gallery space.
Other works shown at the Sai Gallery include a full-body suit that Hiroto has created together with the body-enhancing robotics company Skeletonics.
There is also a collaboration with the interactive design company Prototype Inc, designers of the “Tekki cockpit”, a cockpit-style simulator for the Tekki video game.
For Hiroto’s version of the cockpit, titled TYPE00R, he has rebuilt the machine using contemporary technology.
Hiroto’s work has included fashion collaborations with Balenciaga
“The interpretation of his works is dependent on the viewer’s unique frame of reference,” said Sai Gallery.
“With the combination of internationally recognisable pop imagery and the distinctly Japanese model culture, his works simultaneously evoke a sense of nostalgia, whilst hinting at the near-future through a cyberpunk aesthetic.”
The new artworks are exhibited alongside some of Hiroto’s earlier pieces to form his largest solo gallery show to date.
The exhibition is on display at Sai Gallery in Tokyo until 30 January 2022
The artist began by making dioramas from models and computer components as part of his student work at the Tama Art University’s Department of Information Design.
Recently, he collaborated with Balenciaga on its Spring 2022 campaign, for which the models wore Hiroto’s headgear and exoskeletons.
A team led by British firm Foster + Partners and Swedish studio Marge Arkitekter has won a competition for the redevelopment of Stockholm Central Station.
The project aims to double passenger capacity at Sweden’s largest railway station, bringing several train lines and bus routes together in a centralised hub.
The plans involve bridging over the railway tracks
The contest-winning design was prepared by Foster + Partners and Marge Arkitekter with landscape office LAND Arkitektur, engineering firms Thornton Tomasetti and Ramboll, conservation architect Wenanders and real-estate firm TAM Group.
The scheme will see a series of new buildings installed over the railway tracks, a new public square outside the station entrance and improved pedestrian routes across the site.
The team will now progress its proposals ahead of planning consultations scheduled for 2023.
The project will double passenger capacity for the station
“This is a historic undertaking,” said Angus Campbell, senior partner at Foster + Partners.
“Stockholm is a unique city with historic city silhouettes,” he stated. “We believe our proposals can form meaningful connections between the city and the central station area, while creating green urban spaces for people to meet, as well as a central focus for sustainable travel at the heart of Stockholm.”
The designs make the station precinct more pedestrian-friendly
First built in 1871, Stockholm Central Station is currently operating above its capacity. Future plans will see more trains arriving into the city, which will increase passenger numbers further.
The redevelopment plans include a series of moves to allow the station to operate more effectively.
The main access tunnel will be relocated to align with Klarabergsgatan, creating a new east/west link across the site. This will provide a central point of access to all mainline trains, Arlanda Express trains and City Terminal buses.
In the future, it would be possible to also create access to the Citybanan metro line in this location.
The Klarabergsgatan will be narrowed to make room for an extension to the station waiting hall
By narrowing the Klarabergsgatan, reducing access for private cars, the station’s historic waiting hall can be extended to connect with this new tunnel.
A public plaza is created in this location, which will make the station precinct easier to navigate, while a historic park will be reinstated at the southern tip of the site.
This waiting hall will provide access to mainline trains, Arlanda Express trains and City Terminal buses
Bridges will be constructed over the railway tracks, to create space for new mixed-use buildings and streetscapes.
Visualisations suggest that six new buildings will be installed over the tracks. These will be designed to replicate the colours and proportions of Stockholm’s Klara architecture, located nearby.
New buildings will be designed to respect Stockholm’s Klara architecture
The plans also includes the construction of a logistics centre, to service goods and refuse without disrupting the public square, and the removal of an existing building, to open up views towards the old town, Gamla Stan.
“It is fantastic to be involved in redefining Central Station’s role at the heart for Stockholm, while at the same time providing new additions that reference the surrounding streetscape of traditional Klara block architecture, which respects the cultural values of the city,” said Pye Aurell Ehrström, a founding partner of Marge Arkitekter.
A historic park will be reinstated at the southern tip of the site
Marge Arkitekter has experience working on transport projects in Stockholm, having previously designed the city’s ferry terminal.
Foster + Partners has worked on numerous railway infrastructure projects, including Dresden Central Station in Germany and Canary Wharf Underground and Crossrail Stations in London.
The firm has also developed proposals for high-speed rail stations in Italy, Spain and across Saudi Arabia.
The designs aim to improve connections across the site, from east to west
“As the world’s collective focus shifts to more sustainable ways of living, working and travelling, it is vital that we enhance and redevelop our transport nodes and repair and connect the urban fabric around them,” said Luke Fox, head of studio at Foster + Partners.
“We look forward to developing these proposals with Jernhusen, Trafikverket and the City of Stockholm over the coming months.”
Planning consultations are scheduled for 2023
Foster + Partners has recently completed two major projects: the Datong Art Museum in northern China and the Narbo Via museum in southern France.
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