Land is becoming scarce, especially in metropolitan areas where every square meter can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. With nowhere else to go but up, people have been building taller architectures, whether for business or for residence, paving the way for the sun-blocking towers of dystopian science fiction. Before things get worse, however, some visionaries have started to design structures and systems that are almost unbelievable both in their majestic beauty as well as sustainability. One such ambitious proposal wants to encircle the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, with a massive ring high up in the sky that is intended to smash the conventional ideas of gated communities and apartments in a self-sustaining manner.
The Downtown Circle, as the project is called, stands atop five gigantic pillars like a majestic testament to human creativity and ambition. Although its 550-meter height pales in comparison to the Burj Khalifa’s towering presence, its encompassing size is enough to cover Downtown Dubai, hence its name. It’s a good thing that it’s really a ring rather than a closed circle; otherwise, it would permanently cover Dubai’s skies and give off a gloomy atmosphere rather than an awe-inspiring one.
Of course, it isn’t just sculptural art but is an artful vision of the future of human living. The ring is, unsurprisingly, designed to be a city, one that can sustain itself without descending to the land below. Instead of growing more buildings vertical, the structure uses horizontal space in the most efficient way, by going around a circle to have nearly double the occupancy.
More than just the sheer magnitude of its size, what makes the project really ambitious is what happens inside. Like a true city, not only will there be residences for people to live in, but also public, commercial, and cultural spaces. Two rings make up the entire structure of the Downtown Circle, joined by a continuous green structure that connects the five levels inside. That green “belt” named Skypark isn’t simply a support structure but also a green ecosystem that is the key to the ring city’s self-sufficiency.
This literal and figurative central component will be the location of the circle’s ecological treasures, providing not only agriculture for human consumption but also systems for generating sustainable resources from rainwater and the sun. Recreating some of Earth’s ecosystems, like waterfalls and even swamps, the Skypark will be what keeps people and animals alive inside the circle.
Of course, it is a vision that is admittedly on the grand and unrealistic side of the scale as far as current technologies and infrastructures go. Building the Burj Khalifa is probably a piece of cake compared to a humongous ring that will impose its presence on the people below, probably striking both wonder and fear because of the risks if a single structural problem were to occur. Still, the idea of a self-sufficient and sustainable city is definitely the right way to go, and we can always dream big while we’re at it. And as far as big dreams go, the Downtown Circle is truly up there, pun intended.
We have now published over 1,000 products on Dezeen Showroom, which has received over four million page views since the service launched in 2020.
Dezeen Showroom is an affordable platform for brands to launch their products and showcase their collections, putting them in front of Dezeen’s huge global audience and benefitting from Dezeen’s incredible SEO.
Since its launch in October 2020, the platform has been extremely popular with both brands and readers, with over 1,000 products listed and over four million page views generated to date.
Dezeen Showroom is an ideal launchpad for brands to showcase their latest products
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Sports brandHummel has designed toned-down football kits for the Danish national team to play in at the FIFA 2022 World Cup as a protest against the event being hosted in Qatar.
The trio of kits, which will be worn by Denmark at this year’s World Cup in Qatar, were created by Hummel and the Danish Football Association (DBU) to criticise Qatar’s human rights record and draw attention to the number of migrant workers who have died building the event’s stadiums.
“At Hummel, we believe that sport should bring people together,” said the brand. “And when it doesn’t, we are eager to speak up and make a statement.”
“That’s also why, the new Denmark jerseys for the upcoming World Cup have been designed as a protest against Qatar and its human rights record,” it continued.
Hummel has designed the Denmark World Cup football kits to be a protest
Each of the three kits – a red home strip, white away strip and black third kit – have a toned-down aesthetic designed to reduce the visibility of the shirts.
“We’ve toned down all the details – including our own Hummel logo and chevrons – because even though we love football and the feeling of togetherness it gives us, we don’t wish to be visible during a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives,” said Hummel.
“We’re immensely proud of our history with the Danish national team, and we support them all the way. However, that isn’t the same as supporting Qatar as a host nation.”
The upcoming World Cup has been controversial due to the decision to host the event in Qatar. The country has been criticised due to its labour practices and the numbers of migrant workers that have reportedly died building the tournament’s stadiums.
Denmark will play some games in a black third kit to draw attention to the workers who died.
“We have made Denmark’s third jersey all black – the colour of mourning – to honour the migrant workers that have died building Qatar’s World Cup stadiums, as well as the families left behind,” added Hummel.
The Qatar 2022 supreme committee, which is organising the country’s World Cup, disputed the claims made by Hummel and said that the shirt was “trivialising” its health and safety efforts.
“We wholeheartedly reject the trivialising of our genuine commitment to protect the health and safety of the 30,000 workers who built stadiums and other tournament projects,” said the supreme committee.
“We have worked diligently alongside the Qatari government to ensure that the tournament delivers a lasting social legacy.”
Along with labour conditions, the tournament has also been criticised for the decision to host the games in the heat of Qatar. This has led to many of the stadiums needing to incorporate air-conditioning and being accused of making misleading promises about the amount of carbon produced by the event.
Netherlands-based Studio Job has created a curved bronze-and-glass sculpture named The Embrace for Dutch art institute KunstKerk as a humourous update on traditional stained-glass windows.
The largest sculpture ever created by Studio Job, The Embrace was based on the outline of the facade of KunstKerk, which is located in a former church in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
The large bronze sculpture is located in front of the KunstKerk art institute in Dordrecht
“The architect, Andries Lugten, and the developer, Dudok, asked me to create something to help with their proposal for the redevelopment,” Studio Job founder Job Smeets told Dezeen.
“So my idea was to use the back of the building, which was an unused space but had potential to be a connection between the art church and the art cinema.”
Smeets hand-crafted the 13-metre-tall sculpture, described by the studio as a “surrealist take on classical church windows,” from bronze and pigmented glass.
The final design features two undulating “windows” that seem to stretch towards each other above a smaller, central window.
Each is housed within the same large, textured bronze frame, which culminates in a decorative two-metre high cockerel sculpture at the top weighing 300 kilograms.
It was designed to be a modern take on traditional stained-glass windows
The choice to use bronze was based on the fact that the studio has often worked with the material, which Smeets said was also both completely durable and fully recyclable.
“The advantages of bronze is it’s very pliable; you can do it in any shape and it’s liquid so I can make any form,” Smeets explained.
“Bronze is a significant part of my work; in my atelier, we do every step of the process from the natural form to the final polish and painting,” he added.
“The bronze structure reminds me of the industrial metal casting and the industrial steel girders of old bridges. The final look I wanted to be a jewel in the city, something precious – maybe even an ornate jewelry box.”
The bottom of the bronze frame rests on the back of four tortoise sculptures
The bronze frame is held up by four hand-sculpted bronze tortoises on whose shells it rests.
These were designed in reference to an ancient Asian custom where a tortoise placed at the back of the house gives “protection and wisdom,” according to the studio.
The glass windows set into the bronze face outwards, rather than inwards as church windows usually do.
The characters depicted are loosely based on those traditionally seen on stained-glass windows, but they have been given a modern update.
The sculpture has an undulating form
Among them is a figure that Smeets describes as “Jesus with a pinwheel being attacked by chickens”, as well as a child with devil’s horns based on Smeets’ son.
“If you look at many churches you see constant references to devilish creatures, often seen in reliefs and sculpture, especially on the churches in Belgium – animals that are scary, maybe it’s also to protect the building or to scare you, it’s a very classical idea in many cultures,” Smeets said.
“So for me, he’s a guardian of the building, he’s also based on my son who has a devilish nature.”
A central window has a depiction of a child based on Smeets’ son
The idea behind the windows, which also feature rockets, bees, butterflies and a bomb, was for people to see more things the closer they look. To Smeets, the designs are a natural evolution of classic designs.
“The imagery is a family scene with modern elements integrated,” he said.”Church windows have always incorporated references of the time, this is no different.”
Smeets hopes the building will become an eye-cathing landmark and the beginning of a new public square.
Smeets designed the sculpture to also be decorative when seen from the inside
The sculpture was also deliberately designed to be appreciated from both the exterior and interior of the arts centre, where a cafe is located.
“From the inside, you get this multicolored detailed view and in the evening the building takes a new form and the windows glow from the inside, its really beautiful,” Smeets said.
“I designed the windows to face outwards – church windows usually are only to be seen by the people inside, I wanted to make this for everyone outside,” he added.
“Already when we were installing it, the neighbor came down to thank us for the new view of the two-metre high bronze chicken from his roof terrace.”
There are three kinds of book lovers (at least in terms of format): those who still prefer print above all else, those who are wholly digital, and those that can work with both. I am of course, the last one. And those that are ebook readers and hybrid readers, the Kindle is a holy grail. The E-Ink display is the closest that you can get to an actual book and is better for the eyesight and concentration of readers as compared to normal tablets. Now, we’re getting the next step in the Kindle evolution and it has got me reaching for my wallet and that pre-order button.
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a totally new Kindle and now, we have Kindle Scribe, a 10.2-inch device with the E-Ink screen we’ve gotten used to. This new model is not just a reading device but also a writing tool as you can use it with a stylus to take notes, edit files, and “write” on the margins of your ebook. Kindle users have been dreaming of a device like this as it actually mimics the action that some readers have been doing for years on their actual, physical books, only the notes you write here can be saved and accessed digitally.
The E-Ink display really is a blessing for those whose eyesight have been affected by the tablet or phone displays that we’ve been using for years. It is the first 300ppi, front-lit display and you’ll be able to adjust the light and the contrast that will best suit your preference. The handwritten notes that you’ll be adding to your book will be stored in your Kindle collection. You can even directly import word documents from Microsoft directly to your device and work on them using your stylus. PDF markup and display of saved webpages are also allowed on the device.
But don’t think this device can be your new tablet as it’s still basically a Kindle which means it’s built for reading and note-taking. The display is still black and white although a future device may sport a colored E-Ink display. In terms of design, the device is similar to the Kindle Oasis with a bezel on one side so you can hold it properly while reading. But the Scribe itself is not chunky at all as it’s only 5.8mm thick and may be thinner and lighter than the thinnest of tablets, the newest iPad Air.
I for one, cannot wait to get my hands on these and start writing notes all over my ebooks. It is still for pre-order but will cost you $339.99 while you have to add a few more dollars to get either the Basic Pen or the Premium Pen which can both be attached to the side of your Scribe.
Any table that’s up to 4.5cm thick can be transformed into a ping pong table thanks to this portable set from Chums, a home and lifestyle brand founded by Mike Taggett. Featuring two rackets, three balls and a net that can attach to a table and spread up to 120cm across, this ready-to-go equipment sports a striking red and black colorway and neatly tucks away in the featured carry bag when not in use.
Dezeen Showroom: Australian rug brand Armadillo has designed a trio of hand-knotted rugs that aim to explore “the tension between the softness and strength”. Armadillo’s Sistine collection consists of three rugs, which are hand-made from a blend of silk and virgin wool.
The rugs come in three neutral colours named Manuka, Peregrine and Semolina, which all share a dense, dappled texture.
Sistine rugs are made from wool and silk
Manuka is named after the rich, saturated tones of honey, with Semolina presenting a more toned-down golden hue.
In contrast, cool-toned Peregrine boasts blue, silver and white shades, with a mottled finish owing to the rug’s artisanal craftsmanship.
Rugs come in cool and warm tones
Each of the colour options is available in three rectangular or square size formats: 2.4 by 3 metres, 2.7 by 3.7 metres and 3 by 4.3 metres.
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As the sun begins to set on our series exploring the enormous potential of solar power, Dezeen looks at some of the barriers to achieving a Solar Revolution.
Our Solar Revolution series has focused on the idea that the world is currently at a tipping point when it comes to energy – with climate change and the Ukraine war meaning that a major shift to renewables is desperately needed.
Many experts argue that solar is best-placed to lead the way, along with wind power. It is now the cheapest form of energy at the point of production and has an astonishing range of uses – from photovoltaic windows or textiles on buildings to possible applications for cars, clothes and gadgets.
But, like all energy technologies, solar is imperfect and there are multiple challenges that must be overcome in order to realise a solar-powered future. Here, we explore some of those challenges.
Intermittency
The major appeal of fossil fuels is that they can be burned to produce energy on demand. For solar, energy can obviously only be generated when the sun is shining – but people need power at any time.
That gives rise to issues with storage and connectivity that are discussed below.
However, as postdoctoral researcher in solar physics at the University of Liverpool Theo Hobson points out, it is possible to mitigate the issue with proper planning.
Solar panels need a good supply of sunshine to generate energy efficiently
“While solar is intermittent, it’s at least still pretty predictable,” he told Dezeen. “The day-night cycle and seasonal changes make the biggest difference to power output, with unpredictable variations being relatively small by comparison.”
“This means that while intermittency is still a challenge, it is possible to plan power management and infrastructure around the predictable aspects of solar power.”
Storage
Because of the intermittency of solar power, very large amounts of energy storage are needed to make full use of it – so that electricity can be produced when conditions are sunny and then used when it’s dark or cloudy.
Usually, that means batteries. But these come with their own issues as they tend to require vast quantities of lithium, an element that is in high demand with the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) and which is associated with a polluting and dangerous mining industry.
To help deal with this issue, Hobson suggests it should be possible to use the battery in the EV parked outside your house to store electricity generated by solar panels on your rooftop for later use.
Other energy storage options are on the horizon, particularly electrolysed hydrogen where large amounts of research is taking place, but these are not yet practical.
Connectivity
While fossil fuels can be burned anywhere, solar power is best generated where it is sunniest.
Ideally, large solar farms spread across sparsely populated, very sunny areas like the deserts of the southwestern United States would be combined with vast cabling infrastructure to transport the energy generated to, for instance, big cities in the much colder northeast of the country.
But building that infrastructure would be a huge undertaking, particularly as it would need to pass across privately owned land, explains solar designer and technologist Alex Nathanson.
Vast amounts of infrastructure could be needed to transport solar power to where it is needed
“In the US our biggest issue is distribution,” he told Dezeen. “It’s very hard to do new electricity distribution orders because it’s hard to get that land allocated, there are tons and tons of challenges with that.”
“I suspect that at some point in 20 years that’ll get solved but it is a harder, farther-out horizon,” Nathanson added. “There may be solutions like increasing the complexity of our electrical grids so it’s not necessarily the case that it would need to go from one side of the country to the other, but this is more complex than saying technically we have the solar energy to power everything.”
Part of the workaround to the intermittency of solar energy and the associated storage and connectivity challenges will inevitably involve supplementary power from other sources such as wind.
Politics
The challenge of building enough infrastructure to transport solar energy to where it is needed is a good example of the solar revolution’s dependence on politics.
“It would really require a government declaring a climate emergency and being very serious about it, because it would require trillions of dollars of infrastructure investment and rewriting laws and all these things,” said Nathanson.
Major government investment and favourable legislation are needed to accelerate the widespread adoption of solar power.
In many countries, including the UK, there is still little support available for the significant upfront costs associated with installing solar panels on rooftops.
UK energy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has previously signalled support for fossil fuels. Photo by Ian Davidson
Dezeen’s late founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs wrote in an opinion piece earlier this year about how the market is still rigged in favour of fossil fuels.
Climate denialism remains a major issue even in mainstream politics, making it harder to secure full government support for solar power.
However, as Solar Energy UK chief executive Chris Hewett wrote in a recent column, free-market thinkers – who historically have tended to align with climate deniers – are increasingly attracted to the prospect of cheap, abundant solar energy.
“Even if you’re a climate denier, what you can’t deny is the price-per-watt,” Nathanson remarked.
Manufacturing
Solar power might be a type of renewable energy, but producing it is not carbon-free; manufacturing solar cells is an energy-intensive process that requires finite materials.
Most photovoltaic cells are made from crystalline silicon, which has to be purified using chemicals and extreme heat before it is useful for generating solar power.
China dominates the world’s solar-grade polysilicon market, with nearly half coming from the Xinjiang region in the northwest of the country where it is processed using coal power, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels.
In addition to these environmental impacts, concerns have been raised that the polysilicon industry in Xinjiang is linked to the forced labour of Uyghur Muslims – a claim that Chinese authorities deny.
As explained in the Dezeen guide to solar power, scientists are exploring alternatives to silicon solar cells, but they are still expected to dominate the industry in the near term at least.
Waste
Similarly, solar panels can have a significant environmental impact when they come to the end of their life, leaching out toxic materials as they break down.
Because solar panels started to become more widely installed in the early 2000s and have a life expectancy of around 25 years, the issue is likely to become increasingly prevalent in the near future.
This article is part of Dezeen’s Solar Revolution series, which explores the varied and exciting possible uses of solar energy and how humans can fully harness the incredible power of the sun.
British architecture studio Foster + Partners has completed two skyscrapers for drone manufacturer DJI in Shenzhen called DJI Sky City, which are connected by an open-air suspension bridge over 100 meters above the ground.
DJI Sky City consists of a pair of 200-metre-high skyscrapers that house the headquarters and innovation centre of Shenzhen-based robotics company and drone specialists DJI.
DJI Sky City was designed by Foster + Partners
The two skyscrapers are connected by a 90-meter-long suspension bridge, which is located over halfway up the structure, 105 metres above the ground.
The bridge will be attached to each of the towers vertically slatted cores, which both support a series of steel truss-encased, glass volumes that were stacked and cantilevered on top of one another at varying heights.
It is comprised of two towers which are connected by a suspension bridge
The cantilevered blocks contain column-free office spaces that were made possible by the building’s external truss systems. Some of the column-free interior spaces contain four-storey high dedicated drone flight testing labs.
The ground floor houses the building’s public facilities, including a community healthcare centre, as well as its lobbies that each contain an indoor “zen” garden that extends from a rammed earth feature wall.
“Drone technology has changed the way we experience the world around us while pushing the boundaries of aerial possibilities,” said Foster + Partners.
“We have enjoyed using DJI products for more than a decade,” the studio added. “We are delighted to have partnered with DJI in creating their new headquarters in Shenzhen, which will be the company’s premier center of research and innovation.”
The bridge is 105 metres above the ground
According to the studio the floorplates were organised to maximise daylight in the interior spaces while its twin lift system maximises internal office floor area.
At the top of the buildings each of the cantilevered volumes has a rooftop gardens with views across Shenzhen as outdoor spaces for DJI employees.
The skyscrapers contain four-storey drone flight labs
Renders and a fly-through video of the building were first unveiled in 2018, detailing its vast drone and robotic testing facilities.
After 2,400 votes, projects by Localworks and FADAA are ahead in the Dezeen Awards 2022 public vote sustainability categories. Vote now for your favourite!
The public vote, which closes on 10 October, gives Dezeen readers the opportunity to choose their favourite shortlisted projects in the architecture, interiors, design, sustainability and media categories, plus the architects and designers who they think should win studio of the year.
You now have less than two weeks to vote. Make sure you verify your vote so it counts!
Public vote winners will be revealed 17 to 21 October on Dezeen. The public vote is separate from the main Dezeen Awards 2022 judging process, in which entries are scored by our international panel of judges.
We will be crowning the Dezeen Awards 2022 winners in late November.
Who is in the lead?
Of 32,000 votes that have been cast and verified across all categories so far, the sustainability categories received over 2,400 verified votes.
Continue reading to see which projects have been voted most popular so far:
Sustainable building
› 28 per cent – Mustardseed, Sentema, Uganda, by Localworks › 28 per cent – The Natural Pavilion, Almere, Netherlands, by DP6 Architectuurstudio › 20 per cent – Floating Office, Rotterdam, Netherlands, by Powerhouse Company › 15 per cent – The Exploded View Beyond Building, Ketelhuisplein, Netherlands, by Biobased Creations › Nine per cent – Learning and Sports Centre, Masoro Village, Rwanda, by General Architecture Collaborative
› 23 per cent – D/O Aqaba, Aqaba, Jordan, by FADAA › 20 per cent – Monc, London, United Kingdom, by Nina+Co › 20 per cent – Apricity, London, United Kingdom, by Object Space Place › 19 per cent – Semba Good Ethical Office, Tokyo, Japan, by Semba Corporation › 19 per cent – The Circus Canteen, Bengaluru, India, by Multitude of Sins
› 32 per cent – K-BriqTM by Kenoteq › 24 per cent – Tidal Stool by Robotic Fabrication Lab HKU › 18 per cent – Remix by Open Funk UG › 17 per cent – Maggie’s Southampton by Local Works Studio › Nine per cent – Air-It-Yourself by Jihee Moon
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