Hasta La Ideas

Tokyo-based architecture studio OSO has completed Deloitte Summit, a skyscraper in Vancouver with stacked protruding boxes that resemble a set of lanterns.

The 24-storey tower was constructed using a series of steel-framed cubes stacked on top of each other to create a sculptural effect.

Taking up an initial plan for the site developed by another architect that was “conventional to the core”, Japan-based studio OSO decided to keep certain elements of the glass tower modality, while eschewing the typical form.

Each of the boxes is four storeys tall and protrudes asymmetrically from the building’s core. A series of cantilevers work with the generous setback and create a jagged profile.

“A brief study led to a completely different approach to the glass box: rather than a single extrusion, we found that multiple, smaller extrusions could achieve the same density,” said OSO.

“The smaller extrusions became weightless glass cubes that were haphazardly placed on top of each other.”

The stacked cubes were all oriented in different directions, amplifying views from the offices housed inside. It also creates a multi-dimensional effect, where no side can be considered the front of the building, taking advantage of the corner lot and low-lying surrounding buildings.

“The facade’s angles and reflections create an ever-changing silhouette that shifts depending on the position from where it is seen,” said OSO.

“The tenant does not expect to find glass floors overlooking the city, roof terraces under overhanging volumes, and vertical gardens framing views of the mountains.”

“All this is accomplished by rearranging – rather than abandoning – the conventional glass box.”

According to OSO, the “sense of randomness” that comes from the stacked forms was mediated by relatively simple floorplans throughout the structure, and the glazed panelling offers a sense of coherence for the design.

Canadian developers Westbank, which has been behind a number of other skyscrapers in the city including BIG’s Vancouver House, said that the design was conceived as a performance, taking cues from the sculptural functionality of Japanese lanterns.

The floor-to-ceiling glass allows for the whole facade to be illuminated at night if desired, while the large windows and many-sided envelope also help increase the amount of natural light inside the building.

“We asked the architects to come up with an idea where the office building morphs into something else, such as a piece of sculpture,” said Westbank.

“The resulting project takes inspiration from a Japanese light sculpture to reimagine the conventional glass box office tower.”

Westbank also said that the building will have an explicitly performative aspect.

“Every evening, the building will put on a ‘performance’,” it said.

“As a prelude to the performance, shortly before 9 pm, the building lights will dim and the blinds lower. At 9 pm, the building will slowly illuminate, taking on a lantern-like effect.”

“The bulk of the building is held by a central elevator core and six ‘mega-columns’ that penetrate through all floors,” said OSO.

“There are no other columns in the centre of the floorplate, only trusses along the facade that transfer perimeter loads from one cantilevering volume to another.”

Inside, the floorplans were left largely open due to the lack of columns in the floorplates, allowing for flexible working spaces for the occupants. The ground floor lobby holds a wood-and-plant-filled cafe.

OSO was founded by Michael Sypkens and Esteban Ochogavia – two former employees of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma – in 2017.

Also on the West Coast, earlier this year, OSO announced plans to suspend a Boeing 747 between two skyscrapers in Seattle to create an occupiable museum.

The photography is by Ema Peter. 

Project credits:

Design architect: OSO
Executive architect: Merrick Architecture
Developers: Westbank and Allied

The post OSO completes Vancouver skyscraper modelled on Japanese lanterns appeared first on Dezeen.

From Core77 reader JIAMING LIU: This project is a printed clay humidifier that can be used in many combinations, providing a flexible solution that can be combined in pairs or individually to suit different space requirements.

Each has two parts, the upper part absorbs water and evaporates water. The lower part is glazed on the outside and can be poured and stored water.The unique 3D printing structure not only greatly improves the water absorption efficiency, but also the water absorption part and the water storage part do not need to be separated and can be printed in one piece.

It made of recycled ceramic powder as clinker, in a ratio of 1:3The recycled ceramic powder here can not only improve the strength and water absorption of the structure, but also after the service life of the product, the product can be continue used as recycled clinker. The project aims to explore the use of sustainable materials and possible applications for 3D printing clay.

Each has two parts, the upper part absorbs water and evaporates water. The lower part is glazed on the outside and can be poured and stored water.

production process of recycled printing clay

It can operate combined in a pair or individually depending on different space requirements

production process of recycled printing clay

left to right – original clay without additions, clay with 30% recycled ceramic powder added, 3D-printed structure

production process of recycled printing clay

cmf

from industrial waste to 3D-printing clay

production process of recycled printing clay

Mobility

View the full project here

In southwestern Bangladesh, farmers are turning to the 200-year-old practice of growing produce on floating rafts as a response to rising sea levels. Bangladesh’s flooding season used to last for around five months which created the necessity for floating farms. Now, however, the land is underwater for eight to 10 months, forcing farmers to revitalize the ancient technique to secure food. To do so, they weave the stems of invasive hyacinths to create rafts (a process that takes almost two months). From there, they plant fruit and vegetable seedlings, including tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, gourds and papayas. The practice is a crucial lifeline to many that helps grow crops more reliably than on land and it “requires less space than conventional farming and does not need pesticides,” says Bangladesh agricultural officer Digbijoy Hazra. “When we’re fighting…the impact of global warming, floating farming could be the future.” Read more about it—and view the stunning images—at Reuters.

Image courtesy of Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

On a farm at night, you live and die by the headlamp. I’m happy enough with my BioLite HeadLamp 330 that I’ve purchased a total of four units, so my wife and I each have our own and a backup; but I’m still looking into installing motion-sensing outdoor lighting at various points around the property. I’m looking into solar-charged units, as running wire to certain locations would be problematic.

In the course of my research I came across these:

They’re not right for what I need, but they might be right for you. These wireless Lumenology motion-sensing lights are about the size of a baseball, and have magnetic bases so they can be placed anywhere you’ve got ferrous metal, or on the magnetic base they include. You can also opt for an octopus-style tripod mount.

This review made the object look fairly compelling…

…but I’m not crazy about having to deal with batteries (they run on three AA), and 148 lumens isn’t enough for what I’d need to see outdoors.

They also seem a tad pricey for what they are, unless you buy a lot of them: They’re priced at one for $40, three for $100, five for $150 or eight for $200. From what I’m seeing online, you can pick up a competing company’s dual-light solar-charged unit that puts out more than 1,000 lumens for about $50.

Even still, these might have an application for one of our older dogs who is going blind and has trouble finding her way around the house at night.

If you’re interested in this category of product, let me know and I’ll write a review of whatever object or system I end up purchasing.

The phrase “nice Lexus” is not something you’re likely to hear from total strangers in most situations, but when you show up in one of these, you’d best be ready to explain just what kind of car this thing is and from which planet it originated. 10 years on since the car made its debut as a concept at the 2012 North American International Auto Show, the Lexus LC 500 is still among the best-looking coupes on the road.

It’s been six years since the car’s introduction as a production model and, in that time, changes have been few — why mess with perfection? Still, the LC 500 has gained some much-needed tech updates and can now be extensively configured through a program Lexus calls Bespoke Build. That seemed like a great time to sample the LC 500h flavor anew, and to experience the car’s outrageously innovative, surprisingly effective hybrid system.

From concept to creation

The LC 500 made the difficult transition from pie-in-the-sky concept car to real-world production car better than most. Though the process took four years, other than a few subtle nips and tucks, the LF-LC concept and production LC 500 are nigh-indistinguishable.

That means this, the hybrid flavor LC 500h looks like nothing else on the road. Sure, it is full of Lexus design cues — just look no further than that massive, world-threatening grille up front — but it is undeniably its own thing, and a stellar thing at that.

The long, low, wide nose contains a pair of svelte headlights that tuck themselves back almost into the fenders, shining out over dashes of silver, arrows all pointing forward. After you get past the nose there’s a calmness to the side of the car, only a few upward flourishes distracting the clean lines that run to the rear. At the back, four chrome tailpipe finishers poke through a little diffuser, setting up a bumper that’s dramatically creased. More silver highlights extend from the tail lights, defining the upper and rearward terminations of the rear fenders.

It’s all capped off by an outrageous, sweeping, carbon-fiber wing that curls down from the rear decklid, following the shape of the terminal end of the car. If you’re a Gundam fan, it wouldn’t look out of place perched on the nose of Syd Mead’s Turn-A Gundam. It’s all a bit too much yet it all works so well.

Crazy as the outside is, though, the interior is even more remarkable. The door cards seem to crash up like waves from either side, threatening to sweep over the wide dashboard that might as well be in another county it’s so far away from the driver’s seat. That is, perhaps, to discourage you from trying to reach up and stab at that 10.3-inch screen, which is not only non-touch, it’s recessed behind a transparent, plastic barrier.

The infotainment system is exclusively controlled via a small touchpad that sits just aft of the shifter. It’s haptic-enabled, buzzing as you drag your finger across to make it easy to tell when you’re hovering over the virtual button or control that you want. A few actual, physical buttons sit above it, controls to bring up the map, radio tuner, or to return home. There’s a generous volume knob, too.

These few tokens to tactility, along with physical buttons and rockers for HVAC controls, are enough for me. I’ll be honest, I don’t hate this system as much as I know many of my esteemed colleagues at other publications do. Lexus has updated the interface over the years and it’s not bad to use. It even has wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, something sadly lacking in earlier versions of the LC 500. It’s here now, and it’s great, but that is one places where this touchpad is simply unsatisfying to use. When you’re projecting from your phone, that touchpad acts like a four-way controller, requiring that you swipe up, down, left, or right to scan between every on-screen control. It’s slow and clumsy, but definitely not Lexus’ fault.

The drive

The more important controls are the ones that fall to hands and feet after you slot into the sweeping driver’s seat, which has a relatively simple design featuring something like a padded shawl over its shoulders. These are the Comfort seats and, despite extremely limited configurability (just the usual positioning plus an adjustable lumbar), they live up to their name, encouraging a laid-back posture to match the LC’s swept-back attitude.

Instead of an Engine Start button there’s a cheeky blue Power button and, once you hit that, chances are nothing will happen. Being a hybrid, the LC 500h only kicks on the engine when it needs it and, if you hit the dedicated button labeled “EV MODE” it’ll delay that as long as possible. But, this is no plug-in. With a mere 1.1 kilowatt-hours of battery, EV-only range is realistically measured in meters. The LC 500h can only crawl around the parking lot without firing up the 3.5-liter V6. This mode, then, is for stealthy escapes from your country estate — assuming your driveway is neither long nor uphill.

The steering wheel has a perfect look and feel. It almost feels a bit small for a car of this size, but the thick, deep rim pulls your hands into position and the quick steering ratio ensures they stay there.

The little shifter moves to the side and back to engage D and you’re away, the car’s combination CVT and four-speed transmissions (more on that in a moment) slipping and sliding through the 10 effective gears to ensure you barely feel any change in cog. In either Normal or Comfort, the LC 500h is remarkably smooth, doing everything in its power to keep the engine revs below 2,000, stopping and restarting the engine with every crest of every hill. When you’re driving smoothly, you can barely feel the transition.

It’s when you get on things a little bit harder that the limitations of that drivetrain start to become apparent. To shift driving modes you reach up to a rotary dial mounted to the side of the gauge cluster. Tilt it forward to get more sporty, rearward to get more economical. Two twists forward enables Sport Plus mode, digital gauge cluster reconfiguring to look like an LFA and the car momentarily dropping a few gears to bring the engine closer to its powerband.

But, give it a moment and the car will quickly upshift again, idling along at 2,000 RPM until you dip into the throttle, resulting in a four or five gear downshift to deliver any torque. Even in this mode, the engine is still frequently disabled to save fuel, often inducing an annoying lag when you get back on the throttle. That transmission also auto-upshifts should you get anywhere near the redline.

That’s all a bit of a shame and it makes the car less than satisfying to drive when the road turns back on itself sharply, calling for lots of hard acceleration and braking. Doubly a shame because the brake feel is so good and, once the car gets the right gear, the total 354 horsepower and 370 pound-feet of torque is strong.

The LC 500h, then, is a car better suited for big, sweeping roads with high enough speeds to capitalize on all that grip and the sheer dimensions of the machine.

That hybrid system

As I mentioned, this is a remarkably complicated system that sits under the hood of the LC500h, all tucked in so neatly that it’s almost entirely situated behind the front axle. The bulk of the power comes from a 3.5-liter V6, which runs in the Atkinson cycle, a combustion technique focused on maximum efficiency and often used on hybrids.

That’s paired with two electric motors, and the output of all that is run through not one but two transmissions. There’s a continuously variable transmission that’s programmed to cycle through three ratios, plus a four-speed automatic. Lexus says this creates an effective 10-speed transmission and that’s how the car acts, and while this isn’t the most responsive, sporting gearbox on the planet, it is buttery smooth. Crucially, it never leaves the engine hanging, droning at a single speed like most CVTs.

The goal of all this is power and efficiency, and while 354 hp isn’t exactly world-conquering, it’s enough to get this 4,400-pound coupe up and running with aplomb. And as far as efficiency goes, the 500h is EPA-rated for 34 mpg on the highway, 26 city and 29 combined. In my mixed testing I just about hit that mark, coming in at 28.3 mpg. That’s pretty good for a big, leggy coupe like this, and 10 mpg (50%!) better than the base LC 500.

Pricing and options

A base LC 500h starts at $99,050, but the example you see here came courtesy of Lexus’ new Bespoke Build program, which adds a strong dose of personalization to the mix, crucial in the high-stakes luxury segment. With Bespoke Build, you have a much broader selection of interior colors from which to choose, a trio of wheelsets, plus additional options like blacking out the silver highlights. It’s not a full-on personalization program with an infinite number of paint hues and exotic hides, but for those wanting something special, it’s a big step forward.

This car was coated in a lovely, dark shade called Nightfall Mica, with a custom Alcantara and leather interior called Manhattanhenge — presumably named after the deep, orange glow that bathes New York City twice a year. The blue over orange is a fantastic pairing and the result is a car that I adored looking at.

That Bespoke treatment costs $3,690, while the interior cost another $3,600. Other options on this car included $2,750 for that luscious rear wing, $1,800 for the black, 21-inch wheels, and $1,220 for the upgraded Mark Levinson sound system. Add a few other odds and ends, plus a $1,075 destination charge, and you’re looking at a total cost of $116,535.

The post Lexus LC 500h Review first appeared on Yanko Design.