Hasta La Ideas

Board-marked concrete and exposed brickwork have been used to give a “rough but refined” character to this home in the Belgian countryside, designed by local practice A2o architecten.

The Hasselt-based practice designed House Be to provide a distinctive but harmonious counterpoint to its extensively landscaped surroundings, with internal courtyards and a covered kitchen terrace that allow the garden to “extend into the building.”

“House Be is an experiment in dwelling in and amongst nature,” explained the practice. “A rhythmic structure in concrete, wood and brick contrasts with the frivolity of the restored landscape.”

“In a similar way to the Romantic motif from the 19th-century arts, an attempt was made to create a sensitive tension between a sublime natural landscape and the human presence in it,” it continued.

House Be is comprised of three main elements – a glazed “garden room”, a bedroom and office block and a separate guest annex, all of which are united by paved paths covered by an arcade of wooden columns.

Set amid a large garden landscaped by studio BURO Landschap, the exterior is defined by a concrete frame, custom-made grey brickwork and large windows.

“The facades look natural and nuanced, the roofs are overgrown with flowers and plants and the garden extends into the building structure, [changing] the appearance of the facade throughout time and seasons,” said the practice.

The double-height garden room is House Be’s primary living area, with glass doors opening onto two terraces, one overlooking an internal courtyard and the other containing the outdoor kitchen.

Both the structure and furniture were treated as almost sculptural elements, with board-marked concrete columns framing a central wooden dining table and seating area beneath a monolithic concrete fireplace and sculptural brass light fitting.

“[The garden room is] furnished as a contemporary ‘Wunderkammer’,” said the practice.

“Think of it as an art cabinet, like those that can be found in the old mansions of dignitaries and freethinkers, where the most extraordinary art and nature objects were brought together and displayed in one room,” it continued.

The ground floor of this living area connects to a kitchen at one end of the office block. Above, a secondary living area or “night hall” sits on a mezzanine, connecting to an additional external terrace and the home’s bedrooms.

Below, a basement space contains a wellness area and bar where sliding glass doors open onto a Japanese garden courtyard designed as an “intimate counterpart” to the large garden above.

A freestanding spiral staircase of black steel links the three levels of the garden room, while an additional staircase connects the bedrooms directly to the home working spaces.

“The rooms are oriented differently each time, which means that the incidence of light and the view of the outside varies,” explained the practice.

“The route to the workrooms and the night hall on the other floor deflects from the central axis, thus keeping private life separate,” it continued.

Other homes in Belgium recently featured on Dezeen include an angular brick house by DéDal Architectes, and a curving brick home in Ghent designed by BLAF Architecten in the grounds of a 19th-century mansion.

The photography is by Stijn Bollaert.

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Danish architecture practice 3XN has completed a blocky office building and hotel in the suburbs of Paris, with “distinct but complementary” faceted checkerboard facades of bronze-coloured and reflective aluminium.

The first project completed in France by 3XN, the InDéfense office and Hôtel OKKO stand side-by-side between a railway and road in the Les Groues district of Nanterre, overlooking the La Défense business district.

Connected along one of their edges to form a long section of street front, the two buildings were designed with a similar formal and material language, intended to create a strong visual symbol for the busy district.

“As the first shape you encounter when arriving from La Défense, this building had to be eye-catching and dynamic,” said 3XN founding partner Kim Herforth Nielsen.

“The faceted facade and shifting volumes make it a standout in the busy district. The concept – two distinct but complementary designs – is unique in the area,” he continued.

Where the two buildings meet, a sheltered cut-out beneath the office building connects the front and rear of the site, with a black spiral staircase rising up into the building.

While the hotel is organised in an L-shaped form that turns the street corner, the office is more elongated, split into several block-like forms that have been “pushed and pulled” to create a feeling of depth as well as small terraces for the upper levels.

“Where Hôtel OKKO, clad in semi-reflective aluminium panels, remains an unbroken mass, the InDéfense office building is split and shifted into smaller masses, each pushed in or extruded to open the long and narrow site to its surroundings,” explained the practice.

“The reflective facade of the Hôtel OKKO sticks out of the context and gives the program its own identity, while the distinctive copper-coloured facade of the InDéfense building brings warmth and atmosphere in the neighbourhood,” it continued.

Inside, the office is organised around a central glazed atrium, with a restaurant at street level and a large spiral staircase connecting each floor with shared landings designed to encourage social interaction between workspaces.

“The visual transparency of the open atrium spaces allows for easy visual access across the building, facilitating knowledge sharing,” said the practice.

“Visible from the exterior on the north facade, the spiral staircase that links the floors echoes its exterior twin and highlights the complementary architectural nature of the project,” it continued.

The hotel contains 184 rooms over nine floors, with an additional public restaurant on the ground floor and shared amenities including a large lounge for guests on the first floor, with interior design by Studio Catoir.

Other projects recently completed by 3XN include a timber campus for a university in Switzerland designed in collaboration with Itten+Brechbühl, and a brick-clad office building in Stockholm that links to a renovated 19th-century building.

The photography is by Jared Chulski.

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After a year that saw designers come up with numerous ideas for how to decarbonise transport, we round up 10 of the most interesting as part of our review of 2022.

Transport accounts for around a fifth of global carbon dioxide emissions and has the highest reliance on fossil fuels of any sector, according to the International Energy Agency.

Ranging from concepts to products set for mass manufacture, the designs featured in this list seek to reduce emissions from cars, planes, boats or motorbikes and to boost cycling.

Read on for Dezeen’s top 10 sustainable transport designs of 2022:

Pendler by Layer

This concept electric bike from design studio Layer, which aims to tackle the pain points of urban commuting, has a distinctive U-shaped frame, a concealed motor and detachable timber accessories.

Designed with a “crafted” aesthetic, the Pendler is intended to provide built-in solutions to the challenges associated with city cycling, such as storage, fitting the bike on public transport and navigating traffic.

Find out more about Pendler ›

Arrival Multi-Utility Farming Vehicle by Madhav Dua

Indian designer Madhav Dua came up with an idea for a multifunctional, customisable electric tractor that would make modern tools more affordable to Indian farmers, making agriculture more efficient.

It also features solar panels that provide energy to a mobile electricity reserve that could be used to power farmers’ homes.

The concept won first place in Dezeen’s Future Mobility Competition, a global design contest powered by electric vehicle brand Arrival.

 Find out more about Arrival Multi-Utility Farming Vehicle ›

X Shore 1 by X Shore

In a bid to bring electric boats to a wider audience, Swedish company X Shore launched this model that it says is priced competitively with fossil-fuel vessels.

To reduce costs, the 6.5-metre-long boat was made light and efficient enough that it only needs a single battery to run, also reducing its carbon footprint.

Find out more about X Shore 1 ›

Lightyear 0 by Lightyear

Dubbed the “world’s first production-ready” solar-powered car when launched this year, the Lightyear 0 is an electric car that has photovoltaic panels covering its roof, bonnet and boot to charge its battery while driving.

In an interview with Dezeen, the chief executive of the Dutch startup Lightyear Emanuele Cornagliotti predicted that solar cars will be “normal within 20 years”.

Find out more about Lightyear ›

Domus by Van Geest Design and Rob Doyle Design

While X Shore was exploring how to make electric boats more affordable, yacht design studios Van Geest Design and Rob Doyle Design were working on a concept for a luxury trimaran that is “truly zero-emission”.

The 40-metre Domus would be powered by a combination of hydrogen fuel cells, hydro generation and solar energy.

UK architecture studio Zaha Hadid was also looking at electric yachts this year, presenting its concept for the photovoltaic-covered Oneiric at Milan design week.

Find out more about Domus ›

Cambio by the city of Milan

A key aspect of decarbonising transport is encouraging people to take more of their journeys by bike, with many cities coming up with plans to become more cycling-friendly after the coronavirus pandemic.

Among them is Milan, which in early 2022 committed to constructing the Cambio network of 24 cycle highways by 2035 based on data about the daily movements of its residents. These will be accompanied by dedicated bicycle parking stations, physical and digital wayfinding displays and low-impact lighting.

Find out more about Cambio ›

ID Buzz by Volkswagen

Electric vehicle launches came thick and fast in 2022, and among the most interesting was the ID Buzz by Volkswagen.

The van is an electrified update of the German carmaker’s famous T1 Transporter camper van, which became associated with the hippie movement of the 1960s and 70s, and has the same flat front and a similar V-shaped face as the original.

Find out more about the ID Buzz ›

SUS1 by Stilride

Swedish startup Stilride this year unveiled the Sport Utility Scooter One (SUS1), an electric scooter built using an unusual origami-like process that reduces the amount of material used, limiting the environmental impact of manufacture.

While conventional scooters consist of a tubular frame and a plastic body, the SUS1’s chassis is constructed by taking a single sheet of stainless steel and cutting and folding it.

Find out more about SUS1 ›

Ösa AP by Cake

Another interesting example of an electric motorcycle seeking to cut carbon emissions is the anti-poaching series from Swedish brand Cake, which this year launched the Ösa AP.

The solar-charged bikes were created specifically for use by rangers in the South African bush, allowing them to quietly approach illegal animal poachers thanks to the lack of engine noise while also negating the need for polluting petrol deliveries by truck or helicopter.

Find out more about Cake Anti-Poaching bikes ›

Hydrogen jet engine by Rolls-Royce and EasyJet

Aviation is a major contributor to global transport emissions, and while there are still doubts over whether it will ever be practical to fuel planes with hydrogen, 2022 saw the world’s first test of a commercial jet engine powered by the non-carbon-emitting element.

British airline EasyJet and engineering company Rolls-Royce used renewably-made hydrogen to power a converted Rolls-Royce AE 2100 aircraft engine.

The technology is still in its infancy, but Rolls-Royce chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini called the test “an exciting milestone”.

Find out more about this hydrogen jet engine ›

The post Dezeen’s top 10 sustainable transport designs of 2022 appeared first on Dezeen.

IKEA‘s research lab Space10 has developed a concept for connecting a physical furniture piece to an ever-evolving NFT tree, which “grows” through acts of care to incentivise people to keep, repair and recycle their belongings.

In Space10‘s speculative design project Carbon Banks, the furniture in question is IKEA‘s wooden Froset chair, while the non-fungible token (NFT) is an augmented reality artwork of a tree that mirrors the item’s real-life circumstances.

The tree grows bigger and lusher the longer a person keeps the chair, and it also responds when the chair is repaired, resold or traded for another item of furniture. At the end of its life, the chair can be recycled to trigger one final visualisation – an all-over blooming of flowers.

Space10 created Carbon Banks in partnership with Berlin studio WINT Design Lab to explore the potential for digital assets such as NFTs to build an emotional bond to items in the real world and help us to see them as less disposable.

“We know that furniture waste is a big problem,” Space10 creative Ryan Sherman told Dezeen. “Yet an item of wooden furniture can double as a carbon store for decades – if not longer – if cared for and recycled correctly.”

“Within the ever-evolving landscape of NFTs, we saw an opportunity to explore this technology as a promising vehicle by which to promote circular behaviours.”

With Carbon Banks, which Space10 is currently developing into a prototype, the experience begins when a person purchases a new Froset chair and scans the unique pattern on its seat with their phone.

This action “mints” their virtual tree, meaning the unique digital asset is recorded on a blockchain, after which it can be bought, sold or traded.

The owner would experience this action as the sprouting of a seedling that appears to grow from their chair in augmented reality.

If the chair is traded or sold, the NFT goes with it and the change in ownership is registered on the blockchain when the new owner scans the chair and the previous owner approves the transfer.

These changes add new, unique growths to the tree, as do acts of repair and maintenance. The tree’s character is also based on the production journey of the physical item, such as the type of wood used and the manufacturing location.

Creative studio Zünc developed Carbon Bank’s visuals, aiming to celebrate the beauty of nature while also giving the tree a more stylised and “grafted” look, mixing species chosen for their symbolic associations to the chair and its story.

“There’s a branch with oak leaves – a nod to the oak veneer of the IKEA Froset chair used in the film,” said Zünc Studio. “Pine needles are digitally pruned to resemble bonsai arrangements, a practice of care and patience.”

“And the ferns that unfurl after the repair of the leg are based on the resurrection fern, which felt appropriate.”

While NFTs have developed a reputation for being unsustainable due to the vast amounts of energy needed to power blockchains, Space10 explores how this might be changing on the Carbon Banks website and in a white paper developed with digital design studio Bakken & Bæck.

The researchers note that shifting to a more efficient proof-of-stake protocol – as modelled by blockchains such as Ethereum – can reduce their energy consumption by up to 99.95 per cent.

This opens up the opportunity to use blockchains for purposes other than speculation and investment, they say.

“NFT applications have evolved iteratively,” Sherman explained. “First there were ‘digital originals’ – one example being Crypto Punks – where collectability, community and exclusivity were key values.”

“Then we started seeing ‘digital receipts’: trackable tokens of ownership to physical objects,” he continued.

“Now, there’s a lot of digital twin work going on: adding a digital original to your physical object like ‘buy a pair of sneakers IRL and also wear them in virtual spaces’. It’s not that far from the mp3 download code you get with a vinyl record but the mp3s can be unique.”

Space10 positions Carbon Banks as the next generation of NFTs, which the studio is terming “digital amplifiers” as the technology is designed to “amplify” aspects of a physical object.

“Digital amplifiers are linked to physical objects via the blockchain and augment the items they are attached to, visualising the history of an object, our relationship with it and encouraging new behaviours,” Sherman said.

“It presents a unique time to move away from financial incentives towards care, where digital objects visualise and reward sustainable behaviours in our real world, creating opportunities for new forms of digital self-expression.”

Space10 is a Copenhagen-based research and design lab that works with the IKEA brand. It frequently addresses issues of sustainability and circularity with its concepts, prototypes and products, spanning everything from open-source Bee Homes to furniture that would use artificial intelligence to tell owners how it can be updated.

The studio has also worked with architecture studio EFFEKT on a subscription-based collective living proposal called The Urban Village Project, which would bring together people of different generations with shared facilities.

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Promotion: Los Angeles architecture school SCI-Arc returns with Making+Meaning, a four-week introduction to architecture programme that will take place in summer 2023.

The Making+Meaning course will provide students with in-person instruction on architectural representation via workshops, presentations and field trips.

“Students worked side-by-side with SCI-Arc’s faculty, as well as visiting architects and designers, to grow skills in drawing and model making,” said SCI-Arc.

“This provided participants with a platform to discover diverse perspectives and experienced insights in a lively and collaborative environment while generating a portfolio of creative work,” the school continued.

The one-month programme, which is currently accepting applications for its summer 2023 course, will also see students working closely with teaching members from SCI-Arc on studio-based projects. No previous architectural experience is required for entrants.

“Making+Meaning was a constant flow of creativity and innovation from the students, who were super engaged and tackled a myriad of challenging design problems,” explained SCI-Arc alum and Making+Meaning instructor Julia McConnell.

“Working collectively, we were able to curate a body of work that serves as a testament to the abilities and exciting new ideas that students bring to SCI-Arc every day,” McConnell added.

Among the topics that will be covered are drawing, modelling, full rendering techniques, full-scale animations AR and VR, 3D asset manipulation, lighting, cinema 4D, and social media distribution.

At the end of the course, students will present their projects in a group exhibition, which will take place at SCI-Arc’s LA Arts District campus, where they can receive feedback from architects and designers.

Previous courses saw students use various design and software techniques to make an object that corresponded to four letters in the alphabet.

For example, for the letter E, students had to design an earring. By the end of the course, students had learned how to create four distinct items.

“A weird combination of nervousness and smiles makes the whole experience worth it,” said Making+Meaning coordinator and SCI-Arc design faculty member William Virgil of last year’s programme.

“When we first meet a student, you can tell they seem faced with a reality that was not so clear when they walked through our doors but then the excitement washes into a “say what?” expression,” Virgil added. “By the end of the week, it’s all smiles when we are all reviewing the work.”

For more information, including how to apply to Making+Meaning, visit the SCI-Arc website.

Making+Meaning 2023 takes place from 5 July to 28 July 2023 at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles, California. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for SCI-Arc as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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