The Striatus bridge makes use of historic masonry construction techniques and modern technology explains Zaha Hadid Architects associate director Shajay Bhooshan in this instalment of Dezeen’s Concrete Icons video series produced in collaboration with Holcim.
The video features Striatus, a freestanding 3D-printed concrete footbridge designed to demonstrate how 3D printing techniques can be used to build with less material.
Striatus is a freestanding 3D-printed concrete footbridge
Speaking to Dezeen in an exclusive video interview filmed at Zaha Hadid Architects’ office in London, Bhooshan explained how the bridge was built to showcase the capabilities of unreinforced concrete and computational design.
“Striatus demonstrates that combining ancient wisdoms of masonry construction, modern technologies of design and engineering and 3D concrete printing, we can achieve a pathway to sustainable use of concrete,” he said.
The bridge is designed to showcase masonry construction and modern technology
The arched bridge was constructed from 53 hollow blocks, each printed from 500 layers of concrete ink, which took 84 hours to print.
The Striatus bridge was printed using a six-axis robotic arm that can print non-uniform, non-parallel layers, which allowed for the printing of arched components that can be used structurally.
The bridge is made from Holcim’s low-carbon ECOpact concrete ink
The bridge makes use of historic masonry construction techniques to enable the load of the structure to be distributed without the need for internal ancillary support, which means it is held together entirely through compression.
“Striatus is assembled the same way as other ancient masonry construction, which fully engages the compression capacities by thinking of concrete as an artificial stone,” Bhooshan said.
The bridge is constructed from 53 hollow blocks made with 500 layers of concrete ink
The bridge is dry assembled without any glues, binders or mortar, which means it can be more easily disassembled and recycled. Instead, it uses neoprene pads to control friction and stress concentration, as well as external ties to absorb thrust tension.
The lack of adhesives and mortar mean the bridge has a lower environmental footprint and improves its circularity.
“The masonry principles also help it to be extremely recyclable, because it is dry assembled, and there is no steel to be separated out,” Bhooshan said. “It can be dismantled and crushed and cleanly reused.”
Striatus is assembled without any adhesives and is held together solely through compression
Since the blocks used to make the bridge are hollow, considerably less material was used.
“The concrete ink is deposited layer by layer,” he explained.
“You can place material only where it’s needed a bit like our bones, which are hollow – there’s only material where there’s forces flowing through it.”
The concrete bridge was designed to be easily disassembled and recycled
Striatus was originally conceived for and installed in the Giardini in Venice, as part of the Venice Biennale in 2021.
It was built by Block Research Group at Swiss university ETH Zurich and the Computation and Design Group at Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA CODE), in collaboration with concrete 3D printing specialists incremental3D.
The bridge makes use of less material without compromising performance
Concrete Icons is a six-part video series created in partnership with building materials company Holcim, which profiles the most striking contemporary concrete buildings by the world’s leading architects.
Last week’s instalment focussed on The Square, a learning centre comprised of stepping cubic volumes by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.
The photography is by Naaro unless stated otherwise.
Partnership content
Concrete Icons is produced by Dezeen for Holcim as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.
Build the icons of the future with Holcim’s low-carbon ECOPact concrete, delivering up to 90 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions compared to standard concrete with no compromise on performance.
Find out more about how Holcim works with architects here.
A jagged metal roofscape shelters large open terraces at the Lateral Verandah House, a dwelling near Pune, India, designed by local studio Malik Architecture.
The home sits on a steep, densely forested site with dramatic views of the Tung Fort ruins to the east, close to another residential project by the studio.
Malik Architecture has created the Lateral Verandah House in India
Referencing this historical fort, Lateral Verandah House was built on a plinth of raw basalt stone, which steps down the site’s slope to create a gradual shift in levels.
“The familiarity and historical application of this stone in every type of shelter, from the village home to the forts, turns these heavy elements into a built landscape,” explained Malik Architecture.
The house is built on a stone plinth
“Everywhere, there are allusions to the surroundings and to the past,” the studio continued.
The home is organised across two levels, with sleeping and mechanical areas housed in the stone base and living spaces opening onto large terraces occupying the bright and open upper level.
Stepping and rotating slightly as they move down the hillside, these living spaces are wrapped to the north by a large infinity pool with a wooden terrace along its edge.
Full-height windows and glass doors shaded by wooden screens allow the lower bedrooms to open onto a sheltered terrace around a large tree.
It sits on a sloping forested site
Lateral Verandah House’s angular roofscape is supported by a combination of steel columns and flitch beams, covered in sheets of corrugated metal that are left visible. These sheets are punctured at points to allow light to enter or trees to grow through.
“The roof follows the stepping plinth as it adapts to the gradual shift in levels,” said the studio. “It undulates, shifts, sidesteps, hovers and allows the passage of the hill and of the existing trees as it provides shade and frames the near and distant views.”
An infinity pool stretches alongside the home. Photo by Edmund Sumner
The material contrasts of the exterior are carried through to the interiors. The upper levels have a minimal, contemporary finish of glass and white walls, while the lower level is defined by exposed stonework and concrete.
From the Philadelphia-based brand Picnic, helmed by designer Chloe Keene, the Bloom Necklace combines fine jewelry with playful, cartoonish elements. Crafted from sterling silver, the flower-shaped pendant features simulated aquamarine, pink tourmaline, golden topaz and a lab-grown white sapphire on each petal.
Australia is considering banning engineered stone after a joint investigation by three news outlets accused manufacturer Caesarstone of not doing enough to warn people of the dangers of working with the material.
The Australian government has directed its national policy body Safe Work Australia to start exploring a ban after an investigation by newspapers the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and current affairs programme 60 Minutes.
The investigation, which was published on 19 February, alleged that the popularisation of engineered stone – a composite material commonly used for kitchen countertops made from crushed stone, such as quartz, and a binder – has led to a rise in cases of the lung disease silicosis in Australia.
Engineered stone is safe when used as a worktop in the home but can be dangerous when cut because of the silica dust it sends into the air, according to the experts interviewed in the investigation.
The media investigation was published at the same time as Australia’s construction union launched a campaign calling for a ban on engineered stone, which has now been addressed by the federal government.
Safe Work Australia has been asked to explore what a future ban on the products should look like and will deliver a decision later this year.
This will include determining what percentage of silica in stone should be banned, with a licensing scheme covering those products with lower quantities. It has also been asked to examine how to deal with material that needed to be moved or demolished in the future.
“Safe Work Australia have the expertise to be able to work through exactly where the line should be drawn,” workplace relations minister Tony Burke said in a doorstop interview. “But wherever that line is drawn, it has to be drawn on the side of people being able to go to work and come home without a terminal illness.”
A decision on the ban is expected later this year, with the rules coming into effect 12 months later. It would make Australia the first country in the world to ban engineered stone, although New Zealand has indicated it may follow suit.
Deadly disease makes suffers feel “like being strangled”
Silicosis is an incurable disease caused by tiny particles of silica becoming embedded in the lining of the lungs. To contract the disease, people need to be exposed to high levels of silica over an ongoing period through, for example, drilling or cutting silica-containing material without protection.
The investigation by the three news organisations profiled stonemasons and tradespeople in their 30s and 40s who experience typical silicosis symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue and have been given prognoses of just years to live.
Lung disease specialist professor Deborah Yates described the symptoms as like being “strangled” or “having your lungs contracting from inside”, and said rates of the disease had been increasing in Australia for the last decade.
“I’ve never seen such young people with silicosis,” she told 60 Minutes. “I think my youngest is 27. It’s really distressing; I could not believe it when I saw these patients with such severe disease.”
While silica is also found in natural stones such as marble and granite, it is in lower quantities than in engineered stone made with quartz, which can contain up to 97 per cent silica, according to Safe Work Australia.
Caesarstone accused of not taking responsibility for dangers of engineered stone
Founded in Israel in 1987, Caesarstone was the first company to import engineered stone into Australia but has sought to distance itself from the dangers of working with the material, the investigation alleges.
In 2012, lung disease expert Mordechai Kramer, director of the Institute of Pulmonary and Allergy Medicine at Bellison Hospital in Tel Aviv, authored a study that was originally titled Caesarstone: Silicosis Disease Resurgence Among Artificial Stone Workers.
Kramer said he had hoped Caesarstone would work with him to address the safety issues around the material, but claimed that he was instead threatened with legal action. The journal eventually changed the name of the paper to omit the mention of Caesarstone ahead of publication.
“I think it’s outrageous,” he said. “They’re not taking responsibility for something they created. This is a case of severe diseases and death.”
“In the past years, we didn’t have any silicosis cases in Israel; this was a very rare disease. But since 2006 we started to see rolling in one patient after another, and very severe cases that needed lung transplantation. And then we found that all of them were working with the new engineered stone of Caesarstone.”
Caesarstone claims to have placed prominent warnings on all of its slabs since 2010 when it “recognised the problem of silicosis”, but 60 Minutes branded this as “a cynical exercise” as the text on the labels was so small as to be barely readable. A redesigned sticker with larger text, warning icons and clearer wording was introduced in 2018.
Caesarstone denies “distasteful” allegations in statement
In response to the allegations in the investigation, Caesarstone issued a statement claiming its material is entirely safe if handled correctly. It said the disease risks were the result of non-compliance with product handling requirements, and that these were the fault of employers and work safety bodies.
It called allegations “distasteful” and “entirely without foundation”, stating that all stone contains potentially risky silica, not just engineered stone.
“Caesarstone has been providing clear warnings to customers about the quartz content of engineered stone, the risk of silicosis and safe handling procedures since the 1990s,” said Caesarstone Asia-Pacific managing director David Cullen in the statement. “These predate Caesarstone’s entry to Australia.”
“Since 2010, when Caesarstone recognised the problem of silicosis, every slab has carried a prominent warning,” he continued. “We have also focused heavily on fabricator education, and we have engaged closely with government through our participation in state-based taskforces in NSW, Queensland and Victoria and the National Dust Disease Taskforce.”
“The engineered stone industry has matured greatly in recent years, with a significant improvement in professionalism, work practices and safe handling by fabricators. This needs to continue. Banning a product that can be handled safely makes no sense. Licensing an industry to ensure full compliance does make sense.”
Dezeen Showroom: British brand Morgan Furniture has released the Kaya collection of dining and lounge chairs, which combine precision-cut solid wood with soft upholstery.
The Kaya collection was designed to provide a feeling of “relaxed luxury”, according to Morgan Furniture, and is said to evoke a sense of “komorebi” – the Japanese word for sunshine filtered through leaves.
The solid wood Kaya collection includes dining chairs
Every piece features a frame made of smooth, curving wood struts cut by CNC machine — a contrast to the more commonly seen large timber components in chairs — and sculpted upholstery made using any fabric of the customer’s choice.
“Relying on trends in the design world means whatever you produce will be bound by the tastes of a certain point in time,” said Morgan creative director Katerina Zachariades. “At Morgan, we like to look to things which have stood the test of time, from artwork of various styles to elements of the natural world.”
The smooth, curving frames are cut by CNC machine
The Kaya collection consists of small, large and high-back lounge chairs as well as two dining chairs. It is made with beech wood as standard or can also be specified in walnut or oak.
Morgan Furniture uses the timber that is removed in the the CNC cutting process to help heat its manufacturing facility via a biomass boiler.
Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.
Italian architect Paola Navone has joined Dezeen Awards 2023 as a judge. Here she selects five projects that best reflect her studio’s work.
Navone says she has “a free and nomadic nature”, which informs her practice, ranging from interior, furniture, graphic and accessory design to creative direction.
“I’m a dreamer, instinctive and always curious about the world,” she told Dezeen. “Somehow all of these things spontaneously flow in my way of being a designer.”
Navone is founder of Milan-based multi-disciplinary design office OTTO Studio, which is currently working on a project for Como Hotels in Burgundy as well as an interiors project in Athens, amongst others.
Submit your entry before Wednesday 29 March to save 20 per cent on entry fees. Click here to log in or create an account.
Read on to find Navone’s views on the five projects that best represent the work of her studio.
Photo by Dario Garofalo
Hotel 25hours Piazza San Paolino, Florence, Italy
“We enjoy interiors projects because it’s a bit like writing a new movie script – we are always the same authors but each new movie is unique.
“25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino in Florence takes cues from Dante’s symbolism of hell and paradise.
“The theme has allowed us to set a sequence of amazing scenography that involves the guests in an immersive and imaginative experience.”
Photo by Delfino Sisto Legnani
BiMstrò, Milan, Italy
“BiMstrò communicates our passion for ephemeral design, upcycling and reuse.
“The concept behind this temporary bar in Milan is upcycling. We used existing, raw and poor materials, hand-made finishes as well as recycled objects and furniture in an unexpected way.”
Azul Sofa by Turri
“All our projects are born from unexpected alchemies that always make them a little special.
“Azul Sofa by Turri is a blue velvet sofa characterised by macro weaving. The fabric allows you to discover a unique handmade weaving technique which gives the sofa a special softness.”
Baxter
“At OTTO Studio we enjoy mixing the perfection of the industrial process with something imperfect like craft.
“The singular Baxter leather furniture works the leather as a fabric. The extensive research on colours and touch makes these sofas particularly comfortable and cocooning.”
Hybrid
“Hybrid is an eclectic collection of indoor and outdoor fabrics with strong graphics and patterns.
“The collection was designed for the extraordinary manufacturing excellence of the brand Mariaflora.”
All images courtesy of Paola Navone.
Dezeen Awards 2023
Dezeen Awards celebrates the world’s best architecture, interiors and design. Now in its sixth year, it has become the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The annual awards are in partnership with Bentley Motors, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the brand work with Dezeen to support and inspire the next generation of design talent.
A stadium by Zaha Hadid Architects and housing by Adjaye Associates feature in this roundup of upcoming wooden buildings, curated as part of our Timber Revolution series.
Also featured on the list are towers, university buildings and an airport terminal, illustrating mass timber‘s potential for use in a variety of architectural projects.
Mass-timber products, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam), are growing in popularity in architecture as they can offer a low-carbon alternative to commonplace materials including steel and concrete.
They also help to bring a natural aesthetic to buildings, supporting the principles of biophilia that can boost occupant wellbeing.
Read on for 11 upcoming buildings with mass-timber structures:
Set to become the world’s first timber football stadium, Eco Park by Zaha Hadid Architects will be built in England as the home of Forest Green Rovers football club.
According to the studio, the 5,000-seat venue will be built almost entirely from wood – including its overhanging roof, structure and cladding.
In Switzerland, the world’s tallest wooden building, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen, is currently under development. The 100-metre-tall tower will have a timber core and load-bearing structure.
Slated for completion in 2026, it will be clad in terracotta and sit alongside three other blocks. Together, these will form a complex containing everything from housing to shops.
Timber House by Adjaye Associates is expected to become one of the largest residential mass-timber structures in Canada.
Once complete, it will combine affordable housing units with residences for senior citizens, enclosed by a distinctive gridded facade with planted balconies.
The design forms part of the wider Quayside development in Toronto, which will also feature buildings by Alison Brooks Architects and Henning Larsen Architects and is hoped to become “the first all-electric, zero-carbon community at this scale”.
Timber sourced locally in Switzerland will be used to construct Dock A, the mass-timber terminal that BIG and HOK are developing for Zurich airport.
Its main structure will be formed of V-shaped timber columns, giving the building a natural material palette that nods to the long-standing tradition of wood construction in the country.
“The visually calm material palette, natural light, and biophilia help redefine passenger expectations of the typical airport experience,” said BIG partner Martin Voelkle.
Creating a circular building that eliminates waste and pollution is the aim of the Tilburg University Lecture Hall, which Powerhouse Company is designing in the Netherlands.
The square-shaped building will be built with demountable and recyclable components, including 4.6 kilometres-worth of structural timber beams and hung limestone facade panels.
Scheduled for completion in 2026, Living Landscape is a mixed-use building designed to transform a landfill site in Reykjavík.
According to its architects, Jakob+MacFarlane and T.ark, it will become the “largest wooden building in Iceland” upon completion thanks to its CLT structure.
The studio is also aiming for the building to achieve net-zero lifetime carbon emissions, which will be achieved in part through the use of timber but also through renewable energy.
Large, undulating sections of glulam are being used to create the sculptural Naples Underground Central Station, which is currently under construction in Italy.
Barcelona studio EMBT said that the use of wood is intended to “introduce a piece of nature” to Centro Direzionale, the surrounding 1970s district designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange.
Another education building on the list is a student hub designed by Alison Brooks Architects for the University of Cambridge. It will have an expressed CLT and glulam structure, concealed externally by copper cladding.
The studio said the timber’s sequestered carbon “will more than offset the emissions from regulated carbon emissions produced from building services installations and unregulated carbon emissions from day-to-day building use”.
One of the more unusual projects on the list is a mass-timber extension to an existing mill in Dublin, which will be one of the tallest timber buildings in Europe when it completes.
Named Dock Mill, the project by Urban Agency will use CLT to ease and quicken construction on the restricted waterside site.
A double-skin glass facade will wrap the timber structure of the new extension, which the studio envisions as a “modern take on the glasshouse”.
In Milan, a green-walled tower with a mass-timber structure is set to be built alongside the 1950s Pirellino office skyscraper.
Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Stefano Boeri Architetti, it forms part of a wider renovation project of the existing Gio Ponti-designed building, to which it will be linked by a multi-storey glass bridge.
Its timber structure will be complemented by 1,700 square meters of green walls that will change colour with the seasons.
Timber Revolution This article is part of Dezeen’s Timber Revolution series, which explores the potential of mass timber and asks whether going back to wood as our primary construction material can lead the world to a more sustainable future.
Design writer Max Fraser has been named the new editorial director of Dezeen.
Fraser will start the position on 20 March 2023, a role that will see him oversee Dezeen’s editorial, digital and partnerships teams, which are responsible for Dezeen’s editorial output.
Fraser’s appointment follows the sudden death of Marcus Fairs, Dezeen’s founder and former CEO and editor-in-chief, on 30 June 2022.
Fraser a “hugely talented and experienced design writer”
“Our search for an editorial director has been a lengthy and exhaustive process, with an extremely competitive field of candidates,” said Hobson, Li and Bhogal.
“Max is a hugely talented and experienced design writer who really impressed us with the scope and ambition of his editorial ideas. We feel he will complement our existing team extremely well to ensure Dezeen continues to set the global agenda for architecture and design.”
Fraser said: “I’m delighted to be joining Dezeen’s senior leadership team as editorial director. I can remember when Dezeen was just a seed of an idea, which Marcus and his team rapidly nurtured to become the internationally influential media platform that it is today.”
He added: “Following the tragic and unexpected death of Marcus, it is with great privilege, gratitude and humility that I join the rest of the talented Dezeen team to carry his legacy forward into the next chapter of this thriving venture.”
Role at Dezeen the latest step in Fraser’s 20-year career
Fraser has worked as a commentator in the design industry for more than 20 years.
He is the author of more than 10 books including the Design UK series, Designers on Design co-authored with Terence Conran, the London Design Guide series as well as monograph titles on Piet Hein Eek, Luca Nichetto and Benjamin Hubert.
In parallel, Fraser has worked internationally as a consultant delivering content and strategy for varied companies and institutions.
He was the deputy director of London Design Festival from 2012 to 2015 and has run his own small publishing imprint Spotlight Press since 2009.
Fraser’s appointment as editorial director concludes a four-month recruitment process, which started on 1 November 2022 when Hobson and Li were announced as co-CEOs of Dezeen.
Architecture studio Coffey Architects has revamped an office in central London and added a dedicated entrance that lets cyclists ride straight into the workplace.
Coffey Architects aimed to update the “underperforming and outdated” 10 Exchange Square building in Broadgate, which was originally designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 2004.
The cycle-in entrance is decorated with neon graphics
The studio retrofitted the lobby and three upper floors of the 12-storey building owned by developer British Land. At its ground level, it added a cycle-in entrance with 133 bike storage spaces.
A “supersized” neon graphic draws attention to this entrance where there is also a bike repair station and showers.
A second entrance is marked by an illuminated elliptical sign
“The idea came as we considered the poor provision for cyclists in the existing building in light of our continued efforts to create buildings that connect people to their environments for the good of the planet and the wellbeing of the buildings users,” said Coffey Architects director Phil Coffey.
“We saw the opportunity for our intervention to encourage a sustainable journey, from home to desk.”
Coffey Architects added a timber-clad pavilion to the lobby
The main entrance on the other side of the building was also given an update by Coffey Architects with a bespoke oak-clad pavilion placed in the lobby where the two entrances connect.
“The pavilion completely transforms the front and side face of the building from being hard and cold, both geometrically and materially, into a welcome that is warm, curvaceous and responds to the softness of the newly designed Exchange Square,” said Coffey.
“It glows warmly in the evening, acting as a piece of public art, expressing British Land’s focus on active and expressive ground floors and showcasing the benefits of the building – the cycle-in entrance, storage and amenities on arrival.”
The pavilion was made from European oak
Throughout the renovation Coffey Architects aimed to retain and reuse the existing fabric including the flooring, ductwork and toilets, while 99 per cent of all waste from the project was recycled.
“There’s no need to knock down buildings with ‘good bones’,” said Coffey.
“The existing building here is of high quality, but was just not in line with the current London office market offer or contemporary user patterns, such as cycle commutes.
“Retrofitting the entrance reinforces our view that commercial ground floors can be reworked to encourage healthy, smooth and practical commutes… and can add an uplift in value for owners.”
Spanish designer Jorge Penadés draws on unlikely sources for inspiration, from toilet-roll tubes to shelving strips. In this interview, he explains why cares more about how things are put together than how they look.
Madrid-based Penadés, 38, works across furniture, lighting, interiors and accessories.
His work is underpinned by a fascination with the construction systems behind design objects, which he considers more important than the finished aesthetic.
“I don’t end up with beautiful objects right away,” he told Dezeen.
Penadés created his Wrap furniture by replicating the process typically used for manufacturing toilet-roll tubes. Photo is by Uxio da Vila
“I prefer to put more energy and time into thinking about the further possibilities of what we are creating, rather than the outcome of what we’re going to sell right away,” he said.
This doesn’t mean that Penadés creates unattractive designs, but it does mean his projects often incorporate innovative production methods or make clever use of simple materials.
Instead of cardboard, the Wrap furniture is formed of hollow tubes of cherry wood veneer. These are linked by solid wood ball joints, resulting in a framework that is extremely lightweight and inherently versatile.
Presented at Madrid Design Festival, the Wrap furniture combines wood veneer tubes with solid wood joints. Photo is by Uxio da Vila
Another project saw him build a series of quick-assembly pavilions and furniture pieces out of nothing but plywood boards and kinesiology tape. The latest iteration– titled Tape! Tape! Tape! – was shown at the Alcova exhibition in Milan last year.
Penadés said he is “particularly obsessed with construction systems and joints”.
He believes that, rather than focusing on single objects, it’s more useful to design an assembly system than can be used in endless configurations so the idea can take on a life of its own.
Penadés first created quick-assembly pavilions out of plywood and tape for the Concéntrico exhibition in Logroño, Spain, in 2018. Photo is by Josema Cutillas
“I find it interesting to make a structure that allows someone else to create whatever they want. You create whatever and it’s not up to me,” he said.
“It takes a little bit longer to design a smart construction system, but once you get to this point the possibilities are endless,” he continued.
“That’s why I like joints. I like to design things that offer more possibilities than just a lamp or a bench.”
Using “what already exists”
The designer has also applied this thinking to materials.
Structural Skin, a project that Penadés first developed in 2015 for his masters degree at IED Madrid, involved creating a new material out of waste leather.
By shredding leather offcuts and combining them with bone glue – a natural binding agent that, like leather, is a byproduct of the meat industry – Penadés created a solid material that could be shaped like wood.
Structural Skin saw the designer create a new, solid material out of scraps of waste leather. Photo is by Brenda Germade
When cut or shaved, the material reveals colourful patterns reiminscent of marble or wood grain.
This project led many to think that recycling was the driving force behind Penadés’ material choices. In fact, he is broadly interested in any material that is readily available at volume.
His projects are just as likely to incorporate off-the-shelf materials and components.
“A lot of people see me as having a recycling mindset, and in some ways I do,” he said. “But it’s more accurate to say that I’m interested in finding new possibilities in what already exists out there.”
A new approach for Camper
Penadés is selective when it comes to brand collaborations. He finds that, while manufacturers are interested in his appraoch, it doesn’t easily translate into their way of producing products.
“The conversation always ends the same: ‘Jorge, we really like your thinking but we don’t know what to make with it’,” he revealed.
However one brand has embraced it. After creating a store for footwear brand Camper, the Mallorca-based company asked him to oversee its interior design going forward.
Penadés created a colourful Camper store in Málaga, Spain, using off-the-shelf components. Photo is by José Hevia
On discovering that Camper can often spend a year “fixing things that didn’t work” after a new store installation, Penadés decided to take an approach that instead prioritised functionality.
His first store, in the Spanish city of Málaga, was constructed entirely from ubiqitous metal profiles, held together by corner plates, and nuts and bolts. Crucially, he and his team built the entire thing themselves in Camper’s factory.
Every piece of furniture in the Málaga store is made from metal profiles, corner plates, and nuts and bolts. Photo is by José Hevia
Despite its modest contruction, the design is highly distinctive and characterful.
“I realised what I could do was make a shop that would actually work,” Penadés said. “I didn’t invent anything. I just used what was available and twisted it to create a new language.”
“My goal was to go beyond the conventional way of doing things, using something that exists already,” he said. “I think this really summarises my approach. It’s about creating a new way of constructing that delivers something unexpected.”
Read on for an edited transcript of the interview:
Amy Frearson: Can you explain the Wrap project and the idea behind it?
Jorge Penadés: My main interest is in how you can, with very little, do as much as possible. I’m particularly obsessed with construction systems and joints.
When AHEC invited me to this project, I had already semi-developed an idea to translate the production process behind the cardboard tubes you find in rolls of kitchen paper and toilet paper. I was interested in how, with two sheets of very thin material, you can create a structure. I decided to translate this production process into wood veneer.
We developed a process for glueing 0.7-millimetre-thick sheets of wood veneer against each other in opposite directions to create a pipe. Together with solid wooden joints, we created a construction system. The result is a two-level seat, a long shelving unit and a table.
Amy Frearson: Do you see greater potential for this system? What possibilities does it offer?
Jorge Penadés: There is great potential. It’s amazing that, with a 0.7-millimetre-thick material, you can make a structure that is strong but also light. I can lift that five-metre-long shelf all by myself.
Waste is something that we all have in mind nowadays. The binder for these tubes is just a very thin layer of glue, so there is not much energy, time or resources needed. It makes sense to push it further. Now, it’s a matter of finding a company that is keen to develop products. Because the challenge is to go from these one-off pieces to start developing a more efficient, industrial production process for these pipes.
The Wrap furniture includes a two-level seating bench, a long shelving unit and a table
Amy Frearson: What first led you to think about translating toilet roll tubes into furniture?
Jorge Penadés: Around 2015 or 2016, I became fed up of being called the leather guy.
For my masters graduation project, I had developed a new material called Structural Skin out of leather offcuts. I would shred these leather leftovers in a paper-shredding machine and mix them with bone glue, which is basically collagen. Both components are byproducts from the food industry. This created a new material.
I started trying to find more solutions for using leather in a structural way. At the time I was talking to Pascale Mussard of Petit H, a startup within Hermès, who was comissioning artists and designers to work with Hermès’ offcuts. She was interested in doing something together, so I started this study.
We developed this leg, made by rolling leather and glueing it together. Because it was so inefficient, and because we were wasting so much leather, we decided to do a test with a cardboard kitchen roll inside. This was where the magic happened. I became more interested in what was happening inside than in the finished product. That led me to start to investigating this cardboard production world.
Amy Frearson: Do you think it would be possible to create a version in leather?
Jorge Penadés: I have already developed it. I’m really drawn to leather so, whenever I have a new idea, I often model in leather. It’s a material I find very easy to work with.
My first thought was how to translate the cardboard tube into leather, because cardboard has a low-cost perception and I wanted to elevate it. I like to decontextualize a material or a production process, to mix up things that don’t have an obvious relationship to each other.
That’s also why, when I got the AHEC commission, it was obvious to me to work with wood veneer rather than solid wood. I’m always trying to find that lateral angle, to try to do something that has not been done before.
The Tape! Tape! Tape! project, presneted at last year’s Alcova exhibition in Milan, saw Penadées turn plywood boards into furniture. Photo is by Delfino Sisto
Amy Frearson: Beyond cardboard tubes, mass-produced and off-the-shelf components appear to be a regular feature in your work. What attracts you to these elements?
Jorge Penadés: I’m interested in structures and particularly in joints, which are the key elements of a structure. It’s something about versatility and flexibility. I find it interesting to make a structure that allows someone else to create whatever they want. You create whatever and it’s not up to me.
It takes a little bit longer to design a smart construction system, but once you get to this point the possibilities are endless. That’s why I like joints. I like to design things that offer more possibilities than just a lamp or a bench.
Amy Frearson: It’s quite unusual for a designer to be more interested in the production process than the end product. Does this cause issues when you’re working with brands/manufacturers?
Jorge Penadés: It’s funny you ask this. I have had many conversations with manufacturers and – apart from BD Barcelona, who I worked with on a collection of vases – none of them have really understood what my work is about. The conversation always ends the same: “Jorge, we really like your thinking but we don’t know what to make with it.”
The problem is that I don’t end up with beautiful objects right away. I prefer to put more energy and time into thinking about the further possibilities of what we are creating, rather than the outcome of what we’re going to sell right away. That’s just the way I work and the way I like to work. I prefer to wait until someone trusts this way of working.
Amy Frearson: Can you give me an example of a project where you have been able to apply this approach?
Jorge Penadés: The Tape project is a good example. I was invited to Concéntrico, an architectural festival in Spain. The brief was 20 plywood boards and €2,000 for production. I came up with this concept to built structures using only these boards and kinesiology tape [a flexible tape typically used for athletic injuries]. I said I wanted to translate a knowledge of kinesiology tape to architecture, on the basis that bones and muscles are all also structures. But really I was thinking about how I could create a very temporary solution. The festival is only one week and at the end, I wanted to be able to resuse the wood. So we ended making a pavilion using just plywood and tape. We built it in three hours.
After that, Jane Withers invited me to bring the idea to the Brompton Design District in London. I didn’t want to make the same joke twice, because it’s not funny any more, so I told her I wanted to further explore it. I said I wanted to do three pavilions in three different locations, each built and disassembled on the same day. We did the first in front of the V&A. The second was outside South Kensington station. The third was supposed to be on Exhibition Road, but because it was raining we were sent inside the underpass. It meant we had to come up with a new solution in 30 minutes.
My original proposal for the last day had been to cut all the boards and turn them into furniture for people. I still had this idea in mind when Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi approached me to do something for Alcova at last year’s Milan design week. So I spent one week making furniture live.
This all shows how fast and intuitive you can be with this construction system that is just plywood boards and tape.
A recent Camper interior combines reclaimed olive wood furniture with repurposed tie-down straps. Photo is by Asier Rua
Amy Frearson: Are you able to apply the same kind of thinking to the retail projects you are working on with Camper?
Jorge Penadés: I think that’s how I ended up getting involved with Camper. As I said, my design approach is about doing the maximum with very little resources, which I think is a very Mediterranean type of thinking. Countries in the south of Europe have not been the wealthiest; if you don’t have a lot of resources, you have to make the most out of them.
Camper is very linked to the Mediterranean, as it based in Mallorca, and was looking to switch mindsets. They had pioneered the Camper Together format back in the early 2000s, linking their brand with particular designers, architects and artists. That formula has since been widely replicated and no longer feels pioneering, so they wanted to go back to their Mediterranean roots to find a new strategy.
I think that’s why they invited me to do a few shops for them and why they ended up asking me to take on this role as Camper studio director.
Amy Frearson: Can you explain how you approach a Camper store interior, and how that differs from the high-profile architects and designers they have worked with in the past?
Jorge Penadés: A good example is the Málaga store, the first one I did. Camper has a huge warehouse full of unique pieces, almost museum pieces, from Gaetano Pesce, Ingo Maurer, the Bourellec brothers, Jamie Hayon, you name it. There are pavilions by Kengo Kuma and Shigeru Ban.
They wanted me to take pieces from all these designers and make a shop out of them. When I saw this huge warehouse, I thought: “Who am I to touch these pieces?” I didn’t want to do a Frankenstein.
Camper told me that, usually when they do a new shop, the architect or designer would plan a scheme then hand it over to a constructor to build. Once the shop was open, Camper would then typically spend a year fixing things that didn’t work. Here I was, three years out of school and I had never designed a shop in my life. I realised what I could do was make a shop that would actually work.
I told them: “I’m not going to follow your brief. Instead, I’m going to build a shop for you myself. That’s the only way I can make sure it will work. I’m going to bring my team to Majorca and we’re going to prototype a full-size shop here. You’re going to complain, because for sure I will do something wrong. But I’m going to solve it for you. Once we’ve agreed that it works, we’ll send it to the location to be installed.”
Amy Frearson: How did that play out?
Jorge Penadés: They liked my attitude and I think they saw the potential in the idea.
We did it with only three main elements: a perforated metal profile that you can find in any hardware store, triangular metal corner plates from the same system, and nuts and bolts. I didn’t invent anything. I just used what was available and twisted it to create a new language. We had a lot of fun doing that. We created every single element of the shop: the counter, the seating, the shelving. We created hinged doors with magnets, so they could have storage under the tables. We also developed a typography with these triangles.
My goal was to go beyond the conventional way of doing things, using something that exists already. I think this really summarises my approach. It’s about creating a new way of constructing that delivers something unexpected.
Amy Frearson: It seems to me that, at a time of concerns about sustainability and resources, many designers are trying to shift to a materials-first approach. But what you’re saying is that this approach is actually what comes naturally to you?
Jorge Penadés: Yes exactly. A lot of people see me as having a recycling mindset, and in some ways I do. But it’s more accurate to say that I’m interested in finding new possibilities in what already exists out there. In this example of the Camper shop, it was an off-the-shelf shelving system. The shop has my name on it, but really it should have the name of the designer behind this. It’s the smartest structure that I can think of. You can do anything with it.
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