Hasta La Ideas

In this week’s comments update, readers discussed recently released trainers informed by Frank Lloyd Wright sketches.

Kith released pair of New Balance trainers, which were informed by Frank Lloyd Wright sketches, but commenters weren’t convinced by the connection to the 20th-century architect’s work.

“Nothing to do with Frank Lloyd Wright”

Mark Favermann considered the trainers “seem like quite a weird stretch to capture the design aesthetic of FLW”.

Paul was more forthright in asserting “these sport shoes have nothing to do with FLW. Stupid marketing.”

“If these had been made of wood and stone, with water-flicking technology that generates little waterfalls at various angles, I might have been convinced,” joked dc2bcn.

Snessnyc conjured a fun mental image when they asked “can anyone imagine FLW wearing sneakers?” But Layla thinks “these are fuego”.

On fire or Frank Lloyd flop? Join the discussion ›

“A very finely done, right-scale, well-planned building”

London practice Archio has completed white brick housing block for London Community Land Trust overlooking a new public square. Archio’s “Extremely well done,” commented JZ. “Love the scale of the intervention, the planning, materials and detailing.”

Melon thought that “the modelling and shadows already add interest, and when the residents start to occupy the balconies with planting, parasols and personal touches that white will form a nice canvas.”

“Bravo, said Marius. “Another example of a subsidised housing project designed by architects with care and effort.”

They continued “this is a very finely done, right-scale, well-planned building – kudos. It is tight, yet thought-through in detail, and it dignifies the experience of living there. White brick is a great choice. London can take some brighter tones.”

However Alfred Hitchcock thought “the white brick makes it look rather institutional and characterless.” Gytis Bickus echoed the sentiment when they said it “looks like a bit of a blank canvas at the moment”.

Brilliant white or blank canvas? Join the discussion ›

“Cuteness in architecture”

North Arrow Studio completed a corrugated metal accessory dwelling unit in East Austin featuring a custom, circular pivot window that is reminiscent of the round opening in a birdhouse. Commenters debated its merits.

IDracula thought it was “Cuteness in architecture, love this little structure.”

“Interesting plan and fun windows,” agreed Otto ADU. “Especially curious about the garage door in the living room. Did that have to be permitted as a garage space in Austin?”

Butnotreally wanted answers as well, asking “what is the purpose of the garage door in the living room?”

“The exterior resembles a roadside auto repair shop, while the interior beams have the sterility of an operating theatre,” commented Cmabe55. “Nice touch to give it the impression of an avian dwelling, as I can’t imagine humans wanting to live in such a silly yet dull space.”

Beautiful birdhouse or bird-brained dull space? Join the discussion ›

“Maybe this is what happens when you get so big and in demand”

Dutch studio MVRDV has released visuals of Van Gogh Homeland, an architecture and sustainability biennale launching in the Netherlands named after Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, which will attempt to shine a light on the environmental pressures and flood risks currently facing North Brabant’s landscapes.

Commenters were cynical about what Van Gogh had to do with any of it.

HeywoodFloyd was upvoted for saying the project “can most charitably be described as confusing”.

“With the exception of some remarkable recent projects, MVRDV’s approach to architecture continues to become increasingly jokey, erratic and superficial,” reflected Architect Incognito. “So many talented people work there, but to me, the output appears more and more frantic and in search of the next big formal gesture.”

“Maybe this is what happens when you get so big and in demand, and clients basically assume your genius and look to you for confirmation: too few people tell you that what you propose is just pure sh*t,” they continued.

Tom Roberts joined in, lamenting “a lot of ugly, while the artist created such dynamic beauty.”

Some were reminded of another similar MVRDV project in London that was recently a bit of a disaster. “Another dry grass pile of scaffolding coming to your town,” said Max.

Vincent van great or van godawful? Join the discussion ›

Comments update

Dezeen is the world’s most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page and subscribe to our weekly Debate newsletter, where we feature the best reader comments from stories in the last seven days.

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Tech giant Google has created an installation with American artist Lachlan Turczan that explores the “hidden qualities of water” at Milan Design Week.

Called Shaped by Water, the installation is set inside a redeveloped industrial building in the city’s centre and divided into three distinct spaces.

The first two contains newly commissioned artworks by Turczan, in which mirrored stainless steel basins filled with water are effectively used as giant speakers, vibrating at different frequencies to create hypnotic wave patterns.

“Sound becomes a tool that allows you to sculpt this pool of water into a dynamic shifting landscape,” the artist told Dezeen.

The third and final room showcases different Google hardware products and illustrates how the design was informed by the unique performance characteristics of water, such as its surface tension.

“We wanted to give guests a first-of-its-kind experience that reveals the hidden qualities of water when acted upon by sound and light,” said Google’s vice president of hardware design Ivy Ross.

“Water is easily recognised in its various forms, yet it has distinct and unique qualities that are not always evident – qualities that we caught glimpses of during our design process.”

Visitors enter the installation via a bright white room, filled with 11 of Turczan’s reflective stainless steel basins, as part of a work called Sympathetic Resonance.

Internal transducers vibrate each basin at a different frequency based on the resonant frequency of that basin, which in turn creates distinctive wave patterns based on the size of the basin.

“For all intents and purposes, they are actually just large speakers,” explained Turczan, who cut his teeth choreographing water displays such as the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas before starting his art practice.

While the smaller vessels have higher frequencies and create faster, tighter wave patterns, some of the bigger vessels have such low frequencies they are below the human audible spectrum, creating more sluggish waves.

“You have these waves happening at such low oscillations, it’s almost like stop motion,” Turczan said. “For me, it’s really exciting to think about it as a way of sifting time. It’s making you feel like everything is moving slower.”

Three of the smaller basins were also designed to respond to the proximity of the visitor, as assessed by several overhead cameras. The closer the spectator gets, the more intensely the basin vibrates and the more erratic the wave pattern becomes.

The second space, containing Turczan’s artwork Wavespace, is reminiscent of a blacked-out theatre and allows visitors to take in not just a single tone but a whole piece of music via the ripples it creates in the basin.

Here, there are only two basins – each illuminated by a pendant light fitted with a custom optic lens for a shade. This helps to re-focus the light that is reflected and refracted by the water and projects it onto a circular overhead screen.

“I spent nearly a decade developing this set-up,” Turczan said. “It’s really similar to how early telescopes worked.”

Each basin is encircled by a round sofa, inviting visitors to recline and look up at the screen above so they can watch the way the water moves in response to a 10-minute song, merging classical and electronic melodies.

Over the course of the song, the vibrating basin creates a range of different hypnotic visuals, sometimes reminiscent of a kaleidoscope and other times evoking a timelapse of tiny organisms seen through a microscope.

“It’s like looking into a fire or cloud gazing,” Turczan said. “People’s imaginations will get triggered.”

“I’m working with a couple of hotels to build a permanent architectural space around this,” he added. “Since it’s so musical, I also like the idea of treating it kind of like a concert venue, where the audience is in the centre and the musicians play around you.”

The installation’s third and final space showcases different Google hardware products including last year’s Pixel Watch.

The smartwatch is displayed next to what appears to be one of its rounded glass displays but in reality, is simply a flat disk topped with a puddle of water that holds its smoothly curved shape only due to the surface tension of the water.

“We actually did these live water experiments where we would drop water onto a disk,” said Google industrial designer Jessica Choi. “And we would look at the tension the water droplets create and then carry them over directly to our products.”

This is the third time that Google has exhibited at Milan design week and the first time the company has returned since the coronavirus pandemic. The brand made its Milan debut in 2018 with an exhibition on how electronic devices can become more tactile, created in collaboration with trend forecaster Li Edelkoort.

The following year, the brand partnered with scientists for an installation exploring how different aesthetic experiences can impact our health and wellbeing.

Shaped by Water is on display at Garage 21 from 18 to 23 April 2023 as part of Milan design week. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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Copenhagen-based Natural Material Studio and designer Zuzanna Skurka have created an installation at Milan design week from soft bio textiles made from surplus bricks.

Called Brick Textiles, the project is on display at Alcova – a travelling exhibition platform for independent design that is held at a different disused site in Milan each year.

Natural Material Studio worked with Polish designer and researcher Zuzanna Skurka to create the textiles from highly porous repurposed bricks that were classified as waste after demolition projects.

“Rule one is, you should work with materials that are already there,” studio founder Bonnie Hvillum told Dezeen in Milan.

The textiles were made from a combination of crushed bricks bonded together with Procel – a home-compostable, protein-based bioplastic of natural softener and pigments developed by Natural Material Studio.

Featuring a distinctly reddish hue, the textiles were divided into large, roughly-cut slabs that hang suspended from the roof on metal bars in a room at Alcova to form a dramatic installation illuminated by skylights.

Natural Material Studio and Skurka drew upon traditional weaving techniques to create the textile, which was made by incorporating bricks and Procel into a “biomaterial matrix”, according to Hvillum.

The material owes its strength, colour and texture to the bricks, which create unique swirly patterns on each slab that are produced randomly during the “fluid casting process”, she explained.

“We were very curious about this question of how can architecture be flexible, more simple and translucent even? added Hvillum. “It’s all the opposite aspects of a brick.”

“When we think of brick it’s like a solid, rigid, structural wall,” she continued. “But how can we make more flexible and fluid architecture today?”

Holes were pierced into the corners of the slabs so that they can be linked together.

While the water-resistant textile is already being used by interior architects as room dividers, Hvillum said that the studio hopes that one day it could form whole walls.

“The way we build and how we live in the built environment shapes us, so if we can build a more flexible and organic biomaterial, we want to start the exploration of what that experience is,” she continued.

This year, the Alcova exhibition takes place at a former slaughterhouse in Porta Vittoria. The formation of brick-based textiles hangs from metal bars where meat once hung at the site.

“There’s something funny and a little bit rough about that image,” acknowledged Hvillum.

The materials specialist explained that Brick Textiles intends to salvage something from the past and propose fresh ways of thinking about an existing resource.

“It’s new materials we’re developing, so we still don’t know everything about them,” she reflected. “And that’s the beauty and honesty of it.”

Established in 2018, Natural Material Studio has created a number of repurposed materials for wide-ranging projects. These include crockery for a seafood restaurant made from leftover scallop shells and clothing created with algae, clay and foam.

Brick Textiles is on display at Alcova from 17 to 23 April 2023 as part of Milan design week. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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Six interior design studios, including Kingston Lafferty Design and T.ZED Architects, have overhauled a room at the 1930s L’Appartamento for commerce platform Artemest at Milan design week.

The designers each used furniture, lighting and art from the brands, designers and artists represented on the Artemest platform to showcase their own style in a room at the apartment in Milan’s 5Vie district for the L’Appartamento exhibition.

“We wanted to bring this stunning apartment back to life and show how different interior design studios, each with its own style and design approach, can work with Artemest to create inspiring and surprising interiors that celebrate authentic Italian beauty,” said Artemest founder Ippolita Rostagno.

In the entryway, Dubai-based studio T.ZED Architects aimed “to set the tone for what is yet to come” by preserving the character of the room and adding selected pieces.

The studio choose a mix of furniture in off-white, cream and brown, including copper and leather finishes that plays off the green tones of the richly patterned, period wallpaper.

Mirrors – including a Sybilla mirror with console by Ettore Sottsass for Glas Italia, and an Itaca floor mirror by Atlasproject – were placed to illuminate and enlarge the space, while amplifying the period details.

In the adjoining room, Dublin-based studio Kingston Lafferty Design aimed to “challenge visitors’ sense of what a living room should be” by placing a sculptural monolithic block seems to glow with a soft golden sheen in the centre of the space.

The block splits the room into two distinct spaces and contains a mirrored space described by the studio as “a gallery of lights”.

On one side of the block is an informal living room that evokes a sense of playfulness through the use of oversized furniture in bright colours, including the Osaka Blue Sofa by Pierre Paulin for La Cividina.

The other side has a rich palette of jewel-tones to creates a more decadent atmosphere.

Leading from the living room a large terrace was reworked by Miami-based studio Moniomi, which aimed to create an outside room that felt like an interior space.

The studio used a combination of large-scale upholstered pieces, gridline patterns and graphic blacks and whites, softened by lush greens to reference the outdoor location.

The design language here features saturated colours and layered patterns – including the Nuovola 01 dining table by Mario Cucinella for Officine Tamborrino, which represent the studio’s Hispanic roots.

Another US-based designer, Nina Magon, created the L’Appartamento dining room, playing with monochromatic hues to enhance the authenticity of the original finishes here.

Sculptural furniture, such as the Trompe-l’oeil Trois dining table by DelMondo Studio, topped with a cluster of Flow[t] pendant lamps by Nao Tamura for WonderGlass was added to the space.

In the bedroom, Dubai-based studio, Styled Habitat, delved into the history of the 1930s to translate the romance of that era into the modern day and evoke a sense of timeless glamour.

To capture the experimental and avant-garde trends of European modernism, Styled Habitat juxtaposed new and old, with a Czech Chair by Hermann Czech for Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, alongside pieces like the Calle Pinzi Murano Glass Chandelier by Luci Italia.

Finally, for L’Appartamento’s hallway and the studio, Paris-based interior designer Anne-Sophie Pailleret was informed by her first reaction to seeing the apartment.

The long, narrow hall, has been covered with the textural Tra 1100 Wallpaper hand-crafted by La Scala Milano Wallcovering, contrasting with geometric Alfabeto Tiles by Margherita Rui for Ninefifty, on the floor.

The walls are further decorated with Ninfea wall lamps by Giovanni Botticelli in collaboration with Paola Paronetto, functioning as a gallery-style grouping of lights.

For the studio room, Pailleret created a mix of warm colours and graphic patterns, with comfortable and curvaceous furniture.

The photography is courtesy of Artemest.

L’Appartamento takes place from 17 to 23 April 2023 at Via Cesare Correnti 14, 20123 Milan, Italy. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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Austria-based studio Juri Troy Architects designed the Straw Flea House – a visually intriguing and angular cabin located in the historic village of Murstetten. Built using locally sourced timber and straw, the rustic little cabin is designed to be a cozy weekend home, placed alongside a historic barn surrounded by green. The location is outside the village’s center, and is quite a peaceful and idyllic site, making it ideal for a weekend getaway, where guests can relax and unwind.

Designer: Juri Troy Architects

The cabin consists of a single bedroom, so it’s not exceptionally large and cannot accommodate too many people. But its location is wisely chosen, and the house has been oriented to allow views of nearby landmarks such as a church, through its huge windows. The cabin was constructed in collaboration with a local studio called Caravan Atelier and was designed to cause a minimal impact on the surrounding environment. Hence, it was constructed using locally sourced and processed timber, and insulated using straw. “The house is elevated and only touches the terrain via the eight screw foundations; this means that no ground surface is sealed. Most of the materials used come from the immediate surroundings. The wood, both for the structural elements and for the surfaces, comes from the client’s own forests and was processed in the neighboring sawmill,” said the studio.

The interiors of the cabin include a living, dining, and kitchen area in a single space. The bathroom is located in the northern corner, with a mezzanine floor on top which holds the sleeping area. The sleeping space can be entered via a wooden staircase. As you may have noticed, the roof of the cabin slopes downward to the south, and it shelters a raised wooden terrace, and full-height folding glass doors. The wooden terrace and the stairs can be retracted using a system of pulleys, ensuring that the cabin can be closed-off if needed.

“The new building plays free of the surrounding buildings and stands solitarily, self-confidently, and naturally in the midst of the historical remains,” said the studio. The large panorama windows are aligned with the historical and landscape references, and offer an unrestricted view towards the church, into the valley, or to the remains of historical status in the park,” concluded the studio. The Straw Flea House is a comforting and cozy home that makes for a sweet getaway from city life and gives you a glimpse into simple village life if you’re looking for a taste of it.

The post Rustic holiday cabin in an Austrian village was built using locally sourced timber and straw first appeared on Yanko Design.