Hasta La Ideas

Artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann’s firm Studio Other Spaces has designed five buildings and seven pavilions within the Meles Zenawi Memorial Park in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Created in memory of the country’s former prime minister, the buildings in the 65-hectare park, located directly to the north of the city, were developed over a decade by Studio Other Spaces.

Described by the studio as an “anti-monument” they were built for the Meles Zenawi Foundation to commemorate the life of Meles Zenawi, who was the president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and then prime minister until his death in 2012.

“Meles Zenawi Memorial Park is not a singular form to be passively observed by onlookers, but rather an expansive, multifaceted landscape where visitors are invited to actively co-produce its purpose and meaning,” explained the studio.

Within the park, which was designed in collaboration with landscape architecture studio Vogt,  Studio Other Spaces created a series of round structures that contain an events space, guesthouse, office, research centre and library.

Alongside these buildings, seven round pavilions connected by a path that runs through the landscape were erected as spaces to explore and reflect.

“By designing a socially horizontal space, we have expanded the meaning of the word ‘memorial’ beyond the memory of a single leader to include the many memories of the countless people, whether from the cities or countryside, whether old or young, rich or poor, who make up the country of Ethiopia and who themselves have lived its history,” said the studio.

“The hope is that the memorial park can accommodate the many, often complex feelings and reflections around Meles Zenawi’s legacy, from celebration and optimism to grief and reckoning.”

While sharing the same basic rounded form, each of the buildings has a different plan and utilises direct materials to create a varied visual appearance with the guesthouse, library and office set alongside each other.

The single-storey guesthouse has a central circular courtyard and is surrounded by colourful freestanding walls positioned in concentric rings.

Traditional plastering techniques adopted from the old city of Harar were used on the walls, which involved plastering many layers on top of each other to create a rough texture.

Near it, Studio Other Spaces designed the office building as a spiral, with a core spiral walkway and external walkway wrapping glazed workspaces and meeting rooms.

“The building’s transparency and flowing sequence of spaces express the openness, introspection, and cooperation that drive the foundation’s work,” said the studio.

Completing the trio, the library building has a spiral form that expands towards the top, intended as a “gesture to the library’s possible expansion and the constant growth potential of knowledge”. 

A spiral staircase with deep steps at the centre of the building provides a social space to sit and read, lit from above by an opening in the roof terrace.

“While the closed, solid exterior suggests the introverted nature of the building’s use for reading and study, a patio at the upper end of the spiral provides an expansive panorama and space for outdoor recreation,” explained Studio Other Spaces.

Set slightly below the guesthouse, library and office, the research centre contains five circular ground floor spaces, which contain four workspaces and a spiral staircase, that conjoin at first floor level to form the main research space.

It has a sculptural form decorated with stone-clad walls, which follow a gradient pattern of grey stones at the bottom of the walls changing to ochre-coloured stone at the top.

“The building’s unorthodox design creates a striking presence within the landscape and, in a way comparable to how sculpture defines space, frames the public terraces cascading out from beneath it,” said Studio Other Spaces.

Separate from the other buildings, the events space was created to host conferences and exhibitions.

Its curved concrete walls have a ribbed texture created by using bamboo formwork and it was topped with a rooftop terrace that has views across the city.

Connected by a trail, the seven pavilions were designed to represent stages of Meles Zenawi’s personal and political life, based on the themes of education, debate, struggle, transition and constitution.

“Stretching along seven commemorative stations on the western side of the park, a memorial trail traces the childhood, education, and services of Meles Zenawi, aimed at representing the upbringing and political circumstances of his generation and what it could have meant to grow up in Ethiopia during this period,” said Studio Other Spaces.

Now the Meles Zenawi Memorial Park is complete Studio Other Spaces are concerned that the landscape will not continue to be used as a community space as it was intended.

“The ongoing political upheaval in Ethiopia means there is no way to be sure if the park will fulfil its original vision as a cultural institution and peace project,” said the studio.

“After a decade of collaboration and creation, it is possible that the project will fall into disuse, or will be repurposed altogether to serve other, less civic-minded interests,” it continued.

“The hardware is all there, but what remains to be deployed is the software needed to activate the park – the community, minds, and scholarship that the project is intended for.”

Founded in Berlin in 2014, the studio has completed a number of public spaces and design projects worldwide, including a conical glass pavilion for a Californian winery and an installation at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale displaying fungi and trees.

The photography is by Michael Tsegaye courtesy of Studio Other Spaces unless stated.

Project credits:

Design collaborators: Fasil Giorghis Architects and Kidus Hailesilassie
Contractor: Varnero
Stonework: Quartet Art Studio
Landscape design: Vogt

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Dezeen Showroom: British furniture maker Ercol‘s sister brand L.Ercolani is launching an updated version of Norm Architects‘ Reprise chair, which features the brand’s signature steam-bent timber combined with soft upholstery.

The Upholstered Reprise chair is an update on Norm Architects’ 2020 design, which L.Ercolani describes as “an effortlessly graceful seating solution with a refined, subtle presence”.

In the revised version, set to launch in September, there is an altered seat and additional back cushion that the UK brand says will bring further comfort and support.

The wide, embracing armchair features the traditional woodturning and steam-bending techniques developed by the brand’s Italian founder Lucian Ercolani, who began working with these approaches in 1944.

In the case of the Upholstered Reprise Chair, a single piece of timber is steam bent to create the sinuous, enveloping line of the backrest.

The chair is available in a choice of two woods — solid ash or walnut — and eight finishes. It can be upholstered in a wide variety of fabrics and leathers by the likes of Kvadrat, Sahco, Sørensen and Camira.

Product: Upholstered Reprise chair
Designer: Norm Architects
Brand: L.Ercolani
Contact: info@lercolani.com

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An Italian company that makes candied fruit now has a dedicated space for cookery demonstrations, designed by Milan-based architecture office Co.arch Studio.

Cesarin has produced its fruity bakery products at a factory between Verona and Vicenza in Italy for over 100 years.

Co.arch Studio founders Andrea Pezzoli and Giulia Urciuoli worked with the company to create a pop-up kitchen for hosting live-audience events and filming videos for social media.

Built from plywood, this double-height structure is located on the first floor of one of the company’s existing factory buildings.

It incorporates a demonstration counter area, a kitchen, a meeting room, and storage and toilet facilities.

The design concept developed by Pezzoli and Urciuoli was to create the impression of a singular, solid volume within the room.

“The new volume was designed as a large piece of furniture, inspired by Antonello da Messina’s painting San Girolamo Nello Studio,” explained the duo.

The Renaissance artwork they refer to depicts a priest sitting in a study room where architecture and furniture appear as one.

“This painting is known for the impeccable use of perspective, restoring the image of a space that is lived in but at the same time utopian and rigorous,” Pezzoli and Urciuoli said.

Here, a similar effect is created. The structure was designed to look like a box with openings carved out of it, each incorporating a different function.

The demonstration counter sits within a large void at the front, although it is set on castors so it can be moved around.

A rectangular niche in the side wall creates a casual seat, while an arched doorway frames a staircase that leads up to a mezzanine level that functions as the meeting space.

The kitchen and toilet facilities are located within the volume, accessed from either a side door or via the counter area, while a cloakroom slots in underneath the stairs.

“The wooden volume highlights the height of the ceiling, defining the rhythm of the spaces with plays of solids and voids, and creating unprecedented internal views,” said the architects.

The plywood is made from okumè, a timber with a similar appearance to cherry.

The idea was to reference the fruit that Cesarin is best known for; the land surrounding the factory is famous for its Prunus Avium plantations, which produce a particularly sweet type of cherry.

Behind the plywood panels is a balloon-frame structure, with pillars and beams made from fir wood.

The entire construction was prefabricated by a carpentry workshop in South Tyrol, allowing the architects to achieve “a quality that would otherwise be impossible”.

The rest of the space is painted white, allowing the wood to stand out.

Pezzoli and Urciuoli liken the overall effect to that of a theatre. “To emphasise the theatrical aspect of the space, light wavy curtains resembling a curtain were used to darken the numerous windows,” they added.

Other recent projects in Italy include the Boyy flagship in Milan designed by Danish artist Thomas Poulsen and a sushi restaurant designed to resemble a futuristic spaceship.

The photography is by Simone Bossi.

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Designed by Robert Hutchison Architecture and Javier Sanchez Arquitectos, the Rain Harvest Home, or Casa Cosecha de Lluvia is nestled in the rural town of Temascaltepec, which lies about 140 kilometers west of Mexico City. The family nature retreat features an extensive system for capturing and reusing rainwater!

Designer: Robert Hutchison Architecture and Javier Sanchez Arquitectos

Located in the mountains of Mexico, the Rain Harvest Home was designed for the founder of Javier Sanchez Arquitectos and his family, who plan to make this their permanent residence in the near future. It includes the main house, an art studio, and a bathhouse. Bio-agriculture gardens, an orchard, and a network of pathways were the various landscaping elements included in the home. The team said that permaculture principles were used to “establish a holistic, integrated relationship between people and place”. Now what is permaculture? It is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture and permanent culture and is an approach to design and land management that is inspired by natural ecosystems.

All of the structures in the properties were designed to capture and reuse rainwater and ensure that they are mindful of natural resources, especially water. “Here, as in the surrounding region of Central Mexico, water has become an increasingly precious resource as temperatures rise and populations increase,” the team said. “Rain Harvest Home takes a different tack, proposing an integrated approach to designing regeneratively with water,” they continued. It occupies 1200 square feet and can be used all year round. It has a generous amount of covered outdoor space and stunning views of the surrounding landscape on all sides.

The three structures were designed specifically to capture rainwater. Bioswales in the landscape ensure that water is directed to the property above, and below-ground reservoirs have been installed where water is captured and purified. “The on-site water treatment system is completely self-contained and primarily gravity-fed, containing five cisterns that provide potable and treated water,” the team said. “A chemical-free, blackwater treatment system treats all wastewater on-site, returning it to the site’s water cycle as greywater for use in toilets, and to irrigate the on-site orchard,” the team concluded.

The post Rain Harvest Home in Mexico was designed to capture and reuse rainwater first appeared on Yanko Design.

Although Sony just debuted their first handheld gaming console ever since the PSP Street in 2011, the device, codenamed Project Q, received a lot of negative attention for how limited it was. The handheld console would, according to Sony, only work with the PS5, streaming games over a local WiFi connection. In short, you could only ‘stream’ games off the PS5 using a local internet connection, rather than playing your PS5 games anywhere. The folks at RIG were having none of that. Designed to be everything gamers wanted Sony’s Project Q to be, the RIG Nacon MG-X PRO gives gamers the ability to play all their favorite AAA games on the small screen, wherever they go. With its ergonomic design that lets you sandwich your smartphone in between, the MG-X PRO comes specially made for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, giving you the ability to play all your favorite console games wherever you go. It’s also MFi-certified, allowing you to tap into your iPhone for some upper-echelon gaming that goes beyond the Apple Arcade.

Designer: RIG

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The design of the  MG-X PRO places emphasis on familiarity and ease of use. Crafted to mimic the layout of an Xbox controller, the device includes Home/Nexus, View, and Menu buttons, as well as clickable asymmetric analog sticks. This design pays tribute to the traditional gaming feel while keeping pace with the advancements of mobile gaming technology.

Where the RIG MG-X PRO truly shines is its adjustable phone cradle. Engineered to accommodate a variety of iPhone models, starting from iPhone 6 and newer, this versatile cradle comfortably fits screens up to 6.7 inches in size. So whether you’re still cherishing your old device or have just upgraded to the latest iPhone, this wireless mobile controller has you covered.

Gaming can sometimes get pretty intense, and you’d be right to worry whether your phone, quite literally, is in good hands. To that very degree, the RIG MG-X PRO is designed with rubberized clamps, ensuring that your phone remains secure while you’re in the thick of the action. The last thing you need in the middle of a virtual battle is your device slipping out of its holder, and whether it’s an Android device or iPhone, the MG-X PRO holds onto it pretty snugly and securely.

The RIG MG-X PRO connects to your device using Bluetooth 4.2 (+ BLE), which ideally isn’t as low-latency as WiFi, but it does keep your phone’s WiFi antenna free to connect to external networks so you can stream your games effectively. Although designed for the Xbox Game Pass, the controller works with other gaming platforms too, including Steam Link, Nvidia GeForce Now, PS Remote Play, and even Apple Arcade. The controller comes with its own built-in battery that promises 20 whopping hours of gameplay on a full charge. It juices in a mere 2 hours too, letting you jump right back into gameplay after a quick break.

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The post The Sony PlayStation ‘Project Q’ Controller Already has a Potent Xbox Rival That Plugs to you Smartphone first appeared on Yanko Design.