Hasta La Ideas

The founders of Australian studio Zuzana & Nicholas have used a “robust palette” of stone, concrete and steel to transform a former workers’ cottage in Brisbane into their own studio and house.

Located in the Red Hill neighbourhood, the cottage was originally designed in the Queenslander style that defines much of Brisbane’s suburbs – a type of timber-framed house elevated above an open undercroft and fronted by a veranda.

Architects Zuzana Kovar and Nicholas Skepper, the founders of Zuzana & Nicholas, looked to restore and update the cottage’s original character after alterations over the past century had seen its undercroft filled in and the majority of its original structure replaced.

“The project was conceptualised as a ‘shop-house’ and sought to resolve the combination of private domestic spaces with public studio space within the one building envelope,” the studio told Dezeen.

Maintaining the division between the undercroft and the home, the concrete lower level now houses the studio, while the timber-framed spaces above contain two bedrooms and the living, dining and kitchen areas.

The materiality of each of these areas reflects its use, with hardwood panelling in the living areas referencing the original structure, and a more utilitarian palette of exposed concrete and metal for the studio.

“The bedrooms, living room and kitchen have been remade with expressed timber framing in a native Australian hardwood, referencing the construction of the existing house but with a new material character that provides a texture and intimacy to the private spaces,” said Zuzana & Nicholas.

“The rooms at the back of the house, along with the architecture studio, have been made in a more restrained and robust palette of stone, concrete, rendered block and galvanised steel that feels appropriate for the semi-public and semi-external quality of these spaces,” it added.

In the studio, a concrete step and full-height sliding glass door allow access into the rear garden, alongside a book-lined staircase with steel panels to reflect natural light.

“When the studio sliding doors retract, the remaining enclosure is formed by raw concrete and masonry, giving the sense of a cool grotto on the edge of the garden, providing respite from the hot, humid climate,” said the studio.

On the upper level, a sliding wall at the rear of the home opens up a covered dining area overlooking the garden from a balcony of galvanised steel mesh.

Once closed, this sliding wall blends in with the white-painted wooden cladding on the exterior of the home’s upper storey.

Thanks to its position on a corner plot, the studio and house have separate entrances and addresses. The home is accessed via the front of the building and the studio is entered from the side street.

Other recent projects that have involved updates to traditional Brisbane cottages include an extension by John Ellway incorporating a series of small gardens and a raw timber and concrete extension by Nielsen Jenkins.

The photography is by Clinton Weaver.

Project credits:

Architect: Zuzana & Nicholas
Project team: Zuzana Kovar and Nicholas Skepper
Builder: Thirdson Constructions
Landscape design: Zuzana & Nicholas
Structural engineer: NGS Engineers

The post Zuzana & Nicholas transforms Brisbane cottage into own home and studio appeared first on Dezeen.

This week on Dezeen, we were the first to showcase Apple’s new events venue, built into a hillside at the technology company’s Apple Park campus.

The building, which was designed “as a contemplative space” featuring natural stone, terrazzo and wood, is the most significant addition to the campus since the Steve Jobs Theater opened in 2017.

It will be used to host launch events and showcase Apple’s latest technology.

We also unveiled the longlists for the 2024 Dezeen Awards, which champion design excellence and showcase innovation from architects and designers around the globe.

The architecture, interiors and design longlists were the first to be announced, followed by the sustainability longlist, which was revealed on Thursday. All of the projects that made our list can be found on the Dezeen Awards 2024 longlist page.

Construction has begun on a 206-metre-tall skyscraper in Omaha, set to be the “tallest skyscraper in Nebraska” upon completion.

Designed by US architecture studio Pickard Chilton, the tower will be the new corporate headquarters of insurance company Mutual of Omaha.

Another skyscraper to catch readers’ attention this week was a green-tiled tower by Studio Gang in San Francisco. Called Verde, the 23-storey building is the final tower completed in the first phase of the city’s waterfront Mission Rock development.

Paint brand Dulux unveiled its colour of the year this week. True Joy is an “uplifting” bright yellow colour, chosen for its bold and sunny disposition, which adds a sense of cheerfulness to interiors.

In other design news, this year’s UK James Dyson Award winner was named. The team behind Pyri, a pinecone-shaped wildfire detector built out of wax and charcoal, has won £5,000 to further develop the concept.

Chinese architecture studio MAD installed Tornado, its huge steel staircase, on top of the Fenix Museum in Rotterdam. The sculptural form is clad in 297 highly polished stainless-steel panels and its installation marks the topping-out of the museum.

Also in the Netherlands, Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis has created a sculptural fountain made of stacked onyx slabs for the Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

The piece reused coloured onyx stone slabs from the SolidNature installation at last year’s Milan Design Week.

After Burning Man drew to a close in the Nevada desert, we showcased 10 installations from the festival including this year’s effigy, which was designed as a series of elevated pathways made from wood.

In other US news, British studio Foster + Partners has renovated the modernist Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. The firm restored elements from the office skyscraper’s original design and linked it to a redesigned adjacent park.

In the UK, artist Alex Chinneck installed a six-metre-high looped canal boat on the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal to celebrate the heritage of the waterway.

The 13-metre-long and six-metre-high sculpture was created as a free-to-visit artwork and fabricated from steel and aluminium before being painted in traditional colours.

Popular projects featured on Dezeen this week included the conversion of a brutalist post office, a renovated loft in Brooklyn and a Czech provostry expansion.

This week’s lookbooks featured sumptuous members’ clubs and living rooms with sculptural coffee tables.

This week on Dezeen

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The post This week we exclusively revealed the subterranean Apple Park Observatory appeared first on Dezeen.

French firms always struggle to make do with the limited room found in tiny homes, since the country’s towing laws are pretty strict, and they dictate compact and small homes. To deal with the issue of excessively limited space in a tiny home, Plume created its recent Cosmos model with a clever space-saving interior that incorporates a handy netted upstairs area. Based on a double-axle trainer, the Cosmos features a length of 20 feet and is quite small compared to North American tiny homes.

Designer: Plume

The Cosmos features a finishing of thermally treated poplar cladding, and it is topped with an aluminum roof. A glass front door leads you to the living room, which is quite spacious for a French tiny home. The living room includes a sofa, coffee bed, shelving, and a wood-burning stove for warmth. The home is amped with loads of generous glazing, which creates a pretty light-filled interior. As you walk further into the home, you are welcomed by a kitchen. The kitchen is equipped with an electric oven, a propane-powered two-burner stove, a mini-fridge/freezer, a sink, and plenty of storage space. It also includes a small dining table. The kitchen and bathroom are connected, although the bathroom is pretty small, and features a shower, sink, and toilet.

The Cosmos has an upper storey which can be accessed via a staircase that is incorporated into the kitchen unit. The upper level includes the master bedroom, which is like most loft-style bedrooms found in tiny homes. Although the bedroom does include a door for some privacy. The opposite end of the floor hosts another loft-style bedroom which can be used for guests. Both the bedrooms are connected through the netted area, which is excellent for sitting and catching up on some reading. This section also allows sunlight to enter and spread throughout the home.

The post The Cosmos Tiny Home Features A Cozy Netted Upstairs Area For Reading & Chilling first appeared on Yanko Design.

Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 have taken another significant step forward in redefining personal tech by earning FDA approval to function as over-the-counter hearing aids. This announcement comes as no surprise given Apple’s continued focus on integrating health-related features into its devices. At $250, the AirPods Pro 2 are positioned as a cost-effective solution compared to traditional hearing aids, which often cost thousands of dollars.

Apple is also helping users become more aware of their hearing health through an integrated, clinically validated hearing test. Conducted right from the AirPods Pro 2 paired with an iPhone, the test takes just five minutes. Users simply respond to tones at varying volumes and frequencies, making it a quick and accessible method to check for early signs of hearing loss. The results are then stored securely in Apple’s Health app, where users can track their hearing health over time and share the data with healthcare providers if needed​. Given that 80% of adults in the U.S. haven’t had their hearing checked in the last five years, according to Apple’s findings, this feature could play a crucial role in detecting hearing problems earlier.

The technology behind this innovation leverages the AirPods Pro 2’s H2 chip. Users can perform these hearing tests right from the iPhone. Once the user completes the hearing test, the AirPods Pro can automatically adjust audio settings to amplify sounds specifically tailored to their hearing profile. This means that whether you’re in a conversation, listening to music, or on a phone call, the AirPods Pro 2 will enhance the sounds that matter most to you, making interactions clearer and more accessible. Unlike traditional hearing aids, which can be costly and often come with limited sound quality, the AirPods Pro 2 offers a more affordable and seamless solution. Apple’s tight integration of hardware and software ensures that users benefit from pro-level sound quality in every aspect, from listening to music to engaging in real-world conversations.

The FDA’s approval followed a clinical study involving 118 participants who experienced mild to moderate hearing loss. According to the results, the self-fitting feature of the AirPods Pro 2 provided comparable benefits to professionally fitted devices, with no adverse effects reported. This breakthrough is part of a broader regulatory shift in the U.S., which, starting in 2022, allowed for over-the-counter hearing aids. This effort was driven by a desire to provide more affordable options for the approximately 30 million Americans who suffer from hearing impairments. With regulatory approvals from bodies like the FDA, the hearing aid functionality will be available in over 100 countries, including the U.S., Germany, and Japan, Apple says.

Despite its potential, using AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids does come with limitations. Traditional hearing aids are designed to be worn for extended periods, offering maximum comfort and effectiveness. While AirPods Pro 2 are known for their comfort, they are still consumer-grade earbuds with a limited battery life lasting just a few hours rather than entire days. Their primary function remains entertainment, and they may not be suitable for people with severe hearing issues. Moreover, this functionality will only be available in the AirPods Pro 2 model, not the more affordable $130 or $180 versions of AirPods 4, which also launched recently.

Nonetheless, this is a critical development for accessibility in personal technology. Compared to traditional hearing aids, which can range from $2,000 to $10,000, Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 offer a solution at a fraction of the cost. Although Apple is not known for affordable budget-friendly products, its disruption of this market underscores the need for more affordable health tech options.

The post AirPods Pro 2 can now function as Hearing Aids after FDA grands Apple approval first appeared on Yanko Design.

Madrid architecture studio Ecosistema Urbano has created a modular tower with inflatable awnings and stacks of native plants to mitigate the effects of climate change in urban areas.

Polinature is a temporary installation located on the grounds of Harvard University to demonstrate a “short-term strategy that instantly generates biodiversity and climate comfort”.

Designers Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo of studio Ecosistema Urbano created the structure to act as an affordable, “plug-in” public space that simultaneously provides shelter while attracting local pollinators to urban areas that lack greenspace.

More specifically, it is designed for communities impacted by the “park equity gap”, which refers to a disparity in access to greenspace that disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of colour.

“As a result of the changing climate and the park equity gap, vulnerable communities will disproportionately face the largest consequences,” said the team.

“Polinature is designed as a temporary solution to mitigate the effects of climate change in these vulnerable communities. It can be part of a short-term strategy that instantly generates biodiversity and climate comfort while longer-term policies and projects are developed and implemented.”

Polinature was designed as a “kit-of-parts” which contains re-useable elements that are relatively easy to access, affordable and simple to assemble and disassemble per a locality.

It is made of three fundamental components; a scaffolding structure, native plants and awnings that surround its base.

The scaffolding is combined to create a vertical tower, which is stabilised by counterweights and wire, and then wrapped in rows of native potted plants, which draw visits from local pollinators.

The lower canopy system, produced by Rhode Island design studio Pneuhaus, provides shade, lighting and “climactic” comfort to visitors through an alternating pattern of white and orange “bubbles”.

The white units are “permanently inflated” and contain LED lighting, while the orange intermittently emits a burst of cooling air underneath in response to sensors that measure “climactic discomfort”.

For its Harvard University iteration, these sensors surround the structure and continuously measure climatic conditions such as humidity and air particulate matter, broadcasting it to tablets inside the installation and also to its website for public access.

It also contains a crown of solar panels placed to be able to power the structure.

The Polinature concept is designed to adapt to the materials and specific conditions of a given site, whether it be “parking lot, a public park, or in a vacant lot” and the team plans to offer technical drawings open-source, so the design is accessible to the public.

“Both plants and people can make a positive impact in addressing rising temperatures, and this installation provides the platform and tools both need to thrive,” said the team.

“Each component of Polinature plays an important role in combating extreme heat and making cities more equitable by allowing access to comfort for all.”

The photography is by Emilio P Doiztua

Polinature is on view in the backyard of Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities until mid-September 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Project credits:

Concept and design: Ecosistema Urbano
Project directors: Belinda Tato [Associate Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard GSD] and Jose Luis Vallejo
Coordination and execution management: Marco Rizzetto, Lily Liebes
Design team: Vicky Vlachodimou, Jorge Izquierdo, Elena Castillo, Julia Casado, Nadyeli Quiroz
Architect of Record: EvB Design-Edrick vanBeuzekom, Keith Giamportone, Aaron Fuller
Landscape contractor services and sensor design: Urban Horticulture Design-Andrew Leonard, Alexia Morosco, Weston Nurseries
Landscape installation: Salt Meadow Farms Landscapes and Nurseries-Dan Jensen, Laura Beebe
Scaffolding structure: Seacoast Scaffolding & Equipment-Bryan Pirani, Joe Kulpa
Inflatable canopy: Pneuhaus-Levi Bedall, Matthew Muller, August Lehrecke
Solar panels: Solect Energy-Bob Plakias
Solar panel system production: 621 Energy-Bob Clarke, Jordan Stephens
General contractor: Picker Construction-Pablo Picker
Design research: GSD Students Gabe Colombo, Elence Chen, Angela Moreno-Long
Screen display case: GSD Students-Marco Martins, Rachel Stefania Spodaryk Vroman, Aaron Stephen, John Andrew O’Keefe, Minyoung Hong
Air speed research and simulations: Corinne Leclerc
Web interface and sensor configuration:  Álvaro Hassan

The post Ecosistema Urbano creates modular plant tower with to “mitigate urban climate change” appeared first on Dezeen.