Dezeen School Shows: a spa that integrates natural materials including stone and mineral plaster is included in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at Drexel University.

Also included is an education centre for agriculture in Puerto Rico and a music venue situated by the Trinity River in Dallas, USA.

Drexel University

Institution: Drexel University
School: Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism
Courses: BArch, BS Interior Design, MS Interior Architecture and MS Design Research
Tutors: William Mangold, Dee Nicholas, Andrew Phillips and Frances Temple-West

School statement:

“Drexel University offers the nation’s top programs for experiential learning with dedicated co-op work experiences and a mission of civic engagement.

“The Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism includes undergraduate programs in architecture and interior design and graduate programs in interior architecture, design research and urban strategy.

“Work from our programs explores qualities of place and considers that our lives are constantly shaped by the spaces we inhabit.

“At all scales, we respond to the form, light and materials of the world around us and we actively engage our social and natural environments.

“Through research and design interventions, our work enhances our lives and promotes community.”

Architecture as Séance: A Dialogue Across Time by Lauren Tennenbaum

“Architecture embodies both history and visions of the future.

“The way we inhabit old buildings then can be a form of seance: a dialogue with the ghosts of our past to grapple with history and take agency in constructing heritage.

“Utilising Philadelphia’s landmark brutalist Roundhouse building – former home of the Philadelphia Police Department – this thesis explores how design can amplify or subvert experiences of place and history, enabling us to reimagine our relationship with the past as an active conversation, always in progress.”

Student: Lauren Tennenbaum
Course: MS Interior Architecture
Tutor: William Mangold

The Mix: Adapting to Gentrification Through Community Place-Making by Ananya Vijayendra

“This thesis project focuses on addressing socio-economic disparities in the Chelsea neighbourhood of New York City through strategic design interventions.

“Unlike typical gentrification that causes physical displacement, Chelsea is experiencing ’emotional displacement’ where long-term residents feel out of place amid rapid development.

“The project creates ‘third spaces’ – community-oriented areas separate from home and work that facilitate social interaction between different socio-economic groups.”

Student: Ananya Vijayendra
Course: MS Interior Architecture
Tutor: Sarah Lippmann

Temple at Tiffany’s: Finding Meaning in Contemporary Material Culture by Nihitha Sreenath

“Temple at Tiffany’s is a set of interior interventions that explore our complicated relationship with material culture.

“The project examines our aspirations of luxury and questions widely accepted symbols of status and appearances.

“Tiffany’s is a symbol of prestige that operates through mechanisms of reification, fetishisation and phantasmagoria to construct meaning and produce objects that embody wealth and power.

“The interventions within the flagship Tiffany’s store on fifth Avenue in New York City engage with the tension inherent in these mechanisms of status – we adore these luxury objects, yet they perpetuate stark inequalities.”

Student: Nihitha Sreenath
Course: MS Interior Architecture
Tutor: William Mangold

The Connemera Greens: Kylemore Abby Hospitality Project by Jules Pipinos

“Transforming an old Irish castle into a destination hospitality venue is a vital step in cultural preservation, offering a unique blend of history and modern luxury.

“This initiative not only safeguards the architectural heritage of the castle but also breathes new life into its storied halls, making them accessible and relevant to contemporary audiences.

“By incorporating live music, several bars and lounges, the project creates a vibrant social hub that celebrates Irish culture and traditions.”

Student: Jules Pipinos
Course: BS Interior Design
Tutor: Karen Pelzer

Agricultural Education Center in Puerto Rico by Almudena Munoz Ferran

“This agriculture education centre located in Puerto Rico will house volunteers in an immersive education program who want to learn how to work and cultivate their own land.

“The program will give them the necessary tools to create their farm or garden in Puerto Rico or wherever they choose to do so.

“The building will also serve as a community space, offering neighbours a place to meet, shop for fresh produce and take an array of classes, including on topics related to home gardens.

“The project is meant to address the lack of agricultural production in Puerto Rico in a holistic and vibrant way.”

Student: Almudena Munoz Ferran
Course: BS Interior Design
Tutor: Marie Mastrobattista

Museum for History and Cultural Expression by Adelyn Winger

“This thesis explores recent controversies surrounding ethnographic museums and the decolonisation of art, with the goal of designing a space that is culturally sensitive and can pioneer a new age of museums.

“This space will combine classical elements with modern technology to create a 21st-century museum that paves the way for the future of education and curation, whilst attracting people from various cultural backgrounds to come together and learn.

“The space will function as an educational and community space for users to have a cup of coffee and write or sketch.”

Student: Adelyn Winger
Course: BS Interior Design
Tutor: Frances Temple-West

Footprints of Urban Heritage, Revitalising Kembang Jepun by Anjelica Soesanto

“Once a vibrant place where my grandparents fell in love, Kembang Jepun now suffers from a declining population, making it an unfavourable and unsafe area.

“My thesis suggests rejuvenating this historic street by honouring its urban heritage and attracting people to live, work and socialise there again.

“I propose a design inspired by vernacular Indonesian architecture for the heart of Kembang Jepun that includes mixed-use buildings and street amenities tailored to residents and visitors, creating ‘third places’ at multiple scales that serve as anchors of community life.”

Student: Anjelica Soesanto
Course: BArch
Tutor: Kelly Vresilovic

Reshaping the Trinity: The Dual Performance of Critical Infrastructure by Rachel Sasson

“The project considers the dual ability of the Trinity River to function as both essential stormwater infrastructure and a vibrant public space.

“The floodway, an expansive landscape between two levees, has historically divided Dallas communities both physically and socially.

“The proposed redesign integrates ecological strategies to manage water, with features including a dynamic stage for outdoor music, house ticketing, vending and other support programmes.”

Student: Rachel Sasson
Course: BArch
Tutor: Joanne Aitken

Beyond Birth: Crafting Supportive Postpartum Environments by Teagan Robinson

“There are three million pregnant women in the United States each year, and many feel like candy wrappers: packaging to be discarded after use.

“American apathy towards the female experience after birth is reflected in our lack of standardised postpartum care.

“This has contributed to one of the highest maternal death rates in the developed world, with more than half occurring after birth – according to the World Health Organisation, many of these deaths are preventable with proper postpartum care.

“This thesis explores the role of interior design in providing this crucial support, aiming to improve outcomes for both mothers and infants.”

Student: Teagan Robinson
Course: MS Interior Architecture
Tutor: Jihyun Song

Reflective Effect: Materiality Impact on Embodied Cognition in Experience Design by Banan Baeesa

“This thesis explores the relationship between humans and the environment by combining reflective materials and immersive design.

“Reflective surfaces can transform spaces and their symbolic and illusionary aspects blur the traditional boundaries between internal and external characteristics.

“It can bridge the gap between the occupants and the surrounding space and is a spatial phenomenon that allows people to observe themselves in their surroundings.

“Reflective materials in interior spaces create engaging and immersive user experiences by taking advantage of our embodied cognition, and these materials aid in the physical body’s complete immersion in its environment.”

Student: Banan Baeesa
Course: MS Interior Architecture
Tutor: Telsa Love

Nature Connection: Integrating Nature into Sensory Design by Chi-Ying Lin

“This thesis explores the integration of sensory and natural design elements within a spa environment to enhance mental wellbeing and create a transformative experience.

“The design utilises visual, auditory, olfactory and tactile stimuli to craft a holistic experience that is aesthetically pleasing and promotes relaxation and ease.

“The use of natural materials such as wood, stone and mineral plasters, along with strategic placement of plants and water features, aims to replicate the calming effects of the natural world.”

Student: Chi-Ying Lin
Course: MS Interior Architecture
Tutor: Lisa Patusky

Entwine – Elementary Education Interwoven with Nature by Yael Asman

“Entwine is a fun elementary school that I would have loved to send my kids to.

“When working on this project, I aimed to create a design that is a plethora of engaging experiences related to the natural environment.

“This is conceived as architecture that is dynamic and multifaceted at some locations and peaceful and harmonious at others; however, the principal idea of the design is employing the natural environment as a tool to inspire natural curiosity and motivation of independent learning.”

Student: Yael Asman
Course: BArch
Tutor: Kelly Vresilovic

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Drexel University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Drexel University spotlights twelve architecture and design student projects appeared first on Dezeen.

This Hybrid Dog Harness is by Seoul-based industrial design firm BKID. Designed for situations where your dog can be on- or off-leash, the retractable tether’s handle can simply hang from your dog’s back, when you don’t need to handle him or her. I would’ve loved to have something like this, back when I used to bring my dogs to a public dog run. It eliminates the hassle of leashing and unleashing.

“TAILHIGH’s 2-in-1 harness & leash is lightweight and extremely strong. The 5-foot retractable leash is designed for convenience and safety, providing you just enough length to walk your dog without being tangled in the lead. Our award-winning, patented, two-way lock system provides a safety stop for when you need more control.”

Designed during the pandemic, it’s in production by pet brand TailHigh. The design has since spawned numerous knock-offs, despite being patented.

These run $60, but at press time their website was encountering difficulties.

You know that handheld gaming PCs have made it big when major PC manufacturers join the fray. At this point, almost every major brand has put out its own take on mobile gaming, not to mention the smaller names that really pushed this niche market long before it became mainstream. Acer was noticeably the only one that was falling behind, but that all changes today at IFA 2024. With the Nitro Blaze 7, not only is it coming out with its first-ever handheld gaming PC, it’s arriving guns blazing (pun intended) with the latest AMD Ryzen chip boasting powerful AI capabilities to take your experience beyond just gaming.

Designer: Acer

If there’s one area that Intel has pretty much been left behind, it would be the nascent handheld gaming PC race where AMD’s Ryzen has become the chip of choice since the Valve Steam Deck. Conversely, Intel has been ramping up its new AI-powered processors, and AMD is now pushing its Ryzen AI generation to new PCs in every form. Being a bit late does have its share of benefits, and Acer’s first stab at a handheld gaming PC is able to immediately gain the lead in this area, with the new AMD Ryzen 8040 series and Ryzen AI giving the portable computer a needed boost.

The AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS inside the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 boasts 39 AI TOPS (tera or trillion operations per second), putting it in the same league as many AI-powered laptops. Teamed up with the AMD Radeon 780M and 16GB of RAM, you’ve got the makings of a powerful gaming beast that can fit into a small bag. Then there’s the 7-inch 1920×1080 144Hz IPS touch display with 100% sRGB color gamut support, delivering vibrant and bright visuals, even for the darkest of horror games.

What really sets a gaming handheld apart, however, are its controls, which often translate to joysticks and buttons that you’d also see on gamepads. The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 also features touchscreen support for more direct interaction with UI elements on the screen, while the traditional joysticks and d-pad offer more precise control. There’s also a dedicated hotkey that brings players to their game libraries without having to fumble with half a dozen menus and screens. This customized Acer Game Space feature fixes one of the biggest pain points of Windows gaming: managing titles from different platforms and sources.

The Acer Nitro Blaze 7’s straightforward and simple design eschews complicated and extraneous details that only get in the way of you and your favorite games. With its arrival, the roster of major handheld gaming PC brands is more or less now complete, heating up the competition for the market’s most powerful gaming machine in the smallest form factor. Availability details for the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 handheld gaming PC will vary by market and have yet to be confirmed.

The post Acer Nitro Blaze 7 jumps into handheld gaming PC arena with Ryzen AI chops first appeared on Yanko Design.

boAt Lifestyle began with the sale of simple yet durable charging cables. In 2016, the company entered the consumer electronics market with a mission to provide high-quality, affordable products tailored to the specific needs of Indian consumers.

Founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta noticed a significant gap between the offerings in markets like the US and the UK and what Indian consumers desired in terms of price and quality. This insight led to the creation of robust charging cables that quickly gained popularity. Since then, boAt’s product line has expanded to include headphones, wireless earphones, earbuds, smartwatches, speakers, and more.

boAt’s functional product designs have propelled them from a niche accessory provider to a major player in the audio segment. According to IDC, boAt is the number one audio wearable and truly wireless stereo brand in India, with revenue growth from 90 crore INR ($11 million USD) in 2019 to 4000 crore INR ($479 million USD) last year.

Developing In-house Designs with Autodesk Fusion

In 2019, boAt started using Autodesk Fusion for their in-house designs. Initially, they made small tweaks to existing products (OEM), but soon moved on to creating their own designs (ODM).

When industrial designer Ayush Patel joined, his focus was on color, material, and finish (CMF), as well as creating visualizations in Fusion for marketing and sales to understand new designs’ potential.

Initially, the company relied heavily on outsourcing, particularly from manufacturers in China. As boAt grew, so did its focus on original designs. Today, they have significantly increased their in-house design projects. By next year, Ayush expects 30-40 new products to be designed in-house using Fusion.

Ayush learned Fusion in university, and it has grown alongside his career. Fusion enables him to rapidly design and manufacture with precision and speed, resulting in a more agile development process that quickly responds to market trends and consumer feedback.

“Some members of the team were still using SolidWorks and Rhino. It would take them two to three days to complete a design, but I would already be done with a design in one day. With Fusion’s ease of use, they started learning things and eventually switched to the software.” 

—Ayush Patel, Industrial Designer, boAt Lifestyle

Making a Business Impact with In-house Designs

One of boAt’s significant in-house accomplishments is the Nirvana Ion earbuds. Over a year and a half, the team moved from concept to a market-ready product with key features to meet consumer demand. The project balanced aesthetics and functionality, fitting a long-lasting battery into a compact, stylish form.

Fusion allowed rapid iteration, incorporating feedback and making real-time adjustments. The result was a standout product for its look, performance, and lower price, evolving into subsequent products like Nirvana Zenith and Nirvana Nebula.

Superhero Style

Another key strategy boAt employs is brand partnerships, including with Marvel and Netflix. Designing Marvel-themed earbud cases, for example, involved rethinking designs with to incorporate key characteristics of popular characters.

“We were able to incorporate new ideas for the cases inspired by Marvel characters, such as Deadpool and Hulk,” Ayush says. “Within three months, we executed the entire project from scratch and launched it into the market.”

Taking a Collaborative Approach with Fusion

According to Ayush, Fusion has transformed boAt’s design process. “We’ve transitioned from a bunch of people sitting at a table sketching ideas on paper and tweaking each other’s sections. That workflow really limited the understanding of what we were trying to create,” he says.

“Being able to collaborate as a team directly in 3D has led to a much better and much more efficient brainstorming process,” he continues. “If I create something raw in terms of aesthetics, other team members can easily come in and try to make it much closer to reality or fine-tune an important element.”

Bringing Manufacturing Closer to Home

As boAt has brought product design in-house, they also envision producing the majority of their products in India, expanding local manufacturing. Two years ago, none of their products were made in India. Now, 70% of their production is local.

Utilizing Fusion for in-house designs has been pivotal, allowing precise customization and innovation tailored to the Indian market. This strategy supports the Indian economy, reduces dependency on imports, enhances design and manufacturing capabilities, and strengthens boAt’s position as a leading Indian brand in the global market.

Learn more about and try Autodesk Fusion for product design here.

During World War II, the Nazis populated German cities with these flak towers.

These complexes were often built with forced labor, and their purpose was to provide an impregnable base for anti-aircraft guns. Additionally, citizens could shelter within them during air raids. The concrete walls were up to 3.8m (12.5′) thick.

Some of these flak towers were destroyed after the war by the Allies. But this 50-meter-tall tower in Hamburg, below, was too large to practically destroy; the amount of explosives required would’ve damaged the adjoining neighborhoods.

In the 1990s, local authorities transformed it into the Media Bunker, a music venue and cultural hub, hosting everything from music concerts to art exhibitions. Today there’s a nightclub on the top floor, and now the building has received a green facelift.

It’s now called the St. Pauli Bunker, or the Green Bunker:

“The visual highlight of this pioneering landscape architecture project is the spectacular public rooftop garden, which is likely unique to all of Germany. It has a fantastic panoramic view over Hamburg, is within eyeshot of the Elbphilharmonie, and has a planted “mountain path” that winds upwards around the outside of the bunker.”

“For the first time, the bunker will also receive a memorial for the victims of the Nazi regime and the Second World War. Furthermore, rooms for local culture, exhibition areas, and a hall for sports and cultural events will be created.”

This video gives you a look inside, and atop, the impressively massive structure. (It’s narrated in German, but English subtitles are available.)