Hasta La Ideas

A projecting external staircase zig-zags up the perforated metal facade of the Lucila Rubio de Laverde School in Bogotá, Colombia, designed by Peruvian practice Nómena Arquitectura.

Located next to the Jaboque wetlands in the Engativa district, the school is part of a programme by the Mayor of Bogotá to deliver 35 new public schools within walking distance of poorer neighbourhoods.

To mediate between the adjacent road and the surrounding high-rise buildings, Nómena Arquitectura combined a cloistered, brick-clad form with a narrow, six-storey block shielded by screens of perforated metal that control ventilation and light.

While the taller block contains classrooms solely for use by the school, the auditoriums, dining hall and sports facilities in the lower two-storey block were designed to be usable by the local community outside of school hours.

“The design reflects the commitment to accessible education and a resilient built environment adapted to the needs of the community,” explained the studio.

“The cloister forms an active and porous edge that provides a part of the program to be used by the inhabitants of the area, in favour of an integrative experience of the public space and architecture with the community,” it added.

Large concrete staircases that double as seating spaces link the two levels of the school’s podium, each of which is organised around a sports court overlooked by the surrounding canteen and events spaces.

Buffering the entrance from the road is an external plaza, which can be connected to the school’s courtyard via a series of sliding glass doors.

In the larger building, classrooms that line the northern edge are connected by an open corridor and are broken up by the insertion of double-height atria with areas of full-height glazing and balconies overlooking the Bogotá river.

This block is traversed via an external, projecting staircase shaded by black metal bars, which links spaces for the youngest children at the lower levels to those for older children at the top.

Facing the river, the block presents a facade of red brick cut by ribbon windows and the school’s atria, while overlooking the central cloister the building has been finished in perforated metal that creates a translucent effect.

“This element is proposed as a transparent volume, which incorporates double-height intermediate spaces and translucent interior planes allow the classrooms to extend into spaces without a defined use,” explained the studio.

“The interior facade plane uses micro-perforated metal panels to ensure ventilation and bring light inside in a controlled manner without losing transparency,” it added.

Other projects recently completed in Bogotá include the first of a pair of skyscrapers by the late British architect Richard Rogers, designed in the distinctive high-tech style that he helped establish in the 1970s.

The photographer is by Jairo Llano. 

The post Nómena Arquitectura shades school in Bogotá with perforated metal panels appeared first on Dezeen.

The latest edition of our weekly Dezeen Agenda newsletter features Jaguar’s unveiling of an electric concept car in Miami. Subscribe to Dezeen Agenda now.

British carmaker Jaguar‘s reveal of its Type 00 concept car sparked online controversy and drew mixed reactions, with one calling it a “design triumph” and another describing it as “an ugly, clunky behemoth”.

Presented this week at Miami art week, the car appeared in two standout colors – Miami Pink and London Blue.

This week’s newsletter also featured Lego’s first minifigure with Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyards, an opinion piece by Anthony Paletta on office-building lobbies and the restored interiors of the Notre Dame cathedral.

Dezeen Agenda

Dezeen Agenda is a curated newsletter sent every Thursday containing the most important news highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Agenda or subscribe here.

You can also subscribe to our other newsletters; Dezeen Debate is sent every Thursday and features the hottest reader comments and most-debated stories, Dezeen Daily is our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours and Dezeen In Depth is sent on the last Friday of every month and delves deeper into the major stories shaping architecture and design.

The post Dezeen Agenda features Jaguar’s Type 00 concept car appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan-based design platform Alcova showcased material and conceptual experimentation for an exhibition spread throughout the rooms of a historic property during Miami art week.

The second iteration of Alcova‘s Miami venture, the event featured more than 50 exhibitors spread throughout the rooms and property of the Miami River Inn, which calls itself the city’s oldest hotel, located in the Little Havana neighbourhood.

It brought a much-needed edge to the design elements of Miami art week, and forefronted conceptual design relating to sustainability, material reuse and material experimentation.

Visitors were ushered through an outdoor corridor fronted by a pink Jon Buck-designed welcome desk into the property, where four vernacular wood-framed houses surrounded a wide-open courtyard.

It continues the fair’s tradition of showcasing design in historic, sometimes dilapidated, properties off the beaten path, such as a massive historical villa used for its 2024 showing in Milan.

“We almost always end up in quite scrappy buildings,” said Alcova cofounder Joseph Grimas.

“But when we’ve given them the treatment, they end up kind of cool,” he continued, adding that Alcova carried out an extensive clean-up of the property before the show.

In the outdoor corridor, Slovakia-based Crafting Plastics Studio showcased colourful sculptures made from bioplastics. The studio had a big year at Miami art week, also creating a large-scale installation from its bioplastic for Lexus at the ICA.

Crafting Plastics Studio co-founder Vlasta Kubušová said that she was glad Alcova has been making inroads into the United States through its Miami shows, noting that there is a deep curiosity about innovative material usage.

“This is a great spot for us because every year we see that the consciousness [around sustainable materials] is rising, and we feel that things are happening and accelerating faster in the United States,” she told Dezeen.

In the large courtyard in the centre of the property, Spanish designer Lucas Muñoz Muñoz showcased furniture and a speaker set up constructed from found industrial materials in the Miami area.

Also in the courtyard was a massive installation by food art studio Ananas Ananas comprised of spinning stainless steel vessels on legs inside the swimming pool.

Tangerines were skewered on metal spikes around the edges and visitors could pluck them off and eat them.

According to the studio, the water in the pool represented the amount needed to grow 1,033 pieces of tangerine and was designed to bring awareness to water usage in the food system.

In one of the houses, Cuban designer Danni Friedman and New York studio Ladies & Gentleman showcased the results of a design workshop carried out in Cuba in 2018, alongside works by other international designers.

The pieces were created to respond to “material limitations” and included a seat made from banana leaf by New York’s Vy Voi and a lamp made with found objects painted to resemble lathed wood by Allan Wexler.

Lisbon-based Studio Haos showcased experimental furniture that simulates the appearance of Japanese washi lanterns by using paper, metal and fibreglass to create a gridded, sturdy material.

Studio LoopLoop and Adam Kvaček both had exhibitions featuring objects made using biomaterials, as well as information showcasing their processes.

Sweden-based Studio Tooj presented a console made from 3D printing sand and a shelf made from mycelium, which had previously been featured in Alcova’s Milan exhibition.

Earlier this year, Dezeen deputy editor Cajsa Carlson elaborated on a trend during Milan design week where designers focused on all-metal construction for furniture.

Designers who took this root at Alcova include Mexico City-based Panorammma, Greek designer Theo Galliakis, who showcased metallic amphoras, and Bureau Parso‘s aluminium veneer series.

Other stand-out designs included a series of rubber homeware by New York’s Rich Aybar, geometric lighting by Marco Zelli, and penis-shaped Delftware forms by Kevin Quale.

Miami-based Ukrainian studio Furn Object included a metal screen marked with holes that resemble bullet holes that “stands as a testament to resilience”.

Make Good Design and The Center for Subtropical Affairs filled an interior room with plants and included “self-watering planters” and audio elements.

Photography by Piergiorgio Sorgetti unless otherwise stated.

Alcova Miami is on show from 3 to 8 December as part of Miami art week. For more global events in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide. 

The post Alcova brings experimental design to historic hotel for second Miami edition appeared first on Dezeen.

These electric cargo bikes, by Arkansas-based Gnargo Bike Co., are made from discarded steel bike frames.

“After an environmentally friendly burn-off of existing finishes and oils, frames are fully sandblasted and brought back into our factory for quality check and modernization to begin.”

“Using custom jigs, we reshape the frame to create a stable, comfortable cargo platform, optimized for carrying groceries, kids, or gear.”

“Following fabrication, each bike undergoes powder coating in a wide spectrum of durable colors, ensuring longevity and resilience. Equipped with modern hydraulic disc brakes, OEM motors, lithium batteries, and a Shimano drive train, our cargo bikes promise reliability and performance at a great value powered by our circular economy supply chain.”

You can choose from different types of platforms:

The bikes run from $2,900 to $3,500. The company says that for every bike purchased, “we fund the restoration of 2 bikes at community bike shops, which are then donated back to someone wanting a bike. This multiplier effect fuels our circular supply chain, amplifying our impact and fostering a future we are proud of. Together, we’re not just building bikes; we’re creating opportunities and momentum for positive change in our communities.”

Check ’em out here.

3D printing has empowered designers and creators to bring their ideas to life more easily, but many designs still require some assembly before the final product is finished. That can sometimes be wasteful, especially when using plastic materials, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. Sometimes you can get interesting yet functional designs with just a simple model.

This desk organizer is one such example that’s curious both in its shape as well as its functionality. It redefines how you see pen holders while also adding some visual flavor to your workspace. Best of all, it is designed for simple printing without the need for supports, joints, or even brims.

Designer: Liam de la Bedoyere (Bored Eye Design)

Pen holders are often designed as vertically standing containers, making it easy to pick up any pen. That said, that design also makes it difficult to quickly pick a specific pen because your eyes have to scan over all the pens and look for the one you need. Pen trays, on the other hand, can lay the pens out for easier viewing, but they can easily become a jumbled mess quickly.

Snappy uses a rather unusual solution to the latter, employing a ridged surface to keep pens separate. Each pen can be neatly placed in between each triangle to prevent them from rolling away or getting mixed up with others. You can quickly pick up the right pen just by glancing at Snappy, and you can still have a semblance of organization at the same time.

The concept design, however, doesn’t end there. Rather than just a flat tray, Snappy curves up a part of its length until it’s parallel to the other part. This creates a shape that is supposedly inspired by a crocodile, at least if you look at the Lacoste logo, though it also looks like a scorpion’s tail if the shorter side is at the top.

Curiously, either the short or the long side can be at the top, and the flat surface can become a place for small objects like an AirPods case, a thumb drive, or even a small pad of sticky notes. The design is simple enough to be 3D printed in one go but still has enough complexity to be an interesting sight on your desk, offering both functionality and visual appeal.

The post Quirky 3D-printed pen and stationery holder is meant to look like an abstract crocodile first appeared on Yanko Design.