Moving on to February in our review of the year, Google was in the news as it unveiled a preview of its Google Glass headset (pictured) and revealed plans for a vast new campus in California.
Starchitects
Top architects spoke out about topics they are passionate about. Leading the pack was Peter Zumthor, who declared that “architecture is not about form” during his Royal Gold Medal lecture at the RIBA.
Richard Rogers warned that relaxed planning restrictions would “wreck” London’s vitality, Jean Nouvel told Dezeen that apartments are better workplaces than offices and Daniel Libeskind spoke out against architects who create “morally questionable” buildings in undemocratic countries.
Also voicing concerns was Zaha Hadid, who slammed “mysogynist behaviour” in UK architecture.
3D printing
The race to 3D-print a house picked up the pace as Softkill Design announced plans for a plastic dwelling that could be built off-site in three weeks and assembled in a single day.
More people began to embrace the technology, as a pen that can “print” 3D drawings in mid-air attracted nearly $500,000 in one day from Kickstarter backers.
Most popular
A house in São Paulo by Terra e Tuma with a sunken living room and courtyard concealed behind a ceramic mural was the top story in February.
In second place was an extension to a 2.3 metre-wide terraced home in south London.
This was closely followed by a rural residence outside Melbourne with a blackened wood exterior.
A tiny house in northeast Los Angeles by Anonymous Architects that is lifted off the hillside on a set of concrete pilotis came in next.
Shinichi Ogawa & Associates’ small white house in Japan with six-metre high living and dining areas rounded off this month’s top five projects.
Dezeen’s month
We made our annual trip to Stockholm for the city’s design week, where Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs moderated a talk about the future of designers and commerce at the Form Us With Love market.
Installations in the city included robotic arms moving across a landscape of delicate glass objects and Nendo’s display of 30 lamps created from a modular set of parts.
The Japanese designers also created a mountain range from laser-cut foamboard at the entrance to the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair.
See all our stories from February 2013 »
The post Dezeen’s review of the year: February 2013 appeared first on Dezeen.
