“Food is the next frontier of 3D printing”

News: 3D printing expert Janne Kyttanen has produced prototype printed pasta, breakfast cereal and burgers to demonstrate how advances in 3D printing could transform the way we eat (+ interview + slideshow).

Kyttanen, co-founder of design studio Freedom of Creation and creative director of printer manufacturer 3D Systems, told Dezeen: “Food is the next frontier. We’re already printing in chocolate, so a lot of these things will be possible in the next few years.”

To illustrate the possibilities, Kytannen has 3D-printed models of pasta in plastic and cheese burgers in plaster. “I printed burgers just to create an iconic image and make people realise that one day we will be able to 3D-print a hamburger. And once you do, you don’t want to print a traditional hamburger; you can print the weirdest thing you can imagine.”

3D-printed food by Janne Kytannen

Kytannen believes it’s only a matter of time before technology enables us to print molecules in combinations that produce tasty meals. “At the moment the technologies that we use are very, very crude. So they solidify matter, either by powder or by liquid or extruded filaments and so forth,” he said. “But at the end of the day it’s just atoms and molecules, so [one day] we will have technology where you can just move molecules or you can move atoms.”

However, he concedes that we’re still a long way off downloading burgers to print at home and that only a viable market will push companies to pursue the technology. “If you can’t find a good business model for it, it won’t happen,” he says, suggesting that possible avenues for firms to explore would be fun items and novelty experiences, like having your own head scanned and printed in chocolate.

3D-printed food by Janne Kytannen

Kytannen also believes design can learn from food when it comes to copyright, hinting that the sharing of design ideas should as acceptable as sharing recipes. “I look at design and for me, it’s like food,” he says. “It’s very fast and everything I need is in my computer, and I can make whatever I want, whenever I want.”

“If you look at all the recipes on the internet, everything is free and everything is shared,” he continues. “Who’s going to come to your house, watch you make a pasta bolognese and say, ‘you know what, you can’t make that’?”

3D-printed food by Janne Kytannen

See our previous interview with Kyttanen in October, when he told us that 3D printing products at home is “cheaper than shopping”.

We’ve been closely following the rise of 3D printing and reporting on all kinds of uses for the technology, from a 3D-printed dress for burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese to printing plastic weapons – see all 3D printing.

Other unusual food we’ve featured includes an edible desk lamp and an aerosol spray that lets users enjoy alcohol without the risk of a hangover – see all food design.

3D-printed food by Janne Kytannen

Read the full interview below:


Ben Hobson: Tell me about the images you’ve sent us.

Janne Kyttanen: We have all these different avenues in which 3D-printing technology is moving. We’ve explored all different kinds of products and different materials, but everything is going in the same direction, which is really speed and disposability, whether it’s prototyping something or making an end product or something else. Food is the next frontier.

The images that I sent you are just conceptual things. The pasta is not made from pasta – it’s made from plastic. But I wanted to pinch people a little bit and make them realise that we are able to do these things. We’re already printing in chocolate, so a lot of these things will be possible in the next few years. I’m just conceptually trying to see what could happen, which is why I printed burgers just to create an iconic image and make people realise that one day we will be able to 3D-print a hamburger. And once you do, you don’t want to print a traditional hamburger; you can print the weirdest thing you can imagine.

Ben Hobson: How do you go from printing a burger in plastic to actually printing one you can eat?

Janne Kyttanen: At the moment, the technologies that we use are very, very crude. So they solidify matter, either by powder or by liquid or extruded filaments and so-forth. But at the end of the day it’s just atoms and molecules, so [one day] we will have technology where you can just move molecules or you can move atoms. At the end of the day we will be able to do that. And how and what [we will make] I don’t know. It will find its own shape, but I’m just more concerned to conceptually ask these questions.

Ben Hobson: What kind of future do you see for 3D-printed food? Will we all be printing out food rather than cooking with traditional methods?

Janne Kyttanen: I don’t think anything will be replaced. People always ask me, is 3D printing going to make all these Chinese mass manufacturing people unemployed? I don’t think so. I think these jobs will remain. Our technology is just one additional way of making things. It’s just a nice new thing.

3D-printed food by Janne Kytannen

Ben Hobson: What’s the timeframe for 3D-printed food? How long before it’s mainstream?

Janne Kyttanen: We are already printing chocolate. Any matter that you can put into an extruding nozzle you can already print in. You can make anything you want, whether it’s jelly or chocolate or some pastries or some marzipans or whatever, in principle you can make it. But there have been very few parties developing technologies towards this. We as a company [3D Systems] are moving ahead with this, but hopefully there are also others doing their own endeavours.

Ben Hobson: So how far off is a 3D-printed burger?

Janne Kyttanen: I wouldn’t be able to say that. A lot of these things are quite trivial. It matters what kind of equity, what kind of financial push you have – most of the time, that’s the driver. If you can’t find a good business model for it, it won’t happen. Like chocolate, for example; people have been printing chocolate for years but there hasn’t really been any boost in it. Maybe they haven’t found the right business model.

Ben Hobson: Are there any particular business models that you think are worth exploring?

Janne Kyttanen: Oh yes, for sure. If you’re talking about chocolate for example, there are a lot of expensive high-end chocolate makers out there, so I can imagine getting your own head scanned and then printed as a chocolate cake. It’s also a lot of fun.

There’s a lot of debate around “this is my design, you can’t touch it,” but I hope brands will start getting more open-minded. Let’s take shoe manufacturers, for example. People can already customise their own shoes, so how fun would it be if you could buy a pair of Nike sneakers, but you could also download Nike sneakers to your home and you can print them and eat them.

3D-printed food by Janne Kytannen

Ben Hobson: How would 3D printing with food differ from other sectors?

From the legal aspect, I’ve always been pro freedom and not so pro patent. So where are we headed in design? There’s always been debate about if I design something, I put it on the market and somebody will see me and they own the patent or they put it on the market before me, they have the copyright or IP or whatever.

But with food it’s quite interesting: I can design anything that I want and I can eat it, and when you talk about the forms and the shapes and the designs, you can design whatever you want and then it is gone.

I look at design and for me, it’s like food – it’s disposable. It’s very fast and everything I need is in my computer, and I can make whatever I want, whenever I want. And then you have the other crowd who are more worried about, you know, “this is my design, you can’t copy it, you can’t do this and this.”

So food really changes everything. If you look at all the recipes on the internet, everything is free and everything is shared. Who’s going to come to your house, watch you make a pasta bolognese and say, “you know what, you can’t make that”?

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of 3D printing”
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House in Keyaki by SNARK and OUVI

This house in Saitama, Japan, by architects SNARK and OUVI has bronze-coloured walls and a terrace cut out from the roof (+ slideshow).

House in Keyaki by SNARK

The three-storey residence is located on a small corner plot within the suburban town of Honjyo. The building follows the irregular outline of the site, but is set back on one side to leave enough space for a car parking area.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

The stripy metal cladding covers the entire exterior, wrapping over the roof and across the front door.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Behind the cladding, the house has a simple timber frame. Criss-crossing beams are revealed on the ceiling over the ground floor, but the structure is concealed elsewhere inside the house.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

The architects added tall narrow windows to three elevations. The first and second floors are set back from the windows, creating triangular lightwells that let daylight through the building.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

A steel staircase with timber treads extends up through the centre of the house, acting as an informal screen between rooms. On the ground floor it separates the living room from the kitchen, while on the first floor it splits the largest of two bedrooms into a sleeping area and study.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

The uppermost floor contains a second living room, which opens out to the rooftop terrace.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

This isn’t the first time Japanese studios SNARK and OUVI have teamed up on a project. The pair previously collaborated on a pair of apartment blocks that look like clusters of houses.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

See more houses in Japan, including a house with two trees inside it.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Photography is by Ippei Shinzawa.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Here’s a project description from SNARK:


House in Keyaki

Honjyo-shi is a small area located in Saitama Prefecture. It is an hour and a half by car from Tokyo, Japan. Almost all residents here always use their own cars when they go somewhere because there is no available public transportation like trains and buses. This means that we need to consider providing parking spaces when building new houses within this area.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

First, when we thought the outline of this house, we allotted the proper setbacks within the site. From this, we came up with a car parking space and a small garden. At the same time, we could get enough sunlight from every directions.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Second, we designed three narrow windows on the south, east and west side of the house. Then we designed triangle voids in front of these windows on the second floor.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

These voids provided visual connections to the outside and inside of the house. And people inside this house can anticipate the presence of each other within different spaces or rooms. You could feel how the sunlight changes anytime as well as the changes in season.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Finally, we set some furniture on the border of the triangle voids and each places. The inner space of this architecture is divided into smaller spaces and it can be adjusted depending on the resident’s preference.

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Architects: Sunao Koase / SNARK (Sunao Koase, Yu Yamada) + Shin Yokoo / OUVI
Structural engineer: Shin Yokoo / OUVI
General constructors: Yasumatsu Takken

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Location: Honjyo city, Saitama, Japan
Site area: 132.24 sqm
Built area: 55.54 sqm
Floor area: 103.13 sqm
Number of floors: 2
Structure: wood

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Design: 2011.4-2012.3
Construction: 2012.3-2012.7

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Above: first floor plan – click for larger image

Above: second floor plan – click for larger image

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Above: cross section one – click for larger image

House in Keyaki by SNARK

Above: cross section two – click for larger image

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and OUVI
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Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Product news: British designer Tom Dixon’s latest collection, launching at MOST in Milan next month, includes solid brass champagne buckets and faceted furniture inspired by gemstones (+ slideshow).

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Gem lights

Tom Dixon’s Rough & Smooth collection includes Gem, a family of angular lights, tables and mirrors inspired by gemstones and sand-cast from nickel-plated aluminium.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Gem tables and mirrors

The Spun champagne bucket and tables are made from sheets of hand-spun solid brass polished to a mirror finish.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Gem lights

The Flask light combines a ridged sphere of hand-blown glass with a smoked glass hood, while the Cell light is inspired by the growth of cells and made from layers of etched and polished brass.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Spun champagne bucket and tables

The Bell floor lamp and table lamp have chrome-plated dome for a shade and another dome as a chunky base.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Flask pendant lamps

An extension of the earlier Fan chair, the Fan dining chair, stool and table are formed from machined wood spindles.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Cell wall lamp

The Mass coat stand, book stand, dining table and console table are chunky pieces of furniture clad in brass, which will develop a natural patina over time.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Cell pendant lamps

The collection will be shown from 8 to 14 April at MOST in Milan’s National Museum of Science and Technology, an exhibition set up by Dixon last year as he explained in a filmed interview with Dezeen.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Bell floor and table lamps

Other products by Dixon we’ve featured include a set of iridescent stoneware pendant lamps and a light that casts geometric shadows on surrounding surfaces – see all design by Tom Dixon.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Fan dining chair, stool and table

Here’s some more information from the designer:


This year we take visitors through two contrasting environments – Rough and Smooth. Celebrating the joy of contrast, this year we are highlighting the opposite qualities of our new products. Rough because this season we have worked on even more textural honesty and material weight in our production. And smooth because we are still fascinated by extreme polished surfaces, sharp lines and modern manufacturing.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Mass dining table

Follow a rollercoaster journey through the rough and tumble of our warehouse where fresh stock is unloaded and unpacked fresh from the manufacturing process and on through tearooms and shop windows into our spanking new show space which we furnish with our latest lighting and furniture, ranging from the textured sand-cast nickel- plated aluminium to the ultra-polished chromed pressed steel.

Rough & Smooth collection by Tom Dixon

Above: Mass coat stand, book stand and console table

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by Tom Dixon
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House in Muko by FujiwaraMuro Architects

Huge vertical louvres give a pleated appearance to this family house in Kyoto by FujiwaraMuro Architects (+ slideshow).

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

The louvred facade curves around the south-east edge of the house to follow the shape of a road running alongside. Two-storey-high windows are slotted between each of the louvres to allowing natural to filter evenly through the wall, casting a variety of shadows across the interiors at different times of the day.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

“The movements of the sun can be felt inside the house all throughout the year,” explain architects Shintaro Fujiwara and Yoshio Muro.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

The entrance to the house is positioned beyond the louvres and leads into an open-plan living and dining room that occupies most of the ground floor.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

A bedroom sits at the rear of this space and is entirely filled by a double bed, but residents can open this room out to the living room with a set of sliding partitions.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

A staircase is tucked into the rear corner of the living room and leads up towards a children’s bedroom on the first floor. This floor is set back from the wall at the rear, creating a balcony overlooking the level below.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

From this room, another staircase ascends towards the bathroom and washroom, then heads up again to reach a small rooftop terrace.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Shintaro Fujiwara and Yoshio Muro founded FujiwaraMuro Architects in 2002. Past projects include House of Slope, with a corridor coiling around its floors.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

See more Japanese houses on Dezeen, including a converted warehouse with rooms contained inside a white box.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Photography is by Toshiyuki Yano.

Here are a few words from Fujiwara Muro:


House in Muko

A mezzanine-floored residence consisting of a single-roomed space, located on a fan-shaped site.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

The movements of the sun can be felt inside the house all throughout the year. Light coming from the east strikes the louvered boards before entering the house and reaching deep into its interior. Direct sunlight from the south traces a shower-like path of lines as it penetrates into the building. Light coming from the west reflects off the walls of this house with an open stairwell before entering it.

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Above: first and second floor plans – click for larger image

Location: Muko, Kyoto, Japan
Principle use: single family house
Site area: 295.67 sqm
Building area: 56.36 sqm
Total floor area: 100.19 sqm
Project architect: Shintaro Fujiwara, Yoshio Muro
Project team: Fujiwarramuro Architects
Structure: timber

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Above: long section – click for larger image

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Above: cross section – click for larger image

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Above: east elevation

House in Muko by Fujiwara Muro Architects

Above: south elevation

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FujiwaraMuro Architects
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Casa 2G by Stación-ARquitectura

A secluded courtyard is concealed behind the stark concrete facade of this house in Nuevo León, Mexico, by Monterrey studio Stación-ARquitectura (+ slideshow).

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

The family residence, entitled Casa 2G, is laid out on a rectangular plot. The L-shaped courtyard divides it into two halves, with living rooms on one side and bedrooms on the other.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Stación-ARquitectura were asked to make the building as basic as possible, but to also add some homely features for the residents. “The challenge was to achieve this with the least number of materials and with rational and intelligent use of them,” architect César Guerrero told Dezeen.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

The architects planned a bare concrete construction with minimal detailing around doors and windows. “The materials and construction processes were generated by a direct local workforce made on site,” said Guerrero, “so the house combines industrial raw materials with local artisanal workmanship.”

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Three bedrooms and a study are lined up along the eastern side of the house. Each one opens out to a small narrow private patio, plus the bedrooms all have their own ensuite bathrooms.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

The opposite side of the house has an open-plan layout with kitchen at one end, dining area at the centre and living area at the far end. Glazing surrounds two sides of the space, so residents can open the room out to the courtyard.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Rectangular skylights pierce the roof in various rooms, bringing slices of light into the house during the day.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Stación-ARquitectura, also known as S-AR, founded its studio in 2003. Past projects include a showroom and design office for a Mexican office furniture company. See more architecture in Mexico.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Photography is by Ana Cecilia Garza.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Here’s some more information from S-AR:


Casa 2G – S-AR stación-ARquitectura

Casa 2G is a 360 square meter single family home designed by S-AR, an architectural firm based in Monterrey, Mexico. The house was designed as a sanctuary from the surrounding urban environment, as well as a series of memorable architectural spaces with the people that live in them at their conceptual core.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Casa 2G creates sensory experiences and moments that enrich its inhabitant’s daily lives, thanks in part to its sparse materiality and handmade features, which pay tribute to the artisan work of local craftsmen. The nature of this space contrasts with false ideas of human progress in a world dominated by appearances and trends.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

By taking a morning tour of Casa 2-G, the viewers are able to experience those special everyday moments spent in the house. As the windows open, we take in the natural changes in the environment, and we witness the dialogue between the house and the natural light as it evolves throughout the day. Come nightfall, the house opens up its spaces so that the light from the fire can fill us with peace as it vibrates over the raw surfaces of its walls. In Casa 2G, ordinary routine is pleasantly interrupted, and transformed into memorable moments of harmony and spiritual consciousness.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Proposed as a basic house, the project is a simple rectangular volume with a courtyard that divides the social from the private area. Located in a residential area, the volume starts few meters behind the line of the street creating a courtyard for pedestrian and vehicular access.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

A concrete wall with a door is to simplify the design of the facade of the house, making it as basic as possible. However, this lack of openings to the street, contrasts with a wide open interior space that visually connects the whole social area with the central patio, the backyard and the Sierra Madre Mountains filling the interior spaces with light and natural ventilation and establishing a strong dialogue with the landscape.

The private rooms are protected by a segmented wall that allows privacy; also every private room has a private patio to bring lighting and ventilation. The social area is a continuous sequence of kitchen, dining room, lounge and a large terrace that connects to the rear garden.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

Doors, windows, metalwork and construction system are the most basic possible. The materials are left in a raw and natural way. Many of them have been done on site using materials and local labor with the intention of rescuing traditional constructive systems and jobs that have been displaced by a market of prefabricated materials, which generates low local employment and architecture based on repetition and mass.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Above: section A-A’ – click for larger image

Manual opening systems for windows and skylights and doors were designed especially for the project, developed by working closely with experienced local carpenters and blacksmiths. The architecture of the house invites the users to be part of their material structure. The use of the house generates a direct experience with materials, tactile sensations and a different consciousness of the elements that are part of the house in times of extreme lack of contact between people and objects and also between people and architecture. Thus 90% of the components of the house have been made by local labor and have only used the lowest number of industrial materials to preserve the essential idea of the project.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Above: section 2-2′ – click for larger image

Structurally, the whole volume made of reinforced concrete made in site (walls, slabs and inverted beams) floats on a platform that helps to provide insulation for the interior space, also the orientation of the house ensures the protection of the solar incidence using the existing trees on the site which bring shade to the roof of the house and also using higher volumes of neighboring houses.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Above: north elevation – click for larger image

The house is a reinforced concrete monolith that has been perforated to create the interior space which is then defined with a glass membrane to emphasize the continuity of the material in floors, walls and slabs and its quality to be gradually transformed by the movement of the light and the shadows that occurs both inside and outside of the house during the course of the day.

Casa 2G by stación-ARquitectura

Above: west elevation – click for larger image

Project: Casa 2G
Architects: S-AR stación-ARquitectura
Location: San Pedro, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Project Team: César Guerrero, Ana Cecilia Garza, María Sevilla, Carlos Flores.
Program: Private House.
Client: Private.
Construction Area: 360 m2.
Project Year: 2009
Construction Year: 2010 – 2011

Plans and Technical Drawings: S-AR stación-ARquitectura
Model: S-AR stación-ARquitectura

Structural Engineering: Ing. Jesús González Sáenz
Technical Supervision: S-AR stación-ARquitectura + Gonzalo Taméz
Construction: Gonzalo Taméz, Enrique López, Jesús Galván
Materials: Concrete, Steel, Glass and Wood.
Constructive System: walls and slabs of reinforced concrete.

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Stación-ARquitectura
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Bear House by Onion

This house for toy-bear collectors in Thailand was conceived as a scaled-up version of the bears’ display cabinet (+ slideshow).

Bear House by Onion

The Bear House is a renovation of an existing three-storey residence, which has been reconfigured to provide a holiday home at Cha-Am Beach resort for a family who are avid collectors of the Japanese Bearbrick figurines.

Bear House by Onion

The clients requested an exhibition area where they could display 17 of the toy bears, so designers Onion devised a multi-level cabinet filled with miniature staircases and ladders.

Bear House by Onion

“We thought of the bears’ cabinet as the bears’ house,” designer Arisara Chaktranon told Dezeen.

Bear House by Onion

The designers then introduced similar features into the humans’house, such as a ladder that climbs up from a ground-floor lounge area to the uppermost ceiling of a triple-height space.

Bear House by Onion

“The house itself is a replica of the bears’ cabinet,” said Chaktranon. “We enlarged the scale of the cabinet, then applied the same timber material to the cabinet and the house.

Bear House by Onion

More ladders can be found inside the bedrooms. One leads up from the master bedroom to a suspended daybed, while another climbs up beside the bed in the children’s room.

Bear House by Onion

Oak panels cover walls, floors and ceilings throughout the house, and there are windows and hatches between different rooms.

Bear House by Onion

The designers invited Thai graffiti artists MMFK and P7 to decorate the walls of the living room and swimming-pool terrace. The duo painted a series of unique characters, including a one-eyed monster dressed as a sailor and a blue bear with stripy cheeks and eyebrows.

Bear House by Onion

Other residences with integrated display areas include a house with a showroom for a car collector and a house with an integral art gallery.

Bear House by Onion

See more architecture in Thailand, including a house with a bathroom that’s on show to a swimming pool.

Bear House by Onion

Photography is by Wison Tungthunya.

Here’s a project description from the designers:


Bear House

Bear House is on Cha-Am Beach, a famous seaside resort town in central Thailand, three hours drive from Bangkok. The brief is to renovate a three-storey building of eight metres wide and twenty-eight metres long, utilising an area of three-hundred and eighty square metres, turning it into a second home of the Sahawat family. When the interior construction started, in December 2011, the boy of the family was two years old. A baby was expected. In April 2012, Bear House was happily finished.

Bear House by Onion

Bear House belongs to the Thai Be@rbrick collectors. Sittawat Sahawat and Nipapat Sahawat are siblings who are fascinated by various sizes and styles of Be@rbrick toys, produced by the Japanese company Medicom Toy Incorporated. Be@rbrick is an anthropomorphised bear with a simplified form and pot belly. Each plastic figure features nine parts, namely head, torso, hips, arms, hands and legs. It has flexible joints and a swivelled head. Many artists have created decorative patterns for the standard mould such as the British fashion designer Vivian Westwood and Stash who is considered one of New York’s graffiti legends. In the Sahawat family’s collection, the major figures are BAPE camouflage print. They are twenty-eight centimetres high and referred to as 400% Be@rbricks as its actual size, or a 100% Be@rbrick, is seven centimetres high.

Bear House by Onion

Size matters in Bear House. The design process does not start from the house itself but the Be@rbricks display cabinet. It is thought of as a house of seventeen 400% Be@rbricks. It is composed of steps, ladders and voids that fit the scale of twenty-eight centimetres tall figures. It occupies a whole wall of the dining room, linking the house’s entry to the living area which is three stories high. The cabinet is a central piece and a model of the house. It is made of light coloured oak wooden panels resembling the other main surfaces of the house. Bear House is a bigger version of Be@rbricks’ display cabinet.

Bear House by Onion

Miniature fixtures and oversize furniture are the features of Bear House. Lamps and pillows are oversize so that the inhabitants may feel smaller than they actually are. The house has four sizes of doorknobs, customised for different size of doors. They are sometimes too big for a child’s hand and too small for an adult’s hand. The ladder that seems too high is one of the living area’s decorative elements. It leads the gaze high up to square skylights, oversize voids, and windows of different scale. Every room on the upper floors overlook the hall of living area.

Bear House by Onion

An enlarged Be@rbrick’s ladder is placed in the master bedroom. It connects a space between the king size bed and a single day bed in an elevated hole. There are two views from this day bed. Next to the hole is the three stories hall overlooking the living area. The opposite side across the room is the sea view. In front of the master bedroom stands a 1000% Be@rbrick of seventy centimetres high, painted in a pattern of police uniform. It is a special collaboration between French label Paul&Joe and Medicom Toy. This 1000% Be@rbrick can be seen from the living area on the second floor, the bedroom on the second floor, and the landing that links the stair and the ramp towards the master bedroom.

Bear House by Onion

Bear House is bright and humorous. Its living room and swimming pool are the front part of the house. The whole space is coloured by young Thai graffiti artists well known as MMFK and P7. In the living room, behind the oversize sofa, MMFK paints a one-eye monster, dressed up as a sailor, whereas P7 paints a blue bear head with striped eyebrows. Next to the swimming pool, on the wall of eleven metres long, MMFK illustrates the cartoon representation of a bear devouring his iconic one-eye monster. P7 drew a black bear head with the word ‘surf’ on its forehead. These illustrations are customised only for Bear House.

Bear House by Onion

Project: Bear house by Onion
Location: Cha-Am beach, Thailand
Interior Architect: Arisara Chaktranon , Siriyot Chaiamnuay, onion team
Area: 380 sq.m.
Completion year: 2012

Bear House by Onion

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image and key

Bear House by Onion

Above: first floor – click for larger image and key

Bear House by Onion

Above: second floor plan – click for larger image and key

Bear House by Onion

Above: long section – click for larger image

Bear House by Onion

Above: cross section – click for larger image

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by Onion
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CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid photographed by Hufton+Crow

Zaha Hadid’s 142-metre tower for French shipping company CMA CGM in Marseille is documented in these new images by London photographers Hufton + Crow (+ slideshow).

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

The 33-storey structure, which was completed in 2011, is currently the tallest building in the city and features a glazed facade with a seam of tinted glass running up through its centre.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

The darkened glass tapers outwards at the top, creating the illusion of swelling upper storeys although the building actually has a rectilinear body that only curves outwards at its base.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

Located within Marseille’s 480-hectare Euroméditerranée development zone in the north of the city, the CMA CGM Headquarters functions as the primary offices for the transportation company, bringing together over 2400 employees that had previously been located on seven different sites.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid Architects also designed a 135-metre-long annex building, which is joined to the tower with a curving glass bridge.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

In 2010, when the project was nearing completion, Marseilles studio Exmagina shot a time-lapse movie showing the surrounding activity over the course of one day – watch the movie.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid Architects has recently unveiled designs for a few new projects, including a cultural complex in Changsha, China, a cluster of towers in Bratislava and a masterplan for the site of an old textile factory in Belgrade.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

In recent months the studio has also completed the 330,000-square-metre Galaxy Soho complex in Beijing and a museum of contemporary art at Michigan State University. See more architecture by Zaha Hadid Architects.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

See more photography by Hufton + Crow on Dezeen, or on the photographers’ website.

CMA CGM Headquarters by Zaha Hadid

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photographed by Hufton+Crow
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Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Mexican studio JSa has installed a walnut-lined wing to the José Vasconcelos Library in Mexico City to house the personal book collection of celebrated author Carlos Monsiváis (+ slideshow).

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

The Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library is one of five new spaces created inside the public library as part of the City of Books initiative, which asked five different architects to showcase the literary influences of a popular Mexican thinker. JSa‘s interior is the last to complete, following wings dedicated to poet Alí Chumacero, diplomat Antonio Castro Leal, academic José Luis Martínez and writer Jaime García Terrés.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

The library occupies a long and narrow double-height space. Staircases are positioned on both sides and lead up to a first-floor mezzanine that runs around the outside of the room.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Bookshelves stretch up to the ceiling throughout the space. The size and proportions of the shelves vary, creating an arrangement of books intended to reflect the layout in the writer’s original library.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

“Carlos Monsiváis lived in chaos,” JSa told Dezeen. “He had stacks of books everywhere; it was a disaster but he knew where everything was. All those stacks left tight spaces to walk through. We tried to reflect those spaces in the library to reflect the kind of way he lived.”

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Single-person study spaces are located on the upper level and comprise a series of walnut desks and chairs, while larger spaces for groups occupy two areas on the ground floor.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Artworks by Mexican Francisco Toledo – a personal friend of Monsiváis – are dotted around the library and include a patterned marble floor.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

JSa is led by Mexican architect Javier Sanchez and has offices in Mexico City and in Peru. This year the firm also completed Tabasco 127, a concrete residential block that features sheltered balconies.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

See more libraries on Dezeen, including one inside a former chapel, one that appears to float over a pool of water and one inside a glass pyramid.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Photography is by Jaime Navarro.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Here’s some more information from JSa:


The Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library

Located in the west wing of the “Jose Vasconcelos” Library in Mexico, the personal library of Carlos Monsivais will be a space where the personal collection created by the writer’s mind will be safeguarded for public use.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

The architectural project has as a starting point a selection of specific characteristics of Carlos Monsivais and seeks to translate them into spatial qualities. Order within Chaos, is the first impression that inspired the architecture. The second guiding axis is the special relationship the writer had with the city. These two identifiers are interpreted and expressed in a space that generates a tour, guided using blocks that present various alternatives in three dimensions. The user must walk the site to understand it. The intention here is that despite the enclosure, the user may have different perceptions and experiences. The various blocks that generate the tours are formed by sets of bookshelves that vary in dimensions and textures and which generate different shades of color.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

The library is done on two levels. What characterizes the first level is that it offers the possibility of several tours. It also has tight spaces because of the bookshelves that allude to the writer’s original library. The second level instead follows a circuit that allows an extensive view of the whole space. The different tours converge into two different open areas where one can read the collections. These areas have double height and natural light.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Above: ground floor plan

The library holds several art pieces of Francisco Toledo, renowned painter and sculptor, including the design of the marble floor, who was a close friend of the writer.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Above: first floor plan

All together, the different elements that make up the library seek to help bring the visitor closer to the writer.

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Above: long section one

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Above: long section two

Carlos Monsiváis Personal Library by JSa

Above: cross section

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by JSa
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House in Yoro by Airhouse Design Office

A bedroom and bathroom are hidden inside a white box in this converted warehouse by Japanese architects Airhouse Design Office (+ slideshow).

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Located in Yoro, a small town in Gifu Prefecture, the main space of the house is on the first floor of the converted warehouse, accessed via a staircase inside the ground-floor garage.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Airhouse Design Office inserted a large white box in the centre of the space, creating private rooms inside and a loft above.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Designed for a couple who are keen on cooking, the focal point of the house is the large kitchen.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

The kitchen units were made from ash, while artificial marble was used on the worktops and table.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

To minimise heat loss in the large space, a thick layer of urethane foam was added to the walls and ceiling before they were covered in plywood panels.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

The loft is accessed by a wide white staircase and used as a children’s bedroom.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Inside the box is the main bedroom, painted a deep shade of purple, a lime green bathroom and a separate toilet.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Airhouse Design Office was founded by architect Keiichi Kiriyama in 2009 and is based in Ogaki, a city in Gifu Prefecture.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Other houses in Japan we’ve featured lately include a building based on the Fibonacci mathematical sequence and an extension featuring tree trunks that stretch from floor to ceiling– see all Japanese houses.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Photographs are by Toshiyuki Yano.

Here’s some more information from the architect:


House in Yoro

One of our client’s major requirements was for a living space where the presence of the family would always be felt. In response, we devised a single-room layout without columns that took advantage of the distinctive features of the existing warehouse.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

A large kitchen was installed to cater to the needs of the food-loving husband-and-wife couple. We then conceived the entire living space by taking the kitchen as a focal point, with a mix of various other activities and functions unfolding around it.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Within this single-roomed space, we also created a box-like structure with a loft bedroom for the children on top of it, and private quarters including a bedroom and bathroom inside it.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

In order to minimize heat loss within this massive space, a 100mm layer of urethane foam was added to the walls, floors and ceiling, while a combined heat and power device was installed in the living room to heat water and provide floor heating.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

All openings were designed by making use of existing sash windows and doors, while glass panes were all given a double-glazing treatment to improve insulation.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

The façade of the building was left intact in an effort to blend in with the surrounding neighborhood, as well as due to cost considerations.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Above: ground floor plan

The result was a comfortable, luxurious home that made effective use of existing features while also avoiding excessive expense.

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Above: first floor plan

Location: Yoro, Gifu
Date of Completion: May 2012
Principal Use: Private House

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Above: mezzanine plan

Structure: Steel Frame
Site area: 1027.34 sq m
Total Floor Area: 131.58 sq m

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Above: section

House in Yoro by Airside Design Office

Above: section

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Airhouse Design Office
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Gangjin Children’s Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

A playground slide is tucked into the rooftop folds of this children’s centre in a coastal South Korean village by Seoul studio JYA-RCHITECTS (+ slideshow).

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

The Gangjin Children’s Centre in Maryang was designed as a replacement for another centre that was destroyed during a hurricane in 2012. With the help of national television and radio station SBS and charity organisation Childfund Korea, the town was able to raise enough money to construct a new building in under a year.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

JYA-RCHITECTS used sketches made by local children – most of which showed house-shaped buildings – to form the basis for the design. In response, the architects designed the two-storey centre with a zigzagging sequence of gabled roof profiles, then added a rooftop terrace and slide.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

“We wanted to find unexpected interesting spaces and scenes being created in the process of design development,” explained architect Youmin Won.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

On the ground floor are a series of multi-purpose activity spaces, which can be partitioned with white curtains. One room features wooden bleacher seating that helps to create a makeshift performance area, as well as a row of glazed doors that open out to a playground.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

A staircase climbs up beside the bleachers towards a study room on the first floor, while another set of stairs on the opposite side of the building leads up to a second study area beside the roof terrace.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

As the building looks out towards the harbour, the architect added a few references to the sea in the design. An assortment of blue cladding panels cover the facade, plus fish-shaped objects hang from the exposed wooden ceiling rafters.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

A slide also features in another children’s centre to complete in the last year: the Centro Infantil del Mercado in Spain. Other buildings containing slides include a house in Indonesia, an office in Japan and an airport in the Netherlands. See more slides on Dezeen.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Photography is by Hwang Hyochel, apart from where otherwise indicated.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Here’s a project description from JYA-RCHITECTS:


Gangjin (Sannaedeul) Children Centre

Sannaedeul Children’s Centre was the most precious place for children from low-income families in Maryang, a small seaside village located at the far southeast end of the Korean peninsula. It was the only playground, learning arena and shelter for the children. The centre acted as another home and community in which they shared and grew hopeful dreams with one another.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

However, the dreams seemed to have ended when a devastating hurricane hit the village last summer of 2012. The centre was totally destroyed and left with nothing. Only to find the rubble of the building, the children still came to the site everyday after school and played on the ruins of what once was another home of theirs.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: photograph is by the architects

Fortunately, the news was heard by Korea’s major broadcast “SBS” and “Childfund Korea” who agreed to sponsor and launched the project of rebuilding the centre. Many other public and private companies also joined the project, giving a momentum to build the children’s dream again.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: photograph is by the architects

The clue for design was found among the pictures of a new centre drawn by the children themselves. The strategy had to be clear. It was to create various and plentiful spaces by repeating and transforming a simple “house-shaped” space suggested in the children’s drawings. Necessary programs were to be embedded into that volume. Then, they had to be connected with and divided by one another by the needs as well.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

As a result, the centre could have a dynamic-shaped roof by the aforementioned repeated and transformed house shapes. The roof shape has created a plentiful inner space and diverse expressions of exterior at the same time. The overlapped roof has also brought up the image of the sea waves to the children of Maryang, the fishing village. To further stimulate children’s imagination, we also installed fish-shaped instruments and blue lightings under the ceiling, giving the image of swimming fish.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

The center was aimed to have bright and warm interiors by getting enough natural lighting of the seaside through wide windows. The multi-purpose hall of a ground floor was extended to open outdoor space. And the study room on the second floor was connected to a terrace with a slide on which the children can play, looking over the most beautiful seaside view of the world. We hoped that there is no border between inside and outside space as well as playing and studying for children in the centre.

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: site plan

Architects: JYA-RCHITECTS
Location: Gangjin, Jeonranamdo, South Korea
Year: Oct.2012 – Jan. 2013
Area: 223 m2
Structure: HM
Interior: SM interior
Exterior: team of Ra Kwonsu
Window: WIT
Lighting: SAMIL / LIMAS

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: first floor plan – click for larger image

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: roof plan – click for larger image

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: long section – click for larger image

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: cross section – click for larger image

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: front elevation – click for larger image

Gangjin Children Centre by JYA-RCHITECTS

Above: rear elevation – click for larger image

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by JYA-RCHITECTS
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