Hasta La Ideas

In this week’s comments update, readers are discussing a colourful secondary school in China, which Trace Architecture Office has designed as a “celebration of creativity”.

Defined by its brightly coloured volumes and sweeping curves, the Haikou Jiangdong Huandao Experimental School was created as a retreat from traditional forms of education.

“The spaces created stimulate imagination and surprise, instead of simply following the rules and regulations,” Beijing-based Trace Architecture Office told Dezeen.

“Le Corbusier is alive and well”

Commenters were captivated by the school, with Archill hailing it as “an education in gorgeous design”.

“Love, love, love everything about this!” agreed Louise Smith, while Thithyphuth was reminded of great projects past, commenting “Le Corbusier is alive and well in China”.

Ken Robertson received the most upvotes for his comment, which branded the school “so confident, so fluid, so good”.

But not all readers were quite so smitten. Jb thought the building looked a little old-fashioned, calling it “a celebration of creativity circa 1980”.

Idracula, meanwhile, thought the design looked a little too much like the kids were left in charge. “Designed by the pupils or the architects?” they wondered.

Do you think the project passes the test? Join the discussion ›

“I doubt Ferruccio Lamborghini would approve”

Also stoking plenty of debate in the comments section this week was Lamborghini’s first residential project in Europe. Named Tierra Viva, Lamborghini said that the development’s design “is directly inspired” by its supercars.

But commenters weren’t racing to sing its praises.

Zee called the villas “soulless and bleak”, while Pa Varreon branded them “ridiculous and vain”.

“Would be way cooler if all the doors open the Lamborghini way,” posited Claus, while Albia400 quipped “would be great if these never got built”.

“As with Bugatti, Lamborghini should stick to what they know,” argued Alfred Hitchcock. “They make beautiful cars. Looking at this project, they don’t make beautiful architecture. I doubt Ferruccio Lamborghini would approve.”

Other commenters weren’t convinced the villas were very in keeping with Lamborghini’s aesthetic. “Looks rather Audi to me,” joked Shepherd, while Seb thought the project was more akin to “the Toyota Corolla of villa design”.

What are your thoughts on Tierra Viva? Join the discussion ›

“Has the whiff of hubris about it”

Scandinavian studios Henning Larsen and White Arkitekter are designing Stockholm Wood City, a mass-timber development in the Swedish capital that’s set to become the “world’s largest wooden city”.

According to its developer Atrium Ljungberg, the city will use more timber than any other project in development and is designed to have the “serenity of a forest”.

Commenters criticised the development for failing to see the wood for the trees.

“Serenity of a forest?” disputed AJ. “That can be achieved by planting trees in the same space [rather than] building this folly to serve the egos of the self-righteous and vapid architects and developers.”

Nick De St Croix was on the same page, asking “can this possibly be sustainable? Maybe when judged in isolation but aggregated together with all other wood projects across the planet? I doubt it. This has the whiff of hubris about it.”

Other commenters questioned its practicality. “This better be coming with the world’s biggest fire station,” said Stefanos S, while A Haig offered a more light-hearted concern and wanted to know “will there be bears?”

Have commenters been too quick to dismiss Stockholm Wood City? Join the discussion ›

“How and why is this special?”

Readers were also left unimpressed this week by a 24-storey mixed-use building that US studio Hickok Cole designed using ChatGPT.

The building, which features a green roof and a swimming pool, was designed for an unspecified urban site and contains retail, office, residential, hotel and library space.

Responding to project architect Jack Lynch’s prediction that specialised AI chatbots will start to be integrated into software commonly used by architects, Tim commented “great, because if Revit wasn’t already annoying to use as is, now it’s going to be suggesting the way the design should be done”.

Salamoon was similarly unmoved. “How and why is this special?” they wrote. “Looks kinda ordinary.”

“Hard to argue that it is not a result of the Shake ‘n Bake AI design process,” agreed Marius.

Don Bronkema, though, was less cynical about the development, calling it “pleasingly verdant”.

Are AI chatbots the future of architectural software? Join the discussion ›

Comments update

Dezeen is the world’s most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page and subscribe to our weekly Debate newsletter, where we feature the best reader comments from stories in the last seven days.

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