Dezeen Mail #183

Stonehenge Visitor Centre by Denton Corker Marshall

Our last Dezeen Mail this year leads with the recently opened Stonehenge Visitor Centre and also features the latest news, jobs and reader comments from Dezeen.

Read Dezeen Mail issue 183 | Subscribe to Dezeen Mail

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House in Porto features concrete floors that double as kitchen worktops

concrete kitchen worktop doubles up as a dining room floor inside this renovated house in Porto by Portugeuse studio Ezzo (+ movie).

Flower House by Ezzo architects

Named Flower House, the project involved demolishing and rebuilding the building’s upper storeys, as well as refurbishing the existing ground floor to create sunken zones for the kitchen and living room.

Flower House by Ezzo

“The project was aimed at creating a series of flowing, contemporary spaces, allowing a greater degree of flexibility and linking the internal spaces of the ground floor in just one: living, dining and kitchen,” said Ezzo.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_4

Kitchen cabinets are slotted beneath the concrete floor, while a small breakfast counter is created by an extended section of the same surface.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_5

The concrete was hand-poured on site and has been finished with a waterproof coating to give it a polished look.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_6

The hollowed-out living area sits adjacent to the kitchen, whilst a dining area and small bathroom are positioned just behind.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_17

The house’s new upper storeys are contained within a traditional vernacular form with a gabled roof, but the exterior has been painted entirely white.

Flower House by Ezzo

“The core ambition of the scheme was to create a dwelling, which, over time, would come to reflect an approach to contemporary renovation work,” explained the architects.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_14

The first floor accommodates a pair of bedrooms that open out onto a shared balcony, overlooking the surrounding city rooftops. Both bedrooms feature built-in storage space.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_12

A bathroom with bright blue walls is located on the left hand side of the landing, while a wooden ladder leads up to a study room and seating area on the top floor.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_13

A courtyard is located at the back of the house and is surrounded by walls clad in polycarbonate plastic panels.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_10

Photography is by João Ferrand.

Here is some information from the architect:


Flower House

Flower House involved the remodelling of a small old house to provide space to accommodate a single client. The scheme included the refurbishment of the existing ground floor, demolished of the 1st floor as well as the construction of a new one.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_8

The building is set within heritage site, which has drawn out a unique response to the history and settings. The building geometry, orientation and size is driven by the site constraints.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_9

At the site, the existing buildings are idiosyncratic of their type, with flank elevations and roof profiles, which run the breadth of the neighbourhood of Foz Velha. These buildings are detailed in a utilitarian manner, with an honesty of material and detailing one would expect.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_11

In responding to this condition, the design of the new building make clear reference to their historical parts. A two storey dwelling with character and personality, respectful of the existing neighbourhood, and taking advantage of the views.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_15

In the interior the project was aimed at creating a series of flowing, contemporary spaces, allowing a greater degree of flexibility, linking the internal spaces of the ground floor in just one: living, dining and kitchen. Two different stairs ensures the connectivity between ground floor living spaces and upper floors of bedrooms and study space.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_16

The core ambition of the scheme was to create a dwelling, which, over time, would come to reflect an approach to contemporary renovation work and create a flexible environment for who will live there.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_18

Accessible via a path with only 2 m wide, flanked by old houses, externally, the building is wrapped in a homogenous white skin, which wraps up from the landscape.

Flower House by Ezzo

This relationship of building to street retains those historic associations described, and similarly allows for a contemporary sculptural form to sit comfortably within its context.

Flower House by Ezzo architects_dezeen_23
From left to right: ground floor plan, first floor, top floor – click for larger image

Project: Flower House
Architects: EZZO – César Machado Moreira
Collaborator: João Pedro Leal
Location: Porto, Portugal
Project Area: 120 sqm
Project year: 2010/2013
Engineering: Penman Ldª
Constructor: Van Urbis

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Digital portfolio app features layers that behave like tracing paper

The latest version of this app by creative collective The Morpholio Project enables images in a digital portfolio to be annotated and drawn on, as if sketching on a sheet of tracing paper laid over the top.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_1

The Morpholio Project is a collective of architects and designers founded in 2011, which develops tools that artists, architects, designers, photographers or anyone involved in creative business can use to present, update and share their digital portfolio.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_10

Its Trace app was originally launched in September 2012 and is designed to allow sketches to be executed on top of existing drawings, photos or custom templates using a stylus and a mobile device, such as a tablet. Updated images can then be shared with friends or colleagues using Morpholio’s online platform.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_3

Trace 2.0 provides new functions including layers like pages of tracing paper that users can flick back and forth between, making changes where required.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_4

“The goal of the app was to embrace and enhance the fast paced and messy process of idea building, bringing back hand drawing to a culture no longer beholden to the desktop computer,” explained Morpholio co-creator Anna Kenoff.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_5

“The first word we thought of with Trace 2.0 was workflow,” added co-creator Toru Hasegawa. “Drawing in layers was already linking workflow and drawing in interesting ways, but 2.0 unlocks the potential for you to dive back into your drawing’s history for rediscovery.”

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_6

Once the user has sketched something they can choose to apply colour from a series of palettes dedicated to specific genres. The automotive design palette, for example, features shades commonly used for brake lights or indicators, while fashion designers can select from various options suitable for skin tones.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_7

They can also quickly add a filter to their artwork, creating effects such as cross-hatching or pixellation to give images greater interest or clarity.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_8

“Software design is not simply about presenting the best digital version of an analog process, it should also create an opportunity for something that was not previously possible,” explained co-creator Mark Collins. “The filters fuse drawing and technology in a way that seeks a bit of serendipity, enhanced beauty, and even whimsy in the creative process.”

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_11

“Drawing isn’t just drawing anymore – it is discovery,” Collins added. “This hybrid of drawing and rendering opens up a vital pathway to inspiration unleashing enormous potential on the image driven world.”

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_13

Morpholio’s suite of apps also includes the original Morpholio portfolio app, which allows users to upload, organise, alter and share images of their work, as well as perform tasks like creating business cards and send notes by email.

Here are some more details about Trace 2.0:


Morpholio Launches Trace 2.0

Trace 2.0 Introduces New Tools for the Creative World

The Morpholio Project announces the launch of Trace 2.0. Originally released in September of 2012, Trace explores the role of technology in the conceptual phase of the creative process through a digital version of “canary yellow” trace paper. Sketching, is now made easier, faster and more intuitive with Trace, allowing users to instantly draw on top of imported images or background templates, and layer comments or ideas to generate immediate, intelligent, and beautiful drawings that are easy to circulate.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_13

“The goal of the app was to embrace and enhance the fast paced and messy process of idea building, bringing back hand drawing to a culture no longer beholden to the desktop computer.” says Co-Creator Anna Kenoff. Design process works iteratively, as our thoughts build and expand upon one another. Trace 2.0 attempts to put this process in hyper drive with the introduction of three game changing tools for the creative world.

Sketch + Filter

Trace 2.0 reimagines the drawing process, placing thought before beauty. It now offers 12 vibrant filters such as ink, marker, and perforation that allow a simple hand drawn sketch or photo to take on new life. “Similar to the revolution in digital photography that allowed us to select the film after the photo was taken; Trace 2.0 repositions the medium within the drawing process.” says Kenoff. This allows the priority to remain on the thought and idea. Once you have developed a sketch, Trace filters can add beauty, clarity, or appeal, making your idea more powerful. By hybridizing drawing and rendering, the process still embodies the rapid, unencumbered evolution of creative thinking that sketching by hand is best for.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_14

“Software design is not simply about presenting the best digital version of an analog process. It should also create an opportunity for something that was not previously possible. The filters fuse drawing and technology in a way that seeks a bit of serendipity, enhanced beauty, and even whimsy in the creative process.” says Co-creator Mark Collins. “Drawing isn’t just drawing anymore – it is discovery. This hybrid of drawing and rendering opens up a vital pathway to inspiration unleashing enormous potential on the image driven world.”

Your Ideas…in Color

What is the role of color in the design process? How does color establish meaning, hierarchy or direction? Morpholio teamed up with acclaimed graphic designer Glenn Cummings of MTWTF as well as multiple representatives from a diverse group of disciplines to research process and color. The result is a series of thoughtful color palettes curated for both beauty and intelligence.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_2

These sophisticated palettes remove color selection agony from the creative process and allow a user to assemble a sketch with a choice of predefined sets of colors that work beautifully together. Examples include automotive design palettes that feature reds and oranges as “break lights on and off,” photography palettes that bring back the classically bright rainbow of “grease pens”, landscape versus site planning palettes, fashion templates that distinguish warm, cool, skin and accent tones, and many more.

Layers: Past, Present & Future

In the design process going in reverse can be as valuable as going forward. We often find that going back to the core of an idea is essential, thus that moment must be preserved. In Trace 2.0 users can now go back and forth between all layers of a sketch and add, edit or remove information as necessary.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_12

Editing and comparison are now possible as you literally peel through iterations of a drawing. “The first word we thought of with Trace 2.0 was “workflow.” Drawing in layers was already linking workflow and drawing in interesting ways, but 2.0 unlocks the potential for you to dive back into your drawing’s history for rediscovery.” says Co-creator Toru Hasegawa.

Sketch Futures

Trace 2.0 seeks to be the unique sketch utility that allows you to easily develop ideas in layers, communicate via drawing markup, and connect fluently with your global network. Designed to be beautifully simple, clean and familiar, it seeks to disinhibit through freedom and flexibility.

Trace 2 app by The Morpholio Project_dezeen_15

The Morpholio team is made up of architects and designers with the hope of building serious tools for a creative world. Trace is part of the Morpholio suite of apps, which also includes Morpholio, for building and sharing your portfolio, Morpholio Exhibit, for kiosk display, and Morpholio Board which is currently in beta for layout and collage.

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Watches from new Australian brand Stock launch at Dezeen Watch Store

Dezeen Watch Store: six pared-back watches from new Australian watch brand Stock are now available to pre-order at Dezeen Watch Store.

S001B Stock watch
S001B Stock watch

Designer David Tatangelo, a lifelong watch enthusiast and collector, founded Stock in July 2013. The brand is inspired by his personal collection of timepieces and practical designs were created with everyday wear in mind.

S001C Stock watch
S001C Stock watch

So far, the brand has released two collections, the S001 and S002 series, both featuring subtle vintage-influenced details and precise Swiss mechanisms.

S001K Stock watch
S001K Stock watch

The S001 series was Stock watches’ first collection and includes three styles: the S001B, the S001C and the S001K. The S001 is defined by it’s slim case, which measures 7 millimetres, and is designed to fit comfortably on the wearer’s wrist.

Other features include a brushed stainless steel case, a minimal face with printed hour and minute markers and slim hands.

S002G Stock watch
S002G Stock watch

The S002 series, which includes the S002G, the S002R and the S002S, has a slightly larger case, measuring 7.2 millimetres. Each timepiece in this series has an elegant gold finish with the exception of the S002R, which comes in rose gold.

S002R Stock watch
S002R Stock watch

All the Stock watches come with an Italian leather strap that fastens with a stainless steel buckle.

S002S Stock watch
S002S Stock watch

All six models of the Stock watches are currently available for pre-order; orders will be shipped the week commencing Monday 30 December.

Pre-order Stock watches from £140, including free shipping »

S001K Stock watch
S001K Stock watch

You can buy all our watches online; orders for UK delivery before Christmas can be placed until Friday 20 December. And don’t forget you can still visit our watch store pop-up in our north London showroom, which will be open this weekend.

Dezeen Watch Store Christmas pop-up

Place: The Surgery, 100a Stoke Newington Church Street, Stoke Newington, London, N16 0AP
See map
Date: 21-22 December
Opening hours: 10am-6pm (Saturday), 11am-5pm (Sunday)

www.dezeenwatchstore.com

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Didier Faustino’s Big Bang-inspired structure to be next in series of dream houses

A house modelled on the form of an explosion by Portuguese artist and architect Didier Faustino looks set to become the next completed residence in the series of Spanish dream houses for French developer Christian Bourdais.

Casa Faustino by Didier Faustino for Solo Houses

Casa Faustino is scheduled to be the next project to begin construction in Spain’s Matarraña region as part of the series of Solo Houses, an initiative to construct 12 architect-designed holiday homes that are free from any constraints besides budget.

Didier Faustino and his architecture studio Mésarchitectures have designed a residence made up of rectilinear volumes that project outward in different directions to create a variety of apertures, framing views of the surrounding landscape and sky.

Casa Faustino by Didier Faustino for Solo Houses

Floors inside the structure will be arranged as staggered platforms, which the design team hopes will encourage residents to “experience space in new ways, from infinitely large to infinitely small”.

“Similarly to the centre of the ‘Big Bang’ the house appears to draw in as well as reflect the light at its core,” said the designers. “The floors cause the body to feel weightless due to a lack of traditional spatial references.”

Casa Faustino by Didier Faustino for Solo Houses

A swimming pool will be located on the lowest level of the building and will extend out beyond the walls.

So far only one house has been completed in the Solo Houses series – the symmetrical concrete Casa Pezo by Chilean studio Pezo Von Ellrichshausen. A total of 12 are proposed and include designs by Sou Fujimoto, Johnston Marklee and Takei Nabeshima.

Casa Faustino by Didier Faustino for Solo Houses

Here are a few more details from Mésarchitectures:


Casa Faustino

At the Centre of Infinity nestling in the telluric mountain scenery, this ultimate shelter lies before us like the promise of a new world. Protecting from the natural elements but inspired by the surrounding nature, this carapace capaciously opens out to frame the many perspectives of the landscape resulting in a better understanding of its diverse nature.

Similarly to the centre of the “Big Bang” the house appears to draw in as well as reflect the light at its core. The floors cause the body to feel weightless due to a lack of traditional spatial references (top and bottom, right and left).

As if from elsewhere, the house invites its occupants to experience space in new ways, from infinitely large to infinitely small.

Location: Poligono 12, parcella N°141, Cretas, Matarraña, Espagne
Area: 3,48 Hectares
Architects: Didier Fuiza Faustino & Bureau des Mésarchitectures
Collaborators: Tony Matias, Pascal Mazoyer, Maÿlis Puyfaucher.

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Glowing stars by Pernilla Ohrstedt decorate Christmas tree in London hotel

Stars made from bent glass tubes like neon signs by designer Pernilla Ohrstedt illuminate the Christmas tree at the Edition hotel in London.

Argon Stars by Pernilla Ohrstedt

Pernilla Ohrstedt created the glass ornaments to decorate the fir tree in the lobby of the London Edition. “This is the first time that Edition has done a Christmas tree so they wanted to do something really different,” Ohrstedt told Dezeen.

She created sixteen stars each bent from one eight-millimetre-diameter glass tube. Their pointed three-dimensional forms appear different from various angles.

Argon Stars by Pernilla Ohrstedt

The tubes are filled with argon, a Noble gas similar to neon, which gives off a blue light when electricity is passed through.

“I wanted to contrast the 60-year-old tree with something really contemporary and the argon feels really radical,” said Ohrstedt. “One of the most successful elements of Edition is the lighting. The blue is so radically different that it contrasts and compliments the space.”

Argon Stars by Pernilla Ohrstedt

Ohrstedt worked with argon and neon sign specialist Nick Malyon to form the stars in his workshop. “Neon signage is a real cottage industry,” Ohrstedt commented. “All you need is the gas, a glass and a flame, but also a lot of skill.”

The twenty-foot tree and its stars will be displayed in the hotel lobby until the new year.

Argon Stars by Pernilla Ohrstedt

Elsewhere in London, baubles designed by celebrities including Zaha Hadid, Gwyneth Paltrow and Mary J Blige are on display in The Shard until they are auctioned off this weekend.

Photographs are by Jamie Smith.

Here’s some more information sent to us by Ohrstedt:


Christmas arrives at the London Edition

The London Edition is delighted to unveil its first Christmas tree, designed by Swedish designer Pernilla Ohrstedt in collaboration with Nikki Tibbles. The giant 20-foot pine tree (Abies Nordmanniana) features 16 bespoke three-dimensional argon-filled stars created by Ohrstedt exclusively for Edition. With its simple yet elegant design the tree blends perfectly with Edition’s sophisticated design sensibility.

The delicately bent glass stars, produced by Nick Malyon, are lit by argon gas to produce a silver blue line of light. As you move around the tree the stars gradually change their appearance and light.

“The London Edition is both classic and cool and the 60-year-old living tree lit purely by Argon stars embodies just that,” commented Pernilla.

Argon Stars by Pernilla Ohrstedt

Pernilla’s previous works include Coca-Cola’s pavilion for the London 2012 Olympic Park, set design for Topshop and Antipodium and window displays for Colette.

Nikki Tibbles commented: “The brief from Ian Schrager was ‘Traditional with a modern twist’. I’m absolutely delighted with the finished design. Its traditional meets modern art at its best. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Pernilla whose Argon Stars are simply mesmerising. From having worked with Ian Schrager for over 15 years, it is the first time ever installing Christmas in any of his hotels, which makes this collaboration even more special.”

The Christmas tree will be on display in the lobby until the New Year.

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Dezeen’s A-Zdvent calendar: Sou Fujimoto

Advent-calendar_Sou-Fujimoto

Sou Fujimoto is the nineteenth architect to feature on our festive calendar. The Japanese architect, who claims to design structures “in between” architecture and nature, designed a cloud-like structure for this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion and previously completed a tiny wooden house built from a stack of chunky timber beams (pictured).

See more architecture by Sou Fujimoto »

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Sou Fujimoto’s Geometric Forest to feature in series of Spanish dream houses

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has designed a house encased in a lattice of giant sticks as part of a series of dream houses proposed for Spain’s Matarraña region (+ slideshow).

Sou Fujimoto's Geometric Forest to feature in series of Spanish dream houses

Sou Fujimoto is one of 12 architects that has been commissioned by French developer Christian Bourdais to create a holiday home for the Solo Houses series, and was given carte blanche to come up with any concept within a set budget.

Named Geometric Forest, the proposed house will comprise a two-storey stone and glass volume, enveloped on all sides by a complex framework of interwoven logs.

Sou Fujimoto's Geometric Forest to feature in series of Spanish dream houses

Residents will be able to clamber between floors by using the lattice as a climbing frame, but will also be able to use the structure as shelves for displaying plants and other items.

According to the architect, it will be “simultaneously enclosed and protected, as well as completely open”, allowing wind and sunlight to filter through its walls.

Sou Fujimoto's Geometric Forest to feature in series of Spanish dream houses

The house will be the architect’s first residential project in Europe, but will follow similar design principles to the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion he completed earlier this year in London’s Kensington Gardens.

These ideas derive from the architect’s concept of  “primitive futures”, which looks at the origins of architecture and borrows forms from humble caves and animals’ nests.

Sou Fujimoto's Geometric Forest to feature in series of Spanish dream houses

So far only one house has been completed in the Solo Houses series – the symmetrical concrete Casa Pezo by Chilean studio Pezo Von Ellrichshausen. A total of 12 are proposed and include designs by Didier Faustino, Johnston Marklee and Takei Nabeshima.

Here’s some extra information from Sou Fujimoto:


Geometric forest

Simply put, this house is like a geometric forest.

Combining untreated wood in its natural form in an irregular lattice to create a loose boundary. Natural breeze flows through the gaps, and strong summer sun is shielded by this loose lattice structure; between nature and artificiality. A place both loosely protected and at the same time, thoroughly open.

One is able to physically climb through this lattice, to the upper part of the structure is a space like a sky-terrace where one can find a place of refuge. Move through the space like climbing a tree.

The gaps, or spaces between the lattice structure can be used as shelves, or a place for your favourite pot-plant. A place to live, can be re-written as a place filled with opportunities or cues where one can engage, it is also a place to harness and invite elements such as wind and sun to orchestrate a pleasant space.

This forest of lattice structure will be place for living which is new yet primitive.

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Arper to relaunch Lina Bo Bardi’s Bowl Chair

Italian design brand Arper is to relaunch a limited edition version of a bowl-shaped chair designed by late Modernist architect Lina Bo Bardi in 1951 (+ slideshow).

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_1

The Bowl Chair features a metal frame with four legs supporting a ring into which the upholstered seat is inserted. The seat can be swivelled in the frame to allow for more upright or reclined seating positions, with loose cushions enhancing the design’s flexibility. It will be produced in black leather and a range of coloured fabrics.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_3

Bo Bardi, who was born in Italy in 1914 but moved to Brazil in 1946, designed the chair during a period when she was living in São Paulo and working predominantly on the design of products and interiors.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_5

She subsequently established herself as a prominent publisher, curator and architect, responsible for important projects including the São Paulo Museum of Art and the SESC Pompeia cultural centre, also in São Paulo.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_6

Luigi and Claudio Feltrin of Arper explained that their intention in relaunching the chair is to highlight Bo Bardi’s significant legacy: “In doing this, we wish to give the Bowl Chair and Lina’s way of thinking a future. The limited edition creates a link between the past and the future.”

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_23
Original Bowl Chairs at Casa de Vidro, the house Bo Bardi designed for herself in São Paulo

Working with the Instituto Lina Bo and P.M. Bardi, which owns the copyright to the architect’s designs, Arper developed the new chair based on Bo Bardi’s sketches and a pair of original chairs from 1951 – one produced in black leather with a metal frame and the other with a transparent plastic shell and bright red cushions.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_7
Ball Chair drawing by Lina Bo Bardi

Research suggested that the production techniques specified by Bo Bardi would have relied on artisanal methods. With guidance from the Instituto, Arper identified ways to recreate the shape and comfort of the original design using modern manufacturing methods.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_8
Concept sketches by Lina Bo Bardi

The chair’s bowl, which was originally made from heavy hand-forged iron, is now produced in plastic to make it lighter and flexible enough to fit the foam and fabric to the frame.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_10
Exhibition at Arper’s Milan showroom

Arper attempted to standardise the processes used to manufacture the chair so it can be reproduced accurately in a limited edition, embodying its designer’s philosophy of combining industrialised production and individualised objects with improved interaction.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_11
Exhibition at Arper’s Milan showroom

Bo Bardi’s sketches show the chair and cushions in different colours and finishes that could be configured in myriad combinations and Arper is developing a broad palette of colours that reflects the influences of Italy and Brazil on Bo Bardi’s oeuvre.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_19

A single edition of the new Bowl Chair featured in the exhibition Lina Bo Bardi: Together, dedicated to the designer’s life and career that was presented at the British Council in London in autumn 2012. Arper also presented the design and details of the production process at its Milan showroom during this year’s Milan Furniture Fair.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_16

An official launch event for the Lina Bo Bardi Bowl Chair will take place in London on 29 January 2014.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_20

Since the exhibition in London there has been a resurgence in interest in Bo Bardi’s work and British design brand Izé recently announced it had begun producing door handles she designed for her home in São Paulo.

Here’s some more information about the relaunch of the Bowl Chair:


The Bardi’s Bowl Chair manifesto

In London, 2012, the exhibition “Lina Bo Bardi: Together” imagined by the creative troika of curator Noemi Blager, filmmaker Tapio Snellman and artist Madelon Vriesendorp and sponsored by Arper celebrated not only the products but the creative practice of the Italian-born architectural free-thinker.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_15
Lina Bo Bardi

Why did Arper enter into partnership with the Instituto Lina Bo and P.M. Bardi to recreate and produce an edition of Lina Bo Bardi’s famously iconic but never industrialized Bardi’s Bowl chair? Quite simply because we share the same values and ideals: we believe in design to create meaningful dialogue.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_12
Foam used to upholster the chair

Designed in 1951 in Bo Bardi’s adopted home of Brazil, the Bowl Chair is an icon of Lina Bo Bardi’s adaptive style. Balancing the worlds of industrialized fabrication and the individualized object, Bo Bardi envisioned the Bowl Chair as flexible in structure while universal and essential in form. But, as with all of Bo Bardi’s designs, the ultimate emphasis remains on the human interaction with the object.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_13
Attaching the foam

These qualities are what we aim for in every Arper collection. We appreciate the optimism and expression of everyday objects that allow us to put them to work and express our opinions and ideas at the same time.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_14
The chair can be upholstered in leather or coloured fabric

We believe in design as an agent in conversation and conviviality, a conversation starter between form and function, a corporation and its clients or our personal reality and our ideal selves. We believe in design as an essential language to connect the past to the present and remind us what matters.

Bowl chair by Lina Bo Bardi reissued by Arper_dezeen_21

Lina believed that to standardize – to create adaptive open systems that are simple, sensual and alive – was to create potential. And we do too. And so, we introduce the Lina Bo Bardi Bowl chair.

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Green Edge House by mA-style Architects has a hidden garden around its perimeter

A rock garden filled with trees and shrubs is sandwiched between glazed rooms and floating windowless walls at this house in Japan by mA-style Architects (+ slideshow).

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

Japanese studio mA-style Architects designed the house for a residential site in Fujieda, Sizuoka Prefecture. The architects felt that residents would be better off without a view of their surroundings, so they designed an insular house with a private garden.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

Named Green Edge House, the residence is surrounded on all sides by the narrow garden and glazed walls to allow residents to open every room out to the greenery.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

“At first we imagined a house with an inner courtyard. However, indoor privacy is not kept in the architecture around the courtyard,” explained architects Atushi and Mayumi Kawamoto.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

“The transparency of the glass weakens consciousness of a partition between inside and outside. Then the green edge becomes a vague domain without a border,” they added.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

A blank white wall encases the house and garden, but hovers 65 millimetres above the floor so that daylight can filter into the house without compromising residents’ privacy.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

As they chose not to add a courtyard, the architects positioned the living room and kitchen at the centre of the house, with a bedroom and entrance on one side, and a Japanese room and bathroom on the other.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

The toilet and washbasin sit beyond the perimeter of the other rooms, so residents have to venture into the garden to use them.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

Atushi and Mayumi Kawamoto founded mA-style Architects in 2004. Other projects by the duo include a house where rooms are contained inside two-storey boxes and a residence that points outwards like a giant rectangular telescope.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

Photography is by Makoto Yasuda, Nacasa & Partners.

Here’s a longer description from mA-style Architects:


Ryokuen no Su (Green Edge House)

Design Plan

There was the building site on a gently sloping hill. It is land for sale by the lot made by recent land adjustment here. The land carries the mountains on its back in the north side and has the rich scenery which can overlook city in the south side. However, it was hard to feel the characteristic of the land because it was a residential area lined with houses here. Consideration to the privacy for the neighbourhood was necessary in a design here because it was a residential area.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

Therefore at first we imagined a house with an inner court having a courtyard. However, indoor privacy is not kept in the architecture around the courtyard. In addition, light and the air are hard to circulate, too. Therefore we wanted to make a house with an inner court having a vague partition.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

At first we float an outer wall of 2,435mm in height 800mm by Chianti lever from the ground. We make a floating wall by doing it this way. While a floating wall of this simple structure disturbs the eyes from the neighbourhood, we take in light and air. A green edge is completed when we place trees and a plant along this floating wall. That’s why we called the house “Green Edge”. The green edge that was a borderland kept it intact and located a living room or a bedroom, the place equipped with a water supply for couples in the centre of the court. Then a green edge comes to snuggle up when in the indoor space even if wherever. In addition, we planned it so that nature could affect it with a person equally by assuming it a one-story house.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

A green edge and the floating wall surrounded the house, but considered it to connect space while showing an internal and external border by using the clear glass for materials. The transparency of the glass weakens consciousness of a partition between inside and outside. Then the green edge becomes a vague domain without a border. The vagueness brings a feeling of opening in the space. In addition, the floating obstacle that made the standard of a body and the life function in a standard succeeds for the operation of the eyes of people.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

It is like opening, and a green edge and the floating wall produce space with the transparency while being surrounded. The space changes the quality with the four seasons, too. This house where the change of the four seasons was felt with a body became the new house with an inner court which expressed the non-functional richness.

Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls

The Green Edge House does not change the inside and outside definitely.

There is the approach in migratory of green edge and the floating wall. The green edge along the floating wall is the grey area that operated space and a function from a human physical standard and the standard of the life function. We arrange the opening to a physical standard. Act in itself to pass through the floating wall becomes the positioning of the approach as psychological recognition.

Site plan of Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls
Site plan – click for larger image

In the Green Edge House, various standards make mutual relations each and operate space. For example, as the human physical dimension, standing is 1500-1800mm, and sitting is 820-990mm. On the other hand, as the human working dimension, 750-850mm on the desk, and 730-750mm in the washstand are normally scale. From the module that such a human physical standard and the standard of the life function, floating wall was set with 650mm from the floor, 800mm from the ground.

Floor plan of Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls
Floor plan – click for larger image

By doing so, we created the domains where the eyes of the people does not cross of inside and outside. It leads to a feeling of opening for the living people. The floating wall shows an internal and external border. On the other hand, transparency of the glass weakens internal and external difference. With the operation of the standard, and it raises excursion characteristics not to toe the mark.

Section of Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls
Section – click for larger image

The Green Edge House is the house which was rich in the variety that balance of the space was planned by a building and a physical standard.

Elevation of Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls
Elevation – click for larger image

Location: Fujieda – City Sizuoka Japan
Date of Completion: December 2012
Principal Use: House
Structure: steel construction

3D concept diagram of Green Edge House by mA-style Architects encases a perimeter garden behind its walls
3D concept diagram – click for larger image

Site Area: 200.90m2
Total Floor Area: 73.01 m2
Structural Engineer: Nakayama Kashiro
Exterior Finish: Fibre reinforced plastic waterproofing
Floor: Birch wood flooring
Wall: cloth
Ceiling: cloth

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