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News: American firm Steven Holl Architects has begun construction of a new building for the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History, adjacent to the award-winning Art Building West that the practice completed in 2006.

Designed in collaboration with Missouri studio BNIM, the new Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa by Steven Holl Architects is required to relocate teaching spaces from the original 1936 faculty building, which was badly damaged when the campus was flooded in 2008.

The new building will include 11705 square metres of open space for use by the ceramics, sculpture, metals, photography, print-making and 3D multimedia departments. It will also include graduate student studios, faculty and staff studios, plus offices and gallery space.

The rectangular plan will be interrupted by six cutaways creating courtyards round the perimeter and a central forum boring down through the centre, crossed with staircases to join the four floors.

“The courts are characterised by a language of shifted layers where one floor plate slides past another,” said the architects. “This geometry creates multiple balconies, providing outdoor meeting spaces and informal exterior working space.”

Large landing areas around the staircases will be furnished with tables, chairs and sofas for working and meeting, and there will also be an accessible green roof.

The white concrete structure will be cast in-situ and clad in solid recycled zinc panels on the northeast and northwest sides. The southeast and southwest facades will be covered with custom perforated stainless steel panels, while the courtyards will be surrounded by channel glass.

The new building will sit to the northwest of Steven Holl Architects’ Art Building West, which has received numerous accolades since its opening including an RIBA International Award, The American Architecture Award and four awards from the American Institute of Architects.

“While the 2006 Arts Building West is horizontally porous and of planar composition, the new building will be vertically porous and volumetrically composed,” said the studio. “Natural light and ventilation are inserted into the deep floor plates via multiple centers of light.”

Steven Holl Architects and BNIM won a competition to design the building organised by the University in 2010. The new building is due to open 2016.

Steven Holl is also working on a new institute for contemporary art at the Virginia Commonwealth University campus and a new sports centre for Columbia University in New York.

See all our stories about architecture by Steven Holl »
See more stories about architecture for education »

Here’s some more information from Steven Holl Architects:

Steven Holl Architects’ Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa starts construction

The new Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa celebrates the beginning of construction. Designed by Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with BNIM, the new facility for the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History will provide 126,000 sf of loft-like space for the departments of ceramics, sculpture, metals, photography, print-making and 3D multimedia. It will also include graduate student studios, faculty and staff studios and offices, and gallery space.

The new Visual Arts Building relocates and expands educational space from the original 1936 arts building, which was heavily damaged during a flood of the University of Iowa campus in June 2008.

The new building will be located directly adjacent to and northwest of Art Building West, which was designed by Steven Holl Architects and has received numerous awards since its opening in 2006.

While the 2006 Arts Building West is horizontally porous and of planar composition, the new building will be vertically porous and volumetrically composed. Natural light and ventilation are inserted into the deep floor plates via multiple centers of light.

The aim of maximum interaction between all departments of the school takes shape in social circulation spaces. Seven vertical cutouts encourage interaction between all four levels. These light courts are characterized by a language of shifted layers where one floor plate slides past another.

This geometry creates multiple balconies, providing outdoor meeting spaces and informal exterior working space. Interior stairs stop at generous landings with tables and chairs, and lounge spaces with sofas.

Steven Holl said, “We are very pleased to be able to work again with the University of Iowa towards the creation of campus space as well as an inspiring new facility for the arts.”

Chris McVoy added, “We are excited to begin construction on this ambitious studio arts building, which offers the rare circumstance to realize a complementary architecture and shape campus space with one of our favorite built works, the 2006 Art Building West.

The new building is dedicated to space for the ever-evolving practice of art within and across different disciplines, from foundry to digital media, all connected by porous social spaces and light courts.”

The LEED Gold building includes an accessible green roof, and integrates active slab heating and cooling into the exposed loft-like concrete bubble deck structure.

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Here’s an exclusive set of images showing the inside of Zaha Hadid’s Innovation Tower at the Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, sent to us by photographer Edmon Leong (+ slideshow).

Hong Kong-based architecture photographer Edmon Leong captured the images as some levels of the building were still being completed and faculty staff and students were moving in.

The building is now partly in use, with some floors still under construction.

Leong describes his journey round the building: “The first thing I saw were escalators… I was limited to angles since the entrance was heavily decorated with gold celebration balloons and student installations to mark its opening.”

Leong also took some shots standing at the top of the escalators in the main entrance looking downwards.

“The rest of the space feels more like a museum than a university. You can see the design’s similarity to the Guangzhou Opera House but on a smaller scale,” he added.

Walking around the third floor, Leong described how you encounter a small atrium on one side and a large lecture theatre.

“On the other side of the third floor you will find a larger atrium and this looks up to the ninth floor,” he said.

“The atrium looks pretty amazing, just next to it you find a staircase leading up to the ninth floor while floors four to nine are still under construction.”

Leong took a lift from the third to the ninth floor. He captured the unfinished space there and walking into a classroom with a view of the surrounding campus.

“I wish I’d had a space like this when I attended university,” he said.

“Many areas are still unfinished and I can’t wait to go back and finish photographing it at my own pace.”

He described the exterior and how he felt that it morphs into three different buildings.

“It looks completely different from various angles and sticks out amongst the landscape filled with box shaped buildings,” he said.

“Hong Kong needs more buildings like these because its such a modern metropolis.”

Zaha Hadid Architects were commissioned to complete the 76-metre high building in 2008.

Planned as the university’s design school, the building is close to Hung Hom station in Kowloon.

The leaning tower will provide a space for more than 1500 university students.

We published a story on the Innovation Tower with a series of exterior image by Edmon Leong a few months ago.

More Zaha Hadid projects include the Serpentine Sackler Gallery that opened in London last week, images of a boutique chain interior for American shoe designer Stuart Weitzman and the forthcoming design for the National Stadium of Japan.

See more Zaha Hadid projects »

All images are copyright Edmon Leong and used with permission.

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photographed by Edmon Leong appeared first on Dezeen.

Kanye West was in the news last week for venting his creative frustration, but he isn’t the only celebrity who wants to be a designer – Pharrell Williams, Brad Pitt, Vanilla Ice and even Buzz Aldrin have had a go at furniture and lighting. With varying degrees of success…

In an interview that was meant to be about his latest album with DJ Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1, West revealed he wants to design everything from water bottles to architecture and claimed to be “working with five architects at a time” to learn their craft.

He has already designed a line of high-top trainers for Nike and shown his womenswear collections at Paris Fashion Week.

West announced plans to start his own design company DONDA last year, and hoped to enlist a number of designers and architects to join him. In 2007 he commissioned architect Claudio Silvestrin to design his New York apartment.

Other famous faces branching into design include vocalist and producer Pharrell Williams, who designed a chair with transparent plastic caterpillar tracks for legs.

Rapper Vanilla Ice launched a collection of chandeliers and wall lamps earlier this year.

We’ve also featured a movie in which rapper Ice Cube, who previously trained as an architectural draftsman, explains his love of architecture and how he’s inspired by the work of renowned architects Charles and Ray Eames.

Away from music, actor Brad Pitt has created a range of furniture that features a dozen pieces including a bed, tables, chairs and a marble bathtub for two.

Pitt has also dabbled in architecture. His charity Make It Right signed up a series of architects including Frank Gehry, Morphosis and MVRDV to help provide solutions to the housing crisis created in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2008.

Titanic actress Kate Winslet and Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe are among Hollywood stars who have designed products for British brand Habitat.

Second man on the moon Buzz Aldrin created a lunar-inspired pendant lamp for the brand as well.

Finally, technology firm Blackberry named singer Alicia Keys as its creative director earlier this year while musician Moby began an architecture blog to post his photos and musings on the subject in 2012 – see it here.

We’ve also featured a roundup of architects who’ve tried their hand at designing shoes, which includes footwear by Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel and Oscar Niemeyer.

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by celebrities appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen promotion: designers Giulio Cappellini, Pauline Deltour and Ora Ito plus architects Ludovica and Roberto Palomba are confirmed to speak during trade fair Downtown Design Dubai, taking place from 29 October to 1 November.

The guest speakers will lead design talks during the inaugural Downtown Design Dubai, at the foot of the world’s tallest building the Burj Khalifa.

Furniture, lighting, accessories, flooring, textiles and new technologies will all be on show at a purpose-built venue on Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard in central Dubai.

Confirmed exhibitors include Italian furniture brands Poltrona Frau, Cassina and Cappellini as well as US chair manufacturer Emeco.

Installations by design groups Temporary Museum of New Design, Nouvelle Vague and Craftsmanship at The Workshop will be created inside the venue.

The four-day event will be free for trade visitors and industry professionals between 12pm and 8pm daily from 29 October to 1 November.

Members of the public can also visit from 5pm to 8pm on 29-31 October and 12pm to 6pm on 1 November.

Register to attend on the Downtown Design Dubai website or at the entrance desk of the venue. Images show products by confirmed exhibitors.

Keep reading for more information from the organisers:

Downtown Design announces exhibitors, speakers and special installations

» Carefully selected global interior design brands to showcase iconic and unique products.
» Guest speakers include designers Giulio Cappellini, Pauline Deltour, Ora Ito and architects Ludovica+Roberto Palomba.
» Special installations from the Temporary Museum, Nouvelle Vague and Craftsmanship at The Workshop.

Downtown Design, a new design trade fair in Dubai has announced its final list of 40 exhibitors for its first show, taking place from 29 October to 1 November. As well as individual brands, there will also be a stunning showcase of three special installations and a series of design talks hosted by high profile designers.

Downtown Design will for the first time in the Middle East bring together a selection of international design brands renowned for their quality products and focus on manufacturing craftsmanship. The inaugural show will be held at the custom-built location, ‘The Venue’, in Emaar’s Downtown Dubai, located on Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard. The event is geared specifically towards design industry professionals including architects, real estate developers and interior designers from across the Middle East and North Africa.

Confirmed participants include some of the world’s leading design brands exhibiting for the first time in the region. Featuring the very best in furniture, lighting, accessories, flooring, textiles and new technologies, Downtown Dubai’s exhibitors include: Atelier AK, Bolon, Cappellini, Carl Hansen, Cassina, Chi Wing Lo, De Castelli, De Vecchi Milano 1935, Dilmos Milano, Discipline, Emeco, Engeenius – Cykno, Evita Vonni Collections LTD, Fritz Hansen, Gaggenau, Gaia & Gino, Hossein Rezvani, Il Laboratorio dell’Imperfetto, Lamellux, Lisa Corti, Louis Poulsen, Muuto, Nouvelle Vague Volume 2, Pinetti, Poltrona Frau, Pouenat Ferronnier, Preciosa, Quadrature, Seletti, Serralunga, Temporary Museum for New Design, Theodore Alexander, USM, Verreum and Vitra. Al Khaznah Tannery from the UAE will also be making a surprise announcement during the fair.

To bolster the exhibition of high end design brands, Downtown Design will also be hosting a series of design talks to inform and educate visitors to the fair. Guest speakers include world renowned designer Giulio Cappellini, iconoclastic artist and designer Ora Ito, French product designer Pauline Deltour and the Italian Architect duo Ludovica+Roberto Palomba.

In addition to the trade fair, Downtown Design will host three installations, specially curated for the event, to engage its visitors and emphasise the quality, innovation and craftsmanship behind today’s contemporary design. Installations include: Nouvelle Vague, Craftsmanship at The Workshop and the Temporary Museum for New Design.

Organised by the Institut Français in the UAE, Nouvelle Vague is a unique design exhibition curated by Cédric Morisse. Nouvelle Vague is coming to the Middle East for the first time and will feature a specially curated collection of design with an exhibition curated in partnership with UAE’s Khalid Shafar.

The Craftsmanship at The Workshop installation will aim to show visitors the quality and skill that goes into product manufacturing in factories in Denmark and the careful selection of materials used. The stand will showcase works from Fritz Hansen, Carl Hansen and Louis Poulsen as well as featuring live craftsmen working on two items, the upholstery of the iconic egg chair and the weaving of a wishbone chair’s seat.

The Temporary Museum for New Design, the cornerstone of Milan’s Design Week and reputed for exhibiting work from some of the world’s leading product designers such as Karim Rashid, Marc Sadler and Marcel Wanders, has chosen Downtown Design for its first exhibition outside Milan. Known for their innovation and design entrepreneurship, they will be exhibiting pieces from cutting edge brands including Astrini, Crjos, Landor, Melongranoblu, Slide, Slide Art, Tagina and Zava.

Cristina Romelli Gervasoni, Downtown Design Fair Director, said: “Downtown Design brings quality driven, international commercial design brands to the Middle East. We aim to act as a platform for business networking. The Middle East is a very appealing market for the brands we have selected and we are delighted to be able to bring to Dubai new brands who are debuting in the Middle East for the first time at Downtown Design.

“Alongside the exhibition, Downtown Design will also feature an extensive programme for trade professionals and visitors to engage with some of the world’s leading designers and to network with key figures in the industry. By providing a unique platform to give international brands access to the rapidly growing market of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Downtown Design is set to become a key design show on Dubai’s creative landscape, thereby fulfilling His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, recent decree of increasing the overall contribution to the creative sector to Dubai’s GDP.”

The four-day event, which will be free for trade visitors and industry professionals between 12pm and 8pm daily, will also be open to members of the public from 5pm to 8pm on 29-31 October and 12-6pm on Friday 1st November.

www.downtowndesign.com

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Minnesota architect Josh Lewandowski has started a blog where he’ll post one meaningless architectural diagram every day for a year (+ slideshow).

Since 7 September, Lewandowski has been publishing a single drawing to his Pointless Diagrams blog every day, and intends to continue for a whole year.

“I started the blog because for as long as I can remember I’ve always drawn and doodled 3D sketches that have an unapologetic dearth of meaning,” Lewandowski told Dezeen. “I’m doing it because of my sincere belief that setting aside time to doodle useless stuff is extremely useful.”

The drawings depict imaginary structures and architectural scenarios, and some of the diagrams also feature directional arrows. “I like that people I’ve shown them to see different things based on their own experiences,” he said.

“I draw my inspiration from architecture, furniture, engineering, geometry, cereal boxes, Lego instructions and Etch A Sketch memories,” explained the designer. “I always use pen and ink because an early art teacher told me erasing is for wimps.”

The original drawings are made in pen and ink on buff acid-free paper and are available for purchase from Lewandowski.

Lewandowski studied Art and Architecture at the University of Minnesota and a Masters of Architecture at Yale University. He is the founder of furniture design firm Nordeast Industries.

Other illustrations featured on Dezeen include Toby Melville-Brown’s drawings of impossible architectural structures and Tom Ngo’s Architectural Absurdities series featuring a building made of stairs and an impossible lighthouse.

See more architectural illustration »

Images are courtesy of the designer.

Here’s a full description from Lewandowski:

Pointless Diagrams

I started the blog because for as long as I can remember I’ve always drawn and doodled 3d sketches that have an unapologetic dearth of meaning.

Whether it was in a 6th grade English class, during a Peter Eisenman lecture in grad school, or when I should have been CADing while employed at Robert A M Stern Architects; I was drawing.

The sketches are usually meaningless and aesthetically could be described as equal parts Draw Squad and James Stirling.

I draw my inspiration from architecture, furniture, engineering, geometry, cereal boxes, lego instructions, and Etch A Sketch memories. I always use pen and ink because an early art teacher told me erasing is for wimps.

This blog chronicles my attempt at a year-long endeavor to draw one diagram a day, because of my sincere belief that setting aside time to doodle useless pictures is extremely useful.

They appear meaningful without actually being helpful. Some might seem to reference real things or show some sort of relationship between things, but that is merely coincidental. Enjoy.

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Josh Lewandowski appeared first on Dezeen.