Bart Veldhuizen, community manager at online 3D-printing service Shapeways, takes Dezeen on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s Eindhoven print facility for the final instalment in our series of movies about additive manufacturing.
Shapeways is a website where customers can upload a 3D model and get it printed out and shipped to their front door. It also provides an online marketplace where designers can sell their 3D-printed designs, which Shapeways prints out and delivers to order.
Bart Veldhuizen, community manager at Shapeways
Veldhuizen gave us a tour of the company’s European headquarters in Eindhoven as part of our research for Print Shift, the magazine about 3D printing we launched earlier this year.
“Shapeways is the world’s leading 3D printing marketplace and community,” he says in the movie. “You can design anything, have it 3D-printed, share it, sell it, make it your business. We have 250,000 community members right now who are designing their own work and who are selling and buying on the website.”
Strandbeest, mechanical toy printed in one go using laser sintering
One of the most popular products available on the website is a fully working model of a walking sculpture created by artist Theo Jansen, Veldhuizen says. Called Strandbeest, the intricate toy is printed in one go, without any assembly required. An optional propellor can also be printed separately and added to the model to make it wind-powered.
“It contains 75 moving parts and it will actually walk,” says Veldhuizen. “It’s wind-powered, you blow on the propeller and off it goes.”
Strandbeest being removed from a cake of nylon powder
Starting the tour, Veldhuizen takes us to a computer room, where incoming 3D files are processed and assessed.
“After you place an order, we need to check if a part is actually printable or not,” Veldhuizen explains. “That can mean several things. Will it survive the printing process? Will it survive shipping? All kinds of factors like that.”
Software used to stack 3D files in a virtual tray before they are printed
Shapeways do not print out objects one at a time, as you might using a desktop 3D printer. Rather, multiple 3D objects are printed together in large trays.
“We try to plan our printers as efficiently as possible,” says Veldhuizen. “Sometimes we fit in 300-400 parts in one printer. The more we can fit in, the more efficiently we can produce, of course.”
A laser writes out the cross-sections of components in a laser-sintering machine
Veldhuizen then takes us to one of the company’s printing rooms, where laser sintering machines print models out of white nylon powder.
“We deposit a fine layer of powder on the print bed, a laser sinters one cross-section at a time and then the process repeats,” explains Veldhuizen. “After the printing is done, we unpack the tray. We take the entire printed tray, we push it out of the box and we take it apart by hand.”
Cake of nylon powder containing laser-sintered parts
He continues: “Once the printer starts, it prints about one centimetre an hour. A medium-sized tray can take 24-36 hours to print. After that it’s still quite hot and will take the same amount of time to cool down. Only after that we can start unpacking it.”
For an extra cost, Shapeways can also polish and dye the 3D-printed models.
Shapeways remove the 3D-printed models from the powder cake by hand
“For most of the materials that we use, we look to see how we can make it more interesting for designers or consumers,” says Veldhuizen. “In the case of nylon prints, we found that polishing it after printing will give a much more smooth feeling, much closer to injection-moulded plastic.”
Next, Veldhuizen takes us to a different print room, which produces what Shapeways calls “frosted ultra-detail” models. Here, multi-jet modelling machines print out highly detailed models by depositing fine layers of plastic resin, which are cured with a UV light.
“Frosted ultra-detail” printers
“Ultra detail is a material that’s very highly detailed; we can print walls up to 0.1 millimetres thick,” says Veldhuizen. “It’s not powder-based, it’s a photo-acrylic and then we use a UV light to cure it. This is mainly used by designers who want to create miniature trains or miniature game models.”
We finish the tour at Shapeways’ distribution centre, where the 3D-printed models are given a final quality control inspection before being shipped out to customers.
Example of a “frosted ultra-detail” model
“After ordering, it takes between 2-3 weeks for an order to arrive at your home,” says Veldhuizen. “After printing, we check every part to make sure it’s printed to the right quality standards and if it passes it gets shipped out.”
News: architects including Alvaro Siza, Eduardo Souto de Moura and Kengo Kuma will create installations inside London’s Royal Academy of Arts for an upcoming architecture exhibition.
Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined will see seven architects create temporary structures across the 13 main galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts (RA).
Each architect will create a sensory and spatial intervention exploring the emotive powers of architecture inside the Grade II* listed galleries of the London institution.
Speaking at a press event earlier today, the RA’s architecture curator Kate Goodwin said she hopes the exhibition will help “visitors rediscover the quality of architecture”.
Also present at the event, Grafton Architects director Yvonne Farrell told Dezeen: “What is different about this exhibition is that it’s not about representing projects and buildings.”
“What Kate asked us to do is to focus on fundamental qualities that we’ve been searching for generally in our work and find a way of expressing that to the public,” said Farrell.
Although the designs of each structure are yet to be unveiled, Goodwin hinted that Kuma’s piece is to be based on the Japanese performing art of Kodo. Grafton Architects will manipulate “light from the skylights” in the central gallery, and Xiaodong’s contribution will be a “labyrinth”.
The RA released one teaser image showing a dark corridor with a glowing floor (top).
A special film in one gallery will play interviews with the architects speaking about their designs for the exhibition and introducing their previous work. Visitors will be encouraged to touch, interact and take photos of the installations.
Sensing Spaces will open to the public on 25 January 2014 and run until 6 April 2014.
This packaging for medicines changes over time to clearly show when its contents are no longer safe to use.
The proposal by designer Kanupriya Goel and biologist Gautam Goel addresses the problems of expiration dates wearing off, labels not being printed in a universal language, or text that’s too small to read.
The designers decided to tackle this issue after seeing their grandparents struggling to find and read expiration dates on different medications, but also believe their proposal could help in third world countries where the concept of medicines expiring is less well understood.
The packages and labels comprise several layers of a diffusible material, with information about the contents printed on the top layer and warning symbols hidden on the bottom.
Over a predetermined period, the ink on the lower layer bleeds through the material until it covers the surface with symbols that were chosen as universally recognised symbols of danger.
The timed process begins immediately when the medicine is packaged and is tamper-proof, reducing the likelihood of expired medicines being resold illegally.
Self Expiring is a packaging material for medicinal products that visually ‘self expires’ over a fixed period of time. This packaging will graphically display a ‘not fit for consumption’ message using universally accepted danger signs in regional languages. This solution will prevent illegal sales of expired medicines and fatalities arising from their consumption.
Consumption of expired medications can lead to prolonged illness, increased healthcare costs, and life-threatening situations. The current solution of imprinting the expiration date on medicinal packaging is ineffective for multiple reasons including non-universal choice of language (such as English), small and unreadable font type, and loss of information with usage or wear and tear. All of these issues can collectively lead to accidental consumption of expired medicines.
The proposed solution uses a packaging material that will visually ‘self expire’ over a designated time period. The packaging is composed of two layers of information: the foreground, which contains the medicine label, and the background, which carries a hidden expiration message. These are separated by multiple sheets of diffusible material through which the ink from the hidden message will seep through as time passes. This timing sequence will be initiated from the very point of packaging of the medication itself. It will prevent retailers from illegally selling expired medications for personal gains.
The choice of colour(s) and the design of the expiration pattern include universally accepted signs of danger. The ability of the packaging to alert a user visually takes a significant burden off the users. With this solution, the users would not have to struggle with reading fine print in a language they do not understand, or search for a printed expiration date around the packaging with limited visual capabilities and/or dexterity. This solution will prove to be more efficient and widely understood by the illiterate to prevent accidents and fatalities arising from the consumption of expired medicines.
Dezeen promotion: design brands including Modus, Another Country and Vitamin (pictured) will showcase new products at this year’s designjunction event from 19 to 22 September.
Graft Sideboard by Derek Walsh Studio. Top: Knot Pendant Lamps by Vitamin
Lighting designs will debut at lightjunction, a new section of the show for this year.
The Butler stools by Sibley Grove
We’ll be adding new watches to our Dezeen Watch Store collection and selling them at our pop-up during the event – keep an eye out for more details.
Silt Collection by VW + BS
Designjunction will take place at the Sorting Office from 19 to 22 September during the London Design Festival. Visit the designjunction website for more information about the event.
Artemide Group is a world leader in the high-end residential and professional lighting sector. Founded in 1960 by Ernesto Gismondi, the Artemide Group is based in Pregnana Milanese and operates through 24 controlled and related companies and a distribution network that includes almost 60 single-brand showrooms in major cities all around the world. The Artemide products are distributed in 98 different Countries.
New launch: Ipparco task light by Neil Poulton. Its genius magnet articulation enables you to position the light ring on any point of the structure, and to adjust it over 360° both on the vertical and the horizontal axis, allowing the maximum flexibility in directing the light. ‘Empatia lamp’ fuses hand-blown glass and LED technology and will also be shown alongside Lotek by Javier Mariscal.
Working extensively across the disciplines of architecture and art direction, Los Angeles-based designer Alexander Purcell Rodrigues opened his own multi-disciplinary design studio in 2012. The studio’s diverse portfolio ranges from furniture design to interior architecture.
New launch: An aircraft grade aluminium chair built using new aluminium fabrication methodologies and featuring mathematically-generated ornamental patterns. Called the Cartesian chair, the design is named after the Cartesian coordinate system – the foundation on which CAD software is built – that allows shapes such as curves to be written as algebraic equations.
Allermuir manufacture an extensive range of high quality, contemporary seating and tables for the contract market, designed by some of the most talented designers in the UK and Europe. Allermuir specialise in supplying furniture primarily for leisure and corporate environments, such as dining areas, cafes, breakout areas, reception areas, public spaces and bars.
New launches: Tonina by Italian design duo Claudio Dondoli and Marco Pocci. Tonina is an exquisite, stackable and 100% recyclable chair, combining contemporary design with an incredible finish, available in a variety of colours.
Another Country makes contemporary craft furniture in their workshop in Dorset. Their designs are archetypal, calling on the familiar and unpretentious forms of British Country kitchen style, Shaker, traditional Scandinavian and Japanese woodwork. At designjunction, Another Country launches the Series Two collection, alongside two new ranges of interior accessories.
New launch: Another Country is also pleased to launch its first collection of textiles. The geometric designs on the sumptuous woollen blankets and cushions are achieved by the intricate process of Jacquard weaving.
Having established an award-winning Commercial Interior Design practice in 2003, Peter & Cathy Wall set up Assemblyroom Furniture in 2010 as a natural extension of their design studio. The duo create British-made, quality pieces which are comfortable, refined and built to last. Proudly made in the UK, their collection includes a selection of upholstered sofas and armchairs, wooden stools, tables and benches, all made using locally-sourced materials.
New launch: An upholstered stacking stool and bench design both called Hyde, and a small occasional table called Burgess.
The talented design duo Atelier Areti create objects of exceptional quality, both in design and materials. Since launching their design studio in 2008 they have worked closely with master craftsmen and manufacturers in Germany and Sweden. Look out for beautiful wall lights, lights in the shape of birds and exquisite floor lamps.
New launch: Square lights, Up Down Pendants, Marguerite, Circle + Sphere Pendants and Leaf Wall light.
Bark is a collaboration between husband and wife team, Jonathan Walter and Lakshmi Bhaskaran, both of whom are trained bespoke cabinetmakers with a passion for modern design. Having developed their craft creating one-off pieces for individual clients, in 2010 they decided to join forces and established Bark Furniture.
New launch: Bark is extending the popular Acorn one and two seater range.
Bolon offers unique design with a focus on superior quality, innovative flooring. All Bolon floors are produced for public environments with a focus on hotels, retail and offices. By running its own product development and production facilities, Bolon is able to bring great flexibility and delivery assurance to projects of all sizes.
New launch: Tile shape ‘Wing’ flooring and ‘The Story of Bolon’ (photographic archive). Wing’s strength is the ability to mix and match freely, especially when combining smaller patterned collections with some of our more sensational floors.
Established in 1995 by Samuel Chan, Channels is a modern British design company with a focus on simple design and traditional craftsmanship. They are best known for their high quality products and design integrity, with the majority of products made in Shropshire in the UK.
New launch: The new editions to the ‘Finnieston’ collection by Samuel Chan will make their UK debut after a successful launch at EDIT by designjunction in Milan. The new collection, handcrafted entirely in wood, includes the Finnieston wall lamp, a wall-mounted version of the Finnieston lamp and a new, larger version of the Finnieston floor lamp.
Founded in 1908, Danish manufacturer Carl Hansen & Son is a family-run business, one of Denmark’s oldest producers of quality furniture and the world’s largest producer of designs by Hans J.Wegner. Carl Hansen has a strong grounding in Danish craftsmanship traditions, which they skilfully combine with an insight into the latest production technology to create furniture that will last a lifetime.
New launch: Dream Chair by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. This geometric lounge chair was designed from his desire to encourage people to dream. The collaboration between Ando and Carl Hansen & Son results in a sculptural yet comfortable chair that pushes the boundaries of three-dimensional plywood.
With roots dating back to the shipyards of nineteenth century London, Davey Lighting combines industrial design, traditional craftsmanship and the finest raw materials. All of the brand’s designs are manufactured in England with the same attention to detail required for their original industrial purpose. Davey lights are equally suited to traditional or contemporary scheme thanks to their simple design and wide choice of finishes, including weathered brass and copper, polished aluminium, galvanised cast iron and shot blasted cast iron.
New launches: Hand-made at Davey’s Birmingham metalworks, the Shipyard features a spun copper or galvanised steel shade with a brass spout, exposed cord and sturdy protective guard. The clear or frosted glass is hand-blown at English Antique Glass, the Original BTC group’s Birmingham-based glassworks. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.
Established in 2005, Derek Welsh/Studio is a Glasgow-based practice that produces beautifully made furniture with clean silhouettes, sensitive use of colour and meticulous attention to detail. Headed up by experienced woodworker and designer Derek Welsh, each piece the studio creates is handmade to order with expert craftsmanship.
New launch: Extensions to the Graft Collection which already comprises a table, sideboard, bench, desk and storage.
Characterised by bold geometrics and graphic reversible patterns, Eleanor Pritchard’s woven textiles are designed in London and made in West Wales by highly-skilled British weavers. Suited to both traditional and contemporary interiors, the studio’s signature style is clean and contemporary with a nod to English mid-century design. Eleanor’s deep interest in vernacular British textiles is strongly evident in her work, which she views as a reinterpretation of these time-honoured weaving traditions and techniques for a contemporary audience.
New launch: A new woven upholstery range will be presented at designjunction in September.
Ro Chair by Jaime Hayón for Republic of Fritz Hansen
Republic of Fritz Hansen™, established in 1872, is the world’s most distinguished Danish furniture design brand, renowned for crafting timeless design through collaborations with some of the most visionary architects and designers.
New launch: Ro Chair designed by Jaime Hayon. The design of the shell is elegant and simple, comfortable and pleasing to the eye. The form of the shell gives you the choice of being part of what goes on in the room or relaxing in your own private space.
Girsberger is a Swiss/German manufacturer that creates seating solutions and solid wood tables for the office and residential markets. Founded as a family enterprise in Zurich in 1889, the business is still run by the same family and headquartered in Switzerland with production and sales companies in Germany, Austria, France, Benelux, Spain, Great Britain, and Turkey.
New launch: The recently awarded Jack and Diagon chairs which received a prestigious Red Dot Award.
Since 1999, Innermost have created products of the highest quality through the clever use of materials and good workmanship. Working from a corner of an old lighting factory in NW10 London they continue to create new and interesting designs, often collaborating with other international designers.
New launch: Glaze pendant lights by Corinna Warm that seamlessly fuse ceramic and metal to create a mix of warm copper and ivory tones will be shown. Carousel, a classic pendant light made from non-woven fabric, the MOST collection of pendants and the Honeycomb will also be displayed.
Founded in 1994, Valencia-based LZF designs and manufactures hand-made wood veneer lamps. Based out of a small studio in Valencia’s historic centre, the studio work with a diverse pool of designers to create sculptural ceiling, floor, screen, suspension, table and wall lamps.
New launch: LZF will launch 3 new lighting designs at designjunction 2013.
Made In Ratio is a new London-based furniture and lighting brand set up by Australian designer Brodie Neill. The company launched in April 2013 with a sculptural collection of lighting, seating, tables and storage made from materials such as hand-blown Murano glass, bent plywood and aluminium.
New launch: A fully resolved product collection of the prototypes that were exhibited at EDIT in Milan.
Modus is an award-winning British furniture manufacturer dedicated to producing the very best in contemporary international design. They work with both internationally acclaimed designers and emerging young talent to produce high quality, covetable pieces for both domestic and contract use.
Founded in 2005, Northern Lighting is an Oslo-based brand that creates lighting inspired by Nordic nature, culture, society and natural light. Northern Lighting works with young design talent as well as established designers. The brand distributes its designs across 45 countries, delivering to both leading design retailers and supplying lighting for a large number of commercial projects.
New launch: A number of new products and updates to existing designs.
The Hungarian collective, POS1T1ON Design, was founded in 2010 by five friends working across the disciplines of branding, graphics, photography, furniture, packaging, web and interior design. Drawing upon their collective, multifaceted skill set, the studio have created a collection of functional everyday furniture that reinterprets traditional forms and puts Hungarian design on the international design map.
New launch: In Italian the word “ombrella” means the core of the jellyfish and umbrella, as well. The distinguished yet light-weight style of OMBRELLA family can make any interior freshly unique. If you put them up scattered, in groups, they hover across the ceiling like jellyfish but they are also decorative if you put them up in duo or solo.
The Örsjö Belysning collection has been created by some of Scandinavia’s leading designers including Norway Says, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Jonas Bohlin and Matti Klenell producing classic designs with a contemporary edge.
New launch: Vinge table lamp with a movable wing that encourages interaction. The function of dimming the light is moved to the wing – which can be rotated 180° around its own axis – making the sweeping experience of increasing or decreasing brightness highly tactile.
Rothchild and Bickers make contemporary lighting by traditional glass blown methods. Taking reference from architectural detail and traditional decoration, they create elegant glass lighting that embodies the rich qualities of classical interiors.
New launch: ‘Summer Pick-n-Mix’. The range consists of simple forms in a variety of colours which can be embellished with a palette of fabric covered flex, including neons and herringbone finishes. Available individually and as multiple drops with customised ceiling plates.
Rug designer Sonya Winner fearlessly combines vibrant colours and bold patterns to create statement-making rug designs. Based in London, Sonya’s design process involves layering colours by hand using collage which are then reworked using cutting edge digital technology. A proud member of Goodweave, the rugs are made in Nepal by a team of skilled weavers. Each finished piece creates a unique sense of light and translucency from the dense fibres of wool and silk.
New launch: Sonya Winner will launch a new collection of rug designs and cushions.
Swedish company String has built its brand around its ingenious but very simple modular shelving concept. Originally designed in 1949, the String shelves are built to last a lifetime and the components can be adapted to work in almost any space. Available in a range of colors and materials, the flexible design can be rebuilt, reinvented and transformed over time.
New launch: String Furniture will show three new String Pocket designs, a smaller version of the floor panel and a folding table.
VIBIA are at the forefront of delivering creative and collaborative lighting solutions. In 2012, VIBIA launched the online lighting design software CREA which allows architects, dealers, interior and lighting designers to create virtual interiors using modular lighting systems.
New launch: Match. Unique and unrepeatable, this innovative product is a new lighting concept using the product configuration software CREA. Match allows you to create structures arranged chaotically, automatically planned online and adapted to fit into the room and the space available. The results are infinite artistic arrangements creating a light sculpture that illuminates any interior.
Since Vitamin was set up in 2005 its mission has been to produce designs out of the ordinary. With a keen eye for detail, refinement and quality mixed with a little fun and originality, Vitamin’s product offering spans furniture, lighting, ceramics and homewares. Based in the heart of London’s East End, Vitamin has built up a worldwide presence with its products sold all across the globe.
New launch: Element vessels made from layers of terracotta, earthenware, oak and cork, and the Cloak pendant lamp featuring a beautifully crafted wooden sphere embedded with an LED spotlight all encased within a glass dome diffuser.
Established in 1954, Zanotta is one of the leaders in modern and contemporary Italian furniture design and production. Today’s expansive Zanotta collection comprises armchairs, sofas, storage units, bookcases, chairs, tables, coffee-tables and furnishing accessories by internationally famed architects and designers.
New Launch: Calamo Desk and 895 Kent Armchair introduced this year at the Milan Furniture Fair.
News: Kengo Kuma’s latest proposals for a new outpost of the V&A museum in Dundee, Scotland, have been granted planning permission, following a redesign to reduce costs (+ slideshow).
Planned for construction in Dundee’s Craig Harbour, Kengo Kuma’s competition-winning design for the V&A at Dundee first gained approval in autumn 2012, but spiralling costs forced the architect to redesign the structure so that only its prow projects over the edge of the water, rather than the whole building as originally intended.
The £45 million building will be constructed on the site of a former leisure centre and will feature an angular body with thick horizontal striations, creating exhibition spaces that are naturally lit and ventilated. It is set to become the leading centre for design in Scotland.
Philip Long, director of V&A at Dundee, commented: “Kengo Kuma’s fabulous design will give Dundee and Scotland a wonderful space to enjoy outstanding international exhibitions, and to learn about and get involved with Scotland’s remarkable history of design creativity. I believe it will attract visitors from across the world.”
Detailing the timeframe for construction, he said: “The projected date for the main fabric of the building to be in place is the end of 2015. Its completion, the interior fit-out and installation of the first exhibitions and displays will follow throughout 2016.”
The second bakery to feature on Dezeen this week is designed by Japanese studio Airhouse Design Office and features a tree growing out of its curved timber counter (+ slideshow).
Located in the central Japanese prefecture of Gifu, Bread Table by Airhouse Design Office is small bakery with a shop space and kitchen divided by a structural plywood display counter.
Cane baskets piled with loaves of bread and wire racks of pastries are stacked at intervals along the counter, while translucent polycarbonate corrugated sheets line the front and give off a pink glow when the room is lit up in the evening.
The same corrugated sheets have also been used to line a wall and the interior of the door, which features a chunky wooden handle.
“The plywood counter can be used for a variety of purposes such as a display space, checkout counter or a working space to cut bread and knead dough,” said architect Keiichi Kiriyama.
The kitchen and selling space were designed to have equal weight, with the large table-like platform counter between them.
“For this shop with a small-sized staff the design enables the owner to always have knowledge of the shop situation and allows different actions depending on how much bread is produced,” Kiriyama said.
“As a result this creates an open atmosphere, fosters communication between the customers and bakers, and displays the process from the time the bread is baked to the moment it is sold,” he continued.
The whitewashed walls are lined with simple wooden shelves on each side of the shop space, filled with plants and more baked goods.
Also included are low-hung lamps, timber floorboards, and two stripped wooden chairs for customers next to the glass window front.
News: architecture studios OMA and BIG are among the ten collaborative design teams selected for an initiative to revitalise parts of the USA devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
The Rebuild by Design competition was launched in June by US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary Shaun Donovan and asked architects, landscape architects, engineers and urban designers to come up with proposals that would help revitalise communities affected by the hurricane that struck the east coast in October 2012.
The ten teams will spend the next three months studying the region and building relationships with local stakeholders. Designs will be focused on four areas: coastal communities; high-density urban environments; ecological and waterbody networks; and the unknown and unexpected.
“The projects that come out of this competition will save lives and protect communities in this region and – as the Task Force will emphasise in the Rebuilding Strategy to be released in the coming weeks – serve as models as we prepare communities across the country for the impacts of a changing climate,” said Donovan, who also chairs the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force.
Implementation of the resulting designs will begin in March 2014, funded in part by community grants.
Top image of Hurricane Sandy devastation courtesy of Shutterstock.
Read on more for information and to see the full shortlist:
Ten design teams selected to proceed to stage two of Rebuild By Design competition
The Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force has announced the selection of ten Design Teams to proceed to Stage Two of REBUILD BY DESIGN, a multi-stage regional design competition that will develop innovative projects to protect and enhance Sandy-affected communities. U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, who also chairs the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, launched the competition on June 20, 2013 in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation.
Over 140 potential teams from more than 15 countries submitted proposals, representing the top engineering, architecture, design, landscape architecture and planning firms as well as research institutes and universities worldwide. Thanks to the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation and JPB Foundation, as well as the New Jersey Recovery Fund and the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, ten Design Teams will participate in an intense eight-month process broken into two distinct stages: analysis and design.
“The ten teams we selected stood out because of the talent they bring to the table, their pioneering ideas and their commitment to innovating with a purpose and competing not just to design but to build something,” said Secretary Donovan.
“The projects that come out of this competition will save lives and protect communities in this region and – as the Task Force will emphasise in the Rebuilding Strategy to be released in the coming weeks – serve as models as we prepare communities across the country for the impacts of a changing climate.”
“As cities around the world face increasing shocks and stresses, it is more critical than ever that we find ways to integrate resilient design into our urban future,” said Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation. “The Rebuild by Design competition is an innovative model, bringing together some of the greatest minds around the world to improve how our cities manage, cope with and bounce back stronger from disasters. I am confident that the ten extraordinary teams chosen will create innovative and replicable projects that will strengthen our cities and help them thrive in the face of climate change.”
“Hurricane Sandy brought to the fore difficult and challenging questions for the metropolitan area,” said Robert D. Yaro, President, Regional Plan Association. “The Rebuild by Design competition is an important and innovative process to bring design professionals and the affected communities together to deliver the best answers.”
David van der Leer, Executive Director of Van Alen Institute, said, “By bringing together local communities with world-class, interdisciplinary design teams, we aim to produce extraordinarily innovative projects that highlight next generation perspectives and trends that will catalyse regional approaches to resilience for the United States and beyond.”
Eric Klinenberg, Research Director for Rebuild by Design’s Research Stage and Director of NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, said, “Rebuild By Design is an unprecedented opportunity to think deeply about the great challenges for cities as the climate changes, and to act boldly, too. We look forward to learning from communities and working collaboratively with the Design Teams as we spend the next several months bringing positive action throughout the region.”
“MAS heralds the leadership of the Hurricane Sandy Task Force, and its philanthropy partners, in challenging the world’s best planners and designers to work with communities and develop innovative approaches ” said Vin Cipolla, President, Municipal Art Society of New York. “Our priority is to strengthen the capacity of local communities across the city and region to build their environmental, economic, social and cultural resilience. RBD brings tremendous resources and expertise into the city and region.”
The selection of the teams marks the beginning of the second of four phases of the design competition, which will ultimately result in resilience projects that will be built or implemented in communities in the Sandy-impacted region:
Stage Two: Analysis
Starting today, the Design Teams will begin a three-month research and analysis process, facilitated by New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge (IPK). IPK, known for bridging the gap between serious scholarship and practical action, will present the outcome of Stage Two in a detailed report cataloguing the Design Teams’ research reports and synthesizing their findings into one resource kit for local communities throughout the region.
Stage Three: Design
Building off the comprehensive analysis of the region’s vulnerabilities and existing initiatives developed during Stage Two, each Design Team will then work on one site-specific design proposal. Design Teams will partner with a local or state government entity to identify specific sites and projects that will improve the resilience of communities. During this stage, the Regional Plan Association, Municipal Art Society of New York and Van Alen Institute will collaboratively facilitate this design process for the teams to develop implementable solutions for the opportunities they identified in Stage Two.
Stage Four: Implementation
The projects that come out of this innovative process will be evaluated by the Rebuild by Design jury – made up of world-renowned experts in hazard mitigation, resilience, public health, landscape architecture, urbanism, real estate, design, and other fields – to ensure that winning projects are implementable and have the maximum impact on the region’s resilience.
Background on Design Teams:
Interboro Partners with the New Jersey Institute of Technology Infrastructure Planning Program; TU Delft; Project Projects; RFA Investments; IMG Rebel; Center for Urban Pedagogy; David Rusk; Apex; Deltares; Bosch Slabbers; H+N+S; and Palmbout Urban Landscapes.
PennDesign/OLIN with PennPraxis, Buro Happold, HR&A Advisors, and E-Design Dynamics
WXY architecture + urban design / West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture with ARCADIS Engineering and the Stevens Institute of Technology, Rutgers University; Maxine Griffith; Parsons the New School for Design; Duke University; BJH Advisors; and Mary Edna Fraser.
Office of Metropolitan Architecture with Royal Haskoning DHV; Balmori Associaties; R/GA; and HR&A Advisors.
HR&A Advisors with Cooper, Robertson, & Partners; Grimshaw; Langan Engineering; W Architecture; Hargreaves Associates; Alamo Architects; Urban Green Council; Ironstate Development; Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation; New City America.
SCAPE with Parsons Brinckerhoff; SeARC Ecological Consulting; Ocean and Coastal Consultants; The New York Harbor School; Phil Orton/Stevens Institute; Paul Greenberg; LOT-EK; and MTWTF.
MIT Center for Advanced Urbanism and the Dutch Delta Collective by ZUS; with De Urbanisten; Deltares; 75B; and Volker Infra Design.
Sasaki Associates with Rutgers University and ARUP.
Bjarke Ingels Group with One Architecture; Starr Whitehouse; James Lima Planning & Development; Green Shield Ecology; Buro Happold; AEA Consulting; and Project Projects.
Unabridged Architecture with Mississippi State University; Waggoner and Ball Architects; Gulf Coast Community Design; and the Center for Urban Pedagogy.
Blackened wood buildings teeter on the edge of a precipice at this housing development in Sweden by Scandinavian firm Arkitema Architects.
Arkitema Architects designed 22 family homes to skirt along the edge of a steep valley close to the centre of Gustavsberg town, just east of Stockholm.
“The Prästgården development is situated tranquilly at the top of a rocky area with views towards an undulating landscape and pine forest on all sides,” said the architects.
Two-storey houses are arranged in four terraced blocks that fan out along the edge of the crevice, around the bend of the access road.
As the land falls away at the back of the buildings, a series of stilts on the rocky outcrops are employed to hold up the structures.
Thick blackened wood walls frame individual houses and contrast the natural-coloured fir cladding on the end facades.
Wood is used to reference the local vernacular of buildings around the Stockholm archipelago.
Each identical unit contains living areas on the lower level and three bedrooms upstairs. Outdoor space is accommodated by a terrace in front of the house.
The homes sit at an angle to the road, causing each to be staggered slightly from its neighbours.
Roofs tilt upward towards the canyon and rooms at the back of the properties are glazed from side to side on both floors to make the most of views over the forest.
The architects sent us the following project description:
The development Prästgården lies close to the centre of Gustavsberg, Sweden – an area close to Stockholm with great natural qualities – close to the archipelago and still within commuting distance of Stockholm. The dwellings are subdivided into four groups of two storey row houses.
The Prästgården development is situated tranquilly at the top of a rocky area with views towards an undulating landscape and pine forest on all sides.
A special spot for a series of special buildings that have been carefully placed in a dialogue with the landscape, and with steep slopes and their differences worked into the lay out of the development resulting in a dramatic variation of the individual houses.
Each dwelling is framed and characterised by a characteristic black frame that varies with the terrain down each row, creating small terraces and big balconies. The houses have been placed on stilts, making them seem almost weightless as they climb the hills of Gustavsberg.
Apart from taking the landscape into account the dwellings also mirror the local vernacular architecture, referencing the traditional wooden houses of the archipelago.
The black natural colour of the facades is set off by natural coloured fir on all elements inside the black frame that melt with the landscape and the rocky nature of the site.
Product news: Northumbria University graduate Josie Morris has created a range of copper-spun pendant lamps with chunky handles.
Product and furniture designer Josie Morris created the Handle Pendants in two different sizes; one is tall and narrow, and the other has a wide tapered body.
Small handles in either grey Corian or walnut are fixed to the top of the metal shades. “Scale and the common detail of the handle were used to create a family of minimalistic pendants,” Morris told Dezeen.
The hanging pendants can be displayed alone or in a cluster and are designed as part of a larger product range by the designer, which includes a coffee table and vase with copper accents.
Portuguese architect João Mendes Ribeiro clad this swimming pool pavilion with mirrored panels so it disappears into the surrounding orchard (+ slideshow).
João Mendes Ribeiro added the pool and pavilion in the grounds of a countryside property in central Portugal without disturbing the garden too much.
“The swimming pool was settled in a way that would allow to avoid changes on the terrain morphology and not to interfere with the existing vegetation, keeping the orchard’s character almost untouched and favouring the landscape scenic atmosphere,” said the architect.
Polished stainless steel sheets cover the small building at one end of the pool, which houses a pantry, toilet, shower and small storage room arranged in a row.
These mirrors reflect the landscape around the pool so from some angles the building is camouflaged amongst the trees.
The small rooms within the structure are entered through panels that swing open on both sides of the building. Its thin roof overhangs to provide poolside shade.
The pool sits to one side of a granite platform that’s level with the ground at the pavilion end but is accessed by stairs at the other to compensate for the gently sloping site.
A single set of steps leads into the water from a corner by the pavilion.
The swimming pool in Chamusca da Beira is located in a rural property whose landscape is characterised by the presence of large and small scale trees, in an orchard area with ornamental and fruit trees.
The swimming pool was settled in a way that would allow to avoid changes on the terrain morphology and not to interfere with the existing vegetation, keeping the orchard’s character almost untouched and favouring the landscape scenic atmosphere.
The swimming pool is surrounded by a granite stone platform where, in one of its extremities, relies the volume containing the swimming pool dependencies (one pantry, one toilet, one shower and a small storage room). This volume is coated with polished stainless steel sheets that, by being highly reflective, allow the camouflage of the volume on its surroundings, dematerialising its presence and visually extending the landscape.
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