News: construction of China’s 838 metre-high Sky City tower has stalled just days after it began amid safety fears and a lack of necessary government approval.
Chinese media channel Xinhua news has reported that the construction of the world’s tallest building, set for Changsha in central China, is postponed until the project passes relevant safety examinations and gains building permits.
Authorities in the Wancheng District of Changsha are still examining the building’s structure and firefighting facilities, reported Chinese state publication The Global Times, adding that applications for official licenses are still underway.
This news comes only days after a ground-breaking ceremony was held at the site.
As previously reported on Dezeen, construction firm Broad Sustainable Building Technology plans to erect the tower using pre-fabricated components that slot together like a Meccano toy.
When completed the steel skyscraper will be taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa and include schools, a hospital, office facilities, 17 helipads and apartments for over 30,000 people.
News: new office technologies and a move towards collaborative, open-plan offices are leading to declining performance among workers, according to a new workplace design study by architects Gensler.
The 2013 US Workplace Survey found that workplace effectiveness in America has fallen by 6% since 2008, when the firm carried out its first survey.
UBM, San Francisco by Gensler. Top image: Salon Brands, Los Angeles by Gensler.
“Extended workdays, new distractions, and downward pressure on real estate costs are compromising the effectiveness of the U.S. workplace,” says the survey. “Strategies to improve collaboration proved ineffective if the ability to focus was not also considered.”
Distracting noise and visual stimulus in open-plan offices is one reason for the drop, according to Matthew Kobylar, regional workplace practice area leader at Gensler.
“As you squeeze more people in, the chances of being distracted by noise and visual distractions increases,” Kobylar told Dezeen.
Employers have moved towards open-plan offices over the last ten years to reduce real-estate costs, as they can fit more people into the same amount of space.
Firms have justified this by claiming open-plan offices increase opportunities for collaboration, Kobylar said, but he added: “Cramming people in does have an impact on effectiveness. Just because you can see your colleagues doesn’t mean you’re going to collaborate with them.”
TM Advertising, Dallas, by Gensler
To counter this, workplace designers should provide a variety of “secondary” workspaces where workers can concentrate on individual or group tasks, away from distractions – and to prevent them from creating distractions themselves.
“Open plan is quite effective as a general space but there are times when you need to focus on collaboration, and it fails to support that,” Kobylar said.
Quiet areas, spaces or booths for quick meetings and workspaces with views can all help create a balanced, and more effective, office environment, according to Kobylar.
“It allows them to get away from the distraction,” he said. “We’re telling our clients, don’t give up on open plan but acknowledge that people need balance.”
The cover of the US Workplace Survey 2013 by Gensler
Writing about the reports finding on the company’s blog, Gensler principal Janet Pogue said the research does not mean that open-plan offices don’t work. “Our research shows that effective work can happen in both open and enclosed environments,” she wrote. “Even private offices are not as effective as they were in 2008.”
Instead, the decline in worker effectiveness is down to changing work patterns, including an increase in multitasking and in particular the introduction of always-on technologies such as email, mobile phones and virtual conferencing.
“The world has changed in the last five years, shifting the way we work,” Pogue wrote. “We have more distractions and interruptions, including 24-hour technology demands. Most of us have more on our plates and have to multi-task to get everything done. Collaborating with virtual colleagues takes tremendous concentration and effort. And if effectiveness is declining across the board, open plan offices aren’t at fault.”
In their survey, Gensler found that companies that offered a “balanced workplace” with a variety of different workspaces for different tasks outperformed those offering just one option.
“Achieving balance in a workplace is a delicate process,” Pogue explained. “The first priority is to optimize the functionality of primary workspaces. Design elements must mitigate noise and provide access to colleagues while minimizing distractions. It’s also important to design a pleasing space where people actually want to be. A balanced workplace also provides a healthy dose of alternative workspaces where groups of one to four people can seamlessly transition from individual work to group work or a person can simply go into an enclosed room and shut the door to concentrate or take a call.”
To compile the report, Gensler surveyed 2,035 “knowledge workers” in firms across the USA. They found that only one in four operate in optimal workplace environments. “The rest are struggling to work effectively, resulting in lost productivity, innovation and worker engagement,” the report says.
“Our survey findings demonstrate that focus and collaboration are complementary work modes. One cannot be sacrificed in the workplace without directly impacting the other,” says Diane Hoskins, Gensler co-chief executive officer. “We know that both focus and collaboration are crucial to the success of any organization in today’s economy.”
“Balanced workplaces where employees have the autonomy to choose their work space based on the task or project at hand are more effective and higher performing,” she added.
Kobylar said that as well as increasing pressure on workers, technology could help increase effectiveness if used properly. Tablet computers, smartphones and wifi – technologies that didn’t exist when Gensler carried out there first workplace survey in 2008 – allow staff to move between different work environments according to the tasks they are working on.
“Technology has moved on a lot in the last five years,” he said. “You can be mobile in the office. You can pick up your kit and go.”
Pogue said that employees should create “secondary spaces” where noisy activities such as meetings and conference calls can take place, adding that spaces that allow between two and four people to hold meetings are the most in demand.
“The availability of secondary workspaces is particularly important for creating a balanced workplace,” she wrote “The proximity and availability of secondary work environments can bring balance to a workspace and help occupants work more effectively, both by providing the spaces they need to perform a variety of activities and moving noise and distraction-creating activities away from desks and into more appropriate spaces.”
She concluded: “To really drive performance, companies must create work environments where workers can shift between various work modes and feel comfortable working privately or collaborating with colleagues.”
The timepiece pays homage to Miyake’s designs with a ridged polyurethane strap and stripes on the face that catch the light in different directions.
Hours are marked with subtly alternating brushed and polished segments round the rim of the stainless-steel case.
It’s fastened with a brushed stainless-steel buckle and is suitable as either a man’s watch or a woman’s watch.
When designing the watch, Morrison used Irving Penn’s iconic 1994 photographs of Miyake’s collection as a starting point. “I visited the 21-21 Design Site Exhibition of Penn’s photos for Miyake and was overwhelmed by how Penn managed to capture the spirit of Miyake’s clothes in his photos,” said Morrison. “I decided to do my best to capture some of that spirit for this new watch.”
Pleats Please by Issey Miyake, photographed by Irving Penn
Based close to Dezeen’s offices in east London, Jasper Morrison is one of the most celebrated British designers. He’s famed for his “Super Normal” approach to product design, sensitively paring back objects to their essentials.
News: Zaha Hadid’s extension to the Serpentine Gallery in London is to open on 28 September.
The Serpentine Sackler Gallery will be housed in a 200-year-old former gunpowder store five minutes walk to the north of the main gallery in Kensington Gardens, across the Serpentine Bridge.
Design for Serpentine Sackler Gallery by Zaha Hadid Architects
Zaha Hadid Architects have created an undulating white canopy to the side of the Grade II listed building, which will contain gallery, restaurant and social space. This will be the firm’s first permanent structure in central London and follows its Lilas installation at the gallery in 2007.
Serpentine Sackler Gallery designed by Zaha Hadid to open in September 2013
The Serpentine Sackler Gallery, designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Zaha Hadid, will open to the public on Saturday, 28 September 2013.
The Serpentine Sackler Gallery gives new life to The Magazine, a former 1805 gunpowder store, located five minutes walk from the Serpentine Gallery on the north side of the Serpentine Bridge. With 900 square metres of new gallery, restaurant and social space, the Serpentine’s second space in Kensington Gardens will be a new cultural destination in the heart of London. From this autumn, the Serpentine will present its unrivalled programme of exhibitions and events across both Galleries and into the Park.
Location of the new gallery in converted Magazine building
The new Gallery is named after Dr Mortimer and Dame Theresa Sackler, whose Foundation has made the project possible through the largest single gift received by the Serpentine Gallery in its 43-year history. Major funding has also been awarded by Bloomberg, long term supporters of the Serpentine as well as sponsors of the opening exhibition.
In 2010 the Serpentine Gallery won the tender from The Royal Parks to bring the Grade II* listed building into public use for the first time in its 208-year history. The Serpentine Gallery has restored the building to an excellent standard, in partnership with The Royal Parks, renovating and extending it to designs by Zaha Hadid. A light and transparent extension compliments rather than competes with the neo-classical architecture of the original building. It is the Zaha Hadid Architects’ first permanent structure in central London and continues a relationship between the Gallery and the architect, which began with the inaugural Serpentine Gallery Pavilion Commission in 2000. The landscape around the new building will be designed and planted by the world-renowned landscape artist Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
The Royal Parks’ Magazine Building before conversion to the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. Photograph is by John Offenbach.
The opening exhibition in the Serpentine Sackler Gallery is the first UK exhibition by the young Argentinian artist Adrián Villar Rojas, who is gaining international renown for his dramatic, large-scale sculptural works. At the same time, in the Serpentine Gallery, there will be a major retrospective of the work by Italian sculptor Marisa Merz, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 Venice Biennale. A redesigned website will feature the inaugural Digital Commission, while the first annual Bridge Commission explores the route between the two galleries with a series of short stories by twelve internationally acclaimed writers. Each story is timed to last as long as it takes to walk from the Serpentine Gallery to the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. The Serpentine’s expanded presence in Kensington Gardens will be illustrated by a specially commissioned map by the artist Michael Craig-Martin.
Responding to its unique location in The Royal Park of Kensington Gardens, an expanded programme of eight exhibitions will now follow the seasons with different shows in each gallery four times a year. The seasonal theme carries through to the wider programme with the Pavilion commission signalling the start of London’s summer and the multi-disciplinary Marathon, a fixture of Frieze week in the autumn. The Serpentine’s programme of outdoor sculpture with The Royal Parks continues with Fischli/Weiss’s monumental Rock on Top of Another Rock, which remains in place until March 2014.
The opening of the Serpentine Sackler Gallery marks a new beginning for the internationally acclaimed arts organisation, which has championed new ideas in contemporary arts since it opened in 1970. The Serpentine Gallery has presented pioneering exhibitions of 1,600 artists over 43 years, from the work of emerging practitioners to the most internationally recognised artists and architects of our time such as Louise Bourgeois, Frank Gehry, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei.
Main image and above: Kim Jong-un is said to have been impressed by PTA’s proposal for Wonsan airport
“We were approached by a potential investor who is very close to the North Korean government,” Otto Cheng Ping-lun of PLT Planning and Architecture told the Chinese newspaper.
The architect, whose firm specialises in large commercial and infrastructure projects, said the Korean leader saw his firm’s drum-inspired designs for the conversion of an abandoned military airport in Wonsan, a city of North Korean’s eastern coast.
“We were told that Kim [Jong-un] was happy with our design. However, Kim said the airport in the capital should not look worse than the one in the economic zone. That’s why we were also asked to upgrade the airport in Pyongyang.”
The Wonsan designs feature glazed facades with branching columns and central courtyards
Plans for the airport conversion in Wonsan, revealed in North Korea News last month, show two 3345 square-metre donut-shaped terminals – one international and one domestic.
PLT Planning and Architecture says the shape of the buildings was based on drums used in traditional Korean dances, with glazed facades criss-crossed by branching columns and courtyard gardens at their centres.
Wonsan proposal: first floor/departures
Each will be able to accommodate six planes and the designs also propose a 3500-metre civilian runway, a kilometre longer than the existing army airforce landing strip.
The $200m international airport is designed to cater for around a million passengers every year and will serve the Kangwon Province near Mount Kamgang Tourism Zone, where South Korean tourists have been able to visit since 2002.
Casa Collage by Bosch.Capdeferro – 2011 Interior Design prize. Photo by Jose Hevia (also top)
Entries can be located anywhere in the world as long as they substantially use tiles made in Spain and must have been completed between January 2011 and October 2013.
A €17,000 prize will be awarded to the jury’s favourite architecture project and the same amount to an interior, while the best student design will receive €5000.
Architecture and interior projects should be submitted to premios@ascer.es and students should post their work to: ASCER, Ginjols, 3, 12003 Castellon, Spain.
Jaume I High School by Ramón Esteve Cambra – 2010 Distinction, architecture category. Photo courtesy of ASCER
Open call: 2013 Tile of Spain Awards for architecture and interior design
The Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers’ Association (ASCER) has now launched the twelfth edition of the competition that celebrates the innovative and creative use of Spanish ceramics in interior design and architecture around the globe.
Jaume I High School by Ramón Esteve Cambra – 2010 Distinction, architecture category. Photo courtesy of ASCER
The twelfth annual Tile of Spain Awards is now open for entries for the 2013 competition, welcoming project submissions from international architects, interior designers and students. Projects can be located anywhere in the world, but the key criteria for consideration is that a project must make significant use of Spanish ceramics in the formal part of the building – floor, wall or facade – and must have been completed between January 2011 and October 2013.
Spanish Pavilion in Expo Zaragoza by Francisco Mangado – 2008 Architecture prize. Photo courtesy of ASCER
The 2013 Tile of Spain Awards offers a prize fund of 39,000 Euros divided into three categories: Architecture (17,000 Euros), Interior Design (17,000 Euros) and Student Degree Project (5,000 Euros). The jury may give a further two special mentions in each category.
Fira 2 Metro Station in Barcelona by Toyo Ito – 2011 Special mention: Interior Design. Photo by Gori Salva
For this edition, the jury chairman is the prominent German architect Matthias Sauerbruch, founding partner of Sauerbruch Hutton, with offices in Berlin and London. Other jury members include the Italian architect Luca Molinari, curator and producer of cultural events related to contemporary architecture, design and photography; the architect Manuel Gallego, Gold Medal of Architecture 2010 in Spain; the young designer Tomás Alonso, founding partner of OKAY Studio London; the Portuguese architect João Luís Carrilho da Graça; Ignacio García Pedrosa from Paredes & Pedrosa studio; and Ramón Monfort of the Architects Association of Castellon, Spain.
Fira 2 Metro Station in Barcelona by Toyo Ito – 2011 Special mention: Interior Design. Photo by Gori Salva
In previous editions the competition jury comprised distinguished architects such as Juan Navarro Baldeweg, William J.R. Curtis, Terence Riley, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Carlos Ferrater, Luís Moreno Mansilla, Benedetta Tagliabue.
The restoration of Santa Caterina Market, Barcelona, by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue – 2004 Architecture prize. Photo courtesy of ASCER
About the President of the Jury: Matthias Sauerbruch
Matthias Sauerbruch (1955 Constance, Germany) is a founding partner of Sauerbruch Hutton, an architecture practice with offices in Berlin and London, concerned with the creation of functional, sensual and conscientious architecture with individuality. The practice is noted for its synthesis of colour in the design process, and for the use of fluid curvilinear forms with the Brandhorst Museum (Munich) as prime example. Matthias Sauerbruch is among 7 international architects bestowed with the AIA Honorary Fellowship 2013 of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He is visiting professor at the Berlin University of the Arts, and visiting design critic at Harvard Graduate School of Design (EEUU).
The restoration of Santa Caterina Market, Barcelona, by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue – 2004 Architecture prize. Photo courtesy of ASCER
Previous winners
In recent years the competition has awarded a wide range of projects, recognising the versatility of Spanish ceramics. Last year prizes went to a Catering School in a Former Abattoir by Sol 89 and to The Granada Teacher Training College by Ramon Fernandez – Alonso Borrajo. Awarded projects in the past include: MUCA Auditorium and Music House by Studio COR; Casa Collage in Girona by Bosch.Capdeferro; the Benidorm Promenade by OAB; the rehabilitation of the Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona by Miralles-Tagliabue; the Spanish Pavilion in Expo Zaragoza 2008 by Francisco Mangado and in the Aichi Expo in Japan 2005 by Alejandro Zaera and Farshid Moussavi.
CEIP 2L primary school, Barcelona, by Mestura Arquitectes – 2010 Distinction, architecture category. Photo courtesy of ASCER
Matthew Nurse, director of Nike Sport Research Lab, takes Dezeen behind the scenes at the laboratory where Nike tests new technologies and introduces us to Hal, a sportswear-testing robot that perspires as he runs.
Matthew Nurse, director of Nike Sport Research Lab
Nike Sport Research Lab is part of a sprawling campus just outside of Portland, Oregon, where the American sports brand is based.
Nike has developed and invested in a range of different technologies to monitor how athletes move, the pressures exerted on their bodies when they do, and what effects different products have on them.
Nike World Campus in Portland, Oregon
“We can objectively quantify athletes in motion, the environments they play in and the demands of the sport,” Nurse explains.
“We can quantify and understand Nike’s different product innovations, how they affect athletes in the way they perform, the way they’re protected and the perception they have of those different products.”
Nike Sport Research Lab
Nurse demonstrates how, using a combination of motion-capture cameras and a pressure-sensitive plate in the ground, researchers at the laboratory can analyse a sprinter’s motion and the forces they exert as they come out of the blocks at the start of a race.
Sprinter’s movement is motion-captured as they start a race
“We are able to collect the three-dimensional motion of an athlete and from there calculate the power that they produce and the energy that’s produced or lost in the different joints,” he explains.
“[This provides] an understanding of how an intervention [such as a new pair of running shoes] contributes to their overall performance as they do the different movements.”
Nike uses similar technology to monitor the movement of athletes in other sports, such as how a basketball player jumps, twists and lands when scoring a slam dunk.
Runner being monitored on a treadmill inside an environmental chamber
Nike Sport Research Lab also features a number of sealed environmental chambers, where athletes’ performances and the performance of the clothes they wear can be tested in different atmospheric conditions.
“Our physiology team looks at understanding the body’s regulatory systems, so what happens inside,” Nurse says. “We use that information to quantify things like thermal temperature, to understand thermal regulation and skin wetness as athletes run and move and perspire.”
Hal, a “copper sweaty mannequin” that perspires like a human
One of these environmental chambers is home to Hal, a marching humanoid that Nurse describes as “a copper sweaty mannequin,” which allows Nike to test the permeability and breathability of new sportswear.
Nike Aeroloft vest, with laser-cut holes for breathability
“Hal is very sophisticated,” says Nurse. “We can set the environmental chamber to different conditions, whether it’s temperature or humidity, and as he moves he actually perspires. It allows us to understand how different constructions or different methods of making affect the permeability of the garment, which is ultimately going to affect the comfort of the athlete and also the thermoregulation of that athlete. He’s an invaluable tool for us.”
Nike Free Flyknit running shoes, which contain a Nike+ chip in the sole
With products such the Nike+ FuelBand and Nike+ running shoes, which collect data about the wearer’s exercise routines via a mobile phone application, Nike has already started to commercialise some of the basic technology developed at Nike Sports Research Lab. Nurse says that there is more to come.
“The technology is becoming ubiquitous and the ability to capture the information we collect is getting more and more robust,” he says. “The willingness of different groups to spend money on the kind of tools we have is also growing. The tools that we have are going to be more and more available.”
Nike Free Flyknit running shoe
However, Nurse believes that data alone is not necessarily that useful. How you interpret that data is more important, he says.
“As data becomes ubiquitous and it becomes all-encompassing and all-informing, [Nike’s] competitive advantage is the knowledge we have of how we apply that data to build unbelievable product. With that we’re unsurpassed in the world.”
Nike Free Hyperfeel running shoes
Looking to the future, Nurse believes that individually customisable designs will become a reality, as will “smart” materials that can adapt to different conditions.
“As we move into the future, I think there are two major frontiers,” he says. “One is individualised product or prescriptive product for individuals. Medicine is already starting to head in that direction and I think ultimately we will also.”
He continues: “We build unbelievable product that works for a wide range of people, but as we start to slice that thinner and thinner, to capitalise on making athletes better, our ability to individually prescribe different products for different people is going to get more robust and is also going to get much more important.”
Nike Free Hyperfeel running shoe
“Secondly, material that adapts to different movements or different environmental conditions is also going to be important.”
Nurse is confident that Nike will be leading the way in developing these products. “I know that the folks in both the footwear and apparel innovation teams are well aware of what is cutting edge and are pushing the boundaries,” he concludes.
Glass walls slide back to open up this house extension by British firm Duncan Foster Architects to the surrounding English woodland (+ slideshow).
Duncan Foster Architects added the new living and dining room while reorganising the interior of the 1930s Arts and Crafts-style five-bed house in South Oxfordshire.
Black zinc and black timber cladding were chosen for the external finishes to reference local agricultural buildings.
Large-span laminated timber beams echo the exposed timber in the original house and allow for an uninterrupted view of the woodland as they require no support at the corner.
Vertical steel elements used along one wall extend out past a sunken pool. A large window fills the gable to let in the maximum amount of light.
“The client had bought the property because of its charm and character, so the brief was to maintain the spirit of the existing house yet at the same time to re-organise the interior to open the house up to the landscape beyond,” said Duncan Foster.
After considering a variety of renewable energy options for heating the home, a log-burning boiler was chosen due to the availability of wood on the client’s land.
Duncan Foster Architects sent us the following text:
Concept
The existing five-bed detached house was originally constructed in the 1930s as a ‘self build’ by a retired army major, in the arts and crafts style. The house occupies a 9 acre densely wooded site overlooking the Vale of Aylesbury, in Chinnor, South Oxfordshire, and is located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The client had bought the property because of its charm and character, so the brief was to maintain the spirit of the existing house (characterised by low ceilings, small windows and exposed timber beams) yet at the same time to re-organise the interior to open the house up to the landscape beyond.
On the ground floor, the entrance hall, family living room and study retain original features. A small hall extension creates a bay window seat in the language of the existing house.
The new living/dining extension to the north contrasts the existing architecture – with a large open plan vaulted roof which sits on exposed glulam beams – chosen as a contemporary reference to the exposed beams in the main house.
The external structure enables the corner of the room to be opened up to the woodland landscape beyond. Minimal glazing strengthens the contrast with the existing glazing and links the building to the landscape beyond.
Refurbishment Strategy
As well as the layout and design issues, the thermal performance of the existing fabric and the existing servicing strategy needed a complete overhaul.
The existing house was heated by an oil burning boiler. The oil bill alone was around £6000 per annum. The existing house had little or no insulation, and had single glazed Crittal windows
It was clear therefore that the first step was to improve the thermal performance of the existing fabric, and this was done by installing a new ground bearing insulated concrete slab throughout the ground floor, utilising underfloor heating. The existing external walls were cavity walls (uninsulated) so these were easily insulated with blown fibre.
The existing roof and skeilings were insulated between joists and also underlined with rigid insulation with taped joints and re-plastered to proved a warm and air tight ‘hat’ for the building.
The majority of the glazing was replaced by double glazed timber windows, with a high performance aluminium glazing system specified for the extension.
All of these changes improved the efficiency, yet maintained the character of the existing house.
Several renewable technologies were considered at the outset, including ground source heat pumps via boreholes, and wind energy, but it was established early on that due to the abundance of woodland owned by the client, a log burning boiler would be utilised to provide the majority of the house’s hot water and heating demands.
The Log Burning Boiler feeds a 1500L accumulator tank which acts as a thermal store to provide both the hot water and heating for the house. This is supplemented in the summer months by 2 roof mounted solar panels (when the log burning boiler is not used), and also by a small LPG condensing boiler to deal with vacations and any additional peak demands. The Orligno 200 log burning boiler was specified as it runs at an efficiency of 92%, with nominal CO2 emissions.
It is calculated that 90% of the houses heating and hot water will be met by the onsite renewables – reducing the client’s energy bill to approx £750 per year.
A purpose built plant room was built adjacent to the new front porch to accommodate the large accumulator, and the log burning boiler and LPG boiler. The layout of this underwent several permutations to ensure that the 1250mm diameter accumulator, the log burning boiler and the LPG boiler could all be accessed for both operational and maintenance purposes- as well as integrating the flue requirements. The plant room sits within the recess of the existing house’s front elevation, without dominating the existing character of the house.
In addition to the log burning boiler, a 8kwP bank of PV’s was installed within the curtledge and is expected to provide 6867kwH/Y, with an estimate annual saving/earning of £1665, with an 8 year payback period.
This stackable tea set by architect VW+BS is made of unglazed clay that’s meant to soften the taste of whatever you drink from it.
The Silt range is made of twice-fired unglazed purple clay, which is commonly used in China to make intricate tea pots for serving green tea.
“The unglazed material has the effect of softening the taste of the water in the same way as activated charcoal,” said VW+BS. “This occurs whether you are serving tea, coffee water or wine.”
The collection comprises seven items, including a large jug, small jug, bowl and four cups. There’s also a lid that fits any of the pieces.
Fifty sets will be made at Taiwanese company Lin’s Ceramics Studio, each with a slightly different finish.
VW+BS will show the Silt collection in September at both designjunction in London, where they will also design the seminar space, and 100% Design Singapore, where VW+BS is creative director for the second year.
New images have been released showing Herzog & de Meuron’s Jade Signature residential tower for Miami – including the first full-height rendering of the 198 metre-high building.
The pagoda-shaped tower will be built on a private estate in Miami’s Sunny Isles district and will accommodate 192 residences, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to a 975-square-metre penthouse.
As we reported last month, the building’s parallelogram-shaped plan will help to angle the apartments towards the southern sun and floor-to-ceiling windows will provide views of the ocean. Hourglass-shaped columns will feature at the extremities of the balconies encircling the tower.
“These images also show more of the lush oceanfront landscape designed by Raymond Jungles, including ground floor amenities that send residents straight out the door to the pool, onto the lawn, and onto the beach and ocean,” says the text that came with the new images.
“You may note the parallelogram positioning of the building that is a result of an extensive sun-study to lend the best light to the residences and pool, with minimal wind and glare. Also new in these images is the reveal of the water terrace that extends from the spa area, with a unique semi-circular plunge pool.”
The tower is the first apartment building in the USA outside New York City to be designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.
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