Hasta La Ideas

The world’s largest solar furnace and wave-reflecting chambers are captured in this series of images documenting the architecture of science and research facilities by British photographer Alastair Philip Wiper (+ slideshow).

Alastair Philip Wiper has photographed a variety of structures built to test technologies and facilitate research, with the aim of celebrating the visual impact of industrial and scientific architecture.

The series includes a radio anechoic chamber, a room designed to absorb all sound or electromagnetic reflections that is used for testing microwave antennas for satellites and mobile networks.

The chamber at the Technical University of Denmark appears to have thousands of sharpened pencils protruding from all surfaces. Carbon powder is contained within the spikes, which are coloured blue rather than black, as they were previously, to make the space less depressing for those working inside.

Also included is the Mont-Louis solar furnace, built in 1949 by Dr. Felix Trombe in the French Pyrenees – a region that benefits from excellent solar conditions. The contraption concentrates the sun’s rays onto a tiny area where objects can be heated to extremely high temperatures.

The giant parabolic mirror of the Odeillo solar furnace – the largest solar furnace in the world, also built by Trombe in 1970 – does the same job on a much bigger scale, and reflects the surrounding landscape on its shiny panels.

The images are currently on display at the Gallery Etage Projects in Copenhagen as part of the city’s photography festival.

Previously we’ve published photos taken inside Google’s data centres, pictures of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and a series of images showing ruined World War Two monuments across former Yugoslavian territories.

See more photography series »

The photographer sent the following text:

SOLAR / ANECHOIC

SOLAR / ANECHOIC deals with the unintentional beauty of science and research facilities: in particular, the anechoic chambers at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and the Four Solaire in the French Pyrenees, the world’s largest solar furnace. These facilities are designed to be purely functional, to push the limits of heat, radio and sound waves, and they are awe inspiring in their contribution to the advancement of mankind both on our planet and in space. They are also remarkable in another way: their visual impact. Without understanding the complexities of the functions of the facilities it is possible to marvel at the ingenuity of human beings and their ability to create such inadvertent masterpieces.

Alastair Philip Wiper is a British photographer based in Copenhagen and working worldwide. Alastair’s work provokes analysis of the magnificence of human ingenuity, and the importance of industry and science as a cause for celebration. The search for his subject matter has taken him to weird and wonderful places such as the laboratories of CERN in Switzerland, waste incineration plants in Denmark, and gin distilleries and flour mills in the UK.

“An anechoic chamber (an-echoic meaning non-echoing or echo-free) is a room designed to completely absorb reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves. They are also insulated from exterior sources of noise. The combination of both aspects means they simulate a quiet open-space of infinite dimension, which is useful when exterior influences would otherwise give false results.”

The radio anechoic chamber at Denmark’s Technical University (DTU) opened in 1967, and is currently operated in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the testing of microwave antennas for use in satellites and mobile networks, among other things. The idea is to minimise any reflections of microwaves, and the big foam spikes are filled with carbon powder to absorb the radio waves. This tests the effectiveness of the antennas without any external intrusion, simulating the conditions of, for example, space.

Many of these chambers are blue in colour, and according to Sergey Pivnenko, the professor in charge of the chamber, most of them were black in the old days – then some bright spark noticed that it was a bit depressing to work in a black spiky room all day, so the manufacturers of the spikes started to produce them in blue.

A resonance chamber uses resonance to amplify sound. The chamber has interior surfaces that reflect an acoustic wave. When a wave enters the chamber, it bounces back and forth within the chamber with low loss. As more wave energy enters the chamber, it combines with and reinforces the standing wave, increasing its intensity.

Due to the excellent conditions for solar energy, the region of Cerdanya in the French Pyrenees has been a site for solar experimentation for over half a century. The region enjoys almost 2400 hours of sunshine per year, very low wind and a high elevation to provide stronger sunlight. This is the Mont-Louis solar furnace, built in 1949 by Dr. Felix Trombe and the first of its kind in the world. The solar furnace concentrates the power of the sun into a tiny area where objects can be heated to extremely high temperatures; this heat is completely pure because there are no burning substances that can pollute the heat.

In 1970 Dr. Trombe opened the worlds largest solar furnace a few kilometers away at Odeillo, and the furnace works on the same principle as its older, smaller brother: the sun’s energy is reflected on a series of mirrors and concentrated on one very small point to create extremely high temperatures. The immense parabolic mirror, tall as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, reflects the countryside and sky, giving an ever changing patchwork view of the surrounding area that is beautiful and fascinating to watch, and focuses the sun’s rays onto a point about the size of a cooking pot, where temperatures reach 3,500 °C.

The furnace is still used by space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), scientists, and technology companies to research the effects of extremely high temperatures on certain materials for nuclear reactors and space vehicle reentry, and to produce hydrogen and nanoparticles.

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by Alastair Philip Wiper appeared first on Dezeen.

Industrial designer Yves Behar of Fuseproject has unveiled a television set-top box that includes a remote control with no buttons (+ slideshow).

Designed by Fuseproject for American company Fanhattan, The Fan TV system allows users to search live cable TV channels as well as recorded shows and streaming services through one interface, so they can easily find something they’d like to watch regardless of whether it’s on cable or the internet.

The two parts are styled like pebbles and automatically align when stacked thanks to concealed magnets.

The Bluetooth remote control has a smooth touchpad with 200 sensors so users can navigate menus, change channels and control volume settings, without looking down, through a series of swipes and taps.

It’s deliberately not possible to just punch in channel numbers, but there is an on-screen keyboard for search.

The user interface design departs from the usual grids and time slots of TV menus, instead offering users a way to explore by scrolling through genres, actors, channels, what’s trending or what friends have recommended on social media.

A search for a specific show might bring up options for the latest episode being broadcast now, episodes from this series that have been saved to the cloud-based storage and episodes from past series available to stream, plus reviews and soundtracks.

Fanhattan already has an app for search and discovery of TV shows for streaming and this week made public a web service. The Fan TV device, however, will rely on partnerships with cable TV companies that have not yet been announced, though the device is scheduled to become available later this year.

“Everything about Fan TV is about cohesiveness between hardware and user interface,” says Fuseproject. “While others still look at these elements separately, Fanhattan and Fuseproject partnered at every step of the creative process to build the ultimate entertainment experience.”

At Dezeen Live last September, Yves Behar spoke about designing hardware and software as a cohesive whole, explaining how he’s set up a user interface group bringing together UI and industrial design at his San Francisco studio and adding that “Apple is actually a little bit behind in that area.”

Apple, meanwhile, is rumoured to be working on a TV remote control that’s worn as a ring on one finger for the highly anticipated Apple television, set to launch later this year.

The Fan TV has been two years in the making and was unveiled at D: All Things Digital conference in California this week, where Behar also launched new brand August with a lock that’s controlled via a smartphone rather than keys.

This isn’t Behar’s first foray television interface design: in 2011 Fuseproject launched a product that allows users to control their TV via their smartphone, called Peel Fruit, with hardware to relay the signal to the television set that was shaped like a pear, orange or apple. In 2008 the studio developed Le Cube, a TV receiver, remote control and graphic interface for French broadcaster CANAL +.

See all our stories about design by Fuseproject »
See more product design »

Here’s some more information from Fuseproject:

Television and movies have been stuck by hardware and interfaces that are frustrating un-designed experiences. Fan TV has crafted the deepest and most magical experience, an easy and cinematic way to discover and watch all content.

At fuseproject, we have worked incessantly for the last two years to build a cohesive physical experience as well, a set top box and remote that change the game. The remote has no buttons and a touch surface, fits in the hand and is small in size. The cable box and the remote look like two pebbles, they physically connect through magnetic touch points that magically re-align both parts.

At its core, Fan TV is about you – about fans getting the most out of their entertainment. Instead of a clunky cable box or DVR system hidden in the cabinet, Fan TV is designed for display. The small remote responds to the subtlest touch, simply tap or swipe to navigate your movies and shows.

Mimicking nestled stones, the box and remote fit together with the use of magnets, ensuring the remote has a place where it can be found again.

Our branding work and our industrial design is influenced by the simplicity of the offering, a zen-like experience that stimulates discovery through a cinematic looking database of all the world’s movies and shows. The magical touch interface on the remote, the simplicity of the packaging, and the way all of these elements come together. Whether it is your favorite new TV show or old movie, Fan TV strips away any complications and just lets you watch.

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Fuseproject appeared first on Dezeen.

Our job of the week on Dezeen Jobs is a position for a salesperson at Rossana Orlandi’s new temporary gallery in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy.

Orlandi helped to launch the careers of designers including Nacho Carbonell and Tomáš Gabzdil Libertiny with shows at her Milan venue Spazio Rossana Orlandi (pictured above) and curated the Bagatti Valsecchi 2.0 exhibition that was one of the highlights of Milan 2013. See more stories about Spazio Rossana Orlandi on Dezeen here.

Visit the ad for full details or browse other architecture and design opportunities on Dezeen Jobs.

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at Rossana Orlandi appeared first on Dezeen.

Foster + Partners has completed 58-storey bowed tower in Calgary, Canada (+ slideshow).

At 247 metres, The Bow is the tallest building in the city, and the tallest tower in Canada outside of Toronto.

Climate analysis helped to determine the form of the tower, with a concave facade on the south side facing the sun and a convex surface reducing the load of prevailing winds on the other side.

A triangulated grid structure with sections spanning six storeys braces the building and helps to reduce the visual mass of the surfaces. “Every aspect, from the raised floors to the diagrid structure, is designed to be highly efficient,” says Nigel Dancey, a senior partner at Foster + Partners.

A series of atria occupy the space behind the concave facade, helping to insulate the building and reduce energy consumption.

Three skygardens projecting into the atria provide social spaces for staff in the offices that occupy the building, featuring mature trees, meeting rooms, catering facilities and lifts.

A system of enclosed walkways links The Bow, which is located in the city’s downtown district, to the surrounding buildings so locals can avoid the harsh winter climate.

On the ground level, a publicly accessible space contains shops, restaurants and cafes.

Foster + Partners is working on two residential skyscrapers for a mixed-use development in north London and a riverside development in Lambeth featuring three towers of different heights – see all architecture by Foster + Partners.

Photography is by Nigel Young.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

Official opening of The Bow, Calgary’s tallest tower

Special events have been held in Calgary this week to mark the official opening of The Bow, a 237- metre-high headquarters tower – the city’s tallest building and Canada’s tallest tower outside Toronto.

A bold new landmark on the skyline, the project is equally significant in urban, social and environmental terms: the public base of the tower is filled with shops, restaurants and cafes and extends into a generous landscaped plaza, while the office floors are punctuated by three six-storey sky gardens, which encourage natural ventilation and help to significantly reduce energy use.

The Bow is the first major development on the east side of Centre Street, a major axis through downtown Calgary, and it provides a shared headquarters for Encana and Cenovus.

The building’s form was shaped by analysis of the climate and organisations. The tower faces south, curving towards the sun to take advantage of daylight and heat, while maximising the perimeter for cellular offices with views of the Rocky Mountains. By turning the convex facade into the prevailing wind, the structural loading is minimised, thus reducing the amount of steel required for the inherently efficient diagrid system.

Each triangulated section of the structure spans six storeys, helping to visually break down the scale of the building.

Where the building curves inwards, the glazed facade is pulled forward to create a series of atria that run the full height of the tower. These spaces act as climatic buffer zones, insulating the building and helping to significantly reduce energy consumption. As each floor plate has been sized to accommodate a whole business unit, there was a need to promote collaboration across the companies and bring a social dimension to the office spaces.

Vertical access to the office floors is therefore directed through three spectacular sky gardens, which project into the atria at levels 24, 42 and 54 and incorporate mature trees, seating, meeting rooms, catering facilities and local lift cores. Staff facilities in these atria are complemented by an auditorium at the very top of the building.

The Bow also establishes lateral connections with surrounding buildings. The tower is fused at two points to Calgary’s system of enclosed walkways, which offers a retreat from the city’s harsh winters.

The second floor is open to the public and integrates shops and cafes, and with the only public connection over Centre Street, the scheme completes a vital pedestrian link in the downtown network. Externally, the building’s arc defines a large landscaped public plaza, at the heart of which is a landmark sculpture by Spanish artist, Jaume Plensa.

Nigel Dancey, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners: “The tower’s form was shaped by the unique Calgary climate – facing south, the building curves to define a series of spectacular light-filled six-storey atria, with mature sky gardens, cafes and meeting areas, which bring a vital social dimension to the office floors. This principle extends to the base of the tower, which is highly permeable, with a +15 enclosed bridge connection to downtown, an atrium of shops and cafes and a fantastic new plaza. Every aspect, from the raised floors to the diagrid structure, is designed to be highly efficient. The Bow is a bold new symbol for Calgary, and is testament to the strength of our team and excellent local relationships.”

The Bow, EnCana and Cenovus Headquarters
Calgary, Canada 2005 – 2013

Client: H+R Real Estate Investment Trust
Appointment: 2005
Construction Start: 2007
Completion: 2013
Site area: 17,500m2 / 188,300ft2
Area (gross external): 199,781m2 / 2,149,644ft2
Typical Floor Area (net): 3,584m2 / 38,564ft2
Height: 236m / 774.3ft
Number of Floors: 58
Structure: Steel-braced moment frame with a diagrid
Capacity: 4000
Facilities: Offices, Public plaza, Retail facilities
Parking facilities: 1360 car spaces
Materials: 39,000 tonnes of steel was used; 900,000ft2 of glass was used
Sustainability: The building’s form deflects the prevailing winds, allowing for a lighter structure
The solar heat collected in the atrium is redistributed throughout the year by means of extraction during winter and heat exchange during summer, reducing the load on the mechanical systems
3 x 6 storey-high “Sky gardens” with natural vegetation at levels 24, 42 and 54
Large glazed areas reduce the need for artificial lighting Heat redistribution system
Displacement ventilation via a raised floor

Client: H+R Real Estate Investment Trust
Tenant: Encana and Cenovus
Developer: Matthews Southwest Developments
Architect: Foster + Partners
Foster + Partners Design Team: Norman Foster, David Nelson, Spencer de Grey, Nigel Dancey, James Barnes, Julia Vidal Alvarez, Laura Alvey, Tim Bauerfeind, Jakob Beer, Karin Bergmann, Mattias Bertelmann, Stephen Bes,t Federico Bixi,o Marie Christoffersen, Vasco Correia, Kirsten Davis, Ulrich Hamman, Michelle Johnson, Arjun Kaicker, Sabine Kellerhoff, Chiu-Ming Benny Lee, Mathieu Le Sueur, Shirley Shee Ying Leung, Alissa MacInnes, Carsten Mundle, Florian Oelschlager, Cristina Perez, Susanne Reiher, Diana Schaffrannek, Anja Schuppan, Carolin Senfleben, Robert Smith, Eva Tzivanki

Collaborating Architect: Zeidler Partnership
Structural Engineer: Yolles
Civil Engineer: Kellam Berg
Mechanical Engineers: Cosentini
Main contractor: Ledcor Construction
Fire Consultant: Leber Rubes
Vertical Transport Consultant: KJA
Acoustic Consultant: Cerami
Cost Consultant: Altus Helier
Lighting Consultant: Claude Engle Lighting Design
Landscape Consultant: Carson McCulloch
Planning Consultant: Sturgess Architecture
Environmental Consultant: Transolar
Wind Engineer: RWDI
Transportation Engineer: DA Watt
Signage Consultant: Cygnus
Code Consultants: Leber-Rubes
Art Consultant: Via Partnership
Artist: Jaume Plensa
Cladding: Brook Van Dalen

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Foster + Partners appeared first on Dezeen.

News: the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York has named Caroline Baumann as its new director.

Baumann will take up the role on 16 June, and will be responsible for overseeing the museum’s strategic direction and managing the renovation of the museum and the reinstallation of its galleries, which are due to reopen in autumn 2014.

“We’re rolling out an extraordinary plan for a vibrant future and establishing Cooper-Hewitt as the Smithsonian’s design lens on the world,” says Baumann. “The new Cooper-Hewitt visitor experience –physical and digital – will be a global first, a transformative force for all in 2014 and beyond, impacting the way people think about and understand design.”

She succeeds industrial designer Bill Moggridge, who was the museum’s director for two years until his death in September 2012. Baumann has been acting director of the museum since then.

She also previously served as associate director, acting director and deputy director at the museum, and worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 1995 to 2001.

Previous exhibitions at the museum include a presentation of products using sustainable materials by designers including Yves Béhar and Stephen Burks.

Dezeen was in New York last month for Design Week NYC as part of our MINI World Tour. In two videos filmed with designer Stephen Burks, he told us that New Yorkers are becoming more interested in quality of life and took us on a stroll along the High Line elevated park.

See all of our stories about New York »

Portrait is by © Erin Baiano

Here’s some more information from the museum:

Caroline Baumann Named Director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

Caroline Baumann has been named director of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York, effective June 16. Since joining Cooper-Hewitt in 2001, she has held many leadership positions at the museum, most recently as acting director.

Baumann will oversee the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. In this role, she will strengthen Cooper-Hewitt’s reputation to educate, inspire and empower people through design and oversee the renovation of the museum and the reinstallation of its galleries, which are set to reopen in fall 2014.

“Caroline is passionate about design and reaching people—physically and digitally—with its lessons and insights,” said Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough. “She has been key in the museum’s growing success over the years and has been especially adept at forming substantive partnerships in New York, in Washington, across the nation and, indeed, around the world.”

“I am honored to serve as the fifth director of Cooper-Hewitt at this seminal time in the museum’s history,” said Baumann. “We’re rolling out an extraordinary plan for a vibrant future and establishing Cooper-Hewitt as the Smithsonian’s design lens on the world. The new Cooper-Hewitt visitor experience—physical and digital—will be a global first, a transformative force for all in 2014 and beyond, impacting the way people think about and understand design.”

Baumann has been acting director of the museum since September 2012. She also served as associate director, acting director and deputy director between 2006 and 2009. From 1995 to 2001, Baumann worked at the Museum of Modern Art, where she raised funds for the museum’s Yoshio Taniguchi building project among other accomplishments. Before that, she was the director of development at the Calhoun School in Manhattan and art book editor at George Braziller Publishers. She received a master’s degree in medieval art from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and a bachelor’s degree in the history of art and French literature from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Baumann is a member of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee for the U.S. Postal Service and the NYC Landmarks50 Advisory Committee and a director of the Royal College of Art U.S. Alumni Group Advisory Board. She is a member of the Collective, which staged the Collective.1 Design Fair in May in New York. Baumann is also a member of the NYCxDesign steering committee for New York City’s citywide event showcasing design.

During her tenure, Baumann has worked on a wide range of issues, including developing and implementing the museum’s strategic plan, leading the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the museum’s history and managing the museum’s educational, curatorial and digital efforts. Baumann is the liaison to the 32-member board of trustees. She played a critical role in the museum’s master planning process from 2004 to 2006 and participated in the selection of design architect Gluckman Mayner Architects and executive architect Beyer Blinder Belle.

Cooper-Hewitt’s main facility, housed in the Carnegie Mansion at East 91st Street and Fifth Avenue, is undergoing an expansion as part of a $64 million capital campaign that was launched in 2006, and includes a $54 million expansion and $10 million endowment. The expansion includes enlarged and enhanced facilities for exhibitions, collections display, education programming and the National Design Library, and an increased endowment. Baumann spearheaded this $54 million capital campaign.

Phase one of the expansion involved renovating the museum’s East 90th Street townhouses in order to free administrative space within the Carnegie Mansion and to create 60 percent more exhibition gallery space. The renovation of the townhouses was completed in September 2011. The second phase of the renovation, which involves mansion restoration and the creation of a new 7,000-square-foot gallery, is 100 percent funded and construction is nearly 60 percent complete.

During the mansion renovation, Cooper-Hewitt’s usual schedule of exhibitions, education programs and events are being staged at various off-site locations, including the Cooper-Hewitt Design Center in Harlem, which Baumann secured. The museum’s “Design in the Classroom” program, which teaches 21st-century skills by using design as a tool across the curriculum, has served 36,000 New York City K–12 public school children during the past two years.

Baumann has also overseen the expansion of the Cooper-Hewitt’s digital frontier with the launch of Object of the Day, a section of the website that features a new collection work daily and draws from more than 217,000 objects spanning 30 centuries.

Baumann succeeds Bill Moggridge, who was Cooper-Hewitt’s director for two years until his death in September 2012.

Secretary Clough named Baumann on the recommendation of a search committee chaired by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture, with Kurt Andersen, Barbara Mandel and Judy Francis Zankel, all members of the museum’s board of trustees. The committee also included Emily Rafferty, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Michael Caruso, editor-in-chief of Smithsonian magazine; and Seb Chan, director of digital and emerging media at Cooper-Hewitt.

About Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
The museum has more than 70 full-time staff members, including curators, conservators and design education specialists, and the fiscal year 2013 operating budget is $16 million. The museum is 70 percent funded by earned and contributed income, the remainder coming from federal appropriations. Cooper-Hewitt presents compelling perspectives on the impact of design through educational programs, exhibitions and publications. International in scope and possessing one of the most diverse and comprehensive collections of design works in existence, the museum’s rich holdings range from Egypt’s Late Period/New Kingdom (1100 B.C.) to the present day and total more than 217,000 objects.

The museum was founded in 1897 by Amy, Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt—granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper—as part of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. A branch of the Smithsonian since 1967, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is housed in the Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

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Museum names new director appeared first on Dezeen.