News: the Russian designer of the AK-47 assault rifle Mikhail Kalashnikov has died aged 94.
A general in the Russian army and the designer of the widely used weapon that bears his name, Kalashnikov died in hospital yesterday after a long illness.
The AK-47, abbreviated from Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947, is a selective-fire, gas-operated assault rifle and one of the first to have been mass produced.
Kalashnikov and his team developed the gun at the end of the Second World War to function reliably in harsh conditions. Its success was put down to the simple design, compact size and cheap manufacturing cost.
AK-47 assault rifle
The firearm was adopted as the standard issue assault rifle of the Soviet Army in 1949 and was later disseminated worldwide, undergoing a series of modifications until the present day.
Kalashnikov continued working as chief designer at the firm that first built the AK-47 in Izhevsk, Russia, into his late 80s.
He received many state honours and was twice lauded with the honorary title Hero of Socialist Labour by the Soviet Union.
Ma Yansong of Beijing studio MAD is the penultimate architect to appear in this year’s A-Zdvent calendar. Featured here is his blob-shaped Ordos Museum in the Gobi desert, which is clad in polished metal tiles to resist sandstorms. The firm also recently presented a masterplan for China where buildings are designed to look like mountains and public spaces overlap with the natural landscape.
Japanese firm atelier HAKO architects used concrete dotted with formwork impressions for both the internal and external surfaces of these stacked residences in a suburb of Tokyo (+ slideshow).
Atelier HAKO architects formed two houses in one building along a narrow plot in Minamikarasuyama, west of Tokyo city centre.
The circular indentations made by the panels used to form the concrete create a pattern of dots across the exterior, which continues around the walls through the rooms of the two homes.
Both houses are entered from the front drive. The door to the ground-floor home is positioned beneath a two-storey volume cantilevered above.
This apartment contains one bedroom, one bathroom and an open-plan living area, where the kitchen is concealed behind white walls.
The larger dwelling above features a double-height living space at the back of the property.
Floating treads of a minimal staircase lead up to a landing, from which a small terrace encased in glass can be accessed.
“The terrace covered with glass was suspended in a void as an element to incorporate natural light above the living area on the upper floor,” said the architects.
Two bedrooms are housed within the cantilevered section of the building, one on each floor.
Another two bedrooms are also located on this floor, each with storage spaces tucked in the angled section of roof above.
The largest windows are located at the front and back of the plot, covered with louvered screens for privacy.
Keep reading for the information from the architects:
House at Minamikarasuyama
The house sits on a narrow and long site, while facing a small vacant lot beyond the road to the front east side, and facing a pedestrian path to the back west side.
On the south long side, buildings like apartments might be built and might cause the lack of the privacy and the natural light of the house in the future, in spite of the good condition the metered parking offers now.
The dwelling units of two generations having the entrances each separate on the ground floor were stacked in the vertical, and the family living areas were placed the west side of the each house facing the tree of the pedestrian path.
One the front road side, a certain distance for a buffer to the passer and neighbours was kept by providing the open space that has full width of the site under the cantilever building.
In order to be able to live comfortably without being affected by the change of the neighbour’s situation, main openings were set up in the east and west side in the direction of the long axis of the house, and the terrace covered with glass was suspended in void as an element to incorporate natural light above living area on the upper floor.
The distribution of the brightness and the silhouette of the light shine in the interior space are changing variously throughout the year and the day every moment, in response to the angle of the natural light.
One thousand editions of literary journal The Paris Review cover the ceiling of skincare brand Aesop‘s new store in Chelsea, New York (+ slideshow).
The Aesop Chelsea store is located a few streets away from the journal’s New York headquarters. “I first discovered The Paris Review in a vintage Melbourne bookstore many years ago,” said Aesop founder Dennis Paphitis. “I have since that time tried diligently to read every issue in a sober state.”
The walls are lined with monochrome extracts of 60 years of The Paris Review, including photographs and letters, while the issues on the ceiling are in full colour.
One side of the store features a cast-iron sink with tube lights fitted into the wall above. The opposite wall displays Aesop products on five freestanding black lacquered shelves.
A small black wooden table in the centre of the store displays more issues of The Paris Review, while a 1950s-style wooden cabinet acts as the counter at the rear of the shop. The floor is covered with black slate tiles.
This movie shows shoppers walking under and sitting beneath the Christmas lights installed above public crossings and squares in central Berlin by German studio Brut Deluxe.
Brut Deluxe created a series of three festive light installations to hang along the shopping avenue of Kurfürstendamm.
“Rather than typical decorations that represent Christmas through objects or symbols contemplated from the outside, we wanted to create a space that can be entered and experienced,” said the design studio.
One of the installations features five illuminated cubes hanging at different angles in the middle of a traffic crossing.
A patterned dome comprising segments of wavy lights and spanning 7.5 metres appears to hover over Joachimstaler Platz.
At the traffic crossing at Knesebeckstrasse, a dense collection of 50 wavy light strings are suspended vertically above pedestrians.
The installations will be in place until 6 January. Photography and movie are by Miguel de Guzmán.
Here is some information from the designer:
Weihnachtsbeleuchtung Kurfürstendamm, Berlin 2013 christmas lights, Berlin 2013
Three light installations were realised on Kurfürstendamm: the first, a huge light dome with a diameter of 7.5m, at Joachimstaler Platz, the second consisting of five big three-dimensional light cubes at the crossing with Uhlandstrasse, and the third, an artificial landscape build of 50 light shrubs, at the crossing with Knesebeckstrasse.
What all three installations have in common is that we want to achieve an atmospheric effect with them. Rather than typical decorations that represent Christmas through objects or symbols that are contemplated from the outside, we want to create a space that can be entered and experienced.
We imagine this artificial space in the city as a place of retreat, similar to an imaginary clearance in a forest.
The atmosphere surrounding the spectator is produced only with light that alters its density and intensity constantly through the visitor’s movement and changing perspective.
The realised landscapes of light are inspired by images and situations recalled from our memory that we associate with Christmas and abstractly convert to light.
Panoramic views of the dramatic Icelandic landscape are offered from this holiday home near Reykjavik by local studio PK Arkitektar (+ slideshow).
PK Arkitektar designed Árborg House for a mossy hill high above the glacial valley of the Hvita river, a two-hour drive from the Icelandic capital.
The single-storey house is clad in concrete, which is textured with vertical lines and contains gravel from the river below as an aggregate.
Moss that was removed to make way for the structure has been reinstalled on the roof.
The house is entered through a long corridor that leads from the back, past the garage.
Guest bedrooms are accessed along another corridor that runs adjacent to the entrance passage.
A linear volume positioned perpendicular to these rooms is glazed entirely across the longest facade, facing the valley and mountains to the west.
Kitchen, dining and living spaces as well as the master suite are arranged along this section, connected along the glass wall so the view is uninterrupted.
Internal surfaces are covered throughout with smooth concrete and teak boards, which conceal cupboards and drawers in the kitchen.
The wood continues out onto the terrace, where it is intended to weather and blend in with the landscape.
“Doors and terraces are clad with teak boards that will gradually weather to a colour grade to match the seasonal moss and the broken concrete surface,” said the architects.
Projecting out from the terrace, an infinity pool containing a circular hot tub has pebbles from the riverbed covering its floor.
This vacation house is located on the banks of the Hvita river, a two-hour drive East of Reykjavik. The site is a moss-covered hill with a view over a quiet bend in the glacier-formed river. In the spring, the river carries the icebergs from the glacier towards the sea some 100km away.
The approach to the vacation house is from the top of the hill. The building is organised as a sequence of events: from the entrance porch through the closed courtyard into the living space and out onto the terrace at the end.
Living, dining, kitchen, and master bedroom are all arranged in one continuous room. This enables panoramic views of the river and the distant mountains to the west.
The exterior is a broken surface of light grey fair-faced concrete. The gravel from the riverbed is blended into the concrete, and is revealed in the broken surface. It harmonises the outside walls with the moss of the surrounding landscape.
Leftover moss from the footprint of the house covers the roof. It was kept aside and regularly nursed during the building process, before being reinstalled on the roof.
Site plan
Doors and terraces are clad with teak boards that will gradually weather to a colour grade to match the seasonal moss and the broken concrete surface. Fair-faced concrete walls through out the entire interior are matched with untreated teak boards on floors and ceilings.
Floor plan
Selected pebbles from the nearby riverbed cover the bottom of the infinity pool. The pool projects out in front of the terrace, and serves as a railing which otherwise would have interrupted the view of the river.
UK-based Guy Hollaway Architects has become the latest firm to install a slide inside an office building with this renovation for online events guide View London (+ slideshow).
Guy Hollaway Architects overhauled a former nightclub in Kent, England, to create the office block and installed the slide between View London‘s two floors at the top of the building.
Made from stainless steel, the tubular slide slots comfortably between the two levels and is big enough to fit just one person at a time.
Guy Hollaway told Dezeen the slide was his client’s suggestion. “The client is very forward thinking and wanted to create a relaxed, fun working environment,” he said.
The architects also renovated the other three floors of the building. The ground floor, referred to as the Factory Room, functions as an incubator for new businesses starting up, while the remaining levels accommodate flexible office spaces and meeting rooms.
The building’s historic facade was retained and painted black, contrasting with a new undulating glass wall that sits alongside.
“Whilst the building has a traditional facade, the client wanted people to know that behind it is a modern working building. The surrounding glass gives these clues,” Hollaway explained.
“The undulating glass creates a further contrasting facade and allowed us to set the glazing behind the historical facade, this making it look like it is floating off the front,” he added.
The fourth floor, which was added during the renovation, is set back from the facade, creating a south-facing balcony looking out towards the sea.
Here’s a project description from Guy Hollaway Architects:
The Workshop
The concept behind ‘The Workshop’ is to provide a flexible workspace with a lively working environment. The upper floors are connected by an industrial slide which provides quick circulation between the floors. These floors are occupied by View London, Londoner’s guide to London. The other floors provide flexible office space and meeting rooms.
The ground ‘Factory Floor’, is an incubator space, where space can be rented by fledgling businesses, providing aid to local economy, adding to Folkstone’s Creative Quarter.
The former night-club now houses five floors of flexible office space and commercial space on the ground floor called ‘the Factory Floor’. The new design retains the historic façade as it was key for planners to maintain the existing facade within the conversation area. However, it was also important for the client to create a new building statement hence the boldness of the black facade.
The design was complex to build, with the facade having to be suspended during construction to insert the surrounding contemporary glass facade whose curving undulations feed into the historical original facade, where old meets new. This organic glazed element elegantly filters light into the internal office spaces.
The design features an additional upper floor, which is set back from the existing facade line. This creates a south facing external balcony space, which uses the existing façade as a balustrade giving a view over the town and towards the English Channel.
News: researchers in Australia have developed a pen to deposit regenerative stem cells onto damaged bone and cartilage in a process similar to 3D printing.
BioPen co-developer Professor Peter Choong, Professor of Surgery at University of Melbourne and Director of Orthopaedics at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne
The device extrudes cell material in a biopolymer such as seaweed extract, combined in the nozzle with a second layer of protective gel, so the surgeon can fill in areas where bone or cartilage is missing by “drawing” across the surface.
In a process similar to 3D printing, the material is deposited in layers. Each layer is exposed to ultraviolet light from a source attached to the pen, hardening the gel so further layers can be added, eventually building a three-dimensional framework.
BioPen
The protective gel gradually degrades as the cells it contains begin to multiply and grow into new tissue to repair the damaged area. An additional polymer layer can be added to increase the structural strength of the material within the wound, while drugs that stimulate cellular growth or aid recovery can also be added to the cell-loaded material.
The key benefit of the handheld technique over the current process of injecting stem cells into the injury site is that surgeons have more control over where to deposit the cell-loaded material and can create customised implants as they work, speeding up the process and reducing the amount of time the patient spends in surgery.
“This type of treatment may be suitable for repairing acutely damaged bone and cartilage, for example from sporting or motor vehicle injuries,” said Professor Peter Choong, BioPen co-developer and director of orthopaedics at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. “Professor Wallace’s research team brings together the science of stem cells and polymer chemistry to help surgeons design and personalise solutions for reconstructing bone and joint defects in real time.”
The researchers at ACES have now passed the BioPen on to Professor Peter Choong, who will head a team working on refining the cell material ahead of clinical trials.
“The combination of materials science and next-generation fabrication technology is creating opportunities that can only be executed through effective collaborations such as this,” said ACES director Professor Gordon Wallace.
Photography is by Mark Newsham from the University of Wollongong.
Here are some more details about the project:
BioPen to rewrite orthopaedic implants surgery
A handheld “bio pen” developed in the labs of the University of Wollongong will allow surgeons to repair damaged and diseased bone material by delivering live cells and growth factors directly to the site of injury, accelerating the regeneration of functional bone and cartilage.
Researchers from the UOW-headquartered Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) have developed the prototype BioPen that will give surgeons greater control over where the materials are deposited while also reducing the time the patient is in surgery.
Delivery of stem cells and/or growth factors into the injury site is currently through injection of a biomaterial carrier.
The BioPen works similarly to 3D printing methods by delivering cell material inside a biopolymer such as alginate, a seaweed extract, protected by a second, outer layer of gel material. The two layers of gel are combined in the pen head as it is extruded onto the bone surface and the surgeon “draws” with the ink to fill in the damaged bone section.
A low powered ultra-violet light source is fixed to the device, allowing for the inks to be cured during dispensing and built up layer-by-layer. Following curing, the shell material will maintain its form, and allow the surgeon to construct a 3D scaffold in the wound site.
The composition of the cell-loaded material also provides greater protection and retention of cells in the wound site and can be surrounded by a polymer core to add structural strength to the surgical site. It can also be seeded with growth factors or other drugs to assist regrowth and recovery.
All components in the implantable material are non toxic and tuned to degrade as the cells begin to populate and remodel the injured bone area. The design of the device allows it to be easily transported and the surgeon can operate with ease and precision in theatre.
The BioPen prototype was designed and built using the 3D printing equipment in the labs at the University of Wollongong and was this week handed over to clinical partners at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, led by Professor Peter Choong, who will work on optimising the cell material for use in clinical trials.
The BioPen will help build on recent work by ACES researchers where they were able to grow new knee cartilage from stem cells on 3D-printed scaffolds to treat cancers, osteoarthritis and traumatic injury.
Professor Peter Choong, Director of Orthopaedics at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and the Sir Hugh Devine Professor of Surgery, University of Melbourne said: “This type of treatment may be suitable for repairing acutely damaged bone and cartilage, for example from sporting or motor vehicle injuries. Professor Wallace’s research team brings together the science of stem cells and polymer chemistry to help surgeons design and personalise solutions for reconstructing bone and joint defects in real time.”
The BioPen will be transferred to St Vincent’s for clinical projects to be carried out at the proposed Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery in Melbourne.
“The combination of materials science and next-generation fabrication technology is creating opportunities that can only be executed through effective collaborations such as this,” ACES Director Professor Gordon Wallace said. “What’s more, advances in 3D printing are enabling further hardware innovations in a rapid manner.”
Design expertise and fabrication of the BioPen was supported by the Materials Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, hosted at the University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus.
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