by Elyssa Goodman After working in advertising for over a decade, Britain-based designer Andy Poplar was burned out—he decided to quit his job and be a stay-at-home dad. Then one day, two years ago, he decided to teach himself how to etch glass,…
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A contemporary art centre with a chequered glass facade by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma is the latest in a string of cultural buildings to complete this year in Marseille.
The FRAC (Fond Regional D’art Contemporain) Marseille was designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates as a local art centre for the Provence Alpes Cotes d’Azur (PACA) region of France and it joins buildings by Boeri Studio and Rudy Ricciotti in the city’s harbour-side district.
Hundreds of opaque glass rectangles create a chequerboard of solid and void across the glazed exterior of the six-storey-high building and are arranged at opposing angles to create a variation between light and shadow.
“By this treatment, the building is given openness and transparency that are hard to gain from a conventional glass box,” said the architects.
This uniform facade is punctured in just two places. The first opening is for a street-level window, while the second is an upper-level terrace that can be used for exhibitions, events or meetings.
“What we wanted was not a closed gallery but an elevated street that could work as an exhibition space and a workshop,” added the architects. “In this way inside and outside can be effectively linked, and this is what FRAC has aimed for since its inception.”
The building occupies a triangular site alongside Rue Vincent Leblanc. The larger southern section of the building accommodates the exhibition galleries, a research centre and offices, while the taller northern end contains an auditorium and children’s workshop.
Archives are housed in the basement, plus there’s accommodation for artists in residence.
Marseille is the designated European Capital of Culture for 2013. Other buildings completed in the city this year include a filigree-clad Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, an archive and research centre with a cantilevered exhibition floor and an underwater conference suite and an events pavilion with a polished steel canopy. See more architecture in Marseille »
Kengo Kuma and Associates also recently completed a timber-clad culture centre elsewhere in France and is currently working on a new outpost of the V&A museum in Scotland. See more architecture by Kengo Kuma »
The project description below is from Kengo Kuma and Associates:
Fonds Regional d’Art Contemporain
Marseille, France 2007-2013
The project of the contemporary art centre (FRAC) for the region Provence Alpes Cotes d’Azur (PACA) is the 3D version of the “museum without walls” invented by André Malraux, famous French writer and politician. It is a museum without a museum, a living and moving place, where the art pieces are in a constant movement and join the logic of diffusion and interaction with the visitors.
KKAA thought the FRAC as a signal in the city, which allows a better visibility to contemporary art.
The building stands up as a landmark which identity is clearly asserted.
It is composed with two recognisable parts:
» The main body along the street Vincent Leblanc contains the exhibition spaces and documentation centre
» A small tower with auditorium and children’s workshop, offers an upper terrace on the main boulevard.
These two clearly identified entities are connected between them by a set of footbridges and are unified by the envelope made by a glass skin, composed with panels with changing opacity.
The building explores the theme of the windows and openings on different scales. KKAA wishes to create a particular space of creation and life, which action and effect is bounded to the entire city, as well as the surrounding district and neighbourhood (cafe-terrace…).
Location: Marseille, France
Period: 2007-2013
Design: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Local architect: Toury et Vallet
Client: Région Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, AREA
Structure engineer: CEBAT ingénierie
Mechanical engineer: ETB Antonelli
Facade engineer: ARCORA
QS: Campion
Acoustic: ACCORD acoustique
HGE: Tribu
Total floor area: 5757 sqm
Site area: 1,570 sqm
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and Associates appeared first on Dezeen.
A chequerboard of glass blocks allows light to flood in and out of these creative studios in São Paulo by French-Brazilian architects Triptyque.
Slotted into a narrow gap between towers and houses in the central Pinheiros district of the city, the Leitão_653 building by Triptyque is just four metres wide but 25 metres high.
Three opacities of glass blocks are dispersed across a grid that covers the top four levels visible above the adjacent buildings to the north-east. “This gigantic panel allows smooth communication between the city and the interior of the building,” said the architects.
The other long facade is hidden against tall buildings, so is simply dotted with small windows and rendered white. Entry is under a canopy on the same side as the patterned facade, while a cafe and other communal facilities are on the other.
The staircase and elevator core sits in the centre of the plan, feeding open-plan studio spaces in the front and back of the concrete structure. Additional staircases link the studios so companies can be self-contained over more than one floor.
A veranda is set into the front of the second storey and balconies stick out from the ends of alternate levels above. The covered roof terrace provides extra outdoor space.
Not long ago we published a housing development located right by São Paulo’s Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge. Other designs in the city include a micro apartment with a jumble of wooden boxes for storage and a bookshop with a store-front made of revolving bookcases.
See more architecture and design in São Paulo »
See more office designs »
Photography is by Pedro Kok.
Read on for more information from Triptyque:
Leitão_653 is a building located in the heart of Pinheiros, a popular neighbourhood which combines small traditional buildings and new residential towers. Inserted between two lofty towers, a long and narrow plot, the building is four meters wide and 25 metres high.
The studios occupying the building enjoy a smooth flow between the plates through a central tower. Alternating terraces on the 2nd floor and roof offer living areas and promote exchange and community life.
“Leitão 653” was conceived as a place of inspiration in permanent connection with the city. This connection is provided by a set of transparencies affirmed by the facade. The building draws a cathedral light, completely revisited, like a latticework.
The wall, multifaceted indeed plays to absorb light during the day. As for the night, light radiates as a goldsmith working in a casket. In this urban theatre play scenes carved by a fine lace glass, cut and articulated as a Chinese shadow puppet show.
This gigantic panel allows smooth communication between the city and the interior of the building while providing a real solution to the constraints vis-à-vis. These scenes of transparency, a subtle eroticism, revealing another use of the building, visible from the street.
The uniqueness of this project lies in its layout that encourages emulation, the expansion as a business incubator, an urban incubator.
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Triptyque appeared first on Dezeen.
Some products own the rare ability to combine magic and technology, craftsmanship and digitalization, uniqueness and industrial processes—but Emmanuel Babled’s latest project, called “Osmosi,” incorporates all of that. Babled’s…
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As the 100th Tour de France came to close on Sunday, 21 July, Briton Chris Froome hoisted the trophy for the first time. While the athletic accomplishment is an impressive one,…
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Product news: one coloured glass bubble sits within another to form these lanterns by Norwegian designer Kristine Five Melvær (+ slideshow).
Kristine Five Melvær‘s candle holders comprise a more opaque smaller inner bubble that holds the tea light, with a transparent outer layer that disperses the candle glow. Pairs of colours create a third hue where the layers overlap.
During the lighter summer months the glassware can be used as vases for flowers.
The Multi lanterns were developed with Norwegian glass company Magnor Glassverk and are on display at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture until 25 August.
Kristine Five Melvær has also created lamps that look like buds about to bloom and a series of sheer slik room dividers.
The most recent candle holders on Dezeen include a chunky designs made from a compound of stone and resin and a series that look like bent pipes poking through a wall.
Photos are by Erik Five Gunnerud.
See more candle holder designs »
See more design by Kristine Five Melvær »
See more glassware design »
Here’s some extra information from the designer:
The lantern Multi consists of two glass bubbles, one of them outside the other. The opaque inner bubble gives the light source an organic shape. The transparent outer bubble captures and exhibits the light. The two intersecting colors creates a new, more complex hue. Multi can also be used as a vase or as a light sculpture that interprets sunlight as color on the table. Multi’s function changes during the year. In the dark months the object glows. In the bright months the object displays the sunlight and flowers.
Multi is exhibited for the first time as part of the exhibition On Time at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture from the 21st of June to the 25th of August 2013. The exhibition is curated by Klubben (Norwegian Designers Union). It is an exhibition about time, situations and objects. Nineteen Norwegian designers interprets 17 moments within 24 hours through 17 brand new objects.
Kristine Five Melvær developed the Multi lantern in cooperation with Magnor Glassverk, a Norwegian glass company. Multi will be developed further and launched as part of their collection.
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Kristine Five Melvær appeared first on Dezeen.
Product news: French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has created a glass with a stem that holds exactly one measure of alcohol for liqueur brand Ricard.
Lehanneur designed the glassware primarily for bars and restaurants to enable the precise amount of Ricard‘s anise-flavoured spirits to be poured.
The flared stem prevents ice cubes from distorting the measurement and forming crystals that detract from the taste while permanently sitting in the liqueur.
A carafe for mixers has a similar spout to the glass stem and a larger base with the same conical shape.
Mathieu Lehanneur has completed a few projects recently, such as the interior of a cafe in Paris that serves food in edible packaging and a chandelier that looks like illuminated lengths of rope.
One of our most popular stories ever features a range of glasses each designed with one of the seven deadly sins in mind.
See more glass design »
See more design by Mathieu Lehanneur »
Photos are by Véronique Huyghe.
More information from the designer follows:
Mathieu Lehanneur designs the new Ricard carafe and glass
Ricard entrusted Mathieu Lehanneur with the role of redesigning its carafe and glass set to equip bars, restaurants and clubs. The tasting ritual, a real institution, has been perfected by a complete revision of the codes and features by the French designer. The stem of the glass contains the correct measure of Ricard, an end therefore to incorrect measures. Then, the flared shape of the stem does not allow ice cubes from entering, a small detail that prevents direct contact between the ice and the Ricard and therefore the formation of solidified anise essential oil flakes, that spoil the taste buds of purists!
A design feature that satisfies lovers and also guides enthusiasts who have the tendency to put the ice-cubes in the glass first of all, making a precise measure impossible. “With the Ricard teams we looked at reintroducing the preparation ritual to the very core of the tasting. I wanted to use the alchemy of the perfect measure but make it intuitive, obvious. The glass is primarily responsible for all that. As a result, whatever the order between ice-cubes and Ricard, you can be sure of having the right balance.
A new set that perfectly illustrates the modernist axiom “form follows function” with an innovative design, generous as well as fresh and functional. A big challenge to put into practice for this subject that Mathieu Lehanneur accepts with his usual talent for surprises and surpassing constraints in terms of style.
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for Ricard appeared first on Dezeen.
Royal College of Art graduate Bilge Nur Saltik has designed dimpled glassware that creates kaleidoscopic effects (+ movie).
Pieces in Saltik‘s OP-jects collection are patterned with concave cuts around their lower portions, which act like a series of magnifying glasses and warp views through the glass.
When placed on a purposefully designed tablecloth covered in brightly-coloured triangles they create optical illusions.
Water contained within the vessels distorts the reflections further, so imagery is constantly changing while drinking from a glass.
The collection includes a carafe, tumbler and two different bowls. A set of rippled glass wall tiles were also created as part of the project.
Saltik studied on the Design Products course at the Royal College of Art and is exhibiting her glassware at Show RCA, which continues until 30 June.
Design Products course leader Tord Boontje recently announced that he will step down from his post in September after four years in the role.
More projects from this year’s Royal College of Art graduates include bicycle helmets made from newspaper pulp and tools for musicians to change lighting and sounds at their gigs while playing their instruments.
We’ve also published glasses that reference patchwork quilts by Nendo and colourful tessellating glass tables by Sebastian Scherer.
See more design with glass »
See more projects by Royal College of Art students »
See more work from this year’s graduate shows »
The designer sent us the following info:
OP-jects by Bilge Nur Saltik
This playful series by Royal College of Art graduate Bilge Nur Saltik contains daily life objects with optical illusions.
Presented at Royal College of Art graduate show in London this week, the playful series contains glassware, wall tiles and a tablecloth to reveal this secret, magical and playful lenticular effect. The function of the objects triggers the effect of illusions and it reveals hidden visual secrets.
“I am manipulating the information brain receives by distorting the image with layering different materials. Playing with colour and geometrical patterns enhance the optical illusions. These objects designed to change the pace of our ordinary life. They will surprise you by unexpected change and distortion on what you see during simply drinking water.”
Glass pieces cut by hand to get concave cuts and sharpen edges. Different size cuts works like magnifying glass. They distort and multiplies the pattern underneath cause a psychedelic experience.
Bilge Nur Saltik is graduating from Platform 18 of the Design Products course at the Royal College of Art, where the show opens to the public from 20–30 June.
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Bilge Nur Saltik appeared first on Dezeen.
Product news: these lamps by Nendo are made by pressing a glass tube to create a narrow gap that clamps the light source in place.
The glass tubes by Nendo for Lasvit look as if they have been pinched, and the simple fold in the material means that no additional structure is required to support the light fitting.
A suspension version hangs from the pinched section, while the light source of the floor lamp balances in the fold.
Each Press Lamp is unique, as the glass pieces are blown individually by artisans at Czech firm Lasvit‘s atelier. Photography is by Yoneo Kawabe.
In Milan earlier this year Japanese studio Nendo launched a series of glass vases with surfaces resembling patchwork quilts and teamed up with Italian designer Luca Nichetto to create a range of products including a scaly carpet and a knitted room divider.
See more lamp design »
See more design by Nendo »
See more products designed for Lasvit »
Here’s a short description from Lasvit:
Press Lamps, created by Nendo for Lasvit in 2012 are pure and minimalistic and are all hand-blown by Lasvit’s glass masters. Each piece is uniquely formed, and represents a brand new and unusual technique in hand-blown glass.
Cylindrical swing lamps and free-standing lamps twisted at the light bulb’s entrance. The Press Lamp design is available in two types: a pendant lamp and a floor lamp.
In this design, glass tubes are pressed as though they have been pinched, and the light source is fitted into the narrowed space that results. Unusual in the fact that it does not rely on a metal form, the compression of the glass produces a soft, organic form and imbues each lamp with a singular appearance.
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for Lasvit appeared first on Dezeen.
German designer Philipp Weber’s glassblowing pipe with valves like a trumpet won the New Talents Award at DMY Berlin last week (+ movie).
Philipp Weber studied at Design Academy Eindhoven, where he became intrigued by the glassblowing process and the possibility of altering the outcome by adapting the blowing pipe.
He added a system of valves to the pipe so that Belgian glassblower Christophe Genard could influence the inner shape of the glass by opening and closing different air streams.
A video documenting the use of the new instrument focuses on the sounds and rhythms created as the glass is formed by blowing and manipulating it using a series of tools.
“The relation between the glassblower and his tool is very important, since it bridges his connection to the material,” says Weber. “What if I change the tool? Does it change the material? And what if design doesn’t start at the product but at the tool?”
The DMY International Design Festival Berlin is one of the stops on our Dezeen and MINI World Tour, and we’ll be publishing more stories and videos from the event in the next few days.
Last week a glass pendant with a tiny brass chandelier inside it was presented at ICFF in New York, while Norwegian designers StokkeAustad and Andreas Engesvik created a series of blown-glass trees for Stockholm Design Week earlier this year – see all stories about glass.
Here are some more details about the project:
In ‘Creation of a strange Symphony’ Philipp Weber portrays the performance of a glassblower using a new and unusual tool.
Pivotal to this work was Weber’s desire to discover the world of a glassblower. In Belgium he was able to watch glassblower Christophe Genard working with the hot material. The designer questioned himself, ‘How can I inspire his interest to work with me?’.
Genard’s most important tool, the blowing pipe, caught Weber’s attention. In the past 2000 years only minor alterations have been made to the 1.5m long steel pipe, with no effect to the material. ‘What would happen to the glass if the function of this tool radically changed? How would Christophe adapt to a new pipe?’.
And so, by manipulating the pipe, he took influence on the inner shaping of the glass.
Simultaneously to this process, Weber also sensed a strong rhythm and musicality in the way Genard was working on the glass. The pipe as a tool for glass production, appeared to be like a musical instrument to him.
He could not resist the idea to translate the mechanism of a trumpet into an application for blowing glass.
Together with an engineer and the knowledge from preceding experiments for a new tool, he worked on an ‘instrument’ – an allegoric bond of craft and music – inspiring Genard to ‘improvise’ the glass, to start a dialogue with the material.
Playing the valves, Genard would shape the glass from inside, activating different air streams. The transformation of the pipe into an instrument provoked a performance of glass making. A short-movie, several glass objects and the instrument itself communicate this dance with the fire.
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by Philipp Weber appeared first on Dezeen.
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