Hasta La Ideas

London architecture studio Orproject has installed a forest of illuminated paper trees that join up to form a continuous canopy at a gallery in New Delhi (+ slideshow).

Called Vana, meaning “forest” in Sanskrit, the hanging installation by Orproject features four trunk-like structures designed to mimic natural growth patterns.

To achieve this, the team developed a series of algorithms that mimic the veins found in leaves.

“When the leaf grows, the veins develop with it in order to reach each cell on the surface of the leaf and supply them with nutrients,” said Christoph Klemmt, one of the founders of Orproject.

“Also when a tree grows, it tries to get an exposure of each leaf to the sunlight, so a similar mechanism drives the branching of the tree,” he explained. “We wrote a computer algorithm to simulate this development, in order to grow architecture.”

The four trunks branch upwards and outwards from “seed points” on the floor towards “target points” on the ceiling where they join up into a single surface, creating a suspended tensile structure.

The installation is made from triangular segments of paper connected via stitched joints and backlit by LEDs. When the lights are turned on, the light glows through the gaps and highlights the vein-like structure of the piece.

Vana was designed for last year’s India Design Forum and is currently on display at The Brick House in New Delhi.

Photography is by Sumedh Prasad and Orproject, copyright of Orproject.

Here’s a project description from Orproject:

Vana 

Orproject developed a series of algorithms that digitally generate open and closed venation patterns, which can be used to simulate the growth of topiaries. The systems consist of a set of seed points that grow and branch towards target points in order to maximise exposure to light for each leaf. The resulting geometries fulfill these requirements and provide a suitable structural and circulatory system for the plant.

The structural system of topiaries acts mainly in compression and bending. Reversing this, we can obtain a geometry that performs as a tensile system. The installation Vana is designed as a single surface in tension that hangs from the ceiling and descends into the space as four columns of light. The surface is tessellated into triangular segments which are connected by stitched joints. Back lit with LEDs, light shines through the gaps and illuminates the space below with an immersive glow.

As the prototype for a large scale canopy construction, Vana has been developed as an iso-surface around an anastomotic network diagram, as the cortex around the venation system. In a continuous transformation, nature merges into architecture, columns merge into the sky and solid merges into the ephemeral. Vana appears to grow as tree-like branches blending into a continuous canopy that floats above the visitor.

Title: Vana
Architects: Orproject
Project Architects: Rajat Sodhi, Christoph Klemmt
Project Team: Sambit Samant, Manu Sharma

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from paper by Orproject appeared first on Dezeen.

Comme l’année précédente sur Fubiz, Sony a fait appel à Torafu Architects pour concevoir ce Crystal Aqua Tree, une installation à l’extérieur du Sony Building dans le quartier de Ginza à Tokyo. En invitant les passants à déposer des pièces dans des boîtes de couleurs, cette installation propose de voir l’arbre digital évoluer.

The partners of new Vancouver studio Scott & Scott Architects created this remote snowboarding cabin for their own use at the northern end of Vancouver Island.

The Alpine Cabin by Susan and David Scott is lifted off the ground on six columns made of douglas fir tree trunks, which pierce through the rooms on both storeys.

The exterior clad in cedar, intended to weather to the tone of the surrounding forest, and the interior finished in planed fir.

“The construction approach was determined to avoid machine excavation, to withstand the annual snowfall, to resist the dominant winds and to build in a manner which elevates the building above the height of the accumulated snow on the ground,” say the architects.

The majority of the ground floor is taken up by a combined living room and kitchen, but also includes a bathroom and sauna. Upstairs there are two bedrooms with a study in between.

One corner of the ground floor is cut away to create a spacious porch where firewood and snowboarding equipment can be stored.

The cabin is located in a community-operated alpine recreation area 1300 metres above sea level and is accessible by a gravel road for five months of the year, but otherwise equipment and supplies must be carried on a sledge to the site.

The building is completely off-grid, heated by a wood-burning stove and using water that must be fetched from nearby and carried in.

The architects built the project themselves with the help of friends. “The cabin was constructed out of a desire to directly design and build as a singular act, to work with the freedom one experiences when snowboarding, and in a manner which is centered in the adventure and not bound heavily in pre-determination,” they explain.

Susan and David Scott launched their own practice in February after twelve years of working for established firms.

Other winter retreats on Dezeen include a holiday home that Peter Zumthor designed for himself and his family and one that’s been squeezed into the passageway between two farm buildings in northern Italy.

See more winter retreats »
See more architecture in the snow »

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Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Lors de son voyage en Allemagne près de Wittichenau, le designer et réalisateur Oliver Latta a capturé de superbes images de nature sous la neige pour ensuite monter une vidéo jouant sur la symétrie. Une création appelée « Symmetrees » à découvrir en images et vidéo dans la suite de l’article.

This forest-like beauty salon in Osaka has birch trees wedged between the floor and ceiling (+ slideshow).

Named Onico, the hair and nail salon was designed by Japanese architect Ryo Isobe.

The architect imagined the space as a woodland filled with antique objects and other curiosities, including a stuffed owl.

“Our client likes DIY and he makes many objects and furniture by himself,” said Isobe. “So we made the space as if it is a treasure hunt in the woods.”

Birch trees are dotted around the space, amongst a styling area containing assorted chairs and mirrors.

A mixture of lanterns, chandeliers and bare light bulbs are suspended from the ceiling, while fairy lights are strung up beside a cluster of artificial ivy in the room behind.

Other details include a decorative balustrade, empty picture frames and a golden dresser.

We’ve featured a few hair and beauty salons from Japan, including one lined with colourful ceramic tiles and one containing a zigzagging steel screen.

See more salon and spa interiors »

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by Ryo Isobe appeared first on Dezeen.