Prickly Pear is an installation proposal for the work of Nicola Formichetti designed by Barker Freeman Design Office that proposes an immersive sensory environment with changing color tones that can correspond to changing music, body movement, or merchandise within the space. Our concept was to insert an enveloping volume of stretchy translucent netting that would capture and reflect the shifting light spectrum emitted from the system of custom LED fixtures. The lighting could be programmed on a pre-set script or it could be set to respond to environmental changes.

These fixtures are coupled to steel tension rods that attach to grommets in the fabric and to surface-mounted hooks fastened to the walls and ceiling of the existing space. More steel rods would be breakformed into u-shaped forms that would connect to the grommets inside the space to form hanging surfaces for merchandising.

Changing rooms are formed of smaller fabric pods that attach to the main volume through adjustable portals made from fabric gaskets. These spaces would have their lighting that can be programmed separately to indicate vacancy.

The form is inspired by the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, a plant that has its origins in the west but that has grown to become a staple of Mediterranean regions as well. The prickly pear is a source of inspiration and sustenance and celebrated in a wide range of cultures and in this way is a symbol of the global cross-pollination which inspires Nicola Formichetti, whose Italian-Japanese heritage has been a source of inspiration.

Project Team: Alexandra Barker, AIA LEED AP, Principal
Adrien Allred, Phuong Nguyen, Adam Jakubowski, Bridget Rice

After graduating from MA Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins, Chinese designer Zhang Zhoujie founded his own laboratory where he today explores furniture concepts based on traditional Chinese fine art. One of his most elaborate projects is the Triangulation Series which investigates the relationship between computer technologies and Wu Wei, one of the principles of Taoism. It means “lack of intervention”.

The Triangulation Project is based on the interaction of faceted triangular surfaces. These objects are created through a process of evolution, establishing families of objects with common predecessors. By creating different typologies based on the initial geometry, the laboratory offers a possibility of creating personalized chair designs by taking key measurements from the customer. The device which performs the actual measuring is in the form of hundreds of sensors embedded into a measuring apparatus. Gathered data can be directly imported into the digital model.

The fabrication process begins with turning the digital output of the 3d model into a 2d layout of individual triangles which creates data for the laser cutting phase.  The shapes are then cut-out of the base material (stainless steel or titanium). After receiving the material a precise set of angle guides are produces for each of the different contact angles present on the chair. These are then used to bend the individual metal elements into the correct alignment based on an angle map, also created from the 2d layout.

The bending process is carried out by hand. Once its complete, the contact points are fixed in place, using a special treatment on the underside of the chair. The individual segments are mated with their adjoining parts before being fixed in place. Once the upper and lower halves of the chair have been fabricated, they are strengthened with 3 layers of glass fiber, applied to the underside of both parts. The combination of 6 layers of glass fiber produces the strength and rigidity necessary for the chair to be used as an everyday object. The final step is adding a layer of high density foam, which is sandwiched between the upper and lower halves of the chair, giving it solidity and toughness.

The Triangulation Series was showcased last month at the International Furniture Fair in Cologne.

The proposal for Sofia’s new Metropolitan Station 20 on line one was designed by Zeybekoglu Nayman Associates. The design strategy seeks to take advantage of the intense relationship between Obikolna Street and the future station. Organized along a glass spine that covers the space below ground level, the station is meant to capture as much natural light as possible.

Architects state:” The sun penetrates down through sculptural skylights illuminating the entire station in a warm glow. The use of daylight as an architectural element assists orientation for passengers and provides a sense of security.   It allows for the atmosphere of the station to be transformed by the color of the sky.  Underground the station is efficient, easy to read and comprehend through its organized masses.  The descent down to the metro is designed as an elegant, modern addition to the street life above. Public access areas on B1 contain places to sit, shop, and dine. Open to all, this level has direct access to both sides of Obikolna Street through a new pedestrian underpass.  Ticketed areas on B2 including the platforms are separated by a series of turnstiles that lead to zones of vertical transportation.

This design demonstrates a spatial coherence between the two worlds above and below.  Gracefully shaped glass geometries define a modern sculptural addition to the outdoor-indoor environment. During the day the outside is brought into the station and at the night the glowing illumination from within becomes part of the street scene.”

Small spaces influenced the concept behind the News Coffee Table, a three section surface radiating from a central newspaper and magazine repository. Taking the traditional newspaper rack and combining it with a coffee table is certainly not new, but Architect Boris Ignatov’s unique but simple solution is to turn the fold 120 degree and connect the receptacle with a flat surface. The casual nature of the design has the quality of origami, radiating outward and offering easy access to periodicals for casual reading.

The small table suits users from any angle making it much more flexible in a cramped living space.  With a hexagonal footprint the furniture’s unique shape fits into tight arrangements and does not impair traffic flow. Wheels are set on each corner of the table to ease movement. Because each leaf is identical they can be nested into each other for storage and pack into a 24 inch square box.

The table measure 36 inches across and 18 inches tall and is available in four standard colors or custom Pantone and RAL colors.

With the optical and physical qualities of the crystal of Bohemia and Venetian hand blown glass in mind, artists Francisco Gomez Paz and Paolo Rizzatto designed for Luceplan the Hope chandelier. A period of extensive technological research preceded the final lighting source design; the multifaceted interpretation of the classic chandelier was made up of ultra light polycarbonate sheets, capable of reproducing the outstanding optical qualities of solid glass. Based in the principles of the Fresnel lenses, a molded polycarbonate leaf was developed and engineered, characterized by a glossy external surface and a textured internal surface treated with a series of concentric micro-prisms. The result was an extraordinary high quality plastic, referred to by the authors as “meta-crystal”, because of its capacity to capture and reflect light.

Holding and structuring the “meta-crystal” leafs are series of stems that are fixed to a light diatom-shaped structure. They enable leafs to be arranged in a way that ensures a good diffusion of the light. The Hope luminaire can be as big as 105 cms in diameter, but is easily assembled an transportable. It received the Red Dot Award and the Good Design Award in 2010, along with the Italian Premio Nazionale all’Innovazione 2011.

The winning proposal for the science centre in Copenhagen was designed by CEBRA, in cooperation with Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Orbicon, Die Asta and Kollision. The aim of the competition was to expand the existing premises and achieve a stronger presence within the urban space of the city. Limited by the layout of the existing building and additional urbanistic constrains, the Fremtidens Experimentarium was to be expanded inwards and upwards.

The project deals with three main concepts: “Multi-Space”, “Special Features” and “Learning Environment”. It implies, among other things, that the building should be architecturally incorporated into the new Tuborg town that has grown up around Experimentarium the last 15 years. The building volume was expanded by 6.000 square meters. An outdoor exhibition including a café was introduced, along with a garden and renewable energy installations. Two entire floors were added, containing atriums which divide the science center into three zones: private areas for the staff, exhibition spaces for paying visitors and an open public front where people can go without tickets. The extension includes a new Exhibition Area, a new Education and Innovation Center, public workshops, a Multimedia Workshop, a new Café, a new Shop and a new Entrance Area. The building will also function as a cultural house for the Tuborg Quarter in Hellerup, and will, amongst other things, be fitted out with a new Flexible Stage that can accommodate 400 guests. The project will make a strong architectural statement while remaining highly contextual. The inauguration of the Future Experimentarium is predicted to take place in January 2014.

Part of the Young Architects Program, an initiative for promoting emerging designers, the Latin America branch was established and launched in 2011 by CONSTRUCTO, in collaboration with MOMA and MOMA PS1. It’s an active platform for creating new opportunities for talented Latin American architects to explore and design within the scope of collective-use spaces and informal live events, with strong emphasis on sustainability issues. In 2011 it was particularly oriented towards young Chilean architects, few of whom are members of the GUN Arquitectos team, a collective whose Water Cathedral Project was chosen as this year’s winning proposal.

The Water Cathedral is an outdoor installation, created primarily for public use. Its large horizontal nave is made up of numerous vertical components which vary in height and density. It is also a facility that generates a water injection system, with rainwater flowing through the stalactites. When filled with small amounts of water, the components act as interfaces out of which water droplets gradually flow and cool visitors below. The dynamic canopy of different density achieves less contrast between sunny areas and darker ones. The stalagmites, rising from the ground, create a cave-like topography of urban furniture which welcomes visitors and provide them with shaded sitting areas.

The collaborative installation White Hole between artist Mariko Mori and Architects Kengo Kuma is a experiential structure designed to contemplate the arise of the cosmos using a light weight structural form. The large white dome is built from spray polyurethane, primarily used for insulating buildings, applied over a draped mesh, forming the catenary structure. Kengo Kuma termed the structure Bubble Wrap which is then inverted to form a rough dome. The expanded polyurethane material was selected for its capacity to create volume from very little material, which the architects claims to be comprised of 99% air.  The envelope has the characteristic of being in a fluid, unsettled state, as though just created or born.

The quite space created by the interior provides a contemplative position for visitors to view Mariko’s inset screen. The term White Hole is based on the opposing force of a black hole’s absorption of material, a place where stars are born. LEDs placed overhead are networked to the observatory at the University of Kyoto feed interpretations of stars energy signature when disassembled by black holes, only to reemerge as swirls of reconstituted forms.

The installation was shown at the Dojima River Biennale 2011 entitled Ecosophia- Art and Architecture.

Title: EVOLO SKYSCRAPERS
Cover: Hardcover
Size: 9″ x 11.5″ x 2.5″
Pages: 1224 
ISBN: 978-0-9816658-4-9
Limited edition: 500 copies (only 50 copies left!)

INTRODUCTION 

Established in 2006, the eVolo Skyscraper Competition has become the world’s most prestigious award for high-rise architecture. The contest recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the implementation of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations. Studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution are some of the multi-layered elements of the competition. It is an investigation on the public and private space and the role of the individual and the collective in the creation of dynamic and adaptive vertical communities.

Over the last six years, an international panel of renowned architects, engineers, and city planners have reviewed more than 4,000 projects submitted from 168 countries around the world. Participants include professional architects and designers, as well as students and artists. This book is the compilation of 300 outstanding projects selected for their innovative concepts that challenge the way we understand architecture and their relationship with the natural and built environments.

The projects have been organized in six chapters that describe the current position and the future of vertical architecture and urbanism. The first chapter, Technological Advances, is an investigation on the use of digital tools and computing fabrication. Ecological Urbanism explores sustainable systems, including new materials and clean energy generation processes to achieve zero-net-energy buildings. Projects that analyze the reconfiguration of existing cities and the colonization of new environments, such as underwater cities and floating habitats, are part of New Frontiers.  The improvement of our way of living is the topic of the fourth chapter, Social Solutions, which is a collection of ideas that respond to social, cultural, and economic problems. A more experimental approach to architectural design is exposed in Morphotectonic Aesthetics, with proposals that use fields of data and self-regulating systems to respond to internal and external stimuli -the results are fascinating explorations of function and form. Finally, Urban Theories and Strategies is a group of projects that establish new methods to alleviate the major problems of the contemporary city, including the scarcity of natural resources and infrastructure, and the exponential increase of inhabitants.

The eVolo Skyscraper Competition is a forum for the discussion, debate, and development of avant-garde architectural design in the 21^st century. eVolo is committed to stimulating the imagination of designers around the world – thinkers that envision the future of our cities and a new way of life.

-> Order Limited Edition Copy of EVOLO SKYSCRAPERS

-> Order Limited Edition Copy of EVOLO SKYSCRAPERS

The steel, cocoon-like structure represents a parametrically altered design of a typical fence.  What is supposed to function primarily as a demarcation tool is developed into an element that accentuates the 3-dimensionality of space. It is fragmentized, as if under the influence of powerful tectonic forces, pulling the initially linear structure in different directions. Not only does it frame the views of the surroundings, it creates an awareness of space that reveals its true potentials. The garden is transformed into a versatile environment, partly covered, withdrawn and protected, with a canopy sheltering a pool and a seating area. Seen from afar, it has a sculptural quality of a biomorphic structure that mimics the existing organic patterns of its surroundings.

With integrated panels following the concave form of the supporting structure, the surface segments of the fence develop in the central area in relation to the steel structure from the inside to the outside and dissolve more and more along the vertical. The frame construction has diagonally running circular tube profiles for out crossing and plate attachment. The frames consist of solid welded flat steel profiles. The not entirely closed shell is constructed with diamond shaped plates which are fixed by tabs on the diagonals and in case can be turned around their axis.