Johan Voordouw is a Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University, Leicester and a member of the research collaborative Horhizon. This project is part of an on-going interest in the revitalisation of the English Midlands and reinterpreting its cultural heritage. Beyond referencing a biological morphology this project is more focused on craft, space and light.

The Soar River Boathouse was a conceptual project attempting to form a stronger connection to both the historical and geographical context of Leicester while developing a new formal language for the surrounding area. Read the rest of this entry »

The concept of a Vertical Necropolis designed by architect Annkit kummar in Delhi is presented as a way to satisfy social prospects while proficiently exploiting scarce city land.

A vertical necropolis will free up a substantial amount of ground space for the living and provide within it a place of respite for the deceased. It will also create a space where diverse groups can feel comfortable grieving together. This way we will be able to see all people as equals.

The principal issue is the adverse effects of, practice of traditional methods of dealing with dead, by various religions, on the ecology. Environmental issues have not featured prominently with regard to bereavement, possibly due to the sensitivity of the subject.  This view is shifting as environmental issues are become progressively important. Read the rest of this entry »

The Cloud House designed by Axis Mundi is a planned weekend retreat, which is situated on a promontory high along a ridge of the Colorado Plateau. The site offers panoramic views from numerous vantage points. The house is nestled in a grove of dramatic Aspen trees.

The design is a study in openness, transparency, lightness, and reflections. The house approaches near invisibility at certain times of the year. The floor plan is an abstract interpretation of a cumulus cloud shape transformed into a series of five rotated and elliptically shaped glass pods. The combined spaces have a softly nuanced suppleness based on the way the forms are hinged together. Each pod is an individual room having a distinct programmatic function. Room openings were created at the interstitial space where the pods meet. Interior doors have been reduced to a minimum. The overall design is a loose, free-form assemblage which is informed by its unique relationship to the site, and offers an incomparable meeting place of earth and sky. Read the rest of this entry »

The 490-foot-tall Beach and Howe mixed-use tower by BIG + Westbank + Dialog + Cobalt + PFS + Buro Happold + Glotman Simpson and local architect James Cheng marks the entry point to downtown Vancouver, forming a welcoming gateway to the city, while adding another unique structure to the Vancouver skyline.

BIG’s proposal, named after its location on the corner of Howe & Beach next to the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver, calls for 600 residential units occupying the 49-story tower, which would become one of the city’s fourth tallest buildings. The tower is situated on a nine-story podium base offering market-rental housing with a mix of commercial and retail space. BIG was commissioned by Canada’s premier real estate developer Westbank, established in 1992, with over $10 billion of projects completed or under development, including the Shangri-La luxury hotels in Vancouver and Toronto.

“We have brought together the best talent available in Vancouver and Europe to create a truly world class project that will enrich not only the particular neighborhood, but also the city and its quest to become creative, sustainable and affordable city. Architecturally, the Beach and Howe tower will introduce a new building typology to the Vancouver skyline and will create a dramatic gateway to downtown Vancouver that speaks to the emerging creative economy in the city”, Ian Gillespie, President, Westbank. Read the rest of this entry »

The front part of the parking facility designed by JOHO Architecture facing the river is a triangular unit, which is composed with 10 different angles from 60 degrees up to 150 degrees and reflects the scenes of light and city with the total units of more than 80. Contrarily the back surface of commercial area was finished with a flat surface. While the elevation plane toward the river was intended to express the speed of city by wrinkled image, the flat surface located in the western side directly projects the image toward Bojeong-dong café alley. Read the rest of this entry »

The installation designed by Andrew Saunders is composed of 1,224 folded, developable surfaces (surfaces that can be unrolled onto a plane without distortion) digitally-generated and fabricated from sheets of translucent high-density polyethylene. It is inspired by the affects luminosity, translucency, and weightlessness transposed from The Hyde Collection’s painting of The Annunciation by the Italian Renaissance master, Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510). The Rensselaer fabrication challenges the Cartesian geometry and symmetry of the gallery space as it fluctuates between display and partition. It provides an affective environment that influences circulation as well as divides, unites and exhibits the Z-print models. Read the rest of this entry »

Our prison system has failed to see advancements throughout the past century and desperately requires innovation and re-imagination.  While recent literature begins to question the sociological status of prisons, there has be little exploration of the physical apparatus in which inmates are housed. We as designers must take a critical look at these static institutions, and question how we can play a significant role in the design and function of future prisons. Read the rest of this entry »

Suzusan is a Düsseldorf design label with roots in the traditional Japanese textile finishing technique called Shibori. Developed by the Murase family, this traditional manufacturing practice has evolved into a product line of luminaires. The products are manufactured entirely by hand, offering unique design solutions to customers.

Translated into English, the verb “shibori” means “wring, press and twist”.  Processing starts by folding certain parts of the textile surface, leaving other untreated. Color transitions created by dyeing raw fabrics reveal intricate three-dimensional patterns, structures and color contrasts.  Originally, the Shibori technique was applied to silk and wool fabrics as well as plant fibers such as cotton and flax. Over the course of the past decades, Japanese craftsmen have started to also treat chemically produced fibers, for example polyester and nylon, as well as leather and metals. Read the rest of this entry »

Created in a collaborative effort by students of the ETH and the AA, this temporary timber construction was designed to provide shelter from the sun. It was installed at the grand stairs in front of the architecture department of the ETH in Zurich. The initial idea was found in a winning entry of an internal competition within EmTech (Emergent Technologies and Design program) of the AA. Its dynamic form is derived from a series of studies of tension diagrams and load distribution, conducted at the ETH. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed to connect the two shores of the Limfjord seaway in Denmark, the project explores the structural, experiential and functional variability of bridges through use of parametric tools. It was part of a research project aimed at discovering possibilities in associative geometry and the building of structures, functions and materials into one model where it could analyzed and change according to selected criteria. It develops and tests methods of parametric design and digital/analogue form-finding. Read the rest of this entry »