The Curse of Calatrava - Kelsey Reddekopp

T H E  C U R S E  O F     C A L A T R A V A

“Starchitect” Santiago Calatrava’s design for a new WTC Train Station has unsurprisingly caused much controversy however, the contention has reached unsettling levels. Located on quite possibly  the most controversial and emotionally charged properties in the world, New York City’s Ground Zero, the WTC station was intended to represent a bird in flight, a symbol of hope and future prosperity. The project was funded by the Port Authority with an initial budget of $1.94 billion USD. After many technical difficulties and delays Calatrava’s original design had to be altered extensively, the result is what critics call “the transformation from a bird in flight to a stagnant stegosaurus”.  The final and largest point of contention is the drastic budget increase, the project is now estimated to cost a whopping $3.94 billion. A sum of money the Port Authority is have difficulty justifying since the station isn't even considered

Centipede Cinema - Sean Lusk

The Centipede Cinema was designed by Colin Fournier, built with the help of Marysia Lewandowska and NEON design studio and is located in Guimarães, Portugal.

        The Centipede Cinema invites users to duck their heads below the structure into one of the 16 holes below. Once inside the structure users can lean and rest against the cork interior with their arms and watch a series of 3 minute trailers looped into an hour movie. The exterior and interior shells have been clad in varying kids of cork to emphasize it's versatility in varying applications. The dark cork created a black out effect for a better viewing experience. The free-standing structure aims to create a playful juxtaposition against the heritage buildings in the surrounding neighborhood. The bright coloration and unique shapes and activity create a sense of wonder and child like intrigue. The Centipede Cinema is intended to be a design intervention and gains its name based on the alien-like appearance of multiple legs the structure possess when in use.

Socially Responsible Design in Bali - Yvonne Littlewood

The Bali-based bamboo building team has luxury villas, houses, schools and infrastructure buildings in their portfolio, and is renowned for their dedication to using traditional Indonesian building techniques.

 
 Green School has built every structure on campus out of the most sustainable material they could find: bamboo. They felt the need to be involved in a sustainable industry. By using bamboo they had endless creative possibilities of working with natural materials and skilled local craftsmen.

 

They spend time with the people who will be using it.  Sketching and making simple real-scale mockups on the site. Once the placements are clear, they will build 1:50 scale structural models out of bamboo. bamboo. "This is where the art—and engineering—happen." The bamboo builders follow this model (not blueprints) to build the structure of the house. There are over 100 people involved in construction, with an average of 20 onsite at one time. No heavy machinery, no cranes, no bulldozers. Walls are woven onsite, and craftsmen whittle bamboo pins to pin splits of bamboo skin onto the floor one by one. These are truly hand-made homes.

Elora (Firm's Founder):

"Bamboo is a truly sustainable unrivalled timber, with the compressive strength of concrete and the tensile strength of steel. The kind of timber we use, Petung (or Dendorocalaus asper) ​can have as much as​ 18 meters of useable length. It’s lightweight, hollow, round, curving, and tapering. It’s also flexible, making it ​ideal for earthquakes, as it will bend and flex long before it breaks. There are 1450 species of Bamboo in the world, and my team uses 7 of them."

 

 

Read more: Inhabitat Talks to Elora Hardy, Founder of Ibuku, About the Creative and Sustainable Potential of Bamboo | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building 

 

This Lamp Grows Edible Mushrooms - Judith Babcock

"Can furniture leave an eco-positive footprint?"  Danish product designer Jonas Evard believes it can. His award-winning MYX lampshade is made from mushroom mycelium and hemp fibres left over from the textile industry.

The thread-like mycelium are nourished by the plant fibres as the lampshade is "grown" over a 2-3 week period in a moisture-rich low-light environment.  As the mycelium grows, it behaves like a "glue" that stabilizes the fibres holding the construction together.

One lampshade is capable of growing 500-600 grams of oyster mushrooms providing a source of consumer grade food with an optimized end-waste product.  After harvest, the dried mycelium base becomes an organic, compostable and sustainable lampshade that is lightweight and safe to use.

MYX shared third place at the 2014 Stockholm Furniture Fair's Green Furniture Sweden design competition for Outstanding Sustainable Design.

Jonas Edvard is a young Danish product designer based in Copenhagen.  His products challenge tradition and perception as he uses innovative design to develop and apply new uses for natural materials.  MYX was his graduate project.


Youtube:
This Lamp Grows Edible Mushrooms

Sources:

http://inhabitat.com/jonas-edvards-biodegradable-myx-lamp-grows-edible-oyster-mushrooms/

http://jonasedvard.dk/work/myx/

http://greenfurniture.se/award/finalists-2014/

Swing Time - Ryan Barker

When it comes to public spaces, appealing to your inner child is always a safe bet. The architecture firm of Howeler and Yoon took this concept and ran with it with their latest installation "Swing Time". This is Boston's first "interactive sculpture installation" which is situated in a park known as the Lawn on the D. What once was a dirt lot of overgrown brush is now a public event and installation space joining the newly acclaimed "innovation district". "Swing Time" brings a much needed sense of play to the industrial area along this stretch of D street and has created a pseudo  playground for adults.

Each of the 20 hoops is made of custom molded polypropylene with LED lighting inside. They are then welded to a suspension system of steel and cables. The most innovative part of this installation is that each hoop reacts to motion of the swing. They are retrofitted with an internal accelerometer that is connected to the lighting system. The spectrum ranges from static white, to blue, to flashing purple based on the speed of the swing. There are also three difference scales of the hoop to accommodate the community in playing.



This is a great example of combining technology with social responsibility. The office of Howeler and Yoon states that "responsive play elements invite users to interact with the swings and each other." The installation will be available to the public until Halloween 2014.
See Video
http://vimeo.com/105678997

Source: http://www.archdaily.com/549643/get-swinging-in-boston-on-these-glowing-led-hoops/

Constellations Bar - Whitney Robinson

 

This courtyard bar in Liverpool, England, is an outdoor venue designed collaboratively by two brothers, British furniture designer Hugh Miller and architect Howard Miller. The space takes inspiration from the Victorian warehouses surrounding its location in the former industrial area, the Baltic Triangle, residing now as an arts district. The zigzagging profile mimics the gabled rooflines of the warehouses.

This space was designed and built in under three months as a pop up summer events venue for this past summer in Liverpool. The name of the site and the existing forms surrounding formed the triangle motif which became the basis of the structure and its components. Standard construction timbers were used to create a waffle like canopy to accommodate a bar and a DJ booth.

 

The space is unified with the repetition of the triangle form. Not only used as the main profile, but the construction method and even in the furniture. Consisting of multiple seating areas which are flexible and easily reconfigurable.

The canopy is held by ten A-frame supports which double as benches or tables. The supports and as well as the furniture is made from green oak, an unseasoned timber. Glue-laminated timber beams carry the support load and by being angled outwards allows simple rainwater drainage. All the components were prefabricated by the designers in their workshop and then put together on site in three days.

 

I found this project interesting because of the strength in form. Taking inspiration from a contextual form and letting it become not just a means of aesthetic but also the construction method combined with simplicity of materials. 

http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/19/constellations-bar-wooden-canopy-liverpool-h-miller-bros/

What is "Home" - Sahra Samnani

At London's 2014 Design Festival creative minds came together with Airbnb to contemplate the meaning of "home". What is it that helps us define what home is? What are the characteristics of a home? and how does one create a space that feels like home?

Designed with several concepts in mind, four British designers came together to create pavilions that explored the idea of home.

Home is explored in many ways during this exhibit. Standing brightly among the neutral tones in Trafalgar square, the bright turquoise pavilion demonstrates and interesting twist on the conventional house plan.

We often dress our spaces to suit our interests and needs. Designed for a Pidgin keeper, the black pavilion  shows how home is a modification we have done to a space to make it more suitable for our desired functions.

Finally the wildest and most bold pavilion boasts a bold kaleidoscope window, placing a dynamic spin on the classic form. It represents the wide jumble of functions, characteristics and forms that come together to create a “home”.    

“One could have a really large bedroom, shower or kitchen”.  The interior of this pavilion is modular. The concept stems from the idea that – when in our homes we are not able to experience multiple spaces at once, we can only experience the room we are currently occupying.  The turquoise house has modular walls and millwork that allows each room to transform into another space. The user can modify the room to suit their desired function. Placing an unconventional spin on the idea of the Home.

http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/18/airbnb-home-trafalgar-square-installation-jasper-morrison-ilse-crawford-london-design-festival-2014/