‘strikha’: a five-part film on ukraine’s architectural heritage
Multimedia platform Ukraïner and film studio Craft Story have teamed up on a special five-part documentary entitled ‘STRIKHA’ (the roof in Ukrainian). Based on a long-term expedition throughout all regions of war-torn Ukraine (except those occupied by Russia), the film series portrays the country’s authentic and vernacular architectural ‘treasures’, particularly those hidden in distant villages, away from the main road. The project also seeks to trigger public discussions around the traditional Ukrainian ‘architectural code’ — specifically on how to preserve it and extend its presence to contemporary life. ‘STRIKHA series is also about the sense of home, shelter, and ‘a roof over one’s head’ that many people in Ukraine have lost due to the war,‘ adds the team.
all images courtesy Ukraïner
ukraïner and craft story’s expedition across the country
The expedition throughout Ukraine kickstarted in November 2022, when Ukraïner (see more here) and Craft Story (and here) began hunting for over 30 real-life examples of vernacular home designs. These included the ‘mazanaka’ and ‘gradja’, Cossack’s wooden churches, windmills, a country house in the Carpathians, the ‘wooden lace’ technique of Sivershchyna, the original huts of Bessarabia, Slobozhanshchyna, Podniprovia, and Zaporizhzhia — and much more. The duo captured and recorded all of these unique archetypes, piecing them into a heartwarming documentary available on Ukraïner’s YouTube Channel (with ENG subtitles).
‘STRIKHA’ is a five-part film on Ukraine’s folk heritage
The storytellers of the ‘STRIKHA’ documentary series include owners of those unique folk houses scattered in different parts of the country, activists involved in the preservation and restoration of architectural heritage, as well as a group of local experts — architects Oleg Drozdov, Slava Balbek, and Yulian Chaplinskyi, on the one hand, and scientists and art historians on the other. ‘Each building has a fascinating history, documented and preserved for reinterpretation by future generations,’continues the team.
about 30 architectural ‘treasures’ were unearthed
‘Although today it is impossible to go on an expedition to the temporarily occupied territories, the unique architecture of these regions is also covered in the project. Furthermore, after the full-scale invasion of Russia on February 24, 2022, there were also issues of post-war reconstruction, housing for forcibly displaced people, as well as the trend of moving from the city to the countryside, which gained particular popularity – all these topics also revealed within five episodes of film STRIKHA.’ Make sure to catch the complete series on YouTube.
storytellers included homeowners of those unique vernacular structures
Design gallerist and curator Rossana Orlandi has announced the winners of this year’s Ro Plastic Prize for sustainable material use during a ceremony at Milan design week.
The Ro Plastic Prize is awarded yearly to projects that feature material recycling, reuse or upcycling, with this year’s winning projects including a bacteria-growing menstrual cup and a 3D-printed prosthetic leg.
Italian company Isinnova won in the Emerging High Technology category with its design for an artificial leg, which was designed to be produced quickly and at a low cost in emergency situations such as wars and earthquakes.
A bacteria-growing menstrual cup (top) and a 3D-printed prosthetic leg (above) are among the winners of the 2023 Ro Plastic Prize
This is crucial because, without the rapid provision of a prosthesis, a patient’s chances of being able to walk again are decreased due to factors such as muscle atrophy, according to Isinnova CEO Cristian Fracassi.
Made largely from recycled plastic that is 3D-printed to customised designs, the prosthetic was developed in response to the war in Ukraine and is being made on a not-for-profit basis.
There were two winners in the Art and Collectible Design category: designer Geo Minelli with the Kernel tables and architecture studio External Reference with its Pure Plants collection, both from Italy.
THE Kernel table was one of two winners in the Art and Collectible Design category
Minelli’s Kernel tables are made by recycling end-of-life wind turbines made from glass fibre-reinforced plastic into a new circular material called Glebanite.
The tables, which have a smooth top and a gnarled trunk-like base, are the result of two years worth of experimentation with the material’s textures, colours and fabrication techniques.
External Reference’s Pure Plants are artificial plants that are 3D-printed from a corn-based bioplastic called Pure.Tech and available in 17 different “species”, each with an intricate geometry based on phyllotactic leaf patterns.
Another Art and Collectible Design winner was Pure Plants
There were also two winners in the Inspiring Learning Projects category.
Czech designer Adriana Kováčová was recognised for her recycled plastic Totemo toy, which evolves from a mobile hanger to a construction set, and Italian design studio Cantieri Creativi was awarded for its Artisans Of Now workshop series, held in locations around Italy and focused on reconnecting people with nature and craft.
Adriana Kováčová’s Totemo won in the Inspiring Learning Projects category
Among the runners-up and special mentions in the competition was Italian designer Lucrezia Alessandroni, whose Soothing Cup is a speculative project comprising a menstrual cup and incubator that would enable users to grow vaginal bacteria extracted from their own body with the goal of reducing period pain.
A seaweed-based hydrogel turns the silicone cup into a bio-membrane that can collect vaginal lactobacillus bacteria, which is then cultivated in an incubator in the time between periods.
The OTO chair by Alessandro Stabile and Martinelli is made of recycled ocean plastic
According to Alessandroni, studies have shown that this bacteria can reduce period pain and cut down on the number of painkillers those affected have to take each month.
Another special mention in the Emerging High Technology category went to Italian designers Alessandro Stabile and Martinelli for the OTO chair, which is made from recycled ocean plastic in a single, reduced-size mould and shipped flat-packed direct to consumers.
In the Art and Collectible design category, special mentions included UK design studio Novavita’s recycled plastic tiles, which have a mottled patterning that is meant to recall natural stone and marble.
And Spanish duo Eneris Collective made third place in the Inspiring Learning Projects category with its playful design for the Nontalo children’s stool, made from waste olive pits.
The shortlisted projects were exhibited as part of Milan design week
Shortlisted projects for the Ro Plastic Prize were on display as part of an exhibition at Milan design week. And winners were announced on 20 April after judging by a 17-member jury that included Triennale Milano president Stefano Boeri, architect and designer Giulio Cappellini, Parley for the Oceans founder Cyrill Gutsch and Dezeen co-CEO Benedict Hobson.
The prize is an initiative by Orlandi and her daughter Nicoletta Orlandi Brugnoni, who wanted to raise awareness around the importance of plastic recycling and reuse.
Since the first Ro Plastic Prize in 2019, the criteria of the competition has expanded to include other plastic alternatives, with competition categories varying every year.
The Ro Plastic Prize exhibition was on show as part of Milan design week, which took place from 18 to 23 April. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks that took place throughout the week.
Blocks of granite among planted beds are used to display plastic-free beauty products at this Montreal store, designed by local architecture firm MRDK.
MRDK, also known as Ménard Dworkind, designed the interiors of the Attitude boutique to reflect the sustainable focus of the cosmetics for sale.
Planted beds are surrounded by a raised ceramic floor at the Attitude store
“From the moment you step inside, the design of the space reflects their commitment to sustainability and a connection to nature,” said the studio.
Located on Saint Denis Street in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood, the 1,000-square-foot (93-square-metre) shop is laid out to evoke a “journey through nature” according to MRDK.
A large granite block at the centre has two sinks carved into its top
Planted beds in the store window and around the space overspill with greenery, and a raised ceramic floor creates the impression of traversing a boardwalk between them.
“This subtle elevation change immediately transports you into a new space, a forest floor full of life and colour,” MRDK said.
The brand’s plastic-free beauty products are display on oak shelves that emerge from the greenery
Chunks of granite are used as pedestals for displaying products in the window, while a much larger block in the centre has a pair of sinks carved into its flat top.
“The boulder-like shape and texture of the island suggest a natural element, as if it has been carved by the forces of nature over time,” said MRDK.
“This centerpiece perfectly complements the natural theme of the space, giving customers the sense of being in a nature surrounded by rock formations.”
The majority of Attitude’s products are presented on white oak shelves that emerge from the plant beds on both sides of the store.
The raised floor is designed to create a boardwalk between the planted beds
Suspended on white poles and backed by fritted glass, these shelves match the rectangular cashier’s desk at the back, into which the brand’s name is hewn.
There’s also a refill station that customers can use to replenish the aluminium bottles, further promoting sustainability.
Smaller blocks of granite are used as plinths to showcase the products in the storefront
MRDK was founded by partners Guillaume Ménard and David Dworkind in 2010, and has completed a wide variety of projects in and around Montreal.
These include a 1970s-themes pizza restaurant, a colossal Chinese brasserie and a wine bar that takes cues from bottle labels, as well as a renovated 1980s home and a cedar-clad hideaway.
The world now has vaccines for more than 20 different life-threatening diseases. And according to the World Health Organization (WHO), immunisation prevents between 3.5 million and 5 million deaths from illnesses such as tetanus, diphtheria, measles and influenza, each and every year.
The coronavirus pandemic has further proven the value of vaccines, with 19.8 million deaths estimated to have been averted in the first year of global COVID-19 vaccination programmes.
But while immunisation has been a success story in world health, there is still a lot of work to do, and new technology is constantly under development.
For example, while the COVID-19 vaccination programme has been successful, the broader disruptions caused by the pandemic have led to a fall in coverage for other diseases, with an estimated 25 million children under the age of 1 year not receiving basic vaccines in 2021 – the highest number since 2009.
This pandemic-driven setback has inspired the theme for World Immunization Week 2023: ‘The Big Catch-Up.’ World Immunization Week is celebrated in the last week of April each year, and the WHO-backed event aims to highlight the collective action needed to protect people through vaccinations.
To celebrate the event, we highlight some of the most cutting-edge vaccine technologies, as well as other innovations improving access to vaccines around the world.
Many people around the world have a phobia of needles, which makes the prospect of a vaccine jab daunting. But what if there was another way to deliver vaccines – one that doesn’t involve needles? Today, there are several startups exploring this possibility. Among them is Vaxxas, a company that has developed a patch that contains thousands of vaccine-coated microprojections. This patch is applied to the skin for a few seconds to deliver a dose of vaccine, and the company claims that this technology is not only needle-free but can enhance a vaccine’s performance. This is because the patch delivers the vaccine directly to the high concentration of immune cells immediately beneath the skin, while sounding the immune system’s ‘alarm bells’ so that the vaccine’s components are quickly transported to the lymph nodes. Vaxxas currently has patches for COVID-19 and seasonal flu undergoing stage I clinical trials. Find out more
Photo credit: Ryan Allen from Second Bay Studios
Vaxxas is not the only company working to deliver vaccines through patches. In fact, microneedle patches are in development for many diseases including measles, polio, and rubella. And now, researchers at MIT have developed a way to leverage this technology to get vaccines to more people, including in hard-to-reach areas. Their solution: mobile printers that can produce hundreds of vaccine patches per day. The printers fit onto a table top and can be transported anywhere around the world – wherever vaccines are needed. The ability to produce vaccines on demand could resolve a key poblem impacting vaccine roll-outs. Vaccines need to be stored at cold temperatures, meaning they are difficult to transport and stockpile. But instead of shipping around vaccine doses, the new mobile printers could be sent to locations like refugee camps or remote villages in response to disease outbreaks. Find out more
Like all organisms, pathogens – microbes that cause disease – are constantly evolving. And because most vaccines today are designed to target a particular part of a pathogen, this can make vaccines ineffective, sometimes after a short period of time. To tackle this, startup Baseimmune deploys deep learning to predict the direction in which pathogens are likely to evolve. This enables the company to create vaccines that stay ahead of the evolutionary curve. Using the algorithm-crunched data, Baseimmune creates ‘pick and mix’ antigens – substances that cause your immune system to create antibodies – that target multiple parts of a pathogen. This gives the immune system all the tools it needs to recognise and protect against a pathogen – even as it evolves. Today, the company’s pipeline includes vaccines for African Swine Fever, COVID-19, and Malaria, all of which are in the preclinical stage of development. Find out more
To be effective, vaccines rely on the human immune system recognising foreign proteins called antigens. These antigens are harmless, but they induce the body to react as it would to the presence of a pathogen, prompting it to create specific antibodies that will be effective against an actual disease. One of the best ways to introduce antigens to the body is to bind them to a harmless virus-like particle. This approach creates a very strong immune response, but it is difficult to create these bonds in a reliable and controlled way. This is where startup SpyBiotech comes in. The company takes a protein from a species of bacteria and splits it in two. Half of the bacteria protein binds to the virus-like particle and half to the antigen. The two halves are then joined back together in a covalent bond that acts like molecular ‘superglue’. As a result, the virus-like particle can be fully covered in antigens to create effective vaccines. The technology can be adjusted to work with a range of different vaccine candidates. The company’s current focus is on a vaccine candidate for Human Cytomegalovirus, which is due to enter phase I trials in 2023. Find out more
In the hit TV show The Last of Us the world is inflicted by a deadly fungal infection, modelled – with some creative licence – on the cordyceps fungus. While the show is fiction – and fungal infections do not turn people into staggering zombies – fungal infections are responsible for around 1.5 million deaths each year, mostly in people with suppressed immune systems. As the show notes, there is currently no vaccine for fungal infections, but a team at the University of Georgia is looking to change this. The researchers’ have designed a vaccine candidate that is designed to shield against the three most common causes of fungal infections: Aspergillus, Candida, and Pneumocystis. Together, these three types of fungus are responsible for more than 80 per cent of fungal fatalities. The vaccine uses the KEX1 peptide – a short chain of amino acids – which can disrupt fungal growth. In animal trials, the vaccine showed “broad, cross-protective antifungal immunity,” and there are plans to move forward to phase I trials. Read more
Written By: Matthew Hempstead
For more innovations, head to the Springwise Innovation Library.
Brooklyn studio O’Neill McVoy Architects has adapted a historic powerhouse into a museum for children in the Bronx that highlights the historical building while adding playful details.
O’Neill McVoy Architects inserted the Bronx Children’s Museum into the second floor of the rectilinear building “with old and new in a symbiotic relation heightening the qualities of the other,” the studio said.
The Bronx Children’s Museum is located on the Harlem River
Located on the Harlem River and Mill Pond Park, the 1925 Historic Bronx Terminal Market Powerhouse was decommissioned in 2004 and the building’s exterior was restored in 2009, leaving the interior concrete and steel loft space open for a new program.
Owned by the New York City Department of Parks, it broke ground in 2017 but wasn’t completed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and bureaucratic delays.
Curving shapes inside the building were designed for children
The 15,160-square foot (1,400-square metre) museum is accessed through a double-height, river-side lobby space that opens to curving forms designed specifically for a child’s perspective.
As the first facility in the burrow dedicated to young children, “the design’s flow creates a new kind of space, unlike the city’s cellular rooms and street grids, that connects Bronx kids to the experience of natural landscape and the waterfront”, the studio said.
Ramps separate exhibition spaces
Drawing from Jean Piaget’s book Child’s Conception of Space, the studio used a series of unspooling spaces catered to children under 10 years old.
Museum visitors move through the space via ramps, and focused exhibits are separated by partial-height, curved wooden and translucent acrylic partition walls that spiral, diverge and reconnect.
The curving forms were made from cross-laminated timber
The spaces step up, moving from the Waterways exhibition that directs views to the neighbouring river, across a bridge, to the Cloud performance mezzanine that features an interactive installation by local artist Jerome LaMarr called Bronxtopia.
The LEED Gold-certified project is the “first use of curved cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the U.S.,” according to the studio.
The CLT was reportedly sustainably harvested and selected for its light weight and strength.
It was “fabricated with advanced digital technology allowing for varying radii arcs to form organic space”.
“Large wall and guardrail interlocking panels, many with pebble-shaped windows, were molded and CNC-milled to exact size allowing quick assembly on site,” the team continued, referencing the custom molds of Charles and Ray Eames’ laminated plywood splints.
The project is located on the second floor of a powerhouse
The CLT panels also interlock with etched, recycled-acrylic panels that are softer to the touch than glass.
Overhead, the exposed structural beams and mechanical services were painted blue, as was the acoustical plaster, to form a sky where fabric ducts hang as clouds.
O’Neill McVoy used recycled acrylic panels instead of glass
The museum also uses translucent film on the east-facing windows to mitigate the daylight that sweeps through the open plan, and dimmable LED fixtures and daylighting sensors optimize light.
Operable windows allow for ventilation and sensors help reduce HVAC energy consumption.
Playful spaces were designed for children
The exterior of the brick building was relatively untouched but the “distinctive turrets are given new life with prismatic film and spectral LED lighting to serve as beacons for the children’s museum in the community.”
Similarly, Olson Kundig inserted a curved timber ark into a concrete market hall to create the ANOHA children’s museum in Berlin.
Tree-like columns and other nature-inspired details feature in this indoor playground, which design studio Sarit Shani Hay has created for the children of employees at an Israeli software company.
The playground is set on the 15th floor of a skyscraper, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass windows that provide uninterrupted views across the city of Tel Aviv.
Tree-like plywood columns can be seen throughout the playroom
Despite this urban setting, Sarit Shani Hay wanted the space to “emphasise closeness to nature” and subtly incorporate biophilic design principles.
The studio has therefore made reference to the outdoors throughout the scheme.
Plywood has been used to create other elements in the room, like the playhouses
Huge, round pieces of sea blue and forest-green carpet have been set into the floor. Circular panels in the same blue and green hues have also been put on the ceiling, bordered by LED tube lights.
Parts of the floor that are not covered with carpet have been overlaid with plywood or rubber to account for shock absorption.
The playhouses include features such as ramps and secret nooks
A series of tall plywood “trees” with spindly branches have been dotted across the room; a couple of them suspend a swinging hammock, while another supports a gridded toy shelf.
Plywood was also used to make house-shaped volumes for the children to play in.
Each of these volumes includes playful interactive features such as ramps, tunnels, rope ladders, sliding poles and secretive nooks.
The children also have the option of using a climbing wall at the rear of the room, which has different-coloured footholds.
Sea blue and forest-green carpet has been laid across the floor
The project also saw Sarit Shani Hay create a small kitchen where the children can wash their hands and have snacks prepared for them. This space was finished with sea-blue cabinetry and a gridded tile splashback.
The indoor playground also features a small cafe area, where employees can enjoy their lunch breaks whilst being close to their children.
A similar colour palette has been applied in the kitchen
Playgrounds are increasingly offering more than just swing sets and slides. Architecture studio KWY.studio created a play area for a park in Billund, Denmark that includes pink marble sculptures.
Artist Mike Hewson has also designed a public playground in Melbourne that features giant boulders on wheels, encouraging children to climb and explore intuitively.
Spotted: Many small sustainable businesses offer great products, but lack the tools and resources to tell the full story of their items. In a world filled with products, it is easy for these manufacturers to lose out. German startup Seedtrace has developed a platform that allows food companies to prove their product’s sustainability, as well as manage and communicate their social and environmental impact to consumers.
Seedtrace’s platform includes a supply chain software solution that provides transparency to every stage of a food product’s journey. It also includes tools that allow businesses to then incorporate this transparency information into an online store, or other marketing materials. The cloud-based infrastructure allows high scalability, privacy, and security, allowing users to access their supply chain data ‘whenever and wherever’.
The platform helps small businesses bring transparency into complex supply chains, helping organisations validate their claims by tracing products ‘from seed to shelf’. By helping businesses better manage, prove, and communicate value chain information, Seedtrace enables businesses and consumers to better understand the positive impact of sustainable products. Product transparency is turned into a unique selling point.
On its website, the company describes its product as helping organisations with “customer communication at every stage of the sales process and at all [their] customer touchpoints”. This allows brands to build strong relationships with their customers quickly.
Provable transparency is becoming a vital component in supply chain management, and Springwise has spotted a number of projects focusing on this area. These include everything from a marketplace connects verified buyers and sellers of scrap metal to reduce carbon emissions to digital tags for shellfish that ensure seafood traceability.
Michael Ingui is a partner at Baxt Ingui Architects and the founder of Passive House Accelerator. The Accelerator is a catalyst for zero-carbon building and a collaborative media platform for practitioners, developers, and manufacturers working to create better buildings through Passive House design and construction.
We are in an incredibly exciting time as architects, designers and builders. Every day a new high-performance product enters the market, existing products are modified to perform better, and new solutions are identified. This is true whether the project is new construction or a retrofit, single-family or commercial. As the marketplace has expanded, more developers and owners have realized that they can build buildings that are healthier and more energy efficient with lower embodied carbon than in the past. Thanks to the growing competition and innovation within the market, these products also cost far less than they once did, and the kinds of sourcing difficulties that high-performance buildings experienced even five years ago are becoming a thing of the past, which has further contributed to the robust growth in the sector.
One of the most telling signs about the health of the emerging green building industry is the accelerated growth of Passive House construction across North America. Since 2014, the number of projects annually certified by Phius, one of two organizations through which one can obtain Passive House certification, has more than tripled. Meanwhile, the square footage of Phius-certified projects doubled from 2021 to 2022 — from 600,000 to 1.2 million square feet. This is in addition to the 37.5 million square feet of usable area certified by the Passive House Institute as of January 2023.
This would have been unthinkable less than a decade ago when Baxt Ingui Architects designed our first Passive House in Manhattan. Many of the challenges we faced were a lack of available materials and difficulty sourcing products. Passive House-quality windows on a brownstone receiving a full façade restoration was a first, and it required a public hearing. The window company, Zola Windows and Doors, collaborated with the Landmarks Preservation Commission and us to create a window they could approve. This helped pave the way for many successful Passive House projects to come. We are spoiled with the current options for readily available stock and custom skylights that meet Passive House standards, along with multiple interior and exterior shading options. For our first several Passive House townhouses, we were saved by a New Jersey-based custom skylight company, Fiore Skylights, who was able to help us work through many of the details we were doing for the first time on this project.
These kinds of growing pains stifled the growth of the high-performance building industry in North America. Design teams and manufacturers were hesitant to fully embrace what was often seen as an immature market. The lack of early adopters only compounded problems with access to materials and limited product options. Within the last few years, this hesitancy has eroded as sourcing networks have expanded and knowledge about the benefits of Passive House and high-performance construction has become more widespread. Consequently, the flood gates are now opening, and we are seeing loads of new high-performance products enter the market.
One of the most critical components to any high-performance construction project is the air barrier. When we began doing Passive House construction more than a decade ago, it was extremely difficult to source fluid-applied membrane air barriers in the U.S. Oftentimes, the only product that was readily available was manufactured by Sto Corp. Sto continues to be one of the air sealing products of choice for many, but now they have been joined by several others, including Intelligent Membranes, Partel, Rothoblaas, Prosoco and Pro Clima.
Creating more airtight envelopes is certainly integral to improving building performance and pursuing Passive House certification, but it plays a more important role in buildings than you might think at first glance. Airtightness is a crucial part of the building’s wall system because it keeps the conditioned air inside separate from the unconditioned air outside. This translates into the lower heating and cooling costs associated with Passive House design.
Air sealing is also important from the perspective of occupant health. Rather than haphazardly finding pinholes and other seams or cracks through which to travel, all air that enters the building is directed through mechanical ventilation systems — another feature of Passive House construction. When outfitted with a filtration system, these ventilation systems can provide a constant supply of fresh air for occupants that is free of pollutants and allergens. For people with allergies in high pollen areas, this can be life-changing. For those who live in areas where wildfires are common, a more robust system outfitted with charcoal filters can keep their homes virtually smoke-free.
All-in-one mechanical systems (known as energy recovery ventilators [ERVs] or heat recovery ventilators [HRVs]) are currently available that provide not only mechanical ventilation, but also heating and cooling. What is truly impressive about these systems is their size. Products that have been developed by manufacturers like Minotair and Ephoca can fit in a closet. While this may seem undersized at first glance, when a building has been properly insulated and air sealed, the amount of energy it needs for heating and cooling drops precipitously. Therefore, the need for enormous mechanical systems disappears. Sometimes you don’t even need the heat at all. This winter, I only had to turn on the heat in my own Passive House certified home in Brooklyn for a few nights.
Relatedly, the growth of heat pumps has been truly remarkable. Though they’ve been built by enormous manufacturers like Mistubishi, Daikan, and Fujitsu for years, they are becoming increasingly commonplace in new construction and retrofits. Rather than using natural gas or oil, heat pumps use electricity to efficiently heat and cool spaces, which helps reduce operational carbon emissions, particularly when paired with onsite and renewable energy generation. The same is true for electric and tankless water heaters, which will probably soon become industry standard.
The market for high-performance windows has also become exceptional, particularly in New York. In 2014, high-performance windows had to be ordered from Europe and there were only a few companies in the business of doing so. Moreover, most builders had never installed high-performance windows systems. Consequently, design options were limited, prices were outrageous, and months-long delays were inevitable.
Today, there are nearly two dozen high-performance window companies that include Zola Windows, Ikon Windows, Innotech Windows + Doors, EuroLine Windows, and Wythe Windows. Competition between these manufacturers is leading to innovations that are not only making high-performance more affordable, but also more varied. For designers, this means more options with respect to materials (wood, aluminum, or uPVC), dimensions, and configurations — including double hung. Builders are also far more accustomed to installing these systems and the process has gone from complicated (and sometimes contentious) to routine.
Another major change is that Landmarks Commissions have become more accustomed to high-performance retrofits. As I noted above, including a Passive House window on a townhouse just a few years ago almost always resulted in a months-long public hearing process. New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission was clear about what window companies had to achieve in order to be approved at staff level, and thankfully, window companies were able to successfully meet those requirements. This has been a significant game-changer, because window selection often drives the decision to pursue Passive House.
Finally, as the components that are necessary to make buildings more efficient become increasingly commonplace, a new generation of manufacturers is beginning to move beyond the problem of operational carbon and looking to how materials choices affect embodied carbon and human health. With respect to the former, this means using natural or recycled materials and manufacturing them without the use of fossil fuels. With respect to the latter, this means manufacturing products that do not release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and harmful other chemicals during the beginning phase of their lifecycle (a process known as off-gassing).
Given the exponential growth in the high-performance marketplace that we’ve seen in just the last ten years, I believe the next decade is going to be defined by product innovation, improvements in sourcing, and new materials that ultimately make buildings healthier and more sustainable.
Judging for the 11th A+Awards is now underway! While awaiting the Winners, learn more about Architizer’s Vision Awards. The Early Entry Deadline on May 5th is fast approaching. Start your entry today >
More work is needed to improve the sustainability of trade fairs like Salone del Mobile, designers told Dezeen at Milan design week.
British designer Tom Dixon warned it could take a decade for brands to transform their operations at events like Salone in order to reduce emissions and resource consumption.
“It’s a lot of people coming from all over the world – it’s a lot of carbon footprint just embedded in the flights,” he said. “I think we’ve got to rethink completely how we show [products], where we make them, where we transport them to, and the rest of it, but that’s a project which is a 10-year project.”
Need “to rethink completely” how products are showcased
Norm Architects’ Frederik Werner, in Milan to exhibit a collaboration with Japanese furniture maker Karimoku, suggested that fewer trade fairs should take place during the year to cut the carbon cost.
“I think for the setup of the fair itself there’s no hiding from it, it’s kind of crazy how much is being produced and built, and that’s just the reality right now,” he said.
“I think probably the main issue is that there’s so many venues around the world doing the same, with things being shipped around. It somehow makes sense to create one hub for it to happen.”
Around 2,000 brands showcase their products at Salone, shown here during setup. Photo by Andrea Mariani (also top)
Salone del Mobile was held in Milan last week, back in its conventional April slot for the first time in four years following covid disruptions.
It is the world’s biggest design fair and forms the trade centrepiece of Milan design week.
The organisers have sought to improve the sustainability of the event in recent years, signing up to the UN Global Compact corporate sustainability pledge for 2023 and updating voluntary guidelines for exhibitors.
In an interview prior to the event, Salone president Maria Porro told Dezeen that the fair has tried to use recycled and recyclable materials and work with organisations committed to caring for the planet.
But with 2,000 brands showing their products at the week-long show and around 400,000 visitors expected, mostly from overseas, some remain concerned about Salone’s environmental impact, including Dezeen columnist Katie Treggiden.
“We’re all part of it, as we flew to Milan”
“We can’t walk around the city, gelato in hand, and pretend that almost 2,000 international brands haven’t shipped or air-freighted their wares into the Rho Fiera Milano fairgrounds,” Treggiden wrote in a recent piece.
Dutch designer Maarten Baas deliberately referenced the contradiction of promoting more sustainable designs by flying them to Milan in a collaboration with fashion label G-Star RAW.
His More or Less exhibition for the brand features a private jet wrapped in denim.
“Each year in Milan, I enjoy the tragicomic dialogue between green design and mass consumption,” he told Dezeen.
“We’re all part of it, as we flew to Milan to enjoy our prosecco next to some works of recycled materials.”
Around 400,000 people visit the fair, which is the world’s largest. Photo courtesy of Salone del Mobile
Nevertheless, designers argued there is still a value to large-scale physical events like Salone.
“Airplanes aren’t sustainable but I think people coming to see art and people coming to see new ideas is always a benefit to society,” said Santiago Brown of New York-based Forma Rosa Studio.
“The issue is transportation, but it’s super important for people to see art and not just on Instagram.”
“In this digital era you can see everything online but, especially with materials when it’s about the haptic, the touch, the interaction, you come to a better understanding of the research project when you see it with your eyes, when someone talks to you about it,” added Crafting Plastics’ Vlasta Kubušová.
“So for me, it still makes sense to do this once a year I think, even if we have to travel – and we always will travel.”
Studios and brands try to use less materials
Jussi Laine of Nemo Architects, who designed the Habitarematerials installation at Milan design exhibition Alcova, said he is “absolutely” concerned about the environmental impact of Salone.
He said it was important for designers travelling to Milan to use it as an opportunity to learn about how to make their work more sustainable.
“Design shows are a way to pass information and knowledge,” he told Dezeen. “It is really up to us how relevant the message is, and also up to us how we receive that information and act upon it.”
Brands and designers have attempted to improve the sustainability of their activities in Milan, especially by planning for the re-use of materials.
“For this year’s fair we’ve tried to work with systems and patterns that we can reuse for next year, so all the louvres and lamellas can be stored and put away again,” said Werner.
“Half of the furniture collection I think might be taken to our next exhibition instead of being shipped back to Japan.”
“Our booth is made out of storage racks that we took from our own storage,” Mexico-based David Pompa told Dezeen.
“So we took them, we built them down, we build them up here and we’re going to build them up again in our storage after the exhibition. So we’re not throwing away anything.”
However, Dixon admitted it was still “difficult to claim total sustainability”.
“We’ll reuse a lot of this stuff,” he said. “I’m sure a lot of people are thinking about how they can do that.”
“But it’s difficult to claim total sustainability in the context of fairs, I’m not going to try and greenwash you on this one.”
Milan itself is frequently ranked among Europe’s most polluted cities, though it is working on an ambitious project to construct 750 kilometres of bike lanes by 2035 as part of a strategy to become net-zero by 2050.
Additional reporting by Cajsa Carlson and Jennifer Hahn. The photography is courtesy of Salone del Mobile.
Salone del Mobile 2023 took place from 18 to 23 April at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre, Italy. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
Lime-washed walls meet aluminium display fixtures in this minimalist studio and showroom that designer Hollie Bowden has devised for London brand Completedworks.
Set over two floors of a former pub in Marylebone, it provides space for Completedworks to design and display its jewellery and ceramics, as well as to host an array of craft-focused classes.
Hollie Bowden has designed a studio and showroom for Completedworks
The brand was established in 2013 and up until now, has largely been sold via high-end department stores such as Dover Street Market and Liberty. But founder Anna Jewsbury felt it was time for Completedworks to have its own brick-and-mortar space.
“We increasingly had clients asking to come and see our pieces in person but felt that we didn’t have a space that felt considered and reflected our vision,” she said. “We wanted people to be able to enter our world and get to know us, and for us to get to know them.”
Display shelving was crafted from lustrous aluminium
For the design of the showroom, Jewsbury worked with London-based designer Hollie Bowden, who naturally looked to the brand’s jewellery for inspiration.
This can be seen for example in the hammered-metal door handles that appear throughout the studio and directly reference the creased design of the gold Cohesion earrings.
A modular display system in the showroom is clad in lilac linen
“[Completedworks] is known for the beauty of the textural surfaces and flowing almost baroque forms,” Bowden explained. “We developed a display language that played off that, with minimal details and strict lines.”
Almost every surface throughout the studio is washed in beige-toned lime paint, with only a few slivers of the original brick walls and a worn metal column left exposed near the central staircase.
Bowden used brushed aluminium to create a range of display fixtures, including chunky plinths and super-slender shelving units supported by floor-to-ceiling poles.
The space also houses a couple of angular aluminium counters for packing orders that include discrete storage for boxes and subtle openings, through which tissue paper or bubble wrap can be pulled.
Shoji-style storage cabinets can be seen in the office
A slightly more playful selection of colours and materials was used for the studio’s custom furnishings.
In the main showroom, there’s a modular display island sheathed in lilac linen. Meanwhile in the office, designer Byron Pritchard – who is also Bowden’s partner – created a gridded wooden cabinet inlaid with translucent sheets of paper, intended to resemble a traditional Japanese shoji screen.
Hammered-metal door handles in the studio resemble Completedworks’ earrings
This isn’t Bowden’s first project in London’s affluent Marylebone neighbourhood.
Previously, the designer created an office for real estate company Schönhaus, decking the space out with dark-stained oak and aged leather to emulate the feel of a gentleman’s club.
