A flowing landscape of grass-topped, terracotta-coloured concrete animates the Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre designed by Chinese studio Change Architects to reference mountains in Anhui province.
Commissioned by OCT Group, the centre provides a community hub and restaurant for the Bantung Hot Spring Town resort, which forms part of a new economic development zone at the foot of a mountain to the north of the city of Chaohu, China.
Change Architects has created the Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre
Its design is informed by both mountains and wormholes, with a series of performance and restaurant spaces punctured by large openings that allow visitors to see the surrounding landscape in new ways.
“The logic of the architectural concept derived from the idea of natural elements,” explained Change Architects.
It is concealed by a flowing landscape of terracotta-coloured concrete
Winding across the site between a small lake and a path, the concrete structure incorporates walkways and viewing points and rises up at its western end to conceal a large restaurant beneath a grass-topped mound.
This artificial landscape was constructed using a steel frame, which was then covered with concrete poured in situ, and finished with a green roof and anti-slip surface finishes.
Holes and curved openings that puncture the roof create skylights and open courtyards below, where sunken areas of amphitheatre-like seating provide informal areas for outdoor performances.
The sinuous walkways provide multiple routes to the restaurant entrance, where visitors can either descend into a lounge space or move upwards towards the dining area.
Its form incorporates sinuous walkways
Once inside the restaurant, a fully-glazed wall looks out over an adjacent lake to the south. At night, the building is reflected in the water, creating a “moment where mountains, water and buildings meet”.
The dining area is housed in a rectangular form that projects from the northern side of the large mound, with a mirrored exterior designed to blend in with the surroundings and a balcony to provide views of the nearby mountains.
Holes in its surface form skylights to spaces below
The interiors of the Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre’s restaurant are defined by smooth, white-painted concrete surfaces and extensive planting. Designed by the German-based studio Ippolito Fleitz Group, they are intended to echo the flowing form of the exterior.
Elsewhere in China, a Team BLDG created a cluster of grass-topped, artificial mounds to conceal facilities for a riverfront park in Pazhou.
Promotion: Chinese architecture practice Studio8 has renovated the interior of a 1930s villa in Hangzhou, China, transforming it into a hotpot restaurant and cocktail bar that celebrates the building’s history.
The Gud restaurant and bar includes a roof terrace, dining space on the upper floors and bar on the ground floor.
The 496-square-metre space occupies a three-storey building that was built in 1939, as well as a later-built extension and the ground floor of an adjacent property.
Antique hotpots are displayed throughout the interior
Although the villa had previously undergone a number of renovations, when designing the restaurant Studio8 aimed to maintain the building’s original features, including the street-facing facade.
Service areas, including the kitchen, restroom and staircase, are located in the extension and adjacent building, leaving the full space of the historic villa for restaurant dining and the cocktail bar.
The cocktail bar features red velvet seating
The Gud restaurant specialises in hotpots, which lead Studio8 to study the culture of the cuisine and introduce aspects of it into the interior design, creating a “museum-like experience”.
The project’s design was informed by three stages of making and experiencing hotpots – the heat from the fire that cooks it, water as the main medium of the food, and the elevation of the flavour coming from the steam.
Studio8 used the themes of “heat, medium and elevation of flavour” to influence the function, materials, textures and light used in each space.
The restaurant interior was informed by hotpot cuisine
The cocktail bar on the ground floor of the historic villa was designed to be a lively space. It features a red floor, a fireplace, structural columns that display antique hotpots and red velvet sofas.
Part of the original brick wall was left exposed and a recessed mirrored ceiling at the perimeter of the room makes the space feel larger and more luxurious.
The interior nods to the building’s history
“As the first element, heat is a fundamental design factor on the first floor, where human interactions were planned out accordingly,” said Studio8.
“The aim was to create a warmer and more welcoming space at the beginning of the hotpot experience, where people and friends meet first, have a cocktail and wait for everyone to arrive.”
The restaurant features glass-brick niches
On the upper floor is the restaurant’s main dining area, which features glass-brick niches in the walls where windows used to be.
At the sides of the dining area, Studio8 opened up the ceiling to expose the wooden roof structure.
The third floor includes a private dining room
“After passing through the heated cocktail bar, comes the second element, water – the medium that reunites all elements,” said Studio8.
“Family and friends are seated together in groups around the round tables on the second floor for the food experience, a process that the architects relate to water reconstructing the atoms of the ingredients.”
A roof terrace overlooks the city
The building’s original timber staircase was removed and a new enclosed staircase that connects the three floor levels was added in the patio area.
The staircase has double glazed U-shaped glass partitions along its floors with a “lighting system to represent the continuous energy flow transition”.
A terrace and private dining room are located on the third floor of the villa.
A new enclosed staircase that connects the three floor levels was added in the patio area.
“Here, the customers are reconnected with the city and able to look at it from different heights and angles, corresponding to the last element, steam, the elevation of taste,” said Studio8.
“The simply designed interior shows off the geometric shape of the attic, while benches on the roof allow customers to have a more exclusive interaction with the city.”
The staircase has double glazed U-shaped glass partitions along its floors
Studio8 is currently working on a number of renovation projects that aim to respect the history of the building, including the transformation of hotels and restaurants.
Health is one area where humanity has made impressive progress over the past century. Since 1900, the global average life expectancy has more than doubled. And even over the past twenty years, we have seen continuous improvements in key health metrics. For example, between 2000 and 2019, global life expectancy increased by more than six years.
The past 20 years have also seen a range of extraordinary medical breakthroughs from effective HIV treatments and targeted cancer therapies to nanomedicines and the mapping of the human genome. Meanwhile, tech innovators are becoming serious about the possibility of tackling the ageing process itself, investing increasingly vast sums of money in the field. For example, in 2022, startup Altos raised $3 billion in funding to conduct anti-ageing research.
There are clearly reasons to be optimistic about the future of human health. However, the futurists we consulted for our Future 2043 report struck a note of caution, reminding us that pitfalls remain. “Unfortunately, I predict the world will be less healthy in developed nations, as we aren’t addressing primary prevention,” explains Hugh Montgomery, OBE, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London. “The budget for treating an escalating number of increasingly sick people won’t be there, and the drivers for non-communicable diseases (which include a lack of active transport, diets comprising ultra-processed foods, and poor air quality) are sustained,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Biofuturist Melissa Sterry warns that: “In 2043, the threat of another pandemic (or multiple pandemics) will likely continue to loom large.” She adds that: “While medical advances could help in the early identification of pandemic threats, many of the issues we have seen with COVID-19 are likely to persist.”
Despite these challenges – or perhaps because of them – we expect to see increasing levels of healthcare innovation. Discover below, three innovations that could indicate the direction of travel for human health technology.
Medical students at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge no longer need to rely on actors for some of their training. Using holograms and mixed reality accessed via headsets, students and doctors interact in real-time to adjust treatments and assess severity of illness for a range of digital patients. Called HoloScenarios, the programme was developed by the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust using technology developed by GigXR. Students move about the space treating patients for common respiratory ailments, including pneumonia, anaphylaxis, and pulmonary embolism. Read more
Cell biologist Dr Leila Strickland came up with the idea for BIOMILQ while she was breastfeeding her own newborn. Struggling to produce enough milk, she turned to formula. Although the choice was the right one, she also realised that it was not ideal, as formula does not have the perfect nutritional composition for babies. Eleven years later, Strickland worked out how to culture breast cells in a lab and collect the milk they secrete. Read more
Researchers at Brown University have developed a material that responds to the presence of bacteria by releasing encapsulated medication. Although still in the research stages, the material could lead to the development of wound dressings that deliver medication only when it is needed. This, in turn, could reduce the use of antibiotics and the growth of antibiotic-resistant infections. Read more
Want to discover more about what the world will look like in 2043? Download our free Future 2043 report which draws on the insights of 20 of the world’s leading futurists.For more innovations, head to the Springwise Innovation Library.
Architizer is thrilled to announce the winners for one of this year’s most inspiring design competitions! The 5th Annual “The Best of LaCantina” attracted entries from architecture and design firms around the world, each integrating LaCantina’s stunning doors and windows into their projects in innovative ways. The projects ranged widely in location, building type and scale, but they all share one thing in common: Their use of LaCantina products allows for a seamless connection between inside and out, framed by beautiful, durable materials.
The designers behind this year’s Best in Show, the Panama and US-based firm IM-KM Architecture and Planning — led by Kristin and Ivan Morales — win a trip to next year’s AIA Conference, complete with travel and accommodation. Stay tuned also for an in-depth look at their winning project, Casa Loro, which will be published soon on Architizer!
Without further ado, explore every winning design from this year’s competition, projects that truly encapsulate “The Best of LaCantina”.
Best in Show: Casa Loro by IM-KM Architecture and Planning, Puerto Escondido de Pedasi, Panama
Photos by Anita Calero, Fernando Alda, and Emily Kinskey
IM-KM’s concept for the main house at Casa Loro was to create a “modern tree house” made with contextual materials, designed to enclose indoor and outdoor spaces equally. The pavilions of the main house are all balanced around the central pavilion, which contains the vestibule and indoor and outdoor living rooms. The façades of each pavilion are operable; when opened, the perimeter of the interior spaces become permeable and create a single larger room including the adjacent garden spaces and the ocean at the horizon.
Most Innovative Project: Oyster House by Randall Kipp Architecture, White Stone, VA
Photos by Maxwell MacKenzie
Approached to design a modern, waterfront home yet still fitting in with the local vernacular, Randall Kipp Architecture put a modern spin on classic forms with transparent, gabled rooflines, open spaces, and a steel framework wrapped in glass. The floor-to-ceiling glass panels provide views of the Chesapeake Bay as well as marsh grasses and grains — a bridge between ecosystems.
Best Compact Project: Abodu One by Abodu, San Jose, CA
Photos by Abodu
Specializing in the design and construction of ADUs (accessory dwelling units), Abodu created the eponymous Abodu One, a 500-square-foot, one bedroom ADU dark cedar vertical siding, an integrated deck and LaCantina bifold doors.
Best Urban Residential Project: West Village Historic Townhouse by READ Architecture Design DPC, New York, NY
Photos by Zack Dezon
Located in a quiet street of the West Village, this landmarked carriage house was renovated with a motive of protecting the essence and the character of the townhouse while creating unique and contemporary moments. Through the respectful restoration of the front façade and bringing it back to its original 1925 state, an unexpected transformation is awaiting on the back façade, opening to a joyful surprise of a contemporary urban backyard.
Best Rural Residential Project: Hood River Residence by Catch Architecture, Hood River, OR
Photos by David Papazian
This residence is nestled into a scenic hillside, overlooking an active orchard. All the main rooms open up with LaCantina doors onto this view corridor. LaCantina’s wood option in walnut was a perfect match that continued to enhance the main design feature highlighting the active outdoors lifestyle. The floor-to-ceiling window in the main bedroom upstairs features a Juliette railing, enabling inhabitants to bring the outdoors in with fresh light and plenty of air. With its live green roof over the garage, the house melds with the existing landscape and blurs the lines between indoor and outdoor living.
Best Suburban Residential Project: Westchester Views by Workshop/APD, Armonk, NY
Photos by Read McKendree
Workshop/APD designed this 5 bedroom, 7,000 SF home in Armonk, which offers the convenience of an easy commute to New York City, but on a hilltop site where you are fully immersed in nature. The home has a unique sense of openness, light and air, with soaring vaulted ceilings in the great room and the ability to open almost every room to the outdoors thanks to LaCantina sliding doors. Breezes blow through and the views to the beautifully landscaped site feel like they are part of the interior design.
Best Commercial Project: Alila Marea by Joseph Wong Design Associates – JWDA, Encinitas, CA
Photos by Eric Laignel Photography and JMI
Alila Marea is a fully appointed luxury resort hotel with 130 guest rooms, 6,300 square feet of meeting space, spa, fitness, swimming pool, two restaurants, coffee shop, bar, and underground parking on a 4.3 acre site located on a coastal bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Encinitas, California. JWDA utilized LaCantina Doors to open up the exterior walls and offer as much indoor-outdoor connectivity as possible to the hotel guests. The architects customized the doors to fit the exterior envelope, maintain a waterproof assembly, and comply with acoustic, thermal and accessibility requirements.
Best Renovation Project: North Ranch Remodel by Horwitz A+D and Nancee Wolfe Designs, North Ranch, CA
Photos by Gary Moss Photography
For this radical remodel, the architects started with a French Country style home and unapologetically transformed it into a ‘transitional contemporary’ residence, whilst holding onto the original warmth of the property. Harnessing LaCantina’s bifold and sliding door systems in different parts of the house, the final structure possesses clean lines and a rear wall of the house that blurs the line of indoors and outdoors. Other standout features include a floating glassy spiral stair, a world class kitchen and master suite with an adjacent 350 square-foot patio/balcony.
These eight award-winning projects show just a glimpse of the incredible designs produced by architects with the help of LaCantina’s versatile product range. See more amazing case studies like these and learn more about the systems that make them possible over at LaCantinaDoors.com.
American startup Recompose has opened a funeral home in Seattle designed by architecture firm Olson Kundig, where human remains are composted and turned into a nutrient-rich soil that can nurture new plant life.
Set in a converted warehouse in the city’s SoDo district, the facility is one of the first to make use of a burgeoning practice known as natural organic reduction – or human composting, which was legalised in the state of Washington in 2019.
This sees the body of the deceased placed on a bed of plant materials inside a stainless steel vessel, purpose-built to accelerate the natural process of decomposition.
Recompose has opened a human composting facility in Seattle. Above photo by Austin Wilson
Over the course of 60 days, their remains are converted into one cubic yard of fertile soil – enough to fill the bed of a pickup truck. Loved ones can then take this compost home and use it to nourish their garden, plant trees in memory of the deceased or donate it to a local conservation area.
The aim is to offer a less polluting alternative to cremation or burial, which are hugely emissions and resource intensive, and instead create a meaningful funeral practice that allows people to give back to nature.
“Clients have shared with us that the idea of their person becoming soil is comforting,” Recompose founder Katrina Spade told Dezeen.
“Growing new life out of that soil is profound and the small ritual of planting, using soil created from a loved one’s body, is so tangible.”
Remains are left to decompose in cylindrical stainless steel vessels
Recompose’s 19,500-square-foot flagship facility in Seattle accommodates an array of 31 cylindrical composting vessels, stacked inside a hexagonal steel framework.
This vertical construction helps to conserve space in a bid to overcome the land-use issue associated with traditional burial and make human composting feasible even in dense urban areas.
“Recompose can be thought of as the urban equivalent to natural burial – returning us to the earth without requiring lots of land,” said Spade, a trained architect who developed the vessels as part of a residency at Olson Kundig‘s Seattle studio.
The building’s lobby brings in elements of nature including plants and wood
The building itself was designed in collaboration with the architecture studio to reimagine the experience of being in a funeral home, making the process more transparent and bringing in elements of nature instead of overt religious iconography.
In the spirit of regeneration, much of the warehouse’s original shell was preserved. Warm wooden flooring and a planted wall enliven the central lobby, while strips of green glass are inset into the walls to provide glimpses of the intimate ceremony space beyond.
Here, loved ones can participate in a “laying-in ceremony”, similar to a traditional funeral service.
Green glazing provides glimpses into the main ceremony room
“The Gathering Space has floor-to-ceiling coloured glass windows that let light in, similar to the way light filters between trees in a forest,” said Olson Kundig design principal Alan Maskin.
“In a way, Recompose is a funeral home turned inside-out. There’s a suggestion of transparency and openness about death – including the ability to see and understand the entire process – that’s very different from a traditional funeral home experience.”
At the end of the funeral service, the body is moved through a transitional vessel. Photo by Austin Wilson
During the ceremony, a simple wooden lectern allows the bereaved to share words about their loved ones while the body of the deceased is draped in a cotton shroud and presented on a dark green bed called a cradle.
Mimicking the ritual of throwing dirt on a casket, guests can place flowers and plant materials on their person, which will help their transformation into soil.
The funeral home also has dedicated rooms for those who want to perform more hands-on care for their deceased ahead of the ceremony by bathing the body or reciting prayers and songs.
At the end of the service, the cradle is moved through a so-called threshold vessel embedded into the wall and into the Greenhouse, where it will join the other vessels in the array.
“A tremendous amount of care was taken to consider the experience of the body,” Maskin said. “There’s even a bit of poetry inscribed along the inside of the transitional vessel used during ceremonies.”
“That poem isn’t for the living; it’s only visible inside the vessel.”
On the other side is the Greenhouse – home to an array of 31 vessels
Each vessel in the array contains a mix of plant materials developed by Recompose that includes wood chips, straw and a cloverlike plant called alfalfa, with ratios adapted based on the person’s body and weight.
Over the course of 30 days, the natural microbes found in the plants and the body will break down the remains, with any unpleasant odours filtered out and fresh air – and sometimes moisture – pumped into the vessel, which is intermittently rotated to speed up decomposition.
At the end of this process, any remaining bone fragments are ground down using a cremulator and any medical implants are removed for recycling.
The remaining soil is placed in a curing bin to dry out for another two to six weeks before it can be collected by friends or family.
The body is deposited inside one of these vessels along with different plant materials
Unlike cremation, this process does not require huge amounts of energy and fossil fuels, Recompose says, while the carbon contained in the human body is sequestered in the soil rather than released into the atmosphere.
The process also forgoes the vast amounts of embalming chemicals and emissions-intensive materials like steel and concrete that are needed for burials.
In total, the process to “transform your loved one’s body into soil” saves around one metric ton of CO2 emissions per person compared to burial or cremation, Recompose claims.
Friends and family can collect the soil and use it as they wish. Photo by Austin Wilson
Since 2019, a number of US states have followed in Washington’s footsteps and legalised natural organic reduction, with New York joining Colorado, Oregon, Vermont and California last month.
This comes as people are increasingly becoming aware of the hidden environmental impact of the deathcare industry and moving towards alternative funeral practices from liquid cremation to burial pods that grow into trees.
“Members of the baby boomer generation have started experiencing the deaths of their parents and I think many are asking: was that the best we can do,” Spade said.
The facility is housed inside a converted warehouse in SoDo. Photo by Austin Wilson
“But what’s interesting is that it’s not only older folks,” she added.
“Over 25 per cent of our Precompose [prepayment plan] members are under 49. I think this is because the climate crisis has played a role, too. People are wondering why our funeral practices haven’t been considered when it comes to our carbon footprint.”
Spotted: As they drink their morning takeaway coffee, many people don’t give much thought to the cup. After all, it’s just one cup. But they add up – every year, more than 500 billion single-use paper and plastic cups are manufactured globally. Although these cups are often technically recyclable, it costs more to recycle them than to send them to make brand new plastic lids. Now, one company is tackling the problem of plastic lids by removing them altogether.
ChoosePlanetA has created a single-use cup – dubbed the Good Cup – that has an integrated lid and is made entirely from fully recyclable and compostable paper. The cups pack flat, saving storage space and energy in transportation, and are designed so that the top flap is built into the cup itself, folding and locking into place when closed to create a lid.
The sustainable paper used in the cup comes from EnvoPAP, and is made from renewable sources like sugarcane waste, instead of wood pulp. Manufacturing of the Good Cup is also compatible with existing machinery built to produce traditional paper cups.
Cyril Drouet, co-founder and managing director of ChoosePlanetA, explained: “The impact of the Good Cup’s use is far-reaching and varied; from creating significant savings at the point of production and increasing brand awareness to its most crucial and necessary impact – helping to alleviate the environmental crisis by removing plastic, one lid at a time.”
ChoosePlanetA joins various other companies in the drive for sustainable food and drink containers. Springwise has also spotted a vegetable-oil-based reusable cup, and packaging made from food waste.
Tomo – is a restaurant in White Center, just south of Seattle, WA. The client named the restaurant after his grandmother, Tomoko, and the Japanese word “tomodachi”, meaning ‘friend’. Embracing these warm roots, wood became the centerpiece of the space. Nearly every piece of the interior was created locally, bringing down the carbon footprint of the project, and amplifying the local economic impact. The 80’ wooden light fixture, pendant lighting, bench seating, chairs, bar stools, tabletops, slatted wall panels and shake cladding were custom designed and fabricated by our team just five miles away.
Architizer chatted with Seth Grizzle, Founder & Creative Director at Graypants, Inc., to learn more about this project.
Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?
Seth Grizzle: Our initial concept was inspired by the idea of a space to enjoy great food without the trappings or stiffness of traditional fine dining. We wanted to create a lot of warmth, so wood is a centerpiece of the space: Referencing shou sugi ban, much of the interior wood has been stained a deep ebony, while oak shingles arranged like scales clad a wall running the length of the space, and contrast the strict geometry of the vertical ash slats that wrap the opposing walls.
This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?
I think what stands out about Tomo is that nearly every piece of the interior was created locally, bringing down the carbon footprint of the project, and amplifying the upfront, local economic impact of the project. The 80’ light fixture, pendant lighting, bench seating, chairs, bar stools, tabletops, slatted wall panels and shake cladding were custom designed and fabricated by our team just five miles away. As well, nearly all of the lighting is directly integrated into the architectural elements–the wall panels, the bench seating, the bar shelves– the lighting is felt but not seen.
What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?
The space is narrow and deep, posing a risk of feeling cold, tight and confining. Code restrictions meant fixed walls, plumbing and bathrooms. With these lines already drawn in the space, we worked with softening elements; wood, integrated light, a neutral pallette to create a dining experience that is refined but not extravagant, and elevated by light.
How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?
The context highly influenced the project. The client chose Tomo’s neighborhood, White Center, very deliberately as it has been on a slower path to economic growth and becoming more inviting to visitors. As a chef with a long list of accolades, and a community curious to learn his next endeavor, the client deliberately rejected the idea of another anticipated restaurant within the city of Seattle, in hopes of speeding the trajectory growth in White Center with a space to enjoy great food without the trappings or stiffness of traditional fine dining. With the design, the team responded by creating a space remarkable enough to feel like a destination–a place worth traveling to- for both food and ambiance.
What is your favorite detail in the project and why?
One of my favorite elements in the project is a custom, handmade 80-foot linear wood fixture that traces the entire length of the restaurant. The layout of the restaurant invited a reference to an evening in one of the endless alleyways of Japanese cities; the custom fixture beautifully connects this space without cluttering it.
How have your clients responded to the finished project?
We loved seeing that since opening, the restaurant has immediately begun outperforming their projections, with a booked solid calendar bringing hundreds of people to the neighborhood every single evening.
How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?
Tomo is a reflection of Graypants’ emphasis on the interplay between light and architecture. They always inform one another, and in Tomo, the lighting is felt much more than seen. With the exception of the linear fixture, which is very visible even as it is quite understated.
Is there anything else important you’d like to share about this project?
The cost per square feet of this project is, conservatively, 35 percent below the benchmark, largely due to the team’s ability to make simple, touchable materials feel chic in a monochrome palette. The team used a design/build approach for the project, fabricating much of the primary design elements such as fixtures and furnishings, cutting out suppliers and shortening the timeline significantly.
Team Members
Seth Grizzle, Bryan Reed, Caleb Patterson
Consultants
Fin Design Shop
For more on Tomo, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.
Interior designer Julie Cloos Mølsgaard has created a pop-up hotel filled with Italian frescos and modern Scandinavian furniture for Danish homeware brand Vipp within Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy.
The collaboration with Vipp saw the Palazzo Monti, which is an artist residency foundation hosted in a 13th-century palace, transformed into a hotel for guests to stay overnight.
Palazzo Monti was converted into a pop-up hotel
The space was redesigned into a hotel suites focused on showcasing Vipp products.
Mølsgaard added minimalist furniture and lighting by Vipp to the interior spaces, aiming to complement the historic building, which features Baroque paintings from 1750 on its walls and ceilings.
The rooms were decorated with minimalist furniture
“Palazzo Monti showcases a broad array of art exhibitions,” said Palazzo Monti founder Edoardo Monti.
“For the first time, we will host a liveable installation curated by Vipp, where we invite guests to check into our residency,” he continued.
“Entering the opulent gates of the palazzo is like stepping into an old master’s painting.”
The staircase is surrounded by frescos on the walls and ceiling
“For the pop-up hotel at the palazzo, Mølsgaard had an ambition of building a bridge between the minimalist and the opulent,” said Vipp CEO Kasper Egelund.
“Vipp and Mølsgaard approached the interior design with a simple and minimalist mindset to respect and not compete with the surrounding richness.”
Green tiles cover the kitchen floor
On the ground floor is a combined kitchen and dining area. Mølsgaard added an industrial-looking matte black kitchen island in the middle of the space, which sits under an ornate ceiling and atop a green-tiled floor.
A grand staircase surrounded by pastel frescoes leads visitors to the pop-up hotel on the first floor.
A succession of rooms – a hallway, salon and bedroom – were transformed into a suite decorated with Vipp furniture and lighting.
The furniture in the bedroom was intended to be simple and minimalist. The mattress sits on the floor without a bedframe, making the painted three-metre-high ceiling the main focus of the room.
“The idea is that guests should visit and explore the space,” Mølsgaard told Dezeen. “When you wake up under the frescoes, it’s impossible not to think, what kind of life must have been lived in this house?”
Artwork was placed on the floor
Throughout the palazzo, artwork and picture frames were placed on the floor propped up against the walls, rather than being hung.
“We initially hung a lot of art on the walls, but it was making too much noise, so instead I have sought the purity of the history of the place and wanted to let it speak through the bare walls,” said Mølsgaard.
Mølsgaard aimed to combine Scandinavian minimalism with Italian opulence
“The whole place is one big art piece,” she continued. “The staircase is a work of art, the doors are works of art, the shutters, the walls and the ceilings.”
“When you walk around the rooms, you simply experience so many things that you almost get overloaded, so there was something that had to be removed.”
Vipp launched a special edition chair for the pop-up
Artist workshops on the second floor of the building overlook Brescia, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
To celebrate the pop-up hotel at Palazzo Monti, Vipp launched the Monti Edition chair, which sees the brand’s Swivel chair design upholstered in an Italian woven fabric created by textile company Torri Lana.
The pop-up hotel at Palazzo Monti opens on 18 April to coincide with Milan furniture fair Salone del Mobile and closes on 18 May 2023.
Vipp and Mølsgaard have previously collaborated on projects including a one-room hotel in a converted pencil factory and a pop-up supper club venue.
Spotted: Living organisms leave behind genetic tracks in the environment – DNA or eDNA. Ecologists then inspect these tracks to catalogue biodiversity, uncovering which species are active in that area. However, while following some organisms is easy, others reside in hard-to-reach areas, often turning research into a cold case. To improve the data collection, researchers at the ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research WSL have developed a drone that can land on tree branches and collect samples.
The aircraft first lands on a branch to gather the sample using a sticky strip. Then, back at the lab, researchers can extract DNA from the adhesive strip and analyse it. Finally, the team will assign genetic matches of the various organisms using database comparisons.
But all branches are different, with varying elasticity, thickness, and sturdiness and overcoming these issues proved a challenge for the team, as landing on the branches required complex control. To address this, the researchers fitted the drone with a force-sensing cage to enable it to gauge the flexibility of the branch on a case-by-case basis and incorporate this into its landing technique.
To date, the drone has been tested on seven tree species. But now, the team has been prompted to improve the device in the hopes of winning a competition to detect as many species as possible across 100 hectares of Singaporean forest in 24 hours.
Springwise has previously spotted other innovative drone technologies, including a drone that can inspect and repair wind turbines, and a startup that revolutionises drone control interface.
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Oscar Wilde famously wrote, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Since the beginning of time, human beings have been fascinated by outer space — the stars, the sun, the moon and everything else in between. For tens of thousands of years, scientists, philosophers, innovators and billions of others have collectively and continuously craned their necks with curiosity and ambition to understand the existence beyond ours that surrounds us.
Space has always invoked an enormous sense of fascination for us mere planet dwellers, and despite the renewed ambition after nearly 50 years to return to our moon’s surface, many architects have channeled their lunar fascinations a little closer to home. The following eight architectural beauties might not hold up under the unrelenting and harsh conditions of space habitation, but they would certainly look the part.
Self-Assembly Geodesic Domes
By FDome, Poland
Popular Choice Winner, 9th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Small Living
Self-Assembly Geodesic Domes by FDome, Poland Photographs by Steven D’Avignon
Domes have far and away been the structural representation of choice when film directors depict our eventual habitation of other planets, and Poland-based FDomes self-assembly Geodesic Glamping domes show us how cozy such a home could be. Versatile and portable, the tented structures blend perfectly into the surrounding landscape and boast spacious interiors. Fully-fitted bathrooms, kitchenettes and a functional loft bed, with an option to connect one or more domes, mean that while these domes might not be suitable for space habitation, they’d be an excellent addition to the back garden.
Residential House in Kaunas
By Architectural bureau G.Natkevicius and partners, Kaunas, Lithuania
Unless I’ve missed something vitally important, I think we can all agree that wherever the planet that humankind eventually relocates to, trees and timber could be challenging to come by. It’s therefore easy to imagine that stone and concrete-like conglomerates will more likely be available and, therefore, favored in such an environment.
With a distinct familiarity with Kisho Kurokawa’s Metabolist Icon this two-story family home in Kaunas is a modernist dream, circular windows included. The reinforced concrete structure is robust and industrial in design yet retains a pure form, while its unfussy facade and muted pallet inside and out give a sense that the monolithic building would be right at home on the surface of Luna.
Casa de los Milagros (House of Miracles)
By Naser Nader Ibrahim, Coatepec, Mexico
Casa de los Milagros (House of Miracles) By Danilo Veras Godoy, Coatepec, Mexico Photographys by Naser Nader Ibrahim
Casa de los Milagros (House of Miracles) has, according to the owner of the unique dwelling, been referred to as a mushroom, an octopus, a bat cave, a flower, a snail shell, and even a meringue. The bizarre shape gives the building an organic yet otherworldly appearance.
Built in stages and without a traditional blueprint, the low-cost family home is the product of long conversations between owner and architect alongside a build-as-you-go strategy. “What are your wildest dreams?” was the starting point, and answers involved slides, fire station poles, a salamander-like creature creeping toward the fireplace on the ceiling, wombs with a view, meaning elevated nest-like sleeping quarters with windows for stargazing at night and sun-greeting in the morning and on a more traditional note — a light-filled kitchen.
Niki-H
By Seisho Takashi Architect’s Studio, Hokkaido, Japan
If we were to take timber to Earth’s Moon or even Mars, we’re probably going to have to be pretty frugal with its use. Niki-H by Seisho Takashi is an excellent example of exemplary woodworking on a microarchitecture level that shows how the potentially luxury commodity could be adopted for structure building economically.
The petite yet robust structure was designed for wine-making settlers in the notoriously wintery Hokkaido. The recessed building sits below the 23 inch (60 centimeter) freezing depth of the ground. At the same time, the 60-degree pitch of the roof helps the minimal home withstand any heavy snowfall. An open-plan interior bookended by two huge windows allows the cozy space to be filled with light and, most importantly, warmth when the sun shines.
Desert House
By AyEh, Qeshm Island, Iran
Desert House by AyEh, Qeshm Island, Iran Images by AyEh
So let’s say we’ve sorted out the whole “doesn’t have an atmosphere problem” on Mars, or maybe we’ve found our very own Arrakis (minus the giant killer worms)— the unusually formed Desert House by AyEh looks to be the perfect home for such a warm, dry climate.
Located on Qeshm Island, the series of buildings concentrate on providing thermally comfortable indoor and outdoor environments adopting many traditional thermal strategies to work harmoniously with the landscape and location, not against it. Each of the three buildings contains individual features of the dwelling but is arranged according to wind circulation, sun direction and cross ventilation. These clever decisions create areas indoor and out which can be enjoyed at all times while continuing to support the abundant plant life proposed for the property.
Sedona Moongate
By SWABACK pllc, Sedona, AZ, United States
Sedona Moongate by SWABACK pllc, Sedona, AZ, United States Photographs by Dino Tonn
Unfortunately, just because we made it out to the stars, it’s doubtful that we would abandon capitalism altogether, and the aptly named Sedona Moongate gives us a glimpse of what a Mars mansion for the exceptionally wealthy space dweller might look like.
Actually located firmly on Earth in Arizona, Moongate residence seemingly rises out of the red rocks. The house—two half circle wings joined by a rectangular glass box entryway and gallery—includes sweeping and graceful roof overhangs, canted just so to shade windows and balconies during the summer while allowing winter sun to saturate the interior. At the entryway, the massive stacked sandstone base—invisibly mortared—gives the effect that the structure was built into an escarpment. Extensive oversized, cascading stonework and cabinetry enrich the interior, but the foyer’s glass staircase, suspended by steel rods, is the home’s pièce de résistance.
The Almanac
By Sweco Architects, Denmark
Lastly, what would space colonization be without community and a healthy sense of togetherness? My guess: Pretty short-lived and unsuccessful. That’s why the Almanac concept by Danish Architects Sweco might be the answer to our interplanetary future dreams.
By adopting community as the focal point for the housing of the future, the architects drew inspiration from the traditional location-based calendar – an almanac. In the project, housing communities are arranged in housing clusters around a common courtyard. The housing clusters are then bound together by larger surrounding urban landscape spaces, where communities of varying sizes utilize the surrounding landscape and connect themselves with the surrounding housing clusters.
Speaking on the unusual design architects and innovation manager at Sweco Architects, Karl-Martin Buch Frederiksen said, “Communities are often at their best if they are tangible and manageable. If they become too large, we easily lose the sense of togetherness and responsibility that is the prerequisite for us to share a universe. In addition, it is our experience that the community thrives best when it is not something that is expected of others, but instead stands as an enticing daily alternative. It is the awareness that has been our starting point in the work on the project.”
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