Spotted: It’s well-established that the food we eat has a huge impact on the planet, with food production generating over a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. But, do you ever consider the impact of what we feed our livestock? For instance, feed production accounts for between 50 and 85 per cent of the climate change impact of pigs and poultry. And often, countries must rely on imports for quality feed, including China, which has been heavily dependent on imported soy – raising concerns over supply and food security in the country.
Now, however, researchers at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences believe they have a more sustainable and affordable alternative protein source: coal.
The team, led by Professor Wu Xin, converted coal into methanol via coal gasification, and this methanol was then fermented using a type of yeast called Pichia Pastoris to create single-cell proteins. This particular yeast strain is optimised for growth in methanol, achieving a methanol-to-protein conversion rate of 92 per cent the theoretical value. According to Professor Wu Xin, this makes the novel process far more efficient at producing crude protein than any other process in the food chain at the moment.
The proteins produced contain a holistic profile of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, which makes the resource a viable substitute for foodstuffs like fishmeal, soybeans, meat, and skimmed milk powder. For the future, the team aims to continue refining the process and use of methanol to make protein, hoping to make it even cheaper and more efficient.
There’s a lot of room for improvement in the global food system, and luckily innovators are rising to the challenge. Springwise has also spotted this AI-driven approach to making tastier alternatives to meat as well as these compact urban farms that tackle food insecurity.
Architecture studios Oficina de Diseño Colaborativo and Atelier TBD have created a cultural space that preserves the “self-built essence” of San Miguel de Allende.
Created in collaboration with interior studio Maye Colab, Santa Tere Espacio is a cultural space and office that will primarily serve to foster reading in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
OCD, Atelier TBD and Maye Colab have created a brightly coloured cultural space in Mexico
“Santa Tere Espacio emerged from the idea of creating architecture through renovation, reuse, repair, and repurposing,” said the team.
“Based on the self-built essence of the neighbourhood, Office of Collaborative Design, TBD Atelier, and Maye Colab joined forces with a shared vision to propose a project that engages with the site’s legacy.”
Located in San Miguel de Allende, the team sought to preserve the “self-built” nature of the city
According to the team, self-construction is a “common building practice in Latin America”, a technique they sought to preserve by repurposing both the existing architecture and materials from the site, which was a former six-room, single-story dwelling.
For Santa Tere Espacio, the team distributed several meeting rooms, a kitchenette, a bathroom and a central courtyard along the structure’s lateral plan with a second, detached bathroom tucked into a corner of the site.
The site was a former single-story residence
A long alleyway, marked with a curving concrete path, runs along the length of the exterior and provides access to each space.
“The intervention primarily involved demolitions to bring in light and allow ventilation of the spaces, and the incorporation of new elements such as doors, windows, and tile finishes that contrast with the pre-existing structure,” said the team.
The team preserved much of the existing architecture and repurposed material found on-site
“Openings were created in the form of doors, windows, and domes, and some walls were demolished to make way for the central courtyard.”
Colab worked with a palette of red, yellow and pink on the interior, based on hues found during construction.
The interior palette was informed by colours found during the construction
“The idea of capturing the site’s essence is also reflected in the project’s colour palette, designed based on the colours found in the construction, with a contrasting colour being the blue of the ironwork.”
Bright blue windows and doors were distributed across the space and finished with geometric handles.
Red was primarily used for furnishings
Interior furnishings were finished primarily in red, with the kitchenette covered in bright red tile and desks throughout the space trimmed in the same shade.
In a desk at the front of the building, the stalk of a plant grows through an opening carved in its surface, while a silver of a triangular skylight sits above.
It features a central courtyard
The project’s landscape design incorporates both native plants and others commonly found around the neighbourhood’s rooftops, patios and facades.
A spindly palo verde plant was planted in the courtyard to provide shade, a species considered sacred to the Aztecs and associated with the feathered serpent god, according to the team.
Santa Tere Espacio will act as a co-working and cultural space and will host OCD, Maye Colab and the bookstore Una Boutique de Libros.
Programming will focus on “reading, feminism, design and diversity”.
Blue ironwork was used for windows and doors
Founded by Nadyeli Quiroz Radaelli, OCD and Maye Colab are design studios based in Mexico, while Atelier TBD, founded by Victor Wu, is an architecture office based between Brooklyn, Taipei and San Miguel.
Elsewhere in San Miguel de Allende, design studio Mestiz opened a studio to showcase its collaborations with local craftspeople.
American entrepreneur Ian Schrager’s The Edition group has landed in Rome, opening a hotel in a converted bank that makes use of its soaring lobby, original marble staircases and hidden front courtyard.
The Rome Edition began welcoming guests earlier this year to the 91-room hotel, located a block away from Via Veneto – the street that was immortalised in the 1960 movie La Dolce Vita.
Arrival to The Rome Edition is via a path under a bronze pergola that leads to the lobby
Schrager and his in-house team spearheaded the renovation of the grand building, utilising many of the original features including a cipollino marble staircase, central courtyards, statues and lamps.
“Built in the 1940s and formerly occupied by one of the main Italian banks, the building is a striking example of the rationalist style and was created by Cesare Pascoletti in collaboration with the famed architect Marcello Piacentini,” said The Edition team.
The plant-filled, sunken courtyard acts as an all-day lounge and dining spot
Unusually for Rome, arriving guests are escorted through a sunken garden “piazza” – which acts as an outdoor lounge, restaurant extension and gathering place – before reaching the lobby.
Once inside, dramatic seven-metre-high ceilings, full-height windows and green curtains, and travertine floors and walls set the tone for The Edition’s signature brand of soft minimalism.
The dramatic hotel lobby features seven-metre-high ceilings and full-height green curtains
Symmetrical arrangements of custom white furniture and low coffee tables exaggerate the strict geometry of the architecture.
“The lobby is Edition at its most dynamic,” said the team. “It is a place to relax and make merry; a place to see and be seen or play a few games of pool on the custom-made table.”
The Amina restaurant is divided into two dining spaces, one of which is accented with chartreuse-coloured upholstery and carpet
For the hotel’s signature restaurant, Anima, the team partnered with local chef Paola Colucci on a menu that puts a modern spin on family recipes and traditional Roman dishes.
Amber glass separates the kitchen from the two dining areas, one with chartreuse-toned accents across furniture and artwork, and the other blue.
The restaurant’s second dining space is decorated with blue accents
The various bar areas on the lobby level each provide guests with a experience. The Punch Room is a concept borrowed from other Edition properties including another recent opening in Tampa and occupies a cosy room with warm wood panelling and deep red tones, for sharing bowls of punch – a 17th-century tradition that’s been given a contemporary spin.
A dark walnut bar, Rosso Levanto marble fireplace, dark pink velvet sofas, and custom armchairs in rosewood and dark brown leather all add to the cosy atmosphere in the dimly lit space.
Off the lobby, The Punch Room bar is lined in walnut and includes dark pink velvet furniture
With space for just 10, the intimate Jade Bar features a rotating cocktail menu and is fully lined in deep green antique marble.
This small and dramatic room is furnished with emerald-hued velvet soft seating and satin brass and gold accents – including a wall-mounted sculpture influenced by artist Jeff Koons.
The Jade Bar is wrapped in antique green marble, with emerald seating and brushed brass accents
In the front courtyard, The Garden is filled with over 400 plants and lightly perfumed by the jasmine that climbs over the facade.
A bronze awning divides the outdoor space in two, with an al fresco dining area for Amina on one side, and an all-day casual terrace for cocktails and light bites on the other.
Teak banquettes and free-standing furniture are surrounded by “an Italianate arrangement of lanterns to give it the feel of a traditional Roman garden”.
The roof terrace on the seventh floor features a pool and bar area that offers sweeping views over the Eternal City’s rooftops.
Walnut wall panelling and herringbone floors feature in the bright guest rooms
In the bright guest rooms, walnut wall panelling and herringbone floors are paired with custom beige leather furniture.
Carrera marble basins and brushed brass fixtures stand out against the grey stone bathrooms, and frosted glass partitions are used to conceal showers and toilets.
Carrera marble sinks contrast the dark grey stone in the bathrooms
The Rome Edition is the group’s 16th global property, following locations that include Times Square in New York, West Hollywood in Los Angeles, and Tokyo.
The Madrid Edition, designed with British minimalist John Pawson, was longlisted in the hotel and short-stay interiors category of Dezeen Awards 2022.
Spotted: Unlit, unused, dirty, and often unsafe locations are almost always easy to find in a city. Imagine, instead, how much beauty could be brought into the world if those underutilised spaces were multi-use community hubs. Mumbai architects StudioPOD, along with Dutch designers MVRDV, turned that idea into reality with the One Green Mile development directly below the Senapati Bapat Marg flyover in Mumbai.
The two studios were tasked with transforming 1,800 metres of the 11-kilometre-long space into a communal hub for recreation, meeting, reading, and performing. Now well lit, painted a bright white, and entwined with greenery, 3D shapes, and public art, the One Green Mile project provides a blueprint for making exceptional use of deserted urban areas.
Screens and archways of plants throughout the space help lower surrounding temperatures, reduce noise from traffic, and improve air quality for local residents. With bike paths, outdoor gyms, and places to gather and sit, the reinvigorated concrete barriers and roof have become a beautiful addition to the city, rather than an eyesore, bringing accessible fun into everyday urban living.
Developers are increasingly incorporating multi-use spaces into their plans, with Springwise spotting projects that range from entire neighbourhood updates to a garden footbridge that provides renewable energy and growing space for local restaurants.
