Studio MK27 creates Patina Maldives resort on Fari Islands
CategoriesInterior Design

Studio MK27 creates Patina Maldives resort on Fari Islands

Brazil-based Studio MK27 has used wood, rattan and stone textures to create the buildings for a holiday resort on the Fari Islands archipelago in the Maldives.

Patina Maldives occupies one of the four islands that makes up the artificial archipelago, which was built over approximately 10 kilometres of reef on the northern edge of North Male Atoll.

Aerial view of Patina Maldives
Patina Maldives is located within the new Fari Islands archipelago

Studio MK27 has designed architecture and interiors for buildings across the island, including an arrival pavilion, a spa, a kid’s club, and a cluster of bars and restaurants.

Accommodation is provided by a mix of beach suites, private in-land villas and water villas that project out to sea.

Patina Maldives by Studio MK27
Studio MK27 designed architecture and interiors for the resort’s various buildings

Never rising above the tree canopy, the buildings are dotted around the island in an arrangement designed to create areas of vibrant social activity and spaces of complete seclusion.

“Patina is unique in the Maldives: an opportunity to be together in isolation,” said Studio MK27 founder Marcio Kogan. “[It is] one of the most remote places on Earth and still a place designed for people to meet one another.”

Deck at Patina Maldives by Studio MK27
Natural materials are combined with earthy colours

“Patina Maldives embraces our natural conflicts: desire for peace and party, for nature and design, technology and rusticity, self-indulgence and deep reflections,” he added.

The materials palette throughout consists of earthy colours, matt finishes and natural textures that are intended to chime with the natural landscape.

Beach villa at Patina Maldives by Studio MK27
Water villas come with their own swimming pools

Many of Studio MK27’s own designs can be found in the furnishings, including woven lighting pendants, neatly crafted shelving units, and cabana and deck chairs co-designed with Norm Architects.

The villas feature high-tech sliding window systems that allow the interiors to be opened up on three sides at the touch of a button, as well as custom-made blackout blinds.

“We escalate the textures and emotions from zero to 100, from soft shadows to overwhelming light,” said Studio MK27.

“It’s a rhythm with contrast, pauses and transparencies. From slow dolce far niente to exuberant real vitality, it is a place for people to bond with nature and each other, for people to experience the essential with glamour.”

Villa at Patina Maldives by Studio MK27
There are also suites and villas inland and on the beach

Many of the buildings are characterised by clever details.

The spa centres around a shallow pool, with a skylight above offering a play of light and shadow, while the kid’s club is defined by colourful window apertures.

Spa at Patina Maldives by Studio MK27
The spa centres around a calming pool

The bar and restaurant area, known as the village, has its own sense of style.

Arabesque, a restaurant serving Middle Eastern cuisine, combines patterned terracotta blockwork with copper lights, while the Brasa grill is designed as a Latin American smokehouse.

Restaurant at Patina Maldives by Studio MK27
The Village is a cluster of bars and restaurants

Studio MK27 has worked on many projects in idyllic locations, such as the beachside Vista House, or Jungle House, which is located in a rainforest.

The studio spent five years developing designs for Patina Maldives, which officially opened in May 2021.

Cabana at Patina Maldives by Studio MK27
Studio MK27 custom designed much of the furniture

The hotel was longlisted for Dezeen Awards 2022 in the hospitality building category, while the spa is shortlisted in the leisure and wellness interior category.

It is one of three resorts located on islands within the Fari Islands archipelago, along with the Ritz-Carlton Maldives and the Capella-Maldives.

The photography is by Fernando Guerra.


Project credits

Architecture: Studio MK27
Lead architects: Marcio Kogan, Renata Furnaletto
Interior designers: Diana Radomysler, Pedro Ribeiro
Project team: André Sumida, Carlos Costa, Carolina Klocker, Diego Solano, Eduardo Glycerio, Elisa Friedmann, Gabriela Chow, Gustavo Ramos, Giovanni Meirelles, Julia Pinheiro, Lair Reis, Laura Guedes, Luciana Antunes, Renato Rerigo, Regiane Leão, Renata Scheliga, Ricardo Ariza, Marcio Tanaka, Mariana Ruzante, Mariana Simas, Samanta Cafardo, Suzana Glogowski, Tamara Lichtenstein, Thauan Miquelin
Developer: Pontiac Land Group
Landscape designer: Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architects
Lighting design: The Flaming Beacon
Construction: Alhl Pvt
Project manager: Mace Group

Reference

Sarah Jefferys creates Passive House in Brooklyn with cedar screen
CategoriesInterior Design

Sarah Jefferys creates Passive House in Brooklyn with cedar screen

American studio Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors has renovated a slender townhouse in Brooklyn with airy rooms and a cedar screen on the facade to meet Passive House standards.

Located in the Park Slope neighbourhood, the Passive House project involved the overhaul of a brick-faced, three-storey townhouse built in 1921 and owned by a family of four.

Passive Brooklyn Townhouse cedar facade
Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors remodelled a Brooklyn townhouse into a passive house

New York-based Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors sought to create a tranquil living atmosphere with elements that pay homage to the family’s Indian and Danish roots.

Moreover, the team wanted the 3,000-square-foot (279-square-metre) building to align with Passive House standards for energy efficiency.

Brooklyn Passive House interior
High-quality windows were installed

To significantly reduce heating and cooling needs, the team installed triple-pane Zola windows, which are often used in passive houses. Walls were reconstructed to create an airtight envelope, which included the addition of cellulose insulation.

The team also added an electric heat pump and an energy recovery ventilator, which helps purify the air.

The front facade was kept intact and refurbished, while the rear wall was redesigned to add ample glazing. To provide privacy and to modulate incoming daylight, the team added an artful cedar screen that acts as both “a sculpture and a veil”.

Brooklyn Passive House with Dutch furniture
White oak was used to complement the bright colours

Within the slender home, the team incorporated pops of colour and pale materials such as white oak.

“We strategically used light hues and reflective materials, and created an airy environment to offset the narrow footprint of the townhouse,” the team said.

The ground level has an open plan and holds the communal spaces.

Brooklyn Passive House kitchen
Reflective and light materials helped the studio meet environmental standards

Up front is the living room, where one finds a blue Living Divani sofa, rattan chairs from Fritz Hansen and a Muuto table.

A wood-burning fireplace, an element not often found in passive homes, sits between the living and dining areas.

To curb emissions from the hearth, the architects added a triple-pane glass enclosure and an extraction fan with an insulated cap. Still, because of the fireplace, the home does not fully meet the PHIUS certification requirements, the architect said.

The all-white dining room is furnished with Ant chairs by Arne Jacobsen and a PH50 pendant by Poul Henningsen. Just beyond is the “showpiece kitchen”, which is framed with an LED light cove.

Brooklyn passive house white stairway
The staircase has a skylight above

“The light cove acts as a separation point – an outline – and provides an atmospheric glow throughout the kitchen,” the team said.

In addition to the special lighting, the kitchen features slatted wooden cabinetry, yellow pendants by Louis Poulsen, and an island topped with Glassos crystallized glass.

Part of the island consists of a live-sawn slab of white oak, which is lined with bar stools.

Brooklyn Passive house living room from above
The living room features a Muuto table

“The beautiful juxtaposition between Glassos and white oak exemplifies the nature of the kitchen as both a practical work area and a leisurely lounge space for entertaining,” the team said.

A sky-lit staircase leads to the upper levels. The first floor holds the main bedroom and bathroom, along with an office – all of which are arrayed along a corridor lined with frosted glass.

The main bedroom features a BoConcept bed, sconces by Robert Dudley Best for Bestlite and a graphic blanket by Pia Wallén for HAY. The bathroom is adorned with matte glass and penny-round tiles from Ann Sacks.

The office is infused with a “touch of nostalgia”. Pieces include a Hans Wegner armchair, a teak Danish dresser and a 1962 copper pendant by Jo Hammerborg.

Brooklyn Passive house bathroom
Bright colours were used throughout

The top level contains a den and two additional bedrooms. The house also has a cellar.

Other Brooklyn townhouses include a house by Space4Architecture that has a skylit staircase and minimalist decor, and the family home of architects Fanny and Matthew Mueller, which features floating steps and a wood-and-steel bridge.

The photography is by Morten Smidt.

Reference

Semba Corporation creates own office interior from reclaimed materials
CategoriesInterior Design

Semba Corporation creates own office interior from reclaimed materials

Interior construction firm Semba Corporation has renovated the interior of its headquarters in Tokyo to include reclaimed materials discarded during the demolition of other offices.

The company’s redesign of its own office interior is shortlisted in the sustainable interior category for the upcoming Dezeen Awards, which will announce its winners next month.

Semba Good Ethical Office interior
The interior is made from materials salvaged from demolished offices

Called Semba Good Ethical Office, the project features various pared-back tables, seating and shelving created from materials salvaged from previous office demolitions.

This furniture is positioned across a single open-plan space in Japan’s capital, which is brightly illuminated by overhead lighting and rectilinear windows.

Reclaimed wooden structure
Plinth-like seating and stairs forms a centrepiece

A plinth-like centrepiece takes the form of both a staircase and a designated desk area, which was formed from boxy arrangements of surplus wood and old filing cabinets.

Semba Corporation centred the interiors around two principles – “ethical” and “hackable” design – in order to complete the project, the company said.

Semba Corporation office
Semba Corporation applied its own design principles to the project

“To incorporate ‘ethical design’, a circular interior design [theory], into the office renovation, we mined materials from unnecessary stuff generated by office demolitions,” Semba Corporation told Dezeen.

“Under the theme of ‘hackable design’, we can redefine our working style and attitudes. We completely renovated our office to be friendly to the Earth, people and society,” explained the firm.

Reconstituted foam padding by Semba Corporation
Reconstituted foam was used to create padding on benches

According to the company, 80 per cent of the furniture in the Semba Good Ethical Office is reused, while the office achieved a waste-recycling rate of 99 per cent.

Reconstituted foam was used to create the padding on benches that make up informal meeting booths, while various offcuts of wood were used to construct geometric shelves throughout the interior.

Semba Corporation explained that it hopes that other firms will begin to adopt similar design principles when creating their office interiors.

“Especially in Japan, the lifespan from construction to demolition and disposal has become very short since [increasing] economic growth, and waste has been dumped in landfill,” the firm said.

“However, Japanese culture has originally valued attachment to things and has an aesthetic sense to continue to use them with creative ideas. So I think our principles have an affinity to that culture.”

“We hope that ‘ethical design,’ a future-friendly interior design, will be a basic principle in interior design for the future.”

Wooden shelving
Reclaimed wood was used to form various shelving

Semba Good Ethical Office joins a group of existing self-designed studios that other firms have created to be more sustainable than the average office, according to the companies.

These include German studio Urselmann Interior’s renovation of its studio to include biodegradable, recycled or upcycled materials.

The images are courtesy of Semba Corporation.

Reference

Macdonald Wright Architects creates low-energy Library House in London
CategoriesSustainable News

Macdonald Wright Architects creates low-energy Library House in London

London studio Macdonald Wright Architects has created the low-energy and heavily insulated Library House on an infill plot in Hackney.

Designed as a rental property for studio founder James Macdonald Wright, the two-storey home was built on a four-metre-wide plot, which was previously used as a junkyard adjacent to the listed Clapton Library.

Exterior of infill house in Clapton
Macdonald Wright Architects has created a house on an infill plot in Hackney

The aim of the project was to demonstrate how an affordable, low-energy house could be created using simple yet robust materials.

Macdonald Wright Architects wanted to use the opportunity to study the energy performance of the home, which has the same footprint as “the average UK dwelling”, to inform its future projects.

Kitchen with wooden cabinets
The dwelling is heavily insulated and low energy

Working with certified Passivhaus designer Conker Conservation, the studio created Library House to meet the Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) standard.

The standard focuses on using simple techniques and technologies to reduce the operational carbon dioxide emissions of a building by 70 per cent when compared to the average UK structure of the same size and typology.

Interior of Library House by Macdonald Wright Architects
The material palette was chosen to be simple yet robust

“We selected the AECB route over Passivhaus because it offered a more practical and affordable route to achieving excellent performance,” the studio’s founder told Dezeen.

“The AECB Building Standard is aimed at those wishing to create high-performance buildings using widely available technology,” Macdonald Wright explained.

Wooden staircase and landing
Douglas fir and spruce detailing features throughout

This standard was met by creating a heavily insulated external envelope for the dwelling, teamed with a Passivhaus-rated front door and triple glazed windows and roof lights.

To retain heat, the house also makes use of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR). It achieves an airtightness of 1.3 [email protected], which is significantly less than UK building regulations that require airtightness of 10 [email protected] or less. This refers to the number of air changes per hour at a pressure difference of 50 pascals.

Kitchen with stone flooring and wooden cabinets
All the windows are triple glazed

The dwelling is complete with an electric boiler for top-up heating and a photovoltaic array, from which surplus electricity is supplied to the national grid.

Since completion, the house has been occupied by private tenants. However, the electricity bill has been monitored and paid for by Macdonald Wright Architects.

The studio has calculated that the “operational energy for heating the house is a tenth of the requirement of a new build house under current building standards”.

Interior of Library House by Macdonald Wright Architects
Blue Lias stone is used as flooring

Visually, the Library House is designed to mirror the proportions, styles and details of the neighbouring red brick library and a row of white cottages.

Lime-pointed white brickwork is teamed with a russet-hued Corten steel panel outside, which incorporates the front door and perforated solar shading for the first floor.

Corten steel door of Library House
The russet-hued front door is Passivhaus-rated

Materials used throughout Library House were selected to minimise the need for maintenance and reduce the embodied-carbon footprint of the dwelling.

This includes the use of Porotherm clay block party walls and timber structure, along with internal finishes such as Blue Lias stone flooring sourced and sustainably sourced douglas fir and spruce detailing.

Internally, walls are predominantly finished in a parge coat, trowelled over the Porotherm clay blockwork for a textured finish that also contributes to the home’s high airtightness.

Macdonald Wright Architects hopes that the Library House will become a “scalable prototype” and inform its future projects at various scales.

Bedroom with blockwork wall
Porotherm clay blocks are used on party walls

“Each project we complete informs the next,” Macdonald Wright explained. “The use of Porotherm block and Larsen Truss has helped us develop techniques of external envelope construction we are now developing in larger scale designs.”

“By focusing on the build quality, airtightness and thermal performance of the external envelope construction we can reduce the overall cost of building to higher levels of sustainability,” he continued.

Window with perforated solar shading
Corten steel functions as solar shading

Another recently completed low-energy house on Dezeen is the Devon Passivhaus, which McLean Quinlan nestled into a sloped walled garden of an old English country house.

The building’s envelope performs to the highly energy-efficient Passivhaus standard, achieved using substantial amounts of insulation and triple glazing throughout.

White and stone bathroom
Rooflights feature throughout the house

Macdonald Wright founded his eponymous studio in east London in 2005. Another notable project by the studio is the Caring Wood country house in Kent, which won the 2017 RIBA House of the Year.

Designed in collaboration with architect Niall Maxwell, the dwelling is topped with chimney-like roofs and provides a residence for three generations of the same family.

The photography is by Heiko Prigge.


Project credits:

Architect: Macdonald Wright Architects
Structural engineer: Osbourne Edwards
Sustainability consultant: Conker Conservation
Quantity surveyor: GQS Services.
Contractor: Daneco Build
Groundworks: Hauge Construction

Reference

Atelier Tao+C creates serene timber and travertine reading room
CategoriesInterior Design

Atelier Tao+C creates serene timber and travertine reading room

Two vacant ground-floor rooms and an adjoining greenhouse were knocked together and lined with bookshelves to form this private library, designed by Atelier Tao+C for a venture capital firm in Shanghai.

Set in a converted 1980s house, which is home to the offices of VC fund Whales Capital, the reading room can accommodate up to 12 people and is shared between the company’s employees and the owner’s friends.

Reading room by Atelier Tao+C
Atelier Tao+C has created a reading room for Whales Capital

All of the rooms are enclosed by immovable, load-bearing walls, which local practice Atelier Tao+C had to integrate into the design while creating the impression of being in one continuous 76-square-metre space.

To this effect, the original doors and windows were removed and three openings – measuring between two and three metres wide – were created to connect the rooms.

Private reading room
The space is lined with wooden bookshelves

The remaining wall sections are hidden from view by new architectural elements including a set of semi-circular wooden bookshelves, which run through the two ground-floor rooms to form a pair of small, quiet reading nooks.

The structural walls connecting these rooms to the old glasshouse were wrapped in creamy white travertine to create a kind of “sculptural volume”, Atelier Tao+C explained.

Reading room
Skylights funnel natural light into the interior

As a result, the studio says the walls and structural columns are “dissolved” into the space to create the feeling of a more open-plan interior.

In the old greenhouse, a timber structure was inserted into the building’s glass shell, with bookshelves integrated into its wooden beams and columns to create a seamless design.

This structure also forms a wooden ceiling inside the glasshouse, with strategically placed round and square skylights to temper the bright daylight from outside and create a more pleasant reading environment.

Spread across the interior are four different seating areas: a small study table for solo work, a shared meeting table, a reading booth for one person and a sofa seat where multiple people can talk and relax.

Travertine interiors
White travertine was used to obscure the building’s original brick walls

A Private Reading Room has been shortlisted in the small interiors category of the 2022 Dezeen Awards.

Atelier Tao+C, which is run by designers Chunyan Cai and Tao Liu, is also shortlisted for emerging interior design studio this year, alongside Sydney firm Alexander & Co, Barcelona-based Raúl Sánchez Architects and London practice House of Grey.

The photography is by Wen Studio.

Reference

Studio MOM creates mycelium cycle helmet MyHelmet
CategoriesSustainable News

Studio MOM creates mycelium cycle helmet MyHelmet

Dutch design office Studio MOM has developed a bicycle helmet from biomaterials that, unlike polystyrene helmets, can be produced without fossils fuels and composted after use.

A specially developed form of mycelium – the fleshy root-like structure of a fungus – forms the main shell of MyHelmet, while the outer skin and strap are produced from a hemp textile.

MyHelmet mycelium helmet by Studio MOM
MyHelmet is made from mycelium and hemp

The result is a helmet that, according to Studio MOM, can be manufactured more sustainably and produces less waste after use.

“MyHelmet fits in with principles of the circular economy,” said the studio. “There are minimal CO2 emissions, it does not require any fossil raw materials and the end result is 100 per cent biodegradable.”

MyHelmet mycelium helmet by Studio MOM
The use of biomaterials makes the helmet compostable

Experts recommend replacing a helmet every three to five years, as the strength is likely to be reduced by the wear-and-tear of regular use.

However, most bicycle helmets are made from expanded polystyrene, or EPS, a form of plastic that is difficult to dispose of. It is non-biodegradable and harder to recycle after it has been glued to the other components of a helmet.

MyHelmet mycelium helmet by Studio MOM
Alessandra Sisti developed MyHelmet as a student graduation project

The MyHelmet design replaces the EPS with a mycelium that is cultivated on a diet of hemp flakes.

By briefly heating up this mycelium during the growing process, its structural makeup becomes similar to that of EPS; it becomes rigid, lightweight and has low thermal conductivity.

The natural layer structure of the mycelium also creates space for airflow, helping to keep the wearer’s head cool.

The process was developed by junior designer Alessandra Sisti as her graduation project from the Design and Engineering masters programme at Politecnico di Milano.

Sisti was able to further develop the design after joining Studio MOM, testing a wide range of material compositions to find the most effective solution.

Material sample for MyHelmet
Studio MOM has tested a wide range of material compositions

The various elements of the helmet are combined during the process. This allows the mycelium to bond with the hemp textile that forms the strap and outer skin, providing extra support and removing the need for glue.

Studio MOM has carried out a series of initial tests to ensure the product’s safety for use.

An FEM analysis of the product prototype allowed the designers to assess the shape, strength, rigidity and fatigue of the material. A simulation of the NTA standards test – the test which decides if a helmet complies with the requirements in the Dutch technical agreement – was also carried out, with “promising” results.

Production of Material sample for MyHelmet
Components are combined in the growing process, so no glue is needed

The project builds on Studio MOM’s experience with sustainable mobility products.

The Arnhem-based office has designed a series of bicycles, including an electric cargo bike powered by a hydrogen battery, the LAVO Bike.

Studio MOM founder Mars Holwerda is now hoping to find partners to help the studio develop the design from a prototype to a commercial product.

Renders of MyHelmet by Alessandra Sisti
Mycelium forms the bulk, while the outer skin and strap are a hemp textile

“By developing a new process, we have taken a considerable step towards using mycelium bio-manufacturing on an industrial scale,” he said.

“The bicycle industry now has something at its disposal to stop the endless stream of harmful, systematic plastic and EPS waste. But we are not there yet. Who is in?”

Mycelium is increasingly being utilised across the architecture, design and fashion industries.

Other uses include as leather in a Stella McCartney fashion collection, as the walls of a Dutch Design Week pavilion and as the material for a Sebastian Cox lighting collection.

Reference

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg creates “interspecies artwork” in London
CategoriesSustainable News

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg creates “interspecies artwork” in London

Artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg has created a digital AI tool named Pollinator Pathmaker to design the best possible gardens for bees and other insects to enjoy.

The Pollinator Pathmaker project has opened its third public edition in the gardens around London’s Serpentine Galleries, following commissions by Cornwall’s Eden Project and Berlin’s Light Art Space.

At the same time, people are invited to participate in their private gardens, by using the Pollinator Pathmaker online tool to create a planting plan tailored to their plot.

Pollinator Pathmaker installation at Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park
Hyde Park’s Kensington Gardens are home to a new edition of Pollinator Pathmaker

The work is intended to raise awareness about the decline in pollinators, which as well as bees includes butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles and other species that are essential for plant reproduction and ecosystem survival.

At the same time, Ginsberg aims for the project to build empathy with other species.

“I wanted to make art for pollinators, not about them,” said Ginsberg. “Pollinator Pathmaker is an ambitious art-led campaign to make living artworks for other species to enjoy.”

Close-up on tall purple flowers in the Pollinator Pathmaker installation
The garden is designed by an AI and optimised to attract the most pollinator species

“Modern humans have reshaped the planet for our own benefit, while forgetting that other
species and their needs are essential to our own survival,” she told Dezeen.

“Decentring ourselves is a powerful way to think about other species: encouraging us to see the world as they do, to have empathy for them, and most importantly to inspire humans to care for them.”

Ginsberg sees Pollinator Pathmaker as encoding empathy into an algorithm, in this case by defining empathy as a design that would support as many pollinator species as possible.

She worked with horticulturalists at the Eden Project, which first commissioned the project, along with pollinator experts and Google Arts & Culture to develop the digital tool.

It asks the user to input information about the size and conditions of their plot, and then play with the “empathy” sliders to choose whether they want more or fewer plant species, a bold or intricate pattern, and a flight path or patches.

Some pollinators, such as bees, learn and memorise an efficient route for themselves, so they would be drawn to the flight path, while other insects explore more randomly.

Screenshot of the Pollinator Pathmaker online tool showing a 3D visualisation of a garden of painted flowers
Anyone can use the online tool to make their own garden planting plan

The algorithm generates a different garden design each time, which users can see as a 3D visualisation composed of Ginsberg’s digital plant paintings. They can also see how it will change from season to season and what it looks like in “pollinator vision”.

To realise the garden design, they download planting instructions, which come complete with a certificate of authenticity for their editioned artwork.

The Serpentine’s version of the artwork fills a 227-metre-long area in Hyde Park’s Kensington Gardens with more than 60 species of plants. It is part of the institution’s newly opened Back to Earth programme, themed around the environmental emergency.

Screenshot of the Pollinator Pathmaker platform showing the 3D garden visualised in
One of the features of the tool is that it lets you see your garden in “pollinator vision”

The garden is intended to be in place for two years, during which time the artist hopes to open further editions worldwide, using each commission as an opportunity to develop a new regional “plant palette” so the tool can be used in more locations.

“The aim is to make the world’s largest climate positive artwork,” said Ginsberg. “Each time a large Edition Garden, like the two we’ve planted in the UK, is commissioned, we create a new plant palette for the region and donate this back to www.pollinator.art to encourage local visitors to join in and plant their own artworks.”

“Gardens are not isolated entities; they are interconnected in the landscape. Your flourishing garden supports the flourishing of your neighbour’s, so we need as many pollinator-friendly gardens as possible to be planted.”

Ginsberg’s art focuses on technological and environmental themes. Her past work has included Machine Auguries, which artificially recreates the dawn chorus of birds, and The Wilding of Mars, which explores what would happen if the red planet were colonised by plants and not humans.

Reference

Evolution Music creates “ecologically sound” bioplastic 12-inch vinyl
CategoriesSustainable News

Evolution Music creates “ecologically sound” bioplastic 12-inch vinyl

Music and sustainability collective Evolution Music has designed a 12-inch vinyl made of bioplastic using existing record pressing machinery, which features tracks by artists Beatie Wolfe and Michael Stipe.

Hailed as the world’s first commercially available bioplastic 12-inch vinyl by Evolution Music, the product is made from specially designed bioplastic instead of traditional, carbon-intensive PVC.

Evolution Music 12-inch vinyl
The 12-inch vinyl is made from bioplastic created by Evolution Music

The bioplastic 12-inch vinyl looks and functions like a standard vinyl, comprised of a black disc illustrated with a central graphic design.

It was manufactured using existing record pressing machinery and production processes.

Record pressing machinery
It is manufactured using existing record pressing machinery

Its A-side features the track Future, If Future by American musician Stipe, while Oh My Heart by British-American artist Wolfe can be played on its B-side.

The bioplastic 12-inch vinyl’s creators said that they were prompted to design the material and the product themselves after struggling to find “sustainable solutions for physical media”.

“It is a robust, ecologically secure compostable material created specifically to act and sound the same as PVC-derived vinyl,” Evolution Music CEO Marc Carey told Dezeen.

Vinyl sticker
Tracks by Michael Stipe and Beatie Wolfe feature on the record

To create the bioplastic, a four-year development process involved identifying a base polymer that acts in the same way as traditional PVC, without producing harmful substances, according to Carey.

After this, the team sourced bio-organic fillers and co-created a solid additive used for plastics called a bio masterbatch.

Evolution Music’s aim was “to create a biopolymer that is authentic, truly sustainable and ecologically sound,” explained Carey.

“We’ve never developed traditional plastic vinyl – I guess you should ask the PVC manufacturers why they didn’t [create bioplastic vinyl],” he said.

Bioplastic vinyl
Evolution Music aimed to create a “sustainable” product

Five hundred copies of the bioplastic 12-inch vinyl were initially sold when it was released earlier this year, with the proceeds donated to the charity EarthPercent.

Founded by musician Brian Eno, EarthPercent invites artists to pledge a portion of their income to the charity, which is then donated to organisations that tackle climate change.

The release of the bioplastic 12-inch vinyl forms part of a Bandcamp project by EarthPercent that includes over 100 tracks by artists including Hot Chip, Peter Gabriel and Nile Rogers.

“It took three passionate, independent music lovers from the UK to develop this product out of necessity,” concluded Carey.

“The fact that ‘big’ players did not do this in the first place raises interesting questions about the petrol, chemical, oil and plastics industry… just saying!”

Other recent bioplastic designs include a clingfilm alternative made from waste potato peels and a polystyrene substitute created from plastic-eating mealworms.

The images are courtesy of Evolution Music. 

Reference

ADEPT Creates a New Identity for the Aarhus School of Architecture: NEW AARCH
CategoriesArchitecture

ADEPT Creates a New Identity for the Aarhus School of Architecture: NEW AARCH

The intentional simplicity of the NEW AARCH design by ADEPT is a detailed response to the Aarhus School of Architecture’s need for functional and robust spaces. The completed building allows the tutors to experiment with new and contemporary ways of architecture education while, at the same time, providing a stronger spatial identity that matches the ambition of being one of the best architecture schools in Europe.

Read More About the Project

Finalist, 10th Annual A+Awards, Higher Education & Research Facilities

Reference

Nameless Architecture creates “artificial valley” at base of Gyeryongsan Mountain
CategoriesInterior Design

Nameless Architecture creates “artificial valley” at base of Gyeryongsan Mountain

Architecture studio Nameless Architecture has completed the Café Teri bakery in Daejeon, South Korea, in a pair of buildings that flow into a central courtyard.

Located at the foot of the Gyeryongsan Mountain in Daejeon, Nameless Architecture designed the two buildings to frame the entrance to a hiking trail that continues up the mountain.

Concrete brick courtyard at Cafe Teri by Nameless Architecture with two facing buildings
The cafe’s courtyard leads onto a hiking trail

The two rectangular buildings were angled, creating an outdoor space that narrows towards the mountain path. The three-storey building contains a cafe and the two-storey building opposite is a bakery.

“The artificial valley, where the distinction between the wall and the floor is blurred, creates a flow towards the forest and becomes the yard to the cafe and a path for walkers,” Nameless Architecture co-principal Unchung Na told Dezeen.

“We intended the building to become a path and courtyard that guides the flow of nature and visitors rather than blocking the promenade.”

Corner of Cafe Teri by Nameless Architecture with sloping walls
Concrete brick walls slope down into the floor of the courtyard at Café Teri

The 900-square-metre project was finished in concrete bricks, creating a rough texture on the exterior walls.

“The concrete bricks used to construct the architectural topography emphasise the continuity of the flowing space,” said Na.

“On the other hand, the facade wall made of rough broken bricks creates a difference of boundaries through the change of light, shadow, and time.”

Cafe interior with polished concrete walls and sloping wall with concrete brick steps
Nameless Architecture used concrete brick for the interior of the cafe as well as the exterior

The flowing exterior walls of the project are replicated inside the ground floor of a cafe, where the back wall of a double-height space curves down into stepped seating.

The floor, curved wall and stepped seating inside the cafe were finished in concrete bricks, and the remaining walls were finished in polished concrete.

“The fluid wall is continuous not only in the yard but also in the interior space, connecting the inside and outside scenery through a stepped space,” Na explained.

A backyard area features uplifted terrain that mimics the curved concrete brick walls of the cafe and bakery, which Nameless Architecture designed to provide a spatially interesting place for people to enjoy food outside.

Backyard of Cafe Teri by Nameless Architecture with uplifting elements from the ground
Nameless Architecture used curved walls to create a distinct “architectural topography”

The architecture practice designed the curved elements that appear to emerge from the ground with the aim of blurring the lines between what is wall and floor.

“The basic elements of architecture can be reinterpreted to induce various experiences and actions of people,” said Na.

“In particular, the two elements, wall and floor, are defined as fundamentally different architectural elements, but we tried to reconsider this strict relationship.”

Large glazed window showing the interior of Cafe Teri with sloping back wall of the cafe
The project aims to reinterpret how walls and floors are used as architectural elements

“The mutual relationship in which the wall becomes the floor, and the inside becomes the outside can be interpreted in various ways through the experience of the place,” Na continued.

Other projects recently completed in South Korea include a department store in Seoul with an indoor waterfall and skyscrapers with red-painted steel columns designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

The photography is by Kyung Roh.


Project credits:

Architect: Nameless Architecture
Principals-in-charge: Unchung Na and Sorae Yoo
Project team: Taekgyu Kang, Changsoo Lee and Jungho Lee

Reference