Architizer Journal is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
Visual storytelling is no easy endeavor, especially when it comes to capturing the built environment. Yet, with the ever-ubiquitous range of 21st-century technologies connecting people with buildings worldwide, architectural photography and filmography have never been more fruitful or thrilling. With diverse backgrounds and expertise, more photographers and filmmakers are gravitating to the architectural profession than ever, taking buildings as their subjects.
At the same time, more and more architects and their firms are taking advantage of their privileged access to construction sites and the accessibility of high-quality photography equipment available to the general public. Indeed, some of the most successful architectural films and photographs harness photography to tell compelling stories about the building process and their built products. With the help of advanced technology and equipment, architects and photographers are bringing the built environment to life in entirely new ways. Listed below are three new products released this year, all particularly well-suited for architectural photographers, filmmakers and designers alike.
Fujifilm’s X-H2S Mirrorless Camera Body is designed to smoothen the photo-taking and filmmaking process. Considered to be the company’s most capable video and still hybrid, this device comes with incredible sensors and improved image support thanks to its X-Processor 5 and X-Trans CMOS 5S sensor.
The device boasts an increased memory capacity with a high-speed burst shooting capability ranging up to 30fps for over 1000 frames. Its refined autofocus now produces a cleaner and more focused shot through its prediction algorithm that can easily capture moving objects, especially in low-contrast and difficult conditions. This feature is especially useful for filmmakers who from time to time face unpredictable weather and environmental situations that make it challenging to capture the true essence of a site.
When it comes to architectural photography, each image maker has their own set of preferences. Some like to contextualize the image using the human form, and others prefer letting the design speak for itself. The X-H2S’s new subject-detection autofocus is capable of automatically detecting a broad range of subjects in an image. Whether it be passing by vehicles or pedestrians, this camera is capable of accurately focusing-in on smaller subjects who may be using the space, thus allowing the photographer to focus on the framing the building and the overall composition without having to preoccupy themselves with such variables.
The Fujifilm X-H2S moves with the architectural photographer at all times of the day. The device supports HEIF image format and delivers 10-bit image quality in files 30% smaller than standard JPEGs. This is especially useful for those who would like to have high-quality images directly after shooting. The device’s X-Trans sensor tightly controls shutter effects and helps produce a natural-looking recording which allows the architectural design to speak for itself. Designed to keep up with the brilliant imaginations of architectural image makers, the device can internally record up to 90 minutes of footage using a single battery.
Best camera for architects to enhance their social media presence
A challenge architectural filmmakers often face is framing the perfect shot right at the get-go, and the X3 camera poses a simple solution to this problem. This device is designed to shoot first and frame after, meaning users can simply mount the camera, click record and reframe after. The X3 camera is connected with the brand’s AI-powered Insta360 app, which comes complete with numerous reframing tools and direct upload capabilities. Therefore, filmmakers can simply upload their video and edit directly on the app. Once edited, the video can be directly uploaded through the app onto social media. The X3 is a one-stop shop for architecture firms looking for simple ways to create high-quality content for their media presence.
In addition, the Insta360 X3 camera comes with a first-person view mode that allows users to film from their perspective while not compromising resolution or quality. This is a particularly useful tool for those filming interior spaces or hoping to capture the essence of a structure from the human perspective. Equally, the new HDR mode makes filming in difficult lighting conditions that much easier through its stabilizing and shadow-enhancing features. So much of the built environment is found in non-ideal shooting environments, and so a device like X3 — one that can work in difficult conditions — is extremely useful to architectural image makers.
The X3 is designed for creatives and comes with an array of filming options. This device is perfect for designers hoping to create original videos for their social media. For example, designers can use the 8k quality timelapse feature to capture the progression of a structure throughout time. The Insta360 X3 – Waterproof 360 Action Camera comes with powerful 360 capture, reframing capabilities and an advanced AI system.
Best camera for architects to capture large projects and bird’s-eye views
The DJI Mini 3 Pro (DJI RC) is a small and lightweight drone designed for any environment. This foldable device can capture detail with 4K/60fps video and 48 MP photos. As architects lean on social media more and more to promote their firms, producing ready-to-post videos is key. The DJI Mini Pro offers an easy solution for designers through its True Vertical Shooting feature, which produces social media-ready shots and recordings.
The drone is capable of flying for up to 34 minutes, which is ideal when capturing large projects like condominium development or campus renovations. Moreover, its tri-directional obstacle sensing ensures the drone video is not compromised by unexpected objects in the air. Due to its small size of less than 249 g, the Mini 3 Pro does not require registration in most countries, which eliminates an additional step and lets Mini 3 Pro owners get straight to flying.
For more laptops and workstation recommendations for architects, checkout 15 Top Laptops for Architects and Designers, and watch out for more in our Tech for Architects series, coming soon.
An exhibition in Mexico curated in collaboration with Danish research lab Space10 has showcased five novel uses for local biomaterials.
Called Deconstructed Home, the exhibition was set up as part of a two-week programme organised by Space10, a research arm of IKEA. The lab gave five designers six weeks of experimentation and research to conceptualise “new possibilities and uses for a local biomaterial”.
The materials ranged from beeswax to soil and the final projects will travel throughout Mexico after the initial exhibition at LOOT, a gallery in Mexico City, which took place 26 March to 9 April 2022.
“The recent pandemic has highlighted flaws in our global supply chain, and the ongoing climate emergency has revealed further issues with the way we manufacture and transport materials and products around the world,” said Elsa Dagný Ásgeirsdóttir, lead creative producer at Space10.
Articles of Protection by Taina Campos
Taina Campos worked with corn from the Milpa Alta, a neighbourhood in Mexico City. The design brief required collaboration with Mujeres de la Tierra, a local community organisation.
The organisation helps women become financially independent through the selling of food and they wanted non-plastic vessels. Campos used waste from the corn harvest in order to produce these vessels for Articles of Protection.
Migrating Objects by Bertín López
The rambutan is a plant native to southeast Asia that moved into Mexico in the 1950s.
Using the plant in the state of Soconusco, Bertín López came up with a line of home goods. The project shows the potential usages of migrating species that come to play a role in local ecosystems.
“What was once foreign has become part of the local identity,” said López in a design statement.
Homes for Honey by Gabriel Calvillo
Taking note of the dwindling populations of the melipona, a stingless bee native to Yucatán, Calvillo drew on Mayan apiary techniques used for millennia.
The designer used beeswax from the bees to mould potes and piqueras for what he calls an “interspecies collaboration”.
The structures are prefabricated hives that the bees can inhabit and then finish the construction.
Building with Earth by Karen Kerstin Poulain
Designer Karen Kerstin Poulain chose to work with the soil of Naucalpan for her project.
The result was a composite material made by combining tepetate (volcanic soil), water, rice husk in order to reduce energy usages and resource exhaustion in concrete while also taking advantage of agricultural waste.
“To build affordable housing, we need alternative methods and liquid soil has great potential,” said the designer.
Weaving Heirlooms by Paloma Morán Palomar
This project uses the fibres of the tamarind in order to create a type of thread.
The husks of the tamarind are often discarded so Palomar, working in her native Jalisco, decided to use the thread to weave rugs.
By using the materials on top of traditional weaving techniques, the design manages to be novel in material usage while drawing on indigenous techniques.
To celebrate Earth Day we’ve compiled a list of 50 people who are pushing the boundaries of sustainable architecture and design.
Architects and designers have a key role to play in reducing carbon emissions, pollution and waste while protecting biodiversity.
Here are 50 individuals and studios who are doing pioneering work, ranging from architects exploring timber construction to designers thinking radically about circularity and scientists developing new low-carbon materials.
Adebayo Oke-Lawal, founder of Orange Culture
Adebayo Oke-Lawal is a Nigerian fashion designer. His label, Orange Culture, strives to minimise waste and sources 90 per cent of its supply chain in Nigeria.
He was featured in Circular Design for Fashion, a book aimed at helping the fashion industry become more circular published by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
As CEO of Swedish architecture firm White Arkitekter, Alexandra Hagen is an industry leader in the shift towards more sustainable, zero-carbon buildings.
The studio has built up an impressive portfolio of structures that go beyond net-zero to carbon negative, including the Sara Kulturhus Centre, which is the world’s second-tallest wooden tower and was featured in the UK Green Building Council’s list of 17 exemplary sustainable projects compiled for the COP26 climate summit.
White Arkitekter has pledged to design only carbon-neutral or carbon-negative buildings by 2030.
Find out more about Alexandra Hagen and White Arkitekter ›
Anab Jain and Jon Ardern, co-founders of Superflux
Anab Jain and Jon Ardern’s design and film studio Superflux was born in 2009 out of a desire to explore the intersection between the environment, technology and culture.
Their recent installation at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna, which aimed to raise awareness about climate change, featured 415 fire-damaged pine trees surrounding an oasis of living plants and water.
Last year the pair took part in the Dezeen 15 virtual festival, proposing a new framework for caring for the planet.
Find out more about Superflux ›
Andrew Waugh, co-founder of Waugh Thistleton Architects
Andrew Waugh has long been a vocal advocate for building more sustainably and has been an outspoken critic of existing UK regulations relating to environmental construction.
As part of his role in the Architects Declare pressure group, Waugh co-authored a recent report setting out ways to reduce carbon emissions associated with the built environment.
His own practice, London-based Waugh Thistleton Architects, is known for the extensive use of timber in its projects. A recent office building in London is designed to be fully demountable so it can be taken apart and its materials re-used at the end of its life.
Find out more about Andrew Waugh ›
Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz
Taiwanese structural engineer and architect Arthur Huang has been developing novel recycling techniques and machinery for nearly 20 years with his company Miniwiz.
After helping major brands such as Nike to create installations, packaging and other products from post-consumer waste materials, the business is now focused on democratising the recycling process and making it more easily accessible to everyday consumers.
For this purpose, Miniwiz has created a mobile recycling plant called Trashpresso, which received the World Design Impact Prize in 2021 and condenses the same recycling line that normally takes over entire industrial plants into two mobile units about the size of a refrigerator.
Find out more about Arthur Huang ›
Babette Porcelijn, designer and writer
Babette Porcelijn is a Dutch designer, author and speaker with an unusually broad range of knowledge about environmental issues and a strong belief in designers’ potential to make a difference.
She co-wrote The Hidden Impact, a book that lifts the lid on the lesser-known damage that Western economies and lifestyles continue to wreak on the planet. It contends that industrial products created with the help of designers, like mobile phones, are the biggest contributors to climate change.
Find out more about Babette Porcelijn ›
Bethany Williams, fashion designer
Bethany Williams is a fashion designer, humanitarian and artist. She graduated from Brighton University with a degree in Critical Fine Art before going on to study and receive a master’s from the London College of Fashion in Menswear.
Williams launched her eponymous brand in 2017 and has since strived to address social and environmental issues. She is best known for using and repurposing waste and scraps within her works as well as collaborating with local grassroots programs to convey how fashion and design can be inclusive.
An exhibition at the Design Museum recently opened showcasing Williams’ commitment to sustainability.
New York designer Charlotte McCurdy takes providing solutions to the problems caused by climate change as the starting point for her work.
The fashion designer uses biomaterials and carbon sequestration technology in her products such as a dress adorned with algae sequins and a raincoat made from algae bioplastic.
Find out more about Charlotte McCurdy ›
Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans
Cyrill Gutsch is a leading voice on the health of the world’s oceans and in calls for the fashion industry to tackle ocean pollution.
His company, Parley for the Oceans, was one of the first to promote the repurposing of ocean plastic, using it to make trainers, sports kits, clothing, trophies and even a floating tennis court.
In a 2020 interview with Dezeen, he warned that the circular economy “will never work with the materials we have” and requires plastic to be replaced with biofabricated substances.
Find out more about Cyrill Gutsch ›
Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe, Cooking Sections
Art duo Cooking Sections investigate the environmental impact of food through architecture and design. Their work includes Climavore, an ongoing project about how we can change what we eat to respond to climate change, which was initiated in 2015 and nominated for the 2021 Turner Prize.
“Food is one of the main drivers and forces that is shaping the ecology of the planet, within and around us,” Cooking Sections co-founders Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe explained in a recent interview with Dezeen.
The pair also created a zero-water garden in Sharjah to demonstrate how desert plants can be used as an alternative to water-hungry plants in arid cities.
Find out more about Cooking Sections ›
Daniel Mitchell, founder of Space Available
UK-born architect and designer Daniel Mitchell now lives in Bali, Indonesia, where was formerly creative director of the hospitality brand Potato Head and has since launched multidisciplinary studio Space Available.
While at Potato Head he introduced a move towards zero waste as part of embracing circular economy principles. Notable projects he worked on include the Katamama hotel, which uses local crafts and materials. In 2020, Mitchell took part in a live talk hosted by Dezeen on how art and architecture came together for the project.
Space Available consults brands on circularity and produces its design own products made from waste materials.
Darshil Shah, senior researcher at the University of Cambridge
Dr Darshil Shah is a senior researcher within the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at Cambridge University, where he works to develop new biomaterials.
He is a leading expert on low-carbon construction materials, particularly hemp, and how they can be used in different industries, including construction, transport, healthcare and wind energy.
Last summer, he told Dezeen that hemp is “more effective than trees” at sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.
Find out more about Darshil Shah ›
Edward Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030
Edward Mazria is an internationally recognised architect, author and researcher who has dedicated the past four decades of his career to advocating for sustainable architecture.
He is best known for founding the pro-bono organisation Architecture 2030, which exists to help transform the built environment from a contributor to a solution in the climate emergency. As part of Architecture 2030, he has launched initiatives such as the 2030 Challenge and addressed world leaders at events including the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
In 2021, the AIA awarded Mazria its coveted Gold Medal prize for his “unwavering voice and leadership” in the fight against climate change. Last August, he set out three steps for architects to reach zero-carbon through their work in a piece for Dezeen.
Find out more about Edward Mazria ›
Ellen MacArthur, former sailor and founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Ellen MacArthur became one of the world’s preeminent advocates for the circular economy after the former round-the-world sailor retired from yachting to launch the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2010.
Since then, the charity has partnered with some of the biggest brands in the world to accelerate the shift towards a circular economy and published a number of influential reports on plastic pollution and textile waste, alongside practical guides on how to design products and garments in a more circular way.
Eric Klarenbeek, co-founder of Studio Klarenbeek & Dros
Dutch designer Eric Klarenbeek has pioneered ways of using bioplastics made from mycelium and algae in combination with 3D printing, as an alternative to materials derived from fossil fuels.
Klarenbeek’s projects include a 3D-printed chair made out of living fungus that continues to grow, strengthening the product over time. He believes the method could eventually be used to make larger, more complex structures such as houses.
His studio, run in partnership with fellow Dutch designer Maartje Dros, was also a collaborator on a pavilion built with panels grown from mushroom mycelium.
Find out more about Eric Klarenbeek ›
Gabriela Hearst, creative director of Chloé
Born in Uruguay at her family’s remote ranch, Gabriela Hearst is a fashion designer and creative director of luxury fashion house Chloé, as well as being founder of her own eponymous label.
Hearst is best known for her forward-thinking approach to sustainability and slow-growth business ethos.
Since 2015, Hearst has committed to using deadstock fabrics, non-virgin materials and becoming plastic-free. As creative director at Chloé, Hearst was instrumental in helping the company secure a B Corp environmental certification, becoming the first luxury brand to achieve that status.
Hélène Chartier, director of urban planning and design at C40 Cities
Hélène Chartier is the director of urban planning and design for C40 Cities – a network that coordinates the decarbonisation strategies of nearly 100 of the world’s largest cities, which together make up one-quarter of the global economy.
Through projects such as the Reinventing Cities competition, she brings together architects and planners with city leaders to encourage the widespread adoption of zero-carbon building strategies.
Before joining C40, Chartier was responsible for advising visionary Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has made headlines for her approach to sustainable urban regeneration.
Find out more about Hélène Chartier ›
Photo is by Iwan Baan
Henna Burney, product designer at Atelier Luma
Henna Burney is a Columbian product designer based at Atelier Luma, a design and research laboratory in Arles, France.
She specialises in developing biomaterials and discovering new purposes for low-value materials that are often overlooked. Most recently, this saw Burney and her design partner Kalijn Sibbel create cladding made from salt, which is installed inside Frank Gehry’s tower for the Luma Foundation.
Other young designers at Atelier Luma also made biomaterial interior finishes for the Luma Foundation tower, such as algae tiles for the bathrooms and acoustic panels made from sunflower stems.
With Takt, trained physicist Henrik Taudorf Lorenson has built one of the most carbon-conscious furniture brands on the market today.
All of its products are EU Ecolabelled and made from FSC-certified wood in order to reduce their carbon footprint, which is displayed publicly on the Takt website.
The company already offsets all emissions from its products by investing in certified carbon removal projects and aims to be fully net-zero in the next 2 years.
Find out more about Takt ›
Hester van Dijk, co-founder of Overtreders W
Hester van Dijk is a co-founder and principal of Overtreders W, an Amsterdam-based spatial design studio that specialises in zero-waste architecture.
Its projects include the award-winning People’s Pavilion at the 2017 Dutch Design Week, made entirely from borrowed materials that were reused after the building was dismantled, as well as a zero-waste temporary restaurant and another reusable pavilion.
Van Dijk also founded Pretty Plastic, a startup that produces recyclable shingles from plastic waste that it claims are the first 100-per-cent-recycled cladding material.
Find out more about Overtreders W ›
Iris van Herpen, fashion designer
Known for her experimental approach to fashion, Iris van Herpen’s couture collections often focus on the qualities of water and air, with one informed by the cyclical processes of planet Earth.
As well as exploring natural biomimetic processes of the planet, many of Van Herpen’s collections are made from unusual materials such as leather alternative mycelium.
In 2020, she sat down with Dezeen for a series of three exclusive video interviews to discuss her work.
Find out more about Iris van Herpen ›
Jalila Essaïdi, CEO of Inspidere BV
Jalila Essaïdi is a Dutch artist and inventor based in Eindhoven who specialises in bio-based materials.
She is the chief executive of biotechnology company Inspidere BV and the founder of the BioArt Laboratories foundation, which provides entrepreneurs with access to biotech labs.
Among her most notable projects is a fashion collection made from recycled cow dung, which simultaneously addressed the harmful global manure surplus and the potential to turn waste into a useful material.
Find out more about Jalila Essaïdi ›
Julia Watson, designer and author
Designer and environmental activist Julia Watson is an expert in nature-based methods of dealing with the effects of climate change.
In her groundbreaking book, “Lo-Tek: Design by Radical Indigenism”, she explored how solutions to environmental issues could be found in the existing climate-resilient technologies of indigenous and traditional communities.
Watson’s eponymous studio helps find creative ways for businesses and projects to become more sustainable and symbiotic with nature.
Find out more about Julia Watson ›
Kabage Karanja and Stella Mutegi, co-founders of Cave Bureau
Kabage Karanja and Stella Mutegi are the co-founders of Cave Bureau, a Kenyan architecture and research studio focused on the relationship between buildings, infrastructure and nature.
Their work particularly tries to reconcile traditional cultures with present-day issues, such as sustainability. For Dezeen 15, Cave Bureau proposed replacing major roads in Nairobi with naturalistic “cow corridor” for Maasai people.
Find out more about Cave Bureau ›
Author Katie Treggiden
Katie Treggiden, writer and speaker
Katie Treggiden is an English writer, podcaster and speaker known for championing circular approaches to design. Her fifth, most recent book, “Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure”, explores how waste materials can be upcycled using craft techniques.
She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a membership community for designers seeking to make their creations more sustainable, and a Dezeen Awards judge.
Find out more about Katie Treggiden ›
Lena Pripp-Kovac, chief sustainability officer at IKEA
Lena Pripp-Kovac is leading IKEA’s drive to become circular and climate positive by 2030, with all its products set to be made from renewable or recycled materials and able to be reused, refurbished or recycled by that date.
The giant Swedish retailer is the highest-profile corporation to have made a commitment to circularity. In a 2019 interview with Dezeen, Pripp-Kovac described the ambition as a “change of our total business”.
Find out more about IKEA ›
Liina Klauss, artist
Liina Klauss is a German artist based in Hong Kong and Bali. Klauss describes herself as an “artivist and beach curator” and creates environmentally-centred artworks and installations from waste found along the coast.
Klauss’ practice came as a result of working in the fashion industry and witnessing the effects and reality of mass production and over-consumption. Her work aims to help viewers visualise crises such as pollution and prompt discussion.
She previously collaborated with Daniel Mitchell (see above) on the Katamama hotel in Bali, celebrated for its use of local crafts and materials, and appeared alongside him on a panel for a Dezeen talk about the project.
Lucas De Man, is an actor, director and TV presenter, as well as founder and CEO of Dutch company Biobased Creations.
Biobased Creations is leading the way in using biomaterials in its installations and events spaces. Noteworthy projects by the studio include a pavilion constructed with panels grown from mushroom mycelium and a show home built using 100 different plant-based or natural materials including seaweed, vegetable fibres and sewage.
In a 2021 interview with Dezeen, De Man laid out his belief that buildings could “definitely” soon be made exclusively from plant-based products.
Find out more about Biobased Creations ›
Marco Vermeulen, founder of Studio Marco Vermeulen
Marco Vermeulen is a Dutch architect and founder of his namesake design office Studio Marco Vermeulen. Vermeulen is known for his use of timber and raw materials to create sustainable buildings as well as his research into sustainable forestry and how it can be used to form a circular approach to construction.
Studio Marco Vermeulen has created many works that address sustainability issues and demonstrate the potential of timber in architecture, including a timber pavilion for Dutch Design Week 2019 and a design for a pair of cross-laminated timber skyscrapers.
Find out more about Studio Marco Vermeulen ›
Marie and Annica Eklund, co-founders of Bolon
Sisters Marie and Annica Eklund have headed Swedish flooring company Bolon since 2003. The family firm has been recycling vinyl and textile offcuts into woven rag rugs for over 70 years, but under their stewardship it has transformed into a global brand.
Describing their company as championing circularity, the pair have invested in a vinyl recycling plant for its factory in Sweden.
In 2017, Dezeen ran an exclusive video series with the Eklund sisters exploring Bolon’s history of sustainable design and technology.
Find out more about Bolon ›
Marie Cudennec Carlisle, CEO and co-founder of Goldfinger
Marie Cudennec Carlisle accredits her affection for nature to her upbringing in rural Hong Kong. She co-founded her studio, Goldfinger, in 2017 alongside Oliver Waddington-Ball and continues to lead the firm as CEO.
Goldfinger is a social enterprise that makes furniture using only recycled wood – but rather than a “shabby chic” aesthetic it intends for its pieces to be high-end and long-lasting.
“It’s about creating beautiful objects that don’t look recycled,” Cudennec Carlisle told Dezeen in an interview. “I want someone to say, ‘I want that table’, even if they are not interested in people or planet. By buying it, they are supporting the social and environmental benefits.”
Marina Tabassum, founder of Marina Tabassum Architects
Marina Tabassum is a Bangladeshi architect who works exclusively in her home country, specialising in buildings constructed from local materials and designed to improve the lives of low-income communities.
Her Khudi Bari modular houses are an eminent example of climate-resilient architecture, able to be easily moved to escape flooding and with elevated sleeping space to avoid the water.
She was recently awarded the Soane Medeal for architecture, with the jury remarking: “All her work is underpinned by a focus on sustainability and Tabassum is truly leading the conversation about the ways in which architecture, people and planet interact.”
Find out more about Marina Tabassum ›
Marjan van Aubel, designer
Marjan van Aubel earned a place on this list through her innovative work proving the varied potential of solar power.
The young Dutch designer has developed ingenious small products like a table with a solar panel in its surface for charging gadgets, as well as large installations like the vast solar panel skylight created for the Netherlands pavilion at the 2020 Dubai Expo, intended to show that solar can be beautiful.
Van Aubel is also the co-founder of The Solar Biennale, which will take place for the first time this year in Rotterdam.
Find out more about Marjan van Aubel ›
Michael Green, founder of Michael Green Architecture
His eponymous studio designed T3, which was the largest mass timber building in the United States when it was completed in 2016. It is now working on a timber office building in New Jersey nearly twice the size of T3.
Find out more about Michael Green Architecture ›
Michael Pawlyn, co-founder of Architects Declare
Michael Pawlyn is an architect who specialises in the concepts of biomimicry and regenerative design that is beneficial for the planet, humans and other species.
He carries out much of his work with Exploration Architecture, the studio that he founded in 2007. One of its most notable projects is The Sahara Forest Project in Qatar – a seawater-cooled greenhouse that replicates the physiology of a beetle to create freshwater and grow crops within the hostile landscape.
In 2019, Pawlyn also co-initiated Architects Declare, a network of architecture studios that has pledged to help tackle the climate and biodiversity crises.
Find out more about Michael Pawlyn ›
Nick Shute and Stefan Dodds, co-founders of Dodds & Shute
Nick Shute and Stefan Dodds are co-founders of London design consultancy and procurement firm Dodds & Shute, which has a track record in convincing clients to go for sustainable options.
Together, they have made the firm a case study for positive change in the furniture industry, developing a method of calculating the carbon footprint of every Dodds & Shute project and then mitigating for this impact.
Dodds & Shute also devised and conducted an environmental audit of furniture brands, warning that the sector is “turning a blind eye” to climate issues.
A young Dutch designer who is leading in the use of biomaterials and changing perspectives on environmental problems in the textile industry, Nienke Hoogvliet founded her studio for material research and design in 2013.
Hoogvliet’s projects include bowls and tables made from waste toilet paper and a furniture collection made from seaweed and algae.
In 2019, she appeared on a panel at the Dezeen Day conference where she urged an end to the production of plastics.
Find out more about Nienke Hoogvliet ›
Nina-Marie Lister, professor of Urban & Regional Planning at Ryerson University
Nina-Marie Lister is an ecological designer and planner and an academic at Ryerson University in Toronto, where she founded the Ecological Design Lab.
In 2021, she was awarded the Margolese National Design for Living Prize for her work, which focuses on how urban landscapes can be reimagined to foster biodiversity and climate resilience as well as prioritising human wellbeing. In November, she took part in a Dezeen talk on the relationship between design and activism.
Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, founders of Notpla
Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez founded Notpla in 2014 while studying Innovation Design Engineering – a master’s programme run jointly by the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London.
Notpla is a shortening of “not plastic”, and it develops materials designed “to make packaging disappear”.
The Dezeen Award-nominated studio creates biodegradable substances from seaweed and plants, including edible sachets that can hold condiments and paper made with seaweed by-products.
Find out more about Notpla ›
Richard Hutten, designer
Richard Hutten is an influential designer from the Netherlands who creates furniture, products and interiors and is known for his playful, colourful style.
He is also a major proponent of circular design, warning in 2019 that brands that fail to embrace the circular economy will go out of business and describing plastic as “the cancer of our planet”.
Hutten’s recent projects include the creation of 27,000 airport chairs for Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport made entirely from recycled, recyclable or biodegradable materials, which he claimed reduced their carbon impact by 95 per cent relative to comparable products.
Find out more about Richard Hutten ›
Sarah Broadstock, architect at Studio Bark
Sarah Broadstock is one of seven architects who make up Studio Bark, a young London studio pioneering environmentally-conscious architecture.
With the studio, she has designed a biodegradable building made with cork and a modular construction system that encourages people to self-build and has been used as “protest architecture” by Extinction Rebellion.
While practising as an architect, Broadstock is also on the RIBA Guerilla Tactics steering group and is an active member of the Architects Climate Action Network.
Find out more about Studio Bark ›
Sebastian Cox, furniture designer
British furniture designer Sebastian Cox is a leader in using locally grown timber to make his products, as well as eliminating the carbon footprint of his business.
In a 2021 interview with Dezeen, he declared that his workshop is “already carbon negative by some long stretch” thanks to sourcing wood from a forest that is never cut down faster than it regenerates.
Cox has also urged designers to understand how the carbon cycle could be used as a resource to help improve sustainability.
Find out more about Sebastian Cox ›
Smith Mordak, director of sustainability at Buro Happold
As the director of sustainability at engineering firm Buro Happold and founder of award-winning architecture practices Interrobang and Studio Weave, Smith Mordak works across disciplines to decarbonise the built environment.
They engage directly with policymakers to affect broader systemic changes beyond their own projects, acting as design advocate to London mayor Sadiq Khan as well as editing the landmark Built for the Environment Report released by RIBA and Architects Declare ahead of the COP 26 climate conference last year.
In their personal life, Mordak declared themselves carbon neutral in 2020 after slashing their footprint by giving up air travel and becoming vegan.
Find out more about Smith Mordak ›
Sophie Thomas, partner at Thomas.Matthews
Sophie Thomas is a British designer and environmentalist, who co-founded the London sustainable communication-design studio Thomas.Matthews.
Through various projects and initiatives, such as The Great Recovery, a pioneering project that explored the circular potential of different materials, Thomas has become a leading voice in the discussion about how organisations can reduce their carbon impacts and the role for designers.
She previously wrote a list of 10 steps for designers seeking to reduce the emissions caused by their products for Dezeen, as well as auditing the carbon impact of our Dezeen Day conference in 2019.
Find out more about Sophie Thomas ›
Stefano Boeri, founder of Stefano Boeri Architetti
Stefano Boeri is an Italian architect known for spearheading Vertical Forests – a building concept where the facades of towers are covered with plants to encourage biodiversity in urban areas.
Boeri has masterminded Vertical Forests all over the world, including Antwerp’s Palazzo Verde, a social housing tower with 10,000 plants in Eindhoven and an apartment complex in China.
The architect is also responsible for Milan’s Forestami project, which plans to plant “one tree for every inhabitant” in the city, and has recently authored a book called “Green Obsession: Trees Towards Cities, Humans Towards Forests”, launched with a talk for Dezeen.
Find out more about Stefano Boeri ›
Stella McCartney, fashion designer
Stella McCartney is a British fashion designer and founder of her eponymous luxury fashion house, which centres on sustainable design and an ethical approach to fashion.
Under McCartney’s direction the house has pioneered use of sustainable material alternatives, developing clothing from mycelium and a vegan, spiderweb-like silk. In 2021, McCartney joined world leaders as the fashion industry’s representative at the G7 summit.
In a 2018 interview with Dezeen, she called for “new laws on designers” to force them to take responsibility for the sustainability of their products.
Find out more about Stella McCartney ›
Sumayya Vally, founder of Counterspace
Sumayya Vally is a South African architect whose work as the head of the Johannesburg-based studio Counterspace is strongly focused on supporting communities and explores issues such as education, migration and ethnicity as well as sustainability.
Counterspace designed last year’s Serpentine Pavilion out of timber and other biomaterials. Construction consultant AECOM declared the structure carbon negative, claiming it removed 31 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere.
Find out more about Sumayya Vally ›
Photo is by Jaap Vork
Thomas Rau, founder of RAU Architects
Through his Amsterdam-based studio RAU Architects, Thomas Rau is an industry leader in reversible architecture. This involves designing buildings to be taken apart at the end of their lives so their materials can be reused.
Examples include an office building for Triodos Bank with a timber structure that the practice claims is “the first large-scale 100 per cent wooden, remountable office building”.
Find out more about RAU Architects ›
Valdís Steinarsdóttir, designer
Independent Icelandic designer Valdís Steinarsdóttir creates provocative products intended to show how recycled organic materials could replace synthetics to reduce waste and emissions.
Her projects include vest tops made from moulded jelly and dissolvable food packaging crafted from animal skin taken as meat industry by-products.
Find out more about Valdís Steinarsdóttir ›
Yasmeen Lari, architect and founder of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan
After abandoning a career designing glitzy commercial buildings, architect Yasmeen Lari has devoted her life to creating socially and environmentally sustainable architecture that benefits disadvantaged people.
She is also the founder of the non-profit organisation Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, through which she has built thousands of low-cost homes with low-carbon materials.
In her contribution to Dezeen 15, Lari, who was the first Pakistani woman to qualify as an architect, explained her philosophy of “barefoot social architecture”, which treads lightly on the planet by prioritising traditional construction techniques and materials such as mud and bamboo.
Find out more about Yasmeen Lari ›
Dezeen is on WeChat!
Click here to read the Chinese version of this article on Dezeen’s official WeChat account, where we publish daily architecture and design news and projects in Simplified Chinese.
Designers need to stop feeling guilty about making products and start using their creativity to become part of the climate solution, writes Katie Treggiden.
Eighty per cent of the environmental impact of an object is determined at design stage. This statistic, which is usually credited to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, often gets bandied about in discussions about sustainability, and it is absolutely true. From material choices to end-of-life considerations, by the time an object goes into production its fate is largely sealed from a sustainability point of view.
But when designers hear that statistic, what they often hear is: “80 per cent of this mess is my fault.” And it really isn’t.
By the time an object goes into production its fate is largely sealed from a sustainability point of view
A report published in 2017 found that 71 per cent of industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 could be attributed to 100 fossil fuel producers. Much like the tobacco industry before it, the energy industry has not only contributed to the problem but worked hard to curb regulations and undermine public understanding.
Oil and gas giant Exxon conducted cutting-edge climate research decades ago, and then pivoted to “work at the forefront of climate denial, manufacturing doubt about the scientific consensus that its own scientists had confirmed”, a 2015 investigation by Inside Climate News found.
In 1989, then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher gave a powerful speech at the UN. “It is mankind and his activities that are changing the environment of our planet in damaging and dangerous ways,” she warned. “Every country will be affected and no-one can opt out. Those countries who are industrialised must contribute more to help those who are not.”
These arguments were not new, even then, but coming from her they gained traction and environmentalism went mainstream.
However, Thatcher’s position was short-lived. In her autobiography, Statecraft, she writes: “By the end of my time as prime minister I was also becoming seriously concerned about the anti-capitalist arguments which the campaigners against global warming were deploying.”
And so, in a perceived trade-off between planet and profit, she chose profit.
The climate crisis might have been resolved before many of today’s designers were even born
Her policies in the UK led to urban sprawl that threatens biodiversity, to prioritising investment in roads over rail and bus services that could help us all reduce our carbon footprints, and to the privatisation of water companies that results in polluted rivers and oceans to this day.
But her influence in the Global South was even more profound. Under her leadership, Britain, together with the US, led World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation moves that forced more than 100 indebted countries to undertake now widely discredited “structural adjustment” programmes. These programmes pushed for deregulation and privatisation that paved the way for transnational farming, mining and forestry companies to exploit natural resources on a global scale.
In her autobiography she credits books by Julian Morris, Richard Lindzen and Fred Singer for her dramatic U-turn. All three authors were members of free-market think tanks receiving funding from the fossil fuel industry.
Had Exxon acted ethically on the results of its own research, had Margaret Thatcher stuck to her guns instead of being lured by the temptations of free-market economics, and had the momentum she galvanised continued, the climate crisis might have been resolved before many of today’s designers were even born.
If we’re looking to apportion blame, let’s look to enterprises making excessive profits while caring for neither people nor planet
It might well be their fault. It is certainly not yours.
But what about that statistic? If 80 per cent of the environmental impact of an object is determined at design stage, doesn’t telling designers that it’s not their fault let them off the hook? Quite the opposite.
Think about the last time you had a brilliant idea, solved a problem, or came up with an innovative solution. How were you feeling at the time? Guilty? Overwhelmed? Hopeless? I’m guessing not, because those feelings are not the soil in which creativity thrives. I’m guessing you were feeling curious, optimistic and collaborative – all the impulses that draw designers to our industry in the first place.
To design is to solve problems and this is the biggest problem humanity has ever faced
We need designers to stop feeling guilty, so they can reconnect with those feelings, tap into their creativity and become part of the solution.
The climate crisis is a “wicked problem” – a term coined by design theorist Horst Rittel to describe social or cultural problems that seem unsolvable because of their complexity, their interconnectedness, their lack of clarity, and because they are subject to real-world constraints that thwart attempts to find and test solutions.
In other words: there are no magic bullets. Previous generations might have kicked the can down the road hoping that future technology would save us, but we no longer have that luxury.
So, if you’re a designer, none of this is your fault, but it is your responsibility. To design is to solve problems and this is the biggest problem humanity has ever faced. It is not something the design industry can solve alone. Of course we need politicians and big corporations to get on board, but we can lead the way by demonstrating the power of creativity and innovation.
We have a unique, and perhaps the final, opportunity to tackle this issue head on and do something definitive. But we can’t do that mired in guilt.
To overcome the climate crisis, we need to design, not from a position of pessimism and shame, but in the mode in which we all do our best work: when we are driven by curiosity and excited about a future that, together, we can help create.
Katie Treggiden is an author, journalist, podcaster and keynote speaker championing a circular approach to design. She is the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a membership community for designer-makers who want to become more sustainable. She is also a Dezeen Awards judge.
Architects and designers have a key role to play in reducing carbon emissions, pollution and waste.
In celebration of Earth Day, which falls on 22 April every year, we compiled a list of 50 individuals and studios that are doing pioneering work – from architects exploring timber construction to designers thinking radically about circularity.
Norman Foster “to assemble the best minds” to rebuild Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Other stories in this week’s newsletter include Norman Foster’s plan for the “rehabilitation” of Kharkiv, Thomas Heatherwick’s tree-covered sculpture design for Buckingham Palace and an exclusive interview with British artist duo Langlands & Bell.
Dezeen Agenda
Dezeen Agenda is a curated newsletter sent every Tuesday containing the most important news highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Agenda or subscribe here.
You can also subscribe to Dezeen Debate, which is sent every Thursday and contains a curated selection of highlights from the week, as well as Dezeen Daily, our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours on Dezeen.
Jet Geaghan is an Architect based in Woods Bagot’s Sydney studio. For Jet, every building should be conceived with purpose, expertise and wit. Clarity of communication is fundamental to his work, whether it be in a design gesture, construction detail, or cultural testimony.
Artificial Intelligence is the Frankenstein’s creature of the digital era. The possibility of the invention surpassing the inventor beguiles our collective imagination – conjuring emotions as far-ranging as hope, trepidation and even fear. Unnerving reports of a Google chatbot displaying sentience in June plays on our conscious, forcing us to consider the ramifications of an AI that fears us as much as we fear it.
The quickening pace of AI’s development is both alarming and exciting, fuelling speculation about our own obsolescence. It once seemed irrefutable – even amongst the pioneers of machine intelligence – that only humans could create art. Now, image generation AI like DALL E-2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion use machine learning neural networks to create original, breathtakingly realistic images from a text description that would look as at home on a gallery wall as they would as concept images in an architectural bid (see fig.1).
These algorithms challenge humanity’s ownership of creativity as we know it, but they do not herald the designer’s last days. Instead, AI will be harnessed as a powerful tool that (1) allows for time better spent and (2) unlocks new dimensions of creative ideation. Both functions will synthesize the role of the designer towards a more productive, augmented future.
Time Better Spent
Using real data from Woods Bagot timesheets over the period of one year, this diagram postulates the gains in productivity that AI could provide by automating repetitious tasks across different project phases. The time freed up could be funneled back into meaningful design tasks – resulting in better use of resources and better outcomes for clients and end users.
The history of technological advancement is defined by massive leaps forward that have seen time-consuming, repetitive processes automated, fundamentally changing what humans can produce. AI continues this tradition by rapidly becoming more affordable and higher performing. Stanford University’s 2022 AI Index Report shows that the cost to train an image classification system has decreased by 63.6%, while training times have improved by 94.4% since 2018. The result of the swift development of AI is that designers – hired for their creative reasoning and expertise – could be freed from the bonds of mundane tasks.
These were developed with DALL-E 2 in a 20-minute timeframe, using variations around the prompt ‘feature lobby staircase with soft background lighting at night.’ Rather than generating a design, AI generated images help to quickly explore mood, materiality and character for early concepts.
In our inexorably visual world, AI like DALL E-2, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney streamline the image-making process. Today’s design concepts are expected to be communicated with photorealism and multi-dimensional dynamism for clients or buyers to assess. For designers, image production is a painstakingly meticulous and lengthy process, requiring precision and ingenuity in equal parts. Image generating AI, which produces beautiful visuals in minutes, dampens these pressures.
Even the smallest amendment to existing imagery can take many hours in human hands. With careful design supervision, an algorithm can produce sketch-like illustrations of space and mood in minutes. Here is an image of an abandoned power station placed next to an image of that space reimagined with DALL-E 2 as a contemporary hotel reception celebrating its industrial history.
These new tools give designers a speedy visual foundation on which to build an aesthetic, while still allowing them the depth of inquiry and emotional reasoning pivotal to the development of strong design concepts. The process of drawing a design unveils as many problems as it does solutions – image generating AI allows designers to arrive at the problem-solving stage quicker.
Unlocked Creative Ideation
AI presents a radical new method for exploring ideas that are liberated from the distraction and friction of architectural realities. Through these new methods of discovery, we see creativity redefined as something shared with AI.
Visions of New York City in an alternate future, created with DALL-E 2 (left) and Midjourney (right).
Unembarrassed and unencumbered by accepted strictures, image generating AI tests the bounds of convention by producing limitless possibilities. Though more whimsical than workable for now, these fresh visual takes on design briefs see AI push creative ideation – creating room for the unexpected. By providing DALL-E 2 with a number of text prompts we’re able to see a New York City in an alternate future – its iconic brownstone and leafy Central Park reimagined in entirely novel configurations.
This exploration challenges human assumptions of creative authorship, reframing it as something shared with AI. Though the ruling has since been overturned, the Australian Federal court’s 2021 decision to permit AI systems to be named as the inventor on Australian patent applications is a strong indicator of this incoming overhaul of our understanding of creativity.
Designers develop new ways as well as new things. The future will see designers explore the potential of using AI to improve working processes – unburdening their talent for exploration of ideas, testing, decision making and evaluation. Visualisation tools are already used for testing the success of different materials or geometries before committing to their application, or to measure variables like acoustics, daylighting and airflow. As it develops, AI of this ilk can clarify these judgments – making for easier decision making and better built outcomes.
Here is a photograph of the 275 Kent Street redevelopment, Sydney. Below is a DALL-E 2 interpretation of the key parameters of the brief.
What this comparison illustrates is that, while compelling, this tool cannot digest important factors like context, functionality or human experience. AI imagery cannot replace the understanding, inquiry and decisions of a designer.
AI’s capacity for the testing of ideas is demonstrative of how it will revolutionize workflow and electrify the creativity of design practitioners. Yet it is the directing and evaluating of ideas that requires human judgement to drive the preferred outcome. Design is decision-making, and that remains inherently human.
An Augmented Future
The evolution of AI and design move in tandem. Rather than be replaced, the next generation of designers will be collaborators with AI. This necessitates a new skillset: the adaptive reasoning to evaluate and synthesize the work of machines and a fluency in the computational logic that underpins AI creativity. The designers of the future will focus on creative investigations that require appraisal, interpretation, and sophisticated empathy – such as how a building connects with its site, the cultural ramifications of manufacture or construction, the lived experiences of inhabitants, communities and visitors and the ongoing strain on climate, ecologies and finite resources.
The role of designers has always evolved as new instruments have emerged, but the vitalness of a distinctly human judgement to wield these instruments remains the throughline. To deliver empathetic, reasoned designs, AI needs the human-hand. Likewise, for unrestrained ideation and visual streamlining, delegating to AI will become a necessity in the competitive architectural marketplace. This reciprocal relationship that makes AI a tool that will develop alongside its trade, not one that will leave it behind.
How can architecture be a force for good in our ever-changing world? During Future Fest, we’ll pose this question to some of the world’s best architects. Launching in September, our three-week-long virtual event will be 100% free to attend. Register here!
Architizer Journal is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad P Series Mobile Workstations have been a huge hit amongst architects, designers and other industry professionals. Through their compact design, robust performance abilities and reliability, these devices embody everything it means to be a designer in the 21st century, merging old-school design principles with modern-day technology. Just last month Lenovo introduced the newThinkPad P1 Gen 5 16” Mobile Workstation.
The latest in the Thinkpad series boasts the portability of its predecessors with some new and improved features that make for a relaxed and smooth work experience. Despite its sleek appearance, this device is powerful and offers the best of the latest Intel vPro® platform, Core™ H Series processors and NVIDIA® graphics, meaning it can easily handle the demands of rendering and real-time visualization.
The device is made of a liquid metal thermal design which ensures that it stays cool, while its Carbon-Fiber weave cover is sleek in appearance, making it discreet and professional for meetings and presentations. The 16’’ touchscreen is anti-glare and produces an advanced color quality through its X-Rite Factory Colour Calibration. By correcting the RGB color, designers can confidently edit designs and communicate rendering changes. Additionally, the backlit keyboard provides clear visibility for designers working on their computer for long periods of time. Meanwhile, the 12th Generation Intel Core i7-12700H Processor ensures a smooth and efficient work experience.
Since its release, reviews have been broadly positive, with one user Amazon user declaring that “the screen looks great, clear and crisp, very bright and also has a night mode. Speakers have a clear sound and are loud.” They also tout the workstation’s security options as a plus point: “You can login by using your fingerprint, face recognition, or use a pin instead.”
This new model can be categorized by its pronounced comfort and reliability. Designers spend a great deal of time in front of their screen and to help avoid eye strain and maximize comfort, the ThinkPad P1 Gen 5 comes with a low blue light. Additionally, with its rapid battery charge of up to 80% in 60 minutes, this computer supports on-the-go designers who require a speedy device ready to use throughout the workday. The computer comes preloaded with the ThinkShield security suite, a fingerprint reader, encryption capabilities and a self-healing BIOS, which allows designers to safely store their drawings.
Since the mobile workstation is portable, the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 5 is made to withstand any environment. Whether it be at a construction site, on the train or in the studio, Lenovo’s integrated US Department of Defense’s MIL-STD 810H standards ensures that the device can withstand virtually any climate or condition.
TheThinkPad P1 Gen 5 16” Mobile Workstation is now available for purchase and is a great device for architects looking to increase comfort while prioritizing quality design.
For more laptops and workstation recommendations for architects, checkout 15 Top Laptops for Architects and Designers, and watch out for more in our Tech for Architects series, coming soon.
Images courtesy of Lenovo, with sample screenshots added.
The Radford Gallery’s debut exhibition brings together a series of work on fringes of design, art and craft that the curator found on Instagram.
Titled Uncommon Found, the exhibition physically showcases work by contemporary makers, artists and designers who usually display their work on Instagram.
Top: a collection of lamps by Amelia Stevens, John Henshaw, Matthew Verdon, Isabel Alonso, Elliot Barnes and Carsten in der Elst were displayed in a fabric-lined room. Above: 19 designers showcased work at the exhibition
“The key part of this exhibition for me had always been for people to see work in real life that otherwise they would only see on their Instagram feed,” said Radford Gallery founder Max Radford.
“When people came to visit the show they would ask if they could sit on or touch the pieces and often seemed surprised when the answer was yes,” he told Dezeen.
A trio of etched furniture by Katy Brett and a piece by Eduard Barniol were placed beneath a print by Ben Dawson
Founded in 2020, The Radford Gallery put out an open call for its debut exhibition, Uncommon Found, after recognising a lack of shows of its kind in London.
“The Gallery came into existence as myself and some Instagram, now real life, friends would be prowling peoples pages looking at all this amazing tactile work being made on the boundaries of art and design but you never got to see it in the flesh, only the perfectly angled Instagram image,” said Radford.
A sand and turmeric painting by Meryl Yana was placed above pulp stools by Nicholas Sanderson
“We knew the work was being made here but there didn’t seem to be the gallery structure to show it, so we decided to do it,” said Radford.
“I was already aware of quite a few artists and designers through Instagram but was also aware that the algorithm would only let me see so much… in order to try and reach as many people as possible, we put out an open call.”
Plank stool by Carsten in der Elst, Dross Table by Rashmi Badisaria and The Snoopy Table by Eddie Olin
The exhibition took place at Hackney Downs Studio in east London and although the work did not share a common theme, the 19 designers presented functional, interactive and sculptural pieces to be physically seen, used and touched.
A four-layered chair by set and furniture designer Jaclyn Pappalardo was upholstered in tones of ecru while Eduard Barniol created a striped-sock wearing, four-legged side table crafted from branches that were stripped of bark.
“I am particularly fascinated by the process behind Rashmi Bidasaira‘s ‘Dross’ Collection where she has been able to use the waste product of steel production to create a new material to make her works out of with the pieces themselves having a beautiful form,” said Radford.
“Also Nicholas Sanderson‘s cardboard pulp-based ‘History of a Future’ series of stools, where the pulp has been coated around a found stool to transform them into ethereal objects.”
A red and orange gingham print by Amy Johnston covers the wall above a wooden console by Lewis Kemmenoe
Shaped like, and etched with ornate imagery from pieces of found porcelain, a trio of plywood chairs by Katy Brett combine the decorative style of the arts and crafts movement with fragmented, primitive forms.
London-based designer, Elliot Barnes presented a collection of steel objects including an orange-hued leather chaise lounge, a rotating half-light and a part-oak smoking perch.
A tubular-legged chair titled Cove Chair by Lewis Kemmenoe
Radford told Dezeen that the title of the exhibition came from an amalgamation of the wide array of works presented at the show as well as the 2013 British Land Exhibition, Uncommon Ground.
“The title for the show is a bastardization of the British Land Art exhibition Uncommon Ground from 2013 by the Arts Council,” he said.
“The show had a profound effect on my own practice at the time and has always been at the back of my mind. ‘Uncommon Found’ seemed like a perfect title to sum up the width and breadth of works we were showing.”
A sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Coulomb
Uncommon Found is the first of a series of cultural collaborations between Max Radford and Hackney Downs Studios.
The partnership stemmed from both Radford and Hackney Down Studios’ shared interest in providing a platform to showcase grassroots and local design talent. Works exhibited in the show can still be viewed by appointment via the gallery.
A stepped sculpture carved from Whitbed limestone by Samuel Collins was placed beside three vases by Tessa Silva
Founded in 2020 by Max Radford, The Radford Gallery aims to forge an honest, democratic and supportive space for makers and emerging artists.
Recently, Olivier Garcé transformed his New York home into a show space for contemporary art and design.
While New York’s Friedman Benda gallery showcased Split Personality, an exhibition that explores the value of design objects.
