Cornstarch-foam shelves meet mycelium display plinths in this London store that Nina + Co has designed for bioplastic eyewear brand MONC.
Nestled among a parade of high-end shops in Marylebone, MONC sells glasses made from bio-acetate – an acetate produced completely without fossil fuels – which are packaged using recycled leather cases and compostable cornstarch foam.
The first MONC eyewear location sits along a row of shops in Marylebone
When local studio Nina + Co was brought in to design MONC’s debut store, the team was keen to incorporate biomaterials throughout the interior, while also taking the brand’s short-term lease of the retail unit into account.
“Circularity was key,” said the studio. “Almost everything we brought into that building was entirely bio-based or recycled.”
“The furniture is expertly built to last but can be disassembled for re-use, recycling or return to the earth as nourishment.”
The store features a ceiling installation made from cornstarch foam
Upon entering the store, visitors find themselves under an undulating ceiling installation crafted from corrugated panels of cornstarch foam.
Thicker blocks of the material were used to create rows of squishy-looking shelves, which can be used for packaging or simply dissolved in water when they eventually start to show signs of wear and tear.
The foam was also used to form small shelves
Display plinths made out of mycelium – the vegetative part of a fungus – were dotted across the store to showcase different eyewear models.
In between the shelves, a couple of long mirrors are balanced on hunks of concrete that were salvaged from roadworks nearby.
A recycled PET island sits at the centre of the store beside mycelium display plinths
The craggy concrete was chosen as a subtle nod to the rugged Dolomite mountains, which can be seen from the Italian town where all MONC eyewear is produced.
Nina + Co worked closely alongside Welsh manufacturers Smile Plastics and London joiner EJ Ryder to design the store’s recycled PET island and bench seat, which are an apricot-orange hue.
As both furniture pieces were joined with mechanical bolts rather than glues, they can easily be taken apart, flat packed and transported to a different MONC store for reuse.
Walls throughout the interior were finished with VOC-free clay paint while the unit’s existing floor was covered with a water-based sealant.
The plastic was also used to form a bench seat
“Previous tenants had ripped up their floor to leave a plywood subfloor, with markings of the adhesive still evident and some paint bucket outlines,” the studio explained.
“After a test patch, we were convinced that a simple water-based sealant would give it a beautiful depth and sheen with the industrial feel of concrete [while being] kinder to the planet and the budget.”
Walls were washed with a calming clay paint
MONC is one of five projects shortlisted in the small retail interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
It’s going head-to-head with the Durat showroom by Linda Bergroth, which is decked out in an unusual mix of colours, and Aesop’s Yorkville store by Odami with its oxblood-red balusters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 London Fire Brigade has unveiled its updated typeface designed by Studio Sutherl& and The Foundry Types at the Running Towards exhibition of graphic artworks informed by the organisation’s design heritage.
The Running Towards exhibition took place at the Shoreditch Fire Station during the London Design Festival, with visitors entering through the building’s big red shutters into a display of artworks created by UK designers.
The exhibition took place at Shoreditch Fire Station
The new Fire Brigade Sans typeface, created by Studio Sutherl& and The Foundry Types, was displayed on the exterior of Shoreditch Fire Station.
Its design was informed by the lettering of old fire engines and on the facade, the typeface was printed in the red, yellow and gold colours synonymous with fire engines.
Studio Sutherl& designed London Fire Brigade’s new typeface
To celebrate the typeface, London Fire Brigade collaborated with communications agency KesselsKramer, writer Thomas Sharp, Studio Sutherl& and carpet manufacturer Brintons on the exhibition, which saw designers create their own interpretations of the organisation’s design heritage.
Among the pieces on show were graphic interpretations of the Danger Risk of Fire safety sign, a bespoke carpet with a pattern informed by the universal fire exit sign and firefighting objects and items from Shoreditch Fire Station’s own collection.
London Fire Brigade’s typeface Fire Brigade Sans was featured on posters
KesselsKramer described the showcase as “a celebration of London Fire Brigade’s bravery, aiming to inspire that very same spirit within ourselves.”
The studio invited 25 London-based designers to recreate the fire safety symbol for their display, titled Warning: Risk of Fire.
“It felt appropriate that for London Fire Brigade’s inaugural Design Festival exhibition, a piece of graphic design synonymous with the fire service became the focus,” said KesselsKramer.
Franz Lang’s design tells the story of her grandma’s cat
Presented on triangular signs, each artwork was designed to tell a story of firefighting bravery. Graphic artist Jimmy Turrell‘s interpretation was dedicated to his father who was a firefighter.
Illustrator Franz Lang‘s entry represented the story of her grandma’s cat, who was rescued from a tree by the fire brigade.
“This is such an iconic location for an art show,” said Lauren Coutts, art director at KesselsKramer. “To get a rare glimpse into a fire station is very exciting in itself so to then be able to celebrate bravery here, in so many forms, feels very special.”
Brintons created a bespoke wool carpet for The Running Towards exhibition, which features a pattern informed by the universal fire exit symbol.
Brintons designed a carpet to display at The Running Towards exhibition
Burgundy and navy chevrons repeat along the length of the carpet with arrows and stick figures that reference the fire exit sign. According to Brintons, the carpet is made from wool to exemplify the material’s naturally fire-retardant properties.
“As a material, wool contains a higher water and nitrogen content than other man-made fibres making it a naturally fire-retardant material,” said Brintons.
“Another benefit is that it does not emit smoke or fumes, often one of the main causes of serious health issues following a fire.”
The exhibition showcased graphic posters in a colour palette that references fire engines
Other exhibitions that took place during London Design Festival include a collection of wooden objects made from a dying ash tree and a sculptural stone installation that references Stonehenge.
The photography is courtesy of the London Fire Brigade.
The Running Towards took place between 20 and 24 September as part of London Design Festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
Reclaimed architectural timber and wood from a felled street tree form the furnishings of two hotel suites that designer Jan Hendzel has revamped for London’s Town Hall Hotel in time for London Design Festival.
Suites 109 and 111 are set on the first floor of the Town Hall Hotel, which is housed in a converted Grade II-listed town hall in Bethnal Green dating back to 1910.
Each of the apartment-style suites features a living room with a kitchen alongside a bedroom and en-suite, which Hendzel has outfitted with bespoke furnishings. Like all of the furniture maker’s pieces, these are crafted exclusively from British timbers.
Jan Hendzel has overhauled suites 109 (top) and 111 (above) of the Town Hall Hotel
But for his first interiors project, Hendzel took an even more hyper-local approach with the aim of finding all of the necessary products inside the M25 – the motorway that encircles the British capital.
“We started out with the idea that we could source everything within London,” he told Dezeen during a tour of the suites.
“Some timbers have come from Denmark Hill, some are reclaimed from Shoreditch. And we used Pickleson Paint, which is a company just around the corner, literally two minutes from here.”
The living area of suite 111 features green upholstery by Yarn Collective
The reclaimed timber came in the form of pinewood roof joists and columns, which Hendzel found at an architectural salvage yard.
These had to be scanned with a metal detector to remove any nails or screws so they could be machined into side tables and tactile wire-brushed domes used to decorate the suites’ coffee tables.
Rippled wooden fronts finish the kitchen in both suites
In Suite 111, both the dining table and the rippled kitchen fronts are made from one of the many plane trees that line the capital’s streets, giving them the nickname London plane.
“This London plane is super special because it has come from a tree that was taken up outside Denmark Hill train station in Camberwell,” Hendzel explained. “We couldn’t find timber from Bethnal Green but it’s the closest we could get.”
The dining table in suite 111 is made from London plane
For other pieces, materials had to be sourced from further afield – although all are either made in the UK or by UK-based brands.
Hendzel used British ash and elm to craft mirrors and benches with intricate hand-carved grooves for the suites, while the patterned rugs in the living areas come from West London studio A Rum Fellow via Nepal.
“People in the UK don’t make rugs, so you have to go further afield,” Hendzel said. “Same with the upholstery fabrics. You could get them here but if they are quadruple your budget, it’s inaccessible.”
Hendzel’s aim for the interior scheme was to create a calm, pared-back version of a hotel room, stripping away all of the “extra stuff” and instead creating interest through rich textural contrasts.
This is especially evident in the bespoke furniture pieces, which will now become part of his studio’s permanent collection.
Among them is the Wharf coffee table with its reclaimed wooden domes, worked with a wire brush to expose the intricate graining of the old-growth timber and offset against a naturally rippled tabletop.
“It’s a genetic defect of the timber, but it makes it extra special and catches your eye,” Hendzel said.
Grooves were hand-carved into the surfaces of mirrors and benches featured throughout the suites
The coffee table, much like the nearby Peng dining chair, is finished with faceted knife-drawn edges reminiscent of traditional stone carving techniques. But while the table has a matt finish, the chair is finished with beeswax so its facets will reflect the light.
Unexpected details such as loose-tongue joints, typically used to make tables, distinguish the Mowlavi sofa and armchair, while circular dowels draw attention to the wedge joint holding together their frames.
Reclaimed architectural timber was used to bedside tables in room 109
Alongside the bespoke pieces, Hendzel incorporated existing furniture pieces such as the dresser from his Bowater collection, presented at LDF in 2020. Its distinctive undulating exterior was also translated into headboards for the bedrooms and cabinet fronts for the kitchens.
These are paired with crinoid marble worktops from the Mandale quarry in Derby, with roughly-hewn edges offset against a perfectly smooth surface that reveals the fossils calcified within.
“It’s a kajillion years old and it’s got all these creatures from many moons ago that have fallen into the mud and died,” Hendzel said. “But then, when they get polished up, they look kind of like Ren and Stimpy.”
A rippled headboard features in both suites
Going forwards, the Town Hall Hotel plans to recruit other local designers to overhaul its remaining 94 rooms.
Other installations on show as part of LDF this year include a collection of rotating public seating made from blocks of granite by designer Sabine Marcelis and an exhibition featuring “sympathetic repairs” of sentimental objects as the V&A museum.
London Design Festival 2022 takes place from 17-25 September 2022. See our London Design Festival 2022 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.
Dezeen School Shows: an app that makes use of disused car parks and a community cafe feature in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at the University of the Arts London.
Also included is a museum that examines the role of female workers in the industrial revolution and a scheme that aims to integrate the physical and digital worlds to connect people to their surroundings.
“Camberwell College of Arts is a renowned art and design college. We give students the space to explore their creativity. Staff will support and challenge you to rethink current practices. Our facilities embrace both traditional craftsmanship and digital technology.
“Our design and fine art courses will make you think about your social responsibility, as well as develop your critical and making skills.
“View our recent graduate’s work online at the Graduate Showcase website.
“Join our online and on-site open days to learn more about Camberwell College of Arts and our courses. Click here for more information.
“For the following projects, Camberwell’s BA Interior and Spatial Design students collaborated with students at IED Kunsthal, a design university located in Bilbao, Spain.
“Students focused on the regeneration of Zorrotzaurre, a post-industrial area of Bilbao built on an artificial island.
“The project’s aim was to design proposals for a former biscuit factory site, which required remote online working with students at IED Kunsthal as they researched and explored the area together.
“Each student created a map of the urban landscape through a variety of media including textiles, projection and interaction.
“Some Camberwell students also visited the site in Bilbao, where they exhibited their urban fabric mappings of the current condition of Zorrotzaurre and design proposals for the future of the island.
“They also took part in a show at the university, as well as delivered presentations and workshops as part of the DRS2022.”
Community and the Vernacular: Physical and Virtual by Lea Fakhouri
“Community and the Vernacular is an expansion of my thesis around the idea that people in today’s society are considered inert consumers that only use the spaces that they inhabit, and are not actually part of the process of designing them.
“My project explores the merging of the physical and digital world to help revitalise the connection between people and space.
“The physical world houses six separate pavilions suspended across the site of the Artiach Cookie Factory in Bilbao, Spain.
“The virtual world houses the united pavilions suspended together to represent the capabilities of the community to inform and transform its topography.”
Student:Lea Fakhouri Course: BA Interior and Spatial Design
Mobile Community Repair Cafes by Mia Bizard
“Using my research on themes exploring accessibility, connection and communities, this project continues my investigation into the architecture of connection – connecting people, city, and environment.
“Proposing a series of workshops and gallery spaces that essentially become repair cafes, all connected with foldable canopies, this project promotes the reduction of waste and sustainable, social community-focused lifestyles.
“The idea is to bridge and connect these places – located around the island of Zorrotzaurre in Bilbao, Spain – as well as the local community through this fragmented series of spaces.
“It aims to empower residents to take an active part in shaping their communities, as well as building on the legacy of the site by adding a participatory and engaging design that will help promote and attract people to the area.”
Student:Mia Bizard Course: BA Interior and Spatial Design
Zorrotzaurre’s Art District by Maya Hammoud
“The project offers a unique experience to its visitors by taking them through a ‘designed walk’ across three spaces: a gallery, an auditorium and a multi-purpose social space.
“The project is aimed at the local community and those with a common interest in Bilbao’s growing art scene.
“The spatial layout explores the act of observing, using thresholds and viewports to make visitors see, experience and question their surroundings.
“The aim of using viewports as a tool for observing fragments of other spaces, allowing sudden interactions to happen between visitors.
“It also forms a deeper understanding of visitor experiences and how it is influenced by the creation of space.”
Student: Maya Hammoud Course: BA Interior and Spatial Design
Time Traveller by Qiao Wang
“I created a temporary exhibition to promote local cultural heritage in Zorrotzaurre, Bilbao, Spain.
“This solar-powered installation is based on the simplified shape of Zorrotzaurre, which is intended to provide visitors with a quick tour of the island.
“To arouse the interest of visitors, they will feel as if they are exploring the maze while walking inside the installation, just like they are discovering and seeking knowledge in an unfamiliar city.
“This project promotes the industrial heritage culture of the region to visitors from all over the world while boosting the local tourism economy and providing educational cultural dissemination.
“In the installation, I used the pulley structure of the factory and woven fabric, which was inspired by my map. All materials used are sustainable.”
Student: Qiao Wang Course: BA Interior and Spatial Design
Fabric-Women-Museum by Shiyuan Liu
“Fabric-Women-Museum aims to spatialise the inequalities suffered by women in the workplace during the industrial revolution.
“The project is based on research into the history of Artiach during the industrial revolution when approximately 80 per cent of the workers were women.
“Although Artiach offered work opportunities for women, their working conditions and treatment were poor.
“The design translates the inequality of women in the workplace into four thematic rooms: control, inconvenience, isolation and vulnerability.
“The interactive exhibition helps visitors understand the conditions suffered by women workers in workspaces during the industrial revolution.”
Student: Shiyuan Liu Course: BA Interior and Spatial Design
(Junk)scape – Rethinking and Recycling Non-Places by Kiwi Chan
“This project represents creative ways to transform car parks from non-place, anonymous spaces to ones with urban character.
“The (Junk)scape app is a system and service that proposes efficient uses for ‘wasted’ spaces and energy around ‘non-places’ i.e. car parks.
“This app rethinks and recycles underutilised parking lots by using a renting and scheduling system.
“My primary design proposal for my rented ‘non- place’ explores ‘placeless’ people, in hopes to provide support for the local homeless community and raise awareness around this ‘invisible class’ through film.
“This proposal also aims to incorporate responsible involvement with Bizitegi, a non-profit organisation that contributed to the construction of services for individuals from the worlds of exclusion and mental illness in Bilbao.”
Student:Kiwi Chan Course: BA Interior and Spatial Design
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the University of the Arts London. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
A rattan cast created to protect the damaged wing of a toy puffin and a fractured plate held together with steel staples feature in R for Repair, an exhibition of repaired objects presented at the V&A museum as part of London Design Festival.
Curated by Jane Withers and Hans Tan, the exhibition is the second edition of R for Repair, and follows the first iteration of the show that was held in Singapore last year.
R for Repair is on display at the V&A in London
The show presented at London’s V&A museum includes 10 damaged objects repaired by 10 different designers from Singapore or the UK. They are displayed alongside three repaired objects from the original exhibition.
Responding to an open call, members of the public were invited to contribute sentimental but broken objects to the project. Designers chosen by Withers and Tan then repaired the objects in various creative ways.
Ng Si Ying repaired a toy puffin by creating a rattan cast for its wing
Designer Ng Si Ying created a cast and belt out of rattan and thread for Graham Secrets, a toy puffin owned by UK-based Oli Stratford, which was a gift from the owner’s parents on his 30th birthday.
Originally made by Danish silversmith and designer Kay Bojesen in 1954, the object was damaged by Stratford’s cat. Ying created a cast for the puffin’s wing in Singapore using an intricate weaving technique.
Rio Kobayashi used Japanese joinery to adapt an antique sewing chest
“We wanted to pair designers who would be sympathetic to the owner’s emotional attachment and what are often quite moving stories behind the objects and why the owners treasure them, but might also have an unexpected take on the object and add new layers of meaning, enriching this evolving narrative of ownership,” Withers told Dezeen.
“We also looked for designers who might bring interesting techniques and unexpected experimentation to the repairs.”
The chest now has space to display drawings and paintings
Another object repaired for the 2022 edition of the exhibition is an 18th-century antique sewing chest owned by Eleanor Suggett Stephens in the UK, which she inherited from her grandmother.
Suggett Stephens discovered that the chest contained previously unseen sketches and watercolour paintings by her grandmother, who wanted to be an artist but never achieved her dream.
Other objects include a repaired doll’s house by Studiomama
London-based designer Rio Kobayashi used traditional Japanese joinery techniques to raise the furniture’s feet, and also created a large tabletop designed to display and celebrate the secret artwork.
Kobayashi used walnut, ash, cherry, sapele, paint and glass to repair the chest, which Suggett Stephens said “represents that creative dream which never happened for [my grandma] and reminds me how fortunate I am to have a career in the arts.”
Studio Dam put a broken plate back together with staples
Other objects in the exhibition include a porcelain dinner plate that broke down the middle and was repaired with steel staples and epoxy glue by Studio Dam in Singapore.
British owners Karen Birkin and screenwriter Andrew Birkin, brother of actor Jane Birkin, submitted the plate for repair with an entirely open brief. Andrew Birkin quipped that Studio Dam could make a spaceship out of it.
In response, the multidisciplinary studio took visual cues from Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Andrew Birkin worked on early in his career.
Studio Dam was informed by juci, a traditional Chinese porcelain repair technique that involves the use of metal staples.
At the V&A, the objects are presented on bright yellow boxes
“On one hand, the primary motivation was to bring creativity to repair through design,” explained Tan, discussing the exhibition.
“At the same time, we thought having designers and objects from two countries would add a dimension to the project as a design and cultural exchange.”
Tzen Chia playfully repaired a glass bottle for an anonymous owner
Withers also added that the exhibition intends to celebrate the process of repair and encourage the idea of giving possessions a second life.
“I think it is important to broaden the discussion around repair and explore the psychological as well as functional dimension,” concluded Withers.
“To understand why we keep things and how that can inform the design of products. How can things be designed with repair in mind so they improve with age?”
As London Design Festival kicks off in the capital, see other installations that are part of the event, such as a collection of rotating stone chairs by Sabine Marcelis.
R for Repair is on display at the V&A in London from 17 September to 2 November.
London Design Festival 2022 takes place from 17-25 September 2022. See our London Design Festival 2022 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
London red bus campaign promotes Lahore for foreign investment
LONDON – The city of Lahore has been projected globally in London as a private real estate company has launched its campaign in several parts of London to showcase the rich heritage of Lahore on 150 of London’s iconic red buses to promote ‘LAHORE – The Heart of Pakistan’.
On some of the busiest routes of London, 150 buses carrying the banners of LAHORE – The Heart of Pakistan’ will pass through London till the middle of November 2021.
Diyar Homes, the developers of the $30 Million luxury real estate development One Canal Road, Lahore, who recently announced their collaboration with leading Italian fashion house VERSACE Ceramics, are behind the launch of mega campaign on 150 of London’s iconic red buses to promote Lahore as the travel and investment destination.
The red London buses carrying ‘LAHORE – The Heart of Pakistan’ pass from outside UK Parliament, 10 Downing Street, Edgware Road, Oxford Circus, Trafalgar Square, Park Lane, Bond Street, South Kensington, East London, Embankment and Willesden Green.
Director of Diyar Homes UK Shaan Abbas speaking to the media at the launch of buses said that Lahore has undergone a $10 Billion urban transformation in recent years cementing its place as the cultural and economic heart of Pakistan.
“It’s the preferred investment destination of Pakistan and this is the message we wanted to give to the world from London, the global capital,” he said.
Shaan Abbas said that London’s iconic red double-decker buses are carrying brand Lahore on the roads of Central London, the hub of world tourists.
During four weeks, millions will see these buses depicting the diversity and beauty of Pakistan, he said.
He said the moving buses are creating an unparalleled lasting visual impact on millions of pedestrians and motorists alike, especially the tourists.
Shaan Abbas said the bus wrapping campaign aims to introduce foreign tourists to the beautiful land of Pakistan that still remains unexplored.
The post London red bus campaign promotes Lahore for foreign investment appeared first on Daily Pakistan
Child Studio has used a glass block wall, dark cherry wood panelling and a soft blue coffered ceiling to channel 1960s London in this sushi restaurant.
Located in a former post office, Maido is an eatery in London’s Saint John’s Wood neighbourhood with interiors designed to honour the heritage of the late modernist building.
A curved glass brick wall divides the space
“We were fascinated by the unique story of this building and aimed to capture the nostalgic atmosphere of 1960s London, paying tribute to the modernist public spaces of the era,” said Child Studio founders Alexy Kos and Che Huang.
“The design evolved around the bold geometry of this period and the juxtaposition of simple materials: wood, glass, clay and steel.”
Maido is anchored by a steel-panelled bar
The walls across the entire space are clad in cherry wood while shallow alcoves are decorated with a rotating selection of artworks.
A suspended coffered ceiling hangs overhead, its grid pattern echoed in the black quarry tiles on the floor and the semicircular glass brick wall that divides the space.
The curved partition wall also forms a generous, leather-upholstered seating booth at the back of the space.
Shallow alcoves are decorated with a rotating selection of art
The focal point of Maido’s interior is a central island bar clad in reflective curved steel panels.
Here, the sushi master prepares and serves authentic Japanese dishes while customers perch on polished aluminium bar stools by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa.
“It was important for us to create a range of different seating scenarios and balance the convivial atmosphere with more intimate nooks and crannies,” Che explained.
To complete the space, the studio sourced a selection of classic midcentury furniture pieces. These include antique MR10 tubular steel chairs by Mies van der Rohe and moulded plywood armchairs by Norman Cherner.
Pipistrello table lamps, designed by Gae Aulenti in 1965, sit on the island bar and on a large communal dining table while antique wall sconces produced by Italian manufacturer Stilnovo create a cosy ambience.
Mies van der Rohe’s MR10 chair was used throughout the interior
Founded in 2017 by Che Huang and Alexy Kos, Child Studio has previously completed a 1950s-style interior for a vegan pizzeria in west London, which was shortlisted in the 2019 Dezeen Awards.
All photographs are by Felix Speller and Child Studio.
Matthew Giles Architects used white oak joinery and different floor levels to break up the open-plan ground floor of this redesigned and upgraded six-bedroom house in Wandsworth, London.
The Victorian terraced house belongs to a young family that wanted to create a home that was more suited to entertaining and having relatives stay over.
A small rear extension was added
Originally a four-bedroom house, London practice Matthew Giles Architects was asked by the owners to add two bedrooms and a basement for services and storage.
The family wanted to enhance the connection between inside and outside, as well as improve the light flow and visual connections throughout the house.
To create extra space, the architects added a side-return and a small rear extension with a Corten steel roof, a loft extension and a basement floor. These additions increased the internal floor area from 155 square metres to 216 square metres.
Light and neutral tones define the home
“With a small courtyard garden at the rear, the size of the ground floor extension was designed to strike a balance between internal space gained and loss of garden,” Giles told Dezeen.
“Although modest, the ground floor extension acts as a tool for enhanced light flow throughout the ground and basement levels. The vaulted side extension provides much-needed height to create a sense of light and space.”
A reading nook has been created on the ground floor
The interior is finished with a neutral palette of raw materials such as timber, stone, concrete, timber and brick.
On the ground floor, at the front of the house, a new parquet flooring draws the eye through the lobby towards the light from the garden at the rear. Varying floor levels have been used to divide the narrow space into three distinct zones.
White marble surfaces were used in the kitchen
The first is an entrance area that faces onto the street, the second serves as a reading nook with white oak joinery and railings, and the third is a sunken kitchen and dining space that looks out over the garden through full-height glass doors.
The kitchen features Douglas Fir timber cranked beams, timber cabinetry, white Carrara marble surfaces and exposed London stock brickwork that covers the sidewall.
“The kitchen acts as a point around which other activities flow,” said the studio. “The exposed beams create an enhanced light quality and sense of order when looking along the length of the house towards the garden and framing views as you move through the house.”
Polished concrete floors were installed in the kitchen and dining area and on the adjoining external terrace to help blur the boundaries between inside and outside.
Parquet flooring adds texture to interior spaces
“The design has been executed so that in all areas there is an intimate connection with nature,” explained the architects. “Seated within the lofty, vaulted dining space the view out is framed by two in-situ cast concrete columns that are filleted to broaden the view.”
The basement houses a playroom area, a new ensuite bedroom and a utility room that is brightly lit by openings in the floor above and a capping skylight. The skylight also creates a visual connection between the playroom and the kitchen.
Neutral tones also feature upstairs
“This sectional approach adds a sense of drama,” said the practice. “The shadows drift down the brickwork wall and clouds are framed in the skylight two storeys overhead.”
The restrained colour and material palette is continued in the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms with the addition of Tadelakt polished plaster in the bathroom.
A skylight floods the basement with natural light
Matthew Giles founded his practice in 2020 after 12 successful years in collaboration with architect Tom Pike.
As half of Giles & Pike, he completed a number of residential projects across the capital, including a stepped glass extension to a house in Putney, the conversion of a Victorian workshop into a home and a timber-clad residence designed for a tiny plot.
