Museum Archives

Folkform installs The Museum of Masonite at Stockholm Furniture Fair

Swedish design duo Folkform has presented a series of furniture pieces made using Masonite hardboard sourced from a factory that closed down over a decade ago.

On show at Stockholm Furniture Fair, The Museum of Masonite centres around a patented type of engineered wood board that is made by steam-cooking and pressure-moulding wood fibres.

Folkform founders Anna Holmquist and Chandra Ahlsell first started experimenting with this material 15 years ago, in collaboration with Sweden’s last remaining Masonite producer in Rundvik.

The Museum of Masonite by Folkform at Stockholm Furniture Fair — The Museum of Masonite features furniture made from a patented type of wood board

When the factory closed in 2011, the pair took all the remaining stock.

“I felt a responsibility to tell the story of what happened to this material,” explained Holmquist, who has since completed a PHD exploring the cultural significance of Masonite.

“It created the Swedish welfare state in the 1930s, 40s and 50s,” she told Dezeen.

“It was made from leftover wood from the Swedish sawmills so it became bigger here than anywhere else. Everyone was using it, for everything from boats and caravans to houses.”

The Museum of Masonite follows the release of the Production Novellas, a book published by Folkform detailing the results of Holmquist’s PHD research.

Folkform is showcasing this book alongside some of their favourite Masonite designs created over the years.

Works on display include the Masonite Chair, a 2021 collaboration with Åke Axelsson based on an experimental design the Swedish interior architect produced in 1978.

Older pieces include a chest of drawers and a bedside cabinet, both created in 2012, which feature different material samples arranged in geometric collages.

“We combined materials with different ages, with this idea that the furniture becomes an archive,” said Holmquist.

The most recent designs in the show explore a more minimalist approach, suggesting how the material can create the suggestion of solid blocks.

“I feel like the compositions will be never-ending because we still have more of this board,” added Holmquist.

The works are presented alongside photographs, illustrations and artefacts that tell the story of the factory.

Later in the year, the exhibition will move to the Laurel Museum of Art in Mississippi, the city where Masonite was patented in 1924 by William H Mason.

Masonite is distinct from other engineered wood fibre boards, such as MDF, because it is made without glue. Holmquist believes the material could have a future in manufacturing.

“It’s a beautiful material and it’s very sustainable,” she concluded.

“We are already seeing a shift in food, where people increasingly care where the things they eat come from, so maybe it will also happen for furniture and objects.”

At Stockholm Furniture Fair this year, visitors could also enjoy the Wekino With exhibition by South Korean furniture designers and British designer Faye Toogood’s collaboration with Finnish company Vaarnii.

The photography is by Erik Lefvander unless otherwise stated.

The Museum of Masonite is on show at Stockholm Furniture Fair, which is open to the public from 7 to 11 February 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for more Stockholm Dezeen Week exhibitions in our dedicated event guide.

Reference

Interior Design

Zooco Estudio unveils Cantabrian Maritime Museum restaurant

By Zarkon Group,05/02/2024

Madrid-based Zooco Estudio has created a striking restaurant within the Cantabrian Maritime Museum in Santander, Spain, that celebrates the building’s brutalist architecture.

The restaurant is set within a dramatic vault of concrete paraboloids that were unearthed during the renovation, while a slatted timber ceiling pays homage to the area’s shipbuilding legacy.

Interior of brutalist Cantabrian Maritime Museum restaurant in Spain by Zooco Estudio — Zooco Estudio added a restaurant to the second floor of the Cantabrian Maritime Museum

Overlooking the tranquil waters of Santander Bay, the restaurant is located on the second floor of the landmark Cantabrian Maritime Museum, which was designed in the mid-1970s by architects Vicente Roig Forner and Ángel Hernández Morales.

The paraboloids were an original fixture of the structure and supported the roof of what was once the museum’s patio.

The studio focused on restoring the historic fabric of the space and reviving the paraboloids, which had been concealed for around 20 years, as “a vestige of the past”.

“In 2003, the building was renovated and as part of this intervention, the paraboloids were covered with a new roof and the space between them and the perimeter of the building was closed with glass, generating a covered space where there was previously a terrace,” Zooco Estudio co-founder Javier Guzmán told Dezeen.

“We wanted the concrete paraboloids to be the absolute protagonists of the space and by removing the paint and the coating, the paraboloids are visible again and regain their full prominence.”

Interior of brutalist restaurant in Spain by Zooco Estudio — The renovation exposed the raw concrete surface of the paraboloids

The previous renovation also altered the dimensions of the space and reconfigured the volume as a square.

To promote symmetry, four additional concrete triangles were added to balance out the original paraboloids in the brutalist restaurant.

Timber ceiling panels and concrete paraboloids inside a brutalist restaurant — Slatted wooden ceiling panels bridge the gaps between the arches

Overhead, a false ceiling of slatted timber panels frames the concrete arches.

The studio designed theses triangular boards to reference the arrangement of timber across the hull of a boat, a nod to the museum and the area’s nautical past.

The panels also serve the purpose of concealing the restaurant’s mechanical systems.

“The wooden slats bring warmth and friendliness to the space while allowing us to solve all the technical needs for air conditioning, heating and lighting, leaving them hidden,” Guzmán said.

“In this way, we ensure that all these elements do not interfere with the dialogue of concrete and wood, which are presented as continuous and clean elements.”

Dining tables overlooking views of the Santander bay — Walls of floor-to-ceiling glazing offer views across the bay

The interior layout was largely dictated by the low arches of the elliptic paraboloids that dominate the brutalist restaurant.

“The geometry of the existing structure conditions the space, because its height in its lower part is impractical, so a large bench is arranged around the entire contour that allows us to take advantage of that space and organise the distribution of the rest of the floor plan,” added Guzmán.

Concrete paraboloid and dining tables inside brutalist restaurant in Spain by Zooco Estudio — Grey porcelain floors mirror the concrete paraboloids

Like the ceiling panels, the interior finishes and furnishings allude to the maritime history that the building commemorates.

“The use of wood and steel for all the furniture is reminiscent of the materials used in shipbuilding – the furniture has slight curvatures that are reminiscent of the aerodynamic shapes of boats,” explained Guzmán.

“Likewise, the lamps are inspired by the masts for ship sails.”

Dining tables at Cantabrian Maritime Museum restaurant — Zooco Estudio also designed the restaurant’s curved timber furniture

Another key change was the replacement of the perimeter glass wall.

The inclined glazing was swapped for vertical glass, a decision that reclaimed external space for the patio, which stretches the length of the restaurant and overlooks the harbour below.

“When we are inside, the feeling is the same as when we are inside a boat, there is only water around, and that is why we used clean glass from floor to ceiling, generating a perimeter terrace as happens on boats,” said Guzmán.

Terrace at Cantabrian Maritime Museum — The terrace features green curvilinear outdoor furniture

Other projects by Zooco Estudio include a renovated house in Madrid and a co-working space with a kids’ play area in California.

The photography is by David Zarzoso.

Project credits:

Architect: Zooco Estudio
Construction: Rotedama Constructora SL
Lighting: Zooco Estudio
Furniture: Zooco Estudio

Reference

Sustainable News

Architects urged “not to work with” British Museum due to BP partnership

By Zarkon Group,17/01/2024

Activist collective BP or not BP? has called on architects not to work on the British Museum’s recently announced redevelopment masterplan as it will be funded by oil company BP.

In an Instagram post on Friday, the organisation, which seeks to end oil sponsorship of culture, said: “Architects: we invite you to pledge not to work with the British Museum until their new partnership with BP is dropped.”

“The British Museum recently accepted the biggest single corporate donation to the arts in the UK,” it added.

“£50 million from oil giant BP, over the next ten years to ‘help deliver the museum’s redevelopment masterplan’. This donation, amidst an escalating climate crisis, has also been described as ‘one of the biggest, most brazen greenwashing sponsorship deals the sector has ever seen.'”

BP or not BP? urged architects to not apply for the job in an Instagram post

In December, the British Museum announced plans for an architectural competition to redevelop around 7,500 square metres of gallery space at its central London location, with applications set to open in spring.

This would be supported by the decade-long partnership with BP.

“A new multi-year partnership with BP will support the future transformation of the museum by contributing £50 million over 10 years,” the museum said.

“The partnership will also help deliver on plans to maintain public access for generations to come. The museum is very grateful for BP’s support at this early stage of the masterplan.”

“Architects can’t in good faith work with The British Museum”

However, BP or not BP?, said that working on the redevelopment would go against guidance from climate network Architects Declare on how to approach projects.

“Guidance from @architectsdeclare_uk encourages firms to approach projects by evaluating their contributions to mitigating climate breakdown,” it stated.

“This redevelopment will do the opposite: allowing BP to continue its extraction and harm Global South communities across the world who face the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”

“Architects can’t in good faith work with The British Museum until this deal is dropped. Join us and tell the museum to #dropBP!” the organisation added.

Architects Declare also stated that it believed it would be consistent with its declaration for architects to turn down the job.

“UK Architects Declare is committed to moving the design of our built environment towards fully regenerative solutions to the planetary emergency,” the organisation told Dezeen.

“As such, the AD Steering Group do believe it would be consistent with our Declaration’s point 5 for architects to turn down this opportunity because of BP’s sponsorship: ‘Evaluate all new projects against the aspiration to contribute positively to mitigating climate breakdown, and encourage our clients to adopt this approach’.”

“A number of companies have publicly declared they will not work on fossil fuel infrastructure and most of the big cultural institutions have now broken links with fossil fuel sponsorship,” it added.

“It is particularly important that when some organisations show such leadership, they are supported by the broader industry.”

British Museum “squarely on the wrong side of history”

BP or not BP? told Dezeen that it believes there are other sponsorship alternatives for the British Museum and that letting BP use its well-known London building for events “continues a neocolonial legacy of extractivism”.

“Just as there are alternatives to fossil fuels, there are also alternatives to taking dirty sponsorship money from fossil fuel producers like BP,” BP or not BP? member Francesca Willow said.

“The British Museum’s decision to keep backing one of the architects of the climate crisis – for a further 10 years – has put the museum squarely on the wrong side of history,” she continued.

“For years, BP has used the iconic museum building as the backdrop for lobbying politicians and burnishing its brand, continuing a neocolonial legacy of extractivism and oppression,” she added. “Architects should refuse to play any part in BP’s planet-wrecking agenda.”

Museum disappointed by call for boycott

In response, the museum said that the campaign was “disappointing” as the redevelopment was aimed at creating a net-zero estate.

“The British Museum is in urgent need of renovation and the masterplan will be one of the most significant cultural redevelopments ever undertaken and private funding is essential,” a spokesperson for the British Museum told Dezeen.

“It’s disappointing campaign groups are calling for a boycott when we’ve said we will be looking at design proposals with a particular focus on sustainable and environmental expertise, working with us responsibly to create a net-zero estate,” it added.

“We look forward to seeing submissions that aim to restore the highly significant and celebrated listed buildings on the site.”

The architectural competition would look to introduce “contemporary architecture and innovative gallery displays” to the museum’s “Western Range”, which contains collections from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.

Architects Declare has previously condemned architecture studios for refusing to stop designing airports.

The issue of sustainability in architecture was also highlighted by the climate action group Architects Climate Action Network in 2022, when it claimed that the Royal British Institute for Architects’ Stirling Prize shortlist “promotes architecture that pollutes the planet”.

The image is by Shutterstock.

Reference

Architecture

kengo kuma’s ‘kiki’s museum of literature’ soon to open in tokyo

By Zarkon Group,04/10/202304/10/2023

UPDATE: Kengo Kuma has announced that its Edogawa City Eiko Kadono Museum of Children’s Literature, also known as the ‘Kiki’s Museum of Literature,’ will open to the public on November 3rd, 2023. New images have been captured of the village-like structure and its playful interiors as it nears completion.

kengo kuma unveils ‘kiki’s museum of literature’

In honor of author Eiko Kadono, Kengo Kuma and Associates designs a hilltop museum for children‘s literature. Defined by its playful geometries finished in pink and white, the museum overlooks Nagisa Park in Edogawa City, Tokyo. The design team expects the building to open by the summer of 2023, at which point visitors in Japan across all ages will be invited to experience the world of Eiko Kadono, who famously authored ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service,’ a story which, in 1989, inspired Studio Ghibli’s film adaptation directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

images courtesy Kengo Kuma and Associates © Kiki’s Museum of Literature

inspired by the worlds of eiko kadono

Kengo Kuma and Associates draws influence from the fictional works of Eiko Kadono in the design of the children’s literature museum in Edogawa City. The architecture of the new cultural space will echo the atmosphere of the fictional town illustrated in the author’s best-selling novel. The design team explains: ‘We thought the architecture would be designed starting with small units, like the little houses that often appear in the stories of Kadono.’ These small boxes will follow the gentle slope of the hill, and will be enclosed with wide, projecting roofs that lightly reach outward ‘like blooming flowers.’ Follow the development of the project on the museum’s official Instagram.

clustered boxes will echo the fictional town illustrated in Eiko Kadono’s Kiki’s Delivery Service
the museum is designed in honor of author Eiko Kadono
a third floor café overlooks the Old Edogawa River

Reference

Architecture

Monolithic New York museum pavilion features “perfect cube” gallery

By Zarkon Group,13/07/2023

Spanish architects Alberto Campo Baeza and Miguel Quismondo have collaborated to create the Robert Olnick Pavilion for the Magazzino Italian Art museum in Cold Spring, New York.

The concrete-clad pavilion is the second structure on the campus of the museum, which is dedicated to promoting Italian art and design in the United States.

Quismondo, who designed the first building on the site, worked with Baeza to expand the gallery capabilities of the institution.

Concrete building with vertical protrusion and square windows — Alberto Campo Baeza and Miguel Quismondo designed the Robert Olnick Pavilion in New York

The pavilion is partially submerged into a sloping green hill, with entrances on either side of the building at the top and bottom of the grade.

It has a monolithic concrete facade with little detail, punctuated at points by simple square windows. At the top of the hill, the structure has a vertical element that gives the whole building an L shape.

Within this space a double-height gallery was conceived of as an isotropic room that is a “perfect cube”, according to the architects. Windows were placed at each corner to create a sundial effect when light from outside enters.

White interior room with light streaming through square windows — The architects included a perfectly cubic room that functions like a sundial with strategically placed windows

“We built the Robert Olnick Pavilion like a poem: a white cube traversed by light,” said Baeza.

“The main space will embody the beauty of the artwork it exhibits, and with an isotropic design that carves an opening into every corner, each detail will be touched by magnificent sunlight.”

“Not unlike the excitement of birth, it is with great anticipation that we deliver this second building to the museum.”

Polished concrete floors and white ceilings — The interior features polished concrete floors and white ceilings

The building has two floors and a mezzanine, with a long first floor that stretches the length of the structure and holds a variety of programming spaces, terminating at a glass end wall that overlooks a sunken courtyard.

The primary floor holds the two main galleries, one in the long end of the building and another housed in the double-space element created by the vertical element at the top of the grade.

“The pavilion has a humble layout that highlights industrial materials such as concrete to facilitate a conceptually strong and aesthetically neutral environment to compliment the postwar and contemporary Italian art and design it will exhibit,” said the museum.

White room with beams of sunlight — The galleries will hold art by Italian creatives

Between the two gallery spaces is a mezzanine level that is accessed from the door at the top of the slope. This space holds a cafe with a seating area that extends outdoors.

All the interiors are stark white, in line with the minimalism of the facade. Polished concrete flooring and seamless overhead lights were designed to add to the smoothness of the interior.

White light in white gallery space — The structure has two floors and a mezzanine

The museum plans to launch its first exhibitions in the fall, featuring the work of Italian designers and artists such as painter Mario Schifano and architect Carlo Scarpa.

Baeza and Quasimondo has been working with museum founders Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu for more than twenty years, and designed the pair’s home, which was Baeza’s first US project, in 2003.

Other projects by Baeza include a sports complex in Madrid designed to be a “box of light” and a white-walled minimalist house in Monterrey, Mexico.

The photography is by Marco Anelli.

Reference

Architecture

Studio Other Spaces museum courtyard in “canopy of glass and mirrors”

By Zarkon Group,24/06/2023

Artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann’s firm Studio Other Spaces has created a sculptural work called Common Sky to enclose an open-air courtyard at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

Created as part of a renovation of the museum led by architecture studio OMA’s New York office, Common Sky is a massive glass and mirror canopy created from hundreds of overlapping mirror and glass panels.

The installation encloses an open-air courtyard in the 1962 modernist Seymour H Knox Building designed by American architect Gordon Bunshaft, which was largely unused.

Glass canopy at buffalo museum — Studio Other Spaces created a canopy to enclose a courtyard in a mid-century Buffalo museum

“Common Sky is a dynamic, sculptural statement that combines a geometric language and a playful, poetic approach,” said Studio Other Spaces (SOS) co-founder Olafur Eliasson.

“As an artwork, it sensitizes you to the world outside, to the surrounding environment of Buffalo.”

“It draws your attention to things that are difficult to measure, and to things that depend on emotion and on your active involvement.”

View of the canopy from under the canopy — The canopy is made of alternating glass and steels layered on top of each other with a steel frame

The canopy is made from alternating mirror and glass panels, with two layers supported by white-painted steel, giving the structure depth.

At the centre of the courtyard, the panels coalesce into a funnel that meets the ground at the place where a hawthorn tree once stood in order to reference the history of the space. This tree-like form also supports the structure so as to eliminate the need for an additional support system, keeping the canopy open.

The choice to use mirrors instead of having an all-glass canopy came from a desire to create an insulating effect for the canopy.

Close up view of panels — The glass panels reflect sunlight, minimising heat gain

The mirrors reflect sunlight away from the canopy, which minimises heat gain within the canopy and reduces the need for air conditioning.

Light coming through the alternating panels creates a play of glare and shadow on the stone floor of the space, which is lined by a covered veranda on two sides.

SOS said that the choice in material and form was chosen to keep the connection with the environment that existed with the courtyard through “non-classical architectural” while respecting the style of the Bunshaft design.

Museum exterior view — The new courtyard is accessible to the public

“The structure forms a unique design that takes into account all of the surrounding elements from the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, including the park, and neighboring buildings,” said SOS co-founder Sebastian Behmann.

“We created a site-specific artwork that amplifies the existing situation and combines it with the idea of a modern courtyard.”

The use of glass also mirrors the new museum building designed by OMA for the site, which is enveloped in a glass facade.

As part of the revamp of the museum, OMA also created a new entrance to the Seymour H Knox Building, so the public can access the courtyard from the adjacent Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Delaware Park.

The studio worked with engineer Herwig Bretis from ArtEngineering and Petersberg-based steel constructor Hahner Technik on the project.

Low-light view of the canopy — the canopy funnels down to the ground at the spot where a hawthorn tree once stood

Studio Other Spaces was founded in 2014 in Berlin by Behmann and Eliasson.

Its other works include an “anti-monument” consisting of several diverse buildings in Ethiopia and a colourful, conical glass pavilion for a winery in California.

The photography is by Marco Cappelletti and Studio Other Spaces.

Reference

Interior Design

The Offbeat Sari exhibition opens today at London’s Design Museum

By Zarkon Group,19/05/2023

The first sari to be worn at the Met Gala and sequins made from discarded X-ray film sourced from hospitals feature in the Offbeat Sari exhibition, which showcases around 60 contemporary saris at London’s Design Museum.

The Offbeat Sari is the first UK exhibition to explore the contemporary sari, according to the Design Museum. The show opens today in a cavernous space within the museum’s subterranean gallery, illuminated by thin neon pendant lights.

Hailing from India and wider South Asia, a sari is traditionally thought of as an unstitched drape wrapped around the body from shoulder to waist.

Colourful garments on display at the Design Museum in London — The Offbeat Sari opens today at London’s Design Museum

In recent years, designers have been reinventing the 5,000-year-old garment to serve young people’s growing interest in the sari, which has led to its revival, according to Design Museum head of curatorial Priya Khanchandani.

“Women in cities who previously associated the sari with dressing up are transforming it into fresh, radical, everyday clothing that empowers them to express who they are, while designers are experimenting with its materiality by drawing on unbounded creativity,” said the curator.

First sari worn to the Met Gala — The first sari worn to the Met Gala features in the exhibition

Split into various themes such as identity and resistance, the exhibition presents around 60 contemporary saris created by a range of established and emerging designers.

Among the garments is the first sari to be worn at New York’s Met Gala in response to the annual ball’s 2022 theme, Gilded Glamour.

Embellished with semi-precious stones, the tulle Sabyasachi-designed sari worn by Natasha Poonawalla features a statement train and was paired with a gold Schiaparelli bodice with protruding, orbit-shaped elements.

A sari embellished with sequins made from recycled X-ray film — Fashion brand Abraham & Thakore created sequins from recycled X-ray film

Another navy blue sari by Abraham & Thakore is characterised by delicate sequins that were made using discarded X-ray film salvaged from hospitals – a design that aims to address the issue of sustainability within the fashion industry.

Also on display is a purple georgette silk sari embroidered with shimmering acrylics, sequins and crystals. Founder of the #DeGenderFashion movement, author and comedian Alok previously wore the garment to highlight their belief that saris can be worn by anyone, regardless of gender identity.

Blue wall with photographs of women wearing saris — Photographs showing different ways of wearing saris are pasted across a blue wall

Contrasting textiles such as distressed denim and woven stainless steel make up other saris in the exhibition, highlighting the garment’s versatile evolution.

Within the show’s “movement” section are a number of saris worn by young people while engaging in sports. These include a garment adorned with cherry blossom motifs that was donned during a cricket match as well as a polyester chiffon sari, which is among the outfits worn by a group of women who have begun to skateboard in saris – a growing trend, according to the museum.

A mannequin in a colourful outfit holding a skateboard — Sari wearers are increasingly wearing the garments to engage in sports, especially skateboarding

There is also an area dedicated to the craftsmanship involved in sari-making that explores how its history has transformed over the 21st century.

“The sari is experiencing what is conceivably its most rapid reinvention in its history. It makes the sari movement one of today’s most important global fashion stories, yet little is known of its true nature beyond South Asia,” explained Khanchandani.

“For me and for so many others, the sari is of personal and cultural significance,” reflected the curator.

“But it is also a rich, dynamic canvas for innovation, encapsulating the vitality and eclecticism of Indian culture.”

There is also an area dedicated to materials and craftsmanship

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s first design-focussed exhibition is another show that is currently on display at the Design Museum until late July. In other recent fashion news, designer Rick Owens has released a collection of wearable helmets that double as fluorescent floor lamps.

The photography is by Andy Stagg.

The Offbeat Sari is on display at London’s Design Museum from 19 May to 17 September 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Project credits:

Curator: Priya Khanchandani
Associate curator: Rashmi Varma
3D design: Studio Mutt
2D design: Stuthi Ramesh

Reference

Architecture

O’Neill McVoy inserts Bronx Children’s Museum into a 1920s powerhouse

By Zarkon Group,26/04/2023

Brooklyn studio O’Neill McVoy Architects has adapted a historic powerhouse into a museum for children in the Bronx that highlights the historical building while adding playful details.

O’Neill McVoy Architects inserted the Bronx Children’s Museum into the second floor of the rectilinear building “with old and new in a symbiotic relation heightening the qualities of the other,” the studio said.

Exterior of the Bronx Children's Museum on O'Neill McVoy on a city waterfront — The Bronx Children’s Museum is located on the Harlem River

Located on the Harlem River and Mill Pond Park, the 1925 Historic Bronx Terminal Market Powerhouse was decommissioned in 2004 and the building’s exterior was restored in 2009, leaving the interior concrete and steel loft space open for a new program.

Owned by the New York City Department of Parks, it broke ground in 2017 but wasn’t completed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and bureaucratic delays.

Interior of the Bronx Children's Museum with wood flooring and overhead wooden walkways — Curving shapes inside the building were designed for children

The 15,160-square foot (1,400-square metre) museum is accessed through a double-height, river-side lobby space that opens to curving forms designed specifically for a child’s perspective.

As the first facility in the burrow dedicated to young children, “the design’s flow creates a new kind of space, unlike the city’s cellular rooms and street grids, that connects Bronx kids to the experience of natural landscape and the waterfront”, the studio said.

Museum interior with wooden storage and overhead wood walkway — Ramps separate exhibition spaces

Drawing from Jean Piaget’s book Child’s Conception of Space, the studio used a series of unspooling spaces catered to children under 10 years old.

Museum visitors move through the space via ramps, and focused exhibits are separated by partial-height, curved wooden and translucent acrylic partition walls that spiral, diverge and reconnect.

Museum interior with wood floors and children looking into a window display — The curving forms were made from cross-laminated timber

The spaces step up, moving from the Waterways exhibition that directs views to the neighbouring river, across a bridge, to the Cloud performance mezzanine that features an interactive installation by local artist Jerome LaMarr called Bronxtopia.

The LEED Gold-certified project is the “first use of curved cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the U.S.,” according to the studio.

The CLT was reportedly sustainably harvested and selected for its light weight and strength.

It was “fabricated with advanced digital technology allowing for varying radii arcs to form organic space”.

“Large wall and guardrail interlocking panels, many with pebble-shaped windows, were molded and CNC-milled to exact size allowing quick assembly on site,” the team continued, referencing the custom molds of Charles and Ray Eames’ laminated plywood splints.

Museum interior with wood floors and overhead curving walkways — The project is located on the second floor of a powerhouse

The CLT panels also interlock with etched, recycled-acrylic panels that are softer to the touch than glass.

Overhead, the exposed structural beams and mechanical services were painted blue, as was the acoustical plaster, to form a sky where fabric ducts hang as clouds.

Playroom in a museum with green carpet, square glass windows and a wood sliding door — O’Neill McVoy used recycled acrylic panels instead of glass

The museum also uses translucent film on the east-facing windows to mitigate the daylight that sweeps through the open plan, and dimmable LED fixtures and daylighting sensors optimize light.

Operable windows allow for ventilation and sensors help reduce HVAC energy consumption.

Museum interior with wood flooring and a ramped curving wood walkway — Playful spaces were designed for children

The exterior of the brick building was relatively untouched but the “distinctive turrets are given new life with prismatic film and spectral LED lighting to serve as beacons for the children’s museum in the community.”

Similarly, Olson Kundig inserted a curved timber ark into a concrete market hall to create the ANOHA children’s museum in Berlin.

The photography is by Paul Warchol.

Project credits:
Architect: O’Neill McVoy Architects
Beth O’Neill, AIA, Principal
Chris McVoy, Principal
Ruso Margishvili, Associate-in-Charge
Richard Stora, Project Architect
Penelope Phylactopoulos, Meghan O’Shea, Trevor Hollyn Taub, Irmak Ciftci, Project Team
Structural engineer: Silman
Mechanical engineer: Plus Group Consulting Engineering, PLCC
Electrical engineer: Plus Group Consulting Engineering, PLCC
General contractor: A Quest Corporation
Lighting designer: Tillotson Design Associates
Code consultant: CODE LLC
LEED consultant: ADS Engineers
AV/IT/Security consultant: TM Technology Partners
Exhibits: Bronx-connected artists through the museum’s ‘Arts Builds Community’ program

Reference

Interior Design

On models London trainer store on “shoppable science museum”

By Zarkon Group,27/02/2023

Swiss brand On has opened its first UK shop on London’s Regent Street, complete with steel fixtures and a robotic arm.

For its debut outpost in the United Kingdom, On aimed to showcase the science and technology behind its running shoes and clothing.

Sportswear shop on London's Regents Street — On has opened a trainer store on London’s Regent Street

“Our concept was a shoppable science museum in the sense that one of the main things we want to share is that what we do is science-based,” said On’s head of brand environments Nicholas Martin.

It is performance-run culture that is infused into everything we do.”

The store’s ground floor is defined by three circular steel tables, used to display the brand’s latest products.

Stainless steel table in On's trainer store — The store contains three circular steel tables

Each of the tables, which can be raised and lowered, is surrounded by a curved steel wall that can be rotated to create a variety of layouts within the store.

The table at the store’s entrance also holds a robotic arm that mimics the action of running to showcase On’s running shoes.

Stainless steel shoe cabinets are located on the upper floor — The upper floor houses steel shoe cabinets

“The first thing you actually see is our robotic arm,” Martin told Dezeen. “We want people to touch and explore. So you kind of get to see the movement.”

“And then we also try to add different layers of storytelling,” he continued. “So you can compare the different shoes.”

Steel trainer cabinet known as the magic wall — On describes the cabinets as a “magic wall”

The first floor is defined by a pair of steel cabinets, described by On as a “magic wall” that runs the length of the store.

It contains all of On’s products in all available sizes so that customers can instantly try on trainers.

“Our goal was to revolutionise the way shoe try-ons happen,” said Martin. “At our stores, we let the product speak for itself. Our technology is something you feel once you put a product on.”

Contrasting the steel fixtures, the store’s walls were finished in natural clay sourced from Cornwall, which was applied by hand.

On the ground floor and in the basement-level event space, the walls are painted in a muted shade of grey while on the upper floors, they are finished in green.

On shoes in metal cabinets — The cabinets contain all sizes of On’s shoes

“Swiss engineering means for us loving technology and the natural world,” said Martin. “Technology makes the store look sleek, nature helps us to give the store a more imperfect and warmer look.”

“The store green is a nod to the legendary British racing green – a colour culturally saturated in movement, speed and engineering,” he continued.

On's store on Regents Street — The store is On’s first in the UK

Founded in 2010, On is known for its lightweight running shoes and is reportedly the fastest-growing running brand worldwide. Its stores form part of On’s wider efforts to build its brand internationally.

“They offer a space for our fans, community and new customers to explore and get to know the brand,” said Martin. “We see the store as a media channel that connects our fans with the brand.”

On previously created a reflective mountain cabin in the Swiss Alps to mark the launch of its first hiking shoe.

All photography courtesy of On.

Reference

Sustainable News

Municipal waste used to form brick for Design Museum Gent extension

By Zarkon Group,19/01/2023

Architecture studios Carmody Groarke and TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw have collaborated with material researchers to develop a brick made from local construction waste, which will be used to build the new wing of the Design Museum Gent.

The Gent Waste Brick was designed together with circular economy specialist Local Works Studio and materials manufacturer BC Materials to be low-carbon, reportedly carrying just one-third of the embodied carbon of a typical Belgian clay brick.

A stack of Gent Waste Bricks designed for the Design Museum Gent — The Gent Waste Brick is made from recycled concrete and glass

The brick is made from 63 per cent recycled municipal waste sourced from Ghent, which was collected from a local recycling centre for demolition concrete and glass.

These recycled materials are mixed with lommelzand sand from the Belgian municipality of Lommel and bound together with hydraulic lime and ground calcium carbonate.

Gent Waste Brick designed for the Design Museum Gent — The pale grey tone of the brick was informed by the colour of local buildings

The bricks are cured in a humid environment for two weeks and then left to air-dry rather than being fired, reducing the amount of energy needed to manufacture them.

Instead, the material gets its strength through a process known as mineral carbonation, which involves the calcium carbonate in the brick reacting with carbon dioxide in the surrounding air.

“The carbonation will continue forever on the facade, making the blocks stronger and stronger over the years,” TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw told Dezeen.

“This fabrication process, coupled with the use of recycled composites, results in a brick with 0.17 kilograms of CO2e per kilogram – just one-third the embodied carbon of a Belgian clay-fired brick.”

Production process of the Gent Waste Brick — The bricks are cured in a humid setting and left to dry naturally

Designed for the external facade of Design Museum Gent’s new wing, the Gent Waste Brick has a pale grey colour that references the colour of other civic buildings local to the city and was certified for building use in September 2022.

“The team have worked closely alongside the Design Museum Gent to produce a highly crafted, bespoke material object that embodies the culture and ethos of the institution, challenging the material qualities and aesthetic properties of a traditional brick and adding to the lineage of design objects displayed and cared for by the museum,” said Carmody Groarke.

Render of the Design Museum Gent extension — The bricks will be used for the Design Museum Gent extension. Image by Carmody Groarke, TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw and RE-ST

Design Museum Gent is organising workshops for local residents to take part in making some of the bricks that will be used in the extension’s construction.

“The bricks will be manufactured on a brownfield site in Ghent using a clean simple production process, which could easily be replicated in other urban settings,” said Carmody Groarke. “There are no resultant emissions, by-products or waste.”

Other brick alternatives featured on Dezeen include Kenoteq’s unfired K-Briq, which is made of 90 per cent construction waste, and masonry blocks made from algae-based cement by Prometheus Materials.

The photography by Cinzia Romanin and Thomas Noceto unless stated.

Reference

Museum

Folkform installs The Museum of Masonite at Stockholm Furniture Fair

Zooco Estudio unveils Cantabrian Maritime Museum restaurant

Architects urged “not to work with” British Museum due to BP partnership

kengo kuma’s ‘kiki’s museum of literature’ soon to open in tokyo

kengo kuma unveils ‘kiki’s museum of literature’

inspired by the worlds of eiko kadono

Monolithic New York museum pavilion features “perfect cube” gallery

Studio Other Spaces museum courtyard in “canopy of glass and mirrors”

The Offbeat Sari exhibition opens today at London’s Design Museum

O’Neill McVoy inserts Bronx Children’s Museum into a 1920s powerhouse

On models London trainer store on “shoppable science museum”

Municipal waste used to form brick for Design Museum Gent extension

Get in touch

about us

Company info

Useful Links

Newsletter