New York designer Michael Groth collaborated with a Moroccan artisan cooperative to create the wall hangings for this worker-owned bar and restaurant in the West Village.
The opening of Donna‘s new location on Cornelia Street follows the closure of its Williamsburg spot in December 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Michael Groth has designed the new Donna outpost in New York
Serving a pan-Latin menu with Mediterranean influences and Filipino-inspired cocktails, the restaurant and bar is now a worker-owned cooperative, with original owner Leif Young Huckman acting as an advisor.
To reflect this shift, Brooklyn-based Groth aimed to imbue the design of the new outpost with references to the previous location while nodding to Donna’s revised business model.
Earth-toned limewash plaster was applied to the walls in geometric patterns
He drew influences from the constructivist art movements of Latin America in the 20th century and particularly the work of artists Sandu Darie, Pedro Alvarez and Lygia Clark.
Donna is decorated with earth-toned limewash plaster, applied to the walls in geometric patterns that echo the brand’s visual identity.
Groth created wall hangings in collaboration with artisan cooperative The Anou
Exposed brickwork is painted white, forming a plain backdrop for the circular wool wall hangings that Groth created in collaboration with Moroccan artisan cooperative The Anou.
These help to dampen the acoustics while lime plaster assists in regulating humidity, according to Groth.
The tables are crafted from reclaimed Douglas fir flooring and stained plywood was used to build the banquette seating that wraps the perimeter.
Bar-back shelving and floors were repurposed from the unit’s previous tenant, while the bar tops were fabricated by Brooklyn Stone and Tile – another worker-owned cooperative.
Tables are crafted from reclaimed Douglas fir
“The use of any new materials was limited to those that are natural and biodegradable, keeping in mind the holistic effects of resource extraction, human health and equity, and circular material cycles,” the Donna team said.
Pendants lights above the bar have shades made from mushroom mycelium, which according to the team presents “an environmentally holistic approach to material creation that poetically reflects Donna’s equitable business model”.
The pendant lights above the bar feature mycelium shades
New York City’s dining scene was upheaved during the pandemic, with many eating and drinking establishments forced to either adapt or shutter.
As a result, sidewalk dining shelters sprung up across the city, as documented in these photographs by John Tymkiw.
Danish design practice Natural Material Studio has unveiled its Human Nature exhibition, which featured compostable biofoam seating and biomaterial textiles, at 3 Days of Design.
The studio designed the Human Nature installation to take full advantage of the large vaulted space at art gallery Copenhagen Contemporary, hanging handcrafted biotextiles that were up to seven metres long from its ceilings.
“We created a lot of materials for this exhibition, I think around 150 square metres,” Natural Material Studio founder Bonnie Hvillum told Dezeen.
“But what’s been really exciting has been the length and height that we have managed to work with – the textiles are over seven metres long.”
Human Nature features metres-long biotextile installations
“It’s something that we are curious about, expanding the scale,” she added. “Spatially, it creates a completely different experience when the textiles come up in the scale and surround us, almost like trees.”
Natural Material Studio uses its own material processes to create its biomaterials. Among the ingredients used for the materials in Human Nature were natural softeners mixed with biopolymers, chalk and clay.
The textiles that were dyed with chalk had a fittingly chalky white hue, while those dyed with clay become greenish.
White textiles were dyed with chalk
As part of the exhibition, which was on show during annual design festival 3 Days of Design, Natural Material Studio wanted to showcase how humans and nature interact in the creation of the materials.
To that end, the biotextile pieces were cast in wooden frames to be handled as they were drying, but were otherwise were left to develop naturally.
Human Nature also featured sculptural seating designs that were made by casting Natural Material Studio’s self-developed biofoam in a three-dimensional frame, within which it was allowed to shape itself.
The resulting square seats come in a variety of colours, including pinkish ones made by using red clay.
Compostable biofoam forms sculptural seating
The material can be composted at the end of its life and will biodegrade in about a month, according to Hvillum.
“The material is biodegradable – you can give it to your chickens,” Hvillum said. “My chickens eat it, I can’t leave it outside!”
The exhibition also includes lighting works, which were constructed by attaching the biotextiles to a metal frame above an LED light, and which mark the first time Natural Material Studio has created lighting designs.
“For a long time we were trying to bring the materials onto the wall,” Hvillum explained.
“This is basically the material suspended over material frames and then we use a LED light to try to work with them like this.”
Natural Material Studio designed lights for the first time
Describing the installation as a “spatial art piece”, Natural Material Studio said the idea was also to allow visitors to touch and interact with the biomaterials, which represent years of research and prototyping.
The handcrafted nature of the biomaterial process comes through in the finished design, with the seats and textiles having kept their rough surfaces and textural qualities.
The natural materials were showcased in an industrial setting
The company is currently working with the Danish National Museum, which conducts research into the longevity of materials such as plastic, to look at how the biomaterials will age.
“They have taken in my materials and we’re going to be having a look at how they age over time,” Hvillum said.
“They can speed the process up so that one month is equivalent to 30 years, so we can very easily see what happens with these materials.”
The installation was on show at Copenhagen Contemporary
Hvillum is also interested in how the biomaterials can be “kept alive”.
“With this research project we try to understand how they change over time and what we can do to prolong life, for example, moisturising them,” she said.
“It’s keeping them alive, basically, which is mind-blowing – actually thinking that we need to water them, just like I water my plants because it’s organic material. You give them a little spritz to moisturise them.”
Bioxtextiles surround visitors “like trees”
Hvillum hopes that the Human Nature exhibition will showcase more of the process of working with different materials, as well as what the materials can do.
“I feel like we sometimes as designers want to force the materials into certain things, and I wanted to really be honest about the process and about what the materials actually do,” she said.
“I think it works quite well as an installation to come in and really start living with these materials, experiencing them and slowly start building these relations.”
Other projects on show at 3 Days of Design include a farmers market inside the Frama store in an old apothecary and an exhibition of emerging designers inside a woodworking factory.
Human Nature was on show from 7 to 9 June 2023 as part of 3 Days of Design. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.
Spotted: After decades of the intensification of farming, and the ensuing harm it has caused to environments, growers and policy makers are beginning to more seriously consider regenerative farming as the means of achieving a carbon-neutral future. Regenerative agriculture focuses on soil health and a circular agricultural economy, where resources are used in harmony with the natural environment. And, the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that farming regeneratively on 40 per cent of the world’s cropland would save around 600 million tonnes of emissions.
The challenge is the slow pace of change. Regenerative agriculture must scale more quickly in order to cover 40 per cent of global cropland by 2030. Changing soil health can take years, so French agrobiotechnology company Gaïago has created a suite of products designed to help growers make faster improvements to their land.
Using organic elements that plants already use, such as hydrogen, proteins, and fungi, Gaïago’s products encourage the fertility of the soil and therefore the growing environment of crops. Nutrigeo is a soil prebiotic that stimulates the growth of humidifying fungi. Two different probiotics provide additional nitrogen to the roots, and a foliar prebiotic, Stimulus, supports plants in resisting environmental stressors.
And for the plants themselves, Gaïago created Vitam’in, a prebiotic for seeds that boosts general vigour at germination to help maximise full genetic growth. Improvements in the fertility of soil can be seen in as little as six months, and when integrated into a regenerative style of farming, will have long term environmental health and biodiversity benefits.
Other ways in which Springwise is spotting agriculture creating more healthful growing environments include plant patches that monitor stress and eco-friendly insect treatments that do not harm pollinators.
Spotted: Sustainably strengthening economies and agriculture is foundational to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But climate change is putting increasing pressure on agriculture – with fluctuating seasons, changing rainfall patterns, extreme weather, and drought all becoming more common. Now, French agrobiotechnology company Elicit Plant uses plant-derived molecules called phytosterols to help crops survive dry periods.
Phytosterols are lipids that activate a plant’s resistance to environmental stressors. The compound is applied to plants early in their growth to encourage the development of characteristics that maximise the efficiency of water use.
Longer roots combined with reduced evapotranspiration help global cereal crops such as soybean and corn better survive the increasingly challenging environments within a changing climate. Elicit Plant’s trials show an increase in yield of between 13 and 22 per cent per crop, with a monetary value increase of up to $240 (around €219) per hectare.
The company’s first product is called BEST-a and is designed for soybeans. It can be used on corn, too, although a compound specifically for corn is nearing availability. As well as waiting for the final regulatory approvals, the company is also developing additional products to expand the range of crops it supports. BEST-a not only helps farmers grow more in drier conditions, the product also makes it possible to stretch available water supplies over a longer period of time.
Innovations that help farmers grow enough food for the world’s expanding population are crucial. Some that Springwise has spotted include urine-based fertilisers and sensors that optimise water usage for crops.
An undulating concrete roof topped with grass covers this house in the Czech Republic, designed by local architecture studio RO_AR.
Located alongside a wildlife corridor at the edge of the Hlubocepy district in Prague, the family home is designed to be a “bridge between the urban and the natural”.
To achieve this, RO_AR designed the house as a “clash of two geometries”: a rectilinear form facing the city that is clad in thin oak slats and a hill-like, grass-topped form facing the garden and natural landscape beyond.
Czech studio RO_AR has created a house in the Hlubocepy district
“Urban space surrounds the site on the south and east sides,” explained studio founder Szymon Rozwałka. “It is a chaotic and random development, often adversely affecting the value of the terrain.”
“We designed a building that was created by the method of land deformation. The terrain was to transition smoothly from the north-west side into an artificial ‘hill’ into which the house was to be placed,” he continued.
On approach, the ground floor has been carved out to create a garage and entrance sheltered by the overhanging first floor. Here, a paved path leads around the side of the home into the garden.
It has an undulating concrete roof topped with grass
While the front of the dwelling is more austere, finished in white render and clad with oak battens for privacy, the rear opens onto the garden through fully-glazed facades beneath the curving roof.
“The home seeks to extend the natural context into the interior of the site and into the interiors,” said Rozwałka. “It becomes an abstract body that, through its form and scale, corresponds to the surrounding rocks in the background.”
A paved patio outside the living area overlooks a small pond, and on the first floor, one of the bedrooms opens onto a small terrace that is concealed from the adjacent properties by a section of concrete wall.
Internally, the home’s undulating roof is expressed as an exposed, board-marked concrete ceiling, with large skylights created in the areas where its curves intersect.
An overhanging first floor creates a sheltered entrance
The concrete structure has also been left exposed for the internal walls, contrasted by wooden ceilings and staircases and black-metal frames, fittings and furniture.
The concrete structure has been left exposed
Based in Brno, RO_AR was founded in 2011 by Rozwałka and operates in both the Czech Republic and Poland.
Elsewhere in the Czech Republic, local studio Architektura recently completed a brightly coloured kindergarten that is intended to echo childhood playfulness.
Oudong Residence – aims to combine functionality with artistic flair, creating living spaces that are both functional and visually appealing. Drawing inspiration from a unified composition of textures inspired by nature itself, and cultural influences, the creative vision for this particular residence emphasizes sustainability, innovative use of materials, and a seamless integration of indoor and outdoor spaces. The project brief outlines the key requirements and objectives for the residence, with a strong focus on maximizing natural light, ensuring energy efficiency, and fostering a sense of community among the occupants. Furthermore, the design aims to be adaptable to the evolving needs of the residents, reflecting a dynamic and modern approach to residential architecture.
Architizer chatted with Alessandro Mangano, Partner at Architectural Engineering Consultants, to learn more about this project.
Architizer: What inspired the initial concept for your design?
Alessandro Mangano: The initial concept for the residential design was inspired by the desire to create a harmonious balance between modern living and nature. Drawing upon elements from various architectural styles, the design seeks to establish a seamless connection with the surrounding environment, while ensuring functionality and comfort for its inhabitants. The use of sustainable materials and energy-efficient technologies further reflects our commitment to preserving the ecosystem and promoting a greener future. Ultimately, this architectural concept aims to provide a haven where residents can enjoy the best of both worlds – contemporary living in tune with nature’s grace.
This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?
One of the key factors that contributed to the success of our project was the exceptional collaboration and communication among team members. This enabled us to leverage individual expertise and skills to move the project forward effectively. Another standout component was our dedication to continuous improvement and adaptability. By constantly assessing our progress and adapting our strategy, we were able to overcome challenges and ensure the timely delivery of a high-quality project.
What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?
The greatest design challenge we faced during the project was effectively balancing aesthetics with functionality. Understanding the importance of incorporating visually appealing elements while maintaining the project’s core purpose was crucial to its success. To navigate this challenge, we fostered open communication among team members to ensure we understood their expectations and goals. Additionally, we incorporated iterative design processes, allowing for continuous adjustments and improvements while keeping both aspects in harmony.
How did the context of your project — environmental, social or cultural — influence your design?
The Cambodian context of the project had a significant impact on the design process, particularly in regards to the environmental, and cultural factors. The diverse ecosystems near the outskirts of Phnon Penh city, required us to carefully consider the environmental impact of our design, ensuring that it would support sustainable development in the region. Moreover, we incorporated elements into our design, to feel a deeper connection to the space while also respecting the traditions of the community. Lastly, we accounted for the social dynamics within the Khmer societies, emphasizing elements that encourage communal interactions and emphasizing harmony with the natural environment.
Copenhagen-based Natural Material Studio and designer Zuzanna Skurka have created an installation at Milan design week from soft bio textiles made from surplus bricks.
Called Brick Textiles, the project is on display at Alcova – a travelling exhibition platform for independent design that is held at a different disused site in Milan each year.
Natural Material Studio and Zuzanna Skurka created textiles from waste bricks
Natural Material Studio worked with Polish designer and researcher Zuzanna Skurka to create the textiles from highly porous repurposed bricks that were classified as waste after demolition projects.
“Rule one is, you should work with materials that are already there,” studio founder Bonnie Hvillum told Dezeen in Milan.
The project is on display at Alcova in Milan
The textiles were made from a combination of crushed bricks bonded together with Procel – a home-compostable, protein-based bioplastic of natural softener and pigments developed by Natural Material Studio.
Featuring a distinctly reddish hue, the textiles were divided into large, roughly-cut slabs that hang suspended from the roof on metal bars in a room at Alcova to form a dramatic installation illuminated by skylights.
Swirly patterns made by the crushed bricks characterise the textile
Natural Material Studio and Skurka drew upon traditional weaving techniques to create the textile, which was made by incorporating bricks and Procel into a “biomaterial matrix”, according to Hvillum.
The material owes its strength, colour and texture to the bricks, which create unique swirly patterns on each slab that are produced randomly during the “fluid casting process”, she explained.
Hvillum described the product as a “biomaterial matrix”
“We were very curious about this question of how can architecture be flexible, more simple and translucent even? added Hvillum. “It’s all the opposite aspects of a brick.”
“When we think of brick it’s like a solid, rigid, structural wall,” she continued. “But how can we make more flexible and fluid architecture today?”
Examples of the bricks the designers used are positioned underneath the textiles
Holes were pierced into the corners of the slabs so that they can be linked together.
While the water-resistant textile is already being used by interior architects as room dividers, Hvillum said that the studio hopes that one day it could form whole walls.
“The way we build and how we live in the built environment shapes us, so if we can build a more flexible and organic biomaterial, we want to start the exploration of what that experience is,” she continued.
This year, the Alcova exhibition takes place at a former slaughterhouse in Porta Vittoria. The formation of brick-based textiles hangs from metal bars where meat once hung at the site.
“There’s something funny and a little bit rough about that image,” acknowledged Hvillum.
The textiles hang where meat was once suspended in the former slaughterhouse
The materials specialist explained that Brick Textiles intends to salvage something from the past and propose fresh ways of thinking about an existing resource.
“It’s new materials we’re developing, so we still don’t know everything about them,” she reflected. “And that’s the beauty and honesty of it.”
Established in 2018, Natural Material Studio has created a number of repurposed materials for wide-ranging projects. These include crockery for a seafood restaurant made from leftover scallop shells and clothing created with algae, clay and foam.
Brick Textiles is on display at Alcova from 17 to 23 April 2023 as part of Milandesignweek.See our Milandesignweek 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.
Spotted: Believe it or not, some heavy metals are commonly used in foods and cosmetics. One of these is titanium dioxide (TiO2), used as a whitening and brightening pigment in everything from gum to plant-based chicken. While TiO2 has been banned from use in food products sold in the European Union (EU), it is still in use in Canada and the US. While there is no general consensus on the safety of TiO2, consumers are increasingly becoming wary of such additives. Luckily, there is now a substitute.
Swiss startup Impossible Materials has developed a cellulose-based alternative to TiO2. The company extracts the cellulose from biomaterials such as wood pulp and transforms it into a white pigment in a chemical process. The startup claims this process is more sustainable than current production processes for generating white pigments, and the material is also biodegradable, unlike other white pigments.
Impossible Materials has recently raised $3.8 million (around €3.4 million) from investors like Big Idea Ventures in a seed funding round. The money will be used to construct a pilot facility in Switzerland, expand the team, and work on market entry in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Andrew D. Ive, founder, Big Idea Ventures, explained: “Alternative protein products are getting better every day and it won’t be long until we can deliver consumers their traditional foods in more sustainable and climate friendly ways. Big Idea Ventures is investing in high quality and cost-effective supporting technologies that help accelerate consumer acceptance of alternative proteins.”
Pigment-based materials can often be unsustainable – using materials that are damaging to the environment and energy-intensive to manufacture. This is why Springwise has spotted several innovations aiming to create more sustainable pigments. These include an energy-saving paint inspired by butterflies and a non-toxic, biodegradable glitter.
Spotted: The global food system accounts for over a third of annual greenhouse gas emissions. And the problems don’t stop at sustenance-free ingredients: even food colouring contributes to emissions, especially those derived from petrochemicals. Danish biotech company Chromologics hopes to change this, proving that this aesthetic additive can instead be environmentally friendly.
Instead of extracting colours from high-value raw materials like tomatoes, potatoes, insects, or beetroot, to create natural food colourings, Chromologics harnesses a fungus to create a low-carbon, natural red powder. Along with sugar and other nutrients, Chromologics ferments the fungus in water, which makes it produce a red colour. The company then filters away the fungus before processing the remaining fermentation liquid into a concentrated red powder.
The result is a pH- and temperature-stable, tasteless, water-soluble, vegan food dye – called Natu.Red – that uses renewable materials at a high production rate. And according to Chromologics, this concept can quickly become circular by running the fermentation process on green energy and recycling the water.
Chromologics recently raised €12.6 million in seed funding, of which €7.1 million will accelerate the commercialisation of its natural red food colouring.
Springwise has previously spotted other innovations aimed at revolutionising the food industry, including research that shows food can be grown using artificial sunlight, and a mycelium farm that creates an alternative to bacon.
For this special lookbook sponsored by Danish design company D Line, we’ve selected ten interiors that showcase architectural details by the brand including door handles, taps and drawer pulls.
Door furniture and other pieces of practical hardware provide the finishing touches to interior schemes, and can create physical touchpoints that play a significant role in how people interact with the spaces they inhabit.
D Line has been designing and manufacturing architectural hardware and sanitary ware since 1971. Collaborators include Danish architects Knud Holscher and Arne Jacobsen and British designer Tom Dixon.
Here are 10 projects where D Line’s products have been used to add timeless accents to interiors with natural materials, including homes, hotels, restaurants and even a medical facility.
Photo is by Jonas Bjerre Poulsen
St Catherine’s College, Oxford, by Arne Jacobsen and Knud Holscher
Jacobsen designed the modernist concrete exterior as well as the interior and furnishings of St Catherine’s College at the University of Oxford, which opened in 1962.
Details as small as the handles on the interior doors – named AJ lever handles in reference to the designer’s initials – echo the curved, smooth form of the college’s larger design elements.
Photo is by Jonas Bjerre Poulsen
Äng restaurant, Sweden, by Norm Architects
Danish studio Norm Architects has designed Äng, a restaurant in Sweden with both an above-ground structure resembling a greenhouse and a subterranean wine cellar.
D line’s distinct L lever handle in a gunmetal finish was used on doors throughout both spaces, where it matches other metal lighting fixtures as well as the building’s structural components.
Find out more about Äng restaurant ›
Photo is courtesy of Norm Architects
SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen, by Arne Jacobsen
Another project by Jacobsen, who designed all the elements found in the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen – which opened in 1960 – in line with his all-encompassing approach to architecture and interior design.
Subsequent remodelling means that only Room 606 remains in its original form. Here, steel AJ lever handles were chosen to tie in with the cool duck-egg blue walls and other silver hardware, such as the frame of the blue seats and sofa.
Find out more about SAS Royal Hotel ›
Photo is by Jonas Bjerre Poulsen
Archipelago House, Sweden, by Norm Architects
This holiday home by Norm Architects is situated in a coastal area of Sweden and combines Scandinavian design with Japanese aesthetics.
The L lever handle in charcoal from D line’s Holscher range provides a steady rhythm of graphic contrast in the interior, which primarily uses light wood furnishings and bright neutral finishes.
Find out more about Archipelago House ›
Photo is courtesy of Rubow Architects
Private Summer Residence, Denmark, by Rubow Architects
Designed by Danish studio Rubow Architects, this holiday home in Denmark aims to blend in with its surroundings by using neutral tones and floor-to-ceiling windows that allow natural light and views of nature into the house.
The L lever handle provides an unobstructive finish to the house’s doors and helps give the house its indoor-outdoor feel.
Photo is by Enok Holsegård
Barbara’s atelier, Copenhagen, by Barbara Bendix Becker
Textile designer Barbara Bendix Becker’s Copenhagen-based antiques and collectibles atelier is full of Nordic ceramics, lighting and furniture by celebrated Scandinavian designers.
The brass Arne Jacobsen lever handle features alongside these other design classics and has been seamlessly integrated with other warm-toned metal finishes, as well as the atelier’s honey-coloured wooden elements.
Photo is courtesy of MTJ Studio
Stockholmsgade bathroom, Copenhagen, by Emil Thorup
This bathroom scheme created by interior designer Emil Thorup is characterised by its rhythmic herringbone tile floor, muted sage-coloured walls and round-cornered, freestanding bathtub.
D-line’s Qtoo bathroom hardware collection in a subtle brushed-steel finish was used for part of the bath, sink and shower setup, and creates a nice metallic contrast to the pale green walls and natural materials used in the room.
Photo is by Jonas Bjerre Poulsen
Dentology+ clinic, Antwerp, by Norm Architects
Norm Architects went against the grain with the design of this dental surgery, which avoids overtly clinical interiors in favour of soft neutral finishes that encourage calmness in patients.
Charcoal-toned L lever handles punctuate the otherwise light and airy interior, alongside unexpected homely details like low-slung sofas and translucent draped curtains.
Find out more about Dentology+ clinic ›
Photo is courtesy of &Shufl
&Shufl x D Line collaboration
Danish design company &Shufl provides carpentry and hardware elements that are compatible with IKEA kitchens, bathrooms and wardrobes to give existing schemes a facelift.
D Line’s bar handles, which have featured in its catalogue for over 50 years, are used for the &Shufl designs, where they come in a curated palette of different colours and finishes.
Photo is by Luke Arthur Wells
Luke Arthur Wells x Fat collection by Tom Dixon
British interior designer Luke Arthur Wells devised an interior scheme that encourages peacefulness by using rounded furniture, handmade ceramics and soft floor coverings.
D Line’s FAT lever handle – part of a wider collection by Dixon – is shorter, thicker and more rounded than traditional door furniture and further softens the already gentle interior.
This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing sociable split-level living spaces, subtly installed lifts, cosy cabins and opulent hotels.
This lookbook was produced by Dezeen for D line as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
