Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter.
Architizer’s journal is fueled by the creative energy of the thousands of architects from around the world who upload and showcase their incredible work. From conceptual designs to projects under construction to completed buildings, we are proud to serve as a platform for showcasing global architectural talent and the brilliance of visualizers, engineers, manufacturers, and photographers who are crucial members of the industry. A stellar drawing, rendering or photo, as well as a detailed project description, can go a long way in making a project stand out, as does indicating the stellar contributors on a project.
Firms who upload to Architizer share their work with professionals and design enthusiasts through our Firm Directory and Projects database. They also gain exposure by having their projects shared on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages, as well as in our Journal feature articles. Indeed, through these various channels, hundreds of thousands of people in the global design community have come to rely on Architizer as their architectural reference and source of inspiration. In 2022, we’ll be rounding up our database’s top 10 most-viewed, user-uploaded architecture projects at the end of each month.
By JJP Architects and Planners, New Taipei City, Taiwan
This church sits at the heart of a planned long-term elderly care village in a rural coastal district in northern New Taipei City, Taiwan. Inside, three hyperbolical solid shells form two voids and are enclosed by fully transparent glass. Horizontally, the church is bisected by a double-height glass corridor. The curved top of the shells form a unique gap that follows the sun’s path, inviting a flood of natural light into the interior space throughout the day, as well as a modern representation of longstanding church imagery of “open heavens”.
By XRANGE Architects, Penghu County, Taiwan
This house is named after a famous archipelago west of Taiwan where vernacular coral stone homes — characterized by a nine-square plan, distinctive “rolled” roof ridges resembling a curved gable and “slits and pillars” — are unique. This modern home reinterprets its forebears. From a distance, the overlapping layers of rolled roof ridges create the illusion of a village made up of many small homes. Likewise, the traditional slits-and-pillars openings are reimagined as screens that shade floor-to-ceiling glass doors, which improves access to natural light and ventilation.
By Wood Marsh, Point Lonsdale, Australia
The majestic, undulating terrain of the Australian coastland stands alone as an aesthetic experience. So, the architects who designed the Lonsdale Links — a club house for a golf course — sought to create a building that appeared as a “relic” in “the prehistoric landscape.” The soft contours and stunning volume of the building act like a natural extension of the site. Positioned on the crest of a hill, it appears differently from various sight lines. Dark laminated timber beams create a soft and radiant contrast to the verdant links; their finishing ahas a raw weathered quality that timelessly integrates with the coastal context.
By Metaform Architects, Expo 2020 Dubai, UAE
While the formal aspects of this project are visually dazzling, an even more impressive aspect of the the design remains invisible to the naked eye: it is built of 70% reused or recycled materials. While the steel structure was a natural choice to help reach this goal. fiberglass membrane is more surprising. Although difficult to recycle, the latter can be reused by the producer, who specifically agreed to it for this project.
By GUILLEM CARRERA arquitecte, Tarragona, Spain
Nestled in a small fold of the urban fabric, a small neighborhood with a triangular perimeter has quietly persisted over the the past half century. The houses here sit on small plots, rubbing shoulders with their neighbors. This new addition to the community seeks to maintain that dialogue; yet, interestingly, the main façade faces the back garden, rather than the street. The house pivots around a central porch, which is located in the belly of the structure.
Photos by Ivo Tavares Studio
By ESQUISSOS, Sintra, Lisbon, Portugal
The idea centers on the desire to develop a lower area beneath the home. To this end, a white closed building seemingly emerges in a crisp, clean volume from the topography. This design move ensures greater privacy and protection, superior energy efficiency, simple and clean, almost “monolithic” construction, in addition to wind protection and sunlight appreciation. Meanwhile, two independent boxes are perched above the white ground level, bringing the organizational plan into dialogue with the street level. The wooden slats add a textural intrigue and visual permeability that softens the purism of the white prism.
By A-001 Taller de Arquitectura, Valle de Bravo, Mexico
This two-storey weekend home is set on a 9,000 square meter site; hence, it is just one part of a larger, sustainable microsystem, within which the dwelling is respectfully integrated. This reinterpretation of the region’s traditional homes plays with the geometry of superimposed volumes. A nearby body of water feeds a hydraulic mill, which meets 70% of the home’s hydraulic needs; it is also the source of irrigation of vegetables, fruit trees and a series of wetlands. Additionally, a rainwater collection system helps feed the plumbing fixtures, the pool, and the irrigation of green areas.
By Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, Valencia, Spain
With a series of NIU projects, this Spanish firm is exploring innovating construction systems. The N70 is the smallest model in this series, which juxtapose aluminum walls and extruded spaces to open glazing. The goal is to make more sustainable, quicker-to-build homes that promote healthier lifestyles.
By RISOU, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
In Ho Chi Minh City, townhouses are often long and narrow slices that run back from the street. As a result, the interiors have less windows and access to sunlight than residents desire. With this design, the architects prioritized the creation of natural light while optimizing construction costs. The result is a luminous family home that is enlivened by a central atrium, which invites the sun’s rays to dance in the deepest nooks and crannies.
By Mado Architects, Mazandaran Province, Iran
Set in a suburb that is dotted with gabled roofs and homes made of brick, cement and wood materials, this project subtly distinguishes itself from the neighborhood in sophisticated ways. The design is rooted in the geometric archetype of nine-squares, which is the guiding principle of its programmatic distribution. The interconnected network of courtyards, pools and domestic faces interlock like a Mondrian composition, resulting in a dynamic and highly functional home.
Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter.
Spotted: The transition to a net-zero economy will require huge changes in our energy infrastructure. Not only will the power grids of the future be cleaner – they will also be more decentralised. In the fossil fuel era, energy infrastructure was owned by a small number of large players. But in the future, the fossil fuel supply chain will be replaced by much smaller assets embedded within the built environment. In the words of Australian startup Gridcognition, the energy transition represents a move away from ‘big dumb machines, to small smart ones’.
This transition represents a huge opportunity for the industry but comes with its own problems. One of the trickiest issues is the complexity of planning and assessing each de-centralised project – something that is beyond the scope of even the most sophisticated traditional spreadsheets. Industry players need to understand the environmental impacts and commercial opportunities of a diverse range of energy assets – such as virtual power plants, microgrids, community energy systems, and electric vehicle charging points. And they must also consider how each project interacts with the wider energy ecosystem and commercial landscape. Much more sophisticated data analysis is needed, and this is where Gridcognition’s software aims to play an important role.
The startup’s software service allows customers to simulate different energy project options based on a wide variety of different parameters – such as technical considerations, geographic location, and tariffs. The simulations crunch all this complex data allowing the user to quickly compare options based on commercial performance measures (such as cashflow) or environmental considerations (such as amount of CO2 emissions saved). The software also allows users to create a ‘digital twin’ of a project that can be updated as the project is deployed.
Gridcognition’s software is designed to be used by a range of different players including energy providers, project developers, solutions providers, large energy users, and property businesses. The startup has already secured a number of high-profile clients and partners, such as Amazon Web Services, and announced in October 2021 that it plans to expand into the UK microgrid market.
Other smart energy innovations spotted by Springwise include a startup reducing the impact of electric hot water systems, and devices that bring smart meter technology to hard-to-reach homes.
Universal Design, the practice of creating environments equally usable by anyone regardless of physical circumstance, is increasingly gaining traction among design professionals. As this practice requires designing beyond minimum standards set by codes that seasoned practitioners have spent decades learning to master, a change in approach must come from the bottom up. That’s why the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture hosts an annual Universal Design awards program for architecture students with Ascension Wheelchair Lifts.
Now in its second year, the program aims to instill in future architects an inclination to envision how the spaces they design will be used. “The ability to imagine spatial experience is essential in architecture,” Teresa Rosano, one of the program’s studio professors, said. “Doing so can hone our awareness of all our senses and also serve as a practice in empathy – a skill that transcends any discipline.”
For this year’s program, students were asked to design an arts center on a steeply sloped site in Bisbee, Arizona, a town defined by elevation changes. Public staircases, emblematic of the challenges facing the implementation of Universal Design, are famously utilized by the town to connect vertically separated streets, including on the site chosen for the competition. Here’s a look at the winning designs.
“Bisbee Mercado” by Alexis Campion
First place honors went to Alexis Campion’s Bisbee Mercado, an open-air space for local artisans to make and sell their work. Neatly organized around a three-story atrium, each floor opens to the exterior directly at grade, connecting to an adjacent commercial district, city park and residential neighborhood without level changes.
Campion also considered sensory concerns caused by the site’s slope. “Digging into the earth can create an environment similar to a basement,” she said. “To resist this, I split the space down the center to create an atrium bringing light into all the spaces.”
“Bisbee Art Center” by Andy Demetriou
Inspired by an existing graffiti-covered wall on the site, Andy Demetriou’s Bisbee Art Center was awarded the second place prize. Demetriou’s design kept the existing wall in place, expanding it into an ever-evolving outdoor gallery. “Over time, the graffiti changes into new designs and layers on top of each other,” he said.
The outdoor gallery is distributed onto several levels connected by a simple, intuitive system of ramps. These levels are all aligned with the levels of an adjacent, indoor multi-purpose space, leading one juror to describe the solution as “masterfully integrated Universal Design.”
“Apiledo Theatre Company” by Brandon Willmon
Coming in third, Brandon Willmon’s Apiledo Theatre Company reconciled Universal Design principles with the enjoyment of kinetic performance styles. Centered around the exhibition of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines acrobatics with music and dance, mid-air stages hang dramatically in a triple-height performance venue ringed by fully accessible viewing areas on multiple levels.
“My inspiration for a ‘free floating’ performance, in lieu of a better phrase, was derived mostly from the fluid nature of Capoeira coupled with getting physically challenged members of the community involved in such a physically demanding art form,” he said.
“Bisbee Sculpture Park & Museum” by Ralph Mersiowsky
Ralph Mersiowsky’s Bisbee Sculpture Park & Museum earned the program’s “Innovation in Universal Design” award by co-locating multiple modes of vertical circulation, ensuring a common experience of traveling from floor to floor. Distributed across three levels with minimal overlap, the challenge of artfully placing a staircase, elevator and ramp adjacent to each other was overcome by making each one a unique architectural feature.
“Light + Life + Performance” by Tyler Newman
Garnering the “Innovation in Graphics” award, Tyler Newman’s design for a group living community explores the effect that light and materiality have on perception. Focused on tactile experience for the benefit of people with differing levels of sensory ability, walls and floors featuring wood, concrete and other materials offer feelings of warmth, coolness or other sensations depending on the time of day.
“Culinary Arts Center” by Eva Serbin
Eva Serbin’s methodology for creating a culinary arts center bisected by an open-air thoroughfare likened to a canyon won the program’s “Innovation in Design Narrative + Process” award. All the various uses in the multi-level “canyon” are connected with an ingenious system of ramps one juror described as “an exciting spatial experience all can participate in.”
“The Living Mural” by Alyssa Fink
Alyssa Fink’s The Living Mural distributes its program across separate buildings but makes the paths between them the star of the show, “highlighting the spatial quality and experience of the in-between spaces,” as one juror put it. Switch-backing ramps between buildings are surrounded by artful graffiti displayed on dramatic architectural forms, earning the project one of two “Innovation in Design Concept” awards.
“To Intersect & Carve” by Freddy Arvizu
Awarded the second “Innovation in Design Concept” honor, Freddy Arvizu organized spaces dedicated to painting and artist housing within overlapping, angular forms one juror called “a strong generative move that is carried throughout the spatial experiences.” Eschewing ramps, a centrally located elevator offers easy access to all parts of the building.
To learn more about how you can make your upcoming projects accessible with the help of the experts at Ascension Lifts, click here.
A self-organising shelter that adapts to environmental stimuli and ceramic tableware designed to stimulate the senses are included in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at Birmingham City University.
Also included is a Russian recreational area designed as a multifunctional park to meet residents’ needs, and a chair that explores hair-based discrimination while celebrating black, afro and textured hair.
“A vibrant and inspiring learning community, the school identifies strongly with the civic university movement and has a dynamic and growing reputation in practice-led research, enterprise and knowledge exchange, encompassing disciplines across the scales from Product and Furniture through Interiors, Architecture, Urban Design (from September 2021) Landscape Architecture with cross-cutting courses in Design Management and Conservation of the Historic Environment.
“We deliver an outstanding and distinctive student experience and embrace a practice, research and knowledge-based approach to our teaching demonstrated by our KTPs, our innovative BA (Hons) Design for Future Living in partnership with George Clarke’s Ministry of Building Innovation and Education (MOBIE), our transdisciplinary collaborative Co.LAB live projects and Experimental Sustainability Studio initiatives.”
Heirs of Time by Laura Hastings
“Heirs of Time explores how the memories of local communities could be archived, restored and recollected through the ‘apparatus of the heirloom’. This thesis explores key themes of time, memory, depth and transformation. Following research and investigation into the changes of a Birmingham high street, the heirloom became a physical manifestation of the built environment.
“Programmatically, underground spaces have been developed to represent long-term, consolidated memories that are not so regularly recollected, functioning as archives and experience rooms. Instead of public-facing, the overground spaces represent short-term memories, those that are regularly made and forgotten.”
Student:Laura Hastings Course: BA(Hons) Architecture Tutors: Dr Matthew Jones, Matthew Hayes and Rebecca Walker Email: ljhastings-1@talktalk.net
Equilibrium 2.0 by Pasha Jeremenko
“Equilibrium 2.0 explores self-organising architecture and its adaptations to environmental stimuli. In an extreme climate, conventional architecture cannot sustain itself, which causes the architectural paradigm to shift – from static to dynamic.
“The designed shelter adapts itself to external conditions by working together with nature in its response. The equilibrium between the synthetic and the organic opens up more opportunities for evolving architecture. The evolution, in this case, appears in the form of the technological assembly of machines.”
Student:Pasha Jeremenko Course: BA(Hons) Architecture Tutors: David Capener, Amrita Raja, Bea Martin, Rob Annable and Ian Shepherd Email: pasha.jeremenko@outlook.com
How can the music industry rebuild in a post-pandemic environment while securing its future and maintaining its culture? by Azita Maria Rushton
“Access talent is a music industry tour programme that aims to create a supportive, coherent and connected professional journey for young music enthusiasts. The programme comprises three courses taught by industry professionals, hosted in grassroots music venues located in areas of high deprivation in the UK otherwise forgotten by industry and government.
“The programme features an initiative that offers opportunities provided by industry sponsors to work and study within the music. This concept was designed to address threats to the British music industry’s ecosystem, such as poor creative careers education, inequality in music education and lack of support for grassroots music venues.”
Student: Azita Maria Rushton Course: BA (Hons) Design Management Level 6 Top-up Tutors: Nicholas Irvin Email: azita-maria.rushton@mail.bcu.ac.uk
How can design innovation and digital technology be used to create the shopping experience of the future? by Nontawat Nowarit (Addy)
“Neo – X is the integration and utilisation of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in brick-and-mortar stores to reinvigorate retail shopping experiences of the future. The project explores the challenges and opportunities of how AR could be used in retail to enhance window shopping experience and entice customers to come back into physical stores after the pandemic. The concept demonstrates the promising use of AR in window shopping and how it could become a part of the new and enhanced in-store experiences of the future.”
Student: Nontawat Nowarit (Addy) Course: BA (Hons) Design Management Level 6 Top-up Tutors: Nicholas Irvin Email: Nontawat.Nowarit@mail.bcu.ac.uk
Box For Life by Luke Reynolds
“The Box For Life project is a national tiny home community network designed to bring the tiny home movement to urban cities. I have developed both the ultimate tiny home that can be purchased at an affordable price and a flagship community site on George Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
“It combats the growing economic issue that sees struggling young people attempt to juggle work and social lives whilst reaching for the property ladder. The project aims to increase ‘urban opportunity’ for people in a tiny home and sustainable living communities and attract a new generation of tiny dwellers.”
Student: Luke Reynolds Course: BA Interior Architecture and Design Tutors: Christopher Maloney and Josephine Bridges Email: Ljwreynolds@gmail.com
The Emporium of Possibility by Georgia Ruscoe
“This project aims to prepare for a post-pandemic world and become the key to the escapist dream-world that people so deeply desire. Its spatial strategy will disregard hierarchy and instead focus on forming an economy built on human communities.
“It enhances creative potential through the freedom of exploration, epistemic emotions and knowledge production. Providing people with the opportunity to explore their entrepreneurial aspirations whilst combating social and environmental issues. Its goal is to move away from fast output and stop the machine age, centring on the human again by forming an age of experience and creative exploration – something that cannot be automated.”
Student: Georgia Ruscoe Course: BA Interior Architecture and Design Tutors: Christopher Maloney and Josephine Bridges Email: georgiaruscoe@gmail.com
Comfort Valley Murmansk by Linyun Jiang
“Comfort Valley is a large recreational area outside the city centre of Murmansk, Russia. This innovative design provides an opportunity to identify and implement a vibrant multifunctional park area revitalisation that can meet local residents’ needs, increase the connection between people and the site, and enhance the community environment. It utilises the natural and climatic conditions of the Arctic with sustainable technical innovations in the form of warming huts dotted through the landscape, connected with green infrastructure.”
Student: Linyun Jian Course: BA (hons) Landscape Architecture, LI Tutors: Lucas Hughes, Eccles Ng, Dawn Parke and Rasha Sayed Email: Linyun.Jiang@mail.bcu.ac.uk
Regeneration Design in Tuanjie Village by Shiyun Huang
“This landscape-led urban redevelopment creates public space for residents to live, entertain and relax. There is a diversity of activities, forming active street venues which address nighttime and daytime uses. The Unity Village will be a “new life”, a “new symbol”, and a “new landmark”.
“Inspired by the symbolic language abstracted water-towns in the Yangtze River Delta, a new symbol of a Central Park with a series of dynamic connected spaces is created. It is a new landmark integrating traditional and contemporary characteristics, enlightened by the abstract artistic conception of courtyard and landscape forms.”
Student: Shiyun Huang Course: BA(Hons) Landscape Architecture Tutors: Lucas Hughes, Eccles Ng, Dawn Parke and Rasha Sayed Email: Shiyun.Huang@mail.bcu.ac.uk
Dolcio by Katarzyna Kozlowska
“Dolcio is a collection of experimental ceramic tableware developed in response to the study of gastrophysics – the scientific analysis of how our experience of food and drink is affected by our senses and surroundings.
“Carefully composed, this series of dessert plates stimulate the senses through colour, form and texture, increasing the sweet taste of puddings and creating a more positive and mindful eating experience. By using rounded tableware, users can reduce the amount of sugar used in dishes without compromising on the taste, therefore helping to promote healthier eating habits.”
Student: Katarzyna Kozlowska Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design Tutors: Richard Underhill, Malcolm Hastings, Brian Adams and Natalie Cole Email: Katarzynakozlowskadesign@outlook.com
Zewadi by Katy Thompson
“Inspired by personal experiences growing up in a predominately white town and the Black Lives Matter movement, this chair explores hair-based discrimination and how design can celebrate black, afro and textured hair. Zewadi was designed as a functional and educational furniture piece, intended to initiate conversations surrounding this underrepresented issue.
“Zewadi uses textured black cork and rounded forms to represent black hair, whilst its throne-like scale brings empowerment to its users. Additionally, the gap in the headrest not only highlights the user’s hair but also reduces the risk of friction damage.”
Student: Katy Thompson Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design Tutors: Richard Underhill, Malcolm Hastings, Brian Adams and Natalie Cole Email: Katyt1998@gmail.com
Cardboard Products for the Design Museum by Thomas Whiskens
“Taking inspiration from the ecological principle of the edge effect, the project questions and explores how design can respond to uncertainty with creativity and dynamism while recognizing its role in Fairbourne’s narrative.
“The proposition is to create a community-owned visitor destination, together with enabling landscapes, aimed at changing the collective mindset for Fairbourne, encouraging a vision for the territory as having multiple future identities and uses beyond the engineered utility topography.
“The spectrum of landscape systems and settings draw on the unique characteristics of the existing estuary topography, from the engineered edge of the seawall, through the shifting edge of marsh and wetland to the relic uplands.”
Student: Thomas Whiskens Course: Foundation/BA Product Design Tutors: Myles Cummings, Tom Tebby, Andrew Trujillo and Anastasiya Luban
LAxArch – Canal Side Regeneration Project by Matthew Harris
“This Landscape and Architecture project was based on a location within Birmingham’s sprawling canal network. The challenge was to rejuvenate an area of the Grand Union canal in Digbeth, rethink the landscape for people using the site, and provide a kiosk to find information or buy products. This piece of work shows a section through the site.”
Student: Matthew Harris Course: Foundation/BA Architecture Tutors: Myles Cummings, Tom Tebby, Andrew Trujillo and Anastasiya Luban
Grow your own highstreet by Anita Brindley
“Imagine if our cities could become closed-loop systems where all construction materials are produced and harvested just a few metres away from the site. This scheme aims to achieve this by reforesting our high streets. Through reforesting, timber becomes a local and sustainable material source that, during its growth, absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide.
“Over time, the timber grown on the high street can then be harvested by locals and used to develop the local surroundings. The high street no longer becomes made up of static objects but encompasses the active processes related to the community and ecology which inhabit and support its construction.”
Student: Anita Brindley Course: MArch Architecture (RIBA Pt.2), unit: Extinction Rebellion Architecture Tutors: Professor Rachel Sara and Elly Deacon Smith Email: anitalb24@gmail.com
The Pleasure Gardens by Chloe Luvena Dent
“Inspired by the Festival Pleasure Gardens in Battersea – one of the major exhibitions organised by the post-war Labour government during the Festival of Britain in 1951 to give the British a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of WW2.
“The thesis uses hedonistic ideas of pleasure based on Jeremy Bentham’s theories to create contemporary pleasure gardens as a response to the isolating and disengaging social constraints of Covid-19. Envisioned as a series of raised platforms above London, ‘socially undistanced’ moving gimbals, as well as ornate festival structures embedded within landscaped gardens, create an ambient and fun urban experience.”
Student: Chloe Luvena Dent Course: MArch Architecture (RIBA Pt.2), unit: arena Tutors: Alessandro Columbano and Valeria Szegal Email: chloedent09@gmail.com
Fairbourne 2070 – The New Gold Rush by David Mahon
“Given its position on a low-lying salt marsh, Fairbourne can no longer be protected from flooding with rising sea levels and increased risk of storms due to climate change. Fairbourne 2070 – the new gold rush is a project to relocate and design a new Fairbourne that is resilient to climate change and fit for social demands of the year 2070 and beyond, using the principles of a circular economy.
“The new gold rush does not take resources from the landscape. It reuses those that have already been extracted and replenishes those that have been depleted.”
Student: David Mahon Course: MA Landscape Architecture Tutors: Russell Good and Dr Sandra Costa Email: davidedwardmahon@outlook.com
Fairbourne – Landscape at the Edge by Sam Rule
“Taking inspiration from the ecological principle of the edge effect, the project questions and explores how design can respond to uncertainty with creativity and dynamism while recognizing its role in Fairbourne’s narrative. The proposition is to create a community-owned visitor destination, together with enabling landscapes, to change the collective mindset for Fairbourne, encouraging a vision for the territory as having multiple future identities and uses beyond the engineered utility topography.
“The spectrum of landscape systems and settings draw on the unique characteristics of the existing estuary topography, from the engineered edge of the seawall, through the shifting edge of marsh and wetland to the relic uplands.”
Student: Sam Rule Course: MA Landscape Architecture Tutors: Russell Good and Dr Sandra Costa Email: sam.rule@outlook.com
Forest Hub by Gertruda Blazaityte
“Forest Hub is a wood innovation centre bringing researchers, students, businesses, and local residents together to collaborate and share their passion and knowledge to build a healthier and more sustainable urban city. Forest Hub also provides the local community with a space to connect with nature – both indoors and outdoors along with private and spacious studios designed for multiple uses.
“The concept focuses on sustainable and innovative design solutions by using Biomimicry where biological strategies are being used to improve building’s energy efficiency and create a multi-sensory forest-like journey that brings the user closer to nature.”
Student:Gertruda Blazaityte Course: BA Interior Architecture and Design Tutors: Christopher Maloney and Josephine Bridges Email: blazaitytegertruda@gmail.com
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Birmingham City University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
A gender-inclusive hair salon and a cafe that aims to help break down mental health barriers are included in Dezeen’s latest school show from students at the University of Huddersfield.
Also included is a project that aims to revolutionise up-cycling in the retail industry and an adventure and learning centre designed for the elderly.
“We are proud to present a selection of ten pieces of award-winning work that aim to demonstrate the range and scope of projects students undertake in their final year of study. Throughout each project, they selected a site and developed their project brief. Through in-depth research and explorative processes, projects are designed and developed, becoming realised through technical and visual communication.
“Here at Huddersfield, we think that interior design transforms ideas into experiences. We allow students to create entirely new experiences and relationships between people and the places they spend time in. The emphasis is on creativity as we explore and extend current design thinking, pushing boundaries to innovate, providing new ways of looking at human and spatial interactions in response to our changing world.
“This group of students has had to cope with unprecedented circumstances during the Covid-19 outbreak and are a credit to themselves and the course in producing exciting projects that help us to glimpse the future. They are on the cusp of new approaches and changing parameters in design, able to adapt and offer reflexive approaches to future projects. To view the university’s virtual showcase click here and to view its Instagram, visit its profile.”
22 Degrees by Paccelli Sowerby
“This project aims to democratise wine tasting for the younger consumer. It seeks to mix up the traditional wine bar, reintroducing wine to the younger consumer in a fun, informal environment that focuses on learning through experience.
“The project intends to create a reactive space with a hands-on approach to wine tasting, bringing people closer to natural wine by echoing the hand-crafted winemaking process through design elements.
“The space gives people the tools and info to embark on their own journey of wine discovery whilst learning about the making process and being inspired by the urban vineyard environment.
“22 Degrees offers more than just a huge variety of natural wines – it also hosts a selfie label-booth, interactive wine quiz, contact-free bottle shop, self serve wine bar, sensory wine experience and roof terrace with sensory grape pods. This project has a full technical pack and feasibility study, both of which are available for download on my website.”
Student: Paccelli Sowerby Award: Best Visual Communication Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Millennium by Adam Kendall
“Today, millennials represent about 32 per cent of the luxury market but will grow to command 50 per cent of the market by 2025. It is clear that technology is advancing and is a significant part of younger generations lives. Through primary research, 48 per cent of millennials spend more than five hours a day looking at a digital screen, and 35 per cent spend between 75 -120 minutes on social media.
“Millennium is a space influenced by social media, and tech aims to create a unique but relatable experience for younger people, making them feel more involved and connected. The issue discovered through the project research is that there is a growing millennial customer base in the luxury industry.
“However, a change or development has not been seen to suit this audience in the commercial sector. In fact, luxury bars and restaurants are more suitable for the older generations. This leads to the isolation of their younger audience, who are digitally savvy and constantly connected. I propose a solution – to create a space that relates to younger generations. A space that is familiar, comfortable and digitally enhanced.”
Student: Adam Kendall Award: Best Technical Detailing Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen leach and Natasha Crowe
Re-Fashioned by Heather Martin
“This is a project that aims to revolutionise up-cycling in the retail industry through the manipulation of contemporary retail and technology. Often the clothing industry does not recycle materials it cannot sell.
“This means an increasing amount of materials are being thrown away instead of being recycled and reused which, further contributes to the global environmental crisis.
“The solution seems obvious: employ artists who love up-cycling and using material which usually gets discarded to craft new items people will love to wear! Research showed that many people feel pessimistic about purchasing pre-owned items. Re-Fashioned places a luxurious twist on up-cycled clothing to encourage more people to do more to save the environment and to look good doing it!
“The concept was developed by the silhouettes and shapes inspired by the human body – seen in the lighting features. Materials within the space were also essential to consider as it needed to be luxury as well as sustainable and natural.”
Student: Heather Martin Award: Best Creative Process Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Sip + Sculpt by Alyssia Hanson
“Sip + Sculpt is designed to allow its customers to unwind in a space where they can work through their stress and break down barriers around mental health. It aims to facilitate connection, inspire imagination and create an oasis of positivity and comfort.
“The project’s concept was influenced by the ‘slow living movement’ alongside the keywords, balance’ and ‘floating’. Customers are encouraged to lock away their devices, distancing themselves from the use of social media, allowing themselves to embrace their creativity and get messy with clay.”
Student: Alyssia Hanson Award: Best Conceptual Approach Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
New Horizons Cub House by Amy Rigby
“New Horizons is an experiential adventure and event planning space including digital booking hubs and learning zones. It has been created for the retired generation to create a place to counteract any regrets they have through life.
“Through research, I found that retired people have many regrets about things they have missed out on during their working lives but don’t have anywhere to explore and resolve them.
“The space has been created to encourage and support a second life with access to fun and exciting activities. Activities include participating in new experiences by trying them out in the VR zone, booking experiences, learning about the digital world and improving skills, or just socialising and meeting new people of similar ages and interests.
“The concept is based around ‘a walk in the park’ which makes entering the clubhouse an experience in itself, as the concept can be seen in the layout and other features.”
Student: Amy Rigby Award: Best Use of Materiality Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Parmilla by Luke Pierce
“Parmilla is dedicated to the people of Huddersfield and is a creative community workplace and social hub, driven by the concept of perspective. The centre celebrates the creative culture the town has to offer and provide co-working spaces and meeting hubs for hire.
“With the ground floor open to the public, it offers the opportunity for exhibitions and offers space for creative events and performances, to provide new experiences and introduce people to new cultural arts.
“It also has a kitchen space located on the ground floor that features a local guest chef every Friday to offer new food experiences to its guests and give the restaurants the chefs are representing more exposure.
“Parmilia will also send out lengths of fabric to local schools, care homes and stands in the streets of Huddersfield to have people tie knots in the fabric. This fabric will then be exhibited from the ceilings throughout the space. Serving mainly as wayfinding, it also highlights essential areas in Parmilla and represents the people of Huddersfield and celebrates individuality.”
Student: Luke Pierce Award: Best Spatial Exploration Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Derma-Tech by Rhiana-Dean Robinson-Hine
“Derma-Tech is a multi-functional, fully immersive retail experience that provides information on skincare knowledge. Consumers are given access to current dermatology technology and DNA driven retailing.
“Developing a forward-thinking ‘go-to’ space for all things skincare by providing numerous experiences for consumers. With technology at the forefront of the design, it harnesses artificial intelligence teledermatology and implements smart technologies throughout each step of the customer journey.”
Student: Rhiana-Dean Robinson-Hine Award: Best Future Focussed Project Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Unite Wellness by Jordan Marzetti
“The Wellness and Respite Centre focuses on delivering a new experience to both dependants and carers. It is a new brand that combines leisure with respite, tackling the disadvantages adults with learning disabilities face and addressing the mental and physical wellbeing of both the dependant and carer.
“It is a purpose-built space located within a residential area, but placed conveniently with other complimenting businesses, providing on-site support through counselling and information. Design is purposely minimal to aid adults with learning disabilities, corridors are direct in layout, and all essential rooms can be found on main corridors.
“There are no curves, or complicated shapes, no distracting patterns, or textures and information points on each main corridor aid navigation acting as way-finding. It includes a new staircase with handrails spaced to be held on either side, including an emergency evacuation slide. Automatic doors into all changing and restroom entrances and two new extra-large lifts have been added to the site.”
Student: Jordan Marzetti Award: Best Socially Focused Project Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Undefeated by Sarah Parkes
“Research has shown that an overwhelming number of females are faced with physical, mental and social barriers when participating in physical activities. Therefore, a key objective of the design proposal was to challenge and support the journeys women face by offering a personalised and unique fitting service within a female-only sportswear store.
“The building is split into three key areas: physical, mental and social. Physical is on the ground floor and is focused on enhancing the body through high-performance sportswear. This zone also includes RFID technology self-checkout, collection points, beacon technology touchscreens and AR smart mirrors.
“The mental section is on the basement floor and is concentrated on re-energising the customer’s mind and body by creating a multi-sensory experience. This includes a relaxation massage pod that indulges all the customer senses and helps them to escape from the busy retail stores on Oxford Street.
“Social is on the first floor and is focused on maintaining customer’s wellbeing by encouraging social interaction within the environment of a nutrition cafe. The material palette includes fresh and light materials that correspond with nutrition and healthy eating.”
Student: Sarah Parkes Award: Best Commercially Focussed Project Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Dare Hair by Jasmin Hardy
“Dare is a non-binary, gender-inclusive hair salon that looks towards the new generation of gender-inclusive hairstyling salons. After researching the importance of hair in gender/self-identity it became apparent that the hair industry needed a new approach to its mainly binary format.
“Using the concept of fluidity, which was also inspired by the limitless creativity of the metaverse, Dare Hair aims to create a gender-inclusive environment for people to experiment with their appearance aided by the integration of smart technology.
“Whether it be someone wanting to experiment with a bold alternative hairstyle or someone exploring their gender expression, everyone is welcome and encouraged at Dare Hair.
“Throughout my time at university, my projects have been driven with the edges of society in mind, so being able to create Dare Hair with the concentration being on the LGBTQ+ community has pushed me to create a thorough, well researched final design. I am thankful to those who are part of the community who were willing to share their experiences with me and I dedicate this project to them.”
Student: Jasmin Hardy Award: Best Overall Project Tutors: Penny Sykes, Jen Leach and Natasha Crowe
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the University of Huddersfield. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
A residential building typology that challenges Dubai’s standalone towers and a community hub that connects a neighbourhood via sport are included in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at The American University in Dubai.
The projects also include a tent designed to unite religious communities in Dubai and a tower intended to educate people on sustainability while promoting biofuel-producing architecture.
“This is a final course in which students implement their thesis research by developing a project that incorporates all the principles of design, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of architectural design and evidence of professional capability.
“The course outcomes are exhibited in a senior showcase where a jury of experts was invited to vote. The 2021 architecture senior showcase ran online on Behance from 27 April to 29 April.
“A jury of 40 international experts, coming from academia, professional realm and press, voted the projects – first, second, third, honourable mentions and design awards. Another series of awards involved an internal academic jury – professors, alumni, faculty – and an external jury included students and the public.”
First Place Award and the Faculty and Alumni Award: The Cessation/Memorial Museum by Joe Sassine Finianos
“The project aims at being the cessation of relationship, civilian and historical losses witnessed by the Lebanese people. It aims at fixing the relationship loss that was broken in 1975 when the city of Beirut got divided between Christians and Muslims.
“The demographic distribution of the people shows a clear evident line in the separation of the two religious groups. The thesis highlights the citizens who died, making their memory live and making them a lesson for the upcoming generations.
“The thesis also studies the numerous destructions in historical monuments and art crafts after every explosion or war. The repeated cycle is evident after every war where museums lose historical artefact due to poor storage, people lose their loved ones as a result of the explosions and the relationship between the two religious group worsens.”
Student: Joe Sassine Finianos Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: Joesassine.finianos@mymail.aud.edu
Second Place Award: The Isle by Rhea Khoury
“The Isle is a micro-city where students have the freedom to explore their passions and make their own decisions on what and how they want to learn. New teaching methods encourage new solutions on how educational spaces should be organised and designed – moving from a still and disciplined environment to a student-centred, flexible and adaptable space for all different kinds of people.
“The young adults from the schools around the Isle and beyond come from different backgrounds and gather to learn from each other and coexist. The different typologies of spaces encourage learning, collaboration, innovation, identity, inclusion and communication. The environment becomes the teacher.”
Student: Rhea Khoury Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: rhea.khoury@mymail.aud.edu
Third Place Award: Pedestrian Enclave by Dalia Qasem
“The concept of Pedestrian Enclave revolves around the nature of social gathering and interaction in the site. These encounters have a unique identity and result from multiple factors that include but are not limited to: overcrowding, vibrant street life, and the presence of low-income residents that feel a disconnect from the rest of the city.
“The goal was to integrate a structure into the chosen site to refine the pedestrian experience and create pleasant gathering spaces by inserting elevated platforms with different levels connected to the roofs of the existing buildings and create a central hub to host some of the missing amenities.
“Overall, this decreases the congestion on the ground level of the site, responds to the need for gathering spaces, and provides a more three-dimensional pedestrian experience as opposed to the flat urban fabric of the current area.”
Student: Dalia Qasem Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email:Dalia.qasem@mymail.aud.edu
Honorable Mention: A Child’s Place by Klara Bekhet
“A Child’s Place proposes a residential building typology that challenges the current standalone towers present in Dubai with a focus on how children perceive and react to residential spaces cognitively, physically and emotionally. The proposed project takes inspiration from the traditional Sha’biyaat housing.
“It tackles three main design approaches an abundance of communal spaces for frequent interaction between the children, the rejection of the vertical void created by elevator-dependent multi-story buildings, and the importance of child-scale for the younger residents to be able to perceive their homes and surrounding.
“The project aims to provide ‘homes’ rather than transitory sellable units, encouraging children to form a sense of place attachment to these spaces and the city of Dubai.”
Student: Klara Bekhet Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: klara.bekhet@mymail.aud.edu
Honourable Mention: Bridging The Gap by Zinah Al Asad
“Internally displaced people (IDPs) are continuously being viewed as a threat to a host society’s security, history, and cultural relationships, and are therefore excluded and restrained.
“The objective is to gradually merge IDPs into the urban fabric of their host city, rather than exclude them. Here, architecture creates a physical bond between the host society and the ‘new society’, the IDPs, and creates a link between the two histories. Moreover, it allows them to benefit society and themselves through the incorporation of self-build structures.
“The project comes to life through a continuous path that physically connects the three different plots while occasionally becoming the roof of recessed volumes. The path starts from an archaeological site to a final site of a refugee accommodation, with an intermediate museum in the second plot.”
Student: Zinah Al Asad Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: Zinah.alasad@mymail.aud.edu
Sustainable Design Award: Plantae Tower by Basant Abdelrahman
“Our planet is in dire need of saving. Humanity’s eradication of nature has had a devastating impact on every aspect of our lives, including our health, population and wildlife. Nature is targeted for its non-renewable fuels, which has continued to contribute to the heating of the planet and has caused severe climate change.
“This should concern every human since it affects animal ecosystems, food production and essential biodiversity. To save our planet, we need to focus on alternative energy resources. There have been many surges in technology and advancements that have helped find solutions other than using non-renewable fuels as sources of energy.
“The main goal of my project is to raise awareness of these emerging integrated innovative technology and help visualise a sustainable building community. I propose to design a tower that advertises a biofuel-producing architecture. It will become a beacon of hope for a sustainable future and will raise awareness about the crisis of climate change. The purpose of the tower is to educate people about the necessity of protecting the environment.”
Student: Basant Abdelrahman Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: Basant.abdelrahman@mymail.aud.edu
Cultural Design Award: Tentmod by Noor AlHashemi Cultural Design Award: Tentmod by Noor AlHashemi
“Dubai is one of the most luxurious cities in the world, but around 90 per cent of its population are migrant workers who earn 19 dollars a day. This brings up the obvious reality of Dubai being a city built just for the rich while there are people who are in poverty.
“The city is known for being the melting pot in the middle east, and so it has residents from different incomes, nationalities, and most importantly, different religions. Unfortunately, all of these aspects create classism between the poor, the middle class, and the rich. TentMod was inspired by a mosque – there is a harmonious interaction between the poor and the other classes during the five prayers.
“I aim to create a Ramadan tent-inspired project that everyone can enjoy together. All classes, religions, and nationalities of the city can come together in union to build the temporary structure of the tent during the month of Ramadan while enjoying the structure during the rest of the year.
“This project creates a sense of unity and harmony between people while forming a connection between the occupants and the project. Furthermore, TentMod is designed to be placed and built on any site beside a mosque since it is designed to be adaptive. This characteristic will help in spreading the awareness of community and culture that comes with Ramadan tents.”
Student: Noora AlHashemi Course: ARCH 502 – Architectural Design Studio X Email: noora.alhashemi@mymail.aud.edu
Community Design Award: Goodbye Slumbai by Mahima Aswani
“The project revolves around the redevelopment of one of the biggest slums in the world, Dharavi, Mumbai, India. The objective is to provide the slum dwellers with more than just shelter. To create an affordable housing option and to improve their quality of life.
“The design of the project is adaptable, sustainable and incorporates social distancing between dwellers to prepare the project for future uncertainties.
“It is designed as a place where dwellers can work in workshops to live in a type of housing module while enjoying and expressing themselves in the public spaces. In addition to this, there are also several stalls on the deck, main market, research centre, reading square to support the dwellers and the strengthening tourism financially.”
Student:Mahima Aswani Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: mahima.aswani@mymail.aud.edu
Innovative Design Award: Vertical Voids by Yash Rochani
“Vertical Voids tackles the issue of expansive sprawl and urban verticality found in Dubai. It proposes to densify the existing urban cloud further, allowing people to live closer and avoid the need to commute. Densification is achieved by studying the negative spaces within the existing skyline of Dubai and proposing an infill development between the current urban fabric.
“A development built within the voids but does not connect to the urban tissue and instead floats above the existing urban fabric and suffices on itself. Densifying the neighbourhood above the grade level will help retain the existing infrastructure while creating new horizontal connections between the existing and new buildings. Thus, creating various levels of interaction besides the ground level.”
Student: Yash Rochani Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: yash.rochani@mymail.aud.edu
Professor Award: Convergence by Hiba Al-Sharif
“The project objective aims to connect the Jebel Ali religious complex with its surrounding and create a unity between the existing religious buildings. Instead of an isolated island of religious buildings, the project will form a series of connections between one building and another and between the complex and its adjacent surrounding.
“Here, the concept converges the religious buildings and considers the ‘in-between passages’ under the canopy theme. This will be achieved through enhancing these passages by integrating culturally shared architectural elements, and by elevating the passages, so connecting the complex with the new cultural park.”
Student: Hiba Al-Sharif Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: hiba.alsharif@mymail.aud.edu
Professor Award: Ori-folds by Maghi Alkhen
“This project aims to be taken into consideration in any country that has faced war – one that aims to build its future again. As a first step, I have taken the country Syria as a proposed location.
“In this project, I aim to try and heal the country step by step back to its life-filled days. The healing process adapts to the concept of “mitosis”, where the healthy cells start to divide themselves to cure a scar on the skin.
“The three phases of healing start with the shelter. It provides a temporary structure that is fast to build, low in cost, and safe for the people who have lost their original homes.
“The second phase focuses on transforming these temporary residentials into permanent ones and creating full residential units. The third and final phase that coexists with phase two is to conceptually include some Arabic and Islamic inspired elements within the final outcome.”
Student: Maghi Alkhen Course: ARCH 502 – Architectural Design Studio X Email: maghi.alkhen@mymail.aud.edu
Professor Award: Excavation by Nawara AlMandeel
“The kingdom of Bahrain is one of the wealthiest islands in the Arabian Peninsula with cultural monuments that date back to the Sumerian and Assyrian times. It is the heart of captivating temples and forts that bind the kingdom together for its profound culture.
“It is essential that all demographic slates of people get to learn and embrace the kingdom of Bahrain’s profound cultural heritage and get inspired to revive what is lost. The project is a livable, sustainable educational cultural centre, hosting multiple activities that would invite all demographics worldwide to visit and immerse in Bahrain’s true architectural identity.
“The former would include contemporary livable areas such as resort hotels that overlook museums and refabricated historical monumental sculptures and exhibition areas.”
Student: Nawara AlMandeel Course: ARCH 502 – Architectural Design Studio X Email: Nawara.almandeel@mymail.aud.edu
Students Award: Oneness by Ahmed Hussein
“When designing this project, we were told to try to relate to things we love or to our hobbies, so the first thing that came up to my mind was football or sports in general. The goal is not only to facilitate people with utilities but also how to make sports better and more accessible.
“The title of this project is oneness. I have chosen a site in a relatively poorer neighbourhood and managed to facilitate them with a sustainable hub that connects the neighbourhood that includes a stadium and a hospital. This zero-carbon emission hub offers not only sports facilities but also offices, galleries and restaurants for all types of people to connect.”
Student: Ahmed Hussein Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: Ahmed.hussein@mymail.aud.edu
People’s Choice Award: Platform by Ayesha Changaai Mangalote
“Platform is an integrated rehabilitation program while activating, reflecting and incorporating new functions that would revive the central importance to the city’s fabric. The project is built around the primary goal of ordering integrated public spaces. These public spaces go from the ground floor to the leading platforms and roof gardens leading to roof gardens.
“The main intention here is to create a hub between the Gold Souq and the ultimate site, which acts as a surprise element or a hidden gem. The site includes old buildings, demolished and certain included and revamped and connected to new extensions to give continuity while ensuring a clear hierarchy and articulation of space.
“The main struggle for this project was its dense urban fabric, and the knitted area had to be well planned. That’s where the modularity of the project comes in. Balconies with roof gardens and the park below give the place a revamp where public and private realms converge. Social and physical boundaries are dissolved when different groups can meet on the ground floor of the central park.”
Student: Ayesha Changaai Mangalote Course: ARCH 502, Architectural Design Studio X Email: Ayeshasuha.changaaimangalote@mymail.aud.edu
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and The American University in Dubai. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
An LGBT+ community centre that caters to Seattle’s queer population and a peace centre in Homs, Syria, are included in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at the School of Visual Arts.
Also included is a fermentation centre that explores the world of microflora and its relationship to our wellbeing and a design for a new bookstore in China that marries biophilic principles with traditional Chinese architecture.
“The interior design senior thesis year at the School of Visual Arts Interior Design: Built Environments department is the culmination of a year-long self-directed exploration. Each student has driven and developed an adaptive-reuse project from site selection through concept development, interior design, programming and furnishings.
“Every project is unique and tackles real-world issues such as a residence for the Harbor School on Governors Island and a centre for philosophers in Homs Syria.”
Oryzae Village by Chloe Hyun Jung Park
“Fermentation is an under-appreciated metabolic process that humans have embraced for thousands of years. It is responsible for a wide range of items we consume including beer, yoghurt, kimchi and penicillin. In this project, Oryzae Village is a fermentation centre that explores the world of microflora and its relationship to our health and wellbeing.
“It consists of farms, shops, residences and various engaging workshop areas. Fermentation experts and artisans lead the centre to create an environment for teaching, learning, sharing while creating products items using fermentation.
“Oryzae Village aims to revitalise the local communities by encouraging foraging, growing, investigating, and learning about microbial processes – helping people achieve healthier lives and wellbeing.”
Student: Chloe Hyun Jung Park Course: Senior thesis Email: chloehyun021@gmail.com
Harbor Residence by Iris Junhong Lin
“Being a high school student in New York’s award-winning Harbor School often means having to endure extremely long commutes from various corners of the five boroughs. Located on Governors Island, the school is accessible only by ferry. Harbor Residence is a student dormitory for these dedicated pre-college students committed to maritime studies, research and careers.
“In this project, Harbor Residence aims to be much more than just a place to live – it will be a continuation of the school’s maritime culture. Students will to able to live, socialise, learn, work at the residence – becoming a centre for the Harbor School Community.”
Student: Iris Junhong Lin Course: Senior thesis Email: jlin28@sva.edu
Cove by Stella Hanbyul Suk
“The pandemic has forced us to rethink travel. Urban dwellers with limited access to natural environments have been unable to travel long distances to connect with nature. Local travel may be the new normal in our post-pandemic tourism landscape.
“Cove is a wellness and activity centre that provides a tranquil and restful place in a natural setting within a relatively short distance from the major urban centres of South Korea. It is designed for people to unplug and reset their daily lives, improving both mental and physical wellness through high sensory involvement in a setting that connects back to nature.”
“Alive Books is a new bookstore design in China. More than just a place to buy books, it is a gathering place where people can learn, communicate and exchange ideas.
“Marrying biophilic principles with traditional Chinese architecture, Alive Books aims to become the future of book retailers that will co-exist and survive the online bookselling landscape.”
Student: Difan Yang Course: Senior thesis Email: yang_difan@163.com
The Aurora by Ramey Yixuan Chen
“The Aurora is a hotel designed to maximize experiences of the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. Auroras result from disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar winds – resulting in otherworldly displays of atmospheric lights of varying colour and complexities.
“Located in Oblast, Russia, the Aurora Hotel is situated in the Arctic Circle with a relatively mild climate (due to the warm ocean currents crossing this seaside town).
“Because of its extreme northern location, visitors will be able to experience the ‘Polar Nights’ – when the night sky extends for periods longer than 24 hours – giving them unparalleled access to seeing the Aurora Borealis. The design of the hotel will focus on maximising the beauty of this atmospheric phenomenon while connecting visitors to nature.”
“Queer is the new LGBTQ+ centre in greater Seattle. Located adjacent to the University of Washington, Queer will cater to the vulnerable LGBTQ+ population and reflect core values of diversity, inclusivity and freedom of identity.
“Constantly under pressure and attack, the LGBTQ+ community needs a place to gather, grow, organise, support, heal, defend and celebrate queer experiences and identities. Now, more than ever, with trans people being ostracised, and the legality of gay marriage being questioned, Queer will be a welcoming and open centre for the entire Seattle community.”
Student: Yearin ‘Rin’ Park Course: Senior thesis Email: rinparkinterior@gmail.com
Bayt Al Kul Philosophy Centre by Fuad Khazam
“Bayt al-Kul (house of the all) is a philosophy and peace centre in Homs, Syria that aims to play a major role in healing a divided society by challenging beliefs through discussions and conceptual analysis. After a ten-year war that divided the Syrian people, Bayt al-Kul will give the people of Homs a chance to listen and share one another’s views through philosophical debate.
“For centuries, Homs was a cradle for philosophical education and the birthplace of many historical philosophers who contributed to the world today. By re-discovering the ‘world of ideas’ Bayt al-Kul aims to help rebuild the unity and cultural commonality among the Syrian people.”
“Al-station is a live and work community dedicated to art school students marrying art studios with living space. Students from the New York City (NYC) area art institutions will be able to use Al-station as a place to live, study, work, create, show, play and gather.
“The space will serve as a hub for creative university students – nurturing the next artists and designers who are so important to the continued growth and vitality of NYC.”
Student: Eason Yixuan Du Course: Senior thesis Email: easondu09@gmail.com
Social Commune by Yangkai Lin
“Over the past 30 years, the China Government has instituted a programme of poverty alleviation that relocated millions of scattered families living in rural areas, moving them closer to cities to provide social services such as healthcare and education. This caused thousands of villages across China to become empty, creating a landscape of forgotten places. Many of these abandoned villages – dating back thousands of years – should be preserved, reimagined and reused.
“Social Commune is an experimental design project that focuses on adaptive reuse of these forgotten places: transforming originally residential buildings into a series of public buildings that celebrate the unique characteristics of the local village and community.
“Through a mixture of preservation and modern design, Social Commune will breathe new life into these underutilised structures and will become a model for rehabilitating rural areas throughout China.”
Student: Yangkai Lin Course: Senior thesis Email: ykstv21@gmail.com
Noah by Ekko Tianjuan Zheng
“Covid-19 has changed the world. Wuhan China – with a population of over 10 million – is thought to be the epicentre of the virus. With its own virus spread quickly under control, Wuhan is in a position to become a centre for viral studies – to help prevent such an epidemic in the future.
“Noah is an institute of virology in Wuhan. Located in an abandoned factory, an extensive renovation will transform it into a high-tech, unique, state-of-the-art research facility. Incorporating biophilic elements and principles, Noah will be an environment where science and nature come together, creating a laboratory and science centre for the 21st century.”
An aquarium designed to protect marine biodiversity and a healing centre using horticultural techniques to help treat mental illness are included in our latest school show by architecture students at the Academy of Art University.
Other projects include a “public living room” that blends neighbourhood life with areas for privacy and a residential hub designed to enable economic self-sufficiency for residents.
School:Academy of Art University, School of Architecture Courses: M.Arch M.Arch2 B.Arch MA and BA Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim, David Gill, Nicole Lambrou, Sameena Sitabkhan, Eoanna Harrison, Philip Ra and Mini Chu
School statement:
“We are a progressive design laboratory of highly passionate students and a distinguished faculty of practising architects who work together to explore the boundaries of architecture. Our interactive onsite and online studio experience harnesses digital tools to mentor students throughout our rigorous curriculum.
“We offer an excellent design education by developing each student’s capacity to synthesise critical thought, architectural vision, and technical comprehension. Our programmes engage with current global issues, empowering students to be change-makers and leaders advocating for social equity. Our diverse international community enables us to propagate a unique cultural response to build a better world.”
Outer Mission Ramp Library – a knowledge connector for rapidly changing communities by Yi Hsien Rachel Wang
“The typology of library buildings has evolved throughout history, reflecting the changes in information systems and learning activities. By combining social, functional and environmental benefits, the thesis is projecting a new sustainable library typology as a prototype for a public learning infrastructure.
“The main conceptual idea is to design the library as a continuous ramp, connecting previously separated areas in the diverse local city fabric. The architectural intervention shortens the neighbourhood’s physical and social distances by combining pedestrian bridges, casual and formal learning infrastructure as a public living room for residents to gather, work, exercise and entertain.”
Student:Yi Hsien Rachel Wang Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Self-generating Architecture: Pier 28 by Valeryia Haletskaya
“The design for a hybrid aquarium and research-development centre at Pier 28 on the San Francisco waterfront employs organic, metabolic and self-generating materials. Artificial organisms – protocells that in time grow into artificial limestone – help to decrease levels of carbon dioxide while reinforcing the existing structure and building its sea-wall reef, skeleton, and envelope.
“Researchers, students and visitors share spaces for learning, interaction, and collaboration. The scheme offers protection for marine species and enhances biodiversity. The living architectural intervention is aimed as a long-term solution for coastal cities and other areas at risk from storms surges due to climate change.”
Student: Valeryia Haletskaya Course: Master of Architecture Thesis M.Arch Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Outer Mix Investigating mixed-use development as a means to fostering a healthy year-round community on the Outer Cape by Christian Fish
“A lack of affordable, year-round housing has become an urgent crisis on Cape Cod, afflicting low and middle-income families depending on a largely seasonal economy. Outer Mix imagines a new residential, social and economic hub on a 10-acre area in the Eastham Corridor Special District.
“Organised into four blocks repeated throughout the site, 95 residential units are combined with nearly 30,000 square feet of economic and social programming. This includes artist studios, co-working spaces, cafes, a library, daycare and community greenhouse. This programme mix enables economic and sustainable self-sufficiency and a community for residents.”
Student: Christian Fish Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Nicole Lambrou
Eco-Tecture – Unifying Ecology with Architecture by Kevin Brady
“How can architecture enhance, improve and support educational and public awareness of the conservation and preservation of our local natural resources? Exposure and access to the elements of nature enliven the spirit, inspire curiosity, and encourages a ‘critical thinking’ response while promoting a healthy interactive lifestyle.
“This thesis seeks to determine how architecture could positively impact an ecological setting that strengthens community health, productivity, conservation and ecological awareness. This design approach engages user groups with the natural environment while preserving the ecological habitat.”
Student: Kevin Brady Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: David Gill
A Living Architecture by Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili
“This project is a healing centre incorporating earth and plants into its form and structure to create a holistic, sustainable space for wellness and rehabilitation. Farming, nature and architecture form a dialectic relationship. Horticultural techniques such as pleaching aid in the treatment of mental illness and serve as a therapeutic strategy.
“Located in Bakersfield, near Oil City in Kern County, California, the site is near the highest polluted city in the United States. The project aims to aid in healing people with a tranquil environment that incorporates sustainable and biophilic design.”
Student: Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Unity Pavilion for Northridge Cooperative Housing by Naomi Rojas, Shunyi Yang, Dylan Ingle, Rhonuel Domingcil, Fabio Lemos, Corona Xiaohuan Gao, Malak Bellajdel, Kenta Oye, Jacob Delaney, Harikrishna Patel and Daniel Cervantes
“A design-build project by the B.Lab group, the pavilion fosters cooking, eating and storytelling within a community garden in the Hunters Point neighbourhood of San Francisco.
“Due to a lack of access to healthy, affordable food in the area, the pavilion integrates counters, benches, and a movable kitchen table for cooking demonstrations using produce directly from the garden, while a series of frames offer shade and a vista of the bay.
“The design was derived from several communities and youth workshops together with feedback from garden volunteers, and the pavilion was measured and tested on full-scale prototypes before construction.”
“The project investigates the relationship between the sacred and the political, and the role of the autonomous citizen therein. Sign-up sheets are simple yet contractual.
“Where public services are exchanged, they are activating devices bringing citizens together to achieve common goals. Sacred architecture has been a beacon of alternative governance by becoming places of refuge and political action.
“This thesis frames those events as distinct from the economic agenda of neoliberalism. Sign-Up Sheet reimagines the site with an urban sanctuary in San Francisco’s Tenderloin where non-profit staffs and community members live and work in a hub of collective activity.”
Student: Daniel Joonhee Lee Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Kid of Parts for the Bayview Commons Apartments by Adam Nuru, Markish Siojo, Dylan Ingle, Fabio Lemos, Xiaohuan Corona Gao
“Through a series of community events at the Bayview Commons Apartments, an affordable housing community in San Francisco, we learned that residents wanted an active, intergenerational, and flexible space that allowed for relaxation, interactive play and community events.
“Our final design incorporates a set of flexible, movable furniture that can be set up in different configurations. Intergenerational play, imagination, and socializing are emphasized through the design of different panels on the modular pieces. The colourful groundscape is coded to give clues for spatial use and provide a vibrant surface that complements the colours of the wall mural.”
“Urban planning in San Francisco has confined ethnic neighbourhoods to inhuman spaces. My ancestral heritage includes the repeated displacement of the Japanese community to unwanted or forgotten territories.
“The design reveals the lost layers of the site – where the first Japan town took root in 1900 – by activating the alleys, offering a cultural centre that borrows from museum and immigration centre programmes.
“The act of making was the catharsis that enabled this community to cope creatively. Ceramic, wood, and sewing galleries are paired with adjacent workshops, providing spaces to congregate, exchange ideas and share experiences through craft.”
Student:Kenta Oye Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Urban Living Room by Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng
“The project brings neighbourhood life into public space while blurring boundaries and creating conditions of privacy. Public programmes and varied open spaces blend traditional library and private spaces with adjacent buildings.
“The design responds to natural light, wind, and views but also create opportunities to block visual contact with adjacent residences. People are welcome to celebrate their time here, and the architecture makes invisible boundaries to protect their personal space as needed.
“This is not just a library or another place to hang out; the proposal also provides opportunities for people to safely interact in acceptable proximities.”
Student: Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Academy of Art University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
Twenty interior design students at New York City’s Pratt Institute present their final projects in Dezeen’s latest school show.
From a building that could purify contaminated floodwater to analysing how to improve user’s airport experiences, these projects by undergraduate and postgraduate interior design students at Pratt Institute explore how interiors affect our environment and behaviour.
“The Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design at Pratt Institute has consistently ranked as the top interior design programmes in the United States and are considered to be some of the most prominent and influential. The courses prepare students to engage in critical inquiry and exploration – skills that establish them as innovators having an impact on the profession, the discipline and research on the interior environment.
“The programmes are architecturally oriented with emphasis on spatial articulation. They are designed to guide students in generating creative solutions by understanding craft, light, colour, and material research. Through theoretical and applied research, the curriculum addresses emerging and innovative technologies, interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainable practices. Both degrees focus on larger issues of ethical and social responsibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion through an understanding of global cultural history and its context.”
Solitary Living and Social Interactions in Urban Community by Bingyu Hu
“With different scales, functions and degrees of transparency, interior spaces serve as containers to protect privacy, stimulating communication and participation. As a result, they respond to individual’s lives while fostering community interaction.”
“Activating Boundaries addresses the way generic airport experiences have become passive due to the overwhelming amount of stress placed on users throughout their journey. The effects of these emotions leave the user searching for entertainment from the consumerism offered post-security check.
“Based on research, the stress users undergo are elevated in periods of waiting and delays when the presence of large lines appear. Is there an opportunity to repurpose these boundaries? Can stressors be transformed into a sensory experience? How can we transition from the independent isolation of travelling to experience the journey of travelling together?
“This thesis allowed me to investigate the future of design amidst a global pandemic that has altered the way we perceive space and people. It investigates reconnecting people with each other.”
Harvesting Water: Reimagining Environmental Waters as Constructive Materials in the Resilient Coastal Interior by Kats Tamanaha
“By 2060, an estimated 13 million Americans will be displaced due to rising sea levels and coastal flooding. This thesis explores the possibilities of tidal, flood and stormwater as ‘materials’ in our built environment. Here their potential is shifted, from substances that destroy to resilient tools used to manage flooding.
“Water within the built environment is hidden, hyper-controlled through intricate plumbing systems and filtered for use. Water within the exterior is uncontrolled and often feared. Floodwater is contaminated, picking up traces of where it has been and what it has touched. As sea levels rise, areas formerly at risk for 100-year floods will soon be submerged at high tide. How can the interior adapt to embrace the new reality of water rather than avoid it?
“My project embraces the future of permanent tidal flooding. The building passively phytoremediates toxic water while creating an adaptive form of the interior. It explores possibilities of tidal, flood, and stormwater as tools for long-term, in-place resiliency in coastal communities facing an increasing risk of flooding.”
“Fragment / Reconcile addresses the complexity of living in a post-conflict, economically deprived community that struggles under the burden of the past. Following the events of the troubles and the death of a dominant industry, an entire generation is coming of age in Derry who have to navigate insurmountable unemployment rates and forge a path to peace with little to no outside support.
“To help mitigate the most pressing issue for youth in Derry, I proposed an incubator and teaching facility to build community resilience through a network of small businesses. The centre would provide the resources currently lacking to retain their workforce and make upward mobility possible within the city.
“Growth is made possible by the incubator’s interactive and reflective practices. It engages with the community on a macro scale while also encouraging individual healing on a micro scale. As the user moves through space, it transitions from a collaborative environment to a self-reflective one. An archive becomes the basis upon which to preserve and reflect the collective memory of the people it serves. By being informed by the past, they can move towards the best version of their future.”
“This project puts forward new ways to inhabit in-between space. By breaking down interior elements one by one, a layering of interior and exterior space emerges and reinvents traditional spatial constructs.”
“This thesis focuses on the home as a ‘central agent of change’ in response to the remittance between the Salvadoran-American transnational identity. Here, remittance signifies the value of a cultural currency by forming a multi-generational landscape of retraced rituals and reassembled emblems.
“At the beginnings of a discourse, there is an agency in how the home responds to generational, cultural, psychological and environmental issues to constantly shape, design and re-examine contemporary living.”
“The Nest is a didactic and prototypical full-time detention centre designed for male adolescents who have committed minor crimes. It is a critique of the current antiquated prison form in New York City. It explores educational, healing, and therapeutic spatial relationships and rethinks surveillance in order to reform negative behaviours and support mental health issues.”
“Moments of Movement investigates how interior space can directly affect one’s bodily awareness and interactions with the environment. Rather than habitually moving through space, space can be designed to heighten our awareness of our body and its relationship with the material world.
“The intention is to bring more awareness and appreciation to those small, everyday events that we often perform on auto-pilot. Although we tend to seek out spectacular events, life often happens in those everyday moments in-between. Rather than rushing past them, the users are prompted to slow down and experience those moments.
“The thesis proposes that the body will be part of a network where interactions and movements through thresholds directly affect the environment. By augmenting thresholds within a parking garage and adding screens, mirrors, enhanced lighting, walls and monitors, body movements will be figured as the form-making material of the project. As the body moves within and between various garage zones, it becomes part of a network and explores the relationship between the environment and agency.”
Building Within Memory: Strengthening Place Identity in Deteriorating Environments by Claire Riordan
“Place-identity is defined by a person’s cognitions about the physical world around them. At their core are a person’s environmental past, made up of places, spaces and characteristics that have shaped their biological, psychological, social, and cultural needs.
“This thesis analyzes how the changing built environment can be used as a tool to reveal layers of place-identity. The mutual experience of change over time will inform the connection between the physical body and the spatial body, resulting in a stronger sense of self-identity.”
“Through the theory that performance exists every day, stage fright occurs in domestic, banal settings. In this project, customers in a retail furniture store become performers during their perusal of the staged vignettes by subverting social thresholds and design standards, new social and physical relationships form, alleviating the stigma of stage fright.
“Set in the theatrical and historical furniture showroom – ABC Carpet and Home – the staged sets which aim to present a home setting are critiqued as performative. Hired performers act out different domestic activities and shoppers find themselves crossing the threshold from audience to performer. In their attempt to look at the furniture, test it and imagine it in their own homes, they become part of the performance.
“An open floor plan allows for programmes to cross over, as a bed becomes a seat in a dining setting. Some toilets are for show, while others have working plumbing. The sets have spotlights, curtains and a fly system that allows for changing scenes, as furniture flies overhead, adding a theatrical quality to the performance.”
“This thesis explores a shared harmonic environment for residents and tourists. It uses performance rituals to create a prototypical system for cultural interaction and social harmony in creative cities of music evaluated by UNESCO.
“Spatial devices create new relationships between tourists and residents, combining with daily events such as dining or lounging, and cultivating cross-cultural understanding through the universal language of music and integrating it into the celebration of rituals such as holidays and food.
“The rituals will create a specific spatial quality by increasing culture experiences by controlling the sound transparency and visualizing the vibration of sound.”
“Curating Urban Wormholes explores the city through a new lens: by inserting cinematic experiences in sidewalk freight elevators that connect invisible, disparate moments in the cityscape. The elevators function as portals to parallel universes providing a social and cultural exchange between program and user.
“The project was inspired by the loss of authentic cinematic experiences due to the pandemic and the heterotopic quality of underutilized niches in the city.
“The network of temporary cinematic installations in sidewalk freight elevators reengages the city by activating unused, ‘other’ spaces, unlocking the city’s true potential. The curated serendipity of the wormholes invites the rediscovery of the urban landscape.
“These wormholes have a nodular quality that gives them an existence of their past the time of their installation, allowing them to leave behind traces in the urban fabric that add to the layered experience of the city.”
Beneath the Surface: An Inquiry into Boundary as a Didactic Threshold to Promote Awareness by Nella Gray
“Beneath the Surface explores ways to create tension within layers of interior design to provoke awareness and empathy for evasive issues.
“This project questions the separation of people from systems of production and waste as it enables apathy towards the concealed relationship of consumption and environmental degradation.”
“Borrowing existing materials inherent to the New York City subway station, such as the 3×6 tiles, the project will manipulate the surfaces of the City Hall Station to become an interactive, acoustical field of sonic densities. This experiential-interactive installation intends to address the notion of speed by making the acoustic field and the different paces of the city visual. In other words, rendering auditory data points visible to understand the functioning of NYC.
“The exploration is towards creating an interactive instrument activated through the movement of the users and the train in relation to the parallax effect.
“City Hall Station is underneath the City Hall Park, and the entrance is through the park. It is a loop station for Train Six: The station has existing skylights to the park’s surface.
“The project will be taking a material inherent to the subway station and recreate exposed surfaces in a different function, colour, and densities of tiles to highlight the notion of speed which could be experienced visually and acoustically.”
Pools Under Pavement by Michael Antonio Warren (MFA Interior Design) A Void: Rising Sea Level by Seung Heon Lee (BFA Interior Design) Implicit Bias by Xinxiao Hui (BFA Interior Design) Weaving Connectivity by Xiaoke Li (MFA Interior Design) Breathing Rules by Yang Pei (MFA Interior Design) Haptic Therapy Centre by Honghao Chen (BFA Interior Design)
The portfolio and thesis presentations of the Pratt School of Design MFA and BFA Interior Design Class of 2021 can be found on Pratt Institute’s website.
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and The Pratt Institute. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
