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Gutshof Güldenhof Center for Art and Sustainable Living / Heim Balp Architekten

At the intersection of art and nature, Gutshof Güldenhof is Berlin-based architecture studio Heim Balp Architekten`s latest completion conceived for and in close collaboration with Vietnamese-born Danish conceptual artist Danh Vo (b.1975). Located in the rural town of Stechlin, Brandenburg, in the vicinity of Berlin, the project saw the transformation of an abandoned farming complex into a thriving and active center for art, sustainable living, and social interaction.

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Reimagining the Bathroom: Contemporary Bathtubs for Total Relaxation

June 1, 2022 Valeria Montjoy 0

Throughout the years, bathrooms have been viewed as purely functional spaces strictly programmed for hygiene and privacy. Becoming smaller and more practical, the utilitarian, space-saving shower stall has often been considered the norm, pushing the bathtub into obsolescence or as an additional luxury for those with extra space (and money). Recently, however, as lifestyle changes driven by the pandemic have placed wellness as a top priority, the notion of the bathroom as a sanctuary has really taken hold. Contemporary bathrooms have thus been reimagined, shifting towards open spaces of relaxation, comfort and recuperation. And tubs – with their inherent meditative nature – have returned to the spotlight.

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Architectural Interventions and Exhibitions Taking Place at the 2022 Salone del Mobile

June 1, 2022 Dima Stouhi 0

Only a few days left until the annual inauguration of Milan Design Week 2022, one of the biggest international design events which features the Fuorisalone and Salone del Mobile. From the 7th till the 12th of June 2022, the streets of Milan will be hosting an array of architectural interventions and exhibitions curated by local and international designers as part of the Fuorisalone. And at the Fiera Milano | Rho, Salone del Mobile 2022, the awaited furniture and interior design event of the year, will be celebrating its 60th anniversary with themes and projects that reflect on “inclusive” design, fostering “autonomy, comfort, movement, usability, interaction and safety for all”.

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o’flower Shop / Plainoddity

June 1, 2022 Hana Abdel 0

The second offline door was opened in Dongtan New Town, where IT companies are concentrated. It was designed as a laboratory to study flowers by combining the characteristics of the region with the characteristics of flowers. The space was designed to be simple and concise in order to narrow the accessibility of the space and people who experience flowers. The simple shape of the furniture was borrowed from the laboratory instruments, and the simple design allowed us to focus on flowers. The material of the furniture is made of stainless steel, and the cold feeling of the laboratory and the warm sky blue paint are finished to create a cold but warm space.

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Disabled Are the Cities, Not Their Citizens

June 1, 2022 Helena Degreas 0

Cities with disabilities are those that present spaces and environments that impede or make it difficult for citizens to access, participate and interact, regardless of any loss or abnormality related to their psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function. I invite readers to, with me, change the focus of the approach on disabilities, transferring to cities and built environments the inability to meet in a dignified and effective way the diversity of abilities and capacities inherent to human beings.

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New Photo Series Captures Casa Zalszupin, Jewel of Brazilian Modernism

June 1, 2022 Romullo Baratto 0

Located amidst the vegetation, almost invisible to those who see it from the street, a jewel of modern Brazilian architecture is hidden in the São Paulo neighborhood of Jardim América. Casa Zalszupin, designed in 1960 by the Polish architect based in Brazil, Jorge Zalszupin, combines traces of local modernism with influences that the architect brought with him from Europe, notably Scandinavian architecture. In a recent photo series, Paul Clemence sought to capture through this house, “the architect’s and designer’s essence”. 

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The Corrugated Iron Roof: Avant-Garde or Unaesthetic?

June 1, 2022 Matthew Maganga 0

It’s an essential architectural element, one we tend to immediately take note of when we look at buildings new to us – the roof. The roofs that shelter the buildings we see in our cities today are diverse in their typology. Flat roofs are a common sight in the city centers of urban metropolises, hip roofs are a popular choice for dwellings around the world, and the gable roof is arguably the most common of all, a roof type popular in stylized depictions of what a standard house looks like.

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What Can Metaverse Planners Learn from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities

June 1, 2022 Chloe Sun 0

We are still at the dawn of the Metaverse, the next wave of the Internet. The current “mainstream” Metaverse platforms serve as experimental containers to host the wildest dreams of virtual worlds where we are supposed to unleash the imagination. However, from a spatial design perspective, they have so far been lame and ordinary. Without the constraints in the physical world, how do we draft the urban blueprints in the metaverse? I believe metaverse planners can find inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, in which he revealed a poetic and mathematical approach to “urban planning” in the imaginary worlds.