Month: March 2023

mesura curates its renovated ‘vasto gallery’ with a ‘constellation of objects’ to harmonize an art gallery and a home.
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In 2020, in the midst of the first wave of lockdowns due to the pandemic, the municipality of Amsterdam announced its strategy for recovering from this crisis by embracing the concept of the “Doughnut Economy.” The model is developed by British economist Kate Raworth and popularized through her book, “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist”, released in 2017. Here, she argues that the true purpose of economics does not have to equal growth. Instead, the aim is to find a sweet sport, a way to balance the need to provide everyone with what they need to live a good life, a “social foundation” while limiting our impact on the environment, “the environmental ceiling.” With the help of Raworth, Amsterdam has downscaled this approach to the size of a city. The model is now used to inform city-wide strategies and developments in support of this overarching idea: providing a good quality of life for all without putting additional pressure on the plant. Other cities are following this example.

We can often recognize from a region’s roofs how its architecture has developed to adapt to its natural conditions and culture. The ordinary buildings in Pintung exhibit a wide variety of roof structures to deal with the volatile weather conditions which average 30-34 degrees celsius temperature during most of the year and a tropical wet climate all year-long.

Prefabricated, modular timber construction has emerged as a particularly suitable way for building in existing structures – especially in confined urban spaces. Gaps between buildings can be closed and older ones can be extended in a short time and with little energy and space expenditure. Compared to other building materials, wood is also very light, which is especially important when expanding existing buildings with low static reserves. 

Switzerland’s project for its national pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition–La Biennale di Venezia will be curated by Karin Sander and Philip Ursprung to explore territorial relationships within the Giardini of La Biennale. Titled “Neighbours,” their project is focused on the spatial and structural proximity between the Swiss Pavilion and its Venezuelan neighbor. By turning architecture itself into the exhibit, the project also highlights the bond between the architects of the two structures: the Swiss Bruno Giacometti (1907 – 2012) and the Italian Carlo Scarpa (1906 – 1978). The exhibition will be on display from May 20 to November 26, 2023.