Month: May 2022

The 20th century is almost certainly the most important period when it comes to interior design icons. The list of protagonists who have contributed to making this era of design such a great one is certainly too long to truly do justice to all of them and their classic furniture designs. For this reason, here we present just a small selection of architects and designers such as Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier and Mario Bellini, who have written design history over the past century, and which still continue to make an impression to this day. Our journey includes ten extraordinary talents from all corners of the world: A look back at the furniture world of yesterday, which was then of tomorrow, and today still shines as brightly and timelessly as ever. 

The Bruges Meeting & Convention Centre (BMCC) is a landmark urban renewal project by Eduardo Souto de Moura and META architectuurbureau, located in the heart of the historic city. With a multifunctional exhibition hall on the ground floor (4,500 m²), which also serves as a public covered square, the building is an integral part of the neighbourhood. The upper floors accommodate a conference area for over 500 participants. In selecting Souto de Moura and META for this project, the City of Bruges sealed its reputation as a champion of architectural quality.

natura futura revives traditional archetypes in ‘la balconera’   Located in Montalvo, Ecuador, ‘La Balconera’ is a mixed-used building completed by Natura Futura Arquitectura for a local family. The stud…

From Stonehenge to Greek temples, architecture is the signature of humankind on landscape, the artificial element that has always been connected to the natural environment. Architecture and landscape are linked by a fundamental continuity that is now starting to fade, damaging the quality of the space we dwell.

Foster + Partners has unveiled its latest commercial project on the world-famous Shibuya Crossing, in Tokyo, Japan. Dubbed the Shibuya Marui Department Store, the nine-storey retail development is set to become a new space for sustainable lifestyle brands, adopting the highest standards of sustainability and core principles of environmental responsibility and wellbeing. The timber structure’s design and material selection will significantly reduce the embodied carbon of the building, while simultaneously creating a warm and open experience for visitors.

MVRDV has revealed the design for its first project in South America. The Hills is a residential project located on the Guayas riverfront in Guayaquil, Ecuador, comprised of six residential towers displayed atop a mixed-use plinth, creating the image of a valley. The towers range in height from 92 to 143 meters, raising taller the further away they are from the riverfront. The whole composition is inspired by the local landscape that merges the natural and the urban environment.

Smart buildings are more and more on the agenda. For their elaboration, some materials have been developed to meet specific objectives during their use without the need to be operated by any person or equipment. Self-maintenance, cleaning the air, working with the comfort of space, energy efficiency, are just some of the benefits that can be achieved by adopting them.

All architecture movements throughout history spur from shifts in society that demand a new style that better reflects the way that technology has advanced the practice and how people express their political, religious, and moral beliefs and practices. While some shifts occur over a period of several years, others are experienced as a sudden revolt. The Vienna Secession was undoubtedly the latter. At the end of the 19th century, a group of artists and architects aimed to explore what art should be as it pertained to filtering global influences in a way that could introduce new modernism.

Elephant theater –  After the World Elephant Project was completed in 2020, I found that there were a lot of elephant droppings in Ta Klang Village in the village. Elephants are herbivorous animals and feed on Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus), which makes their droppings fibrous. Villagers generally use elephant dung as fertilizer for crop cultivation, papermaking, and bio-gas. Even now, there is still a lot of elephant dung left on the roads. I have experimented in making elephant dung bricks to study their properties and the possibility of using them as construction materials.