Month: August 2022

MAD Architects led by Ma Yansong, unveiled renderings of the MoLo, short for Mobility and Logistic hub, a new gateway complex situated along the western boundary of the Milano Innovation District (MIND). In collaboration with Architect Andrea Nonni, Open Project, and Progeca, the 28.5 meters high complex brings together several facilities across 68,700sqm of surfaces. Designed as an integration of nature and architecture, the MoLo “performs as a welcoming entrance and education space for issues related to mobility in which visitors can drop off their cars to explore the district on foot and see innovative transportation technology in person”.

Casa da Silveira was originally designed by Helena in 2000 as a single compact volume – a glass and wood cabin standing on a stone base. Inside the stone base were placed the bedrooms and bathrooms; and above them, the glass prism modulated in plan and height in order to create flexible spaces whose only fixed function is to allow integration with the natural landscape. 

Sou Fujimoto has unveiled a “Not a Hotel Ishigaki”, a new project in the southwest of Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, Japan. The unique tropical resort hotel sits on a circular base open in all directions toward the surrounding natural landscape. The main feature of the building is the undulating roof covered in vegetation. Its shape allows access from the building terraces, creating an inner landscape, complete with meadows, relaxation areas, and a water mirror that reflects the sky and the singular tree in its vicinity.

June is the month in which the day of Japanese immigration is celebrated in Brazil, a country that has the largest Japanese colony outside Japan, with more than 2 million people, Japanese or descendants. Since the 20th century, Japanese families immigrated to Brazilian rural regions, forming a solid colony in the interior of states like São Paulo, influencing many aspects of the local culture.

In a time where housing prices are unattainable and residents are looking to downsize their homes more than ever, enter the concept of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). These small and highly customizable homes are taking backyards across the United States by storm, enabling homeowners to build homes on their land, and rent them out to tenants.

The Fuggerei in Augsburg is the world’s oldest social housing complex. In celebration of their 500th anniversary, the Fugger Foundations initiated an interdisciplinary debate on the topic of housing, culminating in the presentation of a “Fuggerei Code” for the future of social housing, alongside a series of studies for future Fuggereien around the world. The Next500 Pavilion, outside the town hall in the Fuggerei’s home city of Augsburg, is the epicenter of this debate and program.