Month: February 2023

Suburbs have experienced a sort of renaissance over the last decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people fled urban cores in favor of open space and decentralized amenities. For some people, the word “suburb” or “suburbia” flashes images of manicured lawns and rows of identical homes, but what makes a successful suburb may have more in common with cities than you might think.

When capital cities like Paris and Berlin resolved to switch off lighting for public buildings and landmarks in July 2022 in order to save energy in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the cities created a ripple effect throughout central Europe. Images of dark iconic landmarks swept through the media and allowed politicians a momentary act of environmental demonstration. However, designers have started to question the sustainability of this ad hoc step. Seen from a broader perspective the impression arises that this alleged radical action has been part of a rather media-savvy campaign with small effect in cities at night. Further steps are necessary to reassess urban lighting that may have a major impact on energy saving and sustainability.

all private rooms are composed as wooden cubes in between which an open family space unfolds horizontally and vertically.
The post ‘a sculpture of wooden cubes’ by appels architekten unfolds in southeast germany appeared first on designboom…

The site is located in a quiet residential area in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture. The client wanted a strong framework of concrete as a symbol of space, and at the same time, a house that could accommodate the growth of children and changes in lifestyle. The reinforced concrete wall structure is used for the main walls on the perimeter, while the one-room indoor space is connected by an atrium. The structural walls are reduced as much as possible, and fittings are used as partition walls between the private rooms. The themes of this house are constancy and variability, inconvenience, and freedom.

In 2019, Studio YUDA and Studio NOR were invited by the Shanghai University of Sport and Shanghai Century Publishing (Group) Co., Ltd to design the first sports-themed bookstore in Shanghai, “Lvwa Sports Bookstore”. Facing the base in the original rough state, the only spatial idea put forward by the owner is to make full use of the skylight atrium with a height of 17 meters to “build a landmark”. This requirement, which usually only appears at the urban scale, not only clarified the core of the design but also changed the main extension direction of the bookstore space with only one floor from horizontal to vertical, sowing the seeds for our later formal concept.