IKEA has endeared readers with its instructions for how to assemble some of its furniture designs using gingerbread and icing instead of screws and MDF.
The Gingerbread Höme assembly kits resemble the company's traditional instruction manuals, including everything from the inventory to the step-by-step illustrations.
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Swiss studios MLZD and Sollberger Bögli Architects have completed Stade de la Tuilière stadium in the city of Lausanne, which is defined by its rectangular form and cutback corners.
Built for Football Club Lausanne-Sport, the 12,500-seat stadium has a distinctive form generated by the decision to remove the building's corners creating four angular overhangs.
Stade de la Tuilière was built for Football Club Lausanne-Sport
"We aimed to profit through omission: cutting off the corners of the stadium became the creative, organisational and structural core of the design," said MLZD and Sollberger Bögli Architects.
"This emotionalises the building and thus becoming the expression of an emotional game," the studios told Dezeen.
The stadium has distinctive overhanging corners
The overhanging corners have a practical purpose of allowing spectators to circulate around the stadium, which was built on a confined site, and provide shelter to the entrances.
They also clearly demonstrate the building's purpose, build excitement about upcoming matches and help give an identity to Football Club Lausanne-Sport.
The overhangs provide shelter to the entrances
"A stadium should indicate its function from the outside – it should make you look forward to the experience inside," said the studios.
"We built a lot of models during the competition phase. The cut corners turned the functional box into an emotional bowl," they continued.
"The longer we developed these corners, the more functional advantages we discovered: they became important in terms of urban planning, organisation and statics."
Steps within the stand
While the undersides of the concrete stands and the structural steel and concrete frame of the stadium are exposed on three sides, the fourth stand is enclosed by a filigree glass skin.
This main stand contains the cloakrooms, press and VIP areas and views of the city of Lausanne.
The main stand has a glass facade
Within the stadium, MLZD and Sollberger Bögli Architects aimed to design a building that did not distract supporters from watching the match.
The stands were built with the steepest gradient allowed within regulations to place supporters as close as possible to the action and roof was engineered to maximise noise within the stadium, while reducing the noise that escapes to the surrounding neighbourhood.
Football Club Lausanne-Sport's pitch
"All power to the game! The architecture serves this purpose and steps back as much as possible: calm horizontal lines, no optical distraction," said the studios.
"The planning of the atmosphere was also important: with the maximum steep incline of the grandstand, the spectators will be as close to the action as possible," they continued.
"Much attention was also paid to the acoustical geometry of the roof – reflecting loud to the inside and silent towards the urban surrounding."
The stands were designed to place spectators close to the pitch
Overall the architecture studios believe that the entire design is practical and supports the enjoyment of the sport taking place within the stadium.
"It is more a 'stadium' instead of an 'arena'," said the studios. "Rather than being glamorous everything is very pragmatic and direct: the architectural gesture, as well as the internal organisation and the materials."
"Everything relies on the power of sport as the main protagonist."
The building was designed to allow people to focus on sport
David Adjaye and Aston Martin, BIG and NASA, and Frank Gehry and Hennessy were some of the unexpected duos that collaborated on design projects in 2020 – which we've rounded up as part of our review of the year.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry and Hennessy released a crinkled gold bottle to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the brand's X.O cognac drink.
The handcrafted cover was forged from 24-carat gold-dipped bronze to evoke feelings of drinking cognac and the process by which it is made. Gehry said he hopes it is unlike "anything people have seen before".
Designer Virgil Abloh's capsule collection for his Off-White brand in collaboration with France's Musée du Louvre combined the worlds of fashion and art in an unexpected way.
The collection, which was revealed in December 2019, was created to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death and featured hoodies and T-shirts with Da Vinci's paintings, combined with Off-White's signature markings.
This project by furniture giant IKEA and Lego resulted in storage boxes in the style of Lego pieces – the boxes have stud-covered lids that kids can top with their own creations.
Each of the boxes can also be stacked on top of one another and secured together with the Lego studs.
Other partnerships that blossomed this year include one between architecture firm BIG and space agency NASA, who unveiled plans to design 3D-printed buildings for the moon.
Called Project Olympus, the project also involves 3D-printed building company ICON, and is intended to develop a way to create infrastructure for living on the moon using materials found on its surface.
Studio Aisslinger has created an adaptable workplace for accessories brand LOQI, featuring coloured curtains, folding screens and "work capsules".
Located in Berlin, the LOQI Activity Office serves as the European headquarters for the American company, which specialises in totes and weekend bags produced in collaboration with artists.
The office contains a mix of different work zones
The workspace is designed to support creativity and collaboration, but also to create a safe and supportive environment for staff in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
To satisfy both of these conflicting requirements, Studio Aisslinger planned the space as a series of distinct but flexible zones, facilitating solo work, group workshops and a range of activities in between.
Contrasting colours help to signal different areas
"The workspace is treated like living, breathing organisms that adapt to accommodate a team deciding on flexibility, autonomy and the ability to choose when and how they work," explained the studio, which is led by designer Werner Aisslinger.
"The result is an office space of a different kind – a lively and inspiring working landscape, breaking through the grey schematism of standardised workstation units."
Folding metal screens are used as partitions
The office comprises a large open-plan space, so the design team had to find creative ways to demarcate different areas.
Partitions were designed to be as adaptable as possible, in the form of heavy fabric curtains and perforated metal screens. A bold colour scheme was also applied, so it's clear where one area ends and another begins.
Studio Aisslinger's Work Capsules provide spaces of solitude
Isolated workspaces are provided by Studio Aisslinger's Work Capsules – a design previously created for the 25Hours Hotels.
With felt-covered exteriors and a bubble window, these pods allow occupants to find privacy and separation, without being completely cut off from the more public activities going on around them.
Meeting areas are framed by curtains, so they can be opened or closed
There are various other types of workspace on offer, including large desks with integrated lighting fixtures, a pink tiled bar, standing desks, bleacher-style seating areas and sofa booths.
Meeting areas are dotted through the centre of the space, framed by curving curtain rails. These spaces feature fluffy carpets, which not only give them a different aesthetic but also help to create acoustic baffling.
These spaces are all furnished with Studio Aisslinger designs, including the Aspen pendant lights for B.lux and the Circle Barstools.
A change in floor surface gives meeting areas a different feel
LOQI is one of many companies that have had to think more carefully about how they plan their offices, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fabric panels line the walls, to improve acoustics
With this design, Studio Aisslinger highlights the need for flexibility in the workplace, allowing people to find solitude when they need it, but to also bring people together.
They studio describes the project as "a complex, constantly changing conglomerate of working areas, break-off units and work capsules".
The aim was to create an environment that people are proud to call their workplace, and perhaps even share on their social media platforms.
Staff can choose to work seated or standing
"New offices being planned for the near future will less emphasise communal co-working areas but nevertheless we all need new spaces for interaction or idea generation and collaboration," added the design team.
"Flexible and open, the room adapts to its respective needs, creating space for playful creativity, for that dance of mind and body that is needed to gain new ideas."
Blackened wood borders a grid of evenly spaced volcanic rocks inside this pavilion, which Pontoatelier has designed to support social-distancing in the Azores.
Built on the volcanic São Miguel Island for the Walk&Talk arts festival, the Inbetween Pavilion is an open-air room for people to play, perform or practice yoga safely during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Inbetween Pavilion is bordered by charred wood
The 25 rocks inside the structure are all placed at two-metre intervals, which is widely regarded as a safe distance between individuals in order to minimise transmission of Covid-19.
Pontoatelier's goal is to offer a safe space for people to gather, while social distancing, to bring back a sense of freedom after a year of isolation and lockdowns.
The wood conceals a grid of volcanic rocks inside
"This atypical year of 2020 changed our way of living, our dimensions, distances, scales, in and out spaces," Pontoatelier told Dezeen. "Now we have a new reality."
"We designed a public space, and outside space that is more than physical, is also a spiritual one," the studio continued. "In general, this is a space of liberty and freedom where we can be together."
Blackened wood was chosen to contrast with the green landscape
The pavilion is located within the centre of an abandoned golf course on the island and takes the form of a square measuring 20 metres by 20 metres, nodding to the year of 2020.
While supporting the layout of volcanic rocks at two-metre distances, a square layout was also chosen to juxtapose the organic forms of the natural materials used to construct it.
The Inbetween Pavilion's minimal material palette includes cryptomeria wood – a type of large evergreen tree – and volcanic rock, selected by Pontoatelier as they are both abundant materials on the island.
The wood was charred after construction to complement the rocks and create contrast with the verdant landscape of the site, helping to draw attention to the pavilion.
The volcanic rocks are positioned at two-metre intervals
"The Azores islands are like volcanic rocks that float in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," said Pontoatelier.
"We wanted to use materials from the place, literally only wood and stones. The volcanic stones and cryptomeria wood are very common on this island."
The spaces between the rocks facilitate social distancing
The timber panels enclosing the pavilion are positioned at a slight incline, which creates triangular gaps at each corner.
These gaps function as discreet entrances, while still concealing what is inside the structure to attract passersby to enter and explore.
Volcanic rocks and timber were used as they could be locally sourced
The minimalist pavilion in Australia was designed to highlight the erasure of Indigenous knowledge and memory from Australia's national story.
It stands out within the centre of an abandoned golf course
Other designers that supporting social distancing in light of the coronavirus pandemic include Object Studio, which has developed a portable bench for Amsterdam that allows users to sit two metres apart, and UNIT Fabrications, which created a series of mobile screens to keep children safe at a primary school in London.
