Monday, 3 February 2020

Glow-in-the-dark skatepark created inside Triennale Milano by Koo Jeong A

OooOoO skatepark by Koo Jeong A at Triennale Milano

A gallery inside the Triennale Milano museum is transformed into a fluorescent skateboarding venue in this installation by South Korean artist ​Koo Jeong A.

Koo Jeong A has installed a full-size skatepark inside the Triennale Milano's ground-floor galleria and it is free for the public to use.

OooOoO skatepark by Koo Jeong A at Triennale Milano

The skating bowl is covered in glow-in-the-dark paint, creating different experiences as the lights are turned on and off.

Called OooOoO, the installation is the first instalment of Year of ​Play, an exhibition series curated by Julia Peyton-Jones and Lorenza Baroncelli, exploring the importance of physical interaction in an increasingly digital world.

OooOoO skatepark by Koo Jeong A at Triennale Milano

"The Skatepark is evidence of what it means to play: to play with a real intention and very real skill," said Peyton-Jones.

"The skateborders are balletic in their command of space, speed and movement," she added. "Just like a choreographer, they define the movement of the human body, and like a dancer, they achieve remarkable feats of human endeavour and endurance."

OooOoO skatepark by Koo Jeong A at Triennale Milano

OooOoO is the latest of several skateparks that Koo Jeong A has created, but a few details make it unique.

Firstly, the artist worked with electronic music producer Koreless to create a soundtrack to the skating experience.

OooOoO skatepark by Koo Jeong A at Triennale Milano

A lighting scheme was then devised to alternate with the music, so visitors could be subjected to two very different settings.

When the main lights are on, the space still appears like a traditional gallery. When they are turned off, the space becomes illuminated in fluorescent shades of green and blue, making it feel more like a nightclub.

OooOoO skatepark by Koo Jeong A at Triennale Milano

"Bringing it inside, the skatepark becomes an object, like sculpture on a grand scale, but participatory," said Peyton-Jones.

"People can not only touch the sculpture, which is usually forbidden in museums, but can use it, engage with it, move all over it, using the very sophisticated skill that skateborders have developed and honed through years of practice."

OooOoO skatepark by Koo Jeong A at Triennale Milano

The skatepark opened to the public in late 2019 and remains in place until 16 February 2020. It is open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10.30am to 8.30pm.

The next project in the Year of Play programme will be a playground in the museum garden. This will be followed by a contemporary art exhibition titled Play With Me!

Last year, author of Skateboarding and the City, Iain Borden, selected 11 skateparks that highlighted the key aspects of the movement's culture from its beginnings in 1960s California to the modern day.

The sport will be contested at the 2020 Olympics for the first time.

Photography is by Gianluca Di Ioia.

The post Glow-in-the-dark skatepark created inside Triennale Milano by Koo Jeong A appeared first on Dezeen.



from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3b989vF

UPS delivery vans get electric makeover by Arrival

UPS vans by Arrival electric vehicles

Electric vehicle company Arrival has co-developed a fleet of 10,000 modular electric-vans with UPS in the delivery service's signature livery.

The electric vans will be rolled out across the UK, Europe and the US between 2020 and 2024.

UPS vans by Arrival electric vehicles
Arrival has developed electric vans with UPS

Wheels are attached to a skateboard-style bed that is flat from front to rear, with identical wheelhouses.

This allows the vehicles to be built by robots in smaller, more flexible micro-factories rather than traditional, conveyer-belt model factories.

UPS vans by Arrival electric vehicles
Their skateboard-style wheel bed makes them easy to make and repair

Arrival's vehicles are modular in design, so that parts can be swapped out over the vehicle's lifetime to improve and upgrade.

Rather than building an entirely new vehicle at the end of its life, the materials can be reused, and any defunct parts replaced.

UPS vans by Arrival electric vehicles
Electric vans cause less air pollution

With more people buying online, a greater number of vehicles are needed to deliver the increased number of packages. Up to 1.5 million packages are delivered every day in New York City alone.

Electric vehicles produce zero direct emissions, so Arrival's UPS vans will be less detrimental to urban air-quality than traditional vans.

UPS vans by Arrival electric vehicles
UPS has ordered 10,000 custom Arrival vans

Arrival's electric vehicles are the same price as the diesel or petrol equivalent and are 50 per cent cheaper to run.

The vans have a range of up to 300 miles on one charge.

UPS vans by Arrival electric vehicles
Arrival vans are easy to upgrade physically and digitally

Arrival's software can be updated immediately, and the vehicles can be programmed to be autonomous.

"Arrival has created Generation 2 electric vehicles that are better in price, design and experience than traditional fossil-fuel vehicles and existing electric vehicles," said Arrival chief strategy officer Avinash Rugoobur.

"This gives fleet managers a highly compelling commercial and environmental reason to switch to electric and will accelerate the adoption of electric technology globally," he continued.

Arrival was founded in 2015 by Denis Sverdlov
 and is headquartered in London.

Royal Mail vans by Arrival
Royal Mail is currently trialling Arrival vans in London. CGI by Arrival

A small flock of customised electric vehicles produced by Arrival for Royal Mail were rolled out in a pilot scheme across central London in 2017.

The prototypes currently being used by Royal Mail to deliver London's letters have wing mirrors, but Arrival plans to eventually replace these with cameras for monitoring traffic around the vehicles.

Japanese design brand Muji has launched an autonomous shuttle bus, called Gacha, and Swedish tech startup Einride has designed a fully electric and autnomous logging truck.

The post UPS delivery vans get electric makeover by Arrival appeared first on Dezeen.



from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3b6DPC5

OnSITE wins contest to create Saudi Arabian desert house

OnSITE wins contest to create Saudi Arabian desert dwelling in Al Ula

French architecture studio OnSITE has designed a holiday home made up of four rock-like rooms, which could be built in the Al-Ula desert in the north west of Saudi Arabia.

The holiday home by OnSITE was the winner of the inaugural Sculpting Spaces: Architectural Desert Dwellings for Al-Ula competition.

It was designed in collaboration with artist studio Lehm Design Raum, Jordanian textile artist Ishraq Zraikat, ceramics company Amaco and landscape designer Sensomoto.

OnSITE wins contest to create Saudi Arabian desert dwelling in Al Ula

The team's design takes the form of four small buildings, named void room, earth room, water room, fire room, that would be grouped together on a valley floor surrounded by red-sandstone cliffs.

Each of the free-standing rooms would be 15 square-metres and clad in locally sourced rock and contain one of the holiday home's functions.

OnSITE wins contest to create Saudi Arabian desert dwelling in Al Ula

A bed would be placed in the earth room, while the fire room, which the team describe as an "inhabitable chimney", would contain a kitchen.

The water room would be a dome-like structure with a saltwater bath and a shower that flows from the dome's oculus, while the void room would be arranged around a central stone monolith and used as a place to write, sit or eat.

The holiday home would be completed with a fifth "room" located on the valley ridge. This structure would be a stone plinth accessed by steps cut into the valley wall and would be used as an observatory.

The holiday home was designed for the Al-Ula area of Saudi Arabia, which is around 220 miles north of the city of Medina and contains the Madain Saleh UNESCO World Heritage site.

It is part of the Royal Commission for Al-Ula's long-term plan to develop tourism in the region. The commission will now work with the OnSITE team to develop the project.

"Ultimately the aim will be to open these dwellings to visitors, allowing them to experience overnight stays at this evolving cultural crossroads, where art, heritage and nature meet," said the commission.

OnSITE wins contest to create Saudi Arabian desert dwelling in Al Ula

OnSITE's design was chosen from a shortlist of ten by a jury led by Adrian Lahoud, dean of the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London and curator of the 2020 Sharjah Triennale.

"The proposal reinterprets the possibilities of inhabiting this phenomenal landscape, whilst being respectful and true to the qualities of local life, materials and indigenous nature," said the jury.

"The Sculpting Spaces programme maximises, draws on, [and] recognises the potential of the desert as a dynamic territory of possibility. It has been exciting and inspiring to see this heritage site coming to life through the eyes of the artists and architects who have shared their proposals with us."

Visualisations by OnSITE, Lehm Design Raum, Amaco and Sensomoto.

The post OnSITE wins contest to create Saudi Arabian desert house appeared first on Dezeen.



from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3b91eCG

Sunday, 2 February 2020

Yellow desk made from concrete-injected balloons feature of Hem headquarters

Hem headquarters in Stockholm

Hem has designed its own headquarters at the centre of Stockholm, with interiors by the furniture brand's in-house design team and Atelier Paul Vaugoyeau.

A focal point of the HQ is a three-metre-long edition of Hem's Puffy Brick counter that's covered in amorphous, acid-yellow blocks.

London-based art and design studio Soft Baroque produced the counter by injecting balloons with concrete and then arranging them in a mould.

Hem headquarters in Stockholm

The 750-square-metre headquarters were needed to house Hem's Stockholm-based team, which doubled in size over 2019, outgrowing the constraints of their previous workspace.

The brand worked alongside local multidisciplinary design studio Atelier Paul Vaugoyeau to develop new offices that are able to efficiently accommodate its various company departments.

Hem headquarters in Stockholm

Hem's founder, Petrus Palmér, says that the HQ will also be "where [the brand's] experiments materialise".

"We have a lot of different needs such as environments for focused coding, a workshop for furniture mock-ups, a showroom space for customers etc," Palmér told Dezeen.

"With the new office, we were able to design the space from scratch, catering to all those needs, and practise what we preach – creating inspirational environments for people to thrive in."

Hem headquarters in Stockholm

Black desks and high-back chairs have been dotted amongst the building's chunky concrete structural columns.

The same furnishings appear in the office's glass-fronted meeting rooms, where groups of staff can head for privacy or more focused tasks.

Employees can alternatively work in more casual lounge-style areas, which feature Hem's own Hai armchairs, Kumo modular sofas and Last stools. Oversized, cone-shaped pendant lamps dangle down from above.

Hem headquarters in Stockholm

Atelier Paul Vaugoyeau has also "hacked" certain furnishings to elevate them from their standard office aesthetic. Simple MDF storage cabinets have been washed with a clear lacquer to highlight the natural hue of the timber.

The gridded ceiling has also been left exposed to frame views of the building's busy network of ventilation pipes.

Hem headquarters in Stockholm

"The bulk of Hem's business is with interior designers and progressive offices that usually avoid typical office elements, since it's seen as uncreative," added Palmér.

"Paul Vaugoyeau, who designed the architectural elements, shows that just by tweaking standard choices such as a grid ceiling or file cabinets, you can create a unique environment."

Hem's relocation to new head offices coincides with the beginning of the city's design week.

The event has so far seen Swedish brand Massproductions release an outdoor sofa that is meant to resemble the welded steel barriers erected at concerts to control crowds.

The post Yellow desk made from concrete-injected balloons feature of Hem headquarters appeared first on Dezeen.



from Dezeen https://ift.tt/2SgHgO5

The top architecture and design roles this week include positions at Johnson Naylor and David Chipperfield Architects

This week we've hand-picked five of the most promising opportunities on Dezeen Jobs, including vacancies at interior architecture studio Johnson Naylor and architecture firm David Chipperfield Architects.


Top architecture and design roles: Senior designer at Johnson Naylor in London, UK

Senior designer at Johnson Naylor

Interior architecture firm Johnson Naylor is looking for an interior designer to join its studio in London. The practice recently converted a world war two pumping station into a holiday home on Dungeness beach in England's Kent.

Browse all roles for designers ›


Top architecture and design roles: 3D visualiser at David Chipperfield Architects in London, UK

3D visualiser at David Chipperfield Architects

David Chipperfield Architects has completed the London outpost of art gallery Bastien, featuring an exhibition space, private showroom and small office. The firm has a vacancy for a 3D visualiser to join its team in London.

View all visualisation jobs ›


Top architecture and design roles: Project architect at Coop Himmelb(l)au in Vienna, Austria

Project architect at Coop Himmelb(l)au

Coop Himmelb(l)au is searching for a project architect to develop design concepts at its Vienna office in Austria. The studio completed the Museum of Contemporary Art and Planning Exhibition, a huge curved art complex in China's Shenzhen.

See more project architect opportunities ›


Top architecture and design roles: Architects at Allies and Morrison in London, UK

Architects at Allies and Morrison

Allies and Morrison has created a masterplan for Madinat Al Irfan, a new city in Oman which will be transformed from a desert valley into a 624-hectare urban centre. The studio is recruiting for architects at its London office with experience across the masterplanning, commercial, residential and mixed-use sectors.

View all architecture positions ›


Top architecture and design roles: Furniture/industrial designer at Starck Network Agency in Paris, France

Furniture/industrial designer at Starck Network Agency

Starck Network Agency has an opening for a furniture/industrial designer at its practice in London. French designer Philippe Starck has collaborated with luxury car brand Bently to create a smart power dock for the vehicle manufacturer's new Bentayga Hybrid model.

See more industrial design roles ›

See all the latest architecture and design roles on Dezeen Jobs ›

The post The top architecture and design roles this week include positions at Johnson Naylor and David Chipperfield Architects appeared first on Dezeen.



from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3b53r2f