It’s been over a year since Shahidul Alam was taken from his home and arrested. We chat to the Bangladeshi photographer to hear about his experiences, how he continues to fight for social justice and his new book, The Tide Will Turn.
Citroën has released Ami, an electric car that will be available on a subscription service to city-dwellers as young as 14 years old as it doesn't require a driving license.
Described by the French automobile manufacturer as a "non-conformist object", the Ami car is classified as a fully electric quadricycle, and can therefore be operated without a driving license.
This means that people as young as 14 in France, and 16 in other European countries, will be able to drive the car, granted that they have passed the road safety certificate.
The car is the realisation of Citroën's Ami One concept that was debuted at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.
Ami is billed as an urban mobility solution that is a safer alternative to scooters, bicycles, mopeds and public transport.
"If you look at society beyond the car industry, there is an environmental conscience emerging, but it doesn't mean that mobility should be restricted," said Citroën CEO Vincent Cobée.
"Ami is the answer to the societal problem, which is individual, clean, urban mobility," he added. "It's a very compact mobility solution you can use from the age of 14, zero-emission, no driving licence, extremely affordable and very pleasant to drive."
The car has a compact size – measuring at 2.4 metres long, 1.4 metres wide and 1.5 metres tall – that lends itself to short-distance city travel and easy parking.
The car has a range of up to 43 miles (70 kilometres) and a single charge. It runs on a battery that can be recharged in three hours from a standard electric socket, "just like a smartphone".
This 5.5 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery is fitted into the flat floor, and can be charged from an electric cable incorporated by the passenger-side door.
"Disruptive projects are always the best projects," said Pierre Leclercq, head of style at Citroën. "The design of Ami is a product design, not an automotive design. A design for which the form must define the function."
"The common denominator among all future users will not be their gender, age, socio-professional category, place of residence or even less their level of education, but rather their need for mobility," added market research manager Michel Costa.
When it launches in Europe, the production car will come with three usage options: it can be rented from €19.99 per month or rented on-the-go via the Free2Move platform from €0.26 per minute.
Alternatively, it could be purchased for private use at a starting price of €6,000. Orders open for the Ami in France on 30 March 2020. It will then be rolled out in other European countries.
According to Leclercq, the Ami vehicle was designed "from the inside out", prioritising a spacious cabin that can accommodate two people, with a dedicated area on the dashboard for a smartphone to provide navigation and music.
It has two, symmetrical doors that open in the opposite direction of each other – the door on the driver's side is rear-hinged to offer better on-board accessibility.
Large expanses of glass and a panoramic roof also fill the interior with natural light, with the glazing making up 50 per cent of the car's total surface above the body line.
The vehicle can also be customised with six different coloured accessory kits that include functional, decorative elements from mats and storage trays to bag hooks and smartphone clips.
While the Ami One concept was debuted at last year's Geneva Motor Show, the Ami production car was showcased at Citroën's stand-alone event La Défense Arena in Paris this year.
This year's edition of the Geneva Motor Show was cancelled due to a government ban on large events in light of the coronavirus. Renault was set to present its Morphoz concept at the event – an all-electric car that can be physically extended from a more compact city-car to a longer travel version.
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Have your plans for exhibiting in Milan been affected by the postponement of Salone del Mobile to June? Promote your event in Dezeen Events Guide's special digital guide.
Dezeen's guide to Milan 2020 will go live one month before Salone del Mobile, which this year takes place from 16 to 21 June.
The Milan guide comes on the back of the runaway success of Dezeen Events Guide, which has had over 70,000 visitors since it was launched in January.
It was initially intended as a guide to leading international architecture and design events such as conferences, fairs and design weeks, but its immense popularity has led us to bring forward plans for guides to events in individual cities.
Designers, brands, PRs and event organisers are welcome to submit details of their Milan 2020 events by emailing eventsguide@dezeen.com. There is a fee for inclusion in the guide, and entries will be carefully selected by the Dezeen team to ensure that the best events are included.
Fuorisalone events already listed in the guide include Alcova, Brera Design Week and Ventura Centrale. New events will be added as soon as they are approved.
For more details on prices visit Dezeen Events Guide's About page.
The post Dezeen's digital guide to Milan design week moves to 16-21 June appeared first on Dezeen.
Detailed photos of 80 Chinese buildings feature in Kris Provoost's book Beautified China, which spotlights the country's current architectural boom.
The book is an expansion of the Beautified China photography series that Provoost revealed in 2017, in which "iconic architecture" by the likes of Zaha Hadid, MAD and Foster + Partners is depicted as abstract forms against bright blue skies.
It has been curated by Provoost for publisher Lannoo to offer an overview of China's rapid emergence as a hotspot for contemporary architecture in the past 15 years.
From OMA's CCTV Headquarters through to lesser-known buildings like Bernard Tschumi Architects' Exploratorium museum, the book features photos of structures in 16 different cities in China.
Other projects featured in the book include Zaha Hadid Architects' Meixihu International Culture and Arts Centre, the sinuous Harbin Opera House by MAD and The Fosun Foundation by Foster + Partners and Heatherwick Studio.
"During the many travels through the country to document the architecture, it became clear there was a real architectural revolution going on, with an endless supply of projects of all sizes and shapes," Provoost told Dezeen.
"There are about 80 different buildings from 16 Chinese cities in the book. For me it was important to provide a mix of projects for the far extent of the country," he explained.
"The aim was to give a broad overview and show the massive scale at which architecture is used in China to develop the country."
Alongside Provoost's photography, Beautified China is complete with a series of essays on architecture in China by five different authors with different backgrounds and focus.
This includes a foreword by Nikolaus Goetze, partner at GMP Architekten, that explores what the future could look like for architecture in China.
Provoost, who is also a practicing architect, became interested in the country's booming construction scene in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
According to Provoost, this event marked the beginning of China's architectural revolution, as the country invited "starchitects to build their wildest fantasies".
"When China was awarded the 2008 Olympics, they started proposing extraordinary architecture," he said.
"That was the time I became fascinated with China. When I graduated from architecture school in 2010 I went to China to see it for myself and haven't left ever since."
Provoost's decision to photograph key details of buildings – opposed to complete structures in context – is influenced by his practice as an architect.
"My background in architecture influences everything I do as an architecture photographer. I always search for the best proportions and that special feature that makes it stand out," said Provoost.
"For that I tend to zoom in to purify that element. Be it, a unique shape, a special facade feature, the colour, a special pattern."
Having now spent 10 years documenting architecture in China, he has also observed a number of shifts in style in the country's construction industry.
Though the book documents unusual, statement architecture, Provoost said the most predominant trend is a move away from the creation of this "iconic architecture". Instead, many architects are now focusing on the preservation of existing structures.
"The trends that struck me over the past decade is that the iconic architecture trend – that is portrayed in the book – is slowly fading away," he said.
"Instead there is a focus on preservations. Old factories are being reprogrammed to house musea or cultural centres. While the trend of iconic architecture, in my opinion, will never fully fade away, it became of less importance."
Provoost believes that this is partly due to the comments made by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2014, who called for an end to the "weird architecture" in the country.
"The comments from Xi definitely had an impact and architects had to adjust. The architecture that gets build now definitely doesn't scream that loud anymore, it is more refined now with more care for the existing context," explained Provoost.
"Most cities are developed to a certain degree and the purpose of this kind of architecture is becoming secondary. It is a very welcoming shift that gives space for a different kind of architecture to develop in China."
Though the drive for "iconic architecture" may be fading away, Chinese cities are continuing to rapidly develop.
In 2019, the country built more skyscrapers over 200 metres than any other in the world – accounting for 45 per cent of the global total. This included Kohn Pedersen Fox's 400-metre-high supertall skyscraper in Shenzhen, and Zaha Hadid Architects' Leeza Soho with the world's tallest atrium.
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In this week's comments update, readers are baffled by a shield that uses UV light to sterilise itself and protect against coronavirus.
An idea to get behind: readers are unimpressed by Chinese architect Sun Dayong's concept for the shield.
"Fantastic! Very practical design, efficient, discreet, elegant," joked Archiplain. "Made me laugh, thank you."
"Where are you actually supposed to go and what are you supposed to do in this?" asked Keith Dougal. "It would obstruct pretty much every single function of your daily life. The world does not need this, no matter how bad it gets."
Vincent LP had a different concern: "You will get cancer before you get infected by the virus. Nice!"
"Designers just need to stop," concluded Ian Nairn. "Epidemics aren't an opportunity for you to do a quick napkin sketch, pump out a press release and hook on to the news cycle. We have effective technologies to prevent us from airborne illnesses that don't involve donning a shield."
This reader was worried about travel restrictions:
Would you wear the coronavirus shield? Join the discussion ›
Wey aye man: BIG has unveiled visuals for No 1 Quayside, an office in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and readers have given it the thumbs up.
"Ooh, I really like this building!" said Spadestick. "Well done BIG, finally something very nice."
British Card agreed: "Well done, this is really good. Reminds me of BIG's early Lego step models which are magic."
"I'm always the first to pile on BIG, but this actually has some nice qualities," added Heywood Floyd. "The spiral form works well with the sloped site, as does the variation in cladding on the different elevations. Is Bjarke getting wiser in his old age or did he just hire some people more talented than he is?"
"It's nice to see a northern city get a serious project for once," replied Jack Exe.
Not all commenters were overwhelmed though:
What do you think of the project? Join the discussion ›
In deep water: commenters are unsure why Clavel Arquitectos felt the need to build "Europe's longest overhanging pool", a 42-metre-structure that cantilevers from the Odiseo casino in Murcia, Spain.
"That's an epic amount of wasted energy," said Heywood Floyd.
"The pool looks seriously drab – I'm not surprised nobody else wanted to get in," continued Jonathan HB. "The main point however is that it is a slap in the face to anyone who cares about responsible building in a climate-change aware world. Saddened."
Idracula agreed: "Ill-conceived mess of a structure. Needs a lot more lipstick."
"The question is, what kind of architecture are we building for the next generation?" asked Geof Bob. "The longest cantilevered swimming pool in Europe, atop a casino and leisure complex. The Romans would have been proud."
This reader was also disappointed:
Are readers being harsh? Join the discussion ›
Dans Le Noir: a shadowy restaurant in Shenzhen designed to emulate the experience of traversing a mountain valley has confused readers.
"Why would you want to eat a meal to 'emulate the experience of traversing a mountain valley?' wondered Geof Bob. "The gloomy interior seems more designed to prevent diners seeing clearly what they're eating – for reasons only the proprietors and chefs know."
"Great idea," replied Miles Teg sarcastically. "It is impossible to find the fly in your soup in here. Is it a soup, though?"
"Gives new meaning to 'bat soup'," joked Spadestick.
DCINDC also wasn't sure about the project: "Looks depressing. I'm sure it's a totally different experience once inside though. Hearing some minimal ambient music – maybe a chill-out room at a club."
This reader had a different venue in mind:
Would you enjoy eating here? Join the discussion ›
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