Grzywinski+Pons turns 1970s office block into Locke at Broken Wharf hotel

Chainmail curtains contrast with butterscotch-coloured walls in a hotel created by architecture studio Grzywinski+Pons in the shell of a 1970s office block in London.

Situated near the Millennium bridge, Locke at Broken Wharf has been designed by New York-based studio Grzywinski+Pons to reflect the dichotomy of London's cityscape.

The seven-storey hotel takes over a 1970s office building, which previously contained a rabbit-warren of work cubicles and unsightly suspended ceilings.

"While the incredible riverfront location of the site was a true gift, the disused commercial block that we were poised to transform was hardly predisposed towards a hospitality program," said the studio.

The building therefore had to be completely gutted to accommodate the hotel's 113 guest rooms, a bar, co-working area and deli-style restaurant that serves up bagels, salads and charcuterie.

Expansive panels of glazing were also inserted in Locke at Broken Wharf's facade to make the ground-floor communal areas lighter and more open.

The restaurant now has sweeping views of structures like Herzog & de Meuron's angular Tate Modern extension and the lapping waters of the Thames, a contrast that the studio wanted to capture in the interior design.

"The social space is intended to behave like the connective tissue between London's hard edge and the serenity of the Thames," explained the studio.

"There's both urban grit and splendour depending on which direction one chooses to look."

Some parts of the room are crafted from tough materials – like the chainmail curtains that cover the doorways and silver-metal pendant lamps – while other elements have been made to appear as "texturally lush, warm and inviting".

Butterscotch walls have been paired with creamy terrazzo floors, complemented by rattan lounge chairs and earth-toned ceramic pots planted with succulents or fronds of wildflowers.

Champagne-coloured steel has also been used to craft the bar counter, around which is a series of timber stool seats.

Portions of the lower, suspended ceiling have also been maintained in attempt to create spots where guests can gather and chat.

"Rather than resisting the very nature of the form within which we were working, once we resolved to embrace the idiosyncratic, these constraints became opportunities and a source of inspiration," added the studio.

The duality of hard and soft materials is continued upstairs in the bedrooms of Locke at Broken Wharf. Soothing sage-green walls and woollen rugs on the floor are offset with robust fixtures like copper clothing rails and steel side tables with smoked-glass countertops.

Some suites also include small kitchenettes crafted from light-hued birch plywood and sitting areas anchored by straw-yellow sofas.

Grzywinski+Pons is responsible for the design of several Locke hotels, which are dotted across the UK. Last year the studio completed a branch in Manchester, applying grey tones throughout its interior to reflect the city's typically overcast skies.

The studio also fashioned "sophisticatedly tropical" spaces for the Eden Locke hotel in Edinburgh, filling it with wicker furnishings and an abundance of leafy plants.

Photography is by Nicholas Worley.

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“I needed to ensure that I didn’t go unnoticed”: Photojournalist Shahidul Alam on his new book and notorious 101-day incarceration

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.

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Citroën rolls out subscription car that doesn't require a driving license

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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Dezeen's digital guide to Milan design week moves to 16-21 June

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.

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Beautified China book celebrates the country's "architectural revolution"

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.

Beautified China features photos of 80 buildings including OMA's CCTV Headquarters

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.

It celebrates buildings like SBF Tower by Hans Hollein & Christoph Monschein

"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."

Provoost travelled to 16 different cities for the book, including Shenzhen where KPF's China Resources Headquarters recently reached completion

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.

His photography focuses on details of building, like the facade of the Fosun Foundation by Heatherwick Studio and Foster + Partners

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".

Each building, including the Bank of China Headquarters by SOM, is depicted as an abstract object

"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."

The book also includes Zaha Hadid Architects Galaxy Soho

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."

The book contains several essays, including a foreword by Nikolaus Goetze of GMP Architekten that designed Xinzhou Mansion

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.

Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center by MAD also features in the book

"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 also included lesser-known structures like Bernard Tschumi Architects' Exploratorium museum

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."

Ningbo Urban Planning Exhibition Center by Playze and Schmidhuber is another lesser-known project in the book

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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