A Woodwork Enthusiast's Home in Xiamen is set inside a former cement factory

ZMY Design has transformed a cement factory in southeast China into a tranquil home, dotting its cavernous living spaces with a minimal amount of furnishings.

Situated in the port city of Xiamen, A Woodwork Enthusiast's Home has been created by ZMY Design to be a "physically static place" that evokes a complete sense of calm.

"Home is the most intimate place for us, which needn't carry the complex expectations from the outside world," said the studio.

"It provides a tranquil environment that liberates both the body and mind, and a place to let emotions take root."

The home takes over a cement factory that comprises two towering, cylindrical volumes.

Having been abandoned for several years, the building was filled with debris and largely inhospitable, but has now been completely gutted to accommodate a handful of cavernous living spaces.

One of the volumes plays host to a dramatic sitting room. Walls have been coated with a pale-grey powder that's meant to evoke the "austere character" of residences seen in ancient Chinese villages.

The original concrete ceiling has been preserved, while oakwood floorboards have been installed throughout.

A single window frames a view of the surrounding landscape – the other two windows in the room are fronted by floor-to-ceiling pillars that cast shifting beams of light over the course the day.

Inhabitants can alternatively head up to the home's outdoor terrace for unspoilt vistas of Xiamen.

Just a smattering of furnishings has been used to dress the space. At its centre is a slate-grey leather sofa, joined by an armchair, beanbag and coffee table.

There are also a couple of bulbous pots planted with spindly trees.

A short, elevated walkway that's anchored by two chunky timber benches leads to the rear cylindrical volume. This contains the kitchen, which has a simple wooden dining table and a long, white breakfast island.

Where possible, storage has been integrated so that inhabitants can stow away their belongings and keep spaces clutter-free.

Rooms upstairs are equally simple in nature. In the master bedroom, which overlooks a moss-lined balcony, there is only a floor mattress and a white reading lamp that's been fixed to the wall.

Plain plaster walls enclose the tub in the bathroom.

"The overall space is characterised by concise and simplistic design languages," added the studio, "not restricted by styles or labels, the design rethinks what home means for us."

"The best design pursues to serve the mind – it's austere yet profound, simple yet lasting, and is able to put the body and mind in a comfortable state."

Back in 2016, designer Xu Fu-Min completed a "paradise-like house" just outside of Xiamen for a client that was similarly seeking tranquillity. The residence is fronted by an expansive glazed wall that looks out over a nearby garden and has rocks from the underlying terrain jutting through parts of its floor.

Photography is by Wu Yongchang.

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Maison Margiela and Reebok design split-toe sneakers for the digital age

Parisian fashion house Maison Margiela has collaborated with sportswear brand Reebok to launch a collection of high-heeled, split-toe trainers for the era of the "cyber-industrial revolution".

The shoe collection was launched during Maison Margiela's Spring-Summer 2020 Artisanal Co-ed show in Paris, which took place in January.

Each design is a cross between Reebok's dynamic Instapump Fury trainer from 1994 and the French haute couture atelier's signature Tabi shoe from 1988, which takes cues from the traditional Japanese split-toe sock.

The resulting hybrid design retains the Instapump Fury's futuristic aesthetic, with vibrant primary-colourways and geometric layering, but welcomes an additional split-toe and the occasional block high heel.

While the Tabi's split-toed calfskin upper forms the base of the shoes, Reebok's "pump mechanism" inflation technology informs the rest of the design.

This technology, which was initially developed by the sportswear brand in 1989, sees two small nodules embedded at the top of the shoe – one is a pump used to fill the top layer wrapped around the body of the shoe with air, while the other button next to it is used to deflate it.

According to Maison Margiela, this transformative function is representative of it's key philosophies, making the collaboration a natural pairing.

Maison Margiela's creative director John Galliano aimed to reevaluate the "values" and "codes" of bourgeois dressing when designing the collection.

The designs build on Galliano's long-running exploration of the relationship between humanity and technology in the digital age, and are each labelled as "a statement shoe for the age of the cyber-industrial revolution".

Like the original Reebok sneaker, the outer-sole and midsole are made from rubber and expansive foam. To grant both flexibility and stability, a sheet of Reebok's Hexalite shock-absorbing cushioning material is integrated into the sole.

A Graphlite carbon-fibre rod is built into the bridge of the heeled versions of the shoes to connect the sole to the heel.

The shoe has been launched in six different colour variations, including all-black or all-white, and various colourways of yellow, black and red, or white, blue and red.

Another all-black version of the shoe features a faux crocodile material with a clear pump patch.

Galliano's 2018 collection for Maison Margiela similarly saw him design a series of futuristic garments for a "new tribe [of] neo-digital natives".

The Artisanal AW 2018 women's collection saw layers of sorbet-coloured garments worn in reverse –  inspired by the way we dress in haste and may put things on back-to-front – and iPhones clamped to model's calves.

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Muji's storage solutions aim to improve the efficiency of your life

Dezeen promotion: Japanese brand Muji has created a range of storage furniture and containers for organised spaces that are based on the basic unit of construction for Japanese homes.

Muji's storage solutions come in the form of various shelving systems and corresponding storage containers, which are designed to fit inside them.

The storage furniture and containers are suitable for all home environments, including the kitchen, living room, dining room, wardrobe, bathroom, hallways, children's rooms and offices.

The brand's main storage furniture items include a stainless steel unit shelf, a stacking shelf and a pulp shelf.

Corresponding storage containers include boxes made from soft polyethylene, polypropylene, stainless steel and a polyester cotton mix, which are all designed to last long-term.

Muji also offers a natural storage range of baskets made of hand-woven rattan – a material that is both economical and ecological, used for centuries to make homeware for to its lightweight and durable properties.

All containers are available in three sizes and fit neatly on a shelf unit if placed vertically, or on a stacking shelf if placed on its side.

Other storage containers include a drawer trolley, acrylic storage drawers, a zinc box and a file box.

"Organising the living space in the home creates a space which can be used freely, allowing you to spend time relaxing or enjoying hobbies and family time," said the brand.

"Also, by thinking about the way you use your things one at a time and devising ways of storing them so that they are readily at hand at any time, the efficiency of your life will improve, allowing you to live with a feeling of being attached to your things."

Muji proposes using its stand up storage for keeping frying pans and pots, ridding of the need to stack them, making it easier to see at a glance where things are and to take out the required item.

The brand also suggests storing items such as lunch boxes, water bottles, coffee and tea cups together according to use, allowing the user to take out what they need, but also according to colour and material – grouping white tableware and wooden tableware, for example.

The standard dimension of the shelving modules are based on "shaku" – a unit of measurement used in the construction of Japanese homes and their items. One room generally measures at six shaku, which is 182 centimetres, while a half room is three shaku – or 91 centimetres.

The height of a unit shelf is based on the height of a "kamoi", or door, in Japanese homes, and measures at 175 centimetres.

The shelf width measures at 86 centimetres and is based on the width of a half "ken" – another Japanese unit of measurement. At 91 centimetres it can fit neatly within the width of one ken (182 centimetres), between two columns.

The storage item modules are sized to fit snugly inside the storage furniture, measuring at 175 centimetres by 86 centimetres. Others are 26 centimetres by 37 centimetres in order to fit on the shelves.

"The result of this kind of unseen ingenuity is that Muji shelves fit effortlessly into the living space, with the polypropylene storage containers fitting neatly into the shelf units," said the brand.

For more information on Muji's storage furniture and containers, visit the brand's website.

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Visuals revealed of eight architects' Greenwich Design District buildings

The developers of Greenwich Design District have revealed visuals of buildings designed by SelgasCano, 6a Architects, Adam Khan Architects, Architecture 00, HNNA, Barozzi Veiga, David Kohn Architects and Mole Architects, that will make up the development.

Currently under construction on the Greenwich Peninsula in London, the one-hectare design district being developed by Knight Dragon will contain workspaces and workshops aimed at creative companies.

Eight architecture studios, including David Kohn Architects, have design buildings for the Design District

In total eight architects have designed the 16 new buildings that will make up the Greenwich Design District alongside the RSH+P-designed O2 events arena, which was originally called the Millennium Dome.

Each architecture studio designed two buildings on the site, without knowing what the others were designing, with the aim of creating a development with a wide variety of styles.

6a Architects designed two buildings in the development

"At one hectare and with 16 buildings the Design District is a big project in its own right and so we were keen for there to be more than one voice," explained Matt Dearlove, head of design at the Design District.

"We felt it was important that buildings developed their own identities and that as people meandered through the district there would be a sense of discovery and surprise," he told Dezeen. "We were keen that someone would come to the district and say 'I want to be in that building'."

SelgasCano designed an office block with the the district

The development will contain workspaces for 1,800 people as well as communal facilities including a recording and broadcast studio, meeting rooms and a multi-sport rooftop court.

Knight Dragon hired SelgasCano, 6a Architects, Adam Khan Architects, Architecture 00, HNNA (formerly Assemblage), Barozzi Veiga, David Kohn Architects and Mole Architects to try and replicate the variety of architecture found in an organically developed city.

SelgasCano also designed the food market

"When we looked at precedent projects and bits of cities that we liked in London and further afield, there was often a mix of architectural styles and we wanted to replicate this," said Dearlove. "It is not often that you are able to do this for a new build scheme."

"Cities are by their nature contrasting, complex and characterful. We purposefully picked architects that would have a contrasting style that would create diversity and discussion – that's what great cities are about."

One of Architecture 00's buildings is topped with a multi-purpose sports court

According to Dearlove, asking the architecture studios to design without knowing what the neighbouring buildings would look like has created various connections that were not considered as part of the masterplan.

"By asking the architects to work blind and develop the individual opportunity of their plots, the design process created moments which we could not have anticipated in the masterplan stage – for example 6a architects sloping back the facade on its building created a view from Barozzi Veiga's building, which a straight facade would never have allowed for," he explained.

Mole Architects also designed two buildings

This methodology could have created a confused development, but Dearlove believes that the combination of a single masterplanned and unifying public realm, designed by landscape architecture studio Schulze + Grassov, makes the scheme coherent.

"While the architectural styles are different, the masterplan was a single hand – Hannah Corlett, director of HNNA, previously Assemblage – which means that the urbanism, massing and individual plots were carefully considered before the architects were briefed," he said.

"This means that there is a consistent approach to the district as a whole and the spaces created by the courtyards and main square," he continued. "The public realm and planting, as well as the catenary lighting and street furniture, is consistent with the landscape design unifying the district, while allowing a platform for the architects to shine."

HNNA designed two buildings and its founder masterplanned the scheme

The district is set to open in September 2020. It forms part of Knight Dragon's £8.4 billion development of the Greenwich Peninsula development, which is being masterplanned by architecture studio Allies and Morrison. It will include a three mile long raised park designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Santiago Calatrava's first major UK project.

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