Branding esports: the head of Mother Design talks Andbox, Subliners and the Covid-19 impact

Mark Sloan shares insights to the visual identities for these major platforms in the esports sphere, and considers the future of the sector.

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Meltdown Flags Visualize the Climate Crisis’s Toll on Glaciers Worldwide

All images © Meltdown Flags

A new digital project called Meltdown Flags envisions the disastrous effects of the ongoing climate crisis. Countries with glaciers see a reduction in the amount of white on their flags, which serves as a visual representation of the shrinking ice masses. Canada’s middle section begins at full width in 1995 before condensing in both 2020 and 2050. The United States’ white stripes similarly are a fraction of their usual height by the middle of the century.

Created by the digital design studio Moby Digg, Meltdown Flags also functions as an online tool replete with statistics about the percentage of glacier retreat from 1995 to 2050, the nation’s population, landmass, and emissions. Information on Argentina, for example, details the consequences of melting glaciers in the Andes. “Although the Perito Moreno glacier has shown an advance in the past years, ice in this region is being lost at some of the highest rates on the planet,” the page says. “And as ice vanishes, heat increases, resulting in long periods of drought, heavy rainfall, and flooding which could affect up to 130,000 people.”

The project outlines the severity of global warming, saying that based on the current projections, glaciers will be gone by 2100 and “with them, 69% of the world’s drinking water.” Meltdown Flags begins its timeline in 1995 when the first United Nations Climate Change Conference occurred. The UN hoped to reach net-zero emissions and keep the global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celcius by 2050.

To follow the global awareness movement, head to Instagram and Twitter.

 

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“Create an illustration showing a fun activity you can do by yourself” – Joseph Melhuish’s Weekly Brief

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Faulkner Architects perches Big Barn house on Sonoma Valley hillside

American studio Faulkner Architects has completed a holiday home in California's wine country with an asymmetrical roof and facades wrapped in weathering steel and salvaged wood.

Called the Big Barn house, the project is located in Glen Ellen, a town in Sonoma Valley that is named after a winery established there in the 1860s. Located about an hour's drive from San Francisco, the area has rolling hills dotted with oak trees and agricultural buildings.

The clients hired California's Faulkner Architects to design a family getaway that would enable them to unplug from their urban lifestyle. The goal was to create a weekend home that embraced the region's undulating terrain and vernacular architecture while making sure to avoid gimmicks and inauthenticity.

"The strong agricultural history has affected the built environment here, with many examples of barn-like houses that are confusingly morphed between the two vocabularies," the studio said.

Faulkner Architects has already completed one project on the client's property — the conversion of a tack barn into a minimal bunkhouse, which the owner's stayed in while making plans for a larger abode. The simple building totals 389 square feet (78 square metres) and is clad in weathering steel and reclaimed wood.

The bunkhouse influenced the design for the main dwelling, whose exterior walls are wrapped in salvaged redwood and corrugated Corten steel. The two-storey home is rectangular and measures 3,900 square feet (362 square metres).

An asymmetrical gabled roof gives the building a distinctive look, and a lack of overhangs is intended to emphasise the home's crisp form. A volume is set off from the facade and runs along one side of the residence.

Nudged into a gentle slope, the home was built with the aim to minimise disturbance to the site.

"In order to leave the hillside intact and avoid grading, the form is excavated into the site uphill and cantilevered over it downhill," the team said.

The path of the sun influenced certain design decisions. To help reduce heat gain, the smaller side of the off-centre roof is on the west, where the sun is most intense. This elevation also has limited windows.

"Fenestration is limited on this exposure, and is organised like thin, full-height ventilation shutters that reference traditional barn building," the studio added.

Photograph by Ken Fulk

The east side of Big Barn house is more transparent. Sash windows and glazed, sliding doors usher in daylight and provide a strong connection to the landscape.

The upper storey holds a master suite and two bedrooms. A steel-grated bridge on the north connects this sleeping level to the hillside.

Photograph by Ken Fulk

The lower floor encompasses a kitchen, dining area, living room and guest bedrooms. In the great room, a lofty, double-height ceiling "reminds one of the empty, shell-like spaces of barns", the team said.

Openings allow breezes to flow through the home, helping cool spaces naturally, while heat is provided by radiant floors. Energy use is further mitigated through enhanced glazing and insulation, along with efficient mechanical systems.

Ken Fulk – a US designer whose clients include rapper Pharrell Williams – oversaw the home's interior design. Rooms are fitted with eclectic decor, including lighting fixtures by Apparatus and Flos.

The team also used naturals finishes inside such as oak to draw upon the surrounding terrain.

Formed by Greg Faulkner in 1998, Faulkner Architects has completed a number of homes in rural settings. Others include a remote getaway surrounded by boulders and a home outside of San Francisco clad in Corten steel panels. The studio has offices in Berkeley and Truckee, both in California.

Photography is by Joe Fletcher unless stated otherwise.

---

Project credits:

Architect: Faulkner Architects
Contractor: Redhorse Constructors
Civil engineer: Adobe Associates
Structural engineer: CFBR Structural Group
Mechanical engineer: Sugarpine Engineering
Electrical engineer: Sugarpine Engineering
Geotechnical engineer: NV5
Landscape: Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture
Interior design and lighting: Ken Fulk
Theatrical/AV: SoundVision
Pool engineer: Terracon
Pool consultant: Blue Revolution
Construction project manager: Walker Construction Management
Special inspections: PJC & Associates
CALGreen: Gilleran Energy Management
Irrigation design: Dickson & Associates
Arborist: Bartlett Trees

Product suppliers:

Lighting: Apparatus, Flos, Kreon, Viabizzuno
Appliances: Gaggenau, Subzero, La Cornue

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Daily coronavirus architecture and design briefing: 30 March

Daily coronavirus briefing: today Dezeen is launching a new daily briefing, rounding up news about the coronavirus pandemic that is relevant to the global architecture and design community. Read our first briefing below and keep up to date with our coronavirus coverage here.

American architect Michael McKinnell dies of coronavirus (via Boston Globe)

Michael McKinnell, best known as the co-designer of the brutalist Boston City Hall, has died at the age 0f 85 from coronavirus. More ›

American architects mobilise to make coronavirus face shields for hospital workers (via Dezeen)

Architects across America including BIG, KPF and Handel Architects have teamed up as part of an open-source project to manufacture face shields to protect hospital workers treating coronavirus patients. More ›

New Balance to start making face masks (via New Balance on Instagram)

Shoe brand New Balance is the latest company to announce that it will start manufacturing face masks. The company is following numerous fashion brands that are already making masks. More ›

Researchers using nano-diamonds and salt to design coronavirus-killing face mask (via Fortune)

Several groups of researchers are trying to design a face mask that not only protects against coronavirus but also kills it. This includes using a coating made from salt. More ›

Creality's 3D-printed buckle makes wearing face masks more comfortable (via Dezeen)

Chinese 3D-printer manufacturer Creality is fabricating thousands of buckles that make face masks less painful to wear for medical workers treating coronavirus patients. More ›

How architecture schools in the UK are being impacted by coronavirus (via Building Design)

Architectural Association director Eva Franch i Gilabert, Central Saint Martins' Alex Warnock-Smith and Sheffield School of Architecture director of learning and teaching Aidan Hoggard explain how the pandemic is impacting architecture schools in the UK. More ›

AIA task force to offer advice on converting buildings into healthcare facilities (via Dezeen)

The American Institute of Architects has launched a task force to consult on how to adapt buildings into healthcare facilities during the coronavirus pandemic. More ›

Fountain of Hygiene hand sanitiser design contest entry date extended (via Bompas & Parr)

The entry deadline to enter Bompas & Parr's Fountain of Hygiene contest to rethink hand sanitisers and encourage hand-washing during the pandemic has been extended to 5 April. The competition's jury, which will include Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and Tim Marlow, chief executive of the Design Museum, has also been announced. More ›

Jupe designs flat-pack intensive care unit to bolster hospitals impacted by coronavirus (via Dezeen)

Flat-pack startup Jupe has unveiled the "world's first standalone intensive care unit" and several other pop-up care facilities to help hospitals under pressure due to coronavirus. More ›

US Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA turn New York's Javits Center into 2,910-bed hospital (via ABC News)

New York City's Javits Convention Center has been converted into a temporary field hospital by the Army Corps of Engineers. The field hospital will provide care for patients who are not suffering from Covid-19, freeing up capacity at New York's hospitals to treat patients with the virus. More ›

Video reveals conversion of London's Excel Centre into coronavirus hospital (via Construction Manager)

One of the workers converting London's Excel Centre into the NHS Nightingale hospital has revealed a video of the progress. More ›

US government stimulus package includes $230 millions for the cultural sector (via ArtForum)

The US government's $2 trillion stimulus package includes $230 million for arts institutes. According to ArtForum, this is considerably less than the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) was seeking from Congress. More ›

Design Council reflects on coronavirus outbreak (via Design Council)

The UK's Design Council has started a journal to share its reflections on the coronavirus outbreak. More ›

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