Retroscena is a colourful apartment renovation by La Macchina Studio

Italian architecture office La Macchina Studio has renovated a 1950s apartment in Rome, revealing original terrazzo floors and adding bold colours.

Set in the Italian capital's Appio Latino quarter, the mid-century one-bedroom apartment already had Venetian stone floors.

The original terrazzo floors have been restored

La Macchina Studio uncovered them and enlisted local craftsmen to restore the terrazzo, while the apartment was transformed into a "surreal set where reality and fiction coexist in a quasi-theatrical scene".

"With Retroscena, we wanted to enhance the irreverent and surreal nature of the architectural story," said studio founders Gianni Puri and Enrica Siracusa.

"It is inextricably linked to its photographic alter-ego by playing with colour contrasts, graphic motifs and unexpected incursions."

Pops of primary colour stand out against white walls

Walls and certain elements have been painted bright white, to create a neutral backdrop for the graphic pops of colour.

An arched doorway and a low, midcentury-style cabinet in the living area are painted a matching bright blue.

A blue-painted wooden doorway leads to the bedroom

A pair of zesty lemon-yellow fabric curtains can be pulled across to separate the living area from the kitchen diner and screen off the door to the balcony.

The arching doorway juts out almost a metre from the wall, screening the kitchen furniture from the view of the hallway. The blue-lacquered wood marks the entrance to the bedroom.

Yellow curtains can screen the living room off

A red wall-hanging placed above the sofa marks another splash of primary colour.

Another doorway set flush to the wall opens to reveal the two-room bathroom. In the first room, a bath and shower are all surrounded by square ceramic white tiles, set in dark grouting to create a graphic check mosaic.

White square tiles form a check mosaic in the bathroom

A pointy arched doorway leads to the second half of the bathroom, where a toilet and a bidet face each other across a sink, which is framed by the arch.

Peacock-blue enamelled walls and a dimmable ring light mirror above the sink add to the theatrical styling of the bathroom.

An arched doorway frames the sink

In the bedroom, the floor has a ruddy hue, the result of a brick-red micro cement treatment applied by La Macchina Studio. A low-hanging orb-style pendant light and peach velvet curtains create a softer aesthetic.

Pinkish cement flooring also differentiates the entryway. Built-in white wardrobes in the hallway conceal a hidden room that is used as a study.

The bedroom has a micro cement floor

La Macchina Studio was founded by Puri and Siracusa in 2013 and is based in Rome.

More exciting Roman apartment renovations include a flat with terracotta-coloured walls and an apartment with a reading den visible through a porthole-style cutout.

Photography is by Paolo Fusco.

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Metaphorical Scenes Examine Mystery in Dreamy Paintings by Artist Duy Huynh

“ReciprociTea,” acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 x 2.5 inches. All images © Duy Huynh, shared with permission

Vietnamese aritst Duy Huynh (previously) examines balance through nuanced scenes replete with ethereal, surreal elements: individual flowers ascend from a teapot, a chain winds around an artichoke heart, and figures float mid-air. Rendered in muted hues, the acrylic paintings are metaphorical and narrative-based, visualizing stories by connecting unsual symbols or positioning disparate objects together. The North Carolina-based artist gives the works witty names— “Thyme to Turnip the Beet” and “ReciprociTea,” for example—adding to their playful and whimsical natures.

In a statement, Huynh writes that the core of his practice involves drawing connections “between two or more mysteries,” which he explains further:

My characters often float (literally) somewhere between science and spirituality, memory and mythology, structure and spontaneity, ephemeral and eternal, humorous and profound, connectivity and non-attachment. The intent isn’t necessarily to provide enlightenment but to celebrate the quest itself.

Huynh co-owns Lark & Key, where his elegant paintings are part of a group show that’s on view through November 28. Limited-edition prints and greeting cards of his works are available through the gallery, as well.

 

“No More Clouded Hearts,” acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 x 2.5 inches

Left: “Thyme to Turnip the Beet,” acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 x 1.75 inches. Right: “Wisdom Keepers,” acrylic on wood, paper on piano reads “press any key to continue,” 30 x 40 x 2.5 inches

“Heart of Gold,” acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 x 2 inches

Left: “A Matter of Pace, Space and Equanimitea,” acrylic on wood, 16 x 16 x 2.5 inches.  Right: “A Life More Aliferous,” acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 x 2.5 inches

“New Dawn Rising,” acrylic on canvas, 34 x 34 x 2 inches

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Edel Rodriguez creates "You're fired" graphic after Donald Trump loses 2020 US presidential election

Cuban-American artist Edel Rodriguez has created cartoons lampooning president Donald Trump as a toppling statue and a fired employee after he lost the 2020 US election to Joe Biden.

On Saturday, Rodriguez posted an illustration of Trump standing on a crumbling clifftop with bold black text reading "You're Fired" in reference to Trump's catchphrase when he hosted television reality show The Apprentice.

It is among a series of post-election visuals Rodriguez has created. Another shows Trump as a toppling statue while a third depicts president-elect Joe Biden putting the head back on the Statue of Liberty.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Edel Rodriguez (@edelrodriguez) on Nov 6, 2020 at 8:33pm PST

 

The latter is a follow-up of an older Rodriguez visual depicting Trump holding the severed head of the statue in one hand and a bloody sword in the other.

Rodriguez, who has 28,000 Instagram followers, has become a regular critic of Trump since the former reality-TV star was elected president in 2016. The artist has depicted him in a number of Time magazine covers and in satirical designs for German magazine Der Spiegel.

In the lead up to the 3 November election, and the days following during the vote count, Rodriguez ramped up production of his cartoon Trump, who he typically characterises with bright orange skin, yellow hair and an open mouth, but no other facial features.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Edel Rodriguez (@edelrodriguez) on Nov 6, 2020 at 7:07am PST

 

Recent designs include two orange penises of varying sizes, both of which are punctured with a Trump-style mouth at the top. Beneath Rodriguez has captioned the larger image PERCEPTION and the smaller image REALITY.

He also made a bin-bag version of Trump bearing the slogan "NOV 3 DON'T FORGET TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH".

Rodriguez gained popularity for cartoons that graced a number of magazines during Trump's presidency. These included an illustration of Trump giving a Nazi salute while covered by the American flag for TIME magazine.

In 2018, he released a reimagined a more provocative cover for Trump exposé Fire and Fury, which depicted Trump's face as a large flame with a small White House illustrated at the bottom.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Edel Rodriguez (@edelrodriguez) on Nov 2, 2020 at 2:53pm PST

When Trump won the election four years ago in November Four years ago, illustrators took to social media to post images that expressed their feelings about Trump becoming the next US with many similarly portraying him unfavourably.

Democratic candidate Biden was called as the 46th president on 7 November 2020 following a tense race with Republican candidate and current President Trump.

Leading up to this year's election, artists and designers created graphics with the aim to motivate people to vote, including Instagram gifs, brass pins, billboards and magazine covers.

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Throughout Ukrainian Hospitals, CUBA BUBA Installs Game-Filled Escapes for Young Patients

“CUBA BUBA SUNNY.” All images © Cuba Buba, shared with permission

Since 2017, the design studio Decor Kuznetsov and the Vlada Brusilovskaya Foundation have teamed up for CUBA BUBA, a project that transforms hospital rooms throughout Ukraine into sensory wonderlands for young patients. Complete with comfy seating, reading nooks, and even open-air chimes, each module is compact and intended for children to rest and relax as they undergo various treatments.

The group recently installed its sixth iteration, “CUBA BUBA SUNNY,” which features a shelved room full of greenery and sculptures. Suspended below the light is an ornately carved ceiling that shines a unique pattern onto the eclectic collection. To inspire play, an earlier design’s facade is comprised entirely of holes, allowing kids to wind rope throughout the structure into a vibrant web.

More information and images of the playful constructions can be found on CUBA BUBA’s site. You also might enjoy Takashi Murakami’s uplifting renovation of a CT suite.  (via Design Milk)

 

“CUBA BUBA SUNNY”

“CUBA BUBA SUNNY”

“CUBA BUBA #1”

“CUBA BUBA #3”

“CUBA BUBA MATRIX”

“CUBA BUBA MATRIX”

“CUBA BUBA #4”

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Metalysis to extract oxygen from moon rock to support future lunar habitation

UK company Metalysis has been awarded a European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop technology that turns lunar rock into oxygen and building materials, which could enable astronauts to set up a base on the moon.

The process, which involves reducing the metal oxides found on the moon's surface to produce pure oxygen, metals and alloys, could give astronauts access to oxygen as well as a metallic material that can be used for construction.

The project, titled The Metalysis FFC Process for Extra-Terrestrial Oxygen Production from ISRU, is being funded by the ESA and forms part of its Space Resources Strategy.

Left image shows a pile of lunar regolith. Right image shows the same pile after almost all oxygen has been extracted. Image from ESA

Metalysis' FFC process is an electrolytic technology that is able to extract the oxygen from metal oxides, resulting in pure metal and alloy powders.

The FFC process is based on a technology that was first developed at the UK's University of Cambridge by Derek Fray, Tom Farthing and George Chen in 1996 and 1997, and takes its name from the inventors' initials.

The FFC process has long been proven to work for the industrial-scale production of metals and recent studies have demonstrated its potential application on lunar regolith – the layer of loose solid material that covers the moon.

Analyses of rocks brought back from the moon have shown that lunar regolith comprises 40 to 45 per cent oxygen by weight, which is chemically bound in the form of metal oxides.

A test using the FCC process on simulated lunar regolith, which was conducted in 2019, took a total of 50 hours to extract 96 per cent of the oxygen from the material.

As explained in an article by the ESA, the process involves placing the powdered regolith in a mesh-lined basket with molten calcium chloride salt, which acts as an electrolyte, before heating it to 950 degrees celsius – a temperature at which the regolith remains solid.

By passing a current through the material, the oxygen is extracted from the regolith and moves across the salt to be collected at an anode and stored for future usage.

Not only does the process produce oxygen, which could be used to provide astronauts with fuel and life support on the moon, but the mixed metal alloy by-product could be used as a building material for in-situ manufacturing.

Generating products with local materials in space – a practice called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) – is important in significantly reducing the amount of material that is needed to be transported from Earth to the moon.

"The ability to extract oxygen on the moon is vital for future exploration and habitation, being essential for sustainable long duration activities in space," said the firm.

Other companies are also setting their sights on building bases on the moon. Architecture firm BIG and 3D-printed building company ICON are working on a project to create a 3D-printed infrastructure for living on the moon using materials found on its surface.

Working with Space Exploration Architecture and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the aim is to use a simulant of moon soil for the construction.

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