Architectural photographer Hufton + Crow has created a video of MAD's YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten in Beijing, which incorporates a group of 18th-century buildings and is topped with a red playground.
Titled Hufton + Crow's Day at YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten, the short film combines shots of the kindergarten with an interview with Allan Crow – one half of the photographic partnership Hufton + Crow.
The video shows the recently completed kindergarten building that combines a historic courtyard building that dates from 1725 with a modern, MAD-designed structure.
MAD's building wraps around the 18th-century buildings and is topped by a red playground. According to Crow, the project is typical of the studios's approach to architecture.
"The things that I'm impressed by, is the boldness of them – the ambition – it's not safe and easy architecture," he said. "It is trying to sort of push the boundaries a little bit."
Just like a tree, the spindly branches that shape Sun-Hyuk Kim’s sculptures extend from a larger, sturdy limb—or in the South Korean artist’s case, neck or spine, too. Kim (previously) creates sprawling artworks that merge human anatomy and the root systems that crawl underneath the earth’s surface. Sometimes painted in neutral tones and others plated in gold, the sculptures are composed of stainless steel that trails out into figurative forms.
Imbued with metaphor, the intricate works consider our existence and their inherent incompleteness, Kim says. The “pandemic in 2020 clearly shows how weak the existence of a human being is,” he writes. “The human force encountered in this era, which has achieved many civilizations and cutting-edge science, reminds us of the collapse of the Tower of Babel, which was built to become like God.”
To follow Kim’s latest projects that explore the connection between people and the natural world, head to Instagram.
Mexican architect Inca Hernández has renovated and refurbished a crumbling historic building to create apartments in Mexico City.
Located in Tacuba neighbourhood, the Mar Mediterraneo 34 (MM34) building was originally completed in 1910 and had since fallen into disrepair.
Hernández aimed to return the facade to its original design
"At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Tacuba became one of the wealthiest areas of the city with large country houses, which over time and different political changes were abandoned and many were collapsed," said Hernández.
"However, among these vestiges the house of Mar Mediterraneo 34 remained."
Crumbling brick walls at the rear are updated with white plaster
Hernández's aim for the project was to reference the history of the building, which he said was valued by National Institute of Fine Arts and the National Institute of Anthropology and History, while also creating contemporary apartments.
His response was to do that quite literally by splitting MM34 into two styles: one has refurbished elements of the old structure and the other half features the original clay-brick walls covered in bright white plaster.
Decorative details run throughout MM34
"The project started with the idea of giving a new life to a house designed in two volumes, where the first incorporates the main facade while the second has a view to the main patio, although both were in advanced deterioration and the second volume was in ruins," he explained.
Salvaged and restored existing elements of the historical building include the balconies and lintels, iron railings, large windows and glass roof tiles. Where new materials were used, the architect chose those made by local artisans to pay homage to its eclectic French style.
Large windows floor the apartments with daylight
"The roof dome was rebuilt with a ceramic tile that reinterprets the original glass plates, the same happens with the cornice bordered with Mexican glazed ceramic pieces," Hernández explained.
"The windows of the mansards still preserve some of the original pieces; the missing ones were replaced with Talavera mosaic."
The windows also offer views to the courtyard at the rear
Hernández's restoration work also continued through the interiors of the property, where glass and aluminum window and door frames were added, and floor were reinforced with metal beams and covered in plaster.
Measuring 620 square metres, MM34 has seven apartments across its three floors. They include lofts, studios family apartments and penthouses.
A perforated screen creates patterned lighting inside
The homes are flooded with daylight from large windows that also offer views to a rear courtyard. White walls continue inside, where the floors are a mixture of wood and decorative tile.
A number are double-height and have mezzanines floors where the bedrooms are located.
Luxury carmaker Aston Martin has teamed up with the British-Ghanaian architect to design homes and limited edition SUVs for five residents who will live in Adjaye's first New York skyscraper.
Owners of the five Aston Martin Residences in Manhattan will each receive a limited-edition, Adjaye-designed Aston Martin DBX.
"This from the guy that did those crazy brutal houses"
But some readers aren't impressed. "Boring. Good grief," said Chris. "Generic 'luxury' apartments. This from the guy that did those crazy brutal houses early in his career?"
"Complete lack of referencing, direction and identity," added Guillaume.
Benny agreed: "Luxury these days has become tiresome and banal. Real luxury in the contemporary world is space and places that are wild."
"While the vehicle displays a measure of control in the use of materials, textures and colours, the apartment is an explosion of themes that don't seem bounded by any particular paradigm, other than the use of curved openings," concluded Johannes.
The "world's first luxury fashion house for pets" has released a collection featuring a leather dog collar, leash and harness treated in the same tannery as Hermès' Birkin bags. Not everyone is sold though.
"This is PR," said Le Canal Hertzien, "perfectly ridiculous."
Bobby Dazzler disagreed: "Kelley has a great idea – make everything unaffordable in order to 'encourage slower, more considered consumption.'"
"This is offensive on so many levels," concluded Sacrecoeur. "Just ask any cat or dog who prefers to snuggle inside an Amazon shipping box versus a $300 luxury pet bed."
Readers are amused by electric car brand Tesla, which has launched its own tequila. Founder Elon Musk initially suggested the idea in 2018 as part of an April Fool's Day joke.
"Perfect symbol for our times," said Heywood Floyd, "an April Fool's joke that gets rationalised into existence two years later."
"Admit it," continued Troy Smith Studio, "You want this, LOL."
"The bottle is worth more than the tequila!" added John Lakeman.
"Demolition of the Mattin Center designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Associates is unfortunately required to build this," said Scott M B Gustafson. "I think that is a BIG mistake."
"It would be unfortunate to lose the Mattin Center just because the whims of the university changed in the past 20 years," agreed Charles. "Why should BIG be convinced that their building will last any longer?"
"I don't see much architecture in this new proposal," concluded Puzzello. "Maybe it too has a life-span of 20 years."
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Mexican industrial design studio Jorge Diego Etienne has created a collection of "unpretentious" furniture for Techo – a non-profit that builds prefabricated housing for people living in slums across Latin America.
Comprising three chairs, a stool, bench, coffee and side table, the Tempo range is entirely made from wood offcuts that were created in the process of constructing these homes.
And ultimately, the pieces will be used to furnish the houses themselves as well as sold for profit, with proceeds going back into funding future Techo housing projects.
The Tempo collection includes a wooden stool and bench (above) as well as a side table and dining chair with armrests (top image)
With this in mind, the furniture is designed to act as a blank slate that lends itself to a number of uses, settings and adaptations.
The light pine wood that makes up the entire collection is left exposed, with its neutral tone fitting easily into different colour schemes.
A low, round side table accompanies a version of the dining chair without armrests
"Techo's workshop works primarily with pine, which has been commonly used for furniture in Mexico throughout history – from vernacular chairs to projects in rural workshops by [architect and designer] Oscar Hagerman and, of course, the great Luis Barragán," the studio's founder and namesake Jorge Diego Etienne told Dezeen.
"Pine is part of Mexican design history but it's overlooked in contemporary design," he added. "We took this as a challenge to explore how can we make pine contemporary through a simple and clear design."
The final pieces are created by Techo's own craftsmen, who have honed their carpentry skills over several decades of manufacturing prefab timber houses.
This expertise is allowed to take centre stage through the deliberately pared-back, "unpretentious aesthetic" of the furniture.
"In this collection, I relate luxury with the time spent by the craftsmen handmaking each piece, creating joints that showcase the experience they have developed working with wood over the years," said Etienne. "Time and pace are part of the concept, hence the name Tempo."
The second dining chair (left) features inverted V-shaped legs and a reclined backrest
A classic four-legged dining chair is rendered with A-shaped legs and available with or without armrests, while a second dining chair features inverted, V-shaped legs and an elegantly reclined backrest.
The matching lounge chair follows this same visual language but is much lower and wider, with more inviting proportions.
The lounge chair is lower and wider than the others
A minimalist trestle-legged stool and side table can be used almost interchangeably and repurposed for different settings, while the long rectangular bench could serve as a storage surface much like the round, cross-frame coffee table.
"We like to create objects that are not too strictly defined. In the whole Tempo collection, simplicity was our goal," said Etienne.
A simple stool with trestle legs is scaled up into a bench
Since it was founded in 1997, Techo has constructed 115,000 houses across 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries, from Argentina and Haiti to Venezuela.
The aim is to offer the 20 per cent of the local population, who live in slums and informal settlements, a leg up out of the vicious cycle of poverty.
"A home means more than a house," the project states. "It means health, education, personal development, overcoming poverty and generating income, women's empowerment, security for families and the possibility of inspiring a community to overcome this situation together."
