Captured in the marshlands of southern Denmark, Søren Solkær’s ongoing project documents one of nature’s most mesmerizing phenomena. BLACK SUN focuses on the quiet landscapes of the Danish photographer’s childhood where nearly one million starlings congregate during the vernal and autumnal seasons. Set at dusk, the photographs frame the migratory birds as they take to the sky in murmurations, amorphous groups that transform the individual creatures into a unified entity.
The fluctuating flight patterns swell above the horizon as the birds move from tree to tree or sometimes, in response to an impending threat. “Now and then, by the added drama of attacking birds of prey, the flock will unfold a breathtaking and veritable ballet of life or death,” Solkær says, further comparing their airborne appearance to inky sketches or calligraphy. He expands on the starlings’ adaptability:
At times the flock seems to possess the cohesive power of super fluids, changing shape in an endless flux: From geometric to organic, from solid to fluid, from matter to ethereal, from reality to dream—an exchange in which real-time ceases to exist and mythical time pervades. This is the moment I have attempted to capture—a fragment of eternity.
BLACK SUN culminates in a forthcoming book by the same name, which will be released November 16 and is available for pre-order in Solkær’s shop, along with prints and some of his other works. Follow the photographer on Instagram to keep up with his phenomenological projects.
Dezeen promotion: Japanese magazine a+u: Architecture and Urbanism has dedicated its 600th issue to the experimental work of international studio MAD, including its newly completed YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten in Beijing.
Titled Dreamscape, the September 2020 edition of the monthly a+u journal celebrates the history of MAD and its key projects since it was founded by Ma Yansong in 2004.
The front cover of Dreamscape
Dreamscape features a total of 22 projects by the studio, including architecture and designs produced by its studios across Beijing, Jiaxing, Los Angeles, and Rome.
A spread from the magazine profiling the studio's directors
The title and theme for the magazine, Dreamscape, was chosen to reflect MAD's experimental and futuristic approach to design, which a+u said "balances itself ambiguously between art and architecture".
"Since its beginning, the studio has been experimental and bold with its futuristic designs," a+u writes in the magazine preface.
Tunnel of Light is one of 22 featured projects
"To MAD, it is also important that the environment they built maintains spiritual and emotional connections with people through nature," it continued.
"The result of this combination of technology and nature is a type of fiction-architecture that balances itself ambiguously between art and architecture."
Each project feature gives readers an insight into the studio's creative process, featuring early conceptual sketches and models to complete final designs.
A spread with unseen diagrams of Harbin Opera House
Woven in-between are essays about the studio's design approach by Fumio Nanjo, senior advisor of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and Frederic Migayrou, deputy director of the Center Pompidou in Paris.
There is also a written piece by MAD's architect Dang Qun, structural engineer Gao Ying and facade engineer Yu Hui that sheds light on the technicalities behind the studio's work.
Nanjo's essay explains that MAD has "redefined architecture as a new nature".
"The architecture that MAD creates is seen as a kind of landscape," he explained. "In terms of how it takes its starting point from architecture, the landscape undeniably seeks to become a city. Yet, it also represents a new kind of nature that surrounds and encircles us."
Sketches of Courtyard Kindergarten
In the essay titled Convolutions, Migayrous cites the studio's Tunnel of Light as one of the most significant projects that give an insight into "Yansong's aesthetic quest".
"Ma Yansong's architecture is open, and its emerging morphologies resonate with the tensions induced by their sites," he explained.
Details from the Hutong Bubbles project
The a+u publication was first issued in 1971 and is Japan's only monthly magazine dedicated to sharing architecture news and discourse from the world.
To find out more or purchase the 600th edition Dreamscape, click here.
Tangerine-coloured walls and terracotta-tile floors help enliven the formerly gloomy interior of Beam cafe in west London, designed by Ola Jachymiak Studio.
Beam is nestled amongst a parade of shops in the affluent Notting Hill neighbourhood and serves up a menu of Mediterranean-inspired brunch dishes.
The exterior of Beam cafe in London's Notting Hill neighbourhood
Locally-based Ola Jachymiak Studio was brought on board to design the cafe, tasked with creating an inviting interior that would be able to comfortably accommodate just over 90 customers.
There was just one key issue – the cafe unit had an awkwardly long and narrow plan that allowed in very little sunlight. The studio therefore decided to utilise a colour and material palette that would foster a sense of brightness and warmth.
Arched niches in the walls display amber-hued ornaments
At the front of Beam is a casual seating area dressed with egg yolk-yellow armchairs and a couple of tropical potted plants.
The black gridded windows that previously featured on the cafe's facade have also been swapped for expansive panels of glazing. During the warmer summer months, these can be pushed back to let in more light and fresh air.
A burnt-orange seating banquette is set against an exposed-brick wall
Just beyond lies a more formal dining area. The wall on the right-hand side has been painted white and punctuated with arched niches that display amber-hued glass ornaments.
On the left-hand side is an exposed brick wall. Along its lower half runs a curvaceous seating banquette upholstered in burnt-orange velvet.
Tangerine-coloured paint covers the middle section of the cafe
Tangerine-coloured paint has been applied to the walls in the middle section of the cafe, where the coffee and pastry bar is located.
Customers who are getting their orders to-go can flick through the books and magazines displayed here on wall-mounted shelving units.
The central coffee bar is made from oak and white Calacatta marble
The base of the bar is lined with strips of oak, while the countertop is crafted from white Calacatta marble. Hanging directly overhead is a Bubble lamp by American designer George Nelson.
This section of the cafe also features flooring clad with terracotta tiles. The same tiles appear again in the bathrooms, covering the toilet cubicles and the arched panels that the sinks back onto.
A lighting installation illuminates the dining area at the back of the cafe
Additional dining tables and bistro-style chairs with orange seat cushions have been placed at the rear of Beam, which was once the darkest area of the cafe.
To counter this, Ola Jachymiak Studio has created a light installation across the ceiling. It comprises several spherical pendant lamps from Danish brand New Works that have been suspended at different heights.
Sheer white curtains have also been draped around the room's periphery.
More arched niches appear in the cafe's bathrooms, which are lined with terracotta tiles
Ola Jachymiak Studio was established in 2013. Its Beam project joins a number of trendy eateries in west London's Notting Hill neighbourhood.
Dezeen promotion: Swiss brand Geberit has developed a solution for draining water quickly from large roof areas and a pipe system that can deliver both drinking water and heating.
The compact Pluvia drainage system uses negative pressure to achieve almost double the discharge rate of conventional drainage systems.
The system has been standardised so that multiple units can be combined together in a single system. Roof outlets come in a variety of different designs and sizes that can be installed on practically any roof structure.
The Pluvia drainage system can be installed on practically any roof structure
The outlets have long outlet connection pieces to facilitate installation into highly insulated roofs, and the outlet grating has a rotating lock bar that allows it to be attached and removed easily and without tools.
For warm roofs, green roofs or weight-bearing roofs, Geberit has designed Pluvia solutions for vapour barrier connection to ensure a sealed, durable system.
Pluvia outlets have long outlet connection pieces
Planning and calculation of all Pluvia drainage systems are supported by Geberit's ProPlanner software. The hydraulic calculation can now also be done in the Autodesk Revit CAD software using a corresponding plug-in.
Geberit offers a free download of all Building Information Modelling (BIM) data in the Autodesk Revit format, so that a sanitary engineer can calculate the configuration of the entire system in the CAD program.
Geberit's Mepla pipe system can deliver both drinking water and heating
Geberit's Mepla system is a multilayer pipe system that can be used to deliver both drinking water and heating.
Mepla combines metal and plastic to take advantage of the best of both materials. It consists of an outer layer of second-generation polyethylene of raised temperature (PE-RT), a middle layer of aluminium and an inner layer of PE-RT to make it is stable yet bendable.
Geberit has designed about 300 Mepla fittings
Pipes come in sizes from 16 to 75 millimetres and Geberit has designed a selection of about 300 fittings, made from gunmetal and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), to make sure Mepla suits nearly all installation tasks.
All fittings have protective caps so they can be hygienically stored.
Mepla pipes consist of three layers
Using PE-RT and aluminium makes Mepla more corrosion-resistant than metal pipes, but more robust than plastic pipes.
The pipe system also remains leak-proof even when subjected to pressure that far exceeds the standard testing pressure of 1.1 megapascals.
