Cavernous brick vaults define Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum in China

Studio Zhu-Pei housed galleries within vaulted red-brick structures to create the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum in Jiangxi province, China.

Located in the city of Jingdezhen, the museum's sweeping structures each have a unique size, curvature and length, designed by Studio Zhu-Pei to recall the forms of traditional brick kilns.

Vaulted brick structures make up Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum

Both Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum's design and contents pay homage to the city's history of making ceramics, for which it has been dubbed as the world's "porcelain capital".

It is positioned adjacent to some of the city's imperial kiln ruins, which date back to the Ming Dynasty and were once used to produce porcelain for the imperial family.

The museum is designed to evoke traditional brick kilns

"Jingdezhen is known as the porcelain capital of the world because it has been producing pottery for 1,700 years," explained the Beijing studio.

"The overall experience of the museum tries to rediscover the roots of Jingdezhen, to recreate the past experience among kilns, porcelain, and human beings."

Sunken courtyards are positioned between the vaulted structures

Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum's galleries were carefully positioned by Studio Zhu-Pei on site to accommodate the existing kiln ruins, some of which were discovered during construction.

They are partially sunken below ground to maximise the museum's building height without imposing on surrounding buildings, while also creating an intimate, cave-like feeling inside.

Public outdoor space has also been landscaped around the museum

Around the structures, Studio Zhu-Pei has landscaped a series of public spaces, including a semi-open courtyard that is sheltered by one of the vaults and frames views of the ruins.

Sunken below street level, five quieter courtyards have been created with five different themes – gold, wood, water, fire and soil – which reference porcelain-making techniques.

The galleries feature skylights that mimic kiln smoke holes

The museum's vaults were built by hand by pouring concrete between two layers of brick. This mimics an old construction method used to make traditional kilns that negates the need for scaffolding and gives rise to thin, lightweight structures.

A mix of recycled bricks and new bricks were used for the project in order to reflect the local vernacular and many buildings in the city that are constructed from demolished kilns.

"Using recycled kiln bricks to build houses and all kinds of buildings is a significant character in Jingdezhen because brick kilns have to be demolished every two or three years in order to keep a certain thermal performance of the kilns," the studio explained.

The galleries are positioned below ground level

Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum is entered through a foyer at ground level, housed within one of the arched structures.

This provides access to a bookstore, cafe, tea room and amphitheatre, and staircases down to the main exhibition spaces that housed underground.

Inside, the spaces are all lit by natural light as far as possible, with the ends of each arch left open or glazed. There are also cylindrical skylights that puncture the ceilings of the vaults, evoking smoke holes of old brick kilns.

An auditorium features alongside the museum's galleries

Studio Zhu-Pei is a Beijing architecture studio that was founded by Chinese architect Zhu Pe in 2005. It was formerly known as Studio Pei-Zhu. Other projects by the practice include the transformation of a factory into Minsheng Contemporary Art Museum, which has an entrance clad with a shiny skin of metal panels.

Elsewhere in China, Shenzhen Horizontal Design recently slotted a white-concrete gallery into the ruins of a brick house to create the Zhang Yan Cultural Museum in China and Powerhouse Company topped a reception building with an undulating walking trail.

Photography is by Studio Zhu-Pei, schranimage and Tian Fangfang.

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Project credits:

Architect: Studio Zhu-Pei, Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University
Design principal: Zhu Pei
Front criticism: Zhou Rong
Art consultant: Wang Mingxian, Li Xiangning
Design team: You Changchen, Han Mo, He Fan, Liu Ling, Wu Zhigang, Zhang Shun, Shuhei Nakamura, Yang Shengchen, Du Yang, Chen Yida, He Chenglong, Ding Xinyue
Structural consultant: Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University
MEP consultant: Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University
Green building consultant: Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University
Landscape design: Studio Zhu-Pei, Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University
Exhibition design: Studio Zhu-Pei, Beijing Qingshang Architectural Ornamental Engineering
Interior design: Studio Zhu-Pei, Beijing Qingshang Architectural Ornamental Engineering
Facade consultant: Shenzhen Dadi Facade Technology
Lighting consultant: Ning Field Lighting Design
Acoustic consultant: Building Science & Technology Institute, Zhejiang University
Client: Jingdezhen Municipal Bureau of Culture Radio Television Press Publication and Tourism, Jingdezhen Ceramic Culture Tourism Group
Main contractor: China Construction First Group Corporation Limited, Huajiang Construction of China Construction First Group

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The Crown costumes move "from forensic accuracy to flights of fancy" says Amy Roberts

Costume designer Amy Roberts used the wardrobes of Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher to reflect their complex relationships with Britain's royal family in the latest series of television show The Crown.

The series' script writing allows for artistic license with the costumes, Roberts told Dezeen.

"You can go from forensic accuracy, like with the queen's military uniform, to flights of fancy and glamour – it's an extraordinary programme for doing that," said the designer, who created the costumes for the third and fourth season of the historical drama series.

"It's a mixture of the need to be correct about things, but also the need to look knockout," she continued.

"Yes, it's the queen and the king of England, the prince and the princesses, but I still feel it's a bunch of people in this huge opera."

The Queen's military uniform as seen in episode one

The Crown recreates the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II – played by Olivia Coleman in seasons three and four – from 1947 to modern day.

The latest season, released on Netflix, covers the period between 1977 and 1990 and introduces two pivotal figures: Diana, Princess of Wales, and Margaret Thatcher, Britain's prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

Conveying these characters' emotions and their complex relationships with members of the royal family was a key factor in the costume choices, said Roberts.

This includes the "toxic" journey that Diana, played by Emma Corrin, undergoes after her engagement to Prince Charles, played by Josh O'Connor, and her entry into the palace.

Diana first meets Charles when she is dressed for a school play

Diana, then Diana Spencer, emerges in episode one aged 16 in a leaf-covered mask and leotard, dressed for her role as a tree in a school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"The first sighting of Diana is very unexpected," said Roberts. "We start off seeing her as a young girl with very little fashion sense. She's a plump, shy, charming, very appealing girl, and then she's sort of grabbed by the palace."

In a meeting with Charles, Diana wears yellow dungarees

When Charles, who is the heir to the UK throne, meets Diana again she is dressed in pale yellow dungarees and a knitted cardigan, while in scenes following this she wears skirts and dresses layered with mismatching jumpers.

"I was trying to convey that kind of messiness of her beginning," Roberts explained, "like a teenager who hasn't quite got their look."

Charles and Diana on their first royal tour

Even when she is given a wardrobe suitable for royalty after her relationship with Charles develops, she is still "finding herself", said Roberts. This is apparent when Diana and Charles go on their first royal tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1983.

"Australia was 'dressing-up-dolly' time," explained Roberts. "I felt for that whole section when she was still being somehow manipulated – you know, dress her up in a nice little outfit for every eventuality – that she hadn't quite got there yet."

Season four shows the breakdown of their marriage

Towards the end of the series, the unofficial separation of the couple and Diana's tense relationship with the royal family is reflected in her wardrobe.

"It's all a bit naff at the beginning, and then the middle bit is still a bit naff, but more expensively done, and then at the end it's clear where she's going to go," Roberts explained.

"Her look is a million worlds away from her first look," Roberts continued, referring to Diana in the final episode, when she wears a floor-length black dress with a suit-like collar.

Diana wears a long black dress for the royal family Christmas photo

"They're vile to her," said Roberts. "It was a moment when I feel she starts putting on armour, and that's what she's going to be doing in the next series."

"This is the first real moment where she thinks, 'I'm gonna fight you lot, I'm going to survive'. So she puts on a killer black dress."

"It was the most fantastic thing to be able to show people, not just the Diana that I think we all remember; this amazingly glamorous, attractive, vibrant creature... but the journey to that point," added Roberts.

"[She goes] from this strange little creature in leaves to this woman looking so sexy and strong at the end. It just sums her up to me."

Thatcher is mostly dressed in pussy-blow blouses and skirt-suits

Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson, was also an obvious favourite to dress for Roberts. True to history, Thatcher's character often appears in pussy-bow blouses with long skirts and oversized pearl earrings.

Discovering more about the woman outside the politics was key for Roberts.

"I think, for a lot of us in England, her politics are very problematic, and just to rid myself of that, and understand this extraordinary woman was fantastic... to do what she did in that era was quite phenomenal," said the designer.

Thatcher's wardrobe shows the woman beneath the politics

The Crown also shows a more domestic side of Thatcher, who has the chiefs of staff over for dinner and ties a floral apron around her waist before preparing the food.

"It was a bit of a fantasy," Roberts said. "[Recreating] that incredible femininity she had... and it's just weird, isn't it? That powerful woman who takes us into a war with the Falklands is making cottage pie."

Roberts wanted the Queen to be more of a background figure

According to Roberts, the most interesting process was creating outfits that reflected the strained dynamic between Thatcher and the Queen.

"We [Roberts and director Paul Whittington] spent a lot of time discussing the emotional state of both those women in each scene," she said.

"You have Thatcher at her most jingoistic and militaristic when the Falklands War is happening, and the Queen is very dismayed about this happening."

"So we put Thatcher in a very English, white and blue suit... square shoulders, strong, and the Queen is very maternal and softer in that scene," she continued. "The two are very opposing, and it's the only time that it's quite funny. It's quite gently comic."

The Queen's style in season four is "slightly more middle-aged mum"

Aside from Diana, who Roberts describes as "a breath of fresh air", and Thatcher, the fourth season sets itself apart from the previous series in that it has more solidity, said the designer.

"There's a steadierness with [season] four, there's a darker palette," Roberts explained. "The textures aren't as light as [season] three, and certainly the colours aren't."

"Everybody's kind of in their middle; middle age, middle ground. Anne is married, there are children... The Queen is more settled in her role, her marriage."

"[The Queen's clothes] are lovely, but they're less exciting – it's slightly more 'middle-aged mum'," she continued.

"I wanted her to be more in the background... this steady, background influence, which is what the Queen is, particularly now," said Roberts.

Images courtesy of Netflix.

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One week to go until Dezeen Awards 2020 winners are revealed

There is just one week to go until we reveal the Dezeen Awards 2020 winners in three video shows from 23 to 25 November.

Hosted by BBC Radio London presenter and Dezeen Awards 2020 judge LionHeart, the shows will be streamed on Dezeen from 4:00pm to 5:00pm GMT each day and we'll also be announcing the winners live on Twitter:

@dezeenawards
#dezeenawards

Dezeen Awards 2020 architecture show

Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm GMT
Date: Monday 24 November
Link: dezeen.com/awards2020shows

Dezeen Awards 2020 interiors show

Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm GMT
Date: Tuesday 25 November
Link: dezeen.com/awards2020shows

Dezeen Awards 2020 design show

Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm GMT
Date: Wednesday 26 November
Link: dezeen.com/awards2020shows

Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and head of Dezeen Awards Aísling Cowley will co-host the shows with LionHeart to award all 12 project category winners, two studio winners, as well as the overall project winner in that sector.

Messages from Foster, Ogundehin and Antonelli

Each of the Dezeen Awards shows will feature a video message from one of this year's key judges.

Norman Foster will reflect on the architecture categories, Michelle Ogundehin will share her insights on this year's interiors entries whilst Paola Antonelli will discuss the design submissions.

Winners will receive trophies by AtelierNL

This year's trophies, designed by Eindhoven-based design studio Atelier NL, are made from wood salvaged from London plane trees. The Dutch designers, who have been involved in creating Dezeen Awards trophies since its launch in 2018, worked with London-based timber company Saunders Seasonings and design and maker studio azmyanything.

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Nseen is a see-through perfume bottle covered in invisible writing

MIT researchers Jiani Zeng and Honghao Deng have developed a "truly minimalist", 3D-printed flacon, which is entirely transparent at first glance and only reveals its branding when it is tilted at just the right angle.

If the Nseen bottle was standing in front of a sign, onlookers would be able to see straight through it to read the words behind, without being able to see the writing on the bottle itself.

Although the finger behind the bottle can be seen, the writing on the bottle itself is invisible 

That's because the writing is covered in a lenticular lens – a corrugated sheet made from rows of convex, magnifying lenses.

Much like a glass of water refracts light around a straw to make it appear in a different position, this sheet bends light around the label at specific angles, rendering it effectively invisible and instead magnifying parts of the background behind.

Yet at other angles, the lenses are flat to allow light to pass through, thereby divulging the writing underneath.

A corrugated sheet of lenses covers the writing on the Nseen flacon

According to Zeng and Deng, their design for the Nseen bottle marks the first time that such a sophisticated effect has been produced using 3D printing.

"3D printers that can print glass-like materials are relatively new in the industry," said Deng, who is a computational designer while Zeng works in industrial design.

"And we are the first group of designers and researchers making precise control of 3D printed lenticular effects possible."

This is thanks to the duo's novel Illusory Material method, which allows designers to print using lenticular lenses while imbuing each voxel, or three-dimensional pixel, with a different colour, texture and refractivity.

The final design is then realised using a multi-material, poly-jet 3D printer, such as the ones created by US manufacturer Stratasys. Unlike a traditional, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printer, these can create objects that are both transparent and fuse two or more different materials.

The optical distortion of the lenticular lens can be digitally modelled via the Illusory Material system

"In a traditional workflow, the models you design and send to regular 3D printers are like an empty shell that only contains surface information. Those printers can only recognise the surface information and help you print the geometry, mostly in a single material or colour," Zeng told Dezeen.

"But Illusory Material is designed with embedded metamaterial information – think of it as a model full of colours and different material properties in different voxels. The Stratasys printer can read this information and print artefacts with layers of materiality that reveal multiple expressions."

The entire Nseen bottle, including the transparent body, the lenticular lenses and the writing hidden underneath as well as the solid black strips on either end, is created in one single print.

The designers sees the Nseen bottle as a test case for showing off the capabilities of their system and its possible benefits.

"Aesthetically, we want to show designers that a truly minimalist design can co-exist with delivering clear product information and instructions, even when working with transparent materials such as glass, acrylic and resin," said Zeng.

"Functionally, the same design can be applied to different use cases such as delivering a personal message to a specific user," she continued.

"Imagine that you don't have to hide your pill bottle and it can be left out just like any other items in your home without showing sensitive information. It can also be used as an embedded authentication code for luxury brands, which is impossible to be copied and faked."

The bottle can be tilted to reveal the writing

The Illusory Material system also allows for the creation of objects that change colour based on the angle from which they are viewed, simply by layering different shades underneath each lenticular lens.

This is exemplified in the duo's prototype Unream lampshade, which features sinuous lines that go from blue to pink and purple as the viewer walks past.

Ultimately, the aim of the project is to change the face of surface design by opening up a new world of dynamic, responsive textures through lenticular 3D printing.

"We aim to push past the limitations of traditional design, removing the need to simply replicate materials that already exist, creating dream-like material expressions that only exist in the digital world," the duo writes.

Last year, Canadian camouflage company Hyperstealth Biotechnology used lenticular lenses to create an "invisibility cloak" that could hide people and entire buildings, for use by the armed forces.

Seoul design studio Orijeen previously used the chameleon-like quality of lenticular lenses to create a series of furniture that changes colour based on the viewing angle.

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Frama creates ultra-minimal interiors for Juno the Bakery in Copenhagen

Multidisciplinary studio Frama has finished this bakery in Copenhagen with off-white walls and terrazzo floors, allowing the bread loaves and pastries on offer to take centre stage.

Juno the Bakery is situated in the city's Østerbro neighbourhood, taking over the ground floor of a five-storey residential building.

Top image: the bakery's entryway. Above: a steel-framed counter features in the service area

The popular bakery was originally located a couple of doors down in a shop unit that measured just 35 square metres, but staff had come to find it too difficult to work in such constricted conditions.

This new location – which is a much more generous 120 square metres – has been designed by Frama with an open layout that fosters a "natural dialogue" between customer and staff areas, bringing the art of baking to the forefront.

A glass box on top of the counter displays baked goods

"The vision for the new Juno spaces was to create a seamless interlink between the traditional craft of baking and a contemporary culinary experience," said Frama's founder, Niels Støyer Christophersen.

"Having more space to move is something that we've all looked forward to for a long time," added Juno the Bakery's co-founder, Emil Glaser.

"Now, in the new space – which has a really thoughtful plan for production and movement – we can all be more efficient and more comfortable. It's really amazing how much of a difference a few more square meters can make."

Customers can gather to eat around a cork and marble dining table

Inside, the bakery is loosely split into three different zones. Beside the entryway is a service area where customers make their orders. It's anchored by a steel-framed wooden counter, atop of which is a glass box where bread loaves, buns and Danish pastries are displayed.

Adjacently lies a seating area, dressed with one of Frama's Sintra dining tables – featuring a chunky cork base and a slim, round countertop crafted from yellow-tinged marble. Steel versions of the studio's geometric Triangolo chairs have also been scattered around, along with a couple of strip lights.

Oak doors inset with glass look through into the baking room

Full-height oak doors inset with expansive panels of glass allow customers to peek through to the baking room, where goods headed for the oven are kept on silver-metal trolleys.

The room's large windows also mean passersby on the street will be able to get a glimpse of the bakers at work.

Walls in the baking room are clad with limestone tiles

Walls here have been clad with Mediterranean limestone tiles, unlike in the customer-dedicated areas of the bakery where surfaces have been painted a shade of eggshell white. Grey terrazzo flooring runs throughout.

"When approaching the project we delved into an in-depth material case study, to understand what could coexist with the crafted baked goods and as well compliment them in tones and textures, according to the many artisanal processes they undergo," added Christophersen.

Outdoors, there's an extra seating area. There are plans to eventually connect the old and new sites of Juno the Bakery, allowing even more room for customers to eat-in.

The bakery also includes an outdoor dining area

A minimalist aesthetic permeates all of the furniture pieces, skincare items and interiors created by Frama, which has been established since 2011.

Other projects by the studio include The Slow, a pared-back concept store in Beirut that features lime-washed walls and concrete display fixtures.

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