Aldana Sanchez Architects builds house topped by internet cafe in rural Mexico

Hñähñu Multimedia Center by Aldana Sanchez Architects is a house in Mexico's Mezquital Valley that has a top-floor community internet cafe.

The home and community centre is located in the Ex Hacienda Ocotzá neighbourhood of a settlement called Julian Villagran. The nearest city, Ixmiquilpan, is 11 miles away.

A house is topped by a community centre

Catalonian-style brick arches with glazed ends create a lofty, light-filled space for villagers to gather and drink coffee while using the internet on the computers, access phone services and play games of table football.

Downstairs is a residential apartment with separate access. A bedroom and bathroom for the house occupy part of the first floor, walled off from the community space.

Bricks have been used in a multitude of ways

The village only has a population of around 1,000 people, many of whom are Hñähñu – indigenous people of Mexico's central region.

Many residents have relatives who have immigrated to the United States, so accessing the internet and phone is an important way to keep in touch with loved ones.

A latticed screen is made out of bricks joined by cement

Aldana Sanchez Architects screened the house with a lattice of bricks held together by nodes of concrete in a triangular pattern to provide shade and privacy from the comings-and-goings of the public cafe.

The building is raised on a plinth of cinder bricks, arranged in a contrasting herringbone pattern.

The brick screen provides privacy and shade

Concrete steps lead up the side of the house to the top floor internet cafe, which is topped by three brickwork barrel vaults.

Aldana Sanchez Architects took inspiration from colonial-era Catalan-style vaults for this element. Overhanging bricks create an interesting scalloped edge to the half-dome ends.

The internet cafe sits under the brick domes

Inside the black steel beams of the building's structure are exposed, with stone tiled floors and walls that are a mixture of herringbone red brick and timber planks.

The railing of the outdoor terrace is a continuation of the latticed brick screen from the house below.

The brick vaults have scalloped edges

Aldana Sanchez Architects is a Mexican firm with offices in the US, founded by Mike Aldana and Tisha Sanchez.

Terracotta domes also feature in an apartment complex in Guadalajara designed by Mexican architect Delfino Lozano, while Escobedo Soliz used bricks for a house in Mexico City.

Photography is by Marcos Betanzos.

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Project credits:

Architect: Aldana Sanchez Architects
Architects: Miguel Aldana, Patricia Sánchez, Thania Palma
Design Team: Diana Díaz, Andrea Molina, Alberto Landero
Client: Exatech
Engineer: Juan Aras, Claudi Jean Baptiste, Alberto Hernández.
Collaborators: Sandra León, Jessica León, Edgar Álvarez.

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Atelier de Troupe, Flokk and Adea showcase products on Dezeen Showroom

Californian design studio Atelier de Troupe, Swiss office-furniture brand Flokk and Finnish manufacturer Adea are among brands showcasing products on Dezeen Showroom this week.

Furniture including seating, lighting and storage have been added to Dezeen Showroom, which is an affordable space for brands to launch products and showcase their designers and projects.

Read on to see the latest products:

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Eclipse dining chair by Atelier de Troupe

Design studio Atelier de Troupe presented Eclipse dining chair, which is characterised by a circular form that loops around the chair.

The chair is composed of an ellipse-shaped base wrapped in a metal frame with slender legs and a curved line that forms the backrest and armrests.

Find out more about Eclipse dining chair ›

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Compas Pendants by Atelier de Troupe

The studio also presented Compas Pendants, a collection of handcrafted pendant lights.

The light is crafted from a single sheet of brass and is available in a satin white finish or perforated brass.

Find out more about Compas Pendants ›

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HiveMind Pendant by August Green

US design studio August Green showcased HiveMind Pendant, which features a hive-shaped glass shade that exposes the light bulb.

The light is available in brushed brass or stainless steel and can be suspended from a steel cable or a fixed rod.

Find out more about HiveMind Pendant ›

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Giroflex 313 by Paolo Fancelli for Flokk

Office-furniture brand Flokk showcased the Giroflex 313 office chair, which has been designed by industrial designer Paolo Fancelli.

The chair has been designed to suit offices or conference rooms and can be adjusted to help align the seat for multiple users, enabling maximum comfort.

Find out more about Giroflex 313 ›

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RH New Logic chair by StokkeAustad for Flokk

The brand also presented RH New Logic, a high-performance task chair envisioned by Oslo design studio StokkeAustad.

Designed with sustainability in mind, the chair consists to 61 per cent of recycled materials.

Find out more about RH New Logic ›

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Osier ceramic pendant light by Mullan Lighting

Irish brand Mullan Lighting presented Osier, a handmade ceramic pendant light.

The light features distinct cracked lines and flecks on the surface of each ceramic to look time-aged.

Find out more about Osier ceramic pendant light ›

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Kabinett dresser by Alexander Lervik for Adea

Finnish furniture manufacturer Adea showcased Kabinett, which was designed by Stockholm designer Alexander Lervik.

The cabinet, which has been designed for the home office, unfolds into a desk with an adjustable tabletop.

Find out more about Kabinett dresser ›

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Inset flooring collection by Patcraft

Commercial flooring manufacturer Patcraft presented Inset, a collection of flooring that has been designed to resemble wood and concrete finishes.

The flooring features metallic accents that run diagonally across the wood planks, which come in bronze, silver or gold strips.

Find out more about Inset ›

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Chispa lamp by Joan Gaspar for Marset

Barcelona lighting brand Marset showcased Chispa lamp, a portable, waterproof and rechargeable lamp designed for outdoor use.

The lamp is shaped like a torch and can be hung like a pendant from walls or ceilings using a cord hook.

Find out more about Chipsa lamp ›

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PORTS Storage system by Pearson Lloyd for Bene

Furniture brand Bene showcased PORTS Storage system, which has been designed by London studio Pearson Lloyd.

The multifunctional shelving unit also features a storage table and lounge chair and has been designed to double as a room divider.

Find out more about PORTS Storage system ›

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Zen and Ion acoustic wall panels by Woven Image

Interior-finishes company Woven Image presented Zen and Ion, two acoustic wall panels with embossed textures.

Zen is available in varying light and dark colourways, including cream, blush, indigo and ivy green, while Ion is available in more vivid colours such as pale blue and peach.

Find out more about Zen and Ion ›

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About Dezeen Showroom

Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen's huge global audience.

As well as benefiting from exposure to Dezeen's three million monthly website visitors, products featured on Dezeen Showroom will be included in our Dezeen Daily newsletter sent to 170,000 subscribers and benefit from Dezeen's incredible SEO.

Dezeen has the highest SEO ranking of any design website with a domain authority of 87, according to SEO analytics service Moz, meaning products listed on Dezeen Showroom are more likely to be found by searchers, while links from Dezeen Showroom to your site will be more valuable than from any other design site.

Posts will remain on the Showroom section indefinitely and will not incur renewal fees once the initial payment has been made for the listing.

For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

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RH New Logic chair by StokkeAustad for Flokk

Dezeen Showroom: Oslo design studio StokkeAustad has created the RH New Logic office chair for Flokk to offer ergonomic performance alongside a modern, stylish aesthetic.

The RH New Logic has been crafted to suit a wide range of settings, including a home office.

Made to 61 per cent of recycled materials, it is the most sustainable chair that Flokk has designed to date.

The chair can be used in the office and the home

The chair is a reworking of the flagship Logic chair, which was developed by Flokk's seating design arm RH.

It is available as a high- or low-back model and can be customised with a different headrest, chair height, armrests and swivel base colour.

The RH New Logic can also be made in a variety of fabrics and colours, courtesy of brands such as Kvadrat, Gabriel and GU.

The chair can be rendered in different fabrics from Kvadrat, Gabriel and GU

It can easily be disassembled and individual parts replaced, including the upholstery which is attached using a patented fastening technique that requires no glue.

The chair's carbon footprint totals 95.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide, which is equal to 28 hours of mobile phone usage, while 94 per cent of its constituent materials can be recycled.

"The chair is designed to be long lasting and to make the lowest possible environmental impact throughout its life cycle – from raw material extraction to end-of-life," the Flokk design team said.

Product: RH New Logic
Designer: StokkeAustad
Brand: Flokk
Contact: info-no@flokk.com

About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

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Giroflex 313 chair by Paolo Fancelli for Flokk

Dezeen Showroom: industrial designer Paolo Fancelli has designed the versatile Giroflex 313 office chair for Swiss workplace furniture brand Flokk.

The Giroflex 313 is an adaptable chair that can be used by multiple people working in the same office, as it automatically adjusts to the needs of each user.

The Giroflex 313 is available on either a four-star or five-star base

"Today's working world is fluid," said Fancelli. "Boundaries are blurring, interfaces merging and systems are losing their clear definition."

"We have created the Giroflex 313 with these developments in mind," he continued.

"Based on a design platform that is reduced to the bare essentials, the chair is ideal for both desk work and conferences. Where multiple people use the same chair, the Giroflex 313 offers automatic self-adjustment while maintaining synchronisation."

The chair is designed to be versatile

The swivel chair is available with a five-star base for office environments and with a four-star base for use in conference rooms. Both versions incorporate Giroflex's patented Balance Move system, which helps to align the seat and the user for maximum comfort.

"Our especially developed Balance Move System ensures the right results every time. The seat and back align perfectly with the user's body weight," said Flokk.

"The only parameters requiring manual adjustment are the seat height and the locking mechanism when the chair is in an upright position."

The full Giroflex range, including the Giroflex 313 chair, is now available in the UK for the first time.

Product: Giroflex 313
Designer: Paolo Fancelli
Brand: Flokk
Contact: info-ch@flokk.com

About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen's huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

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German royal palace reconstructed to become Humboldt Forum on Berlin's Museum Island

Italian architect Franco Stella has completed his reconstruction of the baroque Berlin Palace, which was formerly home to Prussian kings and German emperors and will now house the Humboldt Forum museum.

Described as "the largest cultural development in Europe", the 40,000-square-metre museum stands on the site of the demolished East German parliament building alongside Berlin Cathedral on Museum Island.

Berlin Palace has been reconstructed as Humboldt Forum

Humboldt Forum occupies a reconstruction of Berlin Palace, a largely 18th-century palace designed by Andreas Schlüter that was the main residence of the Prussian and later the German monarchs.

Damaged during world war two, the palace was demolished and replaced by the Palace of the Republic, which housed the parliament of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), also known as East Germany. Following unification in 1990, the parliament building was closed and then demolished to make way for the museum.

The museum stands alongside Berlin Cathedral

Built around a steel frame with concrete cores, three of the museum's facades are replicas of the original palace, while the fourth is a modern stone facade designed by Stella.

To reconstruct the quince-coloured facades, sculptors and plaster moulders recreated 2,800 figures and approximately 22,000 different sandstone elements including windows, cornices and columns.

Three facades have been reconstructed and the fourth is modern

According to Stella, the museum was conceived as a city with six entrances acting as city gates and three courtyards as squares.

"I conceived the Humboldt Forum as a palace, with its six portals representing city gates, and its three inner courtyards servicing as city squares," said Stella.

The museum's entrance foyer. Photo is by Alexander Schippel

"In other words, I envisioned it as a city in the form of a palace," he continued.

"In architectural terms, the concepts of palace and piazza allow for a well-balanced combination of the old and the new – each with its own, unique vocabulary of forms and shapes."

Schlüterhof courtyard contains reconstructed facades. Photo is by Alexander Schippel

The museum is arranged around three courtyard spaces. The main entrance, under the reconstructed dome, leads to a modern 35-metre-high, glass-covered entrance foyer.

At the other end of the building, the open-air Schlüterhof courtyard has three facades reconstructed to Schlüter's original baroque designs.

Between these two large spaces, a third smaller courtyard that is lined with bookshops and cafes runs through the building and will be open 24 hours a day.

Historical details on the facades have been reconstructed. Photo is by Alexander Schippel

Wrapped around these courtyard spaces the building will contain four floors of exhibition, performance, and event spaces.

It will also contain shops, restaurants and office space and be topped by a roof terrace and restaurant, which will open in 2021.

Humboldt Forum is on Museum Island

The Humboldt Forum opened digitally this week as its official physical opening was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The museum is expected to open to the public in early 2021.

Nearby the Humboldt Forum David Chipperfield recently completed the James Simon Galerie on Museum Island, which is fronted with a stone facade with slim columns.

The British architect also refurbished the Neues Museum, which was originally also designed by Schlüter.

Photography is by Christoph Musiol, unless stated.

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