Natural Material Studio and Frama showcase algae and terracotta fabrics

Danish designer Bonnie Hvillum's Natural Material Studio has collaborated with multidisciplinary studio Frama on a collection of biodegradable materials made from algae, clay and foam.

The collection comprises three different fabrics that were turned into clothes, curtains and drapes, and showcased at Frama's Copenhagen showroom as part of last year's 3 Days of Design festival.

Above: Natural Material Studio unveiled new materials with Frama. Top image: the exhibition showed biodegradable clothes. Photo is by Natural Material Studio

The collaboration was the result of Natural Material Studio's long-running research into different types of natural materials.

"Some of the used materials were already in development when Frama's creative director Niels Strøyer Christophersen and I started having our meetings and talks about materials and our relations with them," Hvillum told Dezeen.

Door hangings were made from B-Foam. Photo is by Natural Material Studio

The fabrics that were shown at Frama's Copenhagen showroom were Alger, a seaweed fabric made from seaweed extract and softener, which is dyed with spirulina algae; and Terracotta, a clay-pigmented biofabric formed using a protein-based binder extracted from collagen and a natural softener.

Also on display were fabrics made from B-Foam, a foam material made from charcoal that Natural Material Studio has been developing since 2019. This was showcased at an earlier 3 Days of Design event, as part of design show Ukurant.

The three materials on display in the store are all biodegradable

"The seaweed textiles started during my research with Noma, but the terracotta bio fabric came up as a very impulsive idea we tried out, when we browsed for pigments we could use from Frama themselves," Hvillum explained.

"The B-Foam has been an ongoing research project for years and is used now in many different contexts, including fashion and furnitures."

Clothes were made from fabrics created from algae. Photo is by Natural Material Studio

The designer hand-casts the fabrics in wooden frames, in which they hang to dry for "a few days" before being cut out of the frames. All three fabrics are biodegradable.

"They are all based on a protein bio-polymer derived from waste," Hvillum said. "[The fabrics] are circular and bio-degrade within three months when exposed to soil and live bacterias."

Spores create patterns on clothes

As well as being made from natural materials, the fabrics have an organic look, with the algae ones featuring spores that give them a mould-like feel.

"The seaweed textiles contains live algae, which was used for pigmentations and colouring," Hvillum said.

Read:

Natural Material Studio develops Shellware ceramics from leftover seashells

"They are alive and breathe the air," she added. "We didn't know exactly how the algae pigmentation would end up looking, and all the curtain and clothing pieces all turned out very individual and bespoke."

Eventually, Hvillum hopes the materials will come into everyday use, but she believes there still needs to be more research into these kinds of fabrics before commercialised standards can be set for them.

Pieces turned out "very individual and bespoke." Photo is by Natural Material Studio

"These are early-stage versions – beta versions, pilot versions, whatever we call them in other industries!" she said.

"They do not live up to quality standards for fabrics yet, but hopefully they will do one day with more research, testing and application trials continues," she added.

"This is a very important point because there is such a long step from early-stage research to commercial standardisation of all these new-age materials we see more and more of."

Terracotta clay was used to dye some of the fabrics

In order to make them commercially available, Hvillum believes more companies need to "be courageous" like Frama and focus on these kinds of natural materials.

"They will come into use gradually with smaller companies and brands that dare to be front movers, and are okay with not everything being fully standardized," Hvillum said. "This is nature we're talking about."

Hvillum's studio has previously launched projects such as the Shellware collection of ceramics made from discarded seashells from the Noma restaurant, while Frama is known for its minimalist design as seen in this interior for a Copenhagen bakery.

The photography is by Paolo Galgani unless otherwise stated.

3 Days of Design took place in Copenhagen on 16 to 18 September 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for up-to-date details of architecture and design events around the world.

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Paritzki & Liani Architects builds triangular house with white stone walls

Paritzki & Liani Architects has completed IS House, a family home near Tel Aviv featuring a triangular floor plan and a minimalist stone and glass facade.

Tel Aviv-based Paritzki & Liani designed the two-storey property in Savyon for a couple with three teenage children.

The house has a white stone facade

The building's angular design responds to an unusually shaped site slotted between two other suburban homes, which narrows significantly at one end due to the curve of the adjacent street.

The architects used this unusual geometry to generate a design that plays with perspective, making it difficult to perceive the building's exact size and dimensions.

The house has a roughly triangular floor plan

"The compositional design idea for this home was to build 600 square metres distributed over three storeys, while also attempting to create the illusion that this volume does not exist," said architects Itai Paritzki and Paola Liani.

To achieve this, IS House is set into the landscape so that the lowest level is partially submerged underground.

The detail-free facade features minimal glazing

A detail-free facade helps to further disguise the building's scale. Smooth slabs of white stone clad the walls and roof, and are only interrupted by sliding glass doors and windows with extremely slender frames.

Meanwhile the roof incorporates a fold that divides it into two planes, both sloping in different directions.

The lower level is submerged into the slope of the landscape

Nature is another element of the design concept. The acute angle at the house's southwestern corner conceals a small triangular courtyard, where a tree is concealed behind the facade.

Read:

Eucalyptus tree slots into facade of Tel Aviv house by Paritzki & Liani Architects

"The view from the tip is of a patio with trees that extends from the lower floor to the upper floor and then to the sky," said Paritzki and Liani.

Trees are set into small courtyards within the building

There's also a second of these courtyards in the centre of the building.

Living spaces within IS House face onto these small courtyards. In time, the trees are expected to grow tall enough that their branches will emerge through openings in the roof.

The living space benefits from double-height ceilings

All other glazing has been positioned to ensure privacy from the neighbours, either facing the open landscape to the rear, or set down into lower sections of the sloping landscape.

"The openings were carefully studied to have views only to green areas," the architects told Dezeen.

The kitchen is finished in a contrasting shade of black

To enhance the feeling of spaciousness inside, the ground floor is largely open-plan.

The majority of this level is a grand living space, with double-height ceilings and a kitchen area picked out in a contrasting shade of black. This level also contains the primary bedroom, which has an en-suite and a dressing room.

One tree slots into the house's acute southwestern corner

Rooms on the upper level, which slot in under the highest sections of the roof, include three en-suite bedrooms for the clients' two sons and daughter.

The basement floor accommodates a home cinema and gym, plus a library and office that are naturally light through high-level windows.

IS House is home to a family of five

The garden was designed to work with the levels of the house. A large split-level patio extends across the full width of the site, incorporating a 30-metre swimming pool and a separate bathing pool.

Paritzki & Liani founded their studio in 2001. Their other residential projects include Eucalyptus House, which has a tree set into its facade, and T/A House, which is formed of three white boxes.

Photography is by Amit Geron.

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Ten notable projects by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill

Following the news of Ricardo Bofill's death, we've rounded up 10 stand-out projects created by the Spanish architect over his six-decade-long career.

Bofill was the founder of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura (RBTA), which he established in 1963. He passed away on 14 January at the age of 82.

The esteemed architect was famed for his monumental housing projects, which often made use of geometric forms and referenced Mediterranean and Arab architecture.

Read:

Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill dies aged 82

These have proven popular backdrops for movies and music videos, as well as photography series by the likes of Laurent Kronental and Sebastian Weiss.

Alongside housing, Bofill's portfolio spanned public buildings, transport infrastructure and urban design. He created his own office and home from the remains of a cement factory, which featured in Marc Goodwin's photography series spotlighting architecture studios in Barcelona.

Read on for 10 key projects by Bofill:

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Walden 7, Spain, 1975

One of the best-known projects by RBTA is Walden 7, a giant terracotta-coloured apartment building in Sant Just Desvern on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Set on the site of a former cement factory, the 14-storey building comprises 450 modular apartments that are linked by footbridges and arranged around courtyards. Their modular design is intended to serve the changing needs of its occupants.

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La Muralla Roja, Spain, 1973

La Muralla Roja is a fortress-like apartment building overlooking the Mediterranean sea. Its design nods to North African kasbahs.

The apartments are arranged in a geometric plan, connected by courtyards, staircases and bridges. The predominant bright red finish of the building was chosen to contrast with the surrounding landscape, while some areas are painted blue to blend with the sky.

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La Fábrica, Spain, 1975

Built within a dilapidated cement factory on the same site as Walden 7 is La Fábrica, a complex containing the RBTA offices and Bofill's family home.

Bofill's renovation celebrates the original concrete details of the factory but brightens it with green roofs, planted terraces and lush gardens. Its centrepiece is The Cathedral (above) – a large meeting and exhibition space held in the old factory hall that has 10-metre-tall ceilings.

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Les Espaces d'Abraxas, France, 1982

Les Espaces d'Abraxas is a monumental complex in Noisy-le-Grand consisting of three apartment buildings. They feature prefabricated stone and cement facades and reference baroque architecture.

The most famous of the three buildings is the Le Théâtre (above), which is a semicircular structure that encloses an amphitheatre. This has been used as a set for Hollywood blockbusters such as The Hunger Games.

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Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morrocco, 2016

Terracotta-hued buildings arranged around semi-covered arcades define the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, which RBTA won a competition to design in Ben Guerir in 2011.

Extending over 55 hectares, the university combines teaching facilities with residential units. It takes its cues from Moroccan architecture in cities such as Fez and Marrakech and is geared towards pedestrians.

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Castell de Kafka, Spain, 1968

On a hill overlooking Sitges bay is Castell de Kafka, a dark blue apartment building that is built from clusters of cubic volumes that plug into central stair cores.

The cubes contain the apartment living spaces and are lined with flexible partitions that allow occupants to adapt them. According to RBTA, the building is intended to embody the ideas of the experimental British architecture group Archigram.

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W Barcelona Hotel, Spain, 2009

One of Bofill's most famed projects of the 21st century is the W Barcelona Hotel, which was designed as part of the renewal and expansion of the Port of Barcelona.

Set on reclaimed land, the sail-shaped hotel is covered in glass skin intended to blend with the sky. Every guest room has views of the sea or city.

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Les Arcades du Lac, France, 1982

RBTA's first major project in France was the Les Arcades du Lac, an ensemble of gridded apartment blocks with ornate concrete facades, surrounded by gardens and an artificial lake.

The studio's goal was to create a garden city, which favours pedestrians and hides parking underground. Its most celebrated feature is Le Viaduct (above), a building containing 74 apartments over the lake that nods to castles on bridges in the Loire Valley.

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Houari Boumedienne Agricultural Village, Algeria, 1980

In 1980, RBTA completed a village for the government in Algeria. Located in the semi-desert area of Abadla, it was intended to encourage agriculture in the area.

The development comprises family homes arranged around courtyards and a large central square that serves as a marketplace. It is completed with the studio's trademark geometric forms, which draw on both Arab and Mediterranean architecture.

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Meritxell Sanctuary, Andorra, 1978

Following a fire that devastated the ancient Romanesque Sanctuary of Meritxell – a chapel on a mountainside in Andorra – Bofill's studio was tasked with restoring the site.

The replacement features stone and slate walls that are animated by white arches. According to the studio, the redesign references Romanesque imagery to honour the original structure.

The imagery is courtesy of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura.

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Milan's L'Innesto development to provide net-zero social housing

Architecture studio Barreca & La Varra has designed a social housing project for Milan called L'Innesto, which will be carbon-neutral and encourage community self-management through shared spaces.

L'Innesto Milan is one of the winners of the Reinventing Cities global urban development competition, and Barreca & La Varra is aiming to make it the first zero-carbon example of Italy's "housing sociale".

The scheme is destined for Scalo Greco Breda, the six-hectare site of a former freight terminal, and will include 400 apartments, 300 student housing units and four hectares of public green space.

Barreca & La Varra and its partner Redo Sgr Spa Società, an ethical real-estate developer, aim to achieve carbon-neutrality after 30 years thanks to an innovative district heating network, nearly zero-energy buildings, and prefabricated construction technologies that also allow the building to be disassembled and recycled.

After 30 years of operation and management, these and other sustainability measures would balance out the carbon dioxide emitted during L'Innesto's construction.

Four key strategies to carbon neutrality

There are four key measures that the team is relying on to get the project to net zero. The first is a fourth-generation district heating network, which operates at a lower temperature and will be powered by renewable sources including urban wastewater.

The second is a hybrid timber construction system that combines uses less carbon-intensive materials like concrete and steel, and is designed to be disassembled and recycled at the end of the building's life.

The L'Innesto social housing project will include around four hectares of public green space

The third is bioremediation and urban forestry. A portion of the excavated soil will be treated on site for landscaping – reducing greenhouse gas emissions – and around 60 per cent of L'Innesto's surface area will be dedicated to green space, which will draw down CO2 from the atmosphere.

The fourth pillar involves promoting active mobility, public transport and sharing systems, which is estimated to save the equivalent of 1,362 tonnes of CO2 during the first five years of the project, as the community moves away from private vehicle ownership.

L'Innesto will offer limited parking capacity, with only 100 spaces for 700 tenants, but will include 1,200 square metres of bike garage and 10 electric car charging terminals.

Inclusive and active approaches to community building

In addition to its sustainability strategies, L'Innesto is being planned as an affordable housing project that will experiment with new approaches to collaborative living.

Key to the project will be a "Human Adaptive Zone" of shared spaces, such as kitchens, living rooms and labs, and services that are shared and managed by residents, local operators and non-profit organisations.

Read:

Urban developments that "strive for zero carbon" to start on site in Milan, Paris, Reykjavik and Oslo

"The Human Adaptive Zone offers to the neighbourhood the opportunity to develop projects and ideas," said Barreca & La Varra founding partner Gianandrea Barreca.

"These social, physical and technological infrastructures introduce self-managed functions that unite people on the basis of 'elective' geographies, extending their collaborative nature to a portion of the neighbourhood instead of a single building," added co-founder Giovanni La Varra.

There will also be outdoor public spaces such as arcades, squares and "broletti" — traditionally, places for democratic assembly — and a circular economy district, a community food hub and a zero-waste food store.

The L'Innesto team has made a 30-year commitment to integrated management of the site through these shared spaces. Construction will start in 2023.

Reinventing Cities competition promotes sustainable urban development

The Reinventing Cities competition aims to help cities align themselves with the aims of the 2005 Paris Agreement, which commits signatories to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

L'Innesto was one of the winners of the second round of the competition, for which nine cities – Cape Town, Chicago, Dubai, Madrid, Milan, Montreal, Singapore, Reykjavik and Rome – identified 25 under-utilised sites for development.

Read:

Arney Fender Katsalidis to transform Tuscolana railway site into low-carbon 15-minute city

Run by C40, the competition requires multidisciplinary teams of architects, planners, developers and community leaders to team up and submit proposals that deliver carbon-neutral and resilient urban regeneration.

Among the other winners in the competition are a cross-laminated timber building destined for a landfill site in Reykjavik and a car-free neighbourhood that will take over an old railway station in Rome.

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Project credits

Team L'Innesto: Redo Sgr Spa Società benefit (leader), Fondazione Housing Sociale and Planet Smart City (digital and social innovation), Barreca & La Varra (masterplan, architecture), Arup (environmental experts), A2A Calore e Servizi (Energy), Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, Cresme Ricerche (research centers), Cariplo Factory and Intesa San Paolo Innovation Center (innovation)
Other partners: Delta Ecopolis, In-Domus, Fondazione Social Venture Giordano dell'Amore, Future Fond, Fungo Box, The Circle, Peverelli

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Eleven of the best architecture events of 2022

Here are 11 architecture events including conferences, exhibitions and biennales taking place in 2022 selected from Dezeen Events Guide.

See also last week's guide to the 25 best design events of the coming year.

Peter Cook – City Landscapes
21 January to 8 May

This exhibition explores the imaginative and colourful drawings of British architect Peter Cook, who has helped shape architecture and architectural thinking for nearly six decades.

Cook's drawings suggest new ways of shaping the city and inhabiting it, a prevalent theme throughout Cook's career when he and the neo-futuristic group Archigram created new and provocative ways of seeing the city of the future.

Peter Cook – City Landscapes takes place from 21 January to 8 May 2022 at The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Gl Strandvej 13, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark. See more information on Dezeen Events Guide.

The World Around summit
5 February 2022

The World Around architecture summit will this year host a hybrid programme with talks live-streamed from across the world plus an in-person event at New York's Guggenheim Museum.

Presented in collaboration with Rotterdam's Het Nieuwe Instituut, the event's third edition will present the most important new projects of the past year with a particular focus on architecture's role in the climate emergency.

The World Around 2022 takes place on 5 February 2022 both online and at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 5th Avenue, New York City, USA. See more information on Dezeen Events Guide.

London Festival of Architecture
1 to 30 June 2022

London Festival of Architecture is a month-long, citywide celebration of architectural practice and experimentation featuring a programme of talks, tours, installations, workshops, exhibitions and open studios.

This year's programme of events centres around the theme Act, which aims to examine how we can act for ourselves, each other, our cities and the environment.

London Festival of Architecture takes place at various venues in London, England from 1 to 30 June 2022. See more information on Dezeen Events Guide.

The Urban Condition: From Smart Cities to Sustainable Architectures conference
13 to 25 March 2022

This conference examines architecture, design and cities in the developing world from sustainable architecture and smart city perspectives.

The conference brings together government officials from India together with private industry, NGOs, academics and entrepreneurs to exchange ideas, share experiences and network on the future of architecture and urban planning in India and beyond.

The Urban Condition: From Smart Cities to Sustainable Architectures Bangalore and New Delhi, and online from 13 to 25 March 2022. See more information on Dezeen Events Guide.

(In)tangible Heritage(s): Technology, Heritage and Architecture conference
15 to 17 June 2022

The (In)tangible Heritage(s) conference invites delegates to visit Canterbury to explore how architects, digital modellers, conservationists and historians often work in collaboration.

The conference's keynote presentation is about The Soane Project by Robert AM Stern Architects and Hewlett Packard, which used open-source digital modelling to reconstruct Sir John Soane's lost Bank of England project in London.

(In)tangible Heritage(s): Technology, Heritage and Architecture takes place 15 to 17 June 2022 in Canterbury, England and online. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

The Architect's Studio: Forensic Architecture exhibition
19 May to 23 October 2022

This exhibition explores the work of London studio Forensic Architecture, which is dedicated to solving crimes against civilians by analyzing architecture and landscapes. It works with evidence to reconstruct events in films and images to give a voice to materials and witnesses that are not normally included in established jurisprudence.

The Architect's Studio takes place from 19 May to 23 October 2022 at The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Gl Strandvej 13, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

Cultures, Communities and Design conference
28 to 30 June 2022

This conference celebrates the 50th anniversary of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary and explores sustainable and participatory design.

Cultures, Communities and Design – Sustainability and Practice takes place from 28 to 30 June 2022 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and online. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

AIA Conference on Architecture 2022
23 to 25 June 2022

The 2022 edition of the American Institute of Architects' annual conference brings together leaders and professionals in architecture and design to discuss the industry's innovations.

AIA Conference on Architecture 2022 takes place from 23 to 25 June 2022 at McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago, USA. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

Tallinn Architecture Biennale
7 September to October 2022

The biggest architecture exhibition in the Baltics, this year's Tallinn Architecture Biennale includes a large exhibition about the circular economy and the ways it interacts with design fields plus an outdoor installation in the heart of Tallinn.

Tallinn Architecture Biennale takes place from 7 September to October 2022, at various locations across Tallinn, Estonia. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

Oslo Architecture Triennale
21 to 25 September 2022

The eighth edition of the Oslo Architecture Triennale is exhibiting projects and practices that focus on the idea of neighbourhoods as places to rethink cities.

The Triennale brings together professionals and enthusiasts to discuss ways in which local projects through to large-scale master plans can shape cities.

Oslo Architecture Triennale takes place from 21 to 25 September 2022 in various locations across the city of Oslo. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

MVRDVHNI: The Living Archive of a Studio
Until 4 September 2022

Continuing from last year, this exhibition explores Dutch architectural practice MVRDV, digitally showcasing over 400 projects from MVRDV's archive.

It offers an insight into the workings of the practice, displayed through an active working environment cum living office space with models, maquettes, drawings and notes displayed on rows of shelves.

MVRDVHNI: The Living Archive of a Studio run until 4 September 2022 at Het Nieuwe Instituut, Museumpark 25, 3015 CB Rotterdam, Netherlands. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of Death and Life
Until 28 August 2022

Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of Death and Life is the first major exhibition of the Swedish architect's life and work, which takes place at ArkDes in Sweden.

Opened last year, the exhibition displays ArkDes' complete collection of Lewerentz's drawings, personal archive and library. This includes his lesser-known designs for shops and commercial interiors, the landscape and chapel at the Woodland Cemetery in Stockholm and St Mark’s church in Björkhagen.

Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of Death and Life runs until 28 August 2022 at ArkDes, Exercisplan 4, 111 49 Stockholm, Sweden. See more details on Dezeen Events Guide.

The main image shows Outcrop House by Peter Cook.

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