Local design studio Intg has created minimalist interiors informed by traditional Korean architecture for a Seoul bank lounge.
The private lounge was completed for Hana Bank, which is based in Yeouido, the main finance and investment banking district in Seoul, South Korea.
Hana Bank's lounge features a "floating meeting room"
Seoul studio Intg created a two-storey, 1,104 square-metre lounge with VIP zones as well as areas for regular customers, including various meeting spaces.
The studio aimed to design a space that would encourage clients to visit the branch in person in an age when banking is increasingly digital.
The lounge includes various spaces for clients
When visitors enter the lounge, they are met by a statement glass box in the centre of the space that is filled with seating and side tables, which Intg described as a "floating meeting room".
According to the design studio, the room – which is bordered by a moat of bright blue sand arranged in a swirly formation – takes cues from traditional Asian architecture.
Intg built a moat of bright blue sand around the meeting room
"It is designed to subtly reflect the way people enter living spaces after stepping over a stone in traditional Korean houses," Intg co-founder Daniel Song told Dezeen.
"Separate meeting rooms are placed like islands similar to the Hanok structure," he continued, citing the Korean term for such houses.
Among the minimalist furniture in the meeting room are chubby midnight-blue Kerman sofas by German brand E15, as well as Italian furniture company Cassina's Le Corbusier-style Capitol Complex armchairs.
"While traditionally, bank branches hide meetings room into corners, we placed ours in the middle to make customers feel valued," explained Song.
Minimalist furniture features in the project
The studio used stone floors for the room and metal to construct the meeting room in reference to the strength and security of bank safes.
A large, mossy mound of rocks and plants rises up from the ground and adds a touch of nature to the otherwise dark and angular lounge.
The lounge "is designed to melt digital into analogue with an emphasis on tangible experience," Song explained.
A mossy rock formation rises up from the stone floor
Intg (pronounced "in-teg") was co-founded by Daniel Song and Kate Cho and has a portfolio spanning hotels and houses to work and retail spaces.
German-Chinese architecture practice Büro Ziyu Zhuang has completed a church in Qingdao, China, featuring walls and a tower made from dozens of spaced-out aluminium ribs.
Büro Ziyu Zhuang designed the Chamber Church as part of Chinese property developer Sunac's Aduo Town project in the Qingdao Zangma Mountain Tourism Resort.
The church stands out against a mountainous backdrop
The church is positioned at the edge of a public plaza connecting it with other nearby amenities. When viewed from the plaza, the forested mountains form a dramatic natural backdrop.
The architects claimed that the building combines a religious experience with secular attitude, explaining that the church "aims to create a spatial container that both respects the past and looks towards the future."
Its design draws on classic church architecture
The design borrows familiar elements from classical church architecture, such as the bell tower with its spire and rose window, the basilica layout, and the repeating interiors arches.
These features are translated into simplified forms made up of vertical ribs.
Vertical ribs make up the form of the Chamber Church
"To create a modern icon, we needed to create a pure shape that still evokes the archetype of a church," claimed Büro Ziyu Zhuang.
"Therefore, during the design process, we integrated different vernacular facade images of traditional churches. The derived base volume is then expressed through a series of slices."
A manmade lake surrounds the building
The building is oriented east to west and is positioned at a point where the site slopes upwards, allowing the church to be raised above the plaza in front of it.
A manmade lake that surrounds the building provides privacy on all sides. Steps leading from the plaza to the entrance are flanked by terraced water features that enhance the sense of connection with the local nature.
The church is raised above a plaza in Qingdao
A semi-sunken podium level beneath the lake contains auxiliary spaces for the main auditorium, including a reception area and preparation room. A VIP entrance on the northwest side of the plaza leads directly to the lower floor.
The church was built using a series of steel portal frames clad with glazing. Sixty aluminium fins uniformly distributed along the building's length form the walls, roof and tower.
Chamber Church is made from sixty aluminium fins
Internally, sheets of glass-reinforced gypsum are individually shaped to enclose an organic, cave-like hall.
The gentle curves lend the space a fluid feel that contrasts with the rigid, geometric appearance of the exterior.
"The cavernous space of the assembly hall attempts to give people a sense of peace and shelter in the form of an enclosure, just as the cave once did," the studio said.
"It provides a frame for the ritual and sacredness desired by the people holding the ceremony, thereby triggering a connection between the real and spiritual dimensions," it added.
The church's interior has a cave-like feel
Gaps between the ribs allow daylight to filter through and illuminate the interior with a soft glow. The sun's movement throughout the day alters the brightness of the space and the patterns of shadow cast on the floor.
"The cascading white slices soften the interior light while wrapping the main frame and construction system of the building, giving the entire assembly a concise and austere atmosphere which is both a contemporary aesthetic tendency and an echo of tradition – a fusion of heritage and contemporaneity," said the architects.
Chamber Church is laid out like a traditional basilica
The building's floor plan borrows from the traditional basilica layout, with a nave extending towards a wooden lectern placed in front of an arched window.
The arch frames a view towards the manmade lake, where an island planted with a tree emerges from the water in front of the mountain range behind.
It is oriented east to west
Büro Ziyu Zhuang's previous projects include a high-end hotel in Chengdu, China, featuring a complex roof form that resembles a Chinese scroll painting. The Cropland Loop Resort was longlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the hospitality building category.
The architectural firm has partners in Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai, lending its projects a unique design vocabulary that fuses Asian and European influences. It was longlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 designer of the year.
The photography is by Shengliang Su.
Project credits:
Architectural and interior design: BUuzz/Büro Ziyu Zhuang Principal designer: Ziyu Zhuang, Fanshi Yu, Fabian Wieser, Na Li Design team: Mengzhao Xing, Jialin Song, Yingliu (Intern), Yi Liu, Dongdong Chen, Weihong Dong, Yubing Chen, Zhendong Chen, Di Tian, Ruoyi Song, Nan Zhou (Intern), Lingwei Meng (Intern) Construction drawings: Qingdao Tengyuan Design Institute Co., Ltd. Construction: Qingdao Jiuan Construction Groups Interior construction drawings: Gold Mantis Construction Decoration Interior construction: Ganghua International Landscape design: Aspect Studios Landscape construction: Guangzhou Yayue Landscape Construction Co., Ltd Structure consultant: Hejie Architectural Consultant Lighting consultant: Puri Lighting Desgin (Fang Hu, Yanhui Li) Curtain call consultant: Forcitis Steel structure and curtain wall construction: Shenyang Lidong Curtain Wall Decoration Co., Ltd. Main materials: Alucobond Plus Aluminum Composite Material-Alucobond; GRG-Beijing Yongxinsheng International Architecture and construction Co., Ltd.; Low-E Glass-Tianjin Nanbo Energy-saving Glass Co., Ltd.
Design fair Design Miami will launch its first Paris edition in October and has named Maria Cristina Didero as its global curatorial director.
The fair is launching its Paris edition in October to coincide with a new event that its sister fair Art Basel is launching at Paris' Grand Palais. The exact dates of the events is yet to be announced.
"The decision to present an event in Paris this October is the natural next step in Design Miami's evolution," said CEO of Design Miami Jennifer Roberts.
"Rooted in the past with a hold on the future, the city truly complements Design Miami's commitment to showcasing the best of historic and contemporary collectible design."
The Art Basel event at Grand Palais will see Art Basel and parent company MCH Group launch a contemporary and modern art fair that aims to "build bridges with France's cultural industries."
The city of Paris "holds significant value in the market for its historical importance in the decorative arts and for the city’s leading gallerists of contemporary and historic design," the fair added.
Didero to lead Design Miami under the theme "The Golden Age"
Design Miami also announced the appointment of Didero as its new curatorial director. The Milan-based design curator, author and consultant previously worked with designers including Bethan Laura Wood, Philippe Malouin and Snarkitecture.
Didero previous worked with Design Miami, having curated three annual exhibitions for Italian fashion brand Fendi for the fair. Her first fair as curatorial director will be Design Miami/Basel in Basel on 14 to 19 June.
"I am excited to embrace this new adventure and to collaborate with the Design Miami/ team," Didero said.
"My multidisciplinary approach wholly aligns with the fair's mission to promote culture, talent, innovation, creativity, and education; it will be a challenge and an aspiration to explore new possibilities and boundaries, which I look forward to sharing with Design Miami's global audience in 2022 under this year’s curatorial theme 'The Golden Age'," she added.
"The Golden Age is an idea shared by different cultures across time and space. Whether projected onto an idealized past or a utopian future, The Golden Age envisions the world at peace, in which advancements in the arts and technology precipitate unprecedented ease, cooperation, pleasure, and beauty; a time in which every living creature on Earth coexists in harmony."
Number of 2022 fairs postponed
Design Miami was founded in 2005 and works with galleries and designers to present furniture, lighting and other design twice per year in Miami and Basel.
A number of design events and trade shows have had to cancel and postpone events due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic this year, but there are still numerous events taking place as the industry is trying to adapt to the new normal.
Design Miami's Paris edition will launch in October. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
A flying car capable of converting from a road to an air vehicle has been granted an airworthiness certification in Slovakia, as its makers eye mass manufacturing.
The Slovak Transport Authority awarded the AirCar by Klein Vision a Certificate of Airworthiness earlier this week, after the vehicle completed more than 70 hours of successful flight testing.
The AirCar is a dual-mode vehicle with a petrol engine that can convert from a car to an aircraft at the push of a button.
The AirCar is capable of driving on the roads like an ordinary car
In its testing it has performed steep 45 degree turns, reached maximum speeds of 190 kilometres per hour and flown a 35-minute inter-city journey between airports in Nitra and Bratislava.
Slovak company Klein Vision said its flight testing was in line with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standards, and that the certification aids its plans to introduce a version of the AirCar onto the market for commercial travel.
"AirCar certification opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars," said Klein Vision founder and CEO Stefan Klein. "It is official and the final confirmation of our ability to change mid-distance travel forever."
Wings deploy to turn the car into an aircraft
A representative of the Transport Authority of Slovakia, Civil Aviation Division director René Molnár, described the AirCar as defining "a new category of a sports car and a reliable aircraft".
"Its certification was both a challenging and fascinating task," said Molnár.
Klein Vision flew a 1,000-kilogram two-seat prototype with a fixed propeller and a 1.6-litre BMW engine for the airworthiness certification. It has wings and a tail that deploy and retract on demand.
The AirCar takes off in the same way as a conventional aeroplane
The company is now working on a production model, which will be equipped with an ADEPT Airmotive engine and a variable pitch propeller.
Klein Vision says it will be capable of speeds of 300 kilometres an hour and have a range of 1,000 kilometres. It expects it to be certified in 12 months.
Unlike many of its competitors in the urban air mobility space, it does not have an electric engine or vertical take-off and landing – technologies known as EVTOL.
It would need to takeoff and land at conventional airstrips and could not use helipads or ports.
The AirCar has completed more than 70 hours of successful test flights
Among the companies developing vehicles in the EVTOL space is Hyundai, whose European chief executive has said he expects flying cars to be in cities by 2030.
Other companies at the forefront in this space include Lilium, which has said that its seven-seater Lilium Jet is "on the path to certification" with the EASA and its US equivalent, the Federal Aviation Administration.
American company Kitty Hawk has previously been granted airworthiness approval by the US Air Force in order to conduct flight testing under its auspices, and is now working on a commercial air taxi model.
Wood, stone and lime plaster pervade the minimal interior of this energy-saving home in Muswell Hill that Architecture for London has created for its founder, Ben Ridley.
Architecture for London renovated and extended the three-floor Edwardian home that had gone untouched for close to 40 years and was in a less than favourable condition when purchased by Ridley.
The interiors of the home are finished with natural materials
"It was very tired, with bright floral carpets and textured wallpaper," he told Dezeen.
"There were some severe issues with damp where non breathable renders and plasters had been used in the past," he continued. "It was also quite dark as the orientation of the property isn't ideal – the rear reception room in particular had very little natural light."
Oak cabinetry and grey limestone fixtures feature in the kitchen
Although Ridley and his team at Architecture for London carried out extensive renovation work they aimed to using natural materials and only make sustainably minded interventions.
For example, in the ground floor kitchen, the studio preserved a couple of structural masonry walls to evade having to replace them with supportive frames made from energy-intensive resources such as steel.
The house's original timber roof has been preserved
Walls here, and throughout the rest of the home, have been coated with lime plaster to form an airtight layer, mitigating any heat loss.
The cabinetry is lined with oak wood, while the floor, worktops, prep counter and chunky window seat are crafted from pale grey limestone, which the studio preferred to use instead of cement-based products.
In celebration of the house's "modest beauty", the studio has also left the original timber roof exposed.
A rear extension offers views of the garden
A short flight of stairs leads up to the living room, where wood fibre insulation has been added behind the walls; fitting the insulation internally meant the studio was able to leave the house's Edwardian facade completely undisturbed.
The space otherwise features a couple of muted-pastel chairs, oak storage cupboards and a handful of potted plants.
At the back of the house, the studio has constructed an extension from structural insulated panels (SIPS).
The rectilinear volume accommodates a dining area and is fronted by a full height, triple-glazed window, to give views through to the lush foliage of the garden.
More wood fibre insulation has been incorporated here, and in the house's peripheral walls.
A Douglas fir bed frame has been included in the master bedroom
Natural materials go on to appear upstairs in the master bedroom, where the flooring and furnishings – including the bed frame – are made from Douglas fir wood.
Oak has then been used to fashion the bathroom's vanity unit, which backs onto a fluted limestone wall.
Fluted walls add textural interest in the bathroom
Ben Ridley set up Architecture for London in 2009.
The studio has since gone on to complete a number of projects around the British capital – this includes Tower Hamlets Tandem, a pair of extensions made for adjoining residences, and House for a Stationer, which is designed to reflect the occupation of its owner.
Architects: Architecture for London Structural engineer: Architecture for London Services engineer: Green Building Store Main contractor: Construction Hub
