Superflux shows how future homes might face realities of climate change in 2219

Design studio Superflux has built a vision of a typical Singapore home in 2219, with features including homemade hunting tools, snorkelling equipment and a mini hydroponic farm.

Superflux founders Anab Jain and Jon Ardern imagine that climate change will completely change the way people live their lives over the next 100 years, as day-to-day survival becomes increasingly difficult.

With the installation Mitigation of Shock, currently on show at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore, they have created a fictional home that responds to the issues of "extreme weather conditions, economic uncertainty and broken global supply chains".

It is equipped with tools that occupants might need to source food and water, as well as to travel around the city.

The designers see the project as optimistic rather than dystopian. They hope to show that humans are a resourceful species, able to radically adapt to new situations and environments, and invent new ways of living.

"For us, Mitigation of Shock is not apocalyptic, but instead a pragmatic vision of hope, emerging from a dystopian future ravaged by climate change," explained Ardern.

"On a personal level, it can be difficult for people to imagine how an issue like global warming might affect everyday life for our future selves, or generations to come," he continued.

"Our immersive simulation merges the macabre and the mundane as the social and economic consequences of climate change infiltrate the domestic space."

Superflux first created the Mitigation of Shock installation for an exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Culture (CCCB) in Barcelona, imagining a flat in London.

The new version takes the idea to Singapore, a city with a far greater urban density.

At the apartment entrance, visitors are greeted by a kayak – an essential in city where rising sea levels have caused the streets to flood.

The view through the window reveals what this new streetscape looks like. An aluminium shutter fronts the window, to protect the home during intense storms.

The apartment is filled with various species of plants and funghi, as well as insects, in order to create a self-sufficient eco system. Computers are used to ensure this system is optimised.

There are also various tools in the home for hunting or catching fish, made from repurposed electronics, plastics and other objects. These include spears made from old circuit boards and a bamboo snare.

On the bookshelf are titles including Pets As Proteins and How to Cook in a Time of Scarcity, while the newspaper tells the story national food shortages and energy rationing.

"Our current narratives around the climate crisis have created a form of impasse: where people feel ill-equipped to tackle the climate crisis because of fear and hopelessness," explained Jain.

"Lack of political will further perpetuates panic," she continued. "There is a real lack of alternate narratives and visions of how we will live together in a post-anthropocentric society."

"Mitigation of Shock aims to show people that other worlds are possible. Together, the city view, the tools, the artefacts, the plants tell the story of adaptation and extreme measures people have had to make to, not just survive, but prosper in a post-climate change future."

Superflux typically works on projects that explore what life will be like in the future. It was one of the first studios to imagine drones being used in cities for surveillance, traffic control and advertising.

However Ardern describes Mitigation of Shock as "one of the most ambitious projects we've undertaken in our ten year history of bringing the future to life".

It is on show at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore as part of the exhibition 2219: Futures Imagined until 5 April 2020, and forms part of the Singapore Bicentennial.

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Ramboll uses bamboo to build earthquake-resistant housing in Indonesia

Civil engineering company Ramboll has worked with locals in Lombok, Indonesia, to build three quake-proof housing prototypes that are made almost entirely out of bamboo.

Described as "template houses", the standardised bamboo structures were designed by Ramboll with local charity Grenzeloos Milieu and University College London (UCL) in the wake of several earthquakes in Lombok in 2018.

The project seeks to provide locals with a blueprint for homes that are resistant to collapse in earthquakes, but also sustainable and affordable. The company hopes to encourage a move away from esoteric construction methods like concrete and brickwork that can require detailed knowledge.

"People in Lombok often look to the west and big cities striving to build large concrete houses. Unfortunately, only very few can afford it and even less can afford a proper design," explained Marcin Dawydzik, structural engineer at Ramboll.

"As a result, majority of the houses are a mixture of concrete and brick, or timber and concrete, none of which are sufficiently reinforced and have resulted in over 300,000 collapses and almost half a million people without a roof over their head," he told Dezeen.

"Through the design and construction, the simple and beautifully finished houses have attracted the attention of the locals, who all have said that they would love to live in this house as it looks 'safe and beautiful'."

The template houses were the result of the Ramboll team visiting Lombok after a string of destructive earthquakes struck the island in 2018. According to Dawydzik, the damage and consequential loss of life was exacerbated by the collapse of "hastily and poorly constructed concrete buildings".

It also forms part of a larger "bamboo-circular-economy" scheme being developed by Grenzeloos Milieu with a local university. The project is growing bamboo forests and teaching locals to harvest the crop for food, craftsmanship and construction with the aim of empowering them.

"Communities tend to work together and working on these houses has brought them a sense of pride, long overdue after the earthquake," explained Dawydzik.

The houses take the form of small pitched volumes raised on cross-braced bamboo columns. A central staircase leads up from the ground into an enclosed living space.

Bamboo was chosen as the primary material for the project as it is a renewable resource – growing naturally all over Indonesia, and reaching full strength in just five years.

The three template houses were built by Ramboll in collaboration with skilled local bamboo workers and non-experienced locals in a bid to encourage knowledge transfer and upskilling.

Each structure uses multiple construction techniques that have each been developed to meet design codes while providing locals with an array of options when recreating the structures.

The walls of each house are finished with bamboo in the form of either woven sheets or smaller bamboo canes.

Meanwhile, the roofing is made out of locally sourced, recycled tetrapack in the form of corrugated sheets. Tetrapack was chosen as it is lightweight, making it suited to an earthquake resistant building, while also offering a reflective surface that helps to keep the heat out of the building.

Inside, the dwellings have space for two bedrooms upstairs, while the majority of the ground floor is open to allow for air circulation and to provide shelter for motorbikes and manual crafts.

On one side of the houses, Ramboll has attached a living area that is intended to evoke a Beruga – an outbuilding that is commonly built next to Lombok houses for working and eating.

Now complete, the three housing prototypes are open to the public and will be utilised as community spaces and shelter in case of an emergency.

Ramboll will run building workshops for locals in collaboration with Grenzeloos Milieu, and there will be accompanying step-to-step construction manuals kept inside so the community can learn to replicate the structures for their own dwelling.

The blueprint for the prototypes are now being refined and developed by Ramboll with UCL, using details from studies carried out on the bamboo during construction in order to understand the material better.

Ramboll's long-term aim is promoting the wider adoption of safe and sustainable housing solutions across additional earthquake-prone regions like Lombok.

Other quake-proof buildings on Dezeen include a secondary school in northern Thailand by Vin Varavarn Architects that raised above the ground on metal stilts, and a concrete house by Apollo Architects & Associates in Tokyo that has a pointy wooden roof.

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Mobile Architecture Twists and Morphs in Futuristic Cityscapes by AUJIK

In “Spatial Bodies: Hong Kong & Shenzhen,” the self-described “mysterious nature/tech cult” AUJIK imagines a Hong Kong and Shenzhen with architecture that shifts and moves seemingly on its own just like live organisms. Using AI and AR technologies, artist and AUJIK founder Stefan Larsson created the short film that depicts a futuristic cityscape with contracting and expanding buildings that are far from resembling typical rectangular skyscrapers. AUJIK’s creature-like structures often have an element similar to limbs or tails, in addition to facades with rounded edges that mimic moving bodies. It is a sequel to a previous project that centered Osaka.

The group says the concept for this project is based on open-source software, which theoretically would allow users to shape the architecture based on their needs and in a collaborative, public manner. Spatial Bodies was commissioned by the Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture and premiered in December 2019. The film features music by Japanese electronic artist Daisuke Tanabe. More of AUJIK’s futuristic conceptions can be found on Behance and Vimeo. (via designboom)

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Ste Marie decorates Vancouver bakery and flour mill in "malty hues"

Vancouver interiors studio Ste Marie has designed an artisanal flour shop and bakery in the city that has furniture influenced by the American Shaker movement.

Ste Marie was enlisted by bakery and flour mill Flourist to design their first location in the city. In addition to the mill, the shop includes baking facilities, a cafeteria, and space for workshops.

Flourist is located at 3433 Commercial St, in East Vancouver, an up-and-coming neighbourhood in the city. Encompassing 2,800 square feet (260 square metres), the bakery interiors are a warm, caramel-like colour.

"We wanted the space to feel like standing in a wheat field on a perfect sunny day – a nice counterpoint to some of those grey Vancouver days," said Craig Stanghetta of Ste Marie.

"To pull it all off we incorporated a mix of a farmhouse sensibility and good Scandinavian design principles," Flourist added. "The outcome is a space that should look classic and current but also fresh and fun in the same breath."

Drawing from agrarian references, Ste Marie also designed the furniture and fittings to take cues from the American Shaker movement.  The style, known for its simplicity, has become popular in recent years with Neri&Hu, Jin Kuramoto, Torsten Sherwood and Pinch all recently referencing the aesthetic.

Simple wooden chairs are used for the freestanding seats, while built-in seating is made with wide wooden planks using clean lines.

"Building off the Shaker principles and pastiche, the interior of the Mill and Bakery highlights abundance and warmth with a straightforward approach," said Ste Marie.

"A palette of malty tones taken from Flourist's grains and pulses, enveloping the space like a field of wheat."

The company was established by Shira McDermott and Janna Bishop first as a mill, producing grains, flour, and beans from Canadian farmers, and selling wholesale online.

"Flourist brick and mortar locations are the next stage of our effort to disrupt the traditional and overly commodified food supply chain, which is particularly egregious in the grain, beans and flour markets," said Flourist.

In front of the shop window, a communal table provides space for Flourist to teach baking workshops within sight of passers-by. It is built as a freestanding square object and topped with a textured marble slab.

Built-in shelves showcase the store's baked goods, cookbooks, and other cooking accessories throughout, alongside Shaker antiques and other memorabilia. The mill is located at the back and is fronted by glass so it is also visible to customers.

In New York City, a cookie shop by The New Design Project uses a lighter beige palette for its interiors.

Other bakeries include a bright pink shop in Odessa, Ukraine, that is meant to reference the colour of bread, and a minimalist, industrial extension to a historical property in Uruguay, by Pedro Livni Arquitecto.

Photography is by Conrad Brown.

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Hand-Stitched Flowers and Landscapes Revitalize Found Photographs by Artist Han Cao

All images © Han Cao, shared with permission

Calligrapher and fiber artist Han Cao repurposes old photographs by stitching brightly colored flowers and landscapes directly onto each black and white image. Based in Palm Springs, the artist works with found photographs that are 5×7 inches or smaller, attaching multi-colored threads that she hopes alter the old narrative and give new meaning and life to each piece. Often, Cao covers people’s faces, adds tiny, repetitve details to their clothes, or blurs a landscape with her stitches.

Cao writes to Colossal that she purchases most photographs from the flea markets and antique shops she visits while she’s traveling.

There’s thousands upon thousands of vintage photos stuffed inside dusty boxes at these markets—long lost and forgotten by their families, so my work is an attempt to bring them back to life and renew their stories. I’m particularly drawn to images that offer a deeper story—photographs with haunting faces and figures, simple landscapes that can be magically transformed with added dimension and color.

The artist says her plans include creating larger-scale works that use “alternative photograph reproduction methods where I will have more space to explore texture and create extended narratives for these images.” You can follow her mixed-media projects on Instagram and purchase her work on her site.

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