Rossana Hu of Neri&Hu has been appointed chair of the department of architecture at Tongji University in Shanghai, becoming the first woman to hold the position.
"I am extremely honoured to be appointed to this position," said Hu. "Not just because it is an amazing opportunity to be teaching in this top institution, but also the close proximity I will have with the best thinkers and doers in China’s architecture realm."
Hu is the first woman to chair the department of architecture at CAUP and is also the first architect to hold the position who has not previously studied at the university. Previously, all chairs of the department of architecture at CAUP were Tongji Univesity graduates.
Top: Rossana Hu is the first woman to chair the department of architecture at Tongji University. Above: Neri&Hu recently completed a whiskey distillery in China. Photo by Chen Hao
The appointment is part of CAUP dean Li Xiangning’s ambition to make the institution, which is one of China's top architecture schools, a global name.
"As Hu brings a diverse and global perspective to the school, more channels of international communication are sure to open up for architectural research and teaching at Tongji," said Li.
"Today, all landmark buildings in Shanghai are connected to Tongji" said Hu. "Will we create groundbreaking works and leave Tongji marks all over the world one day?"
Founded in 1952, Tongi University's CAUP comprises three departments: the Department of Architecture, the Department of Urban Planning and the Department of Landscape Architecture, with 222 full-time faculty members and researchers.
Hu has previously collaborated with CAUP on a series of lectures and exhibitions between 2014 and 2017. This year, Neri&Hu’s solo exhibition Works in Permanent Evolution was also presented at CAUP.
Other academic positions held by Hu include John C. Portman Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard University, Norman R. Foster Visiting Professor at Yale University and Visiting Professor at The University of Hong Kong.
Neri&Hu's Works in Permanent Evolution exhibition was presented at Tongji University this year
Hu received her master of architecture and urban planning from Princeton University and a bachelor of arts in architecture and music from the University of California at Berkeley.
She worked for Michael Graves & Associates in Princeton and The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in San Francisco, among others, before cofounding Neri&Hu Design and Research Office in Shanghai with Lyndon Neri in 2004.
"Neri&Hu is a practice that has been steadfast in navigating their close knowledge and precise skill for design from furniture and interiors through to city scale, moving the discipline, practice, craft and education of architecture and architects across East and west seamlessly,” Dezeen Awards judges’ commented.
UK studio 6a Architects has extended a gymnasium and multigenerational community centre in Bloomsbury, London, into a block called Holborn House that has a facade designed by artist Caragh Thuring.
Created for the Holborn Community Association (HCA), the new structure extends an existing basement gym with a bright two-storey space that provides additional community spaces and greater street presence for the organistaion.
6a Architects designed the Holborn House community centre in London
"HCA has an extraordinary 100-year-old history," said 6a Architects director Stephanie Macdonald.
"The club was a much-loved, word-of-mouth resource but invisible outside of the people who used it, hidden away in its basement gym off a narrow and unloved alleyway," she told Dezeen.
"Our mission was for the new Holborn House to bring this quietly brilliant neighbourhood organisation into the public realm. It is visible for the first time, identifiable as an important and central part of the neighbourhood."
It is located on a narrow street
Responding to the narrow site, 6a Architects opened up the building's frontage with a glass facade that reveals the exposed, steel and blockwork structure within, and reflects the brickwork opposite.
Etched onto the surface of this facade is a work by Thuring called Great Things Lie Ahead. It is comprised of a brick mortar line pattern filled with fragments of text drawn from stories and materials in HCA's archives.
An artwork by Caragh Thuring covers the glass frontage of the building
"The facade evolved into a sort of glowing etched lantern, airy and transparent," said Thuring.
"Emerald Street is such a narrow alleyway that you can't step back to look at the building, so it became a sort of breathing physical entity rather than a flat surface with an image on it."
Floor-to-ceiling windows were added to the community centre
Behind this facade, the new two-storey structure contains studios, clubrooms, workspaces and a kitchen as well as changing rooms for the basement gymnasium.
All of the spaces have been designed with flexibility in mind, suitable "for a wedding as much as for two-year-olds soft play or a bunch of teenagers dancing or pensioners doing yoga," explained Macdonald.
An area of the existing concrete ground slab was cut to insert an entrance ramp, and a new lift was inserted into the structure to make all of its floors fully accessible.
Focusing on creating a sense of "material legibility and spatial construction", the new spaces were constructed using white steel ceiling trusses and white-painted blockwork.
A large gymnasium is located on the basement level
"Material choices are a mix of practicality and transparent – what can be easily constructed and transported down a narrow Georgian alleyway," Macdonald told Dezeen.
"It was important to leave the structure visible, as it is simply constructed and understandable to children to see how materials stack onto each other to make the spaces," she continued.
Skylights were installed above the gymnasium
In the gym, a "lantern-like" roof of trusses and skylights sits above a frieze of fabric designed by Thuring that wraps around the space, woven with a brickwork pattern.
The colour scheme, also developed by Thurning, ties together the building, with the green colour used to highlight the staircase, lift doors and railings informed by Holborn's history as a forest.
To further increase the visibility of the building on the narrow site, planters and a tree have been added outside creating a space for visitors to meet as well as gaze up at the glass facade.
The interiors have a neutral palette
6a Architects was founded by Stephanie Macdonald and Tom Emerson in 2001.
Plenty of design and architecture news got people talking in 2021. For our review of year, digital and engagement editor Karen Anderson picks out 10 stories where comments from Dezeen readers caught the eye.
Boelen argued that the South African-born billionaire is thinking on a more ambitious scale than any other living figure and is reshaping the world through his businesses.
"Or maybe he's a cook as he's cooking up all these great ideas?" commented Zea Newland. "Or a composer since he's bringing us the symphonies of the future? Musk is a brilliant entrepreneur and he pushes people to accomplish great things, which is awesome. Let's just leave it at that and stop creating these cults around mortals."
"Musk is a patron of the profession," added JZ. "Of many professions. He's leveraged amazing amounts of resources to see his vision through. And by recruiting good people. He's not a Tesla or an Einstein or an Edison let alone a Corb, Mies or Wright. They knew how to roll up their shirt sleeves and get it done."
Many of the specialists quoted claim afforestation is not a reliable enough method of long-term carbon sequestration since the trees need to be left growing for decades.
"Absolute garbage," Rory wrote. "Trees have a massive potential for capturing carbon."
Michael Wigle was more sympathetic: "Saying you are offsetting carbon by planting a tree is nonsense. That doesn't mean we shouldn't invest more time and effort into re-establishing true old-growth forests and greater biodiversity."
Named Capitol Castle, the concept was created in reaction to the invasion of the building by Donald Trump supporters back in January following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Readers weren't keen. "A fortress around the Capitol is the exact opposite of democracy," said S.P. "Terrible idea."
Alfred Hitchcock agreed: "Ironic? If so, it's really unfunny. Five people needlessly died there. It's just self-promotional idiocy. It will probably have the opposite effect and create a backlash."
It is thought that police believed the canalside Hoxton Docks art building in east London was being used by environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion to prepare for protests.
"I didn't realise architecture was so dangerous," said Jolalala. "Perhaps it should be outlawed altogether? It is strange that they needed 52 officers to arrest one unarmed arts producer. They must be very afraid of us creative folk."
Heywood Floyd was also annoyed: "Meanwhile stereotypical football hooligans overrun the gates at Wembley for the Euro final".
Barefoot Architects built a Corten steel-clad house behind an existing brick wall in Bristol, England, sparking debate amongst commenters. The wall features graffiti and a rare built-in Edwardian post box.
"Amazed at the negative comments," said JZ. "Highly urban, highly contextual, and constantly in flux if the owners continue to allow people to express themselves. Graffiti is an art form folks. As far as I'm concerned, these owners are patrons."
Apsco Radiales disagreed: "Graffiti is vulgar and it's vandalism. Why don't you let some 'artists' deface the walls of your house if you think it gives it 'character'?"
The founders of Lacaton & Vassal were awarded for their body of work that "reflects architecture's democratic spirit" and their "commitment to a restorative architecture".
Koba was pleased: "Excellent choice, an outstanding architectural team."
Archi agreed: "I'm glad that the jury is moving away from high profile starchitects towards a statement that the deserving designers are those who are making a deep regional impact at a variety of scales, typologies, and budgets. Designers that elevate the 'everyday' are far more important than those only working on silver platter commissions."
Described by BIG as being infinity-loop shaped, the skyscraper, for Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO, was designed to "connect ground to sky in a continuous loop of collaboration".
"Finally a women-inspired building," said Indrė Butkutė. "Great!"
"It's definitely not phallic," added Sigmund. "Quite the opposite, actually."
"I just love it! " concluded Hotte. "First we had all the dildo towers, now we get vulvas! Equality is coming!"
The linear city in Saudi Arabia would have no cars or streets and residents would live within a five-minute walk of essential facilities.
"Only a train would think that's a cool city layout," said Zea Newland.
"The idiotic idea of linear cities comes up probably every decade," added Gudjon Thor Erlendsson. "It needs to be reiterated that this is a terrible idea. The transport length is extremely inefficient and this can be proven with simple modelling or mathematics. It looks cool from 10,000 feet up but it's all form, no function."
Weiss's device uses ultrasound waves to temporarily halt sperm regeneration. To use it, a person would fill the device with water up to the indicated mark, turn it on so it heats to operating temperature, and sit for a few minutes with their testicles dipped into it.
"It sounds to me like it requires men to put their balls in the microwave," said Sim. "Not sure that doesn't have long-term consequences for their health."
"Yet we have been totally cool for women to have literal mechanical devices inserted into them, take hormone-manipulating drugs, have implants, or even in some cases injections..." replied Nimdoorquoi.
"This proposal appears greedy and its irrational structural approach is wilfully discombobulating and perturbing – top-heavy and as if about to topple," wrote Ralph Kent. "People will naturally start to question if it's client greed or the architect's attention-seeking character that is the driving force."
Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page.
British architecture studio Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt has completed a Hampshire house that aims to makes life easier for a wheelchair user, while not compromising on design quality.
Every room in Claywood is designed to be both accessible and functional for retiree Jo Wright, who became a wheelchair user after suffering a spinal cord injury.
Rather than creating a building that looks like a disabled person's home, Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt has produced a family home that embraces contemporary architecture.
The two-storey house is located in Hampshire, England
The building has a sculptural form consisting of two volumes: a textural ground floor with pale walls of textured brick and a black timber-clad first floor that cantilevers over the ends of the block below.
"A key part of the brief was for us to design a house that didn't appear to be obviously designed for wheelchairs," studio co-founder Dominic Gaunt told Dezeen.
Claywood is home to Jo and husband David Wright, and also accommodates their three grown-up children.
The house was built in the grounds of the owners' previous home
The couple decided to build the house after realising their previous home couldn't be adapted to meet their needs – there would always be areas out of bounds to Jo – and failing to find an appropriate property for sale.
Instead, they sectioned off a portion of their former home's extensive grounds to create a new plot.
The house has a brick base and a timber-clad first floor
"Jo was adamant that she had to sleep upstairs on the same floor as her family," Gaunt told Dezeen.
"It had pained her to be unable to see her children's bedrooms for eight years, unable to go to them when they were unwell."
The kitchen features two surface heights and a bespoke dining table
Organised over two storeys, the building's layout is loosely organised into three zones.
On the ground floor, living spaces are clustered together at the south end of the building, with a glazed wall that allows dining to extend outside.
The north end accommodates specialist facilities including a swimming pool and a therapy room.
Level thresholds feature throughout the house
The first floor is mainly for bedrooms; there are five in total, plus a small home office.
There's also a separate annex located at the site's entrance, which could be used by a carer in the future.
At times when Jo is bed-bound, she can still enjoy panoramic views of the landscape
Throughout, the house carefully integrates a number of accessible features such as level thresholds, extra-wide corridors, lift access and specialist furniture.
Much of the architecture is planned to work for both seated and standing positions.
Glazing throughout the house includes floor-to-ceiling and low windows, while the cantilevered main bedroom is designed to give Jo an uninterrupted view of the landscape at times when she is bed-bound.
"The master bedroom almost touches the tree canopy of the woodland beyond and gives a feeling of suspension, particularly when the sliding doors are opened," said Gaunt.
Most accessible fittings blend into the design, although some specialist equipment was necessary
The same approach extends to furnishings and fittings, which were designed with help from an accessibility consultant.
The oven and washing machine are elevated so Jo can reach them, worktops are set at two different heights, a clothes drying rack is attached to a pulley system, and the dining table was custom designed at a non-standard height.
"Whilst the house incorporates a lot of specialist items and automation, much of the design was simply about ensuring things are in the right places and set at appropriate heights," explained Gaunt.
The house includes a swimming pool with distinctive blue tiles
To help the architects understand the level of details required, Jo lent Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt one of her wheelchairs in the early stages of the project, which helped them to understand some of her daily frustrations.
According to Gaunt, the experience proved so eye-opening that the firm plans to take a more accessible approach to other projects in future.
The first-floor cantilevers out at both ends
"It's been a really useful experience for us and we're far more conscious of inclusive design than we used to be across our all work, irrespective of typology," he said.
"It's now very much at the forefront of our work and informs early design decisions."
Deep overhangs shade pavilions and walkways at a lush nature retreat in Costa Rica by architectural practice Studio Saxe.
The Caribbean Courtyard Villa is located in Puerto Viejo, a coastal town in southeastern Costa Rica. Tucked away in a jungle, the 495-square-metre rental home sits on a gently sloping site near Chiquita Beach.
Caribbean Courtyard Villa is surrounded by jungle
Studio Saxe, which is based in San José, aimed to create a villa that embraced the tropical setting.
The architects conceived a series of pavilions organised around a central courtyard with a swimming pool. The pavilions are connected by pergolas.
Studio Saxe arranged pavilions around a central swimming pool
"We designed a strategy of aggregation by creating a network of triangular pergolas that can grow or contract, depending on the necessity of the client throughout the project," the firm said.
There are five pavilions. Four are identical, square-shaped modules that hold a bedroom and bathroom.
Each pavilion holds a bedroom and a bathroom
The fifth pavilion is a large rectangle that encompasses an open-concept kitchen, dining area and living room. It also holds a master suite.
The pavilions are raised above the ground and are covered with hipped roofs. Each sleeping module has its own sheltered patio, which is accessed via a glazed, sliding door.
Ceilings are clad in honey-coloured wooden slats
The interior rooms feature earthy materials and neutral colours, including ample use of woven decor.
In both the bedrooms and public area, ceilings are covered with honey-toned, wooden slats.
Occupants circulate between the different pavilions by walking under the pergolas, which are made of metal and wood.
"The project was conceived as a series of objects placed around the property and within existing trees," said the architects.
The pavilions are connected by pergolas
The villa also steps down the hillside, further helping the architecture blend with the terrain.
The project has a number of sustainable elements, including rooftop solar panels and water-efficient systems. The villa is intended to "set a new example" for designing in Costa Rica's tropical, coastal regions.
Caribbean Courtyard Villa was designed with Costa Rica's tropical climate in mind
Established by Benjamin Garcia Saxe in 2004, Studio Saxe has offices in San José, Los Angeles and London.
Other Costa Rican projects by the firm include a pair of beach houses that feature wooden screens and overhanging roofs, and a coastal dwelling that consists of pavilions wrapped in teak and glass.
Architect: Studio Saxe (design director, Benjamin G Saxe) Builder: Cr-Eco Client: The Stroh Family Structural engineer: APÉSTEGUI+BLAIR Electromechanical engineer: CIEM Landscape: Saxe Landscape
