html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" The Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe has completed a morgue designed with a horizontal line that aligns with the large flat roof in Vera, Province of Santa Fe, Argentina.Under a commodatum agreement with the Provincial Government, the Judicial Morgue of the Judiciary of Santa Fe is situated on a portion of the Regional Hospital premises in the city of Vera.Named Judicial Morgue for the City of Vera, given the particular location and how the general public views this kind of architectural program, the intervention's main goal was to create a modern area that invites approach rather than rejection—or even one that people using the building's adjacent services might not notice. For this reason, the building is discreetly hidden behind reachable embankments covered with natural vegetation, leaving the viewer with only a horizontal line that is in line with the large flat roof that encloses the reception area, office spaces, the actual morgue, and the perimeter of the intermediate galleries. Rooms facing the back of the concrete embankment or adjacent plots are prioritized from the inside.Even though the main structure is surrounded by the embankments, the building was positioned to be visible in its entirety from nearly every aspect due to the lot's proportions. Its conserved native forest, which is included into the concept, produces diverse experiences when walked about at ground level, through the pedestrian entry, or via the car access road. The deliberate image of the "fifth façade"—an abstraction made up of the entire roof structure, the vertical boundary along the street, the infrastructure areas, the vehicle access road, the perimeter lines of the embankments and pedestrian access—is given special attention.Wind, shadow, rain, sun, and vegetation all become protagonists, meticulously incorporated into the architectural concept, as environmental and climatic aspects were carefully studied in the creation of this unique program. The structure is arranged around galleries, which act as areas of transition between the outside and the inside and, more importantly, as sun control systems, which help to lessen the harsh environment of the area. Among other things, a Venturi tube at the pedestrian entrance circulates air to chill the inside and splits to cool the outside walls.Administrative offices, conference rooms, identification rooms, cold storage rooms, X-ray and picture interpretation rooms, inclusive locker rooms, autopsy rooms, loading/unloading garages, pathological waste storage, and a main hall and reception area are all part of the functional plan. An infrastructure equipment cluster that houses air conditioning condensers, refrigeration units, a chiller, a hydropneumatic tank, a generator, and an external guard room are examples of supporting spaces. These are surrounded by an exposed shell of reinforced concrete walls and roof and are situated outside the huge metal roof.The courtyard, the pedestrian entrance, and the encircling galleries are notable semi-covered areas. They all have enormous circular open skylights that let in rainwater or filtered sunlight, making the room feel cozy and inviting for both professionals and guests. A semicircular bench serves as a reflective seating space beneath the skylights. Similar to how the building is visually protected from the exterior by concrete embankments covered in vegetation and purposefully placed pedestrian openings away from the hospital, the interior is similarly protected by intermediate areas that are intended to lessen the proximity and animosity of the reinforced concrete envelope to the south. This is accomplished by paving a courtyard with loose river stones of various colors, which lessens the impression on the eye and permits future plants to grow in between the stones.The building's partially covered sections face the designated vehicle access road to the north, and vertical screens act as a physical barrier in front of the urban street's protected row of native trees that border the entrance. Using metal structures, sheet metal, circular-section tubes, and a reinforced concrete planter, the physical boundary between the lot and the street was given special design consideration. This creates an expressive, organic line that opens up urban sightlines and draws attention to the main gate and institutional signage.The autopsy room and its auxiliary spaces are the heart of a morgue, thus biosafety regulations and the best use of circulation and support rooms were taken into consideration when designing the spaces. To circulate air and safeguard the working staff, the facility has specifically built climate control systems (power capacity and unique filters). It has a digital X-ray machine, surgical-grade lighting, specialized storage equipment, and two cutting-edge stainless steel autopsy tables made by national suppliers. Filtered natural light is let in through micro-perforated metal panels, softening the space's clinical feel. The main views are of the north inner courtyard.The building's infrastructure includes a generator for continuous power supply, self-sufficient solar power, a single absorption pit and separate outputs for pre-treating liquid waste that eventually discharges into the sewer system, and connections to municipal water and electricity. Additionally, it has video surveillance, complete climate control throughout, and intrusion and fire alarm systems. Interlocking permeable pavers and intermediate chambers were used to address drainage and paving issues caused by the lengthy access road that connected the building to the city roadway.Aluminum window frames, gypsum rock walls, oxidized metal sheets for the galleries' and semi-covered areas' ceilings, flush-joint interior ceilings, exposed reinforced concrete for the external envelope, hermetically sealed double-glazing in specific geometries for the operational spaces, and reinforced concrete partitions covered in perforated and plain metal sheets are among the materials used in the building. At the site and car entrances, the vehicle access road has unique wood elements, precast stormwater drains, and articulated paving. The structure is decorated with polished 30x30 cm granite mosaic tiles, and the kitchens and bathrooms have custom black Brazilian granite countertops. Whenever feasible, national and local suppliers were used.All things considered, this project has presented a big challenge for the professionals in our office, but its completion allows us to keep trying new things in the future. By bringing compassion and respect to a function that is usually disregarded because of its negative implications, it enables us to "reconsider our relationship with the afterlife." In the end, it is a project that offers the balance of beauty and usefulness that is the ultimate aim of architecture by articulating and integrating spaces to make them livable and noticeable.Section AASection BBEast elevationWest elevationNorth elevationSouth elevationProject factsProject name: Judicial Morgue for the City of VeraClient: Judicial Branch of the Province of Santa FeArchitectural Office: Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe / (Architect Adelia Sebastián - Architect Carreras Luis - Tech. Gonzalez Javier - Architect Batlle Casas Barbara - Basualdo Gonzalo - Tech. Grippaldi Bruno - Architect Soriano Sebastián)Architect(s) in charge: Architect Adelia SebastiánTechnical Support: Architect Guillermo Goddio - Architect Ramiro SosaConstruction Company: Cocyar S.A.Construction completion year: 2024Lot area: 5,000 m2Covered area: 402 m2Semi-covered area: 980 m2Project year: 2022Location: Vera, Province of Santa Fe, ArgentinaProgram: Institutional (Judicial Morgue)All images © Ramiro Sosa.All drawings © Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe.> via Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" The Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe has completed a morque designed with a horizontal line that aligns with the large flat roof in Vera, Province of Santa Fe, Argentina.Under a commodatum agreement with the Provincial Government, the Judicial Morgue of the Judiciary of Santa Fe is situated on a portion of the Regional Hospital premises in the city of Vera.Named Judicial Morgue for the City of Vera, given the particular location and how the general public views this kind of architectural program, the intervention's main goal was to create a modern area that invites approach rather than rejection—or even one that people using the building's adjacent services might not notice. For this reason, the building is discreetly hidden behind reachable embankments covered with natural vegetation, leaving the viewer with only a horizontal line that is in line with the large flat roof that encloses the reception area, office spaces, the actual morgue, and the perimeter of the intermediate galleries. Rooms facing the back of the concrete embankment or adjacent plots are prioritized from the inside.Even though the main structure is surrounded by the embankments, the building was positioned to be visible in its entirety from nearly every aspect due to the lot's proportions. Its conserved native forest, which is included into the concept, produces diverse experiences when walked about at ground level, through the pedestrian entry, or via the car access road. The deliberate image of the "fifth façade"—an abstraction made up of the entire roof structure, the vertical boundary along the street, the infrastructure areas, the vehicle access road, the perimeter lines of the embankments and pedestrian access—is given special attention.Wind, shadow, rain, sun, and vegetation all become protagonists, meticulously incorporated into the architectural concept, as environmental and climatic aspects were carefully studied in the creation of this unique program. The structure is arranged around galleries, which act as areas of transition between the outside and the inside and, more importantly, as sun control systems, which help to lessen the harsh environment of the area. Among other things, a Venturi tube at the pedestrian entrance circulates air to chill the inside and splits to cool the outside walls.Administrative offices, conference rooms, identification rooms, cold storage rooms, X-ray and picture interpretation rooms, inclusive locker rooms, autopsy rooms, loading/unloading garages, pathological waste storage, and a main hall and reception area are all part of the functional plan. An infrastructure equipment cluster that houses air conditioning condensers, refrigeration units, a chiller, a hydropneumatic tank, a generator, and an external guard room are examples of supporting spaces. These are surrounded by an exposed shell of reinforced concrete walls and roof and are situated outside the huge metal roof.The courtyard, the pedestrian entrance, and the encircling galleries are notable semi-covered areas. They all have enormous circular open skylights that let in rainwater or filtered sunlight, making the room feel cozy and inviting for both professionals and guests. A semicircular bench serves as a reflective seating space beneath the skylights. Similar to how the building is visually protected from the exterior by concrete embankments covered in vegetation and purposefully placed pedestrian openings away from the hospital, the interior is similarly protected by intermediate areas that are intended to lessen the proximity and animosity of the reinforced concrete envelope to the south. This is accomplished by paving a courtyard with loose river stones of various colors, which lessens the impression on the eye and permits future plants to grow in between the stones.The building's partially covered sections face the designated vehicle access road to the north, and vertical screens act as a physical barrier in front of the urban street's protected row of native trees that border the entrance. Using metal structures, sheet metal, circular-section tubes, and a reinforced concrete planter, the physical boundary between the lot and the street was given special design consideration. This creates an expressive, organic line that opens up urban sightlines and draws attention to the main gate and institutional signage.The autopsy room and its auxiliary spaces are the heart of a morgue, thus biosafety regulations and the best use of circulation and support rooms were taken into consideration when designing the spaces. To circulate air and safeguard the working staff, the facility has specifically built climate control systems (power capacity and unique filters). It has a digital X-ray machine, surgical-grade lighting, specialized storage equipment, and two cutting-edge stainless steel autopsy tables made by national suppliers. Filtered natural light is let in through micro-perforated metal panels, softening the space's clinical feel. The main views are of the north inner courtyard.The building's infrastructure includes a generator for continuous power supply, self-sufficient solar power, a single absorption pit and separate outputs for pre-treating liquid waste that eventually discharges into the sewer system, and connections to municipal water and electricity. Additionally, it has video surveillance, complete climate control throughout, and intrusion and fire alarm systems. Interlocking permeable pavers and intermediate chambers were used to address drainage and paving issues caused by the lengthy access road that connected the building to the city roadway.Aluminum window frames, gypsum rock walls, oxidized metal sheets for the galleries' and semi-covered areas' ceilings, flush-joint interior ceilings, exposed reinforced concrete for the external envelope, hermetically sealed double-glazing in specific geometries for the operational spaces, and reinforced concrete partitions covered in perforated and plain metal sheets are among the materials used in the building. At the site and car entrances, the vehicle access road has unique wood elements, precast stormwater drains, and articulated paving. The structure is decorated with polished 30x30 cm granite mosaic tiles, and the kitchens and bathrooms have custom black Brazilian granite countertops. Whenever feasible, national and local suppliers were used.All things considered, this project has presented a big challenge for the professionals in our office, but its completion allows us to keep trying new things in the future. By bringing compassion and respect to a function that is usually disregarded because of its negative implications, it enables us to "reconsider our relationship with the afterlife." In the end, it is a project that offers the balance of beauty and usefulness that is the ultimate aim of architecture by articulating and integrating spaces to make them livable and noticeable.Section AASection BBEast elevationWest elevationNorth elevationSouth elevationProject factsProject name: Judicial Morgue for the City of VeraClient: Judicial Branch of the Province of Santa FeArchitectural Office: Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe / (Architect Adelia Sebastián - Architect Carreras Luis - Tech. Gonzalez Javier - Architect Batlle Casas Barbara - Basualdo Gonzalo - Tech. Grippaldi Bruno - Architect Soriano Sebastián)Architect(s) in charge: Architect Adelia SebastiánTechnical Support: Architect Guillermo Goddio - Architect Ramiro SosaConstruction Company: Cocyar S.A.Construction completion year: 2024Lot area: 5,000 m2Covered area: 402 m2Semi-covered area: 980 m2Project year: 2022Location: Vera, Province of Santa Fe, ArgentinaProgram: Institutional (Judicial Morgue)All images © Ramiro Sosa.All drawings © Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe.> via Office of the Architects of the Judicial Branch of Santa Fe

Lovell House | © Julius Shulman Few residential projects in the history of architecture have so concisely synthesized the aspirations of the modernist movement as the Lovell House. Designed by Richard Neutra and constructed between 1927 and 1929, this hillside residence overlooking Los Angeles is more than a stylistic landmark. It is a rigorous exploration of space, health, and industrial modernity. Commissioned by Dr. Philip Lovell, a health advocate and proponent of naturopathy, the house was conceived not as a retreat from the world but as a manifesto supporting rational living. For Neutra, who had recently arrived in the United States from Europe, this project represented a professional breakthrough and a profoundly personal alignment of ideological principles. Lovell House Technical Information Architects1-6: Richard Neutra Location: 4616 Dundee Drive, Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA Area: 446 m2 | 4,800 Sq. Ft. Project Year: 1927 – 1928 Photographs: © Julius Shulman Philip Lovell wanted a house that would express his ideas of health, hygiene, and fitness. I wanted a house that would express my ideas of modern architecture. In the end, we built both. – Richard Neutra 7 Lovell House Photographs © Michael Locke, Flickr User © Michael Locke, Flickr User © Barcelo Photography © Barcelo Photography © Barcelo Photography © Barcelo Photography © Julius Shulman © Julius Shulman © Julius Shulman © Julius Shulman © Julius Shulman © Julius Shulman Context and Commission The interwar period witnessed a radical reevaluation of domestic space, partly driven by technological advancements and shifting attitudes toward hygiene and well-being. Within this cultural milieu, Dr. Lovell, already known for commissioning the Lovell Beach House by Rudolf Schindler, sought to build a residence that would embody his beliefs in clean living, sun exposure, and fresh air. His choice of Neutra, an architect trained in Vienna and influenced by figures such as Adolf Loos and Erich Mendelsohn, signaled a deliberate move toward a more European, functionalist approach. The Lovell House was Neutra’s first major commission in the United States and his opportunity to engage with the burgeoning discourse around the International Style. Lovell’s trust in Neutra and the architect’s commitment to creating a scientifically ordered environment set the stage for one of the most iconic modern homes in American architecture. Design Strategies and Construction Innovation On the hills of Los Feliz, the Lovell House is among the earliest examples of residential steel-frame construction in the United States. Neutra’s use of this system, more commonly associated with commercial or industrial buildings then, allowed for a remarkably lightweight structure that could seemingly float above its steep site. The steel frame also permitted large spans and cantilevers, freeing the plan from traditional load-bearing constraints and enabling expansive glazed openings. The house is organized as a vertical sequence of spaces, with each floor serving a distinct function. The lower level includes areas for exercise and recreation, aligned with Lovell’s ideals, while the upper floors house living and sleeping quarters. Circulation is carefully orchestrated, with a suspended exterior stair emphasizing the connection between levels without interrupting the building’s formal clarity. Transparency and openness are guiding principles throughout the design. Ribbon windows, floor-to-ceiling glazing, and open terraces blur the boundary between inside and out, capitalizing on Southern California’s climate while reinforcing Neutra’s belief in architecture’s capacity to mediate between human beings and their environment. Materiality and Environmental Integration The Lovell House’s material language is deliberately spare. Industrial steel, concrete, glass, and stucco are deployed precisely, rejecting ornamentation in favor of surface, proportion, and rhythm. Neutra’s choice of materials was aesthetic and deeply aligned with the project’s hygienic ethos: smooth, cleanable surfaces, built-in furniture, and controlled daylight contribute to a sense of physical and psychological well-being. Despite its machine-like clarity, the house is far from alienated from its context. The steeply sloping terrain becomes an active component of the design. Outdoor terraces, bridges, and gardens mediate between the constructed and natural environments, encouraging movement, exposure to sunlight, and engagement with the landscape. Neutra’s sensitivity to site and orientation ensured that the building was not merely placed on the land but woven into its topography and climate. Legacy and Influence The Lovell House has long occupied a pivotal place in the architectural canon. Featured in the 1932 Museum of Modern Art exhibition that introduced the International Style to an American audience, it exemplified the movement’s nationalist ideals in built form. Its influence on subsequent generations of architects in the U.S. and abroad cannot be overstated. For Neutra, the project marked the beginning of a prolific career dedicated to what he termed “biorealism”: integrating architecture with its inhabitants’ physiological and psychological needs. The house’s emphasis on health, efficiency, and environmental responsiveness would become hallmarks of his later work. Lovell House Plans Sketches | © Richard Neutra Floor Plans | © Richard Neutra Elevations | © Richard Neutra Elevations | © Richard Neutra Isometric View | © Richard Neutra Lovell House Image Gallery About Richard Neutra Richard Neutra (1892–1970) was an Austrian-American architect whose work played a pivotal role in defining the architectural identity of mid-20th century California. Deeply influenced by European modernism and trained under figures like Adolf Loos and briefly Frank Lloyd Wright, Neutra brought a rigorous, human-centered approach to design that emphasized clarity, health, and environmental responsiveness. His architecture fused technological precision with psychological and physiological considerations, resulting in dwellings that were as much about wellness as they were about aesthetics. Best known for projects like the Lovell House and the Kaufmann Desert House, Neutra’s legacy is a model of modern architecture’s potential to harmonize life, nature, and innovation. Credits and Additional Notes Client: Dr. Philip Lovell Design Period: 1927 Construction Period: 1928–1929 Site Conditions: Steep hillside lot in Los Feliz with expansive views over Los Angeles Construction System: Steel-frame structure with gunite (sprayed concrete) and stucco cladding Architectural Style: International Style / Modernism Neutra: Complete Works by Barbara Mac Lamprecht, Peter Gossel, Dion Neutra, Julius Shulman

Three Formerly Enslaved Artists Created Beautiful Pottery 150 Years Ago, and Now Their Wares Are Coveted Around the World The stunning vessels from the H. Wilson & Company were forgotten for generations, only to gain new appreciation for the craftsmanship that went into them Photographs by DeSean McClinton-Holland Jacoba Urist June 2025 A jar made by H. Wilson & Company in Capote, Texas. Right, the muddy banks of Salt Creek, a tributary of the Guadalupe River about 50 miles northeast of San Antonio, where Wilson’s pottery company sourced its fine red clay.  The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; DeSean McClinton-Holland In 1856, the Reverend John McKamie Wilson Jr., a Presbyterian minister and entrepreneur interested in clay science, relocated from North Carolina to Texas. There in the Capote Hills—a rural, sparse enclave in Guadalupe County, 12 miles from the town of Seguin—Wilson opened a business called Guadalupe Pottery. Wilson mainly sold jugs, churns, crocks and cemetery flower jars. The pots featured crescent handles and a deep chocolate-colored interior of liquefied clay. Before refrigerators and iceboxes, high-fire, nonporous pottery was essential to life—the Tupperware or Ziploc bags of the 19th century. Clay pots preserved everything from grains, beef and butter to whiskey and even drinking water. The potters who worked under Wilson’s direction mostly used alkaline glaze, one of the oldest methods in ceramics, to create a glassy exterior from a slurry of wood ash, sand and clay. An arduous process in the 1850s, it took days to stoke underground wood-burning kilns to a high enough temperature for a successful firing. Three of Wilson’s potters were enslaved servants who traveled to Texas with him—Hiram, James and Wallace. For more than a decade, these men were responsible for nearly every facet of Guadalupe Pottery’s production: from mixing clay and expertly “throwing” the pots on a kick wheel to glazing and stacking vessels and meticulously controlling the temperature and duration of the kiln’s flames. The men kept working for the reverend even after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. In Texas, slavery didn’t end until June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order No. 3, informing the people of Texas that all who’d been enslaved were free—the event commemorated as Juneteenth.  Paula King Harper, a descendant of Hiram Wilson, sits on the steps of the Sebastopol House in Seguin, Texas, with Wilson vessels from her own collection. Harper leads the Wilson Pottery Foundation and coordinates the Wilson Pottery Show each October. DeSean McClinton-Holland Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $19.99 This article is a selection from the June 2025 issue of Smithsonian magazine In 1869, Hiram founded his own stoneware business at a new site with James and Wallace, H. Wilson & Company. (Though not biologically related, all three took their enslaver’s surname, the practice of some Black Americans at the time.) Some scholars believe that H. Wilson & Company was the first business in Texas founded and owned by formerly enslaved people.  Pots created by the hands of Hiram Wilson and his colleagues have been passed down through households and sold at garage sales over the course of many generations. Today, their rich history, as well as their distinctive styles and glazes, make the jugs sought-after acquisitions for museum collections. Left to right: A preserve jar, a three-gallon butter churn and a large jar with a lid from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; a stoneware jar from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.  The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (3); NMAH A century and a half later, the pots they made are celebrated in the ceramics world. In silvery grays and greens, with uneven salt drips and textured glazes that resemble the moon’s surface or, sometimes, an orange peel, Wilson wares are coveted both as objets d’art and for their extraordinary story of Black self-determination in the postwar South. Wilson pottery now resides in museums across the United States, from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston—an indelible part of the country’s entrepreneurial and creative heritage.   The story of Hiram, James and Wallace Wilson is woven through with threads of folklore, given the sparse records kept at that time, particularly for people born into slavery. But over the last 50 years, researchers have uncovered more details about the Wilsons. Georgeanna Greer—a San Antonio pediatrician and ceramics collector-aficionado—was passionate about locating abandoned kilns, and she left a trove of Wilson information behind, including a 1973 taped interview with James Wilson’s son, James Wilson Jr.  Capote Baptist Church has been in the midst of a restoration since 2012. After a new pastor, Terry Williams, arrived, its membership surged from 4 congregants to 85. DeSean McClinton-Holland A wooden cross on the property of the Capote Baptist Church that Hiram Wilson founded in 1872 DeSean McClinton-Holland Emancipation offered the Wilsons an opportunity none had ever expected. Establishing a pottery business was complex and costly. It meant finding a suitable site, testing clay, constructing a kiln and hiring proficient workers. And the men did all this in an “intensely dangerous environment,” said Ashley Williams, a recent fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In the late 1860s, Black residents of Guadalupe County “filed almost 200 complaints with the Freedmen’s Bureau for unpaid wages and violent crimes” perpetrated against them. A Baptist missionary from Maine, the Reverend Leonard Ilsley, helped Hiram buy 600 acres of land for $500 and likely either gave Hiram a personal loan or served as a guarantor in the transaction. When Hiram died in 1884­—survived by his wife, Senia, and 11 children—Ilsley served as administrator of his estate. One of Hiram’s great-great-granddaughters, LaVerne Lewis Britt, first discovered her connection to the potters after her retirement, when she became interested in genealogy. Over the course of five years, she researched and wrote a book called In Praise of Hiram Wilson, which describes how her ancestor created a thriving post-slavery community in Capote. Hiram set aside 10 of his 600 acres for a Baptist church and became its minister. The white steepled chapel remains active today, beside a cemetery with cedar and crape myrtle trees. Many Wilsons have been laid to rest there, including Hiram, whose grave is marked by a tall obelisk.  Pastor Terry Williams has been leading the Capote Baptist Church since 2015. When he arrived, he says, he felt the spirit of Hiram Wilson and other former slaves who founded the church in 1872—“a cold breeze coming up in the summertime.”  DeSean McClinton-Holland A Bible rests on the piano at Capote Baptist Church. Right, the building has been in the midst of a restoration since 2012. After Pastor Williams arrived, its membership surged from 4 congregants to 85. Hiram also founded a one-room schoolhouse where Paula King Harper, another of his descendants, says her grandmother once taught. King Harper is the current president of the Wilson Pottery Foundation. On the phone, she described how interest in her celebrated ancestor’s technique has spread in collector circles since the organization’s founding in 1999. A pottery collector in San Antonio was at a garage sale and noticed the green salt glaze drip from underneath dirt that had dried on a gallon jug. “They purchased it for less than $10, went home, cleaned it up, and guess what it was? A stamped H. Wilson.” Finding that stamp is now the equivalent of finding a signed painting by a renowned artist. King Harper once sat at an auction that included several pieces of Wilson pottery from someone’s private estate. “There was a beautiful, pristine five-gallon jug I watched sell for $12,000,” she said. Traditionally, clay artists, who made quotidian jugs and jars rather than purely aesthetic works, have been considered second-tier makers, ranking below sculptors. But over the last few decades, contemporary and historic ceramicists like the Wilsons are receiving new scholarly and art-world attention. Williams, the recent Smithsonian fellow, is researching the Wilsons as part of her doctorate at Columbia University. She notes that most enslaved potters wouldn’t have been able to inscribe their names or initials on a pot. But once the Wilson potters were free, they added a maker’s mark, which made all the difference. Future generations were able to dive into the records and find out more about the remarkable potters. “Because we can tie the makers to these objects, which is so rare, it allows us to see the story about the resilience of the Wilson potters during slavery, and their extreme success and survival,” Williams said. Elmer Joe Brackner Jr. was a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Texas when he unearthed buried ceramic shards and located the original kilns at two different H. Wilson & Company sites. DeSean McClinton-Holland Ashley Williams, a recent pre-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, has been researching the Wilson potters as part of her PhD dissertation on crafts made by enslaved and imprisoned artists. DeSean McClinton-Holland The Wilsons’ style may have been influenced by the works coming out of the Edgefield district in South Carolina, a place then known as a kind of pottery Mecca. It was famous for massive, bulbous jars and glazes, features that the early Wilson pots share. Edgefield has its own significant history of highly skilled Black craftsmen, including David Drake, the earliest known enslaved potter to inscribe his work. CollectorsDeSean McClinton-Holland Later, the Wilsons’ pottery took on more distinctive features. The men started out using alkaline glaze, but once they opened their own business they switched to salt glaze, likely for its strength and waterproofing properties. Salt glaze also produces more consistent colors and textures, such as the bumpy orange-peel finish admired by H. Wilson & Company collectors. At the time, the method was uncommon in Texas, according to Michelle Johnson, project manager of the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive at the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. “And it was dangerous,” she said, because salt glaze produces highly toxic chlorine gas from the wet salt thrown into the kiln during firing. (For this reason, contemporary ceramicists avoid the method altogether.) The Wilsons may have learned the technique from Isaac Suttles, an Ohio-born potter known for salt glazing, who is listed in the United States census as living in Seguin at the time.  The Sebastopol House, a Greek Revival home, was built in the 1850s by enslaved laborers who had advanced skills in working with concrete. Today, the building houses the Wilson Pottery Museum.  DeSean McClinton-Holland Lid rims are another notable element of H. Wilson & Company’s jars. At the first pottery-making site, during their enslavement, the men made more tie-down rims—jars without lids that require paper or cloth as a cover, which were easier and faster to make. Later, at their own shop, they crafted rims fitted for lids. Those lid rims allowed for more watertightstorage, but they also required more sophisticated expertise.If you think you may have stumbled on one of these treasures at a garage or estate sale, look for a horseshoe-like handle—the most significant visual identifier of a Wilson pot. It’s still unclear why Hiram, James and Wallace switched to these thicker, rolled handles from their original Edgefield-inspired crescents. It may have been because horseshoe handles are sturdier, offering more surface connection to the pot’s body. It’s another puzzling question that Williams is pursuing and hopes to answer in the future.  It took a long time for the art world to discover the Wilsons’ creations. After Hiram’s death in 1884, James and Wallace Wilson went on to work at another pottery site run by Marion Durham, a potter from South Carolina who had moved to Texas with John Chandler, who was most likely his enslaved servant at the time. By the time the Wilsons joined them, Durham and Chandler were in business together. That site closed in 1903. These pots remained in circulation, but many details of their story were lost.  Modern replicas of the Wilson pottery logo created by Earline Green. DeSean McClinton-Holland Earline Green, an educator and a member of the Wilson Pottery Foundation’s board of directors. Green helps promote the potters’ legacy by demonstrating their innovative 19th-century techniques.  DeSean McClinton-Holland Decades later, an anthropology graduate student named Elmer Joe Brackner Jr. conducted a magnetometry survey to find buried pottery. (Clay contains iron oxides that can become magnetized.) At the original Guadalupe Pottery site he found what’s known as a “groundhog kiln,” a uniquely Southern, semi-subterranean kiln used in the 19th century for firing alkaline-glazed pottery. At the second site, home of the independent H. Wilson & Company, Brackner found ceramic-glazed shards and another groundhog kiln. His research, and that of Georgeanna Greer, the ceramic historian, helped piece together the Wilsons’ unusual story. After many years of advocacy by the Wilson Pottery Foundation, art historians and curators began scouring land deeds, court documents and handwritten capacity marks (numbers that denote the volume of each jug) to present a fuller picture of the Wilsons, sometimes correcting previous theories about their methodology and timeline. Texas ceramic artist Earline Green researches the Wilsons’ past while creating her own pottery to honor their legacy. In 2018, she interviewed Wilson descendants and collectors and visited historical societies in Texas for archival information. Two years later, she curated an exhibition on her campus in Fort Worth; the show also displayed ceramic pieces she created based on the work of the Wilson potters. Deacon Willie Hightower Sr., a descendant of Hiram Wilson and one of the current deacons at Capote Baptist Church. DeSean McClinton-Holland Hiram Wilson’sDeSean McClinton-Holland The narrative continues to evolve, due in no small part to proud descendants of Hiram, James and Wallace. Every three years, hundreds of people gather in Seguin, Texas, for a jubilant three-day Wilson family reunion that is open to the public. In 2023, festivities included the Wilson Pottery Foundation gala and a tenth anniversary celebration at the Wilson Pottery Museum. The last reunion fell on the weekend before Juneteenth, and the reunion committee arranged a kickoff concert Sunday evening followed by Juneteenth events in Seguin’s downtown square. “I was fortunate to grow up in Texas in the 1980s, around the time when our cousin LaVerne Lewis Britt had uncovered the history,” explains DeSean McClinton-Holland, the photographer of this story and a Wilson descendant through his maternal grandmother. “I grew up knowing bits of the story and visiting the church.” He describes the process of documenting Hiram Wilson’s legacy as a healing journey. “To think, he was born into slavery and was able to accomplish so much shortly thereafter,” he says. “It’s inspiring and motivating to think of all the freedoms we have now, and that we really have to push a bit harder.”  Get the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.

Fine soil particles once encased in ice were discovered in a cave about 20,000 years after the frozen sheet melted. This sediment is significant both for what it tells us about the past and what it could forecast for the future, according to an article in the journal Nature Geoscience.The sediment found in an Alaskan cave was likely once part of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Most of that ice — along with the sediment contained within it — ended up in the oceans. Finding traces of it on land is extremely rare.“This is the first evidence of land-based meltwater events from this ice-sheet,” Paul Wilcox, a geologist at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and an author of the paper, said in a press release. “In a way, the cave acted as a kind of time capsule that preserved the sediments for thousands of years.”Preserving Ice Age LifeTwo aspects of the sediment help tell the story of Ice Age life. First, scientists detected plant pollen within the particles. That provides indirect evidence of biological refuges — even during peak ice coverage “[…] in which plants could survive even under extreme climatic conditions,” Daniela Festi, a pollen researcher with GeoSphere Austria and an author of the paper, said in a press release.The sediment also contained quartz — convenient because the presence of that mineral makes determining the particles’ age possible using a method that can detect when it was last exposed to sunlight. But more importantly, it also shows that the sediment must have been transported quite a distance before being deposited, since the cave is in a limestone region, where quartz would generally be scarce or non-existent.Glacial Meltwater and Climate ChangesDating the sediment allows scientists to look to the past to forecast the future. Although the Cordilleran Ice Sheet almost certainly melted due to a change in the Earth’s position relative to the sun, that alone doesn’t account for the ice’s backward retreat from western North America. Other forces must have contributed.Data from the last Ice Age show signs that glacial meltwater repeatedly pulsed into the North Atlantic. That cycle likely further disrupted the region’s heat and contributed to further warming.“This supports the hypothesis that climate changes in the Northeast Pacific were a prerequisite for the shifts observed in the North Atlantic,” Wilcox said in the release.Understanding how these events happened over space and time could inform us about the future. Continued warming could lead to similar increased freshwater flowing into the oceans. That, in turn, could disrupt circulation systems that impact temperature.The researchers plan to investigate additional Alaskan caves and compare the sediment archives to each other. That could provide a more detailed picture of the past ice sheet’s melting dynamics — and perhaps provide a glimpse into how a similar event could affect climate in the future.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" A new, integrated building by Sasaki now replaces the old science building at the Frederick Gunn School and brings a range of learning environments together. Titled the Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship, the building honors the school’s founder’s vision as an educator, abolitionist, advocate for the outdoors, and innovator in curriculum and student development. The new building, which integrates seamlessly into the campus established in 1850, introduces a contemporary expression while maintaining the scale and integrity of its surrounding context.The architects reinterpreted the local typology of a contemporary farmhouse for the new building and organized the program into three pavilions. This approach allowed different functions to be distinguished while also reducing the building’s perceived scale in relation to neighboring historic structures. The wooded and rocky nature of the site, along with the vernacular architecture of the campus and surrounding region, inspired the project’s materiality. The architects focused on a simple palette, uniform colors, and treated materials. The landscape around the building was also redesigned, introducing new circulation paths connecting the campus’s two primary open spaces. Outcroppings of rock and mature trees defined the building footprint and were left untouched during construction. Trees that had to be felled were reclaimed and used to create interior seating and custom tables for the project.The program of the building allows cross-pollination of different activities, as spaces transition from purpose-built areas like physics, biology, and chemistry labs to flexible spaces like shared flex classrooms, the Entrepreneurship Center, and the Center for Just Democracy. The sensible approach to massing, program relationships, and landscape was also carried through to the building technologies, as it minimizes environmental impact through the use of solar photovoltaic panels and a geothermal well field, which provides the majority of heating and cooling. Furthermore, by utilizing a highly efficient envelope, the building sits very near Net Zero status. Nicknamed “The Lizzie,” the Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship is now utilized as a hub for the campus community, as its open and flexible learning environments allow students and faculty to turn ideas into action.The new center, and the surrounding landscape not only provides a dynamic addition to the campus, but also provides spaces for students to receive a cutting-edge experience and become future leaders and model citizens. Opening its doors to the students in January 2024, The Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship is now a bustling hub that fulfils, and carries Frederick Gunn's vision to the future.Project factsClient: Frederick Gunn SchoolArchitect: SasakiArea: 24000 ft² (2230 m2)Location: Washington, CTMEP: BR+A Consulting Engineers Inc.Structural Engineer: RSELandscape Engineer: Future Green StudioEngineering & Consulting: Haley & Aldrich, Studio NYLCivil Engineer: Tighe & Bond Inc.Acoustic Consultant: AcentechLighting Consultant: LAM PARTNERSCompletion year: 2024Top image © Jeremy Bittermann, Courtesy -  Sasaki All images © Jeremy Bittermann.

Imagine Montessori School | © Mariela Apollonio Located along the edge of the En Dolça ravine in Paterna, Valencia, the Imagine Montessori School by Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes reimagines the relationship between educational space and nature. More than an academic facility, the project is a mediating layer between the urban grid and a Mediterranean pine forest. With an architectural strategy that prioritizes child-centered learning, spatial legibility, and material authenticity, the school articulates a pedagogical framework through its built form. Imagine Montessori School Technical Information Architects1-23: Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Location: Paterna, Valencia, Spain Area: 2,922 m2 | 31,449 Sq. Ft. Project Year: 2017 – 2024 Photographs: © Mariela Apollonio The building is not intended to be an object in the landscape, but a part of it, an extension of the terrain that disappears so that nature becomes the true façade. – Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Imagine Montessori School Photographs Street View | © Mariela Apollonio Entrance | © Mariela Apollonio Facade | © Mariela Apollonio Facade | © Mariela Apollonio Courtyard | © Mariela Apollonio Opening | © Mariela Apollonio Facade | © Mariela Apollonio Terrace | © Mariela Apollonio Balcony | © Mariela Apollonio Stairs | © Mariela Apollonio Interior | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Contextual Foundations: A Site-Driven Pedagogy The school’s defining gesture is its orientation, not toward the street but toward the landscape. In rejecting the street-facing urban façade, the building signals a reversal in conventional institutional typologies. The access route begins within a pine grove, where children traverse elevated wooden walkways between trees. This procession is not simply aesthetic but symbolic: a transition from the ordered rhythms of the city into the fluid, unpredictable logic of nature. Here, the site is not an inert backdrop but an active participant in shaping architectural decisions. The building emerges as an extension of the ravine itself, folding, settling, and disappearing beneath a green roof that mimics the topography. The landscape is not curated; it is left raw and wild, with pinecones, roots, and mushrooms serving as didactic tools. The design resists the sanitization often found in contemporary schoolyards and instead engages directly with the ecological conditions of the terrain. Spatial Strategy and Pedagogical Integration Formally, the building adopts an elongated S-shaped footprint, generating two distinct outdoor voids: a western entry plaza and an eastern natural playground. This configuration does more than optimize views; it choreographs an internal spatial rhythm aligned with Montessori principles. Each classroom opens onto the ravine, allowing daylight, ventilation, and natural stimuli to become integral components of the educational environment. Interior planning is liberated from hierarchical spatial orders. There is no teacher’s desk nor any central focal point. Classrooms are divided into five zones: sensory, practical life, language, mathematics, and cultural studies, enabling fluid movement and diverse learning modes. Circulation is not relegated to corridors but expanded into informal gathering spaces: widened paths, seating niches, double-height voids, and interior balconies foster spatial democracy and autonomy. Crucially, the architecture speaks to children through scale. Arched thresholds, lofted alcoves, and floor-level seating areas are intentionally designed to accommodate bodies in formative stages. These gestures create an environment where children encounter the building not as a fixed container but as a responsive medium. Imagine Montessori School Material Honesty The building’s construction is didactic. Clay and timber, the two principal materials, are left exposed, allowing the tectonic logic of the building to remain legible. The 60 cm-thick brick walls serve as a load-bearing structure, thermal mass, and finish. There is no applied cladding; instead, the imperfections of material tool marks, tonal variation, and subtle cracks are embraced as part of the building’s expression. Wood complements clay in both structural and experiential ways. Timber roof panels, partitions, and joinery elements soften the masonry mass, introducing warmth and tactile variation. Concrete use is minimized, restricted primarily to foundations, while steel appears only in strategic elements such as railings and slender columns. Mechanical and electrical systems are not concealed behind ceilings or walls. Their visibility transforms the building into a diagram of its operation, offering students insight into energy, water, and ventilation flows. This transparency reinforces the project’s pedagogical ethos: education begins not only in the classroom but also in the fabric of the building itself. Landscape as Curriculum Rather than isolating the building from its context, the project incorporates the landscape into every facet of the educational experience. Each classroom opens directly to a semi-covered terrace with a water fountain, a deciduous tree, and tiered seating. These thresholds become spatial hybrids, neither entirely interior nor exterior, blurring the division between architecture and ecology. The ravine functions as a temporal and sensory field. Its shifting hydrology during rains, the seasonal shedding of trees, and the growth of wild asparagus are not distractions but phenomena to be observed and interpreted. There is a deliberate absence of traditional sports infrastructure; the sloped terrain is manipulated into ramps, climbing walls, and caves, inviting exploration and risk within a safe environment. This approach aligns with contemporary ecological pedagogy but avoids its typical tropes. There is no simulation of “naturalness” through curated green spaces or artificial turf. Instead, the landscape is allowed to be what it is: dynamic, coarse, unpredictable, and children are entrusted to navigate it. Imagine Montessori School Plans Ground Level | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Level 2 | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Roof Plan | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Sections | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Elevations | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Imagine Montessori School Image Gallery About Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes is a Valencia-based architecture studio founded by Carmel Gradolí and Arturo Sanz, known for their context-driven, materially honest, and environmentally conscious designs. Since 1993, the practice has developed a diverse portfolio of public and private projects that respond sensitively to their cultural and physical surroundings. Their work often engages with heritage, pedagogy, and sustainability themes, characterized by restrained formal language and thoughtful use of local materials. Guided by a commitment to civic responsibility and architectural clarity, the studio seeks to create functional and emotionally resonant spaces. Credits and Additional Notes Lead Architects: Arturo Sanz, Carmel Gradolí, Fran López Collaborating Architects: J. Luis Vilar, María Navarro, Daniel López Quantity Surveyor: Francisco Vallet Traditional Structure Engineering: Adolfo Alonso Timber Structure Engineering: Albura Wood & Concept Acoustic Consultant: Silens Acústica  Green Certification Consultant: GBCE  Phase 1 Installations & BREEAM Consultant: Zero Consulting  Phase 2 Installations: GME  Lighting Design: Cosmo Stil General Constructor: Grupo Valseco Brick Vaults: Cercaa Exterior Wood Carpentry: Morata Interior Carpentry: DISBEA Showlutions  Metalwork: Martí Cots  Glasswork: Cristalería Crevillente  Landscape Design (Phase 1): GM Paisajistas  3D Visualizations: Drawfield Client: Zubi Educational Real Estate Built-up Area: 2,922 m² Usable Floor Area: 2,298 m² Plot Size: 4,556 m² Construction Cost: €4.6 million

In an industry where typefaces are designed to be used by thousands, a radical new concept has emerged that turns conventional type distribution on its head. David Březina, managing director at Rosetta Type, has created a typographic experiment called Only Yours: a typeface system that generates unique variants available exclusively to individual customers. The premise is brilliantly simple yet revolutionary: nine new variants of the typeface are released every day. Once purchased, a variant is permanently removed from circulation, ensuring that no one else will ever own that specific design. "The idea for a typeface that would be different for each customer has been on my mind for a few years," explains David. "According to surveys, most designers do not know how to use OpenType features and hence letter alternates. I'd been working on a still-unreleased typeface called Sacco, and at some point, it was so easy to create more and more letter alternates that it seemed like a shame to keep them tucked away somewhere in the font where no one would look." This observation sparked a more profound question: what if instead of hiding alternates within a font's features, the alternates themselves became the foundation for entirely unique typeface variants? Inspired by Dylan The concept lay dormant, though, until a surprising moment of inspiration. "I sat on it for a few years," recalls David. "The project seemed intimidating in scope, and I didn't really see a good reason to do it. "Then I went to see Bob Dylan, who's known for constantly rewriting his songs, in concert. It occurred to me that having so many perceivably different variants would bring more authenticity to the users. They could each have a unique font, in the same way concert-goers can attend a unique performance." This parallel between the legendary musician's ever-evolving performances and the notion of typographic uniqueness crystallised the concept. What began as design work in December 2025 led to a soft launch at the Automatic Type Design conference in Nancy, France, in February 2025. Science behind the system Only Yours isn't merely a stylistic exercise; it's grounded in David's PhD research on letter similarity perception. "I studied how they are clearly different, yet, in a well-designed font, they also look visually coherent," he explains. Technical implementation is where things become fascinatingly complex. Rather than designing alternative letters, David took a more fundamental approach. "Similarity perception is explained in terms of distinctive visual features that are shared by some of the letters, but not necessarily all of them," he explains. "More shared features mean stronger perceived similarity between the letters. It occurred to me that I could hack into this system and design alternates, not for the letters as we're used to from contemporary fonts, but for the individual features." While keeping some aspects of the generation process proprietary, David confirms that this feature-based approach allows for remarkable diversity while maintaining design coherence. "Using a reverse-contrast design remotely related to Antique Olive also helped to incorporate some rectangular elements more easily. The coherence does not need to be perfect, after all. Some of my favourite variants come from unexpected violations of the overall coherence." Scarcity as a feature, not a bug In an era of unlimited digital reproduction, Only Yours deliberately introduces scarcity. With over a million variants, the decision to release just nine per day transforms typography selection into something akin to a daily treasure hunt. "We didn't want to design a system for users to pick and choose," David notes. "The value of the project is not in providing all the options. It is in exclusivity. "Originally, I wanted the variant to be chosen randomly for the customers," he added. "But that did not seem right, so we settled on a compromise: offering nine new variants every day, which also turns it into a game. They're never shown again, so if you like one, you better get it." This approach creates a fascinating tension between the digital nature of typefaces and the artificial scarcity that makes each variant valuable. Once a customer purchases a weight from a variant, all weights within that variant become exclusive to them, preventing anyone else from fragmenting their unique typographic identity. Redefining typographic identity When sharing his concept with fellow designers before launch, David received some scepticism. "When I tried to discuss this idea with some friends, graphic designers, in November, they told me that it would be 'totally useless for branding'," he recalls with amusement. I disagree: since every variant is exclusive, it is perfect for branding!" Far from being an obstacle to professional use, the consistency within each variant across weights ensures practical usability while maintaining uniqueness. "Each variant of Only Yours is consistent across multiple weights, so it should work just fine in professional contexts," he asserts. The potential applications extend beyond individual designers. "Creating unique experiences in branding is not new. There is Freitag with their bags, each original, or even Coca-Cola with their named cans, which is a step in that direction," David points out. "Perhaps Only Yours could make it easier in some cases. We could, theoretically, generate thousands of unique variants for someone to licence as a bulk. Or a magazine could get a new variant for each issue." Looking to the future: Softly Yours Building on the success of Only Yours, Rosetta Type has already announced plans for Softly Yours, a rounded version using the same generative framework. "We set the price quite affordable to be more flexible," David adds. "We do have customers who already purchased multiple variants." Overall, this project represents a fascinating intersection of typographic design, computational creativity and exclusivity marketing. In a world increasingly concerned with digital ownership and authenticity, Rosetta Type has created something that feels almost paradoxical: a digital asset that can't be perfectly duplicated. For graphic designers and branding specialists, Rosetta Type offers something truly novel: the guarantee that your typographic voice won't be inadvertently duplicated by competitors. In an industry constantly searching for uniqueness, David has engineered it directly into the fabric of his typeface. As the nine variants change daily and customers claim their exclusive pieces of typographic history, Only Yours and Softly Yours aren't just new fonts. They represent a new relationship between designers and their tools, where scarcity, exclusivity and personal connection have been reintroduced to the digital realm.

Researchers from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and multiple collaborating institutions are advancing the use of additive manufacturing (AM) to produce zinc-based biomaterials for biodegradable medical implants. Motivated by the need for temporary implants that naturally degrade in the body, thereby eliminating risks associated with long-term metal retention, the team investigated selective laser melting (SLM) and binder jetting as methods to process zinc and zinc oxide powders into patient-specific scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration. Their findings, published in Acta Biomaterialia, demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating porous zinc structures with tailored degradation rates and mechanical properties. The study addresses key challenges in fabricating zinc structures via AM, including the metal’s low boiling point, high reflectivity, and tendency to oxidize. These properties have historically complicated laser-based processing, limiting zinc’s use in load-bearing biomedical applications despite its attractive profile as a biodegradable, bioactive material. Zinc as a next-generation biodegradable metal for AM Zinc’s corrosion rate is slower than that of magnesium but significantly faster than iron, placing it in an ideal range for bioresorption over a clinically relevant time frame. It also exhibits inherent antibacterial properties and plays a role in osteogenesis. However, traditional manufacturing routes have struggled to produce complex, porous zinc scaffolds suitable for bone in-growth. Additive manufacturing enables the fabrication of patient-specific, lattice-based implants with fine control over pore geometry, strut thickness, and internal architecture. In this study, SLM was used to process zinc powder into porous structures, while inkjet printing of zinc oxide was followed by a post-processing step that included sintering and reduction to metallic zinc. Both methods demonstrated potential to overcome the design limitations of conventional manufacturing, with implications for orthopedic and craniofacial implant design.(i) Schematic of a typical Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) machine, illustrating the inert atmosphere within the construction chamber and the direction of gas movement indicated by blue arrows. (ii) (a) Typical Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process; (b) SLM process schematic showing the processing chamber and gas circulation system; (c) Parameters for processing. (iii) Setup for the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) process. (iv) (a) Schematic of an Electron Beam Melting (EBM) machine. (v) Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process. (vi) (a) Diagram of laser powder Directed Energy Deposition (DED) systems; (b) Schematic of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) equipment based on plasma arc welding. (vii) Schematics for the Binder Jetting (BJ) process. Image via Journal of Materials Research and Technology. Optimizing AM parameters for zinc processing SLM processing required fine-tuning to mitigate evaporation and reduce porosity caused by keyhole formation. The authors suggest that alloying zinc with elements such as magnesium, calcium, or silver may improve printability, mechanical performance, and degradation behavior. With optimized parameters, the team achieved scaffolds with compressive strengths in the range of cancellous bone and interconnected pores that facilitate vascularization and cell migration. Inkjet-based AM offered an alternative pathway, especially for producing lower-density structures with finer feature resolution. However, it introduced challenges related to shrinkage and sintering-induced defects. Despite these issues, both AM approaches enabled the fabrication of cytocompatible scaffolds that supported cell attachment and proliferation in vitro, meeting preliminary benchmarks for biocompatibility. In vitro antibacterial activity: Bacterial morphology on the surface of samples after co-culture with (a) S. aureus and (b) E. coli (arrows tips indicated dead bacteria with broken and incomplete bacterial cell walls); (c) Images of S. aureus and E. coli on TSA after co-cultured with samples; (d) Antibacterial rates calculated by colony counting method; (e) Antibacterial abilities of the samples after incubation with PBS for 3, 7 days. Image via Journal of Materials Research and Technology. Toward clinical translation and customized implants The paper positions AM zinc devices as candidates for temporary bone fixation, load-sharing scaffolds, and biodegradable stents. Unlike permanent metallic implants, these devices gradually degrade in the body, reducing long-term complication risks and eliminating the need for surgical removal. Additive manufacturing’s digital design flexibility further supports the integration of patient-specific anatomical data, potentially reducing recovery times and improving treatment outcomes. Looking ahead, the authors emphasize the need for further in vivo testing and alloy development to tune degradation rates and biofunctionality. Hybrid AM strategies, such as combining inkjet-printed sacrificial templates with SLM overlays, may allow for functionally graded materials and composite structures. Advancements in biodegradable implants Recent advancements in 3D printing of zinc-based biomaterials for biodegradable medical implants highlight the growing interest in utilizing AM to create patient-specific, bioresorbable metal implants. This trend is part of a broader movement in the field of AM of bioresorbable metals, where researchers are exploring materials like magnesium, iron, and zinc to develop implants that safely degrade within the body over time. One pertinent example is the work by engineers at Delft University of Technology, who have utilized extrusion-based 3D printing to fabricate biodegradable bone implants made of porous iron. Similar to zinc, porous iron is biodegradable and has potential as a temporary bone substitute that degrades as new bone regrows, thereby reducing the risk of long-term inflammation associated with permanent metal implants. The Delft team developed a purpose-built extrusion-based setup to overcome challenges related to the low biodegradation rate of bulk iron, achieving porous structures with enhanced biodegradability and mechanical properties suitable for bone healing. Another notable development is the research conducted by RWTH Aachen University, where scientists have been working on lattice structures manufactured from a zinc-magnesium (ZnMg) alloy using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB). These structures are designed to be patient-friendly and promote bone healing, with the ZnMg alloy offering a balance between mechanical strength and biodegradability. The researchers aim to develop bone-mimicking structures while gradually degrading in the body, eliminating the need for secondary surgeries to remove implants.As additive manufacturing continues to mature, zinc-based bioresorbable devices may offer a crucial link between materials science, digital fabrication, and personalized medicine.What 3D printing trends should you watch out for in 2025? How is the future of 3D printing shaping up? Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to keep up with the latest 3D printing news.You can also follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry Youtube channel to access more exclusive content. Feature image shows a scanning electron microscope scan of a single laser scan cross-section of a tested nickel and zinc alloy structure. Image via Texas A&M University.

COFCO Qianhai Innovation Center Office / Goettsch PartnersSave this picture!Courtesy COFCO. Image © CreatAROffice Buildings•Shenzhen, China Architects: Goettsch Partners Area Area of this architecture project Area:  190000 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 Photographs Photographs:CreatAR Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers:  SYP Glass MEP Engineers: WSP Norge, WSP Lighting Consultants: HDA More SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. The COFCO Qianhai Innovation Center is a state-of-the-art headquarters and multi-tenant office complex located in Shenzhen, China. This 190,000-square-meter development is defined by two nearly identical towers, each crowned with a large, glass-enclosed atrium. These atria provide unique identities in the skyline for the headquarters of two related companies: COFCO Group and Aviva-COFCO Life Insurance. The respective 200- and 180-meter towers are composed of three slender masses where the upper levels are carved back and exposed to reveal the open atrium and separate outdoor sky terrace that connect to the surrounding cityscape. Sited next to an urban green belt and local park, the towers are oriented to address this context and integrate closely with the natural environment. The buildings are rectangular in plan, with one side tapered to expand views toward Qianhai Bay.Save this picture!The design of the COFCO Qianhai complex is a reflection of Shenzhen's rapid growth from a fishing village into a megacity of 17 million people. Inspired by the organic development of Shenzhen's urban villages—where dwelling units stacked over time have shaped the streetscape—the complex's design features headquarters spaces that function like a connected village in the sky.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The atrium at the top of each tower serves as a dynamic, flexible space that unifies the building's headquarters floors. These atria feature interconnecting stairs, open corridors, and meeting rooms that encourage formal and informal collaboration among employees. The grand spaces can also host large company-wide events. Each atrium is entirely clad in a highly transparent cable wall, blurring interior and exterior space, and visually linking the sky villages to the traditional urban villages at the street level.Save this picture!Save this picture!"The COFCO Qianhai complex sets a new standard for urban headquarters, especially in China," said James Zheng, AIA, LEED AP, CEO and president of GP. "The design pays tribute to Shenzhen's origins while reinforcing its global ambitions with a strong visual identity."Save this picture!The cable walls are a key engineering innovation, offering a dynamic component that adapts to external forces and internal stresses. Unlike conventional static facades, the cable system uses outward-angled columns to support horizontal cables, which are reinforced by each floor slab back to the core. The vertical cables are engineered to flex, absorbing and distributing loads, ensuring stability under varying conditions—including seismic events.Save this picture!Save this picture!The towers feature operable windows for natural ventilation, reducing the need for mechanical cooling systems. Double-laminated low-E glass, combined with ceramic frit coatings, minimizes solar heat gain and enhances energy efficiency. Additionally, the air circulation system within the atria draws cool air from the ground level and channels it upward, creating a passive cooling effect that helps maintain a comfortable indoor environment, even in Shenzhen's warm, humid climate.Save this picture!"The facades strike a balance between aesthetics and functionality, a crucial consideration given Shenzhen's subtropical climate," said Travis Soberg, AIA, LEED AP, principal and director of sustainable design at GP. "The elegance of the design was made possible by a team of designers and engineers working in close collaboration to deliver both beauty and performance."Save this picture!The complex's ground level incorporates sustainable features, designed as a "sponge city" to absorb rainfall. Permeable surfaces and strategic landscaping help manage stormwater, reducing urban runoff and minimizing flood risk. A sunken garden and pedestrian-level greenery further connect the development to its natural surroundings.Save this picture!By combining innovative design, sustainable practices and cutting-edge engineering, the COFCO Qianhai complex establishes a new paradigm for modern Shenzhen. Its "sky village" concept promotes community and connectivity, transforming the high-rise workplace into a more human-centric environment. This development supports Shenzhen's vision to become a global leader, inspiring future projects that prioritize community, sustainability and technological advancement.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less Project locationAddress:Shenzhen, ChinaLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeGoettsch PartnersOffice••• MaterialGlassMaterials and TagsPublished on May 14, 2025Cite: "COFCO Qianhai Innovation Center Office / Goettsch Partners" 14 May 2025. ArchDaily. 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