• Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025 announces 19 shortlisted projects from 15 countries

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    19 shortlisted projects for the 2025 Award cycle were revealed by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. A portion of the million prize, one of the biggest in architecture, will be awarded to the winning proposals. Out of the 369 projects nominated for the 16th Award Cycle, an independent Master Jury chose the 19 shortlisted projects from 15 countries.The nine members of the Master Jury for the 16th Award cycle include Azra Akšamija, Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Lucia Allais, David Basulto, Yvonne Farrell, Kabage Karanja, Yacouba Konaté, Hassan Radoine, and Mun Summ Wong.His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV created the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1977 to recognize and promote architectural ideas that effectively meet the needs and goals of communities where Muslims are a major population. Nearly 10,000 construction projects have been documented since the award's inception 48 years ago, and 128 projects have been granted it. The AKAA's selection method places a strong emphasis on architecture that stimulates and responds to people's cultural ambitions in addition to meeting their physical, social, and economic demands.The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. The other members of the Steering Committee are Meisa Batayneh, Principal Architect, Founder, maisam architects and engineers, Amman, Jordan; Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor of Philosophy and Francophone Studies, Columbia University, New York, United States of America; Lesley Lokko, Founder & Director, African Futures Institute, Accra, Ghana; Gülru Necipoğlu, Director and Professor, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America; Hashim Sarkis, Founder & Principal, Hashim Sarkis Studios; Dean, School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States of America; and Sarah M. Whiting, Partner, WW Architecture; Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America. Farrokh Derakhshani is the Director of the Award.Examples of outstanding architecture in the areas of modern design, social housing, community development and enhancement, historic preservation, reuse and area conservation, landscape design, and environmental enhancement are recognized by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.Building plans that creatively utilize local resources and relevant technologies, as well as initiatives that could spur such initiatives abroad, are given special consideration. It should be mentioned that in addition to honoring architects, the Award also recognizes towns, builders, clients, master craftspeople, and engineers who have contributed significantly to the project.Projects had to be completed between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2023, and they had to have been operational for a minimum of one year in order to be eligible for consideration in the 2025 Award cycle. The Award is not available for projects that His Highness the Aga Khan or any of the Aga Khan Development Networkinstitutions have commissioned.See the 19 shortlisted projects with their short project descriptions competing for the 2025 Award Cycle:Khudi Bari. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / City SyntaxBangladeshKhudi Bari, in various locations, by Marina Tabassum ArchitectsMarina Tabassum Architects' Khudi Bari, which can be readily disassembled and reassembled to suit the needs of the users, is a replicable solution for displaced communities impacted by geographic and climatic changes.West Wusutu Village Community Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Dou YujunChinaWest Wusutu Village Community Centre, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, by Zhang PengjuIn addition to meeting the religious demands of the local Hui Muslims, Zhang Pengju's West Wusutu Village Community Centre in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, offers social and cultural spaces for locals and artists. Constructed from recycled bricks, it features multipurpose indoor and outdoor areas that promote communal harmony.Revitalisation of Historic Esna. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Ahmed SalemEgyptRevitalisation of Historic Esna, by Takween Integrated Community DevelopmentBy using physical interventions, socioeconomic projects, and creative urban planning techniques, Takween Integrated Community Development's Revitalization of Historic Esna tackles the issues of cultural tourism in Upper Egypt and turns the once-forgotten area around the Temple of Khnum into a thriving historic city.The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo WidityawanIndonesiaThe Arc at Green School, in Bali, by IBUKU / Elora HardyAfter 15 years of bamboo experimenting at the Green School Bali, IBUKU/Elora Hardy created The Arc at Green School. The Arc is a brand-new community wellness facility built on the foundations of a temporary gym. High-precision engineering and regional handicraft are combined in this construction.Islamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo WidityawanIndonesiaIslamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque, in Palu, Central Sulawesi, by Dave Orlando and Fandy GunawanDave Orlando and Fandy Gunawan built the Islamic Center Nurul Yaqin Mosque in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on the location of a previous mosque that was damaged by a 2018 tsunami. There is a place for worship and assembly at the new Islamic Center. Surrounded by a shallow reflecting pool that may be drained to make room for more guests, it is open to the countryside.Microlibrary Warak Kayu. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo WidityawanIndonesiaMicrolibraries in various cities, by SHAU / Daliana Suryawinata, Florian HeinzelmannFlorian Heinzelmann, the project's initiator, works with stakeholders at all levels to provide high-quality public spaces in a number of Indonesian parks and kampungs through microlibraries in different towns run by SHAU/Daliana Suryawinata. So far, six have been constructed, and by 2045, 100 are planned.Majara Residence. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed StudioIranMajara Complex and Community Redevelopment, in Hormuz Island by ZAV Architects / Mohamadreza GhodousiThe Majara Complex and Community Redevelopment on Hormuz Island, designed by ZAV Architects and Mohamadreza Ghodousi, is well-known for its vibrant domes that offer eco-friendly lodging for visitors visiting Hormuz's distinctive scenery. In addition to providing new amenities for the islanders who visit to socialize, pray, or utilize the library, it was constructed by highly trained local laborers.Jahad Metro Plaza. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed StudioIranJahad Metro Plaza in Tehran, by KA Architecture StudioKA Architecture Studio's Jahad Metro Plaza in Tehran was constructed to replace the dilapidated old buildings. It turned the location into a beloved pedestrian-friendly landmark. The arched vaults, which are covered in locally manufactured brick, vary in height to let air and light into the area they are protecting.Khan Jaljulia Restoration. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela BurstowIsraelKhan Jaljulia Restoration in Jaljulia by Elias KhuriElias Khuri's Khan Jaljulia Restoration is a cost-effective intervention set amidst the remnants of a 14th-century Khan in Jaljulia. By converting the abandoned historical location into a bustling public area for social gatherings, it helps the locals rediscover their cultural history.Campus Startup Lions. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Christopher Wilton-SteerKenyaCampus Startup Lions, in Turkana by Kéré ArchitectsKéré Architecture's Campus Startup Lions in Turkana is an educational and entrepreneurial center that offers a venue for community involvement, business incubation, and technology-driven education. The design incorporates solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and tall ventilation towers that resemble the nearby termite mounds, and it was constructed using local volcanic stone.Lalla Yeddouna Square. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Amine HouariMoroccoRevitalisation of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the medina of Fez, by Mossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil StudioMossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil Studio's revitalization of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the Fez medina aims to improve pedestrian circulation and reestablish a connection to the waterfront. For the benefit of locals, craftspeople, and tourists from around the globe, existing buildings were maintained and new areas created.Vision Pakistan. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib ZuberiPakistanVision Pakistan, in Islamabad by DB Studios / Mohammad Saifullah SiddiquiA tailoring training center run by Vision Pakistan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering underprivileged adolescents, is located in Islamabad by DB Studios/Mohammad Saifullah Siddiqui. Situated in a crowded neighborhood, this multi-story building features flashy jaalis influenced by Arab and Pakistani crafts, echoing the city's 1960s design.Denso Hall Rahguzar Project. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib ZuberiPakistanDenso Hall Rahguzar Project, in Karachi by Heritage Foundation Pakistan / Yasmeen LariThe Heritage Foundation of Pakistan/Yasmeen Lari's Denso Hall Rahguzar Project in Karachi is a heritage-led eco-urban enclave that was built with low-carbon materials in response to the city's severe climate, which is prone to heat waves and floods. The freshly planted "forests" are irrigated by the handcrafted terracotta cobbles, which absorb rainfall and cool and purify the air.Wonder Cabinet. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela BurstowPalestineWonder Cabinet, in Bethlehem by AAU AnastasThe architects at AAU Anastas established Wonder Cabinet, a multifunctional, nonprofit exhibition and production venue in Bethlehem. The three-story concrete building was constructed with the help of regional contractors and artisans, and it is quickly emerging as a major center for learning, design, craft, and innovation.The Ned. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal EmdenQatarThe Ned Hotel, in Doha by David Chipperfield ArchitectsThe Ministry of Interior was housed in the Ned Hotel in Doha, which was designed by David Chipperfield Architects. Its Middle Eastern brutalist building was meticulously transformed into a 90-room boutique hotel, thereby promoting architectural revitalization in the region.Shamalat Cultural Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Hassan Al ShattiSaudi ArabiaShamalat Cultural Centre, in Riyadh, by Syn Architects / Sara Alissa, Nojoud AlsudairiOn the outskirts of Diriyah, the Shamalat Cultural Centre in Riyadh was created by Syn Architects/Sara Alissa, Nojoud Alsudairi. It was created from an old mud home that artist Maha Malluh had renovated. The center, which aims to incorporate historic places into daily life, provides a sensitive viewpoint on heritage conservation in the area by contrasting the old and the contemporary.Rehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Sylvain CherkaouiSenegalRehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station, in Dakar by Ga2DIn order to accommodate the passengers of a new express train line, Ga2D extended and renovated Dakar train Station, which purposefully contrasts the old and modern buildings. The forecourt was once again open to pedestrian traffic after vehicular traffic was limited to the rear of the property.Rami Library. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal EmdenTürkiyeRami Library, by Han Tümertekin Design & ConsultancyThe largest library in Istanbul is the Rami Library, designed by Han Tümertekin Design & Consultancy. It occupied the former Rami Barracks, a sizable, single-story building with enormous volumes that was constructed in the eighteenth century. In order to accommodate new library operations while maintaining the structure's original spatial features, a minimal intervention method was used.Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed StudioUnited Arab EmiratesMorocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020, by Oualalou + ChoiOualalou + Choi's Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020 is intended to last beyond Expo 2020 and be transformed into a cultural center. The pavilion is a trailblazer in the development of large-scale rammed earth building techniques. Its use of passive cooling techniques, which minimize the need for mechanical air conditioning, earned it the gold LEED accreditation.At each project location, independent professionals such as architects, conservation specialists, planners, and structural engineers have conducted thorough evaluations of the nominated projects. This summer, the Master Jury convenes once more to analyze the on-site evaluations and choose the ultimate Award winners.The top image in the article: The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan.> via Aga Khan Award for Architecture
    #aga #khan #award #architecture #announces
    Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025 announces 19 shortlisted projects from 15 countries
    html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "; 19 shortlisted projects for the 2025 Award cycle were revealed by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. A portion of the million prize, one of the biggest in architecture, will be awarded to the winning proposals. Out of the 369 projects nominated for the 16th Award Cycle, an independent Master Jury chose the 19 shortlisted projects from 15 countries.The nine members of the Master Jury for the 16th Award cycle include Azra Akšamija, Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Lucia Allais, David Basulto, Yvonne Farrell, Kabage Karanja, Yacouba Konaté, Hassan Radoine, and Mun Summ Wong.His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV created the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1977 to recognize and promote architectural ideas that effectively meet the needs and goals of communities where Muslims are a major population. Nearly 10,000 construction projects have been documented since the award's inception 48 years ago, and 128 projects have been granted it. The AKAA's selection method places a strong emphasis on architecture that stimulates and responds to people's cultural ambitions in addition to meeting their physical, social, and economic demands.The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. The other members of the Steering Committee are Meisa Batayneh, Principal Architect, Founder, maisam architects and engineers, Amman, Jordan; Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor of Philosophy and Francophone Studies, Columbia University, New York, United States of America; Lesley Lokko, Founder & Director, African Futures Institute, Accra, Ghana; Gülru Necipoğlu, Director and Professor, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America; Hashim Sarkis, Founder & Principal, Hashim Sarkis Studios; Dean, School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States of America; and Sarah M. Whiting, Partner, WW Architecture; Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America. Farrokh Derakhshani is the Director of the Award.Examples of outstanding architecture in the areas of modern design, social housing, community development and enhancement, historic preservation, reuse and area conservation, landscape design, and environmental enhancement are recognized by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.Building plans that creatively utilize local resources and relevant technologies, as well as initiatives that could spur such initiatives abroad, are given special consideration. It should be mentioned that in addition to honoring architects, the Award also recognizes towns, builders, clients, master craftspeople, and engineers who have contributed significantly to the project.Projects had to be completed between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2023, and they had to have been operational for a minimum of one year in order to be eligible for consideration in the 2025 Award cycle. The Award is not available for projects that His Highness the Aga Khan or any of the Aga Khan Development Networkinstitutions have commissioned.See the 19 shortlisted projects with their short project descriptions competing for the 2025 Award Cycle:Khudi Bari. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / City SyntaxBangladeshKhudi Bari, in various locations, by Marina Tabassum ArchitectsMarina Tabassum Architects' Khudi Bari, which can be readily disassembled and reassembled to suit the needs of the users, is a replicable solution for displaced communities impacted by geographic and climatic changes.West Wusutu Village Community Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Dou YujunChinaWest Wusutu Village Community Centre, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, by Zhang PengjuIn addition to meeting the religious demands of the local Hui Muslims, Zhang Pengju's West Wusutu Village Community Centre in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, offers social and cultural spaces for locals and artists. Constructed from recycled bricks, it features multipurpose indoor and outdoor areas that promote communal harmony.Revitalisation of Historic Esna. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Ahmed SalemEgyptRevitalisation of Historic Esna, by Takween Integrated Community DevelopmentBy using physical interventions, socioeconomic projects, and creative urban planning techniques, Takween Integrated Community Development's Revitalization of Historic Esna tackles the issues of cultural tourism in Upper Egypt and turns the once-forgotten area around the Temple of Khnum into a thriving historic city.The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo WidityawanIndonesiaThe Arc at Green School, in Bali, by IBUKU / Elora HardyAfter 15 years of bamboo experimenting at the Green School Bali, IBUKU/Elora Hardy created The Arc at Green School. The Arc is a brand-new community wellness facility built on the foundations of a temporary gym. High-precision engineering and regional handicraft are combined in this construction.Islamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo WidityawanIndonesiaIslamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque, in Palu, Central Sulawesi, by Dave Orlando and Fandy GunawanDave Orlando and Fandy Gunawan built the Islamic Center Nurul Yaqin Mosque in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on the location of a previous mosque that was damaged by a 2018 tsunami. There is a place for worship and assembly at the new Islamic Center. Surrounded by a shallow reflecting pool that may be drained to make room for more guests, it is open to the countryside.Microlibrary Warak Kayu. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo WidityawanIndonesiaMicrolibraries in various cities, by SHAU / Daliana Suryawinata, Florian HeinzelmannFlorian Heinzelmann, the project's initiator, works with stakeholders at all levels to provide high-quality public spaces in a number of Indonesian parks and kampungs through microlibraries in different towns run by SHAU/Daliana Suryawinata. So far, six have been constructed, and by 2045, 100 are planned.Majara Residence. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed StudioIranMajara Complex and Community Redevelopment, in Hormuz Island by ZAV Architects / Mohamadreza GhodousiThe Majara Complex and Community Redevelopment on Hormuz Island, designed by ZAV Architects and Mohamadreza Ghodousi, is well-known for its vibrant domes that offer eco-friendly lodging for visitors visiting Hormuz's distinctive scenery. In addition to providing new amenities for the islanders who visit to socialize, pray, or utilize the library, it was constructed by highly trained local laborers.Jahad Metro Plaza. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed StudioIranJahad Metro Plaza in Tehran, by KA Architecture StudioKA Architecture Studio's Jahad Metro Plaza in Tehran was constructed to replace the dilapidated old buildings. It turned the location into a beloved pedestrian-friendly landmark. The arched vaults, which are covered in locally manufactured brick, vary in height to let air and light into the area they are protecting.Khan Jaljulia Restoration. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela BurstowIsraelKhan Jaljulia Restoration in Jaljulia by Elias KhuriElias Khuri's Khan Jaljulia Restoration is a cost-effective intervention set amidst the remnants of a 14th-century Khan in Jaljulia. By converting the abandoned historical location into a bustling public area for social gatherings, it helps the locals rediscover their cultural history.Campus Startup Lions. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Christopher Wilton-SteerKenyaCampus Startup Lions, in Turkana by Kéré ArchitectsKéré Architecture's Campus Startup Lions in Turkana is an educational and entrepreneurial center that offers a venue for community involvement, business incubation, and technology-driven education. The design incorporates solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and tall ventilation towers that resemble the nearby termite mounds, and it was constructed using local volcanic stone.Lalla Yeddouna Square. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Amine HouariMoroccoRevitalisation of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the medina of Fez, by Mossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil StudioMossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil Studio's revitalization of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the Fez medina aims to improve pedestrian circulation and reestablish a connection to the waterfront. For the benefit of locals, craftspeople, and tourists from around the globe, existing buildings were maintained and new areas created.Vision Pakistan. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib ZuberiPakistanVision Pakistan, in Islamabad by DB Studios / Mohammad Saifullah SiddiquiA tailoring training center run by Vision Pakistan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering underprivileged adolescents, is located in Islamabad by DB Studios/Mohammad Saifullah Siddiqui. Situated in a crowded neighborhood, this multi-story building features flashy jaalis influenced by Arab and Pakistani crafts, echoing the city's 1960s design.Denso Hall Rahguzar Project. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib ZuberiPakistanDenso Hall Rahguzar Project, in Karachi by Heritage Foundation Pakistan / Yasmeen LariThe Heritage Foundation of Pakistan/Yasmeen Lari's Denso Hall Rahguzar Project in Karachi is a heritage-led eco-urban enclave that was built with low-carbon materials in response to the city's severe climate, which is prone to heat waves and floods. The freshly planted "forests" are irrigated by the handcrafted terracotta cobbles, which absorb rainfall and cool and purify the air.Wonder Cabinet. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela BurstowPalestineWonder Cabinet, in Bethlehem by AAU AnastasThe architects at AAU Anastas established Wonder Cabinet, a multifunctional, nonprofit exhibition and production venue in Bethlehem. The three-story concrete building was constructed with the help of regional contractors and artisans, and it is quickly emerging as a major center for learning, design, craft, and innovation.The Ned. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal EmdenQatarThe Ned Hotel, in Doha by David Chipperfield ArchitectsThe Ministry of Interior was housed in the Ned Hotel in Doha, which was designed by David Chipperfield Architects. Its Middle Eastern brutalist building was meticulously transformed into a 90-room boutique hotel, thereby promoting architectural revitalization in the region.Shamalat Cultural Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Hassan Al ShattiSaudi ArabiaShamalat Cultural Centre, in Riyadh, by Syn Architects / Sara Alissa, Nojoud AlsudairiOn the outskirts of Diriyah, the Shamalat Cultural Centre in Riyadh was created by Syn Architects/Sara Alissa, Nojoud Alsudairi. It was created from an old mud home that artist Maha Malluh had renovated. The center, which aims to incorporate historic places into daily life, provides a sensitive viewpoint on heritage conservation in the area by contrasting the old and the contemporary.Rehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Sylvain CherkaouiSenegalRehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station, in Dakar by Ga2DIn order to accommodate the passengers of a new express train line, Ga2D extended and renovated Dakar train Station, which purposefully contrasts the old and modern buildings. The forecourt was once again open to pedestrian traffic after vehicular traffic was limited to the rear of the property.Rami Library. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal EmdenTürkiyeRami Library, by Han Tümertekin Design & ConsultancyThe largest library in Istanbul is the Rami Library, designed by Han Tümertekin Design & Consultancy. It occupied the former Rami Barracks, a sizable, single-story building with enormous volumes that was constructed in the eighteenth century. In order to accommodate new library operations while maintaining the structure's original spatial features, a minimal intervention method was used.Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed StudioUnited Arab EmiratesMorocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020, by Oualalou + ChoiOualalou + Choi's Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020 is intended to last beyond Expo 2020 and be transformed into a cultural center. The pavilion is a trailblazer in the development of large-scale rammed earth building techniques. Its use of passive cooling techniques, which minimize the need for mechanical air conditioning, earned it the gold LEED accreditation.At each project location, independent professionals such as architects, conservation specialists, planners, and structural engineers have conducted thorough evaluations of the nominated projects. This summer, the Master Jury convenes once more to analyze the on-site evaluations and choose the ultimate Award winners.The top image in the article: The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan.> via Aga Khan Award for Architecture #aga #khan #award #architecture #announces
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    Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025 announces 19 shortlisted projects from 15 countries
    html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" 19 shortlisted projects for the 2025 Award cycle were revealed by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA). A portion of the $1 million prize, one of the biggest in architecture, will be awarded to the winning proposals. Out of the 369 projects nominated for the 16th Award Cycle (2023-2025), an independent Master Jury chose the 19 shortlisted projects from 15 countries.The nine members of the Master Jury for the 16th Award cycle include Azra Akšamija, Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Lucia Allais, David Basulto, Yvonne Farrell, Kabage Karanja, Yacouba Konaté, Hassan Radoine, and Mun Summ Wong.His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV created the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1977 to recognize and promote architectural ideas that effectively meet the needs and goals of communities where Muslims are a major population. Nearly 10,000 construction projects have been documented since the award's inception 48 years ago, and 128 projects have been granted it. The AKAA's selection method places a strong emphasis on architecture that stimulates and responds to people's cultural ambitions in addition to meeting their physical, social, and economic demands.The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. The other members of the Steering Committee are Meisa Batayneh, Principal Architect, Founder, maisam architects and engineers, Amman, Jordan; Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor of Philosophy and Francophone Studies, Columbia University, New York, United States of America; Lesley Lokko, Founder & Director, African Futures Institute, Accra, Ghana; Gülru Necipoğlu, Director and Professor, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America; Hashim Sarkis, Founder & Principal, Hashim Sarkis Studios (HSS); Dean, School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States of America; and Sarah M. Whiting, Partner, WW Architecture; Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America. Farrokh Derakhshani is the Director of the Award.Examples of outstanding architecture in the areas of modern design, social housing, community development and enhancement, historic preservation, reuse and area conservation, landscape design, and environmental enhancement are recognized by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.Building plans that creatively utilize local resources and relevant technologies, as well as initiatives that could spur such initiatives abroad, are given special consideration. It should be mentioned that in addition to honoring architects, the Award also recognizes towns, builders, clients, master craftspeople, and engineers who have contributed significantly to the project.Projects had to be completed between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2023, and they had to have been operational for a minimum of one year in order to be eligible for consideration in the 2025 Award cycle. The Award is not available for projects that His Highness the Aga Khan or any of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) institutions have commissioned.See the 19 shortlisted projects with their short project descriptions competing for the 2025 Award Cycle:Khudi Bari. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / City Syntax (F. M. Faruque Abdullah Shawon, H. M. Fozla Rabby Apurbo)BangladeshKhudi Bari, in various locations, by Marina Tabassum ArchitectsMarina Tabassum Architects' Khudi Bari, which can be readily disassembled and reassembled to suit the needs of the users, is a replicable solution for displaced communities impacted by geographic and climatic changes.West Wusutu Village Community Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Dou Yujun (photographer)ChinaWest Wusutu Village Community Centre, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, by Zhang PengjuIn addition to meeting the religious demands of the local Hui Muslims, Zhang Pengju's West Wusutu Village Community Centre in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, offers social and cultural spaces for locals and artists. Constructed from recycled bricks, it features multipurpose indoor and outdoor areas that promote communal harmony.Revitalisation of Historic Esna. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Ahmed Salem (photographer)EgyptRevitalisation of Historic Esna, by Takween Integrated Community DevelopmentBy using physical interventions, socioeconomic projects, and creative urban planning techniques, Takween Integrated Community Development's Revitalization of Historic Esna tackles the issues of cultural tourism in Upper Egypt and turns the once-forgotten area around the Temple of Khnum into a thriving historic city.The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer)IndonesiaThe Arc at Green School, in Bali, by IBUKU / Elora HardyAfter 15 years of bamboo experimenting at the Green School Bali, IBUKU/Elora Hardy created The Arc at Green School. The Arc is a brand-new community wellness facility built on the foundations of a temporary gym. High-precision engineering and regional handicraft are combined in this construction.Islamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer)IndonesiaIslamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque, in Palu, Central Sulawesi, by Dave Orlando and Fandy GunawanDave Orlando and Fandy Gunawan built the Islamic Center Nurul Yaqin Mosque in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on the location of a previous mosque that was damaged by a 2018 tsunami. There is a place for worship and assembly at the new Islamic Center. Surrounded by a shallow reflecting pool that may be drained to make room for more guests, it is open to the countryside.Microlibrary Warak Kayu. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer)IndonesiaMicrolibraries in various cities, by SHAU / Daliana Suryawinata, Florian HeinzelmannFlorian Heinzelmann, the project's initiator, works with stakeholders at all levels to provide high-quality public spaces in a number of Indonesian parks and kampungs through microlibraries in different towns run by SHAU/Daliana Suryawinata. So far, six have been constructed, and by 2045, 100 are planned.Majara Residence. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed Studio (photographer)IranMajara Complex and Community Redevelopment, in Hormuz Island by ZAV Architects / Mohamadreza GhodousiThe Majara Complex and Community Redevelopment on Hormuz Island, designed by ZAV Architects and Mohamadreza Ghodousi, is well-known for its vibrant domes that offer eco-friendly lodging for visitors visiting Hormuz's distinctive scenery. In addition to providing new amenities for the islanders who visit to socialize, pray, or utilize the library, it was constructed by highly trained local laborers.Jahad Metro Plaza. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed Studio (photographer)IranJahad Metro Plaza in Tehran, by KA Architecture StudioKA Architecture Studio's Jahad Metro Plaza in Tehran was constructed to replace the dilapidated old buildings. It turned the location into a beloved pedestrian-friendly landmark. The arched vaults, which are covered in locally manufactured brick, vary in height to let air and light into the area they are protecting.Khan Jaljulia Restoration. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela Burstow (photographer)IsraelKhan Jaljulia Restoration in Jaljulia by Elias KhuriElias Khuri's Khan Jaljulia Restoration is a cost-effective intervention set amidst the remnants of a 14th-century Khan in Jaljulia. By converting the abandoned historical location into a bustling public area for social gatherings, it helps the locals rediscover their cultural history.Campus Startup Lions. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Christopher Wilton-Steer (photographer)KenyaCampus Startup Lions, in Turkana by Kéré ArchitectsKéré Architecture's Campus Startup Lions in Turkana is an educational and entrepreneurial center that offers a venue for community involvement, business incubation, and technology-driven education. The design incorporates solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and tall ventilation towers that resemble the nearby termite mounds, and it was constructed using local volcanic stone.Lalla Yeddouna Square. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Amine Houari (photographer)MoroccoRevitalisation of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the medina of Fez, by Mossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil StudioMossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil Studio's revitalization of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the Fez medina aims to improve pedestrian circulation and reestablish a connection to the waterfront. For the benefit of locals, craftspeople, and tourists from around the globe, existing buildings were maintained and new areas created.Vision Pakistan. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib Zuberi (photographer)PakistanVision Pakistan, in Islamabad by DB Studios / Mohammad Saifullah SiddiquiA tailoring training center run by Vision Pakistan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering underprivileged adolescents, is located in Islamabad by DB Studios/Mohammad Saifullah Siddiqui. Situated in a crowded neighborhood, this multi-story building features flashy jaalis influenced by Arab and Pakistani crafts, echoing the city's 1960s design.Denso Hall Rahguzar Project. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib Zuberi (photographer)PakistanDenso Hall Rahguzar Project, in Karachi by Heritage Foundation Pakistan / Yasmeen LariThe Heritage Foundation of Pakistan/Yasmeen Lari's Denso Hall Rahguzar Project in Karachi is a heritage-led eco-urban enclave that was built with low-carbon materials in response to the city's severe climate, which is prone to heat waves and floods. The freshly planted "forests" are irrigated by the handcrafted terracotta cobbles, which absorb rainfall and cool and purify the air.Wonder Cabinet. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela Burstow (photographer)PalestineWonder Cabinet, in Bethlehem by AAU AnastasThe architects at AAU Anastas established Wonder Cabinet, a multifunctional, nonprofit exhibition and production venue in Bethlehem. The three-story concrete building was constructed with the help of regional contractors and artisans, and it is quickly emerging as a major center for learning, design, craft, and innovation.The Ned. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)QatarThe Ned Hotel, in Doha by David Chipperfield ArchitectsThe Ministry of Interior was housed in the Ned Hotel in Doha, which was designed by David Chipperfield Architects. Its Middle Eastern brutalist building was meticulously transformed into a 90-room boutique hotel, thereby promoting architectural revitalization in the region.Shamalat Cultural Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Hassan Al Shatti (photographer)Saudi ArabiaShamalat Cultural Centre, in Riyadh, by Syn Architects / Sara Alissa, Nojoud AlsudairiOn the outskirts of Diriyah, the Shamalat Cultural Centre in Riyadh was created by Syn Architects/Sara Alissa, Nojoud Alsudairi. It was created from an old mud home that artist Maha Malluh had renovated. The center, which aims to incorporate historic places into daily life, provides a sensitive viewpoint on heritage conservation in the area by contrasting the old and the contemporary.Rehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Sylvain Cherkaoui (photographer)SenegalRehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station, in Dakar by Ga2DIn order to accommodate the passengers of a new express train line, Ga2D extended and renovated Dakar train Station, which purposefully contrasts the old and modern buildings. The forecourt was once again open to pedestrian traffic after vehicular traffic was limited to the rear of the property.Rami Library. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)TürkiyeRami Library, by Han Tümertekin Design & ConsultancyThe largest library in Istanbul is the Rami Library, designed by Han Tümertekin Design & Consultancy. It occupied the former Rami Barracks, a sizable, single-story building with enormous volumes that was constructed in the eighteenth century. In order to accommodate new library operations while maintaining the structure's original spatial features, a minimal intervention method was used.Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed Studio (photographer)United Arab EmiratesMorocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020, by Oualalou + ChoiOualalou + Choi's Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020 is intended to last beyond Expo 2020 and be transformed into a cultural center. The pavilion is a trailblazer in the development of large-scale rammed earth building techniques. Its use of passive cooling techniques, which minimize the need for mechanical air conditioning, earned it the gold LEED accreditation.At each project location, independent professionals such as architects, conservation specialists, planners, and structural engineers have conducted thorough evaluations of the nominated projects. This summer, the Master Jury convenes once more to analyze the on-site evaluations and choose the ultimate Award winners.The top image in the article: The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer).> via Aga Khan Award for Architecture
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  • Venice Biennale 2025 round-up: what else to see?

    This edition of the Venice Biennale includes 65 national pavilions, 11 collateral events, and over 750 participants in the international exhibition curated by Italian architect and engineer Carlo Ratti.
    Entitled Intelligens: Natural Artificial Collective, its stated aim is to make Venice a ‘living laboratory’. But Ratti’s exhibition in the Arsenale has been hit by mixed reviews. The AJ’s Rob Wilson described it as ‘a bit of a confusing mess’, while other media outlets have called the robot-heavy exhibit of future-facing building-focused solutions to the climate crisis a ‘tech-bro fever dream’ and a ‘mind-boggling rollercoaster’ to mention a few.
    It is a distinct shift away from the biennale of two years ago twhen Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko curated the main exhibitions, including 89 participants – of which more than half were from Africa or the African diaspora – in a convincing reset of the architectural conversation.Advertisement

    This year’s National Pavilions and collateral exhibits, by contrast, have tackled the largest themes in architecture and the world right now in a less constrained way than the main exhibitions. The exhibits are radical and work as a useful gauge for understanding what’s important in each country: decarbonisation, climate resilience, the reconstruction of Gaza, and an issue more prevalent in politics closer to home: gender wars.
    What's not to miss in the Giardini?
    British PavilionUK Pavilion
    The British Pavilion this year, which won a special mention from the Venetian jury, is housing a show by a British-Kenyan collab titled GBR – Geology of Britannic Repair. In it, the curators explore the links between colonialism, the built environment and geological extraction.
    Focusing on the Rift Valley, which runs from east Africa to the Middle East, including Palestine, the exhibition was curated by the Nairobi-based studio cave_bureau, UK-based curator, writer and Farrell Centre director Owen Hopkins and Queen Mary University professor Kathryn Yusoff.
    The pavilion’s façade is cloaked by a beaded veil of agricultural waste briquettes and clay and glass beads, produced in Kenya and India, echoing both Maasai practices and beads once made on Venice’s Murano, as currency for the exchange of metals, minerals and slaves.
    The pavilion’s six gallery spaces include multisensory installations such as the Earth Compass, a series of celestial maps connecting London and Nairobi; the Rift Room, tracing one of humans’ earliest migration routes; and the Shimoni Slave Cave, featuring a large-scale bronze cast of a valley cave historically used as a holding pen for enslaved people.Advertisement

    The show also includes Objects of Repair, a project by design-led research group Palestine Regeneration Team, looking at how salvaged materials could help rebuild war-torn Gaza, the only exhibit anywhere in the Biennale that tackled the reconstruction of Gaza face-on – doing so impressively, both politically and sensitively. here.
    Danish PavilionDemark Pavilion
    A firm favourite by most this year, the Danish exhibition Build of Site, curated by Søren Pihlmann of Pihlmann Architects, transforms the pavilion, which requires renovation anyway, into both a renovation site and archive of materials.
    Clever, simple and very methodical, the building is being both renewed while at the same time showcasing innovative methods to reuse surplus materials uncovered during the construction process – as an alternative to using new resources to build a temporary exhibition.
    The renovation of the 1950s Peter Koch-designed section of the pavilion began in December 2024 and will be completed following the biennale, having been suspended for its duration. On display are archetypal elements including podiums, ramps, benches and tables – all constructed from the surplus materials unearthed during the renovation, such as wood, limestone, concrete, stone, sand, silt and clay.
    Belgian PavilionBelgium Pavilion
    If you need a relaxing break from the intensity of the biennale, then the oldest national pavilion in the Giardini is the one for you. Belgium’s Building Biospheres: A New Alliance between Nature and Architecture brings ‘plant intelligence’ to the fore.
    Commissioned by the Flanders Architecture Institute and curated by landscape architect Bas Smets and neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso, the exhibit investigates how the natural ‘intelligence’ of plants can be used to produce an indoor climate – elevating the role of landscape design and calling for it to no longer serve as a backdrop for architecture.
    Inside, more than 200 plants occupy the central area beneath the skylight, becoming the pavilion’s centrepiece, with the rear space visualising ‘real-time’ data on the prototype’s climate control performance.
    Spanish PavilionSpain Pavilion
    One for the pure architecture lovers out there, models, installations, photographs and timber structures fill the Spanish Pavilion in abundance. Neatly curated by architects Roi Salgueiro Barrio and Manuel Bouzas Barcala, Internalities shows a series of existing and research projects that have contributed to decarbonising construction in Spain.
    The outcome? An extensive collection of work exploring the use of very local and very specific regenerative and low-carbon construction and materials – including stone, wood and soil. The joy of this pavilion comes from the 16 beautiful timber frames constructed from wood from communal forests in Galicia.
    Polish PavilionPoland Pavilion
    Poland’s pavilion was like Marmite this year. Some loved its playful approach while others found it silly. Lares and Penates, taking its name from ancient Roman deities of protection, has been curated by Aleksandra Kędziorek and looks at what it means and takes to have a sense of security in architecture.
    Speaking to many different anxieties, it refers to the unspoken assumption of treating architecture as a safe haven against the elements, catastrophes and wars – showcasing and elevating the mundane solutions and signage derived from building, fire and health regulations. The highlight? An ornate niche decorated with tiles and stones just for … a fire extinguisher.
    Dutch PavilionNetherlands Pavilion
    Punchy and straight to the point, SIDELINED: A Space to Rethink Togetherness takes sports as a lens for looking at how spatial design can both reveal and disrupt the often-exclusionary dynamics of everyday environments. Within the pavilion, the exhibit looks beyond the large-scale arena of the stadium and gymnasium to investigate the more localised and intimate context of the sports bar, as well as three alternative sports – a site of both social production and identity formation – as a metaphor for uniting diverse communities.
    The pavilion-turned-sports bar, designed by Koos Breen and Jeannette Slütter and inspired by Asger Jorn’s three-sided sports field, is a space for fluidity and experimentation where binary oppositions, social hierarchies and cultural values are contested and reshaped – complete with jerseys and football scarfsworn by players in the alternative Anonymous Allyship aligning the walls. Read Derin Fadina’s review for the AJ here.
    Performance inside the Nordic Countries PavilionNordic Countries Pavilion
    Probably the most impactful national pavilion this year, the Nordic Countries have presented an installation with performance work. Curated by Kaisa Karvinen, Industry Muscle: Five Scores for Architecture continues Finnish artist Teo Ala-Ruona’s work on trans embodiment and ecology by considering the trans body as a lens through which to examine modern architecture and the built environment.
    The three-day exhibition opening featured a two-hour performance each day with Ala-Ruona and his troupe crawling, climbing and writhing around the space, creating a bodily dialogue with the installations and pavilion building itself, which was designed by celebrated Modernist architect Sverre Fehn.
    The American pavilion next door, loudlyturns its back on what’s going on in its own country by just celebrating the apathetical porch, making the Nordic Countries seem even more relevant in this crucial time. Read Derin Fadina’s review for the AJ here.
    German PavilionGermany Pavilion
    An exhibit certainly grabbing the issue of climate change by its neck is the German contribution, Stresstest. Curated by Nicola Borgmann, Elisabeth Endres, Gabriele G Kiefer and Daniele Santucci, the pavilion has turned climate change into a literal physical and psychological experience for visitors by creating contrasting ‘stress’ and ‘de-stress’ rooms.
    In the dark stress room, a large metal sculpture creates a cramped and hot space using heating mats hung from the ceiling and powered by PVs. Opposite is a calmer space demonstrating strategies that could be used to reduce the heat of cities, and between the two spaces is a film focusing on the impacts of cities becoming hotter. If this doesn’t highlight the urgency of the situation, I’m not sure what will.
    Best bits of the Arsenale outside the main exhibitions
    Bahrain PavilionBahrain Pavilion
    Overall winner of this year’s Golden Lion for best national participation, Bahrain’s pavilion in the historic Artiglierie of the Arsenale is a proposal for living and working through heat conditions. Heatwave, curated by architect Andrea Faraguna, reimagines public space design by exploring passive cooling strategies rooted in the Arab country’s climate, as well as cultural context.
    A geothermal well and solar chimney are connected through a thermo-hygrometric axis that links underground conditions with the air outside. The inhabitable space that hosts visitors is thus compressed and defined by its earth-covered floor and suspended ceiling, and is surrounded by memorable sandbags, highlighting its scalability for particularly hot construction sites in the Gulf where a huge amount of construction is taking place.
    In the Arsenale’s exhibition space, where excavation wasn’t feasible, this system has been adapted into mechanical ventilation, bringing in air from the canal side and channelling it through ductwork to create a microclimate.
    Slovenian PavilionSlovenia Pavilion
    The AJ’s Rob Wilson’s top pavilion tip this year provides an enjoyable take on the theme of the main exhibition, highlighting how the tacit knowledge and on-site techniques and skills of construction workers and craftspeople are still the key constituent in architectural production despite all the heat and light about robotics, prefabrication, artificial intelligence and 3D printing.
    Master Builders, curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov and organised by the Museum of Architecture and Designin Ljubljana, presents a series of ‘totems’ –accumulative sculpture-like structures that are formed of conglomerations of differently worked materials, finishes and building elements. These are stacked up into crazy tower forms, which showcase various on-site construction skills and techniques, their construction documented in accompanying films.
    Uzbekistan PavilionUzbekistan Pavilion
    Uzbekistan’s contribution explores the Soviet era solar furnace and Modernist legacy. Architecture studio GRACE, led by curators Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Giacomo Cantoni have curated A Matter of Radiance. The focus is the Sun Institute of Material Science – originally known as the Sun Heliocomplex – an incredible large-scale scientific structure built in 1987 on a natural, seismic-free foundation near Tashkent and one of only two that study material behaviour under extreme temperatures. The exhibition examines the solar oven’s site’s historical and contemporary significance while reflecting on its scientific legacy and influence moving beyond just national borders.
    Applied Arts PavilionV&A Applied Arts Pavilion
    Diller Scofidio + Renfrois having a moment. The US-based practice, in collaboration with V&A chief curator Brendan Cormier, has curated On Storage, which aptly explores global storage architectures in a pavilion that strongly links to the V&A’s recent opening of Storehouse, its newcollections archive in east London.
    Featured is a six-channelfilm entitled Boxed: The Mild Boredom of Order, directed by the practice itself and following a toothbrush, as a metaphor for an everyday consumer product, on its journey through different forms of storage across the globe – from warehouse to distribution centre to baggage handlers down to the compact space of a suitcase.
    Also on display are large-format photographs of V&A East Storehouse, DS+R’s original architectural model and sketchbook and behind-the-scenes photography of Storehouse at work, taken by emerging east London-based photographers.
    Canal CaféCanal café
    Golden Lion for the best participation in the actual exhibition went to Canal Café, an intervention designed by V&A East Storehouse’s architect DS+R with Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky and Davide Oldani.
    Serving up canal-water espresso, the installation is a demonstration of how Venice itself can be a laboratory to understand how to live on the water in a time of water scarcity. The structure, located on the edge of the Arsenale’s building complex, draws water from its lagoon before filtering it onsite via a hybrid of natural and artificial methods, including a mini wetland with grasses.
    The project was recognised for its persistence, having started almost 20 years ago, just showing how water scarcity, contamination and flooding are still major concerns both globally and, more locally, in the tourist-heavy city of Venice.
    And what else?
    Holy See PavilionThe Holy See
    Much like the Danish Pavilion, the Pavilion of the Holy See is also taking on an approach of renewal this year. Over the next six months, Opera Aperta will breathe new life into the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice Complex in the Castello district of Venice. Founded as a hospice for pilgrims in 1171, the building later became the oldest hospital and was converted into school in the 18th century. In 2001, the City of Venice allocated it for cultural use and for the next four years it will be managed by the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See to oversee its restoration.
    Curated by architect, curator and researcher Marina Otero Verzier and artistic director of Fondaco Italia, Giovanna Zabotti, the complex has been turned into a constant ‘living laboratory’ of collective repair – and received a special mention in the biennale awards.
    The restoration works, open from Tuesday to Friday, are being carried out by local artisans and specialised restorers with expertise in recovering stone, marble, terracotta, mural and canvas painting, stucco, wood and metal artworks.
    The beauty, however, lies in the photogenic fabrics, lit by a warm yellow glow, hanging from the walls within, gently wrapping the building’s surfaces, leaving openings that allow movement and offer glimpses of the ongoing restoration. Mobile scaffolding, used to support the works, also doubles up as furniture, providing space for equipment and subdividing the interior.
    Togo PavilionTogo Pavilion
    The Republic of Togo has presented its first pavilion ever at the biennale this year with the project Considering Togo’s Architectural Heritage, which sits intriguingly at the back of a second-hand furniture shop. The inaugural pavilion is curated by Lomé and Berlin-based Studio NEiDA and is in Venice’s Squero Castello.
    Exploring Togo’s architectural narratives from the early 20th century, and key ongoing restoration efforts, it documents key examples of the west African country’s heritage, highlighting both traditional and more modern building techniques – from Nôk cave dwellings to Afro-Brazilian architecture developed by freed slaves to post-independence Modernist buildings. Some buildings showcased are in disrepair, despite most of the modern structures remaining in use today, including Hotel de la Paix and the Bourse du Travail, suggestive of a future of repair and celebration.
    Estonian PavilionEstonia Pavilion
    Another firm favourite this year is the Estonian exhibition on Riva dei Sette Martiri on the waterfront between Corso Garibaldi and the Giardini.  The Guardian’s Olly Wainwright said that outside the Giardini, it packed ‘the most powerful punch of all.’
    Simple and effective, Let Me Warm You, curated by trio of architects Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva and Helena Männa, asks whether current insulation-driven renovations are merely a ‘checkbox’ to meet European energy targets or ‘a real chance’ to enhance the spatial and social quality of mass housing.
    The façade of the historic Venetian palazzetto in which it is housed is clad with fibre-cement insulation panels in the same process used in Estonia itself for its mass housing – a powerful visual statement showcasing a problematic disregard for the character and potential of typical habitable spaces. Inside, the ground floor is wrapped in plastic and exhibits how the dynamics between different stakeholders influence spatial solutions, including named stickers to encourage discussion among your peers.
    Venice ProcuratieSMACTimed to open to the public at the same time as the biennale, SMAC is a new permanent arts institution in Piazza San Marco, on the second floor of the Procuratie, which is owned by Generali. The exhibition space, open to the public for the first time in 500 years, comprises 16 galleries arranged along a continuous corridor stretching over 80m, recently restored by David Chipperfield Architects.
    Visitors can expect access through a private courtyard leading on to a monumental staircase and experience a typically sensitive Chipperfield restoration, which has revived the building’s original details: walls covered in a light grey Venetian marmorino made from crushed marble and floors of white terrazzo.
    During the summer, its inaugural programme features two solo exhibitions dedicated to Australian modern architect Harry Seidler and Korean landscape designer Jung Youngsun.
    Holcim's installationHolcim x Elemental
    Concrete manufacturer Holcim makes an appearance for a third time at Venice, this time partnering with Chilean Pritzker Prize-winning Alejandro Aravena’s practice Elemental – curator of the 2016 biennale – to launch a resilient housing prototype that follows on from the Norman Foster-designed Essential Homes Project.
    The ‘carbon-neutral’ structure incorporates Holcim’s range of low-carbon concrete ECOPact and is on display as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition organised by the European Cultural Centre in their gardens.
    It also applies Holcim’s ‘biochar’ technology for the first time, a concrete mix with 100 per cent recycled aggregates, in a full-scale Basic Services Unit. This follows an incremental design approach, which could entail fast and efficient construction via the provision of only essential housing components, and via self-build.
    The Next Earth at Palazzo DiedoThe Next Earth
    At Palazzo Diedo’s incredible dedicated Berggruen Arts and Culture space, MIT’s department of architecture and think tank Antikytherahave come together to create the exhibition The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology, which questions how philosophy and architecture must and can respond to various planet-wide crises.
    Antikythera’s The Noocene: Computation and Cosmology from Antikythera to AI looks at the evolution of ‘planetary computation’ as an ‘accidental’ megastructure through which systems, from the molecular to atmospheric scales, become both comprehensible and composable. What is actually on display is an architectural scale video monolith and short films on AI, astronomy and artificial life, as well as selected artefacts. MIT’s Climate Work: Un/Worlding the Planet features 37 works-in-progress, each looking at material supply chains, energy expenditure, modes of practice and deep-time perspectives. Take from it what you will.
    The 19th International Venice Architecture Biennale remains open until Sunday, 23 November 2025.
    #venice #biennale #roundup #what #else
    Venice Biennale 2025 round-up: what else to see?
    This edition of the Venice Biennale includes 65 national pavilions, 11 collateral events, and over 750 participants in the international exhibition curated by Italian architect and engineer Carlo Ratti. Entitled Intelligens: Natural Artificial Collective, its stated aim is to make Venice a ‘living laboratory’. But Ratti’s exhibition in the Arsenale has been hit by mixed reviews. The AJ’s Rob Wilson described it as ‘a bit of a confusing mess’, while other media outlets have called the robot-heavy exhibit of future-facing building-focused solutions to the climate crisis a ‘tech-bro fever dream’ and a ‘mind-boggling rollercoaster’ to mention a few. It is a distinct shift away from the biennale of two years ago twhen Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko curated the main exhibitions, including 89 participants – of which more than half were from Africa or the African diaspora – in a convincing reset of the architectural conversation.Advertisement This year’s National Pavilions and collateral exhibits, by contrast, have tackled the largest themes in architecture and the world right now in a less constrained way than the main exhibitions. The exhibits are radical and work as a useful gauge for understanding what’s important in each country: decarbonisation, climate resilience, the reconstruction of Gaza, and an issue more prevalent in politics closer to home: gender wars. What's not to miss in the Giardini? British PavilionUK Pavilion The British Pavilion this year, which won a special mention from the Venetian jury, is housing a show by a British-Kenyan collab titled GBR – Geology of Britannic Repair. In it, the curators explore the links between colonialism, the built environment and geological extraction. Focusing on the Rift Valley, which runs from east Africa to the Middle East, including Palestine, the exhibition was curated by the Nairobi-based studio cave_bureau, UK-based curator, writer and Farrell Centre director Owen Hopkins and Queen Mary University professor Kathryn Yusoff. The pavilion’s façade is cloaked by a beaded veil of agricultural waste briquettes and clay and glass beads, produced in Kenya and India, echoing both Maasai practices and beads once made on Venice’s Murano, as currency for the exchange of metals, minerals and slaves. The pavilion’s six gallery spaces include multisensory installations such as the Earth Compass, a series of celestial maps connecting London and Nairobi; the Rift Room, tracing one of humans’ earliest migration routes; and the Shimoni Slave Cave, featuring a large-scale bronze cast of a valley cave historically used as a holding pen for enslaved people.Advertisement The show also includes Objects of Repair, a project by design-led research group Palestine Regeneration Team, looking at how salvaged materials could help rebuild war-torn Gaza, the only exhibit anywhere in the Biennale that tackled the reconstruction of Gaza face-on – doing so impressively, both politically and sensitively. here. Danish PavilionDemark Pavilion A firm favourite by most this year, the Danish exhibition Build of Site, curated by Søren Pihlmann of Pihlmann Architects, transforms the pavilion, which requires renovation anyway, into both a renovation site and archive of materials. Clever, simple and very methodical, the building is being both renewed while at the same time showcasing innovative methods to reuse surplus materials uncovered during the construction process – as an alternative to using new resources to build a temporary exhibition. The renovation of the 1950s Peter Koch-designed section of the pavilion began in December 2024 and will be completed following the biennale, having been suspended for its duration. On display are archetypal elements including podiums, ramps, benches and tables – all constructed from the surplus materials unearthed during the renovation, such as wood, limestone, concrete, stone, sand, silt and clay. Belgian PavilionBelgium Pavilion If you need a relaxing break from the intensity of the biennale, then the oldest national pavilion in the Giardini is the one for you. Belgium’s Building Biospheres: A New Alliance between Nature and Architecture brings ‘plant intelligence’ to the fore. Commissioned by the Flanders Architecture Institute and curated by landscape architect Bas Smets and neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso, the exhibit investigates how the natural ‘intelligence’ of plants can be used to produce an indoor climate – elevating the role of landscape design and calling for it to no longer serve as a backdrop for architecture. Inside, more than 200 plants occupy the central area beneath the skylight, becoming the pavilion’s centrepiece, with the rear space visualising ‘real-time’ data on the prototype’s climate control performance. Spanish PavilionSpain Pavilion One for the pure architecture lovers out there, models, installations, photographs and timber structures fill the Spanish Pavilion in abundance. Neatly curated by architects Roi Salgueiro Barrio and Manuel Bouzas Barcala, Internalities shows a series of existing and research projects that have contributed to decarbonising construction in Spain. The outcome? An extensive collection of work exploring the use of very local and very specific regenerative and low-carbon construction and materials – including stone, wood and soil. The joy of this pavilion comes from the 16 beautiful timber frames constructed from wood from communal forests in Galicia. Polish PavilionPoland Pavilion Poland’s pavilion was like Marmite this year. Some loved its playful approach while others found it silly. Lares and Penates, taking its name from ancient Roman deities of protection, has been curated by Aleksandra Kędziorek and looks at what it means and takes to have a sense of security in architecture. Speaking to many different anxieties, it refers to the unspoken assumption of treating architecture as a safe haven against the elements, catastrophes and wars – showcasing and elevating the mundane solutions and signage derived from building, fire and health regulations. The highlight? An ornate niche decorated with tiles and stones just for … a fire extinguisher. Dutch PavilionNetherlands Pavilion Punchy and straight to the point, SIDELINED: A Space to Rethink Togetherness takes sports as a lens for looking at how spatial design can both reveal and disrupt the often-exclusionary dynamics of everyday environments. Within the pavilion, the exhibit looks beyond the large-scale arena of the stadium and gymnasium to investigate the more localised and intimate context of the sports bar, as well as three alternative sports – a site of both social production and identity formation – as a metaphor for uniting diverse communities. The pavilion-turned-sports bar, designed by Koos Breen and Jeannette Slütter and inspired by Asger Jorn’s three-sided sports field, is a space for fluidity and experimentation where binary oppositions, social hierarchies and cultural values are contested and reshaped – complete with jerseys and football scarfsworn by players in the alternative Anonymous Allyship aligning the walls. Read Derin Fadina’s review for the AJ here. Performance inside the Nordic Countries PavilionNordic Countries Pavilion Probably the most impactful national pavilion this year, the Nordic Countries have presented an installation with performance work. Curated by Kaisa Karvinen, Industry Muscle: Five Scores for Architecture continues Finnish artist Teo Ala-Ruona’s work on trans embodiment and ecology by considering the trans body as a lens through which to examine modern architecture and the built environment. The three-day exhibition opening featured a two-hour performance each day with Ala-Ruona and his troupe crawling, climbing and writhing around the space, creating a bodily dialogue with the installations and pavilion building itself, which was designed by celebrated Modernist architect Sverre Fehn. The American pavilion next door, loudlyturns its back on what’s going on in its own country by just celebrating the apathetical porch, making the Nordic Countries seem even more relevant in this crucial time. Read Derin Fadina’s review for the AJ here. German PavilionGermany Pavilion An exhibit certainly grabbing the issue of climate change by its neck is the German contribution, Stresstest. Curated by Nicola Borgmann, Elisabeth Endres, Gabriele G Kiefer and Daniele Santucci, the pavilion has turned climate change into a literal physical and psychological experience for visitors by creating contrasting ‘stress’ and ‘de-stress’ rooms. In the dark stress room, a large metal sculpture creates a cramped and hot space using heating mats hung from the ceiling and powered by PVs. Opposite is a calmer space demonstrating strategies that could be used to reduce the heat of cities, and between the two spaces is a film focusing on the impacts of cities becoming hotter. If this doesn’t highlight the urgency of the situation, I’m not sure what will. Best bits of the Arsenale outside the main exhibitions Bahrain PavilionBahrain Pavilion Overall winner of this year’s Golden Lion for best national participation, Bahrain’s pavilion in the historic Artiglierie of the Arsenale is a proposal for living and working through heat conditions. Heatwave, curated by architect Andrea Faraguna, reimagines public space design by exploring passive cooling strategies rooted in the Arab country’s climate, as well as cultural context. A geothermal well and solar chimney are connected through a thermo-hygrometric axis that links underground conditions with the air outside. The inhabitable space that hosts visitors is thus compressed and defined by its earth-covered floor and suspended ceiling, and is surrounded by memorable sandbags, highlighting its scalability for particularly hot construction sites in the Gulf where a huge amount of construction is taking place. In the Arsenale’s exhibition space, where excavation wasn’t feasible, this system has been adapted into mechanical ventilation, bringing in air from the canal side and channelling it through ductwork to create a microclimate. Slovenian PavilionSlovenia Pavilion The AJ’s Rob Wilson’s top pavilion tip this year provides an enjoyable take on the theme of the main exhibition, highlighting how the tacit knowledge and on-site techniques and skills of construction workers and craftspeople are still the key constituent in architectural production despite all the heat and light about robotics, prefabrication, artificial intelligence and 3D printing. Master Builders, curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov and organised by the Museum of Architecture and Designin Ljubljana, presents a series of ‘totems’ –accumulative sculpture-like structures that are formed of conglomerations of differently worked materials, finishes and building elements. These are stacked up into crazy tower forms, which showcase various on-site construction skills and techniques, their construction documented in accompanying films. Uzbekistan PavilionUzbekistan Pavilion Uzbekistan’s contribution explores the Soviet era solar furnace and Modernist legacy. Architecture studio GRACE, led by curators Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Giacomo Cantoni have curated A Matter of Radiance. The focus is the Sun Institute of Material Science – originally known as the Sun Heliocomplex – an incredible large-scale scientific structure built in 1987 on a natural, seismic-free foundation near Tashkent and one of only two that study material behaviour under extreme temperatures. The exhibition examines the solar oven’s site’s historical and contemporary significance while reflecting on its scientific legacy and influence moving beyond just national borders. Applied Arts PavilionV&A Applied Arts Pavilion Diller Scofidio + Renfrois having a moment. The US-based practice, in collaboration with V&A chief curator Brendan Cormier, has curated On Storage, which aptly explores global storage architectures in a pavilion that strongly links to the V&A’s recent opening of Storehouse, its newcollections archive in east London. Featured is a six-channelfilm entitled Boxed: The Mild Boredom of Order, directed by the practice itself and following a toothbrush, as a metaphor for an everyday consumer product, on its journey through different forms of storage across the globe – from warehouse to distribution centre to baggage handlers down to the compact space of a suitcase. Also on display are large-format photographs of V&A East Storehouse, DS+R’s original architectural model and sketchbook and behind-the-scenes photography of Storehouse at work, taken by emerging east London-based photographers. Canal CaféCanal café Golden Lion for the best participation in the actual exhibition went to Canal Café, an intervention designed by V&A East Storehouse’s architect DS+R with Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky and Davide Oldani. Serving up canal-water espresso, the installation is a demonstration of how Venice itself can be a laboratory to understand how to live on the water in a time of water scarcity. The structure, located on the edge of the Arsenale’s building complex, draws water from its lagoon before filtering it onsite via a hybrid of natural and artificial methods, including a mini wetland with grasses. The project was recognised for its persistence, having started almost 20 years ago, just showing how water scarcity, contamination and flooding are still major concerns both globally and, more locally, in the tourist-heavy city of Venice. And what else? Holy See PavilionThe Holy See Much like the Danish Pavilion, the Pavilion of the Holy See is also taking on an approach of renewal this year. Over the next six months, Opera Aperta will breathe new life into the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice Complex in the Castello district of Venice. Founded as a hospice for pilgrims in 1171, the building later became the oldest hospital and was converted into school in the 18th century. In 2001, the City of Venice allocated it for cultural use and for the next four years it will be managed by the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See to oversee its restoration. Curated by architect, curator and researcher Marina Otero Verzier and artistic director of Fondaco Italia, Giovanna Zabotti, the complex has been turned into a constant ‘living laboratory’ of collective repair – and received a special mention in the biennale awards. The restoration works, open from Tuesday to Friday, are being carried out by local artisans and specialised restorers with expertise in recovering stone, marble, terracotta, mural and canvas painting, stucco, wood and metal artworks. The beauty, however, lies in the photogenic fabrics, lit by a warm yellow glow, hanging from the walls within, gently wrapping the building’s surfaces, leaving openings that allow movement and offer glimpses of the ongoing restoration. Mobile scaffolding, used to support the works, also doubles up as furniture, providing space for equipment and subdividing the interior. Togo PavilionTogo Pavilion The Republic of Togo has presented its first pavilion ever at the biennale this year with the project Considering Togo’s Architectural Heritage, which sits intriguingly at the back of a second-hand furniture shop. The inaugural pavilion is curated by Lomé and Berlin-based Studio NEiDA and is in Venice’s Squero Castello. Exploring Togo’s architectural narratives from the early 20th century, and key ongoing restoration efforts, it documents key examples of the west African country’s heritage, highlighting both traditional and more modern building techniques – from Nôk cave dwellings to Afro-Brazilian architecture developed by freed slaves to post-independence Modernist buildings. Some buildings showcased are in disrepair, despite most of the modern structures remaining in use today, including Hotel de la Paix and the Bourse du Travail, suggestive of a future of repair and celebration. Estonian PavilionEstonia Pavilion Another firm favourite this year is the Estonian exhibition on Riva dei Sette Martiri on the waterfront between Corso Garibaldi and the Giardini.  The Guardian’s Olly Wainwright said that outside the Giardini, it packed ‘the most powerful punch of all.’ Simple and effective, Let Me Warm You, curated by trio of architects Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva and Helena Männa, asks whether current insulation-driven renovations are merely a ‘checkbox’ to meet European energy targets or ‘a real chance’ to enhance the spatial and social quality of mass housing. The façade of the historic Venetian palazzetto in which it is housed is clad with fibre-cement insulation panels in the same process used in Estonia itself for its mass housing – a powerful visual statement showcasing a problematic disregard for the character and potential of typical habitable spaces. Inside, the ground floor is wrapped in plastic and exhibits how the dynamics between different stakeholders influence spatial solutions, including named stickers to encourage discussion among your peers. Venice ProcuratieSMACTimed to open to the public at the same time as the biennale, SMAC is a new permanent arts institution in Piazza San Marco, on the second floor of the Procuratie, which is owned by Generali. The exhibition space, open to the public for the first time in 500 years, comprises 16 galleries arranged along a continuous corridor stretching over 80m, recently restored by David Chipperfield Architects. Visitors can expect access through a private courtyard leading on to a monumental staircase and experience a typically sensitive Chipperfield restoration, which has revived the building’s original details: walls covered in a light grey Venetian marmorino made from crushed marble and floors of white terrazzo. During the summer, its inaugural programme features two solo exhibitions dedicated to Australian modern architect Harry Seidler and Korean landscape designer Jung Youngsun. Holcim's installationHolcim x Elemental Concrete manufacturer Holcim makes an appearance for a third time at Venice, this time partnering with Chilean Pritzker Prize-winning Alejandro Aravena’s practice Elemental – curator of the 2016 biennale – to launch a resilient housing prototype that follows on from the Norman Foster-designed Essential Homes Project. The ‘carbon-neutral’ structure incorporates Holcim’s range of low-carbon concrete ECOPact and is on display as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition organised by the European Cultural Centre in their gardens. It also applies Holcim’s ‘biochar’ technology for the first time, a concrete mix with 100 per cent recycled aggregates, in a full-scale Basic Services Unit. This follows an incremental design approach, which could entail fast and efficient construction via the provision of only essential housing components, and via self-build. The Next Earth at Palazzo DiedoThe Next Earth At Palazzo Diedo’s incredible dedicated Berggruen Arts and Culture space, MIT’s department of architecture and think tank Antikytherahave come together to create the exhibition The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology, which questions how philosophy and architecture must and can respond to various planet-wide crises. Antikythera’s The Noocene: Computation and Cosmology from Antikythera to AI looks at the evolution of ‘planetary computation’ as an ‘accidental’ megastructure through which systems, from the molecular to atmospheric scales, become both comprehensible and composable. What is actually on display is an architectural scale video monolith and short films on AI, astronomy and artificial life, as well as selected artefacts. MIT’s Climate Work: Un/Worlding the Planet features 37 works-in-progress, each looking at material supply chains, energy expenditure, modes of practice and deep-time perspectives. Take from it what you will. The 19th International Venice Architecture Biennale remains open until Sunday, 23 November 2025. #venice #biennale #roundup #what #else
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    Venice Biennale 2025 round-up: what else to see?
    This edition of the Venice Biennale includes 65 national pavilions, 11 collateral events, and over 750 participants in the international exhibition curated by Italian architect and engineer Carlo Ratti. Entitled Intelligens: Natural Artificial Collective, its stated aim is to make Venice a ‘living laboratory’. But Ratti’s exhibition in the Arsenale has been hit by mixed reviews. The AJ’s Rob Wilson described it as ‘a bit of a confusing mess’, while other media outlets have called the robot-heavy exhibit of future-facing building-focused solutions to the climate crisis a ‘tech-bro fever dream’ and a ‘mind-boggling rollercoaster’ to mention a few. It is a distinct shift away from the biennale of two years ago twhen Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko curated the main exhibitions, including 89 participants – of which more than half were from Africa or the African diaspora – in a convincing reset of the architectural conversation.Advertisement This year’s National Pavilions and collateral exhibits, by contrast, have tackled the largest themes in architecture and the world right now in a less constrained way than the main exhibitions. The exhibits are radical and work as a useful gauge for understanding what’s important in each country: decarbonisation, climate resilience, the reconstruction of Gaza, and an issue more prevalent in politics closer to home: gender wars. What's not to miss in the Giardini? British Pavilion (photography: Chris Lane) UK Pavilion The British Pavilion this year, which won a special mention from the Venetian jury, is housing a show by a British-Kenyan collab titled GBR – Geology of Britannic Repair. In it, the curators explore the links between colonialism, the built environment and geological extraction. Focusing on the Rift Valley, which runs from east Africa to the Middle East, including Palestine, the exhibition was curated by the Nairobi-based studio cave_bureau, UK-based curator, writer and Farrell Centre director Owen Hopkins and Queen Mary University professor Kathryn Yusoff. The pavilion’s façade is cloaked by a beaded veil of agricultural waste briquettes and clay and glass beads, produced in Kenya and India, echoing both Maasai practices and beads once made on Venice’s Murano, as currency for the exchange of metals, minerals and slaves. The pavilion’s six gallery spaces include multisensory installations such as the Earth Compass, a series of celestial maps connecting London and Nairobi; the Rift Room, tracing one of humans’ earliest migration routes; and the Shimoni Slave Cave, featuring a large-scale bronze cast of a valley cave historically used as a holding pen for enslaved people.Advertisement The show also includes Objects of Repair, a project by design-led research group Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), looking at how salvaged materials could help rebuild war-torn Gaza, the only exhibit anywhere in the Biennale that tackled the reconstruction of Gaza face-on – doing so impressively, both politically and sensitively. Read more here. Danish Pavilion (photography: Hampus Berndtson) Demark Pavilion A firm favourite by most this year, the Danish exhibition Build of Site, curated by Søren Pihlmann of Pihlmann Architects, transforms the pavilion, which requires renovation anyway, into both a renovation site and archive of materials. Clever, simple and very methodical, the building is being both renewed while at the same time showcasing innovative methods to reuse surplus materials uncovered during the construction process – as an alternative to using new resources to build a temporary exhibition. The renovation of the 1950s Peter Koch-designed section of the pavilion began in December 2024 and will be completed following the biennale, having been suspended for its duration. On display are archetypal elements including podiums, ramps, benches and tables – all constructed from the surplus materials unearthed during the renovation, such as wood, limestone, concrete, stone, sand, silt and clay. Belgian Pavilion (photography: Michiel De Cleene) Belgium Pavilion If you need a relaxing break from the intensity of the biennale, then the oldest national pavilion in the Giardini is the one for you. Belgium’s Building Biospheres: A New Alliance between Nature and Architecture brings ‘plant intelligence’ to the fore. Commissioned by the Flanders Architecture Institute and curated by landscape architect Bas Smets and neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso, the exhibit investigates how the natural ‘intelligence’ of plants can be used to produce an indoor climate – elevating the role of landscape design and calling for it to no longer serve as a backdrop for architecture. Inside, more than 200 plants occupy the central area beneath the skylight, becoming the pavilion’s centrepiece, with the rear space visualising ‘real-time’ data on the prototype’s climate control performance. Spanish Pavilion (photography: Luca Capuano) Spain Pavilion One for the pure architecture lovers out there, models (32!), installations, photographs and timber structures fill the Spanish Pavilion in abundance. Neatly curated by architects Roi Salgueiro Barrio and Manuel Bouzas Barcala, Internalities shows a series of existing and research projects that have contributed to decarbonising construction in Spain. The outcome? An extensive collection of work exploring the use of very local and very specific regenerative and low-carbon construction and materials – including stone, wood and soil. The joy of this pavilion comes from the 16 beautiful timber frames constructed from wood from communal forests in Galicia. Polish Pavilion (photography: Luca Capuano) Poland Pavilion Poland’s pavilion was like Marmite this year. Some loved its playful approach while others found it silly. Lares and Penates, taking its name from ancient Roman deities of protection, has been curated by Aleksandra Kędziorek and looks at what it means and takes to have a sense of security in architecture. Speaking to many different anxieties, it refers to the unspoken assumption of treating architecture as a safe haven against the elements, catastrophes and wars – showcasing and elevating the mundane solutions and signage derived from building, fire and health regulations. The highlight? An ornate niche decorated with tiles and stones just for … a fire extinguisher. Dutch Pavilion (photography: Cristiano Corte) Netherlands Pavilion Punchy and straight to the point, SIDELINED: A Space to Rethink Togetherness takes sports as a lens for looking at how spatial design can both reveal and disrupt the often-exclusionary dynamics of everyday environments. Within the pavilion, the exhibit looks beyond the large-scale arena of the stadium and gymnasium to investigate the more localised and intimate context of the sports bar, as well as three alternative sports – a site of both social production and identity formation – as a metaphor for uniting diverse communities. The pavilion-turned-sports bar, designed by Koos Breen and Jeannette Slütter and inspired by Asger Jorn’s three-sided sports field, is a space for fluidity and experimentation where binary oppositions, social hierarchies and cultural values are contested and reshaped – complete with jerseys and football scarfs (currently a must-have fashion item) worn by players in the alternative Anonymous Allyship aligning the walls. Read Derin Fadina’s review for the AJ here. Performance inside the Nordic Countries Pavilion (photography: Venla Helenius) Nordic Countries Pavilion Probably the most impactful national pavilion this year (and with the best tote bag by far), the Nordic Countries have presented an installation with performance work. Curated by Kaisa Karvinen, Industry Muscle: Five Scores for Architecture continues Finnish artist Teo Ala-Ruona’s work on trans embodiment and ecology by considering the trans body as a lens through which to examine modern architecture and the built environment. The three-day exhibition opening featured a two-hour performance each day with Ala-Ruona and his troupe crawling, climbing and writhing around the space, creating a bodily dialogue with the installations and pavilion building itself, which was designed by celebrated Modernist architect Sverre Fehn. The American pavilion next door, loudly (country music!) turns its back on what’s going on in its own country by just celebrating the apathetical porch, making the Nordic Countries seem even more relevant in this crucial time. Read Derin Fadina’s review for the AJ here. German Pavilion (photography: Luca Capuano) Germany Pavilion An exhibit certainly grabbing the issue of climate change by its neck is the German contribution, Stresstest. Curated by Nicola Borgmann, Elisabeth Endres, Gabriele G Kiefer and Daniele Santucci, the pavilion has turned climate change into a literal physical and psychological experience for visitors by creating contrasting ‘stress’ and ‘de-stress’ rooms. In the dark stress room, a large metal sculpture creates a cramped and hot space using heating mats hung from the ceiling and powered by PVs. Opposite is a calmer space demonstrating strategies that could be used to reduce the heat of cities, and between the two spaces is a film focusing on the impacts of cities becoming hotter. If this doesn’t highlight the urgency of the situation, I’m not sure what will. Best bits of the Arsenale outside the main exhibitions Bahrain Pavilion (photography: Andrea Avezzù) Bahrain Pavilion Overall winner of this year’s Golden Lion for best national participation, Bahrain’s pavilion in the historic Artiglierie of the Arsenale is a proposal for living and working through heat conditions. Heatwave, curated by architect Andrea Faraguna, reimagines public space design by exploring passive cooling strategies rooted in the Arab country’s climate, as well as cultural context. A geothermal well and solar chimney are connected through a thermo-hygrometric axis that links underground conditions with the air outside. The inhabitable space that hosts visitors is thus compressed and defined by its earth-covered floor and suspended ceiling, and is surrounded by memorable sandbags, highlighting its scalability for particularly hot construction sites in the Gulf where a huge amount of construction is taking place. In the Arsenale’s exhibition space, where excavation wasn’t feasible, this system has been adapted into mechanical ventilation, bringing in air from the canal side and channelling it through ductwork to create a microclimate. Slovenian Pavilion (photography: Andrea Avezzù) Slovenia Pavilion The AJ’s Rob Wilson’s top pavilion tip this year provides an enjoyable take on the theme of the main exhibition, highlighting how the tacit knowledge and on-site techniques and skills of construction workers and craftspeople are still the key constituent in architectural production despite all the heat and light about robotics, prefabrication, artificial intelligence and 3D printing. Master Builders, curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov and organised by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in Ljubljana, presents a series of ‘totems’ –accumulative sculpture-like structures that are formed of conglomerations of differently worked materials, finishes and building elements. These are stacked up into crazy tower forms, which showcase various on-site construction skills and techniques, their construction documented in accompanying films. Uzbekistan Pavilion (photography: Luca Capuano) Uzbekistan Pavilion Uzbekistan’s contribution explores the Soviet era solar furnace and Modernist legacy. Architecture studio GRACE, led by curators Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Giacomo Cantoni have curated A Matter of Radiance. The focus is the Sun Institute of Material Science – originally known as the Sun Heliocomplex – an incredible large-scale scientific structure built in 1987 on a natural, seismic-free foundation near Tashkent and one of only two that study material behaviour under extreme temperatures. The exhibition examines the solar oven’s site’s historical and contemporary significance while reflecting on its scientific legacy and influence moving beyond just national borders. Applied Arts Pavilion (photography: Andrea Avezzù) V&A Applied Arts Pavilion Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) is having a moment. The US-based practice, in collaboration with V&A chief curator Brendan Cormier, has curated On Storage, which aptly explores global storage architectures in a pavilion that strongly links to the V&A’s recent opening of Storehouse, its new (and free) collections archive in east London. Featured is a six-channel (and screen) film entitled Boxed: The Mild Boredom of Order, directed by the practice itself and following a toothbrush, as a metaphor for an everyday consumer product, on its journey through different forms of storage across the globe – from warehouse to distribution centre to baggage handlers down to the compact space of a suitcase. Also on display are large-format photographs of V&A East Storehouse, DS+R’s original architectural model and sketchbook and behind-the-scenes photography of Storehouse at work, taken by emerging east London-based photographers. Canal Café (photography: Marco Zorzanello) Canal café Golden Lion for the best participation in the actual exhibition went to Canal Café, an intervention designed by V&A East Storehouse’s architect DS+R with Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky and Davide Oldani. Serving up canal-water espresso, the installation is a demonstration of how Venice itself can be a laboratory to understand how to live on the water in a time of water scarcity. The structure, located on the edge of the Arsenale’s building complex, draws water from its lagoon before filtering it onsite via a hybrid of natural and artificial methods, including a mini wetland with grasses. The project was recognised for its persistence, having started almost 20 years ago, just showing how water scarcity, contamination and flooding are still major concerns both globally and, more locally, in the tourist-heavy city of Venice. And what else? Holy See Pavilion (photography: Andrea Avezzù) The Holy See Much like the Danish Pavilion, the Pavilion of the Holy See is also taking on an approach of renewal this year. Over the next six months, Opera Aperta will breathe new life into the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice Complex in the Castello district of Venice. Founded as a hospice for pilgrims in 1171, the building later became the oldest hospital and was converted into school in the 18th century. In 2001, the City of Venice allocated it for cultural use and for the next four years it will be managed by the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See to oversee its restoration. Curated by architect, curator and researcher Marina Otero Verzier and artistic director of Fondaco Italia, Giovanna Zabotti, the complex has been turned into a constant ‘living laboratory’ of collective repair – and received a special mention in the biennale awards. The restoration works, open from Tuesday to Friday, are being carried out by local artisans and specialised restorers with expertise in recovering stone, marble, terracotta, mural and canvas painting, stucco, wood and metal artworks. The beauty, however, lies in the photogenic fabrics, lit by a warm yellow glow, hanging from the walls within, gently wrapping the building’s surfaces, leaving openings that allow movement and offer glimpses of the ongoing restoration. Mobile scaffolding, used to support the works, also doubles up as furniture, providing space for equipment and subdividing the interior. Togo Pavilion (photography: Andrea Avezzù) Togo Pavilion The Republic of Togo has presented its first pavilion ever at the biennale this year with the project Considering Togo’s Architectural Heritage, which sits intriguingly at the back of a second-hand furniture shop. The inaugural pavilion is curated by Lomé and Berlin-based Studio NEiDA and is in Venice’s Squero Castello. Exploring Togo’s architectural narratives from the early 20th century, and key ongoing restoration efforts, it documents key examples of the west African country’s heritage, highlighting both traditional and more modern building techniques – from Nôk cave dwellings to Afro-Brazilian architecture developed by freed slaves to post-independence Modernist buildings. Some buildings showcased are in disrepair, despite most of the modern structures remaining in use today, including Hotel de la Paix and the Bourse du Travail, suggestive of a future of repair and celebration. Estonian Pavilion (photography: Joosep Kivimäe) Estonia Pavilion Another firm favourite this year is the Estonian exhibition on Riva dei Sette Martiri on the waterfront between Corso Garibaldi and the Giardini.  The Guardian’s Olly Wainwright said that outside the Giardini, it packed ‘the most powerful punch of all.’ Simple and effective, Let Me Warm You, curated by trio of architects Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva and Helena Männa, asks whether current insulation-driven renovations are merely a ‘checkbox’ to meet European energy targets or ‘a real chance’ to enhance the spatial and social quality of mass housing. The façade of the historic Venetian palazzetto in which it is housed is clad with fibre-cement insulation panels in the same process used in Estonia itself for its mass housing – a powerful visual statement showcasing a problematic disregard for the character and potential of typical habitable spaces. Inside, the ground floor is wrapped in plastic and exhibits how the dynamics between different stakeholders influence spatial solutions, including named stickers to encourage discussion among your peers. Venice Procuratie (photography: Mike Merkenschlager) SMAC (San Marco Art Centre) Timed to open to the public at the same time as the biennale, SMAC is a new permanent arts institution in Piazza San Marco, on the second floor of the Procuratie, which is owned by Generali. The exhibition space, open to the public for the first time in 500 years, comprises 16 galleries arranged along a continuous corridor stretching over 80m, recently restored by David Chipperfield Architects. Visitors can expect access through a private courtyard leading on to a monumental staircase and experience a typically sensitive Chipperfield restoration, which has revived the building’s original details: walls covered in a light grey Venetian marmorino made from crushed marble and floors of white terrazzo. During the summer, its inaugural programme features two solo exhibitions dedicated to Australian modern architect Harry Seidler and Korean landscape designer Jung Youngsun. Holcim's installation (photography: Celestia Studio) Holcim x Elemental Concrete manufacturer Holcim makes an appearance for a third time at Venice, this time partnering with Chilean Pritzker Prize-winning Alejandro Aravena’s practice Elemental – curator of the 2016 biennale – to launch a resilient housing prototype that follows on from the Norman Foster-designed Essential Homes Project. The ‘carbon-neutral’ structure incorporates Holcim’s range of low-carbon concrete ECOPact and is on display as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition organised by the European Cultural Centre in their gardens. It also applies Holcim’s ‘biochar’ technology for the first time, a concrete mix with 100 per cent recycled aggregates, in a full-scale Basic Services Unit. This follows an incremental design approach, which could entail fast and efficient construction via the provision of only essential housing components, and via self-build. The Next Earth at Palazzo Diedo (photography: Joan Porcel) The Next Earth At Palazzo Diedo’s incredible dedicated Berggruen Arts and Culture space, MIT’s department of architecture and think tank Antikythera (apparently taking its name from the first-known computer) have come together to create the exhibition The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology, which questions how philosophy and architecture must and can respond to various planet-wide crises. Antikythera’s The Noocene: Computation and Cosmology from Antikythera to AI looks at the evolution of ‘planetary computation’ as an ‘accidental’ megastructure through which systems, from the molecular to atmospheric scales, become both comprehensible and composable. What is actually on display is an architectural scale video monolith and short films on AI, astronomy and artificial life, as well as selected artefacts. MIT’s Climate Work: Un/Worlding the Planet features 37 works-in-progress, each looking at material supply chains, energy expenditure, modes of practice and deep-time perspectives. Take from it what you will. The 19th International Venice Architecture Biennale remains open until Sunday, 23 November 2025.
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  • The In-Side Collection Offers a Pop of Color All Year Round

    The In-Side Collection of outdoor furniture by Thomas Heatherwick resembles an impossible shell, formed to protect a creature not from this world. The shapes warp naturally around themselves, for a surprising finish at the end: a burst of bright multicolored spots made of recycled plastic, growing in great numbers across the surface. A beautiful example of rotational molding, this collection produced for Magis brings innovative technology and imaginative design together in harmony.

    Following several months of testing the rotational moulding technique using a blend of two types of recycled polyethylene, Magis observed that while the exterior of the material seemed fairly standard, slicing it open exposed an unexpected, unevenly speckled interior. “The idea behind this new collection is to use waste materials and reveal their inner beauty in an unexpected way,” says Heatherwick.

    The thought and experimentation that went into the In-Side Collection is exemplary of Heatherwick’s style – rigorous research goes into materiality, production methods, and detailing. This collection features rippled molding on the outside, a clever use of the capabilities of rotational molding. Coupled with the colored flecks on the interior, the material is a blend of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled polyethylene, part of extensive research into the impact recycling can have on our collective waste streams. Discarded bottles can now become luxury furniture through imagination and work.

    Flecks gain traction on the inside of the chair, adding pops of confetti-like color in contrast to the soft, muted exterior color palette of Sage, White, and Terracotta. The collection features an armchair, sofa, and low table, all rated for outdoor use. Organic form reigns supreme, not staking any claim on the natural environment but instead blending in, adding interest and elegance to any landscape.

    Thomas Heatherwick is a British designer focused on the human experience. He explores architecture, urban planning, product design and interiors projects, centering the axis of his studio around originality, inventiveness, and identity. Since 1994 when his studio was established, he has challenged convention, sustainability, and a strong sense of materiality at the forefront of his work. As our world becomes more globalized, his ideals of democratic design and cleverness of craft remain evocative of another time, while his aesthetic decisions stay cutting-edge.

    Since 1976, Magis has been pushing the boundaries of design, striving to incorporate the values of respect, honesty, and loyalty to their work. Based in the Veneto, a region of Italy known for it’s high-quality craftsmanship and level of finish within design, they strive to employ Italian craftspeople from as close to the locale as possible. This ensures that they can maintain close relationships with suppliers, and produce as much local commerce as they can. In their Code of Ethics, rare for a furniture brand, they detail their commitment to their employees, customers, and suppliers in that order, establishing where their commitments lie overall – to their people, ensuring Magis products will be made well by respected artisans for decades to come.

    To learn more about the In-Side Collection by Thomas Heatherwick for Magis, head to magisdesign.com.
    Photography courtesy of Magis.
    #inside #collection #offers #pop #color
    The In-Side Collection Offers a Pop of Color All Year Round
    The In-Side Collection of outdoor furniture by Thomas Heatherwick resembles an impossible shell, formed to protect a creature not from this world. The shapes warp naturally around themselves, for a surprising finish at the end: a burst of bright multicolored spots made of recycled plastic, growing in great numbers across the surface. A beautiful example of rotational molding, this collection produced for Magis brings innovative technology and imaginative design together in harmony. Following several months of testing the rotational moulding technique using a blend of two types of recycled polyethylene, Magis observed that while the exterior of the material seemed fairly standard, slicing it open exposed an unexpected, unevenly speckled interior. “The idea behind this new collection is to use waste materials and reveal their inner beauty in an unexpected way,” says Heatherwick. The thought and experimentation that went into the In-Side Collection is exemplary of Heatherwick’s style – rigorous research goes into materiality, production methods, and detailing. This collection features rippled molding on the outside, a clever use of the capabilities of rotational molding. Coupled with the colored flecks on the interior, the material is a blend of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled polyethylene, part of extensive research into the impact recycling can have on our collective waste streams. Discarded bottles can now become luxury furniture through imagination and work. Flecks gain traction on the inside of the chair, adding pops of confetti-like color in contrast to the soft, muted exterior color palette of Sage, White, and Terracotta. The collection features an armchair, sofa, and low table, all rated for outdoor use. Organic form reigns supreme, not staking any claim on the natural environment but instead blending in, adding interest and elegance to any landscape. Thomas Heatherwick is a British designer focused on the human experience. He explores architecture, urban planning, product design and interiors projects, centering the axis of his studio around originality, inventiveness, and identity. Since 1994 when his studio was established, he has challenged convention, sustainability, and a strong sense of materiality at the forefront of his work. As our world becomes more globalized, his ideals of democratic design and cleverness of craft remain evocative of another time, while his aesthetic decisions stay cutting-edge. Since 1976, Magis has been pushing the boundaries of design, striving to incorporate the values of respect, honesty, and loyalty to their work. Based in the Veneto, a region of Italy known for it’s high-quality craftsmanship and level of finish within design, they strive to employ Italian craftspeople from as close to the locale as possible. This ensures that they can maintain close relationships with suppliers, and produce as much local commerce as they can. In their Code of Ethics, rare for a furniture brand, they detail their commitment to their employees, customers, and suppliers in that order, establishing where their commitments lie overall – to their people, ensuring Magis products will be made well by respected artisans for decades to come. To learn more about the In-Side Collection by Thomas Heatherwick for Magis, head to magisdesign.com. Photography courtesy of Magis. #inside #collection #offers #pop #color
    DESIGN-MILK.COM
    The In-Side Collection Offers a Pop of Color All Year Round
    The In-Side Collection of outdoor furniture by Thomas Heatherwick resembles an impossible shell, formed to protect a creature not from this world. The shapes warp naturally around themselves, for a surprising finish at the end: a burst of bright multicolored spots made of recycled plastic, growing in great numbers across the surface. A beautiful example of rotational molding, this collection produced for Magis brings innovative technology and imaginative design together in harmony. Following several months of testing the rotational moulding technique using a blend of two types of recycled polyethylene, Magis observed that while the exterior of the material seemed fairly standard, slicing it open exposed an unexpected, unevenly speckled interior. “The idea behind this new collection is to use waste materials and reveal their inner beauty in an unexpected way,” says Heatherwick. The thought and experimentation that went into the In-Side Collection is exemplary of Heatherwick’s style – rigorous research goes into materiality, production methods, and detailing. This collection features rippled molding on the outside, a clever use of the capabilities of rotational molding. Coupled with the colored flecks on the interior, the material is a blend of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled polyethylene, part of extensive research into the impact recycling can have on our collective waste streams. Discarded bottles can now become luxury furniture through imagination and work. Flecks gain traction on the inside of the chair, adding pops of confetti-like color in contrast to the soft, muted exterior color palette of Sage, White, and Terracotta. The collection features an armchair, sofa, and low table, all rated for outdoor use. Organic form reigns supreme, not staking any claim on the natural environment but instead blending in, adding interest and elegance to any landscape. Thomas Heatherwick is a British designer focused on the human experience. He explores architecture, urban planning, product design and interiors projects, centering the axis of his studio around originality, inventiveness, and identity. Since 1994 when his studio was established, he has challenged convention, sustainability, and a strong sense of materiality at the forefront of his work. As our world becomes more globalized, his ideals of democratic design and cleverness of craft remain evocative of another time, while his aesthetic decisions stay cutting-edge. Since 1976, Magis has been pushing the boundaries of design, striving to incorporate the values of respect, honesty, and loyalty to their work. Based in the Veneto, a region of Italy known for it’s high-quality craftsmanship and level of finish within design, they strive to employ Italian craftspeople from as close to the locale as possible. This ensures that they can maintain close relationships with suppliers, and produce as much local commerce as they can. In their Code of Ethics, rare for a furniture brand, they detail their commitment to their employees, customers, and suppliers in that order, establishing where their commitments lie overall – to their people, ensuring Magis products will be made well by respected artisans for decades to come. To learn more about the In-Side Collection by Thomas Heatherwick for Magis, head to magisdesign.com. Photography courtesy of Magis.
    0 Comentários 0 Compartilhamentos 0 Anterior
  • Track changes: Transa repair centre in Zürich, Switzerland, by Baubüro In Situ, Zirkular and Denkstatt sàrl

    The Swiss Federal Railways’ repair works in Zürich are being lightly transformed for new commercial uses
    Workers at the Swiss Federal Railways’central repair works in Zürich used to climb the roof of its halls and practise handstands. It was as good a place as any to do gymnastics: out in the open air, with a view to the Käferberg rising across from a tangle of railway tracks and the river Limmat. A photograph from 1947 survives in the SBB archives, showing a light turf growing on the roof – most of the buildings that make up the works had been constructed about 30 years earlier, between 1906 and 1910 – and a group of young apprentices exercising under the stern supervision of a foreman.
    The photograph captures the beginning of the repair works’ heyday. SBB was formed in 1902, the result of an 1898 referendum to nationalise the nine major private railway companies operating in Switzerland at the time. The construction of the Zürich repair works began soon after, with an office building, a workers’ canteen, shower rooms, workshops, stores and carriage halls laid out across a 42,000m2 site flanked by Hohlstrasse to the south‑west and the railway tracks connecting Zürich Central and Altstetten stations to the north‑east. Here, rolling stock could easily be redirected to the works, and transferred into its functional, skylit brick halls with the use of a lateral transfer platform. 
    In the postwar decades, the works came to employ upwards of 800 staff, and served as the SBB’s main repair works, or Hauptwerkstätte – there were smaller ones in Bellinzona, Chur, Yverdon-les-Bains and other locations, established by the private railway firms before nationalisation. In the same period, SBB gained international fame for its early electrification drive – the landlocked confederation lacks fossil fuel deposits but has hydropower aplenty – and modern industrial design. The Swiss railway clock, designed in 1944 by SBB employee Hans Hilfiker, is now used in transit systems around the world, and the network’s adoption of Helvetica for its graphic identity in 1978 contributed to the widespread popularisation of the typeface – long before the first iPhone. 
    At the turn of the millennium, SBB was turned into a joint‑stock company. All shares are owned by the state and the Swiss cantons, but the new company structure allowed the network to behave more like a private enterprise. Part of this restructuring was an appraisal of the network’s sizable real-estate holdings, which a new division, SBB Immobilien, was set up to manage in 2003. Around the same time, the Hauptwerkstätte in Zürich was downgraded to a ‘repair centre’, and plans were drawn up to develop the site, which was vast, central and fashionably post‑industrial – and so ripe for profitable exploitation. The revenue generated by SBB Immobilien has only become more important to the network since then, as its pension fund – long beset by market volatility and continuous restructurings – relies heavily on it.
    When, in 2017, SBB and the city and canton of Zürich organised a competition for the redevelopment of the old repair works, Swiss architecture practice Baubüro In Situ was selected as winner ‘for its expertise in adaptive reuse, sustainable circular practices and participatory approach’, says an SBB Immobilien spokesperson. For SBB, it was important that the redevelopment, now dubbed Werkstadt Zürich, made use of the railways’ enormous catalogue of existing materials and components.For the canton, it was imperative that the scheme make room for local manufacturing in line with a broader drive to bring production back into a city dominated by services. 
    Founded in Basel by Barbara Buser and Eric Honegger in 1998, Baubüro In Situwas in a unique position to meet such a brief, as it operates alongside what it terms its three ‘sister companies’: Unterdessen, Zirkular, and Denkstatt Sàrl, an urban think tank run by Buser and Honegger together with Tabea Michaelis and Pascal Biedermann. All informed the masterplan for Werkstadt Zürich, which will complete its first phase this year. 
    The Zürich offices of the four companies have been housed in various spaces on the repair works site since 2017, while the project has been ongoing. For the past year, they have had a permanent home on a new mezzanine level constructed around the internal perimeter of the works’ cathedral‑like carriage hall. This level is accessed via two central staircases composed of reused components from SBB’s network – I‑beams of various profiles, timber, metal tube railings – which, as has become a trademark of Baubüro In Situ’s work, come together in an artfully mismatched whole. ‘The main thing this office does is as little as possible,’ says Vanessa Gerotto, an interior architect at the firm.
    SBB still uses parts of the site, as is evident from train tracks that crisscross it. ‘They do repairs in some of the halls,’ explains Gerotto. ‘But they have reorganised, relocated and compacted their repair sites,’ so that approximately 18,450m2 have been freed up for commercial use at Werkstadt Zürich, including a swathe of units in the carriage hall. Here, as in other areas where they are no longer needed, SBB’s tracks have been retained but filled in with concrete and smoothed over. 
    Businesses have slowly filled Werkstadt Zürich as new units have been completed, and are mostly rarefied, small‑scale producers of luxury consumables: there is a chocolatier, a granola‑maker, a micro‑brewery, a gin distillery and a coffee roastery, as well as a manufacturer of coffee machines. The first commercial tenant, however, was somewhat more in keeping with the original programme of the site: the Swiss outdoor equipment brand Transa moved its repair workshop into one of the spaces in Werkstadt Zürich’s magazine building, to the south of the site, in 2023. Here, a team of 13 craftspeople repair and waterproof Gore-Tex clothing, backpacks, tents and sleeping bags that individual customers either drop off or mail to them, or that official partnering brands send directly to the centre. 
    ‘The Transa team is currently working on a new set of curtains for the Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard’
    This part of Werkstadt Zürich was also the first to be renovated. Baubüro In Situ, working closely with colleagues at Zirkular, undertook a substantial interior fit‑out of the triple-height space, located in the western part of the magazine wing. A new timber mezzanine was added to maximise use of the space for the client, who did not require a double-height ground floor space. This was designed to be structurally independent from the shell of the building, so that the listed structure was not impacted. 
    However, the weight of the mezzanine necessitated new foundations, which needed to support a load of 100kN per timber support. There were not any suitable concrete elements available on site at Werkstadt Zürich, so the teams opted for what Zirkular architect Blanca Gardelegui admits was an ‘experimental’ move, reusing concrete from a demolition site in Winterthur. Here, slabs were cut using a diamond blade saw and stacked on site using a crane. ‘Additional work,’ explains Pascal Angehrn, architect at Baubüro In Situ, ‘came from the temporary storage of the blocks,’ and their transport.
    Once the blocks had been fitted into place, new concrete nevertheless had to be poured around the timber supports. This meant that, although efforts were made to reuse a wide variety of components and fittings – heaters, doors, plumbing fixtures, lights and stone windowsills – the fit‑out did not meet the architects’ own best‑case scenario of 50 per cent greenhouse gas savings, compared with using new materials and components for the renovation. Instead, they calculated the savings to sit at around 17 per cent. ‘Concrete is one of the most challenging materials to recycle,’ says Gardelegui. ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process.’
    Finally, the teams introduced a wide staircase into the centre of the space, using the timber from the cut-out mezzanine flooring to make up its steps. Upon moving in, the staff at Transa’s repair centre embraced the architects’ spirit of reuse, creating their own furniture from pallets, and uplholstering with insulation cut‑offs. Tobias Stump, a member of staff at the centre, explains that their team is currently working on a new set of curtains for Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard. 
    ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process’
    Werkstadt Zürich has the atmosphere of a creative testing ground, where materials get shifted around and reconfigured as needs and uses change. There is genuine camaraderie among the new commercial tenants: they make curtains for each other; organise monthly ‘open factory’ days; and have even recreated the 1947 photograph of the gymnasts on the roof. But antics on the roof may not be viable much longer. The next phase of Werkstadt Zürich involves the construction of vertical extensions atop the halls and magazine wing, densifying the site for further financial gain. Bland, brand new residential towers loom just off site, a little further up Hohlstrasse. Altstetten is gentrifying rapidly, part of the city’s continual remaking of itself.
    #track #changes #transa #repair #centre
    Track changes: Transa repair centre in Zürich, Switzerland, by Baubüro In Situ, Zirkular and Denkstatt sàrl
    The Swiss Federal Railways’ repair works in Zürich are being lightly transformed for new commercial uses Workers at the Swiss Federal Railways’central repair works in Zürich used to climb the roof of its halls and practise handstands. It was as good a place as any to do gymnastics: out in the open air, with a view to the Käferberg rising across from a tangle of railway tracks and the river Limmat. A photograph from 1947 survives in the SBB archives, showing a light turf growing on the roof – most of the buildings that make up the works had been constructed about 30 years earlier, between 1906 and 1910 – and a group of young apprentices exercising under the stern supervision of a foreman. The photograph captures the beginning of the repair works’ heyday. SBB was formed in 1902, the result of an 1898 referendum to nationalise the nine major private railway companies operating in Switzerland at the time. The construction of the Zürich repair works began soon after, with an office building, a workers’ canteen, shower rooms, workshops, stores and carriage halls laid out across a 42,000m2 site flanked by Hohlstrasse to the south‑west and the railway tracks connecting Zürich Central and Altstetten stations to the north‑east. Here, rolling stock could easily be redirected to the works, and transferred into its functional, skylit brick halls with the use of a lateral transfer platform.  In the postwar decades, the works came to employ upwards of 800 staff, and served as the SBB’s main repair works, or Hauptwerkstätte – there were smaller ones in Bellinzona, Chur, Yverdon-les-Bains and other locations, established by the private railway firms before nationalisation. In the same period, SBB gained international fame for its early electrification drive – the landlocked confederation lacks fossil fuel deposits but has hydropower aplenty – and modern industrial design. The Swiss railway clock, designed in 1944 by SBB employee Hans Hilfiker, is now used in transit systems around the world, and the network’s adoption of Helvetica for its graphic identity in 1978 contributed to the widespread popularisation of the typeface – long before the first iPhone.  At the turn of the millennium, SBB was turned into a joint‑stock company. All shares are owned by the state and the Swiss cantons, but the new company structure allowed the network to behave more like a private enterprise. Part of this restructuring was an appraisal of the network’s sizable real-estate holdings, which a new division, SBB Immobilien, was set up to manage in 2003. Around the same time, the Hauptwerkstätte in Zürich was downgraded to a ‘repair centre’, and plans were drawn up to develop the site, which was vast, central and fashionably post‑industrial – and so ripe for profitable exploitation. The revenue generated by SBB Immobilien has only become more important to the network since then, as its pension fund – long beset by market volatility and continuous restructurings – relies heavily on it. When, in 2017, SBB and the city and canton of Zürich organised a competition for the redevelopment of the old repair works, Swiss architecture practice Baubüro In Situ was selected as winner ‘for its expertise in adaptive reuse, sustainable circular practices and participatory approach’, says an SBB Immobilien spokesperson. For SBB, it was important that the redevelopment, now dubbed Werkstadt Zürich, made use of the railways’ enormous catalogue of existing materials and components.For the canton, it was imperative that the scheme make room for local manufacturing in line with a broader drive to bring production back into a city dominated by services.  Founded in Basel by Barbara Buser and Eric Honegger in 1998, Baubüro In Situwas in a unique position to meet such a brief, as it operates alongside what it terms its three ‘sister companies’: Unterdessen, Zirkular, and Denkstatt Sàrl, an urban think tank run by Buser and Honegger together with Tabea Michaelis and Pascal Biedermann. All informed the masterplan for Werkstadt Zürich, which will complete its first phase this year.  The Zürich offices of the four companies have been housed in various spaces on the repair works site since 2017, while the project has been ongoing. For the past year, they have had a permanent home on a new mezzanine level constructed around the internal perimeter of the works’ cathedral‑like carriage hall. This level is accessed via two central staircases composed of reused components from SBB’s network – I‑beams of various profiles, timber, metal tube railings – which, as has become a trademark of Baubüro In Situ’s work, come together in an artfully mismatched whole. ‘The main thing this office does is as little as possible,’ says Vanessa Gerotto, an interior architect at the firm. SBB still uses parts of the site, as is evident from train tracks that crisscross it. ‘They do repairs in some of the halls,’ explains Gerotto. ‘But they have reorganised, relocated and compacted their repair sites,’ so that approximately 18,450m2 have been freed up for commercial use at Werkstadt Zürich, including a swathe of units in the carriage hall. Here, as in other areas where they are no longer needed, SBB’s tracks have been retained but filled in with concrete and smoothed over.  Businesses have slowly filled Werkstadt Zürich as new units have been completed, and are mostly rarefied, small‑scale producers of luxury consumables: there is a chocolatier, a granola‑maker, a micro‑brewery, a gin distillery and a coffee roastery, as well as a manufacturer of coffee machines. The first commercial tenant, however, was somewhat more in keeping with the original programme of the site: the Swiss outdoor equipment brand Transa moved its repair workshop into one of the spaces in Werkstadt Zürich’s magazine building, to the south of the site, in 2023. Here, a team of 13 craftspeople repair and waterproof Gore-Tex clothing, backpacks, tents and sleeping bags that individual customers either drop off or mail to them, or that official partnering brands send directly to the centre.  ‘The Transa team is currently working on a new set of curtains for the Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard’ This part of Werkstadt Zürich was also the first to be renovated. Baubüro In Situ, working closely with colleagues at Zirkular, undertook a substantial interior fit‑out of the triple-height space, located in the western part of the magazine wing. A new timber mezzanine was added to maximise use of the space for the client, who did not require a double-height ground floor space. This was designed to be structurally independent from the shell of the building, so that the listed structure was not impacted.  However, the weight of the mezzanine necessitated new foundations, which needed to support a load of 100kN per timber support. There were not any suitable concrete elements available on site at Werkstadt Zürich, so the teams opted for what Zirkular architect Blanca Gardelegui admits was an ‘experimental’ move, reusing concrete from a demolition site in Winterthur. Here, slabs were cut using a diamond blade saw and stacked on site using a crane. ‘Additional work,’ explains Pascal Angehrn, architect at Baubüro In Situ, ‘came from the temporary storage of the blocks,’ and their transport. Once the blocks had been fitted into place, new concrete nevertheless had to be poured around the timber supports. This meant that, although efforts were made to reuse a wide variety of components and fittings – heaters, doors, plumbing fixtures, lights and stone windowsills – the fit‑out did not meet the architects’ own best‑case scenario of 50 per cent greenhouse gas savings, compared with using new materials and components for the renovation. Instead, they calculated the savings to sit at around 17 per cent. ‘Concrete is one of the most challenging materials to recycle,’ says Gardelegui. ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process.’ Finally, the teams introduced a wide staircase into the centre of the space, using the timber from the cut-out mezzanine flooring to make up its steps. Upon moving in, the staff at Transa’s repair centre embraced the architects’ spirit of reuse, creating their own furniture from pallets, and uplholstering with insulation cut‑offs. Tobias Stump, a member of staff at the centre, explains that their team is currently working on a new set of curtains for Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard.  ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process’ Werkstadt Zürich has the atmosphere of a creative testing ground, where materials get shifted around and reconfigured as needs and uses change. There is genuine camaraderie among the new commercial tenants: they make curtains for each other; organise monthly ‘open factory’ days; and have even recreated the 1947 photograph of the gymnasts on the roof. But antics on the roof may not be viable much longer. The next phase of Werkstadt Zürich involves the construction of vertical extensions atop the halls and magazine wing, densifying the site for further financial gain. Bland, brand new residential towers loom just off site, a little further up Hohlstrasse. Altstetten is gentrifying rapidly, part of the city’s continual remaking of itself. #track #changes #transa #repair #centre
    WWW.ARCHITECTURAL-REVIEW.COM
    Track changes: Transa repair centre in Zürich, Switzerland, by Baubüro In Situ, Zirkular and Denkstatt sàrl
    The Swiss Federal Railways’ repair works in Zürich are being lightly transformed for new commercial uses Workers at the Swiss Federal Railways’ (SBB) central repair works in Zürich used to climb the roof of its halls and practise handstands. It was as good a place as any to do gymnastics: out in the open air, with a view to the Käferberg rising across from a tangle of railway tracks and the river Limmat. A photograph from 1947 survives in the SBB archives, showing a light turf growing on the roof – most of the buildings that make up the works had been constructed about 30 years earlier, between 1906 and 1910 – and a group of young apprentices exercising under the stern supervision of a foreman. The photograph captures the beginning of the repair works’ heyday. SBB was formed in 1902, the result of an 1898 referendum to nationalise the nine major private railway companies operating in Switzerland at the time. The construction of the Zürich repair works began soon after, with an office building, a workers’ canteen, shower rooms, workshops, stores and carriage halls laid out across a 42,000m2 site flanked by Hohlstrasse to the south‑west and the railway tracks connecting Zürich Central and Altstetten stations to the north‑east. Here, rolling stock could easily be redirected to the works, and transferred into its functional, skylit brick halls with the use of a lateral transfer platform.  In the postwar decades, the works came to employ upwards of 800 staff, and served as the SBB’s main repair works, or Hauptwerkstätte – there were smaller ones in Bellinzona, Chur, Yverdon-les-Bains and other locations, established by the private railway firms before nationalisation. In the same period, SBB gained international fame for its early electrification drive – the landlocked confederation lacks fossil fuel deposits but has hydropower aplenty – and modern industrial design. The Swiss railway clock, designed in 1944 by SBB employee Hans Hilfiker, is now used in transit systems around the world, and the network’s adoption of Helvetica for its graphic identity in 1978 contributed to the widespread popularisation of the typeface – long before the first iPhone.  At the turn of the millennium, SBB was turned into a joint‑stock company. All shares are owned by the state and the Swiss cantons, but the new company structure allowed the network to behave more like a private enterprise. Part of this restructuring was an appraisal of the network’s sizable real-estate holdings, which a new division, SBB Immobilien, was set up to manage in 2003. Around the same time, the Hauptwerkstätte in Zürich was downgraded to a ‘repair centre’, and plans were drawn up to develop the site, which was vast, central and fashionably post‑industrial – and so ripe for profitable exploitation. The revenue generated by SBB Immobilien has only become more important to the network since then, as its pension fund – long beset by market volatility and continuous restructurings – relies heavily on it. When, in 2017, SBB and the city and canton of Zürich organised a competition for the redevelopment of the old repair works, Swiss architecture practice Baubüro In Situ was selected as winner ‘for its expertise in adaptive reuse, sustainable circular practices and participatory approach’, says an SBB Immobilien spokesperson. For SBB, it was important that the redevelopment, now dubbed Werkstadt Zürich, made use of the railways’ enormous catalogue of existing materials and components. (SBB even has its own online resale platform, where, for example, four tonnes of gravel, a disused train carriage or a stud welding machine can be acquired for a reasonable sum.) For the canton, it was imperative that the scheme make room for local manufacturing in line with a broader drive to bring production back into a city dominated by services.  Founded in Basel by Barbara Buser and Eric Honegger in 1998, Baubüro In Situ (previously Baubüro Mitte) was in a unique position to meet such a brief, as it operates alongside what it terms its three ‘sister companies’: Unterdessen (founded in 2004, to organise ‘meanwhile’ uses for buildings and sites), Zirkular (established in 2020, focusing on materials and circular construction), and Denkstatt Sàrl, an urban think tank run by Buser and Honegger together with Tabea Michaelis and Pascal Biedermann. All informed the masterplan for Werkstadt Zürich, which will complete its first phase this year.  The Zürich offices of the four companies have been housed in various spaces on the repair works site since 2017, while the project has been ongoing. For the past year, they have had a permanent home on a new mezzanine level constructed around the internal perimeter of the works’ cathedral‑like carriage hall. This level is accessed via two central staircases composed of reused components from SBB’s network – I‑beams of various profiles, timber, metal tube railings – which, as has become a trademark of Baubüro In Situ’s work, come together in an artfully mismatched whole. ‘The main thing this office does is as little as possible,’ says Vanessa Gerotto, an interior architect at the firm. SBB still uses parts of the site, as is evident from train tracks that crisscross it. ‘They do repairs in some of the halls,’ explains Gerotto. ‘But they have reorganised, relocated and compacted their repair sites,’ so that approximately 18,450m2 have been freed up for commercial use at Werkstadt Zürich, including a swathe of units in the carriage hall. Here, as in other areas where they are no longer needed, SBB’s tracks have been retained but filled in with concrete and smoothed over.  Businesses have slowly filled Werkstadt Zürich as new units have been completed, and are mostly rarefied, small‑scale producers of luxury consumables: there is a chocolatier, a granola‑maker, a micro‑brewery, a gin distillery and a coffee roastery, as well as a manufacturer of coffee machines. The first commercial tenant, however, was somewhat more in keeping with the original programme of the site: the Swiss outdoor equipment brand Transa moved its repair workshop into one of the spaces in Werkstadt Zürich’s magazine building, to the south of the site, in 2023. Here, a team of 13 craftspeople repair and waterproof Gore-Tex clothing, backpacks, tents and sleeping bags that individual customers either drop off or mail to them, or that official partnering brands send directly to the centre.  ‘The Transa team is currently working on a new set of curtains for the Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard’ This part of Werkstadt Zürich was also the first to be renovated. Baubüro In Situ, working closely with colleagues at Zirkular, undertook a substantial interior fit‑out of the triple-height space, located in the western part of the magazine wing. A new timber mezzanine was added to maximise use of the space for the client, who did not require a double-height ground floor space. This was designed to be structurally independent from the shell of the building, so that the listed structure was not impacted.  However, the weight of the mezzanine necessitated new foundations, which needed to support a load of 100kN per timber support. There were not any suitable concrete elements available on site at Werkstadt Zürich, so the teams opted for what Zirkular architect Blanca Gardelegui admits was an ‘experimental’ move, reusing concrete from a demolition site in Winterthur. Here, slabs were cut using a diamond blade saw and stacked on site using a crane. ‘Additional work,’ explains Pascal Angehrn, architect at Baubüro In Situ, ‘came from the temporary storage of the blocks,’ and their transport. Once the blocks had been fitted into place, new concrete nevertheless had to be poured around the timber supports. This meant that, although efforts were made to reuse a wide variety of components and fittings – heaters, doors, plumbing fixtures, lights and stone windowsills – the fit‑out did not meet the architects’ own best‑case scenario of 50 per cent greenhouse gas savings, compared with using new materials and components for the renovation. Instead, they calculated the savings to sit at around 17 per cent. ‘Concrete is one of the most challenging materials to recycle,’ says Gardelegui. ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process.’ Finally, the teams introduced a wide staircase into the centre of the space, using the timber from the cut-out mezzanine flooring to make up its steps. Upon moving in, the staff at Transa’s repair centre embraced the architects’ spirit of reuse, creating their own furniture from pallets, and uplholstering with insulation cut‑offs. Tobias Stump, a member of staff at the centre, explains that their team is currently working on a new set of curtains for Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard.  ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process’ Werkstadt Zürich has the atmosphere of a creative testing ground, where materials get shifted around and reconfigured as needs and uses change. There is genuine camaraderie among the new commercial tenants: they make curtains for each other; organise monthly ‘open factory’ days; and have even recreated the 1947 photograph of the gymnasts on the roof. But antics on the roof may not be viable much longer. The next phase of Werkstadt Zürich involves the construction of vertical extensions atop the halls and magazine wing, densifying the site for further financial gain. Bland, brand new residential towers loom just off site, a little further up Hohlstrasse. Altstetten is gentrifying rapidly, part of the city’s continual remaking of itself.
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  • Four Craftspeople Share Their Unexpected Sources of Inspiration

    Explorations in material take on a deeper meaning in the work of these four talented makers, whose collectible objects are as functional as they are covetable. We sat down with Chuma Maweni, Osanna Visconti, Simone Bodmer-Turner, and Ombia Studio Founder Cristina Moreno to talk about unexpected sources of inspiration, pivotal career moments, and experiences that shaped who they are and how they create today. Chuma Maweni The South Africa–based ceramist has put his stamp on traditional Zulu and Xhosa techniques.Gerheardt CoetzeeChuma Maweni in his Cape Town studio.When did you first think of yourself as a creator?CM: There wasn’t a defining moment that I remember, more a realization a few years ago that people, from curators to collectors to family, had started to take notice of my work and wanted to know more about it. That was a very affirming shift for me, particularly in terms of how my parents saw me.Lea CraffordChuma Maweni’s Zoliswa, a rounded mirror with a frame made of clay tiles.What would surprise people most about your process?CM: People are surprised when they realize that my works are made from clay. They often think they’re made of wood. When people think about ceramics, they tend to think of sculpture and vessels, not furniture.Delaire GraffiSibanein glazed stoneware, glass, and steel.What was the last trip you took that sparked your creative output?CM: Going home to Mthatha is always inspiring for me and my work. When I’m there I can practice smoke-firing using cow dung. I can literally watch the cows in the field while I work! There’s something very interesting about this idea of going back to the source.Hayden Phipps and Southern GuildThe installation iMvelaphi, on view at Southern Guild in Cape Town in 2024.Who is your dream collaborator?CM: Within the stable of my gallery, Southern Guild, I would love to collaborate with Adam Birch and Zanele Muholi. Osanna ViscontiThe Milanese metalworker is well known for her elegant pieces made with the lost-wax casting technique.Federico VillaVisconti in her Milan studio. When did you first think of yourself as a creator?OV: Ever since I was a child. At school I would take pliers, thin golden thread, and beads into the classroom and produce pieces to share with my classmates.Osanna ViscontiOsanna Visconti’s Bambù bookshelf in natural bronze.What would surprise people most about your process?OV: My eclecticism, just like the matter I shape. I am an artisan and an artist, and my practice spans art and technique, beauty and function. I am not a sculptor nor an industrial designer, even though I share my approach and quest for meaning with design.Osanna ViscontiVisconti’s cast bronze Campanula floor lamp.What was the last trip you took that inspired your creative output?OV: It was in a weekend house, looking at a magnolia tree of considerable size, with branches touching the windows. I grasped the life cycle of a flower, nature’s most exquisite creation, and it inspired my Magnolia collection of furniture in natural bronze.Osanna ViscontiVisconti’s cast bronze Bambu armchair. What music do you listen to while you work?OV: All piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Simone Bodmer-TurnerWorking in rural Massachusetts, Bodmer-Turner’s studio practice manages to span mediums and meanings.NEIGE THEBAULTBodmer-Turner applying a glaze to one of her chairs.When did you first think of yourself as a creator?SBT: I’ve always known one of my skills was being creative, but saying it out loud to my family, with the intention of doing creative work as my profession rather than as an extracurricular, set me on the path I am now on.What would surprise people most about your process?SBT: I do absolutely nothing with a computer or any technology—except email. Marco GallowayLamps from the Tulip series.What was the last trip you took that inspired your creative output?SBT: My partner and I have been learning to sail. Being on a boat in the middle of the ocean brings clarity, and the multipurposeness and collapsibility of spaces within a boat is so inspiring.What advice would you have for your younger self?SBT: Don’t tell yourself you can’t create something you’re passionate about just because you haven’t seen someone structure a practice that way before. Your gut will always know what’s right for you. Ombia StudioFrom her studio in Los Angeles, Cristina Moreno makes sculptural furniture in clay and wood.Courtesy of OmbiaOmbia Studio founder Cristina Morenoin her L.A. studio. When did you first think of yourself as a creator?CM: I started painting when I was two years old and have known ever since that creativity would forever be a part of me.David William BaumOmbia Studio’s Arena side table in ceramic.What would surprise people most about your process?CM: The technicality and how physically difficult it is to make these tables. When I have friends come by the studio, they’re always amazed—they never thought each piece could take so many steps and require so much muscle.David William BaumCleo, a five-legged ceramic side table.What was the last trip you took that impacted your creative output?CM: Production trips to Mexico City are always fruitful. Places that have a deep artisanal ancestry remind me that there is so much to learn, and beauty in the handmade. I’m still thinking about my trip to the gold museum in Bogotá, Colombia.David William BaumMusica, a sculptural dining chair.What was the last work of art you saw that inspired your output, and how?CM: I wouldn’t say art directly inspires my output. At least not consciously. I usually find that ancient functional objects are what really inspire me. This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE
    #four #craftspeople #share #their #unexpected
    Four Craftspeople Share Their Unexpected Sources of Inspiration
    Explorations in material take on a deeper meaning in the work of these four talented makers, whose collectible objects are as functional as they are covetable. We sat down with Chuma Maweni, Osanna Visconti, Simone Bodmer-Turner, and Ombia Studio Founder Cristina Moreno to talk about unexpected sources of inspiration, pivotal career moments, and experiences that shaped who they are and how they create today. Chuma Maweni The South Africa–based ceramist has put his stamp on traditional Zulu and Xhosa techniques.Gerheardt CoetzeeChuma Maweni in his Cape Town studio.When did you first think of yourself as a creator?CM: There wasn’t a defining moment that I remember, more a realization a few years ago that people, from curators to collectors to family, had started to take notice of my work and wanted to know more about it. That was a very affirming shift for me, particularly in terms of how my parents saw me.Lea CraffordChuma Maweni’s Zoliswa, a rounded mirror with a frame made of clay tiles.What would surprise people most about your process?CM: People are surprised when they realize that my works are made from clay. They often think they’re made of wood. When people think about ceramics, they tend to think of sculpture and vessels, not furniture.Delaire GraffiSibanein glazed stoneware, glass, and steel.What was the last trip you took that sparked your creative output?CM: Going home to Mthatha is always inspiring for me and my work. When I’m there I can practice smoke-firing using cow dung. I can literally watch the cows in the field while I work! There’s something very interesting about this idea of going back to the source.Hayden Phipps and Southern GuildThe installation iMvelaphi, on view at Southern Guild in Cape Town in 2024.Who is your dream collaborator?CM: Within the stable of my gallery, Southern Guild, I would love to collaborate with Adam Birch and Zanele Muholi. Osanna ViscontiThe Milanese metalworker is well known for her elegant pieces made with the lost-wax casting technique.Federico VillaVisconti in her Milan studio. When did you first think of yourself as a creator?OV: Ever since I was a child. At school I would take pliers, thin golden thread, and beads into the classroom and produce pieces to share with my classmates.Osanna ViscontiOsanna Visconti’s Bambù bookshelf in natural bronze.What would surprise people most about your process?OV: My eclecticism, just like the matter I shape. I am an artisan and an artist, and my practice spans art and technique, beauty and function. I am not a sculptor nor an industrial designer, even though I share my approach and quest for meaning with design.Osanna ViscontiVisconti’s cast bronze Campanula floor lamp.What was the last trip you took that inspired your creative output?OV: It was in a weekend house, looking at a magnolia tree of considerable size, with branches touching the windows. I grasped the life cycle of a flower, nature’s most exquisite creation, and it inspired my Magnolia collection of furniture in natural bronze.Osanna ViscontiVisconti’s cast bronze Bambu armchair. What music do you listen to while you work?OV: All piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Simone Bodmer-TurnerWorking in rural Massachusetts, Bodmer-Turner’s studio practice manages to span mediums and meanings.NEIGE THEBAULTBodmer-Turner applying a glaze to one of her chairs.When did you first think of yourself as a creator?SBT: I’ve always known one of my skills was being creative, but saying it out loud to my family, with the intention of doing creative work as my profession rather than as an extracurricular, set me on the path I am now on.What would surprise people most about your process?SBT: I do absolutely nothing with a computer or any technology—except email. Marco GallowayLamps from the Tulip series.What was the last trip you took that inspired your creative output?SBT: My partner and I have been learning to sail. Being on a boat in the middle of the ocean brings clarity, and the multipurposeness and collapsibility of spaces within a boat is so inspiring.What advice would you have for your younger self?SBT: Don’t tell yourself you can’t create something you’re passionate about just because you haven’t seen someone structure a practice that way before. Your gut will always know what’s right for you. Ombia StudioFrom her studio in Los Angeles, Cristina Moreno makes sculptural furniture in clay and wood.Courtesy of OmbiaOmbia Studio founder Cristina Morenoin her L.A. studio. When did you first think of yourself as a creator?CM: I started painting when I was two years old and have known ever since that creativity would forever be a part of me.David William BaumOmbia Studio’s Arena side table in ceramic.What would surprise people most about your process?CM: The technicality and how physically difficult it is to make these tables. When I have friends come by the studio, they’re always amazed—they never thought each piece could take so many steps and require so much muscle.David William BaumCleo, a five-legged ceramic side table.What was the last trip you took that impacted your creative output?CM: Production trips to Mexico City are always fruitful. Places that have a deep artisanal ancestry remind me that there is so much to learn, and beauty in the handmade. I’m still thinking about my trip to the gold museum in Bogotá, Colombia.David William BaumMusica, a sculptural dining chair.What was the last work of art you saw that inspired your output, and how?CM: I wouldn’t say art directly inspires my output. At least not consciously. I usually find that ancient functional objects are what really inspire me. This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE #four #craftspeople #share #their #unexpected
    WWW.ELLEDECOR.COM
    Four Craftspeople Share Their Unexpected Sources of Inspiration
    Explorations in material take on a deeper meaning in the work of these four talented makers, whose collectible objects are as functional as they are covetable. We sat down with Chuma Maweni, Osanna Visconti, Simone Bodmer-Turner, and Ombia Studio Founder Cristina Moreno to talk about unexpected sources of inspiration, pivotal career moments, and experiences that shaped who they are and how they create today. Chuma Maweni The South Africa–based ceramist has put his stamp on traditional Zulu and Xhosa techniques.Gerheardt CoetzeeChuma Maweni in his Cape Town studio.When did you first think of yourself as a creator?CM: There wasn’t a defining moment that I remember, more a realization a few years ago that people, from curators to collectors to family, had started to take notice of my work and wanted to know more about it. That was a very affirming shift for me, particularly in terms of how my parents saw me.Lea CraffordChuma Maweni’s Zoliswa (Qavashe), a rounded mirror with a frame made of clay tiles.What would surprise people most about your process?CM: People are surprised when they realize that my works are made from clay. They often think they’re made of wood. When people think about ceramics, they tend to think of sculpture and vessels, not furniture.Delaire GraffiSibane (Maweni) in glazed stoneware, glass, and steel.What was the last trip you took that sparked your creative output?CM: Going home to Mthatha is always inspiring for me and my work. When I’m there I can practice smoke-firing using cow dung. I can literally watch the cows in the field while I work! There’s something very interesting about this idea of going back to the source.Hayden Phipps and Southern GuildThe installation iMvelaphi, on view at Southern Guild in Cape Town in 2024.Who is your dream collaborator?CM: Within the stable of my gallery, Southern Guild, I would love to collaborate with Adam Birch and Zanele Muholi. Osanna ViscontiThe Milanese metalworker is well known for her elegant pieces made with the lost-wax casting technique.Federico VillaVisconti in her Milan studio. When did you first think of yourself as a creator?OV: Ever since I was a child. At school I would take pliers, thin golden thread, and beads into the classroom and produce pieces to share with my classmates.Osanna ViscontiOsanna Visconti’s Bambù bookshelf in natural bronze.What would surprise people most about your process?OV: My eclecticism, just like the matter I shape. I am an artisan and an artist, and my practice spans art and technique, beauty and function. I am not a sculptor nor an industrial designer, even though I share my approach and quest for meaning with design.Osanna ViscontiVisconti’s cast bronze Campanula floor lamp.What was the last trip you took that inspired your creative output?OV: It was in a weekend house, looking at a magnolia tree of considerable size, with branches touching the windows. I grasped the life cycle of a flower, nature’s most exquisite creation, and it inspired my Magnolia collection of furniture in natural bronze.Osanna ViscontiVisconti’s cast bronze Bambu armchair. What music do you listen to while you work?OV: All piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Simone Bodmer-TurnerWorking in rural Massachusetts, Bodmer-Turner’s studio practice manages to span mediums and meanings.NEIGE THEBAULTBodmer-Turner applying a glaze to one of her chairs.When did you first think of yourself as a creator?SBT: I’ve always known one of my skills was being creative, but saying it out loud to my family, with the intention of doing creative work as my profession rather than as an extracurricular, set me on the path I am now on.What would surprise people most about your process?SBT: I do absolutely nothing with a computer or any technology—except email. Marco GallowayLamps from the Tulip series.What was the last trip you took that inspired your creative output?SBT: My partner and I have been learning to sail. Being on a boat in the middle of the ocean brings clarity, and the multipurposeness and collapsibility of spaces within a boat is so inspiring.What advice would you have for your younger self?SBT: Don’t tell yourself you can’t create something you’re passionate about just because you haven’t seen someone structure a practice that way before. Your gut will always know what’s right for you. Ombia StudioFrom her studio in Los Angeles, Cristina Moreno makes sculptural furniture in clay and wood.Courtesy of OmbiaOmbia Studio founder Cristina Morenoin her L.A. studio. When did you first think of yourself as a creator?CM: I started painting when I was two years old and have known ever since that creativity would forever be a part of me.David William BaumOmbia Studio’s Arena side table in ceramic.What would surprise people most about your process?CM: The technicality and how physically difficult it is to make these tables. When I have friends come by the studio, they’re always amazed—they never thought each piece could take so many steps and require so much muscle.David William BaumCleo, a five-legged ceramic side table.What was the last trip you took that impacted your creative output?CM: Production trips to Mexico City are always fruitful. Places that have a deep artisanal ancestry remind me that there is so much to learn, and beauty in the handmade. I’m still thinking about my trip to the gold museum in Bogotá, Colombia.David William BaumMusica, a sculptural dining chair.What was the last work of art you saw that inspired your output, and how?CM: I wouldn’t say art directly inspires my output. At least not consciously. I usually find that ancient functional objects are what really inspire me. This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE
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  • Lexus recalibrates luxury with 'The Standard of Amazing'

    Luxury has always been a moving target – one minute defined by mechanical prowess and the next by minimalist interiors or digital interfaces. In a time of AI advancements, relentless upgrades, and short attention spans, Lexus is betting on something more timeless: emotion.
    Their new brand platform, The Standard of Amazing, is less a tagline and more a philosophical pivot. Developed in collaboration with creative agency Team One, the platform builds on the Japanese marque's legacy of precisionand experience-led designwhile introducing a bolder, more unified purpose to make every touchpoint resonate.
    At its core, The Standard of Amazing is a statement of intent—not just that Lexus vehicles should deliver excellence but that they should stir an unmistakable emotional response in the driver. As Chris Graves, chief creative officer at Team One, puts it, "By re-establishing the driver at the centre, Lexus is ensuring that innovation doesn't come at the cost of emotional connection."

    The launch follows a strong product run. Recent models like the IS, RX, TX, and the radically reimagined GX have all injected fresh energy into the brand. That momentum gave Team One the opportunity to evolve Lexus' story. Executive creative director Jason Stinsmuehlen explains, "Lexus had come off a series of incredible years of record sales and model success… We had a unique opportunity to build upon recent product momentum and drive overall brand desire."
    This is about standards as much as it's about desire, though. While Experience Amazing first signalled a shift from engineering excellence to emotional engagement, it was never fully launched with a comprehensive brand campaign.
    This new platform finally gives it the scale and clarity to land. "We wanted to reintroduce the line with a new POV," Jason continues, "that with 'Amazing' there are no half measures… If an automobile doesn't make you feel something, it stops short of amazing."
    That sentiment drives the creative thinking across the campaign, from a cinematic 30-second spot titled No Such Thing to expansive OOH placements rolling out in cities like LA, New York, Chicago and Miami this summer. Directed by Johan Renck, the film blends sweeping visuals with intimate moments, portraying a series of high-standard individuals, each hard to impress, each moved by a Lexus.

    "Our goal was to show a swath of humanity that has almost impossible standards for themselves and for the things they own," says Jason. "A Lexus Driver is someone you must bring your A-Game to impress."
    The imagery is equally considered in print and outdoors. Photographer Clemens Asher was brought in to capture vehicles not just as objects but as emotional catalysts. The message is clear: Beauty is nothing without meaning, and performance is incomplete without feeling.
    Underpinning the visuals is a design philosophy defined by three tonal filters: Modern, Elevated, and Human. "If any choice we made missed any of those marks, we recalibrated," says Jason. From colour grading and casting to cinematography, every element was refined to ensure it landed not just aspirationally but with emotional clarity.
    That human-centric approach is mirrored in the product storytelling. Rather than speak only to specs, the campaign explores how each model creates a different emotional response.
    The RC might channel confidence, the RX comfort, and the LC pure exhilaration. Lexus' famed Takumi craftspeople and racing teams are also brought into the narrative, not as behind-the-scenes technicians but as emotional engineers. Even the smallest sensory details, like the sound of a door closing or the torque of a dial, are positioned as tools for connection.
    "Lexus has always considered and anticipated what people need," Jason explains. "The question is, can it serve a higher emotional function? Can a car not just unlock itself for the driver, but actually know the driver and customise itself for them?"
    That framing is particularly important given the campaign's target: a new generation of luxury buyers who expect more than status. These consumers seek purpose, feeling, and alignment with their values. Crucially, Lexus doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to reach them.
    "The happy truth is the Lexus lineup is already aimed at this generation," says Jason. "Models like the TX, GX and IS just need their stories authentically told—and the next generation is lining up to buy them."

    The development of The Standard of Amazing also marks a new level of collaboration between Lexus and Team One. "There has never been more fruitful collaboration across the myriad groups within Lexus and Team One," Jason says. "Our director talked directly to our clients. The lines were blurred like never before. We were on a mission."
    That mission isn't confined to one campaign, either. The Standard of Amazing will underpin Lexus' marketing, product launches, sales events, and digital touchpoints moving forward.
    #lexus #recalibrates #luxury #with #039the
    Lexus recalibrates luxury with 'The Standard of Amazing'
    Luxury has always been a moving target – one minute defined by mechanical prowess and the next by minimalist interiors or digital interfaces. In a time of AI advancements, relentless upgrades, and short attention spans, Lexus is betting on something more timeless: emotion. Their new brand platform, The Standard of Amazing, is less a tagline and more a philosophical pivot. Developed in collaboration with creative agency Team One, the platform builds on the Japanese marque's legacy of precisionand experience-led designwhile introducing a bolder, more unified purpose to make every touchpoint resonate. At its core, The Standard of Amazing is a statement of intent—not just that Lexus vehicles should deliver excellence but that they should stir an unmistakable emotional response in the driver. As Chris Graves, chief creative officer at Team One, puts it, "By re-establishing the driver at the centre, Lexus is ensuring that innovation doesn't come at the cost of emotional connection." The launch follows a strong product run. Recent models like the IS, RX, TX, and the radically reimagined GX have all injected fresh energy into the brand. That momentum gave Team One the opportunity to evolve Lexus' story. Executive creative director Jason Stinsmuehlen explains, "Lexus had come off a series of incredible years of record sales and model success… We had a unique opportunity to build upon recent product momentum and drive overall brand desire." This is about standards as much as it's about desire, though. While Experience Amazing first signalled a shift from engineering excellence to emotional engagement, it was never fully launched with a comprehensive brand campaign. This new platform finally gives it the scale and clarity to land. "We wanted to reintroduce the line with a new POV," Jason continues, "that with 'Amazing' there are no half measures… If an automobile doesn't make you feel something, it stops short of amazing." That sentiment drives the creative thinking across the campaign, from a cinematic 30-second spot titled No Such Thing to expansive OOH placements rolling out in cities like LA, New York, Chicago and Miami this summer. Directed by Johan Renck, the film blends sweeping visuals with intimate moments, portraying a series of high-standard individuals, each hard to impress, each moved by a Lexus. "Our goal was to show a swath of humanity that has almost impossible standards for themselves and for the things they own," says Jason. "A Lexus Driver is someone you must bring your A-Game to impress." The imagery is equally considered in print and outdoors. Photographer Clemens Asher was brought in to capture vehicles not just as objects but as emotional catalysts. The message is clear: Beauty is nothing without meaning, and performance is incomplete without feeling. Underpinning the visuals is a design philosophy defined by three tonal filters: Modern, Elevated, and Human. "If any choice we made missed any of those marks, we recalibrated," says Jason. From colour grading and casting to cinematography, every element was refined to ensure it landed not just aspirationally but with emotional clarity. That human-centric approach is mirrored in the product storytelling. Rather than speak only to specs, the campaign explores how each model creates a different emotional response. The RC might channel confidence, the RX comfort, and the LC pure exhilaration. Lexus' famed Takumi craftspeople and racing teams are also brought into the narrative, not as behind-the-scenes technicians but as emotional engineers. Even the smallest sensory details, like the sound of a door closing or the torque of a dial, are positioned as tools for connection. "Lexus has always considered and anticipated what people need," Jason explains. "The question is, can it serve a higher emotional function? Can a car not just unlock itself for the driver, but actually know the driver and customise itself for them?" That framing is particularly important given the campaign's target: a new generation of luxury buyers who expect more than status. These consumers seek purpose, feeling, and alignment with their values. Crucially, Lexus doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to reach them. "The happy truth is the Lexus lineup is already aimed at this generation," says Jason. "Models like the TX, GX and IS just need their stories authentically told—and the next generation is lining up to buy them." The development of The Standard of Amazing also marks a new level of collaboration between Lexus and Team One. "There has never been more fruitful collaboration across the myriad groups within Lexus and Team One," Jason says. "Our director talked directly to our clients. The lines were blurred like never before. We were on a mission." That mission isn't confined to one campaign, either. The Standard of Amazing will underpin Lexus' marketing, product launches, sales events, and digital touchpoints moving forward. #lexus #recalibrates #luxury #with #039the
    WWW.CREATIVEBOOM.COM
    Lexus recalibrates luxury with 'The Standard of Amazing'
    Luxury has always been a moving target – one minute defined by mechanical prowess and the next by minimalist interiors or digital interfaces. In a time of AI advancements, relentless upgrades, and short attention spans, Lexus is betting on something more timeless: emotion. Their new brand platform, The Standard of Amazing, is less a tagline and more a philosophical pivot. Developed in collaboration with creative agency Team One, the platform builds on the Japanese marque's legacy of precision (The Pursuit of Perfection) and experience-led design (Experience Amazing) while introducing a bolder, more unified purpose to make every touchpoint resonate. At its core, The Standard of Amazing is a statement of intent—not just that Lexus vehicles should deliver excellence but that they should stir an unmistakable emotional response in the driver. As Chris Graves, chief creative officer at Team One, puts it, "By re-establishing the driver at the centre, Lexus is ensuring that innovation doesn't come at the cost of emotional connection." The launch follows a strong product run. Recent models like the IS, RX, TX, and the radically reimagined GX have all injected fresh energy into the brand. That momentum gave Team One the opportunity to evolve Lexus' story. Executive creative director Jason Stinsmuehlen explains, "Lexus had come off a series of incredible years of record sales and model success… We had a unique opportunity to build upon recent product momentum and drive overall brand desire." This is about standards as much as it's about desire, though. While Experience Amazing first signalled a shift from engineering excellence to emotional engagement, it was never fully launched with a comprehensive brand campaign. This new platform finally gives it the scale and clarity to land. "We wanted to reintroduce the line with a new POV," Jason continues, "that with 'Amazing' there are no half measures… If an automobile doesn't make you feel something, it stops short of amazing." That sentiment drives the creative thinking across the campaign, from a cinematic 30-second spot titled No Such Thing to expansive OOH placements rolling out in cities like LA, New York, Chicago and Miami this summer. Directed by Johan Renck, the film blends sweeping visuals with intimate moments, portraying a series of high-standard individuals, each hard to impress, each moved by a Lexus. "Our goal was to show a swath of humanity that has almost impossible standards for themselves and for the things they own," says Jason. "A Lexus Driver is someone you must bring your A-Game to impress." The imagery is equally considered in print and outdoors. Photographer Clemens Asher was brought in to capture vehicles not just as objects but as emotional catalysts. The message is clear: Beauty is nothing without meaning, and performance is incomplete without feeling. Underpinning the visuals is a design philosophy defined by three tonal filters: Modern, Elevated, and Human. "If any choice we made missed any of those marks, we recalibrated," says Jason. From colour grading and casting to cinematography, every element was refined to ensure it landed not just aspirationally but with emotional clarity. That human-centric approach is mirrored in the product storytelling. Rather than speak only to specs, the campaign explores how each model creates a different emotional response. The RC might channel confidence, the RX comfort, and the LC pure exhilaration. Lexus' famed Takumi craftspeople and racing teams are also brought into the narrative, not as behind-the-scenes technicians but as emotional engineers. Even the smallest sensory details, like the sound of a door closing or the torque of a dial, are positioned as tools for connection. "Lexus has always considered and anticipated what people need," Jason explains. "The question is, can it serve a higher emotional function? Can a car not just unlock itself for the driver, but actually know the driver and customise itself for them?" That framing is particularly important given the campaign's target: a new generation of luxury buyers who expect more than status. These consumers seek purpose, feeling, and alignment with their values. Crucially, Lexus doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to reach them. "The happy truth is the Lexus lineup is already aimed at this generation," says Jason. "Models like the TX, GX and IS just need their stories authentically told—and the next generation is lining up to buy them." The development of The Standard of Amazing also marks a new level of collaboration between Lexus and Team One. "There has never been more fruitful collaboration across the myriad groups within Lexus and Team One," Jason says. "Our director talked directly to our clients. The lines were blurred like never before. We were on a mission." That mission isn't confined to one campaign, either. The Standard of Amazing will underpin Lexus' marketing, product launches, sales events, and digital touchpoints moving forward.
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  • Meet the Nigerian Designer Bending Bronze to His Will

    Erik BenjaminsThere is always a message in the medium. Designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello has attracted acclaim in the global design community over the last few years for a practice that relies as heavily on his expansive interior universe as it does on a sophisticated and ecologically conscious selection of materials.Jide AyeniThe "TM Moon" in cast aluminum from Marcus-Bello’s Oríkì series. The piece can function as a room divider.Jide AyeniMolten aluminum being poured into the mold for the "TM Moon" in Lagos, Nigeria.Born and bred in Lagos, Nigeria, Marcus-Bello drew on his country’s centuries-old legacy of artistic metal-smithing and cultural affinity for innovation to create his series Oríkì. In three acts, Marcus-Bello tackled bronze, aluminum, and copper, the last of which was shown at Marta Gallery in Los Angeles earlier this year.“I was thinking of how Africa can play a role in the refinement of its own materials and the layers of conversations that can be had,” he says. “Not just from a material standpoint but from a -socioeconomical, cultural, and -identity-based standpoint as well.”Jide AyeniA copper headrest from the Oríkì series.The designer has been welding since he was 14. His Lagos studio looks to what surrounds it, using materials from the continent and collaborating with local artisans. “I don’t see craftspeople as outsiders,” Marcus-Bello says. “Many of the welders I work with have known me since I was a child. I approach them with an idea, and it ends up being a conversation.” It’s a conversation institutions, galleries, and collectors are only too eager to have, as a recent MoMA acquisition shows. “I am interested in the why of everything,” he says. “Things should not exist for the sake of existing.” This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE
    #meet #nigerian #designer #bending #bronze
    Meet the Nigerian Designer Bending Bronze to His Will
    Erik BenjaminsThere is always a message in the medium. Designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello has attracted acclaim in the global design community over the last few years for a practice that relies as heavily on his expansive interior universe as it does on a sophisticated and ecologically conscious selection of materials.Jide AyeniThe "TM Moon" in cast aluminum from Marcus-Bello’s Oríkì series. The piece can function as a room divider.Jide AyeniMolten aluminum being poured into the mold for the "TM Moon" in Lagos, Nigeria.Born and bred in Lagos, Nigeria, Marcus-Bello drew on his country’s centuries-old legacy of artistic metal-smithing and cultural affinity for innovation to create his series Oríkì. In three acts, Marcus-Bello tackled bronze, aluminum, and copper, the last of which was shown at Marta Gallery in Los Angeles earlier this year.“I was thinking of how Africa can play a role in the refinement of its own materials and the layers of conversations that can be had,” he says. “Not just from a material standpoint but from a -socioeconomical, cultural, and -identity-based standpoint as well.”Jide AyeniA copper headrest from the Oríkì series.The designer has been welding since he was 14. His Lagos studio looks to what surrounds it, using materials from the continent and collaborating with local artisans. “I don’t see craftspeople as outsiders,” Marcus-Bello says. “Many of the welders I work with have known me since I was a child. I approach them with an idea, and it ends up being a conversation.” It’s a conversation institutions, galleries, and collectors are only too eager to have, as a recent MoMA acquisition shows. “I am interested in the why of everything,” he says. “Things should not exist for the sake of existing.” ◾This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE #meet #nigerian #designer #bending #bronze
    WWW.ELLEDECOR.COM
    Meet the Nigerian Designer Bending Bronze to His Will
    Erik BenjaminsThere is always a message in the medium. Designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello has attracted acclaim in the global design community over the last few years for a practice that relies as heavily on his expansive interior universe as it does on a sophisticated and ecologically conscious selection of materials. (Case in point: his bamboo pavilion for the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial.)Jide AyeniThe "TM Moon" in cast aluminum from Marcus-Bello’s Oríkì series (Act II). The piece can function as a room divider.Jide AyeniMolten aluminum being poured into the mold for the "TM Moon" in Lagos, Nigeria.Born and bred in Lagos, Nigeria, Marcus-Bello drew on his country’s centuries-old legacy of artistic metal-smithing and cultural affinity for innovation to create his series Oríkì. In three acts, Marcus-Bello tackled bronze, aluminum, and copper, the last of which was shown at Marta Gallery in Los Angeles earlier this year. (He is pictured above sitting on a daybed from that exhibition.) “I was thinking of how Africa can play a role in the refinement of its own materials and the layers of conversations that can be had,” he says. “Not just from a material standpoint but from a -socioeconomical, cultural, and -identity-based standpoint as well.”Jide AyeniA copper headrest from the Oríkì series (Act III).The designer has been welding since he was 14. His Lagos studio looks to what surrounds it, using materials from the continent and collaborating with local artisans. “I don’t see craftspeople as outsiders,” Marcus-Bello says. “Many of the welders I work with have known me since I was a child. I approach them with an idea, and it ends up being a conversation.” It’s a conversation institutions, galleries, and collectors are only too eager to have, as a recent MoMA acquisition shows. “I am interested in the why of everything,” he says. “Things should not exist for the sake of existing.” ◾This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE
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  • Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago

    New Research

    Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago
    New research shows that the weapons found in Germany are much younger than previously thought, suggesting they were made by skilled Neanderthal craftspeople

    The Schöningen spears on display in Germany
    Julian Stratenschulte / Picture Alliance via Getty Images

    In the 1990s, archaeologists working near the German town of Schöningen made a remarkable find: a set of well-preserved wooden spears crafted from spruce and pine, along with stone tools and the butchered remains of more than 50 horses.
    Researchers initially thought the Schöningen spears were around 400,000 years old and later revised that estimate to roughly 300,000 years old. They suspected the spears—which are among the oldest known complete hunting weapons—belonged to an early human ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis.
    Now, however, they’re revising the timeline once again: According to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances, the spears are around 200,000 years old—much younger than previously thought.
    The new date suggests the weapons may have belonged to Neanderthals, instead of H. heidelbergensis. This theory makes sense to some researchers because, around the same time, Neanderthals were starting to exhibit more complex behaviors, like making stone tools and deploying sophisticated hunting tactics. During this period, known as the Middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals also began living longer, which suggests that they benefited from these lifestyle and behavior advancements.
    Based on the horse remains found at the site, it appears that hunters cleverly trapped them near the edge of a prehistoric lake. Researchers think the spears were carefully hand-made by skilled craftspeople.
    “They offer compelling evidence of sophisticated hunting strategies which would have required better cognitive abilities and the development of more complex communication, planning and social structures,” says lead author Jarod Hutson, an archaeologist at Germany’s Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie, in a statement. “The updated timeline for Schöningen now aligns it with a growing number of sites which together indicate a significant leap in early human hunting capabilities during this period.”
    If the spears were created and used by humans’ closest prehistoric relatives, this revelation would add to the growing body of evidence that “Neanderthal brain development and social structure were more advanced than previously believed,” writes Austin Harvey of All That’s Interesting.
    However, not everyone is confident of the new date—or the theory that the spears belonged to Neanderthals.
    “For the moment, I find the arguments interesting, but not absolutely convincing,” says Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany who wasn’t involved with the research, to the Associated Press’ Adithi Ramakrishnan.
    To determine the new timeline, researchers analyzed fossilized freshwater snail shells found in the same layer of dirt as the spears. They honed in on amino acids that were locked in the shells by tiny “trapdoors” called opercula. Because amino acids break down at predictable rates, researchers could use them to estimate the age of the fossils.
    This method is known as amino acid geochronology. It’s one of the tools researchers have at their disposal for dating artifacts, along with radiocarbon dating, which measures the amount of radioactive carbon-14 present in organic materials, and luminescence dating, which measures the last time sediments were exposed to sunlight. Even with such techniques, however, precisely estimating the age of artifacts can be challenging.
    Anything scientists can do to narrow down the timeframe helps make historic sites “more useful for answering archaeological questions about human evolution and cultural development,” says study co-author Kirsty Penkman, a geochemist at the University of York in England, to Science’s Andrew Curry.

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    #nimbleminded #neanderthals #have #used #these
    Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago
    New Research Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago New research shows that the weapons found in Germany are much younger than previously thought, suggesting they were made by skilled Neanderthal craftspeople The Schöningen spears on display in Germany Julian Stratenschulte / Picture Alliance via Getty Images In the 1990s, archaeologists working near the German town of Schöningen made a remarkable find: a set of well-preserved wooden spears crafted from spruce and pine, along with stone tools and the butchered remains of more than 50 horses. Researchers initially thought the Schöningen spears were around 400,000 years old and later revised that estimate to roughly 300,000 years old. They suspected the spears—which are among the oldest known complete hunting weapons—belonged to an early human ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis. Now, however, they’re revising the timeline once again: According to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances, the spears are around 200,000 years old—much younger than previously thought. The new date suggests the weapons may have belonged to Neanderthals, instead of H. heidelbergensis. This theory makes sense to some researchers because, around the same time, Neanderthals were starting to exhibit more complex behaviors, like making stone tools and deploying sophisticated hunting tactics. During this period, known as the Middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals also began living longer, which suggests that they benefited from these lifestyle and behavior advancements. Based on the horse remains found at the site, it appears that hunters cleverly trapped them near the edge of a prehistoric lake. Researchers think the spears were carefully hand-made by skilled craftspeople. “They offer compelling evidence of sophisticated hunting strategies which would have required better cognitive abilities and the development of more complex communication, planning and social structures,” says lead author Jarod Hutson, an archaeologist at Germany’s Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie, in a statement. “The updated timeline for Schöningen now aligns it with a growing number of sites which together indicate a significant leap in early human hunting capabilities during this period.” If the spears were created and used by humans’ closest prehistoric relatives, this revelation would add to the growing body of evidence that “Neanderthal brain development and social structure were more advanced than previously believed,” writes Austin Harvey of All That’s Interesting. However, not everyone is confident of the new date—or the theory that the spears belonged to Neanderthals. “For the moment, I find the arguments interesting, but not absolutely convincing,” says Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany who wasn’t involved with the research, to the Associated Press’ Adithi Ramakrishnan. To determine the new timeline, researchers analyzed fossilized freshwater snail shells found in the same layer of dirt as the spears. They honed in on amino acids that were locked in the shells by tiny “trapdoors” called opercula. Because amino acids break down at predictable rates, researchers could use them to estimate the age of the fossils. This method is known as amino acid geochronology. It’s one of the tools researchers have at their disposal for dating artifacts, along with radiocarbon dating, which measures the amount of radioactive carbon-14 present in organic materials, and luminescence dating, which measures the last time sediments were exposed to sunlight. Even with such techniques, however, precisely estimating the age of artifacts can be challenging. Anything scientists can do to narrow down the timeframe helps make historic sites “more useful for answering archaeological questions about human evolution and cultural development,” says study co-author Kirsty Penkman, a geochemist at the University of York in England, to Science’s Andrew Curry. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. #nimbleminded #neanderthals #have #used #these
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    Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago
    New Research Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago New research shows that the weapons found in Germany are much younger than previously thought, suggesting they were made by skilled Neanderthal craftspeople The Schöningen spears on display in Germany Julian Stratenschulte / Picture Alliance via Getty Images In the 1990s, archaeologists working near the German town of Schöningen made a remarkable find: a set of well-preserved wooden spears crafted from spruce and pine, along with stone tools and the butchered remains of more than 50 horses. Researchers initially thought the Schöningen spears were around 400,000 years old and later revised that estimate to roughly 300,000 years old. They suspected the spears—which are among the oldest known complete hunting weapons—belonged to an early human ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis. Now, however, they’re revising the timeline once again: According to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances, the spears are around 200,000 years old—much younger than previously thought. The new date suggests the weapons may have belonged to Neanderthals, instead of H. heidelbergensis. This theory makes sense to some researchers because, around the same time, Neanderthals were starting to exhibit more complex behaviors, like making stone tools and deploying sophisticated hunting tactics. During this period, known as the Middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals also began living longer, which suggests that they benefited from these lifestyle and behavior advancements. Based on the horse remains found at the site, it appears that hunters cleverly trapped them near the edge of a prehistoric lake. Researchers think the spears were carefully hand-made by skilled craftspeople. “They offer compelling evidence of sophisticated hunting strategies which would have required better cognitive abilities and the development of more complex communication, planning and social structures,” says lead author Jarod Hutson, an archaeologist at Germany’s Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie, in a statement. “The updated timeline for Schöningen now aligns it with a growing number of sites which together indicate a significant leap in early human hunting capabilities during this period.” If the spears were created and used by humans’ closest prehistoric relatives, this revelation would add to the growing body of evidence that “Neanderthal brain development and social structure were more advanced than previously believed,” writes Austin Harvey of All That’s Interesting. However, not everyone is confident of the new date—or the theory that the spears belonged to Neanderthals. “For the moment, I find the arguments interesting, but not absolutely convincing,” says Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany who wasn’t involved with the research, to the Associated Press’ Adithi Ramakrishnan. To determine the new timeline, researchers analyzed fossilized freshwater snail shells found in the same layer of dirt as the spears. They honed in on amino acids that were locked in the shells by tiny “trapdoors” called opercula. Because amino acids break down at predictable rates, researchers could use them to estimate the age of the fossils. This method is known as amino acid geochronology. It’s one of the tools researchers have at their disposal for dating artifacts, along with radiocarbon dating, which measures the amount of radioactive carbon-14 present in organic materials, and luminescence dating, which measures the last time sediments were exposed to sunlight. Even with such techniques, however, precisely estimating the age of artifacts can be challenging. Anything scientists can do to narrow down the timeframe helps make historic sites “more useful for answering archaeological questions about human evolution and cultural development,” says study co-author Kirsty Penkman, a geochemist at the University of York in England, to Science’s Andrew Curry. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.
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  • Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025

    Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025Save this picture!Master Builders. Image © Klemen Ilovar, 2025The Slovenian Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia presents Master Builders, a project curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov and organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design. The project addresses the evolution of construction technology, encompassing robotics, prefabrication, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and other emerging tools, while drawing attention to a notable paradox within this technological shift, and also emphasizing that the quality of the built environment continues to rely heavily on the tacit knowledge of skilled craftsmen. By constructing a series of totems, the project examines the collaborative dynamics between architect and craftsman, revealing how this relationship shapes the material realization of architecture.The Slovenian Pavilion is structured around three components: a spatial installation in the Arsenale in Venice; a catalogue that explores the relationship between the architect and the master builder across historical and contemporary contexts; and an interdisciplinary symposium on the production of contemporary architecture in Slovenia, scheduled to take place in November at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana.
    this picture!In response to this year's Biennale theme Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., the Slovenian Pavilion foregrounds the know-how, techniques, and skills of craftsmen as an essential and irreplaceable component of architectural production. By repositioning the role of construction workers within the architectural process, the project redirects focus from the finished architectural object to the methods and practices of contemporary construction on site. In doing so, it raises the question of whether this shift in perspective can lead to a renewed understanding of contemporary architecture. Related Article Bahrain Wins the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale this picture! For architecture to be well-constructed, we need a good team of architects and designers, a good investor, a contract with a good construction company, an experienced on-site supervisor, political backing, a cycle of favorable construction material prices, and favorable financing terms. This general formula is missing a key component, and one that is frequently overlooked when it comes to sharing the credit for well-built architecture – the skilled craftsmen who build structures with their particular know-how, goodwill, and well-trained hands. - Ognen Arsov, curator and architect this picture!this picture!Located in the Arsenale, the Slovenian Pavilion features four totems representing a family of master craftsmen from the construction site, accompanied by a large-format documentary video that captures the process of their making. Constructed as physical manifestos of craftsmanship, the totems embody the techniques and knowledge of contemporary building practices in Slovenia. Developed through an experimental collaboration between architects and craftsmen, the project investigates the dynamic relationship between design and construction. Each totem was designed using standard architectural planning tools and built on a construction site in Kranj, 35 kilometers north of Ljubljana, based on detailed plans, bills of quantities, and technical documentation, with ongoing dialogue between the designers and builders. The installation responds to the spatial context of the Arsenale, establishing an interplay between the totems while making visible the often-overlooked skills that underpin architectural production. Beyond representing individual craftspeople, the totems function as collective signifiers of mastery, translating the abstract into the tangible and inviting reflection on the role of craftsmanship within the broader architectural discourse.this picture!this picture!The 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia opened to visitors on May 10 and will remain on view until November 23, 2025, hosting a total of 65 National Pavilions. Among them, four countries, Azerbaijan, Oman, Qatar, and Togo, will be participating for the first time. The Azerbaijan national pavilion will present Equilibrium. Patterns of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Togo will present the exhibition titled Considering Togo's Architectural Heritage. This year's Golden Lion was awarded to the Kingdom of Bahrain for its exhibition Heatwave. Special Mentions were given to Opera Aperta, the Pavilion of the Holy See, and GBR: Geology of Britannic Repair, representing Great Britain.We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale.

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    Cite: Reyyan Dogan. "Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025" 16 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . < ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否
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    #slovenian #pavilion #highlights #relationship #between
    Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
    Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025Save this picture!Master Builders. Image © Klemen Ilovar, 2025The Slovenian Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia presents Master Builders, a project curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov and organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design. The project addresses the evolution of construction technology, encompassing robotics, prefabrication, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and other emerging tools, while drawing attention to a notable paradox within this technological shift, and also emphasizing that the quality of the built environment continues to rely heavily on the tacit knowledge of skilled craftsmen. By constructing a series of totems, the project examines the collaborative dynamics between architect and craftsman, revealing how this relationship shapes the material realization of architecture.The Slovenian Pavilion is structured around three components: a spatial installation in the Arsenale in Venice; a catalogue that explores the relationship between the architect and the master builder across historical and contemporary contexts; and an interdisciplinary symposium on the production of contemporary architecture in Slovenia, scheduled to take place in November at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana. this picture!In response to this year's Biennale theme Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., the Slovenian Pavilion foregrounds the know-how, techniques, and skills of craftsmen as an essential and irreplaceable component of architectural production. By repositioning the role of construction workers within the architectural process, the project redirects focus from the finished architectural object to the methods and practices of contemporary construction on site. In doing so, it raises the question of whether this shift in perspective can lead to a renewed understanding of contemporary architecture. Related Article Bahrain Wins the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale this picture! For architecture to be well-constructed, we need a good team of architects and designers, a good investor, a contract with a good construction company, an experienced on-site supervisor, political backing, a cycle of favorable construction material prices, and favorable financing terms. This general formula is missing a key component, and one that is frequently overlooked when it comes to sharing the credit for well-built architecture – the skilled craftsmen who build structures with their particular know-how, goodwill, and well-trained hands. - Ognen Arsov, curator and architect this picture!this picture!Located in the Arsenale, the Slovenian Pavilion features four totems representing a family of master craftsmen from the construction site, accompanied by a large-format documentary video that captures the process of their making. Constructed as physical manifestos of craftsmanship, the totems embody the techniques and knowledge of contemporary building practices in Slovenia. Developed through an experimental collaboration between architects and craftsmen, the project investigates the dynamic relationship between design and construction. Each totem was designed using standard architectural planning tools and built on a construction site in Kranj, 35 kilometers north of Ljubljana, based on detailed plans, bills of quantities, and technical documentation, with ongoing dialogue between the designers and builders. The installation responds to the spatial context of the Arsenale, establishing an interplay between the totems while making visible the often-overlooked skills that underpin architectural production. Beyond representing individual craftspeople, the totems function as collective signifiers of mastery, translating the abstract into the tangible and inviting reflection on the role of craftsmanship within the broader architectural discourse.this picture!this picture!The 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia opened to visitors on May 10 and will remain on view until November 23, 2025, hosting a total of 65 National Pavilions. Among them, four countries, Azerbaijan, Oman, Qatar, and Togo, will be participating for the first time. The Azerbaijan national pavilion will present Equilibrium. Patterns of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Togo will present the exhibition titled Considering Togo's Architectural Heritage. This year's Golden Lion was awarded to the Kingdom of Bahrain for its exhibition Heatwave. Special Mentions were given to Opera Aperta, the Pavilion of the Holy See, and GBR: Geology of Britannic Repair, representing Great Britain.We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale. Image gallerySee allShow less About this authorReyyan DoganAuthor••• Cite: Reyyan Dogan. "Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025" 16 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . < ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream #slovenian #pavilion #highlights #relationship #between
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    Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
    Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025Save this picture!Master Builders. Image © Klemen Ilovar, 2025The Slovenian Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia presents Master Builders, a project curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov and organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO). The project addresses the evolution of construction technology, encompassing robotics, prefabrication, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and other emerging tools, while drawing attention to a notable paradox within this technological shift, and also emphasizing that the quality of the built environment continues to rely heavily on the tacit knowledge of skilled craftsmen. By constructing a series of totems, the project examines the collaborative dynamics between architect and craftsman, revealing how this relationship shapes the material realization of architecture.The Slovenian Pavilion is structured around three components: a spatial installation in the Arsenale in Venice; a catalogue that explores the relationship between the architect and the master builder across historical and contemporary contexts; and an interdisciplinary symposium on the production of contemporary architecture in Slovenia, scheduled to take place in November at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana. Save this picture!In response to this year's Biennale theme Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., the Slovenian Pavilion foregrounds the know-how, techniques, and skills of craftsmen as an essential and irreplaceable component of architectural production. By repositioning the role of construction workers within the architectural process, the project redirects focus from the finished architectural object to the methods and practices of contemporary construction on site. In doing so, it raises the question of whether this shift in perspective can lead to a renewed understanding of contemporary architecture. Related Article Bahrain Wins the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale Save this picture! For architecture to be well-constructed, we need a good team of architects and designers, a good investor, a contract with a good construction company, an experienced on-site supervisor, political backing, a cycle of favorable construction material prices, and favorable financing terms. This general formula is missing a key component, and one that is frequently overlooked when it comes to sharing the credit for well-built architecture – the skilled craftsmen who build structures with their particular know-how, goodwill, and well-trained hands. - Ognen Arsov, curator and architect Save this picture!Save this picture!Located in the Arsenale, the Slovenian Pavilion features four totems representing a family of master craftsmen from the construction site, accompanied by a large-format documentary video that captures the process of their making. Constructed as physical manifestos of craftsmanship, the totems embody the techniques and knowledge of contemporary building practices in Slovenia. Developed through an experimental collaboration between architects and craftsmen, the project investigates the dynamic relationship between design and construction. Each totem was designed using standard architectural planning tools and built on a construction site in Kranj, 35 kilometers north of Ljubljana, based on detailed plans, bills of quantities, and technical documentation, with ongoing dialogue between the designers and builders. The installation responds to the spatial context of the Arsenale, establishing an interplay between the totems while making visible the often-overlooked skills that underpin architectural production. Beyond representing individual craftspeople, the totems function as collective signifiers of mastery, translating the abstract into the tangible and inviting reflection on the role of craftsmanship within the broader architectural discourse.Save this picture!Save this picture!The 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia opened to visitors on May 10 and will remain on view until November 23, 2025, hosting a total of 65 National Pavilions. Among them, four countries, Azerbaijan, Oman, Qatar, and Togo, will be participating for the first time. The Azerbaijan national pavilion will present Equilibrium. Patterns of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Togo will present the exhibition titled Considering Togo's Architectural Heritage. This year's Golden Lion was awarded to the Kingdom of Bahrain for its exhibition Heatwave. Special Mentions were given to Opera Aperta, the Pavilion of the Holy See, and GBR: Geology of Britannic Repair, representing Great Britain.We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale. Image gallerySee allShow less About this authorReyyan DoganAuthor••• Cite: Reyyan Dogan. "Slovenian Pavilion Highlights the Relationship Between Architect, Craftsman, and Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025" 16 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030246/slovenian-pavilion-highlights-the-relationship-between-architect-craftsman-and-architecture-at-the-venice-architecture-biennale-2025&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream
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  • “The perfect wish” – why Rolls-Royce is doubling down on personalised design

    13 May, 2025

    Clare Dowdy finds out how the iconic car brand taps into the appetite for personalisation among the super-rich, and the incredible range of options these customers can decide on.

    At Rolls-Royce’s site in West Sussex, visitors are asked to put on a purple overall-style jacket.
    Nothing unusual there, it’s routine at manufacturing facilities to be handed a coat.
    But this jacket is made by Norton & Sons of Savile Row.
    If you weren’t picked up from the station in a Roller and driven up the drive past the 65 box-cut lime trees to the factory’s front door (as I was), then the jacket might be your first whiff that things are done differently here.
    A constellation of the night sky picked out in tiny lights on the headliner (ceiling) of a new car
    This factory has cornered the – admittedly niche – market in bespoke one-off motor cars, an object that is becoming increasingly desired by the very wealthy.
    From the welcoming reception desk to the pristine production line, from the embroidery workshop to the private dining room, the atmosphere is deferential.
    These people know their target audience.
    At Rolls-Royce, it’s all about making customers feel special.
    For example, staff know customers like to mark important anniversaries.
    So a customer can decide to celebrate the day they made their first billion by having the exact constellation of that night sky picked out in tiny lights on the headliner (ceiling) of their new car.
    This makes particular sense if you have a chauffeur, as you get a great view of the headliner from the back seat.
    That service isn’t on offer to off-the-peg Rolls-Royce customers, but to those who pay the extra to have their car personalised.
    The home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, outside Chichester
    And though it takes around three years to make an individualised car, demand is going up.
    Called Bespoke and Coachbuild, this service provides customers with a one-off Rolls-Royce, as they can choose their own detailing, materials, marquetry, patterns and paint colour.
    With Coachbuild, they can even dictate the shape of the car.
    That’s a four-year process.
    There was a surge in bespoke commissioning during the pandemic, when billionaires, like the rest of us, were twiddling their thumbs at home.
    These hand-crafted projects are increasingly complex, high-value and – all-importantly – high-margin.
    Meaning they need a lot of design input.
    So in January, Rolls-Royce earmarked £300million to extend its Bespoke and Coachbuild capabilities at Goodwood, outside Chichester.
    “Clients want more intriguing levels of bespoke, so we needed more space,” the RR spokesperson explains on my visit.
    Hence the new facility.
    Production takes place at the Goodwood site, designed by Grimshaw Architects, and opened in 2003
    When RR’s Goodwood site, designed by Grimshaw Architects, opened in 2003, 300 staff made just one car a day.
    Now there are 2,500 staff at the site, producing 28 cars a day.
    Rolls-Royce was founded in the UK in 1904.
    Since 2003 it’s been part of BMW Group, when the German company acquired the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars marque.
    And that’s where Martina Starke comes in.
    Having joined BMW in 2001, she left her role as head of BMW Designworks’ Munich studio to become general manager of RR’s Bespoke Design in Goodwood in 2024.
    She oversees more than 30 designers, who collaborate with the engineers, craftspeople and artisans of Bespoke.
    These designers have backgrounds in 3D, colour trim, textiles, fashion, automotive and industrial design.
    Three designers work in the accessory design team, which can include creating anything from chess sets to picnic hampers
    “They not only create products, they create experiences and moments of wonder for our clients,” she says of the team.
    “I guide and support them as they look into the lifestyle of our clients to understand and capture their personal taste – so we can curate their beautiful masterpieces with material, colours and craftmanship.”
    She describes the work of Bespoke as storytelling.
    “My job is to nurture these stories as they come alive.
    They ask for something emotional and made for them – it’s a personal product.”
    But first the client must settle on the brief.
    This is either discussed at Goodwood, or with a designer and salesperson based at one of the company’s private offices in New York, Seoul, Dubai and Shanghai.
    The Middle East is the largest Bespoke region by average value per motor car, closely followed by North America and Europe.
    The ambition is to have a private office in every region, as having designers based in these key markets allows RR to react fast, Starke adds.
    These designers have a four-month induction course at Goodwood before they go into the field.
    Customers can choose their own design to have embroidered onto seats
    “There’s a conversation with the customer to understand what the idea is,” Starke says.
    So apart from headliners depicting the night sky, a customer might ask for a particular rose from their garden embroidered into the headliner, “or the face of your child, or dog, or horse painted in your vehicle so you have the loved ones with you in the car.”
    While imagination is limitless, the engineers need to confirm that it’s feasible.
    “If it’s possible, we might do several iterations.
    In the end we visualise the perfect wish,” Starke says.
    The fruits of this process include solid 18-carat gold sculptures, mother-of-pearl artworks, and holographic paint finishes.
    One client in Japan is having a cherry blossom design embroidered onto their headliner with 250,000 stitches.
    And when it comes to colour options, RR has 44,000 to choose from.
    But if the client can’t find the one they want, RR can make it up for them.
    This service was invaluable for the client who wanted the car exterior to match the colour of their dog’s fur.
    The private office at the Rolls-Royce site in Goodwood
    “What they really like is that we bring together the design and the craftmanship,” Starke says.
    “When they come to Goodwood and look at the woodwork or leather shop, they can touch, experience and understand it.
    When you have this high level of craftmanship it’s a different connection to people.
    It connects you to the makers.”
    This type of customisation is sought by clients who define luxury as something deeply personal to them, she adds.
    Starke’s department includes a three-strong accessory design team.
    “We’re not competing with other car brands, we’re competing with other luxury brands,” the spokesperson explains.
    Pieces in the accessories range include pens, luggage and dog leads
    Accessories designer Nick Abrams shows us a new magnetic chess set, which will sit along other pieces in the accessories range including pens, luggage and dog leads.
    This chess set costs €29,000, pre-tax.
    But of course, the client could customise it.
    All these opportunities for what Starke calls meaningful personal expression tap into a global trend.
    “Individualisation is growing because people want the storytelling.
    It’s self-expression, encapsulating your taste and philosophy,” she says.
    The exterior of Phantom Goldfinger, created to honour the 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger
    Timandra Harkness is a broadcaster and author of Technology is Not the Problem explains why hyper-personalisation is a trend that’s still growing.
    “We live in an age increasingly obsessed with identity: consumers want what they buy to express who they are.”
    Now, mass production means most people in advanced economies can afford nice things, so merely wearing tall boots or gold lace isn’t enough, according to Harkness.
    “Standing out from the crowd today means buying things that only a few people can have, because they are artisanal, or limited-edition, or personalised.
    “Because mass production has put even luxury products within reach of the mass market, personalisation offers a way to stand out from the crowd,” she says.
    The interior of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Scintilla
    What does that mean for the top end of the market?
    “Bespoke products have added value: customers will pay a premium to own a commodity that nobody else owns, and that says something about them.”
    In 2024, RR’s one-off Arcadia Droptail was reported as costing its anonymous buyer $31million.
    100 years ago, merely owning a car was a sign of wealth and status – and probably meant you could afford to employ a driver, Harkness points out.
    “Today it’s not even enough to drive a top-of-the-range car, so the wealthiest consumers need other ways to look – and feel – special.
    And feeling special is as important as outward signals,” she adds.
    “Nobody else will know this car matches your dog’s fur, but you will, and that will remind you every time you see it that nothing is too good for you, or your dog.”
    With the expansion of its personalisation capabilities, RR is betting on the continuation of this trend.
    If they’re right, then that will be good for the company and good for its designers.
    The interior of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger
    Design disciplines in this article
    Industries in this article
    Brands in this article

    What to read next
    The car after the storm – Jaguar unveils new concept EV
    Automotive Design
    3 Dec, 2024

    Source: https://www.designweek.co.uk/the-perfect-wish-why-rolls-royce-is-doubling-down-on-personalised-design/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.designweek.co.uk/the-perfect-wish-why-rolls-royce-is-doubling-down-on-personalised-design/
    #the #perfect #wish #why #rollsroyce #doubling #down #personalised #design
    “The perfect wish” – why Rolls-Royce is doubling down on personalised design
    13 May, 2025 Clare Dowdy finds out how the iconic car brand taps into the appetite for personalisation among the super-rich, and the incredible range of options these customers can decide on. At Rolls-Royce’s site in West Sussex, visitors are asked to put on a purple overall-style jacket. Nothing unusual there, it’s routine at manufacturing facilities to be handed a coat. But this jacket is made by Norton & Sons of Savile Row. If you weren’t picked up from the station in a Roller and driven up the drive past the 65 box-cut lime trees to the factory’s front door (as I was), then the jacket might be your first whiff that things are done differently here. A constellation of the night sky picked out in tiny lights on the headliner (ceiling) of a new car This factory has cornered the – admittedly niche – market in bespoke one-off motor cars, an object that is becoming increasingly desired by the very wealthy. From the welcoming reception desk to the pristine production line, from the embroidery workshop to the private dining room, the atmosphere is deferential. These people know their target audience. At Rolls-Royce, it’s all about making customers feel special. For example, staff know customers like to mark important anniversaries. So a customer can decide to celebrate the day they made their first billion by having the exact constellation of that night sky picked out in tiny lights on the headliner (ceiling) of their new car. This makes particular sense if you have a chauffeur, as you get a great view of the headliner from the back seat. That service isn’t on offer to off-the-peg Rolls-Royce customers, but to those who pay the extra to have their car personalised. The home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, outside Chichester And though it takes around three years to make an individualised car, demand is going up. Called Bespoke and Coachbuild, this service provides customers with a one-off Rolls-Royce, as they can choose their own detailing, materials, marquetry, patterns and paint colour. With Coachbuild, they can even dictate the shape of the car. That’s a four-year process. There was a surge in bespoke commissioning during the pandemic, when billionaires, like the rest of us, were twiddling their thumbs at home. These hand-crafted projects are increasingly complex, high-value and – all-importantly – high-margin. Meaning they need a lot of design input. So in January, Rolls-Royce earmarked £300million to extend its Bespoke and Coachbuild capabilities at Goodwood, outside Chichester. “Clients want more intriguing levels of bespoke, so we needed more space,” the RR spokesperson explains on my visit. Hence the new facility. Production takes place at the Goodwood site, designed by Grimshaw Architects, and opened in 2003 When RR’s Goodwood site, designed by Grimshaw Architects, opened in 2003, 300 staff made just one car a day. Now there are 2,500 staff at the site, producing 28 cars a day. Rolls-Royce was founded in the UK in 1904. Since 2003 it’s been part of BMW Group, when the German company acquired the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars marque. And that’s where Martina Starke comes in. Having joined BMW in 2001, she left her role as head of BMW Designworks’ Munich studio to become general manager of RR’s Bespoke Design in Goodwood in 2024. She oversees more than 30 designers, who collaborate with the engineers, craftspeople and artisans of Bespoke. These designers have backgrounds in 3D, colour trim, textiles, fashion, automotive and industrial design. Three designers work in the accessory design team, which can include creating anything from chess sets to picnic hampers “They not only create products, they create experiences and moments of wonder for our clients,” she says of the team. “I guide and support them as they look into the lifestyle of our clients to understand and capture their personal taste – so we can curate their beautiful masterpieces with material, colours and craftmanship.” She describes the work of Bespoke as storytelling. “My job is to nurture these stories as they come alive. They ask for something emotional and made for them – it’s a personal product.” But first the client must settle on the brief. This is either discussed at Goodwood, or with a designer and salesperson based at one of the company’s private offices in New York, Seoul, Dubai and Shanghai. The Middle East is the largest Bespoke region by average value per motor car, closely followed by North America and Europe. The ambition is to have a private office in every region, as having designers based in these key markets allows RR to react fast, Starke adds. These designers have a four-month induction course at Goodwood before they go into the field. Customers can choose their own design to have embroidered onto seats “There’s a conversation with the customer to understand what the idea is,” Starke says. So apart from headliners depicting the night sky, a customer might ask for a particular rose from their garden embroidered into the headliner, “or the face of your child, or dog, or horse painted in your vehicle so you have the loved ones with you in the car.” While imagination is limitless, the engineers need to confirm that it’s feasible. “If it’s possible, we might do several iterations. In the end we visualise the perfect wish,” Starke says. The fruits of this process include solid 18-carat gold sculptures, mother-of-pearl artworks, and holographic paint finishes. One client in Japan is having a cherry blossom design embroidered onto their headliner with 250,000 stitches. And when it comes to colour options, RR has 44,000 to choose from. But if the client can’t find the one they want, RR can make it up for them. This service was invaluable for the client who wanted the car exterior to match the colour of their dog’s fur. The private office at the Rolls-Royce site in Goodwood “What they really like is that we bring together the design and the craftmanship,” Starke says. “When they come to Goodwood and look at the woodwork or leather shop, they can touch, experience and understand it. When you have this high level of craftmanship it’s a different connection to people. It connects you to the makers.” This type of customisation is sought by clients who define luxury as something deeply personal to them, she adds. Starke’s department includes a three-strong accessory design team. “We’re not competing with other car brands, we’re competing with other luxury brands,” the spokesperson explains. Pieces in the accessories range include pens, luggage and dog leads Accessories designer Nick Abrams shows us a new magnetic chess set, which will sit along other pieces in the accessories range including pens, luggage and dog leads. This chess set costs €29,000, pre-tax. But of course, the client could customise it. All these opportunities for what Starke calls meaningful personal expression tap into a global trend. “Individualisation is growing because people want the storytelling. It’s self-expression, encapsulating your taste and philosophy,” she says. The exterior of Phantom Goldfinger, created to honour the 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger Timandra Harkness is a broadcaster and author of Technology is Not the Problem explains why hyper-personalisation is a trend that’s still growing. “We live in an age increasingly obsessed with identity: consumers want what they buy to express who they are.” Now, mass production means most people in advanced economies can afford nice things, so merely wearing tall boots or gold lace isn’t enough, according to Harkness. “Standing out from the crowd today means buying things that only a few people can have, because they are artisanal, or limited-edition, or personalised. “Because mass production has put even luxury products within reach of the mass market, personalisation offers a way to stand out from the crowd,” she says. The interior of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Scintilla What does that mean for the top end of the market? “Bespoke products have added value: customers will pay a premium to own a commodity that nobody else owns, and that says something about them.” In 2024, RR’s one-off Arcadia Droptail was reported as costing its anonymous buyer $31million. 100 years ago, merely owning a car was a sign of wealth and status – and probably meant you could afford to employ a driver, Harkness points out. “Today it’s not even enough to drive a top-of-the-range car, so the wealthiest consumers need other ways to look – and feel – special. And feeling special is as important as outward signals,” she adds. “Nobody else will know this car matches your dog’s fur, but you will, and that will remind you every time you see it that nothing is too good for you, or your dog.” With the expansion of its personalisation capabilities, RR is betting on the continuation of this trend. If they’re right, then that will be good for the company and good for its designers. The interior of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger Design disciplines in this article Industries in this article Brands in this article What to read next The car after the storm – Jaguar unveils new concept EV Automotive Design 3 Dec, 2024 Source: https://www.designweek.co.uk/the-perfect-wish-why-rolls-royce-is-doubling-down-on-personalised-design/ #the #perfect #wish #why #rollsroyce #doubling #down #personalised #design
    WWW.DESIGNWEEK.CO.UK
    “The perfect wish” – why Rolls-Royce is doubling down on personalised design
    13 May, 2025 Clare Dowdy finds out how the iconic car brand taps into the appetite for personalisation among the super-rich, and the incredible range of options these customers can decide on. At Rolls-Royce’s site in West Sussex, visitors are asked to put on a purple overall-style jacket. Nothing unusual there, it’s routine at manufacturing facilities to be handed a coat. But this jacket is made by Norton & Sons of Savile Row. If you weren’t picked up from the station in a Roller and driven up the drive past the 65 box-cut lime trees to the factory’s front door (as I was), then the jacket might be your first whiff that things are done differently here. A constellation of the night sky picked out in tiny lights on the headliner (ceiling) of a new car This factory has cornered the – admittedly niche – market in bespoke one-off motor cars, an object that is becoming increasingly desired by the very wealthy. From the welcoming reception desk to the pristine production line, from the embroidery workshop to the private dining room, the atmosphere is deferential. These people know their target audience. At Rolls-Royce, it’s all about making customers feel special. For example, staff know customers like to mark important anniversaries. So a customer can decide to celebrate the day they made their first billion by having the exact constellation of that night sky picked out in tiny lights on the headliner (ceiling) of their new car. This makes particular sense if you have a chauffeur, as you get a great view of the headliner from the back seat. That service isn’t on offer to off-the-peg Rolls-Royce customers, but to those who pay the extra to have their car personalised. The home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, outside Chichester And though it takes around three years to make an individualised car, demand is going up. Called Bespoke and Coachbuild, this service provides customers with a one-off Rolls-Royce, as they can choose their own detailing, materials, marquetry, patterns and paint colour. With Coachbuild, they can even dictate the shape of the car. That’s a four-year process. There was a surge in bespoke commissioning during the pandemic, when billionaires, like the rest of us, were twiddling their thumbs at home. These hand-crafted projects are increasingly complex, high-value and – all-importantly – high-margin. Meaning they need a lot of design input. So in January, Rolls-Royce earmarked £300million to extend its Bespoke and Coachbuild capabilities at Goodwood, outside Chichester. “Clients want more intriguing levels of bespoke, so we needed more space,” the RR spokesperson explains on my visit. Hence the new facility. Production takes place at the Goodwood site, designed by Grimshaw Architects, and opened in 2003 When RR’s Goodwood site, designed by Grimshaw Architects, opened in 2003, 300 staff made just one car a day. Now there are 2,500 staff at the site, producing 28 cars a day. Rolls-Royce was founded in the UK in 1904. Since 2003 it’s been part of BMW Group, when the German company acquired the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars marque. And that’s where Martina Starke comes in. Having joined BMW in 2001, she left her role as head of BMW Designworks’ Munich studio to become general manager of RR’s Bespoke Design in Goodwood in 2024. She oversees more than 30 designers, who collaborate with the engineers, craftspeople and artisans of Bespoke. These designers have backgrounds in 3D, colour trim, textiles, fashion, automotive and industrial design. Three designers work in the accessory design team, which can include creating anything from chess sets to picnic hampers “They not only create products, they create experiences and moments of wonder for our clients,” she says of the team. “I guide and support them as they look into the lifestyle of our clients to understand and capture their personal taste – so we can curate their beautiful masterpieces with material, colours and craftmanship.” She describes the work of Bespoke as storytelling. “My job is to nurture these stories as they come alive. They ask for something emotional and made for them – it’s a personal product.” But first the client must settle on the brief. This is either discussed at Goodwood, or with a designer and salesperson based at one of the company’s private offices in New York, Seoul, Dubai and Shanghai. The Middle East is the largest Bespoke region by average value per motor car, closely followed by North America and Europe. The ambition is to have a private office in every region, as having designers based in these key markets allows RR to react fast, Starke adds. These designers have a four-month induction course at Goodwood before they go into the field. Customers can choose their own design to have embroidered onto seats “There’s a conversation with the customer to understand what the idea is,” Starke says. So apart from headliners depicting the night sky, a customer might ask for a particular rose from their garden embroidered into the headliner, “or the face of your child, or dog, or horse painted in your vehicle so you have the loved ones with you in the car.” While imagination is limitless, the engineers need to confirm that it’s feasible. “If it’s possible, we might do several iterations. In the end we visualise the perfect wish,” Starke says. The fruits of this process include solid 18-carat gold sculptures, mother-of-pearl artworks, and holographic paint finishes. One client in Japan is having a cherry blossom design embroidered onto their headliner with 250,000 stitches. And when it comes to colour options, RR has 44,000 to choose from. But if the client can’t find the one they want, RR can make it up for them. This service was invaluable for the client who wanted the car exterior to match the colour of their dog’s fur. The private office at the Rolls-Royce site in Goodwood “What they really like is that we bring together the design and the craftmanship,” Starke says. “When they come to Goodwood and look at the woodwork or leather shop, they can touch, experience and understand it. When you have this high level of craftmanship it’s a different connection to people. It connects you to the makers.” This type of customisation is sought by clients who define luxury as something deeply personal to them, she adds. Starke’s department includes a three-strong accessory design team. “We’re not competing with other car brands, we’re competing with other luxury brands,” the spokesperson explains. Pieces in the accessories range include pens, luggage and dog leads Accessories designer Nick Abrams shows us a new magnetic chess set, which will sit along other pieces in the accessories range including pens, luggage and dog leads. This chess set costs €29,000, pre-tax. But of course, the client could customise it. All these opportunities for what Starke calls meaningful personal expression tap into a global trend. “Individualisation is growing because people want the storytelling. It’s self-expression, encapsulating your taste and philosophy,” she says. The exterior of Phantom Goldfinger, created to honour the 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger Timandra Harkness is a broadcaster and author of Technology is Not the Problem explains why hyper-personalisation is a trend that’s still growing. “We live in an age increasingly obsessed with identity: consumers want what they buy to express who they are.” Now, mass production means most people in advanced economies can afford nice things, so merely wearing tall boots or gold lace isn’t enough, according to Harkness. “Standing out from the crowd today means buying things that only a few people can have, because they are artisanal, or limited-edition, or personalised. “Because mass production has put even luxury products within reach of the mass market, personalisation offers a way to stand out from the crowd,” she says. The interior of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Scintilla What does that mean for the top end of the market? “Bespoke products have added value: customers will pay a premium to own a commodity that nobody else owns, and that says something about them.” In 2024, RR’s one-off Arcadia Droptail was reported as costing its anonymous buyer $31million. 100 years ago, merely owning a car was a sign of wealth and status – and probably meant you could afford to employ a driver, Harkness points out. “Today it’s not even enough to drive a top-of-the-range car, so the wealthiest consumers need other ways to look – and feel – special. And feeling special is as important as outward signals,” she adds. “Nobody else will know this car matches your dog’s fur, but you will, and that will remind you every time you see it that nothing is too good for you, or your dog.” With the expansion of its personalisation capabilities, RR is betting on the continuation of this trend. If they’re right, then that will be good for the company and good for its designers. The interior of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger Design disciplines in this article Industries in this article Brands in this article What to read next The car after the storm – Jaguar unveils new concept EV Automotive Design 3 Dec, 2024
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