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    Ten calming green kitchens that bring natural tones into the home

    For our latest lookbook, we’ve rounded up ten fresh and airy kitchens that use shades of green to give a hint of the natural world.From soft sage to bright emerald, green is this year’s kitchen colour trend, often paired with natural local materials.
    Perhaps inspired by our craving for nature during the pandemic, calming sea greens, grassy hues and mossy tones are popular choices for kitchen cabinetry, walls or tiles.
    This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbook series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous articles in the series showcased living rooms with statement shelving, peaceful bedrooms and designer bathrooms.

    Belgium Apartment, Belgium, by Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof
    Local architects Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof designed this duplex for a coastal location surrounded by sand dunes on the Belgian coast.
    To contrast the marble-topped counters, the architects choose to colour the splashback, shelving and panelled birch-wood cabinets in a shade of green that recalls seaweed and beach grasses.
    “The colour choice of the wood subtly brings in the seaweed colour from the adjacent sea and the marram grasses in the surrounding dunes,” the architects explained.
    Find out more about Belgium Apartment ›

    The Mantelpiece Loft, Stockholm, Sweden, by Note Design Studio
    Note Design Studio painted furniture in green and pink throughout The Mantelpiece Loft to stand out against its white walls.
    Sage green was used for one of the staircases and a bedroom, as well as the kitchen cabinets that were paired with contrasting countertops of terrazzo flecked with orange stone.
    Find out more about The Mantelpiece Loft ›

    Apartment XVII, Lyon, France, by Studio Razavi
    Studio Razavi combined pale-grey plaster, a light wooden floor and sea-green cabinets in this renovation of an apartment in a Renaissance-era building in the historic Vieux Lyon neighbourhood of Lyon in France.
    The green kitchen cabinetry has a matching splashback with a stepped silhouette.
    Find out more about Apartment XVII ›

    Casa Mille apartment, Turin, Italy, by Fabio Fantolino
    Italian architect Fabio Fantolino used pops of green and petrol blue throughout the interior of this apartment in Turin that he designed for himself.
    In the herringbone-floored kitchen, sea-green cabinetry is paired with copper handles.
    Find out more about Casa Mille ›

    House extension, Sheffield, UK, by From Works
    The bespoke kitchen of this house in Sheffield was designed to incorporate the materials and colours of moss-covered rocks found in the nearby Peak District.
    It combines green-stained plywood with grey fossil limestone worktops and splashback sourced from a Derbyshire quarry.
    Find out more about Sheffield house extension ›

    Waterfront Nikis Apartment, Thessaloniki, Greece, by Stamatios Giannikis
    Architect Stamatios Giannikis used colour-blocked walls painted in flamingo pink, azure blue and pastel green to define the different rooms in this seaside apartment in Greece.
    The green chosen for the kitchen cabinets and walls was designed to be in sharp contrast with the apartment’s original geometric red and black cement-tile flooring.
    Find out more about Waterfront Nikis Apartment ›

    Apartment on a Mint Floor, Porto, Portugal, Fala Atelier
    As the name suggests, Fala Atelier created a mint-green floor from epoxy resin throughout this two-bedroom apartment in Porto, Portugal.
    To complement the floor, the apartment’s kitchen unit doors were coloured two subtly different shades of turquoise.
    Find out more about Apartment on a Mint Floor ›

    Parisian apartment, Paris, France, by Atelier Sagitta
    French practice Atelier Sagitta added an almost entirely green kitchen to this previously characterless apartment in Paris.
    The emerald-green walls and cabinets, combined with grooved oak cupboards made by a local cabinet maker, make the kitchen the focal point of the apartment.
    Find out more about Paris Apartment ›

    Esperinos guesthouse, Athens, Greece, by Stamos Michael
    The kitchen of this guesthouse in Athens was painted a plum-purple hue to contrast with the rest of the largely moss-green interiors.
    Green was also introduced in the kitchen where dark emerald cabinetry was matched with black, industrial-style shelves that display crockery.
    Find out more about Esperinos guesthouse ›

    Apartment #149, Lviv, Ukraine, by Roman Shpelyk
    Interior designer Roman Shpelyk designed this apartment in the Ukrainian city of Lviv to have largely simple white interiors.
    Colour was added with a plant-filled shelving unit and the forest-green laminated-plywood cabinetry in the kitchen.
    Find out more about Apartment #149 ›
    This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing peaceful bedrooms, calm living rooms and colourful kitchens.

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    MUT Design clads modular Valencia Pavilion in thousands of wooden scales

    Valencia studio MUT Design has designed five modular pavilions clad in scales made from leftover wood for a travelling exhibition in Spain.The pavilions will showcase work by 50 designers in five different sections to celebrate Valencia’s title of World Design Capital for 2022.
    Each section – design and art, the circular economy, industry and craftsmanship, technology and the transformative economy – is housed within its own mini pavilion formed from two semi-cylinders.

    Top image: the exhibition is broken down into five mini-pavilions. Above: each is formed from two semi-cylinders

    These consist of four metre-high curved walls, which can be placed separately or together to create a labyrinth of winding corridors and secluded alcoves.
    Inside, the units’ pinewood frame and construction are laid bare, while the convex exterior is clad in hundreds of small, overlapping wooden fins, adding up to around 220,000 across all five pavilions.

    The units are arranged to form a labyrinth of corridors and alcoves
    The wood was originally meant to be turned into the parade floats that are ceremonially burned as part of Valencia’s historic Fallas festival every March, but the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
    Instead, the wood was used for this installation, which is on view as part of the Madrid Design Festival until 14 March before becoming a travelling exhibition.

    The pinewood frame is left exposed inside the pavilions
    “Here in Valencia, we have a lot of traditional wood ateliers that create works for the Fallas festival,” MUT Design co-founder Alberto Sánchez told Dezeen.
    “But it was cancelled due to the pandemic and a lot of materials were left on the shelf. So we decided to collaborate with one of the ateliers to give a new life to the wood and create some work for the builders.”

    The pavilions are clad in wooden scales
    Each scale was handmade by local woodworker Manolo García and trimmed to three standard sizes of 14, 16 and 18 centimetres. These were then lined up and alternated to create a textured surface not dissimilar to tree bark.
    “We wanted to bring together tradition and the avant-garde while recovering something that is really ours – deeply rooted in our city,” Sánchez explained.
    In particular, the studio drew on natural textures found in the Albufera National Park just south of Valencia, as well as on the thatched roofs of traditional houses known as barracas.

    Kengo Kuma designs tessellated Botanical Pavilion as “tridimensional puzzle”

    Breaking each pavilion down into two semi-cylinders allows the individual units to be combined into “infinite compositions” that can be adapted to different spaces for the travelling exhibition.
    “Because it is a travelling exhibition, we want to create one-of-a-kind experiences in each of the several places it will be visiting,” Sánchez added.
    The units were also designed to be taken apart into separate pieces, which can be stacked for ease of transport.

    Each scale was handmade by Manolo García
    Contributors to the exhibition include designer Jaime Hayon, brands Andreu World and Expormim, and a number of emerging studios showing projects including self-ventilating graphene facades and homeware made from olive pits.
    “We wanted to bring to Madrid a different selection of projects that are leading a silent transformation of society,” explained Xavi Calvo, director of World Design Capital Valencia 2022.

    Displays are fixed to the inside of the pavilions
    MUT Design has previously collaborated with Expormim to create a chair modelled on the shape of a flower petal and an outdoor rug made from braided ropes, which were exhibited at the products fair of Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival.
    Photography is by Ernesto Sampons.
    Valencia Pavilion – The Future is Design is on view at the Fernán Gómez Cultural Centre as part of the Madrid Design Festival until 14 March 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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    Ten living rooms with statement shelving that is both practical and beautiful

    For our latest lookbook, we’ve rounded up ten living rooms that have solved the storage dilemma with bespoke shelving that define the room. This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbook series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous articles in the series showcased designer bathrooms, colourful kitchens and living rooms with calm interiors.
    Whether they’re used as room dividers, to show off the owners’ book collection or as a hiding place for shy pets, built-in or custom-made shelves create a design statement.
    Read on for our round up of the ten best from Dezeen’s archives (plus a bonus eleventh one, above, which features the spectacular floor-to-ceiling bookcases at Olson Kundig’s Wasatch House in Salt Lake City):

    Mermaid Beach Residence, Australia, by B.E. Architecture
    The living room of Mermaid Beach Residence in Queensland’s Gold Coast region is a study in clever material use, with its concrete surfaces and timber flooring.
    The monolithic built-in wooden shelving that fills one wall creates a decorative grid-effect on top of the concrete. It rests on a stone slab above wooden storage units at floor level.
    Find out more about Mermaid Beach Residence ›

    Artist’s studio, Russia, by Ruetemple
    Architecture studio Ruetemple looked to “drawing and architecture” when designing this artist’s studio in Moscow, which is dominated by a large plywood partition that incorporates both furniture and shelving.
    As well as separating the lounge area from a workspace, the partition works as both storage space and furniture. It has a built-in sofa, shelving, and a set of steps that lead up to a suspended sleeping platform.
    Find out more about Artist’s studio ›

    Spear Building Loft, US, by Ravi Raj and Evan Watts
    This former factory in New York was renovated to create a bright, open living space. In the living room, simple built-in shelves were painted in a creamy pastel-yellow hue that harmonises with the white storage units and the fireplace.
    Rather than building the shelves into a separate wall panel, they have been attached to the white wall on one side, which creates an airy feel and helps open up the room.
    Find out more about Spear Building Loft ›

    Sierra Negra, Mexico, by Hemaa
    Two built-in shelves with wooden panelling serve a decorative function in this Mexico City living room, which has matching wooden floorboards and wood-clad walls.
    Its minimalist interior and simple colour palette, which blends beige, brown and grey hues, means the books in the shelves stand out as a splash of colour. The shelves also hold speakers and picture frames, helping to keep the rest of the room free from clutter.
    Find out more about Sierra Negra ›

    Sausalito Outlook, USA, by Feldman Architecture
    In the living room of this hillside home in Sausalito, California, Feldman Architecture added plenty of storage space for the owners’ book collection, while the white panelling in the middle hides the TV from sight.
    The walls and kitchen space next to the storage wall have been painted a matching glossy white, complemented by more natural hues such as a beige rug and brown Ligne Roset Togo seating.
    Find out more about Sausalito Outlook ›

    Mayfair apartment, UK, by MWAI
    In small apartments, built-in shelving can be the perfect space-saving solution. For MWAI’s design of a 37-square-metre home in London’s Mayfair area, it covered one wall of the open-plan kitchen and living area in a pale-wood storage unit that also includes a desk.
    Colours were kept neutral to reinforce the studio’s idea to look at the design as that of a hotel room where “all functions are carefully and discreetly planned to provide a functional response.”
    Find out more about Mayfair apartment ›

    Kew Residence, Australia, by John Wardle
    Architect John Wardle renovated his own Kew Residence home to make its wood-lined first-floor study the focal point of the house. Built-in shelves hold books and bric-a-brac on one side of the room and the architect’s art collection on another.
    Neutral wood colours were used for the shelves and the built-in reading nook in the room, where the architect said he spends “just about all his daylight hours.”
    Find out more about Kew Residence ›

    House for Booklovers and Cats, USA, by BFDO Architects
    The built-in storage in this colourful home lives up to the project name – it doesn’t just have space for books and art, but also for the owners’ two cats to hide away from visitors.
    The custom-made shelf has dozens of cubby holes while projecting shelves form a staircase for the cats to ascend to the ledge at the top, where they can sit and observe the goings-on below.
    Find out more about House for Booklovers and Cats ›

    The Hide Out, US, by Dan Brunn Architecture
    Dan Brunn Architecture renovated The Hide Out, which was originally designed by Frank Gehry in the 1970s, to pay homage to its initial simple material palette.
    In this living room and bedroom overlooking a meditation garden, the lush walnut seating nook is complemented by a built-in white bookshelf that also hides a fold-out bed.
    Find out more about The Hide Out ›

    Fin House, UK, by RA Projects
    The blue steel staircase in the middle of the living space in this home designed for fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic was designed to look “like a sculpture in a gallery.”
    As well as a staircase, the piece functions as a shelving system with multiple shelves in different sizes. Its back wall is broken up rather than solid, which lets light pass through and stops the colourful piece from feeling too solid.
    Find out more about Fin House ›
    This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing peaceful bedrooms, calm living rooms and colourful kitchens.

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    Ten designer bathrooms with freestanding baths

    For our latest lookbook, we’ve rounded up 10 dream bathrooms with statement baths ideal for luxurious bathing, including tubs made from teak, clay, concrete and porcelain.This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbook series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous articles in the series showcased peaceful bedrooms, colourful kitchens and living rooms with calm interiors.
    Below are ten bathroom interiors from the Dezeen archives featuring standalone baths that sit in the middle of the room or away from the walls.

    Screen House, Sydney, Australia, by Carter Williamson Architects
    The bathroom of Screen House by architecture studio Carter Williamson is covered from floor to ceiling with tactile black tiles to create a spa-like setting for its owners.
    A freestanding bathtub was placed under a bubble-like pendant light that is suspended from the asymmetric pitched roof.
    Find out more about Screen House ›

    Chimney House, Sydney, Australia, by Atelier Dau
    As part of an extension and refurbishment of a heritage-listed building in Sydney, architecture studio Atelier Dau added a ground floor bathroom.
    The bathroom is defined by porcelain floor tiles designed by Patricia Urquiola and a statement roll-top bath alongside a narrow window with views to the home’s internal courtyard.
    Find out more about Chimney House ›

    Highgate house, London, UK, by House of Grey
    This London home designed by interiors studio House of Grey incorporates a range of natural materials and finishes.
    In the bathroom (above and top), the walls are coated with a lime-based plaster surface called Tadelakt, which is waterproofed using a soap solution. The bath and sink were made from a combination of sands, unfired clays, pigments and minerals.
    Find out more about Highgate house ›

    Art Villa, Costa Rica, by Formafatal and Refuel Works
    Czech studios Formafatal and Refuel Works left the concrete structure exposed throughout this villa nestled into the jungle in Costa Rica.
    In the master bedroom, a concrete tub is set alongside a pair of glass doors that allow the space to be opened up to the surrounding jungle.
    Find out more about Art Villa ›

    Mountain cabin, Italy, by Modostudio
    The bathroom of this secluded mountain cabin designed by Modostudio has spectacular views over Italy’s Adige Valley.
    Set at the centre of the room the freestanding bath was positioned to take the best advantage of these views through full-height windows.
    Find out more about Mountain cabin ›

    Tsubo House, London, UK, by Fraher & Findlay
    Architecture practice Fraher & Findlay focused the renovation and extension of this home in east London on a small courtyard.
    All of the house’s bathrooms feature graphic monochromatic tiled floors, while the master bathroom has its own fireplace and a freestanding jet-black tub.
    Find out more about Tsubo House ›

    House V, Slovakia, by Martin Skoček
    The dramatic en-suite bathroom of the master bedroom of this gabled house near Bratislava, designed by architect Martin Skoček, is lined with salvaged bricks.
    Its centrepiece, aligned with the apex of the pitched ceiling, is an oval, freestanding bathtub.
    Find out more about House V ›

    Atelier Villa, Costa Rica, by Formafatal
    The bathrooms within this perforated-aluminium clad villa in Costa Rica are defined by floors made with cement tiles from Nicaragua.
    One of the bedroom suites has a freestanding bath that is lit by mottled light coming through the cladding perforations.
    Find out more about Atelier Villa ›

    Leaf House, London, UK, by Szczepaniak Astridge
    The focal point of the rooftop extension to architectural photographer Edmund Sumner and writer Yuki Sumner’s London home by Szczepaniak Astridge is a Japanese-style wooden bath.
    Positioned against a large window that has views across London, the bath was made from waxed teak by furniture maker William Garvey.
    Find out more about Leaf House ›

    The Boathouse, Devon, UK, by Adams+Collingwood Architects 
    London studio Adams+Collingwood Architects designed this house overlooking Salcombe Estuary so that its first-floor living spaces could take advantage of views across the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
    On the ground, which is embedded into the hillside, there are four bedrooms and three bathrooms, including the master en-suite that features a copper bathtub.
    Find out more about The Boathouse ›
    Photography is by Jim Stephenson, Brett Boardman, Edmund Sumner, BoysPlayNice, Adam Scott, Laura Egger, Tom Ferguson, Michael Sinclair and Matej Hakár.
    This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing peaceful bedrooms, calm living rooms and colourful kitchens.

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    The Dezeen guide to wood in architecture, interiors and design

    Thinking of using timber in your architecture or design project? Our guide to 15 of the most popular types of wood and wood products has links to hundreds of examples for inspiration.

    Ash
    Ash is a deciduous hardwood that produces a beautiful pale timber with a grain similar to oak. Versatile, shock-resistant and with no odour, it is widely used for furniture and objects.
    Architect R2 Studio used solid ash to create a staircase with a perforated plywood bannister in a London domestic extension while Hannah clad an off-grid cabin in upstate New York with infested ash wood. In Valencia, Francesc Rifé Studio used ash throughout the interiors of a facial and dental clinic named Swiss Concept (above).
    See projects featuring ash ›

    Bamboo
    Bamboo is a type of grass rather than a tree but its fast-growing canes are widely used in architecture and design both in their natural state and processed into wood-like lumber and fibres.
    Bamboo canes are used for the structure, walls and doors of this clothing factory in Colombia by Ruta 4 (above), while designer David Trubridge has reissued his Cloud lighting collection using bamboo strips instead of plastic.
    See projects featuring bamboo ›

    Beech
    Native to Europe, beech is a hard, heavy, fine-textured hardwood widely used in furniture making and as a flooring material. It is also commonly used as a veneer and the timber is suitable for steam bending. Beech wood ranges from creamy white to pink or red in colour.
    Designer David Ericsson created the Madonna chair from solid beech for Swedish brand Gärsnäs while Peca designed cylindrical furniture with beech wood dowels (above.)
    See projects featuring beech ›

    Cedar
    This coniferous softwood is weather-resistant, making it suitable for cladding including shingles as well as outdoor furniture. It has a fragrant aroma and insect-repelling qualities.
    The wood comes from a handful of species of genuine cedar trees that grow at high altitudes including Lebanon cedar and Cyprus cedar.
    Additionally, there is a range of American conifers that are commonly described as cedars, including western red cedar and Atlantic white cedar, which are technically different species.
    Cedar-clad buildings are particularly common in America. Bates Masi Architects used oversized cedar shingles for the cladding of this home in the Hamptons (above and top) while HGA Architects and Engineers covered these Vermont dwellings in cedar boards.
    See projects featuring cedar ›

    Cherry
    The wood of the cherry tree has a warm reddish colour that darkens with age. It is fine-grained and easy to work, making it a popular choice for furniture and homewares as gives a rich tone to interiors.
    Azman Architects used cherry wood to create partitions in a London apartment while John Pawson paired the timber with limestone for his Jil Sander store in Tokyo (above.)
    See projects featuring cherry ›

    Chestnut
    The sweet chestnut tree produces timber with a brown or reddish-brown colour and a coarse texture. It is suitable for outdoor uses including cladding, shingles, decking and outdoor furniture, as well as for indoor furnishings and objects.
    Architect K-Studio used chestnut wood for the lattice of a Greek holiday home, (above,) while designer Mikyia Kobayashi built an electric mobility scooter from the timber.
    See projects featuring chestnut ›

    Cork
    The bark of the cork oak tree has come into favour in recent years as a material for both architecture and design projects. As well as having a pleasantly musty smell it has good insulation properties and is fire resistant, making it appropriate for internal and external cladding.
    Its noise reduction properties, sponginess and durability make it suitable for flooring as well while the sustainable way cork is harvested without damaging the tree gives it good environmental credentials. On top of this, cork can be recycled.
    Architect Matthew Barnett Howland demonstrated the versatility of cork by building a recyclable house from the material, (above,) while Jasper Morrison is one of the designers who has used cork conglomerate to make furniture.
    See projects featuring cork ›

    Douglas fir
    Native to western North America, Douglas fir is an evergreen conifer. A softwood, it is a type of pine rather than a true fir and is commonly grown as a Christmas tree. Its timber is pinkish to red in colour.
    Douglas fir, which is also known as Oregon pine, is widely used in construction. Architectural uses include the cladding on this barn-like house in England (above) by Elliott Architects and the exposed structure of this cabin in the Netherlands by Crafted Works.
    See projects featuring Douglas fir ›

    Larch
    Larch is a deciduous conifer that grows throughout the northern hemisphere. The heartwood is usually red or brown in colour. Tough and durable with waterproof qualities, larch is widely used outdoors for fencing and cladding as well as boat-building.
    Projects using larch include Arklab’s twin houses in Germany that are clad in untreated larch and a house in Scotland by Mary Arnold-Forster Architects that is clad in burnt larch (above.)
    See projects featuring larch ›

    Maple
    There are around 200 species of maple, ranging from shrubs to large trees identifiable by their pairs of winged seeds and five-lobed leaves.
    This deciduous hardwood is widely harvested for timber, which has a fine grain and ranges in colour from white to golden or red. The wood is used for a variety of indoor purposes including furniture and objects and is particularly prized as a flooring material for sports halls and dance venues.
    Designer Thomas Heatherwick created a modular desk with wooden planter legs made from maple (above), while architect Naturehumaine clad a staircase in angular panels of solid timber as part of a renovation of a Montreal apartment.
    See projects featuring maple ›

    Oak
    There are around 500 different species of oak tree, many of which produce hard, durable, versatile timber that can be used structurally, for external and internal cladding, for doors and windows and furniture and flooring.
    Architect Thomas-McBrien used oak to clad the interior of this kitchen extension in London (above), while this off-grid cabin by Out of the Valley has a structure of oak beams constructed using traditional joinery techniques.
    Oak furniture includes Cecilie Manz’s Workshop table for Muuto, which has a solid oak frame and an oak veneer top.
    See projects featuring oak ›

    Pine
    There are dozens of species of pine. It is a coniferous softwood, often with a yellow or reddish colour and containing many small knots that give pine objects and interiors a rustic look, plus a distinctive sharp scent.
    Many types of pine trees grow quickly, making their wood cheaper than other timbers. This partly explains pine’s widespread use in construction and joinery. More hardwearing than other softwoods, pine is also widely used for flooring and staircases.
    Architectural uses include the slatted cladding on this beach house in Chile by LAND Arquitectos (above), and this Swedish lakeside house by Dive Architects, while design projects that use pine include a furniture collection by Studio Sløyd that attempts to revive interest in a type of timber that has fallen out of fashion in recent years.
    See projects featuring pine ›

    Spruce
    Spruce is a genus of evergreen coniferous tree native to the northern hemisphere. One of the most widely used of all timbers, spruce wood is often confused with pine but is generally lighter and softer with a creamy white, pale yellow or red-brown colour.
    A softwood, spruce is easy to work with and is used extensively in construction, including structural elements and internal and external cladding, in the production of plywood and in carpentry.
    Architectural uses include the cave-like interior of this suite at a luxury resort in Greece designed by Tenon Architecture and the panelled interior of Kvadrat’s design studio in Copenhagen (above) by Caruso St John.
    See projects featuring spruce ›

    Sycamore
    Sycamore is the name given to a range of deciduous hardwood trees including the European sycamore, maple sycamore and American plane. It is often confused with maple and has similar-shaped leaves and winged seeds.
    The timber is white to light brown with a fine grain, sometimes featuring a speckled pattern.
    Susceptible to rot if it gets wet, the timber is not generally used for construction or outdoor purposes but as it has no odour and does not stain it is widely used for kitchen implements as well as furniture and objects.
    Designer Faye Toogood used sycamore for a range of furniture while architect Giles Reid used the timber for a bar in a Japanese restaurant in London (above).
    See projects featuring sycamore ›

    Walnut
    Walnut is a dense hardwood that polishes well and often has an attractive colour and an intricately patterned grain. It is particularly suitable for carving and furniture making while walnut veneers are prized by luxury car brands and cabinet makers.
    Popular varieties include European (also known as English) walnut and black walnut, which is native to the USA.
    Furniture that makes use of walnut includes the 50th-anniversary edition of Arne Jacobsen’s Lily Chair, which is finished in a walnut veneer, while architect Scott Whitby Studio designed a bedroom that features bespoke walnut furniture (above.)
    See projects featuring walnut ›

    Numerous material products are made from wood and there are many ways of treating wood to change its appearance and performance. Here are some of the best-known.
    Blackened wood
    Blackened wood is increasingly popular as a way of finishing natural timber, particularly for cladding and furniture. The surface of the timber is blackened by singeing it.
    Cross-laminated timber
    Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an engineered construction product made of strips of wood bonded together with their grains at right angles to each other for rigidity. It can be used for small buildings like the woodland cabin by Otraum Architects (above), and is strong enough to use structurally, including for tall buildings such as the proposed 13-storey Dock Mill tower by Urban Agency.
    Plywood
    Plywood is made of thin veneers of wood glued together with crisscrossing grains to produce sheets that can be used for internal cladding, structures and even for external use when protected from the weather adequately, plus a wide range of products.
    Birch plywood is particularly prized due to its fine grain and silky appearance.

    Architects Diana Salvador and Javier Mera used plywood to build a cabin in Equador for themselves beside a river in Puerto Quito (above), while Toledano + Architects used steam-bent plywood to create a sinuous partition in this Paris apartment.
    Steam-bent timber
    Some types of wood can be formed into curves by subjecting them to steam, which softens the material and allows it to be bent in a mould. Steam-bent timber is widely used to produce furniture as well as cladding and features such as bannisters.
    Chipboard
    Chipboard, also known as particle board, is a cheaper engineered product consisting of small pieces of wood bonded together into boards and can be used for larger architectural projects like this house in Alicante, Spain (below).
    Oriented strand board
    Oriented strand board (OSB) is made of larger strands of wood arranged so their grains run in different directions and then compressed and bonded.

    Recent popular wooden projects on Dezeen include a cork and cross-laminated timber extension to a traditional Catalan house, a pair of timber-clad cabins on a coastal hillside in Chile, a cosy woodland cabin in Finland and a wooden tofu factory in the mountains of eastern China.

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    Dezeen Awards 2021 is open for entries

    Dezeen Awards 2021 is now accepting entries! Enter before 31 March to take advantage of discounted early entry fees.Dezeen Awards is the most popular and accessible celebration of the world’s best architecture, interiors and design projects and studios.
    Enter before 31 March to save 20 per cent
    Standard entry prices remain unchanged for the fourth year in a row, making Dezeen Awards the most affordable and accessible awards programme in architecture and design.
    It costs just £100 per category for small companies and £200 for large companies to enter before the standard entry deadline on 2 June. But studios can save 20 per cent by entering before 31 March.
    Create an account or log in to start your entry ›
    Categories for architecture, interiors and design
    There are 36 categories this year: 10 each for architecture, interiors and design projects and two categories in each sector honouring the best established and emerging studios.
    Find out about the categories ›
    New sustainability categories
    This year we’re introducing sustainability categories for architecture, interiors and design. These three categories, sponsored by design platform Dodds & Shute, will celebrate projects that strive to reduce their impact on the earth and which make positive social and environmental contributions.
    About our judges
    Entries will be judged by a diverse panel of influential industry professionals, made up of 75 architects, designers, journalists and academics from all over the world.
    Past judges have included Norman Foster, who described Dezeen Awards as an “extraordinary endeavour”.
    Other 2020 judges included Paola Antonelli, Farshid Moussavi and Issa Diabaté.
    Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming announcements about our 2021 judges.
    Why enter Dezeen Awards?
    Dezeen Awards is organised by Dezeen, the world’s most popular and influential architecture and design magazine, and judged by a panel consisting of leading figures from the architecture and design world. This means that Dezeen Awards has unprecedented credibility and reach.
    Every longlisted entry will be published on the Dezeen Awards website and will get prestigious Dezeen Awards 2021 badges to share on social media and their own websites.
    All shortlisted entries will be featured in full in an article on Dezeen and get further badges.
    Shortlisted entries will also be entered into the Dezeen Awards 2021 Public Vote, through which the public can choose their favourite projects and studios.
    Winners will receive a hand-made trophy and a certificate.

    Winners received a bespoke, handcrafted trophy designed by AtelierNL

    Past winners have described how winning a Dezeen Award has transformed their careers. “This is one of the few awards I have won that I can associate with new opportunities arising directly as a result of winning,” said Joe Doucet, winner of seating design of the year in 2019 with his anti-terrorism public bench.
    Last year’s Dezeen Awards attracted over 4,300 entries from 85 different countries, making it one of the largest and most international awards programmes in the industry.
    Dates and prices
    Once you have paid for your Dezeen Awards entry, you do not need to make any further payments. The awards will be announced online. If we are able to hold a physical awards ceremony there may be a charge, but attendance is not obligatory.
    Our low entry prices are designed to attract smaller studios and avoid categories being dominated by large companies that can afford to enter multiple categories.
    Find out about dates and prices ›
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    Subscribe to our mailing list to receive reminders about deadlines and regular information about Dezeen Awards including news of judges.
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    Questions?
    If you have any questions, please email awards@dezeen.com and someone from the team will get back to you.
    Good luck with your entries! More

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    Five architecture and design events this February from Dezeen Events Guide

    Stockholm Design Week, a live-streamed talk with Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and MoMA’s exhibition about systemic racism in the built environment are among the physical and digital events listed in Dezeen Events Guide taking place in February.

    Above: Norwegian Presence is hosting a series of online events. Top image: Amanda Williams is among the artists and designers contributing to MoMA’s Reconstructions exhibition
    Madrid Design Festival1 to 28 February
    Spain’s preeminent design festival is putting on a hybrid programme this year, with four production units set to produce more than 100 pieces of audiovisual content to be shared online. This includes interviews and live shows, as well as a series of behind-the-scenes films showcasing the creative and production processes of 45 local designers.
    Meanwhile, a series of showrooms and exhibitions will open their doors in real life, and IKEA is set to host an event called Redesigning Tomorrow, where basque filmmaker Pedro Aguilera will debut a documentary exploring how we must change our cities and homes to save the planet.
    The film will feature Parley for the Oceans founder Cyrill Gutsch, architect Stephanie Chaltiel and IKEA’s deputy managing director for products and supply chains Jeanette Skjelmose among others. The premier will also act as a jumping-off point for a series of in-depth talks and roundtables.
    It’s Freezing in LA! IGTV Interview Series4 to 25 February
    Every Thursday in February, independent climate change magazine It’s Freezing in LA! is hosting talks on Instagram TV (IGTV) that will explore different approaches to climate activism.
    Designer Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg is set to discuss her latest project, an algorithm-designed garden in Cornwall that is optimised for pollinators rather than humans and explores possible solutions to biodiversity loss.
    And on 11 February, London mayoral candidate and co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Sîan Berry will discuss how we can solve the capital’s housing crisis while still reducing CO2 emissions.

    Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg “trying to evoke emotion” with Better Nature show

    Stockholm Design Week8 to 14 February
    While the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the city’s design week that takes place concurrently every year is still going ahead.
    A socially distanced “digital and city edition” will see visitors avoid the crammed Stockholmsmässan exhibition centre on the outskirts of Stockholm in favour of a pared-back programme of exhibitions, showroom presentations and online talks in the centre of town.
    Highlights include a presentation of work from the winners of this year’s Young Swedish Design awards, created in collaboration with the IKEA Museum, and an exhibition by Misschiefs – a platform dedicated to female, trans and non-binary creatives working at the intersection of craft and design.
    Circular design vs mass production: Norwegian Presence 202118 February
    The Norwegian Presence showcase, which is a much-anticipated part of Salone del Mobile every year, is championing some of the country’s most noteworthy designers and manufacturers through a programme of online events this year.
    The first of three half-day events, taking place on 18 February, will bring together young, up-and-coming designers like Poppy Lawman with major industrial producers such as contract furniture manufacturer NCP, which makes Snøhetta’s S-1500 chair from old fishing nets.
    Through a series of round tables, panel talks and newly-released films, the event will explore the circular economy and how a closed-loop philosophy and sustainable material sourcing can be integrated into production processes of any scale.
    The remaining two events will take place in March and April, with a focus on craftsmanship and the merging of homes and workspaces as a result of the pandemic.

    The Museum of Modern Art will release an exhibition catalogue to go along with the exhibition

    Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America20 February to 31 May
    An upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York will look at how systemic racism and discrimination have influenced the design of American cities and their architecture.
    With the help of ten newly commissioned projects by the likes of Amanda Williams, Olalekan Jeyifous and landscape artist Walter Hood, the show will look at how these conditions have impacted the black community and how black cultural spaces can act as sites of liberation and resistance.
    The show marks the fourth instalment in MoMA’s Issues in Contemporary Architecture series, which focuses on pressing current issues such as rising sea levels, population growth and the foreclosure crisis.
    About Dezeen Events Guide
    Dezeen Events Guide is our guide to the best architecture and design events taking place across the world each year.
    The guide is updated weekly and includes virtual events, conferences, trade fairs, major exhibitions and design weeks, as well as up-to-date information about what events have been cancelled or postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
    Inclusion in the guide is free for basic listings, with events selected at Dezeen’s discretion. Organisers can get enhanced or premium listings for their events, including images, additional text and links, by paying a modest fee.
    In addition, events can ensure inclusion by partnering with Dezeen. For more details on inclusion in Dezeen Events Guide and media partnerships with Dezeen, email eventsguide@dezeen.com.

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    Office S&M injects bold colours into renovated Mo-tel House in London

    An abundance of bright hues and recycled materials were used by London studio Office S&M to renovate a Georgian townhouse in Islington.

    Mo-tel House now has a kitchen at the front
    The Mo-tel House project involved remodelling the lower ground floor of a home owned by the founder of online fashion rental service On Loan and her family.
    The company promotes reusing garments rather than buying new, so the architects took a similar approach when selecting materials for the renovation.

    Rearranging the layout created a space for dining to the rear

    These include melted, discarded milk bottles and chopping boards for bathroom counters; leftover marble chips for kitchen worktops; and crushed bricks for ceramic pendant lamps.
    “Mo-tel challenged us to see reuse as a design tool for bold new ideas, and we found value and opportunities in materials that would otherwise have been overlooked,” said Office S&M founding partner Catrina Stewart.

    Custom furniture pieces include a seating nook for the dining area, which also incorporates storage
    Overhauling the terraced north London home began with opening up the dark and cramped space at the home’s entrance level.
    Removing the internal dividing wall allowed light to enter the living area from both front and back elevations, and also afforded a change of layout. The kitchen was moved to the front of the building, and a dining and seating area inserted towards the rear.

    A wide variety of colours are applied across the open-plan space
    Larger design elements were treated like scaled-down architectural features. For example, a pale pink structure with a double-pitched “roof” was added to provide a dining bench, seating nook and storage unit.
    In the kitchen, a light blue volume with a rounded top forms a pantry and acts as a visual anchor for green terrazzo countertops made from the recycled marble.

    Pink and green house designed by Office S&M to offer antidote to London’s “dire rental market”

    An apple-green shade was applied to the ceiling, window recesses and a band around the upper walls, complementing the surface of a pill-shaped dining table.
    Office S&M, founded by Stewart and partner Hugh McEwen, is no stranger to colour. Its previous projects in London include a house extension with bright yellow accents and a property painted Millennial pink.

    A ground floor bathroom pairs pale pink and dark tiles
    At Mo-tel House, the studio also chose teal cupboards, a pink tile kitchen backsplash, and tinted mirrors throughout the home.
    Pale timber floorboards are laid diagonally and contrast with the brightly coloured surfaces, which extend to hardware like radiators, light switches, electrical outlets and door handles.

    A colourful staircase leads up to another bathroom
    The renovation, totalling 55 square metres, also encompassed bathrooms on two levels that are stacked at the back of the building.
    On the lower ground floor, the first is reached through a pink utility room and is lined with dark tiles.

    The ground-floor bathroom features yellow accents and recycled plastic counters
    The second bathroom is reached by climbing a staircase decorated in pink and yellow. This washroom was reconfigured to fit a shower as well as a bathtub, and now features the recycled plastic surfaces made from recycled plastic.
    Yellow tile grout was chosen to match the bathroom’s window frame and shower curtain, while the rest of the space is white.
    Photography is by French + Tye.
    Project credits:
    Architect: Office S&MEngineer: Foster StructuresContractor: McEllingott BuildingFurniture build: McEllingott BuildingKitchen surfaces: In OperaRecycled plastic surfaces: Smile Plastics

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