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      Space Popular reinterprets Aldo Rossi's architectural theories for the metaverse

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      Architecture and design studio Space Popular has unveiled Search History, an exhibition at the MAXXI museum in Rome that applies the writings of Italian architect Aldo Rossi to virtual worlds.

      The installation features bold and colourful images envisioning a metaverse city, with doorways that appear to be gateways between different virtual spaces.
      Search History features a physical installation exploring virtual architectureThe aim of Space Popular founders Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg was to show how Rossi’s ideas about the experience of real-world cities can be reflected in the immersive spaces of the metaverse.
      “The project Search History began as part of our research on issues of the virtual city,” says Lesmes in a video about the project.
      The project draws parallels with the urbanism theories of Italian architect Aldo Rossi”We have been studying how we move between virtual environments, basically places on the internet that are three-dimensional,” Lesmes said.

      “We found a lot of connections to theories of Aldo Rossi,” she added. “Even though he didn’t develop them thinking about the virtual realm or virtual worlds, we feel they are extremely applicable.”
      Multilayered images of virtual environments are printed on overlapping curtainsSearch History is the fifth edition of MAXXI’s Studio Visit, a programme that invites contemporary designers to reinterpret the work of iconic architects from the museum’s collections.
      The starting point for the project was Rossi’s seminal text The Architecture of the City, which describes urban areas as a multilayered sequence of spatial experiences.
      The colourful imagery suggests gateways between different virtual spacesSpace Popular believes that virtual environments should be equally multilayered, and that special attention should be paid to the way people move from one space to another.
      “What does it mean to click on a hyperlink? Do we open a door or do we slide something up?” Hellberg says in the video.
      A lamp within the installation is reflected in the printed imageryThe exhibition comprises a doughnut-shaped pavilion formed of overlapping curtains, each printed with multilayered imagery.
      Inside, Space Popular created the feeling of standing in a city plaza by adding a circular bench topped by what looks like a street light.
      A similar lamp is depicted on one of the curtains, alongside other pieces of street furniture that include a litter bin and a drain cover.

      Space Popular sets out its vision for digital portals made of virtual textiles

      The curtains also depict architectural elements like roof profiles and columns, as well as references to computing such as a keyboard and a search window.
      “This piece is a sort of simulator, a representation of what it could be like, the experience of browsing through immersive, digital environments,” said Lesmes.
      The images also depict architectural elements like roof profiles and columnsThe project builds on the manifesto that Space Popular presented for the Dezeen 15 online festival, which proposed using portals made of digital textiles to navigate virtual worlds.
      The duo have also created other works that explore the design of the metaverse, which they call the immersive internet. These include Value in the Virtual at ArkDes and The Venn Room at the Tallinn Architecture Biennale.
      The images also show virtual interfaces like search windowsSpace Popular: Search History is curated by Domitilla Dardi, senior design curator at MAXXI, and is sponsored by textile manufacturer Alcantara, which provided the material for the curtains.
      Previous editions of Studio Visit have seen Neri&Hu explore the world of Carlo Scarpa and Formafantasma examine Pier Luigi Nervi.
      The exhibition photography is by Matthew Blunderfield.
      Space Popular: Search History is on show at MAXXI from 7 December 2022 to 15 January 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Happy new year from Dezeen!

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      Happy new year from Dezeen! We’ll be back tomorrow, but in the meantime, you can read the most-read stories of 2022 and our full review of the year.

      The review looks at the most interesting architecture, design and interior stories from 2022. It includes roundups of the top houses, home interiors, staircases, skyscrapers, rebrands, furniture and much more.
      Read the review of 2022 ›
      The main image is from Matsuyama house by TTArchitects, which features dedicated spaces for watching fireworks. The photography is by Kei Sugino.

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      Merry Christmas from Dezeen!

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      Merry Christmas! We’ll be back tomorrow – in the meantime read our review of 2022 and enjoy this Christmas tree designed by Japanese studio Nendo.

      The review of 2022 rounds up the most interesting and popular architecture, design and interior stories from the past year. It includes roundups of the top houses, home interiors, staircases, skyscrapers, rebrands, furniture and much more.
      Read the review of 2022 ›

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      Design Brut: Philia & Kids showcases sculptural furniture designed by “rather wise” children

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      Designers Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny have created sculptural olive wood furniture based solely on drawings by children for a Galerie Philia exhibition.

      Design Brut: Philia & Kids is the inaugural programme of a non-profit initiative conceived by international art gallery Galerie Philia that aims to engage children in design.
      Design Brut: Philia & Kids was an exhibition on display in ParisThe project’s first edition invited 19 kids from a primary school in the Breil-sur-Roya village in France to design sculptural furniture that was exhibited at Espace Meyer Zafra in Paris from November until last week.
      Informed by the late French painter Jean Dubuffet, the initiative is named after art brut – or “raw art” – Dubuffet’s name for art created outside of academic limitations, such as art made by children.
      The furniture was constructed using children’s drawingsParticipants aged six to seven took part in a workshop over five months, where they were asked to draw their own interpretations of sculptural design under the supervision of BehaghelFoiny Studio founders Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny and their teacher Virgile Ganne.

      The drawings range from a crocodile-like bench to colourful dining chairs and spikier, more abstract forms.
      “Several shepherds’ children drew hooves on the legs of the furniture, or horns on the backs of the chairs,” noticed Behaghel and Foiny.
      “Others, living near olive groves and the surrounding forest, drew leaves and branches on their furniture,” they told Dezeen.
      Nineteen children took part in the projectThe designers explained that they encouraged the kids to “assert their own creativity” as well as observe their classmates’ drawings and borrow forms from each other to make the design experience collaborative.
      “Against all odds, we realised that, when faced with furniture design, the children’s first intentions were rather wise, and copied the shapes of furniture they saw every day,” they said.
      Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny constructed the furniture from olive woodAfter this, Behaghel and Foiny sorted the drawings into different furniture typologies including tables, chairs, stools, coat racks and pedestal tables, as well as categorising the creations by “spirits and styles”.
      The pair then worked with a cabinetmaker in Breil-sur-Roya to bring the drawings to life by making physical furniture out of local olive wood.
      “In some places, we shrank or enlarged the silhouettes drawn by the children, to better distribute the weight,” noted the designers.

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      During this process, the children were taken on a tour of a local sawmill and shown every stage of the production process in order to familiarise them with carpentry.
      Behaghel and Foiny explained that olive wood was chosen for its cultural significance to Breil-sur-Roya, which is known as the “pays des oliviers” (olive tree country).
      The designers painted the material in various colourful shades that aimed to subtly tint, rather than conceal, its veiny surface.
      “It seemed to us very relevant to associate the intervention of very young children wiht a thousand-year-old wood!” noted the designers.
      The pieces range from recognisable silhouettes to more abstract formsThe pair hopes that the workshop will have taught the children about the importance of furniture design while showcasing their personal creativity without limitations.
      “In the end, the children’s drawings showed a real spontaneity,” reflected Behaghel and Foiny.
      “They are both free from technical reflexes and therefore led us to take risks and at the same time detached from the aesthetic automatisms that we impose on ourselves more or less consciously as professional designers,” they added.
      “They led us to extract ourselves from standardisation of tastes and beauty, to play more with imbalances and proportions.”
      Subtle colour was used to brighten each wooden pieceThis is not the first time that children have tried their hand at chair design. Third and fourth graders at a school in New York have designed a number of seating collections under the supervision of art instructor Bruce Edelstein, including chairs with horns and other wooden seats.
      The photography is by Maison Mouton Noir. 
      Design Brut: Philia & Kids was on display at Espace Meyer Zafra from 10 November to 8 December 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      This week we announced Dezeen Awards grand prize winners

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      This week on Dezeen, we revealed the overall architecture, design and interiors winners of the 2022 Dezeen Awards at a party in London.

      At the ceremony, Argo Contemporary Art Museum and Cultural Centre by Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North was named architecture project of the year, Ecole Camondo Méditerranée by Émilieu Studio won interiors project of the year, and the Wheeliy 2.0 wheelchair by Quantum was named design project of the year.
      The winners of the six studio categories were also announced, with all the winners receiving a Dezeen Awards trophy designed by Dutch studio Atelier NL.
      Plans to revamp the Sainsbury Wing were approved this weekAlso in London, planning permission was granted for the controversial revamp of the Grade I-listed postmodern Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, originally completed in 1991 and designed by Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi.
      Ahead of the decision, Scott Brown has urged planners to refuse permission for the remodel, describing the plans by US studio Selldorf Architects as “destructive”, “arbitrary” and “irreversible”.

      Foster + Partners revealed its design for the King Salman International AirportIn other architecture news, British studio Foster + Partners this week unveiled its design for the six-runway King Salman International Airport in Riyadh, which will be Saudi Arabia’s principal airport.
      Named after Saudi Arabia’s king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the building is the third airport the studio is currently designing in the country.
      SANAA’s Art Gallery of New South Wales completed this weekIn Sydney, Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning studio SANAA completed the Art Gallery of New South Wales ahead of its public opening today.
      Occupying a series of overlapping pavilions that step down towards Sydney Harbour, the gallery was designed to contrast the 19th-century neo-classical architecture of the existing art gallery.
      We began our review of the year by focusing on reuse projectsAs 2022 draws to an end, we kicked off our review of the year with a round-up of the 10 most eye-catching reuse architecture projects completed over the last 12 months. Among them is a Dezeen Award-winning art museum in Tehran, a Marcel Breuer-designed hotel and the renovation of a former church in Edinburgh (above).
      We continued by looking at 10 skyscrapers that had the greatest impact this year, including the EU’s tallest building by Foster + Partners and the world’s skinniest skyscraper in New York.
      CLT House was one of this week’s most-viewed projectsPopular projects this week included a vibrant yellow-rendered CLT extension to a house in London (pictured), a concrete house in the Mexican desert and a Kéré Architecture-designed community centre in Uganda.
      Our most recent lookbook showcased homes with sliding doors and lounge areas with fireplaces suspended from the ceiling
      This week on Dezeen
      This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Susbscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything. More

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      Architects and designers from around the world celebrate at Dezeen Awards 2022 party

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      Dezeen Awards judges joined architects and designers from all over the world for this year’s Dezeen Awards party where this year’s overall winners were revealed.

      The event at One Hundred Shoreditch hotel in London welcomed guests from Australia, Mexico, India, Iran, USA, China, Brazil and Japan to celebrate 50 winners.
      The three overall project winners, which recognise the best building, interior and design of the year, were chosen from the project winners and were revealed at the party by head of Dezeen Awards Claire Barrett.
      Winners joined co-CEOs Benedict Hobson and Wai Shin Li (centre) for a group photographGuests included Italian architect Fabio Novembre, Sharjah Architecture Triennial curator Tosin Oshinowo, artist Rosey Chan, designer Tom Dixon and experiential designer Nelly Ben Hayoun, amongst others.
      Studios MVRDV, RSHP, Scott Whitby Studio and Proctor and Shaw were among the project category winners that attended to collect their Dezeen Awards trophies designed by Dutch studio Atelier NL.

      Guests networking and celebrating at the Dezeen Awards partyGuests at One Hundred Shoreditch enjoyed drinks provided by this year’s Dezeen Awards drinks sponsors X Muse, Pasqua, Maestro Dobel and The Dalmore, as well as music by Next Door Records. The winners also received a bottle of X Muse vodka.
      The photography is by Luke Fullalove. More

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      Yinka Ilori draws on “unapologetic” architecture of Burkina Faso for debut pop-up shop

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      Modular display stands modelled on buildings in Burkina Faso feature in the first brick-and-mortar shop that London-based designer Yinka Ilori has created for his self-titled homeware brand.

      Taking over a compact retail space in Shoreditch in the leadup to Christmas, the pop-up shop features a colour-block interior designed to match the products on sale, as slime-green walls clash with pink and orange flooring.
      Yinka Ilori has opened a pop-up shop in LondonThis “more is more” philosophy to colour also extends onto the store’s glossy lacquered product displays, designed by Ilori to reference the construction of mosques and homes in Burkina Faso.
      “I am really obsessed with their design language which is very African, very rich and very unapologetic,” he told Dezeen.
      “There is a recurring use of squares and triangles and you sometimes also see poles sticking out of the structures. I found these poles fascinating. They are structural but also used to make it easy for people to climb up and repair the building.”

      Products are displayed in modular colour-block storage unitsIn the store, these shapes are reflected in the modular storage units, which are constructed from medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and each topped with a stepped pyramid.
      Strategically placed holes can be used much like those on a pegboard to add poles of different sizes and provide storage for a changing array of products.
      Longer rails can be slotted in to hang T-shirts and throws, while smaller pegs can hold umbrellas or prop up shelves for presenting mugs, notebooks and other lifestyle items.
      The units end in stepped pyramidsBulkier items such as the designer’s collection of tableware and limited-edition basketballs are displayed on counters panelled in ribbed MDF that is sprayed in a gradient of colours to emphasise their sinuous shapes.
      At the store’s entrance, six of Ilori’s hand-painted Square Stools are arranged into a towering window display that shows off their stackability.

      “I use colour as a way of starting a conversation” says designer Yinka Ilori

      The opening of the pop-up also coincides with Ilori’s latest product drop. Themed around “memory-making, togetherness and play”, this includes everything from notebooks and basketballs finished in sunny, childlike patterns to a collectible version of the traditional Yoruban strategy game Ayo.
      In line with this idea, the shop will also host different events for the local community, from an Ayo tournament to a tasting of Nigerian palm wine.
      The counters have slatted legs painted in a gradient of coloursOpening his first physical store is “an absolute dream come true”, Ilori said.
      “My public projects are all about interaction both between audiences and with the work itself but I don’t often get to interact directly with people and I feel it’s time for me to do that,” he added.
      “Through the store, I’m able to get their feedback on my work and also see how they interact with each of the products and the stories I’m trying to tell through these pieces.”
      The shop’s floor was finished in a vibrant colourIlori started his homeware brand in 2020 with the aim of reworking “unexpected, functional household items as artworks” by imbuing them with bold colours and patterns that reference his British-Nigerian heritage.
      The products feature many of the same patterns he previously developed for his large-scale installations, such as The Colour Palace pavilion he created for the London Festival of Architecture together with local studio Pricegore.

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      Antti and Vuokko Nurmesniemi's “common design philosophy” showcased at Helsinki Design Museum retrospective

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      A vivid orange Helsinki subway seat and an iconic timber sauna stool are among the pieces in this exhibition of work by design duo and couple Antti and Vuokko Nurmesniemi.

      Various works by the late interior architect Antti Nurmesniemi and textile designer Vuokko Nurmesniemi are presented in this eponymous exhibition at Helsinki Design Museum, which charts the pair’s work from the 1950s to the 2000s.
      An orange Helsinki subway seat is included in the exhibition. Photo is by Mari KallionpääFrom kitchen crockery to colourful textiles, the Nurmesniemis created a broad range of designs together and individually over their solo and shared careers before Antti’s death in 2003.
      “The exhibition is important because there has never been a joint retrospective exhibition about this central designer couple in Finnish design history,” curator Susanna Aaltonen told Dezeen.
      Colourful garments by Vuokko also featureArranged across a gallery at Helsinki Design Museum, the show includes a striking orange subway seat that Antti created in 1982 in collaboration with industrial designer Börje Rajalin – a model that is still in use on Helsinki transportation today.

      Visitors can also find an extensive cluster of garments featuring bright hues and geometric patterns, designed by Vuokko for her fashion label Vuokko Oy, which she founded in 1964.
      Antti’s red Pehtoori coffee pot is well-known in Finland. Photo is by Mari KallionpääA red Pehtoori coffee pot from 1957 by Antti is also on display – described by Aaltonen as a product that is “often highlighted as Finland’s early industrial design item” – as well as elegant models of electricity pylons created with interior architect Jorma Valkama in 1997.
      Also central to the exhibition are photographs of and furniture from Studio Home Nurmesniemi, the couple’s live-work home and atelier in Kulosaari, Helsinki, which was completed in 1975.
      Lounge chairs by the couple are defined by black, white and red pinstripesThese pieces include signature wooden sauna stools and 1980s geometric lounge chairs designed by Antti and upholstered in Vuokko Oy pinstripe fabrics.
      This furniture is displayed alongside archival imagery of the designers in their modernist house – a setting still used for Vyokko Oy photoshoots.

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      “All in all, the couple’s shared home and studio house is the finest example of the [their] lifestyle dedicated to design,” reflected Aaltonen.
      “I hope that the exhibition will increase people’s understanding of Finnish cultural heritage and that people will also learn to cherish and preserve objects better, especially interiors.”
      Artefacts on display vary from furniture to pylon scale modelsOther shows at Helsinki Design Museum include a recent exhibition by design studio Formafantasma and furniture brand Artek and a temporary “insect hotel” installation that is currently on display outside the museum.
      Previous retrospectives at the museum include one centred on the plastic furniture and chairs of Finnish designer Eero Aarino.
      The exhibition is held at Helsinki Design MuseumAntti + Vuokko Nurmesniemi is on display at Helsinki Design Museum from 28 October 2022 to 9 March 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The photography is by Paavo Lehtonen unless otherwise stated. 

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