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      Squashed serpents feature in Polly Morgan's How To Behave At Home exhibition

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      Twisting snakes with iridescent scales squeeze through concrete and polystyrene blocks in How To Behave At Home, the latest exhibition by British taxidermy artist Polly Morgan.The How To Behave At Home exhibition, which looks at themes of societal norms and expectations, comprises a series of sculptures that feature the coiled bodies of taxidermied snakes.  Morgan believes the animal is an apt symbol for the way in which people utilise social media, particularly photo-sharing apps like Instagram.
      “The skins of snakes are alluring, decorating what is essentially a killing and eating machine,” Morgan told Dezeen.
      “These patterns are thought to either camouflage the snake or warn would-be predators away; some non-venomous snakes also mimic the bright colours of poisonous snakes to avoid capture,” she continued.
      “The filters we apply to our social media feeds, either literally or just by our careful selection of one image over another, is done for similar purposes; to allow us to blend in and avoid crowd censure, or to allow a particular perception of us to flourish.”

      Untitled, 2020, by Polly Morgan
      Morgan had a loose idea of what How To Behave At Home’s themes would be from the beginning of this year.

      However, as the coronavirus pandemic hit and millions across the globe were placed under stay-at-home orders, the artist gained a heightened awareness of the disparity between reality and the idealised content presented over social media.
      This influenced the new work that she has created for the exhibition, as well as the selection of older pieces that have been included.
      “Watching the changes in my own and others’ behaviour made me think more clearly about what the work represented and exactly how I wanted it to look,” she explained.
      “I was interested to see how peoples’ Instagram feeds would change, with no parties to attend or events to promote; would they let the veneer slip or turn to a new kind of boastfulness,” Morgan added.
      “I felt celebrities flounder; flaunting their luxurious life was irrelevant and unwelcome and they had to reconfigure their online selves – feeling squeezed and trying to be authentic, my ideas evolved a lot in that period.”

      Untitled, 2020, by Polly Morgan
      Some of the slithering creatures in the exhibition have been given a subtle iridescent coating, which takes cues from the colourful trompe l’oeil effects often seen in nail art.
      Morgan – who has used snakes in several of her previous works – also referenced the appearance of sunbeam snakes, which have shiny, rainbow-like scaling.
      “It struck me that using a highly iridescent snake was the ultimate way to represent the vibrancy of our complex lives,” said Morgan, who experimented with paints, varnishes and nail transfer foils to achieve the final effect.
      “Having used the actual skins of snakes for years they suddenly felt inadequate; once they dry onto the form they lose a lot of colour and all their iridescence,” she continued. “I realised I’d been, literally, hidebound by taxidermy.”
      “Uncharacteristically I went to have my nails done and requested an iridescent finish so I could watch the techniques and learn from them – the fact that nails are everyday veneers fed directly into the work I was producing.”

      Every Other Dance, 2018, by Polly Morgan
      In the majority of the sculptures, the snakes appear as tangled piles squeezed through holes in concrete or polystyrene blocks.
      Polystyrene was specifically chosen to mimic the “accidentally architectural” packaging that Morgan would receive whenever she ordered goods online during the lockdown period of the pandemic.
      “The way these objects were cocooned in these protective forms seemed to parallel our own lives during lockdown, safeguarded in our homes,” she explained.

      Sebastian Errazuriz exhibition at New York’s R & Company features taxidermy Bird Chandelier

      The artist also thought the twisting shape of the snakes reflected how people can shape themselves to adhere to societal expectations.
      “The title of the show, How To Behave At Home, comes from a chapter heading in a Victorian book on etiquette,” Morgan revealed.
      “Etiquette, just like architecture, can encourage us to behave a certain way, to contain our baser instincts and to conform to certain rules,” she added.
      “We no longer have books on etiquette but we do have a new set of social strictures that proliferate online, and I see people contort themselves in every direction in order to avoid censure.”

      Nothing Like Before, 2019, by Polly Morgan
      Polly Morgan is based in London and has been practising sculpture and taxidermy since 2004. The artist’s How To Behave At Home exhibition will be showing at The Bomb Factory in London from 14 October until 2 November 2020.
      For more design and architecture events, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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      This week, architects designed innovative public toilets for Tokyo

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      This week on Dezeen, we featured three unusual restrooms designed for the Tokyo Toilet project, including Shigeru Ban’s colourful, transparent design.As well as Ban’s restroom, whose transparent walls become opaque when the toilets are in use, designs include Wonderwall’s concrete toilet that references primitive Japanese huts, and Fumihiko Maki’s “squid toilet” which is located in a park known as the Octopus Park.
      The project is being run by the not-for-profit Nippon Foundation and will see 17 toilets being built in total.

      Revit software costs “reasonable” says Autodesk president and CEO Andrew Anagnost
      The CEO of American software maker Autodesk, Andrew Anagnost, replied to criticism from leading architects about the rising cost and lack of development of its Revit application.

      Though he admitted improvements “didn’t progress as quickly” as they should, he called the expense of Autodesk software “certainly reasonable for tools that are at the centre of the daily work of architects.”

      Harikrishnan’s blow-up latex trousers go on sale with “do not overinflate” warning
      Fashion blew up this week, as Harikrishnan’s inflatable trousers went on sale – just six months after the designer showed them at his graduate show – with a warning to “not overinflate” the shiny latex garments.
      Spanish artist SiiGii took the concept one step further with their wearable, inflatable latex lilo, which enables the wearer to float in the ocean without worrying about sun exposure.

      Architecture “is more elitist than the most elite university in the world” says Phineas Harper
      Open House and Open City director and Dezeen columnist Phineas Harper inspired a passionate discussion in the comments after accusing architecture of rampant elitism.
      In a Twitter thread, the former Architecture Foundation deputy director compared the percentage of architects from non-state schools in its New Architects 3 publication with the percentage of state school students who went to Cambridge las year.
      “[W]e *need* to start talking about the impact of private schools on architecture,” Harper said.

      Dyson family to make art collection public in home gallery by Chris Wilkinson
      James Dyson, vacuum-cleaner entrepreneur and the UK’s wealthiest person, and his wife Deirdre are set to open their private art collection to the public in an art gallery that WilkinsonEyre’s founder, Chris Wilkinson, has designed for their UK home.
      In Ireland, O’Donnell + Tuomey unveiled a timber and concrete pedestrian bridge, which was built over the River Lee to improve connections to University College Cork. The bridge gives students direct access to an area of green space across the river from the university.

      Snøhetta, Studio Gang and Henning Larsen unveil designs for Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
      Competing designs for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, which will be built in Medora, North Dakota, were presented by Snøhetta, Studio Gang and Henning Larsen.
      Proposals include a scheme composed of four angular volumes topped by grass, a building composed of three horseshoe-shaped structures, and a library topped with a huge, curved roof that acts as an extension of the landscape.

      BIG reveals masterplan for “urban lilypads” off coast of Penang Island
      In other architecture news, Dutch studio MVRDV announced its plans to turn a deteriorating concrete factory in China into a creative office space with a maze-like garden on the roof.
      Denmark’s BIG unveiled its masterplan for BiodiverCity Penang, a series of islands in Malaysia that will be connected by a car-free autonomous transport system.

      Step House extension built around perforated birch-ply staircase
      Popular projects on Dezeen this week include the Step House extension with its plywood staircase, Worrel Yeung’s industrial artist studios in historic Brooklyn factory buildings, and Ridgewood, a renovated California house that pays homage to its “flamboyant” modernist architect.
      This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything.

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      This week, we unveiled the longlists for Dezeen Awards 2020

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      This week on Dezeen, we revealed the longlisted architecture, interiors and design projects that are in line to win this year’s Dezeen Awards, as well as the studios producing the best work.In total, we received over 4,300 entries from 85 countries for the third edition of Dezeen Awards. There are 302 projects on the architecture longlist, 305 projects on the interiors longlist and 318 projects on the design longlist.
      All longlisted projects and studios are featured on a dedicated page on the Dezeen Awards website, alongside information about each practice.

      IKEA unveils first branded fashion and accessories collection
      In this week’s design news, we revealed to our readers Swedish furniture company IKEA’s first branded clothing and accessory collection, called Efterträda.

      The 10-piece line includes t-shirts, hoodies, bottles, umbrellas, towels and tote bags that are emblazoned with the IKEA logo and the barcode of its well-known Billy shelving system.

      Virgil Abloh and AMO design flexible flagship Off-White store in Miami that “can host a runway show”
      Over in the world of fashion, Virgil Abloh unveiled his flagship Off-White store in the Miami Design District, created in collaboration with AMO director Samir Bantal.
      The store is designed to be flexible, functioning as a fulfilment centre that can easily be turned into a multipurpose events space.
      “The shop can host a runway show, it can host a talk, it can host a cafe,” explained Abloh.

      Beyoncé’s Black Is King film aims to start “a global conversation” says stylist Zerina Akers
      Dezeen also interviewed Beyoncé’s stylist Zerina Akers this week on creating the costumes for the artist’s latest visual album Black Is King.
      Looks included a cowhide outfit by Burberry inspired by the Zulu people of South Africa and a Valentino leopard-print sequined catsuit that took over 300 hours to hand-sew.
      “I wanted to have this global conversation with the wardrobe,” Akers told Dezeen. “I hope that people of all colours recognise and respect the power and beauty of brown skin.”

      Anti-drone antennas set to be built on top of Oscar Niemeyer palaces in Brasília
      In Brazil, the country’s national heritage institute stepped up to protect three Oscar Niemeyer-designed buildings in Brasília. The heritage body condemned plans by the government to install anti-drone antennas on top of the Alvorado, Planalto and Jaburu palaces, saying they would “directly impact” the iconic structures.
      Elsewhere in the city, Italian architect Carlo Ratti revealed the design for a one-million-square-metre high-tech innovation district that will be an extension to Brasília’s masterplan that was created by Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa.

      MAD reveals Wormhole Library overlooking the South China Sea
      In architecture news, Chinese studio MAD revealed its design for a library in the Chinese city of Haikou that is intended to be “a wormhole that transcends time and space”.
      Foster + Partners also unveiled visuals of a 39-storey skyscraper that it has designed to be constructed over the Pitt Street metro station, which it is also developing, in Sydney, Australia.

      The Nest at Sossus guesthouse in Namibia features a thatched facade
      Other projects popular among Dezeen readers this week include a Zurich home with lake and vineyard views by Think Architecture, an off-grid guesthouse in Namibia with a thatched roof and a house screened by perforated, black cobogó bricks in São Paulo.
      This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything.

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      Villa Cavrois serves as backdrop to Muller Van Severen exhibition

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      Belgian design duo Muller Van Severen is exhibiting a selection of their furnishings amongst the rooms of Villa Cavrois, a modernist 20th-century villa near Lille, France.The exhibition, called Design! Muller Van Severen at Villa Cavrois, will see Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen present both new and old pieces from the oeuvre of their eponymous studio, which was founded in 2011.
      It comes as part of the year-long programme of events that Lille and the wider Lille Metropole area are hosting as the designated World Design Capital for 2020.

      Villa Cavrois is situated northeast of central Lille in the commune of Croix and was built between 1929 and 1932 by the French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens.

      The villa was originally designed as a family home for Paul Cavrois, a successful textile manufacturer, but during the second world war was occupied by German soldiers and turned into barracks.

      It was eventually abandoned and became subject to vandalisation, falling into such a severe state of neglect that it was threatened by demolition in the late 1980s.
      The French state ended up purchasing the villa in 2001 and carried out extensive renovation works to return the building to how it originally appeared in 1932. It then opened to the public in 2015.

      When it came to hosting their own exhibition at Villa Cavrois, Muller Van Severen wanted their furnishings to seamlessly fit in with the modernist grounds and interiors rather than appear as “strange entities”.
      “Time becomes irrelevant in this project,” the pair explained.
      “We want to create the poetic feeling that our objects could originate from the same time as the building. In the same way that the building itself feels very contemporary.”

      One room in the villa that’s lined with green-grey tiles of veiny marble is dressed with Sofa Cavrois, a furnishing that Muller Van Severen has designed specifically for the exhibition.
      The sofa – which is the first the duo has ever designed – curves upwards at two points, merging the shape of a standard chair and a chaise longue. To emphasise its sculptural form, the sofa is upholstered in bright sea-green linen.

      Muller Van Severen constructs Alltubes furniture series from rows of aluminium pipes

      A couple of the Muller Van Severen’s glossy, enamel-topped Emaille tables are also dotted throughout the room.

      Another mint-coloured room with wooden parquet flooring is dressed with the Strangled Rack from the duo’s Future Primitives collection, which comprises two intersecting shelves.
      Muller Van Severen’s Duo seat and lamp, which both boast red tubular framework, is presented just in front of the room’s huge marble-lined fireplace.

      One large maroon-red room displays shiny silver pieces from Muller Van Severen’s recent Alltubes collection, which is crafted from welded rows of aluminium pipes.
      Smaller spaces such as the villa’s kitchen, which features checkerboard floors, is decorated with a couple of brightly-hued Chair 2 models.

      The gridded wire daybeds and rocking chairs that Muller Van Severen originally created for Solo House, an architect-designed holiday home in Spain, are dotted across Villa Cavrois’ yellow-brick terraces outdoors.
      Some of the duo’s smaller homeware accessories are also included in the exhibition – for example, one office-like room features their stainless-steel Bended Mirror #3.

      Design! Muller Van Severen at Villa Cavrois will be showing until 31 October 2020.
      Villa Cavrois isn’t the only building by Robert Mallet-Stevens to become a public attraction. Villa Noailles in the French commune of Hyeres, which Mallet-Stevens designed in 1923, is now an arts centre.
      June of 2019 saw designer and Dezeen Awards judge Pierre Yovanovitch overhaul Villa Noailles’ gift shop, brightening up surfaces by painting them salmon pink, cobalt blue and buttery yellow.
      Photography is courtesy of Fien Muller.

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      “The desire for escapism is at an all-time high” say visualisers creating fantasy renderings

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      With coronavirus confining people to their homes and rising fears over environmental destruction, a new breed of visual artists is creating utopian landscapes, buildings and interiors for armchair escapists. Here are nine of the best practitioners. Renderings depicting ethereal seaside homes to surreal, pastel-hued dreamscapes have become popular in recent months as people in lockdown
      The post “The desire for escapism is at an all-time high” say visualisers creating fantasy renderings appeared first on Dezeen. More