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Dirk Somers, founder of Antwerp studio Bovenbouw Architectuur, created a “fictional, yet recognisable” Flemish city named Composite Presence for the Belgian Pavilion at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale. More
Chinese design firm Studio 10 has used translucent materials and winding ramps to create a series of abstract spaces to display artefacts at the Fashioned from Nature exhibition at the V&A’s outpost in Shenzhen. More
Dutch architecture practice Kaan Architecten has concealed a minimalist wing within the existing 19th-century structure of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. More
The dampening of creativity brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has prompted interior designer Olivier Garcé to transform his New York home into a show space for contemporary art and design. More
Artist Mario García Torres has curated a new exhibition of ambiguous objects by designers including Hector Esrawe in a house in Mexico City. More
Dezeen promotion: the UK Timber Trade Federation is showcasing the winning entries of its Conversations about Climate Change design competition via a virtual exhibition and event series.The competition, which received more than 100 responses from around the world, called on entrants to create an installation that would provoke discussions about global warming while showcasing the environmental benefits of responsibly sourced, tropical hardwoods.
Top image: Joseph Pipal’s Carbon Print is one of the winning projects. Above: The Extraction pillar is by Julia and Julian Kashdan-Brown
“Responsibly forested timber is an essential part of the climate change solution; however, tropical forests have too often been undervalued and their forest land cleared for other uses,” said David Hopkins, CEO of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF).
“Our competition asked architects and designers to respond to tropical timber, think about the materials they usually work with and consider how the role of materials specified is vital for implementing change.”
Tree Whisperer are sound sculptures by Sheryl Ang and Yuta Nakayama
Selected by a panel of judges including Yinka Ilori and Julia Barfield of Marks Barfield Architects, the six winning “conversation pieces” are now on display at London’s Building Centre for the next three months (temporarily closed due to the lockdown restrictions) and via a virtual 360-degree tour.
Among them are a series of sound sculptures by Singaporean designers Sheryl Ang and Yuta Nakayama, which are shaped like various tree species and emit different “heartbeats” that their particular response to climate stress.
A simple teak column by UK-based Michael Westthorp shows today’s sea level as well as its projected rise by 2120, while Julia and Julian Kashdan-Brown took a pillar of sapele wood and drilled holes through its heart to visualise the impact of uncontrolled deforestation – “take too much, and the system will collapse”.
High Tide by Michael Westthorp shows the effects of sea-level rise
Meanwhile British furniture maker Joseph Pipal created a series of blocks reminiscent of gold bullion, made from meranti, sapele and iroko wood, each emblazoned with the amount of carbon they are able to sequester from the atmosphere and store.
“I’ve been uplifted, as a maker, by the simple realisation that using sustainably sourced wood can help with the climate crisis,” he said.
Design duo Jeremy Yu and Tomos Owen as well as architect Tom Wilson are also among the winners.
The Carbon Print project shows the amount of carbon that different tree species can sequester and store
All timber for the installations was sourced from countries that are currently working towards being licensed via the United Kingdom and European Union’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) initiative.
This sees countries commit to a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) and an action plan for overhauling their legal, social, business and environmental infrastructure to combat illegal logging and timber trade as well as deforestation.
“This landmark shift in governance and procurement means that FLEGT-licensed timber is safe, responsible and legal,” Hopkins said.
Also among the winning projects was the Sapele Sound Pavilion by Jeremy Yu and Tomos Owen
Alongside the exhibition, Hopkins will be speaking to Dezeen’s founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs as part of a live-streamed interview that will delve deeper into the environmental benefits of responsibility sourced timber, and how the materials specified today can have a positive impact on the world’s forests and climate change.
The talk is set to take place on Thursday 11 March at 3pm and will be broadcast exclusively on Dezeen.
Explore the virtual exhibition and discover more about the six winning installations made from VPA tropical hardwoods on the Building Centre’s website.
Partnership content
This article was written by Dezeen for the Timber Trade Federation as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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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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Designers from Brazil have created renderings that imagine the interiors of an eco-lodge in Patagonia for the design show Casa NaToca.The theme for this year’s Casa NaToca was “refuge” with participating designer asked to design rooms for Mapu, a sustainable house and guest lodges being built in the Chilean part of Patagonia by a couple named Pati Beck and Gustavo Zylbersztajn.
Designers including Bel Lobo, Leila Bittencourt, Paula Neder and Paola Ribeiro each contributed digitally rendered interiors of the lodge.
Top: living room by MRC Arq. Design. Above: dining room by Isabela Fraia Arquitetura
Mapu is being built in the city of Futaleufú next to Lake Lonconao.
Along with a home for the pair and their children, Mapu will include loft-style accommodation for guests, extra accommodation in the form of an Airstream trailer and a restaurant in a greenhouse.
Reading room by Marcella Reynol Arquitetura
Participating designers imagined all of these places with timber walls, natural textures and wide windows with sweeping views of the landscape.
MRC Arq Design created a living room with a hanging swing and a built-in desk in front of giant windows with views of the mountains, while Isabela Fraia Arquitetura designed a timber-lined dining room filled with art and bookshelves.
Playroom by Estudio Minca and Hauzz Estudio Criativo
A kitchen by Rodrigo Ferreira Arquitetura features an island covered in a blackboard for the children to draw on.
There are cute bedrooms for both of the children along with a room for their cousins, and an attic playroom by Estudio Minca and Hauzz Estudio Criativo with a diorama of the planets suspended from the ceiling and a net floor.
Children’s bedroom by Quarto das Primas, Muito Mais Arquitetura and Nina Moraes Design
Marcella Reynol Arquitetura’s reading room features cheerful framed prints on the walls.
A deck for barbecues designed by Leila Bittencourt, Cynthia Bento, and Flávia-Lauzana features a sunken conversation pit overlooking the scenery.
Airstream guest house by Cajoo Studio
“The desire for escapism is at an all-time high” say visualisers creating fantasy renderings
Cajoo Studio visualised a compact and cheerful guest apartment in a trailer, and there are a wide variety of guest lofts designed for couples or families.
All of the renderings share a sunshine-saturated palette, with pale timber walls and plenty of houseplants and woven pendant lampshades.
Barbeque spot by Leila Bittencourt, Cynthia Bento and Flávia-Lauzana
Previously held in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, this year’s Casa NaToca show is being held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Visitors to the online show can explore a 360-degree virtual tour and listen to audio recordings from the designers.
Guest studio by Ana Hygino and Cau Gonçalves
More dreamy fictional interiors renderings by architects and designers include a rock-formation hotel in Russia, an idealised holiday villa by the sea, and a hotel with a spa in Ukraine.
Casa NaToca is online until 11 April 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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