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      Medprostor stacks firewood for Ljubljana design biennial exhibition

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      Firewood logs were used as modular stackable elements for the scenography of the BIO27 Super Vernaculars design biennial in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which has been shortlisted for a 2023 Dezeen Award.

      Curated by Jane Withers, the 27th edition of the city’s design biennial took place at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in the summer of 2022.
      Firewood was stacked in various ways to stage the BIO27 Super VernacularsThe four-month presentation explored how designers and architects are adapting vernacular traditions and value systems to respond to contemporary challenges like water scarcity, waste and declining biodiversity.
      Similarly, the brief for the exhibition design was to rethink classic parameters and consider sustainability in the context of a temporary show.
      The firewood bundles were used to display various design projects throughout MAOSlovenian architecture studio Medprostor chose to create the scenography from a readily available, locally sourced material that could be entirely reused at the end of the show.

      “Walls, planes, piles and lines of firewood are a part of the Slovenian visual landscape, as almost 59 per cent of the country is forested,” said Medprostor.
      “By only using the standard logs and non-invasive stacking and binding methods, all the material was returned to the supplier for further resale and use.”
      The logs were pre-cut to standard lengths so they could be reusedPre-cut to standard lengths, the logs were oriented vertically and bound together to create tables and platforms of varying heights and sizes throughout the exhibit areas.
      Some of the logs were notched in their tops to hold photographs and texts mounted on honeycomb cardboard sheets, which also formed flat horizontal surfaces for displaying items by participating designers.
      Photos mounted onto honeycomb cardboard were placed in notches on top of the logsBundles were also laid on their sides to act as low-lying display podiums for larger pieces.
      “The aim was to explore ways of stacking wood that are based in traditional techniques but can at the same time support new shapes and methods that evoke a sense of contemporaneity,” Medprostor said.
      Orange and grey straps recycled from the shipping industry were used to bind the logsThe grey and orange straps used to bind the wood and to hang cardboard panels from the ceiling were reused from the shipping industry.
      A few panels also incorporated video screens or served as a backdrop for projections, adding another medium through which the curated projects could be articulated.

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      Medprostor collaborated with graphic designers Studio Kruh and AA to continue the low-impact approach to the exhibition graphics and signage, which were primarily printed on-site at the museum.
      Additionally, the firewood was able to extend its drying process for the duration of the biennial, making it more energy-efficient when finally used as fuel, according to the studio.
      Hanging panels incorporated video screens and were used as projector backdrops”The drier the wood, the higher heating value and better environmental footprint it has,” Medprostor said. “While in the museum, logs can dry additionally and be returned to the supplier for further resale with a better ecological footprint.”
      “The museum becomes a part of the process of curing the wood.”
      All of the firewood was returned to the supplier when the exhibition endedThe BIO27 Super Vernaculars scenography has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of the 2023 Dezeen Awards, along with a shrink-wrapped exhibition design by Didier Faustino and a showcase of recycled steel chairs by Daisuke Yamamoto.
      The awards will be presented during a ceremony and party in London on Tuesday 28 November 2023, with creative direction by The Unlimited Dream Company.
      The photography is by Ana Skobe and Klemen Ilovar.
      BIO27 Super Vernaculars took place at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), Ljubljana, Slovenia from 26 May to 29 September 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Project credits:
      Location: Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), Ljubljana, SloveniaExhibition design: Medprostor: Rok Žnidaršič, Jerneja Fischer Knap, Katarina Čakš, Teja GorjupGraphic design: Studio Kruh + AACurator: Jane WithersAssistant curator: Ria HawthornBIO27 director: Anja Radović

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      Traditional design techniques are “alive and well” in Le Salon de Septembre exhibition

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      Old and new blurred together in this exhibition at Paris’ GSL Gallery, which celebrated contemporary creatives who observe design traditions of the past.

      Le Salon de Septembre was the inaugural exhibition to be held at GSL Gallery, a factory-turned-arts space in Paris’ Patin neighbourhood run by creative collective The Guild of Saint Luke.
      Guided by the motto “Remastering The Past”, the collective thought it fitting for the show to highlight the fact that traditional design techniques are “very much alive and well”.
      The exhibition showcases contemporary designers who observe design traditions of the past”These techniques are being adopted by young avant-garde artists and designers around the world to create new forms that can also be read in the context of decorative art history,” the collective’s founder, John Whelan, told Dezeen.
      “This is a subjective opinion but I think that artworks and design pieces that reference the past are drawing upon our roots, the very foundation and life force of our culture – works that attempt to break free from the past can often look ‘deracinated’ and meaningless despite their valiant effort to create a new language.”

      Pieces include this stainless steel daybed by Olivia BossyA mix of established and emerging creatives contributed pieces to the exhibition, which was curated by Whelan and interior architect Edgar Jayet.
      On the gallery’s ground floor, an ebonised blackwood and stainless steel daybed by Australian designer Olivia Bossy sat beside a lustrous aluminium lamp from designer Max Copolov.
      This drew on the work style of Weiner Werkstätte – a modernist Austrian design studio established in 1903 by painter Koloman Moser, the architect Josef Hoffmann and patron Fritz Waerndorfer.
      A glass vitrine contains a curule-style stool by Edgar Jayet and a 19th-century bento boxA glass vitrine in the same room contained an ornate bento box from 19th-century Japan and a raw aluminium stool by co-curator Jayet.
      This offered a reinterpretation of the curule seat, used in Ancient Rome by powerful magistrates.

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      Upstairs on the gallery’s mezzanine, a chair by Seoul-based designer Kim Byungsub was on display.
      While its seat was made from hairline-finish steel, its backrest featured najeonchilgi: a historic Korean handicraft technique in which mother-of-pearl motifs are inlaid into lacquered surfaces.
      The gallery’s mezzanine featured this najeonchilgi chair by Kim ByungsubOther items on this level included a walnut-veneer lounger by London-based artist EJR Barnes, designed to emulate “turn-of-the-century European grandeur”.
      There was also a blackened ash, steel, and felt-laminate suspension light by London-based designer Joe Armitage, which took its cues from a floor lamp created in 1952 by his grandfather, architect Edward Armitage.
      Nearby is a walnut-veneer lounger by EJR BarnesAn array of paintings, prints and reliefs served as a backdrop to the pieces in the gallery. These nodded to the exhibition design of the 1903 edition of Salon d’Automne, an art show that takes place in Paris every year.
      “My co-curator Edgar Jayet and I were particularly interested by the avant-garde spirit of the original Salon d’Automne, which was controversial in its day, showing the Fauvists, Cubists and Futurists, as well as Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier in design,” explained Whelan.
      “Archival images of the original exhibition in 1903 heavily influenced our scenography, with an ebonised oak vitrine and shelf above which artworks are hung in a ramshackle, fin-de-siecle style.”
      This suspension light by Joe Armitage also comes as part of the exhibitionLike Salon d’Automne, Le Salon de Septembre will now become an annual event at GSL Gallery.
      “We hope to provide an annual snapshot of the zeitgeist in art and design, showing artists and designers that explore heritage as a means of contemporary inspiration,” concluded Whelan.
      Prior to opening GSL Gallery at the beginning of 2023, The Guild of Saint Luke specialised in reviving historic interiors and designing new ones.
      Previous projects include Nolinski, an art deco-style eatery in the French capital, and Maison Francois, a chic brasserie in London that riffs on Ricardo Bofill’s architecture.
      The photography is by Celia Spenard-Ko. 
      Le Salon de Septembre took place at 27 Rue Jacques Cottin, Pantin, Paris, from 15 September to 6 October. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Daisuke Yamamoto presents recycled steel chairs under Milan railway arch

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      Japanese designer Daisuke Yamamoto presented recycled steel chairs on podiums of the same material as part of an exhibition in Milan, which has been shortlisted for a 2023 Dezeen Award.

      Yamamoto’s Flow project explores ways to minimise industrial waste by focusing on a single material – light-gauge steel (LGS).
      Daisuke Yamamoto presented his Flow chairs as part of the Dropcity showcaseCommonly used in construction as a strong, lightweight framing option, LGS is also one of the industry’s largest waste products, Yamamoto claims, as it is rarely recycled after demolition.
      The designer therefore chose to create a second life for the steel sheets and components as a series of sculptural chairs.
      The chairs were placed on podiums made from the same light-gauge steelHe also used LGS to form platforms for showcasing the seating designs as part of an exhibition at Milan design week 2023 that has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.

      “This project began with the awareness that everyday recycled construction materials are disposed of, then new construction begins – a so-called ‘scrap and build’,” Yamamoto said.
      Each of the recycled steel chairs had a different form”Using the iconic LGS material – one of the most popular materials normally used in framing systems throughout the interior wall structure – we transformed it into beautifully redesigned furniture, giving the materials a second chance,” he added.
      The exhibition formed part of the Dropcity showcase, which took place inside the Magazzini Raccordati spaces at Milan Central Station during the design week in April.
      A workshop bench was also placed at the centre of the spaceThese empty railway arches have a dilapidated, industrial aesthetic with peeling floors, stained tilework and exposed utilities.
      Yamamoto chose to leave the vaulted room largely as he found it but placed a series of platforms in two rows, upon which he presented the series of chairs.

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      Track lighting was installed overhead to spotlight the elevated designs, each of which has a slightly different shape.
      In the centre of the exhibition, a workshop bench also built from lightweight gauge steel was used to fabricate more chairs during live demonstrations between Yamamoto and craft artist Takeo Masui.
      Yamamoto and Takeo Masui built more recycled steel chairs during live demonstrations”This is a landfill, a place where a volume of used LGS is collected,” Yamamoto said. “A place where the designer and craftsmen work hand in hand to recreate what was bound to be disposed into something new, a process of disassembling to re-assemble.”
      The intention was to not only showcase the material’s capabilities for reuse but also to allow visitors to engage with the process and ask wider questions about how society deals with waste.
      The demonstrations allowed visitors to engage with the processUsing waste materials produced by other industries was a key trend that Dezeen spotted during this year’s Milan Design Week, with designers and studios including Formafantasma, Prowl Studio, Atelier Luma and Subin Seol all looking to reduce the environmental impact of their products.
      The photography is by Takumi Ota.
      Future Landfill took place at Magazzini Raccordati from 15 to 23 April 2023 as part of Milan Design Week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      D/Dock creates immersive exhibition space inside 19th-century Amsterdam gasworks

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      Creative studio D/Dock has transformed a hall inside Amserdam’s former Westergasfabriek gasworks into Fabrique des Lumières – billed as the largest immersive art centre in the Netherlands.

      Commissioned by Parisian company Culturespaces, D/Dock’s design and build team transformed the double-height 3,800-square-metre hall into an exhibition space where bright, colourful artworks are projected across the floor and walls.
      D/Dock transformed a gasworks hall into an immersive exhibition spaceThe space can be adapted through the use of movable seating and adjustable sound and light systems to suit the needs of various exhibitions on everything from space travel to the work of architect Antoni Gaudí.
      “[The space] serves as a versatile canvas set against an industrial backdrop, where over 100 projectors and speakers transform the venue into dynamic worlds, from a lively jungle to an interstellar journey or an evocative art gallery, offering a spectrum of cultural and sensory experiences adaptable to various exhibitions,” managing director of D/Dock Sven Butteling told Dezeen.
      The 17-metre-tall exhibition space has a viewing platform and moveable seatingTo achieve a continuous space suitable for light projections, any openings of the 1885 building were closed up with cladding and painted to blend in with the existing brick interior.

      Taking advantage of the building’s height and scale, an internal staircase wraps around the rear facade and leads to a raised platform providing views of the main space.
      Newly built elements echo the building’s industrial heritageTwo newly built pavilions provide more enclosed immersive experiences within the main exhibition space while also operating as projection surfaces in the main hall.
      Among them is the mirror pavilion, which D/Dock clad in mirrored panels and shiny flooring tiles to create “an infinite projection space”.

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      During construction, the building’s interior was carefully restored to maintain its industrial character, with the addition of newly built and digital elements creating a contemporary arts centre that blends the old and new.
      The addition of lightweight insulation on the roof and windows, as well as acoustic and fire-rated doors, helped to enhance the energy performance of the hall.
      Pavilions provide enclosed immersive spaces for visitorsD/Dock is a creative studio of architects, artists, designers and engineers based in Amsterdam.
      Fabrique des Lumières has been shortlisted in the architectural lighting design category of the Dezeen Awards 2023. Also in the running is the glowing facade that ArandaLasch created for a Dior store outside of Doha, Qatar.
      The photography is by Ossip van Duivenbode, Marijn van Laerhoven and Eric Spiller.

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      Didier Faustino creates shrink-wrapped scenography for Paula Rego exhibition

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      French-Portuguese architect Didier Faustino has shrink-wrapped a series of wooden blocks to display paintings by the late artist Paula Rego as part of an exhibition in Hanover, Germany.

      The unusual scenography was created for the exhibition titled Paula Rego: There and Back Again at the Kestner Gesellschaft art association and has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of the 2023 Dezeen Awards.
      Didier Faustino has designed the scenography for Paula Rego: There and Back AgainDidier Faustino and his practice Mésarchitecture created a series of display walls for the show, providing additional surface area inside the building for displaying Rego’s work while referencing her distorted artistic style.
      “The aim of the scenography is to emphasise the contemporaneity of Paula Rego’s work, as well as to echo the violence of the world she describes,” said Faustino.
      The exhibition is spread over four rooms, each painted in a different colourThe Portuguese-British artist, who died aged 87 in 2022, was known for her stark depictions of injustice – particularly against women – and has been heralded as a feminist icon.

      Unfolding across four rooms over two levels, the exhibit comprised 80 works including paintings, drawings, prints and costume designs.
      The scenography consists of a variety of shrink-wrapped blocksTo display some of the larger or more important paintings, Faustino built a variety of freestanding wooden structures with shapes and protrusions that respond to the architecture of each space, as well as the sizes of the specific frames.
      He then wrapped these structures in white thermo-retractable film and exposed the material to heat so it pulled taught over the formwork.

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      “Walls to hang her paintings have been designed with protruding parts, giving them a grotesque appearance resembling the grotesque figures of the artist,” Faustino said.
      “Their wrapping with heat-shrink white film, with its stretched and wrinkled parts, gives a sense of both tension and sensuality.”
      Arched clerestory windows are echoed across the tops of the display blocksFaustino also pulled several colours from Rego’s paintings and applied these to the perimeter walls that surround the sculptural displays.
      More artworks and exhibition texts were presented on these brightly-hued surfaces, which contrasted with the stark white plastic. The exhibition was Rego’s first institutional solo show in Germany and ran from 30 October 2022 to 29 January 2023.
      The shrink-wrapping creates wrinkles and protrusionsFaustino’s work spans both art and architecture, ranging from bright spiky doorways and stages added to historic buildings, to a bar interior in Ghent with pink marble walls and olive green furnishings.
      The photography is by David Boureau.
      Paula Rego: There and Back Again took place at the Kestner Gesellschaft from 30 October 2022 to 29 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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      Adi Goodrich and Sam Klemick among exhibitors at INTRO/LA

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      Curated by design consultancy Small Office, this year’s INTRO/LA features sculptural furniture from local designers such as Adi Goodrich, Sam Klemick and Jialun Xiong.

      The exhibition is being shown in Small Office’s Los Angeles showroom, with pieces displayed among semi-transparent dividers.
      Pieces by Los Angeles designers Adi Goodrich, Sam Klemick, Jialun Xiong and more are on display at INTRO/LAIt showcases both emerging and established Los Angeles designers.
      “The show is to display how diverse the community is, and how everyone’s working in different styles and production methods and materials,” Small Office founder Paul Valentine told Dezeen.
      For the first time, the exhibition is hosted at the showroom at Small Office, which runs the event. On the left is a collection by Estudio Persona and on the right is a collection by Adi Goodrich”[It’s] really to show the expansive of creativity here, rather than zero in on one trend and say, ‘this is what’s happening’.”

      Colourful, geometric pieces from Adi Goodrich’s Sing Thing collection are on display, including multi-tiered lamps, a checkered dining chair and playful, flat-pack side tables.
      Designer Sam Klemick showcased the Sweater Chair, a simple wooden chair draped with a carved-wooden sweaterThe collection is an homage to the silhouettes and character of the French L’Esprit Nouveau movement, as well as Lina, an influential woman in Goodrich’s life who taught her “how to live”.
      Sam Klemick’s Sweater Chair and an accompanying, wiggle-legged stool sit nearby.
      Jialun Xiong’s architectural side table features geometric cut-outsRecently on display as part of 2LG Studio’s You Can Sit With Us exhibition, the Sweater Chair consists of a carved-wood sweater draped over the backrest of a chair of the same material.
      An aluminium side table inspired by “the exterior of a boxy home” by designer Jialun Xiong sits among a chair, bench and stool featuring stainless steel elements and minimalistic lines.
      Caleb Engstrom’s Wet Wool chair is made of wooden and metal pieces draped with resin-soaked woolXiong’s Dwell side table consists of a metallic cube with rectangular and circular slices taken from around its body, “representing different architectural elements to enrich the user’s experience”.
      Caleb Engstrom’s Wet Wool chair is made of resin-drenched wool draped and set to dry over metal and wood pieces, which debuted earlier this year at Los Angeles Design Festival 2023,

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      The chair sits next to a stackable side table made of rubber, lacquer and resin table bases used in Engstrom’s other pieces. One such base layer contains “faux” lemons trapped in its transparent form.
      Other work includes rustic wooden stools and lighting by Ravenhill Studio, spikey, wooden chairs and a large mirror by Objects for Objects and scalloped, ceramic planters and side tables from BZIPPY. Also on show was a collection by Leah Ring and Adam de Boer as well as studio Waka Waka, which has a production studio next door.
      The exhibition was curated to highlight the diversity of local work. The collection shown is by Taidhg O’NeillThe INTRO series was started in 2013 as a platform to showcase both emerging and established designers in contrast to the traditional trade show format. Valentine aims to create “one interior feeling” by displaying pieces from various designers in close proximity to one another for a community-oriented exhibition.
      Previous design exhibitions around Los Angeles include Future Perfect’s Dear Future show, which displayed work from Gaetano Pesce and a variety of shows at Los Angeles Design Festival 2023.
      INTRO/LA is on show at Small Office in Los Angeles until 17 November. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
      The photography is by JJ Geiger.

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      You Can Sit With Us aims to open doors that “were firmly closed to us” says 2LG Studio

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      Russell Whitehead and Jordan Cluroe of 2LG Studio have curated You Can Sit With Us, a London Design Festival show that offered “a seat at the table” to a diverse mix of emerging designers.

      The 2LG Studio founders invited 13 designers from a mix of nationalities, races, genders and backgrounds to be a part of the exhibition, which was on show at London Design Fair.
      Cluroe (top left), Whitehead (top right) and Adam Fairweather of Smile Plastics pictured with 9 of the 13 chair designersThe exhibition took the form of a dining room, featuring a long table surrounded by chairs that were each designed by a different participant.
      Whitehead and Cluroe came up with the concept based on their own experiences of trying to break into the design industry and being made to feel like outsiders.
      The chair by Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng features a black lacquer finish”When we launched our practice nearly 10 years ago, there was an inner circle that felt very out of reach to us,” Whitehead told Dezeen.

      “We were so bruised by the industry and felt blocked by certain doors that were firmly closed to us,” he continued.
      “Instead of chasing acceptance where it wasn’t forthcoming, we decided to accept the love that was coming our way and put our energy there.”
      Sam Klemick’s chair incorporates a sweater into its carved wood formThe aim of You Can Sit With Us, he said, was to give a platform to a new generation of designers who may be having similar experiences.
      The exhibition’s name is a reference to the 2004 movie Mean Girls.
      “We wanted this to be a safe space that actively welcomed new perspectives,” Whitehead explained.
      Helen Kirkum produced a lounge seat with upholstery made from trainer insolesAmong the most eye-catching designs in the show is a lounge seat with upholstery made from trainer insoles by Helen Kirkum, a footwear designer who typically crafts her designs from recycled sneakers.
      Norwegian designer Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng has contributed a CNC-cut version of a hand-crafted ash chair she first made during the pandemic in a new black lacquer finish.
      Benjamin Motoc’s piece playfully combines a sketch with a basic 3D formA backrest with a sweater slung over it is part of the carved wood form of a design by California-based Sam Klemick, who had a career in fashion before she moved into furniture.
      Rotterdam-based Benjamin Motoc created a piece that playfully combines a sketch with a basic 3D design, while Paris-based sculptor Bence Magyarlaki has produced a characteristically squidgy form.
      Bence Magyarlaki produced a characteristically squidgy formOther chairs were designed by Amechi Mandi, Divine Southgate Smith, Wilkinson & Rivera, Net Warner, Hot Wire Extensions, Byard Works, Pulp Sculptuur and Blake C Joshua.
      The participants were selected across design, art and fashion because Whitehead and Cluroe “didn’t want to enforce boundaries in that way”.
      Rob Parker of Byard Works contributed a chair made from plywood and corkTheir chairs were arranged around a table produced by Smile Plastics using recycled plastic bottles and old tinsel, which created a glittering effect.
      The exhibition was an important project for 2LG, and for Whitehead in particular, who battled mental health struggles following the pandemic.

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      The designer said the project allowed him to explore how “heart and emotion” can be a part of design.
      “A lot of healing has taken place in the lead-up to this show,” he said.
      Granite + Smoke produced blankets featuring the title, You Can Sit With UsThe project included a collaboration with textile brand Granite + Smoke, who produced colourful blankets emblazoned with the exhibition’s title message.
      Whitehead and Cluroe also worked with homeware brand Sheyn on a series of suggestive 3D-printed vases.

      “The collection we designed together is a celebration of our queerness, something we have not embraced fully in our product design output, but it felt more important than ever to put that out there right now,” added Whitehead.
      You Can Sit With Us was on show at London Design Fair from 21 to 24 September as part of London Design Festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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      Għallis exhibition suggests alternative to Malta’s “unstoppable trajectory of hyper-development”

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      Valentino Architects and curator Ann Dingli have presented a proposal to retrofit a historic fortification at the Venice Architecture Biennale to suggest alternative methods of conservation in the face of Malta’s rapid development.

      Curated by Dingli, the small-scale exhibition was part of the Time Space Existence showcase and featured an abstracted plan to retrofit the 17th-century watchtower on the north-eastern shore of Malta.
      The Għallis exhibition was presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Photo by Luca Zarb”The Għallis watchtower in isolation is not remarkably significant – it’s been vacant for years,” Dingli told Dezeen. “But it belongs to a network of micro-fortifications that were built along the edge of the islands in the 17th century and tell a part of the islands’ wider military story.”
      “Today the tower is a marker along the coast and not much more,” she continued. “The point of the exhibition is to re-charge its significance by introducing new usability and graduating it from just a visual landmark to a habitable space.”
      It focused on an abstracted plan to retrofit the 17th-century watchtowerWith its proposal, the team suggests changing the use of the building to create a multi-use structure that can be utilised in numerous ways.

      “The design reverses the exclusive nature of the tower – conceived as a fortress designed to keep people out – to an inclusive building that invites people in,” explained Valentino Architects.
      “Its programme is flexible, adapting to three permutations that allow for varying degrees of private use and public access.”
      The team proposed renovating the towerThe tower was showcased at the biennale to draw attention to a wider issue facing Malta – the commercialisation of its historic buildings.
      The team aimed to demonstrate that historic buildings could be converted into useable structures rather than being restored as empty monuments.
      The Għallis tower was the focus of the exhibition. Photo by Alex Attard”Heritage architecture in Malta has a strong focus on preservation of building fabric and less so on functional innovation,” said Dingli.
      “This means heritage buildings very often serve one programme – usually as museums of themselves or as institutional buildings – and as a result become inaccessible or redundant to everyday use,” she continued.
      “This design moves away from heritage as a product and towards heritage as useful space.”

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      The team hopes that the exhibition will draw attention to the rapid development of Malta, which it says is happening at the expense of the country’s existing buildings.
      “The islands are on a seemingly unstoppable trajectory of hyper-development,” explained Dingli. “Malta is the most densely populated country in the EU, and one of the most densely populated countries in the world.”
      “Its built environment hasn’t met this intensity with the right blend of retrofit and newbuild development – the former exists in extreme scarcity, despite a huge stock of existing building fabric crying out to be re-used in smarter ways,” she continued.
      The team proposed turning into a multi-use spaceAlthough the exhibition focuses on a historic fortification, the team believes that prioritising reuse over rebuilding should be implemented across the country.
      “The argument for conservation needs to be extended to any form of building stock, not just heritage buildings,” explained Valentino Architects.
      “Demolishing existing buildings to make way for new ones is almost never sustainable,” they continued. “When there is no alternative but to remove a building, we need to advocate for dismantling as opposed to demolishing.”
      “Materials such as Malta’s local yellow limestone – which has traditionally carved out the architectural identity of our island – is a finite resource that needs to be both protected and used,” they added.
      Alongside the Għallis exhibition, the Time Space Existence show presented work by architects, designers and artists from 52 different countries in venues across the city. These included a tea house made from food waste and a concrete emergency housing prototype developed by the Norman Foster Foundation and Holcim.
      The photography is by Federico Vespignani.
      Time Space Existence takes place from 20 May to 26 November 2023 at various locations across Venice, Italy. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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