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      Farrell Centre opens with exhibition showcasing mycelium and fake fur

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      An architecture centre founded by British architect Terry Farrell has opened in Newcastle, England, with an exhibition exploring building materials of the future and “urban rooms” for local residents.

      The Farrell Centre is an exhibition gallery, research centre and community space that aims to provoke conversation about architecture and planning, both in the city and at a global scale.
      The project was instigated by Farrell, who donated his architectural archive and put £1 million towards the build.
      The Farrell Centre occupies a former department store building in NewcastleThe inaugural exhibition, More with Less: Reimagining Architecture for a Changing World, looks at how buildings might adapt to the climate crisis.
      Fake fur, mycelium and wool insulation feature in a series of installations designed to challenge traditional methods of producing architecture.

      Elsewhere, three urban rooms host workshops and other events where locals can learn about the past and future of Newcastle and voice their opinions on development plans.
      The ground floor is designed to encourage people in, with glazed facades on two sides”The centre is here to bring about a better, more inclusive and more sustainable built environment,” said Farrell Centre director and Dezeen columnist Owen Hopkins during a tour of the building.
      “The belief that underpins everything we do is that we need to engage people with architecture and planning, and the transformative roles that they can have,” he told Dezeen.
      “Architecture and planning are often seen as something that’s imposed from above. We need to shift that perception.”
      Seating bleachers create an informal space for talks and presentationsForming part of Newcastle University, the Farrell Centre occupies a four-storey former department store building in the heart of the city.
      Local studios Space Architects and Elliott Architects oversaw a renovation that aims to make the building feel as open and welcoming as possible.
      The exhibition More with Less includes an installation by HBBE made from mycelium, sawdust and woolThe ground floor has the feel of a public thoroughfare, thanks to glazed facades on two sides, while bleacher-style steps create a sunken seating area for talks and presentations.
      A colourful new staircase leads up to the exhibition galleries on the first floor and the urban rooms on the second floor, while the uppermost level houses the staff offices.
      McCloy + Muchemwa’s installation is a table filled with plantsAccording to Hopkins, the launch exhibition sets the tone for the type of content that visitors can expect from the Farrell Centre.
      The show features installations by four UK architecture studios, each exploring a different proposition for future buildings.
      “We wanted to create something that expands people’s understanding of what architecture is, beyond building an expensive house on Grand Designs,” Hopkins said, referencing the popular television show.
      Dress for the Weather has created a mini maze of insulationNewcastle University’s Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE) has created Living Room, a cave-like structure made by cultivating a mixture of mycelium and sawdust over a giant wool blanket.
      Next, a mini maze created by Glasgow studio Dress for the Weather aims to showcase the thermal and experiential qualities of building insulation, with varieties made from low-grade wool and plastic bottles.
      Office S&M’s installations include a silhouette of the head of Michelangelo’s David made from pink fur and a chaise longue covered in expanding foamLondon-based Office S&M proposes low-tech but fun solutions for making buildings more comfortable.
      These are represented by a silhouette of the head of Michelangelo’s David made from pink fur, a metallic space blanket, a chaise longue topped covered in expanding foam and a dichroic-film window covering that casts colourful reflections onto the floor.

      OMA stacks green glass boxes to create BLOX architecture centre on Copenhagen waterfront

      “This whole room is about actually doing really simple mundane stuff, but in a way that is joyful and tells a story,” said Hopkins.
      In the final room, an installation by London-based McCloy + Muchemwa brings nature indoors with a boardroom table covered in plants.
      The urban rooms host events where people can learn about the development of the cityOn the floor above, the three urban rooms have been fitted out by Mat Barnes of architecture studio CAN with custom elements that make playful references to building sites.
      They are filled with historic maps, interactive models, informal furniture, display stands made from scaffolding poles, and architecture toys that include building-shaped soft play and Lego.
      In one of the rooms, planning proposals are displayed on stands made from scaffolding polesThe idea of setting up an urban room in Newcastle was the starting point for the creation of the Farrell Centre.
      A decade ago, Farrell was commissioned by the UK government to produce a report on the state of the UK’s architecture and planning system.
      One of the key recommendations in the Farrell Review, published in 2014, was to create an urban room in every major city, giving local people of all ages and backgrounds a place to engage with how the city is planned and developed.
      One urban room contains a model of a Terry Farrell-designed masterplan for NewcastleAs Farrell grew up in the Newcastle area and studied architecture at the university, he became keen to make this concept a reality in this city.
      Although the Farrell Centre is named in his honour, Hopkins said that Farrell is happy for the facility to forge its own path in terms of programme and approach.
      “He established the idea and vision for the centre, but he is happy for us to build out that vision in the way that we think is best,” added Hopkins.
      The Farrell Centre forms part of Newcastle UniversityThe director is optimistic about the centre’s potential to engage with the community.
      “Newcastle is a city like no other,” he said. “The civic pride here is off the scale. People have such a deep-rooted love of where they live.”
      “It’s amazing to be able to tap into that as a way of creating a better built environment.”
      More with Less: Reimagining Architecture for a Changing World is on show at the Farrell Centre from 22 April to 10 September 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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      IKEA reflects on “the past, the present and the future” of the home at Milan design week

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      Swedish retailer IKEA marked its 80th anniversary at Milan design week with Assembling the Future Together, an immersive exhibition that charts the furniture company’s history and addresses its future.

      Assembling the Future Together took place at Padiglione Visconti in Milan and explored the brand’s progression since the 1950s.
      Assembling the Future Together is on display at Milan design week”The whole exhibition is about the past, the present and the future,” said IKEA designer and chief creative officer Marcus Engman.
      “So it’s a little bit like telling the story of IKEA furniture, things we have done and things that we will do even more,” he told Dezeen in Milan.
      Furniture from IKEA’s history is on display to reflect its pastTo reflect this idea, the space was divided into three main sections. One area dedicated to the past features designs from IKEA’s 80-year history displayed on geometric white shelving.

      Among the pieces was furniture from the 1970s with bright fabrics and bold shapes, which were influenced by the increasing emergence of youth culture during this decade, according to the brand.
      Chunky children’s furniture from IKEA’s Mammut series was also included. The line was first designed in the 1990s and has remained popular ever since.
      IKEA is also debuting its new Nytillverkad collectionFor the present portion of the exhibition, the brand launched the first products in its new Nytillverkad collection.
      Characterised by “simple, functional and playful” elements, the furniture, bedding and accessories intend to pay homage to past iconic IKEA pieces in line with the current wide-spread revival of interest in vintage designs, according to the brand.
      The colourful collection takes cues from previous IKEA designsWhile the collection nods to IKEA’s roots, the brand used contemporary materials to create the pieces.
      “It’s putting old things into a new perspective,” explained Engman.
      Crowd-sourced images of people using the brand’s iconic Frakta bag are suspended in the spaceLarge-scale contemporary photographs, which showed members of the public sporting IKEA’s recognisable blue and yellow Frakta shopping bag in unexpected ways, were suspended from the ceiling throughout the venue
      One image showed a bride protecting her dress inside one of the shoppers on her wedding day, while another has been adapted to transport a dog on the subway in New York.
      “Even if we perceive our products as ‘ready design’, people see them a bit more like Lego pieces to play with,” acknowledged the designer. “People use the Frakta bag in so many ways we didn’t expect.”
      The ‘future’ section references the four elements with installationsThe future area of the exhibition features four towering installations dedicated to the elements of fire, water, earth and wind, which include an illuminated tree and smoke dispensers.
      “The future part is all about showing how we are using design and product development to nudge people’s behaviours into doing something that is good for people and the planet,” reflected Engman.
      “It’s also where we try to challenge people to be part of this – not just wait for IKEA to do stuff, but actually ask, how can we do things together?”
      “We have set out to be fully circular by 2030 so that affects everything that we do,” he continued.
      IKEA intends to urge people to think about the role they can play in shaping the future of designDesigned as an inclusive, “down-to-earth” space that is open to all, the exhibition drew together many other experiences, such as a cinema zone showing portraits taken by photographer and IKEA’s first artist-in-residence Annie Leibovitz that document the “real lives” of people in their homes.
      The project is part of IKEA’s annual Life at Home Report, where members of the brand’s team visit people in their living spaces and document their findings.
      A cinema zone is showing portraits of people at home taken by Annie LeibovitzVarious talks and music events took place in the space throughout the week alongside a dedicated “record shop” and on-site IKEA cafe serving branded food and drinks.
      The aim of incorporating music into the exhibition was to bring people together, according to Engman. Communicating the sacredness of the home is at the core of the IKEA exhibition, said the designer.

      “We have done cutting-edge things that people didn’t see coming” says IKEA’s Marcus Engman

      “This is something for us that we need to constantly work on – finding new ways of getting people to understand how important the home is,” he explained.
      “I mean, the challenges during covid and now the cost of living crisis has been where we can help out even more.”
      “Because people have had to spend more time at home – but how can we make the home also something that is really not just a functional thing, but an emotional thing?” he continued.
      “So I think that’s our biggest thing, but making sure we do that in people- and planet-positive ways. Because that’s the only way forward.”
      The exhibition was designed to be inclusivePreviously, IKEA donated its products and design services to create a series of United Nations-led refugee support centres in Eastern Europe to offer sanctuary to vulnerable groups displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The brand’s research lab, Space10, developed a concept for connecting physical furniture to an ever-evolving NFT tree.
      Assembling the Future Together is on show from 18 to 23 April 2023 at Padiglione Visconti, Via Tortona 58, Milan. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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      Worrell Yeung renovates cast-iron New York building for arts organisation

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      Architecture studio Worrell Yeung has renovated a historic cast-iron building in Soho for an arts organisation called Canal Projects, which hosts exhibitions “in an unmistakably New York City space”.

      Sat between Soho and Tribeca, the five-storey landmark was built in 1900 as a manufacturing centre, featuring a decorative white facade, double-hung windows and an external fire escape all typical of the neighbourhood.
      Worrell Yeung renovated the lower two floors of a landmarked building to create a home for Canal ProjectsIts street and basement levels were renovated by Worrell Yeung to create a home for Canal Projects, a non-profit arts organisation that hosts exhibitions, talks, performances, readings and screenings for the community.
      The studio was careful to retain as much of the building’s character as possible, highlighting the existing features like original masonry and steam radiators, and restoring them where necessary.
      Patinated bronze panels line the new entry thresholdVisitors arrive via a new entry threshold on Canal Street, where patinated bronze panels line the tall walls in a space intended to offer a moment of pause.

      Up a short flight of steps is the main gallery space – a large, open and flexible room that can be programmed in accordance with the organisation’s needs.
      The main gallery space is surrounded by windows and features historic details”We designed the foundation to be a series of spaces that would compress and expand, collapse and unfold and move between dark and light,” said Worrell Yeung co-founder Jejon Yeung.
      Surrounded by 14 large windows on two sides and boasting ceilings over 13 feet (four metres) tall, this room is light-filled and spacious.
      A staircase leads down to more space at cellar levelNew white oak floors complement the industrial details, including five cast iron columns and five wide flange steel columns that were exposed and restored.
      “Similarly to providing artists with a distinctive platform, we wanted viewers to experience art in an unmistakably New York City space,” said Max Worrell, Worrell Yeung’s other co-founder.
      A library area is formed by pivoting floor-to-ceiling shelves”Passers-by will glimpse exhibitions from the street through the window walls along Canal and Wooster Streets, and visitors on the interior can see artwork with the city context visible in the background,” Worrell said.
      Also on the ground-floor level are private offices for the curators and a bright orange public restroom.
      The dark cellar space is used for film screeningsNext to a freestanding reception desk by artist Zachary Tuabe, a staircase leads down to the basement level, which has a much smaller occupiable footprint.
      Darker and more enclosed, the cellar space features original brickwork, masonry and timber ceiling joists, and provides a very different exhibition space that is suitable for film screenings.
      A bright orange kitchen is tucked into an alcoveLight from the steel sidewalk grates illuminates one end of the space, where a library area is created by floor-to-ceiling shelving that pivots as required.
      A pantry area is hidden in an alcove behind a set of stable doors and is coloured entirely bright orange to match the upstairs restroom.

      Worrell Yeung contrasts wood pillars and grey marble in Chelsea Loft

      “We wanted artists to confront a venue that provides sufficient neutrality for their work, but that is also distinctly undivorceable from the Soho Cast Iron District,” said Yeung.
      “This is a building typology unique to New York City, and a richly layered context within which to exhibit.”
      A public restroom on the upper level matches the kitchenCanal Projects opened to the public in September 2022, with an exhibition titled Pray organised by artistic director and senior curator Summer Guthery.
      The show featured works by Bangkok and New York-based artist Korakrit Arunanondchai, and American artist and filmmaker Alex Gvojic.
      The building is located on the corner of Canal and Wooster Street, between Soho and TribecaWorrell Yeung was founded in 2015, and has worked on a variety of projects in and around New York.
      The studio recently completed a timber-clad lake house with cantilevered roof planes in Connecticut, while past endeavours have included a Hamptons renovation, a Chelsea loft apartment, and the penthouse in the Dumbo Clocktower Building.
      The photography is by Naho Kubota.
      Project credits:
      Architecture and interior design: Worrell YeungWorrell Yeung project team: Max Worrell, founder and principal; Jejon Yeung, founder and principal; Beatriz de Uña Bóveda, project manager; Yunchao Le, project designerStructural engineer: Silman (Geoff Smith, Nick Lancellotti)Lighting designer: Lighting Workshop (Doug Russell, Steven Espinoza)MEP engineer: Jack Green Associates (Larry Green)Expediter/code consultant: Anzalone Architecture (James Anzalone)Contractor: Hugo Construction (Hugo Cheng, Kong Leong)

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      Ai Weiwei's first design exhibition celebrates “how life goes on” after the pandemic

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      Hundreds of thousands of cannonballs, donated Lego bricks and a marble toilet roll feature in Making Sense, the first design-focussed exhibition by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at London’s Design Museum.

      Showing a range of new and historical works spread across a single gallery, Ai Weiwei: Making Sense opens at the Design Museum this Friday and marks the artist’s first design-focussed exhibition to date.
      Still Life is an installation of thousands of found objects from the Stone Age”I had to do something after the pandemic to celebrate how life goes on,” explained Ai, who is globally recognised for using art as a tool for activism.
      Central to the space is five “field works” made from rectilinear arrangements of found objects that the artist has been collecting since the 1990s.
      Ai Weiwei also created a “field work” from porcelain cannonballsStill Life is a group of several thousand Stone Age axe heads, knives, spinning wheels and chisels sourced from flea markets and laid side-by-side. The installation intends to humble visitors and serve as a reminder that design was originally based on survival.

      Another untitled work created last year brings together over 200,000 Xing ware porcelain cannonballs made during China’s Song dynasty – seemingly delicate objects that were once war weapons.
      Left Right Studio Material collects Ai’s sculptures that were destroyed by the Chinese government”It’s a matter of intelligence,” Ai told Dezeen, discussing his long history of collecting artefacts.
      “It is to keep the memory and to try and build yourself with what has happened to other human beings in very dramatically different times through history.”
      Other pieces feature thousands of Lego bricksSpouts is an installation of thousands of ancient porcelain teapot spouts, while Left Right Studio Material collects fragments of Ai’s sculptures that were destroyed by the Chinese state when it demolished the artist’s Beijing studio without warning in 2018.
      “The remains are a form of evidence of the repression that Ai has suffered at the hands of the Chinese government, as well as a testament to his ability to turn destruction into art,” said the Design Museum.
      Among the found objects is a Han dynasty urn painted with a Coca Cola logoThe fifth “field work” features piles of Lego bricks that were donated by members of the public after the toy manufacturer stopped supplying bricks to Ai because he used the toys to create portraits of political prisoners.
      Called Lego Incident, the work is presented alongside a vast recreation of French impressionist Claude Monet’s famed Water Lillies series that is also made entirely out of Lego, as well as a dramatic wooden sculpture made of columns sourced from a Qing dynasty temple and tables from the same period.
      In 2020, the artist created a toilet roll from marble in response to the pandemicAmong the other pieces in the exhibition, the artist presented a pair of large sculptures made from life jackets and children’s school bags respectively.
      The objects were arranged in two snake-shaped formations dedicated to the victims of China’s 2009 Sichuan earthquake and the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe.
      Also on display are two life-size toilet rolls made from marble and glass, which were designed in 2020 in response to our dependency on everyday objects at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
      Photography also features in the exhibition, including the artist’s Study of Perspective series”They work as one,” said Ai, who said he does not have a favourite piece in the exhibition – rather, he feels the projects complement each other.
      “All my works work as one – the bad ones, the so-called ‘good’ ones, the random ones or the ones being neglected.”
      “It’s just like, can you choose one part of your body as the most important one?”

      Chinese government sees architectural discussion as “dangerous” threat, says Ai Weiwei

      Various photography was also shown, including colourful new editions of the artist’s Study of Perspective series – images of the artist pointing his middle finger at recognisable landmarks including Berlin’s Reichstag building and New York’s Trump Tower.
      Prints displaying the National Stadium, widely known as the Bird’s Nest, being constructed prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics were also mounted to the wall.
      While the artist helped to conceive the stadium in collaboration with architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron, he later distanced himself from the project in protest against the Chinese government.
      One image shows Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium in construction”I never really have a particular hope,” said Ai. “I just focus on my own practice,” he said discussing how he would like audiences to engage with the exhibition.
      “I think it’s a good idea to present to others as people may share the same kind of emotions or concepts [to you]. But I have no idea – I just don’t know.”
      Other recent projects contained in Ai’s extensive portfolio of political work include a cage-like structure in Stockholm and a Quebec City installation made of a wall of life jackets that were used by Syrian refugees while attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea.
      The images are courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio.
      Ai Weiwei: Making Sense is on display at London’s Design Museum from 7 April to 30 July 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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      Chatsworth House exhibition is a “collision of past and present”

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      An exhibition at Chatsworth House including designers including Michael Anastassiades, Faye Toogood and Formafantasma, features in this video produced by Dezeen for the stately home.

      Called Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth, the exhibition brings together a collection of furniture and objects displayed throughout and responding to Chatsworth House and its gardens.
      In total, 16 international designers and artists created pieces that respond to the interiors of the building.
      The exhibition introduces new art pieces and objects into the house and gardenSome responded by sourcing materials from the property itself, while others focussed on themes and ideas taken from decorations within the interiors.
      “The designers of the exhibition have responded to Chatsworth in all sorts of fascinating ways,” said co-curator of the exhibition Glenn Adamson.

      “Throughout you really see this kind of conversation between the present and the past.”
      Jay Sae Jung Oh designed a throne using musical instrumentsThe exhibition continues Chatsworth House’s 500-year-long history of working with leading artists and designers and collecting an extensive collection of art and objects.
      “An artist’s new work can create a new way of looking at these spaces,” said Chatsworth House Trust director Jane Marriott.
      “It can capture their imaginations and hopefully inspire them to explore Chatsworth in a different light.”
      Toogood’s monolithic furniture creates a pensive space within the exhibitionBritish designer Toogood took over Chatsworth’s chapel and adjoining Oak Room. As a nod to the historical use of the space as a place of worship and gathering, she created an installation of monolithic furniture made from bronze and stone.
      The sculptural forms were designed to evoke ecclesiastical structures and to reflect the local landscape.
      “These objects give a sense of meditative calm, a sense of massiveness or monumentality that feels appropriate to the space,” Adamson said.
      Dutch designer Joris Laarman designed a series of benches for the exhibitionTwo stone benches by Dutch designer Joris Laarman made from locally sourced gritstone , which was the material used to build the house itself, were placed in Chatsworth House’s gardens.
      The surfaces of the benches were carved with undulating patterns in which moss and lichen have been planted and will continue to grow over time.
      Other objects in the exhibition include a throne-like seat wrapped in leather made from musical instruments by Jay Sae Jung Oh, a fibrous cabinet designed by Fernando Laposse, and sinuous steam-wood sculptures by Irish furniture maker Joseph Walsh.
      Laposse’s fluffy cabinet is made from agave plant fibresAnother section of the exhibition, which occupy Chatsworth’s Sculpture Gallery built in the early 19th century, features pieces by British designer Samuel Ross.
      Ross’s pieces were designed to echo the surrounding sculptures, mimicking their form to invite viewers to imagine the body that would recline on them. The designer has used a material palette of stone and marble to further reflect the sculptures within the gallery.
      Chatsworth’s collection contains art and design pieces spanning 4,000 years”It’s a kind of collision of past and present, of the artisanal with the technological, the classical with the industrial,” Adamson said.
      “It’s a great example of how the show in general tries to talk across generations, across centuries.”
      Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth is on display at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire until 1 October 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Photography is courtesy of the Chatsworth House Trust.
      Partnership content
      This video was produced by Dezeen for Chatsworth House as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

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      Ma Yansong picks six highlights from his Blueprint Beijing exhibition

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      Architect Ma Yansong, the curator of Blueprint Beijing, a feature exhibition exploring the future of the Chinese capital at the 2022 Beijing Biennial, shares six of his highlight installations from the show.

      Ma, the founding partner of Chinese architecture studio MAD, invited 20 architects and artists of different generations from around the world to present their visions for the future of the city of Beijing in a variety of mediums including architectural models, installations, photography and videos.
      Blueprint Beijing is the feature exhibition at the inaugural 2022 Beijing Biennial curated by MAD’s founding partner Ma Yansong”Blueprint Beijing is a comparative study of history and the future of Beijing and the world,” Ma told Dezeen.
      “We compiled a compendium of seminal events, people and ideologies from around the world that have vividly explored the theme of ‘the future’, such as Archigram, Oscar Niemeyer and many more, that have had a significant impact on current architects, and have influenced changes in Beijing’s urban planning in relation to major events.”
      “The works of several creators selected here traverse the dimensions of time, space and geography, and their personal creative imagination has brought distinct significance to the exhibition,” he added.

      Twenty architects and artists from around the world are invited to re-imagine the future of the cityThe exhibition also presents material taken from historic archives about eight architects and collectives that have showcased visionary ideas, as well as four Chinese science fiction films with historic significance.
      Here, Ma has selected six of his highlights from Blueprint Beijing for Dezeen:

      Restaurant Inside the Wall, by Drawing Architecture Studio, 2023
      “The Restaurant Inside the Wall installation is presented as a graphic novel, with a restaurant hidden inside the wall as the protagonist. Drawing Architecture Studio (DAS) transformed the graphic novel into a spatial experience in order to strengthen the absurd and suspenseful atmosphere of the story, by collaging and connecting the real elements of various street stalls.
      “Drawing from the observation of urban spaces in China, DAS has discovered a lot of unexpected pockets of wisdom embedded in everyday urban scenes, and roadside ‘holes in the wall’ are an example of this. This installation adds a microscopic daily footnote to the grand avant-garde urban blueprint for the future.”

      Filter City & City as a Room, by Peter Cook from Cook Haffner Architecture Platform, 2020-2022
      “In this installation, Peter Cook dissects two of his drawings – Filter City (2020) and City as a Room (2022) – into elements that concentrate on sequences.
      “Cook utilizes his signature strategy of creating concept drawings that remain connected to the built environment, while also moving towards a new future-looking ‘hybrid’, particularly interiors, that can be created from fragments of drawing and images.
      “As a result, viewers can transcend from distant observers into participants.”

      Liminal Beijing, by He Zhe, James Shen and Zang Feng from People’s Architecture Office, 2022
      “The installation of Liminal Beijing, created by People’s Architecture Office, connects the city of Beijing in different time and space. It features a knot of radiant, winding, and rotating tubes that can be interpreted as pneumatic tubes transporting documents in the 19th century or the hyperloops developed today, representing the link between the future and the past.
      “Modern life would not be possible without the hidden system of ducts that deliver heating, cooling, and clean air. Air ducts in Liminal Beijing are made visible so they can be explored and occupied, and are presented as missing fragments of space and time.”
      Photo is by Jerry ChenAstro Balloon 1969 Revisited x Feedback Space, 2008, by Wolf D Prix from Coop Himmelb(l)au, 2022 edition
      “This installation was realized by combining two of Coop Himmelb(l)au’s previous works: Heart Space – Astro Balloon in 1969 and Feedback Vibration City in 1971, which were first shown in this form at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008.
      “The resulting installation is a cloud-like, semi-transparent and reflective floating space that translates visitors’ heartbeats into a lighting installation.
      “Throughout its practice, Coop Himmelb(l)au has presented numerous futuristic ‘architectural’ prototypes of dwellings which are responsive to the sensibilities and activities of their inhabitants.”

      Beijing In Imagination, by Wang Zigeng, 2023
      “Chinese architect Wang Zigeng illustrates two city models that were informed by visual imagery of mandalas on the floor and ceiling of the exhibition space, expressing the tension between the ideal city and the chaos of the real world — a parallel reality of both the present and the future.
      “He believes Beijing is the embodiment of ancient cosmologies and an ideal city prototype through the ritualization of urban space – the establishment of political and moral order as a highly metaphorical correspondence between human behavior and nature.”

      Pao: A Dwelling for Tokyo Nomad Women II, by Toyo Ito, 2022 Beijing edition
      “This installation explores what living means for city dwellers in a consumerist society. Even today, half of the population living in Tokyo are living alone, and having a place to sleep is all one needs. Pao is a light and temporary structure that can be dissolved in the buzz of the metropolis.
      “This is a new edition of Toyo Ito’s previous work Pao: A Dwelling for Tokyo Nomad Women. By recreating the installation in Beijing while coming out of a global pandemic, Ito hopes to provide a space for visitors to reflect on the excessive consumerism that has continued to dominate the present.”
      The Photography is by Zhu Yumeng unless otherwise stated.
      Blueprint Beijing is on show at the 2022 Beijing Biennial Architecture Section at M WOODS Hutong in Beijing until 12 March 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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      Designmuseum Denmark exhibition asks visitors to “think about what kind of future we want”

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      Designmuseum Denmark has looked at how design can shape the future through its The Future is Present exhibition, which features projects including a tubular chandelier made from cow intestines.

      Presented at Copenhagen’s recently renovated Designmuseum, the exhibition showcases a range of “speculative and suggestive” works that examine four themes titled Human, Society, Planet+ and Imagining the Future.
      The MYX Chair is a mycelium and hemp chair that has “grown” itself”Design is very much a forward-looking profession,” said exhibition curator Pernille Stockmarr. “It’s about changing the existing into something better – and what we do in the present creates the future.”
      “Living in a time with major global challenges, this exhibition wants to invite people to see and reflect on the different potentials of design in this transformation and encourage them to think about what kind of future we want,” she told Dezeen.
      100 metres of cow intestines were used to make the Inside Out chandelierAmong the pieces on show is Inside Out, a chandelier-style lamp made from 100 metres of knotted cow intestines extracted from eight cows. Designer Kathrine Barbro Bendixen aimed to explore how byproducts can be used to rethink patterns of material consumption.

      Faroe Islands-based fashion brand Guðrun & Guðrun created Vindur, a ruffled dress with exaggerated bell sleeves made of woven silk and machine-knitted milk yarn sourced from dairy production waste.
      The brand worked with textile designers Amalie Ege and Charlotte Christensen and Lifestyle & Design Clusters to create the garment, which was made using a “traditional technique used during the inter-war period when resources were in short supply and waste was transformed into value,” according to the Designmuseum.
      A group of designers created a dress made from dairy wasteMore conceptual works include Beyond Life, a collection of biodegradable paper foam urns by designer Pia Galschiødt Bentzen with detachable pendants containing seeds that can be grown.
      “Beyond Life unites death, loss, and remembrance with the awareness that we humans are part of nature’s endless circle of life,” said Stockmarr.
      Also on show is Library of Change, a “map” of dangling acrylic foil cards charting current trends and technologies, inscribed with questions for visitors such as “would you leave the city for better connection?”
      Beyond Life is a collection of biodegradable paper foam urnsStockmarr explained that the exhibition aims to communicate “the breadth of design” by including works that vary in scale, purpose and medium.
      “Their ability to inspire, start conversations and make visitors reflect was a priority,” she said.
      “I didn’t want the works to be too-defined solutions for the future, extreme sci-fi visions, utopias or dystopias, but exploratory works. Some are collaborative research projects and others provide foresight into design methods, handicrafts and creative experiments.”
      Library of Change is a project that encourages visitors to question the future of designAlongside the various projects in the exhibition, artefacts from the Designmuseum’s own archive that highlight past ideas for the future are also on display.
      One of these designs is the three-wheeled vehicle Ellert, Denmark’s first electric car developed in the 1980s by engineer Steen Volmer Jensen.
      Ellert was Denmark’s first electric carLocal studio Spacon & X created the exhibition design for The Future is Present with the aim of reflecting its themes.
      The studio delineated the show’s various zones using modular bioplastic dividers that snake through the exhibition space and worked with natural materials including eelgrass, which was used to create acoustic mats to manage noise in the museum.
      Objects are arranged on custom tables and plinths made in collaboration with sustainable material manufacturer Søuld, while Natural Material Studio created a mycelium daybed for the show.

      OEO Studio uses materials in a “playful way” for Designmuseum Denmark cafe and shop

      Stockmarr explained that the show is meant to be a call to action and empower people to reflect on their individual roles in determining the future of design.
      “By asking more questions than giving answers the exhibition wants to inspire visitors,” reflected the curator.
      “The show acknowledges that it is not only designers, architects, craftspeople and experts, but all of us who are participating in shaping and designing the future by the questions we ask and the choices and actions we take today.”
      The Future is Present was designed by Spacon & X to be an immersive experienceSimilar recent exhibitions that explored the climate impact of materials include a show at Stockholm Furniture Fair that visualised the carbon emissions of common materials such as concrete and The Waste Age – a London exhibition that addressed how design has contributed to the rise of throwaway culture.
      The Future is Present is on display at Designmuseum Denmark from 19 June 2022 to 1 June 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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      Natural Connections exhibition aims to “help people rediscover nature”

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      Designers Inma Bermúdez, Moritz Krefter, Jorge Penadés and Alvaro Catalán de Ocón have created three playful wooden furniture pieces on show at Madrid Design Festival.

      Devised by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Natural Connections was on show in the entrance hall of the cultural building Matadero Madrid.
      Top: Natural Connections features playful furniture pieces. Above: the exhibition took place in the Matadero MadridEach of the three furniture pieces was designed to encourage interaction with wood – with one acting as a bench, the other a climbing frame and the third a hanging light installation.
      The designs were created in response to a brief provided by AHEC, which sought pieces made by Spanish designers out of maple, cherry, and red oak hardwoods sourced from American forests in an effort to encourage the use of the material.
      Catalán de Ocón designed Nube, a hanging light installation”We challenged the design studios to present these chambers in a public space – in a public context – so that visitors get to experience a connection,” AHEC European director David Venables told Dezeen.

      “The design teams worked with maple, cherry, and red oak to create playful, original, and highly innovative installations that we hope will provide engagement, excitement and a connection for visitors to these wonderful natural materials,” said Venables.
      Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter created several “bovine-shaped” seatsDesigner Catalán de Ocón created a six-metre-long hanging light called Nube  – which translates to cloud in English – made of 4,000 interconnected spherical and cylindrical individual pieces of wood.
      Nube is lit by several LED lights that were placed in the middle of the hollow structure. A brass cable runs from the bass into the mesh structure, branching into positive and negative electric currents.
      Positive poles run through the cherry wood while negative poles run through the maple pieces, which form a complete circuit when they touch and illuminate the bulbs.
      Visitors can perch on the benches and touch the woodsIts design was informed by Catalán de Ocón’s fascination with the manufacturing process for small utilitarian wooden objects such as pegs, matches and blinds.
      “I was inspired by the little match or the pencil, or the wooden pin for hanging the clothes – those kinds of manufacturing techniques, where you get an object which is repeated over and over and over again,” Catalán de Ocón told Dezeen.
      Jorge Penadés produced a bleacher-style structureMeanwhile, La Manada Perdida, or The Lost Herd, by Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter was influenced by the Matadero’s former function as a slaughterhouse and cattle market.
      The Spanish design duo produced a series of red oak, maple and cherry benches for Natural Connections that reference equine and bovine animals such as horses and cows. The pieces were given minimal finishing to mimic the texture of the tree they came from.
      “They appear as benches or seats, but their design goes beyond furniture to incorporate aspects of imagination and play to help people encounter and rediscover nature,” said AHEC.

      Students create sustainable furniture from hardwoods at Madrid Design Festival

      Madrid-based designer Penadés responded to the natural connections theme by producing a tiered seating piece called Wrap that is connected by ball joints.
      The designer, who is known for his interior projects with Spanish footwear brand Camper, glued and rolled 0.7-millimetres-thick pieces of cherry veneer into tubes to create tubular hollow components, which form a bleacher-style seat when joined together.
      Wrap is made from thin rolls of cherry veneerNatural Connections is one of several exhibitions at Madrid Design Festival, a month-long event that sees a design programme take over the Spanish city. After the exhibition ends, the furniture will remain in the cultural centre for a year.
      Also at this year’s edition is Slow Spain, an exhibition by university students that aims to explore American hardwoods and mindful furniture consumption.
      Last year saw lighting designer Antoni Arola and Spanish light manufacturer Simon use a smoke machine, lasers and a small tree to create Fiat Lux 3 Architectures of Light.
      Natural Connections is on show at Matadero Madrid as part of Madrid Design Festival 2023, which takes place from 14 February to 12 March. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the month.
      The photography is courtesy of AHEC.
      Project credits:
      Designers: Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter, Alvaro Catalán de Ocón, Jorge PenadésPartners: American Hardwood Export Council, Matadero Madrid, Madrid Design Festival, Tamalsa

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