A major retrospective on the works of Zaha Hadid Architects is taking place within the salone of Palazzo della Ragione, Padua, Italy. The exhibition examines the practice’s continued experimentation and research into digital design and construction methods at the cutting edge of the industry.
To coincide with the exhibition, Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a 20 metre long wooden table with seating for Cavour Square in Padua.
Product designs include some of Hadid’s most notable pieces and examine the diversity of her work including Mesa Table for Vitra, Genesy Lamp for Artemide, Aqua Table for Established & Sons, Melissa Shoes, sofas for Sawaya & Moroni and B&B Italia, and Louis Vuitton’s Icone bag. Many of these pieces are now exhibited at museums and galleries worldwide and have become collectors’ pieces alongside design classics from previous centuries.
Scoop Sofa For Sawaya & Moroni
Mesa Table for Vitra
The salone of Palazzo della Ragione (constructed 1172-1219) is considered one of the most notable monuments in Padua. Its medieval roof remains amongst the largest in Europe unsupported by columns, whilst the frescoes that adorn the interior walls date from 1425. As with each of her projects, Hadid has organized this exhibition as a direct response to its environment within the salone, articulating the inherent contextual relationships of her work. The historic qualities of the space presented an exacting design challenge for Hadid. The exhibition design respects these spatial and contextual characteristics whilst also intervening in the unique manner of Hadid's digital, liquid fluidity. Conceived as an interior urban landscape, the exhibition should be considered as a large scale installation; a pixilated field defined by algorithmic formulae that introduce complexity and generate an interior urban condition. Space has been organized as a single fluid landscape with connecting individual fragments and clusters.
Zaha Hadid Exhibition from October 27 2009 to March 1 2010 Palazzo della Ragione, Padua
Lace in Translation is a new exhibition of contemporary work inspired by historic lace. Lace in Translation explores the intersection of luxurious hand-craftsmanship with modern, mass production. The Design Center’s historic Quaker Lace Company collection is the inspiration for three artists and designers reconsidering conventional notions of lace. European designers Tord Boontje and Demakersvan, and Canadian artist Cal Lane have created installations specifically for TDC’s unique and intimate space — a 1950s era, Hollywood-style ranch house, one of the first in Philadelphia, and situated on the edge of Fairmount Park.
Cal Lane, partially cut oil tank
Oil tank drawing by Cal Lane
Cal Lane prepping oil tank
Cal Lane working on oil tank (Photo by Kerry Polite)
1000 gallon oil tank, Oxy-Acetylene cut and welded steel, paint, burnt lawn, Cal Lane, 2009
Quaker Lace inspiration for Cal Lane's work; from the collection of The Design Center at Philadelphia University
From the intricacy of a handwoven raffia curtain, to the industrial art forms of laser-cut fabrics, a welded filigree oil tank, and a lace chain-link fence, Lace in Translation plays with the concept of lace, utilizing unexpected materials and new technologies to transform the Center’s grounds and galleries.
A special exhibition website is available at www.laceinstranslation.com which invites visitors to preview the exhibition and to submit their own designs and handwork.
A short film running at the exhibition explores the history of the Quaker Lace Company and its role in transforming lace from luxury product to mass market consumable, as well as the creative processes of Boontje, Demakersvan, and Lane. The film features historic footage of Quaker Lace being manufactured, the designers’ contemporary production techniques, and interviews with the designers and curators. Directed by Glenn Holsten, the film will also be available online.
Grass Hair Piece by Tord BoontjeRafia sample by Tord Boontje
Sofa, Aramide and Dynema fibers; powder-coated steel, Studio Tord Boontje, 2009 (Photo by Beth VanWhy)
Original lace inspiration for Tord Boontje's work, collection of The Design Center at Philadelphia University
Ten Lighting Fixtures, Raffia, Studio Tord Boontje, 2009 (Photo by Kerry Polite)
French designer Julien Carretero did a Master's degree at the Eindhoven Design Academy under tutor Gijs Bakker of Droog Design. He then worked two years with Maarten Baas before setting up his own studio in Eindhoven.
Julien explores the possibilities of artisan creation in objects that are lively, vibrant and in constant phase-change.
Drag (2009)
Drag uses a traditional technique for making ornamental cornice mouldings using synthetic plaster. Half-pieces are rotated on a central axis as the plaster sets, then assembled to form a complete round turn. Several different typologies of objects (lamps, utility table, stool) have been made and each piece is unique. A minimal industrial process that integrates organic imperfection.
This is a fan (2008)
Computers, cars, ventilators... all use fans, which although usually hidden by a grating shield are components of many everyday objects. This is a fan proposes an alternative presentation of this device, which is as functional as it is discreet. A protecting cage designed as a case/support in which the fan is simply strapped suddenly brings it to life. Fragile and naked.
The guideline of Julien's work is the production of objects considered as a process in perpetual development: alive and unpredictable.
Self-cleaning surfaces, phase changing materials and built-in sensors that generate energy from the footsteps of the visitors. The 3XN pavilion ‘Learning from Nature’ unites the most advanced technologies and intelligent materials in a preview of the innovative architectural design of tomorrow.
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art invited the Danish architecture firm 3XN to design a pavilion demonstrating cutting edge possibilities within sustainable and intelligent materials. The result is a pavilion that is built of bio composites with integrated intelligence that creates a dynamic interaction with its physical surroundings and its users.
Everything about the pavilion is literally inspired by nature itself: The biological cycle of nature is the fundamental basis for the shape, the materials and the dynamic energy generation. The pavilion is shaped as a Moebius band to symbolize the biological cycle; and the properties of the construction are very like those of nature – for example, the pavilion has a coating of nanoparticles that helps clean the surfaces and clean the air. Additionally, the pavilion is built of biodegradable materials; and as for energy, the pavilion is 100 percent self-sufficient.
Kim Herforth Nielsen, Principal of 3XN, comments on the project:
"The Pavilion has given us the opportunity to showcase the possibilities which exist in building with sustainable and intelligent materials. Our objective has been to show that Green Architecture can be dynamic and active. We often think that we need to minimize use of resources at all costs. Instead of focusing on consuming the least amount of energy, we need to focus on producing and using energy and materials in a more intelligent way than is the case today."
’Learning from Nature’ is unveiled today and can be seen at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, until October 2009.
When we received the info about this product our first reaction was "how silly and useless this is!". But after having visited their site, we thought that this is not the worst sculpture we have seen and at least this one made us smile. Laikingland is a creative collaboration based in both the UK and The Netherlands. They design and manufacture well crafted kinetic objects that engage, and evoke a sense of play and nostalgia. Their first product, the Applause Machine, is designed by British artist Martin Smith. Just press the button and the Applause Machine enthusiastically claps its hands for you.
If you are interested in kinetic sculpture you will probably enjoy the visit of Martin Smith's website where one can see more of his works.
Construction begins on Herzog & De Meuron's 56 Leonard Street in New York.
The Switzerland-based architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron breaks down the old image of the high-rise as a sleek, hermetically sealed urban object to propose instead a thoughtful and daring new alternative - the iconic American skyscraper re-envisioned as a pixelated vertical layering of individually sculpted, graceful private residences opening to the atmosphere.
56 Leonard Street will be a 57-story residential condominium building in the Tribeca Historic District of downtown Manhattan, where it will rise above cobbled streets and historic 19th century neighbors. The tower will house 145 residences, each with its own unique floor plan and private outdoor space, in a veritable cascade of individual homes that the architects describe as "houses stacked in the sky," blending indoors and outdoors seamlessly together.
The building's defining corner will be the site of a major commissioned sculpture by London-based artist Anish Kapoor. Fully integrated into the architecture, Kapoor's massive, reflective stainless steel piece - an enigmatic balloon-like form that appears to be combating compression from above - will be a new cultural landmark in Tribeca and the artist's first permanent public work in New York City.
The architects' intention is to preserve the celebratory spirit of traditional skyscrapers while introducing new structural possibilities and suggesting fresh ways for people inside such towers to relate to their city. Inspired by the permeability and spatial qualities of Modernist houses and the great American dream of a customized home, Herzog & de Meuron has replaced the usual extrusion of standardized skyscraper floor plates with a staggered progression of structural slabs turning slightly off axis by degrees as they ascend, creating constant variety among the apartment floor plans. This structural arrangement of floor plates will create an irregular flurry of cantilevered terraces up and down the building, making plays of light and shadow that give the tower a shimmering, animated appearance on the skyline and widely varying interiors.
Contrasts Gallery presents the Shanghai Riddle - The first solo exhibition of the work of Dutch designer Maarten Baas in China.
Featuring works inspired by the designer’s experiences in China, the exhibition will include the latest iterations of his Sculpt, “Hey, chair, be a bookshelf!” and Smoke series, as well as new versions of his carved wood interpretations of plastic furniture.
While participating in Contrasts’ residency program, which brings Western artists to China to study local artistic and cultural practices, Baas became fascinated with traditional Chinese woodcarving; this exhibition is dominated by the results of this interest. His work pushes the boundaries of this time-honored Chinese craft, while also revealing the designer’s playful imagination.
“Shanghai is a city full of contradictions: old/new, high-tech/low-tech, tradition/revolution, fake/real, cheap/expensive, original/copy, etc. Together, all these contradictions seem to form a big and interesting paradox, the complexity of which you can't exactly define. What you can feel is the atmosphere, the energy coming from it, a kind of chemical reaction to what's happening. This was what encouraged me to develop the exhibition ‘The Shanghai Riddle,’ also full of paradoxes and experiments, inspired by a city in which everything seems possible.”
The intersection of traditional craft and China’s contemporary culture of mass production are addressed with Baas’ wood carved furniture. Pieces like Plastic Chair In Wood, which reproduces a basic plastic lawn chair in luxurious hand-carved elm, reference the contrast between disposable, mass-produced goods and treasured, handcrafted objects. Baas’ Transformation installation plays with traditional Chinese furniture forms; handcrafted elm and camphor wood furniture look like they are melting into a wooden pool.
Baas’ original “Hey, chair…” series consists of found furniture and other objects assembled to form sculptures that act as multi-functional bookshelves. Baas made a unique piece from this series especially for Contrasts Gallery. The piece is made up of various objects, handpicked by Baas from the streets of Shanghai during his visits, and finished with traditional Chinese red lacquer.
Chinese Objects Object is based on the “Hey, chair…” series. Baas made an assemblage of different kinds of wooden Chinese objects, which was then carved out of solid wood by local Chinese craftsmen.
The lighthearted, purposefully imperfect Sculpt series, which Baas began in his Netherlands studio in 2007, has evolved in China with the addition of two new works. The concept behind the series is to capture the spontaneity and roughness of a sketch in a fully realized, life-sized object. The Sculpt concept, which was initially applied to furniture, has expanded to include two musical instruments: a typical Chinese “pipa” and a western piano. Baas hopes the instruments can be played during the exhibition.
New additions to the designer’s celebrated Smoke series will also be on view. The series, which began as Baas’ graduation project at Design Academy Eindhoven, consists of pieces of wooden furniture that have been set alight. The remained charcoaled pieces are preserved in a clear epoxy.
Contrasts Gallery No. 133 Middle Sichuan Road, 5/F / Shanghai, China 200002 August 15 – September 4, 2008
Matthias Pliessnig's most recent seating is called 'Providence'. The piece is entirely made of steam-bent White Oak.
"I wanted to make a form which creates a physical conversation between the people using it and the form itself. The structure is incredibly strong and lightweight (for its size)."
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