Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten combines "sacred and ordinary" in concrete church tower

German practice Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten has completed a church and social welfare centre in New Taipei City, Taiwan, housed in a high-rise concrete block topped with an angular roof.

Rather than adopting the typical symbols of a church building, the 11-storey building is instead informed by the new residential towers being built around it. Cruciform skylights in its roof and a cruciform window are the only visual clues to its purpose.

Tamkang Church is housed in a vertical building in Taiwan designed by Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten

"This building is sitting in a new urban settlement so is expecting to have 200,000 living units grow next to it within the next ten years," project designer Rodrigo Reverte told Dezeen.

"The building is one of the first built on this new development, so in religious terms, it was thought of as a limelight for people to come to, with its cross-shaped lit roof," he continued.

Randomly placed rectangular and square openings cover the facade

Across its 11 storeys, the building houses events spaces, lecture halls, congregation areas, classrooms and welfare spaces stacked atop one another and connected by staircases and lifts at the tower's corners.

"The architecture of cathedrals often uses the cruciform shape as the main element to organise its space," said the practice.

"The design concept of the Tamkang Church is also based on the cross, but in the broader sense...it interweaves people's lives through the church celebration and their daily life, and brings nature into the city life," it continued.

An abstract cruciform shape perforates the facade of the church

Wrapping around the ground floor, a series of thin steel beams mirroring the roof structure enclose a double-height entrance space, which can be subdivided into four for events and gatherings.

The main congregation area is a double-height, 600-seat auditorium on the third and fourth floors, with a cruciform window visible on the building's exterior.

[

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Observatory with suspended cross forms contemporary spire for South Korean church

](https://www.dezeen.com/2019/10/02/saemoonan-church-seoinn-design-group-seoul/)

On the top floor is another church hall for ceremonies such as weddings and baptisms, illuminated by coloured, stained-glass-style windows inset into the steel frame of the angular roof structure.

A skylight above a baptismal font in this space is oriented to receive direct sunlight at 2pm, during ceremonies.

The church was constructed using board-formed concrete

A playful, informal arrangement of deeply-recessed windows and cut-outs characterise the exterior of the building, which has been finished in exposed, board-formed concrete.

"The window organisation is conceived as a constellation of shades of lights," said Reverte. "In the main stair space in between walls on the west side, the sun performs a cubism painting made out of light in the afternoon."

The interior spaces are organised across multiple levels

Small planted terraces have been created in some of these cut-outs, and at the top of the building a viewing balcony surrounds the church hall to give dramatic views over the landscape.

Concrete defines the building throughout, with a combination of exposed and polished surfaces in the interiors contrasted by pale plywood carpentry.

Areas of planting can be found on balconies

Details in the church spaces include a cast of Jesus made using the concrete formwork, and a wall behind the baptism space made with concrete cast using steel tubes to create a fluted effect.

Other recently completed places of worship include a circular church in Brno topped by a rainbow stained glass roof, and a church in South Korea with a curved stone facade.

The photography is byYuChen Chao.

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#all #architecture #cultural #instagram #taiwan #concrete #churches #worship #communitycentres #highrisebuildings

Denton Corker Marshall designs metal-clad cube for Shepparton Art Museum in Australia

Architecture practice Denton Corker Marshall has completed an art museum in Victoria, Australia, with a cubic glass form shielded by large metal-clad plates on its facades.

Won by the local practice via an architectural competition in 2017, the new 5,300-square-metre Shepparton Art Museum sits overlooking a lake at the edge of a nearby nature reserve.

As the site is a floodplain, the museum's footprint was kept small – extruded upwards to create five floors containing four galleries, children's spaces, and the Kailua Arts Aboriginal community arts centre.

The Shepparton Art Museum in Victoria was designed by Denton Corker Marshall

Denton Corker Marshall referenced the natural surroundings to conceive the museum as a "land sculpture". The project comprises the museum itself and an adjacent Art Hill, which conceals the building's services and parking beneath stepped concrete seating.

"Sitting between the lake and the main road into town from Melbourne, it presents a strikingly bold signal – a new contemporary building added to the fabric of the city," said John Denton, co-founder of Denton Corker Marshall.

The practice wrapped the art museum in a metal facade

This sculptural form is defined by the four metal-clad plates that appear to shift as you move around the building's exterior. Three are clad in powder-coated silver aluminium, while a fourth faced in contrasting weathered steel demarcates the main entrance.

L-shaped in form, these plates extend with small canopies to created sheltered, verandah-like spaces around the museum's entrances, and feature perforated areas and cut-outs that give glimpses into the interior.

Different metal volumes make up the Shepparton Art Museum

"From a distance, the plates give virtually no indication of the interior life to be discovered and explored," said the practice.

"At their base, they float seemingly unsupported over an open, visibly accessible and highly activated ground plane...each plate is an object in its own right and an integral part of the whole," it continued.

[

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](https://www.dezeen.com/2016/07/02/jakarta-australian-embassy-architecture-denton-corker-marshall/)

The museum's entrance leads into a full-height atrium, alongside the community arts centre and administrative spaces on the ground floor.

On the first floor, level with the Art Hill, a large cafe space opens onto a terrace that leads out onto the amphitheatre-style seating area.

Concrete was used throughout the interior of the museum. Photo is by Tim Griffith

"The Art Hill creates an upper ground level, enabling the museum cafe to enjoy an elevated outlook whilst being directly connected to, and accessible from, the park," said the practice.

A central, open staircase connects to the museum's four gallery spaces, designed to show a mixture of international exhibitions, permanent collections and new commissions.

Parts of the museum are directly accessible from a nearby public park. Photo is by Tim Griffith

"The interior design [features] interconnected multi-level spaces, materials, texture, with intuitive way finding by Studio Ongarato," said the practice.

"[This is] overlaid with contrasts of drama, reflection, outlook, information and discovery, all of which are conceived as integral elements of the museum experience," it continued.

Gallery spaces are designed to show a mixture of international exhibitions, permanent collections and new commissions. Photo is by Tim Griffith

Previous projects by Denton Corker Marshall include the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, a cluster of cubic forms clad in contrasting metal finishes.

In 2015, the studio built a "mysterious black box" for Australia's contribution to the Venice biennale.

The photography is byJohn Gollings unless stated otherwise.

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#all #architecture #cultural #australia #dentoncorkermarshall #metal #museums #culturalbuildings #victoria

Work begins on Kéré Architecture's perforated brick Goehte-Institut in Dakar

Construction has begun on the Senegal headquarters of the non-profit Goehte-Institut designed by Burkina Faso studio Kéré Architecture.

Set to be built alongside former Senegal president Leopold Sedar Senghor's home in Dakar, which is now a museum, the two-storey building will be built from compressed earth bricks.

Kéré Architecture has designed the Goehte-Institut in Dakar

When complete, it will be the Senegal office of non-profit German cultural association Goehte-Institut, with spaces to host exhibitions and teach language courses.

Burkina Faso studio Kéré Architecture, which is led by architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, designed the building to reflect the organisation's ethos of cultural exchange.

It will be built around existing trees

"Visitors and employees alike are to be provided with a space that speaks to and is home to the layered and storied cultural tapestry of Senegal's capital," said the studio.

"One that is welcoming and versatile in speaking to the vast and complex history of cultural encounters and asking a diverse community to gather to define an inclusive and sustainable future."

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](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/06/30/startup-lions-campus-kere-architecture-kenya/)

The 1,800-square-metre building is designed to match the scale of the surrounding, largely residential, buildings.

Its L-shaped form was created to avoid existing trees on the site and create a central courtyard-like space. A kitchen and bar will also be built alongside this courtyard.

Classrooms will be located on the upper floor

Public functions, including an auditorium, cafe and library, will be located on the ground floor of the main building and connected to the institute's offices and classrooms on the level above by a pair of spiral staircases.

It will be built from locally sourced bricks with lattices, created to allow air into the building, and topped with a roof garden covered by a steel canopy.

Kéré Architecture was founded by Kéré in Berlin in 2005. The studio recently completed an education campus in Kenya and a university in Burkina Faso. In 2017 Kéré designed the Serpentine Pavilion in London.

The renders are courtesy of Kéré Architecture.

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#all #architecture #cultural #officearchitecture #bricks #culturalbuildings #diébédofranciskéré #senegal

Killa Design's Museum of the Future opens in Dubai

A museum in Dubai dedicated to the future, which has been dubbed "the most beautiful building in the world" by the emirate's ruler, has officially opened its doors.

Designed by local studio Killa Design, the museum stands in a prominent location alongside Dubai's elevated train line, a short distance from the Burj Khalifa skyscraper – the world's tallest building.

The Museum of the Future has opened in Dubai

Designed to be "an architectural and cultural icon", the museum consists of an elongated ring shape with a void at its centre, sat on a grass-covered mound.

The distinctive form led Dubai ruler and UAE vice president Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to state that the museum is "the most beautiful building in the world".

It stands alongside Dubai's elevated train line

Built for the Dubai Future Foundation, the seven-storey building contains a combination of exhibits dedicated to the future and workshops for testing and developing emerging technology.

"The Museum of the Future is a 'living museum', constantly adapting and metamorphosing as its very environment drives continual and iterative change to its exhibits and attractions," said Mohammed Al Gergawi, chairman of the Dubai Future Foundation.

Dubai's ruler described the museum as "the most beautiful building in the world"

Killa Design's museum contains a 1,000-capacity multi-use hall, a 345-seat lecture theatre as well as numerous laboratory spaces.

Five floors of gallery space contain exhibits dedicated to space exploration, a digital recreation of the Amazon rainforest and prototypes of future products.

Internally the spaces have no columns

The 77-metre-high building is supported by a steel structure, developed with engineering studio Buro Happold, which was "digitally grown" using parametric tools.

This structure means that the building has no internal columns.

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](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/10/13/dubai-expo-2020-must-see-pavilions/)

It is clad in stainless steel with windows in the form of quotes from the emirate's ruler written in Arabic calligraphy.

The three sentences written on the building say: "We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone"; "The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. It isn't something you await, but rather create"; and "Innovation is not an intellectual luxury. It is the secret behind the evolution and rejuvenation of nations and peoples".

Exhibits include a space station simulator

This year Dubai is hosting the coronavirus-delayed Expo 2020 Dubai.

The event contained pavilions designed by some of the world's leading architects including Santiago Calatrava, Foster + Partners and Grimshaw. We rounded up 10 must-see pavilions at the expo.

The photography is courtesy of Dubai Future Foundation.

---

Project credits:

Client: Dubai Future Foundation

Developer: North25

Architect: Killa Design

Lead consultant (design, site supervision and contract administration): Buro Happold:

Structural engineering, facade engineering, sustainability, building services engineering: Buro Happold

Bridges, transport, infrastructure, geotechnical engineering, access, people flow modelling, fire and life safety, specialist lighting, acoustics, waste and logistics: Buro Happold

Project manager and employers representative: Matthews Southwest

Cost consultant: AECOM

AoR/EoR: Rice Perry Ellis Cracknell (Landscape),

AV/ICT: Mediatech

VT: RBA

Civils: CDM Smith

Programming: Matrix

H &S: Atkins

Security: Arkan

Auditorium: Theatre Projects

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#all #architecture #cultural #dubai #museums #unitedarabemirates #culturalbuildings #killadesign

MAD designs cluster of wooden museum buildings to evoke bronze age masks

Chinese architecture studio MAD has released visuals of The Eyes of Sanxingdui, a scatter of wooden buildings it has designed for the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan City, China.

The Eyes of Sanxingdui will contain new exhibition spaces and a visitor centre for the complex, which is officially called the Sanxingdui Ancient Shu Cultural Heritage Museum.

MAD has designed a series of exhibition spaces for Sanxingdui Museum

As the project name suggests, MAD's design evokes the almond-shaped eyes of bronze age masks excavated from the ancient Sanxingdui archaeological site where the museum is located.

These masks were created by the Sanxingdui civilisation between 4500-2800 years ago and are now on display at the museum alongside many other artefacts discovered in the area.

The cluster of structures will be made from wood

"The Sanxingdui site laid host to a number of cultural relics, including longitudinal bronze eye masks and large bronze standing figures, many of which adopt exaggerated, strange, ornate shapes," explained MAD.

"After sunset, the six buildings are enlivened as torch-like eyes behind the bronzeware and golden masks of Sanxingdui, uniting the spirits and forms, allowing people in the museum to wander between history and the future."

The Eyes of Sanxingdui will run alongside a body of water at the museum

The museum campus is located at the northeast corner of Sanxingdui's main protected area and covers an area of 90,000 square metres.

The Eyes of Sanxingdui will consist of a cluster of six wooden buildings scattered in an east-west direction alongside a body of water and dense greenery on the site.

They are designed to evoke the eyes of bronze age masks found in Sanxingdui

Its easternmost structure will contain the 5,830-square-metre visitor centre. Beyond this will be five exhibition spaces.

Externally, the exhibition spaces will be connected by an undulating green roof, which will be publicly accessible and provide visitors with views of the surrounding landscape.

A skylight will run along the roof of each structure

The decision to divide The Eyes of Sanxingdui into a series of buildings was made to help blend the structures in with the landscape and preserve nature on the site.

They are intended to appear as though they are emerging out from this landscape, with their timber finishes and structures echoing the surrounding trees.

The Eyes of Sanxingdui is designed to complement its natural surroundings

"The scheme respects and preserves the site's natural trees and water features where possible, weaving these natural features into a landscape strategy that remains in harmony with the new pavilion building," MAD explained.

"The intersection of artifacts, atmosphere, and nature will encourage people to experience the Sanxingdui civilization's inscribed influence on contemporary civilization and the human spirit."

[

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](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/08/13/mad-hainan-science-and-technology-museum-china/)

Visitors to the site will begin their journey at The Eyes of Sanxingdui's visitor centre before proceeding through the exhibition halls via an underground corridor.

The exhibition halls will be connected to each other via a south-facing glass corridor, which will frame views of the surrounding landscape.

The skylights will naturally light the interiors

MAD has designed the buildings' timber structures to allow for open column-free interior spaces, accommodating various exhibition layouts.

Natural light will be provided through the rooftop skylights, which evoke the opening of the almond-shaped eyes from above.

The structures will be linked by glass corridors

MAD was founded by Ma Yansong in Beijing in 2004. Elsewhere in China, the studio is currently developing a "futuristic" cruise terminal modelled on gantry cranes and a white cloud-like science museum on the coast.

It recently completed Yabuli Entrepreneurs' Congress Center in the mountains in northeast China and a kindergarten in Beijing with a red rooftop playground.

The visuals are courtesy of MAD.

---

Project credits:

Architect: MAD

Principal architects: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano

Competition design team: Tiffany Dahlen, Liu Zifan, Pittayapa Suriyapee, Ma Yiran, Cievanard Nattabowonphal, Luo Man, Chen Hao, Chen Shijie, Wang Shuang, Xiao Yuhan

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#all #architecture #cultural #news #chinesearchitecture #china #mad #culturalbuildings #woodenarchitecture #chinesemuseums

Liminal Architecture and WOHA incorporate historic buildings into new theatre in Tasmania

A historic theatre building and the remnants of a 1920s garage are incorporated into a cluster of contemporary glass and metal blocks at this new performance and arts venue in Hobart, Tasmania.

Named The Hedberg after the Hedberg Brothers Garage building that stands on the site, the new centre extends the 180-year-old Theatre Royal with venues, workshop spaces and a new home for the University of Tasmania's Conservatorium of Music.

The Hedberg theatre in Tasmania was designed by Liminal Architecture and WOHA

Local practice Liminal Architecture and Singapore-based WOHA were awarded the project in 2013, with a design that sought to respond to the site's heritage while also creating a contemporary landmark for the city.

As well as directly connecting to the Theatre Royal with a new glazed and fully accessible foyer, the centre incorporates the frontage and walls of the original Hedberg Brothers Garage, which now houses administrative offices.

Externally the new forms contrast these historic structures, clad with a faceted pattern of metal panels that was informed by the act of opening theatrical curtains.

The studios clad the building in metal, glass and masonry

"The fabric of the building externally provides interpretative layers of the past re-presented through a contemporary lens, highlighting the story-telling potential of the building," said Liminal Architecture co-founder Peta Heffernan.

"We wanted The Hedgerg to feel more like a cluster of buildings on the city block, than a huge performing arts building that overwhelms the modest-scale heritage structures," added WOHA co-founder Richard Hassell.

[

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](https://www.dezeen.com/2022/01/13/mercury-store-theatre-gowanus-brooklyn-co-adaptive-architecture/)

A glass box extends out over the street at the centre's southern corner, creating a triple-height atrium that welcomes visitors, weaving between the existing auditorium of the Theatre Royal and a new 350-seat recital hall.

On the other side of a central planted courtyard sit the studio and back-of-house spaces, with a staircase leading up to rehearsal rooms and studios for Conservatorium of Music students.

The interior speaks to the remnants of the older buildings on the site

Internally, the walls of the original garage are set against concrete, wood and steel finishes. A rehearsal room finished in textured wooden walls informed by minimalist music notation.

The cluster-like arrangement of the buildings blocks has enabled roof terraces to be created at different levels, providing dramatic views across the city.

The complex includes an auditorium and recital halls

"As part of the heritage strategy, we used materials that are modern but harmonise with the stucco, sandstone and brick of the historical buildings," said Hassell.

Other recent projects incorporating historic structures into new theatres include the renovation of an industrial building in New York into rehearsal spaces, and the transformation of a historic malt house in Canterbury into the Malt House Theatre.

The photography is byNatasha Mulhall.

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#all #architecture #cultural #australia #theatres #tasmania #culturalbuildings

Competition launched to extend MAXXI museum by Zaha Hadid Architects

A competition has been launched to find an architect for the expansion and sustainability-led revamp of Zaha Hadid Architects' Stirling Prize-winning MAXXI museum in Rome, Italy.

Launched as part of a project called the Grande MAXXI Master Plan, the competition invites proposals for a two-storey multifunctional extension to the contemporary art museum.

The winning design will be realised alongside improvements to the environmental performance and public realm of the existing museum that Zaha Hadid Architects completed in 2009.

Revamp responds to "new world"

Organised by the MAXXI Foundation, the Grande MAXXI Master Plan and extension are slated for completion in 2026.

According to the competition brief, it is being developed to better align the museum with what it describes as the "new world".

A competition has been launched to extend the MAXXI museum by Zaha Hadid Architects

"More than ten years after opening to the public, the museum designed by Zaha Hadid, the MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome intends to confront the challenge represented by a further innovation, marked by sustainability and state-of-the-art technologies," the brief states.

"The museum, which has achieved important milestones in attendance, international reputation and solid management, has developed the Grande MAXXI Master Plan to confront the 'new world' being shaped by important environmental, financial and health crises."

The MAXXI museum, which is known fully as MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts, was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects on the site of former 19th-century military barracks in Rome.

It is the first national institution in Italy dedicated to contemporary art and architecture and was the recipient of the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize in 2010.

Extension coincides with updates to existing museum

The competition will see the museum extended with two storeys of collaborative research, training and storage facilities, positioned on a plot north of the building.

Named the MAXXI Hub, this will form the centrepiece of the Grande MAXXI Master Plan and will be linked to the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed museum by a green roof.

As part of the plans to improve the environmental performance of the existing museum, approximately 3,000 square metres of solar panels will also be installed on its roof.

A new public green space, named the MAXXI Green, will also be introduced, offering outdoor space for installations, events and vegetable gardens to grow food for the museum's eateries. As part of this update to the landscape, any accessibility issues at the current museum will also be rectified.

[

Read:

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](https://www.dezeen.com/2020/12/28/neue-nationalgalerie-berline-david-chipperfield-architects-mies-van-der-rohe/)

The deadline for the competition is 13 May 2022 and the winner will be announced on 12 July 2022, before construction begins early in 2023. In addition to the design contract, the overall winner will receive €30,000 (£​​25,000).

Another major art gallery that recently underwent a renovation is the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany.

The overhaul, led by David Chipperfield Architects, involved refurbishing the building's ageing structure and exterior while modernising its services.

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#all #architecture #cultural #news #italy #rome #culturalbuildings #maxximuseum

h2o Architectes converts storage space into colourful studio for Louvre museum

French firm h2o Architectes has designed a brightly-hued educational facility, hosting art classes for young and old inside Paris's Musée du Louvre.

Over 1,200-square-metres, The Studio encompasses a common area and nine studio spaces on the lower ground floor of the Louvre's Richelieu wing.

The Studio (top image) has nine workshop rooms (above)

What was once a storage depot for the Islamic art department is now a space for learning, where anyone from school children to professionals can expand on their own artistic skills and find out more about the artworks displayed in the museum.

The Studio's grand arched entrance leads visitors into The Forum, which functions as a reception and plays host to a changing roster of free 20-minute workshops.

Workshop rooms towards the rear of The Studio are painted in bright hues

h2o Architectes designed the interior as "a place for conviviality and exchange", with a broad bank of tiered wooden seating allowing visitors to perch and chat.

The cushioned seats can be lifted up to reveal storage boxes for workshop participants to stow away their jackets and other personal items.

One of the rooms is vermillion teal blue

Built into the surrounding walls is a series of backlit niches.

These showcase work by members of the public, as well as small-scale pieces made by the Louvre's in-house roster of expert guilders, painters, framers, metalworkers and other craftsmen.

[

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Towards the back of The Studio are nine rooms for hosting lengthier workshops and training courses in everything from art history to project management.

These rooms have been painted in bright, punchy colours like lemon yellow, teal blue and vermillion red.

Another of the rooms is lemon yellow

In contrast, the corridors connecting the rooms are much more neutral-toned and entirely lined in wood.

Their curved walls meet to form snug corners where visitors can stop and socialise while simple spherical pendant lights cast a warm glow throughout the interior.

The Forum doubles as a reception area with tiered seating

h2o Architectes was established by Jean Jacques Hubert and Charlotte Hubert in 2005.

Since then, the studio has completed a diverse array of projects in France including an angular timber wine-tasting pavilion, a nursery extension topped with a fabric canopy and an apartment with hidden space-saving storage.

_The photography is byMaxime Verret. _

---

Project credits:

Architect: h2o Architectes

Structural consultant: Équilibre Structures

Construction economist: Cabinet Pilté

Fluid engineering office: INEX

Lighting designer: Agence On

Multimedia: Labeyrie & Associés

Signage: Wanja Ledowski Studio

Acoustics: ABC Decibel

Fire prevention and safety: CASSO & Associés

Supervision unit: Alpha Contrôle

Health and saftey coordination: Qualiconsult

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#all #interiors #cultural #instagram #france #h2oarchitectes #paris #louvremuseums

#greece #european #global #environment #ecology #technology #social #cultural #social #economics #politics #news

Food for Thought - January 2022

#Marxism = #oppressed / #oppressor #political paradigm.
#Racism = #race Marxism.
#Sexism = #gender Marxism.
#Homophobia = #sexuality Marxism.
#Islamophobia = #metaphysical Marxism.
Anti-Westism = #cultural Marxism.

Look into what people-group #Marx was a member of and then perform an #ethnographic #statistical #analysis of the ethno-linguistic composition of the upper echelons of #Western #power #hierarchies to determine #proportionality and you'll find Marx's ethno-linguistic people-group is heavily over-representated.

Marxism is a political attack on Western #civilisation by a tiny, powerful #elite.

Why we should reject Mark Zuckerberg's dehumanizing vision of a "Metaverse"

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/11/24/why-we-should-reject-mark-zuckerbergs-dehumanizing-vision-of-a-metaverse/

"The true path forward is to #reconnect with the #beauty of our #planetary #home and the #natural #world or, in the words of #cultural #historian #MorrisBerman, to “ #re-enchant the world.” We need to somehow, through the seemingly unstoppable momentum of runaway technology, find a way to #return to a way of #living that retains the use of #limited and #intelligent #technology where appropriate without allowing it to run roughshod over the #core #values of #humanity we still #cherish."

#tomvalovic #reject #markzuckerberg's #dehumanizing #vision #metaverse #meta #bigtech #coup #wef #profit #surveillance

https://vimeo.com/345810127

Understory

Tongass Documentary

“Understory” is a short film that takes us deep into Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the largest remaining temperate rainforest on the planet. Our guide, Elsa Sebastian, is a young local fisherman who grew up “off-grid” in a remote village surrounded by the vast, ancient forest. When Elsa learns that the U.S. federal government is axing environmental protections for nine million acres of the Tongass, she is driven to action–first fixing up an old sailboat, and then setting sail on a 350-mile expedition along the rainforest’s coast.

Elsa is joined by Dr. Natalie Dawson, a biologist who has spent decades studying Alaska’s wildlife, and artist Mara Menahan. For a month the team documents old-growth trees threatened by logging, witnesses the dark aftermath of clearcuts, visits streams teeming with salmon, and learns about indigenous cultural connections to the Tongass. As Elsa, Natalie, and Mara personally and directly face the devastating impacts of the timber industry on the old growth forest, they struggle to hold onto hope. With the end of their journey comes the realization that saving our last ancient rainforests is more urgent than they could have imagined.

Director Colin Arisman deftly unpacks and presents the story of greed and mis-guided government management that has defined decades of logging in the Tongass. Through breathtaking cinematography and poignant personal experience, Understory makes the case that saving ancient forests like the Tongass is critical to both the resilience of humans and the future of our planet’s climate.

New film documents threats to Tongass National Forest, need for protection

https://www.wilderness.org/articles/blog/new-film-documents-threats-tongass-national-forest-need-protection

#Understory #documentary #film #nature #environment #logging #trees #old-growth #forests #rainforests #protection #preservation #conservation #indigenous #cultural #connections #MarinaAnderson #MaraMenahan #NatalieDawson #ElsaSebastian #Tongass #Alaska #TongassNationalForest #LastStands #tongasslaststands #ColinArisman #TheWildernessSociety #WildConfluence #docu-films

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tK-5dydqp8

The Last Forest

In powerful images, alternating between documentary observation and staged sequences, and dense soundscapes, Luiz Bolognesi (Director) documents the Indigenous community of the Yanomami and depicts their threatened natural environment in the Amazon rainforest.

The native Yanomami people live in the northern region of Brazil, in a mountainous terrain of the Amazon forest surrounded by landscapes that are quite distinct from what we are used to seeing. Vast tablelands, waterfalls, and streams can be found in the dense woodland, while the exotic savannas often overlap with the clouds at the top of the forest.

In these exotic and unusual landscapes, the Yanomami write a rare history of cultural resistance. As other native tribes are forced into the assimilation of white identity – be it through the invasion of evangelical churches, or the entry of loggers, miners, and engineers that are opening roads or building dams – the Yanomami, guided by their leader and great shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, fight to preserve their spiritual and daily culture. In order to protect their identities, they battle a real war filled with numerous internal conflicts. Such as the desire of young people of owning a smartphone or of leaving the forest in search of the city-life.

The film “The Last Forest” is a documentary feature that aims to introduce these characters and this conflict through the observation of the Yanomami’s everyday life. It is from the interaction with them, from the desire of listening and understanding them in their own terms, that our film is born.

#TheLastForest #documentary #film #nature #environment #indigenous #peoples #community #cultural #resistance #identities #Amazon #Amazonia #Yanomami #Brazil #LuizBolognesi #Berlinale #AÚltimaFloresta #docu-films

Chinese steel factory transformed into exhibition centre with polycarbonate walls

Architecture office Kokaistudios has slotted a polycarbonate structure into the shell of a former factory in Shanghai, China, to create the Baoshan Exhibition Center.

The exhibition space occupies one of few factory buildings that have been preserved on a large industrial site in the Baoshan District, which was once used to produce steel.

Kokaistudios has adaptively reused a former factory in Shanghai

Shanghai-based Kokaistudios' goal for the 725-square-metre factory was to create a flexible interior while preserving all of the structure's original details.

The project is shortlisted for the cultural building of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021.

The studio inserted a polycarbonate structure

The factory building chosen for the project is positioned at the gateway of the 450,000-square-metre site.

It was commissioned by its owner Baosteel to promote the redevelopment of the remaining factories on the site, as well as other disused industrial buildings in Shanghai.

The polycarbonate volume sits independently from the original building

"Baoshan Exhibition Center preserves the industrial legacy in Shanghai, while setting the stage for its future functions," said Kokaistudios.

"Through embedding new architecture volume, as well as in-built flexibility, Kokaistudios' structure sets a precedent for this landmark project."

The intervention was designed to preserve the existing building

According to Kokaistudios, Baosteel's vision for the site is to create an "eco-industrial park".

Alongside the exhibition centre, it is expected to include a new waste-to-energy power plant, a museum, offices, a park and a series of wetland areas.

It contains an exhibition centre inside

The polycarbonate structure inserted into the factory is designed as a fully separate element, meaning it sits independently from the building's original envelope.

The structure forms a watertight and flexible interior while preserving the factory's original details, which include bulky pipes and machinery inside and out.

[

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Rede Architects and Moguang Studio turn abandoned factory into youth activity centre

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According to the studio, polycarbonate was chosen to create "a powerful contrast between the heaviness of the existing steel building and the lightness of the new building".

Polycarbonate is also lightweight, reusable and could be prefabricated, reducing costs and construction times.

Concrete tiles are paired with the polycarbonate walls

Inside, the main exhibition space is filled with freestanding furniture to maximise its adaptability.

Elsewhere, there is a small coffee lounge, meeting room and smaller spaces for use as other exhibition spaces.

A meeting room is among other spaces created inside

Alongside the polycarbonate, the studio has introduced a material palette that includes concrete and stainless steel, chosen for their "cooler tones".

"Throughout, cooler tones contrast with the structure's former associations of blasting furnaces," the studio explained.

Materials with "cooler tones" were selected

The main exhibition hall is the only space to feature natural materials, including wooden veneer that nods to the trees surrounding the site.

Kokaistudios' renovation of the factory is completed with a landscape design that includes simple stone pavers arranged in a striped formation.

Original details of the factory have been preserved

Other shortlisted projects in the cultural building of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 include the Yabuli Conference Center by MAD Architects and the Babyn Yar Synagogue by Manuel Herz Architects, which won the public vote for the same category.

Elsewhere in China, Rede Architects and Moguang Studio also recently adaptively reused a factory in Beijing to create a youth centre filled with ramps and slides.

The photography is byTerrence Zhang.

---

Project credits:

Architect: Kokaistudios

Chief architects: Andrea Destefanis, Filippo Gabbiani

Design director: Li Wei

Architecture design manager: Andrea Antonucci

Design team: Lu Tian, Qu Hao

Client: SIIC Bao Steel Environmental Resources Technology Co., Ltd.

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#cultural #all #architecture #chinesearchitecture #china #shanghai #renovations #factories #adaptivereuse #kokaistudios

Adjaye Associates proposes inverted supertall skyscraper for New York

Architecture studio Adjaye Associates has designed a supertall skyscraper in New York, which has a series of cantilevers to give it a dramatic form.

Named Affirmation Tower, the skyscraper was designed for a 1.2-acre vacant plot of land at 418 11th Avenue in Manhattan where New York State has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in order to fill the site.

Affirmation Tower would be built in Manhattan

Adjaye Associates designed the 1,663-feet-tall (498-metre) supertall skyscraper – a building over 300 metres – to cantilever outwards five times so that the upper levels are much larger than the lower levels. This would give it an inverted appearance compared to a traditional skyscraper.

Outwardly defined by these stepped blocks, the building would include two hotels and office space, as well as an ice skating rink and an observation deck.

The skyscraper would include an observation deck

Local developer Peebles Corporation has submitted the supertall to the Empire State Development Corporation in a bid to build the skyscraper on the vacant site, which is called Site K.

It is positioned next to Manhattan's Javits Center, one block away from the city's High Line, as well as the Hudson Yards real estate development and Number 7 subway line.

Offices with terraced space would feature in the design

If built, the project would be Adjaye Associates' tallest tower to date, and would also be the second tallest building in Manhattan after One World Trade Center.

According to the studio it would be the first skyscraper built by a team of Black architects, developers, lenders and builders in New York City's history.

There are plans to house the headquarters of the NAACP's Mid-Manhattan branch within the building.

[

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Adjaye Associates designing 101 hospitals "to transform Ghana's medical system"

](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/08/23/adjaye-associates-district-hospitals-ghana-agenda-111/)

"Unfortunately for most of New York's history, African-Americans and people of color have been rendered as mere economic tourists who gaze upward at one of the greatest skylines in the world with the intrinsic knowledge they will never be able to participate in what really makes New York unique," said Rev Dr Charles Curtis, Head of NY Interfaith Commission For Housing Equality.

"The awarding of this project to this team will send a statement across the globe that architects, developers, engineers and financial professionals of color are now full participants in this great miracle of global capitalism called New York City."

Cantilevers would define the supertall's structure

The supertall would be the second New York tower designed by Adjaye Associates following 130 William, a concrete residential skyscraper designed by the firm, which was founded by Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye in 2000.

The building would be the latest in a series of supertall skyscrapers built in New York with buildings over 300 metres designed by BIG, Foster + Partners and SHoP currently under development in the city.

The images are courtesy of the Peebles Corporation.

The post Adjaye Associates proposes inverted supertall skyscraper for New York appeared first on Dezeen.

#skyscrapers #cultural #publicandleisure #all #architecture #landscapeandurbanism #usa #cantilevers #news #davidadjaye #newyorkcity #supertallskyscrapers #hudsonyards #adjayeassociates

SOM designs UAE diplomacy building with Middle Eastern motifs in Manhattan

Architecture firm SOM has designed a limestone-clad building patterned with symbolic palm leaves for the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations in Manhattan.

The building represents the United Arab Emirates' (UAE's) diplomacy to the United Nations (UN) and is located in Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighbourhood, close to the UN headquarters.

The building features palm leaf motifs

The Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations is an organisation set up by the UAE to champion the UN and is headed by ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.

Indiana limestone, sourced from the same quarries that provided the facades for the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center, clads the diplomacy building.

It is located in Manhattan's Turtle Bay, close to the UN headquarters

The 10-storey tower was designed to blend with the scale of the rest of the neighbourhood while also representing the UAE.

SOM added palm leaf motifs to the building's canopy and entrance as an international symbol of peace.

The facade's tapering limestone piers echo narrowing palm leaves

As the tower rises, the facade's vertical elements attenuate to cater to privacy and light-related needs within the building, which also echoes the narrowing spine of a palm leaf.

"The palm is represented by the tapering limestone piers extending skywards from the second floor to the roof," SOM design partner Chris Cooper told Dezeen.

Middle Eastern courtyards informed the building's interiors

Visitors enter the building via a 40-foot-tall (13-metre) double-height hallway that was designed to echo a courtyard in a traditional Middle Eastern house.

"On the interior, the concept of hospitality blends Middle Eastern tradition with diplomatic decorum," continued Cooper.

SOM designed the project to be symbolic of international exchange

"The space brings guests and staff together in an environment that is dignified, understated, and symbolic of international exchange."

Split into three zones, the building's first two storeys house the entry hall and event spaces, while floors three to six feature an amenity level and staff offices.

Office spaces are included in the building

Levels seven and eight are reserved for executive areas, and at the top portion of the building, there is a roof terrace with impressive views of the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza below and the East River beyond.

"The layout of each floor of the building is inspired by the principle of the central courtyard, with a central reception and gathering space that is accessible from the elevator lobby," explained Cooper.

"These spaces choreograph the visitor's progression through the building – heeding the hospitable nature of Middle Eastern culture."

Throughout the building, interiors pay tribute to the Middle East. Conference rooms include a traditional geometric pattern known as mashrabiya, which features in every UAE diplomatic office around the world.

Lebanese designer Nada Debs created the interiors for the building's entry hall with a palette of natural materials intended to evoke serenity, such as Northern Canadian limestone.

Neutral interiors are intended to reflect the diplomatic nature of the building

Amenity spaces were designed with flat-cut American walnut and Calacatta marble, while executive spaces house Majlis areas for entertaining guests.

"In designing the mission, we endeavored to integrate Middle Eastern and local motifs, symbolising the power and importance of cross-cultural exchange and rooting the building in New York City's architectural traditions," said Cooper.

Marble features in amenity spaces

SOM is an American firm founded by Louis Skidmore, Nathaniel Owings and John Merrill in 1939. The office was recently chosen to design a mass-timber Olympic village for the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics.

The photography and drawings are courtesy of SOM.

The post SOM designs UAE diplomacy building with Middle Eastern motifs in Manhattan appeared first on Dezeen.

#cultural #all #architecture #usa #marble #unitedarabemirates #skidmoreowingsmerrill #newyorkcity #limestone #unitednations #newyork

Carpet of Flowers

A #carpet #created from 500,000 #dahlia and #begonia #flowers at #GrandPlace in #Brussels, #Belgium. 100 #volunteers created this astonishing #Floral-Carpet that stretches out 19,000 sq. ft. Every two years it's a different #cultural #theme. This one honors #Mexico & #Aztec #Culture.
#CarpetOfFlowers

Bob Dylan ~ Highway 61 Revisited

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hhrtdQ9i-A
https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/how-bob-dylan-made-rock-history-on-highway-61-revisited-249576/

"Like a Rolling Stone" "Tombstone Blues" "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" "From a Buick 6" "Ballad of a Thin Man"
"Queen Jane Approximately" "Highway 61 Revisited" "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" "Desolation Row"

#Highway61Revisited is the sixth studio #album by American singer-songwriter #BobDylan, released on August 30, #1965. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used #rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way #Dylan combined driving, #blues-based #music with the subtlety of #poetry to create songs that captured the #political and #cultural #chaos of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray has argued that, in an important sense, the #1960s "started" with this album.
Leading with the hit song "Like a Rolling Stone", the album features songs that Dylan has continued to perform live over his long career, including "Ballad of a Thin Man" and the title track. He named the album after the major #American #highway which connected his birthplace of #Duluth, #Minnesota, to southern cities famed for their musical heritage, including St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, and the Delta blues area of Mississippi.
#musicvideo #audio

What a peaceful build-up that evades ecological breakdown could look like

https://wagingnonviolence.org/cnv/2021/10/a-peaceful-build-up-interbeing-evades-ecological-breakdown/

'To prevent #ecological #collapse and #create more #peaceful and #sustainable ways to #exist on this #planet, we can’t continue to make #growth and the #exploitation of #finite #resources the #center of our endeavors.'

#ninakoevoets #ecology #earth #economics #pandemic #poverty #climate #change #crisis #environment #awareness #global #nature #conflict #resolution #international #local #cultural #transformation #empathy #collaboration #compassion #interbeing #interdependence

Gunfighter Nation Meets Haitian Migrants

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/27/gunfighter-nation-meets-haitian-migrants/

'Our response can no longer remain confined to the #fear of #negative #cultural #representation and #denial. Every time #migrants and #refugees are under attack, #humanrights are under #attack. Every time #human #rights are under attack, so is our #morality as a #nation, our #humanity.'

#gunfighter #nation #haitian #migrants #us #delrio #texas #border #patrol #RichardSlotkin #humanitarian #crisis #asylum