Project description by Wutopia Lab

"He stands upon the bones of the world in reminiscence, unaware that another world is being born."

Yu Ting, Chief Architect of the interior design project.

Invitation I had no idea who the architect was when I first received the design invitation. The client hoped for the architect and interior designer to work creatively back-to-back and then combine their creations, sparking inspiration for each other and producing a brilliant piece of work. This sounded undoubtedly like an adventure, and I, of course, accepted.

Vortex The first set of documents I received was the ground plan confirmed by the transportation authority, with a diamond-shaped circular corridor surrounding a diamond-shaped exhibition hall. I was informed that the design should embody the spirit of Shanghai. At that time, I had just finished reading Underland: A Deep Time Journey, and there was a chapter about vortex which made me connect it to Shanghai. Shanghai has always been in the vortex of public opinion but always manages to create surprising achievements. I thought, what a great theme a vortex would be.

West Bund Orbit por Wutopia Lab. Fotografa por CreatAR Images.

I rotated the diamond plan and decided to design the exterior walls of the exhibition hall as a vortex. It would become the second layer of the faade behind the glass curtain wall.

I structured the entire interior design PLOT based on the theme of the vortex. The exhilarating vortex dominates the first storey, one that has a luxurious height of 10m. Inside the marble vortex is a clean and multifunctional grand event hall used for exhibitions, fashion shows, and conferences. The vortex pattern is reflected in the division of the circular corridor flooring, and at the same time creates a richly layered ceiling.

Different levels of patterns effectively conceal the structure and equipment pipelines between the facade and the exterior walls of the exhibition hall, allowing the vortex to stand out visually without being cluttered. The vortex becomes the dominant visual element, maximizing the tension of symbolic significance in a visual sense.

West Bund Orbit por Wutopia Lab. Fotografa por CreatAR Images.

The basement of Orbit serves functional purposes, housing public corridors, communal restrooms, communal dressing rooms and VIP dressing rooms. They represent the underwater world beneath the vortex. The architect created an underwater lighting experience in the corridors, and using three different colors of electroplated stone, along with coral-colored stone materials, he simultaneously constructed the symbolic meaning of an underwater coral reef on the basement level.

We were so enamored with the coral theme that we used green jade marble to craft the VVIP dressing room on the first floor. When the photographer captures an overhead shot of the dressing rooms from the mezzanine, it creates the illusion that the protagonists are in both a real and surreal myth.

The second floor is the exhibition hall, representing the calm water surface with ripples and shores left after the vortex. Behind the scenes on the second floor, all auxiliary functions such as the entrance hall, projection room, restrooms, VIP lounge, and various meeting rooms are hidden behind the shores abstracted caves accommodating diverse needs.

West Bund Orbit por Wutopia Lab. Fotografa por CreatAR Images.

Upon entering the second floor through the hall known as the 'White Cliff,' one can follow the scroll expressing the glorious moments of Xu Guangqi's life or directly enter the main space filled with shimmering water reflections.

The expansive water surface serves as the hall for showcasing models. Based on the variable cross-section structure, I designed the roof ceiling as a slightly curved dome, creating a skylight that utilizes maximum net height to simulate the sky. Below the sky, there is a pattern of the Huangpu River, winding through island-like model platforms, leading to the subtly outlined gate of Tushan Bay.

West Bund Orbit por Wutopia Lab. Fotografa por CreatAR Images.

Behind it is a large conference room, surrounded by lush greenery, resembling a forest, facing the slowly eastward-flowing Huangpu River. Reality and imagination converge at this moment, in this space.

Out of my fascination for symmetry and symbolism, as well as the refinement of the winding shores, the hall takes on the shape of a Begonia Ruyi, with a missing piece that serves as the anteroom to the restroom. In the central open space facing the hall, the architect placed a marble basin with rolling waves inside, creating a miniature vortex. Yes, the architecture thus creates joy infused with metaphor in every detail.

West Bund Orbit por Wutopia Lab. Fotografa por CreatAR Images.

Rogue Wave While the interior concept proposal was approved by the owner, they also unveiled the facade design, which is the intertwined and spiraling ribbons seen now. The architect placed the vortex as the second facade behind the ribbon facade, and the developer exclaimed that it looked like a rogue wave.

The vortex as a giant wave was ultimately created by three-dimensional carving marble using a five-axis machine and then assembled on site. It indeed creates a Baroque perception, with the marble appearing solid yet expressing the dynamic force of fluid.

When you stand outside the building, it seems to be continuously rotating, forming a marvelous balance with the ribbon facade. Especially at night, it becomes a striking new landmark, a center, in the vibrant waterfront area of Shanghai.

West Bund Orbit por Wutopia Lab. Fotografa por CreatAR Images.

Orbit and The Chinese name for the exhibition hall, '' (West Bund Orbit), derives from the poetic line '' ('Water swirls and soars with the wind'). This powerful and dynamic phrase helps the audience connect the natural forms presented in architecture and interior design, such as waves, vortexes, ribbons, stars, and orbits. It aids in understanding that people are like stars, able to orbit outside the building along trajectories. Hence, the name 'Orbit' emerged.

Of course, it was only during the unveiling of the facade that I came to know the architect is Thomas.

"Each person harbors a secret Shanghai of their own, seemingly disconnected from others. These fragments are embedded within the vast and glittering metropolis, silent, or perhaps fading away. It takes someone to interconnect these fragmented, hidden Shanghais to suddenly realize that this is the living Shanghai. These fragments, then define the grand Shanghai we perceive."

Yu Ting, Chief Architect of the interior design project.

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The reflection of a city in motion. West Bund Orbit by Wutopia Lab | The Strength of Architecture | From 1998 - Metalocus

A Dallas code amendment slated to go before the City Plan Commission this summer would eliminate minimum parking requirements for new development and improve walkability and bicycle safety, city planners said Tuesday.

The code change also establishes a Transportation Demand Management Plan for qualifying project developers to think comprehensively about their impact on transportation systems.

Architects Ryan Behring and Tipton Housewright, who serve on the Dallas Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee, took questions with planners Michael Wade and Sarah May at the American Institute of Architects panel discussion Tuesday.

Too much parking is just bad urban design, Housewright said. Its bad land use. It affects our tax base. It affects the quality of our environment.

The matter has been discussed by Dallas policymakers since 2019, and the fundamentals of the current code have been in place since the 1960s. The current one-size-fits-all approach requires developers with a lot of capital to assemble several acres, which is particularly challenging for infill development, Housewright said.

You get this sort of monoculture of development of these large, chunky projects around the city and you dont get the interesting scale of the smaller projects because you cant solve the parking, he said.

ZOAC voted in January to recommend eliminating parking requirements for new development. After the City Plan Commission takes up the matter in June, it will go before the Dallas City Council.

Behring pointed out that the North Texas region is booming in population growth but Dallas isnt.

Good urban places are flexible and adaptable, he said. When you have one rule that applies the same to our vastly varying neighborhoods it doesnt allow those places to adapt and change as Dallas has already. I think were trying to meet Dallas where its at.

Eliminating parking minimums does not mean existing parking spaces will be wiped out; it just gives developers the option of determining how many spaces they need for new projects instead of adhering to an antiquated code that designates a certain number of spaces per square foot or bedroom anywhere in the city.

There are no maximums in this ordinance, Housewright said. Lenders are going to require parking from a commercial developer. If someone is building space and theyre going to lease it to a tenant, the tenant is going to ask about parking. Theres all sorts of self-interest here and self-policing.

The chief concern of those who oppose a code change is spillover parking into neighborhoods. Planned developments such as PD 193 in Oak Lawn that have specified their own parking requirements would not be affected by the code change.

Can we talk about anything these days without the conversation turning to ForwardDallas? Doesnt look like it.

Public affairs consultant Katie OBrien, who moderated Tuesdays AIA panel discussion, asked if parking requirements have any connection to the citys ForwardDallas comprehensive land use plan.

The short answer, panelists said, is there is no connection.

Wade said the current parking requirements could inhibit what some city leaders hope to achieve through its land use plan: density, mixed-use, and more flexibility in development standards.

May clarified that ForwardDallas isnt a zoning document something planners have repeatedly emphasized and it doesnt establish regulations.

The City is putting in the work, putting in the engagement, to engage communities that havent been engaged before, especially in our southern Dallas area to establish what they want to see in their part of town, May said. This is an overall plan for the city so that when zoning changes come before CPC and council they can say, Does it comply with the plan? Its really just a plan to agree upon. This is the direction we want to take.

Parking is a regulatory implementation tool and is conceptually separate from the land use plan, May added.

Its like comparing a budget with your water bill, she said. Hopefully your water bill fits in your budget, but theyre very separate documents, both very important things that we have to consider.

Original post:
Architect Tipton Housewright Says Too Much Parking is 'Bad Urban Design' - CandysDirt.com - CandysDirt.com

Want some thrash? We're back with another sprawling round-up of the very best new metal songs you need to hear, and this week it seems we've stumbled through a wormhole to the 80s as we bring you some of the finest fast'n'furious metal tracks since the Big Four earned their stripes.

But first, the results of last week's vote! There was a tight-run dash for third place as Orange Goblin took on Kittie, but ultimately the nu metal vets pulled ahead for an admirable third place. In turn, Black Label Society drummer Jeff Fabb showed off his wares on boundary-pushing new track Love And War, but the clear winners of the week were Within Temptation, whose new standalone single A Fool's Parade serves as a reminder of just how powerful that band have become in recent years.

This week it's all to play for as we bring you a mix of names old and new, looking everywhere from Brazil to Thailand, the US to Finland to find you the very best new metal songs around. As ever, we need your help to crown the best song of the week, so don't forget to cast your vote below. Happy listening!

Theres a little over a month to go until we get Kerry Kings solo debut From Hell I Rise, but our thrash appetites are being kept satiated with new single Residue. If previous single Idle Hands was all about capturing the full-throttle viciousness of Slayer at their best, then Residue is a more direct showcase of the tight rhythmic grooves King and drummer Paul Bostaph lock into when working together, tapping into the claustrophobic intensity of God Hates Us All era Slayer.

Balancing ethereal melodies and almost proggish percussion, Turkish drummer Leyan Senay offers a distinctive vision of the alternative on new single Bluetiful. A bewitching mix of alt. metal weirdness and gothic grandeur - not hurt by creeping piano melodies - the track is one of her first solo compositions, having made her name serving as both a drum teacher YouTuber who previously performed drum cover videos online.

Theres a lot to talk about heading into new Architects single Curse. For much of 2024 the Brighton band have been under fire over guitarist Adam Christiansons apparent sharing of homophobic and transphobic content, Christianson later claimed sharing the content was a total accident. The release of a new single with minimal acknowledgement of the backlash will likely only add more fuel. Produced by former BMTH keyboardist, backing vocalist and songwriter Jordan Fish, Curse marks the first new song Fish has produced since departing his former band in December and brings some of the enormity and radio-friendly hooks that made Bring Me a trend-setting band in modern metalcore. It also continues the stylistic shift the band touched on with previous single Seeing Red, suggesting that now theyre comfortably headlining arenas in Europe - and with a Bloodstock headline debut to come in August - theyre setting their sights on pushing their own boundaries.

Anyone for some rampaging black metal? Almost 40 years and 20 studio albums havent curbed Darkthrones appetite for ragged, tooth-gnashing black metal and where many of their contemporaries have embraced more grandiose elements, Fenrizs Norwegian stalwarts still sound as if theyre crawled straight out of the grave on latest single Black Dawn Affiliation. New album It Beckons Us All is out on April 26 and Dawn is yet more proof that if it aint broke, it dont need fixing.

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Its been a decade since Nothing More stepped up into the big leagues with their self-titled third album, embracing a more alt-metal friendly sound. Massive crowds throughout the UK in February attested to just how that decision has paid off for the band, and new single House Of Sand captures some of the anthemic power that has earned them such a vocal and passionate fanbase. With guest vocals from I Prevails Eric Vanlerberghe, the track is powered by buoyant riffs and stuttering guitars than chuck a bit of nu metal into the mix, suggesting new album Carnal might be their heaviest release in years whilst not losing sight of the enormous choruses that have become the bands bread and butter. Either way, well find out June 28.

With their second album Ferality, UnityTX were as comfortable on bouncing hardcore rager like Burnout as they were dipping into synth-driven trap tracks like Diamond Diez, mixing hardcore, hip hop and metal in a fascinating way. New single Playing Favorites shows off the bands more muscular hardcore edges, bounding along with menacing basslines and bulldog snarls that capture some of the visceral thuggishness of hardcore/crossover legends like Biohazard and Body Count.

Speaking of vicious, thuggish metalcore, Thailands Annalynn bring the beatdown in a big way with their latest single Circle The Flame. Taken from their upcoming Failure Will Find Me EP - due May 24 - the track is all clenched jaws and swinging fists, an absolute metalcore menace that reminds us that while some areas of metalcore are breaking through to arenas, others remain resolutely street-level without losing sight of the genres most ascendant elements.

Tapping in the abyssal majesty of cosmic doom, US doom trio Heavy Temple have just released their second album Garden Of Heathens. New single Extreme Indifference To Life captures the bands nihilistic yet utterly enthralling mixture of doom and psychedelia, vocalist High Priestess Nighthawk (yep, thats her name) capturing the misanthropic disdain of a Jus Osborn or Lee Dorrian whilst intoning her own unique spin on the genre.

A collision of metalcore and deathcore, August Burns Red have teamed up with Lorna Shore growler-in-chief Will Ramos for new single The Cleansing. While ABR havent exactly skimped on heaviness in the past, The Cleansing nonetheless feels like the band are bridging their melodic elements with Shores apocalyptic heft, skewing towards the deep end of extreme metal as the song builds to a gloriously demonic mid-section. Epic, in the very best way.

Based out of Los Angeles, newcomer Dolly Dagger captures some of that citys dark yet irresistible allure on new single Tower. The subtle pulses of electronica feel in keeping with the citys industrial-tinged offerings from the likes of HEALTH or 3Teeth, but Tower also mixes in the seductive earworm brilliance of alt. rockers like Garbage and the tight, canned-riff qualities of Helmet in a punchy three-and-a-half minute package.

With alumni of Children Of Bodom, Nightwish and Finntroll in their ranks, its fair to say Crownshift have a lot to live up to. Thankfully the Finnish supergroup seem determined to aim high, new single My Prison offering a mixture of shimmering prog metal and Alice In Chains like soulful gravitas with massive breakout moments that capture a sense of enormity. The bands self-titled debut is out May 10 via Nuclear Blast, and definitely one to keep an eye out for.

Coming on like the bastard offspring of a natural disaster and a 20-car pile-up, Thou this week announced new album Umbilical for a May 31 release. A wall of ear-shredding extremity that blurs lines between noise, black metal and all-out extremity, lead single I Feel Nothing When You Cry should be all the persuasion you need to batten down the hatches and prepare for absolute devastation when this record arrives.

Kerry King not scratching the thrash itch for you? Then get some Authors Of Fate in your lugs. the Los Angeles thrashers latest single Leather Liver dialling up the extremity to almost ludicrous levels as the band blur boundaries between extreme metal subgenres, delivering the gut-wrenching nastiness of old school death metal with the pacing of Teutonic thrash.

Whats that, you want more thrash? Then cast your eyes down to Brazil, death metal brutes Troops Of Doom going full Slayer on the infernally brilliant Chapters Of The Unholy. Taken from the bands upcoming second album A Mass To The Grotesque, due May 31. If you were delighted by the Cavalera brothers decision to rework their early death metal/thrash crossover material last year, this one is an absolute must. Prepare for a very, very sore neck.

Read more from the original source:
The best new metal songs this week: April 12 2024 - Louder

Housing is a human right. This direct message was the opening statement of the Architecture and the Right to Housing panel discussion at the University of Torontos John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Hosted on March 21 as part of the Facultys Winter Program, the discussion brought out a crowd of architects, designers, and students to listen and learn about what the right to housing actually looks like like in practice, and the often understated role that architects can play in making it a reality.

The panel was moderated by Karen Kubey, an assistant professor at the Daniels Faculty, and included speakers Leilani Farha, global director of advocacy agency The Shift, and Paul Karakusevic, founding partner of Karakusevic Carson Architects, a UK-based firm specializing in public-housing design. Supported by the Irving Grossman Fund in Affordable Housing, the discussion was part of an ongoing series of round tables that Kubey is hosting across North America to continue her work in advancing housing justice. Addressing the audience to kick the discussion off, Kubey said I hope that by the time you leave the room tonight, you will have a better understanding of what a right to housing really means, that you feel energized, and you believe, just a little bit more, that another world is possible.

The discussion opened with a presentation from Leilani Farha. Against a backdrop of questions to ask ourselves to better understand the housing crisis, Farha highlighted the internatial human rights laws that support the right to housing, and the importance of holding those who make decisions accountable to upholding these laws. As a former UN special rapporteur for the right to housing, advocating for government accountability on housing issues has been Farhas focus for years, and continues to be part of her mandate at The Shift.

To my mind, the implementation of the principles and central ideas that inform human rights law could be used to successfully address the failings of Canadas housing system, she asserted. This means that our housing system must produce results in line with human rights outcomes, not economic ones. She also emphasized the need for more thorough representation in the process of developing public housing, saying as designers, we need to take a step back to play less of a directorial role, and a more facilitative one, so that those most at risk can have a voice.

Next, Karakusevic took the stage with a presentation that walked the audience through the design and funding processes behind several of his firms successful public housing projects. Now working entirely in the public sector building new social housing as well as refurbishing existing developments, at Karakusevic Carson Architects have found that projects that incorporate as many housing types as possible and remove distinctions between different income levels lead to the healthiest outcomes.

Karakusevic also expressed the designing to prioritize the spatial needs of the residents is reliant on a specific funding structure. As all of their projects are public led, it allows for a long-term approach to funding, design, and management that deters profit-motivated decisions and instead supports thoughtful consideration of livability.

The ideas shared throughout the panel demonstrated that Canadas current approach to housing development is not structured to support the creation of quality public housing. The speakers asserted that if we wish to create truly affordable and habitable housing, we need to make more noise and demand more meaningful action from our politicians. The discussion ended with an optimistic view of Torontos future, that with forward looking leadership, perhaps the city can reset the discussion on affordable housing and allow new ideas to lead to positive changes.

See more here:
Architecture and the Right to Housing - Canadian Architect

The UKs skills gap is a long-standing problem affecting a broad range of critical sectors not least infrastructure. Having featured on the governments Shortage Occupation List since 2019, architects are in high demand and short supply a situation not helped by the end of free movement from the EU which took effect in the same year.

These post-Brexit resourcing challenges have come back into focus over the past few weeks, thanks to the new minimum salary requirements introduced by the government to curb immigration and the awarding of foreign work visas. The 48 per cent rise in the minimum salary threshold, setting the bar at 38,000, came into effect over Easter and has been condemned by the RIBA.

Looking to the future, its clear that our industry will need to place a greater emphasis on developing our own models for resourcing resilience. But we also need to find medium-term solutions and move away from traditional resourcing models where locally contracted teams apply a narrow, local focus to recruiting to meet need. In an industry characterised by an ebb and flow of work, and of large projects that can be stop-start by nature, this approach regularly leads to imbalances in the workforce a situation that becomes all the more complex during periods of economic volatility.

Agile staffing strategies that take a sustainable and collaborative approach can be more efficient and profitable

As an alternative, I would argue that we need to better embrace long-term collaborative partnerships between practices large, small, self-employed or sole practitioners, international and local to move away from hire and fire. Through flexible but robust partnerships, we can smooth out the peaks and troughs in workflow and create stability within individual practices.

A new mindset is needed to support this approach, and it starts with the decision to bid, not when a project has been secured. However, its not simply about how we approach individual bids or projects but about long-term resourcing; and it applies as much to large firms pooling resources with one another to cope with major projects or long-term frameworks as working with SMEs to outsource work.

Working for a global organisation, I am fortunate that I can draw support from other geographies for example, using the expertise of colleagues across Europe and India. Likewise, our UK-based architects can support other teams on projects overseas. In essence, we are able to base decisions on skillsets and availability rather than location.

Committing to building long-term mutually beneficial partnerships not only helps to develop sustainable pipelines for those businesses involved, it also delivers social value and a platform for local firms to access opportunities they might otherwise miss.

These partnerships only work, though, when the smaller entity is properly integrated into blended project teams rather than being seen as a remote resource tasked with an isolated scope. For example, our delivery of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast was the product of a 10-year partnership with local firm, Isherwood + Ellis, which was responsible for almost half of the architectural scope.

In practice, genuine collaboration may mean co-locating teams in the same office or on site alongside client reps and the supply chain on larger projects. But technology and cloud-based platforms are making this easier.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic made the provision of flexible and hybrid working an imperative, advances in communications technology had made more agile approaches to resourcing projects possible. Thanks to technology, UK architects have a better opportunity than ever to access a greater volume and variation of projects at home and internationally which, in turn, will aid our ability to more effectively manage peaks and troughs. The physical world is disappearing, and we need to be prepared to follow by breaking away from the limiting mindset of geography and hiring those you can touch.

Delivering major infrastructure projects on time and on budget is a significant challenge in an unpredictable and volatile operating environment. Its a challenge that affects clients as well as their design and construction teams, so deploying the right people in a timely manner is critical.

By developing agile staffing strategies that take a sustainable and collaborative approach to resourcing, organisations can be more efficient and profitable and help to free the contracted workforce from uncertain demand. Ive seen the benefits of it first-hand in recent years and I hope to see it take root throughout our industry as a core part of an industry-wide approach to the skills gap.

Trevor Leaker leads AECOMs architecture and design group in the UK and Ireland

Original post:
Why architects sorely need a new approach to resourcing projects - Architect's Journal

design it architects revives Machiya House near Kinkakuji Temple

Machiya House, situated east of Kinkakuji Temple and renovated by design it architects, draws from traditional Kyoto architecture while seamlessly blending work and living spaces. Originally constructed 95 years ago, this Kyo-machiya once served as a residence and workshop for textile craftsmen in the bustling district of Nishijin. Today, the client, who works remotely, continues this legacy by inhabiting the space where craftsmanship and daily life intersect.

The intimate scale of the Machiya immediately captures attention, with its doors and rooms crafted to dimensions smaller than contemporary standards. This deliberate modesty brings the architecture close to the human body, evoking a sense of gentleness and warmth that resonates with tactile comfort. Rather than imposing a modern layout onto the space, the architects opted to preserve its original character, embracing the traditional lifestyle and scale inherent to Machiya living.

all images courtesy of design it architects

Preservation was design it architects guiding principle, not only in maintaining the outward appearance of the structure but also in honoring the functional roles of each room. The former commercial space, known as Misenoma, seamlessly transitions into a modern workplace, while the kitchen, or Daidoko, retains its traditional function. However, the original dirt floor, once used for textile work, required reinterpretation. Transformed into a semi-basement living area enveloped in mortar, it serves as a symbolic centerpiece of the home.

The varied floor heights across the three levels offer unexpected comfort and ambiance. The semi-basement living room, reminiscent of a den, exudes a cozy atmosphere, inviting relaxation and contemplation. Connected spaces, including a study bathed in natural light, a snug dining area, and the sunken living room, provide flexibility, allowing inhabitants to move fluidly between them depending on the season and mood.

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former textile workshop transforms into modern machiya residence in kyoto - Designboom

Architecture studio MoDus Architects has extended a daycare in the town of Terlano, Italy, to create the Tartan School nursery, kindergarten and youth centre.

The small South Tyrolean town is surrounded by orchards and vineyards, which the studio used to inform the nursery's appearance.

"The school derives its name from the plaster facade of the building, which emulates the patterning of tartan fabric a textile that conveys a feeling of warmth and familiarity," said MoDus Architects co-founder Sandy Attia.

"The combined use of colour and texture is a cost-effective strategy that is able to camouflage and build character at the same time, despite the seemingly divergent definitions of the two words," added the studio.

The extension has a two-tone, green tartan patterned facade and zigzagging roof, which distinguishes it from the traditional, existing building and surrounding town.

It contains a kindergarten for 100 children with four classrooms along with group activity rooms, a napping room, reading area and common areas.

The studio aimed to connect the lower level of the extension, which will be used by the wider community for events and meetings, to the outdoor spaces.

A colonnade filled with glass walls and doors runs alongside the dining hall visually connecting it to the schoolyard.

Alongside the dinning hall, other spaces that will be used by the community include a 50-person-capacity auditorium and a gym.

"In Italy, there is a long-standing tradition of the school being a place used for all sorts of activities outside of school hours," said MoDus Architects.

"We think of schools like puzzles, although ideally, every piece has to fit in place, if a few of those puzzle pieces go missing with time, the big picture needs to still be legible."

Alongside the extension, the rearranged existing structure now contains a nursey school on the upper floor level and a youth centre on the lower level.

MoDus Architects aimed to unite the two structures with the internal finishes, including red-brick resin flooring, wooden ceilings and MDF furniture. Acoustic panels were used for ceilings to reduce the noise caused by its numerous young users.

Founded in 2000 by Sandy Attia and Matteo Scagnol, MoDus Architects is based in the northern Italian town of Brixen.

Its previous projects include the refurbishment of a 1960s education centre and a sports centre topped with a tapering tower.

The photography is by Marco Cappelletti.

Originally posted here:
MoDus Architects wraps school in tartan pattern for "warmth and familiarity" - Dezeen

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Im Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We look now at a new report published by the research group Forensic Architecture, which counters Israels argument at the International Court of Justice that it followed humanitarian policies to safeguard civilian life in Gaza. South Africa argued in January before the ICJ that Israel was guilty of genocide during its war on Gaza. The report argues that what Israel says are humanitarian evacuations in Gaza actually amount to the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, were joined in London by Eyal Weizman, a British Israeli architect born in Haifa. Hes founder and director of Forensic Architecture, a professor of spatial and visual cultures at Goldsmiths College at the University of London. Hes the author of several books, including Hollow Land: Israels Architecture of Occupation and The Least of All Possible Evils: A Short History of Humanitarian Violence. Hes also a member of the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court and of the Center for Investigative Journalism.

Eyal, welcome to Democracy Now! As we come to air right now, the United States has presented a resolution to the U.N. Security Council for a temporary ceasefire. Im wondering if you could respond to that and Netanyahu only speaking with Republicans, behind closed doors now he might be addressing a joint session of Congress, if the House speaker decides to invite him saying that Rafah invasion will happen.

EYAL WEIZMAN: Yeah. If a Rafah invasion will happen, we will see the humanitarian disaster, the man-made humanitarian disaster imposed on Gaza, just aggravated to levels that we havent yet experienced. In Rafah, we have a huge part of the Palestinian people evacuated to living in inhumane conditions where there are famine and lack of basic humanitarian provisions, in something that is called a safe zone. And I think that its important to understand that there is no safe place in Gaza. Although Israel is designating part of the Strip as so-called safe areas and ordering the population to evacuate to them, it continuously imposes on these areas conditions that amount to unlivable conditions and in continuation of its genocidal policies.

So, what we need to my comment to that is, rather than allowing any or entertaining any specific plans and provisions, you know, that the U.S. is discussing now with the Israelis about allowing them to attack Rafah under certain conditions, we need to see immediate ceasefire across the board in all places of Gaza, in order to allow for the rebuilding of the Strip, in order to allow for humanitarian provision to reach each and every Palestinian in the north and in the south.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Eyal Weizman, the proposal that the U.S. has put forth this is before we turn to your report. The proposal that the U.S. has put forth for a temporary ceasefire is reportedly for the release of Israeli hostages and allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza. You wrote in a piece I want to ask you about a piece you wrote for the London Review of Books in November in which you document the piece is headlined Exchange Rate, where you document the change in Israel policy with respect to its hostages. So, if you could talk about the way that thats played out? You wrote the piece in November. If you could talk about the way thats played out, and how you think that might affect what happens now, going forward, with respect to the hundred or so hostages who remain, who are reportedly still alive?

EYAL WEIZMAN: I think that what you see in all negotiations around the captives and the Palestinian prisoners sitting in Israeli prisons, some of them on administrative detentions without charge, thousands of them, is that Israel has been creating and enlarging its bank of prisoners in order to create in order to allow it to change the exchange rate. The title of that piece in the LRB was Exchange Rate, and it was looking at the history of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation through the capture of captives, from really, from the famous airplane hijacks of the '70s all the way to the present, the way in which Palestinians forced Israel into the only way that Palestinians could actually affect and release their prisoners is through capturing Israeli captives. Over the years, the exchange rate has changed favorably to the Palestinians. And what you're seeing is that Israel is now arresting people in order Palestinians, again, and holding them in administrative detention, in order to beef up its bank of captives.

More than that, you could see that in the reports on the negotiation, the fate of those people that have been purportedly evacuated into safe areas is being brought into the equation. One way of thinking about it is to say, of course, Hamas or Palestinian factions in Gaza are holding over 100 Israeli captives, and Israel is holding close to 2 million Palestinian captives and bargaining for their return home in exchange for its prisoners. And that is obviously patently illegal, according to international law. And the fact that even that is being brought into the negotiation testifies that that was the intent of holding them away from their home as a bargaining chip towards that. So, you have an exchange rate now that is 200 million Palestinians displaced sorry, 2 million Palestinians displaced, 100 Israeli captives, and this is really where the negotiations are going.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Eyal Weizman, lets turn to your report, the Forensic Architecture report, which is headlined Humanitarian Violence in Gaza. If you could begin just by explaining the two words dont normally come together,humanitarian and violence.

EYAL WEIZMAN: Right.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: If you could explain what you mean by that? Of course, youve also written a book on this. And then lay out the three phases of mass displacement that you document in the report.

EYAL WEIZMAN: Yeah. So, you know, we think about humanitarian principles and part of them is international humanitarian law, so-called the laws of war as being there to protect civilians. But a certain manipulation of international humanitarian law allows you to have operational advantage, or, in this case, advantage in negotiation over the captives in this particular way. So, there is a principle, an accepted principle, in international in humanitarianism that if you want to evacuate a population into a safe zone, that safe zone needs to have several conditions. There needs to be proper medical care. There needs to be proper food and housing in these areas. Israel has evacuated ordered the evacuation of Palestinians from within Gaza and from the north to the south into areas that were repeatedly under attack, into areas with no housing, no medical care, and now that we see no food is being provided in it, or very little, or not sufficient levels of aid within that. So, that is, firstly, you know, the kind of the principle of using a humanitarian principle that is purportedly used in order to save, in order to treat civilians and take them out of harms way, in order to achieve Israels operational objectives in this attack on Gaza, and that is to exercise pain on the civilian population to generate levels of destruction and harm that would deter Palestinians from ongoing resistance to the Israeli occupation.

And its becoming more and more clear that the harm, that the levels of destruction that were seeing, that the level of displacement that were seeing, are not the byproduct and not the collateral effects of this conflict, but really the only thing that Israel has achieved during that war. It hasnt achieved any of its tactical aims. It hasnt dismantled Hamas as an operative force. It hasnt captured the Hamas leadership. It hasnt freed hostages, except of in very rare situations. What it has done is create an equation in which the civilian population is being put in harms way in order to bargain against their return back to the north, to north of Gaza, in order to effectively achieve what tactically Israel has not achieved.

So, in relation to the stages, a week or so after the October 7th attack, Israel has given the entirety of the north of Gaza an evacuation order. They were ordered to leave the north of Gaza, home to over a million Palestinians, the center of Palestinian political, cultural life, was actually ordered to cross Wadi Gaza, which divides, according to them, Gaza into north and south. That was the first stage. And after the ceasefire, the temporary ceasefire in which some prisoner exchange was happening at the beginning of December, what Israel has done is releasing an interactive map online, dividing Gaza into kind of a gerrymandered 623 zones. It was very difficult, with people that we spoke to in Gaza, to understand whether they are in zone number 546 or 547. The map was extremely confusing. It was released online at a time of very frequent internet and power cuts, or it was communicated via leaflets that were unevenly distributed. It was an incredibly confusing system that led to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians from one zone to the other. So, when they were after they were ordered to all move into southern Gaza, from different parts in the southern part of Gaza, they were ordered to go into different places.

And what the report is showing is the systematic and ongoing use of these evacuation orders were meant to achieve that population displacement and that people were continuously being put in harms way. The routes, the so-called safe routes, along which Palestinians were ordered to evacuate were attacked. Areas where they went to had no provisions and very often were attacked themselves. So, we cannot see that humanitarian policy, so-called humanitarian policy, of the Israeli forces and the argument that the Israelis put forward in The Hague that, you know, they are not in violation of the Genocide Convention because they apply humanitarian principle, but we cannot see it as anything else but part of the genocidal campaign that is actually inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: And now, of course, if Netanyahu does succeed in a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah, they will go back to all these places they were forced to flee. And they talk about, No worries, Palestinian civilians will be protected in these humanitarian zones. Eyal Weizman, if you could respond to that? And also, just for people to understand, your organization is so unusual, and it also operates in several different countries, you yourself born in Haifa. If you could explain how you do what you do? We are also showing a series of maps, where you show the stages, one, two, three. Youve done so many different investigations, from who killed Shireen Abu Akleh, the great Al Jazeera Arabic reporter when Israel was saying caught in crossfire, you proved the opposite: She was killed by an Israeli sniper among other things. Can you talk about what Forensic Architecture does, and what you, as an Israeli British architect, are doing in this kind of analysis an architect?

EYAL WEIZMAN: Yeah, thank you for asking that. Of course, the nature of the Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, and throughout Palestine complete, makes use of architecture as part of the violence applied on Palestinians. So, starting from the location of settlements on hilltops in a way that divide the Occupied Territories, surveys it, bisect Palestinian-built fabric, the design of roads, the provisional infrastructure, you could say that settler colonialism is architecturally enacted.

In Gaza, obviously, we had settlements in Gaza up until 2005, when they were evacuated, but after that, the Gaza envelope is a system of civilian and military infrastructure that included a number of fences and earth berms and military facilities, as well as kibbutzim and moshavim. These are agrarian settlements that are part of what Israel always called its regional defense.

Of course, all that system was attacked on October 7th. So you could see how architecture is mobilized as part of the system of control and occupation of Palestinians. You could see why Palestinians would attack that system of infrastructure and this is without commending and, of course, not supporting the killing and abduction of civilians.

But I think that architecture is a key part of that, of understanding the conflict, the long history of Israels settler colonization, and also understanding what is happening in Gaza now. It is happening in urban environment. And one has to understand what this urban environment, that has been created over the years of you know, since, really, the Gaza Strip was created as a historical anomaly in 1948, when it was carved out as a kind of concentration area for refugees, becoming one of the densest parts of the world, most densely inhabited part of the world. How do you control population centers? And a lot of thinking was done from the Israeli side in terms of thinking about the control of Palestinians as an urban problem.

And what we see now happening in Gaza is the shaping of Gaza for, you know, the day after. Would it come now? Would it come in weeks, in months? We do not know. But what we see is Israel actually shaping the built fabric, destroying all homes and agricultural areas in a huge buffer zone along the border, creating east-west routes, not only the famous one that we know, around Deir al-Balah, but all throughout that very long and thin strip of territory, the Gaza Strip, we see it being truncated, almost cut like salami, with routes and military infrastructure that would be there in order to isolate and divide different parts of the Gaza Strip, if resistance continues, from the Palestinian parts.

And so, architecture if architecture is really the means by which Israel exercises control, we, architects, and the organization that I run, Forensic Architecture, is you know, has many architects working with us, but also open-source investigators, journalists, lawyers, etc. we are monitoring things from a cartographic, spatial and architectural perspective. We work very closely, and we have a partner organization in Ramallah, the Al-Haq Forensic Architecture Unit, because we understand that working in Palestine, like working anywhere else in the world Forensic Architecture has also got offices in Mexico, in Bogot; now were starting one in Istanbul, in Athens, in many other places in the world. But understanding the lived reality, understanding the way that architecture is used as an oppressive mechanism requires also the lived experience understanding the lived experience of people there. And therefore, when weve done that report that you mentioned, weve been in touch with weve been in touch with Palestinians on the ground, weve been in touch with medical professionals, with doctors, in understanding the conditions in the so-called safe zones. And as I say, there are no safe areas in Gaza.

Weve tried to understand the spatial logic of that campaign. And we could see that one of the main strategic tools for Israel to control and afflict that pain on Gaza is through the evacuation orders, and that they have been spatially designed initially, again, dividing north Gaza from south Gaza, and then dividing it into 600 Tetris parts, if you like, in which, you know, you would get very a confusing order in which your number would come up, and you would be told to go from that number zone into another number zone. Do you get this message? Do you understand it? And also, on the way, youd be attacked. And the zone in which youre being evacuated to is itself unsafe and unlivable.

So, here what we see is the abuse of humanitarian principles to further Israeli genocidal campaign. And this is why we call that report Humanitarian Violence. We need to be very, very wary when we are speaking about humanitarian principles in war, because very often militaries not only the Israeli militaries, but, you know, Western, Northern, global militaries from the Global North, when they engage in urban warfare in parts of the Global South, they are applying humanitarian principles theyre playing international law in a particular way that does not contain violence, that actually amplifies it.

Ill give you another example for that: warnings. You know, you could think that to warn a population is actually something that could be very, very helpful. It could save lives. But, actually, the aims of these warnings, or what is implied in them and sometimes explicitly mentioned is that if you do not heed the warning, you would be considered potentially part of the armed resistance in a particular area. That means you get redesignated from a protected civilian to a nonprotected either voluntary human shield or part of a resistance, if you do not heed the warning. So, in a sense, with one legal tool, you created the redesignation of a big part of the population, and you basically let the blood in that way. So, humanitarianism, when it those principles, when theyre using in such a brutal campaign, it could be actually part of the problem, rather than something that is moderating and defending civilians.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Eyal Weizman, if we could talk a little bit more about that? The scale, just to point out, just to give us a sense of the scale of the crisis of mass expulsions, at the moment, almost 70% of the total area of the Gaza Strip has been issued evacuation orders. If you could say, very quickly, in terms of the International Court of Justice ruling, what does your report suggest about the defense that Israel presented?

EYAL WEIZMAN: Yeah, that the defense is completely inapplicable. We will show how and we have shown how Israeli military, the occupation forces, when they maneuver through if you look at things in relation to each other, if you look at military maneuver, you look at areas that have been bombed, as we have, through speaking to people, through analyzing videos, through looking at satellite imagery, we have a good understanding, we have a good map of what are the areas that have been bombed. Overlay that with the so-called safe zones, overlay them with Israeli military maneuver, and what you see is, A, civilians are being evacuated into areas that have been bombed, that have no facilities, and are continuously bombing they are still being bombedas Israel has ordered civilians into them. And you see, in some cases, Israeli military maneuver, Israeli invasion into the area it itself designated as safe zones.

So, in a sense, you see those categories operating in relation to each other as part of an overall strategy, rather than youre seeing humanitarian principle pushing against military violence and moderating it. You see it has become one of the tools in the Israeli campaign toolbox to generate that level of destruction in Gaza. So, you know, youre speaking about 70% of the area is being displaced. And the proportion

AMY GOODMAN: Eyal, we have 10 seconds.

EYAL WEIZMAN: The proportion of people displaced is much higher, and the proportion of civilian infrastructure destroyed is almost complete. So, look at those things together and understand the militarization of humanitarian principles.

AMY GOODMAN: Eyal Weizman, we clearly have so much to talk about. Wed like to ask you to stay, and well post Part 2 online at democracynow.org. Eyal Weizman is a British Israeli architect, founder and director of Forensic Architecture. Well link to the new report, Humanitarian Violence: Israels Abuse of Preventive Measures in Its 2023-2024 Genocidal Military Campaign in the Occupied Gaza Strip.

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Architect Eyal Weizman on Mapping Israel's Genocidal Campaign - Democracy Now!

Allyson Ifergan & Kaysea Suzana | PantherNOW Staff

Alt pop brought an art show to life at the Paul Cejas School of Architecture, bringing together students and art mediums.

Students and guests joined several architecture organizations at the BEA Gallery on Thursday, Mar. 21 at 7:00 P.M. for a multimedia art show.

The free event gave noise to the night, being hosted by four student-led architecture organizations including: Alpha Rho Chi, American Institute of Architecture Students, American Society of Landscape Architects, and National Organization of Minority Architecture Students at FIU.

Senior architecture major Dora Otano and President of Alpha Rho Chi spoke to PantherNOW on why the event was hosted in the first place.

[In] architecture school we really do focus a lot on the positives but we dont focus on the negatives.Youll see us here at three in the morning working on our craft This event really gives us the opportunity to wind down, Otano said.

The aural art show is part of the third annual collaboration amongst the architecture societies, in an attempt to unify the architecture students and promote creative expression.

Co-president of the International Interior Design association and senior architecture major Chelsea Abella spoke about the efforts of setting up the exhibition.

We each created different promotional graphics to try to get a lot more involvement from architecture and even people outside the program. This started as a way for architecture students to showcase what they do outside of the studio, said Abella.

Abella also commented that artists are competing for a mystery prize and certification, ordained by judges who walked around the exhibition and took notes.

The prize certificate for the art contest winner | Kaysea Suzana, PantherNOW

Many students were not even aware of the event, but were magnetized to it due to the music, such as pre-nursing major Pius Arquillo.

I actually came in here not knowing this was a thing. I was just skating around..I knew a couple people here, Arquillo said.

The band was local south Florida musicians from Broward known as The Borin Brothers, an alternative pop group composed of blood-related brothers.

Father and band manager Marcelo Borin spoke on the bands purpose.

Were here to have a good time. Were here to serve [FIU students]. We love to entertain people.

Some students were surprised to see their friends art in the gallery.

Im enjoying this a lot. Theres a couple people here I know with their art Arquillo said.

Bachelor of Fine Arts Student, Victor Diego, exhibited a A Lovers First Requiem, an acrylic self portrait about his first encounter with love.

A Lovers First Requiem painted by Victor Diego | Allyson Ifergan, PantherNOW

It was the first time I fell, and I fell pretty hard It was my first time experiencing heartbreak, said Diego.

The event brought in many students and elicited an exciting end to the night, with a glimpse into the future that the architecture societies will collaborate once more.

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Aural Art Show Brings Aestheticism to Architects - PantherNOW

The aim to spread the word about FC Barcelona's Espai Bara project and all the work being carried out by Club continues. The new space in the Les Corts neighbourhood is set to become an architectural benchmark both in the city and worldwide. This time the Barcelona Technical Architecture Association (CATEB) have visited the Spotify Camp Nou works to gain first-hand knowledge on how the works on the future stadium are progressing.

The CATEB governing body committee members were led by president Celest Ventura Cisternas and they were joined by the works' executive management team, Tcnics G3, Betarq and Construcci i Control. The architects and the other visitors saw how the columns for the third tier are starting to rise around the iconic 1957 faade, which will remain front and centre as part of the future Spotify Camp Nou design. They also examined the first and second tiers in detail, where repair work to the structure is being carried out, along with initial construction of their inner partitions.

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Barcelona Architects Association visit the Spotify Camp Nou works - FC Barcelona