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Mold issues with Toyo Ito's mass timber Singapore building unrelated to materials, experts claim

2024-09-02T09:35:00-04:00

The mold problem reported at Toyo Ito’s groundbreaking Gaia mass timber structure for Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore appears to have been caused by exposure to rain and condensation, a late update from Global Construction Review said Friday.

According to the publication, two professors from the Univeristy’s College of Design and Engineering confirmed the mold problem was not directly caused by a critical flaw in the materials.

The news, which was first reported last week by a local outlet, comes just 15 months after the building (officially the largest of its kind in Asia) opened with praise as the new home of NTU’s Business School. Ito’s team did not provide a statement regarding the issue. The 468,000-square-foot structure had mold spores on its exterior facade, air-conditioning grilles, and furnishings that have since been removed by maintenance crews.

Junya Ishigami 'excavates' concrete cave for restaurant and residence in Japan

2022-09-23T13:56:00-04:00

Junya Ishigami + Associates has completed a residence and restaurant for a French restauranter in the city of Ube, Japan. Asked by the client for a space that "has to look as if it has been there and will continue to be there for the longest time," Ishigami responded with a cave-like structure punctured by three courtyards.

Photograph ©︎ YASHIRO PHOTO OFFICE

Photograph ©︎ junya.ishigami+associates

The scheme’s construction saw the site excavated to shape an inverse volume of the final design. Concrete was then poured in situ and the surrounding earth excavated further to reveal the final form. Finally, glazing was fixed to external threshold arches to form interior spaces.

Photograph ©︎ junya.ishigami+associates

Construction process diagram ©︎ junya.ishigami+associates

"When the structure was excavated after concrete solidification, it was caked with mud," Ishagimi recalls in a reflection for the Japanese magazine GA Houses translated by Fraze Craze. "With the range in geology, the natu...

Art student makes cheese from mold found in rental housing

2019-08-05T17:46:00-04:00

That’s exactly what Avril Corroon, an art student at Goldsmiths, has done for her final project. Taking samples from the most cursed fungal growths she could find in rented accommodation around London, Avril made a selection of artisanal cheeses that look good enough to eat. Except, they’re not; they’re stinky reminders of just how terrible rented accommodation can be in one of the richest cities in the world.

Art student, Avril Corroon has decided to take an unfortunate situation and make a statement through art. "The idea is to juxtapose precarious living standards with that of wealth, gentrification and thinking about where money is invested and where it is disinvested, and how often products are all made from a type of exploitation," the young creative expressed in a VICE article on her project.

She has decided to make cheese from the mold "she could find in rented accommodation around London." And her creations look disturbingly edible, but are actually quite dangerous. "You would hurt yourself," she says in response to an inquiry on eating the fermented mold cheese. The student hopes to shed light on the living conditions in London, and her project undoubtedly provides a bold and creative stance.