Archinect - News

Architensions takes over Coachella with a playful new subversion of vertical design

2022-04-18T18:02:00-04:00

After two years of cancellations and wait, the exciting re-opening of Coachella took place over the weekend with a new installation by Architensions titled The Playground.

The studio’s installation joins others by Estudio Normal, Kiki Van Eijk, Oana Stanescu, Christopher Cichocki, and LosDos and is meant to evoke a “vibrant urban landscape” based on the ideas of play expressed by the prolific Dutch intellectual Constant Nieuwenhuys in his visionary idea for a speculative anti-capitalist mecca called New Babylon.

Photo by Michael Vahrenwald/ESTO

Composed of four separate steel towers totaling 42 and 56 feet in height respectively, the installation hinges on a visual grid meant to “an open space that opposes the isolation and homogeneity of technologically mediated experiences” in ways similar to that of Cedric Price’s seminal early-60s Fun Palace design.

“The Playground is a fragment of a city,” Architensions co-founder Nick Roseboro explained, “a node for engaging festival-goers in ...

Architensions prioritizes outdoor space with speculative cooperative fourplex proposal in Los Angeles

2021-06-08T19:30:00-04:00

New York and Rome-based architecture firm Architensions and architect and design educator, Andrew Bruno, have designed a speculative, cooperative fourplex sitting in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of south Los Angeles.

Called Knolls Co-Living, the project is a proposal for the Low-Rise: Housing Ideas for Los Angeles competition. The $100,000 design challenge tasks architects and landscape architects to envision appealing and sustainable models for low-rise, multi-unit housing. The project also expands, as stated by the firm, “...Architensions’ interest in reimagining contemporary housing as multi-generational and deeply communal.”

Previously on Archinect: Winning designs for the City of LA's Low-Rise Design Challenge explore new opportunities for housing through research and community engagement

This project follows other cooperative housing proposals by Architensions, such as Big Ideas Small Lots in New York and Ex-Galateo social housing in Italy. Knolls Co-Living challenges tradit...

Architensions designs "intuitive" indoor playground in Brooklyn

2020-08-25T17:24:00-04:00

New York City- and Rome-based architecture and design studio Architensions has created an interior playground in Brooklyn that mixes and matches visual and formal references in order to create a space that blends "imagination, cognitive development, and aesthetic appeal."

The 875-square-foot project was created for a wellness professional who blends yoga and childcare, and is designed as "an indoor environment for creative, collective play for a small group of children," Alessandro Orsini, Architensions co-principal, explains in a statement.

The play space draws inspiration from great works of children's architecture, including Isamu Noguchi’s “Contoured Playground” and Aldo van Eyck’s Amsterdam playscapes, while also hearkening to childhood memories of "woodland forts, dappled light streaming through trees, and the glow of the sun reflecting off of snow," according to the designers.

Organized as a series of sculptural pavilions overseen by an abstracted cloud installation, the pl...

Coachella 2020 to include installations by Oana Stănescu and Architensions

2020-01-03T14:45:00-05:00

Mark your calendars, Coachella 2020 has announced their line up of performers and artists participating in April! Besides the music, crowds, and overall desert festival ambiance, Coachella has been a breeding ground for emerging artists and designers showcasing their works.

This year the works of Romanian architect Oana Stănescu (who made her first appearance here on Archinect as a student blogger), New York/Rome-based architectural studio Architensions, and several others will be showcased at the festival.

2020 Coachella Lineup

Last year's lineup included the works of Andrew Kovacs of Architecture Affiliates and Francis Kéré of Kéré Architecture. Although many Coachella fans love basking in the musical sounds of famous artists like Flume, Peggy Gou, and Frank Ocean, many have grown to enjoy the large-scale installations scattered across the Coachella Valley. With the announcement of this year's lineup, we're positive many are getting their Coachella outfits ready and selfie poses ...