Archinect - News

Good bus terminal design improves public transit participation, new study finds

2024-08-11T08:00:00-04:00

New research from the Italian University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli into the “hedonic quality” of bus terminals and their effects on users’ consumer behavior has shown an offsetting cost-benefit that correlates to better ridership where there is a higher quality of architectural design.

Satisfied by the aesthetics of virtual shelters or terminals, the paper found “the Italian tourist is willing to spend up to €4.35/trip more for a high-quality bus waiting space or travel up to 28.2 min/trip more, instead of using a traditional bus terminal for the same trip.” These findings add to a body of existing scholarship on urban psychology and behavioral economics. The authors noted the corresponding benefit of reducing emissions from motor vehicles, especially in the center of major population areas.

“In my opinion this is a disruptive result for transport operators and planners,” the paper's coauthor, Armando Cartenì from the university's Department of Architecture and Industrial Desig...

BIG creates mirrored installation for Audi at Milan Design Week

2024-04-25T11:46:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has designed an installation for the car brand Audi, installed at Milan Design Week. Titled ‘Reflaction,’ a play on the words “reflection” and “action,” the installation seeks to convey how “our actions in the world reflect the very essence of our existence,” according to Audi.

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

The installation is configured as a ‘plus’ symbol when viewed from above, dividing the site into four spaces constructed from a minimal selection of materials. The walls of the installation are formed of 33 x 28-foot mirrors, which, according to Audi, “creates an immersive spatial illusion, highlighting the brand's continuous effort to overcome the limits of innovation.”

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

Each space is grounded in a particular theme, namely Community, Knowledge, Performance, and Digital. The Community section features a ‘circular forest’ of Japanese maples to provid...

Architect-designed furniture and products at the 2024 Salone del Mobile

2024-04-19T13:13:00-04:00

Milan Design Week’s Salone del Mobile is set to conclude on Sunday, after a week which has seen the unveiling of a wide range of furnishing products.

“It is here that prototypes and innovations in terms of furnishings, domestic spaces, and lifestyles are presented: bedrooms, living and dining areas, entrance corridors, and service areas, outdoor spaces with their furniture and cupboards, upholsterers, tables and chairs set the scene for a narrative that starts with this room, exploring how the way we live is changing and, consequently, home living and furnishing,” the organizers said about the 2024 edition.

This year’s trade fair has included several products designed in collaboration with architects and architectural designers, continuing a trend that we reported on back in previous years, where we showcased work by Zaha Hadid Architects, Kengo Kuma and Associates, and OMA. To highlight this trend once again, our editorial team has collected some of the standout collaborations betw...

MAD Architects creates Milan Design Week pavilion inspired by mountains

2024-04-18T12:17:00-04:00

MAD Architects has completed its latest installation for Milan Design Week. Titled ‘Amazing Walk.’ the project marks the seventh time MAD has participated in the event.

Image credit: Moreno Maggi

Set within the Cortile della Farmacia courtyard at the University of Milan, the ‘Amazing Walk’ seeks to “blur the boundary between built and natural environments in a surreal way.” Standing 24.6 feet tall, the internal column-free piece is formed of hundreds of triangular elements configured to reflect “the shape of mountains.”

Image credit: Moreno Maggi

The installation is constructed from an aluminum alloy covered in a semi-permeable composite membrane. The resulting finish offers varying visuals under different lighting conditions while, during the night, lights and mist blur the edges of the materials to give the illusion that the pavilion is floating.

Image credit: Moreno Maggi

“This open design invites explorat...

David Lynch discusses his scenographic installation at Salone del Mobile with curator Antonio Monda

2024-04-18T12:11:00-04:00

David Lynch is participating in this year's Salone del Mobile with an installation titled ‘Interiors by David Lynch. Thinking Room’ he designed to offer visitors of the fair a respite while serving tribute to the lurid scenography fans of his classic films Blue Velvet and Lost Highway will find pleasingly familiar.

The centerpiece of the installation is an oversized wooden armchair, designed by Lynch himself, with intricate brass tubes positioned overhead, creating a striking visual and tactile experience. Lynch's approach to design reflects his cinematic vision, where every element is imbued with meaning and emotion.

"Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room," interior view. Image: courtesy Lombardini22

As part of the special weeklong exhibition, Salone curator Antonio Monda interviewed Lynch (who has also tried his hand at the visual arts, furniture making, and nightlife space design) about his contribution and the central role his advocacy for transcendental meditation plays in ...

JR debuts latest Italian commission 'La Nascita' for Milan Design Week

2024-04-11T13:03:00-04:00

French street art pioneer JR has debuted his latest piece, a massive illusory trompe l’oeil piece animating the facade of Milan’s Stazione Centrale railway station, in advance of the start of Milan Design Week in the Italian cultural nexus.

His latest commission is titled La Nascita (Italian for “the birth”) and will run until May 1st, following two previous Italian projects at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and Palazzo Farnese in Rome that were completed in 2021.

“In spaces that have social issues, my work is about bringing people together. In a place like this, a huge range of people come to catch the train. When they find themselves in front of an exhibition, they will suddenly have a different kind of interaction,” he told The Art Newspaper at its unveiling.

More of our coverage of Milan Design Week can be found here.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by JR (@jr)

AMO design for the Prada 2024 FW Men's Show stages nature against an invasive interior environment

2024-01-21T08:00:00-05:00

AMO’s latest collaboration with the fashion industry went on display recently as part of the 2024 FW Prada Men's Show, held on January 14th at the Fondazione Prada for Milan Fashion Week.

For the presentation, AMO and partner in charge Rem Koolhaas created a scenographic imitation of an outmoded office environment set against an outer landscape that appears to audience members from beneath a transparent platform stage as though an “analogue projection among the many digital images that saturate one’s life today.”

This theatrical blending of nature and its opposite keys to the brand’s stated desire to produce clothes that reflect the spaces and seasons surrounding them. It, of course, also pays homage to design trends apparent in the latest examples of corporate architecture.

“In the space of the Deposito an improbable encounter takes place: chaos and order, reality and fiction, predictability and spontaneity – seemingly opposite elements – engage in a game of collaboration, a syne...

Inter Milan unveils San Siro stadium replacement proposal from Populous

2023-12-22T11:41:00-05:00

Inter Milan’s plans for its first new home away from San Siro are getting a little bit clearer after the Serie A club released a few preliminary renderings for a Populous-designed stadium in Rozzano.

The announcement was made this week and follows the city’s decision not to grant approvals to a 2021 proposal from the firm called "The Cathedral" that would have been built as a shared facility with AC Milan and surrounded by a new entertainment district at the site of the nearly 100-year-old stadium.

In the aftermath, both clubs are now pursuing separate venues. The new Inter stadium will have capacity for 70,000 fans with a year-round ‘sports town’ fan area situated outside among the landscaped open park spaces of the site, which offers an easy connection to the city center. A fan survey has now been introduced as the club and Populous continue along the design process. No official construction timelines have been proposed yet.

Rendering courtesy Inter Milan

Speaking on Instagram, the...

Architect Stefano Boeri faces bid-rigging allegations in Milan’s BEIC design competition

2023-10-12T19:53:00-04:00

Architect Stefano Boeri has responded to charges of alleged bid-rigging in relation to his role as the jury chair for a 2022 competition to design the new European Library of Information and Culture (BEIC) in Milan.

The 66-year-old Boeri told the Italian news agency ANSA this week, “I am calm and confirm my complete willingness to cooperate with the competent authorities to provide all the information in my possession in order to clarify a situation that I find unbelievable,” before saying he would not provide any further comments at this time.

The allegations were made public as news of an investigation on the part of local tax police broke earlier in the week. Boeri’s role in the investigation remains unclear, however, the “conflict of interest” at the center of the case reportedly includes “false declarations regarding the identity or personal qualities of oneself or others.” The connection architects Angelo Raffaele Lunati and Giancarlo Floridi, whose firm Onsitestudio was awar...

Construction underway on Snøhetta and Park Associati’s 1960s office renovation in Milan

2023-08-29T11:50:00-04:00

Snøhetta and Park Associati have published photographs showing progress on the refurbishment of the 1960s Pirelli 35 office block in Milan. When completed in 2024, the project seeks to “create a generous and publicly accessible building with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.”

Image credit: Tommaso Maserati courtesy of Snøhetta

Building on the existing scale and lines of the neighboring buildings, the Pirelli 35 refurbishment will see works to the existing structure complimented by a rooftop addition and a six-story extension. The rooftop volume will create a new penthouse office floor while the extension “intimately addresses the smaller scale of the surrounding residential buildings while also providing chromatic contrast to the sober and elegant re-cladded facade of the existing building.”

Image credit: Tommaso Maserati courtesy of Snøhetta

The new scheme has been organized in three horizontal “layers.” The ground and 9th floor emphasize transparency to provide a high degree...

Populous' combined AC/Inter Milan 'Cathedral' proposal is likely out for San Siro

2023-08-10T11:15:00-04:00

This officially ends Inter and AC Milan's plans to tear down large swathes of the historic stadium and build a new 'Cathedral' home in the surrounding grounds, though the clubs had been planning for this rejection for some time. Inter and AC Milan are therefore pursuing other stadium options elsewhere, which will most likely see them separate after sharing a veritable footballing cauldron since 1947.

The Populous-designed plan was cast into doubt by the Regional Commission for the Cultural Heritage of Lombardy last week, ending an intriguing saga that saw opposition from locals concerned about the environmental impact of demolition and its commentary on the influence of foreign investment in European football. Their proposed stadium (dubbed “The Cathedral”) would have created a massive entertainment district at San Siro with considerations for the architectural heritage of Milan, including the iconic Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.

Previously on Archinect: Populous tapped to lead design of new combined Inter & AC Milan stadium

Both teams have reached deals for separate stadiums in the city’s suburbs, with Populous still on board for the new Inter design and Manica behind AC's new San Donato home base, according to reporting last week in the Architects’ Journal.

Mario Botta details La Scala makeover for the NYT

2023-05-02T19:33:00-04:00

The work has been about creating a dialogue between the 18th century and modernity. This theater was born as a space to create dreams, illusions, adventures. It’s still a place of collective imagination. But to effectively make it work today, it needed to be much more flexible and capable than what existed in the 1700s. It had run out of space to perform effectively. We’ve created a series of elements designed to make the theater function for the 2000s.

The Swiss architect began his two-phase restoration in January 2002. It has been the subject of controversy since that time, owing to its scale and derivation from the city council tender approvals process. The project highlights the delicate line between preservation and the ambits of a figure such as Botta, whose deference to the past has always been expressed in materials such as terra cotta and Botticino marble.

To that score, Botta says his approach to design has evolved to be a sort of commentary on the "confrontation between times [...] A collage of different language," adding we’ve "lost the capacity to express the true value of architecture."

"I find that architecture is always a sacred act, because it transforms nature and it represents our entire world," he states at the end of the NYT interview. "The architecture of sacred spaces is very close to the architecture of theaters or museums. You’re trying to create a type of value and strength. You’re attempting to embody a ...

Carlo Ratti Associati team creates ‘world’s largest board game’ at Milan Design Week

2023-04-27T10:55:00-04:00

A team comprising Carlo Ratti Associati, Italo Rota, Eni, and Blob Factory Gaming have presented an installation at Milan Design Week which transformed Milan’s Botanical Garden into a 37,000-square-foot interactive game. Titled ‘Walk the Talk,’ the board game saw over 400 energy-harvesting luminescent tiles form multiple pathways and crossroads across the landscape, engaging players in what the team calls “a discourse underlying the future of mobility.”

Image credit: Marco Beck Peccoz

The installation has been structured as a “metaphorical stroll around Milan” featuring the city’s major landmarks. Each of the 400 wooden tiles and 32 types of icons represents either an obstacle or a solution to the game’s theme of urban mobility, from traffic to public transportation and electric car sharing. Working either alone or in groups, players navigate throughout the ‘city’ by finding solutions to challenges such as overcrowded neighborhoods or a lack of pedestrian areas.

Image credit: Marco B...

MAD details new MOMENTUM installation for Milan Design Week 2023

2023-04-17T14:02:00-04:00

The lead-up to this year's Milan Design Week festival will include a new installation from Ma Yansong and Andrea D’Antrassi of MAD Architects as part of the INTERNI Design Re-Evolution exhibition held at the University of Milan.

Titled MOMENTUM, the 8-by-12.5-meter iron cube structure is tilted 45 degrees from its base and is being commissioned by AXA IM Alts for the duration of the fair. During the day, its ETFE polymer surface will reflect its surroundings while at night, the installation becomes more transparent as it yields to the artificial light source before becoming “the moment, a dialogue between thought and evolution that’s both pure and disarming.”

MAD says its presence “represents the moment when a new awareness is born, when the creative process begins.”

Image courtesy MAD Architects

“At a time when everything is immediate, and everything can be replicated digitally, MOMENTUM is, on the one hand, the spark, the original idea; on the other, it is the study, complexity an...

16,000 plastic bottles used to create Stonehenge-like monument in Milan

2022-11-25T13:01:00-05:00

UK-based studio VATRAA has created a monument in Milan, Italy composed of thousands of plastic water bottles. The installation, titled Plastic Monument, seeks to bring attention to the issue of plastic pollution.

“Some plastics last up to 1000 years in our landfills and oceans while others might never biodegrade,” the studio notes. “We could argue that plastic waste is our legacy to many generations to come.”

Image credit: VATRAA / Alessandro Ariel Terranova

In response, the studio created a monument in the form of a trilithon, drawing similarities with the ancient Stonehenge site in the UK. The installation seeks to create a stark contrast between the single-use, disposable nature of plastic waste and the timeless nature of ancient monuments, reminding visitors that “what we are doing today might stay on Earth forever.”

Image credit: VATRAA / Alessandro Ariel Terranova

To complete the monument, which stands 25 feet tall, 16,000 plastic bottles were pressed together into bales, and...

MAD's latest project, MoLo, will serve as the gateway to Milan's burgeoning Innovation District

2022-08-03T19:20:00-04:00

Fresh off the firm’s debut public housing effort in Beijing, MAD Architects has unveiled project renders for a commercial complex at the edge of Milan’s Innovation District called MoLo (short for Mobility and Logistics Hub). According to the firm, the new hub will serve as a “monumental gateway” to the city’s burgeoning high-tech economic zone.

The design for MoLo includes a five-story car park, said to be the hub's "centerpiece." Amplifying their focus and commitment to sustainability, the complex will house 8,000 square meters (or 86,111 square feet) of photovoltaic panels atop a two-story commercial center. The team from MAD shares, "The MoLo was designed to perform as a welcoming entrance and education space for issues related to mobility in which visitors can drop off their cars to explore the district on foot and see innovative transportation technology in person."

Image render courtesy of MAD.

Continuing with their focus on nature-centered designs, as seen in the studio’s Gard...

Pritzker winner Francis Kéré is on a mission to tackle misconceptions about Africa at the Triennale di Milano

2022-07-14T12:13:00-04:00

Speaking at the Triennale di Milano, which kicks off tomorrow in the Italian finance capital, Francis Kéré lamented the Western notion that his “unknown” home continent is a vast but homogeneous place when in reality, it is comprised of 54 countries and over 1,000 different language traditions.

“Instead of seeing it as a young, dynamic continent, Africa is still seen as a place that needs help,” the 2022 Pritzker Prize winner told Quartz in a recent interview. “If you close your eyes to what matters to your neighbor, then you’ll never really know them.”

The Burkina Faso-born architect, who designed a 40-foot entrance tower and cafe seating area for the Triennale around traditional African gathering customs, said his goal at the exhibition is to introduce some nuance to that misconception via the inclusion of endemic materials and building techniques whose applications represent a massive amount of untapped potential.

Related on Archinect: Mariam Kamara on the higher aspirations of ...

Take a look at some of our favorite architect-designed furniture and homegoods products at Salone del Mobile

2022-06-13T11:52:00-04:00

Milan Design Week’s Salone del Mobile is wrapping up this weekend with another impressive field of new furniture collections gracing its exhibition halls and the international design stage for the first time.

Furniture design has been an increasing hallmark of the architectural trade beginning with the advent of the Baroque Revival style in the 1890s. Iconic pieces from Charles and Ray Eames, Mies van der Rohe, Arne Jacobsen, and Isamu Noguchi have become heavily-copied household mainstays as a result. The 60th Salone was a showcase of architects’ continued experimentation and theorizing within that tradition, featuring designs from OMA, Zaha Hadid, and several other leading international studios.

Every piece in each collection strives to be an individual work of art that carries forward the discipline using the exhibition theme of Design with Nature developed by president Maria Porro. The 2022 Salone has 2,000 exhibitors overall. Scroll down to see our selection of architect-design...

As Milan's San Siro stadium goes, so goes the city

2022-05-23T14:56:00-04:00

AC Milan’s Serie A championship title over the weekend brought out the missives on placemaking and memory concerning the club’s future in the 96-year-old stadium adored by the Milanese as their seconda casa.

The facilities, last upgraded in 1990 and renovated throughout the 2000s by the local firm Ragazzi and Partners, are set to be replaced by a new “cathedral” designed by American sport heavyweight Populous for the year 2027. Many feel it is the last victim of a changed European Soccer landscape dominated by Russian oligarchs and other monied interests from abroad after the late-1990s to early-2000s.

Previously on Archinect: Populous tapped to lead design of new combined Inter & AC Milan stadium

Alternatives, including its reuse as a massive Covid memorial, have been proposed by the faithful, who also claim a demolition effort of such size would be harmful to the environment. A final approval is still on the horizon for later this year. The architects of the new stadium say their...

Milan's Salone del Mobile announces 2022 dates and theme

2022-03-18T17:44:00-04:00

Milan’s Salone del Mobile has announced dates and theme for this year’s milestone edition of the popular design fair.

This 60th Salone will be held from June 7th to the 12th in the Fiera Milano Rho and will look to reestablish itself coming out of a pandemic-tinged two-year period that has given way to an uncertain global environment colored by war.

According to a press announcement, the aim of this year’s fair is to “demonstrate that it is both possible and crucial to start holding great international events live again, embedding sustainability and environmental awareness into furniture production.”

“The Salone has always been a catalyst for creativity, positivity and energy. We have always been a place of dialogue and construction, in Milan and at the Shanghai and Moscow editions,” President Maria Porro said in a statement.

Previously on Archinect: Salone del Mobile appoints Maria Porro as its new president

“Now, we are as shocked as everyone else by the war in Ukraine and believe ...

Milan's former Expo 2015 site is being remade into a tech-centric innovation district

2022-01-25T20:07:00-05:00

Italy’s financial center is taking cues from Silicon Valley to transform an area more than twice the size of the Vatican into a sustainable, post-pandemic technology center. The 4.5 billion-euro ($5.1 billion) redevelopment of one of Europe’s biggest vacant lots includes research labs, a startup accelerator and a science campus.

The district will be located about 7.5 miles north from the city’s main core and financial district, which has helped it to power the Italian economy for generations. Plans for the new district include offices and housing accommodation for up to 60,000 people run entirely on renewable energy and made from recycled materials. The former industrial site was also famously home to Milan Expo 2015, which drew some 22 million visitors during its six-month run and has since been partially dismantled.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca has already moved all of its Italian operations into space on the massive 16.1 million-square-foot site. Other tenants such as the University of Milan are soon to follow. An estimated value of $3.6 billion has been placed on the planned 2025 project, which is still in the process of being molded according to the CEO for Lendlease, the Australian development group spearheading the public-private partnership behind the project.

“Its initial design was quite conventional,”...

Populous tapped to lead design of new combined Inter & AC Milan stadium

2021-12-23T17:12:00-05:00

Bookending another banner year in which it overhauled a living legend and inaugurated a Field of Dreams, Populous has been announced as the designer for the football clubs Internazionale Milano and AC Milan's combined new digs to be located in the city’s San Siro neighborhood.

Nicknamed “The Cathedral,” the new facility will replace the existing Stadio Giuseppe Meazza that has stood on the site since its completion in 1926.

Image courtesy Populous

The stadium will be the centerpiece of a pedestrian-friendly recreation district that features 110,000 square meters of green space in addition to a new underground parking facility. Populous says a finalized design will be unveiled at the conclusion of an accelerated second phase at the end of next year, and that it will stand as a celebration of some of the city’s most iconic architecture, including the famed Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.

Image courtesy Populous

“Our design envisages the stadium as the most sustainable in Europe an...

Savio Firmino unveils chair collection inspired by architectural landmarks, underwritten by the Blockchain

2021-10-01T12:42:00-04:00

Italian furniture and interior design studio Savio Firmino has unveiled a collection of 16 chairs inspired by some of the world’s most iconic architectural landmarks. Titled CITYNG, and designed in collaboration with artist Cosimo De Vita, the collection was exhibited at the 2021 Salone del Mobile in September. The iconic design event, which was curated this year by Stefano Boeri, came one month after the Salone del Mobile appointed Maria Porro as its new president.

Image courtesy of Savio Firmino

The collection of 16 chairs depicts both a geographical journey between West and East and a temporal journey between tradition and contemporary design. “The chair not only becomes a symbolic object of the cities but also symbolically represents their values, traditions, and cultural substratum,” explains Savio Firmino. “It starts in Europe from Florence, the hometown of both Cosimo and the Savio Firmino company, continues to Milan, the city of the Salone and of design par excellence, to t...

Featuring a gigantic solar panel-covered canopy, work begins on BIG’s CityWave bookend in Milan

2021-09-15T20:11:00-04:00

Construction has begun on BIG’s CityWave, the building that will complete Milan’s revitalizing CityLife development after previously being announced as a participant in 2019.

The Danish studio’s contribution to the €2.5 billion ($2.95 billion) development comes in the form of an East-West duo of low-rise office buildings connected by a sloping, solar panel-covered canopy that also gives protection to one of Italy's largest outdoor urban parks.

Image courtesy BIG

The development already showcases a trio of towers by Studio Libeskind, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Arata Isozaki, respectively. It was originally awarded to the group in 2004 and now has the added bonus of another big name in the form of Ingels, who will bring some variety to the site in the form of an uneven horizontally-oriented mass with greenspace and 11,000 square meters (118,000 square feet) of photovoltaics.

Image courtesy BIG

Per the architect: “Like a contemporary interpretation of the massive covered public space of ...

Carlo Ratti's new carbon fiber museum made out of…carbon fiber

2021-08-05T15:23:00-04:00

Plans for a new museum dedicated to carbon fiber technology are taking shape in the Italian city of Piacenza, showcasing the building material by way of an experiential space that designers Carlo Ratti Architects (CRA) are hoping forms a perfect fit in the country’s prosperous Emilia-Romagna region.

The new MAE Museum––named after the machine manufacturing company headquartered in the city––will be the first-ever museum space dedicated to the material, drawing from the 53-year-old company’s inventory of manufactured objects to create what the architect says is the largest acrylic fiber archive anywhere in the world.

Courtesy Carlo Ratti Associati

The museum is located in a former warehouse space adjacent to MAE’s newest production plant and is recursively comprised of new and recycled versions of the material to which its exhibition spaces are dedicated. CRA worked with the local studio Italo Rota for the museum’s layout and creative direction.

Courtesy Carlo Ratti Associati

A giant ...

Salone del Mobile appoints Maria Porro as its new president

2021-07-22T13:27:00-04:00

Milanese furniture fair Salone del Mobile has named Maria Porro as its new president. Porro was most recently the president of Assarredo, an Italian trade association for furniture manufacturing.

Porro’s appointment comes during a notable period for the international design event, which was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and postponed until September this year. Additionally, her arrival follows the departure of former Salone del Mobile president Claudito Lutti, who resigned in April.

“I grew up with the Salone del Mobile,” said Porro. “When I was a kid, my grandfather Carlo used to take me along to the pavilions at the old venue. I followed when the Fair moved to its new site in Rho, and I was thrilled to be able to attend the Shanghai Furniture Fair.”

Previously on Architect: Salone del Mobile 2021 to commence in September

Porro, along with the board members of Federlegno Arredo Eventi, the trade entity that owns the Salone del Mobile, will lead the event as it pr...

SOM has been selected to design Milan's Olympics village ahead of the 2026 winter games

2021-07-16T15:24:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have been selected to plan the Olympic village ahead of the 2026 winter games in Milan following a huge announcement from COIMA SGR and other local planning authorities responsible for the development.

SOM will design the games’ athletes village, which is part of a larger masterplan that will transform the Porta Romana railway yard into a post-Olympic urban hub for the Milanese people.

Image © SOM

The firm beat out 70 other submissions for an ultra-sustainable plan that will add green spaces and six residential buildings that can afterwards be converted into student dormitories and affordable housing units. The Olympic programme will also restore a pair of buildings currently on site and install a suspended forest, giving the village a permanence its designer’s placed an emphasis on during their proposal process.

Image © SOM

“Rather than ceasing to be of use after the Olympics, the Porta Romana Olympic Village will ultimately become a vibrant, self-sustaini...

Herzog & de Meuron's Feltrinelli Porta Volta photographed by Bahaa Ghoussainy

2021-07-09T13:06:00-04:00

Architectural photographer Bahaa Ghoussainy has published his documentation of Milan's Feltrinelli Porta Volta, a recent Herzog & de Meuron project aimed at providing the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli with a spacious new home. The restored Porta opened in 2016 after a historical analysis and rehabilitation of the 16th-century site by the Swiss-based firm.

Ghoussainy's photographs capture perfectly the symmetry and bifurcation of the new buildings while highlighting their ability to communicate the themes of historical reverence and consistency central to the project's vision.

You can read more about Ghoussainy in our 2018 'In Focus' interview with the photographer.

Umberto Riva has passed away in Italy at age 93

2021-07-01T12:48:00-04:00

Multiple news outlets are reporting that Umberto Riva has died in Italy at the age of 93.

The Italian architect was referred to as a maestro by his contemporaries who reacted to news of the passing of the architect and painter last week in Palermo.

Born to a Milanese family in 1928, Riva studied in Venice before eventually obtaining an apprenticeship in the office of Carlo Scarpa. Major works included the redevelopment of Piazza San Nazaro and the Biblioteca Europea, both in Milan; power plants in Campobasso and Termoli; a restored café in Padua; and several successful lamps for the Italian studio Tacchini.

Riva was widely known for a wide array of projects ranging from his stately private residences, well-lit interiors spaces, and designs for furniture that incorporated Riva’s sense of luminescence while communicating a simplicity of form reminiscent of his lifelong influence, Constantin Brâncuși.

“My work is constantly fostered and tested by my being in this world. Plus, there is...

AMO undertakes set design and video art direction for Bulgari's summer 2021 fine jewelry show

2021-06-28T13:14:00-04:00

AMO, the research branch of OMA, has revealed its designs for Italian luxury brand, Bulgari’s, Summer 2021 fine jewelry show.

Photo: Agostino Osio/Courtesy of AMO

The firm carried out the show’s set design and video art direction. It is being presented at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a major landmark in Milan and Italy’s oldest active shopping gallery. The project is led by OMA Partner Ellen van Loon and Giulio Margheri.

Photo: Agostino Osio/Courtesy of AMO

Striking uses of light and color create a dramatic atmosphere that compliments the grandiose, classical nature of the iconic building.

As stated in the project’s press release, “In manipulating scale and time, the show creates a mutually reinforcing encounter between the splendors of fine jewelry and architecture.”

Photo: Agostino Osio/Courtesy of AMO

“We conceptualized the production as an interplay of the lyrical and the mechanical,” says Ellen van Loon. “We wanted to create scenes that resonate with the design of fine je...

Archinect - News

Good bus terminal design improves public transit participation, new study finds

BIG creates mirrored installation for Audi at Milan Design Week

Architect-designed furniture and products at the 2024 Salone del Mobile

MAD Architects creates Milan Design Week pavilion inspired by mountains

David Lynch discusses his scenographic installation at Salone del Mobile with curator Antonio Monda

JR debuts latest Italian commission 'La Nascita' for Milan Design Week

AMO design for the Prada 2024 FW Men's Show stages nature against an invasive interior environment

Inter Milan unveils San Siro stadium replacement proposal from Populous

Architect Stefano Boeri faces bid-rigging allegations in Milan’s BEIC design competition

Construction underway on Snøhetta and Park Associati’s 1960s office renovation in Milan

Populous' combined AC/Inter Milan 'Cathedral' proposal is likely out for San Siro

Mario Botta details La Scala makeover for the NYT

Carlo Ratti Associati team creates ‘world’s largest board game’ at Milan Design Week

MAD details new MOMENTUM installation for Milan Design Week 2023

16,000 plastic bottles used to create Stonehenge-like monument in Milan

MAD's latest project, MoLo, will serve as the gateway to Milan's burgeoning Innovation District

Pritzker winner Francis Kéré is on a mission to tackle misconceptions about Africa at the Triennale di Milano

Take a look at some of our favorite architect-designed furniture and homegoods products at Salone del Mobile

As Milan's San Siro stadium goes, so goes the city

Milan's Salone del Mobile announces 2022 dates and theme

Milan's former Expo 2015 site is being remade into a tech-centric innovation district

Populous tapped to lead design of new combined Inter & AC Milan stadium

Savio Firmino unveils chair collection inspired by architectural landmarks, underwritten by the Blockchain

Featuring a gigantic solar panel-covered canopy, work begins on BIG’s CityWave bookend in Milan

Carlo Ratti's new carbon fiber museum made out of…carbon fiber

Salone del Mobile appoints Maria Porro as its new president

SOM has been selected to design Milan's Olympics village ahead of the 2026 winter games

Herzog & de Meuron's Feltrinelli Porta Volta photographed by Bahaa Ghoussainy​​

Umberto Riva has passed away in Italy at age 93

AMO undertakes set design and video art direction for Bulgari's summer 2021 fine jewelry show

Herzog & de Meuron's Feltrinelli Porta Volta photographed by Bahaa Ghoussainy