Archinect - News

PAO and Liu Kecheng revitalize old porcelain factory in China with new ‘plugin’ architecture

2024-09-19T12:29:00-04:00

A team led by Liu Kecheng Design Studio and the People’s Architecture Office (PAO) has completed a regeneration and redesign of an old porcelain factory in the Imperial Kiln Historic District of Jingdezhen, China. Using what PAO calls a ‘Plugin Architecture’ approach, the project saw the placing of architectural insertions within and adjacent to existing building, giving new use to the site while respecting historic elements.

Image credit: PAO

Image credit: Zhuyumeng

The porcelain factory speaks to the wider history of Jingdezhen, whose porcelain production stretches back over 1000 years and earned it the title of China’s ‘Porcelain Capital.’ To reactivate the factory, PAO and Liu Kecheng designed a modern structure to form a focal point of the site. Topped by a double-pitched roof, the three-story glass building houses exhibition spaces and a cafe.

Image credit: Zhuyumeng

Image credit: PAO

“The transparency of the glass enclosure introduces a sense of openness, contrasting with the sol...

A 3D printed ceramic facade by Studio RAP in Amsterdam is inspired by weaving textiles

2023-12-04T11:54:00-05:00

Rotterdam-based Studio RAP has transformed a boutique facade in Amsterdam with 3D printed ceramic tiles. The Ceramic House sits along the city’s famous P.C. Hooftstraat shopping street, and according to the firm, “reshapes architectural expression by seamlessly blending tradition and innovation, reintroducing bespoke details to the realm of architecture.”

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

For the project’s design, the firm developed in-house algorithms to reinterpret the existing qualities and language of glazed ceramics in Amsterdam. The resulting facade features intricate layers inspired by textiles, including creases, interloping yarns, and stitch patterns.

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

“Its organic, wave-like quality changes as viewers approach the design from different angles,” the team explains. “Gradually, as the line of vision moves, new elements within the custom ceramic tiles are unveiled, resulting in a luxur...

In Delft, a 3D-printed passage by Studio RAP reinterprets traditional ceramic crafts

2023-07-13T12:15:00-04:00

Rotterdam-based Studio RAP has completed a 3D-printed ceramic walkway in the Dutch city of Delft. Titled 'New Delft Blue,' the project “reinterprets the world-famous decorative qualities and design vocabulary of Delft Blue porcelain,” with a fusion of 3D clay printing, computational design, and artistic glazing.

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

The scheme is located in the communal courtyard of the PoortMeesters residential building block. Within the block, two large arching gates cover a public staircase, drawing reference from Delft’s historical role as a trading city. Studio RAP’s intervention within the arched passage takes its inspiration from traditional Delft Blue porcelain plates, whose vocabulary has changed radically over centuries with influence from Chinese and Japanese designs.

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

“The differentiation between a decorative, nature-inspired frame and idyllic scene, however, has bee...

Norman Foster & Stelton present new range of minimalist tableware

2018-02-19T13:49:00-05:00

A range of minimalist tableware is the result of Norman Foster's latest collaboration as a designer outside of the world of architecture, with Danish design house Stelton.

Image: Foster + Partners.

Combining simple sculptural form and soft geometry, the Norman Foster Collection spans a spectrum of materials, including glass, porcelain, and stainless steel, and features wine goblets, carafes, bowls, porcelain and glass coffee cups, a sugar bowl, and a thermos.

Image: Foster + Partners.

"There’s a wonderful ambiguity in the power of a curve, the power of a line, whether it is defining an individual, a building, a bridge, a skyline, or a vessel," Norman Foster says about the new line. "They are all part of the same family, in a way. The issues of quality, workmanship and textures is common to all these different scales. In the end, it comes down to the elements that we touch, the interface of our daily lives.

Image: Foster + Partners.

"The translation of a design idea through prototypin...

V&A Museum addition includes $70M all-porcelain public courtyard

2017-06-30T17:33:00-04:00

The bold addition features the world's first all-porcelain public courtyard, paved with 11,000 handmade porcelain tiles in 15 different patterns. The tiles were manufactured by Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum, the Netherlands' oldest registered company, established in 1572.

After six years of construction, the Exhibition Road Quarter, AL_A-designed courtyard space opened yesterday in London's Victoria and Albert Museum, adding 11,840 square feet of column-free flexible gallery space to the museum to help accommodate the V&A's headline exhibitions. Intended as a meeting point, public square and museum entrance, AL_A's extension is V&A’s largest architectural intervention in over 100 years.

BIG + KILO launch "BIG Cities" tableware for Rosenthal's Gropius-inspired collection

2014-05-22T14:38:00-04:00

It's all in the details with BIG + KILO's newly launched "BIG Cities" tableware collection. The longtime Danish collaborators worked with major porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal to craft the table set for the company's TAC collection. The collection was first developed in the 1960s and includes designs based on those of Walter Gropius and his historic Boston firm The Architects' Collaborative — or TAC.

The pieces bring present-day appeal to any table setting with minimal, geometric forms that draws its style roots from Bauhaus. At first glance, the thin blue lines etched onto the white porcelain look like an abstract motif.

But taking a closer look reveals the silhouettes of famous architectural landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate, the Eiffel Tower, or Big Ben as well as some recognizable city skylines like Sydney, Moscow, Tokyo, Istanbul, New York, and of course Copenhagen.

Dinner and charger plates are available six different variants each, while all other pieces in the collection com...