Archinect - News

UNStudio's new facade renovation in Amsterdam showcases a playful approach to glass

2019-12-11T22:25:00-05:00

UNStudio's facade design for P.C. Hoofstraat 138 in Amsterdam is a playful spin on the idea of window displays. Aiming to provide the Dutch flagship store to have a subtle yet distinctly eye-catching storefront, the team at UNStudio created The Looking Glass. Said to be a "celebration textiles in both form and function," the store's facade showcases three large curved panels that flow from the store's street base to the building's top.

Image © Evabloem.

According to UNStudio, the glass design is said to mimic billowing transparent cloth. The studio shares: "In a fluid gesture, fashion and architecture come together to represent and celebrate the craftsmanship and geometry of high-end, tailored clothing, creating harmony between aesthetics and function. All this, while keeping true to the original design of the three-windowed vertical division of an Amsterdam townhouse, where on the upper floors above the retail section, a bespoke apartment design wi...

Extensive windfarm island plans in the North Sea may be a design solution

2018-01-03T16:04:00-05:00

Britain’s homes could be lit and powered by windfarms surrounding an artificial island deep out in the North Sea, under advanced plans by a Dutch energy network. The radical proposal envisages an island being built to act as a hub for vast offshore windfarms that would eclipse today’s facilities in scale. Dogger Bank, 125km (78 miles) off the East Yorkshire coast, has been identified as a potentially windy and shallow site.

Plans by TenneT, the Dutch power grid, aim to build a power hub potentially at Dogger Bank, a site in the North Sea, at a scale that far surpasses current offshore sites. A long-distance cable would send energy to the UK and Netherlands, with other countries possibly added later. Early studies were released stating this solution could be far cheaper than conventional windfarms.

The North Sea windfarm plans are a potential solution to the industry’s challenge of continuing to make offshore wind cheaper. As these sites are pushed further and further off the coast the expense grows, while closer and cheaper areas near land fill up.

Check out the promo video by TenneT:

The Netherlands moves closer to leaving gas and diesel cars in the dust

2016-04-19T18:47:00-04:00

The parliament of The Netherlands has passed a motion which would require that all new cars sold by 2025 will have to be electrified in some way [...] The Dutch government hasn't yet banned gas and diesel-powered cars, however, and the motion does allow for hybrid cars to be sold beyond 2025. [...] Although localized governments have sought to ban public cars from urban streets in a number of European cities, the Dutch Labor Party's motion is by far the most aggressive campaign

Related on Archinect:

Bacteria-laden concrete helps cracks fix themselves

2015-07-29T17:06:00-04:00

Inspired by the human body, Jonkers, who works at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, created self-healing concrete. He embeds the concrete with capsules of limestone-producing bacteria, either Bacillus pseudofirmus or Sporosarcina pasteurii, along with calcium lactate. When the concrete cracks, air and moisture trigger the bacteria to begin munching on the calcium lactate. They convert the calcium lactate to calcite, an ingredient in limestone, thus sealing off the cracks.

More concrete news:

Utrecht to experiment with universal, unconditional "basic income"

2015-06-26T18:22:00-04:00

"What happens if someone gets a monthly amount without rules and controls?

Imagine if everyone was given a living wage, without any regulatory or qualifying hoops to jump through? The Dutch city of Utrecht, in a partnership with University College Utrecht, is running such a dramatic social experiment, starting at the end of the summer, offering an "unconditional form of payment to individuals, which covers their living costs". To start, the experiment will only provide the so-called "basic income" to those already receiving welfare, using a group of citizens receiving the normal welfare benefits as the control group.

Other news from The Netherlands:

Dutch court mandates reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

How to Think Like the Dutch in a Post-Sandy World

Editor's Picks #379

2014-08-06T11:44:00-04:00

The latest Show Case: featured a holiday home modeled after the Dutch vernacular ‘schapenboeten’, designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects.

Donna Sink wondered "what makes fishing nets a good cladding material? Isn't the purpose of a net pretty much exactly the opposite of the purpose of a cladding? I want insane rationalism". Non Sequitur added "The colour coding is nice but I was really hoping to see fishing nets used as interior walls".

News
George Lucas announced, an architectural team for his planned museum on Chicago's lakefront. davvid was impressed "Chicago has really made a commitment to creating great new buildings. I recently visited the WNS Boathouse and Nature Boardwalk structure in the Zoo, both by Studio Gang. Its very exciting and I hope it spreads to cities across the US".

NYT’s Roberta Smith reminded readers, of the upcoming opening for Aspen Art Museum’s new Shigeru Ban’s-designed building. boy in a well was excited by the "wood!" and believed that a few winters in Col...

Dispatches from 5468796 Architecture's Table for Twelve | Rotterdam

2013-12-06T15:42:00-05:00

Archinect is delighted to present 5468796 Architecture's travelogue for their award-winning research project, Table for Twelve. The Winnipeg-based firm received the 2013 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture from the Canada Council for the Arts, awarded to emerging Canadian architects with outstanding artistic potential. The $50,000 prize will support the firm’s worldwide travels to both strengthen their skills and expand their presence within the international architectural community.

5468796’s Table for Twelve will hold dinner parties at architectural epicenters around the world, in the hopes that picking the brains of local talent will help them identify the drivers behind a strong design culture. Archinect plays host to their global dispatches through this travel blog, updated upon each city’s dinner.

From 5468796:

DINNER:

The Trip

5468796 Architecture’s Johanna Hurme, Ken Borton and Sean Radford recollect on their travels for the second leg of their Table for Tw...

Waterworld: Koen Olthuis' floating structures, from slums to stadiums

2013-08-29T14:17:00-04:00

[It] is the same technology as we use in Holland. It’s made up of concrete caisson, boxes, a shoebox of concrete. We fill them with styrofoam. So with [these] you get unthinkable floating foundations [...] The house itself is the same as a normal house, the same material. Then you want to figure out how to get water and electricity and remove sewage and use the same technology as cruise ships." - Koen Olthuis

Dutch architect Koen Olthuis sees the future of architecture floating out to sea -- quite literally. Responding to undeniable ecological shifts of rising sea levels and seasonal flooding, Olthuis has proposed floatable-projects all along the social spectrum, designing prefabricated multi-use units for waterfront slums in Dhaka, "amphibious" housing in Holland and Columbia, private island-villas for the "stupidly rich", and foldable Olympic stadiums.

See projects from Olthius' Waterstudio.NL, in the tradition of floating architecture inspired by Dutch history and worldwide realities.

CLOWNS, CHAIRS AND DUTCH FOREIGN AFFAIRS

2011-09-13T17:31:14-04:00

In Holland, we have two words for design. One is vormgeving; in German formgeben. And the other word is ontwerpen; in German entwurf. In the Anglo-Saxon language there’s only one word for design, which is design. That is something you should work out. Vormgeving is more to make things look nice... While ontwerpe means, and the Anglo-saxon word, but its stronger, means engineering.

Postage Stamp Architecture

2011-05-11T11:23:00-04:00

I know I have been on a Dutch rag as of late, but where else can you buy postage stamps that honor not just architects, but architecture, and not just timeworn monuments, but experimental work that has not even been built? As a kicker, the stamps are designed so that, if you hold them up to a Web cam, they turn into 3D models floating in front of your screen.