In Milan, Domus launches an international call for ideas for domestic products aimed at seniors, with the Age Friendly Products competition. And from Lisbon arrives a reflection on Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle and the modern worlds it conjured, 54 years after its premiere.
The Many Paths of David Chipperfield
An architecture report from Venice by Laura Bossi
Common Ground is an expression that David Chipperfield, director of the 13th International Architecture Exhibition, has borrowed from physics for the title of his Biennale. Chipperfield has instilled the art of doubt in the authors involved in his project, asking them to establish a common dialogue and rediscover the "collective force of architecture." Rather than acting as a negotiator, his role is to trigger chemical reactions between people. There is no single way to look collectively at the world. Chipperfield believes the many paths are often diametrically opposite.
[Read the full article]
An art report from Washington DC by Alec Dudson
A true multi-disciplinarian in the art world, Californian Doug Aitken has been responsible for some of the most innovative and grand "fine art installations" of the past few years. His multimedia productions often entail novel and interesting uses of spaces and existing structures. This very much rings true for his latest installation Song 1 which, until 13 May 2012, has transformed the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC into the world's first 360° convex cinema screen.
[Read the full article]
Monsieur Hulot and his plan
An op-ed from Lisbon by Frederico Duarte
In 1958, thirteen years after the end of the Second World War, entire European cities on both sides of the Iron Curtain are raised from the ashes, or simply from nothing, to house the citizens who will build the old continent anew. As with many other of the twentieth century's great middle class families, the Arpels fill their houses, factories and public buildings with the tools and appliances designed with the aim of making life easier, cleaner, healthier and more efficient.
But Hulot seems to have a problem with "all this." As neither the places, things or people around him seem to allow for second uses or guesses, whenever he interacts with the modern world, it all goes terribly wrong.
[Read the full article]
An architecture report from Shantou by Marc J Neveu
Completed in 2008 by Mehrdad Hadighi of Studio for Architecture and Tsz Yan Ng, the building houses all of the functions of the Lafayette 148 clothing label and is organized around the flow of production, literally from conception to shipment of the final product. Office and design studios are placed at the top. Each stage of production is stacked on the floors below. The entry level functions as showroom and has the ability to transform into a runway. The building is, however, much more than a diagram of production. Throughout the building the architects deftly carved into the block to allow light to penetrate into the core and even provide exterior spaces that one is able to occupy. These spaces also help to mitigate the use of artificial cooling by drawing hot air from the building. Post-tensioned beams span the entire width of the floors, thus removing any need for interior columns. The result is a truly free plan that accommodates the wide variety of programmatic needs as well as offering bright and open workspaces. It is difficult, however, not to catch yourself staring at that façade.
[Read the full article]
Call for ideas: Age-friendly products
An upcoming event from Milan
Devised by Maria Grazia Mazzocchi (founder of Domus Academy), Marcello Lago ( from the LN-A Foundation) and Elena Pacenti (chair of the Service Design masters program at the Domus Academy), the Age-friendly products competition invites design professionals and students to rethink domestic objects for today's senior citizens, which for the most part are in good health, are familiar with technology and have high product-quality standards. The competition aspires to the prospective creation of new collections of beautiful, practical and functional objects, while promoting a design culture focused on the specific needs of an increasingly important population segment. The deadline for submissions is 3 July 2012.
[Read the full article]
