C.F. Møller‘s International School Nordhavn, the biggest school in Copenhagen, Denmark, has made a leap into the 21st century by transforming more than 6,000 square meters of its facade with over 12,000 solar sea-green panels. None of that sounds like a small feat, but surprisingly, making clear panels in one specific color was one of the biggest challenges that took researchers around 12 years to figure out.
They applied the process called color interfering, which is similar to what happens when you see colorful oil spots in the water. They eventually achieved it by adding fine particles to the glass surface to give the appearance of color.
Now the panels don’t just look good, they also do the job. Even though Denmark isn’t known for its sunny days, it was calculated that the new facade will cover more than half of the school’s annual energy consumption, as well as provide a pleasing new aesthetic for the Nordhavn district– a harbor currently under renovation in the Danish city.
Jake Henzler, aka Boy Knits World, is a Sydney-based artist who spent 6 months knitting a giant blanket inspired by the colorful architecture of Copenhagen. The blanket consists of 55 separate blocks, each of which took the artist hours to finish – but the end result was well worth it. Sadly, the blanket is not up for sale but just in case you feel like making one of your own, Jake has the knitting pattern for sale on his Ravelry page.
The artist says he had learned to knit when he was quite young but only started making things with knitting when he was around 19. “My mum used to knit all the time. Big knits like jumpers and cardigans,” said Jake. “She taught me some of the basics and then I worked from there. My first knits were characters and that’s still a big part of what I do.”
Jake Henzler is a Sydney-based artist who creates beautiful knitting patterns inspired by the architecture of Copenhagen
Jake says he has been sporadically writing knitting patterns for the last fifteen years, and people seem to love his works. The artist has a following of over 16k people on Instagram and numerous people have used his patterns to knit their own creations.
The man had spent 6 months creating this beautiful blanket consisting of 55 separate blocks
When asked why he chose Copenhagen as inspiration for his blanket, Jake explained that the aim was to knit all of the significant buildings from his year of living in Copenhagen.
“I didn’t manage to do this, but the design process is always a long negotiation. I decided it was more important for the whole blanket to reflect really key aspects of how I felt about the city,” explained Jake. “Each block has features based on the features of real buildings in Copenhagen.”
“Each of the six patterns I wrote is designed to reflect a sense of the suburbs that they’re based on,” continued the artist. “The very ordered windows and repeated variations of facades are a big feature of the city’s aesthetic. I also wanted to make all of the blocks the exact same shape to give the finished product the kind of regularity and neatness of Copenhagen’s streets.”
Jake says that two of the blocks are based on apartment buildings that he lived in, and another two are based on the ones he loved looking at. “The city is just beautiful,” concluded the artist.
Jake even tried his hand at creating a Copenhagen building blocks cushion
One day, this guy just kind of figured – “I spend most of my time on the internet anyway, why not turn it into a profession?” – and he did! Now he not only gets to browse the latest cat videos and fresh memes every day but also shares them with people all over the world, making sure they stay up to date with everything that’s trending on the web. Some things that always pique his interest are old technologies, literature and all sorts of odd vintage goodness. So if you find something that’s too bizarre not to share, make sure to hit him up!
Got wisdom to pour?
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Have you learned any new talents while being stuck in quarantine? How about some languages? Don’t worry if the answer is “no” – you still have plenty of time to do that as it looks like the quarantine won’t be lifted anytime soon. But while you and I are stuck at home learning Spanish on Duolingo, some artists are still out there creating amazing street art.
Graffiti artists all over the world are creating coronavirus related street art their art pieces are as accurate as they are funny. Check them out in the gallery below!
From the artist’s Instagram:
“We all are going through this together. There is a reason which we will see after all. It’s time to look at ourselves. Take a look at what are we doing with the planet and our lifetime. Maybe we should change our priorities? Maybe we should slow down? Maybe we should take a look around and start respect our planet and all those with whom we share it? Maybe someone is trying to hide some changes? Or economic collapse? Maybe one more step to a new world order?”
One day, this guy just kind of figured – “I spend most of my time on the internet anyway, why not turn it into a profession?” – and he did! Now he not only gets to browse the latest cat videos and fresh memes every day but also shares them with people all over the world, making sure they stay up to date with everything that’s trending on the web. Some things that always pique his interest are old technologies, literature and all sorts of odd vintage goodness. So if you find something that’s too bizarre not to share, make sure to hit him up!
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Spain-based duo Daniel Rueda and Anna Devis love traveling and searching for interesting geometry in architecture. They photograph their adorable explorations and everything looks like straight out of an aesthetic fairytale.
Each photo also has an entertaining element of quirkiness. Daniel and Anna always find the funniest ways to ‘interact’ with the architecture in their shots, and it adds an additional amusing dimension to the already rich and fascinating images.
For a year now, I’m giving a new life to second-hand wall plates and transforming them into Very Ugly Plates. I make them mostly when I make some tea and I’m waiting for water to boil. As I drink a lot of tea, I made a lot of plates so far and trying to create a new one every few days. My biggest inspiration is my best friend and her Tinder stories.
You can see them live in Berlin and Copenhagen (addresses of shops and galleries are on my Instagram).
There’s no better feeling than escaping to nature after a hard week of working. And what better place to escape to than your own personal tiny garden home. The Brøndby Haveby or Brøndby Garden City is a small community located just a short drive from Copenhagen, Denmark. What sets it apart from any other garden community out there is its unique shape. The houses are arranged in a circular pattern and look absolutely surreal when viewed from above.
The Brøndby Haveby houses are the perfect place to run away from the bustling city – the large yards mean plenty of room for activities and the tall hedges ensure your privacy.
This specific arrangement wasn’t chosen by accident. The architect that designed the “garden city” said that the idea behind the circles was to increase social interaction among the renters.
It’s not every day that a genuinely disruptive new product enters the marketplace. But an innovative new collection of textiles from Duvaltexpromises to not only transform the future of sustainable textile specification, but also substantially reduce the impact of polyester textiles on the biosphere with a whole new model for end-of-life recycling or disposal. To be introduced at NeoCon in June, the company’s new Clean Impact Textiles were created with a simple mission: To be the first biodegradable recycled polyester textiles for commercial interiors.
Clean Impact Textiles by Duvaltex. Image courtesy of Duvaltex.
A key to the game-changing new line of textiles is a biocatalyst additive, which is blended with polyester chips during the extrusion process in the manufacture of the yarn. The biocatalyst facilitates the biodegradation of the textiles by interacting with the moisture and microbes inherent in landfill and anaerobic wastewater treatment conditions and thereby activating a metabolizing process that increases the degradation rate of the new polyester to 91 percent versus 6 percent for standard polyester. This means that the new Clean Impact Textiles will safely biodegrade at the essentially same rate as natural fibers—roughly over three and a half years versus 100 years or more for virgin polyester.
The achievement is significant because, despite the design industry’s best intentions to recycle, 99 percent of polyester textiles eventually wind up in the landfill, according to a report called the Advancing Sustainable Materials Management Fact Sheet from the EPA. “Based on the alarming statistics regarding the amount of textile waste that ends up in landfills, this collection of fabrics represents eco-efficiency by design at its best and a crucial step forward in reducing the negative impact of a linear economy,” said Alain Duval, CEO of Duvaltex, who added that since the innovative new commercial textiles can either be safely disposed a landfill or recycled for further use, they offer both biological and technical solutions at the end of their useful life. Duval also hopes the new Clean Impact Textiles collection will inspire others to follow Duvaltex’s lead in offering not just eco-friendly biodegradable textiles, but sustainable solutions like the bi-circular economy model inherent in the new fabrics.
Clean Impact Textiles by Duvaltex. Image courtesy of Duvaltex.
More good news: The Clean Impact Textiles were manufactured to conform to the strict performance requirements of the commercial interiors market, and all meet or exceed the ACT performance standards for heavy-duty upholstery without compromising on color, pattern or hand in order to achieve their biodegradable benefit. The fabrics in this collection have also been assessed and certified for the NSF/ANSI 336 standard for commercial interiors textiles and carry the Facts Gold certification mark owned by ACT. And the biocatalyst technology used in the development of the biodegradable recycled polyester yarn used for the collection was tested under ASTM D5511 and has also achieved ECO PASSPORT certification by OEKO-TEX.
A leader in sustainable initiatives for more than 20 years, Duvaltex’s innovative Clean Impact Textiles collection includes five lines—Balance, Catalyst, Environs, Renew and Terra—that offer small-, medium- and large-scale “softened” geometric patterns and solids in multiple colorways and coordinating neutrals. The collection will be commercially available through office furniture OEM’s and textile marketers this fall. Though slightly higher in price than standard polyester fabrics in similar constructions, the company’s goal is to ultimately achieve price neutrality for the new textiles and a new line will be introduced in early 2020.
Popularity for Danish furniture continues to surge. A great place to experience this in action: 3DaysofDesign, which was held May 23-25 in Copenhagen. With product and brand launches, exhibitions and pop-up events, and a record 150 exhibitors, the sixth edition of Denmark’s annual design event was bigger and bolder this year, with increased citywide presence in part due to a graphic identity crafted by Spanish artist and designer Jaime Hayon. From Michelin-starred restaurant furnishings now available to all, archival pieces finding a new audience, and a reinvention of the lowly toilet brush, here are 16 of our favorite finds.
Photography by Magnus Omme, courtesy of Space Copenhagen.
Take home your very own Michelin-starred restaurant furnishings with the Holmen collection from Space Copenhagen. Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant lauded as one of the best in the world, auctioned off its oak side tables by cabinet maker Malte Gormsen for a cool $4,000 a piece—while the MG 205 side table by Malte Gormsen was offered at a more reasonable price point.
Photography by Magnus Omme, courtesy of Space Copenhagen.
The browned oak and metal MG 101 dining chair, also part of the Holmen collection by Malte Gormsen for Space Copenhagen, once furnished the 108 restaurant in Copenhagen, a Noma-spin off.
Photography courtesy of Carl Hansen & Søn.
An archival piece with a distinctive pressed veneer backrest saw daylight once more with Carl Hansen & Søn ‘s re-release of the Contour lounge chair, designed by Børge Mogensen in 1949. Available in oak, walnut, or a combination of the two, the chair stays true to original sketches— with the exception of added comfort in the form of an upholstered seat.
Photography courtesy of File Under Pop.
File Under Pop presented a new brand focusing on surfaces, first previewed in Milan last month. A collaboration between File Under Pop founder and creative director Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer and architect Elisa Ossino, H+O is a modular tile brand applicable for use on walls, floors, and ceilings. The large-format Rilievi collection consists of eight different tiles with three-dimensional geometric surfaces available in four color ways.
Photography courtesy of &Tradition.
The distinctive shape of a fungus brings the USB-chargeable Setago table lamp for &Tradition to life. Just like a mushroom, the wireless lamp, designed by Jaime Hayon and first presented in Milan this year, can be plucked and moved at ease.
Photography courtesy of Takt.
The stackable oak and plywood Cross chair by London studio PearsonLloyd for the freshly launched design brand Takt can be shipped flatpack—one of the factors leading to its sustainable certification. It’s also made of 100 percent FSC-certified wood.
Photography courtesy of Wehlers.
Fishing nets and steel are recycled and repurposed for the fabrication of the R.U.M. chair—short for ReUsedMaterials—designed by C. F. Møller Design for Wehlers.
Photography courtesy of Please Wait to be Seated.
Bulk just where you want it—at the seat pad—is behind the name of the tubular steel Tubby Tube, a stool by Faye Toogood for Please Wait to be Seated.
Photography courtesy of Jot.jot.
The comfort of wood and the strength of steel are a successful union for the slim yet sturdy and stackable Shadow chair by Boris Berlin Design for Jot.jot.
Photography courtesy of Skagerak.
Bold color marks the 20th anniversary of the Cutter Jubilee bench by Niels Hvass for Skagerak , now available in scarlet red-lacquered oak.
Photography courtesy of House of Finn Juhl.
The armchair, later nicknamed the Grasshopper due to its nod to the herbivorous insect, was first designed by Finn Juhl in 1938. However, it wasn’t until much later that the chair’s avant-garde form received appreciation. Before its release at Milan Design Week under House of Finn Juhl, the firm that carries on the designer’s legacy, only two existed—and one auctioned off for $360,000 in 2018.
Photography courtesy of House of Finn Juhl.
House of Finn Juhl also presented Finn Juhl’s extendable Bovirke table, which premiered at an exhibition in 1948. Available in oak or walnut, Bovirke nearly doubles in size, from 55 inches to 94 inches long.
The Bovirke table by Finn Juhl, an archival piece released by House of Finn Juhl. Photography courtesy of House of Finn Juhl.Photography courtesy of Fredericia.
In tribute to the former home of Copenhagen’s Royal Mail—now the manufacturer’s showroom—Fredericia presented the Post collection by Cecilie Manz. A plywood seat and back combines with a solid wood frame for the Post chair. First previewed in Milan last month, the collection also includes a table.
Photography courtesy of Unidrain.
A 3 Days of Design breakfast event celebrated the lowly toilet brush with a presentation from Unidrain. With an inner container fitted with a splash guard and a replaceable brush head resisting both water and paper collection, Toilet Brush Wall Mounted Copper is engineered to reduce bacteria and mess.
Photography courtesy of Overgaard & Dyrman.
The distinctive shape of a technical drawing tool—the compass—inspired the back of the Circle dining chair by Overgaard & Dyrman, while cushions take cues from the round sphere it draws.
The Circle dining chair by Overgaard & Dyrman. Photography courtesy of Overgaard & Dyrman.Photography courtesy of Montana.
Montana introduced a new color palette for its signature shelving—an endeavor the manufacturer undertakes every eight years. Developed in collaboration with Danish designer Margrethe Odgaard, the 30 new hues include amber, rhubarb, flint, and chamomile, shown (clockwise) here.
Upon first entering St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, most visitors can’t help but do one thing: look up. This hulking Italian Renaissance church—designed in part by Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bernini—dates back to the 16th century and boasts some of the world’s most impressive, painstakingly crafted ceiling mosaics. During construction, the church enlisted the most skilled artisans of the period for the job, resulting in a treasury of shimmering glass-tile creations that are so precisely executed that they’re often mistaken for paintings.
Many awe-inspiring examples of this centuries-old art form can be spotted outside the Vatican City walls—you just have no know where to look. From a palace turned hotel in Budapest to a historic Chicago department store, we’ve rounded up some of the world’s most stunning glass ceilings.
Photo: Alamy
Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona, Spain
Built between 1905 and 1908, architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner’s Catalan Art Nouveau masterpiece is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and boasts a monumental stained-glass-and-mosaic ceiling.
Photo: Getty Images/Izzet Keribar
Shah Cheragh, Shiraz, Iran
Shah Cheragh, a funerary monument and mosque, is also known as the Emerald Mosque because of its mesmerizing mirror-mosaic ceiling and the shimmering chandeliers that hang from it.
Photo: Getty Images/Stefano Oppo
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan, Italy
Built between 1865 and 1877 at the intersection of two streets, this sprawling arcade is regarded as the oldest shopping mall in Italy. The crown jewel of the arcade is its soaring 164-foot-tall octagonal glass dome, located at the very center of the complex.
Hundreds of thousands of pieces of glass comprise the mosaic ceiling of the d’Angleterre’s Palm Court, making it the largest ceiling of its kind in Northern Europe. It was designed by Italian glass artist Albano Poli, whose other mosaic credits include a blown-glass rose window at the Santa Croce Basilica in Florence and mosaics in the Vatican Gardens.
Photo: Getty Images/UIG/Jeff Greenberg
Tiffany Dome at Macy’s, Chicago, USA
High above the makeup department on the first floor of Macy’s in Chicago sits the largest Tiffany mosaic in existence. Originally commissioned for the Marshall Field’s department store (acquired and renamed by Macy’s in 2006), Tiffany’s magnum opus is comprised of 1.6 million pieces of iridescent glass.
Photo: Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace, Budapest, Hungary
Guests of this Art Nouveau treasure, located on the banks of the Danube River, are greeted by a sprawling white-and-aqua-blue glass atrium in the hotel’s lobby. The glass ceiling, described by the hotel as “a true labor of love,” was designed to enclose what was originally a horse-and-carriage drop-off for the palace.
Photo: Getty Images/ppnmm
Nasir Al-Mulk Mosque, Shiraz, Iran
Also known as the Pink Mosque, the Nasir Al-Mulk Mosque features a sprawling presentation of candy-color glass mosaic ceilings, accentuated by kaleidoscopic stained-glass windows and rainbow-hued carpets.
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At its core, architecture is an exceptionally slow art form. After a commission is earned, the planning, building, and completion of a structure can take, at times, upwards of a decade. Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this length of time for design and construction wasn’t an issue, as predicating the near-term needs of a city was a relatively achievable goal. Yet, as technology advanced and cities such as New York and London boomed into metropolises, planning to meet the exact needs for an urban space became exceedingly difficult.
Consider the task of an architect who, in 1998, won a commission for a building in Beijing that took ten years to complete. In that time period, China’s capital would undergo one of the biggest social and cultural shifts in the country’s long history. What’s more, the advancements in computer technology during that ten-year stretch were profound. How does an architect predict this type of transformation in an initial scheme? It’s almost impossible. As a result, the role of an architect has changed. No longer are they merely designing a building but are doing so in a manner that’s similar to a sociologist. By spotting (and at times predicting) the patterns of social interactions and cultural norms, today’s influential architects can create an identity for a city that’s become a cacophony of objects.
Looking to the year ahead of us, we wonder: Which buildings will capture the essence of their location, even as they were initially conceived at a time when the demands of the space were different? Below, AD PRO surveys 12 buildings around the world that will not just be completed in 2018 but done so with a design that we believe will produce an identity to match the needs of its environment. When this bold, and at times radical, type of design comes together, the result is stunningly beautiful. Indeed, as the great 19th-century critic Walter Pater once said (and the inimitable architecture critic Herbert Muschamp later echoed), architecture is fundamentally about “the power of being deeply moved by the presence of beautiful objects.” We believe these 12 buildings will possess that power.
Rendering: Courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group
ARC Power Plant, by Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen, Denmark)
For the past few years, Danish starchitect Bjarke Ingels has been redefining skylines across the globe. But for his latest project, the 43-year-old visionary stayed closer to home. Located in Copenhagen, the ARC Power Plant is the apogee of creative brilliance. Fundamentally, the state-of-the-art facility is proof that eco-friendly architecture can be done with high design. Clad in aluminum, the structure is expected to burn 400,000 tons of waste annually into enough clean energy to power 60,000 homes in the area—all of which is a major step in Copenhagen’s plan to become the world’s first zero-carbon city by 2025. But it’s not just about converting waste to energy—it’s about having fun too. Atop the structure’s roof is a nearly 1,500-foot-long ski slope (one of the world’s longest artificial ski slopes), a pipe dream of Ingels’s own that he worked into possibility. The slope, which is accessible through an elevator inside the building, has paths designated for beginners, intermediates, and experts. While Denmark receives a healthy amount of snow, the country is rather flat and not an ideal terrain for ski lovers. BIG’s ARC Power Plant is changing all of that in a very carbon-neutral way.
Rendering: Courtesy of Snøhetta & MIR
Calgary Library, by Snøhetta (Calgary, Canada)
Fundamentally, Calgary’s new library is about connecting residents to public spaces. Located at the intersection between Downtown Calgary and the East Village, the Snøhetta-designed structure lifts to become a gateway from one exciting neighborhood to the next. The building also hovers over the existing Light Rail Transit Line, which cuts through the heart of the city. The geometrically designed exterior will draw residents into the activities occurring inside the library, while those upper levels (which aren’t as open to the public to see from outside) allow for a more quiet, traditional library experience.
Photo: Iwan Baan
Institute for Contemporary Art, by Steven Holl (Richmond, Virginia)
Virginia Commonwealth University’s new Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) is much more than what its name suggests. The genius of Steven Holl’s design is that, while the architecture is masterfully uniform, the usage of its interior is anything but that. The ICA will be used as a cafe bar, a gallery space, a 240-seat auditorium for film screenings, performances, and lectures, as well as a fabrication workshop. Not only do Holl’s irregularly shaped blocks have a whimsical feel, but they are incredibly eco-friendly as well. Four green roofs are planted with native vegetation, which are intended to absorb stormwater and increase insulation. Window and skylights have been strategically placed to ensure the interior receive plenty of natural light, reducing the need for artificial illumination. The project will be opened to the public in April 2018, roughly six years after it was first unveiled.
