The slaughterhouses and abattoirs in this roundup, originally built for slaughtering animals, have been transformed into galleries, breweries and cooking schools.

Some of the examples have had considerable alterations to make them suited for their new purpose, while others retain original features – such as white-tiled walls and metal bars – in a nod to their industrial past.

From Spain and Denmark to the United Arab Emirates, here are six slaughterhouse conversions from the Dezeen archive:

Plato Contemporary Art Gallery, Czech Republic, by KWK Promes

Architecture studio KWK Promes converted a 19th-century slaughterhouse in the Czech Republic into the Plato Contemporary Art Gallery, adding a concrete extension and rotating walls with impressions of windows.

After decades of being in disrepair, the studio's transformation of the heritage-protected building features white exhibition spaces that open up to the surrounding gardens.

Find out more about Plato Contemporary Art Gallery ›

Anthropocene Museum 9.0, United Arab Emirates, by Cave Bureau

For the latest Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Kenyan architectural studio Cave Bureau transformed the still-functioning Old Sharjah Slaughterhouse into the Anthropocene Museum 9.0, guiding visitors along the route taken by animals for slaughter.

Guests entered through the gates, then travelled through the pens and up a ramp leading to the slaughterhouse and processing rooms, passing installations that focused on issues surrounding decolonialisation and decarbonisation.

Find out more about Anthropocene Museum 9.0 ›

ÅBEN brewery, Denmark, by Pihlmann Architects

Local studio Pihlmann Architects created the ÅBEN brewery in Copenhagen inside a former slaughterhouse, hanging bulbous steel tanks where carcasses were once suspended.

Originally built in 1932, Pihlmann Architects restored most of the original features, including white wall tiles, and added semitransparent curtains to separate dining spaces.

Find out more about ÅBEN brewery ›

Resin Interpretation Centre, Spain, by Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez

Architect Óscar Miguel Ares Álvarez overhauled a slaughterhouse in a Spanish village by wrapping it in a windowless white facade, converting it into the Resin Interpretation Centre gallery and community centre.

Ares Álvarez retained the shape of the former slaughterhouse, which has a similar silhouette to its neighbouring buildings, but covered it in uniform white to make it stand out.

Find out more about the Resin Interpretation Centre ›

Brick Textiles installation, Italy, by Natural Material Studio and Zuzanna Skurka

At last year's Milan design week, Copenhagen-based Natural Material Studio and designer Zuzanna Skurka created an installation of soft bio textiles in a former abattoir in Porta Vittoria.

Made from bricks repurposed from demolition sites, the red-hued Brick Textiles were cut into slabs and suspended from metal bars where meat was once hung.

Find out more about Brick Textiles installation ›

Professional Cooking School, Spain, by Sol89

Outdoor paddocks and a courtyard used for storing livestock in this nineteenth-century slaughterhouse were converted into kitchens and classrooms for the Professional Cooking School in Medina-Sidonia, Spain.

Designed by Spanish architecture studio Sol89, the extension's asymmetric roofs were clad in red ceramics, while white-painted walls surround the perimeter.

Find out more about Professional Cooking School ›

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In this lookbook, we have collected eight projects that use internal glazing and partitions to create brighter home interiors and increased connectivity between spaces.

While the primary use of windows is for daylight access and ventilation, they can also play a key role in visually connecting spaces within the home.

Adding internal windows enables more interaction between adjacent rooms, while allowing light to penetrate further into the home – creating bright and spacious interiors.

While similar, internal partitions offer a unique opportunity to simultaneously increase connectivity and enhance privacy through the demarcation of a home's internal spaces.

Below are eight examples that showcase the versatility of internal openings and partitions, ranging from a colourful home extension featuring playful, circular windows in London to an open-plan kitchen punctuated with brass-lined portals in Toronto.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring creative guest rooms that accommodate visitors in style, home interiors brightened with colourful window frames and hotel interiors characterised by eclectic designs.

Timbaud, France, by Isabelle Heilmann

Converted from a textile workshop, this open-plan apartment in Paris offers a bright, spacious interior equipped with a dedicated home office, mezzanines and a loft.

Designer Isabelle Heilmann used internal windows and glazing in order to retain visual connections between the rooms, as well as demarcate the living spaces and enable a flow of light through the interior.

Find out more about Timbaud ›

Curve Appeal, UK, by Nimtim Architects

Multifunctional partitions built from plywood joinery were used to define the interior of this 1920s house in Southwark, London, renovated by local studio Nimtim Architects.

Addressing a need for improved connectivity and daylight, the studio used curved, glazed openings within the partitions to encourage visual connection between the different spaces.

Find out more about Curve Appeal ›

Portal House, Canada, by Svima

Renovated by architecture and art studio Svima, this residence in Toronto features asymmetrical portals lined with brass ribbons.

Aptly named Portal House, the home's open-plan kitchen and dining area are connected via two portals – with one used as a doorway and the other as a pass-through for food, drinks and tableware.

Find out more about Portal House ›

Mediona 13, Spain, by Nua Arquitectures

Nua Arquitectures revamped this house in the historic centre of Tarragona, Spain, using pastel-coloured steel to reinforce its structure.

Internal windows overlook the home's large entrance, which features a staircase lined with pastel blue balustrades, to allow light to travel into the home.

Find out more about Mediona 13 ›

AR Residence, UK, by DeDraft

A kitchen extension clad in green aluminium panels was used by architecture studio DeDraft to update this home in east London.

Also overseeing the remodelling of the home's upper floors, the studio implemented large windows and skylights along with an internal window to allow light to permeate the interior.

Find out more about AR Residence ›

A House in East London, UK, by Charles Holland Architects

This colourful extension completed by Charles Holland Architects features a trio of aligned, circular windows that connect the ground-floor spaces.

Creating "unexpected views between rooms", these internal openings form a series of interconnected interior spaces, as opposed to a large open-plan layout.

Find out more about A House in East London ›

Fruit Box, UK, by Nimtim Architects

Also completed by Nimtim Architects is an extension added to a 1970s townhouse in Forest Hill, London, which is divided by adaptable partitions.

These plywood partitions are designed to be filled in for increased privacy between spaces, but are also non-structural to allow for easy removal to maximise interior space if needed.

Find out more about Fruit Box ›

House in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic, by Byró Architekti

Byró Architekti restored and renovated this 19th-century house in Kutná Hora using colourful joinery and playful openings.

Aiming to improve the connection between the home's spaces, internal windows and glass-block walls were added to each level of the centralised spiral staircase.

Find out more about House in Kutná Hora ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring creative guest rooms that accommodate visitors in style, home interiors brightened with colourful window frames and hotel interiors characterised by eclectic designs.

The post Eight homes where internal windows and partitions maximise light appeared first on Dezeen.

Working on a kitchen as part of a construction or renovation project but not sure where to start? Here are 10 kitchen design ideas taken from Dezeen's archive of lookbooks, featuring tips for colour, materials and layout.

Since 2020, Dezeen has published more than 300 lookbooks providing visual inspiration for all kinds of interiors based on the stories we publish.

Below, we organise 10 recent lookbooks into a useful guide that captures several of the key contemporary trends in kitchen design.

Read on for 10 ideas and tips for designing a standout kitchen:

Clad it in wood

If you want to avoid the kitchen feeling sterile, wood is a reliable way to introduce a sense of cosiness and homeliness.

Our lookbook on kitchens with wooden panelling and cabinetry features examples that use birch plywood, pale oak, salvaged cypress and pine – each providing a different level of warmth.

Pictured is Curve Appeal, a 1920s house in London renovated by Nimtim Architects that combines wood with decorative arches.

See more wood-clad kitchens ›

Make it pink

While it's not to everyone's taste, pink always adds personality to functional spaces.

Dezeen's pink kitchens lookbook highlights various approaches to using the colour, from splashing rosy shades across all surfaces to more restrained pops on tiles and cupboards.

Pictured is House and the River in northern Lithuania, where Vilnius-based studio After Party punctuated the monochrome cooking area with a salmon-coloured kitchen island topped in complementary terrazzo.

See more pink kitchens ›

Build a breakfast nook

If you have space to play with, squeezing in a casual nook for eating breakfast in can give the kitchen some coffee-shop charm.

As our breakfast nooks lookbook demonstrates, they are usually tucked into a corner with banquette seating – though the concept can be adapted to work in a range of setups depending on room layout and size.

Pictured is Budge Over Dover in Sydney by interior design studio YSG.

See more kitchens with breakfast nooks ›

Use metal

If cosy isn't the desired look, metal is an alternative material choice that affords a chic industrial feel.

Gleaming stainless steel is tried-and-tested, but our collection of metal kitchens also features units made from black iron and weathered reclaimed sheets.

In the project pictured, Berlin architecture studio Baumhauer chose to juxtapose a Swiss farmhouse's vaulted ceiling with the clean, modern lines of a steel L-shaped kitchen with built-in appliances.

See more metal kitchens ›

Fit floor-to-ceiling cabinets

Often employed to complement a minimalist aesthetic, floor-to-ceiling cabinets can represent an effective way to maximise storage space and reduce clutter in the kitchen.

Our lookbook collects eight elegant examples in kitchens of various sizes.

Pictured is a residential extension in Dublin by Scullion Architects, where tall oak-panelled cupboards conceal appliances and a pantry.

See more kitchens with floor-to-ceiling cabinets ›

Include a waterfall-edged island

Kitchen islands have become a staple of contemporary interior architecture – but the most sophisticated examples tend to a feature a surface that flows seamlessly from the countertop to the floor.

Dezeen selected eight kitchen islands where waterfall edges create an impactful yet sleek focal point for the room.

The image above shows Botaniczna Apartment, where Agnieszka Owsiany Studio formed a kitchen island out of travertine draped over oak cupboards.

See more kitchens with waterfall-edged islands ›

Embrace constrast

Don't be afraid to combine clashing materials to create a kitchen that really makes a statement.

We collected eight rich-palette kitchens that juxtapose the rough with the smooth, the glossy with the grainy and the warm with the cool.

Pictured is the pistachio-green units and red marble surfaces of the kitchen in a Melbourne apartment designed by architect Murray Barker and artist Esther Stewart.

See more kitchens with colour and texture contrasts ›

Combine wood and stone

For a less ambitious but no less effective material combination, the natural textures of wood and stone are a practical and pleasing partnership.

Dezeen put together a lookbook showing various ways to pair wooden units with stone surfaces, from demure limestone to dramatic marble.

Shown above is Architecture for London's kitchen extension to an Edwardian house in Muswell Hill.

See more kitchens that combine wood and stone ›

Tile the worktops

Tiles are a staple of many kitchens – particularly for splashbacks and flooring – but some designers go further and use them to add personality to surfaces.

Our lookbook of kitchens with tiled worktops explores how the technique can create an eye-catching focal point or be more utilitarian.

Pictured is a kitchen island covered in glossy oxblood-coloured tiles in an East Village apartment designed by GRT Architects.

See more kitchens with tiled worktops ›

Add a touch of terracotta

Rusty-shaded terracotta can be a handy tool for making the kitchen a more welcoming environment with a touch of Mediterranean warmth.

In our lookbook on kitchens with terracotta tiling, we collect projects that use the earthenware material to create pleasingly textured floors and walls.

At Hygge Studio in São Paulo, designed by Melina Romano, terracotta flooring teams up with tan brick walls to soften monochrome kitchen units.

See more kitchens with terracotta tiling ›

Dezeen's lookbooks series provides visual inspiration from our archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring light-filled kitchens, kitchens with minimalist storage solutions and Scandinavian-style kitchens.

The post Ten kitchen design ideas from Dezeen appeared first on Dezeen.

Including a skinny house in Japan, a home in Canada that is deliberately unfinished and a lonely cottage in the Outer Hebrides, here are Dezeen's houses of the month for April.

Also featured are a villa in suburban London and a two-in-one holiday home on the Finnish coast.

Read on to find out more about the most-read houses on Dezeen this month:

Unfinished House, Canada, by Workshop Architecture Inc

The most popular house featured on Dezeen this month is a prefabricated home in Ontario by Toronto studio Workshop Architecture Inc.

Inside, the house has been left incomplete with an exposed structure – which the architects said was the result of "an aesthetic attitude, an approach to material reduction, and budget restraint".

Find out more about Unfinished House ›

Caochan na Creige, Scotland, by Izat Arundell

The modest Caochan na Creige sits on the eastern coast of Scotland's Outer Hebrides.

To help the home blend in with the dramatic landscape, architecture studio Izat Arundell used a timber-frame structure and thick blocks of local stone.

Find out more about Caochan na Creige ›

2700, Japan, by IGArchitects

Physically constrained Japanese houses are a perennial favourite on Dezeen, so it's unsurprising that this home in Saitama, which is just 2.7 metres wide, made the top five most-read for April.

Local studio IGArchitects arranged a series of layered living spaces over two stories, with exposed concrete featuring prominently inside and out.

Find out more about 2700 ›

Kingston Villa, UK, by Fletcher Crane Architects

Kingston Villa was conceived by UK studio Fletcher Crane Architects as a contemporary evolution of the typical suburban architecture in south-west London.

It has a simple, gabled form with a bronzed metal canopy above its entrance and pale textured brickwork on the facade, in a style that the architects described as "heavy, yet quiet".

Find out more about Kingston Villa ›

Two Sisters, Finland, by MNY Arkitekter

Finnish studio MNY Arkitekter designed this timber holiday home in Salo to enable two sisters to live together but in separate units.

Two standalone blocks are joined by a central terrace and have large windows at the western end looking out towards the sea.

Find out more about Two Sisters ›

The post Dezeen's top five houses of April 2024 appeared first on Dezeen.

Searches for the term "interlocking architecture" have recently experienced a near twenty-nine-fold increase on Pinterest. We've rounded up seven of the best examples from across Dezeen.

From cantilevers in Dubai to high-rises in Ecuador, this roundup showcases the diverse and innovative applications of interlocking architecture across the globe.

Studios in this roundup including Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and SAANA used concrete and rammed earth to create dynamic projects.

Scroll down to see eight projects from our interlocking architecture board on Pinterest.

EPIQ, Ecuador, by BIG

The EPIQ tower, a collaboration between Danish architecture studio BIG and Quito-based developers Uribe Schwarzkopf, features L-shaped stacked blocks that curve as they converge at the structure's centre.

The 24-storey tower in Ecuador has facades made of long bars of coloured concrete.

Find out more about EPIQ ›

The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia, by SANAA

Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning studio SANAA expanded the Art Gallery of New South Wales featuring a series of pavilions descending towards Sydney's harbour.

SANAA aimed for the new Sydney Modern building to complement its scenic surroundings situated prominently on a hillside overlooking Woolloomooloo Bay in Sydney Harbour.

Find out more about the Art Gallery of New South Wales ›

The Radio Tower and Hotel, United States, by MVRDV

Colourful and irregularly stacked volumes form the Radio Tower and Hotel in Manhattan, New York.

Designed in collaboration with Dutch architecture studio MVRDV and local firm Stonehill Taylor, the 23-storey tower contains a restaurant, shopping spaces and office spaces.

Find out more about The Radio Tower and Hotel ›

Deloitte Summit, Canada, by OSO

Tokyo-based architecture studio OSO designed Deloitte Summit, a skyscraper in Vancouver, Canada, which features stacked protruding boxes, reminiscent of Japanese lanterns.

The 24-story tower was built by stacking a series of steel-framed cubes on top of each other, resulting in an interlocking, sculptural effect.

Find out more about the Deloitte Summit ›

Interlocking flats, England, by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Wood-lined windows set into brick facades are featured in this mixed-use building in London's Southwark borough completed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.

The form of the building was designed to mirror the staggered arrangement of its internal spaces.

Find out more about these interlocking flats › 

One Za'abeel development, Dubai, by Nikken Sekkei

This year, Japanese studio Nikken Sekkei built the world's longest cantilever as part of the One Za'abeel development in Dubai.

The 67.5-meter structure is part of The Link, a horizontal structure suspended 100 meters above a six-lane highway.

Find out more about One Za'abeel ›

Living Art Pavilion, China, by Mozhao Architects

Mozhao Architects expanded a technology park in Shenzhen by incorporating a furniture shop and teahouse within a series of six concrete blocks.

In designing the pavilion, the architects found inspiration in the traditional housing style native to the Shajing area, known for its sloping roofs and courtyard spaces.

Find out more about the Living Art Pavilion ›

Follow Dezeen on Pinterest

Pinterest is one of Dezeen's fastest-growing social media networks with over 1.4 million followers and more than ten million monthly views. Follow our Pinterest to see the latest architecture, interiors and design projects – there are over four hundred boards to browse and pin from.

Two of our most popular boards in the last fortnight are installations and kitchens.

The post Seven interlocking buildings with parts that overlap or fit together appeared first on Dezeen.

An exhibition at Hamburg's MK&G museum examines the global water crisis and what architects and designers can do to help. Here, curator Jane Withers selects five highlights from the show and explains the stories behind them.

Water Pressure: Designing for the Future is the result of several years of research by Jane Withers Studio, which involved compiling a broad range of ideas on how to confront water scarcity from the fields of design, science and activism.

"The current water crisis is largely the result of mismanagement and overconsumption, so there is potential to rethink the systems," Withers told Dezeen. "A multidisciplinary approach is required and architecture and design are strong components within this."

The exhibition, on show at MK&G until 13 October, is organised around five themes: Water Stories, Bodily Waters, Invisible Water – Agriculture and Industry, Thirsty Cities, and Ecosystems – Land and Ocean.

Each theme explores water as a life force and a common medium that unites humans, plants, animals and the landscape.

"We take water for granted in every way and we need to rekindle our psychological, physiological and spiritual understanding of it," Withers said.

The projects on show range from the CloudFisher system, which harvests water from fog or clouds, to a proposal for low-cost floating schools by architecture studio NLÉ and a mural by Slovenian architect Marjetica Potrč calling for the recognition of water as a living being.

While some reflect on water's poetic and mythical associations, others offer more scientifically-led solutions to specific problems associated with water scarcity, human-induced climate change and water justice.

Withers said she hopes visitors to the exhibition will leave with a better understanding of water and the challenges we face, as well as recognising that there are things we can all do to help shape a different future.

"We need policy change but also individual changes of mindset and a new water consciousness," she added. "We're very keen that the exhibition is a starting point for conversations and for campaigning about water culture."

Below, Withers outlines five key projects featured in Water Pressure:

Time on the Lachlan River by Marjetica Potrč

"The first room in the exhibition is framed by two wonderful works by artist and activist Marjetica Potrč. The mural Time on The Lachlan River illustrates the campaign by Australia's Aboriginal Wijaduri people to prevent the enlargement of a damn that could have deprived the land downriver of water.

"On the other side, the visual essay The Rights of a River tells the story of a water referendum in Slovenia in 2021, when an overwhelming majority of people voted against a law that would have allowed private businesses to exploit the country's rivers for profit.

"This shift in thinking about rivers and how we view them not as objects to be exploited but as subjects with their own rights is fundamental to creating a more equitable water culture and sets the tone for the exhibition."

Makoko Floating System by NLÉ

"Architectural practice NLÉ has been researching the potential for floating architecture in African cities affected by rising sea levels for over a decade. Their prototype floating building was a low-cost school for the Makoko community in Lagos inspired by their vernacular floating structures.

"The Makoko School became something of a poster project for floating architecture through photographer Iwan Baan's alluring images of kids clambering over an ark-like wooden building. It could have stopped there but NLÉ has gone on to develop a scalable prefabricated floating building system for the development of waterfronts amid the challenges of climate resilience.

"The studio is currently working on a regeneration plan for the Makoko area based on this technology, and recently published the book African Water Cities that examines the potential for waterborne living in other African cities."

Death to the Flushing Toilet by The Dry Collective

"Death to the Flushing Toilet is a campaign by The Dry Collective that provokes a rethink of the waterborne sewage systems we take for granted. It's madness that wealthier regions of the world use vast quantities of freshwater to flush away human waste, while two billion people still lack basic sanitation.

"In urban areas, as much as 30 per cent of freshwater is used to flush toilets and often this is drinking quality water. The Dry Collective aims to persuade architects and designers to use alternative systems.

"Taking the traditional Finnish huussi – a composting dry toilet used in rural areas – as a model, they produced a film set in 2043 that imagines a global shift where water is no longer wasted on flushing and human waste is recycled as fertiliser. The technology for circular sanitation systems already exists so the real issue is overcoming prejudices and the 'yuck factor'."

Eden in Iraq

"Eden in Iraq is an incredibly inspiring project that has gotten off the ground against the odds in Iraq's Mesopotamian Marshes, where the discharge of untreated sewage has polluted the fragile marsh ecosystem and led to disease.

"The wetland garden is designed to use plants to clean the local community's wastewater. The garden's ornate symmetrical design takes inspiration from the embroidered wedding blankets of Marsh Arab tribes and their tradition of reed construction for buildings.

"The first construction phase, completed in 2023, demonstrates the potential for nature-based wastewater systems to work at a community level."

Re-imagine Water Flows by Ooze Architects

"Re-imagine Water Flows is a special commission for the Water Pressure exhibition using the MK&G Museum as a case study to understand the water challenges Hamburg faces and how the building's water ecosystem could be made more resilient.

"A mural by Ooze Architects shows two versions of the museum – one with its current situation marooned between massive roads and Hamburg's main railway station and the other illustrating how it could be transformed into a shady green oasis.

"In the studio's proposal, rainwater and wastewater are recycled to be reused for non-drinking water use inside the building, as well as for irrigating the landscape and recharging the Hamburg aquifer.

"The mural expands to show how Hamburg is threatened by drought and increased risk of flooding that could also affect the river Elbe watershed. It invites us to think about the importance of these common water flows linking countries and cities."

The top image is by Henning Rogge and the image of the Newlands municipal swimming pool in Cape Town is by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Water Pressure is on show at MK&G Hamburg from 15 March to 13 October 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest architecture and design events taking place around the world.

The post Jane Withers picks five projects that don't "take water for granted" from MK&G exhibition appeared first on Dezeen.

In this lookbook, we've collected eight guest rooms from China to Spain that provide visiting friends and family a space to call their own.

Guest accommodations come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Ranging from a sofa during our younger years to full-blown guesthouses later on, putting up friends and family is made better when we have a place to put them – no matter how small.

The houses and apartments below showcase the myriad ways an extra bedroom can be integrated into an interior, often doubling as an office, storage space or – in the case of a Beijing apartment – a place to enjoy some tea.

Read on below for fresh ideas on how to provide space for visitors.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring brightly-framed windows, tactile and organic living rooms and mezzanines that maximise usable space.

Weeties Factory home, Australia, by Spaceagency

A deep red carpet defines this guest room in a single-family Australian home, which consists of three consolidated apartments that once were part of a heritage-listed cereal factory.

The same red was carried into a curtain – which provides privacy from the living room below – and a corner chair, while built-in shelving sits at the entrance.

Find out more about Weeties Factory home ›

Barcelona apartment, Spain, by Eva Cotman

Guests sleep atop a platform in this Barcelona apartment, which also doubles as a storage area.

Croatian architect Eva Cotman sought to renovate the apartment to provide more open space. To optimize its functionality, she placed a bookshelf staircase in front of the guest bed.

Find out more about Barcelona apartment ›

Canal house, The Netherlands, by i29

To accommodate guests in this renovation of a canal house in Amsterdam, architecture studio i29 inserted a forest-green volume off the kitchen.

The guest suite also contains its own bathroom and access door to a garden, while a built-in bed and shelving provide rest and storage.

Find out more about Canal house ›

Beijing apartment, China, by Rooi

Plywood units were inserted into this 1950s Beijing apartment to organize and provide more space in its tight interior, which was created during an influx of people moving to urban areas when apartments were often compact.

A linear volume inserted along the kitchen and dining room can be used for storage, as a tea-drinking room, or as guest accommodations with a mattress placed on the floor. A bubble in the ceiling also provides a relaxing space for feline roommates.

Find out more about Beijing apartment ›

Rounded Loft, Czech Republic, by AI Architects

An attic in Prague was converted into a two-storey apartment, with living spaces, a kitchen and primary bedrooms located on the first floor and a guest suite located in a mezzanine.

In the mezzanine, a bed sits at the end of a long hall, while a bathroom sits adjacent to the stairs. A terrace in between the two spaces and skylights lining the roof provide a connection to the outdoors.

Find out more about Rounded Loft ›

False Bay Writer's Cabin, USA, by Olson Kundig

This cabin in Washington doubles as a study for its owners, as well as a bedroom for visiting guests when a bed is folded out of the wall.

The space is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass, which is protected by doors that fold up and enclose the entire cabin and fold down to create multiple porches.

Find out more about False Bay Writer's Cabin ›

Workhome-Playhome, The Netherlands, by Lagado Architects

The founders of Lagado Architects revamped their own Rotterdam apartment by inserting a bright blue staircase and colourful storage units.

An open loft-style room sits on the second floor. This has minimal furniture so that it can be quickly turned into an exercise room or used as guest accommodations for visitors.

Find out more about Workhome-Playhome ›

Madrid apartment, Spain, by Leticia Saá

A wash area sits outside a guest bedroom in this Madrid apartment to physically and visually separate the space from the remaining house.

The guest area, which sits directly in front of the primary bed, also faces an interior courtyard which separates both sleeping areas from the living room and kitchen.

Find out more about Madrid apartment ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring brightly-framed windows, tactile and organic living rooms and mezzanines that maximise usable space. 

The post Eight creative guest rooms that accommodate visitors in style appeared first on Dezeen.

Biodegradable stools and a dining table that discretely turns into a desk are among Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson's picks of the most progressive furniture launches at this year's Milan design week.

Furniture brands were launching new products and collections all over Milan, with some exhibiting at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair and others in showrooms and venues dotted around the city.

A few stood out for how they addressed sustainability challenges, with newly developed materials and innovative assembly methods resulting in products with a reduced carbon footprint.

Some addressed challenges relating to diversity within the design industry, while others explored how advances in technology are changing our relationships with objects.

Read on to discover 10 key examples:

A discretely height-adjustable table
Nastro by Daniel Rybakken for Alias

With remote working still the norm for many, Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken has devised a dining table that can be easily adjusted to instead function as a seated or standing desk.

Launched at the Salone del Mobile by Italian brand Alias, the Nastro table features a concealed belt-and-pulley mechanism that allows the surface to be raised or lowered by hand without any need for electricity.

A video posted on Instagram by Rybakken reveals how easy it is to adjust.

"At the lowest height, the table's unique features are not revealed at all, making it ideal for the home – from dining at the lowest height, to cooking food and drinks at medium height, to working with a laptop at the highest height," said the designer.

Biodegradable furniture in an array of colours
Alder by Patricia Urquiola for Mater

Danish brand Mater has become known for its patented material, Matek, which combines waste plastic with biomaterials such as sawdust and coffee bean shells.

The brand has now developed a biodegradable blend of this heat-pressed material, thanks to the use of a bioplastic made from sugarcane. Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola has turned this into a collection of tables and stools that come in colours including terracotta and sandy yellow.

"Biodegradable plastic, in this case sugar cane, is a rapidly renewable source that can be harvested 1-2 times a year," said Ketil Årdal, CEO of Mater.

"It naturally absorbs carbon dioxide while growing and can be decomposed by living organisms in the same way as wood or any other natural material."

Rugs that embrace female identity
Rude Collection by Faye Toogood for CC-Tapis

Of the many products that British designer Faye Toogood unveiled in Milan, the most provocative was a range of rugs she unveiled with Italian brand CC-Tapis in her Rude Arts Club exhibition.

Featuring abstract images of male and female body parts, alongside blood-red blobs, these multi-textural carpets celebrate sex and the human form from a female perspective.

Toogood told Dezeen that she wanted to celebrate female energy and womanhood in a way that is seldom seen in the design industry.

"It's a kind of expression of the human body – male, female, everyone – but also the sexual energy that is a big part of being human," she said.

Lamps containing an innovative LED strip
Superwire by Formafantasma for Flos

Italian lighting brand Flos has developed a new type of LED light source, a thin and flexible strip that emits warm and homogeneous light across lengths of up to one metre.

By encasing this strip inside hexagonal glass tubes, Italian design duo Formafantasma has produced a collection of lamps featuring flawless light stripes of different widths.

Andea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Formafantasma said the project "represents a change of pace in LED lighting".

"The filament obtained is, to all intents and purposes, a new light source with great potential which we will certainly use in the future," said the pair.

A stool referencing West African culture
Euclid Stool by Limbo Accra

At a time when diversity is still sorely lacking in the design industry, New York- and Ghana-based studio Limbo Accra brought a West African perspective to Milan as part of the Prada Frames symposium.

The polished and lacquered plywood Euclid Stool combines references to unfinished architecture with Euclidean geometry, exploring notions of what it means to be "in limbo". Limbo Accra is self-producing the stool in a limited edition.

"We are always searching, pushing forward towards the unknown and the unseen," said studio founders Dominique Petit-Frère and Emil Grip.

"The stool represents explorations that allow us to think about the realm of limbo in new ways and inspire us to continue searching."

Seating that explores a new approach to radical design
Morphologica by Misha Kahn for Meritalia

American artist Misha Kahn has pushed furniture manufacturing to the limit with this design for Meritalia, an Italian brand best known for producing the irreverent designs of figures such as Gaetano Pesce and Mario Bellini.

Exploring what it means to be radical today, Kahn developed a sofa and armchair combining an assortment of irregular bulbous shapes, all based on forms found inside the human body.

Kahn describes it as a "shocking coach", while Meritalia calls it "sexy more than playful".

Furniture produced with a fabric-first approach
Hana-arashi by Nendo for Paola Lenti

Leftover fabrics and offcuts from Paola Lenti's outdoor furniture products provided the starting point for this range of furniture designed by Japanese studio Nendo.

The project represents a departure for Nendo founder Oki Sato, who is more used to working with an object brief than experimenting with a recycled material.

The resulting collection is more colourful than Nendo's typically pared-back, monochromatic aesthetic. The recyclable polypropylene textiles are steam-bent to create objects with playful curves, colours and overlap details.

"We sandwiched the material in wax paper and then ironed it," Sato told Dezeen. "By controlling the pressure and heat, we noticed that it became a semi-solid fabric. That was the 'aha'-moment."

A sofa that nods to 1990s streetwear
Parka by Draga & Aurel for Poltrona Frau

While many designs in Milan this year paid tribute to the glamour and excess of the 1970s, Italian studio Draga & Aurel showed how furniture could lean into the casual-cool aesthetic of the 1990s.

Produced by Italian manufacturer Poltrona Frau, the sofa reinterprets the squishy padding and hooded shape of the ubiquitous jacket in soft cushion-like leather upholstery.

"The unusual elliptical shape of the backrest, which inclines to become an armrest and then a seamless seat, creates a concave or convex space that is both audacious and welcoming," said the brand.

An intuitive table lamp made from aluminium
Set Lamp by Jamie Wolfond for Muuto

There were many examples of aluminium products on show in Milan this year, as the material becomes increasingly popular as a more recycle-friendly alternative to plastic. One of the most well-resolved was a table lamp by emerging Toronto-based designer Jamie Wolfond, for Danish homeware brand Muuto.

Designed as a giant screw, the lamp effectively communicates how to adjust the height of its shade. You simply spin this circular element to move it up or down.

"I think you need recognisable elements to communicate with people in the same way that if you’re verbalising something to someone, you have to use language they can understand," said Wolfond.

Furniture stuffed with recycled plastic
ZA:ZA by Zaven for Zanotta

Italian brand Zanotta is one of many furniture producers exploring ways of manufacturing sofas without upholstery foam or glue, to make them more eco-friendly.

This solution, developed with Venetian studio Zaven, is instead formed of cushions that are stuffed with recycled polyester balls and strapped in place over a metal frame.

Following the launch of the initial ZA:ZA sofa in 2023, Zanotta has expanded the range with modular elements that allow for multiple configurations. A ZA:ZA bed was also introduced.

Milan Design Week took place from 16 to 21 April. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

The post Ten launches from Milan that explore the future of furniture design appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Courses: for our latest courses roundup, we've listed six architecture and design programmes taking place this summer available at institutions in the USA, UK, Germany and Italy.

The roundup includes summer schools, workshops and short courses to serve as a foundation for future university students. They are suitable for people of all ages and levels of expertise in the fields who want to practice architecture and design this summer.

Here are six summer programmes featured on Dezeen Courses:

Architecture Summer Programmes at Cornell University

The Architecture Summer Programmes at Cornell University prepare high school and college students for the study and practice of design.

Find out more about the course ›

BI Summer School at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences

The BI Summer School at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences allows students to discover new design solutions for socio-urban issues over a two-week course in the summer.

Find out more about the course ›

Architecture Summer School at Royal College of Art

The Architecture Summer School programme at Royal College of Art offers participants an insight into the university's teaching style, with a combined schedule of theory and practice.

Find out more about the course ›

"Reuse the Ruin" Summer Architecture Workshop at Reuse Italy

The Reuse the Ruin summer architecture workshop at Reuse Italy offers participants insights into architectural restoration through engaging sessions and practical tasks.

Find out more about the course ›

Summer Institute in Environmental Design at University of California, Berkeley

The Summer Institute in Environmental Design course at the University of California, Berkeley enables students and professionals to learn about architecture and its related fields.

Find out more about the course ›

Architecture Summer School at Immerse Education

The Immerse Education Architecture Summer School programme offers aspiring architects insight into the field through design studios and lectures.

Find out more about the course ›

Dezeen Courses

Dezeen Courses is a service from Dezeen that provides details of architecture, interiors and design courses around the world. Click here for more information.

The post Six summer programmes featured on Dezeen Courses appeared first on Dezeen.

Photographer Jamie McGregor Smith has spent the last five years capturing brutalist and modernist churches across Europe. Here, he picks his 12 favourites from his Sacred Modernity book.

With 139 photographs of 100 churches, McGregor Smith created the book to showcase the sculptural and unique forms of some of the churches built in the post-war period in countries including Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland and the UK.

Published by Hatje Cantz with essays by writers Jonathan Meades and Ivica Brnic, Sacred Modernity: The Holy Embrace of Modernist Architecture aims to bring attention to the unconventional buildings.

"Many are surprised to discover the thought-provoking nature of brutalist architecture and are drawn to its challenging and unconventional qualities," McGregor Smith told Dezeen.

"In essence, the experience of encountering brutalist churches often involves a transformation from scepticism to appreciation, as individuals are confronted with the unique beauty and architectural innovation that these structures represent."

McGregor Smith recalled that his work on the book began when he visited the brutalist Wotruba Church in Vienna, which sparked his interest in modernist church architecture. Since then, he has been driven to discover more churches like it.

"One of the driving forces behind my project was the realisation that many of these remarkable spaces were not fully appreciated within the architectural community and often remained unknown to their local populations," said McGregor Smith.

"I felt a sense of excitement and purpose in rediscovering these hidden gems that so freely express creativity," he continued. "These architectural marvels evoke within me a profound sense of awe and curiosity, thanks to the architects' masterful use of form and light."

The churches in Sacred Modernity have sculptural concrete forms that break away from the mould of conventional churches, which typically have a floor plan in the shape of a cross.

McGregor Smith claimed this was part of a trend after the second world war, which sought new styles separated from traditional architecture of the past.

"While traditional churches evoke a sense of familiarity and reverence through their classic designs, brutalist and modernist churches challenge these norms with their bold, austere and provocative aesthetic," he said.

"These architectural styles emerged in the post-war period as a rejection of the past's orthodoxy and a pursuit of a new social order free from associations with opulence, authority and war."

"In response to the reformed liturgy following the Second Vatican Council, church commissioners were granted unprecedented freedom to depart from traditional church typology," McGregor Smith continued.

"They eschewed nostalgic replication, resulting in spaces that excluded functional areas and symbols prevalent since medieval times, retaining only the essential elements of the altar, cross, and font."

He explained that while early modernist churches adopted familiar rectangular or cross shapes, they quickly evolved to incorporate different geometries such as squares, circles and octagons. Many relocated the positions of altars, which would usually be situated at the top of the cross-shaped church, to the centre of the building.

McGregor Smith also described that modernist and brutalist churches exhibited a move away from traditional forms of religious symbolism in decorative elements, and instead used the material and shape of the building to recall the same feelings.

"Traditional mediums of painting, craft, and sculpture, which once adorned medieval and baroque churches to elevate divine power and beauty, gave way to weightless abstract forms made possible by steel and reinforced concrete," he said.

"This departure from traditional symbolism shifted creative expression away from supernatural narratives of heaven and hell, embracing instead earthly qualities of materiality," McGregor Smith added.

"Sanctuaries assumed primordial cavern-like forms, reflecting the inherent qualities of earth and stone, while industrial and military architectural influences transformed church interiors into bunker-like shelters."

Below, McGregor Smith highlights 12 of his favourite churches from Sacred Modernity:

St Reinold Kirche in Düsseldorf, Germany, by Josef Lehmbrock (1957)

"This small unassuming church has an austere yet majestic beauty that defines how simple design and materials can create subtle elegance.

"Although narrow, the shuttered windows create depth and volume providing a calming soft light that hints at the vastness of space beyond its walls."

Santuario della Beata Vergine della Consolazione in San Marino, Italy, by Giovanni Michelucci (1967)

"Giovanni Michelucci has sculptured a splendidly creative and joyful interior that celebrates simultaneously the organic and supernatural.

"The form nods to the sanctuary cave and the symbolism of new life represented by the egg. The unreachable windows and walkways invite visitors' eyes to explore and contemplate mysteries."

St Mauritius Kirche in Munich, Germany, by Herbert Groethuysen (1967)

"Germany's post-war churches are often brutal and austere. Their designs reflect a rejection of the opulence and pride of the pre-war period and serve as a place of sanctuary and reflection.

"Stripped of their symbology and place in time, they are spaces to forget the horrors of history, war and shame and focus on the hope and light of the future."

St Paulus Kirche in Neuss-Weckhoven, Germany, by Fritz Schaller, Christian Schaller and Stefan Polónyil (1968)

"Here the concept of incarnation is integrated through the abstraction of organic forms and geometry as a sacred message. The omnipresent roof structure serves as a conduit, forging a connection between the celestial and physical realms.

"Working with his father, this was Christian Schaller's first commission after qualifying, and I had the pleasure of asking him personally for permission to include this image as the book cover."

Osterkirche in Oberwart, Austria, by Gunther Domenig and Eilfried Huth (1969)

"Perhaps the most radical church in Austria, the building shows all the signs of a culture excited and influenced by the science fiction of the day.

"It is at once ancient and futuristic, a medieval cavern furnished for the space age. This was an unexpected discovery early in the project – a beautifully serene sanctuary and a personal favourite."

St Matthäus Kirche in Düsseldorf, Germany, by Gottfried Böhm (1970)

"A lesser-known work of Gottfried Böhm's, this church's cavernous interior cascades above you, interspersed with interjections of sculpturing light.

"Symbols of industrial architecture, such as the rounded ovens, represent the Ruhr region's manufacturing heritage and of the furnaces that reside at the base of humanity."

Chiesa di San Nicolao della Flue in Milan, Italy, by Ignazio Gardella (1970)

"Like the skeleton of a whale or Christ's embodiment, the ribbed ceiling appears to hold the weight of the world above you.

"While the artwork and organ appear teleported from a previous century, the basilica's traditional frame is given a futurist interpretation using novel engineering."

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione in Rome, Italy, by Saverio Busiri Vici (1971)

"Perched high up amongst the alpine hills, the winding journey through Austria and Italy made the visit to this church evermore special.

"It was built as a memorial church to commemorate the loss of over 2,000 local people and their parish church, who were killed and swept away when a landslide breached the dam in the mountains above the town. The shape of the church emulates the curve of the damn wall, the flow of water and perhaps a stairway to heaven."

L'église Saint-Nicolas in Heremence, Switzerland, by Walter Maria Förderer (1971)

"Maria Förderer's chaotic and abstract expressionism illustrates an ethereal reality beyond our earthly experiences.

"The theological idea of the apathetic is considered here, where divinity cannot truly be considered with the known language or ideas of human existence."

Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Bristol, UK, by Ronald Weeks, Frederick Jennett and Antoni Poremba (1973)

"Perhaps the UK's finest example of modernist sacred architecture, Ronald Weeks has created an extraordinarily rich atmosphere in the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul, choosing form over liturgical function.

"Architecture critic Jonathan Meades described the church thus: 'The last of the [UK] mega-churches, Clifton Cathedral seems embarrassed by its function, but the building would rather be the national theatre. Its brute, board-marked concrete and jagged discords come straight off the Southbank.'"

Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche in Vienna, Austria, by Hannes Lintl (1975)

"Hannes Lintl adopts an overbearing mix of structural form and light design to reflect the power and omnipresence of the divine.

"This concrete 'bunker' offers visitors sanctuary and security, guiding visitors along a clear path towards spiritual enlightenment."

Kościół świętego Dominika in Warsaw, Poland by Władysław Pieńkowski (1994)

"Too recent to be described as post-war, this Polish church can rather be considered post-soviet. Church construction during the Russian occupation of Warsaw was almost entirely banned, influencing the flourishing of sacred architecture that followed independence.

"This church reminds one of the vaulted medieval churches of France and Britain, yet its geometry and tunnelling light give it a timeless energy."

The photography is by Jamie McGregor Smith.

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In this lookbook, we collect eight kitchens that contrast rough and smooth textures, glossy and grainy surfaces, and a variety of colours for an overall eye-catching interior.

The kitchens in this roundup exemplify how a combination of seemingly clashing materials can create a rich and interesting palette.

Some opted for contrasting a number of cool-toned colours with warmer hues, while others made a striking impact by setting colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel side-by-side, like greens with pink or red.

Here are eight kitchens with eye-catching material palettes made up of contrasting colours and textures.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring eclectic hotel interiors, organic modern living rooms and homes where continuous flooring creates a connection between indoors and outdoors.

Brunswick apartment, Australia, by Murray Barker and Esther Stewart

Architect Murray Barker and artist Esther Stewart opted for colours and materials in keeping with mid-century interiors when updating this 1960s apartment in Melbourne's Brunswick neighbourhood.

The duo reconfigured the apartment layout, creating an L-shaped kitchen with pistachio green units set against red Rosa Alicante marble on the tabletop, worktops and backsplash.

Find out more about the Brunswick apartment ›

St John Street, UK, by Emil Eve Architects

In its renovation of a London warehouse apartment, local studio Emil Eve Architects aimed to add warmth and colour to the interior without losing its industrial character.

In the kitchen, the glossy and colourful surfaces of the dark green wall tiles and bright yellow pendant lights contrast with the rough textures of the exposed concrete structure and brick walls.

Find out more about the St John Street ›

Lovers Walk, Ireland, by Kingston Lafferty Design

Dublin studio Kingston Lafferty Design also used a red-toned stone in this family home in Cork, Ireland.

The kitchen was overhauled with red tones in various mix-matched materials, including ruby-hued timber cabinets with bright red trims and veiny red quartzite used in the island, splashback and countertops.

This was contrasted with cool tones in the polished floor and steel-blue-painted ceiling.

Find out more about Lovers Walk ›

Locke am Platz, Switzerland, by Sella Concept

Smooth, red cabinets are set against a blue-green marble back and worktop in this kitchenette, which is located in a studio apartment in the Locke am Platz hotel in Zurich.

London design studio Sella Concept used vibrant colours and an assortment of different materials throughout the hotel interior, with the aim of "juxtaposing modernism with a classic theatrical flair".

Find out more about Locke am Platz ›

Paris apartment, France, by Hauvette & Madani

Green and pink tiles create a contrasting wall pattern in the kitchen of this Haussman-era Parisian apartment, which was revamped by local design studio Hauvette & Madani.

Light pink wall cabinets and a bright green stove complement the wall pattern behind them, while a sculptural wooden table adds to the eclectic selection of mixed and matched furniture throughout the home.

Find out more about the Paris apartment ›

Dumbo Loft, USA, by Crystal Sinclair Designs

This loft apartment in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighbourhood was renovated by interiors studio Crystal Sinclair Designs, which aimed to add European flair to the industrial space.

The studio offset the cool tones of the steely appliances and grey-veined arabascato marble with a wooden farmhouse-style island and deep-red qashqai rug.

Find out more about Dumbo Loft ›

Budge Over Dover, Australia, YSG

Paired-back hues in the terracotta brick flooring and Marmorino plaster walls provide the backdrop to a rich material palette in the Budge Over Dover house in Sydney, which was revamped by interior design studio YSG.

The studio used a combination of raw and polished finishes in the open-plan kitchen and living room, with black-stained timber cabinetry and a kitchen island composed of a Black Panther marble worktop set atop an aged brass base.

Find out more about Budge Over Dover ›

Jewellery Box, UK, by Michael Collins Architects

Jewellery Box is a two-storey extension to a terraced house in London by Michael Collins Architects, which is characterised by vibrant interiors concealed by a subdued exterior.

The kitchen features bright blue units that contrast with shiny gold backsplashes and slender handles on the tall cabinets.

Find out more about Jewellery Box ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring eclectic hotel interiors, organic modern living rooms and homes where continuous flooring creates a connection between indoors and outdoors.

The post Eight kitchens with striking material palettes of contrasting colours and textures appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Courses: interested in studying interior design? We've selected seven interior design courses available at institutions in the USA, UK and Australia.

The roundup includes short courses and certificates, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and welcomes potential students of all experience levels. They aim to develop participants' spatial planning skills and their eye for design.

Here are seven interior design courses featured on Dezeen Courses:

Bachelor of Interior Design – Commercial or Residential at Torrens University Australia

The Bachelor of Interior Design – Commercial or Residential course at Torrens University Australia provides students with industry-recognised qualifications and internship opportunities.

Find out more about the course ›

BA (Hons) in Interior Design at Istituto Marangoni

The BA (Hons) in Interior Design course at Istituto Marangoni equips students with real-world experience in developing responsible interior design solutions for the luxury market.

Find out more about the course ›

Residential Interior Design Certificate at Rhode Island School of Design

The Residential Interior Design Certificate course at Rhode Island School of Design prepares students to navigate all stages of residential interior design.

Find out more about the course ›

Interior Design MA at University of East London

The Interior Design MA programme at University of East London explores the role of design and the way in which it responds to cultural, social and environmental changes.

Find out more about the course ›

BA (Hons) Interior Design at KLC School of Design

The BA (Hons) Interior Design course at KLC School of Design provides students with the opportunities to get involved in professional interior design practice.

Find out more about the course ›

Introduction to Interior Design at New York School of Interior Design

The Introduction to Interior Design course at New York School of Interior Design teaches students the basics of interior design and introduces them to the profession.

Find out more about the course ›

Diploma in Architectural Interior Design at Inchbald School of Design

The Diploma in Architectural Interior Design course at Inchbald School of Design helps students hone a personal approach to design and equips them with advanced hand-drawing and digital skills.

Find out more about the course ›

Dezeen Courses

Dezeen Courses is a service from Dezeen that provides details of architecture, interiors and design courses around the world. Click here for more information.

The post Seven interior design courses featured on Dezeen Courses appeared first on Dezeen.

As Milan design week continues, we've selected six pop-up spaces where you can grab a bite to eat while admiring the latest design launches in the Italian capital.

Included in the roundup are restaurant spaces temporarily overhauled by design brands, a cosy dining room set in a Milanese palace and a hot dog pop-up by Swedish retailer IKEA.

See Dezeen Events Guide's guide to Milan design week 2024 for details of the hundreds of events, installations and exhibitions taking place across the city and follow Dezeen LIVE for updates and exclusive previews from the team throughout the event.

Caffè Populaire by DWA Design Studio and Lambert & Fils

Italian practice DWA Design Studio and Montreal-based lighting studio Lambert & Fils have returned to Milan for the third edition of Caffè Populaire, a showcase of the brand's latest designs with complimentary aperitivo and food art.

Taking place in the studio and garden of DWA Design Studio from 14 to 18 April, the practic launched its Unico collection of vessels alongside the Isle lighting series by Lambert & Fils.

Aiming to create an immersive experience for visitors, food-art studio Ananas Ananas and designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen have created a bright orange food bar for the pop-up.

Via Giulio e Corrado Venini 85, Milan

Bar Unikko by Marimekko & Apartamento

Finnish lifestyle brand Marimekko is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its Unikko print by turning the Bar Stoppani restaurant into a week-long pop-up space named Bar Unikko.

Created in collaboration with interiors publication Apartamento, large-scale prints of the iconic floral design will feature throughout the restaurant from 15 to 21 April, and visitors can purchase limited-edition Unikko espresso cups, coffee mugs and wooden trays.

Bar Stoppani, Via Antonio Stoppani 15, Milan

Hot Dog Extravaganza by IKEA

IKEA is offering visitors new takes on its classic hot dog dish, including plant-based, shrimp and ice cream hot dogs.

Served around long tables and picnic-style benches from 10am to 11pm local time, the retailer hopes it becomes a space where "strangers become friends".

Via Tortona 58, Milan

Time Travel by Nuova Group

Designed to provide "a "momentary Americana escape" from Milan, the Time Travel installation at the Via Stampa bistro was designed by California-based studio Nuova Group to take visitors back in time to 1971.

Nuova Group overhauled one of the main dining halls of the restaurant with an exhibition of limited-edition furniture and lighting, a dedicated Time Travel's bar and theatrical performances taking place from 13 to 21 April.

Via Stampa 8, Milan

Trattoria Altra Vista by Anotherview

Art collective Anotherview set out to create a "lived-in" space at Milan's Palazzo Litta for the Trattoria Altra Vista installation, created in collaboration with Italian designers Analogia Project, Andrea Zambelli, Benedetta Mori Ubaldini, Matteo Di Ciommo, Duilio Forte and Simone Fanciullacci.

Taking place from 15 to 21 April, the installation aims to combine design, art, cuisine and lifestyle with a bar, a long dining table and a series of digital windows set up in a room in the baroque palace.

The space will host three exclusive dinners during Milan design week and will be open to the public during the day with talks and presentations.

Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24, Milan

Sant Ambroeus takeover by Cabana

Italian lifestyle brand Cabana has launched its Toscana textile design in a coral hue for its takeover of the Sant Ambroeus restaurant.

The floral print has been added to the table cloths, napkins and curtains in the restaurant for the duration of Milan design week.

The restaurant's private dining room has also been permanently transformed by interior designer Ashley Hicks with colours and surfaces pulled from the Cabana magazine.

Sant Ambroeus, Corso Giacomo Matteotti 7, Milan

Milan design week 2024 takes place from 16 to 21 April 2023. See our Milan design week 2024 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

The post Six delectable food and drink pop-ups at this year's Milan design week appeared first on Dezeen.

For our latest lookbook, we've collected eight living rooms from Denmark to Japan that have been decorated in an organic modern style, featuring natural wood and stone details.

The deceptively simple organic modern style combines modernist interior designs with natural materials and earthy colours.

Plenty of wood, in the form of flooring, panelling and furniture give these interiors an organic feel. Designers have also chosen stone to create the same effect, with stone floors, tables and sofa bases adding an elegant and natural touch.

All of these living rooms also have discrete and neutral colour palettes, with hues of brown, beige, tan and various white and cream shades creating restful environments.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring floors that connect the indoors and outdoors and interiors with mezzanines.

Heatherhill Beach House, Denmark, by Norm Architects

Danish studio Norm Architects designed the cedar-clad Heatherhill Beach House to resemble a traditional barn, with a material palette that leans heavily on wood and brick.

In the ocean-facing living room, the studio combined a brick floor and wooden wall with modernist furniture, including the slender graphic Valerie Objects Hanging Lamp by design studio Muller Van Severen.

Find out more about Heatherhill Beach House ›

The Maker's Barn, UK, by Hutch Design

Originally a concrete pig shed, Hutch Design transformed The Maker's Barn into a holiday rental using "natural and honest" materials.

Its living, dining and kitchen area features a concrete fireplace, bulbous soft furniture and a shaggy beige rug in front of floor-to-ceiling windows that underline the house's connection to the landscape.

Find out more about The Maker's Barn ›

Tribeca loft, US, by Timothy Godbold

This Tribeca loft inside a former textile factory has a dramatic double-height living room surrounded by large windows. To make the room feel more intimate, interior designer Timothy Godbold added sheer curtains and softly rounded furniture.

A discrete colour palette of cream and beige hues is offset with plenty of green plants, while a central stone table and stone sofa base add a rustic touch.

Find out more about Tribeca loft ›

Palm Springs, UK, by Will Gamble Architects

Named for the California desert town, the Palm Springs extension in London draws on the area's specific type of modernism. This is exemplified by the use of natural materials and floor-to-ceiling glazing.

The sandy hues in the living room also nod to the arid Palm Springs surroundings, with a sage green sofa adding more colour to the interior.

Find out more about Palm Springs ›

835 High Street, Australia, by Carr

The interiors of this flat in Melbourne form a softer contrast to its gridded concrete facade. A rounded sofa with undulating shapes is juxtaposed against branch-like side tables and designer Hans J Wegner's classic Flag Halyard chair.

Textile accents in the form of a patterned rug and a fur throw also help make the room feel cosier.

Find out more about 835 High Street ›

Amity Street Residence, US, by Selma Akkari and Rawan Muqaddas

The living room of Amity Street Residence in Brooklyn, New York, houses a collection of sculptural furniture pieces that give it an art-gallery feel.

Here, designer Isamu Noguchi's Akari rice lamp with its bamboo stem matches a wooden chair and plinth and contrasts with a green marble table.

"A warm colour palette was deployed to unify the spaces by way of gentle oak floors, cream-hued walls that contrasted with dark stone, and stained-wood inset bookshelves," said designer Selma Akkari.

Find out more about Amity Street Residence ›

Azabu Hills Residence, Japan, by Karimoku Case

Azabu Hills Residence (above and main image) sits on a hilltop in Tokyo and was designed to have a "calm and serene atmosphere". Local zelkova wood was used for its custom-made furniture, including an ovoid coffee table.

A clever use of materials enhances the organic modern interior, with a glossy, lacquered brown vase standing out against the textured rug and sofa.

Find out more about Azabu Hills Residence ›

Can Santacilia, Spain, by OHLAB

New and old meet inside the Can Santacilia apartment building in Palma de Mallorca's old town, parts of which are from the 12th or 13th century.

In the living room of one of the flats, architecture studio OHLAB used geometric-shaped rattan furniture and a rug to bring a natural colour palette into the all-white room.

Find out more about Can Santacilia ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring floors that connect the indoors and outdoors and interiors with mezzanine.

The post Eight living rooms with tactile organic modern interiors appeared first on Dezeen.

An angular English home extension and a timber-clad Guatemalan retreat feature in our roundup of buildings with butterfly roofs.

Otherwise known as inverted-pitched roofs, the V-shaped structures take their name from the angled form of a butterfly's wings.

Architects and designers sometimes use butterfly roofs to help conceal a building within its setting, enhance interior light or collect rainwater. The characterful style is also used simply to add visual interest to an architectural project.

Here are eight buildings with butterfly roofs from the Dezeen archive.

Butterfly House, UK, by The DHaus Company

The inverted-pitched roof of this home extension mirrors the architecture of Butterfly House, the north London dwelling to which it is attached, which was updated by architecture studio The DHaus Company.

Angled bricks clad the facade, creating a repeated pattern that aims to emphasise the extension's V-shape.

Find out more about Butterfly House ›

Nanjing Wanjing Garden Chapel, China, by AZL Architects

Two corners that pitch sharply upwards and two that dip down characterise the roof of this chapel in Nanjing, China.

AZL Architects lined the angular church with vertical strips of timber that create a semi-transparent facade.

"The outer shell serves as a filter of the view outside, implying the start of a religious spatial experience," said the studio.

Find out more about Nanjing Wanjing Garden Chapel ›

Butterfly House, USA, by Feldman Architecture

US studio Feldman Architecture topped three pavilions with butterfly roofs to complete this expansive Californian house.

Surrounded by meadows, the home's design was informed by the owners' vision of butterflies fluttering around the landscape. As well as this "poetic gesture", the V-shaped roofs also open up views, shelter outdoor spaces and help with the harvesting of rainwater.

Find out more about Butterfly House ›

Home extension, UK, by Kenny Forrester

Architect Kenny Forrester chose an inverted-pitched roof for this north London home extension to offer an unusual alternative to more traditional flat or slanted profiles.

"It provides a dynamic roof inside as well as out," explained Forrester. "It also allows for a much larger volume internally and achieves a 3.6-metre ceiling height at its highest point."

Find out more about this home extension ›

Piaule, USA, by Garrison Architects

Piaule is a boutique hotel and spa in Upstate New York's Catskill Mountains, spread across prefabricated wooden cabins perched on stilts and a central lodge.

Garrison Architects designed the lodge with a swooping butterfly roof, as well as cedar cladding and floor-to-ceiling windows that offer panoramic views.

Find out more about Piaule ›

Butterfly House, UK, by Oliver Leech Architects

Oliver Leech Architects added an accessible home to the corner of a garden in Surrey.

A butterfly roof was chosen to ensure that the house was concealed when viewed at a distance but also to create volume and height on its interior. Blackened-wood cladding also helps it blend into the shadows of the nearby trees.

Find out more about Butterfly House ›

La Cabañita, Guatemala, by Paz Arquitectura

La Cabañita is a forest retreat on the outskirts of Guatemala City, expanded by local studio Paz Arquitectura.

Two additional volumes were added to the existing 1965 cabin. These structures feature V-shaped canopies that invert the form of the original building's gabled roof and provide the interior spaces with more light through high, operable clerestories positioned under the eaves.

Find out more about La Cabañita ›

Home extension, UK, by Pamphilon Architects

This larch-clad extension to a terraced east London house is defined by a butterfly roof, which follows the line of the existing dwelling.

Pamphilon Architects selected timber slats as cladding that will eventually weather grey over time and blend with the brick patio and window frames.

Find out more about this home extension ›

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Our latest lookbook explores homes where flooring details and materials help to create the impression that a living space extends out beyond a house's exterior walls.

A range of different techniques can be used to create the sense of a continuous floor surface.

The most obvious is to use the same flooring material, or one that looks very similar, for both interior and exterior spaces.

However, this isn't always necessary. By combining level thresholds with floor-to-ceiling glazing, it's also possible to create that sense of continuation by simply maintaining a consistent surface.

Here, we look at 10 examples that use one or more of these methods to create different effects, ranging from a forest home in Mexico's Valle de Bravo to a waterside villa in Denmark.

Many of these examples use continuous floor surfaces to connect a living room with a garden or patio, but some explore other rooms where the effect can be applied.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring chocolate-brown interiors and minimalist bathrooms.

Casa Mola, Mexico, by Estudio Atemporal

Mexico City-based Estudio Atemporal designed this house in a densely forested area of Valle de Bravo with the aim of allowing residents to live "more organically".

The large-format flooring tiles inside the house give way to brickwork paving outside, but sliding glass doors with level thresholds create a clean junction that allows the two spaces to feel connected.

Find out more about Casa Mola ›

The Saddlery, UK, by Studio Octopi

Terrazzo flooring features both inside and outside this extension to a Georgian house in southeast London, designed by architecture office Studio Octopi.

Sourced from British manufacturer Diespeker, this material is speckled with colours that complement the mint-green tone of the building's metal walls.

Find out more about The Saddlery ›

Dulwich House, UK, by Proctor & Shaw

Kitchen and terrace become a single space divided only by levels in this extension to a home in Dulwich, London, designed by architecture studio Proctor & Shaw.

Glass doors slide open on two sides – with one disappearing into a wall – to completely open up the building's corner. The sliding mechanism is set into a continuous porcelain tile floor surface, resulting in a flush threshold.

Find out more about Dulwich House ›

Maison Hercourt, France, Studio Guma

Minimal glazing plays a key role in connecting the kitchen of this renovated stone farmhouse in Normandy with an adjoining patio.

Designed by Paris-based Studio Guma, the renovation involved installing the kitchen in a space that previously functioned as a cart shed. Although the floor surface changes from concrete to stone from inside to outside, the slender-framed glass doors help the two surfaces to be read as one.

Find out more about Maison Hercourt ›

Fjord Boat House, Denmark, by Norm Architects

Copenhagen-based Norm Architects chose handmade ceramic bricks for the flooring of this vacation house, built on the edge of a fjord just outside the city.

They form stairs that lead down from the main house to a terrace, then continue inside to give the interior living spaces a casual, rustic feel. At the main entrance, the linearity of the brickwork pattern acts to draw the eye.

Find out more about Fjord Boat House ›

Ederlezi, Mexico, Práctica Arquitectura

Using the same flooring surface for both indoors and outdoors can become costly, but this low-cost infill house in Monterrey offers a clever solution.

Designed by locally based Práctica Arquitectura, the house features a stepped living space with an adjoining courtyard.

Most of the courtyard is landscaped, but the edges are lined with the same square saltillo tiles that provide interior flooring. This helps to extend the living space outdoors without requiring quite as many tiles.

Find out more about Ederlezi ›

The Maker's Barn, UK, by Hutch Design

Full-height glazing features in many of the rooms of this rural holiday rental on the outskirts of London, a former pig shed renovated by Hutch Design. This results in a strong connection with the surrounding patio.

The effect is particularly effective in the primary bedroom, which features a bath set into the floor. Here, it's possible to observe the clean line running between the end-grain timber flooring inside and the paving tiles outside.

Find out more about The Maker's Barn ›

Mossy Point, Australia, by Edition Office

Melbourne-based Edition Office selected very different surfaces for the shower room of this house in Mossy Point, New South Wales, but they appear to merge thanks to the use of frameless glazing.

A similar effect can be found throughout the house, but the contrast between the wooden decking and the blue tiles of this room is the most striking.

Find out more about Mossy Point ›

Shift House, Spain, by Nomo Studio

Roughly polished white concrete flooring unites both the interior and exterior of this house on the island of Menorca, designed by Barcelona-based Nomo Studio.

This creates a feeling of continuity from the building's entrance, located on the uppermost storey, all the way across to a balcony terrace on the opposite side of the main living room.

Find out more about Shift House ›

A Modern Oasis, UK, by Richard Parr Associates

The level thresholds of this house in Oxfordshire, England, create a visual connection between the polished concrete flooring inside and the paving tiles outside.

Architecture office Richard Parr Associates carefully matched the colours of these two surfaces so that they appear to be made of the same material.

Find out more about A Modern Oasis ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring chocolate-brown interiors and minimalist bathrooms.

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For our latest lookbook, we've rounded up eight home interiors that make clever use of mezzanines to optimise floorspace.

Mezzanines, which are used as an intermediate level between the lower floor and a ceiling, have the ability to increase gross internal floor area by capitalising on extra ceiling height.

These raised floors offer additional room to host a variety of spaces – including bedrooms, home offices and reading spaces, to name a few.

Ranging from compact apartment renovations to newly-built, split-level holiday homes, this diverse collection of home interiors showcases how mezzanines can be used as a creative solution to maximise floorspace and create dynamic home layouts.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms with peaceful interiors, compact garden studios with neat storage solutions and homes lit by central courtyards.

Hickson Residence, Canada, by Ménard Dworkind

Located on the south shore of Montreal, this 1980s house was renovated by local studio Ménard Dworkind and features rounded plaster details and a terracotta fireplace.

The studio added a sculptural mezzanine to the 520-square-meter home, which hosts the bedrooms, bathrooms and an office overlooking the double-height living room below.

Find out more about Hickson Residence ›

Dumbo Loft, USA, by Crystal Sinclair Designs 

Crystal Sinclair Designs renovated this loft apartment in Brooklyn to include a mezzanine hosting a book collection, as well as a bedroom accessed via a ladder.

The studio retained the space's existing industrial look but complemented it by adding wooden furniture and white and grey marble.

Find out more about Dumbo Loft ›

105JON, Spain, by Vallribera Arquitectes

This renovation of a narrow terraced house in Spain by Vallribera Arquitectes saw the studio add a mezzanine level to increase the home's limited floor area.

Defined by its blue-painted steel and chipwood construction, the mezzanine level offers space for two children's bedrooms, along with a bathroom and a small study.

Find out more about 105JON ›

Kerr, Australia, by SSdH

Housed in a former chocolate factory, Kerr is a warehouse apartment in Melbourne designed by local studio SSdH to include a split-level layout.

A mezzanine-style level wrapped by a white steel-mesh balustrade occupies the upper floor and contains an open-plan living space and kitchen.

Find out more about Kerr ›

Horno de Pan, Ecuador, by ERDC Arquitectos

ERDC Arquitectos and Taller General used brick and glass to construct this arched roof home in Quito that features an open mezzanine level.

Split across three levels, the lowest level offers living and kitchen areas, while an entry, bathroom, bedrooms and studio are provided on the upper floors.

Find out more about Horno de Pan ›

Ferguson, Scotland, by Duncan Blackmore, Lee Ivett and Simon Harlow

Brightly coloured walls decorate this tiny apartment in Glasgow designed by Duncan Blackmore, Lee Ivett and Simon Harlow, which contains no freestanding furniture.

To maximise floor and height space within the 25-square-metre home, a small mezzanine level hosts a sleeping space that is accessed via built-in wooden steps.

Find out more about Ferguson ›

House in Rua Direita de Francos, Portugal, by WeStudio and Made

Mezzanine levels feature throughout the living and bedroom spaces within this gabled, stone house in Porto designed by We Studio and Made.

A staircase in the kitchen space leads up to a study on a mezzanine level, while ladders in the bedrooms lead up to mezzanines situated above en-suite bathrooms or storage cupboards.

Find out more about House in Rua Direita de Francos ›

Casa Alférez, Mexico, by Ludwig Godefroy

Situated in a Mexican pine forest, this brutalist holiday home by Ludwig Godefroy is defined by concrete walls, built-in furniture and wooden floors.

Composed of five half-levels organised around double-height spaces, the home's compact arrangement was strategically designed to prioritise height over width.

Find out more about Casa Alférez ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms with peaceful interiors, compact garden studios with neat storage solutions and homes lit by central courtyards.

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To round off our Social Housing Revival series, we've put together a list of 50 architecture studios around the world that have made a name for themselves through their work on social housing.

For the past month, the Social Housing Revival has explored how we are again in an era when the best architects want to be designing social housing.

Below, Dezeen has put together a selection of architecture studios around the world that are currently at the forefront of the social housing resurgence with the help of experts in the field.

Not all studios listed work on social housing in the most traditional sense, but do equivalent types of housing based on their local contexts.

There are many more studios that also could have been included. If you are aware of others that deserve recognition for their work on social housing, please mention them in the comments section below.

Read on for the full list, in alphabetical order:

Adamo-Faiden, Argentina

Buenos Aires studio Adamo-Faiden was founded in 2005 by Sebastian Adamo and Marcelo Faiden.

The studio is among the leading proponents of Argentina's "fideicomiso" model, where architects deliver co-housing on behalf of a community without the involvement of a real-estate developer.

Find out more about Adamo-Faiden ›

Alexander Gorlin Architects, USA

Alexander Gorlin Architects specialises in designing residential buildings across the value spectrum, including a colourful affordable-housing project in The Bronx for people who previously experienced homelessness (pictured).

Studio founder Alexander Gorlin also is the co-editor of a recent book titled Housing the Nation: Social Equity, Architecture and the Future of Affordable Housing.

Find out more about Alexander Gorlin Architects ›

Archio, UK

Led by Kyle Buchanan and Mellis Haward, London studio Archio specialises in housing and public buildings known for collaborating closely with local communities.

In January, Haward spoke at the Barbican Centre's event titled "A Public Housing Manifesto".

Find out more about Archio ›

Atelier du Pont, France

Atelier du Pont is among a growing number of French architecture studios building a healthy portfolio of social-housing projects.

Examples include ZAC Ivry Confluences (pictured), a 61-home development in Ivry completed in 2016.

Find out more about Atelier du Pont ›

Atelier GOM, China

Established in Shanghai in 2002, Atelier GOM initially set out to capitalise on the meteoric rise of China's real-estate market in the noughties.

But increasingly it has sought to challenge the status quo of housing design in the country set by state-owned design companies, most notably at Longnan Garden estate, which was featured as a case study in our Social Housing Revival series.

Atelier Iwona Buczkowska, France

Polish-born French architect Iwona Buckowska was recently award the Jane Drew Prize for women in architecture, with the judges describing her as "a pioneer of timber construction and a fierce defender of the right to good housing".

Her studio, founded in 1980, has completed several social-housing projects including the Cité Pierre Sémard (pictured), the largest wooden residential complex in France.

Barrault Pressacco, France

Founded in 2009 by Thibaut Barrault and Cyril Pressacco, Barrault Pressacco has used social-housing projects as an opportunity to experiment with low-carbon materials.

It used hempcrete insulation in a block of 15 flats in Paris' 18th arrondissement (pictured), as well as limestone in a building on Rue Oberkampf.

BBOA, Argentina

Rosario-based firm BBOA, or Balparda Brunel Oficina de Arquitectura, has a string of projects in its back catalogue that seek to break away from the monotony of much Argentinian housing.

Examples include a development of pink-bricked apartments delivered with government funding in the town of Granadero Baigorria (pictured).

Find out more about BBOA ›

Berger+Parkkinen, Austria

Vienna is well known as one of the global capitals of social housing, and Berger+Parkkinen is among several architecture studios based in the city to take advantage.

Its social housing projects include Wientalterrassen (pictured), completed in 2022, and Seestadt Aspern Housing, which was featured as a Social Housing Revival case study.

Bio-architecture Formosana, Taiwan

Taiwan has recently embarked on one of the world's most ambitious social-housing programmes, as detailed in a story published for our Social Housing Revival series.

Taipei studio Bio-architecture Formosana has been heavily involved, delivering seven social-housing projects already with an eighth on the horizon.

Body Lawson Associates, USA

Nigerian-born architect Victor Body-Lawson, whose eponymous studio delivers projects across the US as well as in Africa, specialises in low-cost housing.

"Over the years of practising, I have come to realise that the best tool for empowering people is through affordable housing," he told Dezeen in a 2022 interview.

Find out more about Body Lawson Associates ›

Community Design Agency, India

Established with seed funding from the foundation of US architect Cliff Curry and archaeologist Delight Stone, Community Design Agency is a Mumbai-based architecture practice focused on delivering projects for those in greatest need.

It prioritises working closely with marginalised communities, such as at a government-funded project to deliver 298 homes in vibrant apartment blocks for people who previously lived in slum conditions in Ahmednagar (pictured).

Comunal Taller de Arquitectura, Mexico

Comunal Taller de Arquitectura spent years developing a prototype for rural social housing that Mexico's indigenous communities are able to build themselves using local available bamboo (pictured).

In 2018, its design was approved to receive federal subsidies Mexico's National Housing Commission, enabling it to be rolled out across the state of Puebla.

David Baker Architects, USA

Bay Area studio David Baker Architects is one of the most prominent designers of affordable housing on the American West Coast, and has distilled its philosophy into nine key principles.

Its projects include Tahanan (pictured), a modular block clad in weathering steel that provides supported housing to people who were previously homeless.

Find out more about David Baker Architects ›

De Architekten Cie, the Netherlands

The Netherlands is a European leader in social housing, with the tenure accounting for nearly a third of its overall housing stock.

Under the influence of former partner Frits van Dongen, De Architekten Cie gained a strong reputation for housing in the 1990s and 2000s. Its more recent projects include a vast 1,363-home complex in Seoul for the Korea Land and Housing Corporation.

Elemental, Chile

Chilean studio Elemental gained global recognition for its first project, Quinta Monroy, which completed in 2004 and delivered 93 low-cost houses for the people of Iquique.

Its founder, Alejandra Aravena, won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2016 and that year open-sourced many of the firm's designs for what it calls "incremental" housing, where governments fund the construction of a basic residential structure that residents can complete as they are able.

Find out more about Elemental ›

G8A Architects, Switzerland

G8A Architects was founded in Geneva in 2000 by Manuel Der Hagopian and Grégoire Du Pasquier, but has become an influential force in public housing in south-east Asia since opening an office in Hanoi in 2007.

It gained significant recognition in the region after its Punggol Waterway Terraces project (pictured), completed in 2015 for Singapore's Housing and Development Board, set a new bar for social cohesion and low-energy living in mass housing.

Gus Wüstemann Architects, Switzerland

Swiss architect Gus Wüstemann founded his studio in 1997, with offices in Zurich and Barcelona.

It is known for combining simple aesthetics with an ethically conscious approach, most notably at its brutalist Langgrütstrasse affordable-housing complex completed in 2020. Wüstemann also served as an advisor to Barcelona's housing-focused former mayor Ada Colau.

Find out more about Gus Wüstemann Architects ›

Hannunkari & Mäkipaja, Finland

Helsinki-based studio Hannunkari & Mäkipaja specialises in housing.

It has completed more than 70 residential apartment buildings, including projects for various Finnish city governments.

Henley Halebrown, UK

Established in 1995, Hackney-based Henley Halebrown has completed several notable housing projects, including London's first co-housing project in 2014.

In 2022, the studio won the Neave Brown Award for Housing for the red-brick 333 Kingsland Road (pictured).

Find out more about Henley Halebrown ›

Henriquez Partners Architects, Canada

Founded in 1969 by Richard Henriquez and now led by his son Gregory, mid-sized architecture studio Henriquez Partners maintains a strong focus on social justice.

It has delivered a string of social housing projects, including a landmark redevelopment of Vancouver's Woodwards department store and a major new co-op housing development.

IBAVI, Spain

Not an architecture studio but a public housing authority that employs in-house architects, the Balearic Social Housing Institute (IBAVI) earns a place on this list thanks to its experiments in sustainable social housing.

Its projects include a programme to build 250 dwellings in Mallorca from locally quarried stone and a pilot scheme that saw it use seagrass as an insulation material on Formentera, which was featured as a Social Housing Revival case study.

Jirau Arquitetura, Brazil

Founded in 2010, residential specialist Jirau Arquitetura is based in the Brazilian city of Caruaru.

Its distinctive colourful, small-scale social housing projects include Novo Jardim Townhouses, completed in 2016.

Karakusevic Carson Architects, UK

London studio Karakusevic Carson Architects has emerged as a leading voice in the calls for a UK social housing revival.

As well as multiple built projects it has undertaken extensive research on the topic, even publishing a guide for social landlords on retrofitting old stock.

Find out more about Karakusevic Carson Architects ›

Kennedy Nolan Architects, Australia

Founded in Melbourne in 1999, Kennedy Nolan Architects was established to deliver small residential projects but has since diversified, becoming a leading name in affordable-housing design in Australia.

Its projects include the playful, ochre-tinted block Leftfield, completed in 2023.

Find out more about Kennedy Nolan Architects ›

Kevin Daly Architects, USA

Founded in 1990 by Kevin Daly, Kevin Daly Architects has a presence on both US coasts. It has completed several low-rise housing projects, including a playful community housing scheme in Santa Monica.

The studio was recommended for this list by Sam Naylor, co-editor of the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies' recently published book, The State of Housing Design 2023.

Find out more about Kevin Daly Architects ›

Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, France

The highly decorated Lacaton & Vassal Architectes is one of France's best-known architecture studios, associated particularly with renovation projects.

In 2021, studio founders Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal were awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for their work on social housing, such as its generous revamp of three 1960s blocks in Grand Parc Bordeaux (pictured).

Find out more about Lacaton & Vassal Architectes ›

Lacol, Spain

Architecture collective Lacol has taken on a leading role in Barcelona's new wave of social housing delivered since 2015, with a particular focus on co-housing.

The group spoke to Dezeen about its projects as part of a profile on the Catalan city's housing movement.

Find out more about Lacol ›

LOHA, USA

Founded in 1994, Los Angeles firm Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects (LOHA) is among America's most prominent socially conscious architecture studios.

Its projects include supported housing in South LA with a sloping green roof (pictured). Studio founder, Irish-born architect Lorcan O'Herlihy, has also written about possible solutions to deliver more affordable housing in the US.

Find out more about LOHA ›

Mecanoo, the Netherlands

Prolific Dutch firm Mecanoo was founded in 1984 and is led by Francine Houben.

Among several high-profile projects it has designed plenty of housing in the Netherlands and beyond, including key-worker housing for University of Cambridge staff (pictured) and a recently completed scheme in Taiwan.

Find out more about Mecanoo ›

Mikhail Riches, UK

London studio Mikhail Riches shot to architectural fame after Goldsmith Street, its development of 105 Passivhaus council homes in Norwich, was awarded the Stirling Prize in 2019.

In a recent interview with Dezeen, studio co-founder Annalie Riches said she set out in her career to dispel the idea that architects "can't do housing".

Find out more about Mikhail Riches ›

Nerma Linsberger, Austria

Sarajevo-born architect Nerma Linsberger founded her eponymous studio in Vienna in 2010 and it has since emerged from a crowded field as one of the city's leading names in social-housing design, with a particular focus on sustainability.

Notable projects include the metallic B53 (pictured) and the award-winning M-Grund.

Odile + Guzy Architectes, France

Since being founded in 2009, Parisian studio Odile + Guzy Architectes has been particularly active in designing apartment blocks.

Its social-housing projects include a timber-clad scheme in Chalon-sur-Saône (pictured), an example of its increasing use of wood in architecture.

Find out more about Odile + Guzy Architectes ›

OJT, USA

Established in 2011, New Orleans studio Office of Jonathan Tate (OJT) specialises in affordable housing, particularly through its Starter Home programme.

It is known for playing with conventional housing types in its designs, such as at the Bastion Community development of veterans' homes (pictured), which adapted the single-family house vernacular of the area to foster greater social cohesion.

Find out more about OJT ›

ONV Arkitekter, Denmark

Recommended for inclusion on this list by the Danish Architecture Center (DAC), ONV Arkitekter has delivered nearly 1,300 affordable homes through its AlmenBolig + modular building system.

Developed in partnership with fellow Copenhagen studio JAJA Architects, the concept enables residents to customise their homes.

Paul Keogh Architects, Ireland

Paul Keogh Architects was founded in 1984. With Ireland seeking to increase its supply of social housing amid an acute housing-affordability crisis, the studio has been working on projects for councils across the country for two decades.

It recently completed Cornamona Court, a development of 61 homes for Dublin City Council and one of Ireland's largest council-housing projects.

Peter Barber Architects, UK

Peter Barber is possibly the most famous designer of council housing working in the UK today, winning the Soane Medal in 2022.

His London studio has delivered projects for multiple local authorities in the capital, including McGrath Road in Newham (pictured), which took the Neave Brown Award for Housing in 2021.

Find out more about Peter Barber Architects ›

RipollTizon, Spain

RipollTizon was established in 2002 by Pep Ripoll and Juan Miguel Tizón and has offices in Castellón and Palma de Mallorca.

It has designed several social-housing projects in the Balearic islands that look more like luxury holiday apartments, including a recently completed block in Ibiza decorated with colourful tiles.

Find out more about RipollTizon ›

Savage + Dodd Architects, South Africa

Johannesburg studio Savage + Dodd Architects has emerged as a leading designer of low-cost housing in South Africa over the past two decades, specialising particularly in the adaptive reuse of existing buildings.

Its recent Slava Village project, which transformed a former shopping centre into 50 homes, was featured as a Social Housing Revival case study.

Schored Projects, Australia

Schored Projects is an architecture studio specialising in social housing with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. Its projects include seven secure, affordable homes for women in the form of townhouses (pictured).

Studio director Sophie Dyring was featured in the recent 100 Women Architects in Practice book. She is also the co-author of a design guide for older women's housing.

Sergio Pascolo Architects, Italy

Sergio Pascolo Architects is based in Venice, but the studio has done extensive work on social housing in the German town of Göttingen.

It has completed several housing complexes in the area, using its Total Housing prefabricated building concept that prioritises fostering multi-generational communities.

Sergison Bates Architects, UK/Switzerland

Recommended for inclusion on this list by Claire Bennie, director of housing design consultancy Municipal, Sergison Bates Architects has presences in both London and Zurich.

The studio has a long track record of innovative housing in projects across Europe – from self-build housing in the UK completed in 1998 to the demure Nordbahnhof in Vienna (pictured).

Find out more about Sergison Bates Architects ›

Siven & Takala, Finland

Founded in 1983 and led by Kirsti Sivén and Asko Takala, Siven & Takala describes itself as placing particular emphasis on designing durable buildings.

It has contributed a large number of projects to Finland's housing landscape, including several schemes for older people.

Stefano Boeri Architetti, Italy

Italian architect Stefano Boeri and his eponymous studio are best known for their "vertical forests" – residential towers covered in trees.

In 2021, the studio completed the Trudo Vertical Forest in Eindoven (pictured), a 70-metre social-housing block bearing more than 10,000 plants.

Find out more about Stefano Boeri Architetti ›

Taller de Arquitectura X, Mexico

Taller de Arquitectura X is the studio of Alberto Kalach. In 2014 it developed a concept for low-rise, high-density social housing that could work in Mexican cities.

The design was picked up by a social-housing provider and realised in the city of Hermosillo, with 179 low-energy, single-family houses occupying a site that would typically only fit 90 dwellings.

Find out more about Taller de Arquitectura X ›

Trans_city, Austria

Trans_city is another Viennese studio with a strong track record of delivering social housing.

Founded by American architect Mark Gilbert and Austrian architect Christian Aulinger, its projects include Zwei+Plus, an estate of 140 intergenerational social homes completed in 2016 (pictured).

Urko Sanchez Architects, Kenya/Spain

Nairobi and Madrid-based Urko Sanchez Architects, founded by Spanish architect Urko Sanchez, has completed residential projects across Africa.

It received plaudits for its 2014 project for SOS Children's Villages International to provide housing for vulnerable children in Djibouti (pictured).

Find out more about Urko Sanchez Architects ›

Vandkunsten, Denmark

Also recommended by DAC, Copenhagen studio Vandkunsten has been designing high-density, low-rise social housing since the 1970s.

Its more recent projects include Social Housing on Lisbjerg Hill (pictured), an estate of 40 timber homes in Aarhus completed in 2018, and a research project aimed at creating the world's first fully circular social housing.

Find out more about Vandkunsten ›

WOHA, Singapore

Singapore has among the highest proportions of publicly-owned housing of any country in the world, though unusually, most of it is developed for ownership.

Established in 1994, WOHA is currently one of the most significant contributors to the programme, with projects including SkyVille @ Dawson, a 960-home estate topped by a public roof park, and Kampung Admiralty, which provides affordable housing for older people.

Find out more about WOHA ›

WUP Architektur, Austria

Finally, the fourth Viennese studio on the list is WUP Architektur. Founded in 2014 as a successor to Office Helmut Wimmer, it is among the most prolific contributors to the city's active social-housing scene.

Its projects include the recently completed Aspern H4, a colourful block of 74 apartments that all have large balconies and sliding walls to enable residents to change the floorplan of their homes.

Social Housing Revival

This article is part of Dezeen's Social Housing Revival series exploring the new wave of quality social housing being built around the world, and asking whether a return to social house-building at scale can help solve affordability issues and homelessness in our major cities.

The post Fifty architecture studios leading the social housing revival appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen's top five houses of the month for March include a timber and concrete residence that is "designed to be overlooked" and a copper-clad home in Colorado that creates "semi-reflections" of the landscape.

Also on the list is a converted pig shed, a low-lying white-and-black home informed by mid-century modernism and a dark-stained cedar dwelling that frames views of sloping terrain.

This is our latest roundup of the five most popular residences featured on Dezeen from the past month.

Read on for Dezeen's top five houses of March 2024:

House in the Fields, Belgium, by Stef Claes

This low-lying Belgian home by Geneva-based architect Stef Claes draws upon North American mid-century modernism and is encased by white-painted walls with black accents.

"The time I spent working in California on conversions and restorations of mid-century modern houses planted the seeds for the design of this home," Claes told Dezeen.

The home is organised around two linear wings bounded by large windows that follow the flatness of the landscape, with bedrooms on one side and communal spaces on the other.

Find out more about House in the Fields ›

The Maker's Barn, UK, by Hutch Design

This rural holiday home on the outskirts of London was originally a pig shed that has been converted by Hutch Design to create a dwelling informed by the local vernacular.

The Maker's Barn is organised around a single interconnected space that aims to maximise views of the landscape with floor-to-ceiling glazing, paired against a "natural and honest" material palette of rough plaster walls and timber.

Find out more about The Maker's Barn ›

Heatherhill Beach House, Denmark, by Norm Architects

This wooden holiday home on the Danish coast was designed by local studio Norm Architects as "a getaway from everyday life" that reinterprets a traditional barn typology.

The studio topped Heatherhill Beach House's gabled volumes with a sedum roof and wrapped the facade with cedar panels to gently weather over time.

"The colour and qualities of the cedar wood complement the raw nature in which the house is located," architect Sophie Bak told Dezeen. "Moreover, it's going to take on a silvery colour as it patinates – that is not only beautiful but also corresponding to the colours of the nearby ocean."

Find out more about Heatherhill Beach House ›

Longbranch, USA, by MW Works

Another coastal residence on the list is Longbranch in Washington State, designed by Seattle-based MW Works.

Positioned on a downward slope to connect each room to forest views, the studio said the rectilinear home is "designed to be overlooked".

Earthy-toned materials of dark-stained cedar, concrete and rough-sawn timber were selected to blend the volumes into the terrain.

Find out more about Longbranch ›

DNA Alpine, USA, by CCY Architects

In Colorado, CCY Architects designed a home that is clad in patinated copper panels tilted at different angles to create "semi-reflections" of the surroundings and disappear into the landscape.

"The siding's shifting pattern creates an interactive experience on the site – a dynamic camouflage in changing daylight, which will continue to patina with each passing season," explained CCY Architects associate Jenny Trumble.

"This DNA sequence, ever-present and unseen, underscores the subtleties of the landscape and the beauty of deferring to it."

Find out more about DNA Alpine ›

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In memoriam of the many chocolate eggs that will be consumed this Easter, our latest lookbook rounds up eight homes with tasteful cocoa-coloured interiors.

Chocolatey brown might be the unofficial colour of Easter as the biggest driver of chocolate sales – second only to Christmas.

But the rich, earthy hue is also proving increasingly popular among interior designers for its unique function as both a colour and a natural, able to bring a sense of warmth to otherwise minimalist spaces.

Below are eight mouth-watering examples to feast your eyes on, including a rammed-earth house in Brazil and the renovation of a Shigeru Ban loft conversion in New York.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms, breakfast nooks and compact garden studios with neat storage solutions.

Shadow House, Australia, by Grotto Studio

Almost all of the surfaces in this Perth cottage extension by Grotto Studio are lined in sumptuous brown timber, from the walls and floors in the bedroom to the entire bathroom counter.

"The choice of dark timber for the interior was motivated by a desire to create a rich, intimate and immersive atmosphere," studio founder Craig Nener told Dezeen.

"The dark tones add depth and character to the spaces, creating a warm and inviting ambience."

Find out more about Shadow House ›

Chuzhi house, India, by Wallmakers

Soil, waste and debris were used to form the spiralling walls of Chuzhi house in Shoolagiri, India, giving the interiors a rustic, earthy feeling.

To keep the focus on the architecture, the rooms themselves are finished in matching colours with reclaimed timber floors complemented by woven and wooden furniture.

Find out more about Chuzhi house ›

Colonia Condesa house, Mexico, by Chloé Mason Gray

Interior designer Chloé Mason Gray sought to embrace the lack of natural light in this bachelor pad in Mexico City's Condesa neighbourhood, shaded by large trees from the avenue outside.

Embracing the dark and moody atmosphere, the designer chose colours and textures that would make the spaces feel "masculine, rich, and interesting" including leather, linen and textured chocolate-brown plaster.

Find out more about Colonia Condesa house ›

Mayfair pied-à-terre, UK, by Child Studio

Adolf Loos's modernist Villa Muller informed the dining area in this London mews house, where mahogany joinery is backed by veiny dark red marble.

Soft light filters into the space from a glass-brick partition, blocking out the kitchen and rounding off the intimate atmosphere created by Child Studio.

Find out more about this Mayfair pied-à-terre ›

Highbury House, UK, by Daytrip

A more pared-back take on the theme comes in the form of this vintage 1970s Gilda sofa by Michel Ducaroy, composed of multiple segments reminiscent of a Chocolate Orange.

It serves as a focal point in the otherwise muted living room of London's Highbury House, paired with a blackened oak armchair by EBBA Architects founder Benni Allan and one of David Horan's delicate Paper lights.

Find out more about Highbury House ›

Casa em Cunha, Brazil, by Arquipélago Arquitetos

The rammed-earth construction of this house in Brazil's mountainous Cunha region is left exposed on the interior, creating an organic striped finish across the walls.

Matching brown finishes feature heavily throughout the rest of the home, where ceilings are covered in wooden slats while the bathroom is defined by coppery hardware and tiles the colour of bitter chocolate.

Find out more about Casa em Cunha ›

Casa Los Tigres, Mexico, by César Béjar Studio and Fernando Sánchez Zepeda

Dark wood panelling helps to hide doors and storage inside the Casa Los Tigres beach house on Mexico's Pacific Coast, designed by César Béjar Studio and Fernando Sánchez Zepeda.

It encircles the lower portion of the living spaces and develops the bedrooms almost entirely, paired with pale stone flooring and pared-back accessories to create a calm refuge.

Find out more about Casa Los Tigres ›

Tribeca loft renovation, USA, by Timothy Godbold

New York interior designer Timothy Godbold was responsible for renovating this loft in a historic Tribeca textile factory, originally converted by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban in 2019.

The former TV room now functions as a home office and bar, with a low-slung chestnut-brown sofa helping to warm up the otherwise neutral colour palette while wall reliefs informed by 1970s sci-fi spice up the walls.

Find out more about this Tribeca loft renovation ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms, breakfast nooks and compact garden studios with neat storage solutions.

The post Eight chocolate-brown interiors that look good enough to eat appeared first on Dezeen.

As spring begins in the northern hemisphere, Dezeen spotlights seven nest-shaped buildings from its archives. Stick around for projects including a tree-top hotel room and a horse-riding arena.

Stork Nest Farm, Czech Republic, by SGL Projekt

Constructed from a timber frame wrapped in large sticks, this dome in the Czech Republic was designed by SGL Projekt to look like an oversized stork nest.

It encloses a horse riding arena that forms part of a hotel and conference centre at a former farmstead and distillery. The design and name of Stork Nest Farm is a nod to storks that once lived in the roof of the distillery after it fell into disuse.

Find out more about Stork Nest Farm ›

The Bird's Nest, Sweden, by Inredningsgruppen

Created as one of the unique rooms at the Treehotel in northern Sweden, the Bird's Nest is a circular structure entirely covered in twigs that is reached by a retractable staircase.

"From the outside it appears as a big nest, only the scale separating it from other nests in the vicinity," said Swedish studio Inredningsgruppen.

Find out more about The Bird's Nest ›

Beijing National Stadium, China, by Herzog & de Meuron

Another project known as the Bird's Nest is the Beijing National Stadium, designed by Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron as the main venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The stadium's seating was wrapped in a steel lattice envelope, which gives the building its nickname.

Find out more about Beijing National Stadium ›

Dartmoor Treehouse, UK, by Jerry Tate Architects

This wooden treehouse in Devon by London-based Jerry Tate Architects was informed by a nest made by weaver birds.

The small pod-like form was created by the studio in collaboration with students as part of the Dartmoor Arts Project.

Find out more about Dartmoor Treehouse ›

Hotel Mar Adentro, Mexico by Taller Aragonés

Surrounded by shallow pools at the centre of a hotel development in Mexico, this inverted, nest-like structure encloses a private dining area.

The structure at the Hotel Mar Adentro was designed by Taller Aragonés.

Find out more about Hotel Mar Adentro ›

Edge Condition Pavilion, USA, by Synecdoche

Michigan architects Synecdoche stacked timber offcuts to construct this pavilion in Atlanta, Georgia, which it described as an "inhabitable nest". The timber is held together by gravity alone.

"The standardised one-inch thick wood edge and weight of the hardwood compress the stack into an inhabitable nest stabilised by its dimension and assembly," explained the studio.

Find out more about Edge Condition Pavilion ›

Baya Park offices meeting room, India, by Planet 3 Studios

Strips of pine wood form this woven structure, which Planet 3 Studios designed as a semi-enclosed meeting room for a property developer in Mumbai. It was informed by the nests of Baya weaver birds, after which the developer was named.

"Baya weaver birds make exquisitely complex nests and the brand name and identity borrow from iconographic imagery that is associated with the birds," said Planet 3 Studios. "Our key idea was to build a sculptural, dynamic, fluid form that evokes the Baya nest in an outscaled way."

Find out more about the Baya Park offices ›

The post Seven nest-shaped buildings wrapped in branches, twigs and pine appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Courses: we've rounded up six architecture and design courses for aspiring students looking to pursue studies at institutions in Europe.

Offered by schools based in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic, the courses in this roundup cover subjects such as architecture, industrial design and interior design.

Here are six Europe-based architecture and design courses listed on Dezeen Courses:

MA in Industrial Design at Zurich University of the Arts

The Master of Industrial Design course at Zurich University of the Arts encourages students to think about how design can make technology more relevant to society through a practice-led curriculum. 

Find out more about the course ›

BA Interior Design at Florence Institute of Design International

The BA Interior Design course at Florence Institute of Design International examines the principles of Italian design and invites students to explore how traditional processes can be used to address contemporary interior design challenges.

Find out more about the course ›

Bachelor Programme in Architecture at ARCHIP

Based in Prague, Czech Republic, the Bachelor Programme in Architecture at ARCHIP equips students with in-depth knowledge of the fields of architecture and urban design to successfully prepare them for an array of career paths.

Find out more about the course ›

Architecture and Creative Practices for the City and Landscape at University of Bologna

The Architecture and Creative Practices for the City and Landscape course at University of Bologna prepares students for careers in architecture through a studio-based multidisciplinary approach.

Find out more about the course ›

Masterstudio Industrial Design at Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW

The Masterstudio Industrial Design course at Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW in Switzerland helps students hone an individual approach to design that embraces environmental and social sustainability.

Find out more about the course ›

BI Summer School at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences

The BI Summer School at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences gives students the tools to investigate new design solutions for socio-urban issues over a two-week course in the summer.

Find out more about the course ›

Dezeen Courses

Dezeen Courses is a service from Dezeen that provides details of architecture, interiors and design courses around the world. Click here for more information.

The post Six Europe-based architecture and design courses listed on Dezeen Courses appeared first on Dezeen.

For our latest lookbook, we have collected eight minimalist bathrooms that combine tactile materials and organic details to create a relaxing and tranquil environment.

Next to the bedroom, the bathroom is often the place in the home that is reserved for relaxation and pampering. Keeping interiors here free of unnecessary clutter while adding organic materials such as wood and stone can help to create a tranquil feel.

Below, we've showcased minimalist bathrooms in eight homes from around the world from Mexico to Belgium that show creative and beautiful solutions for this important room.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, interiors with dramatic full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

Heatherhill Beach House, Denmark, by Norm Architects

This beach house on the Danish coast was created as "a getaway from everyday life in Copenhagen", according to its designers Norm Architects.

The home's two minimalist bathrooms were informed by Japanese traditions and feature simple wooden details and brick floors.

"The spaces are rather small and should still feel comfortable and spacious," architect Sophie Bak told Dezeen.

Find out more about Heatherhill Beach House ›

Sculptor's Apartment, Czech Republic, by Neuhäusl Hunal

Translucent glass panels were used throughout this apartment in Prague, designed by Czech architecture studio Neuhäusl Hunal as a workspace for a sculptor.

A centralised, curved bathroom features a walk-in shower that is raised on a small platform and clad in white ceramic tiles.

Find out more about Sculptor's Apartment ›

Cloister House, Australia, by MORQ

Architecture studio MORQ designed this rammed-concrete house in Perth, Australia, to surround a plant-filled courtyard.

The interiors also feature visible rammed concrete combined with red hardwood ceilings. In the bathroom, these materials create textural interest and are contrasted with steel fixtures and a wooden floor.

Find out more about Cloister House ›

Canyon House, UK, by Studio Hagen Hall

The minimalist bathroom in Canyon House was given a warm feel through the use of cork tiles, which clad both the floor and the bathtub.

Like the rest of the house, the interior was informed by 1970s California modernism. Pale lavender-coloured curtains and globe-shaped bathroom lamps add simple decorative touches to the space.

Find out more about Canyon House ›

Loma Residence, Mexico, by Esrawe Studio

Local firm Esrawe Studio wrapped the whole interior of this Mexico City apartment in an oak "skin" – save for the stone-clad bathroom.

Here, the all-stone walls and floor create a striking interior with their natural patterns, while an oval washbasin and built-in shower add interesting geometries.

Find out more about Loma Residence ›

Casolare Scarani, Italy, by Studio Andrew Trotter

This 19th-century school in Puglia, Italy, was turned into a home by architecture practice Studio Andrew Trotter, which aimed to "bring it back to life without destroying its essence".

In the bathroom, the studio kept the traditional stone flooring and added calming lime-plaster walls. Geometric glass lamps, a jute rug and a copper tap and soap holder give the minimalist bathroom a rustic touch.

Find out more about Casolare Scarani ›

Karper, Belgium, by Hé!

Clay plaster clads the walls of the bathroom in this Brussels home (above and main image) designed by Belgian studio Hé! While the colour palette was kept simple – held mostly in pale beige and white – plenty of green plants give the space life.

The apartment is located in a former industrial building on Karperstraat, to which the studio added a timber-framed rooftop extension.

Find out more about Karper ›

Nelson Terrace, UK, by Paolo Cossu Architects

This minimalist apartment in London, which local studio Paolo Cossu Architects designed "almost like a blank canvas", features an equally minimalist bathroom.

Here, a chunky white bathtub sits next to a geometric steel stool – a decorative piece that functions almost like an artwork in the pared-back space. A fabric shower curtain and wooded towel rack give the room a more organic feel.

Find out more about Nelson Terrace ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, interiors with dramatic full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

The post Eight minimalist bathrooms with peaceful pared-back interiors appeared first on Dezeen.

From cantilevered shelves to customisable pegboards, our latest lookbook rounds up eight examples of garden studios with storage designed to make the most of limited space.

Garden studios are becoming increasingly popular in homes around the world, prompted largely by the evergrowing trend of remote work.

Often slotted into small spaces, these structures typically have compact footprints and require efficient storage solutions to keep them clutter-free.

The examples in this lookbook demonstrate some of the ways storage can be suitably integrated within a garden studio, helping save valuable space within their small footprints.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

Cork Study, UK, by Surman Weston

Birch shelves and twin desks cantilever from the walls of Cork Study, which Surman Weston created in the narrow garden of a home in north London.

The set-up was designed to help maximise space within the compact studio, which measures just 13 square metres and was created as a workspace for a musician and a seamstress.

The two desks, complete with their own cubby holes, are broken by a long vertical window in the rear wall, illuminating the workspaces with natural light.

Find out more about Cork Study ›

Nightlight, New Zealand, by Fabric

Green storage boxes on wheels slot neatly below the workbench of this outbuilding in New Zealand, which occupies the future garden of a home being developed on the site.

There are also slender slats mounted to the wooden framework of the 10-square-metre structure, forming minimalist shelves from which tools can be hung.

Find out more about Nightlight ›

The Garden Studio, Canada, by Six Four Five A

The founder of architecture studio Six Four Five A built storage into the wooden shell of his tiny studio, which he created in the garden of his Toronto home.

Exposed vertical studs double as supports for shelves and a large standing desk made from birch plywood along one side, preventing cluttering up the 9.3-square-metre space.

Find out more about The Garden Studio ›

Writer's Cottage, Norway, by Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects

This cabin-like studio sits at the end of a garden in Oslo, where it acts as a compact and secluded workspace for the owner who is a writer.

Among its storage solutions is a plywood staircase that incorporates a shelving system beneath it, leading up to a mezzanine sleeping area that tucks beneath its pitched roof.

Find out more about Writer's Cottage ›

Writer's Shed, UK, by Surman Weston

Another project by Surman Weston on the list is the Writer's Shed, a shingle-clad garden studio designed as a writing retreat for an author.

Inside, a cluster of shelves has been built around the chimney of the wood-burning stove, which is used to heat the compact structure. While providing valuable storage space, they are also intended as "a centrepiece for the client to store his library of books", Surman Weston said.

Find out more about Writer's Shed ›

Terrazzo Studio, UK, by Sonn

In east London, architect Tim Robinson designed and built himself a little studio and workshop at the end of his garden.

The narrow workshop contains a line of storage units raised above the floor, alongside a large pegboard for storing tools. Next door in the studio space, a rear wall of cabinets incorporates a concealed fold-down bed, enabling the space to become a guest bedroom.

Find out more about Terrazzo Studio ›

My Room in the Garden, UK, by Boano Prišmontas

This modular pod is a prototype for a garden studio, developed by London studio Boano Prišmontas in response to an increase in people working from home prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Inside, the plywood structure can be fitted out with customisable elements including pegboards from which desks, shelves and storage can be hung.

"My Room in the Garden was created with comfort and customisability in mind," said the studio. "We wanted to allow people to be able to decide what their interior would look like or how much storage they would have, and we do that by creating a system of interchangeable elements."

Find out more about My Room in the Garden ›

Writer's Shed, Australia, by Matt Gibson

This deceptively spacious garden studio that architect Matt Gibson created in Melbourne is hidden behind ivy-covered walls.

An angular desk slots into one corner, with one side nestled below two generous high-level shelving units on the walls. Plywood was used across all of the surfaces, giving the interior a unified look that adds to the sense of spaciousness.

Find out more about Writer's Shed ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

The post Eight compact garden studios with neat storage solutions appeared first on Dezeen.

A warped metal extension, a bright-yellow entrance and a barn converted into a play house feature in this roundup of barn and farm conversions in the Northeast of the United States.

Ranging from Maine to Pennsylvania, the Northeast region of the United States features a bounty of farmland architecture with a vernacular reflecting its European roots.

Rooted in English, Dutch and German colonial styles, there are some variations, but the farmhouses, barns, and other structures in the region are characterised by clapboard or stone siding, small windows due to the scarcity of glass and steeply pitched roofs in the face of heavy snowfall.

Many architecture studios have been commissioned to restore, expand and update the ageing structures, keeping the original forms intact while adding novel materials and pops of colour as well as contemporary weather-proofing.

The eight farmland properties below have each received a contemporary upgrade with designers preserving or paying homage to the structures' origins, the oldest of which dates back to the late 1700s.

Read on for the full list.

Gallatin Passive House, New York, North River Architecture

North River Architecture created the Gallatin Passive House as an extension to an 18th-century farm in upstate New York, restoring and repurposing an on-site barn as a play space for the owner's children.

"The site design links the new house to a fully restored 18th-century Dutch barn, now repurposed for multi-use events, work, storage and most importantly, a weather-proof recreation area for the owner's three children," said North River Architecture.

Find out more about Gallatin Passive House ›

North Salem Farm House, New York, Worrell Yeung

Worrell Yeung updated this historic farmland property in New York by gutting and expanding an original dairy barn on the property and converting it into an L-shaped main house.

The designers also added a free-standing garage, studio, and spa shed each topped with a gabled roof as an homage to the vernacular architecture in the area.

Find out more about North Salem Farm House ›

Floating Farmhouse, New York, Tom Givone

Self-taught designer Tom Givone renovated this dilapidated farmhouse in upstate New York, adding a glass curtain wall in the kitchen and dining area, concrete floors and exposing the original wood beams.

"After a design and renovation process spanning four years, the 1820s manor home is now a study in contrasts: fully restored to its period grandeur while featuring purely modernist elements, including a curtain wall of skyscraper glass in the kitchen, and polished concrete and steel finishes," said Givone.

Find out more about Floating Farmhouse ›

Cork Haven, New York, Nate Dalesio

Architect Nate Dalesio updated this 1930s New York house for himself and his young family by reusing the existing foundation but replacing most of the visible structure.

Dalesio replaced aged timber framing, and floorboards, adding a tin roof and wooden plank siding with a host of contemporary materials, including cladding the exterior in corkboard to help insulate the building.

Find out more about Cork Haven ›

Twisted Farmhouse, Pennsylvania, Tom Givone

Tom Givone added a warped metal-clad addition to an 1850s Pennsylvania farmhouse, which was designed to appear to "point" across the street to an adjacent home where the owner grew up.

"I imagined this family bond as a physical force, like a gravitational field between the two homes, acting on the addition and 'pulling' it towards the original farmhouse across the street," said Givone.

Find out more about Twisted Farmhouse ›

Maine Farmhouse, Maine, Kaplan Thompson Architects

Kaplan Thompson Architects linked a traditional Maine farmhouse to a modern extension using a bright yellow volume, which serves as a new entrance.

An "energetic, sculptural" new living and sleeping wing was added to the main farmhouse, with a roof that wings outwards in contrast to its more formal gable roof.

Find out more about Maine Farmhouse ›

Connecticut Farmhouse, Connecticut, Hendricks Churchill

For this residence in Connecticut, the client desired a traditional home with contemporary features.

Hendricks Churchill partially demolished the originally low-lying bungalow on the site, leaving only the ground-floor framing and foundation, on which it built a "modern farmhouse" complete with a covered porch and gabled roof.

Find out more about Connecticut Farmhouse ›

Modern Barns, Massachusetts, Aamodt Plumb Architects

Aamodt Plumb Architects renovated a series of barns on this Massachusetts site, which were previously converted into single-family residences in the 1950s and updated again in the 1980s by visual artists Douglas Fitch and Ross Miller.

Among other contemporary updates, Aamodt Plumb Architects revealed the "simple forms" of the three original barns, added a new glass-enclosed entrance and affixed a cedar screen to the facade of the main building.

Find out more about Modern Barns ›

The post Eight barn and farmhouse conversions in the Northeastern United States appeared first on Dezeen.

In response to the growing interest among Pinterest users in earthy interiors, we have rounded up eleven refined rammed-earth projects from our Pinterest.

From ranch houses in Texas to tennis courts in Mexico, the projects included in this roundup demonstrate how the warm aesthetic of rammed earth can be used in different ways, proving natural hues to interiors and exteriors alike.

Scroll down to see eleven projects from our rammed-earth board on Pinterest.

Cabo Sports Complex, Mexico, by Taller Héctor Barroso

Mexican architecture studio Taller Héctor Barroso designed this sports complex located in Los Cabos, Mexico.

The 5,000-square-metre complex features walls made of rammed earth, to fit its terrain and wooden elements including beams and canopies, are made of weather-treated pine.

Find out more about the Cabo Sports Complex ›

Peninsula House, Australia, by Wood Marsh

Curving walls of charred timber and rammed earth form this home near Melbourne, Australia, designed by architecture practice Wood Marsh.

The home's design aims to mimic the curves of the nearby Bass Strait coastline and the twisting paths that lead to it.

Find out more about Peninsula House › 

House in Cunha, Brazil, by Arquipélago Arquitetos

House in Cunha sits on a concrete foundation and features walls made of rammed earth made from a mixture of earth, sand and clay.

Topped with a flat roof, the reddish earthen tone of this home was chosen to match the verdant surroundings.

Find out more about House in Cunha › 

Espacia Kaab, Mexico, by Di Frenna Arquitectos

Natural materials including stone, rammed earth, carrizo weaves and a traditional form of stucco were all used to create this home in the Mexican city of Comala.

Di Frenna Arquitectos designed the 400-square-meter home to accommodate existing plants and trees on site by incorporating courtyards and openings throughout the house.

Find out more about the Espacia Kaab ›

Casa Ballena, Mexico, by RIMA Design Group

Mexican architecture firm RIMA Design Group used rammed earth to create this arts centre in Los Cabos, Mexico.

The material was chosen by the local studio due to its ability to create microclimates that differ from the surrounding environment and its soundproofing properties.

Find out more about Casa Ballena ›

Bayalpata Hospital, Nepal, by Sharon Davis Design

Bayalpata Hospital in Nepal was built to replace an old clinic that was no longer able to serve the local community.

American architecture office Sharon Davis Design chose rammed earth to make the hospital complex because it is low-cost and utilises local materials.

Find out more about Bayalpata Hospital ›

Floating Cloud Township Villa, China, by More Design Office

Chinese architecture studio More Design Office transformed a series of traditional rammed-earth houses into a collection of guesthouses.

As well as modernising six existing buildings, the studio designed two additional concrete buildings which contain a bar and lounge space.

Find out more about Floating Cloud Township Villa ›

El Retiro, Ecuador, by Juan Alberto Andrade

Ecuadorian architect Juan Alberto Andrade extended a multifamily housing complex in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The addition contains a load-bearing, 30-centimetre-thick rammed earth wall that blends in with the original home and surrounding neighbourhood.

Find out more about El Retiro ›

Sanbaopeng Art Museum, China, by DL Atelier

Architecture studio DL Atelier used locally sourced clay-heavy earth to create this museum located on the outskirts of Jingdezhen.

Crafted to look like it's coming from the ground, the rammed earth was used to add texture and a "poetic atmosphere", according to the architects.

Find out more about Sanbaopeng Art Museum ›

Marfa Ranch, USA, by Lake Flato

Marfa Ranch is a home designed by American architecture studio Lake Flato located in Marfa, Texas.

To match the desert grasslands around the Texan ranch, the studio built walls using three million pounds of rammed earth.

Find out more about the Marfa Rach ›

Casa di Campo, Australia, Neil Architecture

Casa di Campo is a home in Australia that local studio Neil Architecture wrapped in a four-metre-high, rammed-earth wall.

The residence has a rough, grey exterior, which aims to fit in with the expansive surrounding farmland. Inside, the home the rammed earth was also exposed.

Find out more about Casa di Campo ›

Follow Dezeen on Pinterest

Pinterest is one of Dezeen's fastest-growing social media networks with over 1.4 million followers and more than ten million monthly views. Follow our Pinterest to see the latest architecture, interiors and design projects – there are over four hundred boards to browse and pin from.

Two of our most popular boards in the last fortnight are Chinese architecture and concrete.

The post Eleven rammed-earth buildings from around the world appeared first on Dezeen.

From a glitzy Parisian apartment to a converted garage in Buffalo, New York, our latest lookbook collects eight residential interiors where floor-to-ceiling curtains inject a theatrical feel.

Curtains aren't just for covering windows. A set of statement drapes can be an easy way to significantly change the mood of a room, particularly in apartment renovations.

The selection below features curtains in stage-like living rooms, rough-edged bedrooms and cosy working nooks.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring interiors with statement carpets, furry walls and colourful bedrooms.

Ready-made Home, Spain, by Azab

Duck-egg blue curtains help to create a flexible open-plan layout at this apartment in Bilbao that was overhauled by architecture studio Azab, running the length of the living-dining-kitchen area to conceal storage space and a bathroom.

"The curtains have theatrical and playful connotations and invites the inhabitant to perform with it, to change the space and to play with the mysteries, contradictions and paradoxes that privacy offers us beyond morality," said the studio.

Find out more about Ready-made Home ›

Ruckers Hill House, Australia, by Studio Bright

In this extension to an Edwardian family home in Melbourne, architecture practice Studio Bright raised the sitting room on a curved plinth, giving it a stage-like quality.

Enhancing the effect is a heavy green curtain hung from the ceiling, which can be drawn across to turn the space into an impromptu theatre for the children to play in.

Find out more about Ruckers Hill House ›

Avenue Montaigne apartment, France, by Uchronia

Sheer, rainbow-effect curtains cover the balconies of this opulent Haussman-era Parisian apartment, renovated by local studio Uchronia.

Even the walls echo the curtains' gradations of colour, while the brightly toned furnishings are designed to resemble pieces of jewellery.

Find out more about this apartment ›

Gas-holder apartment, UK, by Roksanda Ilincic

Fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic brought her proclivity for bold colours and shapes to this London penthouse inside a former Victorian gas holder.

Pale pink Kvadrat curtains over the full-height windows cast a rose-tinted hue over the rooms, where the colour palette is kept mostly neutral apart from some pops of bright yellow.

Find out more about this apartment ›

Big Space, Little Space, USA, by Davidson Rafailidis

Peeling paintwork, uneven concrete floors and distressed wooden beams lend a distinctly rough-and-ready feel to this home-slash-workspace in Buffalo created out of a garage conversion by design studio Davidson Rafailidis.

For the most part, the space is minimally furnished, apart from a set of high and wide drapes that introduce a luxurious twist.

Find out more about Big Space, Little Space ›

Landscape House, Japan, by FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects

Upon entering Landscape House in central Japan, designed by Japanese studio FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects, one is greeted by a lengthy corridor lined entirely on one side by a full-length silver curtain.

The fabric echoes a raw concrete feature wall on the opposite side of the corridor, as well as referencing the extensive use of metal throughout the building.

Find out more about Landscape House ›

Pops, Poland, by Furora Studio

Furora Studio wanted the design of this holiday apartment in Kraków to be slightly more outrageous than the standard residential interior.

A velvety, salmon-pink curtain dresses an entire wall in the open-plan kitchen and living room, adding to a plethora of sugary colours and rounded edges.

Find out more about Pops ›

Maison-Boutique Coloniale, Canada, by Michael Godmer and Mathieu Turgeon

Most of the spaces inside Maison-Boutique Coloniale in Montreal – renovated by designers Michael Godmer and Mathieu Turgeon as their own residence and studio – are pared-back and neutral.

But in an office space on the basement level, plush orange curtains line the walls, combined with dim pendant lighting and a black table arrangement by Muuto and &tradition for an intimate effect.

Find out more about Maison-Boutique Coloniale ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring interiors with statement carpets, furry walls and colourful bedrooms.

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As part of our Social Housing Revival series, Dezeen asked the creator of the new London Estates book to select the 10 most influential examples of modernist council housing built in the UK capital in the post-war period.

Balfron Tower and Dawson's Heights are among the estates featured in the book, which showcases social housing built in London during a major public construction boom in the decades following the second world war.

Photographer Thaddeus Zupančič, who produced the book, has a long-standing interest in housing estates, which increased when he moved to London.

"I was always interested in housing estates, first in my native Slovenia and then, on my travels around Europe, also in Vienna, Berlin and Paris," he told Dezeen.

"After I moved to London, I started discovering even more exciting council estates – mostly modernist, some brutalist, usually post-war," he added. "I find their vital contribution to the social and architectural fabric of the capital truly fascinating."

London Estates: Modernist Council Housing 1946-1981, described by publisher Fuel as "the most comprehensive photographic document of council housing schemes in the capital", features both famous and lesser-known housing estates all over London.

"Very early on the publishers, Fuel, and I decided that the book should cover the whole of the capital: all 32 boroughs and the City of London," Zupančič said.

"And we also decided that it should be a mix of the familiar – the Goldfingers and the Lubetkins – and the less-known housing schemes."

To capture the full view of the buildings, Zupančič often shot the estates from neighbouring buildings.

"I quite often seem to find a neighbouring building with a good vantage point: it's worth trying, really," he said.

Below, Zupančič discusses the 10 most influential post-war estates in London from his book:

Wells House, Spa Green Estate, by Tecton and Skinner & Lubetkin (1949)

"When exploring council housing in London it is impossible either to avoid or miss Berthold Lubetkin: his progressive use of concrete, intricate facades and extraordinary staircases in his various blocks remains breathtaking.

"My first encounter with his work, when I was much younger, was the Gorilla House and the Penguin Pool at London Zoo, but at that time I didn't understand how uncompromisingly modern the design was. I remembered the name, though.

"Lubetkin and his practice Tecton – together with Ove Arup as engineer – made everything look effortless. Their first foray into post-war council housing comprised two housing projects for Finsbury, a metropolitan borough now part of Islington, north London.

"The more famous of the two was the Spa Green Estate, consisting of three blocks with elaborately patterned exteriors. After the dissolution of Tecton in 1947, it was completed by the executive architects Skinner & Lubetkin."

Blackstone House, Churchill Gardens Estate, by Powell & Moya (1957)

"Council estates come in all sizes: large, medium and small. The Churchill Gardens Estate in Pimlico, central London, is my favourite large one. It was constructed over a period of 15 years from 1948, with the first phase completed in summer 1951 – Blackstone House is from phase 3.

"I like everything about it: that the 1946 competition for a 12-hectare (30-acre) site was won by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya aged 25 and 26 respectively; its convincing Bauhausian design features; and the beautiful landscape – though sadly I missed, by a few years, the stunning brutalist playground.

"On top of which it is properly maintained, and it is much loved by its nearly 6,000 residents."

Sulkin House, Greenways Estate, by Denys Lasdun (1958)

"Almost at the beginning of his career, Denys Lasdun joined Lubetkin's Tecton and soon after its dissolution he became a partner in the firm Fry, Drew, Drake & Lasdun.

"That's when he designed his ingenious, delightful cluster tower blocks – with subsidiary residential towers linked to a core containing stairs and lifts – for the irregular and restricted redevelopment sites in the borough of Bethnal Green in east London.

"There are two such towers on the Greenways Estate and the third, larger Keeling House, is nearby. I may add that my favourite building – and not just in London – is Lasdun's National Theatre (1963-76) on the south bank of the Thames."

Pauline House and Spring Walk, Chicksand Estate, by Paul Finch at the LCC Architect's Department (1963)

"Architects working for both the London County Council (LCC) and its successor, the Greater London Council (GLC), were not averse to recycling their most successful designs and dotting them around the capital: and yes, discovering the same or similar designs all over London has become a real hobby of mine.

"One of these was a brutalist brick-and-exposed-concrete tower originally designed by George Finch, then 28, in 1958 for the Chicksand Estate in Whitechapel, east London. There are at least nine other similar towers by the LCC and GLC elsewhere (three of them at the Tustin Estate in south London are now sadly reclad) and several imitations by other architects.

"Finch left the LCC for the borough of Lambeth in south London, where he designed nine towers – all spectacular – but what I really like about Pauline House and the houses on Spring Walk is how sensibly matched they are, both in size and design, and how they complement each other."

Glenkerry House, Carradale House, and Balfron Tower, Brownfield Estate, by Ernő Goldfinger (1968-75)

"Ernő Goldfinger designed two estates for the LCC and GLC: an extension to the Brownfield Estate with Balfron Tower in Poplar, east London; and the Cheltenham Estate with Trellick Tower in north Kensington in the west.

"Balfron Tower used to be my second-favourite building in London, and I spent many Saturday nights with friends who lived there. It was a truly magical place: strikingly sculptural, elegant, with a semi-freestanding service tower and, for my inner brutalist, fine bush-hammered concrete finishes.

"The recent renovation of Balfron Tower has been heavily criticised: but even more tellingly, not a single property in the redevelopment has been sold."

Fairchild House and Henry Wise House, Lillington Gardens Estate, by Darbourne & Darke (1967)

"The competition for the rebuilding of the Lillington Street area in Pimlico was held in 1961. It was won by John Darbourne, who formed a partnership with Geoffrey Darke to develop the scheme which subsequently changed the look of social housing.

"The initial phase of their Lillington Gardens Estate was constructed in 1964–68 and became the first low-rise, high-density council estate in the capital. It is wonderful.

"It adopted the red brick of one of London's finest Victorian churches, George Edmund Street's St James the Less, which is now in the centre of the estate; and it also launched dozens of imitations all over Britain, none as good as the original."

Dawson's Heights, by Kate Macintosh at the Southwark Department of Architecture and Planning (1972)

"There should be a book written about all the young architects who cut their teeth on council housing in London, among them the-then 28-year-old Kate Macintosh, who designed the most dramatic of all council schemes in Southwark, south London: the stunning Dawson's Heights Estate in Dulwich.

"When I started posting (almost) exclusively about council housing on my Instagram account @notreallyobsessive – on which the book is based – I quickly realised that the online sources are often unreliable and, occasionally, plain wrong.

"So, in my quest for accurate information I started visiting the Metropolitan Archive; local archives in various boroughs; and the library at the Royal Institute of British Architects. It was a brilliant experience.

"For instance: nowhere else apart from the Southwark Archives will you learn that the council, on 29 June 1966, among other things debated the foundations of the newly designed Dawson's Heights Estate and accepted the view of the consulting engineers WY Zinn & Associates that 'the proposed buildings can be safely constructed on large diameter cylinder pile foundations which will be founded below the clay slip strata, and this will be done after the drainage works have been completed'. I doubt councils debate such issues at all these days."

Central Hill Estate, Crystal Palace Hill, by Rosemary Stjernstedt at the Lambeth Directorate of Development Services (1967-75)

"Edward Hollamby was the eminent borough architect at Lambeth, south London. His vision was simply expressed: 'We all accept that we are not just dealing with housing as such. We are building a community.'

"The Central Hill Estate – the project architect of which was Rosemary Stjernstedt – is a perfect exemplar of high-density low-rise development; and its community is still fighting the threat of demolition from Lambeth Council.

"The view from Central Hill is stupendous – the whole of London is there in the palm of your hand – and perhaps this is the main reason for the threat: monetising the view and ignoring the consequences for the residents."

Dunboyne Road Estate, by Neave Brown at the Camden Architect's Department (1977)

"The most celebrated post-war borough architect in London was Sydney Cook, originally at Holborn and after 1965 in the new borough of Camden, north London.

"He recruited some of the best young talent, one of the finest being Neave Brown, who designed two of the most remarkable post-1965 council estates in London: the Dunboyne Road Estate (1971–7); and the monumental Rowley Way, part of the Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate (1972–9). The Dunboyne Road Estate is my favourite small council estate in London: it's sensitive, beautiful, perfect."

17a and 17b Longton Avenue, Sydenham, by Walter Segal's self-build group (1980)

"The houses built by Walter Segal's self-builders with the help of the Lewisham Architect's Department in south London – the first phase were schemes in Segal Close, Ormanton Road, Elstree Hill and Longton Avenue – might not look modernist, but their ethos certainly is.

"The self-builders, with little or no experience, had to fit the construction work in at evenings and weekends, obtaining most of the materials at local builders' merchants.

"The residents themselves named not one, but two, little streets after their guru of self-building: Walters Way and Segal Close. They are also very helpful with information about their homes and understandably proud of their great achievement."

The photography is by Thaddeus Zupančič.

Social Housing Revival

This article is part of Dezeen's Social Housing Revival series exploring the new wave of quality social housing being built around the world, and asking whether a return to social house-building at scale can help solve affordability issues and homelessness in our major cities.

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Dezeen Courses: we've rounded up five digital design courses that encourage students to introduce new technologies into their work and explore the latest developments in digital and virtual design.

Available at institutes based in the USA, UK and the United Arab Emirates, the courses in this roundup cover a variety of topics including digital design, digital art and virtual and augmented reality.

Here are five courses in digital design listed on Dezeen Courses:

Digital Design Course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The Digital Design short course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago offers students a broad foundation in an array of areas including digital design programmes such as Adobe Illustrator and subjects such as colour theory, graphic design and typography.

Find out more about the course ›

Present Futures: Virtual and Augmented Reality in Art at Royal College of Art with Acute Art

Present Futures: Virtual and Augmented Reality in Art is a three-day short course that focuses on the intersection of new technologies and contemporary art, organised by the Royal College of Art and Acute Art.

Find out more about the course ›

Applied Generative AI In Design at American University in Dubai

The Applied Generative AI In Design course at American University in Dubai helps students harness the latest AI tools and technology and learn how to apply them to the fields of architecture and interior design.

Find out more about the course ›

MA Digital Craft in Architecture at Oxford Brookes University

The MA Digital Craft in Architecture course at Oxford Brookes University combines traditional construction knowledge with contemporary digital technologies and provides students with hands-on experience in robotic manufacturing and mixed-reality making.

Find out more about the course ›

MA Fine Art: Digital at Central Saint Martins

The two-year MA Fine Art: Digital course at Central Saint Martins invites students to reimagine a range of traditional art media through the lens of the digital environment and create fresh artistic viewpoints.

Find out more about the course ›

Dezeen Courses

Dezeen Courses is a service from Dezeen that provides details of architecture, interiors and design courses around the world. Click here for more information.

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This lookbook compiles seven living spaces where swings show they have a place beyond children's playgrounds by providing a gleeful alternative to static seating.

Swings typically consist of a seat made from a flat piece of metal, plastic, wood or canvas, but can also be made from found materials such as tyres and sometimes feature a wraparound design for added safety.

This seat is then suspended by sturdy lengths of rope or chain from a frame, ceiling or tree.

Swings have been used for hundreds of years by cultures across the world for both leisure and ritual-related purposes, and are enjoyed by people of all ages, from children in play areas to older people who might have swinging benches in their gardens.

From basic playground swings transplanted into grown-up interiors to intricately crafted bench swing seats that look out over lush courtyards, read on to view a selection of interiors on Dezeen that feature suspended seating.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring interiors animated by indoor slides, living spaces featuring metal furniture and spaces with oversized windows.

Gujarat house, India, by Design ni Dukaan

A wooden swing seat covered in pillows is suspended from the concrete ceiling of this house in the Indian state of Gujarat.

The swing is situated in one of the house's covered walkways and was positioned to allow the sitter to enjoy views of its open-air courtyard.

Find out more about Gujarat house ›

Kenwood Lee House, UK, by Cousins & Cousins

A cantilevered floating stair anchors a swing inside the hallway of this house in north London by local studio Cousins & Cousins.

The wooden seat is suspended by softly frayed rope, creating a subtly rustic composition that compliments both the poured-concrete finish of the walls and the wood used on the ceiling, cabinets and front door.

Find out more about Kenwood Lee House ›

Karai, India, by Rain Studio

Local office Rain Studio hung a polished wooden swing seat overlooking a verdant courtyard in this house near the city of Chennai in southern India.

The seat is suspended from all four corners by ornately cast metal hooks and links, some of which feature animals such as elephants.

Find out more about Karai ›

Austin House, USA, by Melanie Raines

Rustic Californian barns provided reference points for this house in Austin, Texas, which features a lofty double-height living space complete with multiple seating options.

A metal-framed lounge chair flanked by integrated side tables is suspended from the ceiling's wooden rafters by two long lengths of rope, adding to the interior's whimsical atmosphere.

Find out more about Austin house ›

Thane apartment, India, by The Act of Quad

Rigid metal uprights, each threaded with a cobalt-blue sphere, tie this swing seat in with the rest of the apartment's blue-themed interior scheme, created by design studio Act of Quad.

The seat is softened by a slim cushioned pad and has been attached to the ceiling with metal hardware.

Find out more about Thane apartment ›

The Perch, USA, by Chadbourne + Doss

A pair of swings are strung up on the boundary between a covered entryway and a courtyard pond in this house in Seattle.

The seats themselves were made from sheets of walnut timber and intended to provide the sitter with the experience of floating above the water.

Find out more about The Perch ›

Parisian loft, France, by Isabelle Heilmann

Hooks, carabiners and thick, knotted ropes affix this swing to the tall ceilings of this Parisian apartment's living room.

The suspended seat slots in comfortably with the rest of the eclectically-chosen furniture, including a mid-century cantilevered chair and a slouchy, ribbed sofa.

Find out more about Parisian loft ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring interiors animated by indoor slides, living spaces featuring metal furniture and spaces with oversized windows.

The post Seven playful living spaces where swings provide dynamic seating appeared first on Dezeen.

For our latest lookbook, we've collected eight interiors enhanced by aesthetic lamps including a 19th-century house in Stockholm and a retro-futuristic clothing store in Hangzhou.

There is a growing trend for unusually sculptural and innovative lighting designs that don't just light up an interior but also function as a piece of art.

The examples below show characterful lamps used in commercial, hospitality and cultural interiors. But the same principle can also be applied to residential interiors for a similarly striking effect.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring inviting breakfast nooks, homes with central courtyards and tranquil interiors with oversized windows.

Filips Van Marnix House, Belgium, by Koen Van Guijze

Belgian designer Koen Van Guijze showcased his characterful lighting designs inside the centuries-old Filips Van Marnix house in Antwerp.

The exhibition included his ribbon-like Circuit lamp, above, which was on show in the main staircase where its modern, graphic shape contrasted against a marble statue.

Find out more about Filips Van Marnix house ›

Audrey boutique, China, by Liang Architecture Studio

The Audrey boutique in Hangzhou, China, has an industrial interior made from steel and micro cement. But large pyramidal lights add a striking futuristic touch to the austere surroundings.

The lighting fixtures, which appear to pierce through the ceiling, are made from acrylic and change their colours regularly to light up the space, which Liang Architecture Studio designed to have a retro-futuristic feel.

Find out more about Audrey boutique ›

Soft Serve lamp, Sweden, by Crème Atelier

Stockholm design studio Crème Atelier created its Soft Serve lamp, which was shortlisted in the lighting design category of the Dezeen Awards last year, to resemble "swirly ice cream".

"We were very intrigued by the creamy organic shapes of meringue and soft serve ice cream," co-founder Jacqueline Kessidis told Dezeen.

The 3D-printed lamp comes in a variety of sorbet colours and is made from a bioplastic made from recycled food packaging.

Find out more about the Soft Serve lamp ›

Wine and Eggs, US, by Adi Goodrich

Located in the Atwater Village neighbourhood of Los Angeles, the Wine and Eggs grocery has an interior that nods to Parisian cafes and Italian tobacconists and features multiple fun and colourful details, such as a blue-and-green checkerboard floor.

Custom-made lamps by designer Adi Goodrich reference the name of the store.

"At the beginning of the project I knew I wanted the lights to look like a sunny-side-up egg," Goodrich told Dezeen. "After designing some wiggly shapes, I landed at the stacked circle."

Find out more about Wine and Eggs ›

Bakers House, Sweden, by Färg & Blanche

A residence built in 1889, which belongs to the family of one of the Färg & Blanche founders, formed the background for this exhibition by the Swedish studio.

Among the pieces showcased were bulbous lights that appear to be bound in brass strips. These were scattered over the home's patterned parquet floors, creating a well-lit path up a winding staircase.

Find out more about Bakers House ›

Cafe Mollien, France, by Mathieu Lehanneur

The cafe of the Louvre museum in Paris was given a renovation by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, who decorated the interior with pink acrylic light fixtures.

The translucent lights create a modern contrast to the museum's historic halls and were designed by Lehanneur as "three large pale-pink eggs" floating in space.

Find out more about Cafe Mollien ›

The Sensory Society, Denmark, by Helle Mardahl

Bulbous glassware defines the work of Helle Mardahl, who started her career creating pastel-coloured glass objects.

Since then, the Danish designer has expanded into lighting design, creating candy-like aesthetic lamps that were first showcased during design festival 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen, where they lit up a warm red hallway.

Find out more about The Sensory Society ›

Knuckle light, Sweden, by David Taylor

Made by forcibly bending aluminium tubing, designer David Taylor's Knuckle light has an industrial frame that is juxtaposed with oversized round white lightbulbs.

"No two bends in the Knuckle series are alike," the designer said. "Coercing metal into a form that it is specifically designed to resist is challenging at best."

Find out more about Knuckle light ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring inviting breakfast nooks, homes with central courtyards and tranquil interiors with oversized windows.

The post Eight interiors illuminated by sculptural aesthetic lamps appeared first on Dezeen.

Today is International Women's Day and to celebrate, we've compiled a list of the 50 most influential women in architecture and design.

Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA

Having joined the Museum of Modern Art in 1994, Paola Antonelli is now the institution's senior curator and founding director of research and development.

A recipient of the London Design Medal in 2020, Antonelli is a thought leader on designing a better future for the planet, curating the Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival exhibition held at the 2019 Triennale Milano.

Find out more about Paola Antonelli ›

Amy Astley, global editorial director of Architectural Digest

Since 2016, Amy Astley has been global editorial director of Architectural Digest, having previously been the founding editor of Teen Vogue.

Under her leadership, the century-old luxury architecture and interiors magazine has grown an enormous online presence partly thanks to its profiles on celebrity homes, with close to 10 million Instagram followers and more than 6.5 million YouTube subscribers.

Deborah Berke, dean of the Yale School of Architecture

Deborah Berke is one of the most significant architecture educators working today. In 2016, she was appointed dean of the Yale School of Architecture, becoming the first woman to take the role having taught at the prestigious Ivy League university since 1988.

Her architecture studio, now called TenBerke, was founded in 1982, with projects including the Rockefeller Arts Center and the Cummins Indy Distribution Headquarters in Indianapolis.

Berke also holds positions at several design institutions, including sitting on the jury for the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In 2022, she earned the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for architectural education.

Find out more about Deborah Berke ›

Signe Byrdal Terenziani, managing director of 3 Days of Design

Signe Byrdal Terenziani is the founder and managing director of 3 Days of Design, an annual design festival held in Copenhagen that showcases both emerging and established designers across a range of disciplines.

The fair has grown dramatically since its beginnings in 2013, with a lineup of over 250 exhibitors on display for this year's upcoming edition, compared to an initial four.

"The programme, whilst highly curated, aims for diversity and balance to further the industry at large," said Terenziani in a statement celebrating the fair's 10-year anniversary in 2023.

Find out more about 3 Days of Design ›

Valentina Ciuffi, co-founder of Alcova and founder of Studio Vedèt

The co-founder of Milan design week flagship exhibition Alcova, Ciuffi has played a prominent role in discovering and supporting emerging designers in Italy.

The exhibition, which launched in 2018 and moves into different spaces each year, recently expanded internationally with a launch in Miami, giving Ciuffi more influence globally.

Ciuffi also founded visual design agency Studio Vedèt, which has curated shows including Metallic Wave at Nilufar Gallery, and was a Dezeen Awards judge in 2020.

Find out more about Alcova ›

Ilse Crawford, founder of Studioilse

British designer Ilse Crawford has been a significant presence in the interior-design world for decades, notably since founding the British edition of Elle Decoration in 1989, where she held the editor-in-chief title for 10 years.

A pioneering force behind linking design to people's quality of life, Crawford founded the Man and Well-Being department at Design Academy Eindhoven in 1999, which she ran for 21 years before stepping down.

In 2003 she started her own practice, Studioilse, which has designed interiors for Soho House and Aesop, as well as furniture for IKEA.

Find out more about Ilse Crawford ›

Llisa Demetrios, chief curator of the Eames Institute

The youngest granddaughter of mid-century designers Ray and Charles Eames, Llisa Demetrios has been the chief curator of the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity since 2018 – a non-profit organisation based on the Eames Ranch in California dedicated to educating the public through the Eames' work.

Demetrios has curated nine exhibitions for the institute and recently opened The Eames Archives in Richmond, California, which brings together much of its collection within a new headquarters and gallery space.

Alongside her curatorial work, Demetrios has also been a bronze sculptor for over 20 years, continuing her family's legacy as designers and makers.

Es Devlin, set designer

From Beyoncé's record-breaking Rennaisance world tour to U2's viral opening performance at the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, Es Devlin has had a hand in some of the most recognisable sets in the history of modern touring.

Since starting her career in theatre in the 1990s, the prolific set designer has continued to work across disciplines, staging everything from operas to Olympic ceremonies.

Find out more about Es Devlin ›

Elizabeth Diller, co-founder of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

American architect Elizabeth Diller co-founded Diller Scofidio + Renfro with her partner Ricardo Scofidio in 1981 and has since become a powerful force within design, architecture research and education.

Her firm's long list of projects include the provocative Blur Building in Switzerland and some of the most significant buildings in recent New York history, including the High Line, an 88-storey skyscraper at 15 Hudson Yards and The Shed in Manhattan, which features a retractable shell.

Diller is also a professor of architectural design at Princeton University. She received the 2022 Wolf Prize for architecture, the 2019 Royal Academy of Arts architecture prize and has been twice named on Time magazine's most-influential list.

Find out more about Elizabeth Diller ›

Kimberly Dowdell, AIA president and principal at HOK

Detroit-born architect Kimberly Dowdell is a principal at the international architecture studio HOK, where she serves as director of strategic relationships.

In 2022, Dowdell was elected the first Black woman to lead the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as president in 2024. Her platform for the year-long presidency includes a focus on climate change and navigating the architectural world through technological changes.

Previously, she was president of the National Organization of Minority Architects.

Find out more about the AIA ›

Li Edelkoort, trend forecaster

Dutch trend forecaster Li Edelkoort has been making cultural predictions since the 1980s – not least her accurate warnings about the impact of Covid-19 in early March 2020, first published on Dezeen ahead of global lockdowns.

After starting her career in fashion, Edelkoort has been a prominent trend forecaster since the age of 21 and has worked with global brands including Google, Nissan, Siemens and Accenture.

Recently, she spoke to Dezeen about her prediction that the emergence of robots and artificial intelligence will result in a resurgence of Arts and Crafts as people seek out their inner child.

Find out more about Li Edelkoort ›

Frida Escobedo, founder of Frida Escobedo, Taller de Arquitectura

Frida Escobedo is a Mexican architect recognised for designing with simple materials and forms in her eponymous architecture studio, which she founded in 2006.

She was the recipient of this year's Le Prix Charlotte Perriand annual prize, awarded to her by the Créateurs Design Association for "ushering in a new era of architecture".

In 2018, Escobedo became the youngest Serpentine Pavilion architect and the second solo woman to take on the project, following the inaugural commission by Zaha Hadid in 2000.

Find out more about Frida Escobedo ›

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, co-founders of Grafton Architects

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are Irish architects who founded Dublin-based studio Grafton Architects in 1978 and are among the most decorated figures in the profession today.

Grafton Architects won the inaugural RIBA International Prize in 2016 for a university building in Peru and a few months later, Farrell and McNamara were invited to curate the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, which they titled Freespace.

In 2020, the duo won the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, the first all-woman pair to do so, and were awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for their approach to building and conducting their studio. The following year, Grafton Architects won the 2021 RIBA Sterling Prize for Kingston University London – Town House.

Find out more about Grafton Architects ›

Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra 

Since becoming CEO of Swiss furniture brand Vitra in 2016, Nora Fehlbaum has led the company towards a focus on sustainability.

Vitra was founded by Fehlbaum's grandparents in 1950 and today is one of the world's biggest and most influential furniture brands.

In a recent interview with Dezeen, Fehlbaum said she is "willing to take risks" over changing the appearance of some of the brand's most iconic pieces in order to reduce their environmental impact.

Find out more about Vitra ›

Beatrice Galilee, co-founder of The World Around

"The most exciting design comes from those on the sidelines," Beatrice Galilee told Dezeen during the Dezeen 15 festival in 2021.

This sentiment offers an insight into the work of the New York-based critic and curator, who is a champion of those advancing the field of architecture from its peripheries.

Galilee does this primarily through The World Around, a non-profit platform she launched at the end of 2019 to host discussions about the most pressing issues facing contemporary architecture including climate change, social equity and ecology.

Before that, she made waves as the first curator of contemporary architecture and design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art – a position she held from 2014 to 2019.

Find out more about Beatrice Gallilee ›

Jeanne Gang, founder of Studio Gang

Jeanne Gang, founder of US architecture firm Studio Gang, gained recognition for her design of the Aqua Tower skyscraper in Chicago, which was the tallest woman-designed building in the world at the time of its completion in 2009. The title now belongs to St. Regis Chicago, which was also completed by Gang in 2020.

Gang became the second-ever winner of the Le Prix Charlotte Perriand award in 2023, and she also featured in Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people for 2019 – the only architect to be listed.

She is outspoken about gender equality in architecture. In 2018 she closed the gender pay gap at Studio Gang and, in an interview with Dezeen, urged other studios to follow suit as a starting point to root out sexism in architecture.

Find out more about Jeanne Gang ›

Lina Ghotmeh, founder of Lina Ghotmeh Architecture

Designer of the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London, French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh established her eponymous practice in 2016 with a commitment to sustainable and ecologically responsible architecture.

Ghotmeh has received international acclaim for her firm's archeological, research-focused approach to design and was recently shortlisted for the Designers of the Year award at Dezeen Awards 2023. Her Stone Garden apartment block in Beirut was named architecture project of the year at Dezeen Awards 2021.

Find out more about Lina Ghotmeh ›

Alexandra Hagen, CEO of White Arkitekter

With some 700 employees, Swedish studio White Arkitekter is one of Scandinavia's largest architecture firms.

Having joined the studio as a junior architect in 2001, Alexandra Hagen became CEO in 2018. Under her leadership, White Arkitekter has cemented its reputation as a global leader in sustainable building, setting a pledge in 2020 that all its new projects will be carbon neutral by the end of the decade.

The firm was named architect of the year at Dezeen Awards 2023.

Find out more about White Arkitekter ›

Mette Hay, co-founder of Hay

Mette Hay is creative director and co-founder of Danish design brand Hay. The company has established itself as a global brand at the forefront of product design, and was named one of the 50 most newsworthy forces in world design in Dezeen's 2017 Hot List.

Operating in more than 50 countries, Hay was founded by Mette Hay alongside her husband Rolf Hay and businessman Troels Holch Povlsen in 2002.

Find out more about Hay ›

Diane Hoskins, global co-chair of Gensler

Diane Hoskins is the global co-chair of Gensler – by far the largest architecture firm in the world by number of architects as well as revenue.

She assumed the role this year alongside fellow architect Andy Cohen, with the pair previously having served as co-CEOs since 2005. Under their leadership, the firm tripled in size to around 6,500 staff across 100 countries and grew its annual revenues from $300 million to $1.7 billion.

Find out more about Gensler ›

Francine Houben, founding partner of Mecanoo

Under the helm of Francine Houben, Mecanoo has become one of the Netherlands' most prominent architectural practices – and one of the only ones led by a woman.

Over her four-decade-long career, the architect has worked on a slew of high-profile public architecture projects around the globe, most recently the midtown outpost of the New York Public Library and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington DC.

"Libraries are the most important public buildings, like cathedrals were many years ago," Houben told Dezeen in 2013. The interview came shortly after Mecanoo completed Europe's largest public library in Birmingham, which was later shortlisted for the Stirling Prize.

Find out more about Francine Houben ›

Rossana Hu, founding partner of Neri&Hu

Born in Taiwan, Rossana Hu founded architecture office Neri&Hu with her husband, Lyndon Neri, in Shanghai in 2006. The studio quickly rose to become one of the most well-known in China, with noteworthy projects including The Waterhouse at South Bund and a stone-clad distillery for Pernod Ricard in Sichuan. The studio was named architecture studio of the year at Dezeen Awards 2021.

In addition to her practice, Hu is active in architecture education. She is the chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, having previously served as the chair of the Department of Architecture in the College of Architecture & Urban Planning at Tongji University, as well as holding visiting professor positions at Berkeley, Harvard and Yale.

Hu has also been a supporter of the design scene in China as the co-founder of the Festival of Design in Shanghai, organised annually by Neri&Hu's own furniture retail brand, Design Republic.

Hu was the architecture judge for the inaugural edition of Dezeen Awards China in 2023.

Find out more about Rossana Hu ›

Mariam Issoufou, founder of Atelier Masōmī

Mariam Issoufou (formerly Mariam Kamara) is the founder of Niger-based studio Atelier Masōmī, a rapidly growing architecture practice focused on creating empowering spatial solutions for communities in the developing world.

Kamara is an avid educator, having taught at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and was appointed professor of architecture heritage and sustainability at ETH Zurich in 2022. She has won several international accolades for her firm's work and was a judge for Dezeen Awards 2020.

In 2022, it was announced that Kamara would collaborate with South African architect Sumayya Vally to design a presidential library in Monrovia dedicated to former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Find out more about Mariam Issoufou ›

Anne Lacaton, co-founder of Lacaton & Vassal

Anne Lacaton is the only French woman ever to have won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, and only the sixth female laureate since it was established in 1979. She was awarded the prize in 2021 for her work as part of Lacaton & Vassal, the studio she co-founded in 1987 with fellow French architect Jean-Philippe Vassal.

Lacaton has been a long-term advocate of retrofit and social housing – which have risen to become two of the most important topics in the industry today – with the restoration of three social-housing blocks in Bordeaux among her most prominent projects.

"Transformation is the opportunity of doing more and better with what is already existing," Lacaton once said. "Demolishing is a decision of easiness and short term. It is a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history. Moreover, it has a very negative social impact. For us, it is an act of violence."

Find out more about Lacaton & Vassal ›

Yasmeen Lari, founder of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan

Yasmeen Lari, who was the first female architect in Pakistan, is known for her philosophy of "barefoot social architecture" that aims to help communities in socially and environmentally sustainable ways.

Her projects include an eco-friendly mud and lime-plaster stove and a prefabricated bamboo community centre.

She won the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2023 in recognition of the humanitarian work "she has undertaken since her retirement" – Lari closed her practice in 2000 but has since advised UNESCO and built homes for people affected by floods and earthquakes.

In 2020, she was awarded the Jane Drew Prize for raising the profile of women in architecture.

Find out more about Yasmeen Lari ›

Amanda Levete, founder of AL_A

British architect Amanda Levete established her studio, AL_A, in 2009, but was already a major figure on the UK architecture scene well before that. In 1999, she won the Stirling Prize together with her former husband, the late Jan Kaplický, for their Media Centre at London's Lord's cricket ground.

Known for its scientific approach to architecture, Levete's firm is currently working on the world's first magnetised fusion power plant. Other significant projects include an entrance courtyard and exhibition hall at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, which attracted so many visitors to its opening that a nearby footbridge had to be closed.

She was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to architecture in 2017, and awarded the Jane Drew Prize in 2018.

Find out more about Amanda Levete ›

Lesley Lokko, founder of the African Futures Institute

Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko is the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal winner for 2024 – the first African woman to receive the title.

Lokko is best known as the founder of the African Futures Institute (AFI), an independent school of architecture in Accra, Ghana, and has continued to work as a teacher, author and curator alongside practicing as an international architect.

She was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2023 ahead of curating the most recent Venice Architecture Biennale, which explored decarbonisation and decolonisation through the lens of Africa.

Find out more about Lesley Lokko ›

Eva Lilja Löwenhielm, co-global design manager of IKEA

Every year, Eva Lilja Löwenhielm oversees the design of more than 2,000 new products from the world's best-known furniture company as one of IKEA's two design managers.

In an interview to mark IKEA's 80th anniversary, Löwenhielm revealed that her teams are also working on designing "things that are maybe five to 10 years ahead".

Before joining the business in 2019, the Swedish designer ran her own studio and produced work for brands including Asplund, Alcro, Filippa-K and Svenssons i Lammhult.

Find out more about IKEA ›

Ellen MacArthur, founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Former round-the-world sailor Ellen MacArthur has done more than perhaps any other person to raise awareness about the importance of circular design.

Since she retired from yachting in 2010 to launch the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, her non-profit has partnered with global governments and some of the world's biggest brands – from Amazon and Unilever to Gucci and H&M – to help them set and achieve ambitious circularity targets.

The foundation has also published a series of influential and widely cited reports, visualising the scale of the waste crisis and breaking down the economic benefits of a circular economy for the first time.

Find out more about the Ellen MacArthur Foundation ›

Dorte Mandrup, founder of Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter

Leading a team of 60 employees in Copenhagen, Dorte Mandrup is the creative director of architecture studio Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter. The firm, which she founded in 1999, is among the most prominent in Denmark.

The studio works internationally but is perhaps best known for the buildings it has contributed to the Nordic landscape, including a climate research centre in Greenland and an aluminium-clad children's centre in Copenhagen.

As well as working for her studio, Mandrup is on the board of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and a member of the Danish Historic Buildings Council.

Find out more about Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter ›

Stella McCartney, fashion designer

Stella McCartney founded her eponymous fashion label in 2001 based on an ethos of animal rights and environmentalism, opting out of the use of fur and leather in her designs since the company's founding.

The fashion designer continues advocacy work on sustainability and recently presented a market of bio-based materials at the COP28 climate conference, which included a grape-based leather alternative and sequins made from tree cellulose.

"If everyone in the design world created a more sustainable product with more mindfulness, then it wouldn't even be a conversation," McCartney once said in an interview with Dezeen. "But they're not."

Find out more about Stella McCartney ›

Stella Mutegi, co-founder of Cave Bureau

Stella Mutegi is a co-founder of the increasingly influential Kenyan architecture studio Cave Bureau. Over the past year, the studio's Anthropocene Musuem – "a living, roaming institution of imagination and community-based action" – has travelled around the world.

The project started with a major exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark and finished with the transformation of a slaughterhouse into a museum at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial.

In 2023, Cave Bureau also contributed to architecture's most significant event, the Venice Architecture Biennale, by creating an installation focused on African archives.

Find out more about Cave Bureau ›

Titi Ogufere, founder of Essential Media Group and Design Week Lagos

Lagos-based Titi Ogufere is the founder of Essential Media Group, which publishes three magazines including Essential Interiors Magazine.

She is also the founder of Interior Design Association Nigeria, which champions global interior-design standards and in 2019 established the annual Design Week Lagos.

Recently, Ogufere co-produced the Made by Design series on Netflix, celebrating the work of 13 architects and designers who live and work in Nigeria.

Find out more about Titi Ogufere ›

Tosin Oshinowo, founder of Oshinowo Studio

Nigerian Tosin Oshinowo is the founder of Lagos-based architecture studio Oshinowo Studio, which has designed a series of villas, stores and pool houses in the city, along with a village for a community displaced by Boko Haram.

Last year she curated the second edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial called The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability. The event showcased the work of numerous architects, with the majority of the participants coming from the Global South.

Find out more about Tosin Oshinowo ›

Andi Owen, CEO of MillerKnoll

Formed through a $1.8 billion merger between Herman Miller and Knoll in 2021, MillerKnoll is one of the world's biggest furniture companies, owning 15 brands including Hay, Maharam and Muuto, and manufacturing many iconic pieces.

Owen became CEO of the newly formed firm having led Herman Miller since 2018. She attracted controversy in 2023 after telling employees concerned about their bonuses to "leave pity city", in a clip that MillerKnoll said had been taken out of context.

Find out more about MillerKnoll ›

Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile

Maria Porro's career has spanned design and curatorial and coordinator positions in the art and theatre worlds. In 2021, she was appointed as the first woman president of Italian furniture fair Salone del Mobile, the biggest event of its type in the industry calendar.

Porro will oversee the 62nd iteration of the Salone del Mobile next month, bringing together more than 1,900 exhibitors as part of the Milan design week program.

"Capturing new trends, the evolution of an entire sector, by involving and listening to communities near and far, identifying new approaches, methodologies and technologies... this is still the ambition of the Salone del Mobile today," Porro said about the upcoming fair.

Find out more about Maria Porro ›

Sonali Rastogi, founding partner of Morphogenesis

Sonali Rastogi co-founded the architecture and urban design studio Morphogenesis with partner Manit Rastogi in 1996. With offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, it is one of the India's largest architecture firms.

The studio was among the first in the world to report a "gender-positive pay gap", in which female employees are paid more than their male counterparts, following an effort headed by Rastogi to promote gender equality in the workplace.

Recent Morphogenesis projects include a New Delhi school with perforated walls and the world's largest office building.

Find out more about Morphogenesis ›

Alice Rawsthorn, design critic

London-based Alice Rawsthorn is among the world's best-known design critics. Her books include Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, published in 2013, and Design as an Attitude, published in 2018.

She has held advisory roles at several institutions including the Whitechapel Gallery, the Design Council and the World Economic Forum, and has served on the judging panel of the Turner Prize, the Stirling Prize, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the BAFTAs, among others.

In 2014, Rawsthorn was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to design and the arts. Her TED talk, on rebellious designers in history, has been watched more than a million times.

Find out more about Alice Rawsthorn ›

Carol Ross Barney, founder of Ross Barney Architects

Chicago-based Ross Barney Architects is well known for its work on public spaces across the US, particularly its revamp of the area surrounding the Chicago River. Carol Ross Barney founded the studio in 1981 and is a founding member of the advocacy organisation Chicago Women in Architecture.

She won the 2023 AIA Gold Medal for architecture, the highest designation bestowed by the institution. The jury citation for the award called Barney an "unrivaled architect for the people".

Find out more about Ross Barney Architects ›

Paula Scher, partner at Pentagram 

Graphic designer Paula Scher has been a partner of New York-based design consultancy Pentagram since 1991.

Her work spans creating identity systems, environmental graphics, packaging and publications for clients that include the High Line, a menstrual product advocacy group and Citibank.

She has been the recipient of the National Design Award and the AIGA medal for her work, which brings together pop culture and fine art.

Find out more about Pentagram ›

Kazuyo Sejima, co-founder of SANAA

Best known as the co-founder of Japanese architecture studio SANAA along with Ryue Nishizawa, architect Kazuyo Sejima was the second woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize over a decade ago and now sits on the awarding jury.

Sejima is also a designer, having completed independent projects ranging from a bag for Prada with detachable zip pockets and large-scale Japanese transport designs such as a mirrored commuter train and another with huge passenger windows.

Last year, Sejima received the Jane Drew Prize for Architecture for her contribution to elevating the profile of women in architecture.

Find out more about Kazuyo Sejima ›

Sheela Maini Søgaard, CEO of BIG

With a background in business development, Sheela Maini Søgaard started working at architecture studio Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in 2008 as chief financial officer and has since become its CEO.

She has played an integral role in expanding BIG as a company, with the firm now one of the profession's most prominent global brands, based in Denmark and the US.

Outspoken about gender inequities in the architecture industry, Søgaard defended the gender balance of BIG's top team in 2017 after an Instagram post by studio founder Bjarke Ingels showed her as the only female partner among 12.

Find out more about BIG ›

Marina Tabassum, founder of Marina Tabassum Architects

Winner of the 2021 Soane medal, Marina Tabassum is a Bangladeshi architect and founder of her Dhaka-based studio Marina Tabassum Architects, which practices exclusively in Bangladesh.

Tabassum's work focuses on improving the lives of low-income communities across the country. Her architectural work is known for its use of local materials and response to local climatic conditions.

Find out more about Marina Tabassum ›

Kerstin Thompson, principal of Kerstin Thompson Architects

Architect Kerstin Thompson has been at the helm of her eponymous Melbourne-based studio since 1994 and was the recipient of the 2023 Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal.

Thompson and her firm have delivered landmark projects in Australia and New Zealand including the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, which was completed two years ago. Also finished in 2022, the studio designed an inhabitable flood bridge among other buildings for the Bundanon Art Museum in New South Wales.

Find out more about Kerstin Thompson Architects ›

Patricia Urquiola, founder of Studio Urquiola

Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola is the founder of Milan-based architecture and design firm Studio Urquiola and art director at Italian furniture company Cassina.

Urquiola's accolades include winning Dezeen Awards interior designer of the year in 2023, and she returns to Dezeen Awards as a judge in 2024. Magazines Wallpaper and Elle Decor International have also previously named her designer of the year.

Find out more about Patricia Urquiola ›

Sumayya Vally, founder of Counterspace

South African architect Sumayya Vally sprung into the international spotlight when her studio Counterspace was awarded the Serpentine Pavilion commission in 2020, and has gone from strength to strength ever since.

She has since been named one of Time magazine's 100 leaders of the future and curated the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, drawing attention to the work of numerous architects and designers from the Muslim world.

She was named emerging architect of the year at Dezeen Awards 2023.

Find out more about Sumayya Vally ›

Valerie Vaughan-Dick, chief executive of the RIBA

Previously the chief operating officer at the Royal College of General Practitioners, Valerie Vaughan-Dick was appointed chief executive of the Royal British Institute of Architects (RIBA) early last year.

She has identified an ambition to ensure "sustainability is top of the agenda" at the professional membership body for British architects.

Among the organisation's responsibilities is awarding the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal as well as the Stirling Prize, given annually to the UK's best building.

Vaughan-Dick has also been a chair of heritage properties regeneration organisation Woolwich Creative District Trust and is the chair of Wandle Housing Association.

Find out more about the RIBA ›

Kate Wagner, architecture critic at The Nation

Kate Wagner is a Chicago and Ljubljana-based architecture critic who writes for The Nation.

An acerbic writer with a large online following, in 2016 Wagner launched the architecture blog McMansion Hell, which aims to educate people on architecture theory and history while poking fun at "the world's ugliest" suburban houses.

Having gained popularity for its humorous approach to architecture critique, McMansion Hell has been featured in publications such as the Huffington Post, Slate, Business Insider and Paper Magazine, and its Instagram account has over 37,500 followers.

In February this year, Wagner announced she is writing a book exploring why buildings today have "come to be so dull, hostile and ugly".

Kelly Wearstler, interior designer

Kelly Wearstler founded her California-based studio in the mid-1990s and has since become contemporary interior design's most recognisable name, with 2.2 million followers on Instagram and six published books.

Especially well-known for creating distinctively textured and eclectic interiors, her portfolio includes the Proper Hotel group, which has a timber-filled location in Austin and another colourful outlet in Downtown Los Angeles, which won a Dezeen Award in 2022. She has served as a judge for the UK-based competition and its China edition.

Find out more about Kelly Wearstler ›

Victoria Yakusha, founder of Yakusha Design

Ukrainian designer Victoria Yakusha founded her multidisciplinary studio Yakusha Design in 2006, working across architecture, creative direction, and interiors. She is also the founder of furniture brand Faina.

In 2021, she opened Yakusha Gallery in Antwerp, which aims to showcase contemporary Ukrainian design.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Yakusha has created a number of projects to draw attention to the conflict, including a cultural complex designed to house artefacts saved from the war and a furniture collection created in homage to Ukraine.

Find out more about Yakusha Design ›

The post The 50 most powerful women in architecture and design appeared first on Dezeen.

Designed by architects including Tadao Ando and Kengo Kuma, the Tokyo Toilet project forms the backdrop for the Oscar-nominated film Perfect Days. Here, Dezeen rounds up all 17 facilities.

The Tokyo Toilet project brings together 17 public toilets in the city's Shibuya district, created by architects and designers over the past six years.

Commissioned by The Nippon Foundation as "a symbol of Japan's world-renowned hospitality culture", the unique facilities are now the subject of Perfect Days, an Oscar-nominated film by German filmmaker Wim Wenders that follows the daily life of a local janitor who cleans the toilets – played by Kōji Yakusho.

Following the movie's release and in the run-up to the 2024 Oscars ceremony on 10 March, Dezeen has rounded up all 17 of the Tokyo Toilets, which their designers say were created with safety, cleanliness and inclusivity in mind.

Toilet, Higashi Sanchome, by Nao Tamura

Designer Nao Tamura took cues from Origata – the traditional Japanese gift-wrapping method and a nod to hospitality – when creating this red public toilet on a triangular plot in the city's Higashi Sanchome area.

The structure, which launched the Tokyo Toilet project, features a wheelchair-accessible bathroom and separate male and female toilets.

Tamura used bright red for the metal shell to make the block visible and project a "sense of urgency".

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park, by Shigeru Ban

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban designed a pair of coloured glass toilets with transparent walls to enable those approaching to check whether they are in use.

When occupied, the toilets' tinted facades become opaque for privacy. One of the rectilinear structures was clad in shades of orange, pink and purple and is located in the city's Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park, by Shigeru Ban

Ban's second toilet is located a short walk from the first in the Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park, but features blue and green walls to complement the surrounding trees.

Each facility includes three separate cubicles – a male, female and accessible toilet – which were divided by mirrored walls.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Squid Toilet, Ebisu East Park, by Fumihiko Maki

Dubbed "Squid Toilet", this public restroom was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki.

The four-volume structure was built to be used as a place for people to rest as well as a toilet and features a compact courtyard at its centre, which is shaded by a thin, curved white roof.

Located in Ebisu East Park – known as "Octopus Park" for its octopus-shaped red slide – the toilet was created to emphasise the area's existing playfulness.

Find out more about Squid Toilet ›

Modern Kawaya, Ebisu Park, by Wonderwall

Prehistoric Japanese huts served as the starting point for this public toilet in Ebisu Park, created by interior design studio Wonderwall.

A maze of 15 board-marked concrete walls encloses the facility, which references Japan's primitive kawaya huts that were historically used as toilets.

Male and female toilets, as well as a unisex cubicle with facilities for baby-changing and disabled users, were included in the design.

Find out more about Modern Kawaya ›

Amayadori, Jingu-Dori Park, by Tadao Ando

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Ando wrapped this circular public toilet in a wall made from vertical metal louvres, which allow for privacy but also air circulation.

An angled, overhanging roof shelters the multi-cubicled structure that is nestled among cherry trees in the city's Jingu-Dori Park.

"It was vital for me to make a space that was comfortable and safe," explained Ando, who called the toilet Amayadori – meaning rain shelter in Japanese.

Find out more about Amayadori ›

Andon, Nishihara Itchome Park, by Takenosuke Sakakura

Three unisex toilets that glow after dark were designed by architect Takenosuke Sakakura, who also imprinted tree patterns on the structures' frosted glass facades.

Named Andon after the Japanese word for lantern, the block was created to provide safe and inviting facilities for nighttime users and "improve the image of not only the restroom but the entire park," said Sakakura.

Find out more about Andon ›

A Walk in the Woods, Nabeshima Shoto Park, by Kengo Kuma

A Walk in the Woods is a cedar-clad public restroom designed by architect Kuma to blend with its park surroundings.

Connected by a stepped walkway, the toilet is split into five individual huts that were created to accommodate the needs of "a diverse range of people," according to Kuma.

Find out more about A Walk in the Woods ›

Toilet, Jingumae, by Nigo

Sandwiched between high-rise buildings, this public toilet was created by fashion designer Nigo to stand out.

The playful restroom was made in the shape of a small house with a red-pitched roof, blue-framed windows and three chimney-style elements.

Partly surrounded by a white picket fence, the toilet design takes cues from a former Tokyo housing development constructed by the United States Armed Forces after the second world war.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Yoyogi-Hachiman, by Toyo Ito

A trio of mushroom-like toilets form Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito's contribution to the city-wide project.

The facility, which replaced a former toilet block positioned at the bottom of a flight of steps leading up to the Shibuya district's Yoyogi Hachimangu shrine, references mushrooms that grow in the nearby forest.

Ito broke the toilets into three separate spaces to try and make the facility a safe place for all of its users.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Ebusi Station, by Kashiwa Sato

Graphic designer Kashiwa Sato, who created the brand strategy for Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, constructed this boxy toilet from white aluminium louvres.

Five toilet blocks, which were not delineated by gender, were inserted into the bright and clean-looking facility. The toilet was positioned outside Tokyo's bustling Ebusi Station as a "neighbourhood symbol," explained Sato.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Hi Toilet, Nanago Dori Park, by Kazoo Sato

Voice commands control functions including the door, toilet flush, taps and ambient music within designer Kazoo Sato's hemispherical white toilet in Nanago Dori Park.

Sato designed the Hi Toilet to challenge the stereotype of dark and unhygienic public restrooms. Featuring an accessible toilet and urinals, the facility features a hemispherical form that was chosen to enhance internal airflow.

Find out more about Hi Toilet ›

Toilet, Urasando, by Marc Newson

Industrial designer Marc Newson was informed by historic Japanese temples and tea rooms when creating this facility with a traditionally shaped copper roof.

Newson's "trustworthy and honest" concrete design features men's and women's toilets placed on either side of a central disabled toilet and is located under a raised highway to the north of Yoyogi Park.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Hiroo East Park, by Tomohito Ushiro

A large light panel features on the facade of this toilet, which displays 7.9 billion different light patterns referencing the world's population at the point the project was conceived.

Created by graphic designer Tomohito Ushiro, the rectilinear restroom contains two square unisex toilet cubicles with baby chairs and changing stations. Ushiro envisaged the structure to be "a piece of public art".

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Hatagaya, by Miles Pennington and DLX Design Lab

Designer Miles Pennington and the University of Tokyo's DLX Design Lab collaborated to create a toilet that can be used as an exhibition space, cinema, pop-up kiosk, information centre or public meeting place.

A male toilet and unisex cubicles were arranged around a large covered area. Within the block, there are expansive white walls designed to hang artworks or have films projected onto them.

"This is a community space that happens to have toilets too," said Pennington, who is a professor of design-led innovation at the university.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Sasazuka Greenway, by Junko Kobayashi

Weathering steel cylinders form specialist toilet designer Junko Kobayashi's contribution to the project, which was topped with a bright yellow disc.

Set underneath the Sasazuka metro station in the city centre, the structure features various cubicles for men, women and children with a series of round holes cut into them revealing graphics of bunnies.

Find out more about this toilet ›

Toilet, Nishisando, by Sou Fujimoto 

Architect Sou Fujimoto designed the final instalment of the Tokyo Toilet project in the city's downtown area.

Characterised by an elongated communal handwashing area with different height taps, the all-white facility's sinuous curves were created to resemble an oversized sink.

Fujimoto's structure contains toilets for men, women and children that are connected by an open-air corridor so that "everyone from children to older people can wash their hands within this vessel," said the architect.

Find out more about this toilet ›

The photography is by Satoshi Nagare, courtesy of The Nippon Foundation.

The post Explore all 17 Tokyo Toilet projects featured in Wim Wenders' film Perfect Days appeared first on Dezeen.

LA-based interior designer Bobby Berk has joined Dezeen Awards 2024 as a judge. Here, he selects five projects that best reflect his work.

Berk is the founder of design studio Bobby Berk and defines the core ethos of his work as "compelling spaces that exist at the intersection of interior design and mental health".

"I believe that every space should feel like a true reflection of its inhabitants and utilise furnishings, materials, colours, and lighting that actively contribute to your mental well-being," Berk told Dezeen.

Having just won an Emmy award for Netflix show Queer Eye, the designer considers this recognition holds special significance, reflecting his passion for using design to enhance lives.

"I just won an Emmy award for Queer Eye!" said Berk. "I had previously been nominated four times, so it felt fantastic to win and to be honoured for something I feel so passionately about, which is using design to improve the lives of others."

"My firm has also won several Gold Nugget Awards for residential design, which also feels quite special since you are being honoured by other design professionals," he continued.

Last year, Berk released his first book, Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good For The Mind, which provides practical advice on setting up spaces to prioritise comfort, and style, to demonstrate how good design positively impacts mental wellness.

The designer is currently working on several residential projects in the US, including a renovation of a home in Palm Desert, California, as well as model housing communities for home developer Tri Pointe Homes in Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte, and Washington DC.

Berk among Dezeen Awards 2024 judges

Dezeen Awards 2024 launched last month in partnership with Bentley. On Monday we announced our third set of Dezeen Awards judges, including architects Keiji Ashizawa and Arjun Malik, and interior designers Justina Blakeney and Claudia Afsha.

Submit your entry by Wednesday 27 March to save 20 per cent on entry fees. Click here to find out more.

Read on to find Berk's views on the five projects that best represent the work of his studio:

Casa Tierra

"I started looking for a vacation home in the desert of Southern California when I stumbled upon this property.

"It was a secluded, Spanish-style estate with multiple buildings and expansive views of the wide-open landscape. This was my first time designing a vacation home and rental property, which had its own set of challenges.

"I created a captivating and calming desert escape by blending the original Spanish architecture of the 1970s home with organic modern details, global-inspired furnishings, and unique materials and textures."

Bobby Berk Headquarters

"My team had outgrown our previous office space – my old apartment in downtown Los Angeles – and I was looking for a new office that could function as a workspace, showroom, and locale for photoshoots and creating content.

"I discovered this 1970s home nestled in the hills near Lake Hollywood and it seemed like the perfect fit, as well as a unique design challenge. After a gut remodel, the new headquarters has proven to be indispensable for the entire team, and an inspiring place to work from.

"Sticking to the materials, colours, and elements that are my trademarks, I crafted a non-traditional workspace that brings together neutral tones and sculptural shapes for a pleasing new take on an office."

Los Feliz Traditional

"After becoming close friends whilst filming Queer Eye in Austin, actor Frieda Pinto and photographer Cory Tran reached out to me about designing their new home in LA.

"Drawing on a mix of influences and styles, I turned this 1950s traditional space into an eclectic and comfortable home.

"A cool colour palette of blues, greens, and lighter tones accentuates the classic architecture, while an array of patterns and natural textures connect to the client’s childhood growing up in India. It's a space that feels formal but not stuffy, elegant but inviting."

Las Vegas Sandalwood

"As part of the Sandalwood community by Tri Pointe Homes, this model home in Las Vegas takes a simple colour scheme of black and white and injects it with lots of personality and considered details.

"Strong linear shapes and black metal balance with soft textiles and warm wood tones, creating a home that combines bold moments with subtle surprises.

"I think black and white are incredibly chic and I love working with them. For this model home, I paired back the palette and embraced just black, white and grey tones for every room.

"This restraint made me and the team think even more closely about the small details and how to create interest by playing with material, texture and pattern – sometimes the best design comes from restricting yourself."

Las Vegas Highview

"A truly colourful take on bohemian design, this unique model home is part of the Highview community by Tri Pointe Homes.

"Normally, I don't gravitate towards bright, saturated colours in my interior projects but for this model home, I wanted an eye-catching shade to set the tone for my new collaboration of 10 design collections with Tri Pointe Homes.

"A brilliant shade of turquoise sets the tone for this interior, combined with wood tones, eclectic patterns, and natural textures for an uplifting space that is an instant mood booster.

"This home also had a smaller footprint and lower budget than previous projects, which added another challenge when furnishing the home."

Dezeen Awards 2024 in partnership with Bentley

Dezeen Awards is the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The seventh edition of the annual awards programme is in partnership with Bentley as part of a wider collaboration to inspire, support and champion design excellence and showcase innovation that creates a better and more sustainable world. This ambition complements Bentley's architecture and design business initiatives, including the Bentley Home range of furnishings and real estate projects around the world.

The post Five key projects by interior designer and Dezeen Awards judge Bobby Berk appeared first on Dezeen.

To celebrate Riken Yamamoto's Pritzker Architecture Prize win today, we look back at the architect's five-decade career to spotlight 15 of his most interesting projects.

Yamamoto was named the 53rd laureate of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize today, in honour of his buildings where "normality becomes extraordinary".

A common thread throughout Yamamoto's work is the use of glass, terraces and balconies, which he has often utilised to create transparency and forge a sense of community among the people living in, neighbouring and passing by his buildings.

This is evident in projects including Hiroshima Nishi Fire Station, Future University of Hakodate and his own home Gazebo, all located in Japan.

Outside of his home country, he has also applied this concept to projects including Pangyo Housing in South Korea and Tianjin Library in China.

Yamamoto was selected as the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner by a jury led by Chilean architect and 2016 laureate Alejandro Aravena.

"One of the things we need most in the future of cities is to create conditions through architecture that multiply the opportunities for people to come together and interact," said Aravena.

"By carefully blurring the boundary between public and private, Yamamoto contributes positively beyond the brief to enable community."

Read on for 15 key projects by Yamamoto:

Yamakawa Villa, Japan, 1977

A moss-covered pitched roof shelters Yamakawa Villa, a narrow, low-lying summer house that Yamamoto nestled into woodland in Nagano.

It is the earliest project completed by the architect and is designed to resemble an open-air terrace, with its main living area opening directly out to the landscape. This space is flanked by a series of enclosed volumes housing sleeping quarters and the kitchen.

"A number of rooms stand, separated from one another, in the middle of the woods, and a single roof covers them all," said Yamamoto. "A gabled roof was the only roof form I could think of at the time."

Gazebo, Japan, 1986

Gazebo is Yamamoto's self-designed home in Yokohama, which is animated by open terraces across each storey to facilitate interaction between himself and his neighbours.

It is a response to changes in planning laws in the area in 1954, which saw the road network widen and small homes that once dominated replaced by tall mixed-use buildings, reducing opportunities for the community to communicate at ground level.

Hotakubo Housing, Japan, 1991

In 1991, Yamamoto completed his first social housing project. It comprises 16 individual blocks that collectively contain 110 homes.

These blocks surround a shared tree-lined plaza at the centre, accessible only from inside the homes to encourage the residents to establish a community.

As the units are small, each one incorporates a terrace overlooking the square.

Iwadeyama Junior High School, Japan, 1996

This giant curved wall forms a part of Iwadeyama Junior High School. Named The Wing of the Wind, it was designed to shield against strong gusts experienced at its hilltop site in Ōsaki.

The shield also helps to reflect sunlight and illuminate the north side of the school in winter months. Inside, a large atrium forms the social heart of the building.

Saitama Prefectural University, Japan, 1999

Another educational building on the list is Saitama Prefectural University, which Yamamoto completed in Koshigaya in 1999.

The vast complex, which is dedicated to nursing and health sciences, is made up of nine transparent buildings linked by walkways and courtyards. Like many of Yamamoto's projects, it is intended to encourage interaction between the occupants.

"We conceived an architecture that can traverse the framework of conventional faculties and departments, instead of completing or closing each faculty," he said.

Hiroshima Nishi Fire Station, Japan, 2000

Firefighter training takes place in a central atrium at Hiroshima Nishi Fire Station, which Yamamoto has lined with glass facades, interior walls and floors.

This design places the training process at centre stage, encouraging passersby to observe and engage in the importance of fire safety. There is also an exhibition lobby and a fourth-floor terrace open to the public to visit and learn about fire prevention.

"Having seen firemen guiding and explaining their work to local people, we feel deeply that a fire station should shoulder a very important role in shaping a local community," said Yamamoto.

Future University of Hakodate, Japan, 2000

Glass was also used to maximise transparency at the Future University of Hakodate, another building Yamamoto completed in 2000.

Designed for a university dedicated to information sciences, the building features glass-lined classrooms, research rooms, an auditorium and a library that are all visually connected, helping to introduce a human scale to the vast structure.

These teaching spaces are also linked by open common areas, positioned across a series of staggered levels dotted with aluminium furniture.

Ecoms House, Japan, 2004

With his design of Ecoms House in Tosu, Yamamoto's goal was to illustrate the potential of aluminium as a flexible building material and alternative to steel.

Specifically, the 115-square-metre structure was intended as a model for how aluminium can be used in the construction of prefabricated, mass-produced houses.

The home was formed of aluminium panels assembled with bolted connections. Some of the panels feature louvres and lattices, while others project outwards or are replaced with glazing, giving rise to a patchwork exterior.

Jian Wai SOHO, China, 2004

The year 2004 also saw the completion of this vast residential complex, which Yamamoto created to the east of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Nine residential tower blocks sit alongside four smaller volumes that marry living units with home offices. They are raised on a three-storey podium containing commercial spaces and are linked by a plaza filled with public amenities and a sunken garden.

Yokosuka Museum of Art, Japan, 2006

One of Yamamoto's best-known projects is Yokosuka Museum of Art, which features a snaking entrance route intended to evoke the forms of the surrounding bay and mountains.

This was elevated above a glass-lined restaurant and exhibition spaces, many of which are underground, ensuring undisturbed views of the landscape for visitors.

Fussa City Hall, Japan, 2008

Two cubic volumes animated by curved edges and red brickwork make up Fussa City Hall, which is located in a dense residential neighbourhood in Tokyo.

It is divided across two pre-cast concrete blocks to avoid a single high-rise, ensuring it is suited to the landscape of low-rise architecture in the area.

They are surrounded by small hills that merge with the curved, brick edges of the building, inviting passersby to sit down while offering space for public events.

Pangyo Housing, South Korea, 2010

Clusters of low-rise blocks make up the Pangyo Housing development, which is located in Seongnam, South Korea.

The ground floors are lined with glazing, intended to establish a sense of togetherness between residents. There is also an elevated deck on the first floor, which is shared between all of the occupants and incorporates playgrounds, gardens and bridges.

Tianjin Library, China, 2012

Six million books line the bookshelves at Tianjin Library, another of Yamamoto's projects completed in China. The vast building encompasses 55,000 square metres – "a size that is inconceivable in Japan", Yamamoto said.

Among its key features are crisscrossing levels, a giant entrance hall accessible from both sides of the building and a facade of stone louvres that protect its glass facade from dust storms.

Koyasu Elementary School, Japan, 2018

Yamamoto was challenged with rebuilding Kosayu Elementary School in Yokohama in 2018, following a surge in students after the construction of large condominiums nearby.

The building is characterised by a gridded structure with classrooms that open onto large terraces. These are designed to maximise visual links around the school and provide its 1,000 students with plenty of chances to meet and socialise.

Nagoya Zokei University, Japan, 2022

One of Yamamoto's latest projects is Nagoya Zokei University, a building for an arts school that has relocated from Komaki to Nagoya.

Its centrepiece is a large open space on its top floor, measuring 88 metres square, which is designed as a flexible studio for students from different courses.

Below it are a range of facilities including a library, gallery and cafe, enclosed by a latticed facade that allows light in during the day and makes the building glow at night.

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Following the release of technology brand Samsung's first smart ring, we round up 10 recent wearable technology designs, including a smart menstrual cup and an air-purifying collar.

While the concept of wearable technology can be applied to a wide range of products, they are often designed to bring health benefits to the wearer or to blur the line between digital and physical experiences.

Read on to see 10 notable examples of wearable technology, ranging from worship-tracking prayer beads to an artificial larynx.

Galaxy smart ring by Samsung

Samsung's Galaxy smart ring functions as a health tracker enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI). According to the brand, it will offer a simplified way to track many different body metrics and support wellness goals.

Among its features are tracking capabilities for sleep and activities, as well as period and fertility tracking. The AI function will help the ring, which comes in silver, gold and black, to provide more personalised insights.

Find out more about Samsung's Galaxy smart ring ›

Viture One by Layer

Designed to stream immersive video anywhere, the Viture One smart glasses display a cinematic 120-inch screen. This appears to float in front of the user's eyes in virtual reality, letting them view content without using any other devices.

"We see one of the biggest use cases being streaming media and communicating with friends, colleagues and family nomadically," Layer studio founder Benjamin Hubert told Dezeen.

Find out more about Viture One ›

Neural Sleeve by Cionic and Fuseproject

Designer Yves Béhar's studio Fuseproject worked with startup Cionic to develop the Neural Sleeve. The bionic wearable was designed to correct muscle movements in people with limited mobility, using electric pulses and AI to do so.

The sleeve, which wraps around the leg, uses functional electrical stimulation (FES) to help with walking difficulties. It was described by Béhar as "a way to sort of remote control your own leg".

Find out more about the Neural Sleeve ›

Emm menstrual cup by Emm

UK-based startup Emm designed a smart menstrual cup with the same name, which can be inserted into the body like a tampon.

The cup, which is made from medical-grade silicone, has a conical shape and is fitted with smart technology that tracks your period. Built-in biosensors track the user's blood loss and flow rate as well as the length of their period and menstrual cycle.

Find out more about the menstrual cup ›

Dyson Zone by Dyson

Technology company Dyson launched its Dyson Zone, which was described in UK media as "bizarre" and "an air vacuum", to filter air pollution and reduce noise in urban environments.

The wearable-technology gadget combines a set of headphones that feature active noise cancellation with a removable plastic visor. This wraps around the front of the face to filter out allergens, gases and dust.

Find out more about Dyson Zone ›

Click to Pray eRosary by the Vatican

Released by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network and designed to appeal to young people, the Click to Pray eRosary has a crucifix interface that tracks the user's worship as well as health data.

To use the rosary, the wearer makes the sign of the cross on the haptic interface of the cross, which is connected to a smartphone app. This lets users monitor the progress of each prayer and provides them with an audio prayer guide.

Find out more about the eRosary ›

Wear A+ by Respiray

Wearable air purifier Wear A+ (above and main image) was made for people suffering from allergies. It is worn around the neck like a collar and filters out irritants such as pollen and dust.

The collar also blows clean air towards the wearer, creating what tech company Respiray calls "a bubble of clean air" around their face.

Find out more about Wear A+ ›

Tenuto 2 by MysteryVibe

Tenuto 2 is an innovative sex toy – a piece of wearable technology designed to be worn over the penis to help the user achieve and maintain an erection.

The gadget, which resembles a penis ring, has four motors that vibrate to improve circulation and two "wings" at its base that prevent blood from draining away. It was designed as a more affordable and accessible alternative to erectile dysfunction medications.

Find out more about Tenuto 2 ›

Syrinx by Takeuchi Masaki

People who have lost their larynx to cancer were the target group for Syrinx, a wearable voice box. It functions like an electrolarynx, manually vibrating the neck to create a noise that the user can then form into words using their mouth and tongue.

However, the Syrinx is an update to traditional electrolarynxes in that it creates a personalised voice for each user, based on recordings of their own former voice.

Find out more about Syrinx ›

Vision Pro by Apple

Designed to be a "spatial computer", tech company Apple's Vision Pro headset lets wearers project visual applications in a 3D environment controlled by eye and hand movements.

It was created to usher in a "new era of computing", in which the computer is projected in front of the user, and can be adjusted to blot out or blend in with their physical surroundings. The interface also includes a keyboard function and can be controlled by voice commands.

Find out more about the Vision Pro ›

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Over the past month, Pinterest users have consistently sought out handbags in their searches. We round up 10 creative handbag designs from our Pinterest.

With fashion taking centre stage over the past fortnight on Pinterest, in tandem with this year's Autumn Winter 2024 fashion shows, we've selected 10 innovative and unusual bag designs showcased on Dezeen.

In this roundup, fashion brand Ganni embraced biomaterials such as nettle and hemp to craft limited-edition bags, while designer Molly Younger showcased ingenuity by utilising latex to create her collection.

Scroll down to see 10 projects from our handbag board on Pinterest.

Sonnet155 by Lobke Beckfeld and Johanna Hehemeyer-Cürten

Berlin design students Lobke Beckfeld and Hehemeyer-Cürten have developed Sonnet155, a transparent fruit-leather bag produced using excess fruit skins from juice manufacturing and short cellulose fibres from a nearby textile factory.

The bag comes in a variety of sizes, from small purses to larger totes.

Find out more about Sonnet155 ›

BioFluff by Ganni

Danish fashion brand Ganni created a collection of fake fur special edition bags that were unveiled at this year's Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Created in collaboration with materials company BioFluff, the bag is made from nettle, hemp and flax fibres and contains no plastics or petrochemicals.

Find out more about BioFluff › 

Kengo Kuma bags by Kengo Kuma

Italian fashion house Fendi worked with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma to design accessories made from washi paper and tree bark that were presented at Fendi's Spring Summer 2024 menswear show.

Many bags in the collection were created with waranshi, a type of washi paper made from cotton and tree bark fibres. This material is commonly used in origami, lantern-making and kimono detailing.

Find out more about Kengo Kuma's collection for Fendi › 

The Mai collection by Nendo

The Mai collection is a range of handbags that were crafted from single sheets of laser-cut leather that the buyer can assemble at home (above and main image).

Japanese studio Nendo created the collection for Italian online platform Up To You Anthology, which has enabled it to streamline its manufacturing process while also reducing inventory and shipping costs.

Find out more about the Mai collection ›

The Speaker Bag by Balenciaga and Bang & Olufsen

Fashion brand Balenciaga came together with Danish audio brand Bang & Olufsen to design a limited-edition bag, which it described as "part bag, part Bluetooth sound system".

Unveiled at the Balenciaga fashion show in Paris, The Speaker Bag can be used as a portable speaker or as a traditional purse.

Find out more about The Speaker Bag ›

Latex Luggage by Molly Younger

Australian fashion designer Younger used natural latex to develop an assortment of flesh-like rubber bags and wallets.

To create the bags, Younger applied natural latex by hand onto plaster moulds, resembling sculptural forms, and reinforced the handles with cotton tape. The wallets, which are lined with wool felt, feature zip closures for added security.

Find out more about Latex Luggae  ›

Global Supply Chain Telephone Handbag by MSCHF

New York Art Collective MSCHF developed this handbag by commissioning various leather factories to produce an item based on specific prompts, incorporating references to well-known designer brand items.

The outcome is the Global Supply Chain Telephone Handbag, crafted from leather with a twill interior.

Find out more about the Global Supply Chain Telephone Handbag ›

The Canvas of the Future by Louis Vuitton

The Canvas of the Future bags by Louis Vuitton consist of the brand's classic handbags enhanced with integrated OLED digital screens.

Revealed during its Cruise show in 2020, the prototype bags were described by the fashion house as a "groundbreaking blend of technology and craftsmanship."

Find out more about the Canvas of the Future ›

My Dear Mountains and My Dear Prairies by Gaetano Pesce

For fashion house Bottega Veneta, Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce crafted two handbags that were unveiled during last year's Milan design week.

The bags were showcased in an installation named Vieni a Vedere, where the interior of Bottega Veneta's boutique was enveloped in layers of resin-coated fabric.

Find out more about Gaetano Pesce's bags ›

Deep Blue Bag by Yves Behar

Swiss designer Yves Behar created a backpack constructed from recycled sails in a bid to raise awareness about protecting the ocean.

One notable aspect of the design is its waterproof section, allowing items like wetsuits, towels, or swimwear to be stored without the risk of dampening other contents.

Find out more about the Deep Blue Bag ›

Follow Dezeen on Pinterest

Pinterest is one of Dezeen's fastest-growing social media networks with over 1.4 million followers and more than ten million monthly views. Follow our Pinterest to see the latest architecture, interiors and design projects – there are over four hundred boards to browse and pin from.

Two of our most popular boards in the last fortnight are Fashion and chairs.

The post Ten innovative handbag designs from Dezeen's Pinterest appeared first on Dezeen.

For our latest lookbook, we've rounded up eight kitchens with welcoming breakfast nooks of different shapes and sizes that provide a relaxed place to enjoy a meal.

Typically tucked into a corner in or near the kitchen, breakfast nooks offer compact dining spaces that are more casual than a formal dining room and cosier than an island bar.

They are usually characterised by banquette seating fixed to the wall with a freestanding table and chairs, but the examples in this lookbook show how the idea of a breakfast nook can be adapted to suit any size space.

From L-shaped benches in awkward kitchen corners to curved banquettes under bay windows, read on to see how a breakfast nook can be nestled into any home for the perfect morning coffee or casual meal.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring homes with oversized windows overlooking lush views, houses with closed staircases and interiors that embody the "bookshelf wealth" trend.

Teorema Milanese, Italy, by Marcante-Testa

Design studio Marcante-Testa overhauled an apartment in Milan with a rich mix of colours and materials, creating a clear separation between the kitchen and an adjoining breakfast nook with its choice of surfaces.

Geometric floor tiles in the nook contrast with the marble kitchen floor, but the two spaces are tied together with the sea-green colour of the tiles and kitchen cabinets.

Find out more about Teorema Milanese ›

Budge Over Dover, Australia, by YSG

This breakfast nook sits in the corner of an open-plan kitchen and living area, next to bi-folding doors that open onto a pool terrace.

Interior design studio YSG designed the nook's banquette seating to follow the curve of the wall and upholstered it in brown and green fabric to suit natural surfaces in the Sydney home, including terracotta floor tiles, dark wood accents and marble tabletops.

Find out more about Budge Over Dover ›

Zwaag home, Netherlands, by DAB Studio

Generous U-shaped banquette seating wraps the walls of the nook in this kitchen, situated in a home in Zwaag, the Netherlands, that was renovated by Dutch interior design practice DAB Studio.

The studio chose grey upholstery for the seating and placed an Arebescato Orobico marble table at the centre to balance the expansive use of wood on the floor, ceiling, walls and kitchen cabinets.

Find out more about the Zwaag home ›

Pacific House, Australia, by Alexander & Co

A circular skylight illuminates the curving breakfast nook in this oceanside home in Sydney, which architecture studio Alexander & Co renovated to make it more suited to family life.

Aiming to create a calm and contemplative space, oak built-in seating was tucked against a concave window that overlooks a swimming pool in the garden.

Find out more about Pacific House ›

Steele's Road House, UK, by Neiheiser Argyros

Steele's Road House is a Victorian terrace in London that was renovated and extended by local studio Neiheiser Argyros to increase natural light in the home.

A breakfast nook was added to the kitchen, with curved bench seating built below a bay window offering a more casual place to eat than the separate formal dining room.

Find out more about Steele's Road House ›

Nagatachō Apartment, Japan, by Adam Nathaniel Furman

Designer Adam Nathaniel Furman nestled an L-shaped breakfast nook in the kitchen of the 160-square-metre Nagatachō Apartment in Tokyo.

The tabletop adjoins the cabinets in the U-shaped kitchen and extends along a herringbone-tiled wall. Pink shelving was built over the nook to provide additional storage in the compact apartment.

Find out more about Nagatachō Apartment ›

Brunswick apartment, Australia, by Murray Barker and Esther Stewart

Architect Murray Barker and artist Esther Stewart created a breakfast nook in this 1960s Melbourne apartment by tucking an L-shaped fixed bench into the corner of the kitchen.

The kitchen was originally too small for a dining table, so the duo removed a wall that separated it from the living room and added the custom-made table and seating, which is lit from above by a square skylight.

Find out more about the Brunswick apartment ›

Casa Pulpo, Mexico, by Workshop Architects

Local architecture studio Workshop Architects added a breakfast nook when renovating a Spanish colonial house in Mérida, Mexico, aiming to add a sense of cosiness.

Seating was built in the corner of the kitchen between two archways that lead to the living room and a storage room. On the opposite side of the kitchen, glass doors give views of two purple concrete dwellings that were built in the garden.

Find out more about Casa Pulpo ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring homes with oversized windows overlooking lush views, houses with closed staircases and interiors that embody the "bookshelf wealth" trend.

The post Eight inviting breakfast nooks for easy-going mornings appeared first on Dezeen.

In this lookbook, we've collected eight homes from Vietnam to the USA that are kept ventilated and illuminated by central courtyards.

Courtyards have been used in ancient and contemporary architecture as a tool to trap and funnel breezes and natural light into the core of a building.

Most often, they are completely open to the elements and can extend upwards through multiple levels of a building, with some surrounded by balconies, loggias, or walkways.

Vegetation and water features placed at the centre of courtyards also help to cool the surrounding air, while seating or lounge areas provide a place to take it all in.

One or more courtyards were dispersed along the footprints of the eight homes below, for interiors that are relaxing, open and bright.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring tranquil interiors with oversized windows, enclosed staircases and metallic furnishings.

House for Young Families, Vietnam, H-H Studio

Designed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, this house in Vietnam features green spaces throughout its entirety so its owners could be connected to nature while working remotely.

Its interior was organised around three courtyard gardens that were dispersed along a linear plan, while the structure extends upwards around them in a series of stacked white volumes.

Find out more about House for Young Families ›

Quarry House, Australia, Winwood McKenzie

Australian studio Winwood McKenzie renovated the Quarry House by inserting a garden and internal courtyard through its narrow site, which split the residence into three distinct portions.

The house's newly built living, dining and kitchen border the courtyard on one side, while a multi-purpose room and study sits across the way.

Find out more about Quarry House ›

Casa Ederlezi, Mexico, Práctica Arquitectura

Práctica Arquitectura divided this narrow concrete infill house in Mexico into two distinct portions centred around a courtyard.

Hallways and staircases were oriented around the perimeter of the double-height space in plan and a living space and second floor bedrooms were placed on either side.

Find out more about Casa Ederlezi ›

Santa Monica Modern, USA, Walker Warner Architects

This L-shaped home in California encloses a spacious courtyard that features multiple seating areas, a ping-pong table, plantings and a concrete fire pit.

Walker Warner Architects designed the courtyard to be suitable for entertaining, as well as to take advantage of the southern California climate.

Find out more about Santa Monica Modern ›

Portugal house, Portugal, Bak Gordon Arquitectos 

Bak Gordon Aquitectos split this Portgual home into two portions by inserting a courtyard at its centre and populated the area with an interior garden, which is surrounded by windows and openings.

"The small functional patio allows for natural light and cross ventilation as well as a permanent natural garden presence," said Bak Gordon Arquitectos architect Nuno Tavares da Costa.

Find out more about Portugal house ›

Casa Vedia, Argentina, BHY Arquitectos

Two courtyards were inserted into the corners of Casa Vedia in Argentina, which the studio explained were employed to optimise interior spaces.

Each courtyard is double-height, with plantings tucked along its perimeter. Additionally, two terraces were placed on top of the structure's roof that sits in between them.

Find out more about Casa Vedia ›

Casa VO and Casa WO, Mexico, Ludwig Godefroy 

Located in Puerto Escondido, Casa VO and Casa Wo are a series of houses organised underneath two large, circular concrete openings that fan upwards from a central meeting point.

An entryway and garden sit under one such opening, while the remaining living spaces are tucked underneath the opposite across two levels.

Find out more about Casa VO and Casa WO ›

Tile House, Vietnam, Bloom Architects

Bloom Architects designed this home in Vietnam to stay cool despite the hot climate by creating a sloping, tiled roof that traps wind and pushes it into the interior of the house.

"[In the] sunny season, tiles surrounding the house prevent it from being radiated [with] heat. Combined with natural ventilation, the house is always cool," architect Dinh Anh Tuan told Dezeen.

Find out more about Tile House ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring tranquil interiors with oversized windows, enclosed staircases and metallic furnishings.

The post Eight homes kept cool and bright by central courtyards appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Courses: we've rounded up five courses that aim to equip designers with the skills they need to excel in business and hone their entrepreneurship.

Available at institutes based in the USA, UK, Spain and Switzerland, the courses in this roundup cover a variety of topics including business management, marketing, human resources and sustainable business practice.

Here are five courses in business management and entrepreneurship listed on Dezeen Courses:

Master of Business Innovation in Design Management at SCAD

The Master of Business Innovation in Design Management degree program at Savannah College of Art and Design prepares students to become brand leaders by combining business knowledge with design thinking.

Find out more about the course ›

Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Central Saint Martins

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) course at Central Saint Martins trains students to combine creative thinking with business skills such as marketing, finance, human resources and management.

Find out more about the course ›

Dual Degree in Business Administration and Design at IE University

The Dual Degree in Business Administration and Design course at IE University in Spain provides a creative, multidisciplinary and interconnected approach to business administration and design.

Find out more about the course ›

Building a Globally Successful Creative Business at Royal College of Art

The Building a Globally Successful Creative Business short course at Royal College of Art allows students to learn from globally successful creative entrepreneurs, artists and designers.

Find out more about the course >

Master in Design Entrepreneurship and Design Research at Bern Academy of the Arts

The Master in Design Entrepreneurship and Design Research course at Bern Academy of the Arts challenges students to develop design-led entrepreneurship skills that address sustainable and social issues.

Find out more about the course ›

Dezeen Courses

Dezeen Courses is a service from Dezeen that provides details of architecture, interiors and design courses around the world. Click here for more information.

The post Five business management and entrepreneurship courses for designers appeared first on Dezeen.

From a zigzagging minimalist home in Spain to a compact self-build project in the UK, here are the most popular houses featured on Dezeen this month.

Also on the list is a Y-shaped house in Canada, a blocky concrete dwelling in Portugal and a sprawling residence among Australian farmland.

This is the latest in our Houses of the month series, where we collect the five most popular residences featured on Dezeen every month, from all around the world.

Read on to discover Dezeen's top five houses of February 2024:

Peninsula House, Australia, by Wood Marsh

Wood Marsh is the architect behind the most popular house on Dezeen this month, which can be found among farmland near the coast of south-eastern Australia.

Branching generously across its rural site, Peninsula House is intended to appear as a "windswept, weather-beaten form" derived from its coastal surroundings.

Find out more about Peninsula House ›

Peckham House, UK, by Surman Weston

The smallest home on the list was designed and built by the founders of Surman Weston for their families on a compact site in south London.

Free of a client brief, co-founders Tom Surman and Percy Weston chose to draw on nearby architecture and the personalities of their families to set the project parameters.

The result is a characterful dwelling animated by playful hit-and-miss brickwork and a trio of gardens, one of which is concealed on the roof but still complete with a greenhouse.

Find out more about Peckham House ›

Sabater House, Spain, by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

Another residence on the list with a form that sprawls out across its rural site is Sabater House in Alicante, designed by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos.

The home unfolds through a series of intersecting, elongated forms that slot between trees and frame a series of terraces. According to the studio, the design references local pathways that lead to a hermitage.

Find out more about Sabater House ›

Y House, Canada, by Saunders Architecture

In Canada, Saunders Architecture created a residence within the Carraig Ridge retreat near the Rocky Mountains.

It has a distinctive Y-shaped form, helping to delineate its public and private zones. The three arms are united by their tactile cladding, formed of weathering steel panels.

Find out more about Y House ›

SV House, Portugal, by Spaceworkers

This monolithic, cubic form is SV House, a home that Spaceworkers created on a sloping site near Sobrado in Portugal.

It is distinguished by its thick concrete exterior, which is visually softened by irregularly placed windows that frame outward views while maintaining the privacy of its owners.

Find out more about SV House ›

The post Dezeen's top five houses of February 2024 appeared first on Dezeen.

A disaster-proof chandelier from Lebanon and a towering sand dune-style stone installation feature in Arab Design Now, the main exhibition at the inaugural Design Doha biennial.

Arab Design Now was curated by Rana Beiruti to capture the spirit of contemporary design across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the curator told Dezeen ahead of the opening of the first Design Doha.

Set within the Qatari capital's M7 building, the design biennial draws together a range of collectible design and installations.

Selected works from 74 participants paid homage to the MENA region's "extremely harsh and unique geography" and investigated the "use of materials as a guiding principle," explained Beiruti.

Here are 10 of Dezeen's highlights from Arab Design Now, which is on display in Doha until early August.

Sites – New Sites by Studio Anne Holtrop

Bahrain- and Amsterdam-based architect Anne Holtrop has designed a cluster of large-scale mobiles made from vast slabs of lumpy resin.

Holtrop took casts of a series of manmade and natural sites that he found across Qatar to create the textured pieces, which hang from bearing mechanisms and can be manually rotated by visitors to produce continuously moving formations.

Constellations 2.0: Object. Light. Consciousness by Abeer Seikaly

Over 5,000 pieces of Murano glass were woven together by Jordanian-Palestinian designer Abeer Seikaly to create this chandelier, which combines Bedouin weaving practices from Jordan with traditional Venetian glassmaking techniques.

Brass and stainless steel were also integrated into the lighting, made flexible by the glass mesh.

Once illuminated, the sculptural piece creates dramatic light patterns that nod to a starry night sky seen from the Badia desert, according to Seikaly.

House Between a Jujube Tree and a Palm Tree by Civil Architecture

Kuwait and Bahrain-based office Civil Architecture has designed a looming fibreglass roof proposal for a majlis – the traditional term for an Arabic gathering space.

"It's a 1:1 model of a roof of an actual house that we designed in Bahrain," studio co-founder Hamed Bukhamseen told Deezen.

Supported by steel and suspended from tension cables, the majlis features openings designed to accommodate tall trees and was created to explore the "symbiotic but blurred" relationship between indoor and outdoor settings.

Nubia, Hathor and Gros Guillaume Stool by Omar Chakil

French-Egyptian-Lebanese designer Omar Chakil was informed by his father's homeland of Egypt when he chose alabaster onyx to create this monolithic shelving, a bulbous coffee table and a stool that glides across the floor on wheels.

Taking cues from ancient practices, Chakil carved the rounded furniture from raw blocks of the material, which was sanded down over time using water rather than covered in varnish – something that the designer said had became common in Egypt, especially when making "cheap" souvenirs.

"The whole idea of the collection was to use Egyptian alabaster, which was a healing stone," Chakil told Dezeen.

"The pharaohs used [the material], then it transformed it over time. It lost its soul. So I tried to put it in the contemporary context by using the shapes that healing emotions would take – so they are round and soft, even though they are very heavy," he added.

"I see that people are afraid to, but I want them to touch the furniture."

Tiamat by AAU Anastas

Palestinian architecture office AAU Anastas is presenting Tiamat, a dune-shaped installation that forms part of the studio's ongoing project, Stone Matters, which explores the potential of combining historical stone building techniques with modern technologies to encourage the use of structural stone.

Positioned for visitors to walk through, the installation is a towering structure made of stone sourced from Bethlehem and informed by the Gothic-style architecture found across Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

According to AAU Anastas, the light, sound reverberations and climate control within Tiamat's internal space is unique to stone construction.

Clay in Context by Sama El Saket

Jordan-born architect and ceramicist Sama El Saket took cues from her native landscape when creating this "taxonomy of Jordanian clays".

The result is a set of spindle bottle-style vessels, each made of a different natural clay found across Jordan. This gives the pieces their distinctive colours, textures and character.

"These are all natural clays with no pigments added," El Saket told Dezeen. "The colours are attributed to the different minerals that are found within the region. Some are sandier, some are rockier."

The designer noted that while Jordan features an abundance of clay deposits and a rich history of ceramic production, today most Jordanian clay is imported.

Light Impact by Fabraca Studios

Lebanese industrial design brand Fabraca Studios has created Light Impact, a solid aluminium lighting fixture that was designed as an alternative chandelier, resembling durable ropes.

The piece was made to replace a glass chandelier that shattered in the aftermath of the 2020 Beiruit explosion, which destroyed a large part of Lebanon's capital city.

Light Impact is defined by "flexible characteristics designed to withstand another disaster," studio founder Samer Saadeh told Dezeen. He added that the piece, which includes internal brass components, was designed as an ode to Beirut's adaptability and resilience.

Eleven by Sahel Alhiyari

Eleven is a cluster of tall fluted terracotta columns by Jordanian architect Sahel Alhiyari that were made through moulding and forming rather than traditional cutting and carving.

The architect handcrafted the segments, which are vertically stacked, using a similar technique to pottery-making,

"As you twist and turn the material, it creates all of this stuff," Alhiyari told Dezeen. The designer explained that the columns were deliberately created to celebrate imperfections, despite referencing classical architecture.

Sediments by Talin Hazbar

UAE-based Syrian designer Talin Hazbar is featuring her Sediments project, which previously gained recognition at Dubai Design Week.

The work consists of blocky seating made from fishing ropes and fishing cage ropes extracted from the Persian Gulf with the assistance of the Dubai Voluntary Diving Team.

Also made up of recycled rubber grains, the heavily textured seating was created to serve as a reminder of how we might attempt to clean up damaged coastlines, according to Hazbar.

Whispers from the Deep by T Sakhi

Lebanese-Polish sisters Tessa and Tara El Sakhi of the studio T Sakhi combined discarded metal salvaged from factories in Veneto, Italy, with Murano glass to create amorphous glassware that takes cues from underwater sea creatures.

These pieces were arranged atop dramatic shelving inside the elevator connecting the first and second floors of the Arab Design Now exhibition.

The result is a playful installation that draws together the Venetian lagoon and Lebanese glassblowing traditions.

The main photo is by Julián Velásquez and the rest of the photography is by Edmund Sumner unless stated otherwise.

Arab Design Now takes place at Design Doha from 24 February to 5 August 2024 at M7 in Doha, Qatar. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

The post Ten highlights from Design Doha exhibition Arab Design Now appeared first on Dezeen.

This week's lookbook explores eight peaceful residential interiors that feature expansive glazing and floor-to-ceiling windows framing verdant views.

These eight projects all use oversized or unusually shaped windows in clever ways, creating interiors that embrace nature and forge welcome connections to the outdoors.

Among this list of projects is an urban home renovation in Sydney offering scenic views over a plant-filled roof terrace, a curvaceous home that wraps around mango trees in a forest near Mumbai, and a mid-century home renovation sat beside a hillside in California.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring interiors that embody the "bookshelf wealth" design trend, living spaces that feature metal furniture and offbeat homes with indoor slides.

Casa Tres Árboles, Mexico, by Direccion

Neutral calming tones feature throughout this revamp of a weekend retreat in Valle de Bravo, completed by Mexican studio Direccion.

Designed to "convey a sense of refuge and retreat", lush courtyards at either end of the home serve as a backdrop to the calm interiors and are visible through floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors.

Find out more about Casa Tres Árboles ›

Hidden Garden House, Australia, by Sam Crawford Architects

Located within a conservation zone, this Sydney home was reconfigured by Sam Crawford Architects to transform the space into an urban "sanctuary".

A sloped terrace on the upper floor is filled with plants to create an "urban oasis" outside the house and offers a scenic yet private bathing experience for the residents.

Find out more about Hidden Garden House ›

12221 Benmore , US, by Ome Dezin

This mid-century home renovation in California by US studio Ome Dezin features a tonal colour palette and has oversized openings to maximise views of the lush hillside.

Originally constructed in 1960 by architects A Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmon, the renovation aimed to revive the home's original charm and its connection to the outdoors.

Find out more about 12221 Benmore ›

Nisarga Art Hub, India, by Wallmakers

Nisarga Art Hub, a family home located in Kerala, doubles as a community arts centre for hosting workshops and events, as well as musical performances that are held on the structure's innovative roof design.

A central space features earthy, natural interiors with built-in seating that is fronted by oversized windows looking out over the neighbouring paddy fields.

Find out more about Nisarga Art Hub ›

Poet's Corner House, UK, by Oliver Leech Architects

UK studio Oliver Leech Architects added a four-metre-wide skylight to this extension of a Victorian terrace house in south London.

Tasked with opening up the home's dark interiors, the extension offers views of a wildflower meadow roof along with views out to a rear courtyard.

Find out more about Poet's Corner House ›

Asmalay, India, by Blurring Boundaries

This curvaceous home near Mumbai completed by Indian studio Blurring Boundaries was designed to wrap around five of the surrounding forest's mango trees.

Large, oval-shaped windows line the home's interior and draw daylight in as well as provide views out towards the leafy forest.

Find out more about Asmalay ›

Well House, Belgium, by Memo Architectuur

Belgian studio Memo Architectuur renovated this dilapidated row house in Mortsel to accommodate a single-family home.

The home's bright, leafy interiors are lit by floor-to-ceiling rear openings that provide a picturesque backdrop to an open-plan kitchen and upper-floor balcony.

Find out more about Well House ›

House Dokka, Norway, by Snøhetta

Two stacked timber-clad volumes comprise this home designed to resemble a "floating treehouse" in Kongsberg, Norway, completed by Snøhetta and Tor Helge Dokka.

Optimising its location perched on a hillside, large windows finished with black frames look out onto the surrounding rocky landscape.

Find out more about House Dokka ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring interiors that embody the "bookshelf wealth" design trend, living spaces that feature metal furniture and offbeat homes with indoor slides.

The post Eight tranquil interiors where oversized windows frame lush views appeared first on Dezeen.

For our latest lookbook, we've gathered eight stylish closed staircases, ranging from a winding wooden spiral staircase to a light-filled "stairway to heaven".

Closed staircases – stairs that have been framed so that the threads and risers aren't visible from the side – have become a popular search term on Dezeen's Pinterest board.

While they create heavier volumes in a room, when done well closed staircases can add a monumental, almost sculptural feel to an interior.

In the eight examples below, architects and interior designers used the style in different creative ways to turn staircases into statement pieces made from materials including steel, patterned wood and micro cement.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring "bookshelf-wealth" interiors, living spaces with metal furniture and interiors punctuated by structural columns.

Barn at the Ahof, the Netherlands, by Julia van Beuningen

Architectural designer Julia van Beuningen created a spiral staircase made from plywood for this barn conversion in the Netherlands. The beautifully patterned staircase sits at the heart of the floorplan and contrasts against the barn's rough-hewn wooden beams and pillars.

"It's something you either love or hate, but it's definitely a statement," Van Beuningen told Dezeen.

Find out more about Barn at the Ahof ›

Clermont House, India, by FADD Studio

This apartment inside a high-rise development in Bangalore comprises two flats that were fused, with an expressive closed staircase connecting them.

"It has a sculptural feel with the addition of multiple curves, carved into each riser's deep red marble," the studio said of the staircase, which was covered in white micro cement that has a soft sheen finish.

Find out more about Clermont House ›

Matryoshka House, the Netherlands, by Shift Architecture Urbanism

A steel-clad volume encases an electric-blue staircase and runs along the side of the living space in this Dutch house that has been converted into two apartments.

The volume conceals a toilet, storage space and kitchen equipment, creating a clean and simple kitchen interior to which the colour adds a playful feel.

Find out more about Matryoshka House ›

Paris apartment, France, by Johanna Amatoury

Gently curved plaster forms in soft white hues define this Parisian apartment, including the staircase in its entryway.

Interior designer Johanna Amatoury aimed to create a holiday-house feel in the home, which was designed as an homage to the architectural vernacular of Greek islands.

Find out more about the Paris apartment ›

Austin Proper Hotel, USA, by Kelly Wearstler

Interior designer Kelly Wearstler gave the Austin Proper Hotel in Texas her signature bohemian touch, as seen on the closed staircase she created as an eye-catching centrepiece.

Wearstler chose to work with white oak wood to create the striking staircase, which has a ziggurat design that lets it function as a display case for a collection of glazed earthenware pots and vases.

Find out more about the Austin Proper Hotel ›

Nithurst Farm, UK, by Adam Richards

Described as a "stairway to heaven", British architect Adam Richards created this staircase based on one in the film A Matter of Life and Death, in which a pilot gets a second chance at life after a crash.

It ends by facing a full-height window, creating a striking light effect that makes the staircase live up to its name.

Find out more about Nithurst Farm ›

Workhome-Playhome, The Netherlands, by Lagado Architects

This townhouse in Rotterdam was revamped by its owners, the founders of studio Lagado Architects, to create more versatile living spaces.

Called Workhome-Playhome, the home has a closed staircase in an eye-catching baby-blue colour that matches other touches of colour in the house, including its bright green kitchen chairs.

Find out more about Workhome-Playhome ›

Tommy Rand House, Denmark, by Tommy Rand

Perhaps the most monumental of the staircases in this roundup, the spiral staircase designed by architect Tommy Rand for his own house in Denmark was constructed from 630 pieces of CNC-cut plywood.

"It is very beautiful from all angles," said Rand. "It is like a snail house, which opens up more and more as you go up to the first floor."

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring "bookshelf-wealth" interiors, living spaces with metal furniture and interiors punctuated by structural columns.

The post Eight closed staircases in tactile materials and sculptural shapes appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Courses: we've rounded up seven courses in the fashion sector that are suitable for individuals at different stages of their careers.

Available at institutes based in the USA, UK and Spain, the courses are not limited to fashion design but cover broader fashion-based topics including journalism and writing, sewing techniques and business.

Here are seven courses in the fashion sector listed on Dezeen Courses:

BA (Hons) Fashion at Staffordshire University

The BA (Hons) Fashion course at Staffordshire University equips students with fashion design skills via lectures and hands-on workshops.

Find out more about the course ›

MA Fashion Communication: Fashion Journalism at Central Saint Martins

The MA Fashion Communication: Fashion Journalism course at Central Saint Martins equips students with writing and editing skills they can apply to magazines, newspapers, blogs, websites and social media.

Find out more about the course ›

Fashion Design and Sewing Course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The Fashion Design and Sewing: Adult Continuing Education course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago teaches students the fundamentals of sewing and how to create hems and bodices.

Find out more about the course ›

Bachelor in Fashion Design at IE University

The Bachelor in Fashion Design course at IE University prepares students with relevant craft and business knowledge to work in the global fashion design industry.

Find out more about the course ›

Graduate Diploma Fashion at Central Saint Martins

The Graduate Diploma Fashion course at Central Saint Martins bolsters students' fashion portfolios through tutorials that teach technical and professional skills.

Find out more about the course ›

BA(Hons) Fashion at Arts University Bournemouth

The BA(Hons) Fashion course at Arts University Bournemouth enables students to create a portfolio of skills to support the launch of their fashion careers.

Find out more about the course ›

BA(Hons) Fashion Design at Sheffield Hallam University

The BA(Hons) Fashion Design course at Sheffield Hallam University equips students with 2D and 3D design skills to create designs that critically engage with environmental and ethical issues.

Find out more about the course ›

Dezeen Courses

Dezeen Courses is a service from Dezeen that provides details of architecture, interiors and design courses around the world. Click here for more information.

The post Seven courses in the fashion sector on Dezeen Courses appeared first on Dezeen.

In this roundup, we collect 10 recently completed skyscrapers that have changed New York City's skyline over the past two years.

New York City has seen several skyscrapers spring up in recent years, from the bronze-and-copper Brooklyn Tower by SHoP Architects in Downtown Brooklyn to Two Manhattan West, the final tower of a sprawling mixed-use development in Midtown Manhattan.

Completed in 2022 and onwards, these recent projects have shifted the city's skyline, while several other skyscrapers are currently under construction, are near completion and or have just recently been announced throughout the boroughs.

The 10 skyscrapers below include office towers, luxury condominiums and retail spaces, with some considered supertall skyscrapers, reaching up 984 feet (300 metres) or taller.

Read on for the complete list:

Olympia Dumbo, Brooklyn, by Hill West Architects

Completed by Hill West Architects in early 2024, Olympia Dumbo contains luxury apartments and a host of amenity spaces across 33 storeys.

Its wedge-shaped upper volume was created to resemble a sail, while the lower podium was informed by the neighbouring Brooklyn Bridge and the historic buildings of the surrounding Dumbo neighbourhood.

Find out more about Olympia Dumbo ›

Two Manhattan West, Manhattan, by SOM

The completion of the 935 feet (285 metres) high Two Manhattan West office tower in early 2024 marked the finalisation of the mixed-use Manhattan West development in New York City, which in total spans seven-million-square-feet (650,321 square metres) in Midtown Manhattan.

Two Manhattan West mirrors neighbouring office tower One Manhattan West, with both skyscrapers featuring curved corners, a glazed facade, subtly shifting volumes and expansive lobbies.

Find out more about Two Manhattan West ›

Brooklyn Tower, Brooklyn, by SHoP Architects

Completed in 2023, the supertall Brooklyn Tower skyscraper by SHoP Architects is the tallest in Brooklyn at 93 storeys and 1,066 feet (325 metres) tall.

With its height and dark cladding, it's been compared to sinister architecture in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, while SHoP Architects principals called it "the Empire of State Building of Brooklyn" in a 2022 interview with Dezeen.

Find out more about Brooklyn Tower ›

The Spiral, Manhattan, by BIG

BIG completed supertall skyscraper The Spiral, located along the High Line in Manhattan, in late October 2023.

At 1,031 feet (314 metres) high, it features a slender line of terraces that wrap around its exterior in a spiral pattern, which the studio said was informed by a ziggurat.

Find out more about The Spiral ›

Eagle + West, Brooklyn, by OMA

OMA created a pair of skyscrapers along the waterfront in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighbourhood that consist of a series of stacked volumes.

Part of the larger Greenpoint Landing development, the towers' rectangular volumes increase and decrease in size as they ascend on either tower and both are clad in precast concrete.

Find out more about Eagle + West ›

Steinway Tower, Manhattan, by SHoP Architects

Towering over Billionaire's Row in New York City, 111 West 57th Street, or Steinway Tower, is the world's skinniest supertall skyscraper and the second-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Accommodating a total of 60 residences, it reaches 1,428 feet (435 metres) into the sky and consists of a series of layered volumes that taper at the peak.

Find out more about Steinway Tower ›

611 West, Manhattan, by Álvaro Siza 

Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza's first building in the US, 611 West is a 450 feet (137 metre) tall residential tower located on the Upper West Side.

Clad entirely in Perla Bianca limestone, the slim tower sits on an equally slim base, with Siza likening the form to that of a giraffe.

Find out more about 611 West ›

50 Hudson Yards, Manhattan, by Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners completed 50 Hudson Yards, a supertall office skyscraper that consists of 78 storeys, in 2022.

Located in the Hudson Yards development, the tower features a grid of white stone strips on its facade and houses offices for tech company Meta and investment firm BlackRock.

Find out more about 50 Hudson Yards ›

11 Hoyt, Brooklyn, by Studio Gang

Studio Gang completed the scalloped 11 Hoyt residential tower in downtown Brooklyn in 2022. At 57 storeys, it reaches up 620 feet (189 metres).

The tower's undulating facade is the result of interior spaces bending outwards periodically, providing additional space for inhabitants.

Find out more about 11 Hoyt ›

425 Park Avenue, Manhattan, by Foster + Partners 

The "first full-block office building" to be built on Park Avenue in over 50 years, 425 Park Avenue was completed by Foster + Partners  in 2022.

The 47-storey tower has an external structure that allows a column-free interior, most notable in its triple-height lobby.

Find out more about 425 Park Avenue ›

The post Ten recently completed skyscrapers in New York City appeared first on Dezeen.