Opera house features award-winning design

March 1, 2009  |  Features, Interiors

Art and architecture comingle in the new Oslo Opera. Norwegian architects Snøhetta are winners of the World Architecture Festival 2008 for their design of the Oslo Operahouse. The building’s arresting forms, integrated mix of materials and the designer’s close collaboration with a…
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Architects design world’s largest transportable venue

March 1, 2009  |  Features

The concept illustrates a moving experience. By Helen Elias UK structural engineers Ramboll Whitbybird has unveiled its innovative design solution for a self-supporting air inflated structure that, when manufactured, will be one of the world’s largest lightweight demountable performance venues…
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Chanel’s Mobile Art Pavilion shows fabrics’ portability and flexibility

March 1, 2009  |  Features

By Frank Edgerton Martin Coco Chanel’s 2.55 handbag is an enduring icon of design, material, proportions and portability. To celebrate its 50th anniversary and reissue, Chanel’s artistic director Karl Lagerfeld commissioned Zaha Hadid Architects to design a traveling pavilion to house th…
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Miami’s design festival features fabric pavilion

March 1, 2009  |  Features

The pavilion is the centerpiece of the festival. By Joanna Baymiller Like the proverbial expression about rust, Miami never sleeps. From its renovated and ultra hip South Beach playground to its Art Deco and Design districts, Miami parades art, fashion and architecture in a frenzied and seemingly en…
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System improves sound dispersal in a university conference hall

March 1, 2009  |  Features

Improving the acoustics of the Steven Holl-designed architecture building at the University of Minnesota. By Mason Riddle Even some of the best-laid design schemes of the most notable architects can go astray. Take the case of a modestly scaled, second floor conference room in Rapson Hall, the home …
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Canopy extends outdoor use at Miami restaurant

March 1, 2009  |  Exteriors, Features

Adding a sculptural canopy in front of a restaurant extends outdoor use at this Miami hot spot. The gentle salty breezes at the Bayside Marketplace in Miami, Florida, attract shoppers, diners and curiosity seekers to this up scale outdoor shopping mall flanking the bay. To control the occasional gus…
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BMW’s GINA features fabric skin

January 1, 2009  |  Features

A car built by asking the question “How can a car be made?” By Jeremy Clark How would a car be made if you could separate the process from what you previously knew about how to make cars? That is the approach BMW Design Group took in the development of the GINA Light Visionary Model, &he…
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Exhibition: Fashioning felt

January 1, 2009  |  Features

The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will present a comprehensive overview of the varied uses of felt in contemporary design. The exhibition, which will take place March 6 – Sept. 7, 2009, features more than 70 felt works from a range of fields including fashion, archi…
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Conference: Textile Roofs 2009

January 1, 2009  |  Features

The 14th international workshop on the design and practical realization of architectural membrane structures, to be held in Berlin at the Technical University of Berlin from June 11 – 13, 2009. For more information, visit www.textile-roofs.de.
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Public art project explores city’s history

January 1, 2009  |  Features, Graphics

Fabric and graphics in a downtown carries the message of universality. By Mason Riddle Speaking of Home is one of those public art projects that should hang around, maybe forever, so deft is it at engaging passersby and infusing a bit of spirit into its rather static surroundings. Alas, the temporar…
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