Articles by Ella Thorns

San Diego Airport has unveiled their permanent interactive artwork DAZZLE on the Airport’s Rental Car Centre commissioned by San Diegos County Regional Airport Authority, that features the debut of E Ink’s revolutionary prism technology on a large architectural scale. The installation has been designed to manipulate the form of the façade using inspiration from the World War I military technique “razzle dazzle” that camouflaged the outlines of ships. This phenomenon of visually scrambling the shapes to hide from being spotted can be witnessed in nature too, as the stripes on a zebra equally become an optical illusion to disrupt the predator’s perception.

FaulknerBrowns Architects have recently submitted a planning application for a new major indoor snow and leisure center in Swindon, marked as a priority by Swindon Borough Council. The scheme is set the help regenerate the previously industrial area into a vibrant shopping district, located opposite the existing Oasis Leisure Centre. Russ Davenport, Partner at FaulknerBrowns Architects, said:

Over the last few months, we have seen a surge in large timber structures being constructed across the globe claiming to be the biggest, the tallest, or the first of their kind—for example, plans for the Dutch Mountains, the world’s largest wooden building, have recently been revealed. Contractors Moelven Limtre are one of the key drivers of this change as the perception of timber as a load-bearing material becomes more common. Their director Rune Abrahamsen is responsible for one of the current claimants of the world record for the tallest timber building, “Treet” in Bergen, at 51 meters tall. However, the contractor’s latest project Mjøstårnet is set to reach an even taller height of 81 meters.

Following the evolution of architecture in Tuscany, this documentary maps out the decline of the region in the shadow of Brunelleschi and Alberti. From the 14th century onwards, Italy underwent a cultural rebirth that changed the entire world, bearing the architectural mastery of the Renaissance. However now, there appears to be a detachment within modern architecture and little work for the many architects who are being forced to emigrate.

Following recent natural disasters including the Northern California wildfires, the HASSELL + team have been inspired to reimagine the San Francisco Bay Area as a vibrant community hub, equipped to provide temporary facilities in an emergency. As part of the competition Resilient by Design, the ten teams were asked to provide solutions for the waterfront through site-specific conceptual design and collaborative research projects.

As many architects know, fonts have their own personality – so to use them as inspiration for office decors isn’t as crazy as you might think. Typography has the ability to instantly tell a narrative to the reader before needing to read the words, hence why we can take the decision-making behind which font to use in a project or scheme very seriously. They can hold the utmost importance in graphic design and architecture, as we often find ourselves displeased if the font is inefficient or disproportionate (take comic sans for example).

There is something incredibly satisfying about 3D maps that make you want to follow the streets and rivers with your fingers, navigating your way through the urban landscape. Almost like contours, the CityWood’s minimalist maps are built up through plywood layers, laser cut with precision to one-hundredth of a millimeter and hand assembled for high-quality craftsmanship.

There is something incredibly satisfying about 3D maps that make you want to follow the streets and rivers with your fingers, navigating your way through the urban landscape. Almost like contours, CityWood’s minimalist maps are built up through plywood layers, laser cut with precision to one-hundredth of a millimeter and hand assembled for high-quality craftsmanship.

On the 4th of February, Minneapolis will host the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles for the 52nd Super Bowl. With over 100 million people expected to watch the game this Sunday, all eyes will be on the city of Minneapolis—a city known for not allowing the harsh climate get in the way of their celebrations—and the brand new US Bank Stadium, where a huge permanent roof will ensure that, come rain, shine, or snow, Minneapolitans will have a space to gather and enjoy themselves.

Days (or rather, nights) before the deadline, the studio becomes a haven for all those students madly rendering, photoshopping, and printing the last pieces of their presentation, using the adrenaline of the deadline for motivation. While it’s common for people to disagree even on the true definition of an all-nighter—is it classed as working until the sun rises, being awake for a period of over 24 hours, or even working right through to bedtime the following evening?—students often unhealthily boast about how many they have survived.