With Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, the Chinese avantgarde in architecture, research and teaching, product and interior design has arrived in Europe. In the exhibition Reflective Nostalgia, Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu are convincing in the way they examine the historical and the contemporary as well as the listed and the everyday and to transform them into new uses in a respectful and future-oriented manner. In addition to their numerous conversions and new buildings in Asia, such as residential and office buildings, theatres, shops or, for example, a chapel and a whisky distillery, the exhibition also shows projects from Europe, including a restaurant in Paris, a hotel in London and the expansion of the creative quarter Cologne-Ehrenfeld with an office building. Neri&Hu also design products and showrooms for international companies, thus demonstrating their diverse skills and the quality of their work in all scales and disciplines. With design confidence, they create exciting, sometimes surprising spatial constellations – from found and recycled materials or building parts of the respective location and by adding new elements. Historicising set pieces are omitted, while the charm and character of the 'old' remains legible and tangible and thus identity-forming in Neri&Hu's positive reinterpretation of the nostalgic. Their transdisciplinary design approach is in the DNA of the studio. As early as 2004, they were co-founders of Design Republic, a multidisciplinary design platform in Shanghai. The success of the broad spectrum of their work is reflected in numerous international awards. They currently teach at the Yale School of Architecture and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Rossana Hu was also appointed Chair of the Department of Architecture at Tongji University in Shanghai in 2021. The exhibition installation features architectural models, photographs and videos, as well as a selection of furniture. Neri&Hu's alternative reading of historical contexts, including all the contradictions and details, as well as the unexpected spatial compositions with which they respond to them in a magnificent way, can be experienced.
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IE University and All Things Urban Launch Series on “Cities and Jobs "
IE University, in collaboration with All Things Urban, would like to invite you to our "Cities and Jobs Series". A series of webinars are being hosted by the two organizations, for the launch of IE’s new Bachelor program in Urban Studies (for which applications are now open). The multidisciplinary program examines urban issues in a holistic way to prepare the future generation of urbanists to tackle the pressing challenges of our cities.
Cities only occupy 2% of the planet’s surface, but they accommodate more than 50% of the population. They consume 75% of global energy, produce 80% of global CO2 emissions, and generate more than 80% of the global GDP today. These numbers put cities at the center of any discussion about global warming, urbanization, progress, and social issues.
The three online webinars will tackle conversations from “Urban Artificial Intelligence: how can we urbanise technology?” to “Urban Green Infrastructure: How can nature save cities” and “Urban social inequalities: How can cities include people?”
Aluminium Chain Façade Cladding with Endless Creative Possibilities
The façade is the only part of the building that can be seen from the outside and has the function of communicating a message derived from its design. It therefore deserves special attention in every detail. A façade that is well proportioned in terms of colours and materials, which facilitates the connection between the interior and the exterior, will generate an initial attraction for pedestrians, inviting them to enter.
From a small house clad in classic tiles, to big brands such as Apple or Louis Vuitton, façades are used as an architectural expression to give us a glimpse of the first elements that we will later find inside the premises. In interior design, the entrance hall of a home concentrates many clues as to what we will find next. The effect of this first impression would be even more positive if the façade included a design that leaves the user hungry for more.
Reframing the Urban Environment as a Laboratory: Spitzer School of Architecture's Graduate of Urban Design Program
The Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York has been challenging the strictures of traditional design education for decades. Now, the esteemed school’s revamped Master of Urban Design program continues this trend of innovative education by reframing the urban environment as a laboratory where students play active research roles.