The architecture and design blog

As odd as this might sound, you are looking at a floating laboratory. The building, or should that be boat, is a piece of research into tiny homes. It aims to understand what the minimum requirements are to live well. Read more

The assumption that drawers must hide away in a corner is firmly laid to rest with Mille – Feuille, a furniture concept designed by Japanese designer Emmanuelle Moureaux for German manufacturer Schonbuch. Read more

The rising table is Robert van Embricqs’ latest manifestation of a project that began with the Rising Chair. The idea is simple, and that is to commence with a flat surface that can transform into a piece of stylish furniture.

Looking at natural transformations, that function beautifully without cumbersome, or clumsy design, provided the inspiration for the incision pattern that in turn became the latticework of “woven” wooden beams that make-up the table’s centre. Read more

If you have been dreaming of taking gardening leave, these products, designed by Chiaki Murata for his brand Metaphys, might be just the thing to satisfy your yearning. They will encourage you to do your gardening without leaving work!

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Photo credits: Nicholas Waltefaugle.

The city of Besaçon has a long history, argued over between the French, Spanish and Germans for hundreds of years. So it is with this in mind that Kengo Kuma & Associates strove to create an architecture that could be at one with the river and mountains, the ancient Citadelle and the cultures of modernity.

The practice created a strikingly modern cultural centre that at once has become an architectural focus for the city as well as the centre of dance music and performance. Read more