Images: Foster and Partners.
The aspiration to 3d print buildings has been with us for a few years now, but Foster + Partners, working with the European Space Agency, are planning to print a moon base with the technology.
The idea is that an inflatable dome will be landed on the moon in a tubular rocket module. Once the dome is inflated it becomes the support structure over which a protective structure would be printed from Regolith, a material readily found on the moon. The rocket module would remain as the entrance to the base. Read more
Images: VSM Enterprises.
The ability of apps to solve problems we never knew we had, proceeds apace. The art has reached, what must be a zenith, with the release of Condom Size, an app from VSM Enterprises.
For those ignorant amongst us, condoms apparently come in a plethora of sizes to suit all requirements. But how to know what your requirements might actually be? Read more
Her are some interesting lamps from a young Indian designer named Avni Sejpal who was trained in London, but who now works out of Mumbai.
Her family background is in textiles which has informed how she regards materials, and has influenced how she works with them. Read more
Photos: Fumihiko Ikememoto.
When designing a family house, there is a temptation to design tightly around the client’s current needs, but these will inevitably change with time. More subtle perhaps, and certainly more difficult, is to design with the spirit of the family as perhaps a more constant quality to inform the proceedings. A successful home will be created when that spirit is able to grow within the house.
Hiroyuki Shinozaki looks as though he has designed a dream home for his clients in Matsudo City, a satellite town within commuting distance from Tokyo, that will surely be successful. The architect has interpreted building a house in this city as a declaration of intent that his clients want light, space and hope.
He has provided these qualities in abundance. Read more
The Portuguese practice of OODA have prepared this draft for the central library of Helsinki Finland. Conscious of the need to reinvent the library archetype, if it is to remain relevant in the internet age, the practice have proposed a plethora of different functions combining cultural and entertainment features. Read more
