Who could have predicted that a president famed for his eponymous sub-Miesian skyscrapers would come out as a classicist? Yet this week, news broke of a White House executive order to dictate a style for all US federal architecture – and that style is classicism. Entitled Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, the draft order demands that “the classical architectural style […]

A lot of raw material goes into the making of footwear, so the less that can be used, the better for the environment. Nike’s new Space Hippie shoes were designed with that in mind, as they’re composed largely of recycled materials. Not unlike the Adidas x Parley, the Hippies’ uppers are made mainly of a woven yarn, that is in […]

It’s no secret that motorists sometimes just don’t “get” what cyclists are thinking. Ford Europe has envisioned at least part of a solution, in the form of its one-off Emoji Jacket. Created as part of the automaker’s Share the Road campaign, the jacket incorporates an LED mesh across its back, that is wirelessly controlled by a handlebar-mounted remote. Utilizing push-buttons […]

More than 100 trees will adorn the gridded facade of IKEA‘s city-centre Vienna Westbahnhof store, which will have no car parking spaces. Currently under construction in the Austrian capital, the car-free IKEA store is designed by local studio Querkraft Architekten to address “radically changed customer and mobility behaviours”. IKEA Vienna Westbahnhof, which will have a grid-like form enveloped by greenery, will […]

The built environment affects us all. It is the common opening line of every conference about architecture. Elitist in the 1970s, forgotten in the 80s, rediscovered in the 90s, idolised in the 00s, architecture today mostly registers as a cause for concern, a discipline insufficiently aware of its consequences, one to be scrutinised and kept in check. Gone are the […]

Muji has launched a single-storey prefabricated home called Y? no Ie that has a large outdoor deck to encourage indoor-outdoor living. Y? no Ie, or Plain House, is intended for use in rural settings and is the first stair-free dwelling in Muji‘s line of prefabricated timber homes that launched in 2004. The 74-square-metre structure responds to a growing demand for […]

Australian architecture firm POLYstudio has recently completed A House for All Seasons, a contemporary family home with an emphasis on energy efficiency. Designed for a young family, the sustainable new dwelling has a flexible layout to accommodate the clients’ evolving needs within a relatively compact footprint. The project’s adherence to the principles of the Passive House standard along with native, drought-tolerant […]

Swedish retailer Carlings has released its augmented-reality The Last Statement T-shirt, which can show a variety of political messages. Developed for the brand by creative agency Virtue, the T-shirt is nearly blank to the naked eye. Viewed through a phone, however, it sports a bold, animated design that comments on a political topic of the day. The wearer can choose from a […]

Bathrooms can easily be dismissed as the dullest room of the house, but there’s plenty of opportunity to play around with material and colour. Interiors reporter Natasha Levy has selected eight striking bathing spaces to learn from. A statement shower screen adds interest to the otherwise greyscale interior of this bathroom, which sits inside a brutalist Montreal apartment. Made from […]