31st January 2023
January news: the grown future of architecture, news from New York, and help fighting homelessness
TOG and Waugh Thistelton launch The Black & White Building at last, Citizens Design Bureau eyes up awards, and Zetteler salutes the genius of ProxyAddress.
Photography by Jake Curtis, courtesy of TOG.
TOG’s tower of timber
The Black & White Building opens
The Black & White Building opens
When TOG, Waugh Thistleton Architects, Daytrip and many other partners, including AHEC, announced their plan to construct a mass-timber office, London paid attention. Not only was this the tallest mass-timber commercial building ever built in the centre of this city, standing 17.8 metres above the Shoreditch streetscape, but the use of mass-timber itself was on the cutting edge of sustainability – forgoing concrete and steel for a natural material, proving wood was resilient enough for a landmark multi-storey construction.
A blueprint for a new low-carbon approach to urban construction, The Black & White Building officially opened its doors last week – let us know if you’d like to visit.
Follow TOG for more.
A blueprint for a new low-carbon approach to urban construction, The Black & White Building officially opened its doors last week – let us know if you’d like to visit.
Follow TOG for more.
Portrait of Chris Hildrey, courtesy of ProxyAddress.
ProxyAddress – a pathway out of homelessness
Architect-led pilot scheme shows 96% success rate
Architect-led pilot scheme shows 96% success rate
In an ideal world, ProxyAddress wouldn’t exist. It’s ridiculous that having no fixed address should instantly cut you off from benefits, employment opportunities, bank accounts, library access, GP services, post and local authority resources. But when society is this broken, even a short term solution is welcome – especially one as brilliant and inventive as architect Chris Hildrey’s.
ProxyAddress enables people experiencing homelessness to securely borrow a stable, donated 'proxy' address duplicated from an existing property, reconnecting them with the systems of society. From early concept, launched to fanfare in 2017 (you might have seen the project at the Design Museum), Chris has taken the idea and developed it – the pilot scheme in Lewisham, London, boasts a 96% success rate, and work is underway to expand further. Watch this space.
Say hello.
ProxyAddress enables people experiencing homelessness to securely borrow a stable, donated 'proxy' address duplicated from an existing property, reconnecting them with the systems of society. From early concept, launched to fanfare in 2017 (you might have seen the project at the Design Museum), Chris has taken the idea and developed it – the pilot scheme in Lewisham, London, boasts a 96% success rate, and work is underway to expand further. Watch this space.
Say hello.
Image by Henry Woide, courtesy Material Cultures.
Material Cultures: growing tomorrow
How to build a post-carbon future
How to build a post-carbon future
Lately, we’ve been talking a lot about Material Reform, Material Cultures’ pocket-sized manifesto for a sustainable built environment. Now, the team have developed the book’s ideas into a unique exhibition at the Building Centre's Window Gallery.
Running until 15 April 2023, ‘Homegrown: Building a Post Carbon Future’, is a unique display that champions bio-based materials as a radical alternative for the carbon-heavy industry standards in UK construction. Following the themes of the book, the show includes a series of specially commissioned new films that tackle themes including regenerative resources, supply chains, agriculture, land use, straw and timber.
Mark your calendar.
Running until 15 April 2023, ‘Homegrown: Building a Post Carbon Future’, is a unique display that champions bio-based materials as a radical alternative for the carbon-heavy industry standards in UK construction. Following the themes of the book, the show includes a series of specially commissioned new films that tackle themes including regenerative resources, supply chains, agriculture, land use, straw and timber.
Mark your calendar.
Our 23 for '23, graphic by Zara Shasore (one of the 23!).
The new world order
23 for ’23 – check out our hotlist
23 for ’23 – check out our hotlist
We love shouting about the people and projects that show what creative thinking and a social conscience can achieve, and are beyond lucky that we get to do that every day through our work. Trouble is, not everyone whom we think is amazing is on our client list (yet) – so we introduced our annual round-up of creative-sector superstars.
Zetteler’s strictly non-scientific, in-no-way-objective shortlist of humans who have got us excited in one way or another is now up on the site and calling for your eyeballs. 23 for ‘23 includes artists, designers, social champions, community initiatives and more – all animated by the shared values of inclusion, critical thinking and bold imagination.
Check it out.
Zetteler’s strictly non-scientific, in-no-way-objective shortlist of humans who have got us excited in one way or another is now up on the site and calling for your eyeballs. 23 for ‘23 includes artists, designers, social champions, community initiatives and more – all animated by the shared values of inclusion, critical thinking and bold imagination.
Check it out.
Would you want to sleep here? Hackney Night Shelter has the space they need, but they need your help to make it welcoming.
Hackney Night Shelter – an urgent request
Work in design? We need you!
Work in design? We need you!
For 25 years, the Hackney Night Shelter has offered warmth and refuge when it is most needed. For the last 12 years, Sabine has volunteered there almost every week making food, changing sheets, or simply chatting with guests about their lives. With the cost-of-living crisis and squeezed rental market continuing to push people over the edge, the shelter team have stepped up to the task, expanding to a new space and doubling available bed capacity – but there’s a way to go before it’s able to host our most vulnerable people. That’s where you come in.
The shelter has the space it needs to meet demand – but it’s nowhere near a welcoming place to spend the night, or up to three months. More than any other sector, ours has the ability and resources to transform spaces like the one above. Do you work at a design brand and want to make a major difference? Anything that might make the space functional and comfortable – sofas and chairs, tables and lamps, bed frames, mattresses, bedding, as well as shower curtains, shelves and soft furnishings – would be a welcome addition.
A huge community effort has already gone into making this happen – now you can play part, too. We need these things (or whatever you might have) right now as our guests move in soon.
Please email Sabine (today) at sabine@zetteler.co.uk to offer nice things.
The shelter has the space it needs to meet demand – but it’s nowhere near a welcoming place to spend the night, or up to three months. More than any other sector, ours has the ability and resources to transform spaces like the one above. Do you work at a design brand and want to make a major difference? Anything that might make the space functional and comfortable – sofas and chairs, tables and lamps, bed frames, mattresses, bedding, as well as shower curtains, shelves and soft furnishings – would be a welcome addition.
A huge community effort has already gone into making this happen – now you can play part, too. We need these things (or whatever you might have) right now as our guests move in soon.
Please email Sabine (today) at sabine@zetteler.co.uk to offer nice things.
Matter by Norwegian Presence (2022). Image courtesy of DOGA.
Norwegian Presence gets set for Salone
A bold return to Milan in 2023
A bold return to Milan in 2023
Norwegian Presence – the annual showcase of the best talent from Norway’s design scene during Milan Design Week – has put independent designers and cutting-edge manufacturers in conversation about sustainability since its first outing in 2015.
Now, 2023 promises to take the show up a notch. New talent. New perspectives. The same mission: to champion the distinctly Norwegian appreciation of craft and materiality. The 2023 line-up announcement is coming soon.
Stay tuned.
Now, 2023 promises to take the show up a notch. New talent. New perspectives. The same mission: to champion the distinctly Norwegian appreciation of craft and materiality. The 2023 line-up announcement is coming soon.
Stay tuned.
Image by Taran Wilkhu, courtesy of Talent House.
Citizens Design Bureau’s architecture for the arts
Two projects shortlisted for retrofit awards
Two projects shortlisted for retrofit awards
Last month, Citizens Design Bureau’s extraordinary work on a creative hub in Stratford was featured as a major case study in the Architects’ Journal. Opened by Mayor Sadiq Khan, Talent House is a £4.1 million project to provide free and affordable world-class facilities to the next generation of dance and music professionals.
In the next few weeks, we will be sharing news of CDB architect Katy Marks’s latest project – a joyous refurbishment of a Grade-II listed former church and the latest example of CDB’s track record of brilliantly transforming public buildings for culture and community. And – news just in! – both Talent House and the new project have been shortlisted for the AJ Retrofit awards 2023. It’s a big year for Citizens Design Bureau – and it’s only January.
Get in touch for an early look.
In the next few weeks, we will be sharing news of CDB architect Katy Marks’s latest project – a joyous refurbishment of a Grade-II listed former church and the latest example of CDB’s track record of brilliantly transforming public buildings for culture and community. And – news just in! – both Talent House and the new project have been shortlisted for the AJ Retrofit awards 2023. It’s a big year for Citizens Design Bureau – and it’s only January.
Get in touch for an early look.
Image courtesy of Darren Appiagyei.
Darren Appiagyei makes it to MAD
NYC gallery acquires artist’s wood-turned vessel
NYC gallery acquires artist’s wood-turned vessel
The Pyrographic Vessel by master wood-turner Darren Appiagyei has been acquired by New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, and will feature in Craft Front & Center, a new exhibition opening on 9 February.
The exhibition is an excellent example of how the expansive field of craft has broadened definitions of art. Organised into themes of material transformation, dismantling hierarchies, contemplation, identity, and sustainability, Craft Front & Center features a fresh installation of more than 60 historic works and new acquisitions dating from the golden age of the American Craft movement to the present day.
Find out more.
The exhibition is an excellent example of how the expansive field of craft has broadened definitions of art. Organised into themes of material transformation, dismantling hierarchies, contemplation, identity, and sustainability, Craft Front & Center features a fresh installation of more than 60 historic works and new acquisitions dating from the golden age of the American Craft movement to the present day.
Find out more.
NYC image by Sam Valadi via Flickr.
First, we take Manhattan
Zetteler on the road, tips please
Zetteler on the road, tips please
For the first time in four years, we are getting on a plane and, for the first time in six years, we are heading to New York for a – AHEM – top secret project. As you might know, we've been getting trains all over the place, from Oslo to Milan, from Paris to Madrid, but crossing the Atlantic is a journey too far and this very special project requires our boots and brains on the ground.
We’ll be spending a week in NYC at the end of February/early March and would love to say hello if you’re about. We’re also keen for your recommendations of design, architecture and interior hotspots. Any tips?
Get in touch (thank you).
We’ll be spending a week in NYC at the end of February/early March and would love to say hello if you’re about. We’re also keen for your recommendations of design, architecture and interior hotspots. Any tips?
Get in touch (thank you).
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