The announcement of the OBEL Award winner 2026 brings with it an important moment. Here is a winner that celebrates not 'just' design excellence and innovation that look firmly to a more sustainable future, but one that also does so within the context of public administration, a rare case study of how to apply pioneering architectural strategies within systemic structures.

And that winner? The Balearic Social Housing Model, a social housing model implemented in the Balearic Islands between 2019 and 2023, where the way residential spaces for vulnerable communities are commissioned, procured, designed, built and inhabited is rethought.

Who is Balearic Social Housing Model, the OBEL Award winner 2026?

The initiative was born of a partnership between economist Cris Ballester Parets, the Balearic government’s former managing director of IBAVI, and Carles Oliver Barceló, the head of IBAVI’s Technical Department. Together, they not only challenged how public institutions can play an important role in environmental, social and economic innovation, but also created a wealth of homes during the period of their collaboration – showcasing that their approach is not about theory, but about real-world results.

Nathalie de Vries, who acted as chair of jury for the 2026 OBEL Award, said: 'What makes the Balearic Social Housing Model remarkable is how innovative architecture can be found not just in design and material choice but also in procurement, policy and process. Public housing shortages are not unique to the Balearic Islands; the same structural pressure is playing out in cities and regions across the world. What this model offers is a framework wherein public institutions can adapt to their own context along with proof that public administration itself can become a genuine engine for change.'

The Obel Award jury applauded the housing model's quietly revolutionary approach, which responded perfectly to the award's annual focus, 'Systems’ Hack', now extended into its second award cycle. Amidst a state of increasing global economic, political and climatic instability, this accolade's organisers are keen to find and bring forward ways of operating that offer ingenious solutions which show a way forward for architecture and the built environment within existing systems – flagging that creating radical solutions does not always need a complete reinvention of how we operate.

Jesper Eis Eriksen, the director of the OBEL Foundation, added: 'Systems' Hack asked how architecture can reshape failing systems within which it operates. That question deserves extensive exploration and reflection, which is why we chose to extend the theme for one more year, and gave the jury the opportunity to appoint the 2027 OBEL Award winner under the Systems' Hack focus.'

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Biophilia (and biophilic architecture, as a result) expresses the innate human urge to connect with nature that even the industrial era has failed to sever. For more than 99 per cent of our history, humans have evolved in response to natural forces and other life forms, yet the mass move to urban living and the densification of our cities have drastically curtailed our exposure to them, impacting our health and wellbeing.

What is biophilia and biophilic architecture?

The term biophilia – derived from Greek and meaning ‘love of life’ in all its forms – was coined by psychologist Erich Fromm and popularised by biologist Edward Wilson in his book Biophilia in 1984. Examples of biophilic architecture stretch back millennia, however, long before the term came into usage. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon – built in 600 BC in Mesopotamia and featuring terraced rooftops that evoked a lush, green mountain in an urban landscape – are an early example. But it was the late social ecologist Stephen Kellert who attempted to put a framework around what he called biophilic design, in a series of books and papers.

‘Biophilic design seeks to create good habitat for people as a biological organism in the modern built environment that advances people’s health, fitness and wellbeing,’ he said in his 2015 paper, The Practice of Biophilic Design, co-written with architect Elizabeth Calabrese. Many interpretations in the last few decades have involved green façades and shoving the odd shrub inside a building, but Kellert insisted that biophilic architecture ‘requires repeated and sustained engagement with nature’ – a more holistic strategy that embeds plants, natural materials, daylight and (more lately) environmental intelligence into the entire experience of a place.

Biophilic architecture’s three defining characteristics

Biophilic architecture requires three key attributes, as Kellert defined it: ‘the direct experience of nature’, meaning actual contact with environmental features, such as natural light, plants, water and landscape; ‘the indirect experience of nature’, which refers to exposure to images of nature, natural materials and forms inspired by the natural world; and ‘the experience of space and place’, which encompasses spatial features characteristic of the natural environment that have advanced human health and wellbeing – views, a sense of safety, way finding and easy mobility.

Boston-based architect Moshe Safdie – one of the pioneers of biophilic architecture – puts it more simply. ‘For everyone a garden’ has been his guiding philosophy since his outset as an architect, inspired by his childhood playing among the fertile terraces of Haifa (then part of Palestine) in the 1940s, before the city densified.

With Habitat ’67, his much-lauded (and criticised) project in Montreal, he went on to rethink high-rise housing so that each apartment would feel like a house with a garden, open streets and communal spaces rich with plant life. His more recent Habitat Qinhuangdao project in the eponymous Chinese city – completed in 2024 – furthers those ambitions with 16-storey stepped residential blocks, staggered and offset to give way to terraces, balconies and solariums. It’s an example of how nature can be the organising framework of the building and guide spatial experience, rather than being an afterthought.

Safdie believes that dense urban environments ‘must be integrated with nature in such a way that the old dividing line between city and countryside becomes blurred’, as he put it in a 2022 issue of the Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly. This involves re-examining what optimal density really is – ‘one of the most important challenges facing cities today’, says Nguyen Hoang Manh, principal architect of Vietnam practice MIA Design Studio, which has embedded biophilic architecture principles into projects that range from residential developments to hotels.

‘We seek to reduce a building’s footprint to the minimum, allowing more space for vegetation, water features, biodiversity, and communal areas. We see nature as an essential urban infrastructure, just as important as transportation, utilities, or energy systems.’ Biophilic architecture has evolved from just being about integrating greenery into buildings to a more all-encompassing idea in which each project is conceived as ‘a complete ecosystem, where architecture, climate, landscape, and people coexist and support one another’, as Nguyen explains.

The health benefits of biophilic architecture

Most of us can attest to the restorative power of being immersed in nature but research now backs this up. A UK study in 2019 involving nearly 20,000 people found that those who spent at least 120 minutes a week in greenery were significantly more likely to report good health and higher psychological wellbeing. Meanwhile, another 2019 study by Aarhus University, Denmark, found that children who grow up surrounded by abundant green space have up to a 55 per cent lower risk of developing psychiatric and mental health disorders later in life compared to those with the least exposure to nature.

A systematic review of the ‘Restorative Effects of Biophilic Workplace and Nature Exposure during Working Time’, published in 2023, found that exposure to nature in work settings – including plants, natural light, views of nature, and green breaks – is linked with improvements in worker wellbeing, motivation and performance. But the pressures on our cities are becoming increasingly intense. By 2050, the UN expects two-thirds of humanity to be city dwellers, compared to just three per cent as lately as 1800, which underscores the urgency for biophilic architecture that puts nature at the heart of urban centres.

Projects that raise the bar for biophilic architecture

Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore, by Safdie Architects

Jewel Changi Airport blurs the boundary between airport infrastructure, shopping mall and botanical garden. Watching the world’s largest indoor waterfall – the 40m-high Rain Vortex – plunge from the ceiling of the glass bagel-shaped building while awaiting a flight is an instant balm to travel stress, as this writer can attest. Safdie described its toroidal inverse dome as creating ‘a new kind of spatial experience, a daylit vast landscaped garden, combined with seven levels of shopping and airport facilities’, at the time of its opening in 2019. Incorporating natural daylight, extensive indoor forestry and passive environmental strategies, it puts nature at the core of the experience.

The Park in Vinh City, Vietnam, by MIA Design Studio

Five low-profile pavilions emerge from the landscape in this public service facility completed in 2023 and overlooking a lake in Vinh City, Nghe An Province, Vietnam. It was imagined as a vertical ecosystem rather than a conventional office building, with nature extending through the entire spatial experience thanks to large sky gardens, naturally ventilated communal spaces, shaded terraces and interconnected landscapes. ‘What makes The Park particularly meaningful is the continuous dialogue it creates between people, vegetation, climate, and architecture,’ says MIA Design Studio’s Nguyen Hoang Manh. ‘Moving through the building feels more like walking through a landscape than occupying a traditional workplace.’

Habitat Qinhuangdao in Qinhuangdao, China, by Safdie Architects

Private terraces, sky gardens, rooftop landscapes and over 16 hectares of public gardens are woven through Habitat Qinhuangdao, a cluster of over 1,800 homes sited 200 miles east of Beijing. Moshe Safdie has reimagined his Montreal housing project Habitat ’67 as a high-density coastal community of staggered residential blocks linked by skybridges, creating a porous form that maximises daylight, natural ventilation and views of the Bohai Sea. It opened in 2016, with phase II – which more than doubled its size – completing in 2024.

Amazon Spheres in Seattle, USA, by NBBJ

Retail giant Amazon reimagined how an office could look, feel and smell with The Spheres, sited beside its Seattle HQ. American firm NBBJ designed three conjoined glass orbs filled with ‘cloud forest’ gardens comprising over 40,000 individual plants. Instead of sitting at desks or cubicles, workers can amble along pathways for walking meetings, make use of treehouses for collaborative conversations and enjoy sundecks and suspension bridges. ‘Studies suggest that spaces that embrace biophilic design can inspire creativity and even improve brain function,’ said an Amazon blogpost when The Spheres opened in 2018. The entire structure is covered in 2,643 panes of clear, tessellated glass, beneath which is a layer of film to limit infrared radiation and keep the interiors cool, although some have questioned the impact of the high humidity levels on productivity. The Spheres are also open to the public.

BRAC University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by WOHA

Singapore-based studio WOHA transformed a polluted inner city swamp in Dhaka into a lush public park and campus for BRAC University in 2023 – recently scooping one of the RIBA’s 2026 International Awards for Excellence. The campus layout is inspired by the Sundarbans mangrove forest, mimicking its vertical and horizontal ecosystems to combat Dhaka's dense urban heat and monsoon climate. It is separated into open-air public zones and private, sheltered academic areas. These are blanketed with over 26,000 sq m of vertical and horizontal landscaping, including sky terraces and hanging gardens. The building is designed to ‘breathe’, with horizontal breezeways that channel wind and enhance airflow. Meanwhile, the ground-level park includes a bio-retention pond and native plants.

Bosco Verticale in Milan, Italy, by Boeri Studio

Stefan Boeri went further than the ‘green wall’ – now deemed questionable from a fire safety perspective – by creating a vertical forest across two residential towers in Milan, planted with 800 trees, 15,000 perennials and 5,000 shrubs. Completed in 2014, Bosco Verticale offers the equivalent of 30,000 sq m of woodland and undergrowth, according to the architect. Planting was specific to each floor, with over 60 varieties of trees chosen to boost biodiversity and the health of residents, while regulating internal temperatures. The leaves of the deciduous trees shade the full-height glazing in the summer before they drop in the autumn, allowing more sunlight and heat into the building as temperatures drop.

Urban Farming Office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by Vo Trong Nghia Architects

Vo Trong Nghia Architects created a hybrid office and vertical urban farm in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022, providing fruit, vegetables and herbs that are irrigated by stored rainwater. Serving as the practice’s own HQ, the structure is built using an exposed concrete frame. The wall of plants – which completely swaths the concrete building's glazed southern side and is supported by a shelving-like external structure of thin steel – filters sunlight and air, preventing overheating and creating a shaded microclimate for staff. Workspaces are arranged around a central atrium, and sliding glass doors open onto balconies. A rooftop garden provides further space for growing plants.

The Salone del Mobile may be vital to the commercial ecosystem of the design industry, but it is not an especially sustainable event. According to the report Milan Design (Eco) System, published annually by the Politecnico di Milano, the furniture fair produces 13.12 kilograms of waste for every square metre of exhibition space at the Rho Fiera, where it is held. It’s a staggering figure, not only for its environmental toll, but also because much of it could be avoided simply through smarter design.

It’s a problem that Enrico Magistro, founder of QuadroDesign – the Italian brand known for its pared-back stainless-steel taps – sought to address when he invited the Milan-based designer Giacomo Moor to design the company’s booth for the 2026 edition. Magistro had seen Moor’s series of easy-to-assemble wooden furniture developed for the LiveinSlums initiative in Nairobi and was struck by its potential to evolve into an architectural system.

From Salone del Mobile booth to social-impact structure in Zambia

'He wanted to create a pavilion that would have a second life once the fair was over,' explains Moor, who has devised a lightweight modular structure that will be dismantled and shipped to Masala, Zambia, where it will be installed by the social-impact company Koalisation as a public restroom at a local charcoal market. 'It’s a market that is predominantly run by women, who often bring their children to the workplace,' Moor says of the open-air bazaar, which previously lacked adequate sanitation facilities. 'So it will be equipped with showers and changing areas for children.'

Known for bridging design, architecture and carpentry through his multidisciplinary Milan studio, Moor approached the challenge with a system-oriented eye. He developed a modular timber grid based around a custom aluminium four-way connector that allows the structure to be dismantled, rebuilt and reconfigured for different uses. 'We wanted to create a truly replicable system, even in sociocultural contexts different from ours, where they might not have the same machinery,' he explains. Standardised wooden elements slot into the joint to create a lightweight structural lattice that can expand horizontally and vertically, while panels – used as partitions, shelving or roofing – can be added or removed depending on the context.

'The booth at the fair will be very ethereal, very light, with the addition of coloured panels that provide a graphic explanation of the project,' Moor told us of the temporary pavilion, which presents a teaser selection from his Thumb collection – originally conceived for the kitchen and now evolving into the bathroom – alongside the Hum range designed by Philippe Malouin, and a set of new stools by NM3.

'In Africa, on the other hand, the architecture becomes more closed and functional, because it also needs to allow users moments of privacy.' The real challenge, he adds, was ensuring that neither purpose compromised the other. 'The most complicated part was designing something capable of accomplishing two tasks that are so diametrically opposed – a commercial exhibition space on one hand, and a fully functioning restroom on the other – without sacrificing either.'

Salone del Mobile, International Bathroom Exhibition | Hall 06 | Stand B41

A new exhibition by London-based design studio Superflux has opened in Vienna’s Welt Museum. The German word for world, 'welt', is used by the institution in the same way that 'World Music' has come to mean a vast genre taking in the Global South while excluding Europe and colonial North America. It’s the same Eurocentric perspective that sees udon noodles and ghee appear in the 'world food' aisle of supermarkets, while spaghetti and maple syrup do not. For Superflux founders Anab Jain and Jon Ardern, whose heritages span India and Britain, it was the perfect ethnographically charged context for their provocative and playful new show.

Step inside Superflux’s ‘The Craftocene’ exhibition in Vienna

Titled 'The Craftocene', the exhibition is split over three rooms, intermingling new installations with historic artefacts from the museum’s collection in a three-dimensional comment on a speculative, post-anthropocene future. The first room houses a vast oak dining table set for a meal seemingly taking place sometime after an apocalyptic social collapse. The mismatched plates have been repaired with kintsugi (Japan’s ‘golden joinery’ technique), while each piece of cutlery is a Frankensteinian amalgamation of found natural objects and broken 21st-century products. An orange shard of plastic from a car indicator housing, for example, is bound to a twig forming a rudimentary knife. The crockery hints at a future in which an ecological good life is remade from the detritus of today.

In the second room, a posse of insectoid gadgets designed to measure weather conditions within the Thames Estuary is huddled. The data the gadgets produce is being fed into an AI language model trained on old books of gnomic Cockney weather aphorisms and spat out as meteorological poetry. If the rise of AI risks separating humans from nature and traditional wisdom, Superflux hopes its installation could subvert that trajectory; using the same software that underpins Claude and ChatGPT to rekindle connections between people, place and folklore.

The final room is most compelling, containing a collection of new sculptures specially made for the exhibition, presented as if in an ethnographic museum of the far future. The conceit is that anthropologists centuries from now might have discovered the remnants of 21st-century consumerism but, ignorant of how we actually live today, have wildly misinterpreted the various artefacts they’ve uncovered. Classic design objects like Wassily armchairs and Nike sneakers have been remade in unfamiliar material palettes and are presented with captions declaring them to be relics of spiritual traditions.

One exhibit is a stack of Alvar Aalto’s iconic three-legged stools, except, on closer inspection, they aren’t a stack at all but a contiguous column hewn from a single piece of timber. It’s as if the notion of industrially producing identical stools doesn't make sense to future anthropologists, so they have wrongly assumed Aalto must have been making a form of symbolic totem pole instead. Elsewhere is a Le Corbusian ‘LC2’ armchair facing a television, but again, something is not quite right with this familiar scene. The chair is made from rusty rebar rather than polished tubular steel. And the television is a blank lump of pigmented concrete, implying that the trillions of hours that humans collectively spend in front of the telly each year might only make sense to a future society when misconstrued as a religious ritual.

'There's been a lot of misinterpretation,' says Claudia Banz, the relatively new director of the Welt Museum, who personally commissioned the show. She tells me that in the past, 'many many many' of the objects in the museum’s collections were misunderstood as Western curators guessed at the use of the various artefacts donated by wealthy Austrian collectors. For Banz, the show is an attempt to stir up debate about anthropological practices. 'Museums have a social responsibility, but there’s not much space for critical discourse exhibitions,' she confesses and tells me she hopes ‘The Craftocene’ can achieve exactly that.

Were the show merely poking fun at contemporary over-consumption it would be an enjoyable but predictable series of one-liners, like Banksy’s 2004 drawing of Christ crucified while laden with Christmas shopping. But the fact that the objects are presented in the heart of one of Europe’s great anthropological museums gives them another layer of provocation. Superflux is not merely critiquing the tropes of capitalism but the entire tradition of Western anthropology too.

'Superflux. The Craftoscene' runs until 16 August 2026, weltmuseumwien.at

Save for not building anything at all, building responsibly with what can naturally be found on a project’s site is arguably one of the most sustainable ways to go. Tuckey Design Studio’s Rammed Earth House, in rural Wiltshire, is such an example. The studio was commissioned back in 2019 to design a residence that would draw on the owners’ love of British farmhouses and the countryside. The site, a disused former brickworks, offered a ripe opportunity to experiment with ancient earth building methods to bring them into the modern age.

Step inside Rammed Earth House by Tuckey Design Studio

‘The clients envisaged a low-build house, with strong eco credentials,’ says studio director Jonathan Tuckey. ‘It should also make clever use of the inside/outside spaces, particularly for entertaining, and feel intimate enough for two, but it could host 20.’ Tuckey set about analysing the site’s history (it had an established connection to using earth, and was referenced in William Smith’s 1815 geological map of England) and sketched out a campus encompassing sensitively retrofitted Victorian outbuildings (to serve as guest accommodation, yoga studio, semi-outdoor kitchen and storage), a new-build house and a service quarter.

New built elements were created using an equal ratio of clay excavated from the site, aggregate from demolished buildings, local limestone gravel, and water. The earth, rammed by the builders in layers, produced walls up to a metre in thickness, requiring no joints for more than 100m in length. The result is an earthen house envelope that feels seamless, but also as if naturally emerging from the surrounding land.

The layout is arranged in two distinct wings, set around courtyards awash with indigenous greenery and productive plants, while a series of large openings provide additional connections to the outdoors, offering idyllic views of woodland and an Iron Age fort. Interior finishes consist of clay plaster, limestone, copper, Douglas fir, walnut, oak, terracotta and brass, all blending easily with the smooth earthiness of the walls. Specially designed fixtures, such as door handles and lighting, as well as dramatic vaulted ceilings and a turret-style spiral staircase, underline the bespoke and highly sophisticated nature of the construction.

At 810 sq m, sat on a 63-acre estate, the property is large; yet the studio's clever design and high-spec yet tactile and organic materials afford a comfortably intimate feel – and importantly, form a home that is distinctly of its place.

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If numbers were enough to inspire action, perhaps the Holcim Foundation Forum wouldn't exist. The stats around climate change are compelling. At the triennial global summit organised by the Swiss organisation this week (the foundation is a non-profit, supported by the global sustainable architecture materials company Holcim), a slew of experts in the environmental realm, from climate scientists and policy makers to architects and engineers, presented studies and projects that hope to move the needle when it comes to sustainable action across the board. Their research is powerful and necessary, and it brings evidence to the table that feels hard to refute.

Yet, humanity is slow to catch on. The first mention of the greenhouse effect was in the mid-19th century by German geographer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, as climatologist Stefan Rahmstorf reminded us during his opening keynote speech. Still, currently, temperatures are rising so fast that the increase during the last 100 years almost beats that of the entire past millennium; extreme rainfall is experienced more often than ever in recorded memory; and the rise in sea level has been accelerating since the 1980s, an urgent and site-appropriate concern considering the Holcim Foundation Forum took place in Venice, the Italian city known for its vulnerability to changes in the water behaviour and ecosystems of its lagoon site.

The Holcim Foundation Forum, and its awards, explained

Taking place in Venice in mid-November, coinciding with the closing of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, which tackles challenges in the same realm (curator Carlo Ratti recently discussed his takeaways with us), the Holcim Foundation Forum is a fascinating coming together. In its folds, some of the industry's brightest minds meet, exchange ideas and discuss the future of all things sustainable when it comes to buildings, cities and urban space. The event takes place every three years, culminating in the announcement of its Grand Prizes – five super-winners, one from each of five territories, chosen from the 20 projects honoured with the Holcim Foundation Awards 2025 last month.

The creatives and scientists taking part are acutely aware of the world's urgent need for action, yet complex global systems and slow take-up when it comes to change are not helping bring the necessary environmental transformations fast enough. Chicago architect Jeanne Gang, who served as jury chair for the awards' North America territory (other chairs included Sou Fujimoto, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Sandra Barclay, and Lina Ghotmeh), highlights how important awards like these are to the profession and global developments in eco-sensitive design, too: 'Sustainability is a passion of mine. In fact, I won a prize one time myself, very early in my career.' (Gang was awarded by the Holcim Foundation in 2011 for her Ford Calumet Environmental Center in Chicago.)

'The projects [that enter the awards] always have multiple solutions for sustainability, but it's more about how [the architects] make it into a story about the project that is interesting, instead of just saying, “we did this” and then going through some checklist. It is about making the project relevant. And of course, all these are real projects that are going to be built. An award like this helps maintain those sustainability features. It also acknowledges new blood, as many emerging studios enter too.'

The jurors look at a large variety of works across huge chunks of the world (territories judged are Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa), comparing different scales and typologies and spotting innovation and new takes. Four key goals are highlighted: Healthy Planet, Thriving Communities, Uplifting Places, and Viable Economics. Was there an inspiring trend that jumped out to Gang in this judging cycle?

'Ten years ago, projects just had technical solutions to sustainability, like a building management system or photovoltaics, or air distribution. Now, these projects are much more connected to a bigger strategy, possibly because there's more of a focus on embodied energy, which means you have to think about where the materials come from,' she says. 'Also, they reached out to their communities, they connect to their sites and people. They link up to bigger systems; they are more holistic. It feels like a good place to be.'

Awards do make a difference, Gang stresses. 'It is really important for people to see the proof of the concept. I recently just finished the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University, and it's just this glimpse into the future of how you do a totally mass timber project in an institutional setting. It's so important to have this demonstration, and then the next project is that much easier, and then it gets easier and easier.'

20 Holcim Foundation Awards for 2025

The Holcim Foundation Awards 2025 (we previously spoke to Asia Pacific jury chair Sou Fujimoto about the event's process and meaning) picked 20 winners from a truly diverse list. One winner, however, works particularly hard at inspiring change at multiple levels. Nigeria's Studio Contra was honoured for its Brookside Secondary School, an education project for students who board. It's for a private client, but a true passion project, explains practice co-founder Jeffrey Adjei.

Made out of clay bricks in a truly all-encompassing way (the same material in walls, floors and ceilings), the project becomes a showcase for building with brick, aiming to inspire and move construction fashions away from the region's current, environmentally heavier go-to, concrete. At the same time, by training builders and craftspeople to work with clay brick, the architects hope to bring new skills to the region – while showing the project's young users that beautiful and innovative things can also happen in their own country, instead of pushing them to look abroad for their future.

'For us, it's resuscitating a skill that's almost dying out in Nigeria,' Adjei says. 'It is a legacy project that we are using as a catalyst to bring back brick-making to this particular community. It is about sustainability in the broader sense.' The award comes at a critical stage, as works are about to commence, and such a recognition helps highlight the project's soul and global importance.

Holcim Foundation Grand Prizes – meet the 5 super-winners

• Asia Pacific: Old Dhaka Central Jail Conservation – Form.3 Architects (Bangladesh)
• Europe: Art-Tek Tulltorja – Rafi Segal A+U, Office of Urban Drafters, Org Permanent Modernity, Studio Rev (Kosovo)
• Latin America: Schools for Flood-Prone Areas – Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados, Sauermartins (Brazil)
• Middle East & Africa: Qalandiya: the Green Historic Maze – Riwaq – Centre for Architectural Conservation (Palestinian Territories)
• North America: Moakley Park – Soss Landscape Urbanism (USA)

Rafi Segal's post-conflict urban revival project in Kosovo's Pristina, an industrial space turned cultural and entrepreneurial hub, was among the Grand Prizes this year. Set in an old brick factory, Art-Tek Tulltorja has the potential to become a true catalyst for urban change, the European jury highlighted. It also fully responds to the brief for sustainable change and imaginative approaches, the Holcim Foundation flagged.

'This year’s Grand Prize winners turn constraint into capability,' explained Laura Viscovich, executive director at the foundation, who hosted the Venice events. 'They reuse, regenerate, and invite people in, showcasing resourceful design solutions that city planners and local communities alike can adopt for a better tomorrow.'

Segal highlights the dramatic positive change his design aims to bring to Pristina and its young population. 'It is a city-funded project, and it will include art spaces, galleries, dance centres, community centres, adult education and start-ups. Part of the project is also stabilising the land, creating green space for the neighbourhood. It is meant to be porous, a community part that ties back into the city centre through a set of pedestrian connections.

'Kosovo is a very young country, in terms of age, but also in population. Fifty-one per cent are under 26 years old. We want them to stay in the country, be encouraged and give them a place to work, be inspired, that can lead somewhere.'

forum.holcimfoundation.org

holcimfoundation.org

The Holcim Foundation Awards have just announced 20 winning projects for the honour's 2025 cycle. The accolade, which flags ambition and inspiration in ongoing schemes in the realm of architecture and sustainability, was designed to highlight work that offers ‘a modern definition of best practice in sustainable design’, the organisers explain.

Organised across five territories – Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and North America – the 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards were judged by dedicated juries for each region grouping. A prize pool of 1 million USD is then divided across the winners, with five regional Grand Prize winners being pulled from their respective territory winning schemes. All winners are celebrated equally, while the Grand Prize winners will be announced in an awards ceremony in Venice on 20 November 2025.

The 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards - through the eyes of Sou Fujimoto

What marks a truly sustainable project? The organisation behind the awards, the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, defines this as a design that promotes a healthy planet through sensible resource management and future-proofed impact in both construction and in terms of viable economics; supports its users and helps communities thrive; and ultimately, creates uplifting places for its users to enjoy.

Sou Fujimoto served as jury chair for the Asia Pacific region (the other jury chairs include Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Sandra Barclay, Lina Ghotmeh and Jeanne Gang). We met with him to find out more about the prestigious award and its goals.

Wallpaper*: What were you looking for when judging the award?

Sou Fujimoto: [The main criterion was] sustainability – we were looking for the future. The entries were so varied, from a tiny project relating to the local community to large-scale national projects. In the end, we got a good balance. It is important to talk about choice and balancing scale. It’s a key message. So it's like we don’t have a single direction, but several, and even smaller projects can be very significant.

W*: That is so true. There is a smaller community space, but also an entire city among your winners. How do you compare them?

SF: Even bigger projects are for human beings. They affect larger populations, but you still want them to be connected to the human element. Everything ultimately relates to human activities and the environment.

W*: How do you feel might awards make a difference? Why do awards matter?

SF: Recognition is important for a designer and their client, but of course, I think it's more important for the public, because they will see what is appreciated, and they will see the overall message. We are always thinking about our contribution to society, and to the world, for the Earth.

W*: Did you see common threads among the entries overall, or the winners?

SF: Every region has its different ways of addressing things and expressing solutions. Natural materials, recycling, reusing, and refurbishment were central everywhere – I’d say maybe using natural materials was the most common thread found. At the same time, it’s good to have different directions; it is very helpful, because sometimes forcing one direction can be quite restrictive.

W*: Does this approach of getting closer to nature and natural materials resonate in your own work?

SF: I grew up in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, and there, I was surrounded by nature. I was playing in nature, in the forest. That was my childhood. And then, of course, I came to Tokyo, which is a super artificial city, full of winding, narrow streets, electric poles and cables, and it can be rather chaotic. But it also grew organically; it’s an ecosystem, so in a way, my childhood and this big city overlapped. Now, I am trying to create architecture like a forest, together with greenery and trees, and with natural materials. We should understand the environment and not divide it from architecture.

20 ambitious and inspirational winning projects - the complete list

Asia Pacific

Gelephu Mindfulness City - Gelephu, Bhutan | BIG – BJARKE INGELS GROUP

Healing Through Design - Bengaluru, India | THE AGAMI PROJECT / A THRESHOLD

Old Dhaka Central Jail Conservation - Dhaka, Bangladesh | FORM.3 ARCHITECTS

Pingshan River Blueway Landscape - Shenzhen, China | SASAKI ASSOCIATES, INC.

Europe

Art-Tek Tulltorja - Pristina, Kosovo | RAFI SEGAL A+U, OFFICE OF URBAN DRAFTERS, ORG PERMANENT MODERNITY, STUDIO REV

School in Gaüses - Girona, Spain | TED'A ARQUITECTES

The Crafts College - Herning, Denmark | DORTE MANDRUP

The Southern River Parks - Madrid, Spain | ALDAYJOVER ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE

Latin America

Barrio Chacarita Alta Housing - Asunción, Paraguay | MOS ARCHITECTS & ADAMO FAIDEN

Return of the Lost Gardens - Medellín, Colombia | CONNATURAL

Schools for Flood-Prone Areas - Porto Alegre, Brazil | ANDRADE MORETTIN ARQUITETOS ASSOCIADOS, SAUERMARTINS

Sesc Parque Dom Pedro II - São Paulo, Brazil | UNA ARQUITETOS

Middle East & Africa

Brookside Secondary School - Asaba, Nigeria | STUDIO CONTRA

Qalandiya: the Green Historic Maze - Qalandiya, Palestinian Territory | RIWAQ – CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION

Waldorf School - Nairobi, Kenya | URKO SÁNCHEZ ARCHITECTS

Zando Central Market - Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo | THINK TANK ARCHITECTURE

North America

Buffalo Crossing Visitor Centre - Winnipeg, MB, Canada | STANTEC ARCHITECTURE

Lawson Centre for Sustainability - Toronto, ON, Canada | MECANOO ARCHITECTEN

Moakley Park - Boston, MA, United States | STOSS LANDSCAPE URBANISM

Portland Intl. Main Terminal - Portland, OR, United States | ZGF

holcimfoundation.org

Humans have been building with natural materials for thousands of years, constructing houses and other buildings with organic matter like timber and straw. But, beginning with the Industrial Revolution more than 250 years ago, the rise of manufactured alternatives like concrete and steel has disrupted our connection to nature in many parts of the world. As the climate crisis deepens, architects are returning to material derived from living organisms – or biomaterials – as a way to decarbonise the construction industry. Today, design professionals are innovating with traditional construction materials such as wood, but also more atypical ones like hemp, cork, fungi and more. Here's everything you need to know about biomaterials – the building blocks of the future.

What are biomaterials?

Biomaterials in architecture are construction materials made from living organisms including plants and fungi. Unlike medical biomaterials – which are natural or synthetic substances designed to interact with the body – many architectural biomaterials, including wood and straw, can be used in their raw state, while others, such as mycelium, are mixed with materials such as agricultural waste to create composites. They typically have lower embodied carbon than conventional building materials. Plants such as hemp, bamboo and trees also sequester high amounts of carbon as they grow, which means they could help turn the built environment into a carbon sink. When biomaterials reach the end of their life span, they can be returned to the earth.

‘The idea that materials can be grown, used and returned to nature is common sense,’ says Robert van der Pol of LMNL, an architecture firm based in the Netherlands. ‘Using products derived from petrochemicals with huge amounts of embodied energy is unnecessary. They are not healthy for the building, the workers building it, the occupants or the environment.’

Biodegradable materials might seem alien to an industry that revolves around warranties and insurance policies but – with construction and demolition being responsible for a third of all waste in the European Union – new homes must not contribute to the world’s rubbish heap. Designing to enable future cycles of reuse will ensure the carbon they sequester will remain locked up for as long as possible.

Why are biomaterials beneficial?

Plant-based materials such as cork, straw and hempcrete (a composite of hemp shivs and a lime binder) are naturally insulating, sound-absorbing and free from the toxins found in many conventional building materials.

‘Using bio-based materials that are vapour-permeable allows a building to "breathe" and regulate humidity naturally, which leads to a better indoor air quality for the occupants,’ explains van der Pol.

By reducing heat transfer through walls and roofs, biomaterials can also play a key role in minimising energy consumption in buildings.

In some cases biomaterials can be both load-bearing and insulating, minimising the need for concrete blockwork and the many layers that make up a standard wall, while enabling structures to be disassembled and their parts reused. When UK-based architects Dido Milne, Matthew Barnett Howland and Oliver Wilton built Cork House in Eton in 2019 from expanded cork, for example, they used a series of stacked blocks, without mortars or steel frames, so that the parts can be used for another purpose at the end of the building’s life.

‘They can be used for another building to keep the materials in flow for as long as possible before they are returned to the soil to generate new growth,’ says Barnett Howland.

Are there drawbacks to biomaterials?

Biomaterials require a level of ongoing maintenance, unlike concrete, steel and plastic (though material scientists are experimenting with the self-healing potential of mycelium). The frameworks of building regulations, warranties, insurance and mortgage lending exacerbate the challenges, privileging indestructible materials over natural ones. Getting a new biomaterial innovation certified to industry standards is also challenging and expensive, though non-profit organisations such as the grant-making Built By Nature are helping further the cause.

And if biomaterials are farmed in ways that damage the environment, then the dial hasn’t shifted, says the Ghanaian-Filipino architectural scientist Mae-Ling Lokko, founder of Ghana-based Willow Technologies, who creates wall panels made from mycelium and agricultural waste.

‘Given the potential scale of the demand [for these materials], we could risk exacerbating the dynamics around biodiversity,’ Lokko says. she points to the need to use a diverse palette of seasonal crops and mycelium strains.

London-based Material Cultures – an organisation bringing ‘architecture and agriculture closer together,’ as cofounder Summer Islam puts it – has investigated how wetland restoration and responsible farming for reeds for use as a thatching material could go hand-in-hand. As we reembrace biomaterials, we need to regenerate nature while we build.

Common types of biomaterials

Wood

Strong but lightweight, timber has long been used in architecture as a low-carbon alternative to concrete and steel. Advances in engineered wood – or mass timber – have increased its load-bearing capability, enabling its use in multi-storey buildings, the world’s tallest being the 87-metre high rise Ascent MKE, designed by Korb + Associates Architects in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its columns and beams are made from glue-laminated-timber (GLT) – comprising layers of timber orientated in the same direction – while its floor panels are cross-laminated timber (CLT), made by gluing layers of wood at right angles to each other, giving a plywood-like appearance, but extra thick.

UK-based Waugh Thistleton Architects has been a leading proponent of mass timber building for nearly 20 years, now building almost exclusively in the biomaterial. Its work includes the 2009 Murray Grove housing project, the 2022 Black & White Building for workplace provider The Office Group, and The New Model Building – guidance for the construction of multi-storey mass-timber buildings that adhere to the UK’s stringent fire safety regulations.

Meanwhile, in Paris, French studio Local Architecture Network recently completed Wood Up, a 14-storey apartment block made from CLT and GLT. The timber, sourced entirely from France and transported by the river Seine, was left exposed both internally and externally.

Cork

Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus Suber), indigenous to the Mediterranean Basin. The trees are stripped every nine years, a process that encourages them to absorb more CO2 as the bark regenerates. ‘For each kilogram of cork produced, the tree captures 73 kg of CO2,’ says António Amorim, CEO of Corticeira Amorim, the world’s biggest cork producing group.

Cork has long been used for flooring and acoustic panels and is slowly becoming more visible in public buildings and homes. The Portugal Pavilion for Expo 2000 in Hanover by architects Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura was the first building to use expanded corkboard – made by compressing and cooking waste granules from the bottle stopper industry to release suberin, cork’s own natural binder – on the exterior of a building.

For their Cork House project in 2019, Milne, Howland and Wilton used blocks of expanded cork to build the monolithic walls. The carbon-negative home won the RIBA’s Stephen Lawrence prize that year. Cork is also increasingly being used as a thermo-efficient cladding material, such as by LCA Architetti in its 2024 project, Casa 9, in Porto Ceresio, Italy.

Straw

Straw, comprising the dry stalks of cereal crops left over from a harvest, and reeds have a long history as highly insulating thatching materials for roofs around the world. Now, contemporary architects in Europe, in particular, are rediscovering them not just for roofs but also for walls. LMNL swathed Veldhuis, a home in the Netherlands, completed in 2021, in a thick cloak of reeds that blend the building with its rural surrounds.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Material Cultures has devised a wall cladding system filled with reed bundles – like a ‘warm duvet’, as co-founder George Massoud puts it – that can be easily replaced over time. Its prototype building, Growing Place in London, is designed to be easily replicated elsewhere without the specialist skills of a master thatcher and is insulated with straw bales.

Reeds have a high silica content, making them naturally flame retardant, unlike straw, though in Denmark, the Royal Danish Academy’s CINARK is currently experimenting with spraying straw thatch with inflammable clay to up its credentials.

Hemp

Hemp, the fast-growing cousin of the marijuana plant, is rising to prominence on green building palettes across the world. One hectare of hemp can munch up to 15 tonnes of CO2 – similar to a young forest but it only takes five months to grow, according to the European Commission – and its deep root system can restore soil health, detoxifying metals from the ground.

In buildings, it is typically used in the form of hempcrete – a highly insulative and durable mix of hemp hurds and a lime binder – cast in blocks or filled into formwork. At Margent Farm, a hemp farm in the UK county of Cambridgeshire, Material Cultures used hemp hurds harvested from the surrounding fields to build a house for film director Steve Barron and his family in 2019. Flat House was built with prefabricated panels of planed timber and engineered I-joists, with a hempcrete infill.

Over in France, now the biggest European producer of industrial hemp, architecture firm Barrault Pressacco has built an apartment block using hempcrete on Rue Marx Dormoy in Paris, holding 15 units for social housing. The building’s timber frame has a sprayed hempcrete infill, coated with a lime render.

Mycellium

Mycelium, the root structure of fungi, can transform organic matter such as agricultural waste into resilient building materials, while sequestering carbon in the biomass as it grows. In 2019, Pascal Leboucq designed The Growing Pavilion at Dutch Design Week, in collaboration with Lucas De Man of Biobased Creations and Eric Klarenbeek (Klarenbeek and Dros), wrapped in panels of lumpen mycelium, which De Man describes as ‘super light, super strong, very insulating (especially acoustically), water resistant and fire retardant’.

Meanwhile, Mae-Ling Lokko sources agro-waste and mycelium from US materials company, Ecovative, to create architectural forms. Her lattice-like wall panels, shown at New York’s Museum of Modern Art exhibition Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design in 2024, were made by milling hemp and kenaf fibres, then injecting them with mycelium to form a substrate that is packed by hand into custom-designed grow trays.

At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year, garden designer Tom Massey and Studio Weave’s Je Ahn grew the facade of the Avanade Intelligent pavilion by inoculating waste pulp wood from its structural frame with mycelium, creating fluted panels with an organic pattern that helped it blend with the garden. ‘There’s nothing toxic in it – you just compost it, and it gives back to the soil,’ Massey told Wallpaper*. While mycelium has yet to be tested at scale, Lucas De Man adds: ‘It looks and feels so natural that it may just revolutionise the architectural world.’

For the Prix Pictet 2025, the 12 shortlisted photographers have been announced, each of them responding to this year’s theme, ‘Storm’.

The competition was founded by the Geneva-based Pictet Group in 2008, and focuses on photography and sustainability. For each competitive cycle, the award offers a different theme, to encourage discussion and debate on issues surrounding sustainability.

The Prix Pictet 2025 shortlist

The award is open to photographers from around the world, with entries whittled down to the 12-strong shortlist, chosen for the works’ artistic and photographic merit, originality in conception and execution, relevance to the current cycle’s theme, and ability to address a pressing sustainability challenge.

The winner of this year’s prize will receive 100,000 Swiss francs and will be announced on 25 September 2025, at the opening of an exhibition featuring the shortlisted photographers’ works at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

The shortlist comprises: Takashi Arai, Marina Caneve, Tom Fecht, Balazs Gardi, Roberto Huarcaya, Alfredo Jaar, Belal Khaled, Hannah Modigh, Baudouin Mouanda, Camille Seaman, Laetitia Vançon, and Patrizia Zelano.

The candidates present varied interpretations of the theme. Japanese artist Takashi Arai looks at the nuclear history of Japan, USA and Marshall islands, while Italian Marina Caneve foresees a future catastrophe, a repetition of the 1966 floods in the Dolomites. Endangered cold-water plankton is explored by German artist Tom Fecht, while Hungarian Balazs Gardi chronicles the post-election attack on the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021.

Roberto Huarcaya from Peru captures an Amazonian palm lying on the bed of the Madre de Dios River. Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar looks at Utah’s Great Salt Lake being destroyed by excessive water extraction. Palestinian Belal Khaled documents living in a tent outside the morgue at Nasser Hospital in Gaza after his house was destroyed.

Louisiana hurricanes are the subject of Hannah Modigh’s photography, while Baudouin Mouanda’s series recreates the 2020 lockdown floods in Brazzaville, Congo, which she replicated in a flooded basement. Camille Seaman’s series documents a type of thunderstorm, called a supercell, that can produce grapefruit-sized hail, tornadoes, and clouds that block out the daylight.

Laetitia Vançon presents a personal tribute to Odesa, Ukraine, while Patrizia Zelano photographed encyclopaedias, scientific treatises, and literary texts she saved from the waters during one of Venice’s highest-ever recorded tides, in 2019.

‘In many ways our planet is a more dangerous place to live than ever before. The impacts of the climate catastrophe abound. Fires, floods, heat and drought are killing and injuring people and destroying both infrastructure and precious ecosystems,’ says Sir David King, chair of the Prix Pictet jury. ‘Already, parts of our planet are unliveable, and all the indications are that more will follow. The economic, social and political impacts of these changes are immense. There could not have been a more timely moment for the Prix Pictet to invite nominations on the theme of Storm.’

The winner will be announced on 25 September 2025, at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, prix.pictet.com

Nestled in Wakehurst Kew’s wild botanic garden in West Sussex, a new installation is unveiled for this summer. ‘Seed Stories’ by visual artist Kristina Pulejkova focuses on the life of seeds, while also serving as a practical contribution to pollinator conservation in the UK.

The installation integrates sustainability, ecological science and digital technology through its four wooden sculptures. Pulejkova designed the pieces not only to serve as artwork but also as hotels for bees seeking refuge in environmentally challenging times.

‘Seed Stories’ by Kristina Pulejkova at Wakehurst Kew’s wild botanic garden

The design is inspired by Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank’s (MSB) collection (the world’s largest underground seed bank and conservation resource for diverse wild plant species). Pulejkova’s functional artworks are constructed from untreated marine ply and cedar, materials chosen for their environmental compatibility and natural antifungal and aromatic properties, are bee-friendly and allow the creatures safety from instances of extreme heat during British summers.

The design of the pollinator hotels is scientifically informed. Pulejkova worked closely with Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee, who leads the ‘Trees for Bees’ habitat restoration initiative. The ‘hotel’ entrances were chosen based on data on bee preferences, colours tailored to the bee’s visual spectrum (favouring blues, yellows and violets, while avoiding reds and greens) The design of the installation enables researchers to collect pollen left behind in the hotels, facilitating the study of which species are attracted to specific tree types.

AR is also integrated into the four sculptures and is accessed via an app. When scanned, each interactive installation presents an educational story about a particular seed from the Millennium Seed Bank, with a focus on the facility's role in climate preservation, biodiversity and global food security.

By installing pollinator hotels directly into the landscape and aligning them with ongoing scientific research, this project contributes to broader conservation efforts. It offers shelter, promotes biodiversity and acts as a living laboratory for understanding how bees interact with different plants and environments. ‘Seed Stories’ also educates the public, raising awareness of the delicate relationships between pollinators, seeds and the landscape we often take for granted.

‘Seed Stories’ was developed in collaboration with Kew’s ‘Nature Unlocked’ programme, which researches the value of UK biodiversity to inform nature-based solutions to critical challenges such as climate change and food security. Beyond the visually organic design, the installation highlights the interconnections between seeds, the future of biodiversity, and pollinators like bees, whose population is declining at an alarming rate.

‘Seed Stories’ is part of ‘Seedscapes’, which runs from 4 July to 14 September 2025 at Wakehurst, Kew's wild botanic garden www.kew.org

What is eco-brutalism?

If you move in architecture circles, chances are you’ve heard the term ‘eco-brutalism’ floating around. It refers to an emerging movement that incorporates the tenets of brutalism – exposed materials, functional, largely concrete-based – and principles of sustainable building; mainly the integration of biophilic design, which emphasises the connection between humans and nature.

What makes eco-brutalism ‘eco’?

The idea of transforming something cold and imposing into a green oasis is attractive. But does this trend go beyond aesthetics? What is the purpose of eco-brutalism?

Traditionally, brutalism has faced criticism for its environmental impact, largely stemming from its use of concrete, the production of which uses large amounts of water, raw materials and energy. Eco-brutalism seeks to reframe the style with modern ecological priorities in mind.

Eco-brutalist structures may incorporate hanging or vertical gardens, moss-covered façades or green roofs, which can improve air quality, promote biodiversity and regulate temperature (plants act as natural insulators and shade-givers, reducing indoor temperatures in summer and retaining heat in winter, thus reducing reliance on artificial temperature control).

It’s important, however, to note that the use of plants is not de facto evidence of green architecture. An eco-brutalist building should also, ideally, use eco-friendly materials such as recycled or low-carbon concrete (such as Seratech's carbon-neutral composite cement, which won the company an Obel award in 2022), reclaimed wood or salvaged steel, or replace traditional cement with alternatives like fly ash or slag. It may also integrate sustainable building principles like passive cooling (such as cross-ventilation systems for airflow), solar panels and rainwater collection systems.

The buildings of eco-brutalism

Jungle House, Brazil

Designed by Brazil-based Studio mk27 (whose founder, Marcio Kogan, guest edited Wallpaper's October issue in 2024), the Jungle House, also known as Casa na Mata, is a striking residence nestled in Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest. Completed in 2015, the building features clean lines and exposed concrete, and is sequestered among native plants (to ensure minimal ecological disruption). Jungle House also uses accoya wood, chosen for its durability in humid climates, and is perched on pillars to minimise its ground footprint.

Art Villa, Costa Rica

Part of the Art Villas resort in Playa Hermosa, this two-storey concrete structure, designed by Refuel Works and Formafatal, features a minimalist aesthetic inspired by Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The villa has a steel frame and a green roof that helps cool it, reducing the need for air conditioning, while perforated aluminum panels allow for natural ventilation and also create a dynamic play of light and shadow inside.

Mamun Residence, Bangladesh

This monolithic residence was designed by Shatotto Architecture and exemplifies a blend of modernist and climate-responsive architecture. Aesthetically, the Chittagong home draws inspiration from the traditional ‘mathal’ hat; in terms of innovative design, it features a concrete shell that serves as a protective barrier against strong winds, while layered parasols and overhangs and integrated gardens provide shade, promote natural cooling and improve air quality.

Hotel Terrestre, Mexico

Designed by architect Alberto Kalach, Oaxaca resort Hotel Terrestre won a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2022. It comprises minimalist, geometric villas built from local materials like clay, brick, wood and concrete. The design draws inspiration from Mesoamerican step-pyramids, and is enveloped in native vegetation including copal trees, mesquite and orchids, creating a sanctuary for local wildlife. Impressively, the hotel operates completely off-grid, powered entirely by solar energy. The design also utilises passive cooling and natural ventilation to the extent that the need for air conditioning is eliminated.

The Barbican Centre, UK

London’s Grade II-listed Barbican is a brutalist gem, originally built between 1971 and 1982 as an example of modern urban architecture in an area that was heavily bombed during the Second World War. This is a great example of eco-brutalism because it has been retrofitted to make it operate more sustainably; the Barbican Centre now uses 100 per cent renewable energy and aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions through building system upgrades. The building’s conservatory contains over 1,500 plant species, promoting biodiversity in the heart of London.

More examples of eco-brutalist buildings

Reinforced hillside, Japan

This civil engineering project features a concrete grid system designed to prevent landslides on the steep terrain. Despite its utilitarian purpose, it has become a revered architectural feature of the island of Aogashima.

Les Étoiles d’Ivry, France

Les Étoiles d’Ivry is a social housing complex located in the Parisian suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine, constructed between 1969 and 1975. Designed by Renée Gailhoustet and Jean Renaudie, the project was built as part of an urban renewal initiative and included extensive planting as part of its original scheme.

Jurong Bird Park, Singapore

Jurong Bird Park was a well-known tourist attraction in Singapore, designed by architects John Yealland and J Toovey. When it opened in 1971, it housed over 3,500 birds across 400 species, championing biodiversity.

When it comes to sustainability and style, people’s minds often go straight to fashion. But sustainability is also an issue in the world of jewellery, with a host of exciting brands finding innovative, eco-friendly ways to source materials and manufacture products.

What are the sustainability issues facing the jewellery industry?

Sourcing is probably the largest issue facing the jewellery industry: mining precious metals and stones poses environmental issues such as deforestation, soil erosion and water pollution. There are also ethical issues to contend with, such as disruption to local communities and the exploitation of workers.

How can jewellery brands be more sustainable?

Sustainable jewellery brands can use recycled or lab-grown materials to mitigate the environmental and ethical impact of mining.

Lab-grown stones are readily available, and are visually, chemically and physically identical to mined ones. That said, although lab-grown stones are a lower-impact alternative, the process of creating them is energy-intensive, so they should not be viewed as a silver bullet.

Jewellery brands can also implement meaningful policies like the use of renewable energy sources; thorough sourcing and supply chain transparency; and the reduction of waste and pollution through eco-friendly production methods and packaging.

As with fashion, greenwashing in jewellery is rife, and it’s important to interrogate any sustainable claims made by brands to make sure that they’re not exaggerated or misleading.

Wallpaper’s favourite sustainable jewellery brands

No brand is perfect. However, in our round-up below we have identified a handful that make a concerted effort to implement ethical processes and policies. These brands and products balance sustainability with stylish, Wallpaper*-approved designs.

Mejuri

Mejuri creates luxury-feeling jewellery without the luxury price tag, and also has some concrete policies in place to ensure that it doesn’t take too hard a toll on the environment. The brand uses Responsible Jewellery Council-certified gold, 95 per cent of which comes from recycled sources, and 92 per cent of its silver is recycled. Mejuri says that its diamonds are sourced from suppliers that follow conflict-free practices, and it seeks to tackle the issue of traceability (which is notoriously difficult in the jewellery industry) by using Salmon Gold from Regeneration-associated mines. Mejuri also has a popular lab-grown range that starts from just £148.

Linjer

The delicate, feminine pieces from Linjer use recycled base materials – its gold and silver designs are 100 per cent recycled (packaging materials are also recycled). All of Linjer’s diamonds are lab-grown, and thus guaranteed to be conflict-free. Even for its affordable range, the brand uses only quality materials – sterling silver and 14ct gold (never brass) – thereby doing its bit to counter the throwaway culture of fast fashion.

Lark & Berry

Lark & Berry was among the first brands to push the narrative of lab-grown stones, describing itself as a ‘diamond disrupter’. It exclusively uses lab-grown stones, which are created using 100 per cent renewable energy, for its intricate, colourful jewellery (its designs are among our pick of affordable engagement rings). The cultured process also means less waste, less water loss, and the assurance that all stones are conflict-free.

Monica Vinader

Specialising in classic, everyday pieces with an on-trend twist, Monica Vinader puts forward some measurable sustainability policies. The brand uses 100 per cent recycled silver and gold, and more than half of its gemstone styles can be traced back to their mined origin as part of the new ‘product passport’ initiative – an industry first that enables almost full supply chain transparency. Monica Vinader has a lab-grown collection, created using 100 per cent renewable energy. It also mends purchased jewellery free of charge and buys back unwanted pieces, promoting a circular approach.

Edge of Ember

Known for dainty, everyday styles that are both affordable and high-quality, Edge of Ember has worked exclusively with lab-grown diamonds since 2019, sourced from a factory in India that is run on 60 per cent renewable energy. In 2020, the brand also made the decision to use only recycled metals on the basis that there is plenty of gold and silver already in circulation, and thus no need to mine any more. This has reduced Edge of Ember’s carbon footprint by 42.72 per cent, says the brand.

YSSO

If you want to shop for jewellery sustainably, the best thing to do is probably to go small and local, where it’s easier for brands to put craftsmanship and sustainability first. YSSO is a good example of this – the Greek brand seeks to preserve the country’s goldsmithing tradition, partnering with one family-run Athenian workshop, which uses traditional manufacturing techniques that encourage slow production. The demi-fine, Mediterranean-inspired jewellery is also made to order or in small quantities to prevent overproduction, and is made using locally sourced materials, around 35 per cent of which are recycled.

Meadowlark

In its mission statement, Meadowlark acknowledges the inherent contradiction in the jewellery industry’s need to be sustainable and the fact that the materials used are sourced from the earth. With this as a starting point, the brand uses responsibly sourced materials where possible and has embarked on its traceability journey. This is a small studio and designs are handcrafted to order so that no excess product is made. It also runs its own workshop and creates no waste, recycling all metal scrap.

The popularity of mycelium as a biomaterial ripe for exploratory application continued apace in 2024. From luxury houses to student shows, from packaging and clothing to building materials, it feels like our future may well be fungal. While the self-growing, biodegradable material has fascinating possibilities for solutions at scale, the project that stopped us in our tracks this year was remarkable for its sheer wonderment.

San Francisco-based biotech company MycoWorks was founded in 2013 by sculptor Philip Ross and artist-poet Sophia Wang with a mission to develop mycelium into materials that inspire brands, designers and artists. In collaboration with design agency Paragone, MycoWorks put its latest patented mycelium derivative, Reishi, into the hands of seven female artists and designers, whose works were unveiled in a show, titled ‘Mycelium Muse’, at the inaugural Design Miami/Paris in October.

The ‘Mycelium Muse’ collection

Reishi has a malleable texture between leather and textile, which can be dyed and embossed, and the resulting furniture, lighting and artworks were exquisite expressions of earthy, ethereal and elemental intrigue. A million miles away from the mildly tumorous, spongy mulch that mycelium brings to mind, Reishi is a material of exciting potential and outstanding beauty. And, lest we forget, beauty is seductive, and nothing propels a market forward faster than love.

mycoworks.com

A version of this article appears in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* , available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Think of Paris and more cream-coloured limestone than wood architecture comes to mind. But a new 50m-tall apartment building might just start a trend. Named 'Wood Up', it's one of the first wood towers to grace a European skyline. The project was designed by French architectural firm LAN (Lan Architecture Network), headed up by Benoît Jallon and Umberto Napolitano, and developed by REI Habitat, which specialises in wood.

Wood architecture sets a trend in Paris

Wood Up sits next to the Seine between Paris and the suburb of Ivry, in a far-flung yet quickly developing corner of the 13th arrondissement. A boxy structure with big windows criss-crossed by sand-coloured wood columns and beams, it stands out in a landscape where neighbours include the city's busy ring road, an incinerator, and Jean Nouvel's off-kilter Tours Duo.

Tour LAN's Wood Up timber tower

This is a mass timber building, meaning that wood layers are bonded using either a glued laminated timber (glulam) or cross-laminated timber (CLT) process, giving it the structural strength of concrete. All the wood came from French forests, and was transported via the Seine. The external columns are Douglas fir, for its moisture resistance; the interior columns are beech, for its compressive strength; and the beams are spruce, for its bending resistance. LAN used the leftover wood scraps to make furniture.

Napolitano says the architects conceived the building to be not only pioneering and ecological, but highly attractive –even 'iconic', as its riverside location makes it visible from all around. Transparency was a priority, from the generous windows to external staircases connecting the floors. 'The idea was that people would feel the infrastructure in their daily lives,' he notes.

LAN succeeded in making Wood Up tempting enough for people to move to the city's edge – every one of the 132 apartments, from studio to three-bedroom, has been rented. Each apartment features floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces. Some units have double-height living areas. The overall layout is modular, with small apartments above larger ones, so they can one day be combined (the apartments might be sold at a future date).

Rather than air conditioning, the building benefits from a sophisticated thermal management system. Deep exterior columns filter sunlight coming through the windows. The glass is treated with a solar coating, the curtains have a reflective silver layer, and there is plenty of natural ventilation.

A sense of community is built into the structure, too, with 500 sq m of shared terrace, including a huge, partly covered space on the eighth floor, where hundreds of residents can come together to practice yoga, watch a show, or throw a party. Vegetables and herbs will grow in a communal garden on the roof.

One side of the building offers an expansive view of Paris, from the Pantheon to the Eiffel Tower to La Défense. The other looks out at the smokestacks and towers of Ivry, with its own kind of gritty urban charm, 'like looking at a German city', says Napolitano. The Seine is visible snaking past both sides.

Wood Up is the long-awaited result of a 2017 competition, sponsored by the city of Paris and spurred by the commitments of COP21. It exemplifies how wood construction is experiencing a renaissance as cities seek ways to mitigate climate change. Among the many labels that Wood Up has earned are BBCA (low carbon) and Bois Français (French wood), the latter created specifically for it.

'Wood is an extremely interesting material in terms of carbon emissions,' explains Napolitano, 'since trees capture carbon in their lifetime, and continue to sequester it throughout their life cycle. And you don't have to manufacture the material, you simply transform it.' The forests used to build Wood Up are managed sustainably – for every tree that is cut down, another is planted nearby. Napolitano estimates that the building will emit 80 per cent less carbon than a comparable concrete structure over a 50-year life cycle, once you account for actions such as transporting the wood by river and recycling the wood scraps.

But wood presents challenges, too. One of these hit home when fire tore through the wooden roof beams of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2019. Napolitano recalls: 'After that, there was a great deal of reflection around timber construction, which had not been specifically regulated in France.' The different woods used for Wood Up were tested repeatedly to prove they could withstand fire for at least eight hours. The building's external columns consist of a wood core and an outer layer, with a non-combustible panel between them. Details such as metal ridges at every level are meant to stop a fire from travelling up the façade.

Wood is also more expensive than other materials; the architect says this building cost €2,700 per square metre, compared to €2,500 for concrete. But he has no doubt the material is worth the investment, and that beautiful wood towers will inspire others. 'Fundamentally, the ecological question has to be reframed as a question of aesthetics,' he says. 'Something that's not punishing, but positive.'

lan-paris.com

Explore more wood architecture examples

Stockholm Wood City, Sweden

Sweden has daringly embarked on the world's largest timber construction – an entire urban section made out of wood architecture in its capital. Stockholm Wood City's first residential buildings are set to be completed by 2026 – a record time for a project of its scale, thanks to, its authors explain, the prefabrication elements and swift logistical features building with timber can offer. The scheme is set to create some 7,000 new workplaces and 2,000 new homes. Local developers Atrium Ljungberg are behind it, and its CEO, Annica Ånäs, says: 'We want to lead the way for the next generation of urban development projects, placing human well-being at the centre. This requires climate, social, and economic sustainability. We are now turning that vision into reality.'

Residential timber tower by Moreau Kusunoki, Paris, France

One of Moreau Kusunoki's recent works in Paris includes this residential timber tower. Set in a newly established residential centre at the southeastern end of Paris, it forms part of an emerging landscape of towers, and spans some 50m high and includes more than 70 homes. Its volumes, in clean, orthogonal, minimalist architecture, are defined by a strict grid, which gives the whole an element of monumentality and lifts the eye upwards. So far, so normal. Yet upon closer inspection, this grid is not made of concrete, nor clad in stone, as is often the case in similar works. This is a high-rise made entirely out of wood.

The Black & White Building by Waugh Thistleton, London, UK

When it opened in 2023, The Black & White Building was the tallest mass-timber office building in central London, as well as the first office development that workspace provider TOG had built entirely from scratch, and its most impressive yet in terms of sustainable architecture. Its architects, Waugh Thistleton Architects, are an industry leader in designing with timber, with projects such as the award-winning Bushey Cemetery in north London and Leamington Spa’s Vitsœ factory under their belt. The client-and-architect team set out to create a truly innovative, sustainable piece of workspace architecture within the relatively narrow but long site, landing at a volume seven storeys high (if you also count the accessible, planted roof) and 44m deep.

Bamboo architecture has been gaining momentum. The natural material is powerful and versatile – durable in various climatic conditions and featuring high tensile and compressive strength – and a fantastic tool for crafting sustainable architecture. It is a resource that grows quickly naturally, meaning it can be renewed easily, with minimum effort and energy consumption. At the same time, its bendy nature and malleable fabric can produce truly eye-catching designs with numerous applications.

Ibuku, headed by founder and creative director Elora Hardy, is a pioneer and global proponent of bamboo architecture. The Bali-based studio, a team of designers and architects, is dedicated to exploring innovation in its field, working with natural materials, of which bamboo is central, to build a variety of typologies – from homes to hotels, schools, and event spaces. We caught up with Hardy, who shared her tips and experience in working with the valuable natural material.

Explore bamboo architecture with Elora Hardy and Ibuku

Hardy recalls what attracted her to start working with the material: 'I was searching for a way to feel responsible as a designer and as a human, wondering how to choose materials with good impact and significance. Working in fashion [outside of Bali, where Hardy grew up] I became aware of the waste and toxicity built into our systems. In parallel, my father began designing buildings from bamboo in Bali. I realised that what I wanted to be part of was already happening within my own family, so I came home.'

'The more I get to know bamboo, [the more] I aspire to be like it – unique while growing alongside other individuals, [using] flexibility as a strategy to avoid breaking under pressure. In its original form as a pole, bamboo has beauty, strength and personality that shouldn't be over-designed; we must restrain our design instinct to control and shape it. And when turned into slats, it can dance with us, by being bent and curved into the forms of our imagination.'

Bamboo architecture benefits

There are several key benefits to working with the material, Hardy highlights: 'Abundance. Teaches flexibility. Brings personality, while being flexible.' It is a component that keeps surprising her, she admits, through its complexity and the way it challenges her and her team. 'I continue to realise how little I know and how much is possible,' she adds.

Ibuku architect Rita Santoso says: 'With bamboo and its natural colours and textures, it's like learning a new design language, with much more opportunities to reach new different levels of comfort while being close and connected to the luxurious nature.'

5 key properties of bamboo

• A renewable resource
  'It grows fast and is strong and beautiful. Bamboo is also an incredible resource for design. It has unique material properties which are an amazing resource not found in other materials. Though building with bamboo is not new, engineers, architects and designers like us are able to invest time and care in creating a new design vocabulary with bamboo because natural treatment methods have turned bamboo into a credible, long-lasting building material. The bespoke artisanal structures we create in Bali are creating a ripple effect of attention towards the possibilities of bamboo and have inspired innovations in other underutilised natural materials. Combining craftsmanship with technology is the recipe for a magical future.'
• A local material
  'For our projects, we usually use what is locally available, and we innovate systems and techniques by connecting engineering expertise with craftsmanship, to reinvent what is possible and practical for each place.'
• Durability
  'A bamboo pole has the potential to last hundreds of years within a structure. In nature, it lives for only around ten years. When a pole dies in nature, the carbon it has sequestered is released back into the eco-system. So there's something magical about this afterlife, where a pole’s contribution, participation, and even carbon sequestration can live on.'
• Versatility
  'I’m curious about how the thinking that bamboo has inspired in us can next be translated to be applicable outside of the jungle, beyond this one material, outside of the tropics. I see that what we have been doing, and how we have been thinking, can impact what people choose to use and make. I see this happening when I teach at Bamboo U [eco-architecture courses in Bali], where people think they are coming to learn about bamboo and leaving with so much more. I hope that it has a big, subtle ripple effect.'
• It's full of character
  'Bamboo is full of character, integrity, and individuality, far beyond being a simple wood replacement. From what was so long considered a humble material, we have extended bamboo’s range. From the essential to the precious, it's becoming a part of daily life for people around the world.'

6 tips for building with bamboo by Elora Hardy

• We have to change the core of our identities to work with bamboo, it contradicts much of what tends to be cultivated in the education and profession of architecture. Listen for natural intuition – bamboo works the way nature works, not the way you were trained to think. 
  
• We must be flexible, and tolerant of imprecision – these aren't 2x4s, each [pole is] a unique piece of nature; we must indicate ranges of tolerance, not just set requirements for each measurement, at each point. 
  
• Hike, don't try to drive. This is a new frontier, it's not all figured out, and the road is not paved. Notice what reality is, and be ready to reroute along the way; you'll likely end up encountering a more beautiful view. 
  
• Be cooperative, and collaborative – by listening to and learning from the craftsmen and builders. 
  
• Look out for our egos – we must make room for the material's personality.  
  
• Don't dream alone – align yourself with the strengths and vulnerabilities of each material and personality in the team; all are outliers. 

Bamboo architecture of note

Surajkund Craft’s Northeast Pavilion by atArchitecture, India

Commissioned for the 2023 Surajkund Craft Fair, the Northeast Pavilion is a striking bamboo cloud of a structure and the brainchild of Mumbai-based architecture studio atArchitecture, and its co-founders Neha Rane and Avneesh Tiwari. It is also the emerging studio’s very first completed, permanent building in India. The structure was conceived to celebrate the tradition of local bamboo construction in line with the festival’s overall focus – the annual fair promotes Indian handicrafts, providing a platform to artisans on its site in Faridabad near the historic human-made Surajkund Lake, which was commissioned by King Suraj Pal of the Tomar dynasty in the 10th century

Kempegowda International Airport by SOM, in collaboration with Enter Projects Asia, India

Kempegowda International Airport unveiled its Terminal 2 structure in 2023, a pioneering bamboo design by architecture studio SOM in collaboration with Enter Projects Asia, which created the interiors. Located in Bengaluru (BLR Airport), southern India, this significant piece of transport infrastructure services one of the country's largest cities – as well as its wider region. Aiming to create a facility that not only can handle the 25 million new visitors expected, but that is also rooted in nature and sustainable architecture, the new terminal is rich in interior planting, lush exterior gardens (its landscaped spaces designed in collaboration with Grant Associates and Abu Jani/Sandeep Khosla), and natural materials such as brick and bamboo. It is all conceived to uphold Bengaluru's reputation as the 'garden city'.

Bijoy Jain’s bamboo Mpavilion, Australia

From Sean Godsell’s openable box of surprises to Amanda Levete’s ethereal tree-inspired canopy, the MPavilion has steadily established itself as a key staple on Melbourne's architecture agenda, marking the start of the Australian summer. For the installation’s third edition in 2016, MPavilion founder Naomi Milgrom invited celebrated Indian architect Bijoy Jain to design his own version of the Queen Victoria Gardens folly. Heading acclaimed architecture practice Studio Mumbai, Jain has a strong following and solid reputation for top craftsmanship, elegant designs and collaborative work. His firm creates works of all scales from its western Indian base, where they employ artisans, specialist craftspeople, as well as architects and designers to bring a rounded, craft-based approach to their commissions.

ibuku.com

Hermitage Mews, Gbolade Design Studio's first net-zero completion, is a family of homes in south London's Crystal Palace. The project, headed by practice co-director Tara Gbolade, was designed to meet strict sustainable architecture standards and the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, creating a housing scheme that is both design-led and adheres to smart, green building techniques such as passive house principles.

Step inside Hermitage Mews

Hermitage Mews comprises eight townhouses, located across a relatively busy street - although you wouldn't be able to tell from the expert sound-proofing indoors. The properties, comprising three- and four-bedroom homes, and including both terraced and semi-detached options, are defined by their sawtooth roofline and split-level floor plans. This offers both a pleasing visual pattern externally and spatial interest internally, in an overall fairly minimalist complex.

The development was initially conceived by Nissan Richard’s Architects, with Gbolade Design Studio taking over during the Covid-19 lockdown. From there, the new architects reimagined the design to respond to users' new needs, such as remote working and sustainability credentials.

It didn't come without its challenges. ‘This project has had its twists and turns, from the Covid lockdown which paused construction, to the Ukraine War which tripled the price of timber used on site, and through to the client unfortunately passing away during construction, which meant the site closed for a year. But one aspect I am most proud of is that we stayed the course to deliver a project that still met its ambitious sustainability targets, serving as an ode to the team who fought so hard for it,' said Gbolade.

The homes' volumes were configured to work with their surroundings too, featuring multi-coloured hand-moulded clay-facing brick with a textured, sanded-coated finish, which echoes the neighbourhood's deep red block buildings.

gboladedesignstudio.com

Sustainable architecture is a complicated, multi-layered task - and in 2025, it is more important than ever. Architects need to consider materials, construction, performance and provenance of everything, as well as maintenance and afterlife - social sustainability is critical too. With climate change and social challenges now in live development across the globe, it is not news that the green agenda should be at the top of everyone's mind. It is something we have flagged extensively in our recent Wallpaper* Design Awards's 2025 architecture gongs too, highlighting works that restore, rebalance and renew as nature, wellbeing and sustainability take centre stage across the board.

Luckily, there are some great projects to discover, which provide inspiration and help spearhead change. This is sustainable architecture at its best: the finest examples from across the globe, from amazing abodes to centres of care and hard-working offices. Scroll down, for the lowdown on sustainability's key principles, as well as case studies of buildings that not only look good but also do good.

Key sustainability principles in architecture

Sustainable architecture: a building's life

Buildings have long lives - encompassing a past, present and future - and enhancing their sustainability credentials can be reflected in every step of their journey. Sustainably-minded architects ensure projects are constructed in a way that doesn't burden their environment - be it through the use of locally sourced material that doesn't travel miles and miles to reach the site, or through building methods that have minimal impact on their surroundings (from prefabrication to new-era concrete, such as Seratch's carbon-neutral composite cement, which won the 2022 Obel Prize), respecting the existing context, natural and otherwise.

Once erected, making sure a project does its bit to support sustainable maintenance, energy consumption throughout its operational life, and fostering wellness (by minimizing exposure risks for its users to harmful substances, for example), is another important tick on the green building list. Smart ventilation, Passivhaus principles, and the use of natural materials can be equally beneficial to consider.

Finally, architecture's afterlife can also substantially add to a project's claim to eco-friendliness. Many sustainable architecture examples are designed to be demountable and reusable - conceived with the inherent ability to be either completely moved and rebuilt elsewhere as needed, expanding their lifespan, or by recycling individual materials and components, helping, this way, the structure has a second life.

A long life is also important. The construction industry is responsible for a sizable chunk of the world's carbon emissions, so once a building is up and out in the world, the best thing is to make sure it lives a long, healthy life. It can be designed to serve its purpose for some time; or it can be designed to be retrofitted and reimagined with ease in the future, as its users' needs change. Overall, thinking about how to best expand a building's life can play a key role in making it more sustainable.

Sustainable architecture's social side

We would be remiss to ignore architecture's social side in the green building discussion. Ultimately, a building is created to serve a function - and its users. So, thinking smart about making the most of a piece of architecture so that it supports local communities and enhances the lives of its inhabitants and guests is paramount to ensuring a building is future-proofed for a long life.

By blending accessibility and inclusivity gestures into the design thinking, architecture can cater to as many of its users as possible. Meanwhile, taking into consideration that users' lives change too - ageing and a variety of needs can affect the way we all use a building - is paramount in making sure structures of all typologies are efficient and functional for as long as possible.

Sustainable architecture: 46 fine, global examples

Kura Kura badminton court by Studio Jencquel and Ibuku

Where: Bali

Designed by: Ibuku

Building with local materials is an important and seemingly straightforward way of reducing a scheme's carbon footprint. Indonesian architecture studio Ibuku is a pioneer in promoting bamboo architecture, a material that's particularly sustainable and plentiful in Bali, where the practice is based. It is also the main material used in its Kura Kura badminton court on the island, created in collaboration with Studio Jencquel.

'Wood Up' by LAN

Where: Paris

Designed by: LAN

This project is leading the way in wood architecture in France. Designed by French architectural firm LAN (Lan Architecture Network), headed up by Benoît Jallon and Umberto Napolitano, and developed by REI Habitat, which specialises in timber construction, it opened in 2024 to great acclaim. Situated in the suburb of Ivry in the 13th arrondissement, the boxy structure with big windows is criss-crossed by sand-coloured wood columns and beams.

Finlandia Hall, Alvar Aalto

Where: Helsinki

Designed by: Alvar Aalto

The recently revamped and reopened Finlandia Hall is a much loved Alvar Aalto modernist architecture example in Helsinki. Now, it is also a case study for the sustainable restoration of a midcentury icon, with the landmark cultural destination having its façade’s Italian marble refreshed, updating the technical systems, and improving accessibility and energy efficiency.

Tom Lee Park by Studio Gang

Where: Memphis, USA
Designed by: Studio Gang and Scape
Sustainability highlight: greening and nature restoration

Tom Lee Park unfolds along the east bank of the Mighty Mississippi. Its creators, Chicago-based Studio Gang (the project’s masterplanner and architect) and New York’s Scape (who acted as landscape architect and park designer), describe the old site as a ‘working waterfront’, a previously flat, inhospitable, landfill part of town used for anything between parking lot, dump site, commercial transport route and industrial facility. The team, led by respective founders Jeanne Gang and Kate Orff (both featured in the Wallpaper* USA 300), was called upon by client Memphis River Parks Partnership to reimagine this stretch of the riverside as a centrepiece riverfront green, an urban lung and open space to be shared among Memphis residents.

Slot House by Klima Architecture

Where: Utah, USA
Designed by: Klima Architecture
Sustainability highlight: Passivhaus construction

Slot House sits on a ridge in the Wasatch Back region of the Rocky Mountains, just outside Park City, Utah – where architect Chris Price runs his practice, Klima Architecture. It offers, Price says, a place of solace and protection from which to respect and enjoy this wild landscape. It’s also a gamechanger for Price, marking an evolution of years of quiet, dedicated practice into a crystallised approach. ‘This is the first opportunity where all the stars aligned,’ he says. Designed for a couple who connected with him initially through a shared affinity to mountain climbing, the house marks a solidification of Price’s optimistic, ecologically driven, formally sophisticated approach to architecture. Named Klima Architecture, in honour of his dedication to the Passivhaus movement and all things sustainable (klima being an ancient Greek word that has evolved over time to mean climate),

The Magasin Électrique at Luma Arles

Where: Arles, France
Designed by: Assemble Studio and BC Architects & Studies
Sustainability highlight: sustainable materials and reuse

Assemble Studio has been concocting material innovations on site at Atelier Luma at the arts centre Luma Arles in the south of France since 2016 – culturing algae for natural dyes and turning potato starch into bioplastics. So, when it outgrew its original space on the complex and decided to renovate the nearby Magasin Électrique, it could offer its collaborators, London-based Assemble Studio and Belgian practice BC Architects & Studies, a spread of sustainable materials to choose from. Rice straw, sunflower stems, salt, soil and limestone waste all find their way onto the fabric of the former railway electrical shop, reimagined as thermal and acoustic insulation and rammed earth interior walls, among other things. Almost every raw or recycled material was sourced and processed within 70 km from the site, with the renovation works acting as a prototype of new kind of low-carbon, bioregional architecture that takes cues from ancient practices – an ongoing project dubbed Lot 8. Most materials are made from waste products from other industries – sunflower oil production, limestone quarrying – creating new revenue streams for local communities.

Reference Center of Babassu Coconut Breakers by Estudio Flume

Where: Maranhão Babaçu, Brazil
Designed by: Estudio Flume
Sustainability highlight: fostering community

The sprawling Maranhão Babaçu forests are home to dazzling flora, but also the traditional community of babassu harvesters. This local, predominantly female group living in the north of Brazil has been working in its distinctive, tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion environment for decades, its daily life and economy strongly linked to the region’s dominant plant, the babassu palm. Its product, a coconut-like fruit, can be opened to reveal seeds that can be pressed for oil, whose properties make it popular in the beauty, medicine and food industries. It is here that São Paulo’s Estudio Flume just completed its latest project, the Reference Center of Babassu Coconut Breakers, for this very community.

Kampala art centre by New Makers Bureau and Localworks

Where: Kampala, Uganda
Designed by: New Makers Bureau and Localworks
Sustainability highlights: reclaimed and natural materials

A new Kampala art centre cuts a fine figure in the Ugandan capital. London-based New Makers Bureau has built a richly patterned new home for a local arts trust, 32° East, from materials excavated from the site itself – earth, wood and reclaimed brick. The studio drew on the heritage of earth building in the region, creating Uganda’s first purpose-built community art space in the city's Kabalagala neighbourhood, while taking inspiration from the Lalibela churches of Ethiopia – sunken, rock-hewn structures created by subtracting material beneath the ground to reveal the forms. ‘We took cues from the idea of archaeology and excavation, literally mining the site for material,’ says founding director James Hampton.

Spruce House by Ao-ft

Where: London, UK
Designed by: Ao-ft
Sustainability highlight: CLT structure

If Ao-ft co-founders Liz Tatarintseva and Zach Fluker describe parts of Spruce House, their newest project, as a Swiss army knife, they’ve got a point. The home’s extremely high standard for functionality and efficiency truly belies its small but perfectly formed physique. Spruce House and Studio – the name makes sense as soon as you set eyes on its timber-clad façade – is the pair’s joint home in east London’s Walthamstow. Not only has it been a personal labour of love, it’s also the first flagship project of their newly minted architecture practice.

Citizens House by Archio

Where: London, UK
Designed by: Archio
Sustainability highlight: supporting community through affordable housing

Citizens House lies nestled within the sleepy residential neighbourhood of Sydenham, south London, its light-coloured brick marking a departure from the area's red-brick counterparts. All clean lines, with nods to minimalist architecture, and touches that appear more raw and almost industrial, it feels elegant and contemporary, created to a design by architecture studio Archio. Citizens House’s success, however, goes far beyond its apparent aesthetic qualities. Welcome to London's first-ever community land trust housing scheme, offering 11 'genuinely and permanently affordable homes for local people'.

Saltviga House by Kolman Boye Architects

Where: coastal Norway
Designed by: Kolman Boye Architects
Sustainability highlight: Recycled material, off-cuts

What started as an experiment resulted in Saltviga House – an idyllic timber dwelling on the south coast of Norway. Nestled in a wooded plot overlooking the sea, this family home was conceived with 'gentleness' in mind, explain its creators, the Sweden-based studio Kolman Boye Architects, founded by Erik Kolman Janouch and Victor Boye Julebäk. What underlines this approach, and makes Saltviga House stand out, is that it utilises offcuts from the production of Dinesen oak planks. These compose very visibly its roof and exterior walls, giving it its shingle-like appearance. Taking their cues from the beautiful material, Kolman and Boye crafted a home that feels at once cosy and environmentally responsible; they are deft hands at creating inspiring architecture using timber, as well as the cabin and rural home typology, as work such as Rotunda Serotina for Wallpaper* Handmade 2015 and Vega Cottage demonstrate. At the same time, every piece of offcut used in the house was checked and tested for its durability against the often harsh Norwegian weather.

Congregation Kol Emeth synagogue by Field Architecture

Where: Palo Alto, USA
Designed by: Field Architecture
Sustainability highlight: LEED Platinum certification

Palo Alto plays host to a world debut with its new, eco-friendly synagogue: welcome to Congregation Kol Emeth's redesigned home, the first ever LEED Platinum building of its kind. The voice and heart of the local Jewish community since its foundation, Congregation Kol Emeth grew lively and strong over the years, slowly but surely its activities outgrowing its original home. The new space and its sustainable architecture were designed by locally based studio Field Architecture, the project led by practice co-founder Jess Field. The project included the reimagining and expansion of the existing structure on site – at the same time composing an impressive Zero Energy and Net Zero Water Building for irrigation.

The Black and White Building

Where: London, UK
Designed by: Waugh Thistleton
Sustainability highlight: timber construction

The Office Group (aka TOG) was founded in 2003, which means that the design-led workspace specialist is about to head into its third decade. The company is marking the occasion with one of its most pioneering projects to date. Welcome to The Black & White Building – the tallest mass-timber office building in central London, as well as the first workspace development that TOG has built entirely from scratch, and its most impressive yet in terms of sustainable architecture. In its first 20 years, TOG managed to shake up the world of office development. Founders and co-CEOs Olly Olsen and Charlie Green kicked off a quiet revolution, rolling out one location after another, growing their company in size and scope and ever-refining its offering, leading the charge on flexible workspace and hybrid working models (for context, WeWork was founded in 2008). This latest adventure brings the company full circle back to east London’s Rivington Street, right opposite its oldest operational venue and one-time headquarters. The project features interiors by Daytrip Studio.

Quay Quarter Tower

Where: Sydney, Australia
Designed by: 3XN
Sustainability highlight: high-rise retrofit

Quay Quarter Tower cuts a fine figure near the Sydney waterfront, all twisted forms and contemporary high-rise dynamics; but this tall building stands out for more reasons than one. Its sculptural physique is certainly eye-catching, but this is also an impressive feat of sustainable architecture reuse, hailing a new era for its genre in Australia and beyond. Its accolades now include a prestigious International Highrise Award 2022, which has just been announced today. Sustainable architecture, urban innovation, striking aesthetics; there's a lot to be said for this new-era high-rise. Its architects, 3xn (in partnership with BVN) celebrate the project as ‘the world’s first adaptive reuse skyscraper’. Gone are the days when height and volumetric gymnastics alone could impress the global architecture scene. Now, every building needs to work hard to make the most of its challenges and opportunities in order to have a positive – or, at least, neutral – impact, environmentally speaking. Quay Quarter Tower was designed to do that, not least through its very basis as a redesign of an existing tall structure – as the client, AMP, opted for a clever reimagining, instead of demolishing, its 40-year-old bones.

Novartis Pavilion

Where: Basel, Switzerland
Designed by: AMDL CIRCLE and Michele de Lucchi
Sustainability highlight: a zero-energy media facade

Art meets science in the Novartis Pavillon designed by AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi. Set in Basel, Switzerland, the project, which opened this year, includes a new exhibition, meeting and event centre. It is open to the public - the first of its kind in the Novartis campus - and features a distinctive, zero-energy media façade. Mixing sustainable architecture with visual arts and state of the art technology, the building uses a new generation of organic photovoltaic and a grid of LED lights to screen the works of international artists. The art is curated by HEK (House of Electronic Arts) in Basel. 'Future-orientated, innovative, open and optimistic. The floor plan of the Novartis Pavilion is inspired by the universal symbolism of the circle, considered a powerful field of psychophysical energy, a sort of sacred area where all physical and spiritual forces are concentrated. Because the architecture itself must communicate energy, must inspire and promote connections between different voices and cultures,' said De Lucchi.

The Learning Tree 

Where: London, UK
Designed by: Delve Architects
Sustainability highlight: natural materials

The fragrant smell of timber, a slew of engaging toys and gentle lines and materials, and sustainable architecture principles are key components in the identity of The Learning Tree nursery - a new preschool facility in East London’s Romford. The timber-clad architectural interior design is the brainchild of emerging studio Delve Architects. The young practice, set up in 2017 by school friends Edward Martin and Alex Raher, was called upon to retrofit a former industrial building. This has now been transformed into a warm, welcoming learning space using durable design and natural materials - namely, timber, ply and rubber. Creating the space in just six months and working with specific budget constraints, the architects employed glazed partitions, timber screens, curved forms and bespoke joinery to customise the interior for their client, leading childcare and education company, Storal Learning.

Karper

Where: Brussels, Belgium
Designed by: He Architektuur
Sustainability highlight: urban retrofit

Hé Architektuur’s projects look primarily at rescuing the remnants of existing buildings. This, combined with the team’s inclination towards renewable, raw materials, means the resulting works often feel like a creative revival of bygone eras. The building that became the studio’s Karper project, in Molenbeek, Brussels, had served for years as a factory and office. Retaining the existing four walls and solid metal beam that runs through the centre of the building for support, the team added exposed wooden flooring. These elements, alongside huge windows and painted brick in subtle hues, give the house a light, honest feel. Four mezzanine-style floors create a flow between the spaces in this 330 sq m building, where interior walls are largely absent, making way for curtains and resulting in a highly flexible layout. The façade combines an attractive mixture of period and contemporary design. A white brick loft extension sits on top of the historic body of the house, contrasting beautifully with the red bricks and adorned window frames below.

Ostro Passivhaus

Where: Kippen, Scotland, UK
Designed by: Paper Igloo
Sustainability highlight: Passivhaus construction

Set in the Scottish village of Kippen near Stirling, and designed by locally based architecture studio Paper Igloo, this home was planned around the sustainable architecture of Passivhaus principles. The structure is located in a historical conservation area and faces woodland, and the architects reference this natural and layered environment by cladding the building in weathered timber. Conceived as a 'box within a box' that enhances insulation, it also meets the demanding requirements of the Technical Standards Section 7: Sustainability Gold Level.

The Plus

Where: Magnor, Norway
Designed by: BIG
Sustainability highlight: high energy efficiency

When we met outdoor furniture manufacturer Vestre’s then-CEO (and current Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway) Jan Christian Vestre about a year ago, he enthusiastically took us through his plans to create The Plus, ’the world’s most sustainable factory’. Now, thanks to his efforts and with a design courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the building site in the middle of a Norwegian forest we visited in 2021 is now a fully-fledged production facility – and so much more. The Plus opens this week in Norway’s Magnor, inviting employees, clients and visitors to experience its sustainable architecture. ‘The Plus is a factory for the people! It is a project we have put an enormous amount of soul and energy into. This is an important day for us, but also for the Norwegian mainland industry and the Scandinavian export cooperation,’ says Stefan Tjust, current CEO of Vestre.

Casa Azul 

Where: Atlantic rainforest, Brazil
Designed by: studio mk27
Sustainability highlight: environmental approval for building in sensitive nature

Casa Azul may be the latest in a long line of residential masterpieces by Marcio Kogan and his partners at Studio MK27, but it is unique among its distinguished cohort for its site, a rare parcel within the protected Atlantic Forest that has shaped this project in every way. Located in Guarujá, Brazil, in the state of São Paulo, with the stunning Iporanga Beach and Atlantic Ocean a mere 500m away, Casa Azul is a study in sustainable architecture and development and contemporary Brazilian architecture. Understandably, the local municipality was strict about its construction. It took nearly two years to secure the required environmental agency approvals, which mandated a 2m-wide protective bubble beyond the footprint of the home to shield the forest from building activity. Officials were on site daily to inspect the impact of the project on the surrounding flora, but Kogan, Diana Radomysler (he co-heads the studio with her, Renata Furlanetto, Suzana Glogowski and Mariana Simas) and their co-designer Samanta Cafardo were more than happy to comply with strict environmental oversight, and to go even further.

Earthitects workspace

Where: Bengaluru, India
Designed by: Earthitects
Sustainability highlight: natural, organic materials

Indian architecture practice Earthitects has transformed its own office in Bengaluru into an exemplary eco-friendly space. ‘Using local labour to fabricate almost every single piece of furniture in-house, we have crafted tables, seating, workstations and lighting–all from wood which no one else wanted,' the architects explain. The design revolves around nature and an overall organic feel, built with principles such as in mind. Eucalyptus poles and jute blend with a range of wood grains and textures. Seen here, is the meet-and-greet space - a mulitfunctional space for various formal and informal meetings featuring a bespoke hanging table.

Ecology Green Farm

Where: Nigeria
Designed by: Papa Omotayo
Sustainability highlight: building with earth

At the end of a powdery orange dirt track, a two-hour drive from Lagos in the village of Ikise, in south-western Nigeria, sits an earth brick barn house. The jewel in the crown of Ecology Green Farm, it’s a new artists’ residency space established by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. Set on the highest point of the farm’s 54 acres of land, surrounded by panoramic views of lush forest, grassland and bush, the building’s laterite shell radiates a warm golden glow in the late morning sun. Myriad butterflies settle and take flight, while the hum of insects, rustling grass and birdsong forms the soundtrack to this country retreat. The barn house accommodates a studio and living quarters for the participants of the artists-in-residence programme, which launches this spring, offering the opportunity to live and work on site over a three-month period. Artists also have the option of spending the residency at an alternative location in Lagos, and both sites are run by the Nigeria-based Guest Artists Space (GAS) Foundation, a sister organisation to the Yinka Shonibare Foundation, led by director Belinda Holden. ‘We should all be closer to nature,’ says Shonibare, as he reflects on Ecology Green Farm’s remote location. ‘It’s an excellent environment for artists to be inspired and work, and to have some quiet.’ Additional writing: Idjeoma Ndukwe

Bide cabin

Where: Dorset, UK
Designed by: LAMA
Sustainability highlight: self-building and local materials

The Bide, an architectural Dorset cabin, is a labour of love of a pair of design enthusiasts – one an architect, of London-based studio LAMA, and the other working for Nordic design brand Åben. Built almost entirely by hand during pandemic lockdowns, this charming getaway was designed for its creators, as a private retreat, which can also be used on occasion as a rental. Handling the design, product sourcing and construction together, the couple ensured that their project employed principles of sustainable architecture, such as using local materials and eco-friendly building techniques. For example, The Bide is designed using the WikiHouse system, with a wooden frame cut by CNC and bolted together by hand. Low-carbon materials used include sheep’s wool and wood fibre insulation. There is a Separett waterless toilet from Sweden, a decentralised MVHR system, and a Nebia vaporised water shower that ‘uses 40 per cent less water than a regular shower’.

Friendship Hospital

Where: Satkhira, Bangladesh
Designed by: Chowdhury/Urbana
Sustainability highlight: social impact

Chowdhury/Urbana’s Friendship Hospital in Bangladesh has scooped the prestigious RIBA International Prize 2021. The institute’s award casts its net wide, celebrating outstanding, international works that ‘demonstrate design excellence and social impact’. The winning project, led by NGO Friendship, does just that. Not only does it provide functional and considered architectural space for important health services to the local communities of Satkhira in southern Bangladesh, but it also employs sustainable architecture to do so.

Haus on the Ridge

Where: Kent, UK
Designed by: TP Bennett
Sustainability highlight: Passivhaus

The Brownie, the series of photographic cameras made by Eastman Kodak in the early 20th century, inspired Haus on the Ridge, reveals the architect and owner of this Kent house, TP Bennett principal director Doug Smith. Nestled in the green English countryside, the home, created with project architect Sam Clarke, is not only a striking family abode, but it’s also conceived according to the principles of sustainable architecture and follows strict Passivhaus standards. ‘As architects we all dream of designing and building our own home. Having taken an early interest in the Passivhaus concept, this project gave me the perfect opportunity to challenge myself and Sam, bringing together clean, minimalist, exceptional design with Passivhaus sustainability credentials,’ says Smith. His wife, Wendy, adds: ‘The Passivhaus provisions give a level of comfort to the design standard and more. The simple, predominantly open-plan living space, with its incredible interaction with the outside space and the rural setting, makes living in the house a joy.’

The Arc at Green Scool by Ibuku

Where: Bali, Indonesia
Designed by: Ibuku
Sustainability highlight: bamboo construction

The Green School in Bali is known for its finely tuned programme that follows children from early years through to secondary education, infused with a focus on creativity, the arts and ecological responsibility. Founded by John and Cynthia Hardy in 2006 and built around the principles of sustainable architecture, the school is a unique take on education; and now, it can also boast a brand new structure in its midst. The Arc, designed by local design and architecture studio Ibuku, headed by Elora Hardy, has recently been completed, offering a fresh visual shorthand for education architecture and the school’s green identity through its pioneering, green bamboo roof. The project was designed to host a wellness space and gymnasium for the school campus. Whimsical but sturdy, beautifully undulating as well as light and dynamic – almost like the bamboo version of a boat’s billowing sails in the wind – the roof is thin and balanced, and feels organic and close to nature. The trick was marrying traditional, age-old techniques for building with bamboo, and new technologies, Hardy, explains.

The Wood Hotel by Elite by White Architects

Where: Skellefteå, Sweden
Designed by: White Architects
Sustainability highlight: timber construction

This striking building boasts to be one of the world's tallest buildings. Set in Skellefteå, within the idyllic natural scenery of Swedish Lapland, the scheme is a hotel, aptly named The Wood Hotel by Elite and designed by White Architects. Combining the trusted, natural material and high end engineering innovation, the building also aims to be carbon dioxide neutral within its first five years. ‘Our concept is very inspired by the Swedish North’s unique nature and its legacy within forestry, but also Skellefteå’s modern position as an epicentre for progressive, green-tech engineering. We want to create memorable experiences and evoke a sense of hopefulness of what the future could hold, encouraging our guests to explore new ideas - be it inside of their room or beyond,' says Caroline Chakraborty, the family-owned business's partner and board member.

The Hilda Solis Care First Village by CRATE Modular

Where: Los Angeles, USA
Designed by: CRATE Modular
Sustainability highlight: services supporting people experiencing homelessness

This LA-based project is dedicated to homelessness services and includes 232 units, a mess hall, and an administrative building. Created by CRATE Modular and named the The Hilda Solis Care First Village, the scheme was made almost entirely out of recycled shipping containers - each of which contains two sleeping pods. Looking sleek and modern, while keeping costs and construction impact to a minimum this clever project works hard for its money - prioritizing modular, sustainable architecture and building.

House with Three Pavilions by Grounded

Where: Goa, India
Designed by: GROUNDED
Sustainability highlight: fostering biodiversity, near zero-impact construction

Combining a contemporary design approach with sustainable architecture, this home in a rural location in Goa was created by GROUNDED, the Indian architecture studio led by Anjali Mangalgiri. ‘The house attempts to leave a minimal or zero impact on the functioning natural ecological cycles at the site that pre-date the new construction,' she says. ‘It contributes positively by fostering biodiversity and recharging the underground water table.' Created as a second home, the structure occupies a small fraction of its wider site. Natural materials that connect the building to its surroundings play a key role in the design and include terracotta tiles, teak wood and a natural Indian stone in a blue-green colour.

Timber House by Gbolade Design Studio

Where: Kent, UK
Designed by: Gbolade Design Studio
Sustainability highlight: Passivhaus

A 1960s home in Chislehurst, Kent, in the UK, has been transformed with a dramatic extension by London based Gbolade Design Studio. Headed by Tara Gbolade, the architecture practice created a bold new design, Timber House, which goes beyond pure aesthetics to enhance the building’s sustainability credentials and the architecture’s overall functionality. Clad in stylish dark timber and featuring a defining pitched roof, the house results from a commission to refurbish and extend a family home. The new structure may have changed the home’s spatial experience but it doesn’t feel alien within its context; in fact, its new shapes and size are proportionate, respecting its surroundings and the existing building. Inside, however, the space has been significantly upgraded, with the addition creating soaring double-height ceilings, angular feature interiors (which reflect the original and new pitched roofs), and an open-plan arrangement that encourages interaction and flexibility for the residents.

Lemvig Klimatorium by 3XN 

Where: Lemvig, Denmark
Designed by: 3XN
Sustainability highlight: small environmental footprint

The town of Lemvig, on Denmark’s west coast, may be small and far away from the capital, but it aspires to play a vital role in the nation’s efforts to fight climate change. Aggressive storms and rising sea levels have heightened the risk of flooding, prompting the town to redevelop an old industrial area on its waterfront: adding a flood wall, installing a new promenade, spaces for new businesses, and most importantly, an international climate change centre, Klimatorium, to offer a meeting point for residents and tourists, educate the public about the climate emergency, and support Denmark’s role as an exporter of climate solutions. Commissioned by the town council to create this centrepiece, architects 3XN devised a two-storey building that makes a visual statement while keeping to a limited budget and environmental footprint.

‘Structure' by Better Shelter

Where: everywhere it's needed
Designed by: Better Shelter
Sustainability highlight: emergency housing

Social enterprise Better Shelter creates emergency and temporary sustainable housing for communities displaced by the climate crisis. With pilot sites for its shelters, called ‘Structure’, currently in India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Rwanda, its short-term solutions provide a sustainable response to the climate crisis that has left millions homeless. The company, based in Stockholm, Sweden, delivers modular homes in flat packages that can be speedily assembled without the need for tools or electricity. Equipped with a lockable door and a solar-powered lamp, they are created using materials local to their site, such as bamboo, timber and wattle and daub, and have the potential to be adapted by their occupiers for longer use.

Khor Kalba Turtle and Wildlife Sanctuary by Hopkins Architects

Where: Kalba Reserve, UAE
Designed by: Hopkins Architects
Sustainability highlight: prefabrication

This cluster of low, round buildings on the edge of the water in the Gulf region is the brand new Khor Kalba Turtle and Wildlife Sanctuary facility at the Kalba mangrove reserve in the UAE. Designed by Hopkins Architects, the project is an important sanctuary for rehabilitating turtles and nurturing endangered birds in this richly biodiverse part of the world. The project was commissioned by Sharjah’s Environmental Protected Areas Authority (EPAA). It encompasses education and visitor facilities too, helping to raise awareness of its important work in its field. Says Hopkins' principal Simon Fraser. ‘The pioneering circular forms we designed for the Buhais Geological Museum, are also perfect for this rich ecological location as they touch the ground lightly. We have adapted them using soft scalloped precast cladding made from discarded shells found in the local area which responds to the marine environment and which softens the external appearance of the project to harmonise with its surroundings.'

Kaj micro-hotel by Barbara von Haffner and Toke Larsen

Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
Designed by: owners and Karl Smith Meyer
Sustainability highlight: self-building and recycled material

Kaj, Copenhagen's latest sustainable micro-hotel, has been designed as a boutique, one-room boathouse you can rent. It all started when owners and partners in work and life Barbara von Haffner and Toke Larsen spotted a gap in the market. With the help of architect Karl Smith Meyer, they decided to put a plan into action. ‘We have often been contacted by people who wanted to rent our houseboat or asked what it is like to live on it,’ they say. ‘The idea for KAJ Hotel arose in the wake of these questions, which were almost impossible to answer unequivocally, as the experience varies depending on wind and weather conditions, as well as what time of day – or year – one stays there. One has to try it out for oneself – and every moment has its own charm.’ Now, set on Copenhagen harbour and built literally on the water, Kaj is created primarily in recycled wood. Its structure was partially prefabricated (on the deck of the couple’s houseboat) and craned directly into the site. Von Haffner also leads Undercover Copenhagen, a company specialising in recycled and sustainable fabrics, while the couple’s own home was created using environmentally friendly ways, so looking at this project from an eco-friendly angle came naturally to the pair.

Tambacounda Hospital extension by Manuel Herz

Where: Tambacounda, Senegal
Designed by: Manuel Herz
Sustainability highlight: earth bricks, brise soleil, local vernacular techniques

A brick extension to the Tambacounda Hospital in Senegal by Switzerland-based architect Manuel Herz is a true project of collaboration, rooted in the local community. ‘I received an invitation from the Albers Foundation and Le Korsa to take part in the competition for a new maternity and paediatric unit at Tambacounda Hospital,’ explains Herz. ‘I put a lot of thought into it and responded that the best approach was not to create a so-called architectural design “solution”. Instead, our entry took the form of a proposal embedded in research and collaboration; not a building, but a suggestion of how to approach the project.’ Herz’ considered thinking won the competition. The design is defined by the striking geometric bricks that make up the main façade. ‘I undertook a lot of research into the region for my book, African Modernism, the architect explains. ‘I also looked at responses to climate and elements like brise soleils, which became quite prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s.’ The porous veil of bricks is a relatively common façade treatment in the east of Senegal, with the bricks themselves typically made on-site.

SLAK Campus by Kéré Architecture

Where: Turkana County, Kenya
Designed by: Kéré Architecture
Sustainability highlight: low-tech, earth building

Turkana County in Kenya is a large expanse of beautiful yet arid land of low bushes and occasional trees, home to Lake Turkana, the country’s largest landlocked body of water and the biggest desert lake in the world. Termite mounds, buzzing with activity and up to several metres high, are dotted around the region’s gently undulating landscape. It was these tall structures that first caught the eye of Berlin-based architect Francis Kéré when he started researching the area for one of his latest commissions – a sustainable education campus on the lake’s banks. Celebrating the local context and the termite mounds, tall towers support natural ventilation ‘by extracting warm air upwards, while fresh air is introduced through specially designed low-level openings’, says Kéré. Electricity is produced on site, using solar panels.

TECLA by Mario Cucinella Architects with WASP

Where: everywhere it's needed
Designed by: Mario Cucinella Architects
Sustainability highlight: building with earth

Mario Cucinella Architects has built the world’s very first 3D printed house made entirely from raw earth. Named ‘Tecla’, and built in collaboration with specialists in the field WASP, the structure demonstrates the point where natural materials meet technology and has just been unveiled in Italy’s Massa Lombarda region, near the city of Ravenna. ‘Adopted from one of Italo Calvino’s Imaginary Cities, one that is forever taking shape, the name ‘Tecla’ evokes the strong link between past and future combining the materiality and spirit of timeless ancient dwellings with the 21st-century world of high-tech production,’ say the architects.

Casona Sforza by Alberto Kalach 

Where: Puerto Escondido, Mexico
Designed by: Alberto Kalach
Sustainability highlight: brickwork, low tech, natural ventilation

Known for its sandy beaches, green setting and surfing spots, Mexico’s Puerto Escondido now has one more card up its leafy sleeve: a new hotel with strong sustainability credentials, designed by acclaimed Mexican architect Alberto Kalach. Casona Sforza, conceived by the entrepreneur Ezequiel Ayarza Sforza, has just opened its doors and combines an eco-approach with striking architecture and state-of-the-art hospitality and interiors. Set in La Barra de Colotepec, facing Mexico’s Pacific Coast, the hotel’s distinctive form represents its strong ‘ecological commitment’, says the team. Composed of a series of round-roofed brick volumes, the flowing structure feels natural and uses the country’s ancient techniques of brickwork, arch and vault building. This approach not only feels appropriate to the project’s context and the region’s history, but also makes the most of the fine anti-seismic properties of the vaulted shapes.

Elephant World by Bangkok Project Studio

Where: Thailand
Designed by: Bangkok Project Studio
Sustainability highlight: low tech, local materials and construction, supporting wildlife

Elephant World’s architecture nods to both human and elephant needs, showcasing a strong sense of social sustainability but a respect to the environment too. The Wallpaper* Design Awards 2021 Best Sanctuary winner is a design by Thai architect Boonserm Premthada and his practice, Bangkok Project Studio. Premthada worked with local labour and materials to create a complex dedicated to the wellbeing of humans and animals, including an observation tower, a museum and a multifunctional event space. The design blends with the landscape and uses natural materials. For example, the bricks used for the museum were created on site by local workers using loam found in the area.

Powerhouse Telemark by Snøhetta

Where: Porsgrunn, Norway
Designed by: Snohetta
Sustainability highlight: energy-positive building, BREEAM certification

This ultra-sustainable workspace is a building that actually creates more energy than it will consume over its entire lifespan. Architecture studio Snøhetta, together with collaborators R8 Property, Skanska and Asplan Viak, has recently completed the project, Powerhouse Telemark, the fourth energy-positive building in its Powerhouse portfolio. Located in the city of Porsgrunn, the project creates much-needed office space. It features solar panels on its roof; natural shading is promoted, while plentiful insulation ensures heat is retained where possible; and heat is stored in the building elements, to be released slowly, while a geothermal well supports heating and cooling. As a result, Powerhouse Telemark was awarded a BREEAM Excellent certification.

Anandaloy by Studio Anna Heringer 

Where: rural Bangladesh
Designed by: Anna Heringer
Sustainability highlight: community support, local materials and labour

German architect Anna Heringer’s Anandaloy project in rural Bangladesh is a successful example of sustainable architecture, both in terms of social and environmental responsibility. The community centre and textile workshop in rural Bangladesh contains a therapy hub for people with disabilities on the ground floor and a fair-trade textile manufacturing workshop for local women on the first floor. Made out of rammed earth and bamboo, the structure explores age-old local building techniques and materials in soft curves and textures that connect with its place and the region’s vernacular. The building recently scooped the prestigious Obel Award for 2020.

Treehouse by Olson Kundig

Where: Costa Rica
Designed by: Olson Kundig
Sustainability highlight: passive temperature control and rainwater recycling

US architect Tom Kundig, of Seattle practice Olson Kundig, is behind this sustainable teak holiday house in Costa Rica. Called the Treehouse, the private home is built predominantly out of locally harvested teak, and is open to the elements. This makes sense for Kundig’s clients for two reasons: as avid surfers, it gives them a chic version of a basic surfer’s hut; and as environmentalists, their new home ticks a number of sustainability boxes. Spanning three floors, the building is designed to operate passively, and slatted panels keep it open to the outdoors. ‘Our aim was to create a home that is very leaky to the view and light and air,’ says architect Tom Kundig. The structure also has its own rainwater collection system. Additional writing: Clare Dowdy

Bahareya Village by ECOnsult

Where: Western Desert, Egypt
Designed by: ECOnsult
Sustainability highlight: recycled construction material

Egyptian architect Sarah El Battouty, head of local studio ECOnsult, led the sustainable design of Bahareya Village, an eco-friendly compound for farm workers in the country's Western Desert. Created to be home to the farming community engaged by organic tea producer Royal Herbs, the complex uses gravel manufactured from recycled construction waste for the base of its minimalist concrete structures. Cacti scattered throughout the campus offer splashes of greenery without compromising on a commitment to water efficiency. And a technique El Battouty borrowed from desert communities – raising the foundations of the buildings to create distance between the floor and therefore the rising heat from the land – reduces indoor temperatures by eight to ten degrees. Additional writing: Ijeoma Ndukwe

Cold Spring Residence by Alloy

Where: Cold Spring, USA
Designed by: Jared Della Valle
Sustainability highlight: Passivhaus

This minimalist and highly eco-friendly house overlooking the Hudson River Valley is the country home of New York-based Alloy’s principal, architect and developer Jared Della Valle. Named Cold Spring Residence, the house sits on the land as lightly as possible. Della Valle worked with passive house sustainability standards to create his retreat, including solar panels for year-round energy, a well-insulated building envelope and careful management of the site’s water resources. The building is also partly sunken and cannot be seen from the street, aligning with its creator's desire for a ‘a degree of modesty’, so that the architecture doesn't compete with the striking surrounding natural landscape.

Flying House by Martand Khosla

Where: Dharamshala, India
Designed by: Martand Khosla
Sustainability highlight: mud brick, local construction

Created by architect Martand Khosla for a Delhi-based family of four, this weekend retreat in India's Dharamshala is rooted in traditional materials and techniques. Set between farmland and a lush forest on the Dhauladhar mountain ranges of the Himalayas, Flying House has been built using local resources – stone, stabilised mud brick, slate and pine. A lot of the earth and stone dug out from the site during the foundation excavation went back into the construction. Building site wastage was minimised and a lot was recycled, making this house quite literally of its place. The construction uses stabilised mud brick, a method local workers were taught, using equipment from Development Alternatives (a social enterprise for sustainable solutions in India). This way, not only would the local stonemasons be able to build this particular house, but they would be able to master the craft and continue using it in the future.

Striving towards sustainability within design, Isomi is not afraid to challenge and experiment with non-traditional materials in its creative process and construction. Since 2011 the British furniture brand has mastered its independent style in crafting contemporary furniture from concrete, wood and hot-rolled steel. Recyclable and renewable, Isomi debuts ‘Tejo’, a new modular sofa system made of cork.

Isomi's 'Tejo' sofa

Isomi wanted to make sure they were not adding another conventional sofa to the market, gluing or stapling polyurethane foams and fabrics to plywood or steel frames. Using this as a motivator, the brand chose to construct ‘Tejo’ from cork waste from the production of wine stoppers, which further helps to preserve Portugal’s cork forests in the Alentejo region, and lays a path for a circular economy.

'We were looking for materials that were as natural as possible,' explains Paul Crofts, the design director at Isomi. 'So we replaced the plywood frame with cork, and foam with natural latex. The fabric is natural wool and hemp. Frame, fabric, even the castors: everything about Tejo is based on natural material.’

The reconfigurable design comprises three distinct elements including a bench, a single sofa, and a double back-to-back sofa, allowing for users to be creative with the different landscapes the seating offers. Designed to be a piece that is timeless and functional, additional elements can be incorporated into the system - including table units and planters.

Each cork component is carefully carved leaving minimal surplus materials. Any offcuts are returned to the chipper and made back into cork blocks. To get the soft cushioning inside of the sofa, a natural latex is used, which is then wrapped in wool wadding, followed by a final upholstery in a wool, flax or hemp fabric. This alternative material usage and new furniture typology marks a new approach for the brand, ushering a new wave of future designs.

isomi.com

Buy less! Buy better! Repair! Rent! Repent. Fashion bellows all sorts of contradictions in response to the world’s ever-changing problems. Much has been mooted about the rejuvenating principles of a circular economy, yet the challenge for fashion – something fuelled by whimsy, quick changes in mood – is understanding how clothes being made today can be repurposed for the future.

Is the notion of a sustainable fashion brand an oxymoron? Marlot te Kiefte, CEO of the rebooted 1960s fashion boutique Granny Takes A Trip comments: ‘Everyone claims to care about sustainability but not everyone is willing to take the next step and say, “OK. Fine. I'm going to change how I work.”’

What goes around comes around: Granny Takes A Trip returns

She is, however. In the summer of 2022, te Kiefte – who has worked with Wales Bonner, Haider Ackermann and Vetements – was approached to update the legacy of the cult psychedelic boutique. ‘The first thing I thought was, yeah, great a relaunch, but does the world need another fashion brand?’ She wondered what would happen if there was no more new material – regulation is changing, and the industry has blithely seized upon organic cotton as an answer to the climate crisis. ‘I started my career with product development and merchandising, so I know the process of making a garment. I know it starts with a vision, a more creative idea, but increasingly it’s like, oh shit, we need to do something with sustainability! Can we just replace this button with an organic one? Everyone is stuck in this linear way of doing things.’ Te Kiefte set about redesigning the process.

Until now, common responses to climate change and over-consumption have been to use more recycled polyester or establish costly clothing rental platforms. However, once polyester has been made into fabric, its lifespan is cut even shorter. And the focus of the burgeoning rental market has been on a narrow demographic of women who might want to borrow an embroidered dress for a wedding.

Granny 2.0 has therefore launched itself around three circular loops. First, the label offers garments made from existing vintage and deadstock fabrics and recycled mono fibres. One-off artisanal pieces are key. A second pillar is a range of limited-edition garments made using old furnishing fabrics, or piles of long-forgotten music industry merch that can be rented. A bomber jacket and contrasting trouser set is made from patterned chenille originally destined for sofas. Hybrid tops are created from slashed deadstock band T-shirts overlaid with vintage lace. The third is the commercial side, which te Kiefte describes as ‘clothing you can wear close to your body, something you will probably own for five to ten years, which you can then give back to us’. Granny is divided into things you want to own forever and things you want to own for a bit. ‘It’s about using and having access to a shared archive,’ she says.

The original Granny, founded by Nigel Waymouth, Sheila Cohen and John Pearse, opened on London’s Kings Road in 1966, the same year the city was hailed as ‘swinging’ by Time magazine. Today there’s a sense of collectivism that mirrors the youth movement of the period. People are asking questions about greenwashing; there is political and social unrest; a sense of going back onto the streets again.

’Nobody can do it by themselves. Everyone needs to design a piece of the puzzle…’ te Kiefte says. ‘There’s space to be idealistic but with a pragmatism. Granny was started by three people with very different disciplines: a graphic designer, a vintage collector and a Savile Row tailor. A group of people with different brain structures each asking questions. I think that’s the right way of doing things for right now.’

granny.london

The Alder collection of tables by Patricia Urquiola for Mater makes its debut at Milan Design Week 2024, showcasing the company’s newly-developed material. Dubbed ‘Matek’, it is the result of years of research and development by the Danish company, who have been using waste from a variety of sources that include coffee bean shells or sawdust from wood production, bound with bioplastic and resulting in a composite material that can be press-moulded to make furniture.

'Mater was established in Copenhagen in 2006 by Henrik Marstrand, and the company's initial goal was to promote sustainable practices, which was not a common topic in the design world at the time,' says Mater CEO, Ketil Årdal. 'Since then, Mater has been at the forefront of sustainable furniture design and production. The company has transitioned from a sustainability-focused design brand to a green-tech company focusing on furniture design, always seeking innovative approaches.'

Alder tables by Patricia Urquiola for Mater

For the 'Alder' collection, Urquiola created four designs featuring soft edges and a cylindrical base, including two lounge tables with oval and square tops, a side table and a stool. Each piece is available in 4 colours that include Terracotta, Light Green, Sand and Earth Grey. The quartet of tables is made by shaping Matek around a steel frame (made of 94% recycled steel).

'The Matek™ materials enable the production of furniture using recycled and environmentally responsible materials,' explains Årdal. 'This is achieved by combining waste fibres with a waste binder. Coffee bean shells, a byproduct of the coffee roasting industry, and sawdust from wood production, are used as fibre materials. The binder material is made from plastic waste or a plastic-based alternative, with a shift towards using recycled post-consumer e-waste plastic. The combination of waste fibre and binder materials results in a unique compound suitable for press moulding, allowing for more efficient recycling of waste and capturing carbon in the furniture. In addition, a biodegradable version of Matek™ has been developed, made entirely from natural materials. This version uses biodegradable plastic derived from sugarcane as the binder material, enabling the material to decompose back into nature.

Each design can be disassembled and its components upcycled through Mater’s own ‘Take back System’, Matek being unique in the fact that it can be processed multiple times.

Mater's approach makes the company a fitting companion for Urquiola, whose ongoing interest and research towards innovation and sustainable practices in furniture design have been at the core of her studio's work for a while. 

'Collaborating with Mater was very interesting because of all the research they do on materials and production, especially with the different [types of bioplastic] and its behaviour when mixed with other materials, what happens when heated or pressed,' she explains. 'The design process was very smooth, because we shared the same values, we are informed and aware of the world we live in.'

‘At Mater, we continually strive to push the boundaries of traditional furniture production and its more sustainable journey into the future, concludes Årdal. ‘Our planet’s resources are not infinite, and we need to rethink antiquated ways of production now.’

The Alder collection by Patricia Urquiola for Mater is on view at Milan Design Week 2024, from 15 to 19 April 2024

Via Bartolomeo Eustachi, 51
Milano

materdesign.com
patriciaurquiola.com

Save your skin, and help the planet with our inclusive edit of the best vegan skincare brands, complete with options for all skin types, genders, and price points. 

Try these vegan skincare brands from around the world.

Herbar

Herbar is a Berlin beauty line for all ages and skin types that harnesses adaptogenic mushrooms and plants for its products, and local artists for its branding playful branding. Their Skin Pearls are one of our favourite products of the moment with their blend of adaptogenic and fungi extracts with vitamins B3, B12 and C to improve the appearance of skin and, more impressively, noticeably boost mood and reduce fatigue. 

Equally exciting is their newly launched Face Nectar, which combines fungi, adaptogenic extracts, probiotics to hydrate and tighten skin, and providing a silky, glowing look to skin after just one use. 

The Nectar can be used in conjunction with the brand's Face Oil and sweet mushroom shaped gua-shas. 

herbarofficial.com

Humanrace

Pharrell Williams’ skincare line, Humanrace, was developed in collaboration with his dermatologist Dr. Elena Jones, who has helped Williams maintain his famously youthful appearance for over 20 years. 

The line consists of three hero products, the Rice Powder Cleanser, Lotus Enzyme Exfoliator, and Snow Mushroom Humidifying Cream all of which are vegan and specifically formulated to work on all skin types.

‘The Rice Powder Cleanser and Lotus Enzyme Exfoliator provide gentle exfoliation and are rich in hydration,’ Dr. Elena told us when the line launched last year. ‘The Humidifying Cream provides essential moisture and hydration to nourish and plump the skin. We wanted to share with the world his simple routine and his belief that we must pause to take a moment to focus not only on your skin but also on your health and wellbeing.’

As of this November, Humanrace is available in UK from Selfridges. 

selfridges.com

Bourii

Bourii is a new line of multipurpose body oils that draws on Ayurvedic principles to create its three signature oils–Vata, Pitta, or Kapha– each designed to target the skin care needs of the doshas they are named after. So Vata is grounding and warming, Pitta is calming and cooling, and Kapha is stimulating and energising. 

Developed with experts in the fields of Ayurveda, ethnobotany, and aromatherapy, each oil is  hand-blended in small batches at Bourii’s London studio, using ingredients from family run suppliers in the UK and France. 

bourii.com

Stella by Stella McCartney 

Stella McCartney’s recent foray into skincare comprises a cleanser, serum, and moisturiser all delicately perfumed with signature fragrance designed by Francis Kurkdjian. Ingredients are of principal importance, with all vegan formulations that include no extraneous additives (in keeping with McCartney’s ‘only what you need’ philosophy) and do not over-stimulate the skin. 

The lightweight formulations are especially well-suited to dry and/ or mature skin types with ingredients like hydrating organic birch sap, lingonberry extract to increase firmness, and rock samphire to smooth fine lines. 

spacenk.com

Herbar is a Berlin beauty line for all ages and skin types that harnesses adaptogenic mushrooms and plants for its products, and local artists for its branding playful branding. The signature face oil uses three hero adaptogens in its formulation: tremella, or the ‘beauty’ mushroom, which is known for detoxifying and hydrating properties; the reishi mushroom, which is used to reduce skin inflammation, puffiness, signs of ageing and free-radical damage, while also promoting cell regeneration; and da zao (or Chinese jujube dates), which is rich in iron and vitamin C, and is proven to treat acne, blemishes, and scars.

Royal Fern 

Royal Fern is vegan skincare brand developed by German dermatologist Dr. Timm Golueke. As its name suggests, every product is formulated with royal fern extracts- a 400 million year old plant that has withstood dramatic climate changes through its unique ability to retain water, resist UV radiation, and protect itself from environmental pollution. 

The Royal Fern skincare line utilises those resilient aspects of the royal to create effective anti-aging formulations that encourage collagen production and protects the skin’s surface from environmental aggressors. 

royalfern.com

Haeckels

Superhero of sustainable skincare, Haeckels vegan formulations are a safe bet for anyone looking to invest in a natural skincare regime. 

The brand uses seaweed hand-picked in Margate as the basis for its products which span skincare, haircare, deodorant, and its popular range of fragrances and candles. 

We recommend trying the brand’s Eco Marine Cream for a lightweight but super  hydrating daily moisturiser; or their game changing Bio Restore Membrane, a 'grown-to-order' prebiotic under-eye mask that is formulated with seaweed, aloe vera, and cucumber to reduce signs of tiredness.  

haeckels.com

Olivanna 

Olivanna’s a great vegan option for those who have sensitive skin but want skincare that is tough on ageing. The line’s hero ingredient is bakuchiol, a potent antioxidant that serves as a natural alternative to Retinol. 

For those new to the brand, we recommend trying The Bakuchiol Miracle Night Serum which pairs bakuchiol with hydrating hyaluronic acid and active plant extracts to smooth and repair skin overnight. 

olivanna.com

Pure+ by Switzerland

Pure+ by Switzerland is a skincare brand that, as its name suggests, is made from natural ingredients harvested from the Alpine region of Switzerland. The entirely vegan range of products uses ingredients like Alpine Arolla Pine to protect collagen and the Alpine Gentian herb as an astringent, with all of its ingredients bottled at their highest possible concentration for assured effectiveness. 

Of their range, we recommend the Pore-Refining Serum for those looking for tighter, smoother skin, and the Glowing Serum for those looking for a brightening boost of Vitamin C. 

doverstreetparfumsmarket.com

Dr Frances Prenna Jones

Dr Frances Prenna Jones is the cosmetic dermatologist behind some of London’s most famous faces. Her secret? An impeccable understanding of how only minor cosmetic tweaks can radically revitalise the face and save it from looking off-puttingly artificial. 

Luckily, even those who aren’t lucky enough to experience the Prenna Jones treatments in-person can still  benefit from her unparalleled knowledge of anti-ageing techniques. 

Her exclusive skincare line is deceptively simple looking range of transformative products, all of which are vegan. Try the HSB6 super serum for instant hydration that can be used fantastic base for make-up or to use with prescription retinols. While the famed Formula I is a new beauty product in and of itself- not quite a toner or exfoliant, but a bit of both- that can be used day and night on any skin type. 

drfrancesprennajones.com

Rowse

Rowse is a new plant-based brand that wants to simplify skincare for a minimal beauty regime. Depending on your skin concerns, the brand curates a tight edit of products to be used for a morning and evening cleansing and moisturisation, as well as a weekly mask or scrub treatment. 

Whether you want to try the entire regime or not, we recommend Rowse's plant clays. Available in powder form, each clay can be mixed with natural oils and floral waters at home to create a creamy at-home facial. 

The Matcha Powder Mask mixed with rose water and antibacterial lemon essential oil is great for a weekly skin refresh. The Charcoal Mask mixed with sage water and tea tree oil is ideal for those with acne or blackheads. 

rowse.co

Le Labo 

Beloved the world over for its instantly recognisable fragrances, Le Labo also has a range of skincare that is just as addictive as its scents. 

The entirely vegan range contains a number of winners, but we suggest trying the aromatic Basil face lotion or the cooling Camphor Balm that is formulated with eucalyptus and black pepper to offer an instant hit of stress-relieving aromatherapy. 

selfridges.com

Neighbourhood Botanicals

Neighbourhood Botanicals’ oil-based skincare places a premium on premium ingredients. The brand’s vegan product range uses cold-pressed and raw oils that are packed with vitamins and nutrients to provided the most effective results. Everything is made in small-batches at the brand’s east London lab and packaged in recyclable, post-consumer waste plastic (ie, plastic sourced from kerbside collections). 

Notable products include the make-up removing Face-Off cleanser and the Simmer Down serum for calming acne-prone and irritated skin. 

beautybay.com

Loopeco

All of Loopeco’s products are vegan, organic and plastic free. Sustainability is key for the brand, which has pledged to offset 100 per cent of its carbon emissions and use as little water as possible in all of its products. 

Key items include a detox face mask which uses chia seeds to retain moisture, kelp and potato starch extract for smooth skin, and matcha green tea for an antioxidant boost. It’s particularly well-suited to those with acne, using tea-tree oil to naturally rid skin of bacteria and inflammation. 

The Salubrious Serum is another winner, with Kojic Acid, Turmeric  and Vitamin C to brighten skin and Licorice to improve the appearance of dark spots. 

loopeco.com

SBTRCT

SBTRCT (pronounced Subtract) is a new solid beauty brand that aims to address some of the biggest environmental challenges facing the beauty industry today, namely plastic pollution, water waste and over-reliance on palm oil. It does this by creating products that are 100 per cent plastic-free, palm oil-free and contain less than 0.5 per cent water. 

Keep your eyes peeled for they’re soon to be launched solid retinol bar, which is one of the first of its kind and offers a more eco alternative to one of beauty’s most beloved products. 

sbtrct.com

Temple 

Temple is a new vegan skincare brand designed specifically for men of colour. The brand aims to keep skincare easy with a three-step starter system which includes a cleanser, toner and moisturiser. 

Key ingredients like hyaluronic acid, avocado oil, aloe vera and rosehip oil are formulated to address skincare issues commonly faced by men of colour while also being suitable for other skin types. 

jointemple.com

Colekt

‘We have had K-Beauty and J-beauty, now it’s time for S-beauty,’ says Ellen af Petersens, co-founder of the beauty brand Colekt. That ‘S’ stands for Scandinavian, and af Petersens has certainly created a brand that is a unique expression of her native homeland, working with fellow Stockholmer Susanne Vennerstrand and the design team at Acne (which launched Byredo a decade ago). 

All Colekt formulations are vegan, take their inspiration from the natural ingredients of the area – think Oak Root Face Oil and Mulberry Leaf Face Mist – and come in recyclable packaging with grey colouring that’s inspired by the Swedish archipelago. 

For those still struggling with drab WFH skin, we recommend the brand’s Face Mist, which offers a refreshing spritz of natural antioxidants and hyaluronic acid. The Rosehip Seed Body Oil is another favourite, especially during the drying winter months. Its lightweight formulation instantly hydrates skin without leaving behind any of the greasy residue or drippy mess of some body oils. 

colekt.com

Augustinus Bader

Augustinus Bader’s beloved The Rich Cream has gone vegan. As the brand’s founder and stem cell scientist Professor Bader told us last year, The Rich Cream’s particular genius lies in its ability to trigger skin’s regenerative cells. Unlike most skincare, which just changes the outside surface of the skin, Bader’s skincare is designed to work from the inside out, transforming the body’s internal, cellular communication for exterior changes. 

‘There’s something super, super sensitive inside of you, which are these cells that sense the microenvironment and respond to the need. So the cream, in a way, is only a toolbox, which helps your stem cells when they sense this need to interact more appropriately,’ Bader says. ‘Skin is a living organism, which has to be remodelled, meaning repaired a little bit every day. But you can accelerate this repair lead.’

The new vegan version of Bader's ‘miracle cream’ makes it possible for a whole new audience to experience its transformative properties, evidencing that skincare brands both big and small are increasingly branching into vegan formulations. 

net-a-porter.com

Aesop 

Aesop is a brand so synonymous with quality design that just placing one of its soaps next to a sink is an instant ambiance-booster. From its instantly recognizable brown bottles to its stores designed by Snøhetta, Fernando and Humberto Campana, and more, Aesop has constructed a skincare empire on the principle that aesthetics and effective formulations are of equal importance. A lesser know tidbit is that all of the brand’s products are vegan, making them an easy and reliable go-to for those looking to build a plant-based skincare regime.

spacenk.com

Melyon

Melyon is a Swedish skincare brand ‘made with people of colour in mind’. Its vegan formulations use a combination of acids (salicylic, hydrochloric) natural ingredients (ginger root extract, papaya extract) and vitamins to that target conditions commonly found in darker skin tones while still being suitable for all. 

Meylon is an expression of founder Roger Dupe's Swedish and West African heritage. The shape of the bold brown bottles with prominent blackcaps is inspired by Baobab trees, with labels in the clean typographic style that has become synonymous with Scandinavian graphic design. For Dupe, is was important that the brand’s vegan formulations were equally as good for the earth as for skin. ‘We wanted to create products that we can be proud of and make the consumer feel good about buying,’ says Dupe.‘ [For us] using natural ingredients from Africa was super exciting, especially most of the skincare products they have been using for ages are vegan.’

melyon.co

Typology 

Like The Ordinary, Typology seeks to offer transparent skincare formulations that contain only ingredients essential for product effectiveness, and all at an affordable price point. Yet the French-brand has a notably more eco-conscious bent than its competitors, with a range of exclusively vegan products that are produced entirely in France with ingredients from the region. 

Typology offers everything from chapstick to perfumes, but the brand’s routine-based skincare sets are its most notable offerings. A free diagnostic test on the Typology website asks questions concerning three main areas–skin aging, oxidation factors, and sebum production– to judge which of 24 skin types you are, and then breaks down which products will work best for your concerns and why. We’re especially fans of the brand’s four periodic serums for those whose skin concerns are closely linked to their hormonal cycles.

typology.com

F. Miller 

Oils have been gaining a lot of traction in beauty lately, and rightly so. They can instantly brighten skin with a nutrient-packed punch, create a hydrated base for cosmetics that won’t alter the texture of your products (unlike many cream moisturisers), and are an ideal touch-up tool for a day's worn-in makeup.

We recommend Canadian brand F. Miller to those interested in adding oils to their beauty regime. Its tight edit of products includes a face oil, oil cleanser, eye oil, shave oil, and hair oil all of which are vegan and packaged in the brand's ultra-chic bottles.

Those who are extra eco-conscious will be glad to know that all of those bottles, and the boxes they come in, are made of recyclable material and printed in a facility powered by Bullfrog – a green energy provider dedicated to reducing the environmental footprint of production in Canada. Best of all, the vegan formulations are highly effective, transforming split ends and irritated skin within a few applications.

fmillerskincare.com

Superegg

Founded by former VP of digital design at Barney’s, Erica Choi, Superegg is a new skincare line with a novel main ingredient- vegan eggs. In Korea, where Choi’s family hails from, eggs have been used as a skincare cure-all for centuries.

Hoping to reformat the age-old trick for a more eco-conscious audience, Choi developed a vegan egg substitute from a unique combination of vitamins, minerals, and proteins. The result is a moisturiser and cleanser that promise dewy and flawless skin.

superegg.nyc

Slot House sits on a ridge in the Wasatch Back region of the Rocky Mountains, just outside Park City, Utah – where architect Chris Price runs his practice, Klima Architecture. It is defined by a series of interlocking gabled masses, and is as informed by earthships as it is by formalism; as influenced by its mountain-climbing clients as it is by Price’s childhood in New Mexico; as sheltered from the elements as it is set squarely within nature. It offers, Price says, a place of solace and protection from which to respect and enjoy this wild landscape. It’s also a gamechanger for Price, marking an evolution of years of quiet, dedicated practice into a crystallised approach. ‘This is the first opportunity where all the stars aligned,’ he says. 

Designed for a couple who connected with him initially through a shared affinity to mountain climbing, the house marks a solidification of Price’s optimistic, ecologically driven, formally sophisticated approach to architecture. Named Klima Architecture, in honour of his dedication to the Passivhaus movement and all things sustainable (klima being an ancient Greek word that has evolved over time to mean climate), Price’s practice has grown over the last few years as he has connected with a client base interested in projects that are simultaneously cosmopolitan and rugged, inventive and practical. 

Slot House by Klima Architecture

The approach to the 6,500 sq ft house – which feels as though it’s on a remote plain despite being part of a fairly densely populated (for this part of the world) homeowners’ association-managed plot – comes from the side, inviting visitors to wind around and face the front door. The exterior entrance is lengthened and detailed with a slotted wood screen that allows for light to come through into the interior while providing essential privacy. 

Comprising a guest wing, public areas and a more private family section, as well as an office, studio and gym complete with climbing wall, the house is organised around a single long hallway (‘a big defining element,’ says Price) that runs its entire width. A central courtyard comes complete with 3ft-long overhangs, its shape drawing inspiration from the famous slot canyons of Utah’s Zion National Park. An outdoor living area is tucked into the shelter provided by the extruded living room and main bedroom suite, creating a space for prospect over the wild Rocky Mountains and refuge from the astounding storms that frequently roll through the region.

The interior is informed by a hierarchy that begins with a consistent 12ft ceiling height and roofs gabled at a 5/12 pitch, a design request by the homeowners’ association that initially created an unwieldy 18ft-high vaulted space. In Price’s hands, that 12ft line becomes the key measurement that anchors all the other design elements around it. Those vaulted ceilings become either soaring public interior spaces or private loft spaces above the bathrooms, accessible by Donald Judd-inspired ladders set into niches cut into the bedroom walls. 

A board-formed concrete wall, which demarcates the living room, appears to float directly through the windows into the exterior, but Price points out that it’s actually two separate yet contiguous walls, broken into separate thermal masses, a choice informed by his commitment to Passivhaus principles. Meanwhile, the single long hallway creates a sense of linearity and cohesion and introduces a geometry that gets picked up again in the articulated window frames that support triple-paned glass, the clarity of the cabinetry and millwork, and the repetition of the use of screens, which appear and reappear in exterior spaces, bathrooms, and near the side entrance.

On the exterior, blackened shou sugi ban wood offers a visually textured contrast with the sleekness of the interior’s warm and sophisticated material palette, and provides yet another link between inside and outside.  

For Price, this project is part of an evolution that started in New Mexico, where he grew up influenced by a father who built his childhood home and an uncle who designed earthships – autonomous, off-grid, hyper-sustainable homes. His development as an architect has been deeply influenced by New Mexican architect Antoine Predock – still a hero – and a sense of process-oriented affinity with landscape-inspired architects such as Tom Kundig and Rick Joy. 

‘I’m always trying to work with the environment and not against it,’ says Price. Asked if he would ever consider upping sticks and heading for a bigger city, he demurs. He says he is too captivated by Utah’s extreme environment, with its massive temperature differences between summer and winter, its powder-dusted mountains and scorching deserts, and its blend of rugged outdoorsy life and highly sophisticated inhabitants and visitors. Describing the view from the house’s outdoor living area, he waxes poetic. ‘From this seat you just watch the show,’ he says. ‘It’s like looking at a live painting.’ 

 klimaarchitecture.com 

A version of this article features in the August 2023 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, on sale 6 July, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

If Ao-ft co-founders Liz Tatarintseva and Zach Fluker describe parts of Spruce House, their newest project, as a Swiss army knife, they’ve got a point. The home’s extremely high standard for functionality and efficiency truly belies its small but perfectly formed physique. Spruce House and Studio – the name makes sense as soon as you set eyes on its timber-clad façade – is the pair’s joint home in east London’s Walthamstow. Not only has it been a personal labour of love, it’s also the first flagship project of their newly minted architecture practice.  

Spruce house by Ao-ft

Not too long ago, Tatarintseva and Fluker were living in another part of east London and working in separate places – the former as a practitioner at Gianni Botsford Architects, and the latter as a lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture. The pair
met at the Architectural Association in the late noughties (Tatarintseva enrolled after school and Fluker joined after completing a degree in industrial design in his native Canada) and have been together ever since. They had been looking for a project –
a plot or space to transform into their own domestic haven – when Tatarintseva stumbled upon a rundown structure on a historic commercial street in the Orford Road conservation area in 2017.  

‘It used to be a high street, but as the commercial heart of the area moved north-west after the 19th century, the character of our street started turning residential. It’s made up of very thin buildings, each with a Victorian-style shopfront. Our home used to be a toy shop and a cobbler, which had been combined into one home,’ she says. ‘When we bought it, it was decrepit, so there weren’t any original features or much from the existing fabric that we could keep,’ Fluker adds. ‘We did, however, want to find a way to express that verticality of the original shops, and their glazing towards the street. We wondered, what is a contemporary residential shopfront?’

At the same time, the two architects confess to be ‘much about wood’, and given they were their own clients, they decided to test their passion and see how far they could take their fascination with timber and sustainable architecture. Removing the ruins of the existing building on site, they designed an infill house that maintains the rhythm of the openings found in the better-preserved historic neighbouring buildings, although its glass front window is protected by a spruce privacy screen on the ground level. Existing bricks were recycled and used for the new home’s ground floor slab. Meanwhile, the upper is largely made out of a CLT (cross-laminated timber) frame.

The pair’s love for accuracy and efficiency was tested to the extreme during the construction. ‘We discussed extensively how to best drop the structure in, as all the timber elements slot in together but also support each other. So we needed to think carefully about the order in which to place them on site so that each part stayed in place before the others came in,’ Fluker says. ‘In the end, we minimised the steel structure to just a few elements.’ This sense of seamless design and minimalism continues throughout, with the whole building featuring no more than four or five key materials – including concrete for the floor, timber for cladding, CLT frame and joinery, powder-coated steel for the staircase,  and terrazzo for the bathrooms. ‘We try to be lean with materials, in terms of both quantity and performance,’ Fluker says.

There’s no plasterboard or paint in sight beyond the careful, necessary fire-resistance treatments. The mullions are load bearing, as well as beautiful features to look at. ‘It’s raw but finished,’ he continues, and it’s true, the materials may be exposed and the material palette restricted, but there’s nothing industrial about this place, no roughness; just surgical precision in the execution.

This prevalence of minimalist architecture – not in looks necessarily, but in systems – is certainly more elaborate than the home’s clean looks let on. Fluker’s background in joinery (‘I used to be a cabinet maker back in Canada,’ he says) meant they had in-house expertise when it came to creating the house’s many and hidden storage units. As the dining area is slightly sunken, the outdoors becomes ‘part of the house, just another room,’ says Tatarintseva. ‘We wanted to embed people into the garden, so we kept the Victorian footprint. It’s now the space everyone wants to sit in.’

The white metal staircase leads up to two floors that contain three bedrooms and two bathrooms. An operable skylight above, in conjunction with a perforation pattern on the top steps, allows daylight to travel down, and helps with natural ventilation. 

An outbuilding at the back of the garden replaced a couple of old sheds, and serves as the pair’s studio. It’s part of their ‘mini-master plan’ for the house, allowing them to work from home while keeping personal and professional lives somewhat separate. There’s also the potential to add a bathroom and refine it further in the future, they explain, clearly already envisioning their next project, which will, no doubt, be fittingly planned to perfection from their warm, timber cocoon – the Swiss army knife-structure they call home. 

ao-ft.com 

A version of this story appears in the May 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, available now in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

London-based Material Cultures' workshops are serious about the studio's commitment to sustainable architecture. The young practice, founded by Summer Islam, Paloma Gormley and George Massoud in 2019, is pioneering in its ways of championing meaningful progress towards a post-carbon built environment. Its USP? Proposing careful thought in architecture’s material selection and construction methods, and an emphasis on low intensity, locally sourced, natural options, drawing on each project’s context. 

‘Construction and maintenance presently accounts for over 40 per cent of total UK carbon emissions. Eleven per cent of the industry’s carbon emissions are derived from the manufacture of materials. Current housing models depend on large amounts of high-energy materials, mass-manufactured overseas, with short lifespans. If we are to halt the progress of ecological breakdown we need to radically rethink the logic of current construction methods, the materials we use and our approach to growth. In doing so it is likely that we will need to both recover some of our forgotten technologies and develop entirely new forms of architectural language,’ says the team.

Launching the Material Cultures workshops series

The trio’s newest venture is a series of workshops, conceived in collaboration with writer and builder Caitlin McNamara, that challenges existing construction practices. It is a great example of their passionate yet practical approach and tackles head-on the lack of options in the sector when it comes to working towards a low-carbon environment. 

‘When I was learning to build, I struggled to find the type of education that I wanted,’ says McNamara, who is leading the Material Cultures project. ‘Construction colleges were affordable, easy to access and taught me practical plastering skills but I was often the only woman in the room and natural or low-carbon materials were rarely on the curriculum. Courses run by heritage organisations specialised in the materials that I wanted to learn but were often expensive and in locations that were difficult to access.’

She met with Material Cultures in 2022 through her work as a lime-plasterer, and they started to develop a new educational programme together, delving into both the theory and practice of working with natural and low-embodied carbon construction materials. The result is Material Cultures’ Building Workshops, a range of a-few-days-long sessions (some on weekdays and some on weekends, for maximum flexibility) at HG Matthews Brickworks, a 100-year-old traditional brickworks (and the first UK brickmakers to use biomass for brick drying). 

The courses are taught by experts (50 per cent of whom are women) and will encompass live-build elements on a structure designed and constructed in 2019 over the course of seven weeks as part of the Central Saint Martins MArch Programme. They are also designed to be highly inclusive, addressed to people of all abilities and backgrounds – be they seasoned professionals, or absolute beginners. Additionally, 25% of the tickets are subsidised. 

The first workshops, released for April 2023, focus on building with hemp and lime; more are to follow in May, exploring clay and straw. Meanwhile, further dates are yet to be announced for materials such as lime rendering, lime wash and clay rendering. 

‘The interest in and demand for our workshops has been overwhelming so it turns out other people wanted this too,’ McNamara says. ‘Our hope is that these workshops shake open opportunities to generate new forms of culture in the construction industry. Climate breakdown is indiscriminate and universal so educational opportunities to prepare for and mitigate its effects must be available to all.’

Material Cultures’ Building Workshops can be booked via materialcultures.org

Exchange House's distinctive black parabolic arches and exposed industrial trusses, designed by SOM in 1990, make it a landmark in the cityscape of London's Broadgate campus - winning the AIA’s Twenty-five Year Award in 2015. Fast forward to 2023 and London architecture studio Piercy&Company was commissioned by British Land and GIC to redesign the iconic structure's interior, aiming to transform its shared spaces, improving tenant amenities, while also pushing the boundaries of sustainable architecture, employing circular economy principles. 

Exchange House's reception hall brings new sense of warmth

Piercy&Company, a studio that is well versed in transforming historically sensitive spaces, tapped into British Land’s vast archive, using original hand-drawn sketches of the building to inform its redesign. By making the most of the transparency provided by the original continuous ground floor glazing and double height, the architects established a new synergy between the interior and freshly landscaped Exchange Square (by DSDHA) outside. This was achieved through the introduction of layered internal planting, natural materials, and a colour palette that mirrors the seasonal green scheme of the garden. By playing with the concept of a ‘garden room’, the interior changes have brought the outside in, and with it, a palpable sense of warmth to the reception hall. 

Geometric motifs create themes and moments

Large-scale tapestry works by Kangan Arora, an Indian-born and London-based textile designer, were introduced. The pieces feature colourful abstractions of the building’s characteristic parabolic arches, steel trusses and beams. Meanwhile, the elm wood lattice shelving units designed by the architects and made by Benchmark, hold delicate raku fired porcelain sculptures by ceramicist Nadine Bell, introducing new textures and tones to the space. The unit also mirrors the building's overall exposed structure in its characteristic joinery - a geometric motif that is further echoed in the design of the office level bathrooms. 

Embracing circular economy principles

In keeping with circular economy principles that are core to the studio’s overall practice, over 4,000 sq ft of existing Pentelikon marble was carefully removed from the site, cut locally, and hand-laid with cement to create terrazzo flooring for the ground floor reception. Only 40% of the existing marble was used in the reception, allowing for this style to extend to flooring in lift lobbies on other floors, as well as sinktops on the office floor bathrooms. The warm, uniquely-designed terrazzo brings a welcomed contrast in tone and texture to the original building's omnipresent black steel, creating a new grounding feeling to the shared areas.

There's more to come; plans are underway to create a new 200 sq m rooftop terrace, tapping into a previously unused space in the building. This will improve the existing range of tenant amenities for working and hosting. With a design the promotes biodiversity and a biophilic approach, Piercy&Company continues to support sustainability, while also creating new moments of rest, community and connection with nature.

From peeling back layers to reveal original features and details, to opening up new ways through that allow people to pass under the belly of the building, and creating dialogues inside and throughout the building, Piercy&Company has made forward-thinking yet respectful changes to an architectural icon, subtly transforming it for the 21st century. 

piercyandco.com 

Global solutions organisation A Plastic Planet presents Plastic Free, a new digital portal offering a panoramic view on the alternative to plastic for designers and brands looking at sustainable manufacturing alternatives. 

The project was led by an Advisory Council that includes Thomas Heatherwick, David Chipperfield, Tom Dixon, Shaway Yeh and MIT’s Skylar Tibbits. Conceived as an online design tool, Plastic Free features in-depth reports on over 100 alternatives to virgin plastic, as well as insights on systemic changes within the design world. Additionally, 125 case studies offer practical examples of these materials in action. 

Plastic Free: a design tool for the future

Imagined as a practical tool, Plastic Free is not merely a material library, but a destination for creatives to discover how these materials can be applied to their work. It showcases different approaches to materials such as bamboo, glass and aluminium, as well as newer alternatives to plastic such as James Cropper’s Colourform moulded paper pulp and Agraloop’s biofibre made of agricultural waste. Multidisciplinary in its mission, the initiative looks at material alternatives for product, furniture, packaging and fashion design.

The portal is designed by London-based creative studio Made Thought. 'We don’t think plastic can be siloed to a production problem, a recycling problem or a waste problem,' comments the studio founding partner Ben Parker. 'Everything in our man-made world starts with design, so design has to be the trojan horse for change—and creativity must be the most needed skill-set of our time to change products, change behaviours and change systems, allowing us to rebalance our relationship with the natural world.'

‘Everything begins with a creative process. There is significant power held by the 160 million global creatives to help us rethink how we take, make and waste, to reimagine different systems and material uses in a very different way from today,’ says Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet. ‘Our default dependence on incredible but toxic and indestructible plastic has to end. Designers want to be part of the solution but there is a minefield of misinformation out there. If we can ignite and empower creatives by giving them trusted, relevant data and inspiring case studies, we believe we can change everything much faster.’

An annual subscription fee of £250 will allow creatives access to the full portal, as well as access to exclusive events and networking initiatives.

plasticfree.com

ProxyAddress was born out of one man's vision to solve homelessness. Fuelled by his passion for broadening the practice of architecture to help people who are experiencing homelessness, British architect Chris Hildrey devised a platform that provides stable addresses to those who need them. This offers them a valuable step towards accessing systems – such as creating bank accounts – which are often impossible without a fixed home location. 

ProxyAddress, which kicked off as a residency research project at the Design Museum in London in 2017, has since won multiple awards and has been hailed as a pioneering way to support those in need.

Here, we catch up with Chris Hildrey about his vision, challenges, and ProxyAddress’ future. 

Founder Chris Hildrey on ProxyAddress

W*: What are the origins of ProxyAddress?

Chris Hildrey: In 2017, I was working at Niall McLaughlin's studio on their Natural History Museum project, and towards the end of it, it was winding down and I had an extra day so I applied to become a Designer In Residence at the Design Museum. The brief that year was ‘Support’. I was interested in the role of the architect in affecting positive change in the built environment. I was questioning some of the fundamental assumptions around architecture practice. I’ve also been really mindful of the effect of austerity. Architects are trained to change things but also on many fronts they are just sitting powerlessly by. I wanted to look at how to use my skills to try and intervene, and help improve the built environment. 

W*: What led you to pick homelessness as your subject?

CH: It’s the most urgent of the needs. People are literally dying. And I was walking through the Design Museum and seeing all the amazing chairs and I thought – surely we have solved the chair problem. But at the same time, people suffer. There are these huge problems facing us that we are not engaged with. I went up and down the country and spoke to hundreds of people, people who are homeless, in temporary shelters, people who work with them, etc. And I discovered that all my preconceptions were wrong – the typical image you have of a homeless person is only a tiny fraction of the homeless population. The problem that unites them all is instability. Sometimes you have no anchor at all, and sometimes you have to keep moving very frequently and uproot your life all the time. Mental health or substance problems are a result of homelessness, not the reason. 

W*: So, how does ProxyAddress work? 

CH: ProxyAddress is a 'portal', a service. The addresses used are sourced in different ways. Local authorities have empty properties; also we work with housing associations. The properties don’t have to be empty, but sometimes they are. People also donate their address. So, we don’t work together with the homeless people, we work with the council, and provide a service to them. We also have partnerships with banks and other similar companies and organisations that recognise and help us set people up as they register. When someone uses a stable address, it removes the stigma of homelessness, when applying for a job for example. 

W*: And does it work? 

CH: We did a pilot in Lewisham, London, during the pandemic, which was a great stress test, and out of the 49 people taking part, 47 recovered from homelessness through using ProxyAddress. 

W*: What is next for ProxyAddress?

CH: We go by ‘build slowly and fix stuff’ instead of ‘build fast and break stuff’. It is important that we comply with all sorts of fraud prevention aspects – anti-money mulling, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, etc – so we need to be careful when building [the project] and scaling up. But we want to expand it to different cities in the UK. In architecture we talk about community – one of the scary things is that homeless people lose their kin when they hit rock bottom, lose that community. ProxyAddress is not a physical thing, it’s a system, it is, for me, a broadening of the architecture practice. 

proxyaddress.co.uk 

Vinu Daniel never aspired to be an architect. Born in Dubai to parents of South Indian origin, he was always expected to pursue something mainstream, such as law or medicine or even chartered accountancy. ‘Certainly anything but Carnatic classical music,’ jests the founder of Wallmakers of his childhood proclivity for the arts. In a bid to reconcile his passions and his family’s hopes, Daniel moved to India for university, enrolling at the College of Engineering Trivandrum for a degree in architecture. ‘I got into architecture, thinking that it would be a creative space where I could express myself. But within a year or two, I became disillusioned by the pedagogical framework [the teaching philosophy, systems and values] of the curriculum.’ It was a chance encounter with eminent British-Indian architect Laurie Baker in his fourth year of university that reshaped Daniel's world view. 

The meeting with Baker served as the watershed for Daniel’s career, prompting him to ponder where, or whether, nature should end and built form should begin. ‘I was inspired by the idea that buildings should coexist with nature. Baker also told me something very profound about a meeting he once had with Mahatma Gandhi: that the real people we should be building for are the ones in need, the “ordinary” people in villages and congested catchments,’ he says. ‘But the most important thing that Gandhi told him, and one that has stayed with me, is that the ideal house in the ideal village should be built using materials found within a five-mile radius.’ Building on this concept, Daniel became intrigued by the idea of using earth: ‘Sadly, today, less than one-third of the world’s population lives in buildings made of earth, even though it is a much more sustainable and durable alternative to cement. I knew I wanted to help change that narrative and commit to reusing materials that had already made an environmental impact.’

Chuzhi house by Vinu Daniel and Wallmakers

Fast forward to today, and the afternoon light spills in through the ceiling of this new dwelling in Tamil Nadu. Daniel appears disarmingly collected, certainly not like someone who spent the morning staving off the fiery south Indian sun. From where he sits now, however, the sun seems like a distant neighbour, shielded generously by an overarching rock bed and a leafy canopy of trees. In a sage button-down and faded jeans, he looks as much a part of the subterranean landscape as the poured earth walls and precast composite beams that surround him. And while his colour-coordinated attire may be a coincidence, there’s nothing coincidental about this underground home that is his latest project. 

For Daniel, the house – named Chuzhi, after the Malayalam word for ‘whirlpool’ – is special in many ways. ‘The house as such is hidden beneath the earth. It is our first subterranean build, but it's also our first attempt at building directly on to a rock face. We used a camouflage construction technique to blend the home into the landscape and keep it from hindering the natural beauty of its surroundings,’ he explains, gesturing to the swirling walls. These are in fact precast poured debris earth composite bottle beams, fashioned from 4,000 castaway plastic bottles, and spiral up to parlay into a perfectly flat, polygonal glass roof.

True to Daniel’s Gandhian ethos, Chuzhi also stars other discarded materials scavenged from the original site: the floor wears reclaimed wood, and mud was the material of choice for the construction. Although the house has no elevation, the roof masquerades as a charming seating area, with the trees for company. ‘The idea was to leave the foliage and the surroundings true to their original form without compromising the comfort of the homeowners,’ says Daniel, who was given pretty much carte blanche to transform a tricky, rocky site with its two mature trees into a contemporary home.  

The architect considers himself a disciple of the site, a philosophy he inherited from French architect Satprem Maini at the Auroville Earth Institute (located in the experimental Indian township of Auroville), where he moved in 2005 after graduating from university. ‘There I learned about Nubian techniques and vault making. I was also working on some rehabilitation projects in tsunami-stricken areas of Tamil Nadu at the time,’ he recalls. The series of experiences inspired an epiphany: ‘When I saw the calamity around me, it felt like a sin to be sitting in an air-conditioned office.’ At a time when his peers were opting for steady jobs at established firms, Daniel knew his calling lay in reimagining waste. On returning to Kerala in 2007, he started Wallmakers, named after its maiden project: a compound wall built with surplus mud bricks and discarded beer bottles.

Over the years, Daniel has built up his own repertoire of techniques, most notable among them his now-patented debris wall and shuttered debris wall systems. The shuttered debris technique is most evident in Shikhara, a residence that he and his team completed in 2019. The site's soil was riddled with pebbles and debris, making it unsuitable for upcycling into mud bricks. The solution? Upcycling the stones – some as wide as 70mm – into the cement and soil formula. ‘In India, discarded plastic and construction debris are commonplace. This is precious waste. I look at it all as newly minted material because, who knows, this is all we may have in the future,’ he says. 

In another project he took up a few years ago, later dubbed the Pirouette House, he used a variation of Baker's Rat Trap bond masonry technique. In doing so, he arranged the bricks vertically, rather than horizontally, to create wall cavities designed to augment thermal efficiency, reduce total brick volume and conceal service ducts and structural members, leading to 40 per cent less cement and 30 per cent less steel consumption. Daniel’s contributions have been recognised on the global stage; last September, he was awarded the prestigious Royal Academy Dorfman Award 2022 for Wallmakers’ pioneering material approach and sensitivity to local context and climate.

The light on the site is dimming now, and Chuzhi's swirling skylight appears as if a gateway to another world. The description is not entirely inaccurate. After all, with a brand of architecture as rare as Daniel's, the site is far removed from the homes that neighbour it. And yet, for the architect, there is a long way to go in honing his craft. For now, though, the site is his biggest teacher, and he, its biggest disciple.  

wallmakers.org 

Shellmet is the latest innovation from TBWA\Hakuhodo’s creative team and Osaka-based Koushi Chemical Industry Co.

A small village on the tip of Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido may have found an innovative solution to managing a yearly pile of 40,000 tons of discarded scallop shells from the area’s seafood industry. Cleaned, pulverised, and mixed with recycled plastic, the shells are transformed into Shellstic (a portmanteau of shell and plastic), an environmentally friendly material that can be moulded and used in much the same way as regular plastics. Left on the ground, the shells are feared to cause soil contamination and are a big concern for the locals.

Recycling shells into plastic doesn't only help to reduce CO2 emissions as compared to producing 100 per cent new plastic, but also adds strength to the finished material. 

Meet Shellmet: a sustainable product with minimal environmental burden 

A first product using this novel material is the Shellmet (yes, another blend of shell and, this time, helmet) designed by TBWA\Hakuhodo’s creative team and Osaka-based Koushi Chemical Industry Co.

This cute hardhat and cycling helmet mimics the ribbed structure of the scallop shells, which adds about 30 per cent in strength to the overall structure compared to a more conventional flat design. The Shellmet comes in five colours, all related to the sea, Coral White, Sand Cream, Ocean Blue, Deep Black, and Sunset Pink. Shintaro Monden, the product designer of the helmet explains, 'We aimed to create a sustainable product with minimal burden on the environment.'

As well as hoping to entice the village’s 250 or so fishermen to swap their regular plastic helmets for the Shellmet, the producers plan to promote the Shellmet for use in emergencies such as earthquakes and abnormal weather, and will seek certification for the design as safety equipment. Sales to the general public will start in March 2023 at JPY4,800 (US$37).

koushi-chem.co.jp

In just a few short years, Guilherme Wentz has established himself as one of the most important new Brazilian furniture designers, not by imitating the long line of modern masters that came before him but with his own minimal, contemporary style. His body of work is evolving quickly, becoming more technical and reflective of the designer’s values.

Wentz, who is based in the southern Brazilian city of Caxias do Sul, launched his first line in 2019. The clean, crisp collection didn’t necessarily look like a tribute to nature, but was informed by his time on the beaches surrounding Punta del Este, Uruguay, one of his favourite destinations. Nature, and the ocean in particular, is a passion for Wentz, informing all of his work. But he is quickly progressing from taking inspiration from nature to taking action on the environmental crisis that threatens it.

Mar by Wentz: ‘designing to make a difference’

With his latest collection, titled 'Mar', or ‘sea’ in Portuguese, Wentz is not just taking inspiration from the water; he is harvesting ocean-borne plastic waste to incorporate into the line. The collection comprises the ‘Onda’ and ‘Mare’ coffee tables, elegant marble-topped pieces with wave-inspired details that are unexpected given the choice of material. There is also a special edition of his popular ‘Vidro’ glass side table, but the highlights of the effort are the ‘Canoa’ lounge chair and ‘Tubo’ dining chair.

Both chairs are upholstered with fabric woven from virgin polyester and recycled ocean plastic using a computerised 3D-weaving technique. Developed by the clothing industry, it allows an entire slipcover to be created in one continuous piece, pre-shaped to match the chair’s form. The pieces are then hand-fitted and finished with thread that is also made of recycled plastic. Wentz has trademarked this innovative process under the name We-Knit, which yields seamless, surprising shapes. It’s hard to imagine either of these chairs being possible without this technology, particularly the intertwined cylindrical shapes of the ‘Tubo’.

These pieces represent a turning point in Wentz’s career, not just for their intriguing design or innovative fabrication method but because they mark a permanent shift for him and his company. ‘I’ve stopped designing for designers. Now, I’m designing to make a difference. I want to use my craft to make things better for the environment in everything I do,’ he says.

Wentz cites sportswear and fashion industry leaders Patagonia and Osklen as examples to follow. ‘These brands have a different way of thinking, of being, and they create products that respect the Earth. I want to be more than an interiors company. I want to be a new kind of lifestyle brand based on values, one that shows leadership with a new way of working that benefits the environment.’

Wentz is well on his way, not just with his new approach to upholstered furniture but also with lighting and, eventually, accessories. He recently launched a new office, design studio, and manufacturing facility dedicated to lighting production. Here, he plans to evolve the lighting division of his business in the same environmentally conscious way. ‘We are working with recycled aluminium, and LED has made a big difference, but we are looking at other materials and the manufacturing process to meet the new standards we have set with fabrics. We have to do it.’ 

wentz.design

This story starts in 1856, when the chemist Sir William Henry Perkin discovered the first synthetic dye. It began as an accident – Perkin was working on a treatment for malaria when he realised the coal tar-derived oil he was experimenting with was capable of dying silk purple – yet, that serendipitous invention soon turned into an expansive and enduring industry that has radically shifted our relationship with colour.

Now, nearly every colour we see, from the dye used in clothes, to the paint on cars, and the pigments in make-up, is created thanks to fossil fuel derivatives, which have been harnessed to create cheaper, broader ranging, and higher performing colours for almost every man-made product. 

Make-up pigments from fungi

Fast-forward to 2022 and a recent graduate of London’s Central Saint Martins’ MA in Material Futures, Jesse Adler, is looking for a new method to create colours, one that will be less detrimental to the environment we have catastrophically damaged since Perkin's well-intentioned discovery. When seeking an alternative, Adler felt that going back to the way colours were produced pre-1856 – via plants, animals or minerals – wouldn't work.

Simply put, plants offer a limited colour range with limited performance and, since they have to be harvested during a particular season under favourable conditions, are subject to limited availability. Animals that could be used to produce colours pose obvious environmental and ethical issues, and minerals are non-renewable (cannot be regenerated at the same rate we consume them). So, like many of the sustainable innovators of today, Adler turned to fungi.

'Fungi are an underexplored source of sustainable colourants,’ says Adler, ‘that are non-toxic, biodegradable, light-fast, and some even have cosmeceutical benefits, such as anti-oxidant [properties] and UV protection. Mycology [the study of fungi] is a relatively new field and it is estimated that we’ve only discovered about 1 per cent of the fungi on Earth, yet within that 1 per cent there’s a wealth of research into the potential applications and industrial importance of pigments extracted from fungi.'

Jesse Adler: mushroom magic from a mycological alchemist

Adler calls herself a 'mycological alchemist' and for her graduation project at Central Saint Martins, she has used her background in chemistry and biomolecular science to develop a method of extracting pigments from fungi (including mushrooms, lichen, yeast and mould) that can be used as a renewable replacement for industrially produced dyes.

Theoretically, these colourants can be applied to almost any substance, but to illustrate their effectiveness and scope, Adler's project focused on using them creating make-up pigments. She collaborated with a cosmetic formulation chemist to bring the colours to life through beauty products. The resulting lipsticks, eyeshadows, and tinted skin creams are the initial prototype versions of what will, hopefully, one day become purchasable products. 

When discussing the products, Adler notes that it's important to acknowledge that she is not the first to use fungi-derived pigments, but her methods for doing so are different. 'There is a rich history of dyeing with fungi that goes as far back as the Romans,' she says, 'but we haven't heard much about it before now because it wasn't clear how to produce those dyes on a scale that wouldn't lead to the extinction of certain fungi species. Something that I'm trying to design from the outset with my process is a way to extract the organism from nature only once, and then cultivate and reproduce in the lab forever so that the ecosystem in nature can function as normal with no interference from me.' 

Ongoing research

To further her research, she travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico, after graduation to study pigmenting fungi. Next up, Adler will be starting a five-month fellowship with Maastricht’s Jan van Eyck Academie in collaboration with Central Saint Martins to  develop an oil paint from one of the deep brown pigments she previously used to make sunscreen and continuing to work at Central Saint Martins on a species of mould that produces food-safe and medicinal pigments. 

'The beauty industry is focusing a lot on “clean” beauty but within that topic no one is asking where our colour comes from. You can buy a product because it is vegan and doesn't use animal-derived ingredients but that, to me, is meaningless in terms of sustainability efforts. We buy beauty products because of their colour, it’s the backbone of the industry, so we need to become more aware about where it comes from.'

INFORMATION

jadlerdesign.com

While Hive Earth is not quite an architecture studio, its potential in transforming architecture practices is impressive. The outfit, which pioneers rammed-earth construction methods in Ghana and beyond, is a crucial player in its field, and currently counts no more than four permanent members of staff. Its dynamic approach and revolutionary take make it a true game changer in the realm of architecture and construction. 

West African studios: Hive Earth

Husband-and-wife team Joelle Eyeson and Kwame Deheer formally established Hive Earth in 2017, but they have been collaborating and doing research into building with earth since the late noughties. UK-born and -raised Eyeson and Ghanaian Deheer were united by common interests and their passion for eco-friendly construction. They set up Hive Earth to combine sustainability and a desire to develop traditional, African ways of building into contemporary architecture. ‘We want to change the narrative of building with earth,’ says Eyeson. ‘It’s often associated with building for the poor and we want to change that. Buildings with earth can look beautiful and are very eco-friendly. We wanted something that was quite authentic and quite African, but modern at the same time. Rammed earth is like a continuation of the traditional African mud home, so we feel like we are evolving that concept.’

Eyeson’s strong background in business and property management, as well as her interior design degree, perfectly complements Deheer’s creative approach, draughtsman training, and experience in some of Ghana’s largest real estate companies. Together, the pair, who employ an in-house architect and also work closely with external architecture studios, push the boundaries of what it means to build with rammed earth. ‘It helps regulate internal air quality, the earth feels fresher, it’s natural, it’s non toxic, it’s circular,’ explains Eyeson. 

Beyond their business’ development, Eyeson and Deheer also collaborate with young NGO ArchiFair to help conduct workshops and spread the word about rammed earth building techniques. They feel education in eco-friendly construction methods is something often missing from mainstream architecture education. However, their current work is about to change that. Past works have included smaller scale projects, such as feature walls and smaller structures – a library in Ghana’s eastern regions is an example. 

But some of their ongoing schemes, undertaken in collaboration with some of the biggest names in architecture globally and in the Western Africa region, might help change this. There’s a big project about to be completed – a three-storey gallery in Accra, the biggest they’ve built so far – alongside an office building and a key project in Nigeria, which they feel ‘will be one of the most significant buildings in the continent when it’s done.’ At the same time, they are in discussions about projects beyond the continent, in Europe and Asia. 

‘We are also very much looking forward to getting more into art curation in our work; we really want to look at playing with natural colour pigments that can be found from rocks, we want to explore different patterns and shapes we can form. We’re looking to be more creative and show the world what can be done with earth in Africa,’ says Eyeson. 

‘And it’s amazing for us, especially for Kwame, for a Black man from Africa to go outside the continent and show what we can do. A lot of architects are really enthusiastic about using rammed earth as a practice. And we are confident that it can be a catalyst for change for the new built environment. We are really big on showing how versatile rammed earth can be – we haven’t even touched the surface yet.’ 

West African studios: the series

From Senegal to Nigeria, and from Niger to the Ivory Coast, West Africa is vast and brimming with potential. A powerful mix of peoples and cultures, and in some nations, exponential demographic and economic growth, makes this part of the world a locus of change. The result? A dynamic new generation of studios that operate in the architecture realm and push the boundaries of their field to a promising future. Architects, spatial designers and builders converge here to create a unique, rich melting pot of fresh thinking and innovation that will no doubt reshape the way we think about architecture globally.

hiveearth.com

A version of this story appears in January 2023 Wallpaper*, The Future Issue, available now in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today(opens in new tab)

Swedish husband-and-wife team William Lundgren and Veronika Kant were effectively newcomers to the fashion industry when they founded BITE Studios (BITE is an acronym for ‘By Independent Thinkers for Environmental progress’). In fact, they had both begun their careers in finance; Lundgren worked with NGOs and Kant specialised in supply chains and logistics, though not in fashion. ‘We both came from environments where we felt it was so strange that there's no option in fashion that's not compromising on design or sustainability, because in skincare or food and other industries it felt so natural,’ says Lundgren.

Their distance from the fashion industry afforded them freedom – or, indeed, a powerful naivety – to experiment with, and subvert, the perceived protocols and established rhythms for producing, showing and selling clothing. ‘When we started in 2016 no one was combining sustainability with design. That’s totally what BITE is all about – we are equally interested in design and in environmental issues. I think a need from the industry – and a lot of other industries – is to build companies that are aligned with values because so many people are longing for it,’ says Lundgren.

BITE Studios: ‘By Independent Thinkers for Environmental Progress’

Today they base themselves between a shared space in Galleri Andersson/Sandström art gallery in Stockholm and spaces in Gothenburg and London. ‘Our customer is very much based in London and New York,’ says Lundgren, ‘but we like living in the quiet, peaceful Scandinavian environment.’ Kant, COO, handles product development, production and financing, while Lundgren, CEO, is focused on marketing, branding and sales.

While building the business from scratch they consulted with ‘pioneers who were producing in the 1990s and 2000s, developing and growing organic cotton and working with nice production’, says Kant. Their financial backgrounds stood them in good stead to secure investment: it came from Nudie Jeans. ‘They have a similar vision, but on a completely different playing field, doing contemporary menswear,’ says Lundgren. ‘It’s a long-term collaboration based on how we think about the future.’

Kant adds that despite investment, they don’t compromise on the ethos of BITE, which is rooted in sustainable product and good design. ‘I think that’s the reason we are so strong. If we comprised we would have taken a shortcut a long time ago. Everyone who’s working with us shares the same sort of vision for the future. We have to say no a lot of the time. This is the only way that we feel comfortable with creating a fashion brand in this modern world, instead of putting products out there that are petroleum based or synthetic in a way that's harmful.’

They’ve also introduced a radical ‘buy back’ programme, offering cash for BITE garments in the future, no matter how old they are. ‘It puts pressure on us to build a garment that's really high quality, and it's a way of thinking about building something long term,’ says Lundgren.

In terms of design, the duo have built up an impressive team which features alumni from Proenza Schouler, Acne Studios and various LVMH houses. ‘The team is made up of people who have worked for a long time in the industry and now want to be a part of something new,’ says Lundgren, who talks of creative energy formed by their collective approach. ‘I think, especially post-pandemic, people have reevaluated their working lives,’ adds Kant. They expect their team of 12 to grow to around 20 next year. ‘There's an optimism in people's longing for something else.’

BITE’s designs are defined by certain pillars: tailoring, jersey, sheer layering, and long-line draping. ‘Understatement and self-expression, masculine, feminine, directional and poetic,’ describes Kant of their approach. The latest collection, ‘Collection 10’, sees an evolution of previous designs – the duo want pieces from all collections to be able to be worn together – with long, lean silhouettes and asymmetric draped dresses meeting more playful strapless tops, board shorts and slouchy tailored trousers.

Materiality is at the heart of every collection. BITE is building an ever-evolving library of textiles that meet the team’s stringent sustainable metrics; either sourced from the best global suppliers, of which there are very few, or proprietary fabrics they have developed. ‘We start looking at our fabric library and how certain textiles drape or fold,’ Kant says. Often restrictions with fabrics will shape the designs. ‘We celebrate a lot when we achieve something.’

Some of these innovative textiles include seaweed fabric (a collaboration with French artist Violaine Buet, who harvests seaweed and makes it into textiles), pineapple and corn leather, pea silk (the silkworms survive the process and it is not chemically treated) and regenerative wools, recycled cashmere and sustainable viscose. In ‘Collection 10’, 98 per cent of the fabrics are recycled, organic or low-impact. ‘It’s getting harder and easier in different areas,’ says Kant of the ever-evolving sustainability industry. ‘In terms of fabrics, I think we are still pioneering in many senses, by pairing quality with responsibility. It’s easier because as people are becoming more informed, you don't have to explain the reasoning so much. But then it's becoming a crowded space.’

They are evaluating the way they work across the business from shipping to packaging and the energy the office runs on. Not that there aren’t enormous challenges. ‘Shipping is extremely hard,’ says Lundgren, so they climate compensate for air freight when it's used.

‘We want to establish a brand that makes an impact. And that requires us to be quite successful. So that's important for us, to be able to shift the mindset. And there's a lot on the horizon, a lot of exciting progress coming up,’ says Lundgren. ‘But meanwhile, we want to do everything in our power to do what we can with every decision.’

bitestudios.com

Kéré Architecture is an established name in the global architecture scene for work that elegantly balances quality design and social commitment. A Uganda community centre, its latest project, is a case in point, showcasing once more founder Francis Kéré’s attention towards education and sustainable architecture, an approach he displayed in recent work such as the SLAK campus in Kenya, and which won him the 2022 Pritzker Prize. 

The Kamwokya Community Centre in Uganda was designed to enable the provision of sports, leisure and creativity in an open-air space in Kampala. The project uses a raised platform with embedded drainage to prevent it from being flooded – an issue the site had in previous years. The raised playground space is divided into adjacent courts, each at slightly different heights, which creates a natural division between different areas for seating, sports, education and community activities. 

Making the new Uganda community centre

The community centre is the result of a collaboration between the Kamwokya Christian Caring Community (KCCC), a local non-profit NGO (it has worked since 1987 to improve access to basic social, psychological and economic services in Uganda) and the Ameropa Foundation, a Switzerland-based international charity. The foundation provides local services with the structure and management to implement projects, and its collaboration with KCCC and Kéré Architecture aims to inspire the community and provide them with a central and safe hub. 

Francis Kéré describes how the centre ‘will provide inspiration and a public space for the community, improving the quality of life’. Founder of Ameropa Foundation Nicole Miescher speaks of it being somewhere that ‘children can play in a safe and clean environment’. In order to ensure the site was fit for its community, Kéré collaborated with Ugandan studio JE Nsubuga & Associates utilising its local knowledge and expertise. 

Red-brick walls and corrugated iron roofing make up the 1,600 sq m site. Spaces are dotted with seating areas and open platforms, creating a central and well-lit safe space for social gatherings. Inside, spaces are naturally ventilated with wooden shutters and hold multiple areas for learning and collaborating. Two buildings house a gym, an internet café, a music studio, an office; flexible areas provide opportunity for development, with a variety of classes for adults on the plans for the coming years. 

Another block holds basic and key sanitary facilities, while chess boards are dotted around the site, along with spaces for people to eat together – and be brought together. A tall sculptural tower adds height to the composition, contributing to a complex that ‘demonstrates that marginalised communities deserve better, (providing) moments of hope, happiness and sustainable solutions’, says Francis Mbaziira, CEO of KCCC.

kerearchitecture.com

Atelier100 is an initiative that is reshuffling the manufacturing process to encourage local design and production. Its team offer mentoring sessions, business masterclasses and a community hub. Now it is opening its first retail space and unveiling a series of works from 13 creatives, designed and produced within 100km of London.

The retail space, which has just opened in London’s Hammersmith, holds the brand’s first collection of adventurous design pieces, from homeware to fashion. The 13 creatives behind it were selected through Atelier100’s hothouse programme, an initiative launched in May 2022 aiming to nurture local, emerging talent. 

Two major retail groups came together to form the concept for the design hub. Fashion retailer H&M and Ingka Group, the holding company behind many Ikea stores, used their industry know-how to unite a group of experts in driving a mentorship programme. A panel selected the group of creatives after an open call drew in 3D and textile designers, ceramic artists, illustrators and multidisciplinary makers. 

The outcomes from the mentoring programme, alongside the opportunities fostered in the collaborative space are broad; the rough texture of a papier-mâché lamp by Emmely Elgersma is cute and distinctive in its form; Alison Cooke’s disjointed cylindrical vases are made from clay excavated from 26m below London’s River Thames; and, in a showcase of bespoke design meets sustainability, Clara Chu has reclaimed objects – from CD cases to toaster components – and assembled her ‘Surplus Bag collection’ in colourful and unexpected reconstructions. 

Between eight and 100 examples of each product are available, establishing the local, creative feel amongst the studio’s wares. Such small batches allow ample space for innovation, with redesigns more accessible with each evolution. 

The concept reveals a refreshing shift towards a more sustainable approach to commercial creation, while the makers show intuitive eyes for material repurposing. Andu Masebo has used traditional methods to weld, cast and finish 12 car exhaust pipes to form his stainless steel tubular chair, and Mitre & Mondays has designed its ‘London Cobblestone’ floor light using timber, cobblestone and metal, creating a freestanding lamp with texture and history. 

The full group of 13 creatives comprises Alison Cooke, Andu Masebo, Clara Chu, Elna-Marie Fortune, Emmely Elgersma, James O’Brien, Josef Shanley-Jackson & Finn Thomson, Lola Lely, Nathan Joyce, Nina Jua Klein, Savvas Alexander, Yasmin Lennon-Chong, Zoe Horgan. They were mentored by experienced leather workers, industrial designers and lecturers during their time on the programme. 

The collection is available in store at Atelier100 Hammersmith, and online from early November 2022

Livat Shopping Centre
King St
London W6 9HW

atelier100.com

Steven Holl Architects has just completed the latest addition to the campus of the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey. The Rubenstein Commons building is a mindful configuration that aims to delicately and sustainably nurture evolutions of thought and innovation for the 21st century.

The Institute for Advanced Study, an independent institution that supports research in the sciences and humanities, was the academic home to leading scholars such as Albert Einstein, J Robert Oppenheimer and George F Kennan. Given its illustrious history, the starting point of Steven Holl Architects' commission was to create a hub for intellectual excellence.

The space prioritises a culture of collaboration, featuring an abundance of flexible meeting areas, and a sense of openness demonstrated through flowing spaces and views onto adjacent floors. Gently curved expanses of roof intersect, maintaining airy volumes while 'creating space for ‘thought bubbles’ from the IAS' scholars,' as former director Robbert Dijkgraaf explains.

The studio also took the region’s changing seasons into account in the architectural and interior design. Natural slate blackboards connect the interior textures to the earth. Sunlight becomes a key protagonist in the design, as prisms of glass overhead deconstruct white light and send a spectrum of colours in and around the building, where four rectangles of water reflect sunlight into the space. 

Building upon this approach, each cardinal point represents a different seasonal element, allowing the building to thrive year-round. In springtime, a redbud flower grove blooms pink around the north pond and summer brings the green leaves of ginkgo trees on the south side. Evergreens surround the clusters of water, providing leafy backdrops to the break spots and wood-framed window views. 

One final detail that highlights this building’s seasonal beauty and sustainable architecture outlook comes in the form of the under floor heating system. Powered by 20 geothermal wells, naturally warmed water sits beneath the surface, maintaining a stable temperature inside Rubenstein Commons throughout the year. 

stevenholl.com

Humans and dogs harmoniously co-exist at the Educan School for Dogs, Humans and Other Species, an example of animal architecture in a rural setting west of Madrid, Spain. The space, which is used to train dogs and is designed to encourage wildlife, aims to help restore the natural order of the local ecosystem, which the architects feel has been lost amid recent advances in urban development and an agriculture heavily reliant on pesticides.

Spanish architects Enrique Espinosa and Lys Villalba are the brains behind the project. They consider the changing nature of agricultural buildings – and how they could become more innovative – in their approach to the school, which aims to be ecological, following principles of sustainable architecture, through its use of materials and design.

Animal architecture, for dogs, birds, bats and more

The building puts animals, not humans, at the centre of a design that considers all aspects from an animal’s point of view. Floors are designed to be trodden by paws, not shoes, with a dog’s sensitive pads accounted for. In the two main classrooms, dogs and humans play games or develop their sporting prowess on soft, removable rolls of synthetic turf. In the theory classrooms, river pebbles become a semi-polished, exposed-aggregate concrete finish for a smooth, tactile experience.

The approach to materials keeps waste reduction in mind, with shipping containers offering shelter to animals, and metal off-cuts used to mould the concrete. Industrial metal sheet panels are a standardised size to ensure no wasteful remains, while automated air conditioning and manual control elements – such as the blinds and shutters – ensure the day-to-day running of the school is as energy efficient as possible.

It is an awareness carried through to animal-friendly, thoughtful details. Eye heights drop to an average viewpoint of half a metre. Openings are raised to discourage dogs from leaving or being distracted, and window shutters are arranged to offer shade to dogs passing below. Sound-absorbing pyramid-shaped foam insulation reduces the noise of barks, doggy discourses and echoes inside, making for a more harmonious atmosphere.

This example of animal architecture caters not only to dogs; other creatures, such as birds and bats, make themselves at home in the environment, thus contributing to the restoration of the local ecosystem. Rainwater from the roof is collected in large troughs for birds and dogs, while birds including owls and kestrels make their homes in the ‘nest façade’ of the upper floor. Sparrows favour the circular holes of the shipping container edges, while bats prefer the nests inside the 3D letters spelling ‘Educan’ on the building’s façade.

INFORMATION

adiestramientoeducan.com

Displaying at the V&A until 2 November, and part of London Design Festival 2022, ‘R for Repair’, curated by Singapore’s Hans Tan Studio and Britain’s Jane Withers Studio, is intended as an experiment. In an open call, the studios requested people to send in objects to be repaired and, through a selection process that involved both the tugging of heartstrings and the opportunity to explore the crafts that emerge through repair, they chose ten snapped, torn and fallen-into-disarray objects to be mended for the show. Each item was then sent off to craftspeople in the UK or Singapore, who discussed with the owners how best to display and structurally reaffirm their sentimental relics.  

‘Repair has been reduced to a bit of glue,’ explains Withers, ‘but we need to explore the language of crafts that can go into fixing something.’ The cracked wing of a puffin toy has been repaired by Ng Si Ying with a fine rattan weave, and multidisciplinary artist Attua Aparicio Torinos has made shards of glass from a Jewish wedding ceremony into a chain using lampworking – reconfiguring the pieces 15 years after their breakage. 

A highlight in the show is the repairs carried out on a sewing chest by Japanese-Austrian designer Rio Kobayashi. The chest was opened up by a woman after her grandmother’s death to reveal paintings, and in turn a hidden dream of becoming an artist. Kobayashi used cherry, sapele and walnut to fix and extend the legs of the structure. ‘I wanted to show the ageing of the piece; it’s already got a story and I wanted to add and repair it with something that could age with it again,’ he says.

Next, he opened the chest’s elements and lay them flat to become a table: ‘I wanted it to blossom like a flower into something new,’ he says. He’s painted flecks of green onto the foot of the now-table, creating a modest symbol of foliage. 

There is a theme of international connection in the array, too. A designer from Brown Office, who repaired a ‘Winnie the Pooh’ clock from its former glory into a tri-time-zoned contraption explains its origins. Inspired by a fictional British bear, then designed by an American company (Disney) and made in China, the clock went on to sit in a childhood bedroom in Singapore and – when its edges peeled and elements began to detach – it came to the UK to be fixed by Brown Office and is now displayed in the V&A. ‘It was sometimes as much about repairing a memory as the object itself,’ explains Withers, and the accompanying stories allow for a sentimental appreciation of otherwise-ordinary items. 

The major lesson from this intricate exhibition is our need to utilise design to reduce waste. Withers explains that ‘you have to design value’ and is using this show to discuss ‘why people keep things, and how to design things that people want to keep for a long time’

NFORMATION

R for Repair is on view until 2 November 2022
vam.ac.uk

ADDRESS

Cromwell Rd
London
SW7 2RL

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Trakt Forest Hotel by Wingårdhs floats among the tree canopy in Sweden's Sällehägnad. Set among rich woods in the country's southern province of Småland, the project was composed with simplicity in mind. Engulfing the visitor in nature, offering straightforward, sustainable architecture, this is a hotel that places the forest experience at the heart of its identity. 

The project, led by studio founder Gert Wingårdh and architect Sara Helder, is composed of five suites set in cabins that have been raised on stilts, seemingly hovering above the forest floor. ‘By elevating the buildings, the suites get closer to the treetops and leave the ground untouched. It gives a feeling of being in between. Present,' the architects explain.

The timber volume of each cabin has been conceived to maximise the guests’ connection with the surrounding woods. Openings were carefully placed to frame various views – towards the leafy context, but also upwards, towards the sky that peeks through the foliage. ‘The one over the bed is the key to make you feel the soothing sensation of watching tall pine trees sway in the wind. That, together with an intimate and frugal inside décor in chlorophyll green, strengthens the experience of being invisible in the middle of a deep Swedish forest,' the architecture team adds. 

Leaning into their commitment to an eco-friendly approach, the architects constructed the cabins using locally sourced timber, covering the façade in gently cut, but still raw, pine wood. The dig was kept to an absolute minimum, ensuring a gentle footprint for this Swedish hotel, which hopes to leave its natural context as untouched as possible for both the guests' enjoyment and the local ecosystem's sake and future preservation.

wingardhs.se

traktforesthotel.com

The Liaigre ‘Upcrafted' collection is a demonstration of the studio’s considered approach to design. ‘All the Liaigre Collection creations are designed to optimise scraps,’ explain the team at Liaigre studio. But with ‘Upcrafted’, they begin the design process by pre-empting production waste and – refreshingly – catering to it in order to produce more resourceful pieces. ‘[Working with] raw materials from drawings generates waste, so the starting point for the “Upcrafted” collection pieces is the raw material and not the sketch,’ they say.

The resulting collection comprises ‘The Vase’, ‘The Tray’, ‘The Bookend’ and ‘The Door Stopper’, each intended to display the potential of waste materials.

In ‘The Vase’, small circles of leather have been joined together at the edges by hand using vegetable glue. The resulting structure is a 3D mosaic of the material, with each vase having a unique variation of the same shape, depending on the particular placement of its elements. Each vase is made from around 400 petals of leather, with the edges of each piece tinted and waxed, adding a contrasting tone. 

Highlighting the worn aspect of repurposed materials, ‘The Bookend’ is made from slabs of waste wood set in textured bronze. Each piece has a unique character due to the ageing and past treatment of the timber. 

The scrap metal used to cast and structure the bookends is similarly used in the doorstops; bronze pieces are set in asymmetrical lumps of stone. The doorstops vary depending on material availability, with current models in marble and onyx. The bronze element sits in the smoothly carved-out stone, rather like a cork in a bottle. The appealing organic forms again demonstrate the benefit of repurposing resources that would otherwise have gone to waste. 

Fifty per cent of profits from the ‘Upcrafted’ collection are being donated to Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France. In supporting the charity – which funds work-study training in development, craft and engineering professions – the studio is contributing whole-heartedly to innovative revolutions in design.

INFORMATION

studioliaigre.com

compagnons-du-devoir.com

Crate to Plate founder Sebastian Sainsbury’s sustainable farming initiative is part of an aspiration to populate the world with ‘15-minute cities’, or metropolises where everyone has access to fresh produce within 15 minutes from their home. 

It is a welcomed proposal for any urbanite who has gone into their local grocery store only to find a selection of bruised and browned fruit and vegetables. But where, within the polluted, densely built confines of many cities, would anything verdant and appetising grow?

Sainsbury’s solution is ingenious. In shipping container-like spaces around London, he is growing a variety of lettuces, leafy greens and herbs using hydroponics, or a method of growing plants without soil, instead using mineral nutrient solutions in water. The plants are grown vertically to maximise the space of the narrow containers, with each 40ft container producing as much as an acre or more of farmland while using 95 per cent less water. The quality of the lettuce and herbs is enhanced through a specially designed temperature, humidity, LED lighting, and water delivery system. 

Speaking about why he began this foray into sustainable farming, Sainsbury says, ‘There are two forces driving this transition in how people, especially in cities, eat. First, consumers care more and more about where their food comes from, demanding that it is fresher, more nutritious, and sustainably produced.'

‘And second, food supply chains are not set up to deliver this. Food comes from across the world, and dramatic climate changes are making this production less reliable. Our produce – grown locally in controlled (urban) environments – directly addresses these challenges.’

The fact that Crate to Plate provides produce to London’s Michelin-starred restaurant Hide is proof that this unconventional approach to farming only enhances the flavour of its output. 

Says Hide founder Ollie Dabbous, ‘Quite simply, it is brilliant produce grown by a brilliant team. Verdant, delicious leaves harvested just a few miles away, delivered daily, with virtually no packaging. They deserve to be celebrated and the more people that hear about them and use them, the better!’

Dishes at Hide made from Crate to Plate ingredients include a savoury glazed Highland Wagyu with wasabi rocket; London lettuce with apple and crème fraiche dressing; and London burrata and basil pesto with pickled figs & red fruits. 

We recommend heading to Hide to try it out for yourself or, if you live in the London area, purchasing Crate to Plate’s £6 Lettuce Box and selection of mixed herbs.

INFORMATION

cratetoplate.farm; hide.com

Imperial College London’s Structures Laboratory, or ‘the concrete lab’, is a slightly daunting place where large machines clang and chunks of grey matter set in moulds. However, everyone here is very convivial and jolly greetings abound. In the midst of this orderly yet experimental zone, a banterous pair of young British scientists, Sam Draper and Barnaby Shanks, head towards a small back room where they are scaling up carbon-neutral concrete from tiny cubes to bricks.

Wait, carbon-neutral concrete? Concrete has been a strong, convenient and attractive (to many architecture lovers at least) material used for buildings, cities and infrastructure for centuries – yet now, as the second most consumed material after water, it is responsible for around eight per cent of the world’s man-made carbon emissions. Does what’s happening in this lab in South Kensington mean that, potentially, that eight per cent could be neutralised? 

In theory, yes. And Draper and Shanks, a pair of PhD students who have set up under the name Seratech, have just received the Obel Award to help scale up their work towards this goal. Conferred by the Copenhagen-based Henrik Frode Obel Foundation, the annual global prize prides itself on its responsive, expansive approach to architecture – awarding projects that Bare groundbreaking, socially meaningful, and environmentally positive. 

‘As an architecture award, we like to be unpredictable,’ says Jesper Eis Eriksen, head of programme at the foundation. One of the things that makes the award stand out is its ability to shape-shift at the pace of global debate, he explains. Winning projects include a community therapy centre and textile workshop in Bangladesh designed by Anna Heringer(awarded 2020), and Carlos Moreno’s 15-Minute City urban concept (awarded 2021). ‘Architecture needn’t just be architecture. Architecture is also an activity of the mind,’ adds Eis Eriksen.

The award selection process relies on a network of interdisciplinary experts and an esteemed jury, whom Eis Eriksen describes collectively as courageous, experienced, intelligent and gentle: ‘They recognise the need to be challenged and surprised.’ The jury includes chair Martha Schwartz, a landscape architect and urbanist known for her sensitive approach to the environment; Louis Becker, design principal at Henning Larsen Architects, a Scandinavian practice with a sustainable approach; Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, co-founder at the boundary-breaking architecture and design studio Snøhetta; Xu Tiantian, founding principal at DnA_Design and Architecture, adept at blending buildings and landscape; and Wilhelm Vossenkuhl, professor emeritus at the University of Munich, who specialises in the meeting of architecture, design and philosophy. As well as their professional excellence, all were chosen for their humanitarian approaches and diverse life experiences. 

This year, the jury’s award focused on reducing embodied carbon emissions in the built environment sector, which is responsible for almost half of global CO2 emissions every year. After reviewing multitudes of diverse projects, an initial bout of pessimism gave way to optimism, detailed deliberation and consultation with science professionals. The jury then made a unanimous decision on Seratech’s invention.

Could the key to significantly reducing the built environment’s carbon footprint really be found in the cement mixer? The Obel Award jury thinks so. They admired both the material’s ambition and simplicity, and commended it for how it could be easily integrated into existing processes and production lines. Back in the lab, Draper unpacks the theory behind Seratech’s ambition: ‘You need solutions that are scalable, that work everywhere in the world, that use naturally abundant materials, and you need relatively simple processes, too.’

‘The beauty of the idea is that you can just use it as normal concrete,’ says Shanks. ‘There are other carbon-neutral materials, but they can be limiting because they can only be precast, cured in a lab in special conditions and shipped elsewhere. We want people to retain the freedom to use concrete the way that they are used to. We don’t want to limit people in any way because we’ll just lessen the amount of impact we can have.’ 

Seratech’s carbon-neutral composite cement uses olivine (a common mineral that is the primary component of the Earth’s crust) and waste CO2 from flue gases, which is broken down to release silica (required to bind cement together) and magnesium, which is then combined with waste CO2 gas to make magnesium carbonate. This mix can replace up to 40 per cent of the cement mix and it sequesters around twice as much CO2 than the normal Portland cement – so when the two are blended, the emissions are offset. 

‘This is evolution, not revolution,’ says Draper, who has a background in structural engineering. ‘People have done similar things before.’ For example, chemically, the mix is similar to fly ash concrete, a product that already exists on the market. Fly ash, a waste product of the coal industry, also contains a high proportion of reactive silica and can be used as partial cement replacement; it is cut with cement at a similar percentage, which reduces, yet doesn’t neutralise, its impact. The way Seratech processes its olivine is similar to ‘enhanced weathering’, where the powdered mineral is dispersed in the environment to sequester atmospheric CO2 as magnesium carbonate.

Instead of seeing CO2 as a ‘waste product’ of the cement-making process, Draper and Shanks see CO2 as a ‘co-product’ that needs to be designed into a process so it retains its value as a material. The CO2 in their recipe is sequestered during the production of the cement replacement, and contributes to the success of the material. Seratech’s approach is staunchly realist, grounded in an understanding of supply chains and industry, as much as the science of chemistry. ‘It’s not a silver bullet. It’s part of a toolkit,’ says Shanks.

For their part, Shanks and Draper are full of energy, excitement and optimism. They see their Obel Award win as a key moment to reach new audiences, inspire young scientists and encourage cross-disciplinary work: ‘Public opinion is an important factor in an industry trying to do better instead of defaulting to the status quo of the last 40 years,’ says Shanks. ‘Nothing’s untouchable – there are better ways to do things, and now there is a desire to do things better, we need to find solutions.’

INFORMATION

obelaward.org

seratechcement.com

This article appears in the November 2022 Art Issue of Wallpaper*, available from 6 October in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Wallmakers, the India architecture studio founded by Vinu Daniel, has scooped the coveted Royal Academy Dorfman Award 2022. The prestigious accolade, offered once a year to an architecture practice that represents the potential the field has through innovation and pioneering ideas, is awarded by founding partners London's Royal Academy and The Dorfman Foundation. It was designed to encourage and foster global architecture that helps change the world, pushing the boat out for the industry – it also provides the winner with a £10,000 prize. Daniel's take on architecture urges a rethink of the architect's role, and carves the way for better, and more sustainable architecture.

Wallmakers stood out to the judging panel, which praised the Kerala-based studio's ‘energy, creativity and willingness to take risks while achieving sustainable buildings that exist harmoniously within the landscapes and ecologies in which they are erected'. Daniel explains: ‘We practise something we call non-linear practice. Typical practice is first on paper, there is no feedback, it’s linear, one way. But a very definite and distinct disadvantage is what damage architects are causing to the site. [In traditional practice] if a wall goes across a tree, the tree goes – but we don’t want it to be like that. [In my studio] the workers learn and the architect learns too. It’s a lot about learning from each other.'

Wallmakers' Vinu Daniel

Daniel, who trained in architecture at The College of Engineering, Trivandrum in his home state of Kerala, practiced at the Auroville Earth Institute for the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) before returning home. There, he started practising, while working on his construction sites. His studio grew from there, officially established in 2007, and always guided by an ethos centred on sensitivity towards nature, materials and craft. Working with brick and mud blocks, timber and other local materials, the practice takes on a variety of projects, always with respect for and synergy with the natural context in mind.

‘We are supposed to protect the ecology,' says Daniel. ‘Who am I building for? I am there daily at the site, with my workers. Are we damaging the place? Because we exchanged some papers, does it mean we own a piece of land? How about the plants and animals? Can we have a symbiotic understanding with all these creatures, is it possible?'

The award's jury comprised chair Farshid Moussavi RA; Farrokh Derakhshani, director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture; Hisham Matar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Cornelia Parker RA; Zoë Ryan, director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania; and Peter St John RA. Wallmakers fought off competition for the other three finalists, Apparata from the UK, Dot Architects from Japan, and Semillas from Peru.

‘Wallmakers’ work engages with issues raised by the climate emergency with a creative energy and urgency that will inspire architects to reconsider the impact of their work in relation to ecology and the consumer economy,' said Moussavi. ‘Vinu Daniel began work as Wallmakers after coming to a point where he had all but rejected architectural practice as it was being taught. The jury was impressed by Vinu’s willingness to improvise and take the risky route of exploring unprecedented interventions, as much as his insistence treading lightly on the planet. There is a strong sense that this is an architect who is just getting going and we will all follow Wallmakers’ career with the keenest interest.'

INFORMATION

wallmakers.org

In times of disruption, new ideas grow. For Daniel Mitchell, the former creative director of Bali's trailblazing beach club and eco-playground Desa Potato Head, that rang true when the pandemic brought the island's tourism industry to a standstill. At Potato Head, he was a linchpin in the project's transformation into one of Asia's most envelope-pushing sustainable communities and oversaw the creation of the craft-forward Katamama Hotel (now renamed Potato Head Suites) and its expansion into the OMA-designed Desa Potato Head creative village. 

‘When the pandemic struck, there was this void. It was as if the world had stopped,' Mitchell says. ‘At Potato Head, we had been striving for years to make these sustainable changes and thought they'd only happen slowly. The space made available because of the pandemic opened up the opportunity to implement new systems and ways of thinking.' 

Mitchell filled the void with Space Available, which started out as an online platform and podcast series for his thoughts on everything from mental wellbeing to agro-culture and utopian communities, heavily inspired by Stewart Brand's counterculture bible The Whole Earth Catalog.

In the following year, these ideas manifested into a collection of physical objects, including blue marble-like coasters and incense holders made from recycled bottle caps and chairs made from post-consumer plastic waste (not unlike Jane Atfield's RCP2 chair) designed in collaboration with DJ Peggy Gou. Soon after, Mitchell’s recycled plastic homeware and garments from upcycled cotton and twill (hand-coloured with dye from black umbrella leaf) were sold at Selfridges and Dover Street Market boutiques around the globe. And now, with the opening of Museum of Space Available (MoSA) in summer 2022, they're available on Mitchell's home turf. 

The new gallery, pitched up in a derelict building along the main road of Canggu, a coastal community in southern Bali, is the product of a collaboration with local architecture studio Sidarta and Sandjaja. The duo stripped the building back to its concrete skeleton and added a pressed-plastic façade from more than 200,000 recycled plastic bottles made in partnership with Surabaya-based design workspace Robries. The two-storey space houses a boutique, a workshop space, and a recycling station offering free repair services for Space Available products. 

On the ground floor, research studies by Mitchell and his team of collaborating artists, designers and bio-innovation scientists result in exhibitions that span physical products, sculptures and digital elements such as video installations and NFTs. MoSA's opening exhibition, ‘Plastic People’, zeroes in on the drastic effects of synthetic plastics on our environment and highlights the alarming presence of plastic particles everywhere from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the very cells of the human body. Next up, an exhibition on fungi explores the creative possibilities of lab-grown mycelium in a post-plastic-waste world. 

Mitchell's work draws heavily on local crafts and skilled artisans, using modern materials to propel ancient techniques into the future. Collaborations with Balinese craftspeople such as master weaver Nano Uhero (who helped create a chair from wood, rattan, and woven recycled plastic rope) don't just benefit the local environment, but also uplift the craft community and related businesses. 'Craft culture is at the very core of what we do, and we couldn't have done all this without the people of Indonesia,' Mitchell says. 'It's a real collaboration where everybody wins.' 

INFORMATION

spaceavailable.tv

ADDRESS

Jalan Pantai Batu Mejan 33a 
Kabupaten Badung, Bali 
Indonesia

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Sketch Design Studio's founder, Shipra Singhania Sanghi, is passionate about exploring her country's history and traditional crafts, and her latest creation, Mud House, is an expression of her fascination. Located in Alwar, Rajasthan, where the young practice is based, the sustainable architecture project was conceived to bridge past, present and future within a highly curated, single domestic space. 

The structure sits at the heart of four acres of a permaculture-inspired farm, in the countryside outside Alwar. Using time-honed techniques employed by traditional builders in the region, the studio crafted a home made of mud, reclaimed stone and locally found tall wild grasses to tie the roof. These materials help the home remain naturally cool via ventilation and insulation during the region's hot months. At the same time, the design provides several outdoor areas, both on ground level and on a roof terrace, to act as suntraps during the cooler times of the year. 

‘Walls are made in rammed earth using mud from the site mixed with natural binders like lime and fenugreek seeds,' Singhania Sanghi explains. ‘Edibles like jaggery and a popular Indian medicinal leaf, neem, were also added to the mix and act as natural insect repellents.’ At the same time, the mortar used for the stone masonry is a waste product from lime kiln use, called bagra. 

The Mud House's distinctive pyramidal roof produces an airy main living space inside. An open-plan sitting, dining and kitchen area unfolds underneath it. A variety of making skills by local craftspeople was used to help compose an interior that feels warm and layered, rooted in tradition, but also contemporary. This extends from timber cabinetry to the brick powder mixed with lime that gives the walls their rust tinge, and the bespoke khaat daybed.

‘Throughout the building process, we tried to focus on local artisanal building techniques and materials in the same form they were being used hundreds of years ago,' the designer says of her process for Mud House. ‘A lot of research and talking to elderly masons have helped [us] gain all the knowledge that has helped towards building this house. It is our effort towards bringing architecture closer to Earth through its materials and sustainable lifestyle.' 

INFORMATION

designatsketch.in

Studio Jencquel and Ibuku’s Kura Kura project is an architectural treasure tucked away in the mountains of Bali. At 200 sq m, this bamboo badminton court structure is a modest but intriguing feature of the leafy grounds of the Rumah Hujan Estate in Ubud, designed around sustainable architecture principles.

Intended initially as a paddle tennis court, the project evolved organically into a badminton court, when Studio Jencquel founder Maximilian Jencquel realised that Indonesia’s national sport would be a more fitting addition to the estate’s grounds. Aside from being a visual highlight, the building contributes to a wave of striking bamboo-based architecture in Bali.

Recently, in search of more sustainable solutions, local designers have looked increasingly towards traditional building methods from the region’s vernacular. In designing Kura Kura, Jencquel collaborated with design studio Ibuku – who have been setting a precedent in modern uses for bamboo in design and construction within Indonesia with projects such as The Green School and a yoga studio design. Similarly, the court pays its respects to Bali culture, making the most of traditionally used and locally sourced bamboo throughout. 

The structure of the court itself provides the home behind it with a sort of privacy screen from the street. Meanwhile, its intriguing bamboo roof tiles and proud stance serve as a dramatic introduction to the Rumah Hujan Estate’s grounds. Comfortably aligned with nature, the silhouette sits harmoniously in the landscape and its curved roof is guided by its function. The design for the court’s top organically progressed from a (more conventional) boxy juxtaposition to Bali’s natural landscape into a dome reminiscent of a turtle’s shell. In terms of practicality, the form serves to accommodate the arched path of the shuttlecock, and ends up using only the space it needs; demonstrating efficiently how it can avoid both material waste and imposition on the environment. 

The roof, upheld by bamboo pillars and lined in swathes of contrastingly toned wood, stands at varying distances above the ground. A gap between walls and roof allows airflow and means it can be used year-round, letting in the outside breeze.

The use of bamboo draws us back to the cultural roots of Bali, it upholds an ethos of sustainable architecture, and trusts the wisdom of methods used traditionally in the region. Jencquel’s choice of material also introduced a rare species of dark-toned bamboo, sourced from the ravines of Bali and the nearby town of Java. Alongside its lighter coloured counterpart, it provides a pleasing contrast and pattern. Basket-woven wood, which takes 3-4 years to mature, makes up the entirety of the overhead structure, while rubber flooring ensures the court is deftly fit for its sport and purpose.

INFORMATION

studiojencquel.com

ibuku.com

In the climate crisis landscape, we seem to be experiencing a shift; sustainability is now a widely accepted necessity, we’ve stopped talking about single-use plastic and are realising ideas aimed at reducing (and undoing) our impact on the planet. We’re seeing aquaponic farming in cities, bridges made from manipulated vines, stone quarries turned into cultural spaces and houses designed to be overtaken by nature; these can all seem like grand gestures of sustainable innovation – gorgeous and important – but perhaps removed from what we can all hope to attain in our everyday lives. 

Happily, Tectum Garden – recognising the cabin fever engendered in many of us by office life, the common craving for green oases, and the desire to reconnect to nature’s cycles – is facilitating a route back to the earth that we can all engage with. The Catalan company was founded in 2020 and, as the brainchild of the Sostenipra research group at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, creates products grounded in ecology. The group of urban agriculture specialists is looking to make farming more accessible and wants to bring about green cities as a firm reality, in which hydroponic gardens play a substantial role. 

A hydroponic garden for the office

Now Spanish design brand Kettal has teamed up with Tectum Garden to bring hydroponic gardens – and locally grown veg – to the office. Kettal has explored modular office pavilions in recent years, and this new collaboration cleverly unifies minimalist design and real-world change. 

The boxy structures that comprise the hydroponic gardens are made from recycled and recyclable materials, are compact, subtle and sit comfortably in interior spaces. A light substrate replaces soil in the indoor vegetable patches, making for easy management, and the plots are drip-fed water for maximum efficiency. Fertilisers are added to the water which, once nutrient-rich, is kept in the hydroponic cycle, reducing waste and allowing the structure to remain largely self-contained. The unit’s lighting can be adapted depending on the crop, giving way to a wider breadth of vegetational options.

The indoor gardens introduce a refreshing touch of greenery to indoor spaces and take an invested step towards altering our immediate environments, encouraging us to contribute to a circular green economy (and tempting us with freshly grown produce). 

INFORMATION

kettal.com
tectumgarden.cat

Are you sitting comfortably right now? In this age of eco-anxiety, imagine how at ease you would feel to know that the sofa you are reclining on isn’t just made from renewable or recycled materials, but produced in a way that encourages biodiversity to thrive. Or that the home you are living in is designed to help other species to flourish.

Regenerative design: doing less harm is not enough

DnA_Design and Architecture has converted local stone quarries into cultural spaces

It seems a radical idea, but as the climate crisis deepens, ‘sustainable design’ and ‘doing less harm’ are not enough to avert catastrophe – we have to find ways to replenish ecosystems while meeting our own needs. ‘Humans need to return to a state where they are co-evolving with nature,’ says architect and biomimicry expert Michael Pawlyn. ‘If we carry on believing that it is something to be plundered for resources, it will be our undoing.’

Pawlyn is one of the architects leading the charge for a shift towards ‘regenerative design’, which ‘supports the flourishing of all life, for all time,’ as he puts it in his new book Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency, co-written by Sarah Ichioka. While sustainable design focuses on mitigating problems, regenerative design is about restoring the damage wreaked by human hands, nurturing biodiversity and taking carbon out of the atmosphere while we produce homes, infrastructure, furniture and food. ‘We’ve got to get to a point where we integrate all our activities into the web of life that surrounds us, overcoming our separation from nature,’ adds Pawlyn.

The architect sees biomimicry – the design of materials or structures modelled on biological systems – as one way forward. ‘We can learn from nature, looking at how it stewards things in closed-loop cycles,’ he says. His practice, Exploration Architecture, co-initiated the Sahara Forest Project Foundation, an environmental platform that aims to revegetate low-lying desert areas and grow food. The 2012 pilot plant in Qatar incorporated a greenhouse inspired by the Namibian fog-basking beetle’s method of harvesting fresh water in the desert, quickly returning biodiversity to this arid region.

A further pilot launched in Jordan in 2017. Models of some of his more recent designs – including the Biomimetic Office, a speculative design that took cues from a spook fish, and a table inspired by tree and bone growth – are now on show in Granada, Spain, as part of the travelling exhibition ‘BioInspiration: Innovating from Nature’.

Regenerative design from indigenous communities

Pawlyn points out Indigenous communities around the world have been designing regeneratively for centuries. The Khasi community of Meghalaya, India, for example, create bridges by training the aerial roots of rubber fig trees to grow across rivers. If they were to cut them down and use the timber, the wood would rot in the monsoon rains, releasing carbon back into the atmosphere. Instead the living root bridges grow stronger over time, supporting the life around them. 

Indigenous design concepts have often been dismissed due to cultural biases, but designers around the world are beginning to recognise the importance of traditional ecological wisdom. Engineering firm Buro Happold and designer Julia Watson have collaborated with members of the Khasi community for an exhibition at London’s Barbican. Their architectural model imagines how nature-based infrastructure could be integrated into cities, showing a canopy of trees running through an urban centre. It would provide shade, minimise urban heat effect, and become more load-bearing over time to accommodate foot traffic and infrastructure, such as bus shelters. 

Working in partnership with nature: the creatives leading the way

DnA_Design and Architecture’s 2015 Bamboo Theatre in China’s Zhejiang province was built in less than two weeks

‘A huge amount of what we learned also goes beyond what a model can convey,’ says Smith Mordak, director of sustainability and physics at Buro Happold. ‘We learned that we need to work in partnership with nature, not force it, and establish a deeper sense of time, both for architectural interventions and to allow the passing of knowledge down the generations. It’s imperative we recognise that those of us in the Western design community are not the experts. We have much to learn.’

The notion of working with living plants is taking root elsewhere in the world. In China, DnA_Design and Architecture wove bamboo into a vault formation to create the Bamboo Theatre in 2015. ‘It’s my favourite project because it was so easy and quick to do,’ says founding principal Xu Tiantian. It was designed in one afternoon and constructed in less than two weeks, with the bamboo’s root system acting as the theatre’s foundations.

Xu believes that today’s narrow definitions of architecture are limiting its ability to respond to nature’s needs. ‘Architecture has become like product design, with technology being the main content and traditional wisdom being ignored,’ she says. The theatre is part of DnA’s ‘architectural acupuncture’ strategy in Songyang County, which aims to re-instil ‘rural self-confidence’ through minimal interventions with big impact. Recent projects include the conversion of abandoned stone quarries into cultural spaces using ‘micro renovations’. ‘We wanted to restore the ecology of the sites and add a few layers of our own,’ Xu explains. ‘Architecture doesn’t have to be about new buildings, it can be about creating spaces in nature to accommodate functions and programmes.’

The Hempstack pavilion, built in hempcrete in 2021 in the garden of Guan Lee’s laboratory at Grymsdyke Farm, Buckinghamshire. Project team: Hyelyn Lee, Danae Mavridi, Nora Brudevold and  Matteen Haj Seyed Javadi, taught by Daniel Widrig, Guan Lee and Adam Holloway, Material Architecture Lab, MArch. Architectural Design, The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL

Another way to design regeneratively is to grow or make materials from atmospheric carbon, such as wood, hemp, willow and straw. Hemp can sequester carbon twice as effectively as forests, according to Cambridge University researcher Darshil Shah, and can be grown in many parts of the world, with a positive impact on soil quality. This is prompting designers to experiment with it. 

Typically made from water, hemp shives and lime, hempcrete is used largely as infill for timber-framed walls at present. Architect Guan Lee and the Material Architecture Lab at the Bartlett School of Architecture have been testing its tensile strength and durability at Lee’s laboratory in Buckinghamshire. Using hempcrete, wire mesh and gravel, they created the Hempstack pavilion in 2021, and are now watching how it responds to Britain’s weather conditions. ‘Hempcrete is certified as something that needs to be protected from the elements, so we want to figure out how long it takes to deteriorate to determine future uses,’ says Lee. ‘So far, so good.’ 

The cement industry alone generates 2.8bn tonnes of CO2 every year, so replacing concrete with a carbon negative alternative could be meaningful. But ‘to be truly regenerative, biocomposites must be made using a natural resin,’ explains Pawlyn. That’s if resins are necessary at all. He sees regenerative promise in those of London company Biohm, founded by designer Ehab Sayed. Biohm creates insulation panels by feeding mycelium with waste materials from agriculture and construction. The company says its entire manufacturing process has a positive impact on the planet, sequestering at least 16 tonnes of carbon dioxide a month.

Fernando Laposse’s ‘Agave’ armchair, 2021, made with sisal, a natural fibre harvested from agave, as part as a project to restore soil quality

Modern agriculture also has much to answer for: about half of the world’s habitable land has been colonised to produce food and materials, displacing Indigenous people and forcing what little biodiversity is left to exist on scraps of land. But designers are beginning to promote more regenerative agricultural practices. In Finland, Italian studio Formafantasma is helping furniture company Artek deduce how it can influence the way forests are managed to encourage greater biodiversity. Meanwhile, in Mexico, Fernando Laposse is working with locals in the rural community of Tonahuixtla to restore the soil quality of land desertified by chemical-heavy industrial farming (see W*256). They have planted agaves over 120 hectares, using an Indigenous terracing system to improve water retention. Laposse extracts the sisal, a natural fibre harvested from agave, to make his shaggy seating collections, which in turn finance further environmental repair. 

Such ideas suggest nature and humans can thrive together if we learn from traditional wisdom and nature’s own ingenuity, and consider the needs of all species in the design process. Our conscience could rest more comfortably if the objects around us helped with more than just our own wellbeing. Laposse’s hairy sisal sofas, for example, offer a warm embrace for both body and soul.  

INFORMATION

‘BioInspiration: Innovating from Nature’ is at Granada’s Parque de Las Ciencias until 31 August 2022
parqueciencias.com

‘Our Time on Earth’ is at London’s Barbican until 29 August 2022
barbican.org.uk

Imagine if you could recreate almost any substance using fermented yeast and sugar cane. Sounds impossible, right? According to Francisco Costa, the former creative director of womenswear at Calvin Klein and now founder of the beauty brand Costa Brazil, not only is it possible, he’s already doing it.

When Costa tells me this over tea in London, I’m inclined to think I must be misunderstanding. After all, Costa Brazil’s unique selling point is its use of natural Amazonian ingredients such as kaya, a skin-moisturising superfood extracted from the pods of the sapucaia tree; cacay, a vitamin-E packed nut that contains retinol; and, most significantly, breu, a resin extracted from the almaciga tree that’s used to relieve anxiety and improve the appearance of skin.

The future of sustainable beauty with Costa Brazil 

Costa was born in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and lived there until his mother’s untimely death in the mid-1980s, which spurred him to move to New York and study fashion. There, he took language courses at Hunter College during the day and classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology at night. After graduation, he quickly landed a position at Oscar de la Renta before becoming chief womenswear designer at Tom Ford-era Gucci, and then creative director of womenswear at Calvin Klein, where he released collections that honoured the brand’s signature ‘Calvin clean’ minimalism in a manner that was distinctly his own.

When Costa left Calvin Klein in 2016, he knew he wanted his next project to be ‘less superficial, more intimate, right on the skin’. Beauty felt like the natural fit, but he did not have a sense of what the identity of that brand could be. That changed when he took a trip to the Amazon, hoping that chance would throw something his way. Eventually it did, in the form of rock-like hunks of breu resin, which Costa saw Indigenous peoples throwing into ritual fires. Intrigued by its heady, treacly smell, Costa soon learned breu was an astoundingly versatile remedy for everything from anxiety and headaches to colic, respiratory issues, and aggravated skin.

Breu would become a defining element of Costa Brazil’s identity, and the brand would launch in 2019 with skincare oils derived from the ingredient, as well as packaged pieces of unprocessed breu to be burned at home. At first, Costa sourced his breu from a Brazilian manufacturer who specialised in working with Amazonian ingredients, since he didn’t have the access or means to source and distribute the ingredient on his own. But in January this year, Costa went back to the Amazon to visit the villages that supplied breu to his manufacturer. ‘When I talk about a village, I mean ten houses in the middle of the jungle. It’s more like a family,’ says Costa.

The size of these villages came as a surprise, as did the circumstances under which the villagers were sourcing the ingredient. ‘I didn’t realise that, for every 500kg that I have committed to, they have to go deep into the forest for three months,’ Costa recalls. He adds that, although the villagers see themselves as the guardians of the forest, and have dedicated their lives to its preservation, they do not legally own the land: ‘It’s very tough on them psychologically.’

With this in mind, Costa started buying raw resin directly from farmers for his burnable breu, since it goes directly to the consumer as is. But the breu that goes into his skincare oils and lotions still needs to be processed through a manufacturer. Mindful of fair-trade practices, Costa negotiated with his manufacturer to offer these villagers an increased fee. Still, he is quick to note that he doesn’t see himself as a paragon of sustainable business practices. Running a major, sustainable beauty brand requires an appetite to keep learning, a humility to recognise that you could always be doing more, and an occasional willingness to make fiscal sacrifices for an ethical good.

Costa has seemed to largely abide by these principles over the three years of Costa Brazil’s existence. The brand has worked with the NGO Conservation International to identify farmlands that harvest with as little impact to the environment as possible, often providing new opportunities to communities previously obliged to grow conflict crops that, because of their value, can encourage tensions between competing stakeholders and government bodies. Around the same time as his Amazon trip, Costa was looking for a collaborator to help him grow the brand.

That was how he came to work with Amyris. The San Francisco-based synthetic biology company engineers yeast strains and ferments them in sugar cane syrup so that the plant sugars are converted into new forms that mimic the genetic make-up of other natural substances. Costa is now working with Amyris to recreate breu through this process. In Costa’s eyes, the work he and brands such as L’Oréal, Shiseido and Estée Lauder are currently doing with Amyris is ‘the catalyst of what sustainable beauty is going to be’.

Costa Brazil will still be sourcing breu from the Amazon, supporting the local industry there, but, by synthetically creating breu in conjunction, it will be able to produce at a greater scale than ever before without an increased environmental impact. ‘When we produce sustainable ingredients using alternative methods of manufacturing, we don’t have to rely on petrochemicals or vulnerable plants and animals,’ an Amyris spokesperson tells Wallpaper*. ‘For our work examining replacements for breu and other forest extracts, it’s about striking that balance between science and nature; we want to continue to smartly source our ingredients in a way that helps the forest thrive.’

Costa may call himself ‘the most organic, nature-driven person in the world’, but he realises that ‘we have to acknowledge people too, and you have to create a 360-degree system of cooperation both in the lab and in the forest. We’re going to continue sourcing from farmers. But at the same time, having that clean slate that makes these ingredients available on a larger scale is really exciting.’

INFORMATION

A version of this article appears in the August 2022 Design for a Better World issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today!

livecostabrazil.com

Deer skins are given a new lease of life by Zurich-based leather manufacturer Cervo Volante, who have partnered with Swiss mechanical watch brand Oris on straps for the Big Crown Pointer Date timepieces.

Cervo Volante’s founders, biotechnology engineer Kadri Vunder Fontana and biologist Conny Thiel-Egenter, were keen to find a use for the natural by-products of the 15,000 wild red deer annually culled in Switzerland, part of a legal and regulated process to manage its deer population and protect the Swiss countryside. In the past, most of these skins have been wasted; the company now transforms them into leather products that do not involve animal breeding or factory farming.

The watch straps for Oris are vegetable-tanned by Switzerland’s two remaining tanneries, and celebrate natural imperfections rather than pursuing flawless finishes.

‘Leather from wild red deer is not a mass product, and every leather is unique and tells its own story,’ says Thiel-Egenter. ‘Scratches, scrapes, stitches and bumps in the leather give our products this exciting imperfection. It’s also one of the most sustainable leathers on the market: there’s no animal breeding, no factory farming, no climate impact, and no over-fertilisation of meadows. All our leather is 100 per cent vegetable tanned by the two last remaining tanneries in Switzerland, without chrome and without synthetic pre- tanning agents. And if we didn’t use these skins, they’d be burned – a terrible waste.’

‘Cervo Volante refines hunting waste from red deer and transforms it into beautiful, long-lasting and ecological shoes and accessories,’ Fontana adds. ‘Our vision is inspired by our love of nature and wanting our children to be able to experience nature as we do. We want to inspire our customers to approach luxury with an appetite for sustainability, and to become role models for the fashion industry, encouraging them to see waste from other industries as raw material, and to take responsibility for the value chain from beginning to end, as if it were their own backyard.’

Three watches in new colours, each with a gradient dial inspired by Alpine landscapes, mark the beginning of what promises to be a long-term partnership.

INFORMATION

oris.ch
cervovolante.com

A version of this article appears in the August 2022 Design for a Better World issue of Wallpaper*, available from 14 July in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today