What wandering can teach us about designing new spaces:
Wenting Guo, Senior Design Lead with IDEO, describes the experience of wandering in Rome in early 2020, and learnings that can be applied to designing new spaces.
Guo writes on the IDEO blog, “The joy of wandering comes from its unpredictability, which is always delicately balanced against the fear of being completely lost.”
She shares how the physical environment can offer calming spaces in between places, where inspiration can be found through spontaneity and the unexpected.
Wanderers of Rome will often notice the beautiful light as it plays against the dry Mediterranean climate and the architecture, Guo says, “It dictates and changes what we can and cannot see at different times, often revealing only a small fragment of the overall picture.”
Alluring spaces in Rome can be further enhanced with the magic of Italian coffee: not only a drink but an experience that allows time to sip and think.
“The bitterness and heat of the coffee, pleasurable to sip but difficult to gulp, establishes a minimum amount of time between things, allowing our thoughts to wander without the need to be somewhere.”
The fear of getting lost is delicately balanced against the joy of an unpredictable path, however Guo says that when in Rome, “Many streets follow old streams; a local rule-of-thumb for when you’re lost is to pour water on the street and follow it down to the banks of the River Tiber.”
Dezeen’s Tom Ravencroft delves into the architectural trend of integrating trees and greenery onto buildings, recently highlighted through a sculpture called The Tree of Trees by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, made for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The artwork is a large steel structure, a tree-like form that supports 350 smaller trees, installed outside Buckingham Palace in London. Heatherwick told Ravencroft the intention was to highlight the importance of trees, which he describes as “the superheroes of our cities and towns.”
Heatherwick says, “If you look across lots of our projects, we’re integrating nature as much as we possibly can. And I think that it would be good for the world around us if more designers and architects balanced the work that they did with the natural world.”
Ravencroft writes that the growing popularity of tree-covered buildings is at times countered by skepticism about how truly sustainable they are. He cites academic Philip Oldfield as writing that these trees are a ‘decorative flourish’ – with the embodied carbon of the concrete planters higher than the amount of carbon the trees would absorb.
Heatherwick responds by saying that buildings dressed with plants aren’t a fad, and that nature is a necessity to our lives, especially in modern buildings.
Successful products are often followed by copycats. Over the past year we have become aware of an increase in reproductions of the Linea range attempting to create a similar aesthetic at a lower price. This can compromise the overall durability and environmental credentials of projects being delivered, affect ongoing maintenance requirements, and in some instances pose a risk of injury to the public. The design of Linea is deceptively simple while delivering exceptional attention to detail. Details matter not only for beauty, but also for providing durability, and safety, that will last decades. Linea strictly uses the highest quality and sustainable materials, has passed rigorous strength tests, and is designed for longevity, with easily replaceable parts. The product range is the result of hundreds of hours of research and development …
Melissa Gerke, our Communications and Education Specialist, is bringing a fun, interactive and informative presentation about our carbon neutral journey and latest products to customers in cities around Australia and in the US. In 30 minutes (plus Q&A) we will explore materials and finishes, touch and feel samples, and bond with your colleagues over delicious treats. There will also be a mystery prize for a lucky winner (optional). 2024 cities and dates include: Select from three catering options (optional): To book, contact Melissa Gerke mgerke@streetfurniture.com
Street Furniture Australia’s entire product range and manufacturing operation has received carbon neutral certification through Climate Active™. Achieving carbon neutral certification marks a significant milestone in our operation and the culmination of a four year long process of detailed measurement and analysis. Climate Active™ is the only Australian government-backed carbon neutral certification programme for businesses to measure, reduce, and offsets their carbon emissions. It is one of the most rigorous carbon-neutral programs in the world. An approved Emissions Reduction Strategy (ERS) is central to achieving certification through Climate Active. Street Furniture Australia has elected to use SBTi validated science-based targets to ensure their ERS is meaningful and aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement – to limit global temperature rises to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels. For those emissions that can’t be …
Animal crossing – world’s biggest wildlife bridge comes to California highway: Landscape architects from Living Habitats have designed the world’s largest wildlife bridge, to be constructed over a California highway. The overpass will allow fauna of the Santa Monica mountains to safely cross a dangerous 10-lane stretch, writes Katharine Gammon for The Guardian. Stretching 210ft (64m) long and 165ft (50m) wide across the 101 highway near Los Angeles, the overpass is designed to allow safe passage for lizards, snakes, toads and mountain lions. An acre of local plants on either side and vegetated sound walls hope to dampen light and noise for nocturnal animals as they slip across. The project is funded by around 60% private donations and has been championed by Beth Pratt, a conservation leader with the National …
Rise of the metaverse: ‘Metaverse,’ a term from the 1992 novel Snow Crash, in which people live as avatars in a three dimensional world, has recently hit the zeitgeist referring to virtual worlds in a burgeoning next phase of the internet. Architects, writes Chloe Sun for ArchDaily, could be facing crises in the physical world due to constraints of factors such as structure, and management, that limit the possibility of the discipline. The wake of COVID-19, she says, may further catalyse the rise of the digital alternatives to brick-and-mortar shops, houses and offices. The NFT industry also is rapidly growing, and unique digital creations, Sun says, are not limited to traditional visual art, but include digital architecture and landscape architecture. “Toronto-based artist Krista Kim has sold the first NFT-backed digital …
‘I wanted that self-reliance back’ – disabled hikers forge a new path: A growing movement of disabled people are taking steps to enable independent access to the natural world, writes Amanda Morris for the NY Times. The pandemic has brought a rise in outdoor recreation, with growing visitation numbers for national parks, however not all are equipped for accessibility. Disabled people are taking initiatives to improve independent access, including “publishing trail guides, establishing nonprofits to empower others through equipment, advocacy and training, and testifying before congress,” says Morris. In the United States in April 2021, “disability activists testified at a hearing on Capitol Hill, in front of members of the House National Resources Committee, which oversees the Park Service, to push for greater accessibility in outdoor spaces and call attention to …
