It seemed not long ago that Japanese architect Shigeru Ban first shocked the industry with his temporary pavilions made from paper tubes. These days, Ban lands multimillion-dollar commissions to erect paper-tube constructions around the world, and the unequivocally built-to-not-last design ethos has been inducted into popular contemporary practice. The Parisian design firm Studio Andrew Todd, …Continue Reading

The nude sculptures of Ancient Greece and Renaissance Rome are almost universally acclaimed for their ability to capture the proportions—and splendor—of the human body. But Paris-based photographer Léo Caillard has flipped this bare magnificence with a contemporary twist of humor and irony. Perhaps we should emphasize the word irony. Rather than photographing the splendor of nude sculpture, Caillard takes …Continue Reading

Everyone loves window seats—but it’s safe to say that not everyone loves airports. Arriving hours beforehand just so you can be slowly corralled through a series of gates in which you are questioned, frisked, and asked to remove your shoes and discard your $3 bottled water? The ineffably boring duty-free shops, the limited dining options, …Continue Reading

Takako Tajima and Katrina Stoll Szabo’s 300-square-foot micro-unit model for LA Forum can accommodate a double bed, a kitchen and bath, a living area, and storage. Photo: Luke Gibson We’ve come down hard on micro-apartments for promoting dorm life for full-fledged adults, glorifying prison cells, and lacquering unlivable pockets of space with a designer sheen …Continue Reading

Takako Tajima and Katrina Stoll Szabo’s 300-square-foot micro-unit model for LA Forum can accommodate a double bed, a kitchen and bath, a living area, and storage. Photo: Luke Gibson We’ve come down hard on micro-apartments for promoting dorm life for full-fledged adults, glorifying prison cells, and lacquering unlivable pockets of space with a designer sheen …Continue Reading

  Though this sculptural addition to Museum Gardens in Bethnal Green is called a “Peace Pavilion,” it sure doesn’t look like one. Though of course, there is no clear precedent for the term. Designed by Paris-based Atelier Zundel Cristea, the pavilion evokes a canopy surface, occupyable both above and below. The structure creates a restful …Continue Reading

The Water House in Lijiang, China, by Li Xiaodong Atelier. It’s an old adage from the golden age of suburbia that “a man’s home is his castle,” but what if you’re not into castles? Perhaps you’d like a house that looks like the intake of a jet turbine? Or a home that appears to be floating …Continue Reading

In the largest battle of the Spanish Civil War, Nationalists and Republicans fought for more than five months near the town of Corbera d’Ebre. Besides the death of thousands of soldiers on either side, the Battle of the Ebro resulted in the destruction of the town. In the aftermath, it was decided to keep the …Continue Reading

Back in March, Gothamist-founder Jake Dobkin had the enviable opportunity to take a tour of Manhattan’s Second Avenue subway construction, deep below the surface of the Upper East Side, and took some incredible photos of the mega-project’s progress (see the photos here). Dobkin’s photos give a rare look into the borrowing subterranean world that construction …Continue Reading

OMA has unveiled its design for a new bridge over the river Garonne in Bordeaux, France—one of two contenders for a project that will connect a new housing development with the rest of the city. The OMA design, led by Clement Blanchet, has been vetted by a jury of 40, the leader of which said …Continue Reading