Architect/Designer

September 15, 2016

Building Biomimetic Cities: An Interview with Melissa Sterry

Melissa Sterry is a design scientist and systems theorist. We interviewed her on biodesign, biomimetic cities, and more. Melissa is recognised as a world leading authority on the science, technology and thinking that could help build a better world. We tend to focus on the macrocosm of the city but you’ve shown there’s much to…

September 9, 2016

Top Trends for the Future of Workspaces

These are the big trends we’re seeing regarding the future of workspaces. 1. Co-Working A proliferation of co-working venues with sophisticated and comprehensive amenities previously only found in high-end corporate fitouts. Internationally renowned British designer, Tom Dixon, has recently designed Interchange, a purpose-built co-working space in Camden, London – three shiny glass and metal buildings…

August 29, 2016

The Future of Business: Redesigning for Resilience

Having just finished interviewing senior executives from a range of organisations for a Global Leadership study, and I am struck by the consistency in perspectives even though the organisations are quite different. Every CEO I have interviewed ranks their number one challenge today as dealing with the pace and scale of change now upon us.…

August 8, 2016

Biophilic Vietnam: A Perspective on Vo Trong Nghia Architects

Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTNA) has grown up against the backdrop of a relentless tear-down-and-build in Vietnam that many have criticised as hasty and insensitive. The firm offers a perspective on green urbanism does yet not affect the planning of Vietnamese cities where there is instead evidence of a systematic stripping of blue-green cover and…

May 22, 2016

Artful Restoration

Last October, during the first weekend of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, artist and social activist Theaster Gates pulled back the curtain on his latest endeavor: the Stony Island Arts Bank. The highly trumpeted project entailed the conversion of a derelict bank building on the city’s South Side into a public cultural venue, brimming with galleries,…

March 18, 2016

Biophilic Retail Spaces

Living within a consumer society means that retail environments play a central position in our everyday lives – in fact, retail covers 43% of the total value of commercial property1 and a recent House of Commons report stated that during 2014, consumers in the UK spent around a staggering £378 billion.2 Research has shown that…

March 9, 2016

14 Patterns of Biophilic Design: Presence of Water

Water – from crashing waves to trickling streams, wading pools, and water fountains – enhances the experience of a place. Pattern 5: Presence of Water The Presence of Water biophilic design pattern has evolved from research on the health and wellbeing benefits associated with access to water, including reduced stress, lower heart rate and blood…

February 17, 2016

Biomimicry & The Biomimetic Office Building

An Interview with Michael Pawlyn, Architect & Author In The Biomimetic Office Building, lighting takes its inspiration from the translucent four-eyed spookfish and a spindly-legged cousin of the starfish, the brittle star, both deep ocean dwellers. The building’s glazed glass exterior nods to a mollusk’s iridescent shell, while our own double duty spinal column is…