From the Archive: A short history of the Sony Walkman
WEBNov 15, 2022 — The prototype was based on a tape recorder that had been designed for journalists in 1977. The original Walkman was made of aluminium and the metal case was coloured blue and silver. Later editions moved over to black plastic casing. When it launched it sold for around $150, and after a slow first …
10 buildings by Norman Foster - ICON Magazine
WEBMar 4, 2020 — The Bloomberg Building is impressive for it’s innovation and holistic approach to design. For example, rainwater and grey water from basins and showers is used to flush the toilets. The Bloomberg Building was awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2018. Millau Viaduct by Foster + Partners. Photo by Nigel Young.
Shigeru Ban: the paper architect and humanitarian pioneer
WEBMar 27, 2020 — Ban is often praised for his surprising use of materials and for his dedication to humanitarian architecture. Born in Tokyo in 1958, Shigeru Ban grew up in a wooden house, and came to have an early respect for the workmanship of carpenters. He played around making things with small pieces of wood, and at …
Grafton Architects: ‘We see architecture as modified earth’
WEBJun 13, 2017 — Grafton’s founders believe, after all, that architecture’s responsibility is to ‘heighten difference and express the character of a place’, rather than bring it in line with some globalised idea of what great architecture should be. As Farrell says: ‘This building makes you feel you’re in Lima, not in any other part of the world.’.
Frank Gehry’s Louis Vuitton Foundation - ICON Magazine
WEBJan 21, 2015 — Frank Gehry’s Louis Vuitton Foundation. Rearing up from between clumps of pine trees, appearing like a sailboat frozen in an ice storm, or a huge Boccioni sculpture rendered in glass, is the latest completed building by Gehry and Partners. The Louis Vuitton Foundation is a public museum of contemporary art, built as a gift to the city of ...
The Barcelona Chair: A modernist classic - ICON Magazine
WEBMar 30, 2020 — The Barcelona Chair is one of the most recognisable and iconic designs of the last century. Still frequently used in interiors, the chair epitomises elegance and embodies its creator Mies van der Rohe’s famous maxim “less is more”. This distinctive chair was designed by modernist titan Mies in 1929 in collaboration with fellow German ...
Five historic building conversions and refurbs that gave these …
WEBJul 14, 2019 — Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam. Photo by Fred Romero, CC by 2.0 Reusing and refurbishing old formerly public buildings is becoming one way of ensuring a space has character.
Icon of the Month: Centre Pompidou | icon 045 | March 2007
WEBMar 27, 2007 — The Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, as its full name goes, is one of the most controversial and recognisible buildings of the 20th century, and this year is its 30th anniversary. Perhaps the most alien building ever made in one of the world’s most historic city centres, it has not lost the power to shock.
Hackney School of Food opens in east London, designed by …
WEBOct 28, 2020 — London-based architecture practice Surman Weston was appointed to help create the 298 sq m food education hub. Sited on an underused part of the primary school grounds, the scheme comprises an educational kitchen and surrounding landscaped gardens for growing food. The kitchen is housed in a 59 sq m redundant caretaker’s cottage, which has ...
Villa Savoye: Le Corbusier’s exemplary modernist building
WEBArchitecture. 20.01.20. Villa Savoye is a definitive example of a modernist building. Set in the Parisian suburb of Poissy, it was designed by Swiss architect and modernist titan Le Corbusier and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret. Built between 1928 and 1931, largely from reinforced concrete, it marked a critical moment in Le Corbusier’s career.
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