The emotional and spiritual atmosphere one feels when entering centuries-old architecture is palpable. So while the degradation, and sometimes even intentional destruction, of ancient structures and environments, is regretful and possibly shameful, it’s often an all-too-unavoidable part of healthy urban planning, adhering to important health and safety laws and regulations.
Whenever these historic yet antiquated environments are refreshed and adapted for modern life, however, they’re often labeled as grotesque Frankensteinian versions of their once beautiful selves. When the transformation is treated with care and respect, however, the humble grandeur and contemplative scale of the settings can remain intact.
Rock | Roll by Germane Barnes. Image Courtesy of Miami Design District
Distinguished for its quality, depth, and diversity, Design Miami 2022 has concluded, giving worldwide collectors and locals the best in contemporary and emerging art and design. Kicking off at the end of November and running through the first week of December, this event ran alongside the annual Art Basel Miami Beach. The ultimate international art fair ranged from interactive installations to art exhibitions by promising up-and-comers to 20th-century masterworks, including Daniel Arsham and Andrés Reisinger, and Stefano Boeri. Also during this event, MetaMundo has presented their Top 50 Creators of the Metaverse - a hand-picked collection of some of the world’s best 3D artists.
For this edition, The Miami Design District has awarded Miami-based architect and designer Germane Barnes and commissioned a multifaceted installation that honors the city's polyethnic culture. Along with other relevant architectural installations during the Miami Art Week, the following selection includes work by Leandro Erlich at Perez Art Museum Miami and Pilar Zeta.
Stefano Boeri Architetti, together with a multidisciplinary team including ARUP, Fabio Novembre, and Balich Wonder Studio, has unveiled the design for the new Milan Stadium, named the International Forest Stadium. The project, located in the San Siro area of the city, was presented to the public on the occasion of the competition announced in 2019 by the Inter and Milan teams. The stadium is envisioned as an integral part of the “Sport and leisure district” system, an extensive masterplan measuring over 800 hectares, planned to transform the San Siro district into a center for excellence in the context of European sports.
Stefano Boeri Architetti presented a new design for the Vertical Forest towers during COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The prototype would be in Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the next host of COP28 in 2023. The ambitious project would represent the first Vertical Forest prototype for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and it is the latest in an extended list of greenery-covered buildings by Boeri Architetti, including the Bosco Verticale in Milan, the Easyhome Huanggang in China, and a prototype of the First Dutch Vertical Forest.
In line with the United Nations agenda of climate neutrality by 2050, the Rome City Council has announced the establishment of a Laboratory titled “Laboratorio Roma050 – il Futuro della Metropoli Mondo", a project proposed and led by Italian architect Stefano Boeri, which aims to draw up an ecological vision for Rome in 2050. The urban regeneration project consists of 12 young architects and urban planners under the age of 35, along with 4 renowned architects as mentors, who collectively have specific experience in terms of studies and research regarding the Italian capital.
Only a few days left until the annual inauguration of Milan Design Week 2022, one of the biggest international design events which features the Fuorisalone and Salone del Mobile. From the 7th till the 12th of June 2022, the streets of Milan will be hosting an array of architectural interventions and exhibitions curated by local and international designers as part of the Fuorisalone. And at the Fiera Milano | Rho, Salone del Mobile 2022, the awaited furniture and interior design event of the year, will be celebrating its 60th anniversary with themes and projects that reflect on “inclusive” design, fostering "autonomy, comfort, movement, usability, interaction and safety for all".
Stefano Boeri Architetti and SON Architects are announced as winners of the tender organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF) for the conservation, presentation, enhancement, and planning for the Archaeological Excavations of the Roman Amphitheatre, the Byzantine Forum, and Roman Baths in the historic center of Durrës. In support of the long-term vision for the city of Durrës, the winners will also be responsible for designing a series of urban pathways with the aim of reconnecting the main historical attractions with the waterfront and the city’s port.
As the new year kicks off, we're taking a look ahead to the projects we're most looking forward to in 2022. With a mix of cultural and commercial programs, the designs are located across five continents, with many under construction for multiple years. Designed across a wide range of scales, they represent a mix of interconnected landscapes, museums, and new skyscrapers.
As part of the new Tirana 2030 master plan, Stefano Boeri Architetti has created a new model for schools, transforming them into a place for people of all ages, open every hour of the day and every day of the year. The newly-inaugurated project in Tirana serves as a "new epicenter for life in urban neighborhoods", used by students during the day as a school campus and by the whole community on weekends and public holidays as recreational and meeting places, as well as potential places for shelter during emergencies.
Seven years after the inauguration of Bosco Verticale in Milan, Stefano Boeri Architetti presented a video documentary of Trudo Tower, the first Vertical Forest in social housing. The 19-storey residential tower, which is built in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, features hundreds of various species on each of its four facades, with 125 affordable apartments that accommodate low-income residents. The miniseries consists of 3 episodes that explore how "living in contact with trees and greenery - and enjoying their advantages - is not the prerogative of rich people but could well become a possible choice for millions of citizens around the world.”
Courtesy of KARL LAGERFELD, Sierra Blanca Estates and One Atelier
During the past couple of years, luxury and fashion brands began venturing into architecture. Some built museums, foundations, and cultural organizations while others shaped residential structures that translated their identity into space. Following this same concept, KARL LAGERFELD, along with Spanish Developer Sierra Blanca Estates and the Design and Branding Firm The One Atelier, have developed the fashion house’s first “luxury architectural project”, the Karl Lagerfeld Villas in Marbella, Spain. Designed by The One Atelier, of which Andrea Boschetti is Head of Design, the project has low carbon impact, aligned with the brand’s commitment to the Fashion Pact - a global sustainability initiative that seeks to transform the fashion industry through objectives in climate, biodiversity, and ocean protection.
Asking what is “luxury architecture” and questioning why fashion brands are expanding into architecture, ArchDaily met with Andrea Boschetti to further understand the architect and urban planner’s take on the subject.
“Designing a house for trees”, as he puts it, Stefano Boeri is working across the planet, exporting his approach with trees from Mexico to Shenzhen. Building a whole ecosystem, rather than just a green facade, the architect understands the need to redefine our relationship with nature, especially in cities.
ArchDaily’s Christele Harrouk had the chance to interview the architect in Eindhoven, during the inauguration of the Trudo Tower, Stefano Boeri’s first social housing project, in collaboration with Francesca Cesa Bianchi, his partner at Stefano Boeri Architetti, Laura Gatti, botanist and plantation consultant, and Paolo Russo, Project leader. Discussing mainly his approach with nature, the environmental quality, and his exported perspective around the world, the conversation also tackled the 4 ongoing vertical forests in West Europe: A first that has just started in Utrecht, a second in Brussels, a ready to go building in Eindhoven and a last one in Antwerp.
Courtesy of Lifang International Digital Technology Co., Ltd. Stefano Boeri Architetti
Stefano Boeri Architetti combined the concept of "Vertical Forest" and "Farm of agricultural industry" in its newly-unveiled urban vertical farm titled "Urban Vertical Farm of Brightfood". The project explored a new way of urban production in metropolitan areas by combining greenery, food production, and visual aesthetics in a 110,000 square-meter structure. In addition to its ecological features, the new urban agricultural complex offers commercial and office spaces in the vibrant city of Shanghai.
Salone is the most important furniture event in the world, strongly connected to the city and the design culture. This year we are seeing a new expanded format to mark the 60th anniversary of Salone del Mobile, titled "SuperSalone", a prequel to the 2022 edition, with a very accentuated focus on the materiality and the sustainable aspect.
Managing to put together the physical and the digital, in order to make the event more accessible for the world, Salone ran during the first week of September, at the Rho Fiera. During these design days, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with the curator, Stefano Boeri, discussing this very special edition, the relationship between the city of Milano and Salone, the democratization of design as well as the environmental quality in his projects around the world.
Guizhou Mountain Forest Hotel / Stefano Boeri Architetti. Image Courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti
When we were forced to be confined at home due to the self-quarantine policy of the COVID-19 global pandemic, everyone must have spent a tremendous amount of time looking out from their window. Sometimes when we are so exhausted with everyday work and life, we just wish to have a quick getaway to oceans and forests, somewhere close to the natural green.
Courtesy of DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO AND STEFANO BOERI ARCHITETTI
Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS + R) and Stefano Boeri Architetti have won the international architectural competition for the renovation of Pirelli 39 in Milan. Launched on 25 November 2019, the contest organized by COIMA SGR and the municipality of Milan, gathered 70 submissions made up of 359 studios from 15 countries.
Stefano Boeri, together with a team of consultants, has created the architectural and communicative concept behind the anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Under the slogan "With a flower, Italy comes back to life", the approved proposal, requested by the Italian Special Commissioner for the Covid-19 emergency Domenico Arcuri, includes the campaign logo, the temporary pavilions, and mobile information totem in public spaces.
Stefano Boeri Interiors has unveiled images of his latest circular wooden installation, in an open-air setting of contemporary art. Entitled TREE-ROOM, the project in which “humans and living nature come together, between meditation and contemplation”, is designed for Arte Sella and is located in the garden of Villa Strobele in Val di Sella, in Northern Italy.