Frame

Four years ago, an adventurous colleague in our design team let us know that she was planning to become a digital nomad. She was in her early thirties, single, and wanted to travel and work from a backpack and laptop. Although that didn’t seem ideal for a graphic designer, she thought it was doable. She put her money where her mouth was and left for Barcelona, where she took up residence in a small flat for a few months, then travelled on to hotels and hostels in Mexico and South America. While on the go, she and a friend in the Netherlands built up a nice clientele in Europe. Her dream came true. Finally, she and her new boyfriend returned to Barcelona, where she still lives – no longer a…

In the early morning of 24 February 2022, Russia launched missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine. Military infrastructure facilities and airfields were destroyed, multi-apartment and private dwellings were damaged. Kharkiv and Mariupol were almost flattened from artillery shelling and bombs, bleeding for two months, day after day. On the outskirts of Kyiv in places like Bucha, Irpin and Chernihiv, villages and farms, food depots and small factories were practically wiped out. The cost of the damage from the destruction reportedly already exceeds €463 billion – and sadly this is not nor will be the final figure. Fortunately, Kyiv has survived the siege to date, but it has paid a high price: thousands of civilian lives and destroyed homes. According to a report from Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko, 546 buildings were…

It was evident from the invite that this was not your average press trip. Instead of automatically flying everyone in from across Europe for an April preview of its Milan Design Week exhibition Norwegian Presence, Design and Architecture Norway (DOGA) offered the eco route to Oslo: train travel. From my adopted home base in Amsterdam, this meant a two-day journey instead of a flight of under two hours. DOGA connected me with slow-travel service Byway to sort out the logistics – involving multiple train changes and a one-night stopover in Copenhagen, the trip was much more complicated than a direct flight. It’s also a lot more climate-friendly: Byway’s growth lead Marijke Cortenbach tells me this particular train journey expends 17.9 kg of CO2 compared with 192.6 kg for the plane ride.…

The relationship between white- and blue-collar spaces is changing. While countless offices ape the industrial aesthetic, few actually bring manufacturing and knowledge work together in a meaningful way. Labour shortages and supply chain issues arising from the pandemic have accelerated the automation of factories – the term Industry 4.0 uses to describe a new revolution that uses machine learning and data to improve efficiency and link up various parts of production that were previously discrete. This is starting a trend for flagship factories, becoming places where companies can show off their progressive attitudes towards manufacturing technologies, sustainability credentials and brand values. When designing the Swarovski Manufaktur in Wattens, Austria, Snøhetta focused on the benefit of inclusive fabrication facilities. At the 2019 opening, Snøhetta founding partner Kjetil Trædal Thorsen said: ‘Bringing clients,…

For a sector that has long operated under segmented price points and principles of ultra-exclusivity, a model that is welcoming to all could mean a major shift in spatial design. Although the wider focus on accessibility and social coherence has seen venues from museums to offices address issues of inequality surrounding race, gender and sexual orientation, the phrase ‘all-inclusive’ still holds very different connotations in the hospitality sector. A recent report by Be Inclusive Hospitality demonstrated that, while progress is being made, 78 per cent of staff remain concerned about racism in the workplace. On the guest side of things, a slate of closures has seen 60 per cent of London’s dedicated LGBTQ+ spaces shut down in the past decade. Hospitality has become increasingly fragmented into smaller, more niche brands to…

When most people think about 3D printing, novelty gifts, accessories and small trinkets that sit on a mantlepiece come to mind. However, with the rapid development of additive manufacturing, construction companies are increasingly teaming up with architects to deliver pioneering printed properties. Construction giant Icon and manufacturing juggernaut Peri have both been developing a portfolio of 3D-printed schemes and are pushing the boundaries of what the process can do. Two innovative examples of this are Austin’s East 17th Residences designed by Texas-based practice Logan Architecture and Germany’s first 3D-printed home by engineering firm Mense-Korte. The East 17th Residences are an inventive set of 3D-printed houses located in the centre of Austin, developed using Icon’s Vulcan II printer. ‘The ambition for the project was to design a marketable set of buildings that…