Tabla de contenidos para Summer 2025 en Frame

In my ten-plus years at FRAME – and throughout its existence – FRAME has deliberately avoided political commentary, with the occasional column taking a more critical tone. In general, our focus has always been on spatial design, and we judge spaces by their design credentials. Over time, however, these credentials have come to encompass increasingly complex and charged project attributes – ones that are inherently linked to broader societal shifts, expectations and sentiments. To name but a few: sustainability is inseparable from governance; wellbeing is indivisible from the welfare state; and inclusivity is inextricably linked to social hierarchy. In addition, and because of our global scope, the (messed-up) state of the world has sparked more than one discussion about what projects – from where and by whom – should or…

Founded in 2019 by Athanasios Varnavas and Era Savvides, Urban Radicals has rooted its practice in civic engagement. A thread of activism is woven into every project it tackles – be it objects, spaces, landscape or architecture. Its work seeks to take design out of the hyper-curated and into ‘the ad hoc, the improvised and the everyday structures that shape how we live’, notes Savvides. Its collaborative, research-driven approach challenges conventional design thinking, resulting in spaces that incubate both dialogue and community. The studio’s fluidity across disciplines allows for cross-pollination. ‘Ideas and sensibilities from one scale often influence another, shaping the way we think about both interior and exterior spaces,’ says Varnavas. Its first official project, the Cyprus Pavilion at the 17th Architecture Biennale in Venice, saw a 30-m-long table…

Michael Bennett wasn’t always a designer. In fact, he had a long and decorated career in the NFL before he began his foray into design. Bennett has been known to take a stand against racism and injustice since his days as an American football player, and he brings that spirit to his interdisciplinary design practice, Studio Kër. So why go from American football to design? ‘I wanted to investigate. I wanted to research. I wanted to study. I wanted to play. I wanted to listen. I wanted to create. I think for me, it was always about how design can inform activism. How can I lead and think about design and space and culture, and can that lead to design as a form of resistance?’ With Studio Kër, Bennett’s focus…

The best open-air living spaces foster a communion between people and nature. Vondom’s Pasadena collection, created in collaboration with Jean-Marie Massaud, articulates just that: spaces that are both defined and fluid. Whether anchored by just a single piece from the collection or framed by all of its elements, the stage is set for rest, connection and comfort. Architectural yet plush, technical yet luxurious, the range of lounge chairs, modular sofas, side tables and sunloungers marry form and function – with flexibility in mind. ‘Balance,’ says Massaud, ‘is the key to timelessness.’ Crafted from aluminium, durable acrylic fabric and bouncy, cold-moulded polyurethane – prized by many manufacturers for its thermal insulation, robustness, supreme support and tear-resistance – the pieces are designed to withstand the elements while retaining the rich character of…

When it comes to housing, conventional models have historically treated domestic space as static, with fixed room functions and rigid architectural layouts. Today, this creates a disconnect between the way we live and the way spaces are designed, according to Spanish studio Hanghar. ‘Contemporary lifestyles are more fluid and diverse than traditional housing models allow,’ says Eduardo Mediero, who founded the Madrid-based firm in 2021. ‘People no longer live in fixed, traditional family structures or work in predictable patterns. Instead, they are forming new types of households that require more flexible and adaptable living spaces.’ In response to these shifts, Hanghar is developing alternative forms of living space, with an overarching mission to move away from market-driven logic. Interiors, Mediero believes, are not neutral spaces. They are shaped by and…

TRACEY Kaave, you worked with Space10 for almost a decade. What was the reason for starting 21st Europe, and what did you want to take away and leave behind from the Space10 days? KAAVE Over time, I was drawn to working with culture and systems rather than commercial viability and applications. At Space10, we had a lot of room to explore beyond just the next quarter, but there was still this desire to eventually translate our research into something tangible and commercial. That might be fine for most of the design industry, but I realized that some of the most pressing issues right now can’t be solved with a silver bullet, a single commercial application. It’s more about systems, culture or something much more complex, and that’s where I think…

‘Move fast and break things’ is a mantra associated with Silicon Valley tech bros, whose appetite for disruption in the early 2000s still has the world reeling. It also comes to mind when talking to POoR Collective, an entirely different type of brethren based in London who have been smashing down barriers in the built environment since 2019. Standing for Power Out of Restriction, the design practice – founded by four friends before they were 30 – has made an outsized impact in the short time it’s been around. Tackling installations, murals, community engagement, and new forms of mentoring and traineeship, it proposes a radically different way to design by making the voices of young people central to the process. ‘I like to think we’re doers,’ says cofounder Shawn Adams.…

1 Shift from human-centric to society-centric Not only has human-centric design traditionally been too narrow – defaulting to the idea of the ‘average’ user – but perhaps ‘human-centric’ is too narrow altogether. As well as broadening their lens to include a wider range of identities, abilities and cultural contexts, designers could look further afield to society-centric design – prioritizing systemic change over individual products. 2 Protest through process Design activism isn’t only about the outcome; it’s embedded in the way studios operate. From traditional hierarchies to market-driven norms, rejecting capitalist growth models can itself be a political act. Rethinking operations – how teams are built, funded and managed – and challenging existing systems that stifle innovation can lead to change. Design with, not for Community engagement must go beyond consultation. Design…

Where some see neatly built structures and orderly spatial planning as signs of progress and peace, others see the legacy and perpetuation of glaring injustices of the societies and systems that bore them. Architectactivist Zarith Pineda, the founder and director of Territorial Empathy and an adjunct associate at Columbia University, has dedicated her design practice and teaching to raising awareness of and organizing action against inequality in (urban) spaces. To her, spatial justice is ‘about recognizing how infrastructure has been weaponized – from highways cleaving through Black neighbourhoods to zoning laws that criminalize poverty to border walls that divide families. It demands that we build differently – that we prioritize joy, memory and care over control.’ Pineda was born in Bogotá – from which her family emigrated during the height…