All articles by Sowmya Thuniki
Sowmya Thuniki
If only… a lighting device that monitors carbon footprint
If only we had a portable lighting device that monitored our carbon footprint, says Hoare Lea Lighting
Giles Miller: surface designer – Interview
Designer Giles Miller is building an international reputation for an innovative use of surface materials. His studio’s clients include some serious heavyweights in their respective industries, including British Airways, Selfridges, Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Stella McCartney and his studio in Spitalfields is being kept particularly busy with clients in the Middle East and Asia
FX design focus: surfaces
Toby Maxwell chooses some of the best new projects which put surfaces centre stage, from hotels and offices to an information system for the city of Bath
Erik Spiekermann on books
Now finding themselves in a new world of post-digital publishing, booklovers have more to tackle these days than they can possibly ever read, says Erik Spiekermann. Erik Spiekermann set up MetaDesign and FontShop, and is a teacher, author, designer and partner at Edenspiekermann
Two of a Kind: a new home for France’s FRAC art centre
Quel surprise! The new home for one of France’s FRAC art centres realises a wild proposition from Paris-based practice Lacaton & Vassal – a doppelganger volume of a former shipyard hangar in the docklands of Dunkirk
One to watch: Sebastian Cox, furniture maker
Furniture maker Sebastian Cox, part of the Heal’s Discovers initiative to cultivate new talent
Electric Dreams: rethinking the motor car
The car was undoubtedly one of the most important products of the 20th century. But as the 21st century gathers pace, this incredible personal transportation device has become a victim of its own success, causing many cities to suffer increasingly unacceptable pollution levels and gridlock. The car industry is reinventing itself, but may not be part of the future transport solution at all
Andreas Ruby and Nathalie Janson on the Baugruppe initiative
Despite ever-increasing house prices, more than 86 per cent of Britons want to own their own home. As debates still range around the UK Government ‘incentives’ such as Help to Buy, can our continental cousins provide alternative models? Complementing our Self-Build feature (see page 88), Berlin’s Baugruppe initiative brings benefits across scales of the individual, the community and the city. Nathalie Janson is a researcher, writer and editor at Ruby Press, an architecture and urbanism publisher founded and directed by co-author Andreas Ruby. They discuss the work of Baugruppe
Blueprint launches Blueprint for the Future competition
Architecture and design students are invited to put their creative talents to creating a cycling ‘hub’ building and satellite hubs in Sheffield, to support the city’s drive to enhance its sustainable transport system and its cycling community. The VeloCity competition, run in conjunction with the British timber body TRADA, is offering a £5000 top prize
If you build it: the rise and rise of self-build
Self-build, custom-build, collective custom-build – we’ve always been a nation of DIY lovers, and now the British housing crisis is spurring on several do-it-yourself alternatives to the hegemony of the volume housebuilder. Blueprint has assembled a panel of architects, developers, researchers and strategists to share their perspectives on this emergent field