Reconceptualizing Urban Housing @ Venice Biennale 2023

Reconceptualizing Urban Housing Exhibition on liveable collective housing featuring women-led practices from around the globe Venice, Italy http://www.reurbanhousing.com

The global housing crisis has created an urgent need for housing worldwide, especially in urban centers where 80% of the world’s population is housed. In the race to build more homes faster, many important factors are being overlooked including community, identity, and liveability. From city to city the context differs dramatically, but the problem is universal: How can urban collective housing be more liveable? How do we ensure that the design of housing will enhance inhabitants’ wellbeing and quality of life? Reconceptualizing Urban Housing will be exhibited as part of the 6th edition of Time Space Existence, organized by the European Cultural Centre (ECC) during the Venice Biennale from May 20th to November 26th, 2023. The exhibition brings together a group of women-led practices from around the globe with unique perspectives on collective housing, primarily in or near urban areas. The diverse range of projects exhibited not only feature a variety of approaches from Europe and North America, but also from developing nations such as Uganda, Malaysia and Mexico, exploring diversity in building typology, climate, and economic and cultural factors, while embodying a shared commitment to social and environmental sustainability.

The selected projects showcase new thinking around housing – they take a bold approach to liveability, exploring the balance of communal and private, design for social connection, adaptability, identity and agency, optimizationof natural light and ventilation, integration of landscaping and urban farming, and access to outdoor spaces, while remaining unique to each local context and demographic. Together and in different ways, they redefine what collective housing can be and how it can support liveability for its inhabitants.

Featured practices:
Adengo Architecture, Uganda
Alison Brooks Architects, UK
Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, Canada
Eleena Jamil Architect, Malaysia
Fernanda Canales Arquitectura, Mexico
Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, France
Mecanoo, The Netherlands
Meyer-Grohbruegge, Germany
Studio Gang, USA


Exhibition Dates: May 20 to November 26, 2023
Press previews: May 18 & 19, 2023
Location: Palazzo Mora, European Cultural Centre, Venice, Italy
Entry: Free
Exhibition Sponsors: Arup, Parklex Prodema, EeStairs, DuRock, Blackwell,
Bulthaup
Media Contact: Heather Breeze connect@reurbanhousing.com
High res and web images: https://tinyurl.com/5dr2mcm4
Website: http://www.reurbanhousing.com

R20 – An Urgent Situation: Rethinking Tourism through Architecture, Art and Community

We have been working on the An Urgent Situation: Rethinking Tourism through Architecture, Art and Community https://www.praksisoslo.org/residencieslist/r20 project organised by Praksis Oslo (Nicholas Jones & Charlotte Teyler) in partnership with Don Lawrence, Tanja Thorjussen and Ketut Karya exploring the future of tourism in terms of design and architectural sustainability and their impact on local communities. The project began with a two-part online residency discussing issues which resulted in a design manifesto as well as exciting ideas on how to develop Samong Haven site in Sumberkima, Bali.

This month we are all at Samong Haven to explore and develop some of these ideas we have been discussing online. Residency participants include Zhe Rui Chen, Stephanie Florence, Kyrre Kalseth, Hans-Petter Bjørnådal, Johanne Dalemark, Eric Almberg, Ahmad Darkhabani, Afaf Ismail, ,Tadeo Nedala, Doriane Happel, Stephanie Florence, Majoren Tegnestue, Eric Almberg

This project is supported by @nordiskkulturfond and @mybritishcouncil

We’re back to modelmaking again!

Happy to be modelmaking again after a long pandemic-led hiatus. Here’s our first in a long time for a ‘cafe cum plant nursery’ scheme: a model made of balsa wood to represent bamboo, blue coloured elements denote steel work and laser-cut boards for perforated brickwork.

Bamboo Micro-library Completed

On 19th September 2018, Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay named Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia as the World Book Capital for the year 2020. In conjunction with this, a series of micro-libraries were built all over the city. The Bamboo library located within the grounds of Perdana Botanical Gardens was designed by us as part of the initiative.

Bamboo Book Kiosk Nearly Completed!

Here are the latest pictures of our mini library at Perdana Botanical Gardens Kuala Lumpur. Nearing completion, this little structure will serve as a free book kiosk built out of bamboo and colourful translucent polycarbonates. It is located right next to the bamboo playhouse and is conceived as part of Kuala Lumpur World Book Capital 2020 program.

Bamboo Terrace Homes

The proposal explores the potential of using bamboo to build permanent and comfortable contemporary homes in urban and suburban areas. It references typical terrace houses built across Malaysia characteristic of 22 feet wide frontages that overlooks out to the street. The underlying idea is change the perception of bamboo into a modern and everyday construction material just like bricks, steel or concrete. Read about the project on designboom

WUF09KL Bamboo Pavilion

Its been hectic for our team trying to complete this little structure in a week, but we are extremely pleased with the results. As part of World Urban Forum installations, the pavilion – called the urban brains – will act as an incubator of ideas where visitors are encouraged to express their urban pledges for a better city by writing them down on the coloured bamboo rings.

WUF09KL Bamboo Pavilion in progress

 

2 weeks to WUF09 KL and we’re testing a mock-up of bamboo rings on frames at the workshop for Urban Brains Bamboo Pavilion.

World Urban Forum 09 Kuala Lumpur runs from the 7th through to the 13th of February 2018.

 

WUF09 Urban Brain Bamboo Pavilion – Part 1

 

We are pleased to announce that we are working on the “Urban Brain” pavilion, a bamboo installation designed by us in collaboration with UN-HABITAT (represented by architects Carmelo Ignaccolo and Anastasia Ignatova) for the World Urban Forum 9 Kuala Lumpur running from the 7 through to 13 February 2018. More details will be available soon.