Modern Architecture
Modern Design Goes Pop
Designers unveil concepts that pop up and out to offer bold new ways of living in urban environments
Pop. It’s a word designers like to use when talking about adding a burst of color here and there. But recently they’ve been interpreting the word in a more three-dimensional way by creating structures that pop up, pop out and even invite you to pop in, all in an attempt to reinterpret what it means to live in urban environments.
Pop Up
It’s not a rosy picture: young middle-class people who work in a large city like Bangkok but don’t make enough to live there. Bangkok design firm allzone wants to offer a solution to what it’s calling a “new generation of urban poor” by creating a structure that could pop up in several unfinished modern high-rise buildings in the city whose owners had to abandon construction midway for economic reasons.
It’s not a rosy picture: young middle-class people who work in a large city like Bangkok but don’t make enough to live there. Bangkok design firm allzone wants to offer a solution to what it’s calling a “new generation of urban poor” by creating a structure that could pop up in several unfinished modern high-rise buildings in the city whose owners had to abandon construction midway for economic reasons.
The Light House, as the firm calls its pop-up design, could offer short- and medium-term living solutions for which inhabitants would pay rent for space in the unfinished building and use of the water facilities. “Usually a building, even a parking building, is required to provide toilets,” says architect Rachaporn Choochuey.
The Light House, which allzone revealed during the Chicago Architecture Biennial in October and costs $1,200, comprises several layers of lightweight coated metal frame walls that, when erected, can create a 125-square-foot living space draped in polyester fabric for some privacy. The pieces pack up easily into something a bit larger than a suitcase for taking on the move.
“This is not homeless or anarchy living; it is officially living — paying a rent to the owner of the building,” Choochuey says. “It’s more like a recycling act to the building. Just the format of living is different.”
The Light House, which allzone revealed during the Chicago Architecture Biennial in October and costs $1,200, comprises several layers of lightweight coated metal frame walls that, when erected, can create a 125-square-foot living space draped in polyester fabric for some privacy. The pieces pack up easily into something a bit larger than a suitcase for taking on the move.
“This is not homeless or anarchy living; it is officially living — paying a rent to the owner of the building,” Choochuey says. “It’s more like a recycling act to the building. Just the format of living is different.”
Pop Out
Argentine architect Aldana Ferrer Garcia created the MoreSky window as a way for people in urban areas to enjoy, well, more sky. The unit, which debuted during Dubai Design Week in October, pops out to provide a spot in which to kick back and look up — at clouds, rain, trees, birds, other buildings. Think of it as a temporary sunroom for one.
The design features “one large swinging pane hinged at the bottom, and a telescopic cover on the top and sides, together with an unfolding structural seat,” according to the company’s description. Garcia designed the concept primarily to fit Brooklyn’s construction regulations, but the design could be adapted to codes around the world to replace almost any existing window. “MoreSky doesn’t intend to simply expose people to the elements, but rather provide a safe and cozy space to enjoy and have an experience from,” Garcia said in a statement. She’s currently bringing the product to market and has prototypes on the way.
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Argentine architect Aldana Ferrer Garcia created the MoreSky window as a way for people in urban areas to enjoy, well, more sky. The unit, which debuted during Dubai Design Week in October, pops out to provide a spot in which to kick back and look up — at clouds, rain, trees, birds, other buildings. Think of it as a temporary sunroom for one.
The design features “one large swinging pane hinged at the bottom, and a telescopic cover on the top and sides, together with an unfolding structural seat,” according to the company’s description. Garcia designed the concept primarily to fit Brooklyn’s construction regulations, but the design could be adapted to codes around the world to replace almost any existing window. “MoreSky doesn’t intend to simply expose people to the elements, but rather provide a safe and cozy space to enjoy and have an experience from,” Garcia said in a statement. She’s currently bringing the product to market and has prototypes on the way.
More
Watch an Entryway Bar Pop Out to Create a Table for Two
Why White Is the Ultimate Pop of Color
If you’re looking for a good book to read in Newmarket, Ontario, just pop in to the Story Pod, a community-supported lending library designed by Canadian architecture firm Atelier Kastelic Buffey and unveiled this past summer.