Located on Jambiani beach along Zanzibar’s east coast, Drifting Cloud is a kinetic installation by Vincent Leroy that interacts directly with the wind. The sculptural work is constructed from carbon rods, 3D printed joints, and kite-canvas discs, forming a lightweight structure capable of responding to subtle air currents.

The installation’s modular components move independently while remaining part of a connected whole, generating a dynamic, constantly changing composition. Movements vary according to wind strength, ranging from fine vibrations to broader gestures, producing an organized yet unpredictable rhythm.

all images courtesy of Vincent Leroy

Vincent Leroy integrates coastal context into kinetic artwork

Positioned above the shoreline and amid the seaweed farms, the installation by Paris-based artist Vincent Leroy integrates with its environment without interfering with local activity. Its floating arrangement translates wind into visible motion, offering a spatial and temporal reading of environmental forces. Drifting Cloud demonstrates the interplay between lightweight materials, modular construction, and environmental responsiveness in a coastal context.

Drifting Cloud is a kinetic installation on Jambiani beach, Zanzibar

the work responds directly to the coastal winds

modular components move independently yet remain connected

carbon rods, 3D printed joints, and kite-canvas discs form its lightweight structure

movements shift dynamically with the wind’s strength

each element contributes to an organized yet unpredictable rhythm

Drifting Cloud’s kinetic rhythm mirrors the movement of the shoreline and wind

project info:

name: Drifting Cloud

designer: Vincent Leroy | @vincent_leroy_studio

location: Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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Mercedes-Benz releases the first electric car with vegan interiors that use leather replicas without animal products or fibers. Brought to CES 2026 in Las Vegas, which runs between January 6th and 9th, the car manufacturer’s GLC model is dubbed the first vehicle with vegan fittings in the cabin. At the center of this design is a material called ARTICO, which looks and feels like leather, but it is made without animal products. Mercedes-Benz uses it for seat upholstery, steering wheel covers, and other surfaces people touch often. Alongside this, the company also uses certified vegan textiles and microfiber materials for door trims, pillars, headliners, and carpets.

The textiles used in seats, door trim, pillars, headliners, and other interior areas are fabric materials made without animal fibers, while the microfiber fleece is a synthetic fiber material, which replaces animal-based suede or leather and is used for soft interior surfaces. The textile-based floor and boot carpets are made without wool or other animal-derived fibers and mixed with recycled content. Some interior parts inside the vegan electric car of Mercedes-Benz use synthetic polymers instead of animal-based binders, coatings, or additives, and during production, there are no animal-based glues, dyes, coatings, or processing agents used, says the company.

all images courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

GLC vehicle earns trademark with new biomaterials

For the vegan interiors inside the GLC electric car, Mercedes-Benz worked with The Vegan Society, a globally recognized independent organization. The group tested and audited all the soft-touch materials used in the interiors of the vehicle, including checking the final materials and how they were made. The result is certification under the well-known Vegan Trademark, which is set to appear in the car manufacturer’s vehicle configurator when customers select the Vegan Package for the new GLC. Mercedes-Benz and The Vegan Society reviewed existing interior materials already used in the company’s series of vehicles to see if they contained any animal-based ingredients, even in small amounts like additives, coatings, or processing aids. 

If any material showed signs of animal origin, engineers and suppliers worked together to redesign it. After these changes, The Vegan Society conducted a full independent audit. Around 100 different material components from multiple suppliers were reviewed, and to earn the Vegan Trademark, materials had to meet several conditions. They could and should not contain animal products, by-products, or derivatives, as well as not involve animal testing. And manufacturers had to prevent cross-contamination with animal-derived ingredients as much as practically possible. With the new GLC electric car with EQ Technology, Mercedes-Benz is dubbed the first manufacturer to offer a vehicle interior certified with The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark. So far, the current vegan interiors for Mercedes-Benz’s GLC electric car are set to be available to the US clients starting the second half of 2026.

Mercedes-Benz releases the first electric car with vegan interiors that use leather replicas

at the center of this design is a material called ARTICO, which looks and feels like leather

the textiles used in door trim, pillars, and headliners are fabric materials made without animal fibers

GLC is the car model offered with vegan interior options

project info:

model: GLC

car manufacturer: Mercedes-Benz | @mercedesbenz

The post first vegan electric car by mercedes-benz uses leather replica without animal fibers appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

For the winter season of 2025, Hermès invites French artist Delphine Dénéréaz to design the festive windows of its Hermès Maison in Shanghai. Titled Aïgo, Flamo e Cacho Fio, the installation draws on Provençal winter rituals, the Gros Souper, the Cacho Fio, Epiphany, and translates them through weaving, collage, and light into a tactile landscape that bridges southern France and the birthplace of silk.

Rather than staging a cultural contrast, Dénéréaz approaches the commission as a meeting point shaped by textile history. ‘Provence and China are linked by a long textile history; here they do not confront each other as two foreign worlds, but rather meet through family traditions that anyone can understand,’ she tells us. Silk, she notes, has traveled between these territories for centuries, and the Shanghai windows become a way to honor those exchange routes through materials and gesture. ‘The dialogue happens through the hand and the materials rather than through discourse,’ she shares with designboom.

all images courtesy of Hermès Maison in Shanghai, unless stated otherwise

weaving memory and ritual into luminous worlds

Based in Villedieu, Provence, Dénéréaz works from a former magnanerie, a repurposed silkworm mill. Her practice centers on lirette, a medieval weaving technique originating in North Africa and southern Europe, traditionally used to reuse fabric scraps. Torn, knotted, and recomposed, these fragments form dense, hyper-colored surfaces that hover between tapestry, architecture, and object.

Dénéréaz describes lirette as existing ‘between craft and magic,’ though she is quick to demystify the term. ‘Magic for me is not mystical: it comes from transformation,’ she says. Each strip of fabric carries a previous life, a garment, a domestic gesture, a memory, and weaving becomes a way of activating those histories. Where conventional textile design seeks control or regularity, lirette allows accidents to surface. ‘It lets me express a collective memory carried by ordinary materials, and transform it into almost talismanic images,’ she notes.

Drawing from symbols of her village, the belfry, cypress trees, and fountains, Dénéréaz translates familiar landmarks into woven icons for the Hermès windows. ‘These motifs become almost like amulets, simple forms that protect and bring people together,’ she explains. Personal memory, in her work, becomes a shared language. ‘I speak of Villedieu, but I am also speaking of all the places that imprint themselves on us and shape shared memories,’ the French artist reflects.

Color plays a central role in this translation. Even when working with reclaimed or humble materials, Dénéréaz’s palette remains unapologetically bright, with saturated reds, electric blues, neon accents. ‘Color is a vector of energy for me,’ she points out. ‘It conveys atmospheres, sensations, memories — the southern light, festivities, the vivid contrasts of domestic life.’ For the artist, color is evidence of time, light, and transformation. ‘Each shade is a way to make visible what has been lived,’ Delphine Dénéréaz adds.

Hermès invites French artist Delphine Dénéréaz to design the festive windows of its Shanghai flagship

domestic materials as monumental icons

Across her wider practice, Dénéréaz pushes weaving toward spatial and architectural forms. Lirette becomes facade, doorway, altar, or shrine, often mounted on metal grids or wooden frames. ‘The idea of textile architecture fascinates me,’ she says. ‘Soft surface is the body’s first habitat, and I enjoy revealing how tapestries, traditionally reserved for interiors, can become walls in their own right.’ These structures form what she describes as an ‘imaginary village’, a network of passages and refuges where personal memory intersects with collective myth.

That tension, between softness and rigidity, domestic gesture and monumental scale, is also political. By elevating techniques historically associated with the home and with women, Dénéréaz questions hierarchies of value in art. ‘Why are some forms of art valued while others are not?’ she asks. ‘And how can we restore to ordinary materials the place they deserve in our cultural imagination?’ Ornament, in her work is a carrier of history, labor, and meaning.

At Hermès Maison Shanghai, these concerns converge at architectural scale. The windows unfold as a fresco-like panorama woven thread by thread, while a luminous exterior installation reimagines the Provençal bell tower in arches of light, crowned by a star and a golden bell. For Dénéréaz, the project also carries a personal resonance: she grew up in a former silk mill, studied textile design, and remembers her first lirette piece, made from plastic bags collected in China over a decade ago. ‘I like the idea of a Silk Road traveled in reverse,’ she reflects, an imaginary journey that brings Provençal symbols back to China, echoing the historical circulation of motifs, materials, and techniques. In that loop between past and present, craft and transformation, Delphine Dénéréaz positions weaving as a medium capable of carrying memory across geography, time, and light.

titled Aïgo, Flamo e Cacho Fio, the installation draws on Provençal winter rituals

a tactile landscape that bridges southern France and the birthplace of silk

the windows unfold as a fresco-like panorama woven thread by thread

an imaginary journey that brings Provençal symbols back to China

echoing the historical circulation of motifs, materials, and techniques

a luminous exterior installation reimagines the Provençal bell tower in arches of light

Delphine Dénéréaz positions weaving as a medium capable of carrying memory across geography

Le Palais d’Harmonia | image courtesy of the artist

Where Morphos Whisper | image by Pierre Meyer

Dénéréaz pushes weaving toward spatial and architectural forms | image by Grégory Copitet

view of the exhibition Bienvenue à Delfunland, Collection Lambert, Avignon | image by Gabrielle Sosson

view of the exhibition Bienvenue à Delfunland, Collection Lambert, Avignon | image courtesy of the artist

view of the exhibition Bienvenue à Delfunland, Collection Lambert, Avignon | image courtesy of the artist

Les objets | image by @southwaystudio

project info:

name: Aïgo, Flamo e Cacho Fio
artist: Delphine Dénéréaz | @delphine.denereaz
client: Hermès | @hermes
location: Hermès Maison Shanghai, 217 Middle Huaihai Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China

The post delphine dénéréaz weaves provençal memory into Hermès’ winter windows in shanghai appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Everbloom turns organic waste such as discarded down, wool, and cashmere into usable garment fibers braided by AI. The startup describes the textile as softer than merino, more indulgent than cashmere, and stronger than silk. The production process starts with throwaways that already exist and collects these protein-based materials from textile waste and agriculture. Instead of binning them, the team treats them as raw input, sorted by type and cleaned by the in-house developed AI system named Braid. It is designed to separate protein waste based on its source, condition, and composition, and it collects data from these inputs to study how they react during processing.

The model analyzes how proteins behave under changes in temperature, moisture, and molecular weight, and from this data, it predicts the properties of the final fiber before production starts, including how it will respond to tension, dye, and wear. Based on these predictions, Braid AI suggests adjustments, and they’re translated into settings for the melt-spinning machines. The model also allows different waste streams to be combined into one system, so instead of treating each input as a problem, it treats them as variables to scale production. This link between software and hardware reduces trial-and-error testing. What once took months in a lab can now be done in weeks, and this AI model shortens development time and lowers the cost of producing usable garment fibers.

all images courtesy of Everbloom

Making the usable garment fibers for the fashion industry

Now back to the material: after cleaning the discarded organic waste, the proteins are extracted, but they’re not ready to be transformed yet into AI-churned usable garment fibers. They must be changed at a molecular level. Using protein engineering and molecular biology, Everbloom adjusts the structure of the proteins to control how the material behaves later in production. The processed protein is then turned into pellets, which are easy to store, move, and measure. They also allow the material to fit into existing manufacturing systems as well as help stabilize quality and make the process repeatable. The pellets are designed to work with standard melt-spinning machines, the ones already used across the textile industry to produce synthetic fibers. 

In this case, the startup’s pellets can replace polyester in this system. When heated and stretched, the pellets form long filaments, and this allows manufacturers to adopt the AI-churned usable garment fibers without rebuilding their factories. Once the filaments are created, the next step is yarn production, taking place in Italy. The yarn is produced according to clear targets, including stretch, resistance, and hand feel, and each parameter is defined before production begins. The yarn can then be knitted or woven into fabric, and at this stage, the material is ready for use in garments. Most fibers used today are made from fossil fuels and don’t break down after use. At the same time, large amounts of protein waste are discarded each year. Everbloom positions its system as a way to connect these two issues by replacing synthetic input and reviving discarded waste into regenerated biological material at scale.

Everbloom turns organic waste into usable garment fibers braided by AI

the startup describes the textile as softer than merino, more indulgent than cashmere, and stronger than silk

the yarn is produced according to clear targets, including stretch, resistance, and hand feel

the yarn can then be knitted or woven into fabric

detailed view of the woven fabric

view of the resulting material

project info:

startup: Everbloom 

The post proteins from discarded feathers, cashmere and wool return as usable garment fibers appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

The Christmas Festival of Bad Habits is a temporary public-space installation located on Římské náměstí in the historic center of Brno, Czech Republic. Developed by architectural studio Peer Collective in collaboration with artist Kateřina Šedá, the non-profit organization Renadi, and the Brno-střed Municipal District, the project reconsiders the spatial and social format of the traditional Christmas market. Instead of retail-driven programming, the installation introduces a structured environment for reflection, movement, and collective experience.

The project occupies a long-overlooked urban site adjacent to Františkánská Street, transforming the square into a calm, barrier-free environment during the holiday season. Its conceptual framework draws from Šedá’s long-term participatory project, The National Collection of Bad Habits, which examines everyday behaviors and shared social patterns. This material informs a guided spatial sequence designed as a path of self-reflection through the square.

Peer Collective’s architectural intervention consists of a lightweight, temporary structure made from modular truss systems commonly used in stage construction. From this framework, large red and white curtains are suspended, subdividing the square into eighteen open-air ‘rooms.’ These spaces create a sequence of thresholds, passages, and partial enclosures that encourage slow movement and individual engagement. The curtains operate as soft architectural elements, forming spatial boundaries without fully enclosing the space and maintaining visual continuity with the surrounding city.

all images by Matej Hakár unless stated otherwise

An Urban Interior for Reflection and Collective Experience

The installation covers approximately 2,478 sqm and functions as an urban interior within the public realm. During evening hours, the white curtain surfaces serve as projection screens for text-based testimonies derived from The National Collection of Bad Habits. These projections, combined with subdued lighting and ambient sound, transform the square into an open-air exhibition environment that blurs the distinction between public space and personal reflection. At the center of the spatial sequence is a freestanding ‘confessional’ structure composed of six individual booths. Replacing the conventional market stall, this element serves as the focal point of the installation. Visitors are invited to enter the booths to record or reflect on personal habits, contributing to a collective audiovisual system that aggregates individual input into a shared narrative. Circulation routes guide visitors back around the curtain perimeter, completing the spatial loop and returning them to the surrounding urban fabric.

Accessibility and inclusion form a key part of the project’s spatial strategy. The ground surface of the square was leveled with fine gravel to create a barrier-free environment suitable for wheelchair users, parents with strollers, and visitors with limited mobility. The installation operates without alcohol sales, reinforcing its role as a sober and inclusive public setting during the holiday period. Local residents also participated in preparing the site through a community event prior to the festival. Through temporary architecture, minimal material intervention, and participatory content, the Christmas Festival of Bad Habits demonstrates how seasonal urban installations can shift emphasis from consumption to spatial experience, reflection, and shared presence. The project positions architecture as a framework for social interaction, using adaptable construction systems and soft boundaries to reshape public space in the city center. Designed by architectural studio Peer Collective in collaboration with artist Kateřina Šedá, the installation is on view from December 9th to December 31st, 2025.

the temporary installation reinterprets the traditional Christmas market as a space for reflection

a long-overlooked urban square is reactivated as a calm public environment

the installation functions as an urban interior within the public realm

the Christmas Festival of Bad Habits occupies Římské náměstí in Brno’s historic center

red and white curtains subdivide the square into eighteen open-air rooms

modular truss systems form the lightweight structural framework

the installation replaces retail stalls with a guided spatial sequence

a central confessional structure anchors the spatial sequence

the project was developed by Peer Collective with artist Kateřina Šedá and local partners

temporary architecture frames social interaction without permanent intervention

circulation routes expand beyond the central installation before returning to the city

white curtain surfaces become projection screens after dark | image by Jan Urbášek

project info:

name: Christmas Festival of Bad Habits
architect: Peer Collective | @peer.archi

art concept: Kateřina Šedá | @katerinaseda.cz

location: Římské náměstí, Františkánská ulice, Brno, Czech Republic

dates: December 9th–December 31st, 2025

built-up area: 1784 sqm

client: Brno-střed Municipal District

lead designers: Daniel Struhařík, Georgi Dimitrov, Ondřej Válek [Peer Collective] + Kateřina Šedá

design team: Vojtěch Heralecký, Jakub Čevela, Jan Urbášek, Radim Koutný, Monika Matějkovičová, Aneta Báčová

idea initiator: Renadi | @renadibrno

graphic design: Kristína Drinková

editors: Lucie Faulerová, Petra Konečná

interactive concept: Zkrat kolektiv | @zkrat.kolektiv

production: Martin Ondruš, David Ondra, Lenka Holenda Jirků, Michal Ondráček, Petr Štika, Martina Pokorná, Radim Preuss

structure contractor: Kletch CZ

curtain supplier: Kubíček Factory

contractor of the confessional: Georgi Dimitrov

projector supplier: Jaroslav Zelina

photographer: Matej Hakár | @matejhakar

night photos: Jan Urbášek [Peer Collective]

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post red and white curtains transform czech historic center’s pathways into christmas installation appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Tomislav Topić turns the chapel at Centre d’art Les 3 CHA in Châteaugiron, France, into a floating chromatic field with ECHOVERSE, an optical installation composed of 451 translucent layers in 57 colors. Spanning thirteen suspended modules and rising nearly sixteen meters, the work recasts the vaulted interior as an environment where color behaves like sound, drifting, echoing, and reshaping the perception of depth. Installed after more than a year of research and five days of on-site assembly, the piece, on view through December 14th, 2025, introduces a contemporary, weightless counterpoint to the chapel’s heavy stone volumes.

From the ground, ECHOVERSE appears like a slow-moving gradient frozen mid-flow: sheets of mesh overlap into bands of violet, red, orange, and blue, shifting saturation as daylight threads through the historic stained-glass windows. The layers catch and refract the ambient light, projecting faint ripples onto the walls and floor. These chromatic shadows act as secondary drawings, expanding the installation beyond its physical limits and inviting visitors to orbit it from multiple vantage points. The material is almost imperceptibly thin, allowing the color fields to hover with softness.

all images by Gwendal Le Flem

ECHOVERSE: Tomislav Topić’s Gradient waves

Topology and repetition are central to the Berlin-based artist’s practice, which draws from color design and the spatial sensitivities of urban art. Tomislav Topić’s geometric compositions typically rely on minimal interventions that amplify the character of an existing site, altering perception without overpowering the architecture. In ECHOVERSE, this approach becomes a dialogue between the medieval timber ceiling, which becomes a canopy for a contemporary gradient, while the elongated nave of the chapel functions as a corridor for chromatic drift. The suspended modules trace a loose wave that seems to rise and fall along the length of the space, echoing the artist’s interest in rhythm and visual sound.

Topić chose the title ECHOVERSE for its layering of meaning: ‘A polyphonic weave of perception and repetition — every color, every layer, every viewpoint echoes another, like lines of a poem or waves of sound moving through space.’ This idea becomes palpable as viewers move beneath the installation, where small shifts in angle produce new readings of the same elements. 

Tomislav Topić turns the chapel at Centre d’art Les 3 CHA into a floating chromatic field

an optical installation composed of 451 translucent layers | image by @krnschwtz.studio via @topic_tomislav

spanning thirteen suspended modules and rising nearly sixteen meters | image via @topic_tomislav

the work recasts the vaulted interior as an environment where color behaves like sound | image via @topic_tomislav

topology and repetition are central to the Berlin-based artist’s practice

reshaping the perception of depth

the piece introduces a contemporary, weightless counterpoint to the chapel’s heavy stone volumes

installed after more than a year of research and five days of on-site assembly | image via @topic_tomislav

the elongated nave of the chapel functions as a corridor for chromatic drift

ECHOVERSE appears like a slow-moving gradient frozen mid-flow | image by @krnschwtz.studio via @topic_tomislav

sheets of mesh overlap into bands of violet, red, orange, and blue | image via @topic_tomislav

the layers catch and refract the ambient light | image by @krnschwtz.studio via @topic_tomislav

the material is almost imperceptibly thin, allowing the color fields to hover with softness

the timber ceiling becomes a canopy for a contemporary gradient | image by @krnschwtz.studio via @topic_tomislav

shifting saturation as daylight threads through the historic stained-glass windows

project info:

name: ECHOVERSE

artist: Tomislav Topić | @topic_tomislav

location: chapel at Centre d’art Les 3 CHA | @centredart_les3cha, Châteaugiron, France

dates: October 11th – December 14th, 2025

The post 451 sheets of mesh compose floating chromatic field by tomislav topić inside french chapel appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

For Sutura, studios Sulkin Askenazi and Alterego apply a single material strategy to reframe the spatial and functional identity of a gym environment. The project introduces denim as a continuous surface treatment, covering all equipment and architectural elements in a uniform indigo textile. Through this intervention, the gym is reinterpreted as a spatial installation rather than a conventional fitness interior.

The use of denim draws on its cultural and material associations while repositioning it within an unexpected program. By enveloping machines, pads, and structural components, the design transforms standard workout equipment into a cohesive sculptural landscape. The space, located in Mexico City, operates at the intersection of utility and visual composition, merging daily exercise routines with a heightened awareness of form, texture, and movement.

all images by Ricardo de la Concha

Monochrome textile Interior Reinterprets the Gym Environment

References to the work of James Turrell, Harry Nuriev, and Glenn Martens inform the project’s approach to color, surface, and spatial perception. Light interacts with the monochromatic textile in a way that emphasizes volume and silhouette, allowing the gym to function simultaneously as an environment for physical activity and as a controlled visual field.

Within this setting, repetition and movement are framed as part of the spatial experience. The design, developed by the collaborative team between architectural practice Sulkin Askenazi and interior design studio Alterego, integrates bodily motion into its conceptual structure, positioning exercise as a sequence of interactions with a continuous textile environment. Sutura – Design House 2025, therefore, presents a reinterpretation of the gym typology, where material consistency, sculptural treatment, and programmed activity operate as a unified architectural statement.

denim wraps every surface, redefining the gym as a single-material environment

indigo textile covers equipment and architecture in a continuous field

the gym interior is reinterpreted as a spatial installation rather than a functional room

a uniform denim treatment transforms workout machines into sculptural forms

the design shifts denim from its cultural context into an unexpected program

the gym features Sutura’s identity graphic detail on the mirror

the space blends utility with a strong emphasis on form and texture

pads, frames, and structures merge into a cohesive textile landscape

denim unifies Sutura gym into a controlled visual composition

project info:

name: Sutura
architect: Sulkin Askenazi | @sulkinaskenazi

lead designers: Gabriel Askenazi, Jack Sulkin

interior design: Alterego | @alterego_mexico

lighting design: Bandido Studio

location: Mexico City, Mexico

area: 45 sqm

photographer: Ricardo de la Concha | @ricardodelaconcha

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post denim wraps workout equipment within sutura sculptural gym in mexico appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Solar Trees by Izaskun Chinchilla Architects introduces mobile installations positioned in public squares and open spaces in Colombia with limited vegetation. Each unit provides a shaded, multifunctional platform that can accommodate informal activities such as sitting, picnicking, and social gatherings. Designed as adaptable urban furniture, the structures encourage users to engage with their environment, adjusting their position in response to the changing movement of the sun throughout the day. The project, showcased BIAM 2025 – International Art Biennial of Antioquia and Medellín, is part of a broader initiative exploring remedial urbanism. This approach addresses the environmental impacts of climate change through participatory and design-led interventions in the urban realm.

The design centers on a tree-like structure combining natural textile fibers with lightweight structural components. The main frame is composed of 18 mm radiata pine plywood panels cut using CNC technology for precision and consistency. Tubular floaters, 7 cm in diameter, are inserted through perforated upper panels to create stable joints. Outdoor fabrics, ropes, and cords are interwoven through the tubular elements, forming a flexible shading canopy.

all images courtesy of Izaskun Chinchilla Architects

Craft and Mobility Define Izaskun Chinchilla’s Solar Trees

Craftsmanship and local collaboration are integral to the project by Izaskun Chinchilla Architectural Studio. The textile components were fabricated with the help of a local seamstress, highlighting artisanal techniques and reinforcing neighborhood production networks. Measuring 3.29 meters in height and 3.60 meters in length, each structure spans approximately 2.60 meters at its upper canopy. The installation is mounted on four swivel rubber wheels, allowing it to be easily repositioned within different public spaces. Deployment across urban sites is coordinated with staff from EDU and APP, who manage the transport and placement of each unit. Through its material system and interactive use, Solar Trees proposes a scalable model for small-scale environmental intervention, one that integrates ecological awareness, social participation, and adaptable urban design.

Solar Trees by Izaskun Chinchilla Architects brings mobile shade structures to urban open spaces

each installation offers a multifunctional platform for rest, play, and social interaction

the project introduces adaptable urban furniture for squares with little vegetation

Solar Trees encourages public engagement with environmental processes

the design features a lightweight, tree-like framework made of natural textile fibers

structural panels are CNC-cut from 18 mm radiata pine plywood for precision and consistency

tubular floaters connect through perforated panels to ensure structural stability

four swivel rubber wheels allow the units to move freely across public spaces

the installation was presented at BIAM 2025 – the International Art Biennial of Antioquia and Medellín

users can move and reorient the structures with the sun’s path throughout the day

the canopy filters sunlight, producing a pattern of shifting shade and openness

outdoor fabrics, ropes, and cords create a flexible, responsive canopy overhead

Solar Trees demonstrates a scalable model for participatory environmental design

the project forms part of a broader exploration of remedial urbanism

remedial urbanism seeks to mitigate climate impacts through citizen participation and design

project info:

name: Solar Trees

architects: Izaskun Chinchilla Architects | @izaskunchinchillaarchitects

event: BIAM 2025 – International Art Biennial of Antioquia and Medellín

location: Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post plywood and fabric solar tree installations offer shade in colombia’s urban open spaces appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Osmanthus Moon is a temporary public art installation by HCCH Studio, created to mark the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. The project references the osmanthus flower, an emblematic plant associated with the season, and establishes a dialogue with the action paintings of a folk Zao Hua (stove flower) artist, a practice recognized as an element of intangible cultural heritage.

Located on the semicircular lawn of Century Park in Shanghai, the pavilion takes the form of a translucent dome reminiscent of a full moon. Its structural framework integrates stylized osmanthus motifs into a bronze lattice resembling intertwined vines. A lightweight, elastic fabric is stretched across the framework, forming a continuous, illuminated surface. The resulting form explores the intersection of traditional patterning and contemporary construction methods.

all images by Guowei Liu, PSA

Osmanthus Moon explores geometry, illumination, and heritage

The design references the ornamental language of the Vienna Secession while drawing on the geometric clarity of Buckminster Fuller’s domes. On the ground, the Zao Hua artist’s painted osmanthus patterns correspond to the bronze framework above, establishing a spatial and visual relationship between movement and structure, craftsmanship and fabrication.

Visitors enter through two irregular openings that lead to an enclosed interior space. During the day, filtered daylight produces a diffused glow across the fabric surface, creating a soft, evenly lit environment. At night, internal illumination transforms the pavilion into a semi-transparent volume defined by shifting shadows and gradients of light. Commissioned to Shanghai-based practice HCCH Studio by the Power Station of Art in Shanghai, Osmanthus Moon was presented as a twelve-day installation, serving as both a seasonal observance and an exploration of the relationship between natural motifs, material technology, and cultural continuity.

Osmanthus Moon by HCCH Studio celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival through architecture and light

the installation reinterprets the osmanthus flower, a seasonal symbol of autumn in Chinese culture

the pavilion’s translucent form evokes the appearance of a glowing full moon

a bronze lattice weaves stylized osmanthus motifs into an intricate structural framework

interlaced patterns resemble vines, merging organic imagery with architectural geometry

lightweight elastic fabric stretches over the bronze frame to form a luminous surface

by day, filtered sunlight produces a soft, evenly diffused interior glow

painted osmanthus motifs on the ground echo the bronze framework above

located in Century Park, Shanghai, the dome rests on a semicircular lawn like a descending moon

by night, internal lighting transforms the dome into a semi-transparent sphere of light

shadows and gradients animate the fabric surface as the light conditions shift

the project reflects HCCH Studio’s exploration of cultural continuity through material and form

Osmanthus Moon connects contemporary design with the heritage of Zao Hua, or stove flower painting

project info:

name: Osmanthus Moon

architect: HCCH Studio | @hcchstudio

design team: Hao Chen, Chenchen Hu, Feng Qi

client: Power Station of Art Shanghai

light consultant: ADA Lighting

contractor: Art ZHOU

dimensions: D7.2m; H3.6m

location: Century Park, Shanghai, China

photographer: Guowei Liu, PSA

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post translucent illuminating dome bears bronze lattice of flower motifs in shanghai appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Issey Miyake and Apple unveil iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted wearable accessory designed as an alternative way to carry and wear the iPhone. Debuting on November 14th, 2025, across select Apple Store locations worldwide, the limited-edition collaboration draws from the Issey Miyake concept of ‘a piece of cloth,’ resulting in a single sculptural form that fits any iPhone and expands to hold daily essentials.

Available in two versions, short and long, and in a wide spectrum of colors, the flexible ribbed knit is crafted entirely in Japan and recalls the brand’s signature pleats while offering lightness, stretch, and tactility.

all images © Miyake Design Studio, unless stated otherwise

a 3D-knitted accessory inspired by pleats and movement

Developed through close collaboration between the Miyake Design Studio and Apple Design Studio, iPhone Pocket embodies the shared principles of both brands: simplicity, craftsmanship, and playfulness. Its distinctive 3D-knitted structure is crafted entirely in Japan and reflects Issey Miyake’s long-standing research into fabric as form. The open ribbed texture recalls the signature pleats of the brand, while the flexible knit allows the piece to expand, subtly revealing its contents and creating a sense of interaction between user and object. ‘The design of iPhone Pocket speaks to the bond between iPhone and its user, while keeping in mind that an Apple product is designed to be universal in aesthetic and versatile in use,’ shares Yoshiyuki Miyamae, one of the design directors of Miyake Design Studio. ‘iPhone Pocket explores the concept of ‘the joy of wearing iPhone in your own way.’ 

Issey Miyake and Apple unveil iPhone Pocket

modular, tactile, and wearable

The design is offered in two strap lengths and a range of colors: lemon, mandarin, purple, pink, peacock, sapphire, cinnamon, and black for the short version, and sapphire, cinnamon, and black for the long version. ‘The color palette of iPhone Pocket was intentionally designed to mix and match with all our iPhone models and colors, allowing users to create their own personalized combination. Its recognizable silhouette offers a beautiful new way to carry your iPhone, AirPods, and favorite everyday items,’ explains Molly Anderson, Apple’s vice president of Industrial Design.

Unlike conventional phone cases or pouches, iPhone Pocket proposes a fluid approach to how personal technology integrates with the body. The ribbed textile envelops the iPhone completely and can be worn handheld, tied to a bag, or draped directly over the body.

iPhone Pocket is available in two versions, short and long

designed to mix and match with all iPhone models and colors

the flexible knit allows the piece to expand, subtly revealing its contents

a 3D-knitted wearable accessory

an alternative way to carry and wear the iPhone

the limited-edition collaboration draws from the Issey Miyake concept of ‘a piece of cloth’

the ribbed textile envelops the iPhone completely and can be worn in many ways

iPhone Pocket proposes a fluid approach to how personal technology integrates with the body | image ©Apple

developed through close collaboration between the Miyake Design Studio and Apple Design Studio

the distinctive 3D-knitted structure is crafted entirely in Japan

project info:

name: iPhone Pocket

designers: Miyake Design Studio | @isseymiyakeofficial × Apple Design Studio | @apple

design directors: Yoshiyuki Miyamae 

The post issey miyake and apple craft 3D-knitted pocket as wearable way to carry your iPhone appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.