This week on Dezeen, we showcased a wood-and-steel retreat by architect Norman Foster in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, which he created as a holiday home for his friends and those of the Norman Foster Foundation.
Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Foster built the mono-pitch-roofed building, called Foster Retreat, opposite his US home. It features a design informed by North American barn structures.
Both angled steel and timber beams were incorporated into the architecture, as well as smooth timber louvres that enclose an outdoor patio space. The architect also dressed the home with furniture he designed for Japanese furniture brand Karimoku.
“Wood was the obvious choice not only for reasons of sustainability but also as a direct reference to the traditional buildings that characterise the island,” explained the architect.
In design news, another Pritzker Architecture-Prize winner, Álvaro Siza, collaborated with Swiss brand Cauny to create a sleek collection of four watches available in two colourways.
The design features super-slim casing and a steel bezel with a sapphire glass watch face and a leather strap. Siza described the project as “a beautiful and stimulating exercise”.
Also on Dezeen this week, US studio Populous revealed its design for a stadium for the American football team Buffalo Bills, which takes cues from the city of Buffalo’s architecture.
Set to open in 2026, the stadium’s design is informed by existing local venues, including former outdoor soccer stadium the Rockpile and Kleinhans Music Hall.
Populous also completed the Geodis Park stadium in Nashville for the team Nashville SC together with Hastings studio, which the firms have hailed as the USA’s largest soccer stadium to date.
Saudi Arabia’s architecture megaproject Neom prompted further discussion amongst commenters after writer Adam Greenfield’s opinion piece addressed to those working on the project, which includes 170-kilometre city The Line.
“[Neom] has already brought death, and in carving a line through a living, breathing community, all of those complicit in its design and construction are already destroyers of worlds,” warned Greenfield.
In other news, Bartlett professor Priti Parikh has worked with a team of University College London researchers to develop an open-source carbon calculator ahead of climate conference COP27, which starts this Sunday.
A free and accessible spreadsheet, the calculator is designed to help those travelling from the UK to Egypt, the location of this year’s conference, to assess, reduce and offset the carbon footprint of their journey.
This week, popular project stories on Dezeen included Mjölk Architekti’s renovation of a 130-year-old cabin in the Czech Republic with a “glittering glass extension”, the transformation of a former call centre into a factory and headquarters for lighting company RBW and an exhibition of experimental housing prototypes at Arkansas’ Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Our most recent lookbooks showcased bathrooms with statement sinks and contemporary living rooms in Georgian and Victorian homes.
This week on Dezeen
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