Metropolis Magazine - Metropolis Magazine January 2007
Pop Panels
Marcel Proust famously secluded himself in a cork-lined room for the last 15 years of his life, devoting his energies to the monumental Remembrance of Things Past. So why cork? With its closed-cell foam structure, the low-density wood dampens sound and resists bacteria, mold, and mildew—enemies of the asthmatic and chronically ill author. In 2001, while studying industrial design at…
Searching for the Future
It’s amazing what you would see, if only you looked up from your BlackBerry.
Pushing the Envelope
Designer Marian Schoettle has appropriated DuPont Tyvek as the raw material for a line of jackets, skirts, and bags.
Organic Barn Raising
For a Slow Food restaurant in San Francisco, Cass Calder Smith deploys recycled materials for durability with a popular appeal.
Off the Wall
Participants in the Urban Curators project highlight the unintended beauty of downtown Providence’s urban detritus.
Design from the Inside Out
You are about to see a snapshot of twenty-first-century interiors: they are kind to their occupants and the earth equally, in addition to being beautiful. They represent a series of sophisticated decisions that involve a strong relationship to the architecture that defines them, as well as careful choices of materials and furnishings. Winners of the inaugural IIDA/Metropolis Smart Environments Awards…
You Were Expecting a Knuckle Sandwich?
A new line of snack food steps into the ring.
Inside the Box
Alain Berteau finds a novel use for cardboard packaging material.
The Art of Compromise
A LEED Platinum rehab in Portland finds a balance between preservation and sustainability.
The Green Urban Office
With natural lighting and amenities for transportation, HOK’s downtown Toronto studios set the gold standard for office interiors.
Parting Company
Sixty-two-year-old Adrian Smith leaves SOM to strike out on his own.
Platinum Effort
For Interface’s Atlanta showroom, TVS Interiors achieves LEED’s highest rating by undertaking a rigorous predesign process.
Skin and Bones
Winka Dubbeldam balances substance and style beyond a dazzling glass curtain wall in a New York loft.
I ♥ IIT… But I Still Don’t Like Rem
Can you separate the tics of a genius-builder from the genius-building? Short answer: no.
A visit to the Koolhaas-designed student center in Chicago places our columnist in a real quandary.
Powers of 10
Two leading structural engineers pick their favorite feats of man-made wonder.
Seminar in the Woods
Daylighting, natural ventilation, energy efficiency, and clean materials rule in classrooms for the Evergreen State College by Mahlum Architects.
Behind the Beauty Shot
A complex set of interior-design decisions is revealed with the aid of graphic design.
Object Lesson
The circumvention of SOM’s daylighting scheme for Bank of America shows that user education is essential to sustainable design.
Changing Venues
A cutting-edge Austrian artist collective creates a new kind of civic space.
Welcome to the Jungle
Designs inspired by warmer climes.
