British architects to work on stadiums for Rio 2016

Two British architecture firms who worked on projects for London 2012 have successfully been chosen to design stadia for the next Olympic Games.

3DReid and AndAchitects have been chosen to work with local companies to design and build venues.

3DReid has recently been working on the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games arenas, whilst AndAchitects has a long list of work with lower league football clubs.

Whilst the games will take place across 4 different areas of Rio, the companies will be focused on one area, which is the master plan of international firm AECOM. This section is vital for the games legacy as it will be be transformed in the years after the games into athletic training centres and a mix of public spaces and buildings for residential, commercial and office use. 

Watch the outline for the plans in the video below.

Rio 2016 Olympics from James Shaw on Vimeo.

Interactive art that mimics

Daniel Rozin's Mirrors seem to be pretty normal sculptures until you take a step closer, then they shift to mimic you. 

Currently exhibiting at Bitforms in New York until the 6th April, his 'mirror' pieces shift the patterns formed on them to mimic the viewers shape in real-time. This is done via cameras that detect shapes and cause the LEDs to change the pattern on the screen. Whilst not recreating a persons image perfectly, the screen will copy movements made until the person steps out of range.

The exhibition, called Angles, features some of the artists other kinetic work, which also interact with their surroundings and work on a principle of merging the geometric with the participatory.

Why men need their own shampoo

It appears that in Brazil  using a woman's shampoo can have strange side-effects, at least that's what we gather from this ad for Dove Men+ Care made by Ogilvy & Mather Brazil.

In this humorous commercial see what happens when a work colleague uses the wrong shampoo.

Definitely an odd one but worth a worth below.

Enjoy!

New London listings service – This At There

It's Nice That, which publishes exciting, original and engaging work from both established names and talented newcomers, has produced a new listings service for London.

Called This At There, the listing service is a re-invention of their old 'whats-on' focused currently on Art and Design events in London. The listings are put in order of when they finish, so hopefully you won't miss the shows you really want to see.

They are looking to roll it out worldwide eventually with more cities being added later this year, but by keeping it London focused will allow them to keep on top of it for now and work out any teething problems.

You can find out more about the new service here.

Goat is new brand ambassador for Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew has released a new and strange ad featuring the star of a recent viral craze; the goat.

The viral craze in question was the funny but slightly disturbing "Goats yelling like humans" which was then mashed into a number of pop songs.

Thankfully this ad doesn't feature any singing, but the goat is screaming like a human, although more like an irate customer than a pop star.

The American commercial is directed by Tyler, The Creator, the leader of hip-hop collective Odd Future, and he also produces the vocal talents for Felicia.

Not completely sure what the messaging is here but the crazy nature of the advert is in line with what the company normally produces and it promises sequels.

Watch the advert below and let us now what you think

Jane Drew prize winner 2013

The Architect's Journal's jury has selected their winner of the 2013 Jane Drew Prize as Eva Jiřičná. By an unanimous vote she won the award "for her outstanding contribution to the status of women in architecture".

The Czech-born architect is based in London, after studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, starting her career with the Greater London Council followed by  the Louis de Soisssons Partneship. She then set up her own practice with David Hodges in 1982 and from there she began to be recognised for her work.

She rebranded her firm in 1985 to Eva Jiricna Architects, then in 1988 completed her flagship store for the Joseph fashion label, where it is said she "reinvented the idea of retail"

Jiřičná, who is also famous for her steel and glass staircases, was part of the inaguaral judging panel for the prize in 1998, which was created to honour Dame Jane Drew, who died in July 1996 and was an English modernist architect and town planner.  

She recieved her prize at a special luncheon held in London on the 22nd March. Read an arctile about the awards here.

Christo's big air package

Big Air Package from Christo opened this month at the Gasometer Oberhausen, Germany. 

It is reported to be both the largest inflated frameless envelope and the most expansive indoor sculpture ever created.

The 90 meter high inflatable boasts a volume of 177,000 cubic meters and uses 20,350 square meters of semitransparent polyester fabric as well as 4,500 meters of rope. Despite lacking a skeleton the 5 ton form fills the interior of a former gas tank.

Christo describes the experience as 'virtually swimming in light' as a result of the vast expanses of fabric, lit from above via skylights in the Gasometer.

Filled with diffused natural daylight and muffled sounds it becomes a place of tranquility.

The project runs until 30th December 2013.

Photos: Wolfgang Volz © 2013 Christo

Clouds inside create silver-lining for artist

Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde controls the weather and creates beautiful indoor clouds with the help of a smoke machine and dramatic lighting.

The fog machine emits dense vapour / smoke that makes contact with sprayed water and forms a small white cloud.

Smilde, who lives in Amsterdam, said he wanted to make the image of a typical Dutch rain cloud but inside. ‘I imagined walking into a classical museum hall with just empty walls,’ he said. 'There was nothing to see except for a rain cloud hanging around in the room. I wanted to make a very clear image, an almost cliché and cartoon-like visualization of having bad luck. Indeed there's nothing here and bxxxxcks, it's starting to rain!"  

The few people who have seen the clouds in person should consider themselves very lucky; each cloud only exists for a moment before dissipating.  

To document the clouds Smilde photographs them; the only proof of their existence if a viewer misses them.  

The first exhibit, called Nimbus, was created by Smilde in 2010.  

Watch videos of the creation of the clouds below.

Fiat's 'The Fatherhood' follow-up is new romantic music video

In a follow-up to their 'The Motherhood' video, Fiat has released 'The Fatherhood'.

Similar to it's predecessor, The Fatherhood focuses on a father in a musical fashion, singing about the trials and tribulations involved with being a new dad.

This time around though, the concept is that the father is taking his young twins out in the car to try and get them to sleep, whilst doing this he reminisces about his youth and being "a new romantic" cue the Human League style music, and video, complete with outdoor settings, smoke and a unicorn.

One of the best lines would definitely be about him dancing at their wedding as way of revenge.

Once again the idea of the video is to promote the family friendly nature of Fiat's 500L series.

Watch the video and let us know what you think, but be warned it is rather long.

Planters resemble miniature sustainable buildings

Who wouldn't want to get their hands on this planter series called ienami.

Designed by Japan-based studio Metaphys, these fun planters are made to look like miniature buildings (ienami refers to a row of houses in Japanese).

Inspired by minimalist style buildings with roof gardens, these contemporary micro homes look good with delicate plants like soft mosses and small succulents.

Alley, Plaza, Tunnel and Zig Zag are the four designs included in the collection.

Bus stop with a window seat

We've all been stood waiting for a train or a bus wishing we could be somewhere else; perhaps a beach in Spain, visiting the vineyards of France or even taking a gondola ride in Venice. Scandinavian Airlines has played on this idea and created an amazing experiential bus stop ad.

The campaign was designed to promote the 16 new destinations that the airline has started to fly to.

A bus stop in Oslo was fitted with a digital screen and a mock airplane window. When the shutter on the window was closed and re-opened a new scene was displayed, with the view being of one of the 16 new destinations.

A clever way to advertise and encourage people to book that next holiday. Watch a video highlighting the campaign below.

Long live paper

In a clever add by French toilet paper company Le Trèfle, the fight between paper and digital reaches a pivotal point.

In the spot a married couple are depicted with the husband constantly trying to prove that his tablet is better than traditional paper, for drawing, doing sudoku and reading books. However his wife gains the upper hand at the end of the segment when the poor man is left on the loo without any paper.

Clever and funny from Leo Burnett Paris, have a watch below.

ME Hotel has Theatreland glamour at it's heart

Foster + Partners has designed their first flagship hotel, where everything from the shell to the interiors has been designed by the practice. 

The ME Hotel, which opened earlier this year, is a brand new luxury hotel built occupying a triangular site in the Aldwych Crescent area of London.  The 157-bed hotel seamlessly integrates with the restoration of the adjacent 1904 Marconi House, whose interior has been completely restructured to provide 87 apartments.  

Clad in Portland stone, the hotel was built to the same height and scale as its neighbour, and despite having a modern feel, is still in keeping with the surrounding area. An elliptical tower on the corner of the building, which defines the end point for the Aldwych Crescent, is topped by a glass cupola – a contemporary reinterpretation of the Edwardian-style domed roof across the street. The glass cupola houses the penthouse suite for the hotel, with an impressive 360-degree panorama of the city, including views of the river.  

Guests arriving at the hotel pass through a ground floor lounge with accompanying public restaurants and bar before ascending to a dedicated hotel lobby with a champagne bar on the first floor, all housed within a nine-storey high pyramidal space, encased entirely in white marble.  

On the tenth floor is the hotel’s rooftop terraces, which are an urban oasis, with the Radio Rooftop Bar offering views of the river and Westminster skyline. The 5-star hotel also boasts versatile conference suites, a gym and a luxury 25-seat screening room.

Find out more on the project page.