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In 1854, the American writer Henry David Thoreau wrote the classic work “Walden”, recounting his experience of life in the woods and extolling the advantages of simple and self-sufficient life. Right at the beginning of the book, the author comments that, if someone wants to travel 48 km to visit the countryside, it would be faster to walk than to opt for a locomotive.

Islands are an essential part of any larger kitchen layout, increasing counter space, storage space, and eating space as well as offering a visual focal point for the kitchen area. Serving a variety of functions, they can be designed in a variety of different ways, with some incorporating stools or chairs, sinks, drawers, or even dishwashers and microwaves. To determine which elements to include and how to arrange them, designers must determine the main purpose or focus of the island. Will it primarily serve as a breakfast bar, a space to entertain guests, an extension of the kitchen, or as something else? And with this function in mind, how should it enhance the kitchen workflow vis-à-vis the rest of the area? These considerations, combined with basic accessibility requirements, necessitate that the design of the island be carefully thought out. Below, we enumerate some of the essential factors of kitchen island design.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was lucky enough to get a summer job with Robert A.M. Stern while I was in graduate school. Stern’s new memoir, Between Memory and Invention: My Journey in Architecture (MonacelliPress, 2022), has prompted my own mini-memoir, with some relevant details not included in the book.

I arrived at the office in the early summer, not long after the dissolution of Stern & Hagmann and then Bob’s divorce. I found two young architects-to-be, a sweet but disorganized secretary-receptionist-bookkeeper, and Bob. The office grew during the summer and beyond—and today there are over 200 in the office, including 16 partners in Robert A.M. Stern Architects (aka RAMSA).

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Inflatable Architecture has enabled the imaginations of environmental dreamers of all types. From figures like Buckminster Fuller to Ant Farm, inflatables promise to liberate people from the harsh conditions of nature or the tyranny of architecture. Originally developed by the US Military for radar enclosures on the arctic, inflatables were picked up by NASA before their secrets were bestowed upon the public who deployed them to solve all sorts of problems, from enclosing pools to stadiums.

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New York's residential design culture extends far beyond the Big Apple. The Hudson Valley is a region that stretches along the Hudson River from Westchester County to Albany. Known for its vineyards, orchards and farms, the river valley includes a series of small towns and remote homes. Today, these rural residences are being designed to explore the connections between people, nature and place.

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Artificial lighting plays an essential role in spatial quality. Badly thought-out lights can disrupt an architecture project and even bring harmful effects to occupants' health; while a well-balanced luminotechnic project can highlight positive aspects of the surroundings and make it much more enjoyable. Generally, however, projects tend to be too rigid and not in-tune with the flexibility of contemporary spaces. In addition, a badly made lighting decision can be complex and expensive to rectify. For example, electrical points in slabs, linings or walls are not easily modified if the distribution of a space is changed. At most, when this is resolved with hanging or free-standing lamps, we end up having to deal with bothersome electrical wires throughout the space.

Büro Ole Scheeren has won an international design competition to build the 350-meter Nanjing Jiangbei New Financial Center Tower in China. The octagonal-silhouette skyscraper merges local tradition and culture within a mixed-use structure, aiming to become an iconic symbol of Nanjing’s new urban identity.

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