This week on Dezeen, architects designing The Line including Thom Mayne and Peter Cook explained the thinking behind the planned megacity in Saudi Arabia in a documentary.
Speaking in a 45-minute-long Discovery Channel broadcast, many of the architects involved in the design of the 170-kilometre-long city talked about the project publicly for the first time.
“I can’t think of anybody that wouldn’t want to be part of this project,” said Morphosis founder Mayne, while Cook Haffner Architecture Platform co-founder Cook said that “if it succeeds, it will be a new Babylon”.
In design news, Central Saint Martins graduate Kiki Grammatopoulos created a rewilding trainer that will disperse plants as people run.
The running shoe has a bristly outsole covered in tiny hooks that grip onto dirt and plants to spread seeds in a bid to bring biodiversity back into cities.
Also in the news this week, pioneering electric bicycle manufacturer VanMoof was declared bankrupt. Previously described as the world’s “most well funded e-bike brand”, the Dutch company was declared bankrupt by the Amsterdam District Court on Monday.
VanMoof’s court-assigned administrators are now looking into whether the Dutch company could be restructured or sold.
We also reported on two under-threat buildings being saved. In the UK, British Secretary of State Michael Gove rejected Marks & Spencer’s plans to demolish its Art Deco flagship store on Oxford Street in London.
And in Germany, the brutalist Mäusebunker laboratory in Berlin was saved from demolition after local authorities listed it as a historical monument.
Continuing our AItopia series we spoke to machine-learning art pioneer Refik Anadol who told Dezeen that “a deep understanding of humanity is way more complex than any algorithm”.
We also reported on a set of guidelines for the ethical development of artificial intelligence that was published by the World Ethical Data Foundation.
Ahead of the release of the Barbie movie, we spoke about the film’s “absurd” sets with production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer. Designed to have an “authentic artificiality”, the sets include waterless swimming pools, fridges with 2D food and hand-painted sunsets.
We also interviewed the production designer behind the set of Wes Anderson’s latest film Asteroid City, which was built as a functioning town complete with underground power and sewers.
Popular projects this week included a minimalist dwelling on New Zealand’s coast, Wimbledon tennis courts topped with a sweeping racket-informed roof and the National Biodiversity Pavilion in Mexico City.
Our lookbooks featured interiors where Barbiecore pink adds a playful touch of colour and serene bedrooms with striking natural views.
This week on Dezeen
This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything.
