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Erik Spiekermann on books
18 February 2014Now finding themselves in a new world of post-digital publishing, booklovers have more to tackle these days than they can possibly ever read, says Erik Spiekermann. Erik Spiekermann set up MetaDesign and FontShop, and is a teacher, author, designer and partner at Edenspiekermann
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Two of a Kind: a new home for France’s FRAC art centre
18 February 2014Quel surprise! The new home for one of France’s FRAC art centres realises a wild proposition from Paris-based practice Lacaton & Vassal - a doppelganger volume of a former shipyard hangar in the docklands of Dunkirk
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Electric Dreams: rethinking the motor car
17 February 2014The car was undoubtedly one of the most important products of the 20th century. But as the 21st century gathers pace, this incredible personal transportation device has become a victim of its own success, causing many cities to suffer increasingly unacceptable pollution levels and gridlock. The car industry is reinventing itself, but may not be part of the future transport solution at all
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Andreas Ruby and Nathalie Janson on the Baugruppe initiative
14 February 2014Despite ever-increasing house prices, more than 86 per cent of Britons want to own their own home. As debates still range around the UK Government ‘incentives’ such as Help to Buy, can our continental cousins provide alternative models? Complementing our Self-Build feature (see page 88), Berlin’s Baugruppe initiative brings benefits across scales of the individual, the community and the city. Nathalie Janson is a researcher, writer and editor at Ruby Press, an architecture and urbanism publisher founded and directed by co-author Andreas Ruby. They discuss the work of Baugruppe
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If you build it: the rise and rise of self-build
14 February 2014Self-build, custom-build, collective custom-build - we’ve always been a nation of DIY lovers, and now the British housing crisis is spurring on several do-it-yourself alternatives to the hegemony of the volume housebuilder. Blueprint has assembled a panel of architects, developers, researchers and strategists to share their perspectives on this emergent field
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Blueprint launches Blueprint for the Future competition
14 February 2014Architecture and design students are invited to put their creative talents to creating a cycling ‘hub’ building and satellite hubs in Sheffield, to support the city’s drive to enhance its sustainable transport system and its cycling community. The VeloCity competition, run in conjunction with the British timber body TRADA, is offering a £5000 top prize
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Photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia at the Hepworth Gallery
14 February 2014Johnny Tucker finds an often surprising emotional depth in the work of Philip-Lorca diCorcia, the US photographer and artist whose constantly developing photographic style is on show in a retrospective at the Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield
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Post World’s End Architecture: Greece
13 February 2014Though it's the birthplace of democracy, today Greek citizens find it a hard concept to believe in, living, as they do, in a country where financial independence is an impossible fiction, and where youth unemployment has reached staggering heights. Nevertheless, as the fourth instalment of Post World's End Architecture shows, an emergent architectural scene is transcending the economic situation with imagination and innovation
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Park life: Veronica Simpson considers car park design
4 February 2014Should car parks be written off as dinosaurs of a bygone, car-centric age, or can they be refurbished, repurposed or reinvented to become urban assets rather than eyesores? Veronica Simpson goes in search of answers, and unearths some surprisingly attractive and innovative solutions
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Blueprint for the Future: considering graphene
4 February 2014In the first of a new series looking at the very latest materials and their likely impact on architecture, design and the wider world, Chris Lefteri turns his attention to graphene. Chris Lefteri is a designer and has written seven books about new materials and their applications
