satellites exhibition bridges cinematic and gaming worlds

Satellites, on view at Prada Aoyama in Tokyo, brings together the elective affinities of two of contemporary culture’s most distinctive storytellers — Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn and Japanese game designer Hideo Kojima. The project transforms the fifth floor of Herzog & de Meuron’s iconic glass structure into an immersive transmission chamber, where cinema, gaming, and design come together to hint at a future common territory made possible by technologies.

The duo has been exchanging ideas for over a decade, and the exhibition turns that ongoing conversation into a physical installation realized as a domestic environment somewhere between a film set and a dream sequence. The first room of the stylized and sparse mid-century apartment is decorated with a bed, lamp, and a rotary phone that seem lifted from a bygone era. Around the space, six television monitors — each retrofitted to resemble small retro-futuristic spacecrafts — float like artifacts, while projecting inside them video portraits of Refn and Kojima speaking to one another in loop about the universal concept of human exchange. The surreal interrelation between these two entities, while surrounded by the familiar, creates a tangible yet distant space that transports visitors into an alternate dimension. Supported by Fondazione Prada, Satellites will remain on view until August 25th, 2025.

all images by Yasuhiro Takagi

nicolas winding refn & hideo kojima imagine a collective future

Each TV is partially dismantled, exposing wires, circuits, and internal components to form an architectural echo of the exhibition itself, which lays bare the machinery of dialogue. Nicolas Winding Refn and Hideo Kojima’s conversation in English and Japanese is broad and unscripted, touching on memory, friendship, authorship, identity, the afterlife, and the strange overlap of real and virtual worlds. The tone is also informal, feeling like two people working things out in real-time, even if they’re separated by medium, language, or physical presence. Their exchange reflects a shared belief that the boundaries between film and gaming are steadily dissolving, and, in the future, may merge into a shared digital dimension.

The second room of Satellites takes this idea further, with a dressing area filled with cassette tapes that allows visitors to listen to AI-translated fragments of the original conversation. Each tape reveals a slightly different version of the dialogue, refracted across languages and interpretations, inviting the audience to reconstruct the exchange in their own way — a nod to Kojima’s nonlinear storytelling style and Refn’s interest in hypnotic worldbuilding and recursive internal spaces. The layering of translations and formats hints at a potential version of a shared digital environment both artists see emerging, which can open up new ways of experiencing ever-evolving narratives collectively.

Satellites brings together the elective affinities of filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn and game designer Hideo Kojima

imagined as a mid-century apartment decorated with a bed, lamp, and a rotary phone

an immersive transmission chamber, where cinema, gaming, and design come together

suspended inside them in a bilingual exchange, run videos of Refn and Kojima speaking to one another in loop

each TV is partially dismantled, exposing wires, circuits, and internal components

on view at Prada Aoyama in Tokyo

project info:

name: Satellites

artists: Nicolas Winding Refn | @nwrefn, Hideo Kojima | @hideo_kojima

location: Prada Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan

organized by: Prada | @prada

supported by: Fondazione Prada | @fondazioneprada

dates: 18th April—25th August, 2025

The post nicolas winding refn & hideo kojima craft retro-futuristic digital world at prada aoyama, tokyo appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Alicja Kozłowska explores intersection of craft & street culture

Polish textile artist Alicja Kozłowska redefines the boundaries between craft and street art in Banksy Who?, a public art series that brings embroidery to the urban landscape. Comprising seven large-scale embroidered graffiti works, along with crocheted balaclavas and hand-stitched spray cans, the project fuses traditional textile techniques with the raw, expressive language of graffiti. Set against the backdrop of city walls and industrial settings, Banksy Who? challenges preconceived notions of both mediums—provoking viewers to see embroidery not as delicate decoration, but as a bold, contemporary form of protest and expression.

ARTISTS SKULL – embroidered graffiti by Alicja Kozłowska | all images courtesy of Alicja Kozłowska

Banksy Who? reimagines graffiti through embroidered textures

Alicja Kozłowska draws from the visual intensity and immediacy of street art, but trades aerosol paint for thread, beads, and fabric. By introducing the tactile richness of textiles to the urban canvas, the Polish textile artist and designer adds depth and dimension that spray paint alone cannot achieve. Embroidery becomes a tool for storytelling and resistance—each stitch a deliberate mark, echoing the energy of graffiti tags and murals while offering a new, layered materiality. Beads shimmer like fresh paint, quilted textures emulate worn city surfaces, and stitched motifs stand defiantly where murals might once have been.

BANKSY WHO? textile piece on a trash can

reclaiming public space through a raw textile language

The project is not only a visual intervention but also a conceptual one. Banksy Who? seeks to upend the hierarchy that often separates ‘high’ art from street culture, or traditional craft from contemporary commentary. By integrating centuries-old techniques into the ephemeral, rebellious realm of graffiti, Kozłowska breathes new life into textile art—proving it can be raw, political, and urgent. The accompanying photoshoot, capturing each piece embedded within real city environments, further emphasizes the work’s mission: to reclaim public space with thread as its medium and message.

With Banksy Who?, Kozłowska speaks to a new generation—inviting them to see embroidery not as an artifact of the past, but as an evolving, boundary-pushing practice deeply connected to urban life. In doing so, she not only reshapes the narrative around textile arts but also stitches her own place into the fabric of contemporary visual culture.

BANKSY WHO?
PAINTSUCKS 2 textile piece

ARTISTS SKULL on an electricity junction box

the project reclaims public space with thread as its medium and message

BANANA embroidered graffiti piece in an elevator

BANKSY WHO? on a wall

textile piece on a wall

SOFT VANDALISM

SOFT VANDALISM

SOFT VANDALISM

project info:

name: Banksy Who?
designer: Alicja Kozlowska | @alice.kozlow

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom

The post alicja kozłowska stitches rebellion into the streets with embroidered graffiti series appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Alicja Kozłowska explores intersection of craft & street culture

Polish textile artist Alicja Kozłowska redefines the boundaries between craft and street art in Banksy Who?, a public art series that brings embroidery to the urban landscape. Comprising seven large-scale embroidered graffiti works, along with crocheted balaclavas and hand-stitched spray cans, the project fuses traditional textile techniques with the raw, expressive language of graffiti. Set against the backdrop of city walls and industrial settings, Banksy Who? challenges preconceived notions of both mediums—provoking viewers to see embroidery not as delicate decoration, but as a bold, contemporary form of protest and expression.

ARTISTS SKULL – embroidered graffiti by Alicja Kozłowska | all images courtesy of Alicja Kozłowska

Banksy Who? reimagines graffiti through embroidered textures

Alicja Kozłowska draws from the visual intensity and immediacy of street art, but trades aerosol paint for thread, beads, and fabric. By introducing the tactile richness of textiles to the urban canvas, the Polish textile artist and designer adds depth and dimension that spray paint alone cannot achieve. Embroidery becomes a tool for storytelling and resistance—each stitch a deliberate mark, echoing the energy of graffiti tags and murals while offering a new, layered materiality. Beads shimmer like fresh paint, quilted textures emulate worn city surfaces, and stitched motifs stand defiantly where murals might once have been.

BANKSY WHO? textile piece on a trash can

reclaiming public space through a raw textile language

The project is not only a visual intervention but also a conceptual one. Banksy Who? seeks to upend the hierarchy that often separates ‘high’ art from street culture, or traditional craft from contemporary commentary. By integrating centuries-old techniques into the ephemeral, rebellious realm of graffiti, Kozłowska breathes new life into textile art—proving it can be raw, political, and urgent. The accompanying photoshoot, capturing each piece embedded within real city environments, further emphasizes the work’s mission: to reclaim public space with thread as its medium and message.

With Banksy Who?, Kozłowska speaks to a new generation—inviting them to see embroidery not as an artifact of the past, but as an evolving, boundary-pushing practice deeply connected to urban life. In doing so, she not only reshapes the narrative around textile arts but also stitches her own place into the fabric of contemporary visual culture.

BANKSY WHO?
PAINTSUCKS 2 textile piece

ARTISTS SKULL on an electricity junction box

the project reclaims public space with thread as its medium and message

BANANA embroidered graffiti piece in an elevator

BANKSY WHO? on a wall

textile piece on a wall

SOFT VANDALISM

SOFT VANDALISM

SOFT VANDALISM

project info:

name: Banksy Who?
designer: Alicja Kozlowska | @alice.kozlow

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom

The post alicja kozłowska stitches rebellion into the streets with embroidered graffiti series appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Ulf Mejergren and Travis Child reference larval structures

Timber Twist is a work created for Virserum Konsthall Art Museum in Sweden by Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) and Esperöd Art Team’s Travis Child, invited as part of the Träkraft (Wood Power) exhibition. Its inspiration comes from the Bagworm moth, whose larvae build protective cases from twigs, moss, and gravel, woven with silk into camouflaged shelters. When mature, the larva fastens its case to a branch and pupates. Only the male emerges with wings; the female remains in the case for life, lays eggs, and dies. These tiny architects build remarkable homes, yet lead restricted lives—a paradox that invites reflection on the shells we build: not just walls and roofs, but the mental, emotional, and societal frameworks formed early in life. ‘These structures offer safety and identity, but can also limit us. Around us lies a vast world, physical and metaphorical, we may never fully explore unless we question our own shells’, shares UMA’s team. This became the foundation of Timber Twist: a human-scale tribute and gentle provocation, inspired by the Bagworm.

all images courtesy of Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA)

Aspen logs in spiraling formation shape Timber Twist cabin

Seeking to echo the larva’s subtlety and craft, the creative team of Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) and Esperöd Art Team’s Travis Child turned to traditional timber techniques. Aspen logs were joined using wooden dowels, with no metal, honoring a craft of invisible strength and quiet precision. Timber Twist reimagines the log cabin. Instead of a rectangle, it takes on a triangular form where each layer rotates slightly, forming a spiraling shape. The round entrance, chisel-carved to resemble tooth marks, is a quiet homage to the beaver, another skilled woodworker fond of aspen’s soft grain. Inside, visitors can sit and look upward into a vortex of timber and time. The space invites contemplation of the homes we build, and the deeper idea of home itself: how it grounds and protects us, but might also quietly confine us. Timber Twist offers a pause and a possibility to imagine other ways of being.

Timber Twist is installed at Virserum Konsthall for the Träkraft exhibition

inspired by the Bagworm moth’s camouflaged larval shelters

Timber Twist is constructed entirely from aspen logs and wooden dowels

each timber layer is rotated slightly to create a continuous twist

entrance is carved to resemble beaver tooth marks in soft aspen

the design references silent precision and subtlety found in nature

diagram of Timber Twist

project info:

name: Timber Twist
architects: Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) | @ulfmejergrenarchitects, Travis Child – Esperöd Art Team

location: Virserum, Sweden

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post timber twist by ulf mejergren and travis child reimagines larvae shelter as spiraling log cabin appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Ulf Mejergren and Travis Child reference larval structures

Timber Twist is a work created for Virserum Konsthall Art Museum in Sweden by Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) and Esperöd Art Team’s Travis Child, invited as part of the Träkraft (Wood Power) exhibition. Its inspiration comes from the Bagworm moth, whose larvae build protective cases from twigs, moss, and gravel, woven with silk into camouflaged shelters. When mature, the larva fastens its case to a branch and pupates. Only the male emerges with wings; the female remains in the case for life, lays eggs, and dies. These tiny architects build remarkable homes, yet lead restricted lives—a paradox that invites reflection on the shells we build: not just walls and roofs, but the mental, emotional, and societal frameworks formed early in life. ‘These structures offer safety and identity, but can also limit us. Around us lies a vast world, physical and metaphorical, we may never fully explore unless we question our own shells’, shares UMA’s team. This became the foundation of Timber Twist: a human-scale tribute and gentle provocation, inspired by the Bagworm.

all images courtesy of Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA)

Aspen logs in spiraling formation shape Timber Twist cabin

Seeking to echo the larva’s subtlety and craft, the creative team of Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) and Esperöd Art Team’s Travis Child turned to traditional timber techniques. Aspen logs were joined using wooden dowels, with no metal, honoring a craft of invisible strength and quiet precision. Timber Twist reimagines the log cabin. Instead of a rectangle, it takes on a triangular form where each layer rotates slightly, forming a spiraling shape. The round entrance, chisel-carved to resemble tooth marks, is a quiet homage to the beaver, another skilled woodworker fond of aspen’s soft grain. Inside, visitors can sit and look upward into a vortex of timber and time. The space invites contemplation of the homes we build, and the deeper idea of home itself: how it grounds and protects us, but might also quietly confine us. Timber Twist offers a pause and a possibility to imagine other ways of being.

Timber Twist is installed at Virserum Konsthall for the Träkraft exhibition

inspired by the Bagworm moth’s camouflaged larval shelters

Timber Twist is constructed entirely from aspen logs and wooden dowels

each timber layer is rotated slightly to create a continuous twist

entrance is carved to resemble beaver tooth marks in soft aspen

the design references silent precision and subtlety found in nature

diagram of Timber Twist

project info:

name: Timber Twist
architects: Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) | @ulfmejergrenarchitects, Travis Child – Esperöd Art Team

location: Virserum, Sweden

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post timber twist by ulf mejergren and travis child reimagines larvae shelter as spiraling log cabin appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

seating grows from the floor in Snarkitecture’s burger spot

Snarkitecture transforms an abandoned storage plot in central Athens into One Burger, a newly opened, sculptural burger spot that feels like an urban installation. Nestled within the Greek city’s historic triangle, the 80-square-meter intervention wraps rugged stone party walls with smooth, cream-toned contours.

The team preserves the lot’s raw stone envelope, contrasting it with precision-milled curves that rise and fold like eroded terrain or a 3D model rendered in real life. Benches, stepped platforms, and alcoves grow directly from the pale floor, forming a canyon-like landscape.

The benches sit within the topographic layers that flank three sides of the site. These custom-fabricated layers are finished in cream-colored concrete, each integrated with upholstered cushions for comfort. Oak tables with organic forms nest into the contours like natural boulders, their solid wood tops resting on powder-coated metal bases.

images via @snarkitecture, unless stated otherwise

sculptural canopy tops organic one burger interior in athens

Above, Snarchitecture’s bespoke canopy slices across the sky, casting soft shadows and introducing rhythm to the layered groundscape. This perforated structure provides shade and anchors the space with its sculptural frame.

The design embraces the canyon-like feel of the narrow lot, situated between two tall buildings. After testing three to four initial approaches, the team leaned into this spatial character, translating it into a curving seating landscape inspired by eroded terrain. A restrained palette of natural and neutral materials—concrete, sealed oak, and powder-coated metal—was chosen to let the brand’s signature red pop against the backdrop.

The team proposes a prototype for civic dining, a spatial response to a deceptively simple question: what if a burger could bring people together across the planet? In this redefined terrain, eating becomes an experience of encounter, and fast food becomes a reason to slow down. For the New York-based design practice, known for their playful manipulations of form, the project extends their tactile minimalism into new territory. They describe the result as a kind of urban refuge, an immersive space that offers a moment of pause from the hustle and bustle of Athens.

Snarchitecture’s bespoke canopy slices across the sky

benches, stepped platforms, and alcoves grow directly from the pale floor

precision-milled curves rise and fold like eroded terrain

cream-toned contours climb on rugged stone party walls | image via @oneburgerworldwide

a canyon-like landscape | image via @oneburgerworldwide

an abandoned storage plot in central Athens becomes One Burger | image via @sotiriskaberis by @shooterio

eating becomes an experience of encounter | image via @sotiriskaberis by @shooterio

the project extends Snarchitecture’s tactile minimalism into new territory | image via @julian_daynov

project info:

name: One Burger | @oneburgerworldwide

architect: Snarkitecture | @snarkitecture

location: Athens, Greece

The post snarkitecture’s burger bar takes form in athens with creamy, canyon-like interiors appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

seating grows from the floor in Snarkitecture’s burger spot

Snarkitecture transforms an abandoned storage plot in central Athens into One Burger, a newly opened, sculptural burger spot that feels like an urban installation. Nestled within the Greek city’s historic triangle, the 80-square-meter intervention wraps rugged stone party walls with smooth, cream-toned contours.

The team preserves the lot’s raw stone envelope, contrasting it with precision-milled curves that rise and fold like eroded terrain or a 3D model rendered in real life. Benches, stepped platforms, and alcoves grow directly from the pale floor, forming a canyon-like landscape.

The benches sit within the topographic layers that flank three sides of the site. These custom-fabricated layers are finished in cream-colored concrete, each integrated with upholstered cushions for comfort. Oak tables with organic forms nest into the contours like natural boulders, their solid wood tops resting on powder-coated metal bases.

images via @snarkitecture, unless stated otherwise

sculptural canopy tops organic one burger interior in athens

Above, Snarchitecture’s bespoke canopy slices across the sky, casting soft shadows and introducing rhythm to the layered groundscape. This perforated structure provides shade and anchors the space with its sculptural frame.

The design embraces the canyon-like feel of the narrow lot, situated between two tall buildings. After testing three to four initial approaches, the team leaned into this spatial character, translating it into a curving seating landscape inspired by eroded terrain. A restrained palette of natural and neutral materials—concrete, sealed oak, and powder-coated metal—was chosen to let the brand’s signature red pop against the backdrop.

The team proposes a prototype for civic dining, a spatial response to a deceptively simple question: what if a burger could bring people together across the planet? In this redefined terrain, eating becomes an experience of encounter, and fast food becomes a reason to slow down. For the New York-based design practice, known for their playful manipulations of form, the project extends their tactile minimalism into new territory. They describe the result as a kind of urban refuge, an immersive space that offers a moment of pause from the hustle and bustle of Athens.

Snarchitecture’s bespoke canopy slices across the sky

benches, stepped platforms, and alcoves grow directly from the pale floor

precision-milled curves rise and fold like eroded terrain

cream-toned contours climb on rugged stone party walls | image via @oneburgerworldwide

a canyon-like landscape | image via @oneburgerworldwide

an abandoned storage plot in central Athens becomes One Burger | image via @sotiriskaberis by @shooterio

eating becomes an experience of encounter | image via @sotiriskaberis by @shooterio

the project extends Snarchitecture’s tactile minimalism into new territory | image via @julian_daynov

project info:

name: One Burger | @oneburgerworldwide

architect: Snarkitecture | @snarkitecture

location: Athens, Greece

The post snarkitecture’s burger bar takes form in athens with creamy, canyon-like interiors appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

haus der music: a new venue for braunschweig, germany

Haus der Musik, a competition-winning entry by ADEPT by is set to transform the bones of an existing Karstadt warehouse in in Braunschweig, Germany. The concept preserves the building’s load-bearing structure and spatial rhythm, shifting its purpose from retail to resonance and introducing a sculptural new facade. ADEPT has used the building’s existing framework as a canvas for a concert hall and music school, creating what Martin Krogh, founding partner, calls ‘a dream project — not just because of its scale, but because it allows us to bring together everything we care about: transformation, sustainability, as well as social and urban social value.’

The project centers around what the architects describe as a ‘third place’ — a porous, hybrid space that binds the music school, performance areas, and informal gathering zones. This non-linear terrain opens opportunities for spontaneous interaction and shared ownership. ‘It’s a space that grows identity from within,’ says Krogh, underscoring the studio’s belief in socially driven architecture.

ADEPT will transform a former warehouse in Braunschweig into a cultural venue | images © Aesthetica Studio

adept plans for Sound Above and Life Below

With its Haus der Musik, the architects at ADEPT situates the concert hall along the building’s upper levels, allowing the preserved lower structure to anchor the music school and flexible event spaces like the Klangkeller. Designed in the shoebox tradition, the hall is outfitted with sound-reflective surfaces and dynamic ceiling elements that adjust acoustics to suit a range of performances. From balcony to floor, the experience is acoustically intimate and spatially direct, supported by adjacent rehearsal rooms and a panoramic terrace that connects concertgoers to the cityscape.

The upcoming project occupies a strategic site in Braunschweig, bridging the Altstadtmarkt and Kohlmarkt squares. By opening the ground level with transparent facades and terraces, the building becomes a point of entry, not only to music but to civic life. Its stepped massing and softened outline allow it to participate in the historical city’s silhouette while introducing new public rhythms.

The jury says: ‘The winning proposal transforms the existing building through adaptive reuse into an important component for Braunschweig’s city centre, as well as for the city’s musical landscape.’

the project preserves the original structure while bringing new public and performance spaces

layers of light and modular texture

The proposal reinterprets the original building’s facade into a layered expression of light and modular texture. Maintaining the structural cadence of the old Karstadt store, the design transforms it with sculptural depth and tactile detail. This gesture aligns the building with Braunschweig’s historic material palette while giving it a contemporary public identity. The interplay of solids and voids gestures inward and outward, animating both street and interior.

Timber is adopted for the interiors, inviting warmth into a space historically defined by commerce. The new volume atop the building sets back from the original cornice line, letting light reach the street and maintaining visual continuity with neighboring buildings. Material choices balance resilience with resonance, merging tactile appeal with performance-oriented design.

ADEPT treats the existing building as a resource, conserving its core structure and foundations. A new concert hall in steel and timber is placed with surgical care above the retained elements. CLT components accelerate construction while reducing emissions, and minimal site intervention further limits environmental impact.

an intimate concert hall is positioned on the upper levels and designed with acoustic precision

a sculptural new facade reinterprets the original rhythm | existing structure

project info:

name: Haus Der Musik (House of Music)

architect: ADEPT | @adeptarchitects

location: Braunschweig, Germany

area: 15,000 square meters + 3,000 square meters underground

visualizations: © Aesthetica Studio | @aesthetica_studio

client: Friedrich Georg Knapp w. Stadt Braunschweig

engineers: Assmann Beraten und Planen, Corall Ingenieure, Avissplan

collaborators: Assmann Beraten und Planen, Corall Ingenieure, Avissplan

team: Martin Krogh, Martin Laursen, Anders Lonka, Simon Poulsen, Tatyana Eneva, Athanasia Tatli, Tanja Jauernig, Philipp Macke, Guido Roth, Paul Lieser, Lilit Raudonat

The post ADEPT to transform german warehouse into ‘haus der musik’ with sculpted new facade appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

haus der music: a new venue for braunschweig, germany

Haus der Musik, a competition-winning entry by ADEPT by is set to transform the bones of an existing Karstadt warehouse in in Braunschweig, Germany. The concept preserves the building’s load-bearing structure and spatial rhythm, shifting its purpose from retail to resonance and introducing a sculptural new facade. ADEPT has used the building’s existing framework as a canvas for a concert hall and music school, creating what Martin Krogh, founding partner, calls ‘a dream project — not just because of its scale, but because it allows us to bring together everything we care about: transformation, sustainability, as well as social and urban social value.’

The project centers around what the architects describe as a ‘third place’ — a porous, hybrid space that binds the music school, performance areas, and informal gathering zones. This non-linear terrain opens opportunities for spontaneous interaction and shared ownership. ‘It’s a space that grows identity from within,’ says Krogh, underscoring the studio’s belief in socially driven architecture.

ADEPT will transform a former warehouse in Braunschweig into a cultural venue | images © Aesthetica Studio

adept plans for Sound Above and Life Below

With its Haus der Musik, the architects at ADEPT situates the concert hall along the building’s upper levels, allowing the preserved lower structure to anchor the music school and flexible event spaces like the Klangkeller. Designed in the shoebox tradition, the hall is outfitted with sound-reflective surfaces and dynamic ceiling elements that adjust acoustics to suit a range of performances. From balcony to floor, the experience is acoustically intimate and spatially direct, supported by adjacent rehearsal rooms and a panoramic terrace that connects concertgoers to the cityscape.

The upcoming project occupies a strategic site in Braunschweig, bridging the Altstadtmarkt and Kohlmarkt squares. By opening the ground level with transparent facades and terraces, the building becomes a point of entry, not only to music but to civic life. Its stepped massing and softened outline allow it to participate in the historical city’s silhouette while introducing new public rhythms.

The jury says: ‘The winning proposal transforms the existing building through adaptive reuse into an important component for Braunschweig’s city centre, as well as for the city’s musical landscape.’

the project preserves the original structure while bringing new public and performance spaces

layers of light and modular texture

The proposal reinterprets the original building’s facade into a layered expression of light and modular texture. Maintaining the structural cadence of the old Karstadt store, the design transforms it with sculptural depth and tactile detail. This gesture aligns the building with Braunschweig’s historic material palette while giving it a contemporary public identity. The interplay of solids and voids gestures inward and outward, animating both street and interior.

Timber is adopted for the interiors, inviting warmth into a space historically defined by commerce. The new volume atop the building sets back from the original cornice line, letting light reach the street and maintaining visual continuity with neighboring buildings. Material choices balance resilience with resonance, merging tactile appeal with performance-oriented design.

ADEPT treats the existing building as a resource, conserving its core structure and foundations. A new concert hall in steel and timber is placed with surgical care above the retained elements. CLT components accelerate construction while reducing emissions, and minimal site intervention further limits environmental impact.

an intimate concert hall is positioned on the upper levels and designed with acoustic precision

a sculptural new facade reinterprets the original rhythm | existing structure

project info:

name: Haus Der Musik (House of Music)

architect: ADEPT | @adeptarchitects

location: Braunschweig, Germany

area: 15,000 square meters + 3,000 square meters underground

visualizations: © Aesthetica Studio | @aesthetica_studio

client: Friedrich Georg Knapp w. Stadt Braunschweig

engineers: Assmann Beraten und Planen, Corall Ingenieure, Avissplan

collaborators: Assmann Beraten und Planen, Corall Ingenieure, Avissplan

team: Martin Krogh, Martin Laursen, Anders Lonka, Simon Poulsen, Tatyana Eneva, Athanasia Tatli, Tanja Jauernig, Philipp Macke, Guido Roth, Paul Lieser, Lilit Raudonat

The post ADEPT to transform german warehouse into ‘haus der musik’ with sculpted new facade appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

charles brooks expands his architecture in music series

Charles Brooks continues his Architecture in Music series, revealing the concealed chambers of rare and historic instruments. For each of his compositions, he merges hundreds of images of the intimate interiors taken with medical telescopes, capturing sweeping perspectives that appear almost architectural. His newest documentation takes a 1717 Stradivarius violin, known as the ex Hämmerle — ex Baumgartner, as his subject. Captured without disassembling the instrument, the photograph is believed to be the first of its kind, produced using a custom-adapted medical endoscope and a Lumix camera. The resulting composite image is made from 257 individual frames, taken in collaboration with violinist Daniel Dodds in Melbourne, showing how light gently illuminates the textures and brings the space to life.

The work continues Brooks’ investigation into the interior forms of musical instruments, a project that began several years ago and has since expanded to include pianos, horns, flutes, and church organs. Each image in the series combines technical imaging with a visual language often associated with architectural photography, highlighting the mechanical frameworks of these instruments with new spatial perspectives, appearing as vaulted forms, corridors, and niches.

1717 ex Hämmerle — ex Baumgartner Stradivarius | all images by Charles Brooks

revealing spatial perspectives of classical instrument interiors

In the case of the Stradivarius, while Charles Brooks captures the internal structure, he also pays homage to traces of its long history — fine wood grain, tool marks, and the precise geometry that supports its acoustic performance. Though the instrument measures only a few centimeters across, the image appears expansive, achieved through wide-angle optics and extended depth of field.

The photographer, who previously spent more than two decades as a professional cellist, brings a practical understanding of musical instruments to his photographic work in the Architecture in Music series. That background informs the series as it expands, with recent additions including a Yamaha 867d French Horn, a 1980s Yanagisawa Saxophone, the Kawai Grand Piano Millennium III Action, a Steinway concert grand piano, and the pipes in the organ of St. Mark’s Church in New Zealand.

St Marks Pipe Organ

a composition of hundreds of frames

Each image is assembled from dozens or hundreds of separate exposures, merged to capture detail across every focal plane. Charles Brooks adjusts the focal plane incrementally with each exposure of each frame and using specialist probe lenses and a controlled lighting setup, he captures fine details across the full depth of the space. These frames are then composited through a meticulous post-processing technique to produce a single, highly detailed image that plays with perspective and scale. Spaces only a few centimeters wide appear almost architectural in depth, with surfaces resembling ship hulls, cavernous chambers, or industrial tunnels.

Ibanez Acoustic Guitar

Martin D35

Siete Lunas Guitar By Roberto Hernandez

Steinway

Kawai Grand Piano Millenium III Action

Yamaha French Horn

Alto Flute

1995 Low C Prestige Bass Clarinet

project info:

name: Architecture in Music

artist: Charles Brooks | @charlescellist

The post charles brooks captures vaulted, shaded spaces inside historic musical instruments appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.