Dezeen Magazine

Brexit

This week, designers called for a second Brexit vote and Buckingham Palace was redesigned

This week on Dezeen, the Creative Industries Federation, Norman Foster and David Chipperfield signed a letter calling for a People's Vote, and Opposite Office imagined Buckingham Palace as a co-living space.

The Creative Industries Federation, Foster and Chipperfield are among the business leaders to sign a letter calling for a second referendum over whether the UK should leave the European Union.

The news follows the rejection of the Brexit deal proposed by prime minister Theresa May, and RIBA's report that revealed nearly half of EU architects are considering leaving the UK due to Brexit.

Affordable Palace proposal by Opposite Office
Opposite Office redesigns Buckingham Palace as co-living space for 50,000 Londoners

Architecture practice Opposite Office also hit the headlines for proposing the redesign and extension of the Buckingham Palace as a solution to the London housing crisis.

Named the Affordable Palace, the Munich-based studio's concept imagines a multi-story extension on top of the monarch's residence, which it claims could house up to 50,000 Londoners.

New York's "beloved" Chrysler Building is for sale

In the US, Frank Gehry was granted a restraining order against a man who sent him death threats by email.

Also the news broke that the Chrysler Building is up for sale. One of the world's most famous examples of art deco architecture, the historic building will be marketed by CBRE, which declined to reveal the asking price.

St Peter's Seminary by Mad4Brutalism via Wikimedia Commons
Catholic Church would give Brutalist ruin of St Peter's Seminary away for nothing

Brutalist landmark St Peter's Seminary also made the news, after the Roman Catholic Church referred to the ruin as "a huge albatross" around its neck.

Unable to sell, demolish or give it away, the church has landed in a "catch-22 situation" over the A-listed structure, which will remain a ruin until it gets public funding.

Nike EARL self-lacing trainers
Nike Adapt BB smart basketball sneakers feature self-lacing technology

In design news Nike unveiling of a pair of laceless basketball trainers that tighten at the swipe of a smartphone, and the Guardian introducted compostable wrapping.

Australian design studio Jack and Huei proposed Bleached Coral as the colour of 2020, in response to Pantone's "tone-deaf" choice of Living Coral for 2019.

Venturi Scott Brown's postmodern Sainsbury Wing at National Gallery in London wins AIA 25 Year Award
Venturi Scott Brown's postmodern Sainsbury Wing wins AIA 25 Year Award

Also this week, the American Institute of Architects presented its 25 Year Award to Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown's Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery in London.

A trio of post-communist countries were shortlisted for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award, which the jury called proof of the "new agenda" of architecture in Europe.

Bivouac Luca Pasqualetti by Roberto Dini and Stefano Girodo in the Italian Alps
Roberto Dini and Stefano Girodo build mountaintop shelter in Italian Alps

Projects to have sparked readers' imaginations this week include a mountaintop shelter in the Italian Alps, a corrugated metal cottage extension in the Cotswolds, and Henning Larsen's rollercoaster-like housing.