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Pebble Beach Golf Links is a public, 18-hole golf course in Pebble Beach, California. Hugging the rugged coastline of the Monterey Peninsula with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, it is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses on the world. Pebble Beach has hosted six U.S. Open Championships and a PGA Championship.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3cNTSrf

36.568611°, -121.950556°

Source imagery: Maxar

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Our annual Spring Printshop Sale ends one week from today. Visit over-view.com/shop/prints to see the full collection and use code “SPRING20” for 20% off your entire order.

Prints seen here include:

1. Istanbul, Turkey
2. Everglades National Park
3. Santiago, Chile
4. Santorini, Greece
5. Nice, France

Source imagery: Maxar

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Warm-toned timber joinery, striking rattan screens, gleaming mosaics tiles, marble and stone accents meet a bold but astute colour palette and assured art and design choices in this Brisbane apartment for a retiring couple. Sheer curtains veil the glass perimeter, allowing just the right amount of golden light to enter and mischievously animate the interior.

Architects Joel Alcorn and Chloe Middleton, directors of Brisbane-based Alcorn Middleton Architecture Office (AMAO), have given a new, more vivacious and homely lease of life to a residence set within the Bureau Proberts-design high-rise building in Kangaroo Point. Located in Brisbane’s most prestigious residential location, the single-floor apartment sits in the award-winning building that runs parallel to the Brisbane River, directly overlooking the CBD.

“Moving out of their suburban home of forty years, and being of retirement age, our clients needed this apartment to serve as their home for this new chapter of their lives,” says Alcorn. This homely impression was what they instantly felt was lacking after securing the uninhabited apartment.

Related: Avian Apartment in Brisbane by Alicia Holgar.

“Our clients were not looking to downsize,” explains Middleton. Measuring a generous 377 square meters (305sqm internally), the new space was larger than their long-standing suburban home. “They were seeking convenience, security and privacy with this new address,” she says. “We were sought after to compose and further define various areas of the apartment, offering full design services.” AMAO addressed room layouts starting from entry, living, dining, kitchen and outdoor entertainment, to master bedroom, ensuite and rumpus rooms.

Big on entertaining, the couple weren’t keen on the open-plan arrangement offered by the original layout. Kitchen functionality and access to the walk-in pantry became the project’s top priority, giving rise to AMAO’s boldest design move – the three rattan sliding doors positioned in front of the island bench, designed to ward off unwanted guests in the kitchen.

Alcorn Middleton’s concept sketches for Walan Apartment joinery.

AMAO’s design approach to built-in joinery elements throughout the entire home was to deploy them as devices for delineating zones in the open-plan layout without obstructing or inhibiting the magnificent views.

New joinery elements also took into consideration the age of the clients. “We ensured any protruding edges were rounded and that all units were lifted off the ground for ease of cleaning, and to increase the height and access into the new storage spaces, thereby minimising bending towards the floor,” explains Alcorn.

“We further developed on this ideology adding the ability to obscure the clutter in the kitchen; creating a barrier while maintaining a view to the CBD and ventilation via the perforation in the rattan,” says Middleton. AMAO’s clever approach not only transforms the entire interior, but the screens also become an interactive experience the client can manipulate to suit their needs and aesthetic preferences.

Moving on from their suburban home of many years, this vibrant home serves as an elegant and high-spirited inner-city residence designed to be enjoyed by the couple in the new life chapter. The best part? There’s not a single retiree cliché in sight. I don’t know about you, but for me – that’s major life goals right there.

| The article Walan Apartment in Brisbane by Alcorn Middleton. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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This Overview shows dozens of Chinese ships anchored at Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea, roughly 200 miles (322 km) west of Palawan Island, of the Philippines. Ownership of this reef and the surrounding Spratly Islands is contested by China, the Philippines and other nearby nations. The arrival of these Chinese ships in March 2021 has spurred a diplomatic incident, causing the United States to warn China against further aggressive moves in the region.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3uJl9kD

9.993889°, 114.657500°

Source imagery: Maxar

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Deforestation of the rainforest is visible in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Deforestation in the country has primarily been driven by the expansion of mechanized agriculture and cattle ranching. This Overview highlights the country’s struggle to expand food production in order to meet the needs of its growing population, and the sacrificial destruction of its forests that has taken place to do so.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3mxEPFv

-17.387750°, -60.562131°

Source imagery: Maxar

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Salina is the second largest of the Aeolian Islands, a volcanic archipelago north of Sicily, Italy. Its 10 square miles (27 square km) of surface area are primarily composed of six volcanoes. Two of its most prominent peaks — Monte dei Porri (bottom) and Monte Fossa delle Felci (top) — are seen here. The island is home to approximately 2,600 people.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3s5RjFo

38.565278°, 14.833333°

Source imagery: Airbus Space
© CNES 2020, Distribution Airbus DS

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Studio Zhu-Pei has completed the Imperial Kiln Museum in the porcelain capital of the world, Jingdezhen, China. The museum is comprised of more than half a dozen brick vaults whose forms mirror the shape of a traditional kiln. These vaults, each one uniquely sized, are intertwined with existing ruins uncovered during the project’s construction. The site now stands as a celebration of the past, allowing tradition to find its place in contemporary pottery production.

The museum’s floor plan is aligned with the street grid of the ancient city of Jingdezhen, ushering visitors in from the Imperial Kiln Relic Park. Upon entering the cluster of vaults, visitors become immersed in an oversized sculpture, dwarfed by the expansive curved ceiling above. The earthy tones of the bricks speak to the natural materials used in the production of ceramics. Sunlight creeps through glazed walls and skylights, illuminating the deep orange-red colours, bringing the space to life.

Movement throughout the building is characterised by distinct changes in scale and atmosphere. Some spaces are hugely expansive while others feel much more intimate. Some areas are cast in deep shadows while others are light-filled and attached to exterior courtyards. This multiplicity results in the creation of breath-taking spaces, that are not only visually arresting but also provide a fully immersive experience.

“Visitors can have a 360-degree sensory experience through the repeated contact between exterior and interior that stimulates the touch, smell, sound, and sight, transporting them into a sort of trip between past, present and nature,” explain the architects.

“Five sunken courtyards varied in size have a different theme: gold, wood, water, fire, soil,” Studio Zhu-Pei outlines. “Those five themes not only reflect the old Chinese thinking about the earth but also associate them with porcelain making techniques. The overall experience of the museum tries to rediscover the roots of Jingdezhen, to recreate the experience among kiln, porcelain, and human being”.

The vaulted geometry has been created by pouring concrete between two layers of the brick wall. New bricks are used alongside recycled old kiln bricks, together reflecting the local traditional culture of construction. Studio Zhu-Pei has endeavoured to create a space that holds the power to evoke memories in those that pass through its walls.

“The past cannot be erased but can be rewritten by recounting a new awareness and maturity, a sort of contemporary archaeology,” conclude the architects.

Related: AZL Architects Renovate An Old Kiln Building in the Chinese Forest With Concrete & Brick Arches.

| The article Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum in Jingdezhen Shi, China by Studio Zhu-Pei. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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The U.S. / Mexico border wall that separates San Diego from Tijuana stretches for 14 miles (22.5 km) and doesn’t end where the land meets the water – it extends several hundred feet into the Pacific Ocean. While the north side of the border is primarily barren hillsides, the city of Tijuana stacks up against the southern border, its Plaza Monumental bullfighting ring a vestige of the Spanish that once ruled both sides of the border.

This Overview is featured in our newest story ‘Border Lines’, which offers a high-level look at the situation along the U.S. / Mexico border. Visit over-view.com/stories/border-lines to read the full piece.

32.533883°, -117.119563°

Source imagery: Maxar

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For all you Transformer heads out there, do we have a project for you today or what?! Vietnam-based Design by Reborn has created their biggest sculpture to date – Ravana the Misunderstood – a Persian carpet reincarnated as a two-metre magnetic robot from Saigon.

Stumbling upon this one-of-a-kind rug in Galerie Shabab NYC, made in the 1920s by traditional Persian artisans, the team at Reborn were instantly transfixed and inside it saw a cosmic monolith with floral patterns that resemble miniature galaxies. Inspired to create, they made Ravana.

Entirely composed of wood with matte lacquered paint in collaboration with Vietnamese lacquer artisans, Ravana stands at two meters tall and is made up of five self-assembled parts which can be connected together through custom made earth magnets embedded into the wooden sculpture through the arms body and legs.

The Reborn design team made slight alterations to the patterns to embody that cosmic feel, look closer and you can find space crafts, black holes, stars, planets and cosmic beings. A total of over 7236 patterns are adorned throughout the design. As Reborn says, “If the cosmos was a being that was also a carpet, it would be Ravana.”

A twist on the classic diamond centre of a carpet is where Ravana’s heart lives, caving into a valley of 27 intricately hand-lacquered wooden layers that dive into the middle of the sculpture.

Borrowing its namesake from a mythical Sri Lankan king mentioned in the Hindu epic, Ramayana was fitting for this reincarnation. Seen as a complex character that evokes polarising views, Ravana is misinterpreted in popular belief. Some see him as the ultimate force of evil, but he was a knowledgeable scholar, scientist, lover and man of principle.

This resonated with Reborn, as the name has many interpretations so to can the rug transform into many forms.

Collaborating with local Vietnamese artists creates a symbiosis with the original Persian artisans that originally designed the rug. Spanning cultures to create something new layered from the old.

This is the first drop of their new series which the art studio intends to release soon inspired by Kurdish and Persian rug patterns and is available for pre-order on the Reborn Website.

| The article Design by Reborn’s Persian Carpet Reincarnates as a 2-meter Magnetic Robot from Saigon. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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We just posted our newest story about the U.S. / Mexico Border on our website. Visit over-view.com/stories/border-lines to read the full piece.

A series of border barriers draws a stark line between Yuma, Arizona (top) and San Luis Río Colorado in Sonora, Mexico (bottom). San Luis Río Colorado has exploded into a city of nearly 200,000 people thanks to its booming maquila factories. These factories manufacture large quantities of goods at cut-rate prices for established American companies. In contrast, Yuma is home to just 96,000 residents.

32.476667°, -114.762500°

Source imagery: Maxar