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disney’s animated characters reimagine iconic architectural landmarks

Mendoza Rodriguez’s illustration reinterprets architecture

 

Architect and illustrator Johana Mendoza Rodriguez reinterprets architecture through narrative illustration, transforming built forms into visual stories. Her work explores how light, color, and composition can translate spatial qualities into emotional and cultural meaning.

 

Mendoza Rodriguez’s drawings often merge precise architectural representation with elements of fantasy, at times juxtaposing familiar cultural references, such as Disney’s animated characters, with celebrated works of architecture. Through this lens, she examines the intersection of memory, imagination, and design, presenting architecture as both a physical and narrative construct.

Salk Institute | all illustrations by Johana Carolina Mendoza Rodriguez

 

 

Mendoza Rodriguez recontextualizes architectural landmarks

 

Based in Quito, Ecuador, Johana Mendoza Rodriguez studied architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE). Her practice combines technical accuracy with interpretive storytelling, highlighting how drawing can extend beyond documentation to become a reflective and expressive medium.

 

By recontextualizing landmarks and everyday structures alike, the designer emphasizes architecture’s capacity to evoke emotion, bridge cultural narratives, and engage viewers through visual dialogue. Her illustrations operate between art and design, suggesting that the representation of architecture can function as a poetic language, one that connects the tangible with the imagined.

Cuadra San Cristóbal

Space Needle

Kaufmann Desert House

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo

Geisel Library

Barcelona Pavilion

Farnsworth House

Lovell Health House

 

project info:

 

name: Architectural Illustrations
illustrator: Johana Carolina Mendoza Rodriguez

 

 

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 disney’s animated characters reimagine iconic architectural landmarks appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

‘design comes alive when it touches people’: studio empathy’s iF DESIGN AWARD library

VISITORS AS PROTAGONISTS OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

 

The iF DESIGN AWARD celebrates design that goes beyond aesthetics to solve problems and enrich human experience. In its Architecture discipline, the 2025 award recognized Studio Empathy, a New York-based firm, for the Assembled Void, Library at New York Korea Center. This project powerfully exemplifies architecture designed not just for function, but for feeling, showcasing a commitment to sensory engagement and cross-cultural dialogue.

 

designboom talks to Studio Empathy to explore their unique philosophy: how they design spaces that deliberately engage the senses, how visitors are cast as protagonists in their award-winning project, and what winning the iF DESIGN AWARD means for their mission to transform everyday life into something extraordinary.

Studio Empathy’s Assembled Void, Library won an iF DESIGN AWARD 2025 in the Architecture discipline

image © Michael Moran, courtesy of Studio Empathy (main image too)

 

 

iF DESIGN AWARD-WINNER STUDIO EMPATHY

 

Founded in 2022 by Changhaak Choi, Studio Empathy is driven by a desire to reconnect people, environments, and cultures. This philosophy is evident in the studio’s name and its core mission. Choi explains his interest lies in how man-made objects become meaningful and sustained through a network of emotions. He asserts that design isn’t a unilateral expression or an exact science, but that a space only truly comes alive when its design touches people. This focus on emotional connection is the foundation of their practice.

‘As a designer, while shaping environments where we live, I have always been interested in how man-made ordinary objects become meaningful and sustained, remaining as heirlooms. I think this is enabled by certain networks of emotion among people, environments, and cultures,’ begins Changhaak Choi, founder of Studio Empathy, to designboom. ‘Design is to create an identity for a space, building, and city, but eventually the real identity is achieved by the people who visit and live there. It becomes a place once it touches people. Design is neither math nor art. There is no clear answer and it is not working by one-way expression.’

the studio engages users with the design through overlapping functions, circulation, and unexpected sequences

image © Michael Moran, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

This philosophy manifests in the core concept of Reciprocal Consequence. The notion is rooted in the belief that everything is constantly evolving and improving through mutual interaction. Choi’s design inspiration often comes from observations of this principle in the real world. He uses a methodology called Indexing, which involves analyzing and reinterpreting cultural clues or architectural archetypes into new, contemporary prototypes. By practicing across architecture, interiors, and furniture, the studio ensures a high level of consistency across all scales, allowing every detail to contribute to a unified, holistic environment.

‘The notion of reciprocity in my design starts from my recognition that everything is already everywhere and could be evolved more when interacting with each other. This is in respect to human achievements,  and it is why I am interested in reinterpreting phenomena and archetypes into design ideas.’ The designer continues to add, ‘The idea of indexing during the design process, and working in an interdisciplinary way, originates from this notion. Even though there are more complex and programmatic approaches to designing a project, indexing allows us to create a unique as well as intimate, form-adaptable space that resonates more closely to inhabitants and users.’

the heart of the library adds a biophilic connection to visitors, much like a traditional Korean courtyard

image © Changhaak Choi, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

When it comes to the user experience, Studio Empathy views visitors as protagonists. Choi notes that as individuals are now ‘socio-cultural protagonists’ in the age of digital technology, designers must respond by infusing more freedom into a space. This active engagement is achieved through strategic architectural planning, such as overlapping functions, continuous circulation, and unexpected sequences. Crucially, natural light is treated as a dynamic artistic element that reacts with the forms and shapes of the space.

‘These days, people are already socio-cultural protagonists, and designers need to respond to them. Previously, designers tried to control people in a space by way of programmatic planning defined by conventional rules. Providing more freedom in a space is important to promote people’s engagement. I focus on mingling spaces beyond their functions, planning flows of continuous circulation and setting up a series of unexpected sequences people can encounter while exploring,’ adds Choi. ‘From these adjustments, people can find their favorite spot to enjoy and find out what to do as a protagonist of the space.’

the library’s design references a Han-Ok, a traditional Korean housing type, for its archetype

image © Changhaak Choi, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

AWARD-WINNING ASSEMBLED VOID LIBRARY

 

The Assembled Void, Library at New York Korea Center demonstrates how Studio Empathy successfully applied its philosophy to create a culture-bridging space in Midtown Manhattan. Tasked with designing a Korean cultural venue, the team looked to the Han-Ok, a traditional Korean housing type, for its archetype.

‘The design was inspired by a traditional Korean housing type, called Han-Ok,’ explains Changhaak Choi. ‘The Han-Ok’s enclosed courtyard acts as a multipurpose communal space in the middle surrounded by functional rooms. The composition of rooms are layered in parallel and wrapped around with aisles providing continuous circulation. Because the boundary between in and out is very flexible, the spaces can easily be expanded and overlapped with each other while using. We tried to realize those spatial advantages for the library in order to make a place with more flexible interaction among its functions, spaces, and visitors.’

the wooden shelving units are arranged in a single rectangular loop to create a void in the middle

image © Changhaak Choi, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

They specifically referenced the spatial principles of the Han-Ok’s enclosed courtyard and flexible circulation into the design. By arranging the wooden shelving units in a single rectangular loop, a void in the middle is created. This space, together with an adjacent terrace garden, functions as the inclusive heart of the library, much like a traditional Korean courtyard. This layout ensures visitors have both visual and physical connection to greenery. This strong biophilic connection sets up a unique sensory experience.

‘The reading zone, unlike conventional libraries, is integrated into the middle of the wooden shelving loop, forming a void that serves as the heart of the library together with the terrace.’ The designer continues to say, ‘Surrounded by book stacks, the terrace is covered with stone panels and designed to be an inclusive space hosting multiple functions, including reading, gathering, and occasional events. Wooden stools, designed in a cubic module, and herb planters enhance the communal and comfortable atmosphere. Scattered throughout the courtyard, it facilitates and drives diverse group or individual activities.’

the layout ensures visitors have both visual and physical connection to greenery

image © Michael Moran, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

Winning the iF DESIGN AWARD proved to be a transformative moment for the young studio. This library was Changhaak Choi’s first experimental design under his own practice and first public project in metropolitan New York. The award provides a lasting validation and places the new firm on a global stage alongside luminaries like Foster + Partners.

‘It means a lot to me, as my practice’s first project. It is also fascinating that the award was given to a public space. This enables the library to amplify its own powerful cultural message to the community. It accelerates the role of this institution to the city of New York,’ confirms Choi. ‘The iF DESIGN AWARD plaque, engraved with the team and my name, is proudly on display at the library’s entrance.’

Studio Empathy plans for a furniture product line based on the library’s successful storage system

image © Changhaak Choi, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

Choi notes that the award empowers the library’s own story, communicating and building an even more powerful cultural message. The international recognition has also helped prove the studio’s design methodology and approach. He encourages other emerging designers to challenge themselves, use the award platform as a peer assessment, and guide them into the future.

‘The iF DESIGN AWARD lets studios see where they are and where they are heading. It made me confident in my approach to design and has pushed me to continue exploring design methodologies and language,’ explains the designer. ‘It also provides access to colleagues in the design industry, to not only promote your work but also contribute and connect with the creative world. Our studio, as well as a relatively low-budget project, has been picked up by the media now, including designboom.’

the shelving displays the books to visitors inside and outside its courtyard

image © Changhaak Choi, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

Looking ahead, Studio Empathy is preparing to extend its practice, with plans for a furniture product line based on the library’s successful storage system and pursuing new projects in New York and Seoul. Their core mission remains constant: to use design as an agent of empathy to create spaces that improve our everyday lives and transform them into something extraordinary.

‘I am preparing to extend my practice beyond field and country, as we have diverse projects ongoing in both NYC and Seoul.’ Choi concludes, ‘We will keep looking into past archetypes to reinvent and customize homes, forms, and spaces that contain people’s life, because I believe that we are very good at empathy-ing.’

the iF DESIGN AWARD has helped prove the studio’s design methodology and approach

image © Changhaak Choi, courtesy of Studio Empathy

natural light is treated as a dynamic artistic element that reacts with the forms and shapes of the space

image © Michael Moran, courtesy of Studio Empathy

 

 

project info: 

 

organization: iF DESIGN AWARD | @ifdesign

award category: Architecture

project name: Assembled Void, Library

design team/designer: Studio Empathy/Changhaak Choi | @studio.empathy.ny and Praxes/Ji Young Kim

venue: New York Korea Center

location: New York, New York, USA

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uma porcelain tableware collection applies neuroscience to enhance taste perception

UMA tableware by HAK Studio merges neuroscience and design

 

HAK Studio presents UMA, a tableware collection developed through research in gastrophysics, a field of neuroscience exploring how sensory stimuli shape taste perception. The series includes a swirling porcelain dessert plate and a rough, unglazed, salty bowl. a Designed to support individuals experiencing reduced taste sensitivity, such as older adults or those who have lost their sense of taste following COVID-19, UMA uses color, texture, and form to enhance the perception of flavor. Studies by Professor Charles Spence at the University of Oxford demonstrate that the brain forms taste expectations before food reaches the mouth. Elements such as color, texture, and shape can intensify or alter taste experiences, enabling healthier eating by reducing the need for sugar, salt, or other additives.

all images courtesy of HAK Studio

 

 

UMA series consists of a porcelain dessert plate and a salty bowl

 

Informed by this research, HAK Studio developed a dessert plate designed to heighten the perception of sweetness. Crafted in porcelain and finished with a high-gloss glaze, the plate features a swirling pattern inspired by confectionery, reminiscent of toffee or strawberry cream candies. The glaze’s movement and sheen evoke fluid chocolate, reinforcing visual and tactile cues associated with sweetness. Each piece is produced using a color-mixing method that ensures no two plates are identical.

 

The salty bowl complements this approach, made of porcelain with contrasting surfaces, a rough, unglazed exterior, and a smooth, quartz-glazed interior. The outer texture is developed through repeated material experimentation, creating a tactile experience that encourages touch while visually referencing salt crystallization. Inspired by Japanese tableware, the bowl’s proportions make it suitable for soups, stews, and rice-based dishes.

UMA tableware by HAK Studio explores the connection between neuroscience and design

 

 

HAK Studio’s tableware supports taste, health, and well-being

 

Throughout the design process, HAK Studio conducted interviews with 20 participants, including older adults and individuals recovering from COVID-19-related taste loss. All reported perceptual enhancement when using or viewing the prototypes. The project demonstrates how neuroscience-informed design can influence the sensory experience of eating, suggesting that thoughtful form, texture, and color can serve as tools to restore or amplify taste perception in everyday life. Produced in a ceramics workshop in Copenhagen, UMA blends craftsmanship with scientific insight, proposing an interdisciplinary approach where design operates as an extension of sensory health and well-being.

the dessert plate is crafted in porcelain and finished with a glossy swirling glaze

the swirling pattern recalls the movement of toffee, chocolate, or cream candies

the contrasting surfaces enhance tactile engagement and sensory awareness

inspired by Japanese tableware, the bowl suits soups, stews, and rice-based dishes

the outer texture evokes natural salt crystallization through material experimentation

 

 

project info:

 

name: UMA – tableware that boosts taste inspired by neuroscience
designer: HAK Studio | @hakdesignstudio

industrial designers: Zanetta Korsak & Pawel Lasota

 

 

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 uma porcelain tableware collection applies neuroscience to enhance taste perception appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

elmgreen & dragset craft hyperrealistic cinemagoer sculptures in immersive prada installation

Prada mode london hosts elmgreen & dragset’s installation

 

Elmgreen & Dragset craft hyperrealistic cinemagoer sculptures in an immersive cinema installation for Prada Mode London. Titled The Audience, the project is at Town Hall in King’s Cross, London, from October 17th to 19th, 2025, coinciding with Frieze London. The temporary installation is part of Prada Mode, which is an ongoing global series of the brand focusing on site-specific events that combine art, design, and social experience. It has traveled to Osaka across a SANAA-designed pavilion as well as Tokyo with site-specific artworks curated by Kazuyo Sejima. Even Theaster Gates has created sonic and spatial immersion at Prada Mode in Abu Dhabi as well as in London, while the one in LA was transformed by Carsten Höller into the dubbed Prada Double Club carnival wonderland. 

The continuing theme is always interaction between the space, sculptures, and the viewers. In Prada Mode London, artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset underline the act of watching and being watched, as their immersive installation transforms the restored Town Hall building into a working cinema. Inside, visitors enter a space designed to function both as an exhibition and as a performance site, where the central features include the hyperrealistic cinemagoers made of silicone, a series of plush seats reminiscent of the ones found in Milan’s Fondazione Prada, and a looping blurry film that discusses the age of image overload, hyperconnectivity, and attention deficit.

all images courtesy of Elmgreen & Dragset and Prada

 

 

Hyperrealistic sculptures explore theme of hyperconnectivity

 

The heart of The Audience is the short, intentionally blurred film being played in the immersive cinema installation, created still by Elmgreen & Dragset. The film plays on a continuous loop, repeating a scene in which a painter and a writer talk about their creative work while inside their flat. It doesn’t have a clear resolution or ending but runs repeatedly, creating a sense of continuous observation. In the cinema space co-designed with the brand, five life-sized hyperrealistic sculptures occupy the seats, modeled to resemble ordinary audience members. Each one is positioned differently – some appear attentive, others distracted – showing different ways people watch or lose focus during a film. These sculptures are immobile, forming part of the installation’s reflection on spectatorship.

 

The installation extends outside the cinema hall with another sculptural work titled The Conversation. This piece features a female figure seated at a café table in the lobby, steeped in a video call with one of the film’s characters. It feels like the cinema scene and this sculpture create a loop between real and fictional space, with the visitors watching the sculptures and them watching the living people in return with their frozen states and stares, blurring the distinction between audience and subject. For Prada Mode London, the artists Elmgreen & Dragset explore how people interact with images in a world of continuous media exposure and hyperconnectivity. 

Elmgreen & Dragset craft hyperrealistic cinemagoer sculptures for Prada Mode London

 

 

Restoring Town Hall in King’s Cross as temporary cinema

 

The Town Hall in King’s Cross was restored and repurposed for Elmgreen & Dragset’s installation with Prada Mode London. The brand’s team collaborated with the artists to adapt the interior into a functioning cinema installation, with the layout including a projection area, fixed seating for both sculptures and visitors, and controlled lighting to support the film projection. Materials were selected for both functionality and preservation of the building, such as temporary walls and sound insulation panels that maintain acoustic balance. The hyperrealistic cinemagoer sculptures were made using silicone, resin, fiberglass, and human hair to reproduce realistic surfaces and textures. 

 

In addition to the main installation, Prada Mode London features a series of events exploring the idea of spectatorship. The schedule includes artist talks, discussions, film screenings, performances, and DJ sets, and these activities examine how audiences engage with visual culture and digital media. The temporary installation by Elmgreen & Dragset at Prada Mode London runs from October 15th to 19th, 2025, with the first two days of the event functioning as a private members club. During this period, invited guests can preview the installation and attend smaller discussions in a more controlled environment. From October 17th to 19th, the venue opens to the public, allowing wider access to the installation and associated programming.

titled The Audience, the project is at Town Hall in King’s Cross, London

visitors enter a space designed to function both as an exhibition and as a performance site

some hyperrealistic sculptures appear attentive, while others distracted

the hyperrealistic cinemagoers made of silicone

 

project info:

 

name: The Audience

artists: Elmgreen & Dragset | @elmgreenanddragsetstudio

brand: Prada | @prada

event: Prada Mode London

dates: October 15th to 19th, 2025

location: Town Hall in King’s Cross, London, UK

The post elmgreen & dragset craft hyperrealistic cinemagoer sculptures in immersive prada installation appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

SANAA, sou fujimoto, and DS+R among five teams shortlisted for the louvre’s transformation

five finalist teams revealed for the louvre competition in paris

 

France’s Ministry of Culture unveils the five finalist teams competing to reimagine the most visited museum in the world as part of the ambitious Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance project (find designboom’s previous coverage here). Following an international call that attracted more than a hundred submissions, two-thirds of which came from abroad, the shortlist announced marks a milestone in the transformation of the museum.

 

The jury of twenty-one members reviewed the proposals before naming the five finalist teams. These are Amanda Levete Architects (AL_A) with NC Nathalie Crinière, Carole Bénaiteau, VDLA, and Atelier SOIL; Architecture Studio with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Atelier Brückner, LAMA YA, and TER; Dubuisson Architecture with SANAA and Dan Pearson Studio; Sou Fujimoto Ateliers Paris with Sou Fujimoto Architects, Ducks Scéno, and Vogt Paysage; and STUDIOS Architecture with Selldorf Architects, Scénarchie, and BASE.

image courtesy of Musée du Louvre

 

 

Nouvelle Renaissance reimagines the museum’s visitor experience

 

Announced by Emmanuel Macron in January 2025, Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance represents a vast scientific, cultural, architectural, and environmental undertaking. The project envisions a renewal of the museum’s infrastructure and the creation of new spaces and access points that will redefine how visitors experience the Louvre.

The first component, titled Louvre – Grande Colonnade, focuses on creating new public entrances through the eastern section of the palace, restoring the original intent behind Louis XIV’s monumental facade.

 

These new access points will ease congestion at I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid and improve circulation throughout the museum, while offering visitors a more comfortable and inclusive welcome. Beneath the Cour Carrée and the surrounding gardens, a new underground expansion will introduce an additional museum wing, including a dedicated gallery for the Mona Lisa. This so-called Parcours Joconde aims to recontextualize Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece and to redistribute the intense flow of visitors that currently converges on the Denon Wing.

 

A new grand exhibition hall will also be built, enabling the Louvre to host larger and more varied temporary shows and strengthening its role as a contemporary cultural venue. The broader aim is to reconnect the museum with its surrounding urban landscape, from the moats of the Grande Colonnade to the facades overlooking Place du Louvre.

image courtesy of Musée du Louvre

 

 

preserving heritage while building for the future

 

The second component, Louvre Demain, introduces a long-term masterplan for renovating the infrastructures and technical systems of the museum, ensuring that the monumental site meets 21st-century standards of sustainability and accessibility. The architectural interventions will be carried out under the supervision of François Chatillon, Chief Architect of Historical Monuments.

 

Through Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance, the museum seeks to balance historic grandeur with contemporary needs, expanding the legacy of Pei’s Grand Louvre project of the 1980s and 1990s, which transformed the Cour Napoléon and Richelieu Wing but left the eastern facade largely untouched. The initiative sets out to complete that vision, reuniting the classical architecture of the palace with the city that surrounds it.

image courtesy of Musée du Louvre

image © Franck Bohbot

image © Franck Bohbot

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa (2004) by SANAA | image courtesy of the architects

L’Arbre Blanc by Sou Fujimoto | image by Iwan Baan

Central Embassy by Amanda Levete Architects (AL_A) in Thailand | image © Hufton + Crow 

Garden Court, The Frick Collection, New York, led by Selldorf Architects | image © Joseph Coscia Jr.

Community Swimming Pool, Châteaulin by Dubuisson Architecture | image courtesy of the architects

 

project info:

name: Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance

location: Musée du Louvre | @museelouvre, Paris, France

shortlisted teams:  Amanda Levete Architects / AL_A | @amandalevetearchitects, Architecture Studio with Diller Scofidio + Renfro | @diller_scofidio_renfro, Dubuisson Architecture | @dubuissonarchitecture with SANAA | @sanaa_jimusho, Sou Fujimoto | @sou_fujimoto, STUDIOS Architecture | @studiosarchitecture with Selldorf Architects

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