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rope-making machine by conrad shawcross weaves umbilical-like cords with motorized ‘arms’

Forty rotating arms weave in Conrad Shawcross’ rope machine

Conrad Shawcross creates The Nervous System (Umbilical) (2025), a large mechanical and rope-machine artwork that weaves umbilical-like cords with motorized arms. On view for the first time at Here East in London between September 11th and November 2nd, 2025, the rope-making sculptural machine is part of the British artist’s long-running project called Rope Makers, which explores how machines can make rope through complex patterns of movement. The device was originally commissioned by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania, and the artist brings it over to London for a while before it is set to be permanently installed in Australia. The rope-making machine is both a sculpture and a functioning device, standing 10 meters high and 12 meters wide. 

It is made from metal, timber, and mechanical parts, all assembled in the artist’s studio in Hackney, London. The design has 40 interlocking rotating arms that move around a central point, and each arm carries a spool with fibers, twisted and woven together to form a long rope. The machine works based on how traditional rope is made, but on a much larger and more complex scale. In a normal rope-making process, several threads are spun together while they are pulled tight, creating tension that keeps the rope strong and consistent. In the artist’s machine, this process is multiplied and expanded, with 40 arms rotating in different orbits, each moving at a slightly different speed and direction. As they turn, they twist and combine the threads into a single rope that grows from the center.

all images courtesy of Conrad Shawcross | photos by Richard Ivey, unless stated otherwise

Two other mechanical artworks on view at here east in london

The arms of The Nervous System (Umbilical) by artist Conrad Shawcross are connected by a network of gears, motors, and joints, programmed to move in specific cycles. These cycles never fully repeat, meaning that every moment of the weaving process and the rope-making machine is never the same. The rope produced is continuous and long, but no two parts of it are made in exactly the same way, and it results in an umbilical-like cord. Industrial fibers make up the woven cord, and as the rope passes through the middle of the structure, it collects the effects of every motion made by the machine’s arms. Over time, small changes in the way the arms move, caused by mechanical shifts, timing differences, or small errors, become visible in the texture and pattern of the rope.

The movement of the arms and spools is modeled after the way planets orbit the sun. Each arm represents a planetary orbit, and the rope at the center represents the path of the sun as it travels through the galaxy. The spools move around one another in complex, overlapping loops, similar to how celestial bodies move through space. This gives the machine a system-like structure, similar to a solar system, but made of gears and spools instead of planets. The exhibition also connects Umbilical to earlier artworks that deal with machinery and the passage of time. The other rope machines on display at Here East in London include Yarn (2001) and Ode to the Difference Engine (2007), both of which were built from oak and with mechanical systems. They remain on-site alongside Umbilical, weaving cords and ropes using motorized and mechanical arms for the viewers.

view of Ode to the Difference Engine (2007)

Umbilical to head to Museum of Old and New Art

The series of rope-making machines began more than ten years ago when Conrad Shawcross discussed the idea with David Walsh, the founder of MONA. The artist developed the concept through mechanical studies and built several smaller rope-making machines before this one. Earlier works in the Rope Makers series include Yarn (2001) and Ode to the Difference Engine (2007), making Umbilical a continuation of the artistic study but using more advanced engineering. When the exhibition closes in London, the mechanical sculpture is to be taken apart and shipped to MONA in Hobart, Tasmania, where it will be permanently installed in its own atrium by 2027. 

Once it begins running there, it is expected to operate continuously, stopping only once a year to change its spools. The rope then will slowly pile up beneath the machine, creating a growing archive of time. Every section of the rope can be linked to a specific period during the machine’s operation. The design of The Nervous System (Umbilical) was created with help from engineers and fabricators at Structure Workshop and Brier Solutions, and lighting was provided by TM Lighting. The sculptures are on view at Here East in London until November 2nd, 2025.

even the Ode to the Difference Engine (2007) weaves cords using mechanical wooden arms

the machine works based on how traditional rope is made

view of Ode to the Difference Engine (2007) at Here East in London

view of Yarn (2001)

view of The Nervous System (Umbilical) (2025)

each arm carries a spool with fibers, twisted and woven together to form a long rope | image by The Wick

portrait of Conrad Shawcross with The Nervous System (Umbilical) (2025) at Here East in London

project info:

artworks: The Nervous System (Umbilical), Yarn, Ode to the Difference Engine

artist: Conrad Shawcross | @conradshawcross

on view: Here East | @hereeast

dates: September 11th to November 2nd, 2025

location: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 14 E Bay Ln, London E15 2GW, UK

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photographer suzanne jongmans recreates renaissance portraits using packaging materials

Suzanne Jongmans recreates paintings with recycled materials

Suzanne Jongmans bridges centuries of image-making in her retrospective Rewriting History, on view at Dordts Patriciërshuis in Dordrecht, Netherlands, until October 26th, 2025. Within the stately 18th-century townhouse, Jongmans’ photographs, eerily reminiscent of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, confront visitors with an unexpected tension, as beneath their luminous serenity lies a fabric of plastic, foam, and bubble wrap (find designboom’s previous coverage here). Her portraits transform disposable packaging materials into sculptural costumes, restaging the poise and symbolism of old Dutch masters and reflecting on today’s culture of mass consumption.

Jongmans spends weeks sewing the garments herself before assembling hundreds of photographic fragments into a single image, building layer upon layer, as painters once applied glaze and pigment. Through this time-intensive process, she restores the tactile and temporal weight once inherent in painting and clothing production, exposing its contrast with the immediacy and disposability of contemporary life.

In Resonance (2021) reflects the interconnected vibrations of the universe | all images by Suzanne Jongmans

Rewriting History on view at the Dordts Patriciërshuis museum

Rewriting History spans the historic rooms of the Dordts Patriciërshuis museum, where Jongmans’ hyperreal portraits seem to complete the antique interiors of the house. Materials once destined for waste bins acquire the dignity of brocade, while faces captured in modern light echo the solemnity of another age. This interplay, as Jongmans explains, ‘shows how the historical setting can strengthen and enrich the contemporary artwork and vice versa.’

Existential dualities, love and loss, transience and eternity, youth and maturity, form the emotional thread through her practice. Costumes and still lifes become vehicles for introspection and connection, translating personal encounters into universal reflections. ‘Clothing has always been a sign and a means of communication,’ the Dutch photographer notes, using the material and metaphorical layers of attire to question how identity and belonging are constructed.

Princes Eva

Reimagining Tradition Through Material and Form

Among the works on view are Solitude (2014), where a young woman in a foam-rubber habit holds a sprig of jasmine, symbolizing purity and introspection; Mind Over Matter: Present (2015), a self-portrait with the artist’s son exploring motherhood and presence; and In Resonance (2021), a meditation on vibrational connectivity in the universe. In The Whole of Who We Are (2023), battered marbles resembling planets become symbols of creativity and human potential.

Jongmans’ multidisciplinary practice combines photography, costume design, sculpture, and textile craft. The exhibition surveys her oeuvre but also reveals her process of transforming the ordinary into the sublime, the disposable into the enduring. 

Mind over Matter – Cutting Loose

Mind over Matter – Closure

Mind over Matter – Solitude | the model in a foam habit, holding jasmine as a symbol of purity and strength

Prins Jona | Jona at 9, dressed as a young nobleman with a foam-heart collar

Julie, portrait of a woman

Kindred Spirits – Present | a self-portrait with the artist’s son, exploring Present as a gift and the current moment

Mind over Matter – Room for change

Kindred Spirits – The Receptive Mode

project info:

name: Rewriting History

artist: Suzanne Jongmans | @suzannejongmans

location: Dordts Patriciërshuis | @dordts_patriciershuis, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

dates: April 26th – October 26th, 2025

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bamboo-clad ice cream shop tucks within coconut grove in thailand

Ice Cream Shop’s Bamboo columns reinterpret the coconut grove

Bamboosaurus Studio designs Satimi.sook, an ice cream shop located on Thailand’s Koh Phangan, to reinterpret the site’s former coconut grove through architecture that integrates with its natural and cultural context. The project emphasizes continuity between built form and landscape, using local references to shape both structure and atmosphere. The design concept originates from the geometry and rhythm of the coconut palms that once occupied the site. Structural columns are placed in alignment with the original tree positions, maintaining a spatial rhythm that connects the new structure to its ecological history. A low-gable roof, derived from local vernacular architecture, responds to the tropical climate by reducing wind pressure during monsoon seasons while reinforcing the building’s contextual identity.

Bamboo defines the project’s architectural character, appearing in columns, partial walls, and roof detailing. The material’s tactile quality and local availability establish a visual and material link to the island’s environment. To ensure long-term durability in a tropical setting, bamboo is paired with steel framing, cement board, insulated metal sheets, and glass blocks. This combination allows for efficient construction and improved resistance to humidity and weather exposure.

the site is a former coconut grove, interspersed with various native trees | all images by Sarawin Kawin

Bamboosaurus blends timber, bamboo, and steel for the design

Inside, the structural system merges a steel framework with timber framing and overlapping wood cladding to create a warm, cohesive environment. The street-facing facade, composed of timber, bamboo grids, and glass blocks, reflects the vertical rhythm of nearby trees and introduces filtered natural light into the interior. To reduce environmental disruption, the design team at Bamboosaurus Studio employs galvanized helical piles instead of traditional concrete foundations. This lightweight system is well-suited to the island’s sandy soil, allowing for quick installation without vibration or heavy excavation, thereby preserving nearby tree roots. The foundation system can also be dismantled and reused, minimizing construction waste and extending the building’s sustainability lifecycle.

Through its structural rhythm, material composition, and adaptive foundation, Satimi.sook demonstrates how small-scale commercial architecture can engage with landscape and tradition. The project translates the character of Koh Phangan’s coconut groves into a built environment that prioritizes ecological sensitivity, structural clarity, and local identity.

The vernacular low-gabled roof form was adopted to mitigate the force of wind, thereby minimizing the risk of structural collapse or detachment during monsoon season.

The architectural design was crafted to look less like a commercial shop and more like a “home” to offer users a warm, “homey” experience.

Structural columns mimic coconut palms and align with original tree positions, establishing architectural continuity and connection with the natural setting.

The bamboo column structure showcases varied and effective applications, demonstrating the material’s structural versatility and potential.

Galvanized Helical Piles were chosen over spread footings for the sandy soil. They allow fast, quiet installation, minimizing root disturbance and supporting sustainability through future relocation.

project info:

name: Satimi.sook Ice Cream Shop

architect: Bamboosaurus | @bamboosaurus.studio
lead architect: Jirapong Thongseeon
location: Koh Phangan, Surat Thani, Thailand
area: 96 sqm

photographer: Sarawin Kawin

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

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the king’s feast 2025 hosts nile-inspired gastronomic installation during cairo food week

the king’s feast opens cairo food week 2025

Debuting at Cairo Food Week 2025, the King’s Feast immerses guests in a multi-sensory installation that transcends the act of dining. Titled the King’s Feast: Between Two Banks, the event uses gastronomy, design, light, and scent to weave a captivating story of ancient Egyptian cosmology and the Nile’s enduring life force. Alchemy Experience curates this transformative dining landscape, inviting guests to not just eat, but to experience a living narrative rooted in history and reimagined for the future.

The King’s Feast: Between Two Banks returns to Cairo Food Week 2025

image by Laila Heiba

the nile flows through the king’s feast

The 2025 edition, The King’s Feast: Between Two Banks, is a highlight of Cairo Food Week, returning with a powerful new context. Following two successful editions that established its reputation as a celebratory showcase of cultural and culinary heritage, the feast finds its home at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), ahead of its highly anticipated opening. The entire event, curated by Alchemy Experience, functions as a cohesive, theatrical narrative. At its center, the now-notorious 20-meter-long table acts as a physical representation of the Nile, dividing the space into two symbolic halves: the East (life) and the West (afterlife).

the notorious 20-meter-long table acts as a physical representation of the Nile

image by Omar Aziz

The Feast’s journey begins with the Scent of the Nile, which fragrantly welcome guests by using ancient aromas like frankincense and myrrh to bridge the earthly and the divine. The space opens up to the Gathering in the River Garden, representing a modern ritual of community through its open greenery and bar. It concludes with Offering, where a tribute to Egypt’s agricultural heritage is presented along the giant dining table.

diners journey begins with the Scent of the Nile, including ancient aromas like frankincense and myrrh

image by Laila Heiba

Sage Experience translates this ancient Egyptian cosmology into the physical meal. The East Bank features dishes with vibrant colors, fresh ingredients, and bright flavors, symbolizing the rising sun and renewal. In contrast, the West Bank offers a more contemplative experience, with dishes focused on complex, slow-cooked flavors. These are presented on darker, earthier tableware to reflect the passage into the underworld. This dual-bank approach ensures that guests journey through a conceptual landscape with every course, connecting the food and its presentation to the deep spiritual beliefs of Egypt’s past.

Sage Experience translates ancient Egyptian cosmology into the physical meal for the East and West banks

image by Laila Heiba

The atmosphere is sculpted by Enlighten‘s lighting design, which captures the rhythms of light through a sensorial biophilic approach. This is not just illumination but rather a living presence that echoes the sky’s cycles from dawn to dusk. The lighting shifts to reflect the circadian rhythm: beginning with golden hues of dawn to awaken the senses, transitioning to bright midday light for the main feast, and softening into warm amber tones for reflection as evening sets in. This creates an emotional and immersive journey that connects guests to the very pulse of nature.

Enlighten’s lighting design captures the rhythms of light through a sensorial biophilic approach

image by Laila Heiba

The King’s Feast 2025 shows how design can breathe new life into heritage, inviting visitors to experience the city’s rich culture and forward-thinking artistry in a truly monumental setting. The event’s host, Grand Egyptian Museum is especially significant, as it places the event directly on the Nile’s banks. This symbolic homecoming is further reinforced by the partnership with Jirian Palm Hills, which aims to re-center Cairo’s urban living around the river. Situated in New Sheikh Zayed with over 9km of the Nile frontage, the major project promises modern and sustainable, community-led design to contribute to the greater city’s growth.

lights shift between golden hues of dawn, bright midday light for feasting, and warm amber tones of evening

image by Laila Heiba

fragrance like myrrh welcome guests into the space to bridge the earthly and the divine

image by Omar Aziz

the two banks ensure every course connects the food and guests to deep spiritual beliefs of Egypt’s past

image by Laila Heiba

event info:

event: Cairo Food Week | @cairofoodweek

dates: 25 September to 4 October, 2025

location: Cairo, Egypt

organizer: Flavor Republic | @flavor_republic

curator: Alchemy Experience | @alchemy.experience

culinary design: Sage Experience | @thesagexperience

lighting concept: Enlighten | @enlighten.eg

botanical installations: Flowerbar | @flowerbar_egypt

photographers: Laila Heiba and Omar Aziz | @storiesbylaila and @azizedition

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thin floating roof shelters arquitectura-G’s colonnaded courtyard house in spain

Arquitectura-G completes courtyard house in Aiguablava, spain

Arquitectura-G completes Patio House, a single-story residence in Aiguablava, Spain, that distills domestic life into a continuous loop of light, air, and shadow. The architectural team uses the courtyard typology as a spatial tool to mediate between the natural terrain and the built form, creating a dwelling that feels enclosed and open at the same time.

A setback from the original plot boundary defines the geometry of the house, a move that preserves a ring of untouched terrain around the perimeter. Within this protected envelope, a roofed porch traces a perfect square, enclosing a 15 × 15 meter courtyard framed by a colonnade. At its center lies a shallow reflecting pool and three trees whose canopies filter sunlight across the paving, forming a living microclimate. A thin roof plane seems to hover lightly above the columns and perimeter wall, uniting all spaces under a single horizon.

all images by Maxime Delvaux, unless stated otherwise

continuous porch wraps around patio house

The Barcelona-based collective Arquitectura-G transforms the archetype of the Mediterranean patio house into a contemporary statement of restraint, material clarity, and environmental intelligence. Inside, life circulates through a continuous corridor that wraps the courtyard. Conceived as a variable-width porch, this transitional zone gradually shifts in character from a narrow passage to generous communal spaces like the living room and kitchen. Every room opens directly onto the courtyard through large glazed panels and adjustable louver screens, which regulate light and ventilation.

Arquitectura-G completes Patio House in Aiguablava, Spain

a continuous loop of light, air, and shadow

the architects use the courtyard typology as a spatial tool

a setback from the original plot boundary defines the geometry of the house

a move that preserves a ring of untouched terrain around the perimeter

life circulates through a continuous corridor that wraps the courtyard

a roofed porch traces a perfect square

a thin roof plane seems to hover lightly above the columns

uniting all spaces under a single horizon

every room opens directly onto the courtyard

project info:

name: Patio House

architect: Arquitectura-G | @arquitecturag

location: Aiguablava (Girona), Spain

lead architects: Jonathan Arnabat, Jordi Ayala-Bril, Aitor Fuentes, Igor Urdampilleta

project team: Diogo Porto, Siddartha Rodrigo, Jesús Jiménez

structure engineer: Ofici:Arquitectura

MEP engineer: TDI Enginyers

surveyor: Xavier de Bolòs

photographer: Maxime Delvaux | @maxdelv

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can concrete supply power like batteries? MIT scientists prove so

MIT’s concrete battery can supply power from buildings

Scientists at MIT develop Electron-Conducting Carbon Concrete, a kind of cement that can store and release electricity like batteries. Aimed for buildings, sidewalks, and other infrastructure, the energy-releasing material is made from four main ingredients: cement, water, ultra-fine carbon black, and electrolytes. The main stars are the carbon black and the electrolytes. For the former, its very small particles can form a conductive nanonetwork inside the concrete, allowing electricity to move through the material. 

For the latter, they are substances that carry electric charge. When these are mixed with cement and water, they create a type of concrete that can hold and give back electrical energy, like a supercapacitor or large batteries. While the project cannot store as much energy as normal batteries, it has one major benefit: it can be built directly into structures, meaning it can be used or infused in walls, floors, pavements, and bridges so they can store and supply power directly to the electric lines. MIT’s concrete battery shows a future where the material can be embedded into roads or parking areas to charge electric vehicles directly, or for off-grid homes that do not need external power.

all images courtesy of MIT EC³ Hub, unless stated otherwise

ammonium salts increase power supplied in a day

To produce the concrete battery, the MIT scientists have studied how carbon black and electrolytes interact inside the concrete. They use a method called FIB-SEM tomography, which combines focused ion beams and scanning electron microscopes, to remove and scan thin layers of the concrete and build a 3D image of the nanonetwork. The images show that the carbon particles form a web-like structure that surrounds small holes inside the concrete, helping the electrolyte spread through the material and making it easier for current to flow.

Once the team understood that this is how the network works, they tested different electrolytes. They found that various types could work, including organic electrolytes and even seawater. Instead of making the concrete first and then soaking it in electrolyte, the researchers mixed the electrolyte directly into the water before pouring the concrete so the electrolyte could spread evenly through the mixture and the team could make thicker layers that stored more energy. They found out that the best formula came from a mix that used quaternary ammonium salts (common in disinfectants) and acetonitrile. This version could store more than two kilowatt-hours of energy per cubic meter of concrete, which is about the energy a household refrigerator needs in one day.

a concrete battery-based prototype to show how carbon black and electrolytes supply power

Concrete battery by MIT can help store renewable energy

The MIT team has already demonstrated the concept of their concrete battery using a small arch. It can support weight and power a small LED light using its stored energy, and when more weight is added, the light flickers, showing that the material might also work as a self-monitoring system. In large structures, this can mean that changes in electrical flow might reveal how much stress or damage a building is experiencing.

The team also notes that the Electron-Conducting Carbon Concrete can help store renewable energy. Solar panels produce energy only in sunlight, so stored energy is needed at night or on cloudy days. Buildings made with MIT’s concrete battery can then collect and store solar energy during the day and release it later when needed. The research was developed by the MIT EC³ Hub and the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub and led by Professor Admir Masic, along with Damian Stefaniuk, Franz-Josef Ulm, and James Weaver. 

the project can be built directly into structures for direct power from walls | image by Magda Ehlers, via Pexels

the material is made of cement, water, carbon black, and electrolytes | image by Jan van der Wolf, via Pexels

MIT scientists develop concrete that can store and release energy like batteries | image Hilary Halliwell, via Pexels

project info:

name: High energy density carbon–cement supercapacitors for architectural energy storage

institution: MIT | @mit

team: Damian Stefaniuk, James C. Weaver, Franz-Josef Ulm, Admir Masic

study: here

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FORMA’s ‘house on a hill’ is a sculptural, cedar-clad box in upstate new york

A house on a hill: Born from Constraints

The House on a Hill by architecture studio FORMA sits in Hillsdale, New York, a black volume poised at the crest of a soft, wooded slope. Conceived during the pandemic, the project embodies a distinctly contemporary form of domesticity, informed by self-sufficiency and adaptability.

FORMA founders Miroslava Brooks and Daniel Markiewicz — longtime friends, collaborators, and first-time homebuilders — purchased the nine-acre parcel in 2020. What began as a shared escape from city life soon evolved into a five-year process of experimentation and perseverance. With costs escalating and labor scarce, they reworked their vision repeatedly, turning constraint into catalyst. Thus, the home is at once compact and generous home that navigates design ambition with practical reality.

image © FORMA

FORMA Reimagines Scale and Structure

With its earlier versions of its House on a Hill, the architects at FORMA envisioned a larger, two-story house. As budgets tightened, the team distilled the concept to its essence — a three-bedroom, three-bath dwelling organized around a 700-square-foot footprint. Its double-height living and dining space occupies the upper floor, suspended above a modest base to frame broad views toward the Catskills and Berkshires.

This vertical organization balances efficiency with openness. The lower level anchors the house to the hillside, while the elevated main space captures light from multiple orientations. Each level feels distinct yet continuous, connected by controlled shifts in volume and view.

all images © Devon Banks (unless otherwise stated)

A Dialogue with the Landscape of upstate new york

Positioned to take full advantage of the natural clearing, FORMA’s House on a Hill reveals a deliberate choreography of approach and outlook. From the west, its dark cedar siding and vertical windows emphasize gravity and enclosure. Moving around to the east, the structure lifts on angled supports, its geometry lightening as it opens toward the pond below.

This careful manipulation of form and posture situates the house between object and environment — architectural enough to assert itself, but deferential to its rural context. The shifting elevations invite changing perceptions, a dialogue between stillness and motion as the viewer moves through the clearing.

FORMA’s House on a Hill sits on a gentle rise in Hillsdale, New York

a cedar-clad exterior

The exterior, clad in dark-stained cedar, reads as a singular sculptural gesture. Inside, lighter tones and warm finishes offer a counterpoint. The double-height living space features a custom millwork wall that integrates a fireplace, seating, and storage, creating a continuous architectural element that organizes daily life.

FORMA’s design strategy prioritizes tactile contrast and clarity. The covered ground-level deck, left untreated, exposes the raw texture of cedar, reinforcing the building’s connection to its material origins. Every decision, from its orientation, to its layout, to its finish, reflects the architects’ pursuit of maximum spatial quality within restricted limits.

the double-height living and dining space opens wide to the Hudson Valley views

a compact, 700-square-foot footprint supports a vertical three-bedroom layout

inside, warm materials and integrated millwork define a sense of crafted intimacy

project info:

name: House on a Hill

architect: FORMA | @forma.ny

location: Hillsdale, New York, USA

team: Miroslava Brooks, Daniel Markiewicz, Kyle Troyer
contractor: Kalmen Construction

area: 1,474 square feet
completion: spring 2025
photography: © FORMA, © Devon Banks | @devonbanksphoto

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