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from kinetic pavilions to indigenous intelligence: inside ‘time space existence’ exhibition in venice

Time Space Existence returns for its seventh edition

 

 

The seventh edition of Time Space Existence, the biennial architecture exhibition organized by the European Cultural Centre (ECC), returns to Venice through 23 November 2025. Spread across four historic venues — Palazzo Mora, Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Michiel, and the Marinaressa Gardens — the show brings together 207 participants from over 52 countries, reaffirming its role as a global platform for architectural dialogue and experimentation. This year’s theme, Repair, Regenerate, Reuse, invites architects, designers, artists, and researchers to respond with works that span speculative proposals, academic research, and built interventions. Highlights include a net-zero housing prototype by HOLCIM and ELEMENTAL, and Sombra, a kinetic, light-responsive pavilion by MVRDV, both installed at Marinaressa Gardens. Notable contributions also come from Zaha Hadid Architects, Adjaye Associates, Korean architect Moon Hoon, and many more. 

Elemental and Holcim Basic Services Unit installation view at Marinaressa Gardens | all images © Celestia Studio

 

 

REPAIR, REGENERATE, REUSE

 

This year’s exhibition invites tangible responses to climate and social crises. Instead of posing hypothetical questions, participants present real-world solutions: architecture studio Vuild addresses rural decline in Japan using local forestry and digital fabrication, while Semillas empowers Amazonian communities through participatory architecture. Canadian firm Blouin Orzes blends traditional Inuit knowledge with modern techniques to respond to harsh northern climates.

The exhibition also includes speculative futures: Collectif Carré Noir imagines a utopian territorial reorganization, and Delft University showcases Indigenous-led design methodologies through film. These works question architecture’s conventional limits, embracing regeneration and equity as central design imperatives.

Semillas installation view at Palazzo Mora

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS across venetian venues

 

The Marinaressa Gardens become a laboratory of environmental dialogue. HOLCIM and Alejandro Aravena’s ELEMENTAL unveil a scalable housing prototype using low-carbon materials. MVRDV’s Sombra, a kinetic installation responsive to sun and shade, explores architecture’s adaptive potential. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech and Cloud 9’s PolliNATION pavilion reintroduces pollinators to the Venetian lagoon, turning ecological restoration into spatial form.

 

Meanwhile, across venues, many projects foreground material reuse, vernacular methods, and local identity. Coburg University constructs a pavilion from regional ‘waste timber’; GRAS and Huguet experiment with terrazzo made from recycled fragments. Zaha Hadid Architects and University of Calgary explore modular systems designed for disassembly and reuse, advancing circular construction logic.

 

Others engage history and place: Materia (Mexico) reimagines cultural heritage buildings in harmony with the landscape, while A Interiors blends desert tradition with contemporary living in Riyadh. María Isabel Paz preserves endangered textile techniques through urban storytelling in handmade rugs.

MVRDV, Airshade Technologies, Metadecor, Alumet, ARUP, Van Rossum Engineering, AMOLF Institute SOMBRA installation view at Marinaressa Gardens

 

 

A LIVING LAB FOR FUTURE ARCHITECTURE

 

With projects ranging from activist landscapes to modular prototypes and speculative utopias, Time Space Existence 2025 offers a cross-section of how architecture can regenerate rather than extract, reconnect rather than divide. As ECC’s Rachele De Stefano notes, the exhibition doesn’t just ask what architecture is, but what it could become — a driver of systemic change rooted in repair, resilience, and responsibility.

Enter Projects Asia Interwoven, 2025 installation view at Marinaressa Gardens

Juan José Castellón xmade Rice University Impluvium Redux installation view at Palazzo Mora

Moon Hoon installation view at Palazzo Bembo

Virginia Tech and Cloud 9 unEarthed Second Nature PolliNATION, 2025 installation view at Marinaressa Gardens

Coral Gallery – Roberto Vivo The Human Tribe Totem, 2024 installation view at Marinaressa Gardens

Henriquez Partners Architects Symplasma, 2025 installation view at Palazzo Bembo

Adjaye Associates International Children’s Cancer Research Centre, 2025 installation view at Palazzo Bembo

Pfeifer Jones Architecture Organ Drone Dome, 2025 installation view at Palazzo Mora

Pfeifer Jones Architecture Organ Drone Dome, 2025 installation view at Palazzo Mora

project info: 

 

name: Time Space Existence 2025
organized by: European Cultural Centre (ECC) | @ecc_italy
location: Palazzo Mora, Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Michiel, Marinaressa Gardens in Venice, Italy 
dates: 10 May – 23 November 2025

 

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Kara Pod Serves Fresh Water and Coffee From the Air You Breathe

Your morning routine just got a major upgrade, and it doesn’t involve another gadget cluttering your counter. Picture this: you wake up, press a button, and enjoy fresh mineral water that literally came from thin air. Then, using that same pure water, you brew coffee that tastes better than anything you’ve had from the tap. No refills, no bottles, no second-guessing what’s actually in your drink.

Kara Pod transforms something invisible into something essential, pulling moisture right out of your kitchen air and turning it into premium drinking water and coffee. This compact powerhouse sits comfortably on any countertop, quietly working its magic to make sure you have clean, mineral-rich hydration every single day. It’s like having a personal water source that never runs dry.

Designer: Kara Water

Click Here to Buy Now: $459 $799 ($340 off). Hurry, only 65/100 left! Raised over $241,000.

Think about how much water exists around you right now, floating invisibly in the air you breathe. Kara Pod’s AirDrive technology captures that moisture through advanced desiccant systems, and then puts it through a thorough three-stage purification process. Heat treatment eliminates microbes, UV sterilization neutralizes bacteria and viruses, while high-performance carbon filtration removes chlorine, odors, and chemical contaminants, including PFAS compounds.

But here’s where things get interesting: the device doesn’t stop at purification. After removing everything harmful, it adds back essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, and sodium that your body actually needs. The result is smooth, refreshing alkaline water with a pH of 9.2+ that supports hydration, energy levels, and overall wellness. You’re getting water that’s not just clean but actively beneficial.

Coffee lovers, prepare to have your minds blown. Since coffee is practically 98% water, better water means dramatically better coffee. Kara Pod uses its own ultra-pure, mineral-enriched water to extract maximum flavor from every coffee or tea pod. Two separate nozzles make sure that drinking water and coffee residue never mix, maintaining clean taste profiles. Compatible with Original Nespresso pods and featuring signature Kara coffee flavors, you’ll rediscover what great coffee actually tastes like.

Let’s talk numbers that matter to your wallet and conscience. The average person spends over $1,000 yearly on bottled water while using over 300 plastic bottles that end up polluting landfills and oceans. Tap water brings its own problems with chlorine, microplastics, and questionable filtration standards. Kara Pod eliminates both issues entirely, potentially saving you up to nearly $1,500 annually on bottled water and coffee shop visits.

Installation couldn’t be simpler because there isn’t any. No plumbing modifications, no tools, no service contracts. Just plug it in wherever you want clean water. This mobility makes it perfect for apartments, offices, seasonal homes, or anywhere reliable water access feels uncertain. The compact 15in x 9in x 14in frame weighs only 13 pounds, making relocation effortless whenever your needs change.

Here’s a bonus most people don’t expect: cleaner air throughout your space. While extracting moisture, Kara Pod simultaneously filters dust, allergens, and airborne particles from your environment. The gentle dehumidification process typically reduces relative humidity by just 1-5%, barely noticeable but contributing to improved air quality. You’re essentially getting an air purifier that pays for itself through water production.

Daily output reaches 3.2 liters, equivalent to 13 cups of purified water, perfect for individual use or small households. Built-in Wi-Fi enables software updates and enhanced functionality, ensuring your device stays current with technological improvements. The touchscreen interface makes operation intuitive, whether you’re dispensing fresh water or brewing your morning coffee with simple taps.

Environmental consciousness meets practical convenience with Kara Pod’s zero-waste approach. No plastic bottles to dispose of, no delivery trucks burning fuel to bring water to your door, no questioning what’s been added or removed from municipal supplies. You’re creating your own sustainable water source while reducing your carbon footprint and plastic consumption simultaneously.

This represents genuine innovation in solving everyday problems that most people accept as normal. Why settle for questionable tap water or expensive bottled alternatives when you can create premium, mineral-rich water from the air around you? Kara Pod transforms something as basic as hydration into an experience that’s healthier, more convenient, and environmentally responsible than anything currently available.

Click Here to Buy Now: $459 $799 ($340 off). Hurry, only 65/100 left! Raised over $241,000.

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Masterpiece Story: The Architect’s Dream by Thomas Cole

The post Masterpiece Story: The Architect’s Dream by Thomas Cole appeared first on DailyArt Magazine.

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Masterpiece Story: The Red Tower by Robert Delaunay

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Masterpiece Story: The Railway Station by Alf Rolfsen

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Masterpiece Story: Manhattan by George Grosz

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Masterpiece Story: Rooftops in the Snow by Gustave Caillebotte

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EMO+ board game fosters emotional understanding across different communication styles

EMO+: a board game for shared emotional understanding

 

EMO+ is a co-participatory board game developed by Microsoft AI product designer Jeni (Jieni) Huang and creative collaborator Xingxue Wang. Originally designed to support autistic adults in interpreting and expressing emotions, the game has since evolved into a broader tool for fostering emotional understanding among individuals with differing communication styles. The project explores how emotional expression can be made tangible through physical interaction and shared gameplay.

 

At the core of EMO+ is an adapted version of the ‘fuzzy atmosfield’ model, originally developed in the field of human-robot interaction. This three-dimensional framework maps social atmosphere along three emotional axes: Friendly–Hostile, Lively–Calm, and Casual–Formal. The team translated this model into a game structure by dividing the emotional spectrum into eight spatial zones, each represented by a cube corresponding to a specific emotional climate defined by intersecting axes.

all images courtesy of Jeni (Jieni) Huang and Xingxue Wang

 

 

turning emotional expression into a shared, tactile experience

 

The game structure underpins two key modes of play: Game 1: Storytelling, and Game 2: Conflict Analysis. In Storytelling, players co-develop narratives using a series of emotion and prompt cards. Emotional shifts are placed along a timeline, helping participants map and interpret emotional progressions collaboratively. In Conflict Analysis, participants revisit past interpersonal disagreements using movement cards to place themselves and others within the emotional model’s grid. Through guided play, participants explore how emotional positions shift, with the goal of reaching a shared understanding of differing perspectives.

 

EMO+ board game by creative duo Jeni (Jieni) Huang and Xingxue Wang, employs visual, spatial, and tactile elements to translate emotional complexity into more accessible forms. It avoids clinical or digital mediation, instead offering a low-cost, analog format that supports group interaction. The physicality of the design serves to externalize internal states, enabling players to interpret emotions as positional data within a structured framework. By integrating social modeling with game design, EMO+ positions emotional communication as a shared, learnable experience, emphasizing mutual interpretation and adaptive understanding. The project has received recognition for its contribution to inclusive design practices and its potential applications across educational, therapeutic, and community contexts.

the game includes two sets of pieces, six movement cards that represent different emotional tones, and a set of item cards

players co-create a narrative using a combination of prompts and emotion cards

using the Atmosfield framework to translate abstract emotions into tangible spatial forms

EMO+ co-participatory board game is designed for shared emotional understanding

 

project info:

 

name: EMO+
designers: Jeni (Jieni) Huang, Xingxue Wang

 

 

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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Kokuya Smart Double Clip gives us a better binding experience

My friends often joke that i have a supplies store at home and in the office because of the number of stationery items that I have. I cannot resist adding to my collection every time I see a new design or a new item that I don’t have yet. When I went to Japan a few years ago, I felt like I was in stationery heaven because of all the cute and unusual stuff that they have. You can always trust the Japanese to come up with something new that is not just kawaii but also highly functional.

For example, the trusty old binder clip is something that we’ve been using for years. But Japanese brand Kokuya noticed some issues that users have had with the ones currently in the market. And so they came up with the Smart Double Clip, a different take on that thing we use to bind papers together. Its innovative triangular shape is inspired by the corner of a turning page, making it both intuitive and elegant.

Designer: Kokuya

Most of the binder clips we have are a bit bulky and get in the way when we try to flip through the papers. They also leave marks on the papers especially if they’re used for a long time. The Smart Double Clip hugs your papers in a way that’s practically invisible and lets you flip through those pages smoothly and easily. It opens from both the top and bottom so you can clamp it on both sides.

The triangular “page corner” design guides your hand naturally as you slide the clip onto the documents, making the process quick and maybe even slightly addictive. The smooth edges of the clip and the gentle pressure it exerts makes sure you don’t have to worry about torn corners or unsightly marks. The clip is crafted from durable, lightweight metal with a sleek matte finish which makes it fit into any of your workspaces. And because it’s very slim, it fits easily into pen cases, pouches, or even your wallet so you can always carry one with you.

Kokuyo is known for products that blend thoughtful design with everyday usefulness. The Smart Double Clip is a perfect example: it looks great, feels satisfying to use, and solves real-life paper woes. Whether you’re a seasoned stationery collector or just someone who enjoys a tidy desk, this one is a fresh, functional addition to any workspace. It’s proof that something as simple as a paper clip can make your day a little smoother and a lot more stylish.

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Minimal Cantilevered Home Disappears Into Its Surroundings With A Living Green Roof

Set amid the undulating green hills of Nashtarood, House Under the Hill is an architectural wonder that feels both ambitious and grounded. This home’s defining gesture is its seamless integration into the landscape, with much of the structure tucked beneath a living roof that echoes the surrounding earth. The result is a dwelling that nearly disappears into its site, revealing itself only through fluid forms, gentle curves, and a careful play of light and shadow.

The entrance is both minimal and inviting, guiding visitors down a gentle slope to a threshold sheltered by the hillside above. Entering the home, you’re met by a sense of calm enclosure that opens unexpectedly into a luminous, contemporary interior. Broad glass panels frame views of the pool and the rolling terrain beyond, merging interior and exterior into a continuous living experience. The palette is restrained—concrete, wood, and glass—letting the landscape set the tone while providing a sense of cool, modern elegance.

Designer: MRK Office

Spatial flow is a highlight throughout the plan. The main living area unfolds as a generous, open volume, with the kitchen, dining, and lounge zones drifting into one another without hard boundaries. This creates flexibility for daily life and entertaining, while ensuring that every corner borrows light or a view from the outdoors. Each bedroom is oriented for privacy and tranquility, with glimpses of treetops and sky. Bathrooms are cleverly placed to capture both natural light and seclusion, enhancing the feeling of retreat.

The green roof isn’t just a visual flourish; it’s a layer of performance that insulates the home, reduces its environmental impact, and blurs the edges between architecture and landscape. This sense of harmony extends to the pool area, where the water’s edge seems to slip right up to the home. Outdoor terraces are sheltered by the hill, offering sun and shade as the day unfolds, and creating spaces that are comfortable year-round.

Storage is integrated into walls and built-ins of the home, keeping rooms uncluttered and spacious. Circulation is intuitive, with gentle curves guiding movement through the home. Materials have been chosen for durability as well as tactile pleasure; wood warms the touch, while concrete lends a reassuring solidity underfoot. Even the lighting is considered soft, indirect, and responsive to changing daylight.

House Under the Hill is a reflection of a new attitude to living: one that seeks not to dominate its environment, but to belong to it. The design harnesses the utility of modern construction while championing a quieter, more immersive relationship with nature. It’s a home that feels like an extension of the earth—protective, nurturing, and endlessly adaptable. With its unique blend of functionality, comfort, and organic form, the house stands as a model for how design can engage with landscape to create spaces that are both innovative and deeply restorative.

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