Smart Design for Tight Spaces: The U.S. Navy's Sit-Up Berths

On U.S. Navy ships, the "racks" where sailors sleep have traditionally been grim affairs.

Stacked three high, the coffin-like spaces offered just 18" to 20" of vertical clearance. Sitting up in bed was impossible, and for sailors with broad shoulders, so was rolling over, or side sleeping. (Only the top bunk offered headroom, though you can't see it in the photo.)

While off-duty, sailors improvised ways to recline within the limited spaces:

Even still, that did nothing to improve their actual sleep quality.

The design of these racks...

A Battery-Powered Tool That Makes Perfect Curbs in Concrete

This Badger Curb Maker is a battery-operated tool that makes quick work of curb creation. Here's a demo of the machine (using sand rather than real concrete, as this is set up at a tool show):

The drums are swappable, and the company offers 29 different profiles.

They can also do custom drums.

The finishing is done with the corresponding trowels the company makes.

As Curb Roller, the Kansas-based company that invented the tool, explains:

A Major Survey in Paris Chronicles Leonora Carrington’s Esoteric Surrealism

Multiple-headed deities, strange woodland feasts, plants with sprite-like faces, and worlds floating on animals’ backs are just a few of the dreamlike occurrences in the work of Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). The British-Mexican artist, born into an upper-class family in Lancashire, was fascinated by the notion of “other.” She immersed herself in fairytales and folk stories by the likes of Beatrix Potter and Lewis Carroll and rebelled against the strict expectations of high-society women in England.

Carrington traveled extensively, soaking up inspiration from classical sculptures and Renaissance paintings in Florence, where she studied art, then attending the first International Surrealist Exhibition in...

Antarctic Discovery Building designed for "one of the harshest environments on Earth"

UK studios Hugh Broughton Architects and NORR have exclusively revealed the aerodynamic Antarctic Discovery Building, which is topped with a unique snow deflector.

Created in collaboration with engineering consultants Ramboll, Turner & Townsend and Sweco, the multipurpose structure was designed "to perform in one of the harshest environments on Earth", according to Hugh Broughton Architects.

Antarctic Discovery Building is the centrepiece of Rothera Research Station on Adelaide Island, which is the base for British research in Antarctica and acts as the capital of the British Antarctic Territory.

The 4,500-square-metre, sky-blue...

Eight Antarctic buildings that "have the X Factor"

Following the unveiling of the Discovery Building today, we look at eight architectural highlights from Antarctica over the past 20 years.

By far the world's least developed continent, Antarctica has very few buildings.

Two simple huts built in 1899 were the first structures to be constructed on the continent, but as exploration has continued, research bases have grown in complexity and scale with the Discovery Building designed by Hugh Broughton Architects being the latest addition.

"Antarctica is unique in that it is the only...

Zaha Hadid Architects designs curving cultural district on Hangzhou waterfront

A series of sweeping public buildings are set to make up the Qiantang Bay Cultural District designed by UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects along the Zhedong Canal in Hangzhou, China.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the development will contain cultural and educational buildings, including a library, youth centre and museum, framed by landscaped parklands, plazas and performance spaces.

A gallery, music hall and fitness centre will also be built as part of the development.

Renders of the proposal reveal a trio of sculptural waterside structures flanked with planted outdoor space...

xiaomi Customization Service

Mies van der Rohe Award reveals finalists for 2026

Seven finalists have been named for this year's Mies van der Rohe Award, including five regeneration projects such as a 19th-century train depot-turned-design lab in France.

The nominated projects include five architecture finalists and two emerging finalists spanning Belgium, Spain, France, Slovenia and Croatia, noted for their "exemplary contributions to the future of European architecture".

"In a Europe facing political, environmental, and social challenges, these works offer hope and demonstrate the enduring value of thoughtful, engaged design," the awarding body said.

Members of this year's jury, which...

Peter Pichler Architecture designs museum depot for South Tyrol's archaeological artefacts

Italian studio Peter Pichler Architecture has unveiled its design for a museum and storage facility in South Tyrol, Italy, which will rise from the alpine landscape with an angular green roof.

Set to contain exhibition spaces, workshops, laboratories and offices, the museum depot will be designed to help preserve and celebrate cultural and archaeological artefacts from the local South Tyrol region.

An angular green roof will rise from the ground and over a street-facing entrance, where a tall glazed facade will illuminate a foyer.

Peter Pichler Architecture designed the sloped roof...

Simon Skinner arranges unwanted glassware like flowers to create Buké lamps

Second-hand bowls, ashtrays and cat figurines are stacked on top of each other to form these sculptural lights by Swedish designer Simon Skinner, on show this week as part of Stockholm Creative Edition.

The glassware was scavenged from charity shops and flea markets and Frankenstein-ed together to create 20 different lamps in a process that Skinner likens to playing with Lego or arranging flowers – hence the name Buké, like bouquet.

"It's inspired by the art of flower arrangements and the way flowers are picked and put together in different compositions,"...