Spotlight on Jean Prouvé
by RISE Design Studio on Aug 7, 2018
French architect and designer, Jean Prouvé (1902-1984), has been described as one of the most influential designers of the early modern design movement. Once quoted as saying “never design anything that cannot be made”, he combined engineering and design to produce a wide range of fur …
Parallels: boat building and architecture
by RISE Design Studio on Jul 17, 2018
Several well-known architects (Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Frank Gehry, to name a few) have turned their hand to designing and building boats, and it is now common to find boat building technology and materials (such as custom composites) in modern building structures. Flo …
History of a building: foundations
by RISE Design Studio on Mar 29, 2018
Constructing foundations is one of the oldest of human activities. Foundations provide support for structures by transferring their load to layers of soil or rock beneath them. Over 12,000 years ago, neolithic inhabitants of Switzerland built houses on long, wooden piles that were dri …
Spotlight on Alvar Aalto
by RISE Design Studio on Feb 21, 2018
Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto, had an international reputation for a ‘distinctive blend of modernist refinement, indigenous materials, and personal expression in form and detail’. Born in 1898 when Finland was part of the Russian Empire, Aalto took a break from his architectural stud …
Spotlight on Charles and Ray Eames
by RISE Design Studio on Feb 8, 2018
‘A chair that looks like a crisp’ or ‘a folding screen that ripples’ are descriptions that are likely to bring to mind North American husband-and-wife design team, Charles and Ray Eames. Revered as two of the ‘most important designers of the 20th century’, their ‘grand sense of advent …
Spotlight on Sverre Fehn
by RISE Design Studio on Dec 7, 2017
Sverre Fehn (1924-2009) was a Norwegian architect who received worldwide recognition for his work. He is widely referred to as the leader of Scandinavian architecture in the postwar years and he was awarded both the Pritzker Architecture Prize and Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal in 1997. …
Spotlight on Peter Zumthor
by RISE Design Studio on Sep 19, 2017
One of our most respected architects here at RISE Design Studio is Peter Zumthor, the renowned Swiss architect. Winner of the 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize and the 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, Zumthor’s sensuous materiality and attention to place has inspired several of our architec …
The Search for Totality
by RISE Design Studio on May 2, 2017
We are researching a method of designing our projects ‘in totality’, an approach developed by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen. Using this concept, we plan to research and design a range of ‘imperfect’ yet universally appealing products that would be handmade in London usin …
Different types of metal casting
by RISE Design Studio on Jan 31, 2017
We design bespoke lighting for our clients and light fittings can be made from a range of metals, including brazed copper, brass, black mild steel and light mild steel. Currently, we are researching door handle design and manufacture (small scale – batches of ten or so) via casting me …
Exploring Chailey Brick Factory
by RISE Design Studio on Dec 8, 2016
We recently attended a CPD tour organised by RIBA to the Ibstock brick factory in Chailey, near Lewes in Sussex. It was fascinating to see process of traditional stock brick manufacturing in one of the last remaining clamp-firing factories in Europe. We highly recommend a trip to the …
