Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/496780
CULTURED 133 Without hesitation, we pinned this design to up-and-comer Asif Khan. His London-based studio has earned widespread acclaim for its fearless embrace of digital life. Its Coca-Cola Beatbox Pavilion at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games was covered in 200 cushions, which visitors could play like a musical instrument. This Guggenheim Helsinki scheme's highlight is a glass curtain wall, whose rippled appearance and underlying environmental performance clearly indicate an affinity for the high tech. The pairing of simple form and intricate texture also recalls Khan's unrealized design of the UK Pavilion for Expo Milano 2015. Although these renderings bear little resemblance to Haas Cook Zemmrich's portfolio in style, they are based on the same principle. The Stuttgart, Germany-based firm is vocal about its sustainability bona fides, and this concept reiterates the firm's commitment by recycling Makasiini Terminal into a new museum building. Each of the building's 31 rooms has an individualized climate setting; the climate-controlled spaces function as a so-called "thermal onion," which turns progressively cooler at the building perimeter. Instead of optimizing temperature and humidity for the art on display, this system minimizes the museum building's heat loss to the Helsinki weather, and the curating follows. It's a green vision with a calculated, Teutonic ring to it.