via net-a-porter.com
so(hot)right(now)
life or something like it
Biomimicry + architecture: ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion at the University of Stuttgart
The project explores the architectural transfer of biological principles of the sea urchin’s plate skeleton morphology by means of novel computer-based design and simulation methods, along with computer-controlled manufacturing methods for its building implementation. A particular innovation consists in the possibility of effectively extending the recognized bionic principles and related performance to a range of different geometries through computational processes, which is demonstrated by the fact that the complex morphology of the pavilion could be built exclusively with extremely thin sheets of plywood (6.5 mm).
- from dezeen.com
Westergasfabriek, creative industries and event space, Amsterdam.
Studios, workshops, cinema space, bars and more. On Westerpark.
http://www.westergasfabriek.nl/
Up From Ugliness: NYT Jobs tribute
Like the glories of Art Deco and the allure of the “Mad Men” era, his products were a rebuke to the idea that the aesthetics of modern life needed to be utilitarian and blah. From the Apple store to “The Incredibles,” Jobs revived the romance of modernity — the assumption, shared by Victorian science-fiction writers and space-age dreamers alike, that the world of the future should be more glamorous than the present.
via nytimes.com
Hi, Adrian Tomine!
On Wednesday night, Comic superstar Adrian Tomine had a signing at (the awesome) Desert Island in Williamsburg to launch Optic Nerve 12. I won’t pretend to be any kind of expert in the graphic novel realm, but in the case of Optic Nerve, I’m a major fangirl.
I distinctly remember the first time I came across it – a friend was having a big sale/clear-out of his record store, and there was a copy of an early issue on the coffee table (not for sale). I opened it to a random page, and then had to sit down to read the next page, and the next… I spent the next hour ignoring everyone and everything around me. I couldn’t put it down.
There’s something so captivating and honest about his characters, and you end up reading the spaces around them as much as their expressions or words. So it was amazing to meet him in person and have a chat to him while he drew this for me, and customised another book for a friend. It’s awesome to meet your heroes and discover they’re just as approachable, sincere and funny as you imagined they’d be.
Can Designers Save the World Without Creating More Stuff?
In his book, By Design: Why There Are No Locks on the Bathroom Doors in the Hotel Louis XIV and Other Object Lessons, Ralph Caplan advises us not to underestimate the power of situation design, or “the concept of moving from the design of things to the design of the circumstance in which things are used.” He asserts, “The most elegant design solution of the fifties was not the molded plywood chair or the Olivetti Lettera 22 or the chapel at Ronchamp. It was the sit-in.” Finally, a definition of design that emphasizes the economy of time, an understanding of resource availability, and most importantly, using what’s at hand rather than producing more goods to solve a problem.
- via GOOD
Temporary Urban Lounge Built From Reused Milk Crates
Milk crates are a fantastic material for many reasons; they are structural, light, modular and they have an iconic role in Melbourne’s cafe image and laneways. We believe that familiarity to a material plays an important role in engaging with it.
PlayMo uses 3 different types of crates. Black = platforms, Grey = stairs, Green = movable. The green crates provide the undefined random element; people rearrange their seats or even build small stairs themselves. There hasn’t been a single day where we found them in the same place. We found artworks, plants, toys, pillows, new crates and received hundreds of letters. We even found that people had constructed a bin so that (they) could be kept clean.
via PSFK
Antwerp Cathedral. Belgium.
Call me old fashioned, but I love visiting a cathedral.
However secular a culture may be, their religious institutions contain traces of the fundamental values that colour a society. In the case of the Antwerp Cathedral, it spoke to me of a hertiage rich with experimentation and adoption, open-minded, acquistive, and inquisitive.
There’s a richness of colour, and playfulness with pattern and design that is unique among the many I’ve visited in Europe. There’s a lovely record of the layers of occupations and style. Heraldic identity is strong, and somehow there is a sense of independence from Catholic dogma.
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