Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: UK designers have two more days to take part in a government survey aimed at improving intellectual property laws.

The survey, part of a call for evidence by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), will form part of a government review of law covering design in the UK and follows the Hargreaves Review – an independent report published in May this year which looked at how the IP framework supports growth and innovation.

There are concerns that UK designers’ work is not as well protected as that of designers in other countries. The IPO says: “There are questions about the extent to which the design industry is properly supported by the Intellectual Property Framework”.

Anti Copying in Design (ACID), an organisation that raises awareness of copying and helps designers prevent having their ideas stolen, is urging designers to take part in the survey. It told its members: “We need your own examples of copying issues – real, hard evidence to support the case for policy improvements”.

Design contributes an estimated £33 billion to the UK economy, or 2.4% of GDP.

Designers have until 11 November to complete the 10-minute survey or respond to the IPO’s call for evidence.

See also: UK prime minister’s wife sparks debate over replica furniture

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At last we left the controversy surrounding NASA‘s decision to give one of its few Space Shuttles to New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum, the institution itself was under fire for possibly not being as prepared to receive the craft as they’d original told the space agency, and other states who hadn’t received one were vying to snag it away. Cut to a few weeks later and NASA hasn’t yet appeared to budge on their original plans, but the Intrepid now seems in the process of trying to get all of its ducks in a row; ducks of the financial sort (this writer is still a bit jet lagged, so please forgive that last sentence). The NY Times reports that the museum has requested $40 million in public financing to help it build a new facility to help house the Enterprise shuttle. Saying that building the new structure and having the shuttle in New York would help foster both jobs and education, the paper writes that the public’s $40 million will be a necessary chunk of the $85 million in total it needs to complete the entire project. Granted, they still also need permission from the Department of Transportation, which owns the vacant lot they want to put the new building on, so all of this news doesn’t seems so much a big step forward as it does a somewhat necessary admittance of trying to move in that direction. Now it’s up to New York officials to authorize the funds (and for those other states to call off their dogs).

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

One of the most exciting things about being a designer is the challenges of finding new and imaginative applications for materials in innovative ways. Sometimes though, designers like to take on larger challenges.

22 Design Studio decided to take on a larger challenge by deciding to use concrete in macro applications. When researching different materials to apply to design projects, Designers Sean Yu and Yiting Cheng found an innovative application of high-density concrete that allows for fine applications.

Concrete Sketch Pencil

With a good weight to it, sharp stylish design, and innovative material, the “Concrete Sketch Pencil” by 22 Design Studio is a surprisingly ergonomic pencil to sketch with. The weight is well-balanced and enjoyable to write with, and certainly stands out as a conversation piece on one’s desk. The pencil was spotted at 22 Design Studio’s booth in the tokyo designboom mart 2011.

4th Dimension Clock

Influenced by the minimalist concrete buildings of Japanese architect Tadao Ando, Sean Yu was excited to turn the “roughness of concrete into fine forms,” and to recreate the simple, elegance of Ando’s architectural designs, but in a minute application.

Thanks to their eye-catching and innovative design for the “4th Dimension Clock,” Yu and Cheng attracted a lot of positive attention at the Designboom exhibition in 2010. The form of the clock is much like a spiral staircase, and each hour is represented by a miniature triangular step. The hands are small metal wires, that create intricate shadows that rise and veer into the depths as the stairs climb and drop. The clock is fourth dimensional as an inquiry into the relationship between time and space.

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“Shortly after I met Glenda Bailey at Iman‘s birthday party, I became the new creative director of Harper’s Bazaar. It happened that fast. The press described it as ‘the unexpected Bailey-Gan cocktail,’ and I remember thinking how appropriate that we met at a party, and whether delicious or lethal, who doesn’t love a cocktail?

We both agreed that the most obvious thing was to bring back the old Didot logo that Alexey Brodovitch had started. I recall looking at the first issue that we put it on and thinking that it felt like repairing an institution. You had the feeling you were doing something proper. It was the same feeling I had on my first day at Bazaar when I receied a handwritten note from Dick Avedon, congratulating me and asking Glenda and I to come by his studio. It felt like visiting the godfather, like you needed his blessing if you were going to be doing this job. And in a way, he did give us his blessing by allowing us to republish engraver’s prints of couture pictures he had done for Bazaar in the ’50s.”

–Stephen Gan, in his foreword to the stunning new book, Harper’s Bazaar: Greatest Hits (Abrams). A companion exhibition, “Harper’s Bazaar: A Decade of Style,” is on view through January 8 at the International Center of Photography in New York.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A herb garden surrounds this glass-fronted spa in Santiago by Chilean studio LAND Arquitectos.

The single-storey building is named Spa Atrapa Árbol, which translates as Catch Tree Spa, because it wraps around a courtyard and tree.

A narrow skylight runs along the ceiling of a corridor connecting the sauna and hot tub rooms with a furnished living room.

The sauna is located on the glazed north side of the building and overlooks an outdoor terrace.

An exposed brick wall lines the rear of the building.

This isn’t the first building we’ve published that wraps around an existing tree – see our recent story about a house cranked around an oak tree.

Photography is by Sergio Pirrone.

Here’s some text in Spanish from LAND Arquitectos:

Spa Atrapa Árbol

Trabajamos el modelamiento del lugar en conjunto con el diseño del objeto arquitectónico, de manera de poder llevar el espacio exterior natural hacia el interior de la obra.

Este proyecto se genera desde el paisajismo, como un jardín aterrazado, se pliega desde el comienzo hacia el final del terreno, a través de jardineras escalonadas, escaleras y macetas, rematando en una maceta central, espacio donde existía un antiguo Damasco en el terreno, contenido entre los dos espacios principales del interior del proyecto.

El trabajo de la luz pretende lograr un espacio permeable entre exterior e interior que constate el paso del día, a través de lucarnas y piel vidriada a lo largo de casi la mitad del perímetro del proyecto.

El color del interior Blanco, y muebles en obra de espejo, aportan también reflejos y constatan sombras de la vegetación que rodea al proyecto.

Uno de los muros perimetrales de ladrillo, entra hacia el interior, a modo de conectarse visualmente con el exterior.

Espacialmente también se logra esto, en el espacio de estar, al poder abrirlo en dos de sus caras completamente.

Desde el programa, los dos espacios principales están separados físicamente, pero conectados visual y espacialmente, a través del patio central del Damasco. La lucarna principal atraviesa el proyecto aumentando la percepción del espacio exterior en el interior del proyecto.

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Estrategias sustentables pasivas aplicadas:

• El sauna orientado al norte para subir su temperatura interior.
• El jardín proyectado es para la recolección de especies y alimentos, con especies como la Alcaparra, Lavanda, Romero rastrero, Laurel de comer, hierbas, y un espacio para chacra. De esta manera, el paisaje es un “paisaje activo”, es decir que es un paisaje que cumple más funciones que existir solo para ser observado.

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Autores: LAND arquitectos (Cristóbal Valenzuela Haeussler + Angela Delorenzo Arancibia) Colaboradores: Juan Carlos Muños y Gonzalo Arteche
Ingeniero: Sanitario Hernán Morales
Paisajismo: LAND arquitectos
Calculo: Cargaz Ingeniería

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Arquitectura de Iluminación: LAND Arquitectos
Ingeniería Electricidad: TecHome
Construcción: Cúbica 3
Audio: Luis López

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Localización: Las Condes, Santiago,Chile
Superficie: 166 m²
Año del proyecto: 2010 Año