Hasta La Ideas

Questa è la linea tecnica di Vans, si chiama LXVI. Un balzo avanti in termini di comfort, flessibilità e peso.

It’s no GoPro, and it’s badly in need of stability control, but earlier this week Pivothead released some new footage shot by their Durango video recording eyewear. Have a look:

The tiny right-between-the-eyes sensor can capture stills at 8MP and shoot 1080p HD video, with options for both 30 and 60 frames per second. Files are transferred to your computer wirelessly, obviating the need for cables, and there’s even an onboard microphone tucked into the side.

I don’t think that GoPro, as the incumbent wearable camera company, has anything to worry about; Pivothead’s test video above started to make me seasick almost instantly. But competition is always good for product design, and it will be nice if GoPro counters with their own sleeker form factor. If these two companies keep at it, in the future photographers and cinematographers will be able to walk around with all of their gear perched on the front of their faces.

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A kilometre-long cable car designed by British architects Wilkinson Eyre has opened today over the River Thames in London.

Suspended 90 metres above the water, the 34 cars connect the O2 arena on the Greenwich Peninsula with the ExCeL centre at the Royal Docks, which will be the venue for a number of indoor events at this summer’s Olympic games.

Three twisting towers will hold the cables in places, while two glazed terminals are located on either side of the river.

See all our coverage of London 2012 here, including a slideshow of all the new permanent buildings.

Wilkinson Eyre also recently completed a giant tropical garden in Singapore – see it here.

See more stories about Wilkinson Eyre Architects »

Here’s some more information from Wilkinson Eyre Architects:

Emirates Air Line opens to the public

First flight for London transport scheme designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects

The newest link in London’s transport network will open to the public today (28th June 2012). The infrastructure was designed by London-based Wilkinson Eyre Architects, and the Emirates Air Line cable car will lift passengers up to 90 metres above the river Thames as they travel the 1.1km route between the Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks.

The Royal Docks and Greenwich Peninsula are two of the most active areas of regeneration in London. The Emirates Air Line emerged as the preferred solution to provide a pedestrian link across the Thames that would support this regeneration effort.

Wilkinson Eyre was commissioned, with Expedition Engineering, as architects of the scheme after a design competition. The team had to fit the crossing in to a ‘corridor’ with numerous constraints that included a minimum 54-metre clearance for Tall Ships above the Thames, constraints in plan and section relating to City Airport, multiple landholdings and existing infrastructure.

The sculptural form of the Emirates Air Line’s three towers makes an exciting addition to the London skyline. Their open, spiralling structure merges engineering and aesthetics to provide a visually light construction that minimises perceived mass.

Wilkinson Eyre’s design for the terminals of the Emirates Air Line is for a pair of visually light, stand-alone glazed pavilions. The plan of the terminals, with their radiussed ends, reflects the path of the cabins as they pass around the drive wheels at either end of the system, engaging with the machine aesthetic inherent to the buildings. The lightweight, glazed upper storey of the design houses the boarding platforms, which cantilever outwards above the ticket office and other services, located in the core at ground level. At Emirates Royal Docks, the smaller of the two terminals, the entire structure has been built on a deck over the water of Royal Victoria Dock. The Emirates Royal Docks terminal houses the electric motor which drives the Emirates Air Line, while a garage for servicing the cabins occupies an adjoining building at the Emirates Greenwich Peninsula terminal.

Oliver Tyler, Wilkinson Eyre Architect’s Director for the project said;
“The Emirates Air Line makes a dramatic architectural statement and will help to define the emerging character of the Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Docks. I am sure the towers will become a clearly identifiable symbol for the area and that travel Emirates Air Line will add a dash of excitement to the experience of commuting as well as become a ‘must do’ experience for visitors.”

The Emirates Air Line is fully accessible to wheelchair users and the mobility- impaired, with step free access in both terminals.

Wilkinson Eyre developed plans for the Emirates Air Line with Expedition Engineering and Mott Macdonald for Transport for London. The practice was instrumental in assisting TfL to win planning permission for the project from the London Boroughs of Newham and Greenwich as well as the approval of the Mayor’s office in early 2011. The plans were taken to completion through a Design & Build contract run by Mace, with Aedas as delivery architect.

Lead Architect: Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Project Director: Oliver Tyler Project Architect: Alex Kyriakides
Structural Engineer: Expedition Engineering
Building Services Engineer: Mott MacDonald
Project Management: Mott MacDonald
Acoustic Consultant: Mott MacDonald
Lighting Designer: Speirs + Major Landscape Design: EDCO
Client: Transport for London

University of Brighton graduate Josh Bitelli has made a series of furniture and vases from asphalt and road-marking paint (+movie).

The Palmeira bench, cabinet and chair comprise asphalt moulded by hand over steel pipes while warm and pliable. The seams of the Repaired Vessels are defined with yellow paint.

Each was made with the help of workers at a road-resurfacing site.

Here’s some more information from Bitelli:

Palmeira Bench, Cabinet, Chair and Repaired Vessels in asphalt and line paint

The complex web of roads spanning and dissecting Britain, like the railways, support and connect all other industries.

If laid well, roads have a lifespan of fifteen years. While these esoteric events are integral to the smooth running of everyday life, they are seen as little more than an inconvenience.

I have borrowed tools, materiality process and knowledge from these craftsmen. The manipulation of this very industrial material is a sort of speculative playfulness that could be applied to all other industrial activity.

While hinting at other lost potential, I direct a looking glass to the people behind these events and the energy that is spent to keep something seamless.

The latest issue of our weekly Dezeen Mail newsletter includes a drive-through airport, a house with built-in graffiti and an eye-tracking camera (above).

There’re also new jobs, competitions, interviews and music plus details of our next pop-up shop Dezeen Super Store, which opens on Saturday.

Read Dezeen Mail issue 107 | Subscribe to Dezeen Mail