Hasta La Ideas

We brought 24 guests on Safari in Zambia and they got to test the new K-30 DSLR

For our first Cool Hunting Edition travel experience we brought 24 friends and readers on safari in Zambia. Over the course of eight days CH Zambia guests experienced the wonders and wildlife of Africa with a few surprises from our brand partners. More stories and videos here. The first…

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Rows of interchangeable tiles spell out what’s on the menu at this fast-food pasta outlet in Tel Aviv, designed by Studio OPA as a “tribute to Scrabble”.

The tiled menu board above the kitchen and counter is made from oak and bent tin.

With only 35 square metres of space to be utilised, Studio OPA solved the problem of storage by placing items from the kitchen on display shelves in the dining area.

Green, grey and black patterned tiles decorate the wall near the window.

The glazed facade provides continuity with the green and white seating outdoors.

We previously featured another Tel Aviv restaurant by Studio OPA – a pop-art pizzeria with soup cans covering the walls.

See all our stories about restaurants »
See all our stories about Israel »

Photographs are by Yoav Gurin.

Here’s some more information from Studio OPA:

Avanti – fast food pasta

Located in the centre of Tel Aviv, Avanti is an extra-small space of only 35 sq. m. including the kitchen, the counter and the dining area.

The lack of storage space resulted in us having to display the kitchen products to all. The display was made of a bent 4 mm tin.

Made of oak tree and bent tin, the menu board is a tribute to Scrabble and was built with the idea of having the flexibility to change every day according to the chef’s wishes.

A square wall made of coloured tiles is a homage to a classic Italian restaurant.

The post Avanti restaurant
by Studio OPA appeared first on Dezeen.

Reader Nancy submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

I’m about to finally get a storage unit for music CDs; it resembles an old-fashioned library card catalog. Should I organize the CDs by composer, performer, genre, piece type (symponies, concertos)? What makes the most sense? Almost all are classical but there are some “easy listening.” Many thanks for considering my question.

Your question is about music CDs, but my response can be applied to organizing many other types of physical materials — especially papers and books. And, the answer is simple:

Organize items in the way that makes the most sense to you.

If you’re the person retrieving items and also the person who is putting them away after you use them, you’re much more likely to maintain order in the system if it makes complete sense to you.

How would you want to search for the CDs so you find the exact CD you want exactly when you want it? For me, that would be according to genre (all classical together, all easy listening together, all rock together) and then subdivide according to composer (all Mozart together, all Beethoven, etc.) and then subdivide by work (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) and then alphabetize by performance group or performer or conductor. I’d organize the CDs this way only because I usually have a desire to hear a particular piece of music. If you’re someone who usually desires to hear a particular performer or conductor, you would want to arrange to reflect that search preference.

I also recommend labeling your system well so if someone else approaches your CDs (or files or books) he or she can locate items and put them back.

If you’re not the only person regularly accessing the CDs, you need to develop the organizing system with the other people who will use it. Find the most agreeable solution and then make sure everyone is trained on how to organize the materials so things are returned after use.

Another good idea is to always leave room for growth and change. You don’t want things so closely packed into a space that it’s difficult to put items away or to move items around, if necessary.

Finally, you might also consider digitizing your CD collection. I realize this would take a considerable amount of time and expense, since I doubt you would want to compress the files. But, it’s definitely something to consider if you plan to expand your collection. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that people are very emotionally attached to their music collections and suggesting digitizing it can be taken as offensive. However, it does make storage and retrieval extremely simple, and you never have to worry about a CD getting scratched or something not being returned to its storage space after it is used.

Thank you, Nancy, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column.

Do you have a question relating to organizing, cleaning, home and office projects, productivity, or any problems you think the Unclutterer team could help you solve? To submit your questions to Ask Unclutterer, go to our contact page and type your question in the content field. Please list the subject of your e-mail as “Ask Unclutterer.” If you feel comfortable sharing images of the spaces that trouble you, let us know about them. The more information we have about your specific issue, the better.

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Finnish design graduates Arttu Kuisma and Juho Kruskopf have produced a set of ceramic pots and vases that look deceptively squidgy.

The Drapery collection was made by first sewing fabric in the shape of a vase and hardening it with resin.

A plaster mould was then made of the fabric vase and the final piece was cast in ceramic and glazed on the inside.

Kruskopf and Kuisma recently graduated from the furniture design course at Lahti University of Applied Sciences in Finland.

Yesterday we featured another design by Kuisma – a shelving system held together by colourful steel tubes.

We also previously featured a chair made from rolled up carpets made by Kuisma and fellow student Janne Melajoki.

See all our stories about vases »

Photographs are by Niclas Mäkelä.

Here’s some information from the designers:

Drapery collection is a series of vases inspired by the delicate, momentary nature of fabrics. Our intention was to imitate the natural beauty of fabric and apply its characteristics to another material (in this case ceramics).

The main challenge in the project was being on the edge of man’s ability to shape an object, as the resin-soaked fabric behaves in a particular way and cannot be shaped exactly as you would want to while maintaining a natural look. You could say it almost has a mind of its own. We could only create the outline of the product and let the model dry in the shape most natural to it.

Bud vase 285 mm
Vase 210 mm
Flower pot 145 mm

The post Drapery vases by
Kruskopf and Kuisma appeared first on Dezeen.

Monohedron is a prefab house that is mobile and suits almost any environment or climate. The idea is to move away from the predictable comfort of a brick and concrete home to something more versatile as this. With the options of adding layers of floors as per needs, the concept of your dream home takes on a whole new meaning. Customized and prefab are two words that don’t usually gel together well, but looks like this mobile home has sort of nailed it.

Designer: Andrej Cverha

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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
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(Mobile Living With Glam was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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