Hasta La Ideas

Product news: architect Zaha Hadid has designed a system of twisting auditorium seats for Italian brand Poltrona Frau Contract.

Called Array, each chair features a seat that flips diagonally upwards when not in use, forming a triangle with the back and a single armrest.

Poltrona Frau Contract will launch the design in Milan this April as part of an exhibition of work by Zaha Hadid called Multiplicities at Fonderia Napoleonica, Via Thaon di Revel 21, from 9 to 14 April.

Rem Koolhaas’ firm OMA will also show a new collection of furniture in Milan, this time for American brand Knoll.

Hadid was recently appointed to develop plans for a new airport near London and also spoke out against the UK’s attitude towards female architects.

See all our stories about designs by Zaha Hadid »
See all our stories about seating design »

Here’s some more information from Poltrona Frau Contract:

An Array is a matrix in the language of science and is perfectly apt to describe the new auditorium seating system designed by Zaha Hadid for Poltrona Frau Contract as it creates a network of visual and geometrical effects in each seating area. This system forms the basis of a new, prestigious collaboration between the famous designer and the Contract Division of Poltrona Frau.

Array will be introduced as part of the Multiplicities exhibition by Zaha Hadid for the 2013 design week in Milan. Two other projects by the designer will also be shown: the Zephyr sofa and the Liquid Glacial table collection.

Zaha Hadid, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, has attained worldwide renown for her dynamic, visionary architecture and continuous exploration of new relations between urban design, architecture and design with a special focus on technology.

The Array project breaks the mould of traditional auditorium and theatre seating systems. A seat-sculpture. A single, compact, dynamic unit. A self-rotating structure built on the principles of Euclidean geometry with the back, arms and seat appearing to form a single flower bud ready to burst open. A true challenge to the idea of form, disrupting the traditional visual monotony of rows after row of seats. The Array design incorporates dynamic angles to create a range of unique visual effects that change according to the viewer’s vantage point and transform the theatre into a welcoming self-contained place. A new concept in seating that combines unconventional shape with ergonomic design and extremely high levels of comfort.

The Array seating system also presented the Poltrona Frau Contract engineers and artisans with a stimulating challenge, but they proved up to the task, and were able to interpret the philosophy behind the project and capture its sartorial essence with the designer’s intentions reflected in every detail. The final product is an expression of the consolidated artisanal competence gained in one hundred years of tradition in engineering and technological expertise that is constantly evolving in terms of acoustics, visibility and safety. This has led to collaborations between Poltrona Frau Contract and the most prestigious names in international architecture and design such as Santiago Calatrava, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano and Jean Nouvel. Poltrona Frau Contract’s most recent projects include the Bahrain National Theatre with As Architecture, the Archives Nationales in Paris with Massimiliano Fuksas, the headquarters of Italcementi designed by Richard Meier and the SEA business lounge at Malpensa airport in Milan.

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Passionné par l’écriture gothique et sa typographie incroyable, le spécialiste dans le domaine Seb Lester a imaginé une série de lettres capitales reprenant les caractéristiques principales de cette écriture apparue en Europe au 12ème siècle. Un rendu splendide à découvrir en vidéo dans la suite de l’article.

Founded in 2011 by Brooklyn-based designer Shinya Hasegawa, Battenwear—formerly known as Batten Sportswear—takes a playful approach to active menswear design, favoring unconventional fabrics and colorways with a vintage surf-inspired aesthetic. Delivering all of the above and more is the recently launched SS 2013 collection, anchored by soft pastels and…

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By now, you’ve probably heard about the new ban on telecommuting being implemented at Yahoo! The corporation’s latest CEO wants workers and teams to be side-by-side in an effort to improve employee communication and creativity. The change has obviously brought about strong negative feelings from employees and critics from outside the company because they feel it is a decrease in workplace flexibility. But, the simple fact that it is a change is also likely another cause of anxious feelings because something familiar is being phased out.

Whether you work for yourself or for someone else, when policies and procedures change (especially ones that have been in effect for a long while), it can be difficult to adjust and do things differently. Even when the change is seemingly positive and welcomed, it will probably mean that you’ll need to learn and adjust to a new way of doing things. Rather than get thrown off track, start planning how you can successfully transition and incorporate new changes into your work life.

Keep your emotions in check

You may want everything to stay exactly the same and hearing that there will be new policies and procedures can make you feel uncomfortable and unsure. Try to keep negative emotions under control so that you can strategically plan your next steps. If you’re freaking out, you’ll have a harder time crafting a plan of action. When you’re tempted to complain, pause and remind yourself that you are in control of your emotions and have the ability to see things in a positive light.

Gather all the necessary information

Getting as much information as possible about why things will be done differently can help you to better understand why the change is happening. Equally important is making sure that you’re getting information from the appropriate sources. Water cooler conversations or highly charged reactions from colleagues likely will not have the details that can help you process and understand why things are changing. It’s okay to have questions, but be sure to communicate with the right people (human resources department, direct supervisors) to get the answers you need. Find out how your position will be impacted and what the new expectations are. Though you may not agree with the upcoming changes, knowing what to expect will help you …

Create a new plan

Once you have all the pertinent information, you can plan how your new day-to-day work life will look and feel. Consider mapping out (or sketching) what your new day might look like. Do you need to travel to a new work location? Will you have new responsibilities? Consider uploading your plan (and any notes you have) to Evernote or record them in a paper journal so that can refer to it when you need to. Whatever the changes are, be sure that you have the tools needed to do your job well. Do you have the proper training to manage new responsibilities? Are you making use of technology tools (like reminder and project management apps)?

Focus on the benefits

With change, there are usually opportunities. They may not be as obvious at first, so take a minute to think through some of the positive things that may come about because of the change. Perhaps you will learn a new skill or get a chance to demonstrate your level of expertise more fully. If, like Yahoo! out-of-office employees, you will need to begin working from the company headquarters, it is possible you might strike up more fruitful partnerships with your colleagues. Being in the same location may change the dynamic of your working relationship, and you might find working alongside your coworkers in the same office will allow for greater creativity and collaboration. Keep in mind that there is often an upside to things that initially seem negative. Think things through fully to discover the positive impact that change may have for you.

Need help getting organized? Buy the DRM-free audiobook version of Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week today for only $8.99.

Louise Fili’s copyright page for The Tea Council’s Guide to the Best Tea Places in England, published by The Little Bookroom, 2002

Setting the mandatory page of copyright text is one of the more mundane tasks faced by a book designer – unless you are Louise Fili

CR is at the Design Indaba conference this week where we will be posting some highlights from the talks. This morning’s session featured Louise Fili, a designer who, despite being one of the New York’s finest, is probably not as well-known in the UK as she should be.

One of the great traits of designers is to question why something has to be the way it is. Among the projects Fili showed was her first attempt to do something more interesting with the copyright text which publishers are obliged to include in the introductory pages of books and which most are loathe to do anything remotely attractive with. She showed a page from a book on gardening where she had transformed the legalese into the shape of a tree. A battle with the publisher ensued bu Fili finally got her way and has made such typographic styling something of a trademark.

Copyright page for BloshBlobBerBosh: Runcible Poems for Edward Lear, Creative Editions, 1998

There are more example in Elegantissima, the 2012 book on Fili’s work,

And, of course, the copyright text to the book has its own treatment – a reference to the fact that the bulk of Fili’s work is for restaurants and food packaging

See more of Louise Fili’s work here

CR in print
The March issue of CR magazine celebrates 150 years of the London Underground. In it we introduce a new book by Mark Ovenden, which is the first study of all aspects of the tube’s design evolution; we ask Harry Beck authority, Ken Garland, what he makes of a new tube map concept by Mark Noad; we investigate the enduring appeal of Edward Johnston’s eponymous typeface; Michael Evamy reports on the design story of world-famous roundel; we look at the London Transport Museum’s new exhibition of 150 key posters from its archive; we explore the rich history of platform art, and also the Underground’s communications and advertising, past and present. Plus, we talk to London Transport Museum’s head of trading about TfL’s approach to brand licensing and merchandising. In Crit, Rick Poynor reviews Branding Terror, a book about terrorist logos, while Paul Belford looks at how a 1980 ad managed to do away with everything bar a product demo. Finally, Daniel Benneworth-Grey reflects on the merits on working home alone. Buy your copy here.

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878, or buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

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