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News: the brutalist 1960s bus station in Preston, England, has been safeguarded from demolition after being declared a Grade II-listed historic building by the UK government.

Architecture minister Ed Vaizey announced earlier today his decision to protect the concrete post-war building, which was set to be replaced by a smaller bus station as part of a regeneration of Preston’s city centre.

The result marks the end of a long campaign to save the structure that was designed in the 1960s by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson of architecture firm BDP. This was the fourth time the building had been put forward for listing and its protection has been supported by a host of architects including Richard Rogers and OMA.

Former RIBA president Angela Brady, who backed the campaign, has praised the move. “Well done. A great decision to list [Preston Bus Station],” she commented on Twitter.

Meanwhile Catherine Croft, director of heritage organisation The Twentieth Century Society, said: “This is fantastic news and long overdue.”

“Obviously it’s not the outcome we were hoping for,” said city councillor Peter Rankin, who had supported the demolition. “We’ve always said the bus station is too big, provides relatively poor facilities for bus passengers and costs Preston taxpayers over £300,000 a year to maintain. We will have to take some time now to consider the listing decision and the options for moving forward.”

Grade II listed buildings are considered “nationally important and of special interest” and alteration or demolition requires listed building consent, making it harder – but not impossible – for the bus station to be knocked down.

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protected from demolition appeared first on Dezeen.

Riders can use their iPhone as the dashboard for this electric bike designed by Spanish transport firm The Electric Mobility Company.

A free app allows the user to connect their Apple iPhone with the Xkuty One bike, and set parameters such as maximum speed, acceleration style and battery consumption. The phone then clips to the centre of the handlebars to act as a speedometer and monitor battery life.

Using the iPhone’s gyroscope, which monitors orientation and angular momentum, the app can be programmed to call an emergency contact if it senses a collision or fall.

The Electric Mobility Company claims it is “the world’s first electric bike with full iPhone integration”.

“Xkuty was born from our belief that we need to change the way we travel,” said the company’s CEO Carlos Felipe. “The objective was to develop an affordable, intuitive and simple alternative to the more traditional urban transportation.”

The silent bike can reach speeds of 35 kilometres-per-hour and features hydraulic brakes at the front and back. Seat and handlebar grip colours can be chosen from a range of bright shades, with helmet trims to match.

The model will from cost €2800 (£2360) once available and a waiting list for the product has been set up on the company’s website.

Other bicycles on Dezeen include one that can be pedalled with hands and feet at the same time, and another made from the same strong and lightweight plastic used in fighter jet canopies.

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Here’s some more information from The Electric Mobility Company:

Xkuty One: No Noise, No Fumes, No Sweat!

The Electric Mobility Company introduce Xkuty: the world’s first electric bike with full iPhone integration.

Innovative urban transport company, The Electric Mobility Company, are announcing the launch of their revelation in modern transport; Xkuty One, the first fully iPhone integrated electric bike.

Xkuty is the whole package

Xkuty’s beautifully simple design makes it the perfect city companion. From the commuter vehicle of smartest businessman to the round-town runaround of the city fresher, its clean lines and fully customisable design makes Xkuty a hit with anyone who sees it. And Xkuty’s not just beautiful, it’s intelligent too! The Xkuty ethos focuses on efficiency, sustainability and environmental awareness. With its light frame and silent electric motor, Xkuty allows you to tour the city with no noise, no fumes and no effort!

Xkuty wants to make the world a better place

“Xkuty was born from our belief that we need to change the way we travel,” says Carlos Felipe, CEO of The Electric Mobility Company. “The objective was to develop an affordable, intuitive and simple alternative to the more traditional urban transportation. We wanted something that offered more than just function to the rider, something deeper that put the the emphasis on emotion and the relationship between vehicle and rider. Thus, Xkuty was born.”

Xkuty loves your iPhone (and your iPhone loves Xkuty right back)

Thanks to the Xkuty App, available to download free from the Apple App Store, your iPhone becomes the control panel of your Xkuty, allowing you to modify the key parameters of your bike: set your maximum speed, control the power curve, select various acceleration styles and even adjust battery consumption with ECO and Sport modes.

The Xkuty App not only allows you to control your Xkuty throughout the ride, but also keeps an eye on your bike when you’re not around! Using the iPhone gyroscope, if it detects your Xkuty has fallen over it automatically calls the number of your choice to alert you.

Xkuty has friends in high places

In conjunction with Aspar team, Xkuty saw its debut during the twelfth season of 2013 Moto GP at Silverstone Circuit, a celebration of speed, engineering and motorcycling. The Aspar team will have six Xkuty bikes as support vehicles for the next two seasons, throughout the Championships which will be held in San Marino, Spain, Malaysia and Japan.

The post Xkuty One electric bike by
The Electric Mobility Company appeared first on Dezeen.

wants a Industrial Designer
in Olathe, Kansas

Garmin International builds navigation gear for performance and adventure sports, outdoor leisure activities, and other emerging markets.

As a Garmin Industrial Designer, you’ll lead the aesthetic and ergonomic development of projects, collaborating with Engineering, Marketing, and Management teams to explore, innovate, and execute world-class designs.

If you have the courage to drive innovation, the ability to work respectfully in a team, plus a demonstrated digital proficiency in the use of tools such as SolidWorks, Keyshot, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, and Sketchbook Pro, Apply Now.

(more…)

Designer and Face37 founder Rick Banks has published a not-for-profit book about football and typography co-authored by writer Sheridan Bird.

Football Type traces the history and development of type in football, from the hand stitched numbers first used on kits in the 1930s to custom fonts created for major clubs and sports brands today.

Using archive imagery, vectors and graphics, Banks has compiled a fascinating look at beautiful and bizarre footballing type, from Paul Barnes’s designs for the England squad and Sporting ID’s work for Real Madrid to a stretched Wild West typeface used by Kazakh team FC Ordabassy.

The book also explores players’ allegiances to particular numbers and includes some interesting trivia, such as how a 1934 telegram inspired the design of Manchester City’s 2011 kit.

Banks has been working on the book for two years and was inspired by Bird’s article in the November 2006 issue of Creative Review, which looked at the introduction of numbers on jerseys and the inspiration behind Real Madrid’s 2005/6 typeface, an italicised derivation of Peignot.

“I stumbled across the article on the archives, and it got me thinking: so many people are passionate about football and design but I don’t think there’s ever been a book about football type. I contacted Bird, started collating official typefaces, and realised it was turning into quite a nice project. After that, I contacted everyone I could think of who was involved in designing football lettering,” he says.

Proceeds from the book will go to UK charity Football Foundation, which funds sports facilities and grassroots projects. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, England, Liverpool, The FA, Adidas, PUMA, Umbro and Nike all contributed to the project, and the book was sponsored by Identity Print, Winter Company, Sporting ID and Tom Duncalf, who built the Football Type website.

The book is a limited edition of 1000. Each copy will be covered by hand using official Premier League lettering supplied by Sporting ID and customers can choose their number colour: gold costs £50, red £45, white £40, blue £35 and black £30.

You can read more about the project in the October issue of Creative Review, out this week. To buy a copy of the book visit footballtype.co.uk

Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2013: this teaser movie by architectural film studio Factory Fifteen offers a vision of a future city controlled by a supercomputer, where architectural structures can be hacked and insect-like drones police the streets.

Factory Fifteen produced a 12-minute version of the film for the Future Perfect exhibition at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, which presents a vision of how cities could become transformed by technology.

In the movie, a group of children play a game of hide and seek around the city. “Through their play the children discover how to hack the city, opening up a cavernous network of hidden and forgotten spaces, behind the scenes of everyday streets,” explained Factory Fifteen’s Jonathan Gales and Paul Nicholls.

One child uses gestures to create a staircase by extruding a wall, while another is able manipulate surroundings to find camouflage.

Two children venture into a woodland area, where they are chased by a swarm of drones until they find their way back to their friends.

Factory Fifteen filmed the movie on location in India using a group of local children as actors, then used animation to exaggerate and manipulate the imagery.

Inspired by science fiction, the Future Perfect exhibition was curated by architect Liam Young. It is made of of five “districts”, including a place where sculptural dresses are made by dunking people into wax and a woodland designed to accommodate genetically modified plants.

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale continues until 15 December. Follow Dezeen’s coverage of the The Lisbon Architecture Triennale or read our interview with curator Beatrice Galilee.

Here’s some text from the exhibition organisers:

Chupan Chupai

From a clearing in the mist we scan across the city in luminous detail. A film is projected from the lookout that follows a group of children as they play a game of “hide and seek” in Future Perfect.

Shot on location in India we see through their eyes a near future heavily influenced by the imminent boom of the Indian subcontinent, an emerging technology and economic superpower. The control systems that now run traffic systems, power grids and financial networks sit in the shadows, out of sight but silently organising our lives.

Deep in the substrate of Future Perfect is a supercomputer that regulates the city and everyone within it. Reminiscent of an exaggerated silent film, everyone interacts with their digital city through intricate signs and gesture control. As the children play they learn to hack the augmented streets evading their friends but getting lost in the hidden spaces they have unlocked. They must escape from a sentient city that no longer recognises them.

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at Future Perfect appeared first on Dezeen.