Hasta La Ideas

Design Indaba 2015: the Los Angeles-based Haas Brothers have worked with South African artisans to make a family of sheep-sized fantasy creatures covered with patterned beadwork.

Traditional beading techniques often used to create kitsch souvenirs were re-appropriated for the Haas Brothers’ Afreaks range.

Art and design duo Simon and Niki Haas were paired with beading company Monkeybiz through South African design platform Southern Guild, which helps to promote local designers.

“Traditionally beads were used not only to adorn the body, but as a measure of value in ritual and economic exchange between locals and foreigners,” said a statement from Monkeybiz. “In traditional African rituals, a fine bead necklace or beaded piece is treasured because it is thought to impart spiritual energy.”

“With society taking up a more modern way of life and moving into the cities many of these traditions have fallen away, together with the old beading techniques and culture,” it added. “Monkeybiz is leading the revival of this venerable tradition by bringing to it a fresh, modern aesthetic.”

Monkeybiz has a network of 450 artisans, but selected 10 beaders to help the twin brothers to realise the creatures, collaborating full-time in a studio space. The project provided a stable income for the craftspeople, who usually work ad-hoc.

“We embarked on this project understanding it as a journey rather than a means to produce a product, so these objects serve more as records of the most beautiful meeting of minds we could have asked for than as objects with any concrete function,” said a statement from the Haas Brothers.

“We present the beauty that is the spirit of joy that humans, no matter their circumstance, are capable of producing. We are designing a new vernacular for this classic craft with the understanding that a person’s creativity is their most valuable resource,” added the brothers.

Exhibited at the Guild Design Fair in Cape Town last month, the range currently includes five colourful characters that are approximately the size of small sheep.

Beads are sewn tightly to the bodies in patterns, as well as hung in looser loops and clustered into balls to create different textural effects.

A mainly green bovine-esque creature called John Lith-Cow has blue and red spots across its back, and a pink and purple striped chest.

Two similar animals – Tail-or Swift and Tail-or Splif – both have oversized noses shaped like The Muppets character Gonzo. Resting on large bent front legs and straight back legs, the two have thin wiggly tails.

Lilac Fungul-Iver sports a turquoise beard and a series of protuberances along its spine, while Al Gor-Illa is striped from head to toe.

The second edition of the Guild Design Fair took place from 25 February to 1 March, coinciding with Cape Town’s Design Indaba conference.

The post Haas Brothers and Monkeybiz dress Afreaks
monsters in colourful beads appeared first on Dezeen.

Brooklyn artist collective EXOvault has become known for their steampunk iPhone cases, as they’re not afraid to play with aluminum, brass or titanium. Now they’ve launched their first eyewear design, which they manufacture themselves. A closer look……

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A grid of 24 red brick arches frames the interior of this Vietnam coffee shop by Wangstudio, which sits between a garden and a reflective pool of water (+ slideshow).

Named F Coffee, the small brick cafe occupies a site near the airport in Dong Hoi, a city in Quang Binh Province.

Principal architect Le Vu Quang wanted to create as simple a structure as possible, so came up with a design for a quadrangle building made up of brick walls and arched openings.

“We usually start with the most basic and easy-to-understand ideas,” Le Vu Quang told Dezeen. “F Coffee was designed around the concept of minimalism – brick, concrete, stone, trees and water – to create a concise and emotional space.”

The grid of walls divides the building up into two layers. The outer layer takes the form of a sheltered terrace, where chairs and tables are positioned between the arches, while the inner layer houses the shaded cafe.

Machine-made red bricks were sourced from a local manufacturer for the walls. These were built up with little flourish, apart from a curving soldier course that follows the outline of each arch.

According to Le, this structure provided a cost-effective solution that references some of Vietnam’s historic architecture.

“Arches help the space to reflect the gates of old castles or villages of Vietnam, providing stable and attractive perspectives,” he said. “Moreover, using arches also reduced many of the costs and difficulties of the construction process.”

The arches that separate the the terrace from the cafe are infilled with glazing. Each one includes a door, allowing the owners to cross-ventilate the interior on hot and humid days.

The reflective pool runs along the south and eastern edges of the building. “We added the pool of water to cool down the cafe spaces,” said the architect.

Curved seats inside the cafe echo the arcs of the surrounding walls and have been positioned in the corners of the prescribed grid. This forms natural walkways through the centre of each arch.

Clusters of small light bulbs create chandelier-type lighting inside the cafe, while spotlights were integrated around the exterior to “maximise the beauty of the structural arches in the evening”.

The post Wangstudio’s F Coffee is a Vietnam cafe
made up of 24 brick arches appeared first on Dezeen.

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Michael Graves, one of the most influential architects in modern American design, died on 12 March 2015 at the age of 80. Graves was an early member of The New York Five, a group of architects whose works stood as the pinnacle of modernist design in……

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