Was the Gawker Story a Hoax?

NY Times Names Europe-Based Styles Correspondent

Bowndling Hiking Apparel and Backpacks: A new quality-focused outdoors brand for women, by women

Bowndling Hiking Apparel and Backpacks

“We believe hiking deserves better clothing,” says the all-women team from young, UK-based label Bowndling, which launched November of 2014. The outdoors industry seems reluctant to merge function with fashion for fear of detracting from tech specs……

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Link About It: IBM's Watson Reads the Tone of Your Email

IBM's Watson Reads the Tone of Your Email


Before you start responding to the weekend’s emails, you may want to consult IBM’s Watson. The artificially intelligent computer is now equipped to analyze the tone and sentiment of text. More specifically, it can determine if a passage is cheerful……

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ListenUp: Gemma: As Ever

Gemma: As Ever


Gemma—aka producer Erik Gundel and vocalist Felicia Douglass (best known as a member of Ava Luna)—has released a track called “As Ever,” from the duo’s upcoming debut LP of the same name. It’s a cruise-y, summery R&B-meets-electro-pop tune—with Douglass……

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Link About It: Nike's Sneakers for Differently-Abled People

Nike's Sneakers for Differently-Abled People


When Nike’s first-ever employee suffered a stroke, CEO Mark Parker directed the design department to create a one-of-a-kind, easy-on and easy-off shoe to aid the company’s old friend. Now, Nike is revisiting sneaker design for the differently-abled……

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Little Wooden Robots as Daily Objects

Le designer Alexander Kanygin s’est associé à une quinzaine d’autres artistes, architectes, illustrateurs, designers ou encore photographes, afin de créer une collection d’objets prenant l’aspect de petits robots fabriqués en bois. Les créations, regroupées sous le nom de Robo Wood, offrent une décoration d’intérieure ludique pour des objets sont l’usage quotidien peut s’avérer très utile.

Bike hanger by Alexander Kanygin.

Cabel hanger by Mira Smurova.

Candel holder by Ilya Spiridonov.

Case for used batteries by Katerina Kopytina.

Comb by George Sneghkin.

Cork by Ivan Kozhin.

Hanger by Alexander Kanygin.

Hanger by Mike Deruzhskiy.

Jewelry box by Alexander Kanygin.

Kitchen timer by Stas Leontye.

Mirror by Alexander Kanygin.

Moneybox by Nikita Cherevkov.

Napkin holder by Yaroslav Misonzhnikov.

Nutcracker by Pavel Ulianov and Alexander Kanygin.

Pencil box for kids by Fedor Toy.

Pencil sharpener by Andrey Voronov.

robowoodPencil-sharpener-by-Andrey-Voronov
robowoodPencil-box-for-kids-by-Fedor-Toy
robowoodNutcracker-by-Pavel-Ulianov-and-Alexander-Kanygin
robowoodNapkin-holder-by-Yaroslav-Misonzhnikov
robowoodMoneybox-by-Nikita-Cherevkov
robowoodMirror-by-Alexander-Kanygin
robowoodKitchen-timer-by-Stas-Leontyev
robowoodJewelry-box-by-Alexander-Kanygin1
robowoodIMG_47761
robowoodHanger-by-Mike-Deruzhskiy
robowoodHanger-by-Alexander-Kanygin
robowoodCork-by-Ivan-Kozhin
robowoodComb-by-George-Sneghkin
robowoodCase-for-used-batteries-by-Katerina-Kopytina
robowoodCandelholder-by-Ilya-Spiridonov
robowoodCabel-hanger-by-Mira-Smurova
robowoodBike-hanger-by-Alexander-Kanygin

NX.25 Nike Concept Brand Identity

Le directeur artistique Malte Gruhl, dont nous avons précédemment évoqué le travail, signe l’identité du concept de service créé par la marque Nike, intitulé NX.25. Une apparence luxueuse marbrée et dorée pour une expérience premium qui serait offerte aux 25 consommateurs européens les plus importants.

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Aldo Bakker takes over Amsterdam museum with just five jugs

Amsterdam museum Looiersgracht 60 is hosting a solo exhibition of work by Dutch designer Aldo Bakker that consists of just five jugs.

Looiersgracht 60 – which specialises in showing work that defies categorisation – is currently hosting the Containing Content exhibition of pieces by Bakker, who takes an ambiguous, “function follows form” approach to designing products.

Aldo Bakker jugs on show at Looiersgracht 60
Pot jug on display at Looiersgracht 60, also main image

The five objects presented are named Pivot, Pipe, Soy Pourer, Pot and Square Pourer, three of which will be shown for the first time.

Made variously from porcelain, silver and copper, the vessels challenge the archetypical form of a jug and some are unrecognisable as pouring vessels at first sight.

Aldo Bakker jugs on show at Looiersgracht 60
Pipe

“Bakker rarely starts a design from the desire to solve a practical problem,” said Dutch writer Hans den Hartog Jager in his biography of the designer. “In fact, though Bakker may unmistakably be a designer, his interest in functionality only comes in at the latest stage.”

Among Bakker’s new designs on show is the large black Pipe jug. Made from porcelain, the design includes two branches with a large opening at the top of one and a smaller hole in the other.

Aldo Bakker jugs on show at Looiersgracht 60
Pipe

Also in porcelain but coloured cream, the Pot design looks like a squished teapot. It features a spout, a handle and a lid as part of its circular shape.

Commissioned by Looiersgracht 60, a small container with a rectangular profile is called the Square Pourer and is made entirely from silver.

Aldo Bakker jugs on show at Looiersgracht 60
Square Pourer

Older pieces include the copper Soy Pourer, which slightly resembles a watering can and dispenses its contents from an elongated curved spout. The vessel was created as part of a collection for Dutch gallery Thomas Eyck and presented at Milan’s Spazio Rosanna Orlandi in 2010.

The gold-plated Pivot vessel shaped like a snail shell was created for Bakker’s new design brand Karakter, which launched in Milan during the city’s design week earlier this year.

Aldo Bakker jugs on show at Looiersgracht 60
Soy Pourer

A disc covering the opening hinges open at the top when its contents are poured out.



Bakker usually starts by sketching a form he finds appealing, such as a guardrail of a motorway, the curve of a stairwell, or the facade of a canal house, only considering potential uses once the form is defined.

Bakker is the son of Dutch designers Gijs Bakker and Emmy van Leersum – renowned for their futuristic jewellery designs that were displayed at a retrospective exhibition at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum last year.

Aldo Bakker jugs on show at Looiersgracht 60
Pivot

Aldo Bakker started his career making jewellery and models for his parents in 1987. He has since created sculptural, furniture, homeware and tableware, notably for Danish metalware brand Georg Jensen.

“I love having the freedom to pay attention to every detail in my work, no matter how crazy,” Bakker told Alice Rawsthorn in an interview for the New York Times about his expressive process and relentless attention to detail.

Aldo Bakker jugs on show at Looiersgracht 60
Pivot

For this exhibition Bakker designed individual pedestals that serve as an extension of each jug.

Containing Content runs until 26 July 2015 at Looiersgracht 60, located in a former cardboard and bottling plant on its namesake canal.

The post Aldo Bakker takes over Amsterdam museum with just five jugs appeared first on Dezeen.

Foundations for planned "world's tallest building" in China repurposed as fish farm

The foundations of a stalled 838-metre-high skyscraper in Changsha, China, are now being used as a fish farm, according to local reports.

The proposed Sky City tower was set to become the world’s tallest building, but its construction was postponed just days after it started in 2013, amid safety fears and a lack of necessary government approval.

Two years on, the building’s 2.6-hectare foundations are filled with water and villagers are using them to raise fish, according to a report from local site Xiaoxiang Chen Bao, which has been cited by the South China Morning Post.

Sky City Changsha plot repurposed as a fish farm
A boat in Sky City’s water-filled foundations. Photo courtesy of Xiaoxiang Chen Bao

Sources claim that one villager has invested over £2,000 in his fishing business, while others have used the area surrounding the site for drying grain and growing watermelons.



Sky City was proposed by construction firm Broad Sustainable Building (BSB), a subsidiary of China’s Broad Group. The company claimed it would become the world’s tallest building, with a record-breaking construction time of just 90 days.

Sky City Changsha plot repurposed as a fish farm
Ceremonial stone laid during the ground-breaking. Photo courtesy of Xiaoxiang Chen Bao

However, the project stalled in July 2013, days after its official ground-breaking ceremony, pending safety examinations and building permits.

Since then BSB has completed a 200-metre-high skyscraper known as Small Sky City on a different site in Changsha. Construction took just 19 days, demonstrating the simplicity of the company’s pre-fabricated components designed to fit together like Meccano toy blocks.

Company founder and billionaire Zhang Yue claims that Sky City will also be built despite its current situation.

Sky City Changsha plot repurposed as a fish farm
Proposed design for the Changsha skyscraper, also main image

“[Construction] shouldn’t be far away,” he told South China Morning Post during a business conference in March. “We’ll start soon and complete soon.”

At present the title of world’s tallest building is held by the SOM-designed Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at a height of 828 metres. It is expected to be overtaken by the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, which is already under construction with a projected height of over 1,000 metres.

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