Hasta La Ideas

10 month-old polar bear cub Nora plays with ice and toys provided by her keepers during her quarantine period at the Oregon Zoo. SHOW MORE..(Read…)

French designer Philippe Starck has belatedly joined Facebook and Instagram, despite previously describing digital media as “sick”.

Starck launched his Facebook and Instagram accounts as part of a “digital transformation” of his brand.

His company described them as “two new routes for unprecedented immersion in the heart of the Starck universe, and a way for the designer to be always closer to his sentimental tribe.”

The move marks a turnaround for the 67-year-old designer, who has previously eschewed social media and poured scorn on digital culture.

“This idea of living everything through a 2D screen, it’s no life,” he said in an interview with Dezeen last year. “I think it’s really dangerous.”

“People now record everything they do,” he added, claiming that reliance on digital devices would destroy human memory.

“That means perhaps in two generations we shall have no more than software of memory. Why try to remember?”

A photo posted by STARCK (@starck) on Sep 20, 2016 at 3:53am PDT

“It’s sick and the damage will be astonishing,” he added. “Nobody will ever see the pictures again. That means it’s erased. It’s not in the brain, it’s perhaps in the cloud but nobody will go to see the cloud.”

Starck made his comments in Milan during the furniture fair last year, where he was one of several designers to speak out about the intrusive nature of social media.

Fellow designer Patricia Urquiola said that bloggers and Instagrammers were turning fairs such as Salone del Mobile into “a kind of wild west” while Konstantin Grcic said designers were becoming “cattle that are pushed around.”

A photo posted by STARCK (@starck) on Sep 14, 2016 at 9:30am PDT

Starck’s company plans to use its new social media accounts to update followers with news, behind-the-scenes imagery and designs from his archive.

His Facebook account is now live at facebook.com/StarckOfficial and his Instagram account at instagram.com/starck.

Posts on his Instagram account include photos of Starck riding an escalator and pointing at one of his own quotations.

A photo posted by STARCK (@starck) on Sep 26, 2016 at 6:18am PDT

The Frenchman is one of the most prolific living designers, and is best known for products including the Juicy Salif lemon squeezer and the Louis Ghost chair.

Although he is best known for designing interiors, furniture and products, he has also completed a series of architectural projects, including a collection of prefabricated, low-energy homes and a cultural centre in Bilbao.

He’s also the latest designer to venture into the fragrance industry, with a trio of eau de toilettes released under his new perfume label, Starck Paris.

The post Social media sceptic Philippe Starck joins Facebook and Instagram appeared first on Dezeen.

ABIR Architects used pebbles found on the beach to create the layered facade of this house in the English seaside town of Shoreham – which featured in last night’s episode of UK television show Homes By The Sea.

East Sussex-based ABIR Architects designed the Shoreham Beach House for owners Adas and Catherine Nicholson, who moved to the town from London with their two children.

The couple purchased an outdated 1950s bungalow on the boardwalk and, after living in it for several years, decided to demolish it to make way for their new home.

The four-bedroom property features a form and materiality that references its picturesque setting, but is also tailored to the needs of its occupants, who enjoy stepping straight off the beach after wind surfing or swimming in the sea.

“It’s a unique home designed specifically for this family and for this location,” said architect Giles Ings. “The pebbles, for instance, were chosen to match the beach. It couldn’t belong anywhere else.”

When viewed from the beach or the boardwalk that passes along in front of the house’s garden, the building appears as three distinct layers, each of which evokes an aspect of the marine environment.

The base of the building is clad with gabions – cages filled with rocks that are typically used to stabilise shorelines or slopes against erosion. They lend it a density that roots it in the landscape.

The bedrooms are contained within the monolithic, protective base layer, which uses pebbles instead of standard rocks to enhance its connection to the surroundings.

“The idea is that the house grows from the beach and every element of the building is reflected in the surroundings,” said Adas Nicholson during the episode of Homes By The Sea, which was aired by British broadcaster Channel 4.

The level above accommodates the open-plan living space, which is lined with full-height windows looking out towards the beach and the sea beyond.

The windows extend outwards slightly from the facade. They wrap around the corners at either end to provide views along the coast, as well as creating an increased sense of proximity to the sea.

Local timber clads the roof, providing the final layer, and also covers the sides of the building. The wood’s tone will gradually lighten as it is bleached by the sun.

The same wood provides decking and a path in the garden, which extends from the house towards the boardwalk and features native seaside succulents and grasses.

“After the pebbles on the beach you’ve got the glass which reflects the sea and the sky, and then there’s the driftwood right at the top,” said Nicholson.

Inside the home’s open-plan upper storey, a glazed corner incorporating sliding doors provides access to a decked terrace that overlooks the beach.

A microcement floor partially reflects light that floods in through the large windows, while plywood used for the staircase and joinery throughout introduces a simple and warm element to the otherwise cool and minimal interior.

ABIR Architects is based in Hove. The studio previously collaborated with Peter Lewis of AEREA Design on a cluster of colourful beach huts in Bournemouth, which are designed to be accessible for wheelchair users.

Photography is by Jim Stephenson.

The post Shoreham Beach House by ABIR Architects features gabion walls filled with beach pebbles appeared first on Dezeen.

Getty Images has named Jennifer Ferguson senior vp of global communications, a new role at the company.

Ferguson previously served as Christie’s senior vp and international director of communications and public relations.

Ferguson will report to Getty Images’ CEO Dawn Airey and be a member of the company’s executive committee.

Pragmatic details define this army green jacket, but rather than ending up looking like a tech-heavy piece, it’s both super-stylish and contemporary. Made from 100% cotton canvas, the Carthage Parka comes complete with a hood, fishtail, full zip and……

Continue Reading…