Hasta La Ideas

This is the onboard video from a Little Ripper UAV that’s currently being tested as a lifesaving device on Australian beaches. In the video, the drone successfully drops a floatation device to two swimmers who got stranded in the rough surf at Lennox Head in New South Wales, Australia.”The Little Ripper UAV certainly proved itself today, it is an amazingly efficient piece of lifesaving equipment and a delight to fly. I was able to launch it, fly it to the location, and drop the pod all in about one to two minutes. On a normal day that would have taken our lifeguards a few minutes longer to reach the members of the public.”..(Read…)

Miami studio Oppenheim Architecture has designed this hotel in Rio de Janeiro so that guests can overlook the city’s famous Copacabana Beach while bathing in a rooftop swimming pool.

Oppenheim Architecture‘s aim for the Emiliano Hotel was to create a “calm oasis of luxury within the vibrant energy” of the surrounding Copacabana neighbourhood and the lively promenade it fronts, which is home to copious restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

To make the most of beach views, while still maintaining the guests’ privacy, the studio covered the front of the building with white shutters that are punctured with lozenge-shaped holes.

When opened up entirely, the hinged screens reveal the balconies and large windows of the suites behind, while closing the panels creates a homogenous front that provides shade from the strong Brazilian sun.

“Trying to create a neutral presence on the architecturally cacophonous boulevard, the facade is covered in operable screens that protect from the tropical sun, allowing for custom modulation of space, climate, and privacy,” said Oppenheim Architecture.

The hotel’s crowning feature is the slender pool with a glazed side, which runs along the top of the building and allows swimmers to look out at the view from underwater. A restaurant behind the pool opens out onto a deck, furnished by sunbathing beds and large umbrellas.

“A rooftop pool with glass edge provides the sensation of floating in the sky above one of the most beautiful places on earth,” the studio continued.

The Emiliano Hotel is located along Avenue Atlântica, a major road where an 11-storey apartment building by Zaha Hadid Architects is also under construction, and faces south-east towards the beach.

The other three sides of the hotel are abutted by tall, run-down apartment buildings that date back to the 1950s. In response, Oppenheim introduced a pair of patios at the rear of the hotel on the ground floor, which feature glazed roofs and natural vegetation growing up the walls, and allows guests to enjoy outdoors areas without being overlooked.

“Through simple yet powerful spatial manipulations, the hotel is able to optimise its beneficial attributes, while subverting its negative forces,” the studio said.

“Guests are able to circulate and inhabit the hotel in total privacy, away from the general public.”

The two yards are accessed by large sliding doors. One forms an extension of the restaurant area, and its exterior is wrapped by a long bench that faces dining tables and chairs.

The other adjoins the library, and is furnished by sofas and low-level tables suited to reading, with floors covered in wooden decking. Inside, the walls of the library are lined by a geometric covering that is patterned by cross-shaped lights.

Oppenheim Architecture completed the design for the project, while served as São Paulo firm Studio Arthur Casas the architect of record and oversaw the interiors.

A simple but warm material palette was chosen to decorate the inside. Other communal areas in the hotel include a workspace featuring partitions resembling the perforated facade, wooden chairs with brown leather seats and tall standing lamps. There is also a spa.

Pale terrazzo flooring covers the ground-floor lobby, where a monolithic stone reception deck is set in front of a blue mural. Bedrooms have simple and neutral finishes, like pale parquet flooring, net curtains and white bedding.

Oppenheim Architecture is headquartered in Miami, with other offices in New York and Basel. It was founded in 1991 by Chad Oppenheim, who recently built himself a Bahamas holiday home atop a sandy dune.

A Miami Beach home adapted for tropical living and a quirky renovation of a chalet in Aspen are among other projects completed by the firm.

Photography is by Fernando Guerra.

Project credits:

Design architect: Chad Oppenheim
Contributors: Carl Römer, Kevin Heidorn, Alex Lozano
Architect of record; interior design; furniture, fixtures, and equipment: Studio Arthur Casas

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L’artiste Riccardo Olerhead a toujours eu une fascination pour les objets du quotidien. Entre l’anonymat de ces objets, qu’il rapproche d’une certaine universalité, et les fleurs, qui apportent une touche classique aux natures mortes, il sublime et met en abime des équilibres intangibles, dans des photographies à la balance fragile et la réalisation délicate. De superbes installations incroyables de précisions, qui remettent, comme les natures mortes de l’époque classique, la question du temps qui passe au centre des interrogations. La palette des couleurs vient, pour Riccardo, de « la fragilité des compositions et de l’hétérogénéité des objets photographiés qui le pousse à chercher une palette « solide » et harmonieuse ». Un très beau travail photographique, à retrouver sur Instagram.

Japanese studio Nendo has created a collection of furniture and accessories in its trademark minimalist style for Chinese lifestyle brand Zens.

Debuted this week at Paris trade fair Maison&Objet, the collection includes a variety of playful pieces for the home.

These include Picto, a four-piece furniture collection includes a table, seat, shelf and storage unit. Each piece features the same triangle-shaped base, while the tops vary according to the function – a smooth flat surface acts as a table top and a slightly bent surface is used for seating.

Three layered surfaces create a simple set of shelves while a series of stacked cylinders can be used to store small accessories such as keys and smartphones.

“Similar to a Kanji, where one word is a combination of multiple meanings; by arranging three-dimensional shapes in different ways, we can form a variety of furniture pieces,” said Nendo.

“Also by maintaining a simple silhouette and giving it depth only by extruding it, the objects project a strong graphic expression similar to the essence of Chinese characters,” continued the studio.

A display system, called Chirp, was inspired by the image of birds sitting on a power line.

The tree-like structure is made up of a series of light grey panels which are attached to a central pole. The containers, which can be used to store small items such as pens and keys or used to display flowers, slot onto the panels and can be added or removed depending on how many are needed.

Meanwhile the Stone collection comprises a series of stackable tea and coffee sets with round stone-like lids and a series of square and long plates with accompanying stone-shaped containers.

The design studio said its intention was for it to appear as if stones are placed on top of the different cups and dishes.

“Tableware lids generally have a plain surface, so by creating three-dimensional shaped lids for this collection, they are becoming an inherent part of the overall function,” said Nendo.

The tea set includes an iron kettle and a teapot for Chinese tea that each feature a perforated silicone lids that double as tea strainers. A similar lid on the accompanying glass water jug enables it to be used for cold brewing tea.

The choice of silicone means that the lids have very low thermal conductivity while also preventing unpleasant “clatter” sounds when placed on a table.

The tea and coffee sets are stackable, making the sets easier to carry while giving the appearance of a pile of stones.

Similar stone-shaped containers that can be used as sauce dipping dishes were created for square, round and long plates. The stones sit on the square and long plates within partially sunken compartments.

In addition to designing the new collection, Nendo was responsible for Zens‘s booth design at Maison& Objet.

Other products launching at the fair, which runs until 23 January 2018, include a collection of tufted, printed and embroidered textiles by Tom Dixon, and a martial arts-inspired table and chair set by AC/AL Studio for Petite Friture.

Photography is by Akihiro Yoshida.

The post Nendo creates Kanji-inspired furniture and stone-shaped tableware for Zens appeared first on Dezeen.

The G-Shock GPR B-1000 ($800) a new GPS sport watch that has a built-in solar panel to provide backup power for your GPS tracking in the event you run through its 33-hour charge. The solar panel is on the face and will fully charge with 4 hours of direct sunlight. The rugged watch also features a Triple Sensor to measure compass bearing, atmospheric pressure/altitude, and temperature. Other notable features include a sapphire crystal face, 20 bar water resistance, and the ability to operate in temperatures as low as -4 degrees Fahrenheit…(Read…)