Hasta La Ideas

Royal College of Art graduate Zhekai Zhang has used fabric moulds to create this partially collapsed ceramic tea set.

Called Fabric Formula, the collection features a series of white-glazed teapots, jugs and cups, which appear smooth on one side and scrunched on the other.

The product design graduate made the ceramics using a mould with one side made from fabric so that clay would appear partially unmoulded. The texture of the fabric against the outer surface of the clay also created a grainy finish.

“I used the fabric as the catalyst for the purpose of the showing the unique and imperfection beauty bought by textile in mass production,” Zhang told Dezeen.

“By casting with the fabric, the user eliminates the inherent impression of the consistency of the shape of objects produced by a mould and feels a visual and tactile illusion brought by the technical sense of the fabric itself in mass-produced products,” he continued.

The designer began by inserting a piece of fabric into a mould for casting so that when the slip was poured into it, the liquid would attach to the inner wall to form an uneven surface. Due to the unpredictability of the fabric folds, each ceramic is unique.

Zang wanted to create a method of making imperfect ceramics that appear handmade using methods of mass-production.

“The handicraft sector in many industries is rapidly being replaced by machines,” said Zhang. “Industrialized high-efficiency production methods have reduced instabilities of manual manufacturing.”

“Some of the uncontrollable factors of handicraft create unique attributes for each product itself,” he explained. “How to combine handicraft imperfection and the standardization of industrial production is my theme.”

Fabric Formula is on show at the Royal College of Art as part of its annual graduation show between 23 June and 1 July.  Also being exhibited are pieces from the fashion masters courses, including conceptual space wear and crystal accessories made from human sweat.

Elsewhere, postgraduate designers from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London developed a set of tools that inform animals of potential human threats.

The post Zhekai Zhang’s creates “imperfect” ceramics using fabric moulds appeared first on Dezeen.

A home in an old gin distillery, a house that cost only £100,000, and a property inspired by a frustrating piano piece are among the 20 buildings vying be named RIBA House of the Year 2018.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has released a longlist of 20 projects for the annual award, which recognises a recently completed house or extension deemed to be the best examples of British residential architecture.

This year’s shortlist includes Open Practice Architecture’s conversion of a derelict Victorian gin distillery in London’s Whitechapel area, and a gabled house in Belfast clad in black timber, that Family Architects created for some downsizers with a budget of £100,000.

Also on the list is a house called Vex designed by London architecture studio Chance de Silva. The stacked circular house was formed from poured concrete in a torturous process inspired by Erik Satie’s avant garde piano composition Vexations, which requires musicians to make 840 repetitions of the same theme.

Liddicoat & Goldhill also made the longlist with The Makers House, a light-filled house squeezed into a narrow plot in Hackney, as did 31/44 Architects contrasting red brick extension to a an end-of-terrace house in East Dulwich.

The 2018 RIBA House of the Year Award longlist follows the announcement of the 2018 RIBA National Awards.

Some projects made it on to both lists, including Caroline Place by Amin Taha + Groupwork, Coastal House by 6a Architects, and HaysomWardMiller Architects’ Lochside house.

The winner of the 2018 RIBA House of the Year Award will be announced this autumn.

Last year’s winner was Caring Wood, a house in Kent designed for multi-generational family living by British architects James Macdonald Wright and Niall Maxwell.

Past winners of the award, which was set up in 2001 and originally called the Manser Medal, include Flint House by Skene Catling de la Peña and and Slip House by Carl Turner Architects.

Scroll down to see the full list of this year’s potential winners:

› Ouseburn Road, Miller Partnership Architects
› Berkshire House, Gregory Phillips Architects
› Black House, AR Design Studio
› Black Stone Buildings, 6a architects
› Caroline Place, Amin Taha + Groupwork
› Coastal House, 6a architects

› Dartmouth Park House, AY Architects
› Duncan Cottage, James Grayley Architects
› Fitzrovia House, Carmody Groarke
› Gin Distillery, Open Practice Architecture
› Lochside House, HaysomWardMiller Architects
› No. 37, Family architects designers and makers

› Oatlands Close, Soup Architects
› Old Shed New House, Tonkin Liu
› Pheasants, Sarah Griffiths + Amin Taha
› Red House, 31/44 Architects
› Shropshire Residence, Gregory Phillips Architects
› The Makers House, Liddicoat & Goldhill
› The Old Court House, Harrison Brookes Architects
› Vex, Chance de Silva

The post RIBA names top 20 British homes for the House of the Year 2018 longlist appeared first on Dezeen.

“Edwards breaks down roasts (dark roast vs light roast), processing, freshness, varietals, and source. For each element, the connoisseur looks at and tests each coffee before guessing which coffee costs more. Once the prices are revealed, Edwards explains why a specific coffee costs more and dives into specifics on how each coffee is made.”..(Read…)

YouTube channel Baseball Sports shared this 10-minute highlight reel of Major League Baseball ball girls making incredible catches…(Read…)

La 15ème édition du festival photographique de La Gacilly a lancé son coup d’envoi le 2 juin dernier. Cette année, c’est la Terre qui est célébrée, et ce à travers les clichés d’une trentaine de photographes. Comme tous les ans, le plus grand festival photographique et en plein air de France nous invite à déambuler au coeur du parcours formé au travers des ruelles afin d’appréhender les clichés sélectionnés, les toiles allant parfois jusqu’à 70m2.

©Emil GATAULLIN

Lors de chaque nouvelle édition, deux grandes thématiques sont abordées : L’une, géographique, c’est à dire concernant un pays ou un continent en particulier; et l’autre, environnementale. En effet, ce festival impliqué dans le développement durable souhaite sensibiliser le public quant aux grandes problématiques face à la mondialisation. L’homme doit protéger le lien qu’il entretient avec la Terre s’il veut continuer d’y vivre de manière harmonieuse.

©Philippe BOURSEILLER

La renommée du festival est désormais internationale, notamment grâce à l’exposition de prestigieux photographes tels qu’Ansel Adams, Raymond Depardon, Robert Doisneau, Yann Arthus-Bertrand et plein d’autres. De plus, le concours annuel de photographes émergents organisé en partenariat avec le magazine FISHEYE permettra aux futurs Henri Cartier-Bresson de prouver leur talent et de bénéficier de leur propre galerie jusqu’au 30 septembre.

©Jean GAUMY

©Frédéric DELANGLE

 ©Claudia ANDUJAR

©IMAGE SANS FRONTIÈRE

©William Albert Allard Buckaroo T. J. Symonds, IL Ranch cow camp, Nevada, 1979

©Emanuele SCORCELLETTI