Hasta La Ideas

Architects should make Instagram-friendly elements a central part of their designs for hotels, bars and restaurants to boost their chances of success, according to a new report.

Created by Australian studio Vale Architects, the Instagram Design Guide says that the image-sharing platform now plays a key role in the success of hospitality projects.

Architects and designers need to understand how designs can encourage guests to share their surroundings, and thereby boost the venue’s profile and business, the report argues.

Add neons and “funky murals”

The report helps designers identity the types of customers their project aims to attract, and defines the things they are likely to share on social media. Tips include integrating “funky murals” and adding neon quotes to bathroom walls.

“Providing your guests with a visual sense of amazement, creativity and fun from the moment they step into your space, is the best way to set yourself aside from your competitors on social media,” says the report.

The report’s author, Scott Valentine of Vale Architects, got in touch with Dezeen after reading our story last week reporting architect Farshid Moussavi’s comments about Instagram.

Clients are demanding instagrammability

Moussavi said that creating instagrammable moments “is now part of architectural briefs”, and said clients had asked her studio to consider the platform when designing projects.

Valentine agreed, saying hospitality clients were increasingly demanding designs that encourage sharing on instagram.

Creating Instagram moments has now become part of architectural briefs. If you don’t believe it, look at these hotels advertising themselves not for their comfortable beds but for their Instagram spots. #architecture #instagram #instagrammoments #hotels

A post shared by Farshid Moussavi (@farshidmoussavi) on Jun 3, 2018 at 2:16pm PDT

“An Instagram wall is now the standard request by every client we’ve spoken to,” said Valentine, who has worked on hotel projects across Asia and the Middle East. “They want a wall people can take pictures in front of.”

Valentine said clients’ requests are “relatively unsophisticated, which is why we put together our Instagram Design Guide. We want to encourage people to start thinking a bit more creatively, and encourage their designers to do the same.”

Hotel guests want to “live the Instagram life”

The report includes case studies depicting typical resort users and their Instagram preferences.

One case study features Bob and Michelle, a couple with “very different ideas about what their holiday should look like.”

While Bob wants to surf, drink beer and spend quality time with Michelle, she wants to “be pampered and live the Instagram life of fresh coconuts and lounging by the pool.”

In response to this type of user, designers should focus on providing what Michelle wants, since “Bob’s main job this holiday is to take pictures of Michelle.”

“Michelle wants pictures of herself in the pool, of bright colours, and of fresh attractive food,” the report says. “You’ll also find her taking pictures of remarkable indoor and outdoor artwork like murals or inspirational signage.”

First guide to Instagram for architects

Valentine wrote the design guide after a client in Indonesia told him that instagrammability was key to his project’s success.

“A prospective client in Bali told us they wanted their project to be in the top ten most instagrammed locations in Bali,” Valentine said.

“We’re talking about one of the most photogenic islands on the planet, so that was always going to be a tall order.”

“But it made us think. Instagram has more than 800 million active users, and in many ways, it’s a prime PR tool for so many hotels, bars and restaurants.”

Analysing hashtags

Valentine noticed there were no existing guides on how to achieve his client’s wishes, so he wrote one himself.

“The only guides available related to how to get more followers, rather than how to actually design your buildings in a more photogenic and instagrammable way,” he said. “We did a lot of our own research and data analysis around what works best.”

When starting on a new project, Valentine’s team analyses the social-media footprint of other similar venues in the area, paying particular attention to the hashtags used in comments on rival hotels, and the types of images users post.

“If we notice few people taking pictures in the guest rooms of a hotel, but lots of pictures in the hotel pool area, then this potentially tells us we should divert funds and design effort into the public area in our new hotel,” he said.

Guide allows clients to get “bang for their buck”

“Equally if we notice a particular fondness for certain colours and textures we can start to understand how that could affect the project we are working on.”

This research is then fed back to the client to help guide decisions on “where investment in the design may bring the most bang for their buck.”

Other designers taking users’ Instagram preferences into account include Coordination Asia, who recent project for restaurant chain Gaga in Shanghai has been optimised so design elements fit in a photo frame and maximise the potential for selfies.

Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger told Dezeen that he had noticed that the platform was influencing interior design.

Sharing experiences and creating memes

“I’ve seen this in a bunch of hotels and buildings that are designing that more into the space,” said Krieger, the Brazilian software engineer and engineer who started Instagram with Kevin Systrom in 2010.

“It becomes this interesting hook to get people to experience [the space]. If you can have a moment that is well-framed and gets people to think ‘this is something I want to share with people’, it creates this almost meme effect, where people are like ‘I want to be there and I want to see that thing’.”

Speaking to Dezeen at the opening of the brand’s new offices in New York last week, Krieger added: “I think what’s interesting is to me it’s less about the individual photo that gets shared on Instagram, but more about the experience of making that space yours.”

Don’t follow a formula

However Krieger warned that copying and pasting design tropes would lead to bland homogeneity.

“Hopefully it leads to a creative spark and things feeling different over time,” he said. “I think a bad effect would be that same definition of instagrammability in every single space. But instead, if you can make it yours, it can add something to the building.”

Instagram was placed at number 66 in the latest Dezeen Hot List of the most newsworthy forces in world design.

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Designed to sleep two campers comfortably, the Vertex Double Person hammock from Clark Outdoor is built around a patented system that provides independent suspension for two beds in one enclosure. Each hammock bed supports at least 700 lbs. Occupants up to 250 lbs and 75 inches tall are likely to feel comfortable in the beds provided. A fully waterproof rain fly is sold separately. [ Amazon link ]..(Read…)

The phone camera isn’t going anywhere. We’ve slowly done away with almost every other element barring the camera and the screen. First the external antenna, then the tactile keyboard, the MicroSD card slot, the headphone jack, the home button, and with wireless charging being adopted everywhere, the charging port may just make its exit too… but the camera and the display aren’t going anywhere. From a recreational photography tool to now a depth-sensing/object-sensing device to even turning into a facial-recognition-security tool, the camera is too valuable to be expendable. But speaking strictly in camera terms… it still isn’t powerful enough.

Because the phone needs to be much more than a camera, there are massive constraints on what you can push for. With a dizzying number of components, a battery that fights for space, and a need to be sleek, phone cameras have major lens and sensor constraints. There are two solutions to this problem, aside from waiting for tech innovation to do its thing. A. Carry a phone camera for recreation and a professional camera for heavy lifting… or B. Upgrade your phone’s camera system with external lenses to help the camera see further, wider, or closer.

Lemuro’s founder Eric Bohring, clearly tired of carrying his phone along with his DSLR and GoPro, set out to create a series of external lenses that sat above the phone’s camera, giving it the ability to capture images that rival those of his professional shooter and action camera. Lemuro’s set of four lenses allow you to see wide, see far, observe up close, and view the world in quirky fisheye. The lenses screw into Lemuro’s phone case, that not only holds the lenses precisely above the camera, but also protects the phone from accidental slips and drops. Designed with German precision optics and timeless Italian aesthetic sensibilities, the Lemuro is a classy alternative to universal store-bought external lenses, while also making sure you get crisp, clear photos and videos without shelling extra bucks for a professional camera and having to lug it around wherever you go. The Lemuro comes as a set of one 18mm/110° FOV Wide Angle lens, one 25mm 10X Macro lens, one 60mm 2X Telephoto Portrait lens, one 8mm 238° Fisheye Lens, and the protective case made of genuine leather on the outside, soft protective suede on the inside, an robust polycarbonate midsection, and a soft, impact-absorbing TPE bumper. With a secure, lens-locking system, precise German optics, the ability to quickly switch lenses, and a design that fits into your pocket, the Lemuro wants the camera you have on your person to be the only camera you ever need to carry.

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This slideshow of images offers a closer look at this year’s Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, which was unveiled yesterday in Kensington Gardens, London.

Escobedo’s pavilion is framed by walls of concrete tiles, designed as a reinterpretation of the perforated “celosia” wall that is common in Mexican architecture. It also features a triangular pool of water and a curving mirrored ceiling, which create distorted reflection.

The walls are designed to run parallel with two different axes: the facade of the Serpentine Gallery behind, and the Prime Meridian. The aim was to allow the building to be site-specific in its current location, as well as in its unknown future location.

These images by Irish photographer Ste Murray offer a look both inside and outside the structure, and also reveal the view from above.

Find out more about the Serpentine Pavilion 2018 ›

The post Frida Escobedo’s Serpentine Pavilion revealed in photography by Ste Murray appeared first on Dezeen.

IKEA has revealed a collection of statement rugs designed by a group of contemporary artists, including fashion designer Virgil Abloh and London-based designer Craig Green.

Created for the fifth series of the IKEA Art Event, each rug in the collection is designed to be a “statement piece” that will become “art in the home”.

The Swedish brand asked eight contemporary artists from around the world to each design a rug in their own artistic style, including Off-White founder Abloh, British designer Green, and New York-based artist Noah Lyon.

French tattoo artist Supakitch, Japanese artist Misaki Kawai, Brooklyn-based Chiaozza, Korean artist Seulgi Lee, and Polish artist Filip Pagowski also contributed designs for the collection.

“These are rugs that will become exclamation marks in the home, whether you walk all over them, hang them on a wall, or make them your own any other way,” said IKEA’s creative leader Henrik Most.

The collection presents 12 different rugs that are the results of what happens when you “mash up age-old tapestry and rug techniques with the worlds of avant-guard fashion, tattoo art and sculpture.”

The rugs are all handmade in wool and natural materials, meaning that no two are the same. “There are tiny, natural imperfections that give each one a unique expression,” continued the creative leader.

Abloh’s first contribution is a monochrome, graphic interpretation of the traditional oriental rug, emblazoned with the statement “KEEP OFF” in white, block lettering.

The fashion designer also designed a second rug, made to look like a pixelated digital image of a mountainous landscape. As half of the rug is blank, it appears to be a webpage in the process of loading – marked by the words “STILL LOADING” printed across its centre.

“I wanted an ironic take on the traditional attitude to furnishing where the living room is just a showroom, not somewhere you sit,” said Abloh. “I think the parental “don’t ruin the furniture” kind of thing has really impacted how younger people think of furniture today.”

Green’s design for the collection, titled Paradise, features two colourful birds against a striped background, while collaborative craft duo Chiaozza have decorated a rug with their signature cartoon-like plant designs.

Known for her playful and colourful designs, Kawai’s multicoloured rug takes the form of an animal family. Different cat-like animals sit beside and atop one another – one features a bright blue mane, while another is pink with red spots.

“Different pile heights make you want to cuddle the fantastic cats, and so the rug is as much of a tactile experience as a visual one,” said IKEA.

“I don’t like rules – I play around with materials and simple shapes and add some nice to it. I think keeping it simple adds mystery – anyone looking at the piece can start to wonder about it,” said Kawai.

IKEA shared the designs at its annual two-day Democratic Design Days conference held in Älmhult, Sweden. At the opening, Most said that democratic design is the “heart and soul of IKEA,” but that they also believe in “democratic art”.

According to the brand, the collection is a continuation of its “quest to make great art accessible to everyone,” and Most hopes that, thanks to the variety of artistic expressions, the rugs will appeal to the masses, as well as being affordable.

“We all know that a rug has a basic function, it’s good at keeping the acoustics in a home, but at the same time a rug can also be an aesthetic expression that defines the space in the same way that you can have a painting on the wall,” added Most.

“Looking back, rugs have a long tradition of being perceived as art rather than something we primarily choose for their function. This collection gave us the opportunity to explore the traditions and place them in a modern context,” he continued.

The IKEA Art Event rug collection will be available for a limited time starting in 2019.

Also announced at the conference was a collection of ornate accessories designed by Swedish ceramic and glass artist Per B Sundberg and a rug that looks like a huge IKEA receipt designed Virgil Abloh.

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