Hasta La Ideas

As the world of mainstream consumer electronics has made a casual, 2-year transition into wireless audio after killing the jack, it seems odd that Nintendo’s Switch, one of the most advanced handheld gaming consoles, capable of sheer versatility courtesy their Labo kits, isn’t compatible with wireless audio. The Switch can do quite a lot. It can work as a handheld unit, or with a television; can be used in single and multiplayer modes; and most importantly, can be transformed into pretty much anything, including instruments like the piano… but at the end of the day, the fact that it still relies on wired audio seems primitive and limiting.

The Genki, designed specifically to solve this nagging problem, adds to the already-laden feature list of the Switch, giving it the ability to go wireless in the audio department. Its design beautifully complements the Switch, with an all-black outer casing, a soft rectangular form, and two buttons on either side, colored blue and red to match the Switch. These buttons literally are the only interface you need, and to connect to a wireless headset or earphones, just press the button and you’re all set. Using Bluetooth 5, the Genki pairs with headphones, delivering high-quality audio with zero latency, up to a distance of 60 feet!

Turning the Switch wireless doesn’t just upgrade the console, it makes sense. The Switch was designed to be more than just a handheld device, made to be used with televisions as well as multiplayer gaming, so providing an aux input literally feels being bound by a chain. The Genki’s wireless-audio dongle for the Switch doesn’t just make gaming from afar (as one would with a television setup) easy, its design also lets you route audio to two headsets, making the multiplayer experience easy too. The two colored buttons at the base of the dongle match perfectly with the colors of the two controllers, intuitively allowing you to pair with two Bluetooth headsets and turning the multiplayer audio experience wireless too. Besides, let’s not forget the great things it does for the Labo kits too, allowing you to engage with the Switch without the primitive hassle of wired headsets… or better still, broadcast the audio to a powerful wireless speaker to make your gaming experience larger than life!

Designers: Christopher Yue, Eddie Tsai & Andrew Geng

Click here to Buy Now: $39.00 $50.00 (22% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left and over $450,000 raised!

Together at last, GENKI gives you the freedom and convenience of using your favorite wireless Bluetooth headphones when you’re gaming on the go.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

USB TYPE-C – PLUG AND PLAY!

GENKI is the first and only Bluetooth audio transmitter built to the USB Type-C standard. Why USB Type-C? There have been some workaround solutions that we’ve tested but none of them were a satisfying solution for the Nintendo Switch. These workarounds introduce extra latency, static noise, lower fidelity and volume and many do not support newer devices such as the Apple AirPods.

This led us to create a better solution – through the USB-C port we’re able to simply remove the redundant audio conversions providing gamers the best latency and audio quality.

MULTIPLAYER – SHARE THE FUN!

One of the things we love is detaching the Joy-Cons for an instant transformation into a two-player portable console. But chances are you’re waiting around in a pretty noisy place so one of the coolest features we have is multiplayer support.

So maybe you’ve noticed that the two buttons on GENKI are labeled 1P and 2P. With this setup we actually stream stereo audio to two separate headphones, neat huh. So you can better enjoy SnipperClips or Hulu with loved ones.

BLUETOOTH 5 – WORKS WITH EVERYTHING!

Supporting the Bluetooth 5.0 standard, GENKI is compatible with all the Bluetooth headphones out there today (and tomorrow).

But what if you wanted to unleash the full potential of your Bluetooth speakers? We know those built-in speakers are pretty weak so we got you covered.

LOW LATENCY – BUILT FOR GAMING!

If you’ve ever experienced audio where voices don’t seem to synchronize with what you’re watching you know it can be quite distracting. This is even more important in games where your reaction to a sound can mean success and game over.

To combat this, they made sure GENKI included the fastest industry leading audio codecs. With aptX Low Latency we can achieve sub 40ms latency. Typically, the human ear can not distinguish below 100ms so rest assured you’ve got the best.

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES – USE GENKI ANYWHERE!

The dock adapter is a simple USB adapter enabling you to use GENKI with your Nintendo Switch docked. Just plug it into any of the three USB ports in the dock; it can even be safely tucked inside the back panel to be hidden.

Playing late into the night without disturbing others.

HOW TO USE GENKI

First Time Pairing:

– Plug in GENKI to the Nintendo Switch USB Type-C port
– Hold the 1P button to pair with your audio device
– Activate pairing on your audio device
– Enjoy wireless Nintendo Switch audio

Reconnecting Next Time:

– Press the 1P button to reconnect with your audio device
– Enjoy wireless audio, again

Multiplayer Mode:

– Hold the 2P button to pair with your second audio device
– Enjoy wireless audio, with a friend

GENIKI VS WORKAROUNDS

Click here to Buy Now: $39.00 $50.00 (22% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left and over $450,000 raised!

Jimmy breaks down Trump’s one-one-one meeting and press briefing with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and he talks about the Justice Department indicting 12 Russian intelligence agents for hacking Clinton staff members and DNC servers during the election campaign. Many saw the timing of these indictments as a message to Trump, but one person in particular saw it as a full exoneration…(Read…)

Chinese architecture office Ares Partners has completed a hotel nestled among the mountains of Ninghai County, China, in a collection of refurbished stone warehouses.

The studio headed by architect Helen Wang designed the Huchen Barn Resort for the site of a former granary in the Huchen township, which lies between Tiantai Mountain and Siming Mountain in east China’s Zhejiang province.

The granary was originally constructed in 1956 and six of its original buildings remained in good enough condition to be repurposed as part of the new hotel.

The architects sought to preserve the character of the masonry structures and their relationship to the natural setting, while adapting them to their new use and introducing a contemporary white structure to house the new reception and meeting facility.

“To convert from a storage space to a place where human comfort is in demand becomes quite a challenge to us,” said the studio, which previously transformed a group of disused farm buildings in Yangshuo County into a boutique resort.

“Our design approach is to engage a dialogue between the old and new buildings on site, as well as a dialogue between architecture, mountain scenery and people.”

The existing buildings had been covered with layers of white paint, which was stripped away to reveal the original masonry facades. The structures comprise a layer of rough stone supporting a band of brick that is punctured by high windows.

The first task undertaken during the conversion was to expand some of the openings so more daylight reaches the interiors, whilst minimising interruptions to the historic walls.

The studio also removed false ceilings in two of the buildings to reveal the original timber frames. Steel I-beams were introduced to reinforce the structures were necessary, as well as creating channels for hiding pipes and cabling.

The buildings accommodating guest accommodation were adapted by adding internal partitions to provide 21 suites with new bathroom facilities. The rooms created within the original volumes feature lowered ceiling heights intended to give these spaces a more human scale.

The smallest of the existing buildings on the site contains a pair of guest suites featuring extensions protruding from the rear.

The new additions contain angular sunrooms and balconies offering varied views of the surrounding mountains.

The new reception building that replaced a structure added in the 1970s is positioned directly in front of the entrance to the complex and was designed to occupy the same footprint as its predecessor.

The building is slotted in between two of the original structures and is intended to complement their massing and materiality, whilst achieving a distinctly modern character.

The architects wanted to preserve the view towards the mountains from the entrance gate, so the volume slopes upwards from front to back to prevent it blocking this scenic backdrop.

“The architectural form of the new building is modern and abstract,” the studio added. “The contemporary architecture language is respectful to the existing buildings around as well as to nature.”

The block’s east facade folds inwards to create an inviting space for people to gather, while a new passageway along the western elevation provides access to a recessed staircase leading up to a tea room and roof terrace.

The structure to the west of the reception building houses a restaurant with high ceilings displaying the original framework. A kitchen and lounge are also accommodated in this block, which opens out at the rear onto a swimming pool and terrace.

Photography is by Su Shengliang.

Project credits:

Architecture and interior design: Ares Partners
Design director: Helen Wang
Design team: Helen Wang, Cheng Hui, Colin Zhu, Hu Jieling, Mei Qin, Zhan Tengjun

The post Ares Partners converts former granary into hotel in rural China appeared first on Dezeen.

Photographer Valentin Jeck has travelled around the region of former Yugoslavia to capture images of its brutalist architecture for MoMA’s Toward a Concrete Utopia exhibition.

Jeck‘s series of images are blown up and displayed around the galleries of the New York museum as part of the exhibition, which opened to the public yesterday, 15 July 2018.

Titled Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture of Yugoslavia, 1948-1980, it presents the buildings designed to shape a national identity during the socialist country’s formative years.

Jeck was commissioned by MoMA to take photos of the most impressive examples of architecture from the period, many of which were built from concrete in an expressive brutalist style.

The Swiss-based photographer, who has plenty of experience capturing these types of buildings, was given free reign on the project.

“I had no specific brief,” he told Dezeen. “I was completely free to choose the style and the look. They gave me a list of the relevant buildings and monuments, and the contacts of the individuals at the sites.”

Over the past two years, he made seven separate trips to the countries of former Yugoslavia, which include Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and the still-disputed territory of Kosovo.

“I was well-accompanied by local advisors who were also involved in the exhibition,” said Jeck. “Normally there was no problem, except at those with military relevance.”

During his visits, he found many of the structures in poor repair, as seen in some of the images where scaffolding is erected and landscaping is overgrown around them. But the aged and weathered concrete made for more interesting imagery, Jeck said.

“The raw concrete structures are very photogenic,” he said. “I like the patina, especially the fact that they’re not restored and in their original condition.”

Jeck produced hundreds of photos for the exhibition, which were whittled down to the final selection by the MoMA curators.

The featured buildings and monuments include Belgrade’s 205-metre-tall Avala TV Tower, which was originally built in 1965 but destroyed during NATO’s bombing of the city during the Yugoslav wars in 1999. It was later reconstructed, and reopened in 2010.

Among other highlights are the Monument to the Battle of Sutjeska – one of many structures built across the region to commemorate those who died during the second world war. Shown in the snow, the monument comprises a pair of structures that look like huge chunks of carved rock and are shaped to splay away from one another.

A telecommunications centre in Skopje, social housing in Spilt, a library in Pristina and an office tower in Ljubljana are also on show as part of the series.

Jeck said that by undertaking the assignment, he gained a better understanding and developed a greater admiration for the buildings.

“The designs of the 1950s and 1960s are very interesting to me,” he said. “The longer I worked on [the project] the more I appreciated the work.”

Toward a Concrete Utopia is on show in MoMA’s third-floor Robert Menschel Galleries until 13 January 2019. All photographs are by Valentin Jeck, commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art.

The post Valentin Jeck photographs Yugoslavia’s concrete architecture for MoMA exhibition appeared first on Dezeen.

While most water purifiers hide their purification systems behind opaque casings, either to protect their proprietary technology, or to prevent you from seeing the water in case it isn’t crystal clear, Mitsubishi’s Cleansui Water Pitcher is visually a class apart.

With a microfiltration chamber that is literally the only opaque part of the entire product, the Cleansui Water Pitcher is stunningly transparent, looking less like a purification product and more like a chiseled crystal, echoing the phrase “seeing is believing”. Pour regular water on top and gravity pretty much does the rest as the water percolates through Cleansui’s advanced filtration system that removes bacteria, microorganisms, and rust, filtering water down into the lower compartment for you to see. Available in 1.5-liter and 2.2-liter models, Cleansui’s filtration pitchers filter water without electricity, and their filters run for months longer than filters from other companies, purifying water with results that are literally there for you to see!

Designer: Mitsubishi

Click Here to Buy Now

Click Here to Buy Now