by Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick
It is an impossible feat to document—or to know, name or even catalog—all of the resisters whose actions led to revolutions, both big and small. And yet some of these women have left a personal impact on photographer……
Continue Reading…
Elon Musk is insisting that the escape pod he hand delivered to the cave rescue team in Thailand is fully functional, after being criticised by the head of the mission.
According to the BBC, rescue head Narongsak Osotthanakorn thanked Musk’s team for the offer of help and acknowledged the mini submarine they built was “technologically sophisticated”, but said it was “not practical with our mission”.
But Musk is claiming that his design was developed in close cooperation with the Thai-led team of international diving and medical experts, who were working with Thai Navy SEALs to rescue the Wild Boar youth football team.
Musk was told his pod “may well be used”
The SpaceX founder took to Twitter to refute claims his contribution was unwanted by the rescuers, releasing a screenshot of his email correspondence with Richard Stanton, one of the British expert divers who first discovered the boys.
“It is absolutely worth continuing with the development of this system,” Stanton wrote to Musk on 7 July. “If the rain holds out it may well be used.”
The tech billionaire replied that he was testing the submarine and that he was operating under the same principles as spacecraft design, namely “no loss of life even with two failures”.
Stanton then replied that the rescuers were “worried about the smallest lad” and implored Musk to keep working on his technology.
The Guardian reported the weakest boys were left until last during the rescue, including 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungrueng.
“Mini-sub” left with team for possible future use
Musk revealed on Twitter two days ago that he was working on a “kid-size submarine” that could be used to rescue the 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach, who had been trapped miles underground in a flooded cave system for almost two weeks.
He and his team then flew to Thailand to deliver the escape pod, which was devised from SpaceX rocket parts, to the rescue effort.
In the end, it wasn’t needed. The trapped boys and their coach have all now been rescued, after being guided by divers through the dark, waterlogged caves.
The former Thai provincial governor (described inaccurately as “rescue chief”) is not the subject matter expert. That would be Dick Stanton, who co-led the dive rescue team. This is our direct correspondence: pic.twitter.com/dmC9l3jiZR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2018
But Musk said he has left the “mini-sub”, which he named Wild Boar after the stranded youth football team, at the caves in Thailand “in case it may be useful in the future“.
The billionaire also spoke out in response to the BBC’s coverage of his actions, in an article that mentioned his net worth and referenced critics who claimed he was only helping as a self-serving PR stunt.
“Ironically, the ‘billionaire’ label, when used by media, is almost always meant to devalue and denigrate the subject,” he suggested.
Rocket parts were used to build rescue pod
Musk’s engineers worked around the clock to convert a liquid-oxygen transfer tube from a SpaceX Falcon rocket into a rescue submersible, with design input from Stanton.
The mini-sub has an aluminium hull and a nosecone to protect it from the cave walls, with four oxygen ports located at the front and rear. Buoyancy can be controlled by strapping diver weights to the outside, held in place by the six handles along the sides. Musk claimed it could withstand water pressure 10 times of that in the caves.
Occupants enter and exit via a dual O-ring seal at the back, which was left clear to give rescuers a visual connection with the person inside.
When one fan suggested on Twitter that he add some way to play calming music for the boys Musk replied that he would add a pocket for and MP3 player.
The engineering team also made a special smaller version of the tube that could fit through a 38-centimetre choke point in the cave.
Musk told his Twitter followers that the technology could be applied to space travel if used as a blueprint for an escape pod. He said it could also be used to transport “vulnerable patients in dangerous environments” on Earth, either underwater or through toxic gas.
International team worked together to save boys
The tech entrepreneur got involved in the rescue after being implored on Twitter by fans. He started by sending engineers from his SpaceX and Boring Co teams to Thailand to offer assistance and see how his technologies could be applied.
The tech CEO hypothesised several solutions, including using radar technology from The Boring Company – his drilling company – to help drill an escape route down to the cave, and inserting an inflatable tube with airlocks through the tunnels.
Just returned from Cave 3. Mini-sub is ready if needed. It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids’ soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future. Thailand is so beautiful. pic.twitter.com/EHNh8ydaTT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2018
The boys were discovered by two British divers 10 days after they had gone missing, and rescuers had to work hard to deliver food, oxygen and medical assistance to the group whilst planning their escape.
Initial plans involved draining the flooded tunnels with pumps so the group could walk out. But the threat of monsoon rains and dropping oxygen levels in the caves prompted officials to enact a daring rescue, where the boys were taught rudimentary diving skills in the cave before swimming out.
Guide ropes were installed to mark the way through the dark submerged tunnels for the boys and their coach, who were each accompanied by two Thai navy SEALs on their perilous journey.
Former Thai navy diver Saman Gunan died returning from a mission to deliver oxygen to the group on Friday, after losing consciousness on his way back.
Main image is from Elon Musk’s Twitter.
The post Elon Musk rubbishes claims his tiny submarine was “not practical” for Thai cave rescue appeared first on Dezeen.
Brooklyn homeware brand In Common With has released its first collection of lamps, which includes in-house designs along with products made in collaboration with Ohio artist Ariana Heinzman.
Designers Nick Ozemba and Felicia Hung are the team behind In Common With, which launched the lamps during the NYCxDesign festival this spring. After studying together at RISD, the duo set up the brand with a focus on customisable pieces.
“Our goal is to change this pattern of consumption by providing affordable access to custom design, which in-turn reduces the risk of unsold goods ending up in a landfill,” said In Common With. “For our first collection, we designed a lighting system because it is one of the most inexpensive and effective ways to transform a space.”
Their debut range includes three designs by ceramic artist Ariana Heinzman, which have hand-pinched clay shades that are highly textured and unglazed.
“Ariana Heinzman handcrafts each of the earthenware shades in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in southeastern Ohio,” In Common With said.
Heinzman created the designs in limited-edition runs of 10. She hand-pressed each of the lamp shades, one by one, leaving little cracks and bumps visible.
The three variations are intended as sculptural objects that can be displayed and appreciated even when not turned on.
They include the Dome Table lamp, which has a shade that resembles a kitchen bowl turned upside down. Meanwhile, the shade of the Pyramid Table Lamp references more traditional linen lampshade, and the Alien Table Lamp has a wider-brim shade that resembles a floppy straw sunhat.
These orange-toned fixtures are the more rustic designs in the collection, while the other five – designed by In Common With – appear much more industrial and utilitarian, and can also each be customised.
The design for Tipi is based on a hand-spun metal shade, reminiscent of enamelware, with a bulb in two shapes: a bulbous orb or a flat-like triangle. Tipi comes as either a pendant with a cord or as a surface-mounted design.
Spot Light and Spot Floor Lamp feature polished metal vase-like forms, taking cues from a traditional spot-light but with a more industrial construction.
Orb Pendant and Orb Table Lamp are designed virtually identical to each other, with a steel column supporting a frosted globe light. While the bases are the same size, bulbs in small, medium and large formats can be added to subtly change the light’s appearance.
The bulbs comprise an opaline mould-blown glass globe, which diffuses the LED inside to give off a gentle, ambient glow. The Orb Table Lamp also comes with a built-in touch dimmer.
In Common With’s lamps are available in various sizes and compositions. Most come in small, medium and large, with base options in blackened brass, brushed brass or brushed steel. Many of the lights can also be produced in specific colours.
New York’s prevalent lighting design scene is continuing to expand. Other examples of recently launched products by designers and brands based in the city include a tubular steel lamp with a high-gloss sheen by Jumbo, a series featuring bent metal, embossed glass and carved wood by Allied Maker, and a layered hooped chandelier made from translucent resin by Coil + Drift.
The post In Common With launches lamps with handmade clay shades appeared first on Dezeen.
Designed to look like an innocuous little flashlight for emergency blackouts, the Lumen is tonnes more advanced than it would have you believe. Yes, it is, in the most basic of terms, a flashlight, but it does more than throw photons on an un-illuminated surface. The Lumen is more than a flashlight… it’s a handheld AR projector that detects objects, projects onto them after determining what they are, and lets you interact with the projections in a manner that combines multiple separate experiences into a singular one so futuristic, it would have you pinching yourself.
Much like the Lightform, a smart device that connects with an external projector to aid in object detection and creation of a projected augmented reality experience, the Lumen works on similar lines, but it just doesn’t detect objects by detecting the boundaries between two surfaces/objects, the Lumen actually identifies objects and the angle they’re placed at in relation to the projector, playing relevant animations over the objects.
In a lot of ways, the Lumen’s true competitor is (or was) the VR Headset. Not designed to be an exhibition/entertainment machine like the Lightform, the Lumen is like a flashlight that replaces a VR headset that covers your eyes, and layers images onto reality just for the wearer. Lumen’s projection mapping technology means that the VR/AR experience is as portable as lifting and pointing the device on a surface, and the projections that emanate from it are a public experience, rather than a private one. In fact, Lumen’s projections can be interacted with too, via touch! Armed with a camera, a depth sensor, a projector, and artificial intelligence that’s definitely capable of some heavy-lifting, the Lumen is a flashlight shaped product that replaces the chained, headset experience of AR/VR and makes it more unbridled, intuitive, and life-changing!
Designer: Arvind Sanjeev
Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX), a unit of 21st Century Fox, is home to some of the highest-rated and most acclaimed series on television. FOX has 208 FOX Affiliates, including 17 stations owned and operated by the Company, which which reach approximately 99.9% of all U.S. television households. FOX airs 15 hours of primetime programming a week, as well as major sports and Sunday morning news. Through the FOX NOW app, FOX viewers can watch full episodes of their favorite FOX shows on a variety of digital platforms, while enjoying enhanced interactive and social capabilities around those shows.
We made The Planet to manage open-plan offices and create a meeting room, lounge zone and working space. Imagine an ordinary office space with hundreds of people, buzzing around like bees. How can you focus on work in such an environment? Should you just shout over all co-workers while talking to your business partner?
Banning plastic straws might seem brilliant, but there are a few reasons why blanket bans aren’t actually ideal. One important reality being that many people with disabilities need them—whether due to involuntary movements, muscular or swallowing issues……
Continue Reading…
Italian dance legend Giorgio Moroder (aka the Father of Disco) has teamed up with composer and producer Raney Shockne for the soundtrack from crime series “Queen of the South” and the result is pulsating dark disco that thrills. Premiering on Stereogum……
Continue Reading…
An atrium ringed with wooden slats and topped with netting is the focal point of this slender Montreal dwelling, which has been overhauled by Canadian studio Robitaille Curtis.
Located in the city’s Westmount neighbourhood, the Atrium Townhome project involved a major revamp of a narrow, rectangular home that was cramped and outdated. Robitaille Curtis, a local firm, sought to open up the home and create a more contemporary look. Particular attention was given to a 9.7-metre-high atrium at the centre of the dwelling.
“Our design embraces this feature and heightens the experience of its dynamic interior volume,” the studio said in a project description.
The most dramatic move entailed stretching a trapeze net across the top of the atrium to create a children’s play area. Riggers from Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil provided and installed the netting, which is level with the floor slab.
“The use of a net in this location precludes the need for guardrails and opens the floor plan to unimpeded views to and from the third floor,” Robitaille Curtis said.
At the base of the atrium, the team added a modern black fireplace, which overlooks the dining room. Above, a large white bookcase is accessed via a 5.5-metre-tall steel ladder. In addition to providing storage space, the shelving adds visual interest to the atrium and draws the eye upward.
On both the ground and second levels, slats made of vertical-grain Douglas fir surround the light well. The wooden screens give the void a sense of enclosure, while also serving as guardrails.
Beyond the atrium, the team reconfigured rooms to create a more open atmosphere. On the ground floor, the kitchen was relocated from the front of the home to the rear, where glass doors open onto a covered terrace and newly designed garden.
Also on the ground floor, a wooden unit called “the cube” was placed between the atrium and the living room. Acting as a spatial organisation element, the cube helps guide movement through the ground level. It also houses a closet, a small bathroom and pocket doors.
Throughout the home, the team used a restrained palette of colours and materials. Wood is paired with concrete floors and white lacquered cabinetry, which combine to “create a crisp, clean and warm” ambiance.
Robitaille Curtis was founded in 2013 by landscape architect Sophia Robitaille and architect Andrew Curtis. Other projects by the studio include a renovated Montreal kitchen the features grey cabinetry, brass accents and ash flooring, and a cabin in the Laurentian Mountains that sits atop wooden pilotis.
Photography is by Adrien Williams and Marc Cramer.
Project credits:
Architect: RobitailleCurtis (Andrew Curtis, design architect; Marie-Eve Lamarre Brodsky, staff designer)
Landscape architect: RobitailleCurtis (Sophie Robitaille, design landscape architect; Teressa Peill, landscape architect)
Structural engineer: Lateral (Thibaut Lefort and Alicia Gallagher, engineers)
General contractor: Avantage Plus
Custom millwork: Kastella (Jason Burhop)
The post Robitaille Curtis stretches trapeze net across void at Atrium Townhome in Montreal appeared first on Dezeen.
The 56-storey London skyscraper designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill will feature public viewing galleries at its topmost levels.
Called The Diamond, the 248.2-metre-high tapered tower will be constructed at 100 Leadenhall Street, in the city’s financial district.
The tower will stand next to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners‘ similar-shaped 224-metre-high Leadenhall Building – nicknamed The Cheesegrater.
New visuals released by investors London and Oriental show a wedge-shaped glass tower with a faceted exterior that forms a pattern of elongated diamond shapes.
Publicly accessible viewing galleries will span the building’s top two floors. The 55th floor will have 360-degree views over London, while the 56th level will be a triple-height space giving views to the south and of Renzo Piano’s Shard.
Over 900,000 square metres of office space will occupy the rest of the skyscraper’s floors, along with shops and public spaces at the building’s base.
SOM’s designs have been approved by the City of London’s Planning and Transportation Committee, and now await final approval from the London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and the London General Assembly.
“The City of London is a unique combination of heritage assets with some of the most internationally recognised buildings of the 21st century. SOM is proud to be a part of this architectural legacy,” said Kent Jackson, design partner at SOM.
“Our approach is sympathetic to this rich historic context whilst designing a building that combines our architecture, sustainability and structural engineering sensibilities into a landmark design.”
The Diamond will be built within a close-knit formation of towers known as the Eastern Cluster, which also includes Norman Foster’s Gherkin.
Together with PLP Architecture’s 278-metre tall 22 Bishopsgate tower, which is currently under construction, The Diamond will form the sides of a “mountain” formation in the cluster, with Eric Parry Architects’ 289.9-metre tall 1 Undershaft at it’s peak.
Backed by Hong-Kong-based developers Lai Sun, the tower is estimated to take four years to build. Although existing tenancies at the proposed site aren’t due to expire until 2023, the developers said that work will start as soon as buildings are vacated – meaning the building could be finished earlier than 2027.
Other SOM skyscrapers currently in the works include a 180-metre high tower covered in gardens in Paris, and a pair of towers for Chicago’s waterfront, one 335-metres high and one 259-metres.
The post SOM-designed Diamond tower gets approved for London appeared first on Dezeen.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
