Hasta La Ideas

Fifty years ago, a helicopter company called New York Airways whisked passengers from the rooftop of the iconic Pan Am Building in midtown Manhattan to any city airport in just 10 minutes. A fatal accident in 1977 brought that era to an end…(Read…)

Occurred on June 17, 2018 / Aurora, Ontario, Canada”Van Gogh (VG for short) is a wild chipmunk from Ontario, Canada who visits me every day- as you can see from the video, he is quite the pig.  He will stuff as many peanuts possible in his cheeks before running back to his burrow to store for later. He will then come back to visit me, get some back scratches/pets, indulge in more peanuts, and bolt back to his burrow once again. This action will be repeated for as long as I am outside/as long as the peanuts are available! This is VG’s second summer coming around (he hibernates through the winter). He is missing part of his left ear, which is why I decided to name him Van Gogh, after the famous painter.”..(Read…)

Madrid-based Elii used unusual materials, plants and bright colours to give the interiors of this headquarters and childcare facility in Madrid a sense of personality to encourage users to interact with it affectionately.

The studio, headed by Uriel Fogué Herreros, Eva Gil Lopesino and Carlos Palacios Rodriguez, was selected from an invited competition to oversee the transformation of a 1950s building into a headquarters for the Save The Children Foundation.

The project involved altering the existing structure to make it capable of supporting several extensions required to provide the space needed the foundation’s operations.

The rear of the building in the city’s San Diego neighbourhood was partially demolished to allow for the addition of a circulation and service core. A double-height extension, flanked by front and rear terraces, was also added to the roof.

A new facade comprising a system of eaves, canopies and planters is suspended from the top floor to provide thermal insulation and shade from the intense Spanish sunshine.

Retractable vertical blinds can be pulled down to prevent the sun from entering different rooms. These are printed with letters that spell out the foundation’s name and give it a distinctive presence when viewed from the adjacent square.

Some of the building’s key features are a direct response to regulations relating to its use by children, as well as to studies suggesting that caring for pets or plants helps to promote qualities including self-confidence, responsibility and affection for others.

“The building is equipped with certain elements to allow interaction and appropriation of the spaces by the users as well as an emotional attachment to the new headquarters,” said the architects.

“Some of these approaches are transferred to the architectural support, with a series of spatial, material, chromatic, furniture and design actuations.”

The building’s interior features flexible classrooms with movable wall panels including giant blackboards that can be easily reconfigured to suit the needs of their users.

Portable furniture including wheeled shelving units in the library also allows the children to interact with the interior architecture and make the spaces their own.

Pot plants positioned throughout the building introduce natural touches, as well as providing something for the children to care for on a daily basis.

Materials are carefully chosen to promote a connection between the centre and its surroundings, with the paved surface of the square extending into the waiting area. The mirrored ceiling of this space also reflects the views of the outdoors and makes it feel larger.

An office for staff and a room for family support at the front of the ground floor are enclosed in translucent polycarbonate so the activities taking place within are partially visible from outside.

Colourful finishes are used throughout the building to give different spaces their own personality. The staircase combines coral pink with cyan hardware, while a mezzanine and projection room on the uppermost storey feature sunshine-yellow floors.

In response to the children’s wishes to be able to see the stars from the rooms a large skylight was incorporated into the roof of the screening room, which opens onto a roof terrace overlooking the skyline.

Other architectural spaces that were designed to trigger a particular response from children include classroom furniture designed to help children concentrate and a playground that challenges kids to climb and jump.

The post Save the Children’s Madrid headquarters designed to promote “emotional attachment” appeared first on Dezeen.

Desk organization is something that a lot of us battle with each day, and there are a wide variety of desk organizers available to us that aim to assist in the removable of unwanted clutter! But none of them have looked quite like this series, where their form is based on some of the most beautiful and tranquille sights that nature has to offer… Valleys, Pools and Waterfalls.

These creative forms consist of rows of thread that the user can neatly place items on or longer items, such as pens, securely in. This flexible method of organizing stationary also lends itself to cable management and holding smart devices in place, clearing the desk up even further!

The three stunning forms can be combined to create visually interesting, sculpture-like desk accessories that will encourage the user to have a far neater workspace.

Designer: Seungyeol Lee

The Waterfall.

The Valley

A desk organizer that can be used by putting on or inserting other office supplies such as pencils and erasers. In addition, multiple smart devices can be inserted and can be used to help organize various cables.

The Pool

An organizer that utilizes the half-spin properties of a string. The user can check, remove, or store clips or rubber bands without having to open the lid with difficulty.

Work may be the very thing exacerbating your carpal tunnel syndrome so why not treat it while you’re at work? That’s the idea behind Kyor – a compact device that sits right next to your keyboard to provide sweet relief through targeted mobilization.

This non-invasive treatment loosens nearby soft tissue and reduces swelling from excess synovial fluid in tendon sheaths thereby relieving pressure on the nerve. Users must simply place their arm into the device upon receiving a notification from the wearable sensor that can monitor user activity and predict painful flare-ups. This wearable unit can also track motions throughout the day and provide suggested behavioral changes to further manage the condition.

Designer: Chris Thursfield

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by compression of the Median nerve in the wrist and affects around 3-6% of the UK, although often higher in office professionals. It causes severe weakness, tingling, numbness and painful twangs in the surrounding hand. Current treatment involves surgery, lengthy recovery and unsatisfactory prognosis rates with concerns over re-occurrence.

This device provides non-invasive treatment which loosens nearby soft tissue and reduces swelling from excess Synovial fluid in tendon sheaths; relieving pressure on the nerve. It works to provide treatment for up to 60 minutes, scheduled at intervals throughout the day. This is achieved through a device which sits unobtrusively next to the user’s keyboard. The design includes a desk based treatment unit, a portable relief unit and a wearable monitor which all work together as a system.

It provides treatment through targeted mobilization of the hand and arm, automatically starting when the user places their arm onto the device after being notified. The schedule and intensity of treatment is automatically set from the wearable monitor, which monitors user activity and predicts symptom flare-ups. The wearable monitor also provides useful activity insights to encourage behavioral modification. The portable relief unit can be used on demand throughout the day, and uses a range of technologies.

1. Wearable Tracker

Designed to monitor user activities in an attempt to improve behavioral awareness. It is designed to learn individual symptomatic tasks and notify users when repeated, in an attempt to avoid re-occurrence.

2. Symptom Relief Unit

Helps reduce effects and gives the user management strategies. This can be used at home or work and contains the controls and interface for the treatment unit.

3. Treatment Unit

Splits 60 minutes of mobilization into manageable slots throughout the working day; loosening soft tissue in the hand and reducing Synovial fluid build-up.