The Wing, a co-working club designed for women, has created a “chic oasis” at its location in New York’s Soho for members to leave their children while they work.

Newly opened, The Little Wing at the space just off Mercer Street is a kids’ area supervised by certified child minders, nicknamed “Wing-sitters”. The facility also includes programmed events, such as classes for art, music and movement, and open hours for parents to play.

It is the latest extension of services provided by The Wing, which was established to offer a mix of open-plan and private workspaces – as well as programmed events like talks and film screenings – all designed for women.

The Wing’s in-house interiors team, led by Laetitia Gorra and Nicola Kehoe, designed the new nursery area to be a playful take on the style it has rolled out to several locations across the US. This typically includes a homey aesthetic, “Wing pink” hues and eclectic furnishings.

“When conceptualising The Little Wing, we looked for pieces that were both beautiful and functional, while also aesthetically aligned with The Wing’s decor – modern and minimalist,” The Wing told Dezeen.

“All elements combined make The Little Wing a chic, yet comfortable oasis, for both little ones and their families to gather.”

Located on the fourth floor of the club, The Little Wing has a pink reception area with a curved, ribbed desk that resembles the white version fronting the main space.

This time, however, the team has given the tubular shapes purple, pink and orange tones, picking up the hues of The Little Wing logo that adorns the wall behind the desk. The lettering reads “LiTTLE”, and is arranged as a jumbled puzzle in between “THE” and “WING”.

Also in the reception area, a dark pink floral trim decorates the edge of two arched nooks, which host merchandise for sale. These include matching “Rebel Raiser” and “Rebel Rising” parent and child tops.

Glazed doors that front the main area are covered in shuffled letters that read “play room”.

Inside, this space is decorated in soft green and pink tones, and blue gridded rugs. A colourful mural decorating one of the longer walls comprises The Little Wing logo interspersed with shapes like arches, circle and clouds with eyes.

“The space incorporates design aesthetics across the spectrum, with foundations in neutral tones and natural elements in durables styles meant to last,” The Wing said. “Building on those basics, pops of colour and mixed materials were sprinkled in to create an elevated yet imaginative environment.”

A mini library splits the room into two areas, with the entire space decorated with furniture and toys from children’s brand Crate and Kids.

Chairs and circular tables with wooden legs and white tops are placed on one side, while a more informal area is located on the other. Here, pink bean bags, a fluffy white rug and small armchairs are suited to story time.

“The toys curated for this collection appeal to all ages and prioritise functionality to encourage unlimited exploration and imagination,” said The Wing.

In the corner is a black and white, French-style cafe called Le Cafe. Kids can pretend to serve hot drinks, and goodies like croissants and pastries.

There is also a small stage with toy musical instruments for children to perform, while other details include cloud-shaped mirrors, a blackboard for drawing and large cuddly toys.

Intended to separate The Wing from competing co-working spaces across the world, The Little Wing offers a solution to a child-care issue that architects Billie Tsien and Rozana Montiel have highlighted as prohibitive for women’s career progression.

In a similar scheme, the Big and Tiny co-working space that recently launched in Santa Monica offers members on-site childcare.

Founded in 2016, The Wing launched its first space in New York’s Flatiron neighbourhood and then quickly expanded to outposts in Soho and Dumbo. The brand now has locations in Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and plans to open clubs in Europe.

The Wing’s expansion mirrors the rapid growth of other workspaces and clubs geared towards women – Seattle’s The Riveter, Toronto’s Make Lemonade, London’s AllBright have all opened in recent years.

Photography is by Emily Gilbert.

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C’est une question que l’avancée de la science n’est pas encore en mesure de résoudre : que font les chats la nuit ? Arna Miller explore avec beaucoup d’humour les activités nocturnes et les émotions des chats en les mettant en scène dans des situations humaines. Son esthétique inspirée des vieilles illustrations et des publicités des années 1960, une fois accolée sur ces petites boîtes d’allumettes, donne une résultat anachronique qui ajoute encore au charme de l’objet. Au-delà de la boîte d’allumettes et de son usage simple, c’est un gadget décoratif et élégant qu’a créé Arna Miller, à retrouver sur sa boutique en ligne.

Zümi is a toy that teaches real-world AI programming skills.

“People think that AI will take care of everything,” says Hansol Hong. There are plenty who think it’s just as likely to destroy everything, but the cofounder and CEO of Robolink is a proud optimist. “There’s a huge pushback against accepting AI. But whether we want it or not, it’s coming. We have to learn to guide AI in the right direction.”

His latest Kickstarter project, Zümi, is designed to help us engage with the same technology that powers real-world autonomous vehicles and robots, so that we can at least understand how the robot overlords work. His team’s prototypes of small programmable toy cars take some of the mystery out of machine vision, routing algorithms, and Python programming. When the full fleet is shipped out to backers, Zümi will help teach kids—and playful adults—that they can have a hand in shaping the future of AI.

AI is the job skill of the future

“I want to make sure that we use technology for good, and show that AI is not so hard or scary,” says Hong. “I think that AI will be an essential skill set, like how programming became a vocational skill set today. AI will be like electricity or the internet. Everyone will be using it.” We’ll be better off if we’re conversant in the technology, he says.

Robotics fans are already clamoring for it

Hong himself is fairly new to the subject matter. After studying economics and industrial engineering at UC San Diego, he and his roommate started a small business teaching kids to program simple robots. They’ve now taught 10,000 students and worked with more than 1,000 schools. Hong’s robotics meetup for adults has more than 1,500 people on the mailing list. Robolink has raised more than $250,000 for two other educational robotics kits on Kickstarter.

The team had to keep pace with the emergence of AI. “After a while, our supporters were looking for something more advanced,” says Hong. “Robotics and AI resources are very hard to find, and they’re hard to understand if you’re not actually in that field.” His community had come to rely on Robolink’s easy-to-use instructions and tutorials, but the team had to teach themselves the basics of AI in order to expand their educational offerings.

Simpler hardware, but more algorithmic magic

One of the first things Hong noticed testing early Zümi prototypes with kids was that more hardware features created more opportunities for AI algorithms to go awry. He responded by simplifying the hardware and letting the magic happen in the software. “We wanted to make sure that we narrowed down the variables, so there’s not as much that can go wrong. And there are so many possibilities for what you can do with AI software.”

Zümi looks like a simple car, but it can learn to navigate routes, identify objects that can or cannot be run over, and use facial recognition to scoot towards you when you’re smiling. It can even recognize hand gestures and remember the faces of your family and friends. (With privacy in mind, they’re working on ways to keep the images Zümi records secure.)

An ongoing journey

Hong knows he hasn’t reached his final destination. Though Zümi just won a Best of Innovation Award at CES 2019, “there are still a lot of things that we are testing today,” he says. 

Zümi won a CES Innovation Award in the Robotics and Drones category. 

“Redefining perceptions of traditional programming to include AI is very difficult. In typical programming, you enter an input, then the output is somewhat expected. There’s going to be a somewhat straight answer—here’s what you did and here’s what you did wrong. Everything is like an equation, where you know what to expect. For AI, even if you do the right things, sometimes the outcome is very unexpected.” 

Sometimes that’s frustrating to students, but it’s also instructive; it’s where our technology is headed. With Zümi, Hong hopes to help the future drivers of autonomous tech embrace that uncertainty.

Zümi is live on Kickstarter through March 9, 2019.

— Katheryn Thayer

Canadian architecture firm Williamson Williamson has added administrative offices on top of a coffee roastery in Toronto, where structural elements are highlighted in bright yellow.

Pilot Coffee Roasters is an independent company with a handful of cafes in the greater Toronto area. Its roasting facility was designed in 2014 inside a former warehouse by local firm William Williamson.

The studio has since continued to develop the site, recently building a volume above the concrete-block facility to house offices for the company.

“We have done three phases of work on the building to date: the original roastery and tasting bar; a new roaster in a space in the back, cold brew/milk-based manufacturing and canning line; and the administrative office on top,” Beth Williamson told Dezeen.

The new, rectangular addition is located on the roof of the existing structure and measures 2,368 square feet (220 square metres). The warehouse below is 11,277 square feet (1,043 square metres), creating a dramatic visual difference when viewed together.

“Having used every inch of the available ground floor for roasting and production, the only option to house the growing business was to add a second level,” said the studio.

The office volume is built from concrete walls at the rear and sides, and a 67-foot (20-metre) glass exterior wall that faces south for all-day sunlight.

“An office addition was conceived that would float above the existing facility so that columns would not penetrate the space below and disrupt the already densely programmed ground floor,” said the studio.

A structural truss along the southern side of the building is painted yellow to reflect Pilot Coffee’s branding. The same hue is also used across exposed beams, open-web steel joists, and hangers.

Walls are white, floors are grey, and a corrugated metal ceiling is left exposed and painted to match the vertical surfaces. Feature walls are clad in white oak panelling or pixelated green tiles, chosen to soften the industrial interiors.

The layout comprises various rooms for working, meeting and eating. Administrative desks are at the centre of the office, connected to a lunchroom and a “cupping room” for coffee tastings and entertaining guests via sliding glass doors.

On the opposite side are desks for executives and a meeting area. Three bathrooms and a storage room complete the floor plan.

Another feature wall is covered in plants including ferns, devil’s ivy and philodendron – all which thrive indoors. Dark green Alfi chairs by British designer Jasper Morrison fill the lunchroom.

The facility is located in the east of Toronto, in one of the city’s Employment Areas. These sites are reserved strictly for business and economic activities.

Pilot Coffee sits in between a residential street and Greenwood Rail Yards, and is considered an important revitalisation project in the neighbourhood.

“Important elements such as manufacturing, warehousing, and goods distribution are located almost entirely in Employment Areas, and provide for a broad range of jobs and a diverse economic base that helps the city through difficult cycles in the economy,” said Williamson and Williamson.

Other projects in warehouses in Toronto are a community for homeless youths by LGA and a Sidewalk Labs office by Lebel & Boulaine.

Photography is by Scott Norsworthy.

Project credits:

Design team: Betsy Williamson, Shane Williamson, Sonia Ramundi, Sam Eby, Mahsa Malek
Structural engineering: Ian Mountfort, Blackwell Engineering
Code consultant: LRI Engineering
Construction management: Boszko & Verity
Millwork: BL Woodworking

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L’artiste ukrainienne Hannah Dovhan nous enchante avec une série de figurines anthropomorphes en laine. Colorées, tissées à l’aiguille, ces figurines de légumes, arbres, champignons, baguettes, montagnes sont présentées comme des couples, des familles, des amis. Parfois un sourire, deux petits yeux noirs et à bien y regarder, certains portent même une fine moustache. Mis en scène ou pas, ces petits héros de notre quotidien prennent ainsi une dimension amicale et poétique. Au travers du regard de l’artiste, l’esprit s’émerveille à nouveau, comme un retour en enfance, des particularités physiques multiples du monde qui nous entoure.