We’re starting the year with a bang and currently have opportunities for mid-level (3+ years experience) freelance industrial designers to come work with our team in our studio. We’re lucky to work with such respected brands and companies as Harry’s, Henkel, Goby, Oneida, Helmm, Roam and Field Company and you
A few years ago, when I was still in NYC, there was a high-speed bus crash that was all over the local news. A charter bus blew through a red light at an absurd 60 miles per hour in a 30 MPH zone. This is the footage:
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Just in NEW video showing the second the buses collided in #queens . 3 killed, more than a dozen injured More soon @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/pWwFrgWS86
— Kemberly Richardson (@kemrichardson7) September 18, 2017
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Three people died, including the driver of the charter bus, one Raymond Mong. Mong was a former MTA bus driver who, it was then reported, was fired by the MTA a couple of years earlier, when it emerged that he had a DUI on his record. So I assumed he was drunk during this crash–why else would you accelerate a bus up to 60 miles per hour and blow the light like that?
Now, however, the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) has concluded an investigation of the crash, examining data that has given them both the bus’ speed prior to the crash and an audio recording from inside the cabin, and they have an alternate theory as to what happened. “Investigators found a Thermos near the charter bus’s pedals at the scene,” the Daily News reports, “and Mong’s wife said her husband had brought a Thermos to work that day.”
Here’s why that’s significant:
The charter bus — operated by Dahlia Group Inc. — was traveling 30 mph on Northern Blvd. when according to an audio recording, a “metal rattling noise” was heard on the bus, said the National Transportation Safety Board report.
After the rattling began, the bus picked up speed.
The bus driver, Raymond Mong, 49, uttered a “one-word remark” two times and swerved to avoid stopped cars before the bus entered the intersection, the report said.
“The Thermos could potentially explain the metal rattling heard on the audio recording,” the NTSB report said.
Investigators re-enacting the crash discovered that a thermos of that size, if dropped around the pedals, could have wedged the gas pedal downwards, while making it impossible to apply the brakes:
It’s not clear how they obtained the following data, but the NTSB report states that Mong was “awake and alert at the time of the crash” and alcohol is not mentioned. So their thermos theory seems pretty plausible.
I have a metal water bottle that I always drive with. Because of my driving position it’s likely it would fall into my lap if I dropped it, but it’s not difficult to imagine it winding up in the footwell, where I can easily see it getting wedged behind the brake pedal. I’m going to be a hell of a lot more careful with that bottle.
Dezeen is partnering with Rossana Orlandi to challenge designers to develop new ways of recycling and reusing plastic with the Ro Plastic Prize.
Now open for entries, the competition forms part of Orlandi’s GuiltlessPlastic initiative, which exists to champion the responsible use of the material.
Dezeen revealed that Orlandi, who is one of the world’s most influential curators, was launching the prize during Milan design week last year, and Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs will be on the prize jury.
“Ro Plastic Prize wishes to unite the design community in the challenge to move beyond plastic pollution as we know it, and to promote the next generation of design,” reads the competition brief.
“Reusing, recycling and reinventing are the challenges that this prize wishes to bring to the global design community,” it states.
“When transformed, plastic can become a resource with vast possibilities and potentials.”
Prize launched amid growing concern for plastic pollution
The prize comes amid growing concern and awareness over the environmental problems caused by plastic.
Since its invention in the 1800s, over eight billion tons of plastic has been produced globally, with more than 50 per cent of it being discarded or incinerated, threatening land and marine ecosystems.
Orlandi hopes that the contest will become part of the solution to the problem of plastic pollution.
The Ro Plastic Prize is open to designers of all ages and backgrounds, and divided into four categories: Design, Home Textiles, Packaging Solutions, and Conscious Innovation Projects.
Both the Design and Home Textiles categories ask creatives to develop prototypes for products or textiles made of recycled plastic, which can also be recycled.
The Packaging Solutions and Conscious Innovation Projects categories, require written presentations supported by visuals.
Winners receive 10,000 euros prize
Entries will be judged by a panel of international experts on their functionality, form, innovation, and environmental impact.
The prize jury consists of Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs, alongside Philip Battin, Giulio Bonazzi, Giulio Cappellini, Li Edelkoort, Cristina Gabetti, Arthur Huang, Paul Rose, Ivy Ross, Marva Griffin Wilshire and Cuiming Yuan.
The four winners of the Ro Plastic Prize will be announced at the Auditorium of Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci on 10 April during Fuorisalone, with each receiving a prize of 10,000 euros.
The event will coincide with Ro Plastic-Master’s Pieces, an exhibition curated by Orlandi at the Railway Pavilion of the museum.
It will showcase art and design made from recycled plastic by artists, designers and architects.
To find out more or enter the competition, visit the GuiltlessPlastic website. Entries must be submitted by 10 March 2019.
Photograph is courtesy of Alba Alioth/Shutterstock.
The post Rossana Orlandi launches Ro Plastic Prize for reusing, recycling and reinventing plastic appeared first on Dezeen.
New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro has revealed it design for a new campus building at the University of Toronto, featuring indented floors that cut into one side.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R)’s 90 Queen’s Park will be a multidisciplinary facility, intended as a “hub for urban and cultural engagement” for the University of Toronto.
Newly released renderings reveal that the nine-storey building has a dual construction: one side of the exterior is flush with floors stacked evenly on top of one another, while the other is made up of staggered indented volumes.
Some portions are single-, double-, and triple-height to create a layered effect, while others are glazed to give the appearance of the exterior peeling away.
Released this week, the images and details mark the latest update to the project, which DS+R won in a 2016 competition. The firm is working in collaboration with local firms Alliance, the project’s executive architect, and ERA Architects, the heritage consultants, on the scheme.
The team describes the building as having a “dual identity”, which it has designed to accommodate its neighbour, the three-storey masonry Falconer Hall completed in 1887, as well as hint at its varied uses.
“Our ambition is to achieve a masonry with an attractive, optical quality that expresses a lightness to the cantilevered portions of the building floating above the ground level plazas,” DS+R told Dezeen.
“The northern facade is comprised of a fritted vision glass and metal panel that reads as fairly uniform in tonality to contrast to the stepped, eroded side of the building which features low reflective glass and aluminium.”
Although still in its preliminary stages, the building is proposed to be built with glass and masonry, drawing on brick structures in the surrounding area.
90 Queen’s Park will occupy the site of the old McLaughlin Planetarium, which closed in 1995. It will provide the permanent home for the university’s urban-focused research, educational and outreach initiatives, called the School of Cities.
“The building is designed to encourage individual scholarship, while fostering collaborative discourse and public engagement,” said DS+R co-founder Charles Renfro.
In the latest design, the ground floor of the complex contains a lobby, cafe, lounges and toilets. A central atrium and stairs links all floors runs up the centre, with additional clusters of study areas and meeting rooms.
Midway up the building, is a double-height, 200-seat music recital hall, with large window and south-facing views of the Toronto skyline. Another 400-seat event space with a similarly large window is planned above the music hall.
DS+R’s project also includes additional spaces for the jagged Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), which was built by Studio Libeskind in 2007 on the site adjacent to 90 Queen’s Park’s.
It will also house academic units for the Faculty of Arts & Science, including history, Near and Middle Eastern civilisations, and the Institute of Islamic Studies, along with spaces for the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Music, and an arm of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies.
“This stunning architectural landmark will provide the University of Toronto with an invaluable opportunity to create a meeting space for scholars and the wider city around us,” said University of Toronto president Meric Gertler.
DS+R is based in New York’s Chelsea neighbourhood and is led by four partners: Renfro, Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, and Benjamin Gilmartin.
The firm is responsible for a large number of cultural projects. Last month, DS+R proposed another project with a similarly tiered construction for the London Centre for Music at the Barbican.
The University of Toronto has a dynamic combination of buildings styles, ranging from contemporary to Romanesque and Gothic Revival.
Among other recent buildings on campus are the Jackman Law Building designed by Hariri Pontarini and B+H Architects, and Patkau Architects and MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects’ Goldring Centre – both of which were completed in 2016.
The since-moved department of astronomy and astrophysics intends to build a new complex near to DS+R’s facility at 50 Saint George Street.
The post Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveils “eroded” building for University of Toronto appeared first on Dezeen.
Designed to combat the lack of proper tools and expertise when it comes to measuring eye power in low-resource areas, the Folding Foropter is a pretty nifty, low-cost paper device that helps anyone measure their eye power without needing an expensive setup or expert assistance. The Folding Foropter uses two paper tubes and lenses to replicate the complex eye tests done by optometrists, but simplifies it to a great degree, helping bring the gift of corrective vision to the billions who require it but don’t have access to the resources.
Developed by the LVPEI Center of Innovation in India, the Foropter is simple to make and even simpler to use. A sliding telescopic layout allows two lenses to slide towards or away from each other, while you, the user try to find the lens position at which your vision is the clearest. A gauge on the side tells you what your eye power is with an accuracy of ±1 dioptre.
The Folding Foropter’s easy to ship (it flat-packs), easy to assemble and easy to use design helps bring corrective vision to the 2.3 billion people who need it. Plus, with its colorful design, it helps gamify a process that feels slightly daunting with heavy eyegear and hard-to-read charts too!
Designer: Ashish Jain (LVPEI Center for Innovation)
One of the reasons people frequently claim that their home lives are in disarray and extremely stressful is because they are never home. They would get to the mess in their garages if they just had more time or they would go through their stacks of mail if there were more hours in the day.
If the person is currently the primary caregiver for a sick child, parent, or spouse, I can see his or her point of view. That person is needed in a life-sustaining way and uncluttering the garage may really be an impossible task.
In the majority of cases, however, the “never home” and “not enough time” claims are just excuses. The problem isn’t that there isn’t enough time in a day, the problem is that they can’t say “no.”
Do you really need to be on five civic committees? Does your child have to be involved in every after school enrichment activity? Is there another job out there that is as fulfilling and financially rewarding as your current job, but without the insane work hours or horrendous commute?
Serving on one civic committee allows you to focus your time and efforts more effectively. One music lesson, one team sport, and valuable time with the family will be more rewarding for your child than endless after school activities that reduce family time. Changing jobs to improve your work-life balance is a worthwhile endeavor, especially when it means that you get to keep your sanity and happiness intact.
There are respectful ways to say “no” and then there are disrespectful ways. Obviously, I’m suggesting respectful, thoughtful, considerate ways of expressing regret:
Living a busy life can give us the sense of being needed and popular. Eventually, though, being the one to always say “yes” can become exhausting and stressful. Never being home in a relaxed state denies you the ability to re-energize and recuperate. Your home life will remain a mess until you take the time to be at home and give it proper attention. Learning to say “no” respectfully and in appropriate situations will help to put things back on track.
This post has been updated since its original publication in 2008.
Post written by Erin Doland
Jonathan Nimerfroh est un photographe surf et lifestyle primé, basé à Nantucket. Une île à une petite cinquantaine de kilomètres des côtes du Massachusetts. Quand sa « petite île devient trop petite », Jonathan parcourt le monde: « La seule condition est de pouvoir surfer », dit-il. Dans cette série, il est allé à Tofino, Vancouver Island, et a capturé l’essence de ce qu’il y a particulièrement aimé : le surf (sur la photo : Sepp Bruhwiler, surfer professionnel), mais aussi le fait que pour lui, « C’est l’endroit où la forêt rencontre l’océan ». Ainsi, entre deux vagues et de superbes paysages, le photographe pouvait admirer et photographier un ours se promenant le long de la plage, avec son déjeuner fraîchement pêché entre les dents.
We have seen several illuminating bags in our times, but nothing as dramatic as the NEBULITE Collection of drawstring bag, jacket and fanny pack. Apart from the usual fancy of wearing an illuminated accessory on you, whilst navigating a party, the smart features of the NEBULITE series, make them a compelling buy. The problem that designer Veit Nachtmann is trying to solve is heavy and expensive illuminated bags that are currently available in the market. His research and solution has given birth to a set of illuminated bags and jacket that are lightweight, hip and won’t burn a hole in your pocket.
From a stealthy black to full-on rainbow spectrum, the NEBULITE bags come with a built-in SMART controller that functions via Bluetooth and comes integrated with a motion sensor, audio detector and an 85 dB loud alarm. Constructed using fiber optics, that are directly woven with synthetic fibers, the optic fibers illuminate evenly and through the length of their strand. Six ultra-bright LEDs add more illumination to the bags. The only thing you need to be careful of is breaking the fibers by bending them too much. A standard USB power bank help power the bags, so go ahead and party hard!
While you listen to music, your NEBULITE bag automatically detects the beat and begins to flash lights accordingly, the integrated accelerometer adjusts the animations according to your moves. The fancy lights help you get spotted in any crowded dark room, however they also backup as a safety feature for bike riders. The bags have internal illumination so that you don’t have to rummage hard to find your keys. What I like about the bag is that anti-theft feature that sounds off an alarm on your phone and through the bag, when someone tries to snitch it. Features like long-range communication, machine-wash and app-controls, make this a prized possession.
Designer: Veit Nachtmann
Click Here To Buy Now: $66. Hurry, less than 4 days left!
The world’s first smart fanny pack and drawstring backpack.
Never again will you lose your friends at huge festivals.
From a stealthy black to full-on rainbow. Only you control the spectrum of your style. Smooth, low lighting or bouncing with a beat detection? The choice is yours. With the built-in SMART controller they boast an insane range of features — all provided by the integrated motion sensor, audio detector, 85 dB loud alarm, and at its heart: the Bluetooth 5.0 capable processor.
Bicycle Safety: Automatic brake light, remote controlled turn indicator.
What is Fibre Optic Fabric?
The NEBULITE Collection comes to life with ultra-thin optical fibers, directly woven with synthetic fibers. The fibers are processed in a way that allows light to escape evenly along the entire length of the strands. Six ultra-bright LEDs then flood the fabric with glorious light that puts the galaxy to shame.
Click Here To Buy Now: $66. Hurry, less than 4 days left!
Alessandro Mendini, the Italian designer, theorist and editor who passed away this week, speaks to Dezeen about how design magazines have lost their critical edge in this interview recorded in 2015.
Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs interviewed Mendini at the Salone del Mobile, where the designer was that year launching two new products with Italian design brand Kartell. He told Fairs there was “no more ideology” in design today.
The designer, famed for works including influential works of architecture and design including the Proust armchair and the Groninger Museum, was himself an influential theorist, serving as editor of Italian design magazines Casabella, Modo and Domus in the 1970s and 80s.
“If I would do a magazine now, it would be impossible,” he said. “The magazines on paper I think could now be good documents, but not in a critical way.”
The post Alessandro Mendini discusses end of ideology in design in exclusive audio interview from 2015 appeared first on Dezeen.
Precht – the architecture studio of Penda co-founder and Chris Precht and his wife Fei – has developed a concept for modular housing where residents would produce their own food in vertical farms.
Architects Fei and Chris Precht developed The Farmhouse as a way to reconnect people in cities with agriculture and help them live in a more sustainable way.
Precht designed The Farmhouse as populations around the world are increasingly becoming city dwellers who have lost touch with how their food is produced, while food transportation has an increasingly damaging effect on the environment.
The conceptual modular system would allow people to grow food in residential tower blocks to eat or share with their local community.
“I think we miss this physical and mental connection with nature and this project could be a catalyst to reconnect ourselves with the life-cycle of our environment,” said Chris Precht.
Prefabricated A-frame housing modules made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) would be stacked to provide flexible living spaces.
CLT is more sustainable than other low-cost building materials such as concrete because it locks in the carbon absorbed by the trees that were grown to make it.
Each of the module’s wall would be made of three layers. An inner layer, facing the home interior, would hold the electricity and pipes with the surface finishes.
A layer of structure and insulation would form the middle layer, and on the outside layer would hold all the gardening elements and a water supply.
Different modules would have different types of external systems, such as hydroponic units for growing without soil, waste management systems, or solar panels to harness sustainable electricity.
Single-family users would be able to build their own homes using as many modules as they chose, or taller housing blocks could be formed by arranging the A-frames into stacked duplexes.
Each duplex would have an open plan living and kitchen space on the ground floor, with tent-shaped bedrooms on the upper floors. On the outer edges of the tower residences could have balconies.
Growing gardens would be arranged so they are either private or communal, with the inverted gaps left between modules providing V-shaped buffer zones between apartments and giving the plants natural light and ventilation.
The smallest living configuration available is just nine square metres with a 2.5-square-metre balcony. Hypothetically, Precht said, the tower could be built as tall as a city would allow.
“The system doesn’t limit the height of the tower, because it is adaptable to a different thickness of structure,” Chris Precht told Dezeen.
“But national regulations can limit the use of wood. In some countries like Japan, Canada, Scandinavia, Austria, UK, you can construct 18 to 30 stories and building codes around the globe are adapting fast to the use of CLT.”
An indoor food market would be located on the ground floor of the tower, along with a root cellar for storing food in winter and composting units for turning food waste back into growing material.
The Prechts were motivated to design The Farmhouse system by their own experience. Two years ago they relocated from central Beijing to the mountains of Austria, where they grow their own food.
“Our motivation for The Farmhouse is personal,” said Fei Precht.
“We live and work now off the grid and try to be as self-sufficient as somehow possible. We grow most of the food ourselves and get the rest from neighbouring farmers,” she continued.
“We have now a very different relation to food. We are aware that this lifestyle is not an option for everyone, so we try to develop projects, that brings food back to cities.”
Working as Penda, Chris Precht worked on the design of a hypothetical CLT tower for Toronto with tree-covered balconies, and a concept for a house in Germany with an interlocking green roof.
Renderings courtesy of Precht.
The post Precht’s The Farmhouse concept combines modular homes with vertical farms 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.
