Hasta La Ideas

Warner Bros has debuted a new extended (60 sec) TV spot for Godzilla: King of the Monster.“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” hits theaters beginning May 31, 2019…(Read…)

The CrossFit furniture collection by Dutch-German design duo Janne Schimmel and Moreno Schweikle turns digitally manipulated objects and surfaces into real furniture.

The two chairs in Schimmel & Schweikle‘s CrossFit series combine archetypal, minimalist furniture designs with organic shapes, “morphing” them together to create new forms.

The strict lines of the modern-style furniture that the pieces are based on is emphasised by a shiny, lacquer-like finish achieved by coating the pieces in car paint, while the blob-like upholstery additions are finished in a soft artificial fur.

Each piece is the result of a digital modelling experiment, which the designers have translated into a real object.

“The 3D-modelling software allows us to ‘ignore’ the purpose of these volumes and freely shove different elements into each other,” the designers told Dezeen.

“Rather than take two principles and unify them into one new shape we kept both form languages perfectly intact – the only intervention being the morphing. The reference to the archetype remains clear and can be appreciated in a new way. Two seemingly different ways of thinking can be united into one piece and tell a new story where different points of view are highlighted,” they continued.

“The fake fur allows us to hide the connection points between the hard and soft elements making it seem like they effortlessly flow into each other like they would do in the 3D-modelling software.”

The third piece in the collection features a standard desktop computer combined with green, fur pillows, and is intended to sit on the floor of a living room.

“Since the computer has taken such an important role in our lives we think that it deserves a more prominent place in our households,” said the designers.

“By bringing it from the desk onto the floor of the living room we want to challenge the way we engage with the computer.”

The CrossFit collection was designed during a three-month residency with the new Belgian gallery Alfa.Brussels, which provides young designers and artists with workshop space and accommodation in Brussels to help provide the breathing space needed to create new limited-edition and one-off pieces.

Alfa.Brussels staged a solo show of Schimmel & Schweikle’s new work in its booth at this year’s Collectible, the Belgian collectible design fair, which ran from 14 – 17 March.

Two new additions to their Return To Default collection were also included in the exhibition. Return To Default focuses on the archetypal office chairs, with each design manipulated in 3D software to create stretched, expanded or multiplied forms.

For Collectible they showed two new versions of an oversized conference chair, one with a lamp integrated into its body at an unusual angle, reflecting some of the ideas developed in the CrossFit pieces. The chair is coated in a leathery finish.

“In the digital world it is very easy to drag any material onto any given object without facing the difficulties such a material might bring in the real world,” said the designers.

“We wanted to find out if we could find a way to apply materials such as is done in the digital space,” they explained. “We came across a company called Lanstones who produce a spread-on material that mimics the properties of leather. The property of the material allows us to spread it onto our shape and eliminates the need for seams that you will find in traditionally leather-upholstered furniture.”

Schimmel and Schweikle met during their studies at Design Academy Eindhoven and launched their joint studio at the school’s graduation show with Return To Default. Both also run individual design businesses under their own names.

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Design firm Yabu Pushelberg has opened the doors of its new office and gallery in New York City to showcase its latest furniture, including tables that look like pools of water and chairs with chunky wooden legs.

Yabu Pushelberg‘s new releases comprise two collections – the Puddle side tables and Noce dining and lounge chairs – designed and produced in collaboration Italian furniture brand Henge.

The pieces are currently on show on the lower level of the design firm’s recently acquired office, which occupies three floors of a building in the city’s TriBeCa neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan.

Yabu Pushelberg founders George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg intend the floor to be used for a wider events programme, including installations and talks, alongside its design practice.

“It’s really double the space we need but it’s such a beautiful area and such a beautiful building [we thought] let’s buy all three floors,” Pushelberg told Dezeen at the installation opening on 21 March.

“Let’s just create an events space where we can bring in chefs to cook, we can bring in people to speak, we can do presentations like this, ” he continued. “Our idea is to keep changing this space to show our work [and] to talk about issues that we are interested in.”

Marking the first event, the Henge collection exhibit transforms the space into a forest-like setting designed to complement the naturalistic features of the furniture.

Within the first section of the space, the metallic Puddle side tables are dotted between grassy mounds, while a black-and-white movie shot by artist Jason Bruges, displays woodland and creatures on a screen behind.

The coffee tables come in various shapes and metal, including a mix of polished silver, bronze and burnished brass. Each table is cast using a wooden mould that is thrown away each time, making each top different.

“What’s interesting about working with Henge is that they experiment with materials,” said Pushelberg. “Each table is different.”

In the adjoining room, Noce dining and lounge chairs set above mirrors that are shaped to resemble pools of water and create reflections on the ceiling above.

The tables and chairs are set on three legs that were handmade in solid wood, resembling a thick tree trunk, with rounded seats set on top.

“Three-legged chairs are seemingly simple but difficult,” said Pushelberg. “They don’t tip over.”

Yabu Pushelberg is best known for its designs of luxury brands across the world, such as Four Seasons, Marriot and Park Hyatt hotels and world-famous stores: from Paris’ Printemps and Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford, to New York’s Barneys and Tiffany & Co.

First established in Toronto in 1980, the studio set up a second office in New York in the 1990s to capitalise on the success of their interior for the Bergdorf Goodman store in the city.

Its recent move into the three-storey TriBeCa space – located near to R & Company gallery – marks a major growth for the company. In recent years, this has involved a greater focus on product design with outputs including the Mushroom table series with Henge and lighting for Lasvit.

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Slide it into your wallet along with your business cards and the MOCA X7s should keep all your tech woes at bay. Measuring just a few millimeters thin, the MOCA X7s integrates a charger cable, data sync cable, MicroSD (TF)/SD (MMC) data storage card and SIM-eject tool within a card-size space.

For tech owners, the MOCA X7s could be a pretty handy piece of e-EDC (yes, I made up that term). Use it to charge your phone, transfer data, store data or extra SD and MicroSD cards, or even use the SIM Eject Tool (a small piece of hardware that often gets lost after you buy a new phone and set it up) to swap SIM cards whenever you please. The MOCA X7s, from the looks of it, packs a MicroUSB jack, but I assume it wouldn’t be too difficult to push out a Lightning and USB-C variant either.

The MOCA X7s is a winner of the Golden Pin Design Award for the year 2018.

Designers: Luo Bailin & Zhang Ye for WOW!dea

North America’s tallest glass elevator, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, will climb the exterior of the modernist Aon Center skyscraper in Chicago in 60 seconds offering tourists panoramic views.

Local firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) has conceived a glass elevator shaft to rise up the northwest corner of the 1,136-feet-high (346-metre-high) Aon Center, leading to a rooftop observatory.

Completely glazed, the elevator will rise up 1,000 feet (305 metres) making it the “tallest elevator of its kind in North America,” according to a statement from the firm. The tallest in the world is the 326-metre-high Bailong Elevator, which runs up a cliff in the Wulingyuan area of Zhangjiajie, People’s Republic of China.

The shaft along the Aon Center will house a pair of double-deck elevators and will be anchored at every fourth floor. Visitors are expected to scale to the top of the skyscraper in approximately one minute.

The elevator will mark the city’s third public observatory, in addition to the Willis Tower Skydeck and The John Hancock Center’s 360 Chicago. The latter is similarly thrilling, comprising a moving glass box that tilts visitors over Michigan Avenue.

In SCB’s design, the crown of the building is planned as an observation deck with an indoor viewing area offering panoramic views of the city. From here are views of Millennium Park, Lake Michigan and the Loop.

SCB’s scheme also includes new building to accompany the skyscraper at 200 East Randolph Street to provide access the elevator and observation area. Located off the street, the low-lying structure will be wrapped in glass and topped with a slanted metal roof.

Inside, it will house ticketing booths, as well as shops.

SCB’s ground-level building will continue to allow for Aon Center’s lobby to function as-is, exclusively for Aon tenants.

The modern skyscraper – the third tallest building in Chicago – was completed in 1974 by American architect Edward Durell Stone in partnership with Perkins + Will.

Vertical strips stretch to the top and were originally clad in Italian Carrara marble. Stainless steel straps were added to hold the marble in place, and in the 1990s, the entire building was refaced with Mount Airy white granite.

Aon Center was formerly known as Amoco Building, and first served as headquarters for Standard Oil Company of Indiana.

Construction of the glazed elevator, observatory and ticketing hall is to begin this spring. Completion is expected in 2021.

SCB, which was founded in 1930, has played a key role in creating landmarks for Chicago, including creating a rooftop amenity deck for One Prudential Plaza and an updated lobby at the John Hancock Center.

Other projects by the firm include a residential tower in Honolulu with a cantilevered, glass-bottom swimming pool and a student housing complex in Phoenix, Arizona clad in sandstone and metal louvres.

SCB also forms part of the winning team to overhaul Chicago O’Hare airport, as revealed yesterday. Called Studio ORD, the collective group or architects and engineers are being led by Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang.

Renderings are courtesy of SCB.

Project credits:

Design collaborators: Hettema Group (observatory designer), Legends Hospitality (observatory operator)
Structural engineer: MKA
Mechanical engineer: Cosentini Associates

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