For eight years, fashion brand COS has used the occasion of Salone del Mobile to flex a more conceptual creative muscle, curating memorable experiences such as Studio Swine’s 2017 smoke bubble-filled installation and an all-white ethereal, escape dreamt up by Snarkitecture in 2015.
COS Creative Director Karin Gustafsson (left) and architect Arthur Mamou-Mani (right)
This year, they returned to Milan in collaboration with London-based architect Arthur Mamou-Mani to create Conifera, a structure that doesn’t just speak to creativity, but also to conservation and innovation. Housed in Palazzo Isimbardi—a building that dates back to the 16th century— the installation is built to figuratively bring you from the old world into the new. The latticed, 3D-printed architectural structure that wraps around the front and back of the palazzo is not only almost fully recyclable, it also currently stands as the largest 3D Printed PLA structure in the world.
“I find it exciting that it’s still accessible to break records [in 3D printing],” noted Mamou-Mani, “it’s really exciting to know that technology is going at such a speed that enables really interesting environmental designs”. Mamou-Mani’s motivation, however, was not just about record-breaking, but also discovering how 3D printing might just be able to improve on the physics of architecture. The Conifera installation is constructed out of about 2 million structural elements, and built using a custom algorithm that promises the most minimal amount of material that could take the maximum amount of tension. “The project is interesting in that it’s minimizing the amount of materials to a point that it’s almost a [structural and weight equivalent to] foam.”
“I find this idea exciting, that architecture can not necessarily be finite, but it can kind of undo itself.”
Only having a two month window to print the installation presented the team with another challenge to overcome: creating something structurally sound that can also be printed absurdly fast. When asked how they tackled such a feat, Mamou-Mani added that there are many factors to consider to get it right: “It’s quite holistic. It’s an understanding of the material behavior, the temperatures, the speed, the elasticity…all these parameters we bring in the computer and then use a tool that allows us to integrate all these things together.” The parametric design, partly designed by the algorithm, is what allowed for minimal material with maximum structural quality. A not so easy feat, “but I love mission impossible,” said Mamou-Mani.
The pieces were made out of a combination of PLA and wood, making it virtually wasteless (given the right composting conditions)—and this, he hopes, has implications for the future of architecture. “Concrete is responsible for about 8% of [humanity’s] carbon footprint. It’s the second most used substance after water. And steel has a large footprint as well. So together, construction is the number one factor for our carbon footprint,” Mamou-Mani explained. “This needs to change, and I think architects need to know that.”
So how does Mamou-Mani imagine the future of architecture? “My dream is to have a giant version of this assemble and disassemble a building according to economic conditions. If it’s going well, it grows. If it doesn’t go well, it shrinks. I find this idea exciting, that architecture can not necessarily be finite, but it can kind of undo itself. I think that’s probably the biggest revolution that could happen to architecture, that it’s not necessarily permanent and we can let go of this idea.” Perhaps a tall order today, Conifera still proves a solid point of what could be.
Italian architect Piero Lissoni introduces his Dock modular sofa system for B&B Italia in this movie Dezeen filmed for the Italian furniture brand during Milan design week.
Dock is a sofa system that can be configured with 84 different modular components, which B&B Italia launched with Lissoni at this year’s Salone Del Mobile furniture fair in Milan.
B&B Italia launched the Dock modular sofa system by Piero Lissoni at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan
A solid wooden platform forms the base of the system, to which cushions, armrests and oval or round tables can be added to build a custom configuration.
Cushions come in a variety of thicknesses, and can be upholstered in two new fabrics designed for the sofa, in addition to B&B Italia’s standard range of textiles and leathers.
The modular Dock sofa system comprises 84 individual components, which can be configured in myriad ways
Lissoni said he designed the system to be flexible, so that people can reconfigure the sofa to fit different spaces when they move home, or their circumstances change.
“Dock is a platform, with many different cushions with many different measurements, with many different thicknesses in materiality, with different small tables,” he told Dezeen. “It is a platform for lamps, books and life.”
The sofas are based on a platform that can rest directly on the ground or be raised on legs
Users can choose to raise the base platform above the ground on legs, or to have it sit directly on the floor for a lower seat.
“It’s possible to put the platform completely on the floor without legs, like a tatami bed,” Lissoni said.
Lissoni chose to call the sofa Dock because the wooden base reminded him of a jetty – the platforms used to board boats, which are often found in docks.
“Looking at Dock, you can imagine those special wooden bridges at a lake or by the seaside,” Lissoni said. “That was the inspiration.”
B&B Italia launched Dock at Salone del Mobile 2019
According to Lissoni, designing the sofa system involved balancing innovation with the aesthetic style that B&B Italia is known for.
“I wanted to create something new, without contrasting with B&B’s history,” he said.
“B&B Italia is the queen of contemporary design,” he continued. “They started to be contemporary 50 years ago, and 50 years later they are still contemporary.”
Lissoni describes Dock as “a platform for lamps, books and life.”
Lissoni originally trained as an architect, but has become better known for his product design and interiors in recent years. He opened his studio in 1986, a year after graduating from university in Milan.
Just like your contact-less payment cards stand a chance of being tapped into by a miscreant with a POS device, your car’s key-fob stands a risk of being hacked into, its signal being boosted or duplicated, and used to unlock your car. Ever since the introduction of remote-controlled key-fobs, car theft hasn’t decreased, but rather has seen a 56% spike according to the office of national statistics.
The problem with key-fobs is that security for this is easy to compromise. People have been known to use jammers, replicators, boosters, and other easy-to-make devices that capture the codes your key-fob sends to the car, allowing hackers to replicate it to gain access of your vehicle, a practice known as key-fob spoofing. Now while automobile manufacturers are only catching up to these hackers, there’s a simple way of mitigating this problem entirely. A good old Faraday Cage.
Designed to protect your key-fob from physical damage as well as digital theft, the KeyBlock is an RFID-blocking case that you can store the fob and keys in. The fob sits inside a compact, specialized hard-case enclosure, while the keys hang from it. Practically the size of your key-fob itself, you can carry the KeyBlock around with you. The RFID-blocking housing prevents spoofers and hackers from replicating the signature key-code your fob generates, and therefore denies them access to your car. When you DO need to use the fob, just open the box and slide it out using a slider built right into the KeyBlock’s side. An internal spring mechanism keeps your fob in place, preventing it from sliding out if held upside-down, and a small leash holds your keys too, letting you open your car the old-fashioned way, should you choose.
Designed to be compact, the KeyBlock fits right into the palm of your hand, and can slide right into your pockets without adding any bulk. Crafted from fine leather, the KeyBlock can be customized to match your car style, allowing you to choose between different tans, finishes, from Tesla’s signature blue, to Aston Martin’s carbon-fiber print. It even comes with a customizable base, letting you engrave your name and phone number into the base of the KeyBlock, if it ever gets lost or left behind!
KeyBlock is the world’s ultimate RFID case for your keys! KeyBlock not only keeps your keys safe from hackers, it prevents damage, keeps things together, has free personalization and will instantly upgrade any car key.
Protect
Two thieves with commercially available transmitters can boost the signal from your key inside your house and gain access to your car in under 60 seconds.
More Than Just a Key Safe
You wouldn’t buy a car that barely held together. Or shoes. Or windows. You lock your house door at night, not just roll a boulder in front of it. This is an elegant solution to an increasing problem.
Push Button Ejector
Unlocking your car at a distance is a convenience we don’t want to deprive you of. KeyBlock is easy to use single-handed, leaving your other hand free to carry the shopping, open the door for your partner or keep your child close.
Carbon Leather
Why settle for some plastic or polyurethane cover? They have the actual leathers used in Aston Martin and Tesla models to cover your keys. You don’t compromise on security, so why compromise on looks?
Composite Construction for Maximum Signal Blocking
Multi-layered RFID shielding within a modern polymer housing, wrapped in wear-resistant leather. Security that doesn’t sacrifice style.
Keyless Ignition
For keyless ignition the key is ejected and held halfway with our patent pending internal mechanism. The single-button operation makes it a dream to use, so you can get on the road quickly and easily.
Buttoned Cap
They have incorporated a leather cap to hold your key secure. Simply pop it open, use the slider button and your key fob is there. Stainless steel as well, so it isn’t going to wear out.
Split Ring
But what about your other keys, the ones that can’t be scanned (as easily, anyway)? A built-in split ring allows you the option of keeping all your keys together.
Stands Up for You
They wanted this to look great even when on the side board in your house, so they designed it to stand wherever it was placed, keeping your keybowl organised.
Personalised
Put your name on it, phone number, a message or a date. Whatever you like. Probably avoid your registration though. Gives the game away too easy.
Mint Condition
Now you can keep the key in as good condition as the day you bought it, all while keeping it safe.
Pocket Sized
KeyBlock is sized to fit neatly in any pocket, whether suit, trouser or otter.
The Communication Design Manager is responsible for driving exceptional graphic design work in collaboration with a world-class design team. This position oversees and contributes to work across a spectrum of projects, including branding, signage, environmental graphics, video, and print. S/he leads the team in developing new opportunities with clients and
Is the nuclear family home an architectural tool of repression and social control? asks Phineas Harper.
The nuclear family house is one of the most successful architectural inventions ever. It has, spread across the world and is now the default template around which the vast majority of domestic architecture is designed and planning policies written. Nuclear housing, and the nuclear family itself, are so popular that it is almost impossible to imagine alternatives.
Yet, for a growing number of critics, the nuclear house is a deterministic form of architecture which stifles individual and collective potential. Designed to enforce a particular social structure, nuclear housing hardwires divisions in labour, gender and class into the built fabric of our cities. Is there now a case for architects to take a stand against nuclear housing? Is it time for domestic nuclear deproliferation?
The British government was quick to respond. “Restricting children from play because they live in social housing is outrageous,” it stated. “We are committed to tackling stigma and challenging the stereotypes perpetuated by such segregation.”
Family housing has always been a tool of restriction and segregation
Yet family housing has always been a tool of restriction and segregation running far deeper than Henley Homes’ snobbery.
The evolution of the nuclear house is intrinsically linked to the family unit and the role it plays in the wider economy, all of which have taken shape over millennia. For thousands of years forms of family housing have framed our ideas of what is a natural and normal way to live.
“The house projects a model of life and a set of ambitions and desires that we do not freely choose” argue architect Pier Vittorio Aureli and academic Maria Shéhérazade Giudici in Familiar Horror: Toward a Critique Of Domestic Space, an essay tracing the history of family housing from horticultural settlements to the present day.
The word family stems from the Latin familia meaning a group of slaves and relatives commanded by a paterfamilias. As Aureli and Giudici point out: “Family roles we consider today to be strictly natural: the titles of father, mother, son, or heir had nothing to do with biology and everything to do with the rationale of preserving the ownership, and thus the order, of the house.”
Today the nuclear family has replaced the Roman familia but it is still an economic construct determining our behaviour by stealth, in particular governing gender roles in relation to public and private life. In Gender and Housing: The Impact of Design, Marion Roberts argues that the idea of compartmentalising public and private spheres has been used to banish women from public space.
Roberts examines the Victorian by-law houses, which employ a terraced plan with spaces for private household labour at the rear to reinforce the idea that “domestic work, which was mainly carried out by married women and young girls, should be removed from the public gaze”. Waves of subsequent regulations have championed the idea of domestic privacy. The London Housing Design Guide published in 2010 declares “the home should be a comfortable, private setting for family and individual pursuits, social interaction and relaxation”.
But the private family home is arguably restful only for men, as women still shoulder the bulk of domestic labour
But the private family home is arguably restful only for men, as women still shoulder the bulk of domestic labour. The vision of the nuclear home as a tranquil respite from labour is in fact a patriarchal fantasy, reliant upon the the subordination of women.
Worse, the romantic conception of the safe nuclear family home versus the hostile public sphere fails to engage with the reality of domestic abuse. In her research, criminology expert Laura Goldsack confronts the chilling statistic that women are more likely to suffer violence at the hands of someone they know well in their home than a stranger in the street. Yet this fact is absent from both our conception of the family home and from architectural measures to prevent crime, which focus on securing the dwelling from outsiders.
In one grim example, Goldsack gives the case of a woman who had been advised to invest in additional home security after a burglary. “Later she found that this increased her confinement and hampered escape when she was held at knife point by her husband.” The women was raped and wounded inside her overly-securitised front door.
Controlling gender roles through domestic architecture has a long history. In a 1945 issue of the Architectural Review, American writer Lewis Mumford argued that “the first consideration of town planning” must be to “encourage in women of the child-bearing age the impulse to bear and rear children, as an essential attribute of their humanness.” His words capture how thinkers in the 20th century saw the potential of housing design to control people’s, in particular women’s, behaviour and thereby shape society.
The challenge for architects and planners is to imagine just not alternative type of house, but an alternative type of society.
Some argue that times have changed and contemporary domestic architecture with its heroic open-plan kitchens can no longer be blamed for cultivating ongoing sexist social norms. Yet attempts to chip away at the nuclear home, making domestic labour more public and communal, have been met with fierce resistance.
In Peru, where collective urban kitchens were formed in response to deprivation, the women running them were targeted and even killed by terrorist groups. For architect Anna Puigjaner, who has studied these kitchens, this violent retaliation speaks to the inherently political dimension of sharing domestic labour at the scale of a neighbourhood rather than at the scale of the family.
“Women lacked social and political visibility, as well as access to resources and education.” Puigjaner explains in the essay Bringing the Kitchen Out of the House. “These kitchens therefore meant something more than access to food; it was an opportunity to become part and play a role in a public organisation beyond the privacy of the family.”
Ecologically nuclear family housing is questionable too. Equipping every house with its own domestic infrastructure, from washing machines to power drills, is a boon for consumerism but requires vast resources while the practice of each family administering domestic labour individually is isolating and deeply inefficient.
Some activists focus on incremental change; men doing a bit more housework, a gradual narrowing of the pay gap, open-plan kitchens etc, but these piecemeal tweaks fail to see the nuclear household and family itself as intrinsic to the very conditions they work against.
The challenge for architects and planners, as well as the myriad of actors who shape the domestic sphere, is to imagine just not alternative type of house, but an alternative type of society.
Dezeen promotion: British furniture brand Bisley has teamed up with designer Paul Kelley on a hand-finished modular storage system.
Named BOB, the new Bisley shelving system comprises a series of white blocks that click together in “infinite configurations”. They can also be easily taken apart and reorganised.
BOB is a shelving system comprising a series of white blocks
Kelley‘s aim was to create a timeless piece of furniture that could be used by anyone, anywhere.
“The idea behind BOB was to create a piece of furniture which transcends trends, a product that is functional, easy to adapt and timeless,” he explained.
Modular units can be clicked together in any arrangement
“The design of BOB means the core of the system remains the same, but allows the user to change shapes and function when and where needed,” he continued.
“People can organise their environment exactly how they see fit and with a simple twist, have complete flexibility to redesign their space, be it tomorrow or 10 years down the line.”
The units are made from plywood
BOB is first all-wood product designed by Bisley, which is better known for creating steel products. It is crafted from plywood with a white veneer finish.
The system works with “technology-friendly” magnets that are concealed within the edges of the blocks, to securely lock the modules together. Users unlock the units by simply twisting them.
The BOB units are available in a variety of different sizes, and can combined horizontally or vertically.
Sliding and openable doors can disguise the contents of the storage units
Blocks are also made with sliding and openable doors that disguise the contents of the storage units, while some feature panel inserts, that form shelves or dividers depending on orientation.
“Modern-day storage should be smart and simple. In the office or at home, as a room divider or up against a wall, BOB can be used easily and effortlessly – everywhere,” added Helen Owen, marketing director at Bisley.
“It has been a pleasure working closely with Paul Kelley and seeing BOB become a reality, creating a piece of furniture whose simplicity in the design, functionality and quality of manufacturing has all the characteristics to make it a future design classic.”
Some feature panel inserts that form shelves or dividers
BOB can be purchased as multi-piece kits, with the option to purchase extra units. More information is available on the Bisley website.
With a design that has been heavily inspired by the distinctive form of a jet engine, the Air Jet S is certainly an air purifier that we can get behind! Carrying a design that focuses on the simplicity of use and the user experience, this compact purifier, with a capacity of 13m2, makes for the perfect addition to any small abode!
The small exterior conceals a rather clever internal structure; both the filter and the fan exit from the top of the device, the power is automatically cut when removed, this allows for quick and easy replacement or cleaning of the all-important air filter! Following the popular trend that sees an absence of physical buttons, Air Jet S is controlled through an intuitive smartphone app, allowing for remote control of the smart device!
All of this is wrapped up within a stunningly simplistic design that sure makes this device a desirable one!
The shape of the Air Jet S was inspired by the jet engine to emphasize a strong wind. Small air purifier with a capacity of 13 m² can be used on the desk or near the bed.
The structure of the Air Jet S is simple. Both filter and fan part are separated upward. When you open the cap, you will get a handle to separate the fan. When you remove fan part, the power automatically turns off. After the filter separated, it can be wiped or replaced to new one.
Air Jet S can, of course, measure indoor air quality. It also shows outdoor air quality via Wi-Fi. You can experience the performance of the Air Jet S by comparing indoor and outdoor air quality.
The fan part of the Air Jet S is designed to be safe. If the fan is removed during operation, the fan returns for a few seconds due to inertia. However, safety bridges at the bottom prevent accidents. Safety bridges are designed to be round to minimize wind resistance.
When you remove and assemble the fan part, you can supply power without a cable connection. The magnet built-in pogo pin make it possible to assembl each parts very easily and surely.
Small but efficient. The Air Jet S consists of 11 injection parts and two PCBs. The BLDC motor operates at 2100 rpm and has very little noise. Equipped with a top quality air sensor, it can measure more precise air quality and at the same time operate the air purifier correctly.
Air Jet S has invested heavily in molds to maintain perfect shape in all directions. With 8 slide core molds, the shadow of the hole can be seen perfectly.
American studio Ryall Sheridan Architects has elevated this cedar-clad holiday home on New York’s Long Island to allow floodwaters to pass underneath.
Wetlands House is located in the hamlet of Orient, which occupies the very tip of Long Island‘s North Fork. Designed as a weekend getaway for a Brooklyn couple, the three-bedroom dwelling sits on a 15-acre (six-hectare) waterfront property that was once used for growing potatoes. A third of the site is a lush tidal wetland.
The design team had several key goals, including providing a strong connection to the landscape and ensuring the house could withstand the elements, including salty sea air and coastal flooding.
In response, the team conceived an irregularly shaped dwelling made of durable materials.
A portion of the building sits atop poured-in-place concrete piers, enabling water to pass underneath, while also providing occupants with elevated views of the terrain.
“Because of the ever-increasing severity of storm surges, the owners agreed to raise the main living floor 10 feet (three metres) above the natural grade, which consequently allows for wide, unobstructed views over the protected wetlands of Peconic Bay,” said Manhattan-based Ryall Sheridan Architects in a project description.
Each facade has a different look. Several exterior walls are clad in dark-stained cedar that appears black from a distance. The east-facing elevation features a glass wall that ushers in natural light and draws in the natural scenery.
The main floor of the 3,275-square-foot (304-square-metre) home is divided between public and private areas. A master suite occupies the far west end of the dwelling, while the east end encompasses a kitchen, dining area and living room. The central portion contains a media room and storage.
Extending from the south side of the home is a generous porch, which is wrapped in industrial-grade steel screens that are resistant to rust. A concrete fireplace allows the porch to be used on chilly days.
A half-flight below the main level is storage space and two guest rooms. Both rooms open onto a meadow that is raised slightly raised to protect the dwelling from floodwaters.
Interior finishes include Douglas fir flooring, woven sisal carpeting and walls wrapped in white-washed pine. In the kitchen, the team incorporated grey cabinetry, granite countertops and an island topped with white marble. Birch plywood millwork with blackened steel supports was incorporated in several rooms.
A subdued colour scheme was employed throughout the dwelling, with the occasional pop of vibrant hues. In the guest bathrooms, the team used bright yellow and red paints from Le Corbusier‘s “architectural polychromy” collection, which consist of palettes created in 1931 and 1959.
The home was designed to align with Passivhaus standards. Among the energy-saving features are triple-glazed windows, wall insulation made of eco-friendly cellulose, and a heat-recovery ventilation system. The dwelling’s power needs are met by a rooftop solar array.
The property also features a detached structure containing a garage and a cabana. Nestled into the landscape is a saltwater swimming pool lined with flowering bushes. It is not uncommon to see birds, bees and butterflies fluttering around the site, due in large part to the reintroduction of native species.
“Even though most of the land was untouched by construction, the entire property was restored to a natural state by removing the invasive, non-native species and adding indigenous plants,” the team said.
Just a few hours outside of Manhattan, Long Island is a favoured spot for vacation homes. Other projects on the peninsula include a dwelling by Toshihiro Oki with walls made of pale clay bricks, and the Hither Hills home by Bates Masi Architects, which consists of terraced volumes wrapped in stone and wood.
Haller modular furniture can be used to create a “third space” between the workplace and the home, say Thomas Dienes of USM and Ren Yee of UNStudio in this movie produced by Dezeen during Milan design week.
For the second consecutive year, Swiss furniture company USM enlisted Dutch architecture office UNStudio to create a booth at Salone del Mobile for the exhibition of its modular products.
The exhibition explored how informal environments – from cafes and hotel lobbies, to hotel lobbies and parks – are increasingly becoming places of work. Dienes refers to these as the third space.
UNStudio designed USM’s Salone del Mobile booth
Called Making Places, the exhibition was divided into four zones, delineated by USM’s signature Haller furniture system.
Originally designed in 1963 by Swiss architect Fritz Haller and engineer Paul Schärer, the system comprises three fundamental components: steel tubes, ball-shaped fixtures and adjustable connecting inserts.
The booth showed Haller modular furniture used in informal workspaces
Once assembled, the basic Haller frame can be scaled up and reconfigured according to the requirements of the user, as USM demonstrated at last year’s Salone del Mobile by housing its booth within a giant Haller grid.
This year, Haller units featured throughout the installation but were customised with additional USM products such as soundproof panels and table tops, in order to create four distinct zones.
A wall of houseplants symbolised growth
Each zone attempted to exemplify one of four key qualities that USM identified as conducive to a “thriving” working environment, Dienes told Dezeen. The areas were based around themes of growing, meeting, reflecting and learning.
The growing-themed zone was characterised by a tall, open-faced shelving unit adorned with houseplants. “Plants were one of the natural elements we wanted to bring into the workplace,” Yee said.
Ren Yee of UNStudio told Dezeen that nature should be incorporated into workspaces
A public-facing corner demarcated by yellow closed-faced shelving units created the meeting zone. Within this space an island of cabinets formed a table around which visitors could congregate and meet with USM staff.
“The meeting space was the first encounter between visitors and USM people,” said Yee.
A meeting area brought visitors together with USM staff
In the reflection zone, mirrors were inserted into a Haller frame at varying angles to create an art installation that reflected passing visitors.
“Here, you can step back and find a place to ponder and contemplate,” said Yee.
An installation that played on the idea of reflection created an area for contemplation
Shelving units with perforated red panels displayed models of selected Haller configurations, whilst also enclosing the area dedicated to learning.
USM identified these four quintessential ingredients following the research it conducted at the Salone del Mobile in 2018.
A learning area was enclosed by red display cabinets
The brand had asked visitors questions about their domestic and professional work environment preferences.
It was these responses that revealed rhw trend towards working within a third space.
USM conducted research that revealed preference for working in a “third space”
“When we think about this area between home and work, it is not something that can be created and designed top down, it’s more the idea that we offer a frame,” said Dienes. “And within this frame people will go on designing the place by themselves.”
Visitors were invited to apply stickers to the surfaces of the booth
Visitors to the booth were invited to apply brightly coloured stickers to its surfaces, which Dienes said expressed USM’s ethos of customisability and collaboration.
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.
COS Creative Director Karin Gustafsson (left) and architect Arthur Mamou-Mani (right) 
