This is a FREE event if you catch it live. The replay will be available for members of the UPPERCASE Circle.
We got to ride and tour Lexus’ new LY 650 yacht on its maiden voyage in Florida. Here are images and our impressions. We’ve also got the full story behind how and why this yacht was created.
Buckle up, folks, strange story ahead.
I’m at the Palm Beach International Raceway, whipping around the track in this thing:
That’s Lexus’ LC 500, a performance coupe with a 5-liter V8 engine that cranks out 471 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque. I can get it up to about 115 miles per hour before I have to slow down to avoid colliding with the car in front of me. This low-slung, street-legal racecar handles like a dream, and the throaty growl of the engine is absolutely thrilling.
Me and 19 other journalists are taking turns running laps at this Lexus-hosted event. After driving on the main track, we’re divided into smaller groups to drive on the smaller courses (slalom, emergency braking, autocross). Waiting for us at these auxiliary tracks are yet more LC 500s, lined up in a row. This car costs almost $100,000 and it’s Lexus’ pride and joy.
However, one of the journalists I’m with, a guy named Simon, spots a car that is not the LC 500, sitting off to the side. It has four doors.
Simon points to it. “Can I drive that one?” he asks a Lexus rep.
“No problem,” the rep says, motioning for an associate to bring the car over.
After whipping the LC 500 around the autocross track, I become curious: Why did Simon choose the four-door family sedan, rather than the supercar-like LC?
Then I remembered what the French stunt driver had told me.
The French Stunt Driver
As part of the event, Lexus had shuttled us to Miami’s Design District the day before. We journalists had been divided into trios, with each group placed in a chauffeur-driven Lexus LX. On the way back, I sat in the front so I could try the front seats’ built-in massage function. (I have a bad back, and this thing was incredible.)
It was a long drive, and I struck up a conversation with the driver. Was he a full-time chauffeur, how did he get into this line of work?
“Actually, I was a racecar driver,” he said. “I raced Formula cars in France, then came to America to do stunt driving for Hollywood, and got a spot racing for NASCAR.
“I hated NASCAR,” he said. “The cars are too heavy, and driving in a circle was very weird for me.”
I had mistakenly thought he was a Lexus employee but Julian, who had a French accent, revealed that he now earns his living as a race instructor and as a driver-for-hire for events like this. (The stunt work dried up, he said, with demand being reduced by both CG and nepotism in the small stunt driver community.)
We talked cars for much of the ride, and agreed that the best car chase scenes in any movie were in Ronin, with that Audi S8 and 5-class BMW. Those are bad-ass scenes because they’re not using sports cars, but regular four-door sedans being driven with skill, and all without Fast-and-Furious-style CG.
Best movie car chase scenes: “Ronin,” 1998
Since Julian had driven practically every type of car on Earth, I had to know: What was his personal car? What does an experienced professional driver choose to drive every day?
“I have a 2008 BMW M5,” he said with pride. “I bought it used. It took me a long time to find, but it was exactly what I wanted. This kind of car, they do not make anymore.”
I posed him a philosophical question: If he totaled the M5 and could not find another, what would he choose?
“Actually, I’ve thought about that,” he said. “I would probably get a GS-F. But they will stop making it this year. They are not taking any more orders, and I heard they have canceled the car. That is a shame.”
“What’s a GS-F?” I asked.
“Lexus makes it,” he replied.
Back to the Track
The car that Simon had chosen was a GS-F. Next to the exotic-looking LC 500, it appears to be an unassuming, somewhat boxy family sedan. Simon climbed out of it after his run with a smile on his face, and when the opportunity came to change cars, I hopped into it.
The GS-F is obviously bigger than the LC 500, and the driving position is a bit higher. I nosed it up to the starting line of the autocross track, not knowing what to expect. When I got the green light, I hit the accelerator.
Pardon my French, but I can only describe the GS-F driving experience as HOLY MOTHERF*CKING SH*T.
The LC 500, you expect that thing to be fast, because that’s what fast cars look like. But the GS-F sedan looks like a maybe-faster-than-average four-door–so it was a fast as f*ck surprise. While it feels heavier than the LC 500, the engine (also a 5-liter V8) is so powerful that you only become aware of the extra weight in the corners.
With no other cars for me to collide with on the autocross track, I pushed the GS-F harder and harder. Using the braking and apexing techniques the instructors had taught us, I took corners at approximately twice the speed I’d be comfortable doing in a regular car. The brakes were powerful, the acceleration was explosive and the handling was unflappable.
I spent the next two laps living out every bank-robber-getaway-driver fantasy I’ve had since I was 16. I threw the car into corners like I was being chased by a team of police cruisers. By the end I was practically trying to send it off of the road, but it was like the traction had been taken over by an AI that refused to let me lose control, while still delivering how-is-this-possible levels of speed.
After the test drives were done, we were given the opportunity to take a “hot lap” in a GS-F driven by racing legend Scott Pruett. (Pruett, recently retired from a 50-year racing career, is now a Lexus brand ambassador.) Since the car is a four-door, he’d take three of us at a time.
We strapped our helmets back on and climbed in. Pruett, cool as a cucumber, then launched the GS-F down the track while calmly answering one of the journalist’s many questions. He got the car up to 134 miles an hour–with all four of us weighing it down. I have never felt G-forces like I felt in the corners; I had trouble holding my helmeted head upright, and felt certain that my body was leaving a deep impression in the seats and door panel.
“Didj’have fun, guys?” Pruett, all smiles, asked as we completed the lap. “You wanna do it again?”
We of course said yes, and seconds later were rocketing down the track again. Under Pruett’s impossibly-smooth steering and pedal control, it felt like we were in a four-door Ferrari.
After I wobbled away from the car and took my helmet off, I got it. Julian the driver, and the guys behind the car chase scenes in Ronin, preferred fast four-door cars that don’t look flashy. Sleeper cars. I now understood the appeal completely.
In short, I was super-impressed with the about-to-be-canceled GS-F. But weirdly enough, the car’s lack of popularity–or at least, a small group of vocal haters–was the whole reason Lexus was holding this event, which had nothing to do with the GS-F, or even cars, at all.
The Akio Era
Akio Toyoda is 63 years old but looks 43. And he doesn’t look like the president of the largest auto manufacturer in the world; he bears an impish smile and looks like an uncle that’s about to play a prank on you. I know these things because I met him.
He’s the great-grandson of inventor Sakichi Toyoda, who in 1926 founded the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works and came to be known as the Father of Japan’s Industrial Revolution.
Akio is the grandson of Kiichiro Toyoda, who in 1933 formed a new division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works that started manufacturing these newfangled thing called cars.
Akio is the son of Shoichiro Toyoda, who as President of Toyota Motor Corporation from 1982 to 1992 oversaw the development of the Lexus brand.
However, despite this lineage there was no guarantee that Akio Toyoda would ascend to the presidency himself. As far back as 1950, the Toyota company broke with tradition and promoted non-family-members into the company presidency, three times in fact, from then until now. The last time a Toyoda family member had held the reins was in 1995. Also remember that Akio’s got tons of relatives also descended from Sakichi Toyoda, and any of them might have earned the top job.
Further proof that Akio was no dynastic shoo-in: Consider that Germany’s wealthiest family, the Quandts, own 46% of BMW, giving them outsized influence in all decisions. The Porsche family owns 53% of Volkswagen. The Toyoda family’s shares of Toyota? Less than 1%.
It’s also worth noting that Akio Toyoda is rather unconventional, maybe even rebellious. When a mentor warned him that even if he would be company president someday, Toyota’s engineers would not take his input seriously, since he lacked racing experience, he began training as a race driver–even though he was in his 50s. Using a pseudonym so as not to draw attention, he subsequently competed, multiple times, in the grueling 24 Hours of Nürburgring at Germany’s famously challenging and dangerous course (3 to 12 people die on the track each year). In 2009 he and his team finished a respectable 3rd out of eight in the “SP8” naturally-aspirated prototype category.
At the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, Akio arrived “in the first car he ever owned, a meticulously preserved, white 1970 Corolla 1600 GT,” Automotive News reported. “Afterward, he delighted the masses by doing doughnuts in the lot out back.”
This past May, Akio delivered the commencement speech to this year’s graduating class at his Alma Mater, Babson College in Massachusetts. “How wild is tonight’s party going to get?” he asked the grads from the podium. “And more importantly, can I come?
“I can’t stay out too late,” he added. “Because tomorrow is the finale of ‘Game of Thrones.'”
When I met Akio Toyoda in Florida, he cheerfully began handing out these self-designed stickers to everyone nearby:
Yes, the man is unusual.
Akio Toyoda got his MBA from Babson in his mid-20s, in 1982, and started working for Toyota in ’84. He worked his way up through the company, being rotated through multiple positions as is the Japanese custom; automotive operations, production, marketing, product development, quality control, purchasing, management. And finally, after 25 years, in 2009 he earned the presidency.
A Busy Start
Akio Toyoda inherited a great company in the middle of a shitstorm.
The financial crisis was in full swing, and just months earlier Toyota reported that they’d experienced their first fiscal year operating at a loss. Reuters called it “the worst downturn in its history.” Seemingly as a warning, competitors GM and Chrysler, facing similar difficulties, went over the cliff of bankruptcy.
In 2010 it got worse, with an “unintended acceleration” problem–which reportedly dated back to 2007–emerging in Toyota’s vehicles. The company’s legendary quality control had failed, and Akio was called to testify before the U.S. Congress. While he was not in charge of Toyota when the problem was created, he was damn sure responsible for cleaning it up. “I take full responsibility for that,” he testified. “We never run away from our problems or pretend we don’t notice them.” He enacted a policy whereby Toyota management team members were compelled to drive the very models they had developed and, as a trained test driver himself, took the unusual step of driving the problematic models both before and after the fixes had been enacted.
In 2011 it got worse yet again, as Japan was rocked by an earthquake, a tsunami and the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, shattering Toyota’s supply chain. Suddenly their vaunted “just in time” production system appeared vulnerable.
But there was one bright spot, or what was supposed to be a bright spot, in 2011. Lexus had completed their re-design of the fourth-generation GS, their mid-luxury class performance sedan, one of the first new models whose design Akio had signed off on since becoming company president. Lexus unveiled it at Pebble Beach.
The response was…not good.
Shigeki Tomoyama, Toyota’s Executive Vice President, smiles patiently as we journalists shuffle into an unusual chamber. A flatscreen TV has been set up on a countertop for his presentation. As Toyota and Lexus images begin to flash across the screen, Tomoyama’s face turns serious.
“The story goes back to 2011,” he begins. “When we launched the Lexus GS at Pebble Beach that year, our president, Mr. Toyoda, faced the criticism that ‘Lexus was boring.'”
I tend to think of CEOs and company presidents as relatively invulnerable people, but the comment hit Toyoda hard. (“It was such a bitter experience,” he’d later tell us.) And coming off of three crises in a row, none of which were of his own making, Toyoda resolved to come up with something radical and original to turn the company’s fortunes around.
Thus, following Pebble Beach and the criticism, Toyoda “decided to become the Chief Brand Officer of Lexus,” Tomoyama continues, “to lead a measured design and product reform. As CBO, he initiated the Lexus brand transformation towards becoming a luxury lifestyle brand.”
Under Akio’s direction, Lexus designers and consultants were tasked with creating things that went beyond cars. This yielded an F Sport luxury road bicycle made out of the same carbon fiber reinforced plastic as their LFA supercar;
It also yielded Intersect by Lexus, a combination café, restaurant, retail space, event space and cocktail bar in New York City;
And after Akio paid a visit to Toyota’s Marine division in Japan, which produces power boats for fishing and cruising, he had an idea: A Lexus Sport Yacht Concept.
“Three years ago,” Tomoyama continues, “we launched the first Lexus Sport Yacht Concept here in Miami. We received a lot of positive feedback, and comments such as ‘The design is fantastic,’ ‘When will it be for sale?’ and ‘How much?'” But unfortunately, at that time I had to answer ‘It’s just a concept, and we are not planning to sell it.
“Today,” Tomoyama says, “we are very proud to unveil the production model of the Lexus 650.”
So…here’s where I should point out that the “unusual chamber” I’d mentioned earlier is not part of a building, but floating on a waterway off of Boca Raton. We’re standing in the main cabin of the LY 650, Lexus’ $4-million, 65-foot yacht.
Before stepping inside, we had to place little booties over our shoes to avoid marring any surfaces:
The protective footwear was handed out because this is, as Tomoyama mentioned, a production model. This is the first one off of the line and it’s already been sold. The anonymous buyer isn’t going to want our footprints all over it. But, for the next two hours, we’re allowed to check it all out as we cruise past the coast.
The surfaces, the materials, and the fit-and-finish are what you’d expect from Lexus. There’s plenty of carbon fiber, expensive wood, shiny metal fixtures, buttery-soft materials.
From the main cabin you can descend a staircase. Halfway down is a landing occupied by a small galley kitchen.
At the bottom of the stairs you reach the lower level, which features three state rooms (and three bathrooms all featuring both a toilet and a shower). The master state room has a sofa and a walk-in closet, for chrissakes.
In addition to the Lexus-level fit-and-finish, what’s most remarkable is that the rooms do not feel small nor cramped, like you’d expect in the hull of a boat; Italian yacht designer Lenard, whom Lexus collaborated with, struck upon the right combination of contrasting tones to give the cabins a feeling of spaciousness in a small footprint. I’d imagine Lexus’ homegrown designers had plenty of input too, as Japan is another place where you’ve got to make limited space feel livable.
(Click here for the full slideshow of our LY 650 interior/exterior tour and our impressions.)
A Surprise Visit
We journalists not supposed to meet Akio Toyoda on this trip; he wasn’t scheduled to be there. But after the inaugural cruise, back on land we were asked to wait in a receiving area. Akio, it turns out, had just flown in to see the LY 650.
Incredibly, since its construction had only just been completed, we’d gotten to take a ride on it before he had. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t been on the yacht yet,” Akio revealed. “That means that you are way ahead of me when it comes to experiencing it.”
What followed next was an informal Q&A session with Toyoda, a rare opportunity. Had I known, I would have prepared a better question than what I came up with. (I should also point out here that our questions and his answers were delivered through an interpreter–in the case of some of the international journalists, through two interpreters and three languages–so some of these responses may not be verbatim.)
My fellow journalists had tons of questions, the first one of course being “Why a yacht?”
Akio confirmed that his disappointment at the reception of the GS was, in fact, the inciting incident. “Originally when I became president, and when we launched the new GS, I was told that that vehicle was very, very boring. That critic said that he had never seen such a boring car! And that was the starting point for everything for Lexus that has happened since.
“At Lexus we want to create more than just luxury products; we want to create a luxury lifestyle. This yacht is part of that idea.
“Toyota itself is now trying to transition from an automotive company into a mobility company. And in order to enhance the value of our Lexus brand, we need to cover land, sea…and also air.”
Does that mean a Lexus airplane is in the works?
“Please wait to see what we do when it comes to that area.”
As for the question I came up with: I pointed out that we adult journalists all understood what Lexus was trying to do with the brand, and that we were of course familiar with Lexus because it’s been around for years. But what if a child spotted a Lexus and, having no idea about brands, asked his parents what it was? How would Akio Toyoda like to hear them describe it?
He thought about it for a moment. Then said:
“First of all, I would like to ask the child how they feel about [the Lexus object in question], at first sight. What do they feel–a sense of security, a peacefulness? I think those are extremely important, essential aspects of the taste that Lexus provides.
“Also, when the child looks at this Lexus, whether it is a car, a yacht or something else, I would hope they feel some sense of yearning, so to speak. A feeling that he or she wants to own something like this in the future. I want to make sure that Lexus could provide such an emotional sensation, at first sight.”
A journalist threw him a softball: What was he most proud of about Lexus designs?
“The gracefulness,” he said. “I mean there are numerous premium brands and makers of luxury, high-end, high-quality, high-performing cars. But I want to make sure that among those, Lexus offers gracefulness, for people driving them or looking at them. That’s what I insist on when it comes to Lexus. And I’m not saying that we have fully accomplished that objective, at this point.
“In order for us to accomplish that objective, the most important aspect is to develop and nurture those people who we will be building Lexus going forward. For us to be able to do that, it’s very important that we receive influence and feedback from people like you.”
Another journalist chimed in with a question about whether Akio himself would be cruising around in a Lexus yacht. His answer revealed another, previously unmentioned motivation to build waterborne pleasure craft.
“Actually, I do have a sailing license,” Akio replied. “As for why I obtained it: I have been exposed to many different areas of the outside world, and [as President of Toyota] there is no purely private space for me. And I thought being on a yacht would be a purely private space. That’s why I was attracted specifically to yachts.
“Right now, however, I do not have the ability to sail and maneuver a yacht fully on my own. So even if I’m on a yacht, I still won’t have a purely private space, yet.
“Someday in the future I want to gain that ability, so that I can maneuver the yacht and sail myself around. As I said, I have not been on the yacht yet, but I think what I would enjoy most, is to be on that area in the very front of the boat, where I can just lie down and enjoy myself.”
Dezeen promotion: designers Richard Hutten, Karim Rashid and Luca Nichetto, as well as Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs, will speak at Warsaw Home’s conference.
Warsaw Home will take place at the Ptak Warsaw Expo exhibition halls from 3 to 6 October. The four-day trade show will host over 800 exhibitors from across the design industry covering furniture, interiors, accessories and finishings.
Alongside the trade show, Warsaw Home will host a three-day conference called Design Forum where industry experts will respond to the trade show’s theme – I am.
The theme will be discussed in eight thematic sections: Big Openings, Interiors, Global Perspective, Sustainability, Domestic Design, Design & Art, Trending and Taboo.
“Design Forum will focus deeply on the current, hot topics that shape the international interior design business and discuss issues that are currently troubling people professionally connected with design,” explained the organisers.
The speakers include Dutch designer Hutten, who give a presentation entitled, “(not) playing by the rules”, which will aim to express the importance of a circular economy.
Nichetto will also talk in the sustainability section, giving a presentation entitled “Affordable vs. Luxury Design”, in which he will argue that craftsmanship could save the world.
Dezeen’s Marcus Fairs will speak on the first day of the conference in the Global Perspective section of event, when he will be discussing good design for a bad world.
Later in the day Monika Brauntsch, Renata Mikołajczyk, Katarzyna Parciak, Dorota Terlecka, the co-creators of the Polish furniture brand Microom, will explore designing for micro-apartments in the Trending segment of Design Forum.
Taboo will be each day’s closing topic. On Friday, design duo Hanna Prądzyńska and Maciej Jaworski will explore the problems facing Europe as its population ages, and how we can better coexist with dementia sufferers.
Other Design Forum speakers include New Zealand-based furniture designer David Trubridge, who will examine his pursuit of sustainable design and Rashid who will give a presentation called Surprises.
Find out more about the Design Forum speaker programme on the Warsaw Home website.
The post Richard Hutten to discuss sustainability at Warsaw Home’s Design Forum appeared first on Dezeen.
Discounted early-bird tickets for Dezeen Day, our new design and architecture conference, are on sale until midnight UK time, Friday 4 October.
Early-bird tickets cost £250 (plus VAT if relevant), which is around a 20 per cent discount on the full price.
After 4 October, tickets will cost £300 (plus VAT if relevant). A limited number of student tickets will remain available at £75 per ticket.
Further discounts are available to both early-bird and full-price tickets if you buy a group of three or more.
Dezeen Day is taking place at BFI Southbank in London on 30 October. The conference will feature thought-provoking keynotes from Paola Antonelli, Dr Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and Liam Young.
The conference will set the agenda for the future of architecture and design and offer healthy debate, challenging ideas and plenty of fun and networking.
Star speakers joining us on the day include the principal at Zaha Hadid Architects Patrik Schumacher, chief executive of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Andrew Morlet and dean of the Pratt School of Architecture Harriet Harriss.
The full schedule for the day can be found here.
Purchase your early-bird ticket here or use the form below:
The post Only one day left to buy Dezeen Day tickets at the reduced early-bird rate appeared first on Dezeen.
Fubiz et Adobe font se rencontrer deux univers pour imaginer une création qui explore le thème Démocratie Créative, une des tendances visuelles 2019 identifiée par Adobe. Cette tendance visuelle consiste à montrer des couleurs vives, des sujets variés et des vidéos qui suscitent l’émotion.
Deux nouveaux talents ont ainsi collaboré : la contributrice Adobe Stock Katya Havok, photographe réalisant des mises en scène très colorées et l’artiste digital Mathieu Le Berre, qui ont unis leurs compétences pour imaginer une création en duo.
En s’inspirant de trois images de Katya Havok, Mathieu Le Berre a conçu trois créations digitales en 3D qui mettent en avant toute l’inspiration que procurent les images mises à disposition par Adobe Stock.
Mathieu Le Berre et Katya Havok se sont prêtés au jeu de l’interview croisée pour nous présenter leurs univers créatifs et leurs points de vue sur la création en 2019.
Pouvez-vous vous présenter en quelques mots et nous en dire un peu plus sur votre univers créatif?
Mathieu Le Berre: J’ai fini mes études de design il y a trois ans et ai rejoint Doze Studio, un studio de motion design où j’ai appris énormément ! Ils m’ont initié à la 3D et c’est à Nantes, en France que j’ai commencé à développer un style entre 3D et 2D.
Ce qui est plutôt amusant, c’est que j’ai l’impression de tout juste commencer et que mon univers créatif n’est vraiment pas installé. Au fur et à mesure de mes inspirations, j’ai commencé à avoir des préférences et à construire quelque chose de plus personnel. Je débute tout juste en freelance et mon but dans les prochaines années est de voyager et de vraiment créer mon style graphique !
Katya Havok: Tout d’abord, je voudrais vous présenter mon vrai nom: Ekaterina Chebotareva. Katya Havok est une forme abrégée de mon prénom, plus un pseudonyme. Je me considère comme une photographe conceptuelle et artiste numérique. Je suis spécialisée dans les photographies de nature morte, de studio et de collages d’art. Mes images ont des couleurs vives, sont minimalistes et surréalistes.
Mathieu, vos créations sont très colorées, ont un esprit enfantin et géométrique. Comment vous est venue cette appétence pour cet univers?
J’ai souvent tendance à vouloir fabriquer des structures graphiques et à construire une scène autour de ces éléments. De manière ludique, cet univers m’est venu naturellement, car ce genre de visuel enfantin et géométrique est beaucoup plus libre que des rendus réalistes.
J’aime beaucoup les palettes colorées et les formes abstraites. Photoshop et Illustrator proposent aussi beaucoup d’outils pour simplifier les formes. Le lien entre la 3D et ces deux logiciels rend l’abstrait encore plus intéressant et me permet de pouvoir m’exprimer librement.
Katya, vos créations sont très colorées et votre esprit est très minimaliste. Comment cela est venu pour vous?
Ma passion pour les couleurs pop et la culture minimaliste m’est venue il y a environ dix ans, lorsque j’étais à l’université où j’ai pu étudier l’histoire de l’art contemporain. Entre autres choses, j’ai été très inspirée par les travaux de Roy Fox Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock et Salvador Dali. De plus, le minimalisme était pour moi comme une bouffée d’air frais. Après un moment, j’ai commencé à créer mon propre style, combinant le minimalisme, le surréalisme et le pop art, sous une forme vraiment unique.
Pouvez-vous nous en dire un peu plus sur le processus créatif de vos belles créations?
Mathieu: En général, quelque chose me frappe l’esprit. Une photo que j’ai prise ou bien la dernière création d’un artiste qui me motive à créer !
Je commence d’abord par un croquis simple assez brouillon que je recopie quasiment à l’identique. La suite est assez naturelle, je commence les bases entre structures, lumière et couleurs.
J’aime beaucoup passer de logiciel en logiciel, c’est vraiment pratique pour voir l’évolution de son image et avoir du recul.
Katya: Mon processus créatif commence le matin avec une tasse de café en compagnie de mon chat, cela figure d’ailleurs souvent sur mes photos. J’aime travailler avec de la musique forte, surtout du hard rock. Cela ajoute de la confiance et du courage à mes photos. J’aime aussi peindre les mains. D’habitude, mon modèle est mon mari ou moi-même. Dans le second cas, j’utilise un trépied et une télécommande pour prendre une photo. J’utilise des fonds de couleurs vives. Je ne peux travailler que lorsque je suis submergée d’émotions et de sentiments, c’est ainsi que vient l’inspiration.
Katya, le créatif Mathieu Le Berre a choisi d’utiliser 3 de vos créations présentes sur Adobe Stock pour imaginer un design 3D très pop et géométrique. Que pensez-vous des créations utilisant des couleurs pop? Et qu’apporte ces couleurs aux créations?
J’aime la pop et le design géométrique dans l’art. Ils reflètent l’identité de la génération et de la modernité en général. Les couleurs pop donnent une nuance et une représentation très nettes de l’objet, expriment son naturel et son harmonie dans un espace. De telles couleurs donnent aux créations la pureté qui permet de mettre en valeur les formes.
À mon avis, le travail de Mathieu Le Berre est un bel exemple de collaboration entre deux représentants de différents types de créativité, combinant différentes formes et couleurs en une seule et même œuvre d’art.
Mathieu, pour ce travail vous avez collaboré avec Katya Havok qui imagine des mises en scène digitales et photographiques très colorées et pop. Qu’apporte selon vous l’utilisation de ce type de couleur à une création?
Ce qui est vraiment cool avec des artistes comme Katya Havok, c’est que la palette de couleurs est très naturelle. Elle est plutôt étonnante et très affirmée !
Pour ma part, j’ai vraiment tendance à me perdre dans la couleur et à passer du temps à chercher la bonne palette, mais justement, avec Katya les compositions sont directes et impactantes. Ce qui donne tout de suite le ton à l’image et permet de se projeter rapidement.
Adobe a sélectionné, dans les tendances de l’année 2019, le thème de démocratie créative et l’utilisation des couleurs pop dans la création.
Selon-vous qu’est-ce que la présence de couleurs pop dans une création provoque chez l’observateur de cette dernière?
Mathieu: Comme je disais, j’ai tendance à me perdre avec la couleur. Essayer d’avoir la palette la plus originale ? Avoir une image pop ou minimaliste ? Beaucoup de questions. Adobe a donc soulevé un thème intéressant, et justement, je remarque depuis plusieurs années dans le design un changement de style, plus original. On essaie de marquer l’esprit et de s’imposer.
Je pense que si une création provoque un sentiment d’inattendu et marque l’esprit, la couleur y est pour beaucoup et permet de donner un ton au visuel.
D’ailleurs, on reconnaît certains artistes grâce à la palette utilisée. Et souvent, les couleurs pop sont présentes !
Katya: Je pense que les couleurs pop ne sont pas seulement démocratiques, elles montrent la liberté de choix, elles illustrent également le courage du créateur et son sens du défi. Pour moi, utiliser des couleurs pop est un symbole de liberté, de courage et d’expression personnelle.
Si vous pouviez résumer votre travail en une seule phrase, quelle serait-elle?
Mathieu: Moins il y a de sens, plus je m’y retrouve.
Katya: Ce serait comme ça: une bataille de concision et d’impudence sous les rayons de couleurs vives.
Dans les prochains jours, nous vous proposerons sur Facebook de sélectionner vos cinq images favorites de la collection Adobe Stock sur ce thème des couleurs pop dans la création.
Frequency: 10x/year Background: Road & Track has been around since the 1940s and is a “publication for people who love driving–for anyone who’s felt excitement behind the wheel,” says Bob Sorokanich, deputy editor. “We tell involving stories about cars old and new.” Each issue is constructed around a central theme (e.g. racing, trucks, adventure, etc…)…
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A sequence of white geometric galleries are enclosed within this aluminium-foil pavilion, which Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza created for furniture brand Camerich at the China International Furniture Fair.
Designed by Siza to evoke a series of inverted courtyards, the 715-metre-square Siza Pavilion is accessed by seven different entrances around its edges, which each lead into one of minimal white rooms inside.
It was commissioned by Camerich for the 44th edition of the China International Furniture Fair, which took place in September, and was used to exhibit an array of the international furniture brand’s products.
Siza Pavilion is composed of a series of volumes that each measure 4.8-metres in height, but all differ in size and shape to resemble a sequence of inverted courtyards.
This sculptural form is a reference to traditional Chinese architecture that often incorporate courtyards, but was also inspired by Pritzker Prize-winning Siza’s recent visit to the The Hufeisensiedlung housing estate, or “Horseshoe Estate”, in Berlin.
Its psychedelic exterior is built from aluminium foils that wrap around giant cushioned panels made from mineral wool.
Outside, this is teamed with simple wooden benches that are dotted around its edges, hinting at the pavilion’s contrasting interior that is intended to offer sanctuary from the rest of the tradeshow.
The sequence of spaces inside the pavilion are bright white and left undecorated to form a backdrop to the Camerich furniture.
However, the geometric form of the pavilion is reflected internally where the entrances project inwards and different-shaped panels are suspended from the ceiling to diffuse light.
Siza Pavilion is complete with wooden flooring that runs throughout to unify each room. Alongside the furniture, this is complemented by minimal wooden display cases showing material samples, drawings and a scale model of the pavilion.
Siza, who won the Pritzker Prize in 1992, is a Portuguese architect known for his sculptural buildings, described as “poetic modernism”. He began his architecture career in 1954 and has designed buildings in several European and South American countries, as well as in Korea and China.
Among his well-known projects is the Expo’98 Portuguese National Pavilion in Lisbon and its scooped concrete roof, which Siza described in an interview with Dezeen as difficult to create.
Other work by Siza include a luxury condominium tower in New York, his first project in the US, and the red sandstone International Design Museum of China.
The post Álvaro Siza wraps China International Furniture Fair pavilion in aluminium foil appeared first on Dezeen.
BIG has released images of the residences inside its “boxilated landscape” Toronto development complete with private greenhouses, rooms for meditation and Nordic-inspired details.
The new set of renders round out the details for the mixed-use King complex in the Canadian city, which BIG has designed for developers Allied and Westbank. It was revealed in 2016, and gained zoning approval in 2018.
Ingels describes King as a “boxilated landscape” and has nicknamed it Habitat 2.0 as a reference to Moshe Safdie’s cubed complex Habitat 67 in Montreal. Other portions of the complex are evocative of Pierre Chareau’s modernist Maison de Verre in Paris.
The images reveal interiors of the building as well as additional facade details that include glass bricks, greenhouse units and flat-roofed volumes, all covered in plants.
The glazed construction is chosen as a response to the area’s red brick buildings along the strip of King West.
“We wanted to have a dialogue with local materials,” BIG’s founder Bjarke Ingels said. “We tried all kinds of brick – red brick, yellow brick, black brick – and finally ended up with glass brick.”
“This translucency as well as the vegetation that will grow on exterior walls and terraces make the project porous to its surroundings,” he said. “And the building’s pixelation fed into the myriad floor plans that make up the interior compositions.”
The firm categorises King as a gesamtkunstwerk, a German term referencing the “holistic merging of architecture and art, of form, function and detail”.
Residences are formed from a series of “room-sized lego pieces” that are dedicated to different functions like relaxing, sleeping and outdoor areas.
Interiors were designed in-house and feature white and black surfaces alongside other metallic details. Among these is a light that BIG created with Artemide for all of the unit’s dining rooms, with claims that they improve the life of plants and residents alike.
BIG’s landscape department worked closely on the project to develop expertise in plant life, which involved studies in light exposure and soil retention.
“It’s very important, this holistic view of the project – the ability to coordinate and ‘masterise’ everything, from the architecture to the details,” Francesca Portesine, director of interiors at BIG.
Cabinetry in the units comes in three wood options, in addition to a corrugated textured glass with a mirrored backing. Floors are wood and terrazzo tiles with rhomboid shapes, resembling the project in a flattened form. Furniture is designed by B&B Italia in collaboration with BIG and Westbank.
The development includes eight penthouses – two on its south side and two on its west – that are called La Bibliothèque, The Treehouse, The Greenhouse and The Teahouse.
Interiors are inspired by modernist Scandinavian architecture, particularly that of Alvar Aalto and Eero Saarinen. They are intended to have a “theme of warmth” and be “calming, modern spaces”.
Details include large windows for ample natural light, rounded white walls, Scandinavian wood and brass surfaces. Other accents are indoor pools, plants, areas for meditation and private terraces that overlook the city and the project’s cascading roof terraces below.
One penthouse has a spiral staircase, an arched wine cellar, a double-height bookshelf and a sumac tree growing inside.
Corrugated concrete panels will feature on elevators in the lobby, and the building’s pool will be made of graphite and basalt, taking cues from Nordic design. The complex will also include cafes, shops and restaurants at its ground level.
A courtyard will be designed by Public Works, the studio behind Toronto’s park project The Bentway.
King joins a wave of building developments in Toronto, including The Bentway park and plans for a Sidewalk Lab neighbourhood.
A host of well-known architecture firms have also recently unveiled new structures for the city, including Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, 3XN, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Studio Gang and Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill.
The post BIG updates details for Toronto’s plant-covered King complex appeared first on Dezeen.
Avec la série « Inspiring Gentleman » le concours de beauté Mister Global invite ses participants à célébrer leur pays d’origine en posant avec un costume traditionnel. Mais Mister Global n’est pas uniquement un concours de beauté, car ces modèles sont aussi censés inspirer le public sur des thématiques aussi sensibles que le respect de l’environnement. Pour l’édition 2019, le titre de “Inspiring Gentleman” a été ajouté, car les gagnants sont censés motiver et inspirer le public. Pendant le concours, a été organisée une collecte de fonds pour la cause des éléphants de Thaïlande.
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