Hasta La Ideas

To complete our review of 2019, editor Tom Ravenscroft takes a look back at the most-read stories for every month this year, including alternative designs for Notre-Dame and an interview with Tatiana Bilbao.

January – Drone footage reveals hundreds of abandoned Turkish chateaux

A drone video revealing a development of hundreds of abandoned chateaux in Turkey was the most read story in January. In total over 270,000 people read the article this year.

Located half way between Istanbul and Ankara, the Burj Al Babas development will contain 732 identical mini chateaux if it is ever completed.

Find out more about the Turkish chateaux ›

February – IKEA teams up with top African designers to launch Överallt furniture collection

IKEA continued to be hugely popular with readers this year with this story on its Överallt furniture collection the most read story in February.

The collection features products made by creatives from five African countries, including Sengalese fashion designer Selly Raby Kane and South African textile designer Laduma Ngxokolo.

Find out more about the Överallt furniture ›

March – Bugatti’s La Voiture Noire is the “world’s most expensive car”

News that Bugatti created the “world’s most expensive car” captured readers’ attention in March. The one-off supercar made from carbon fibre was revealed at this year’s Geneva Motor Show and sold to an anonymous collector for €11 million (£9.5 million).

Find out more about La Voiture Noire ›

April – Seven alternative spires for Notre-Dame Cathedral

The fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral was one of the biggest architecture stories of 2019.

In response to the devastating fire numerous architects and designers proposed alternative visions for rebuilding the cathedral.

Find out more about the alternative spires ›

May – Game of Thrones season eight “was as intense as you can imagine” says production designer

In May, Dezeen readers were caught up in Game of Thrones fever as the final series drew to its conclusion.

Production designer Deborah Riley told Dezeen that creating the show was: “as intense as you can imagine”.

Find out more about the Game of Thrones set design ›

June – World’s first 360-degree infinity pool proposed for London skyline

In June, reader enjoyed renders of a concept for a 360-degree infinity pool on top of a skyscraper in London. If built, the skyscraper would be the “only building in the world to incorporate a 360-degree infinity pool”.

Find out more about Infinity London ›

July – Elon Musk’s Neuralink implant will “merge” humans with AI

In 2019 readers continued to be interested in all-things Elon Musk. At the end of the year the Tesla founder unveiled the Cybertruck, but it was his tech startup Neuralink that proved his most popular story of the year.

The company will build implants that connect the human brain with computer interfaces via artificial intelligence.

Find out more about the Neuralink ›

August – Pornhub launches Dirtiest Porn Ever campaign to clean up the world’s oceans

Pornhub’s campaign to clean up the world’s oceans was the most popular story on Dezeen in 2019 with almost 400,000 views.

For every play of the Dirtiest Porn Ever the adult video website will make a donation to non-profit organisation Ocean Polymers.

Find out more about the Dirtiest Porn Ever campaign ›

September – Noori stove “breaks the limitations of a standard barbecue”

As summer drew to a close, in September readers enjoyed this multipurpose stove, which was shortlisted for homeware design of the year at Dezeen Awards 2019.

Brazilian brand Noori created the stove to break “the limitations of a standard barbecue”.

Find out more about the Noori Stove ›

October – Banksy launches range of branded merchandise to maintain custody of his name

Illusive artist Banksy continued to grab headlines in 2019. In July he designed a stab-proof vest for Stormzy’s Glastonbury set, which he later unveiled in a pop-up-shop installation in Croydon.

The installation was built to launch a range of branded merchandise that the artist created to maintain custody of his name.

Find out more about the Banksy merchandise ›

November – Zaha Hadid Architects completes Leeza Soho skyscraper with world’s tallest atrium

The Leeza Soho skyscraper in Beijing was the most read story in November.

The building was one of several projects designed by Zaha Hadid that were completed posthumously this year, including the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar, the Opus hotel in Dubai, and Beijing Daxing International Airport.

Find out more about the Leeza Soho skyscraper ›

December – “We banned renders” from the design process says Tatiana Bilbao

Speaking to Dezeen in December, Tatiana Bilbao revealed that she had banned renders from the design process in her studio. The sentiment clearly resonated with readers with over 110,000 people enjoying the interview.

Read the Tatiana Bilbao interview ›

The post The biggest architecture and design stories of 2019 appeared first on Dezeen.

Imagine dandelions dancing in the breeze in a lush meadow, their spores fluttering and flying about. This was the inspiration for Beom sic Jeon and Kim Hyunsoec’s Blow humidifier. You operate the humidifier as you would water and nurture your plants.

Blow comprises of a water bowl, forming the lower portion of the humidifier. It is transparent, allowing you to view the internal components of Blow. Whereas the upper portion is reminiscent of a long dandelion with its seed head at the top, full of spores. You pour water into the little bucket as if you were watering your potted plants. The lower portion of the humidifier functions like the roots of a plant, absorbing the water in the bowl. The water is then released as steam, from the opening or the seed head on the top.

Designed after the organic form of plants, Blow can add a soft, nurturing touch to any space it is added into, functioning not only as a home appliance but as a decorative piece as well. Its delicate and minimal aesthetics can add a touch of subtle beauty to brimming home spaces and hectic workplaces alike.

Designers: Kim Hyunsoec of hs2 studio and Beom sic Jeon

Vancouver interiors studio Ste Marie has designed an artisanal flour shop and bakery in the city that has furniture influenced by the American Shaker movement.

Ste Marie was enlisted by bakery and flour mill Flourist to design their first location in the city. In addition to the mill, the shop includes baking facilities, a cafeteria, and space for workshops.

Flourist is located at 3433 Commercial St, in East Vancouver, an up-and-coming neighbourhood in the city. Encompassing 2,800 square feet (260 square metres), the bakery interiors are a warm, caramel-like colour.

“We wanted the space to feel like standing in a wheat field on a perfect sunny day – a nice counterpoint to some of those grey Vancouver days,” said Craig Stanghetta of Ste Marie.

“To pull it all off we incorporated a mix of a farmhouse sensibility and good Scandinavian design principles,” Flourist added. “The outcome is a space that should look classic and current but also fresh and fun in the same breath.”

Drawing from agrarian references, Ste Marie also designed the furniture and fittings to take cues from the American Shaker movement.  The style, known for its simplicity, has become popular in recent years with Neri&Hu, Jin Kuramoto, Torsten Sherwood and Pinch all recently referencing the aesthetic.

Simple wooden chairs are used for the freestanding seats, while built-in seating is made with wide wooden planks using clean lines.

“Building off the Shaker principles and pastiche, the interior of the Mill and Bakery highlights abundance and warmth with a straightforward approach,” said Ste Marie.

“A palette of malty tones taken from Flourist’s grains and pulses, enveloping the space like a field of wheat.”

The company was established by Shira McDermott and Janna Bishop first as a mill, producing grains, flour, and beans from Canadian farmers, and selling wholesale online.

“Flourist brick and mortar locations are the next stage of our effort to disrupt the traditional and overly commodified food supply chain, which is particularly egregious in the grain, beans and flour markets,” said Flourist.

In front of the shop window, a communal table provides space for Flourist to teach baking workshops within sight of passers-by. It is built as a freestanding square object and topped with a textured marble slab.

Built-in shelves showcase the store’s baked goods, cookbooks, and other cooking accessories throughout, alongside Shaker antiques and other memorabilia. The mill is located at the back and is fronted by glass so it is also visible to customers.

In New York City, a cookie shop by The New Design Project uses a lighter beige palette for its interiors.

Other bakeries include a bright pink shop in Odessa, Ukraine, that is meant to reference the colour of bread, and a minimalist, industrial extension to a historical property in Uruguay, by Pedro Livni Arquitecto.

Photography is by Conrad Brown.

The post Ste Marie decorates Vancouver bakery and flour mill in “malty hues” appeared first on Dezeen.

While tech bros try to dream up “disruptive” apps, we’re much more interested in the designers, tinkerers and DIY’ers who re-think existing physical objects to improve them. Here are the best examples of this that we saw this year.

Lots of folks fly in hoodies for comfort, and many carry neck pillows for long flights. The Pillowdy self-inflatable neck pillow handily combines these two things.

Conventional roof racks are often a pain to detach, but if you leave them on all the time, they worsen your mileage and create irritating wind noise. If you carry the detached rails around in your trunk, they take up valuable space. Ultix’s inflatable roof racks solve all of these problems.

Another inflatable structure with automotive applications could improve safety. German auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG is working on external airbags for cars.

The final inflatable solution on this list: Japanese researchers have developed an ultralight, 66-foot-long robot arm composed of helium-containing balloons. While they’re intending it for boring industrial applications, we feel this paves the way towards real-life giant robots.

Standard operating procedure for travelers is to use a rolling carry-on to hold luggage, and unload that into a dresser at the destination. Then re-load it when it’s time to leave. Alternatively, the Carry-On Closet 2.0 is a suitcase designed to double as the dresser at your destination, saving you some steps.

Another luggage design went to the unusual lengths of reinventing the wheel. The SkyValet rolling carry-on, whose wheels tackle uneven terrain better, was a big hit on Kickstarter.

Not all rethinks of common objects are good, so we’ll include a couple of stinkers for the sake of contrast. The first is this idiotic idea for having non-red, “stylish” fire extinguishers. Because why wouldn’t you want to make something more difficult to spot in a potentially life-threatening emergency.

Another spectacularly lame idea was presenting Scotch whisky in capsule form. Have we become so infantilized that we need to make booze look like candy?

via Gfycat

In this day and age, if a plane is going down, riders are more concerned with Tweeting “I’m about to die” selfies while wearing their oxygen masks incorrectly. This pilot’s mask, on the other hand, is cleverly auto-fitting.

Airplanes are noisy enough during flight, and the noise they make on the ground was driving residents of one Dutch town crazy. So this municipality cleverly used landscape architecture to reduce noise from Schiphol Airport.

Comic book stores, art schools and libraries have traditionally been three different things. Comics enthusiast Joseph Einhorn combined them all into one with his innovative art school and comic book lending store for kids.

These days low-tech redesigns often impress me more than high-tech ones. Case in point: This alternative design for locking door handles.

Graphic designer Vaughan Oliver, who created album covers for bands the Pixies, Cocteau Twins and The Breeders, has passed away at age 62.

Oliver was best known for the numerous covers he designed for independent British record label 4AD, where he created the majority of its album artwork between 1982 and 1998 via the graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v2.

“There was no one else like him,” said the record label.

“Without Vaughan, 4AD would not be 4AD and it’s no understatement to say that his style also helped to shape graphic design in the late 20th century,” they added.

“He gave both us as a label and our musicians an identity and a voice.”

Graphic designer Adrian Shaughnessy said Oliver passed away peacefully, surrounded by friends and family.

Vaughan Oliver RIP.
Thank you for the elegantly surreal album covers. pic.twitter.com/e8SWnZBQYp

— Alice Rawsthorn (@alicerawsthorn) December 29, 2019

Fans of Oliver from the British design community are mourning his passing on social media.

“Thank you for the elegantly surreal album covers,” tweeted design critic Alice Rawsthorn.

Graphic designer Michael Bierut, partner at Pentagram, described Oliver as “a brilliant designer who defined a generation”.

“Sunburst and Snowblind: possibly the best title and most certainly the most beautiful artwork of any record,” said architect and Dezeen columnist Charles Holland. “I lost myself in this and so much of his work. RIP the great Vaughan Oliver.”

Sunburst and Snowblind is an album by Scottish alternative rock band the Cocteau Twins.

Sunburst and Snowblind: possibly the best title and most certainly the most beautiful artwork of any record. I lost myself in this and so much of his work. RIP the great Vaughan Oliver. pic.twitter.com/AK8PkFct0K

— Charles Holland (@charlesjholland) December 29, 2019

Musician Emma Anderson, who was a singer in the Britpop band Lush, shared her experience of working with Oliver.

“Someone asked me recently if working with him had been ‘claustrophobic’ as he seemed to thrust his ideas onto the artists and he didn’t seem to care what they felt about his designs. Well, I’ll tell you what happened,” she said.

“When we signed to 4AD we were in the position that we were to work with one of the most revered and talented sleeve designers of the 20th century. Bring it on, I said. We’ll do the music and he can do the sleeves,” she continued.

“Vaughan was a total visionary, amazingly talented, a one-off. He was also a stubborn bastard and didn’t like being told what to do and that made him all the more brilliant. He didn’t bow to convention and working with him was an absolute honour and privilege.”

Anderson, who described Oliver as a “genius”, rejected the accusation that Oliver disregarded musicians’ work with his album covers.

“And sorry – he didn’t thrust his ideas onto the artist. They were carefully considered and the images were inspired by the music. ‘Scar’ had scratches on it that were suggested by the abrasiveness of the record… ‘Spooky’ was more amorphous, rounded and space-age. They WORKED.”

RIP Vaughan Oliver, 1957-2019: a brilliant designer who defined a generation. Great interview here: https://t.co/ZnSacI2AkS pic.twitter.com/vTV8h4fUs2

— Michael Bierut (@michaelbierut) December 29, 2019

Born in 1957 in County Durham, Oliver studied graphic design at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic.

He moved to London in 1982 and joined 4AD records as their first official employee, where he created iconic album covers for albums such as Doolittle and Surfer Rosa by Pixies, The Drift by Scott Walker, and the Cocteau Twins’ Treasure.

His work, which was inspired by the surrealist artist Salvidor Dali, helped establish 4AD and its artists’ mysterious and alternative reputations.

In Memoriam, our friend Vaughan Oliver, 12 Sept, 1957-29 Dec, 2019. “Man’s testicle alone (pushed through a piece of card to ensure it’s loneliness).” You will be missed. @4AD_Official @beggarsgroup #vaughanoliver pic.twitter.com/7mGoHJPnPo

— theBreeders (@thebreeders) December 29, 2019

“You will be missed,” said rock band The Breeders, who shared a sketch by Oliver sent to bassist Kim Deal, formerly of the Pixies. Oliver’s ideas for their album cover included an image of a single testicle pushed through a hole in some cardboard.

“We tried this today and it looked super,” remarked Oliver. “I’m not sure that it’s been done before. It’s quite dangerous!”

Oliver was also a keen football fan and qualified coach in the sport. He was a fan of Sunderland’s football team, and designed the album cover for their single for the 1992 FA Cup – where they reached the final – Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.

Main portrait by Luca Giorietto.

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