Hasta La Ideas

Los Angeles-based artist Lucy McRae has created a survival kit for a post-apocalyptic future, designed to be carried on the body as if you were a sherpa.

McRae, who calls herself a body architect, imagines that people might one day react against “the age of the algorithm”, by rejecting digital devices and social media platforms.

She suggests that a survival kit for this new future could contain tools that help us slowly adjust to this new reality. They include a mask that, like a phone, closes you off from the real world, plus cushions and mats that offer comfort.

“Rarely do we create something significant without being confronted with the brink of disaster,” McRae told Dezeen.

“AI, the environment, automation – these themes are destabilising our cosy lives. I’m not suggesting we exit and permanently retreat, I’m just trying to question how we navigate our future.”

McRae felt the sherpa offered the perfect model for her narrative. These nomadic people, native to the mountainous regions of Nepal and the Himalayas, are known for helping to shepherd people across treacherous terrain.

The artist imagines that, in a post-apocalyptic hunt for independence, anyone could become a sherpa.

“The sherpa gets everyone up the slope, everyday, with no real credit. The average citizen is doing the same, carrying the world on their back day-in day-out, running against the wind, at a time defined by uncertainty and risk,” explained McRae.

“Researchers have found that a sherpa’s mitochondria is more efficient at using oxygen to produce energy, thus are better in higher altitudes,” she continued.

“This genetic difference is, for me, a clue that the more uphill challenges we confront, the better our psyche becomes at facing them, in the process inventing new techniques for safety and self awareness in times of turbulence.”

McRae’s work revolves around using the body as a means to speculate on the future, as she explained in a recent interview with Dezeen. She said her aim is to give science fiction “an overdue sex change”.

A few of her recent projects have explored what McRae calls the touch crisis – the idea that, with the rise of technology, digital devices might start to vie for human affection, and physical contact with other humans might suffer as a result.

These include her Compression Carpet, an analogue machine that gives someone a hug.

McRae references the same idea in the Future Survival Kit. Images show her body wrapped up in the entire survival kit, but in her hand is a book titled Rise of The Touch Crisis.

“This speculative book would be part illustration, part encyclopaedia, part science manual and part recipe book, written from the point of view of a female scientist turned comfort sherpa,” said McRae.

“It would include DIY hacks for emotional survival when isolated in the bush, and how to build trust and captain uncertainty.”

Images also show that, when unfolded, McRae’s survival kit takes on the form of a giant snail.

Future Survival Kit is debuting in State of Extremes, an exhibition at Design Museum Holon in Tel Aviv, curated by Aric Chen. On show until 9 May 2020, the exhibition explores a world undergoing rapid and extreme change.

According to McRae, uncertainty abut the future is an important tool for social progression.

“Anyone who feels comfortable right now, is limiting their opportunity for growth; because we know that growth happens at the edge of uncertainty,” she said.

“In my opinion, our only way forward is to swim upstream everyday, just like the sherpa, ascending mountains, aware of the risk but doing it anyway.”

Photography is by Ariel Fisher.

The post Lucy McRae offers an escape from the digital with Future Survival Kit appeared first on Dezeen.

Striking an optimistic note at the start of the new decade, Laurent Simon, chief creative officer at ad agency VMLY&R explains why, in a deeply competitive industry, he loves to see great work being made by his rivals

The post Why I’m always happy to see great work from other agencies appeared first on Creative Review.

A restaurant has opened in Frankfurt that combines the classic styling of a French brasserie with contemporary artworks and rich textiles.

Le Petit Royal Frankfurt is located on the ground floor of the Ameron Frankfurt Neckarvillen Boutique hotel in Bahnhofsviertel.

It is the first venue outside Berlin from the team behind the popular Grill Royal and, like its sister restaurants, its interiors are designed by company co-founder Boris Radczun.

For Radczun, it is more important to create spaces that will become timeless, rather than to follow trends. He likes to focus on tactile materials and comfortable furniture, rather than focus too much on throwaway aesthetics.

“For an all-day dining restaurant, it is most important to offer a sort of neutral, but very comfy hospitality,” he told Dezeen.

“The restaurant will be open all day, for a long period and will be visited by a lot of different people, so the question is how to create a space that is interesting but not overwhelming,” he continued.

“What kind of restaurant will people still enjoy in 10 years? It’s also about not being too ‘now’.”

Artworks were chosen that fit with the pop-art style of the Grill Royal restaurants, but without drowning out the subtle but monumental architecture of the hotel buildings, constructed in Germany’s Wilhelmine Period at the turn of the 20th century.

Among the standout pieces is a stained glass window by artist Paul Hance, in shades of red, orange and yellow, and a neon sign by art collective Claire Fontaine, which reads “I Am Your Voice”.

“Their work ‘Capitalism Kills Love’ in Berlin is iconic for the Grill Royal, but for Frankfurt we went for something more subtle,” said Radczun. “With all the banking skyscrapers around, you don’t have to emphasise the topic.”

Custom-made upholstered banquettes provide the majority of seating for the restaurant.

Radczun chose a tweed in shades of red and grey for the upholstery, to soften the brightness of bright white tablecloths. Along with the grassy textured wallpaper, they help to mute the acoustic quality of the space.

“As I like classical tablecloths in classical restaurants, a pure white, the overall haptic experience had to be toned softer,” he explained. “I like to mix different colours of the same fabric, it looks more ‘at home’.”

Oiled-oak wall panelling and furniture adds a feel of quality that is echoed by the retro wall-lights and glass Ikora lamps.

Lighting was key in creating the right mood for the space throughout the day, according to Radczun.

“The Donghia wallpaper and the stained glass break and diffuse the light very nicely,” he added. “Sometimes it looks sunny even on a clouded day.”

“This quality is very important for the breakfast situation and gives a candlelit feeling to the evening service,” he continued.

Le Petit Royal Frankfurt is a serving a menu of steak cuts, fish and seafood, and other modern French classics, accompanied by homemade sauces and seasonal vegetables.

It seats 80 people and also has a terrace that will open in the summer.

Frankfurt has recently been experiencing a building boom, as the city bids to woo banks from London as a result of Brexit. New high-rise towers by BIG, UNStudio and Ole Scheeren are all underway.

Dezeen is currently holding a competition giveaway for a stay at the Ameron Frankfurt Neckarvillen Boutique.

Photography is by Robert Rieger.

The post Le Petit Royal Frankfurt is a modern take on the traditional brasserie appeared first on Dezeen.

London-based lighting brand Plumen has partnered with 3D-printing specialist Batch.works to develop a range of shades for its LED bulbs that are printed on-demand using recycled plastic.

Batch.works and Plumen developed the collection of five lampshades in an effort to confront issues associated with waste plastic.

The shades are produced at Batch.works’ east London workshop using plastic recycled from water bottles, fridges and other sources of plastic pollution.

Each lampshade was developed to fit one of the designer low-energy lightbulbs produced by Plumen, which was founded in 2010 by Michael-George Hemus and Nicolas Roope.

The first two designs by French studio Bold and German product designer Matthias Lauche launched in November 2019, with the remaining shades set to be unveiled in 2020.

Batch.works manufactures items using the latest 3D-printers, which layer strands of plastic filament to create three-dimensional objects based on computer-generated models.

The lampshades are printed using a filament sourced from Amsterdam social enterprise Reflow, which recycles and repurposes waste plastics.

Printing the products to order reduces the amount of waste produced, and the lampshades can be returned to the manufacturer for disassembly and recycling at the end of their lifespan.

“To Plumen, 3D-printing is a very exciting opportunity for lighting,” said Hemus, “because it allows shapes and forms that are not possible otherwise.”

“More importantly, there is very little waste compared to traditional methods,” he added. “Products are made to order, from recycled plastic bottles, and at the end of their lives they can be recycled once again. It’s a sustainable vision for the future.”

Plumen pioneered the development of designer alternatives to standard low-energy lightbulbs with products such as its Plumen 001, which won the Design Museum’s Design of the Year award in 2011.

The company’s founders announced earlier this year that it is to cease production of the bulbs and is currently looking for a buyer to take the business forward.

In the meantime, this partnership with Batch.works demonstrates a commitment to furthering the appeal of sustainable lighting solutions through good design and a circular manufacturing process.

“We believe that thinking more carefully about what materials are used and how things are produced is key to combating short-termism,” said Julien Vaissieres, the former architect who founded Batch.works in 2016.

“That’s why this kind of collaboration is so promising. We believe 3D printing can be scaled to a wider variety of products, and become a practical manufacturing method for the future – and that’s what we want to achieve.”

The Ribbon design by Bold encircles Plumen’s Wilma bulb in a continuous fluid surface that folds in on itself to create a double-layered form.

The ribbed outer surface resembles a piece of fabric draped around the bulb, with an opening providing a glimpse of the light source when viewed from one angle.

Matthias Luche’s Neo shade is based on the geometric forms of the art deco era. Designed to fit and frame the Plumen E27 bulb, it features an outer and inner shade that can be specified in different colours.

Since 2010, Plumen has consistently developed new bulbs and shades that fit with its ethos for producing sustainable lighting design.

These have included a shade shaped like a hat brim, a customisable chandelier kit, and an LED light with a gold-coloured inner diffuser.

The post Plumen and Batch.works launch 3D-printed lampshades made from recycled plastic appeared first on Dezeen.

Who would have looked at a saddle and handlebars and gone “hey that looks like a skull and horns”? Well, the guys at The Iron Roots Designs did so. The Longhorn bicycle rack is just ingenious, because it combines sheer creativity with functionality.

Designed to look like an abstraction of a wall-mounted animal trophy, the Longhorn is hand-crafted in Portland, Oregon, using Evergreen Wood, a leather bicycle seat, and bull style road handlebars. The wall art isn’t just aesthetically pleasing, but it serves as a functional bike rack too! Equipped to hold any standard-sized bicycle (weighing up to 65lbs), the Longhorn suspends itself using 3.5″ screws to bring unquestionable stability no matter what wall material you hang it on. No bicycles were harmed in the making of this rack… I assume.

Designer: The Iron Roots

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