Hasta La Ideas

Mexico-based concept designer Abimelec Arellano has been dealing with the quarantine by cranking out a series of “What If” car designs. Like, what if Pontiac had combined their ugliest model with their most iconic?

What if the Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon came with an extreme performance trim level?

What if the ’58 Plymouth Fury had a convertible option, painted in Cadillac colors, and with a modern-day powerplant?

What if Volkswagen had made a GT version of the Beetle in the ’60s?

What if Audi’s RS6 wagon was wider, meaner-looking and had ’80s rims on it?

What if the Dodge Viper hadn’t been canceled, and had reached its fifth generation?

Check out the Abimelec Design Instagram for more.

Architecture firm Shau has built a library in Semarang, Indonesia, featuring a grand staircase, a net floor and a large communal swing.

Microlibrary Warak Kayu is a public reading room for the Central Java city, but also functions as a mini community centre.

Not only does it offer a variety of spaces for reading and study, it can also be used to host group events and workshops.

It is the fifth “microlibrary” that Shau – a studio with offices in Rotterdam, Munich and Bandung – has built in Indonesia. Shau’s aim is to improve access to learning for those living in the country’s poorest communities.

The architecture studio deliberately added some playful details, so that the library would engage children and families. But most of its unusual features also serve some kind of function.

For instance, the hammock-like net floor creates a comfortable setting for children to sit down and read a book, while parents can observes them from below. Similarly, the giant staircase creates an auditorium-style seating area for watching performances or movies.

“It is important to have this multi-programmatic approach to make the library a popular place, since reading alone is not yet considered a fun activity in the country,” explained architects Florian Heinzelmann and Daliana Suryawinata.

The building is raised up from the ground on wooden columns, which creates a reading room on the first floor and a sheltered, open space at ground level. This layout is designed to make the building appear more welcoming to new visitors.

The entire structure is built from a variety of FSC-certified woods including bangkirai, a locally sourced tropical hardwood.

The architecture studio knew from the outset that all elements would be prefabricated by local timber manufacturer PT Kayu Lapis Indonesia. So the microlibrary was designed around the company’s existing product line, reducing both waste and cost.

The Zollinger Bauweise construction system was used to create the diagonal-patterned brise soleil that naturally shade the bookshelves. The name, Microlibrary Warak Kayu, stems from this element.

“It is a form of reciprocal system, resulting in a distinctive slightly shifted diamond pattern,” said Heinzelmann and Suryawinata.

“This pattern happens to resemble a local mythical creature, Warak Ngendog, and its dragon-like skin, displayed during annual festivals in Semarang. Hence the name Warak Kayu in Indonesian, meaning ‘wooden warak’.”

The structural system is highly decorative, even though it is largely made from offcuts. An overhanging roof, which offers passive shading, is supported on neat, crisscrossing beams, as is the floorplate below.

Thanks to these various elements, the building doesn’t need any air conditioning, despite the tropical climate.

“The building could be seen as a living educational spot for wood material and construction techniques,” said the architects.

Shau built its first microlibrary in Bandung in 2016, using recycled ice cream tubs as cladding. It has since designed several others for the city, and completed another in Bojonegoro.

Microlibrary Warak Kayu was funded through through a donation from the Arkatama Isvara Foundation and will be managed by Harvey Center, a local charity group. It will become part of the city’s tourism route, served by a free bus tour, to encourage as many visitors as possible.

Photography is by KIE.

Project credits:

Client: Arkatama Isvara Foundation
Architect: Shau Indonesia
Project team: Florian Heinzelmann, Daliana Suryawinata, Rizki Maulid Supratman, Muhammad Ichsan, Alfian Reza Almadjid, Multazam Akbar Junaedi
Structural engineer: Joko Agus Catur Wibowo
Prefabrication: PT Kayu Lapis Indonesia
Contractor: RAH Contractor

The post Microlibrary Warak Kayu features a hammock-style floor and a swing appeared first on Dezeen.

Crafted from a rugged canvas textile tough enough to withstand your pooch’s nails and gnawing, Velvet Hippo’s Hex cushion is durable but comfy—thanks to its recycled poly-fill stuffing. Designed in Brooklyn, its worn-in blue hue is the result of careful dyeing and stone-washing. Available in three sizes—small, medium and large—the cushion can accommodate pets of all sizes. And for those who don’t love blue as much as we do, there are several other colors to choose from.

With health workers in many parts of the world facing shortages of personal protective equipment as they treat coronavirus patients, architects, designers, institutions and brands around the world are making face shields.

Face shields are simple, transparent screens that cover the face and help prevent infectious droplets from entering the eyes, nose and mouth. They are usually worn in conjunction with masks or respirators, blocking splashes and sprays from reaching the face and making it preventing workers from touching their faces.

“Face shields are generally not used alone, but in conjunction with other protective equipment and are therefore classified as adjunctive personal protective equipment,” states a 2016 review of face shields by the US National Center for Biotechnology.

“Little research” into face shields

However, the NCBI review added that guidelines for their use and standards for their manufacture vary widely. “Although there are millions of potential users of face shields, guidelines for their use vary between governmental agencies and professional societies and little research is available regarding their efficacy,” it said.

But Mike Edmond, a healthcare epidemiologist and physician based in Iowa City, believes that face shields “offer a better solution” than masks.

“The advantages of face shields are their durability allowing them to be worn an indefinite number of times, the ability to easily clean them after use, their comfort, and they prevent the wearer from touching their face,” Edmond wrote on his blog.

“We have a product that is reusable, cleanable, covers more of your face, decreases the risk of autoinoculation, and keeps us from burning through our mask supply,” he wrote in another post.

“Importantly, they cover all the portals of entry for this virus: the eyes, the nose, and the mouth. Moreover, the supply chain is significantly more diversified than that of face masks, so availability is much greater.”

Simple to make

Face shields are the easiest type of personal protective equipment (PPE) to make. They typically consist of just two parts: a visor that covers the face and which is usually made of plastics such as polycarbonate, propionate, acetate, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG); and a method of holding the visor in place, such as a headband or strap.

The strap can be made of moulded plastic, 3D-printed plastic or even elastic. Some are designed to be thrown away after a single use while others can be sterilised and reused.

“Because the design of face shields is simple, massive production should not be difficult,” wrote Edmond. “Individuals and groups are making them via 3D printing, and they can even be made from materials that are readily available from stores that sell office or craft supplies.”

However, people wanting to help out by producing the devices should first check with local healthcare organisations to ensure their designs meet their requirements.

Architects, brands and institutions making shields

Brands including Nike and Apple, architects including Foster + Partners and BIG and educational institutions including Cambridge University and MIT have all developed or adapted designs for face shields recently, utilising 3D printing, laser cutting and even origami. In addition, many open-source designs are available for people to download and customise.

Here are eight examples:

Reusable face shield by Foster + Partners

Architecture studio Foster + Partners designed a face shield that can be manufactured extremely quickly, and disassembled, sanitised and reused after wearing.

Made with a laser cutter, the studio managed to make 1,000 of the shields in one day using a single machine.

“Protecting front-line health workers is key and we felt this was an obvious way that we could contribute,” Grant Brooker, head of studio at Foster + Partners, told Dezeen.

Origami face shield by University of Cambridge and the University of Queensland

The HappyShield face shield designed by researchers at the University of Cambridge‘s Centre for Natural Material Innovation and the University of Queensland’s Folded Structures Lab is assembled by folding a piece of plastic using curved-crease origami.

Created from simple materials and fabricated without the need for specialist machinery, the shield is designed so that it can be made anywhere in the world.

“It’s not expensive to make at all,” said Michael Ramage, head of the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at the University of Cambridge. “It’s viable anywhere in the world, whatever your resources.”

One-piece face shield by MIT

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a disposable face shield that is made from a single piece of plastic. The shields can be rapidly mass-produced and delivered flat-packed before being folded into shape when needed.

“These face shields have to be made rapidly and at low cost because they need to be disposable,” said Martin Culpepper, professor of mechanical engineering and project leader.

“Our technique combines low-cost materials with high-rate manufacturing that has the potential of meeting the need for face shields nationwide.”

Face shields from footwear by Nike

Sportswear brand Nike has used materials usually found in its shoes and clothing to create a face shield that it is distributing to hospitals in Oregon, USA.

The face shield is made from polyurethane film, which is usually used for the airbag in the sole of its Air shoes and for the padding that is normally found in collars. The shield can be tightened with a cord typically used on Nike’s items of clothing.

Open-source face shield by Erik Cederberg

Erik Cederberg of Swedish 3D-printing company 3DVerkstan created an open-source design for a face shield that architecture studios across America have been using.

Studios including Handel Architects, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) are manufacturing the face shields and distributing them to hospitals in America.

Flat-pack face shield by Apple

Technology company Apple has created a fully adjustable face shield and has begun manufacturing the protective equipment in the US and China. The company is planning to make and ship one million of the face shields to hospitals in the US every week.

“We’ve launched a company-wide effort, bringing together product designers, engineering, operations, and packaging teams, and our suppliers, to design, produce, and ship face shields for health workers,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

3D-printed face shield by Nagami Design

Spanish 3D-printing brand Nagami Design is utilising its facilities, which are usually used to print furniture for companies like Zaha Hadid Design, to make face shields for medical staff.

The face shields are being donated to Hospital Provincial de Ávila, near Nagami Design’s factory in Spain.

Simple face shield by Jungil Hong and Matt Muller

Graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design, Jungil Hong and Matt Muller, have designed a simple face shield that is made from a curved piece of vinyl and a head strap.

“We can sustain our business and provide a product that’s a quarter the price of what’s out there because our design is so much simpler,” said Muller. “We have the capacity to make between 1,500 and 3,000 shields per day once we get going.”

The post Eight face shields designed to protect coronavirus healthcare workers appeared first on Dezeen.

2020 has surely brought about a change in our priorities. Where Instagram was earlier filled with people jet-setting across the globe to exotic, unseen locations and inspiring wanderlust for everyone else, our mindless focus on self and not caring enough about the natural resources that quietly supported us led to this COVID-19 pandemic. The question that arises here is humanity learning from its mistakes? History shows that we rarely do and a dystopian future where wearing a mask is a part of our daily life might just happen, sooner than later. So what can a mask do? With the design world’s unending creativity applied, they can do a lot of things – from being inclusive, supporting audio output to even supporting your favorite organization, Render Weekly’s ongoing face mask challenge has us excited! These renders are sure to form the foundation of some exceptional designs in the future.

Michael Soleo created a stylized version of the original face mask by Ashley Lawrence that allows those who are hearing impaired to still read lips! Everyone is equally affected by the crisis and what is now the new normal for us might be severely distressing for the differently-abled. Inclusive design is now more important than ever. Masks have become a global icon for COVID-19 and we are glad someone stopped to think “Okay, but how will people who rely on reading lips communicate for the next 6 months?” – it’s the little things, the simple designs that can have a deep impact.

Inspired by the audio leaders AIAIAI, this modular mask by David Olivares can be easily opened up and detached for the user’s choice of personalization. “Modularity is key to deliver products with top quality, reducing the number of disposable pieces, and providing great user experience. In this case, you can change the cover to match your outfit, the bands to adjust to your head, or a different filter to suit your routine demands.” says David. And seeing how masks have become a part of everyday life across the globe, we agree that customization is the key to improve the sustainability of the usually disposable product.

Inspired by the AIRPOP masks, designer Oliver Perretta created a multifunctional mask. With usability being the keystone of any design, the mask not only filters the air but also acts as an air quality monitor! The quality monitor accurately transmits data to your smartphone, helping you be aware and keep yourself safe.

Speaking of multi-functional designs, we are totally geeking out over this design by Zack Massos and Eitan Adika that merges a reusable face mask with headphones! How do you ask? The answer is bone conduction tech! Dystopian as it may sound, but in a future where wearing masks is the norm, this face mask-headphones hybrid could help you commute and stay connected all while staying safe!

Another gem by Oliver Perretta, this mask takes the AIRPOP-inspired masks to the next step. We know that germs accumulate on the outside of your mask, creating a potentially loaded situation for when the mask is removed. Based on the ‘G Volt electrical sterilization breathing masks’ this interpretation utilizes a graphene-based material combined with an electronic textile. Activated by an electrical current, it sterilizes the surface of the mask preventing contamination and repelling viruses and bacteria. The concept works by utilizing a rechargeable power supply connecting to the e-textile to activate the graphene sterilization. A single mesh filter has been incorporated for extra precaution.

Ugo Fontana and Matt K (of Itiwit) have taken the humble face mask to the next space-worthy iteration with this soft full face mask. Initially designed for welding, this version lets the user breathe with ease in a relatively enclosed space, with an extensive array of functions to help the user stay in comfort while navigating their surroundings.

Roshan Hakkim aims to solve a nasty consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic – the non-reusable elements that are the necessary evil medical world needs to fight this. His solution? Using recycled PET bottles to create reusable plastic face shields! Hitting 2 targets at one time, this Nike-inspired sustainable mask can lay down the guidelines for future pandemics, which is guaranteed if humans don’t clean up their acts.

From the team at RenderWeekly comes another mask with the ability to be personalized. If you are going to wear a mask to cover your face, the most identifiable part of you, it makes sense that the mask speaks your language. I can truly imagine users customizing the strap from homemade to buying them from their favorite brands, just to make an impact.

Have we considered how this normalization in the usage of masks will affect the kids? Coming from the complete freedom and joy they are accustomed to being in, this new world with masks and instructions to not touch anything is a scary change. Oliver Perretta wants to make this process more comfortable for the kids by creating this child-friendly mask that lets the kid dress up as their favorite animals and have fun while staying safe!

Wear your colors across your face, or at least your brand colors as shown in this New Balance-inspired face mask designed by IJ! Now we can literally see the Instagram influencer market jumping at the bit to get these if any brand launches them. I would like one in support of my favorite charities please!