Hasta La Ideas

One of my favorite companies to watch is Festool, because they design uncompromising (and expensive) tools for craftspeople seeking perfection. And they are often pioneers in their space. I expect their latest tool design, the Edge Sanding Guide, will be copied by every power tool manufacturer on the market.

The Edge Sanding Guide was designed for the purpose of cleaning up a sawn edge. In cabinet shops, you’ll see large freestanding edge belt sanders that achieve this task. But the craftsperson in the field, or the smaller job shop, will not have access to this tool. Typically an edge would be cleaned up on-site with a sanding block and elbow grease, or if you’re a real cowboy, with a sander turned sideways. But the first option takes too long and the second option introduces the possibility of fouling the edge.

Hence the Edge Sanding Guide, which can hold a perfect 90 degrees or be set to other angles.

This being a Festool product, the design has carefully been thought through. The user can change sanding sheets without having to remove the Guide.

With one of their battery-powered sanders and the collection bag, you can work your way around conference-sized tables without having to worry about cords.

The product will hit the market in September of this year, but I imagine we’ll see copycats/knockoffs before then.

There’s a reason the guitar or the violin is shaped the way it is. That hollow chamber is what makes the acoustic guitar sound like one (and that’s why electric guitars don’t need acoustic chambers) – the air within the chamber vibrates when you pluck a string, causing resonance, amplifying the sound, almost like cupping your hands in front of your mouth to help amplify your voice. That strategy works for audio everywhere. It’s why subwoofers are big and boxy, and why bigger phones usually have better speakers (because they have audio chambers built into them).

It’s just physically difficult to make smaller, sleeker audio devices sound as good as larger ones, but a clever trick would be to very innovatively use that resonance chamber. That’s sort of the principle behind the Lytte HarmoniQ’s design. The TWS earphones’ unique shape comes with a specially designed 3D acoustic chamber that helps make the audio sound richer, with better, more distinct basslines… while also helping reduce sound distortion as well as providing organic noise isolation of up to -35 db, allowing it to rival the Airpods Pro’s active noise cancellation tech just through its ergonomic design.

The amount of careful consideration built into the Lytte HarmoniQ is truly remarkable. Each earphone casing is meticulously 3D printed using DLP printing tech (a feature that allows it to have that unique acoustic chamber shape) and hand-polished to look as remarkable as it does. Just like most smart earphones, the Lytte HarmoniQ support iOS as well as Android integration, with the ability to tap, double-tap, and long-press to control music playback as well as smartphone functions (including summoning the phone’s voice AI). Bluetooth 5.0 ensures a robust wireless connection, allowing you to walk around the room with your phone a few feet away from you without any impact on quality or latency, and an IPx4 waterproof rating helps make the earphones impervious to sweat or drops of water, so you could exercise in the Lytte HarmoniQ just fine. In fact, its silicon ear tips help secure the earphones carefully in your ear canal, so they don’t accidentally drop out like AirPods often do.

The Lytte HarmoniQ earphones (pronounced ‘lit harmonic’ if you’re still wondering) come with a robust charging case that gives it an overall 35 hours of playback. Designed to be a more audio-conscious pair of wireless earphones, the Lytte HarmoniQ focuses all its attention on nailing the details and getting the features right. The compact 3D printed form helps not only ensure a proper fit, it actually positively impacts the sound quality, making the Lytte HarmoniQ rival the sound of earphones from audio giants like Sennheiser or Bang and Olufsen. Minimal audio distortion and passive noise-canceling help sweeten the deal, making the earphones a good pick for people who are audio connoisseurs, while features like IPx4 water resistance, Bluetooth 5.0, and that 35-hour battery life give you exactly everything you’re looking for in a pair of smart, truly wireless in-ear audio devices.

Designer: HarmoniQ Labs

Click Here to Buy Now: $109 $229 (52% off). Hurry, only 13/50 left!

Lytte HarmoniQ is the world’s first 3D printed Hi-Fi wireless acoustic earbuds

Thousands of 3D scans and modeling were done to find the right ergonomic design for comfortable daily use.

The 3D printed acoustic shape eliminates sound distortion and provides excellent passive noise cancellation (-15dB noise attenuation).

IPX4 water and dust resistant with embedded microphone and voice assistance functions.

Durable materials for rigidity to deliver a controlled sound resonance with low distortion, and to prevent deteriorates over time.

Combined with a Dynamic Speaker, it produces a spacious sound staging and a distinctive tonal balance; beautiful treble with exceptional clarity, warm vocal, and deep richness of heavy bass.

Lytte HarmoniQ Reviews

Feature Highlights

Total Harmonic Distortion – A low THD means the output audio signal has low distortion compared to the input, so the audio signal is as close to the original sound as possible. The Lytte HarmoniQ distortion is very low and virtually undetectable.

Left-Right Sound Consistency – Due to our uniquely precise 3D printing, every Lytte HarmoniQ earphone is essentially identical, achieving a consistent and synchronized playback with over 98% accuracy. Leaving only the slightest margin of variation in low-frequencies most of us can’t register.

Click Here to Buy Now: $109 $229 (52% off). Hurry, only 13/50 left!

In a report published today, the UK government has laid out proposals to speed up planning approval for developments and scrap section 106 agreements, which prime minister Boris Johnson described as “unlike anything we have seen since the second world war”.

Called Planning for the Future, the white paper details plans for upcoming changes to the planning system in England.

Housing minister Robert Jenrick had already announced plans to expand permitted development rights, prompting the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to brand the proposals a “disgrace”.

Report outlines “radical reform” for planning

Prime minister Boris Johnson described the existing planning system as a “relic” that’s “outdated and ineffective” in a foreword to the white paper.

“The whole thing is beginning to crumble and the time has come to do what too many have for too long lacked the courage to do – tear it down and start again,” said Johnson.

“That is what this paper proposes. Radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the second world war.”

“Not more fiddling around the edges, not simply painting over the damp patches, but levelling the foundations and building, from the ground up, a whole new planning system for England,” he added.

Automatic approval for designated areas

The reforms include redrawing local plans produced by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) so that land would fall into only one of three categories: growth, renewal and protected.

Planning would be “automatically secured” for areas categorised for growth. Some development would be allowed in renewal areas but it would be restricted in protected zones.

Local authorities would be bound by a new national requirement for the number of new homes built in their areas.

To speed up planning approval, new laws could decree that local authorities and the planning inspectorate must get projects through planning in under 30 months or be sanctioned.

“Decision-making should be faster and more certain, within firm deadlines, and should make greater use of data and digital technology,” said the paper.

The report said this data could come from the property technology sector, dubbed PropTech, and local authorities should all adopt digital planning services where local residents can view and respond to maps and visualisations of upcoming development proposals online.

Priority for “beautiful” developments

A ” fast-track for beauty” will also grant automatic permits for “proposals for high-quality developments where they reflect local character and preferences”.

As a continuation of the Building Better, Building Beautiful commission, developments that comply with local design codes would be guaranteed faster planning permission.

“Pattern books” in the form of style guides for “popular and replicable designs” could be used for permitted developments and schemes in land designated for renewal.

Section 106 replaced by infrastructure levy

The government has also suggested scrapping section 106, the legal agreements developers are required to make with local councils to make development schemes more acceptable, whether by building affordable homes or paying for public services.

In its place, an updated version of the pre-existing community infrastructure levy could become the standard.

This levy is a flat-rate fixed charge that is calculated based on the floor space of the development. Currently, this is paid once development commences, but under the reforms, it could be paid on the final value of the scheme once it is fully occupied – with sanctions on developers caught preventing occupation to avoid the charge.

The report highlighted that a non-negotiable tariff would eliminate the weaknesses of section 106, where large developers employ lawyers to help them get out of their side of the agreement.

Discounts for developers building affordable homes

Under the reforms, local authorities will be able to borrow money against their infrastructure levy revenue to fund projects. Infrastructure levy money currently can’t be put towards affordable housing, which is normally secured through section 106. The white paper proposes giving developers a discount on the levy if they build affordable homes.

“In effect, the difference between the price at which the unit was sold to the provider and the market price would be offset from the final cash liability to the levy,” said the paper. “This would create an incentive for the developer to build on-site affordable housing where appropriate.”

However, as a government housing inquiry published last month pointed out, the definition of an affordable home in the UK is currently ill-defined.

To mitigate the risk of developers delivering low-quality affordable homes, the Planning for the Future paper suggests that local authorities could demand a cash equivalent from the developer if no buyers are found.

This white paper marks the start of a 12-week public consultation where the government has asked for feedback.

The RIBA has already urged the housing minister to reconsider the proposals. “Deregulation is not the way to bring about new homes,” said RIBA president Alan Jones.

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Le peintre californien Ryan Martin a réalisé une série de portraits très puissants illustrant les deux thèmes majeurs qui traversent son oeuvre : le rapport compliqué entre l’homme et l’environnement et les défis que la jeunesse devra affronter à cause du changement climatique.
Cette série a été présentée à la Elizabeth Houston Gallery de New York et on y voit des visages d’adolescents entourés.es de nature, plantes, êtres vivants comme s’ils.elles étaient couronnés.es par la nature environnante.

La flore et la faune, qui non seulement entourent les visages humains mais les enveloppent également, suggèrent une relation plus intemporelle avec la nature.

En regardant attentivement, on remarquera que chaque portrait est traversé par un rayon de lumière et que ces visages apparaissent ainsi baignés de soleil : cela indique les racines sud-californiennes de Ryan qui ont influencé une grande partie de ses travaux antérieurs.

Ces portraits invitent à renouer avec la nature et mettent en garde sur les dangers de la disparition des espèces qui enveloppent les corps de ces jeunes personnes. Un aveu de vulnérabilité sensible qui invite à la réflexion.

Architecture studio Chybik + Kristof has topped the Lahofer Winery in the Czech Republic with a walkable roof with an open-air theatre.

The concrete winery in a vineyard near the villages of Dobšice and Suchohrdly, was designed for Lahofer – one of the largest wine producers in the Czech Republic.

Chybik + Kristof drew on the region’s archetypal Moravian wine cellars when designing the building.

It measures 3,900 square metres and is formed of three interconnected structures: a wine-making facility, an administrative space and a visitor centre with an adjoining tasting room.

The studio added stairs leading up to the sloping, walkable roof of the visitor centre to create an amphitheatre between the public spaces and the parts of the building used for production.

The wine producer plans to use the amphitheatre as a community space that will host cultural events, including theatre performances and grape harvest celebrations.

Its contoured structure was informed by the agricultural landscape surrounding it, where the grapevine grows in neat rows.

“The building is integrated within the landscape in a way that the distance between the vine rows determines the structural elements,” said Chybik + Kristof co-founders Ondřej Chybík and Michal Krištof.

“This series of structural elements forms the space of the visitor centre and the administration part of the complex,” they told Dezeen. “This relates to the archetypal shape of the wine-tasting spaces of the region, that of a long-arched gathering room.”

Inside the visitor centre, concrete arches are designed to fit the specific angle of the ceiling and spaced to match the distances between the rows of grapevines outside the Lahofer Winery.

This guides the visitors’ gaze across the fields, which can be seen through the glass facade that forms one wall of the wine-tasting space.

“We used raw natural materials inspired by the location, concrete, wooden finishes, and a large glass facade opens to the view,” Chybík and Krištof said.

“The ceiling is decorated by an art piece that reflects the colours of the terroir, by local contemporary artist Patrik Hábl.”

In addition to following the layout of the grapevines, the triple-glazed building was also oriented so that it would receive as much natural light as possible.

The spaces that focus on production, storage and bottling – including the fermentation room – were given their own access and exterior space and adapted to suit their various functions.

“The fermentation rooms are not lit naturally as this would greatly affect the temperature and subsequently the wines, whereas the bottling spaces and the areas where workers are present during the day are,” the architects said.

The studio spread out the production spaces over two halls, with the lower hall hosting wine-making production and employee facilities and the other home to a wine press, cellar and wine store.

Chybik + Kristof was founded in 2010 by Chybík and Krištof and has offices in Prague, Brno and Bratislava.

It recently designed a greenhouse-style pavilion for a Czech abbey and also looked to traditional Moravian wine cellars for its House of Wine wine bar in Znojmo, Czech Republic.

Photography is by Alex shoots buildings unless stated.

Project credits:

Architects: Chybik + Kristof
Team: Ondrej Chybik, Michal Kristof, Hanin Al-Gibury, Karolina Holankova, Martin Holy, Vojtech Kouril, Ondrej Mundl, Matej Strba, Zuzana Zathurecka, Zuzana Pelikanova, Victor Cojocaru, Laura Emilija Druktenytė, Zuzana Lisoňová, Gabriela Voláková.

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