Creative Collaborators: artist Alice Bowsher and agent Dorcas Brown

As part of a new series examining what makes for a successful creative partnership, we speak to artist Alice Bowsher and Grand Matter founder and illustration agent Dorcas Brown about balancing work and friendship

The post Creative Collaborators: artist Alice Bowsher and agent Dorcas Brown appeared first on Creative Review.

Six alternatives to animal leather made from plants and food waste

Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

To highlight sustainable and ethical substitutes for animal leather we’ve rounded up six materials that can rival its textural and performance qualities, from vegan pineapple leather to a leather alternative made of seafood shells.

Leather and fur have long epitomised luxury in the worlds of fashion, accessories and furniture. But recently, popular opinion has started to shift with growing awareness about the cruelty of mass livestock rearing and the number of resources consumed and carbon emitted in the process.

In response, major fashion houses including Gucci, Burberry, Ralph Lauren and Vivienne Westwood have decided to ditch fur. 2018 marked the first time the material wasn’t used by a single designer on the London Fashion Week line-up.

The response to leather has been slower, even though it involves a slew of chemicals such as formaldehyde, cyanide and chromium in the process of tanning and dyeing, which can be hazardous to both people and the environment.

According to a poll by market research company Morning Consult, more than a third of people in the UK and 23 per cent of people in the US think that leather is an inappropriate material to use in clothing.

But so far, most luxury brands, such as Chanel, Prada and Versace have only chosen to ban leather derived from certain exotic animals such as crocodiles, snakes and kangaroos.

That’s why a cohort of young, independent designers and material research startups are hoping to fast track the move away from animal leather by developing convincing alternatives that don’t resort to common polluting, petroleum-based plastics such as polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Below, we’ve rounded up six of these novel materials, which are hoping to give leather the boot.


Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

Piñatex by Ananas Anam

British materials company Ananas Anam, which was set up in 2013, was among the first to come out with a plant-based leather alternative

Called Piñatex, the material makes use of fibres derived from pineapple leaves, which are sourced from a plantation in the Philippines where they would otherwise be burned or left to rot.

These fibres are then mixed with polylactic acid (PLA), a bioplastic derived from corn, before being formed into a non-woven mesh, finished and coated to create a flexible yet durable material.

While many plant-based leather alternatives are still in the prototype phase, Piñatex has already been fashioned into commercially available products by the likes of Hugo Boss and US brand Native Shoes.


Tômtex is a leather alternative made from waste seafood shells and coffee

Tômtex by Uyen Tran

From snakeskin to crocodile hide, the Tômtex material by Vietnamese designer Uyen Tran can be embossed to replicate a menagerie’s worth of different animal leathers.

Tômtex is made from waste coffee grounds and the biopolymer chitin, which is found in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and in this case is sourced from discarded seafood shells.

Although not vegan, the flexible yet durable material makes use of the roughly eight million tonnes of shells that are thrown away by the global food industry every year.

“The world is running out of raw materials, so I want to repurpose these wastes into a new, accessible bio-material for everyday life,” Tran told Dezeen.


Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

Palm leather by Tjeerd Veenhoven

Dutch designer Tjeerd Veenhoven turned to plant fibre to create his vegan leather, much like Piñatex, although opting to source it from the leaves of the areca palm instead of from pineapples.

The material, which is initially brittle, is submerged in a softening solution for multiple days until it becomes pliable.

This solution consists exclusively of non-toxic ingredients that have been labelled fit for human consumption, including glycerin and water.

Veenhoven has fashioned the resulting material into everything from bags and book sleeves to shoe soles and rugs, with undulating palm leather strips attached to a woven base.


Bio-leather by Shahar Livne

Discarded animal fat and bones from a slaughterhouse are tinted and plasticised using waste blood to create Israeli designer Shahar Livne‘s bio-leather.

The material can be moulded or 3D printed and has already been integrated into a pair of trainers, designed by Livne in collaboration with German footwear brand Nat-2.

Although the material is so far only viable for use in a small, deep red panel, the designer hopes to develop the material so that it can be used to create the entire shoe.

“This bio-leather offers a new, out-of-the-box possibility that utilises animal by-products that are low in cost and pollution, and that mitigate the amount of waste created by meat-production industries,” she told Dezeen.


Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

Mylo by Bolt Threads

The first bio-based leather alternative that looks set to go mainstream is Mylo by US biotechnology company Bolt Threads.

Created from mycelium, the branching filament structure that mushrooms and other fungi use to grow, the material reportedly consumes substantially less water than is needed to produce animal leather while emitting fewer greenhouse gases.

Major luxury fashion houses including Stella McCartney, Adidas and Gucci parent company Kering have invested in upscaling the production of the material and are set to release the first mass-market products made from Mylo next year.

Elsewhere, Finnish studio Aivan has used a mycelium-based leather to cover the ear pads of its Korvaa headphones, which are entirely made of materials grown by live microbes.


Lino Leather by Don Kwaning 

Over a series of material experiments, Eindhoven graduate Don Kwaning has adapted linoleum, which is commonly used as flooring, into various different leathers (top).

A thicker version mimics the textured, wrinkly finish of rumen leather, which is made of cattle stomach, while a thinner one approximates the soft exterior and flexibility of more commercial varieties.

“It is a material with great future potential,” Kwaning told Dezeen. “Many people don’t even know it’s made from only natural materials.”

In fact, although it resembles plastic, linoleum actually consists of linseed oil mixed with a filler such as powdered cork, which is applied to a cloth backing and left to harden.

The post Six alternatives to animal leather made from plants and food waste appeared first on Dezeen.

How Rocks raised the bar for authenticity in storytelling

We speak to Theresa Ikoko, the screenwriter behind one of the most exciting British films of the year, about the cast and crew’s shared mission to capture the spirit of girlhood on screen

The post How Rocks raised the bar for authenticity in storytelling appeared first on Creative Review.

Six alternatives to animal leather made from plants and food waste

Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

To highlight sustainable and ethical substitutes for animal leather we’ve rounded up six materials that can rival its textural and performance qualities, from vegan pineapple leather to a leather alternative made of seafood shells.

Leather and fur have long epitomised luxury in the worlds of fashion, accessories and furniture. But recently, popular opinion has started to shift with growing awareness about the cruelty of mass livestock rearing and the number of resources consumed and carbon emitted in the process.

In response, major fashion houses including Gucci, Burberry, Ralph Lauren and Vivienne Westwood have decided to ditch fur. 2018 marked the first time the material wasn’t used by a single designer on the London Fashion Week line-up.

The response to leather has been slower, even though it involves a slew of chemicals such as formaldehyde, cyanide and chromium in the process of tanning and dyeing, which can be hazardous to both people and the environment.

According to a poll by market research company Morning Consult, more than a third of people in the UK and 23 per cent of people in the US think that leather is an inappropriate material to use in clothing.

But so far, most luxury brands, such as Chanel, Prada and Versace have only chosen to ban leather derived from certain exotic animals such as crocodiles, snakes and kangaroos.

That’s why a cohort of young, independent designers and material research startups are hoping to fast track the move away from animal leather by developing convincing alternatives that don’t resort to common polluting, petroleum-based plastics such as polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Below, we’ve rounded up six of these novel materials, which are hoping to give leather the boot.


Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

Piñatex by Ananas Anam

British materials company Ananas Anam, which was set up in 2013, was among the first to come out with a plant-based leather alternative

Called Piñatex, the material makes use of fibres derived from pineapple leaves, which are sourced from a plantation in the Philippines where they would otherwise be burned or left to rot.

These fibres are then mixed with polylactic acid (PLA), a bioplastic derived from corn, before being formed into a non-woven mesh, finished and coated to create a flexible yet durable material.

While many plant-based leather alternatives are still in the prototype phase, Piñatex has already been fashioned into commercially available products by the likes of Hugo Boss and US brand Native Shoes.


Tômtex is a leather alternative made from waste seafood shells and coffee

Tômtex by Uyen Tran

From snakeskin to crocodile hide, the Tômtex material by Vietnamese designer Uyen Tran can be embossed to replicate a menagerie’s worth of different animal leathers.

Tômtex is made from waste coffee grounds and the biopolymer chitin, which is found in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and in this case is sourced from discarded seafood shells.

Although not vegan, the flexible yet durable material makes use of the roughly eight million tonnes of shells that are thrown away by the global food industry every year.

“The world is running out of raw materials, so I want to repurpose these wastes into a new, accessible bio-material for everyday life,” Tran told Dezeen.


Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

Palm leather by Tjeerd Veenhoven

Dutch designer Tjeerd Veenhoven turned to plant fibre to create his vegan leather, much like Piñatex, although opting to source it from the leaves of the areca palm instead of from pineapples.

The material, which is initially brittle, is submerged in a softening solution for multiple days until it becomes pliable.

This solution consists exclusively of non-toxic ingredients that have been labelled fit for human consumption, including glycerin and water.

Veenhoven has fashioned the resulting material into everything from bags and book sleeves to shoe soles and rugs, with undulating palm leather strips attached to a woven base.


Bio-leather by Shahar Livne

Discarded animal fat and bones from a slaughterhouse are tinted and plasticised using waste blood to create Israeli designer Shahar Livne‘s bio-leather.

The material can be moulded or 3D printed and has already been integrated into a pair of trainers, designed by Livne in collaboration with German footwear brand Nat-2.

Although the material is so far only viable for use in a small, deep red panel, the designer hopes to develop the material so that it can be used to create the entire shoe.

“This bio-leather offers a new, out-of-the-box possibility that utilises animal by-products that are low in cost and pollution, and that mitigate the amount of waste created by meat-production industries,” she told Dezeen.


Six animal leather alternatives made from plants and food waste

Mylo by Bolt Threads

The first bio-based leather alternative that looks set to go mainstream is Mylo by US biotechnology company Bolt Threads.

Created from mycelium, the branching filament structure that mushrooms and other fungi use to grow, the material reportedly consumes substantially less water than is needed to produce animal leather while emitting fewer greenhouse gases.

Major luxury fashion houses including Stella McCartney, Adidas and Gucci parent company Kering have invested in upscaling the production of the material and are set to release the first mass-market products made from Mylo next year.

Elsewhere, Finnish studio Aivan has used a mycelium-based leather to cover the ear pads of its Korvaa headphones, which are entirely made of materials grown by live microbes.


Lino Leather by Don Kwaning 

Over a series of material experiments, Eindhoven graduate Don Kwaning has adapted linoleum, which is commonly used as flooring, into various different leathers (top).

A thicker version mimics the textured, wrinkly finish of rumen leather, which is made of cattle stomach, while a thinner one approximates the soft exterior and flexibility of more commercial varieties.

“It is a material with great future potential,” Kwaning told Dezeen. “Many people don’t even know it’s made from only natural materials.”

In fact, although it resembles plastic, linoleum actually consists of linseed oil mixed with a filler such as powdered cork, which is applied to a cloth backing and left to harden.

The post Six alternatives to animal leather made from plants and food waste appeared first on Dezeen.

An award-winning wifi router +wireless charger that helps you disconnect from the digital world

Last year, the Bium wifi router took home the Bronze award from the Asian Design Prize for its unique mission: to help users disconnect from the internet. Ironic? Perhaps. But in the Internet age, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with information and mild distractions. The occasional break from social media can do wonders for your mental health.

Sometimes, it’s hard to step away from our devices. The Bium has a setting that switches off the internet periodically, helping users clear their minds of digital distractions. The length of these internet-enabled intervals is indicated by four glowing antennas on the router. As the data “runs out,” the light fades — almost like a candle flame. Users can also extend the Bium’s self-imposed internet limit by placing their phone on the little tray that appears to double as a wireless charger. This is such a clever feature because it truly stops users from going online; they can’t be tempted to use their phone data. No cheating allowed.

When you first look at the Bium, its function (as a wifi router) is not immediately apparent. It looks more like an electronic incense holder – a smart design choice that helps foster a calm, meditative environment. However, its appearance and function perfectly embody its name, bium, which translates to “emptiness” in Korean. The digital world is full of distractions, which is why the Bium encourages users to put down their devices and embrace the bium.

Designer: Jonghoon Yoon

This portable SSD with a fingerprint sensor will make you cancel your cloud storage subscriptions

The best way to appreciate the VAVA SSD Touch is to take a trip down memory lane. Remember Pen Drives? Those thumb-sized USB sticks became all the rage in Y2K for transferring files, movies, and illegally downloaded music (don’t act like you never used Limewire). The problem, however, with Pen Drives were their limited amount of storage… an issue that was solved by External Hard Disks that hit peak popularity around 2010. These Hard Drives could store over a hundred times what a Pen Drive could, but they had a problem. They were large, came with detachable cables that often got lost, and most importantly, they had rotating discs inside which could go corrupt or get scratched without warning. That’s when Cloud Drives came to the rescue. Just store your belongings on a foolproof server somewhere in a nondescript location, and you could access all your data via the internet. A pretty convenient solution, although with three caveats. A. You needed a pretty great internet connection, and B. Your data could be accessed by anyone who pretended to be you, and C. You needed to pay a recurring subscription fee for this cloud-service to store your data… rent, basically.

Now that the history lesson is over, close those damn textbooks and take a look at the future of storage. Meet the VAVA SSD Touch, a pocket-sized storage device that’s high on capacity, high on security, and on portability. It’s sort of like we’ve come a full circle with the VAVA SSD Touch, but the idea is that this product builds on the successes of its ancestors. It’s as portable as a pen-drive, as spacious as a hard drive, arguably more secure than cloud-storage, and faster than all three of them. Measuring less than 4 inches, VAVA SSD Touch comes with a sleek looking metal case made from 100% recyclable aluminum, and solid-state drive on the inside ranging anywhere from 512GB to 2TB in capacity. Its slick metallic casing is punctuated by a blue square located on the front that gives the VAVA SSD Touch a layer of biometric security. Acting sort of as a password, the fingerprint sensor prevents people from accessing your data without your authorization. The SSD only unlocks after it authenticates your fingerprint, and you can program as many as 10 fingerprints into the VAVA SSD Touch, allowing your family, colleagues, or coworkers to have access to shared data… or better still, use a password to ensure more impregnable security.

Its portable format makes it infinitely easier to carry large amounts of data, and unlike a cloud account, you don’t need an internet connection to access your files. In fact, the SSD uses a USB 3.1 (Gen2) interface and has read/write speeds of up to 540/480MB/s, allowing you to transfer a file as heavy as 10Gb in nearly 20 seconds. Designed to be compatible with a wide range of devices, you can use the VAVA SSD Touch to transfer files between systems, take backups of your smart-device/computers/servers, play games on your console, watch movies on your TV, or even quickly take file-dumps from your camera or drone. With as much as 2TB of data, the VAVA SSD Touch gives you more storage than you’ll actually need in a format that fits in your pocket, locks with your fingerprint, boasts of a 3-year warranty, and comes at a one-time cost so you don’t need to pay monthly or yearly fees to Apple, Google, Amazon, or Microsoft for their cloud storage plans. Besides, you can even grab yourself one of VAVA’s 9-in-1 USB Hubs to completely revolutionize how you use your devices!

Designer: Eric Wei

Click Here to Buy Now: $89 $132 (32% off). Hurry, only 4 left! Raised over $400,000.

VAVA Portable SSD Touch

The VAVA Portable Solid-State Drive (SSD) Touch gives you AES 256-bit and fingerprint encryption with 540MB/s transfer speed in a palm-sized package.

High Speed Transfer, One Touch Security

Secure Your Files with a Touch – The VAVA Portable SSD Touch utilizes the world’s advanced encryption technology – AES 256-bit hardware encryption, which keeps your data secure and unbreachable. The fingerprint reader adds an extra biometric layer of security to data on the drive. Unlock using fingerprint authentication or user-generated passwords.

Register Up to 10 Fingerprints – With the capacity for 10 team members’ fingerprints, collaborating on projects has never been easier.

LED Status Indicator – The VAVA SSD Touch features an LED light that glows when the device is in use. The light blinks blue during data transfer and red when an error occurs, so you know what your device is up to at a glance.

Transfer Your Files in a Flash – Transfer 10GB of data in just 20 seconds with the ultra fast speeds of the USB 3.1 Gen2 VAVA SSD Touch. Featuring read/write speeds of up to 540/480MB/s, it’s 4.9x faster than standard hard disk drive (HDD).

Speed Test on Macbook Pro. *Testing Rig: MacBook Pro, 2.2GHz Intel core i7, 16GB 2400MHz PDR4.

Reduce Game Load Times by 40% – For games that require frequent loading for new areas or titles with long initial load times, using the SSD Touch saves you time and prevents game time interruption.

Sleek & Portable Design

Multi-Device Compatibility

The VAVA SSD Touch is compatible with PC, Mac, iPad Pro, Android devices, gaming consoles, cameras, and more. It comes with both USB Type C-C and Type C-A cables.

Strong & Shock Resistant

Unlike HDDs, the VAVA SSD Touch is free of any moving parts and is more resistant to shock. Constructed of strong zinc and aluminum alloy, the SSD Touch prevents any data loss from drops up to 4 feet (1.2 meters).

Thermal Control

Aluminum is a great heat conductor to keep the flash controller cool at all times. The Aluminum alloy upper case and the Zinc alloy lower case prevents overheating problems and keeps the VAVA Portable SSD Touch cool all the time.

Reviews

Review by KTLA 5 Tech Reporter Rich DeMuro.

Review by EBPMAN.

Review by State of Tech.

Click Here to Buy Now: $89 $132 (32% off). Hurry, only 4 left! Raised over $400,000.

Steven Chilton Architects reveals visuals of silk-informed theatre in Guangzhou

Guangzhou Show Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects

Steven Chilton Architects has revealed visuals of its Guangzhou Show Theatre, which is currently under construction in China.

Being constructed as part of a major attraction in the Huadu District to the north of the city of Guangzhou in southern China, the theatre will host performances by visiting production companies.

Guangzhou Show Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects

The theatre will have a 2,000-seat auditorium that will be enclosed in a facade directly informed by the city of Guangzhou’s history as a key part of the Silk Road trading route.

“Our client wanted the architecture to resonate with the history and culture of Guangzhou,” explained Steven Chilton Architects founder Steven Chilton.

Guangzhou Show Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects

“The city is historically significant as the starting point of the maritime Silk Road and has been an important trading port since the Han dynasty,” he told Dezeen.

“Silk was first developed in China with the earliest examples dating back to before 3,500 BC, its historical and cultural significance appealed to us along with its unique physical properties.”

Guangzhou Show Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects

The circular main auditorium will be located at the centre of the building with supplementary spaces arranged around it including a large, triple-height entrance hall.

Around the building, Steven Chilton Architect has designed a facade that is designed to resemble silk draped over the building.

It will be constructed from curved panels of perforated, anodised aluminium supported on a steel frame, which will be visible within the building’s entrance hall.

Guangzhou Show Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects

“In plan, the building’s appearance is composed of 10 gently curving and twisting folds that have been designed to evoke the drape and texture of silk,” said Chilton.

“Entrances into the building are formed by the seamless continuation of the ‘silk’ material as it tucks into itself at ground level,” he continued.

“Silk is characteristic for its sharp highlights, in order to capture this effect we have proposed to use anodised aluminium for the cladding due to its sheen and specular properties.”

Guangzhou Show Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects

The theatre’s cladding will be bright red as a nod towards the values of the theatre company.

“Red corresponds with fire in Chinese culture and symbolises amongst other things good fortune, celebration, dynamism and joy,” said Chilton.

“We felt these qualities resonated well with the spirit and values of the theatre company and the essence of their shows.”

Guangzhou Show Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects

Chilton established London-based Steven Chilton Architects in 2015 after leaving architecture studio Stufish. The studio is also designing a domed theatre that will resemble an intricately carved ivory puzzle ball in Guangzhou.

It recently completed the Wuxi Taihu Show Theatre, which is wrapped in a steel structure designed to look like a bamboo forest, in China.


Project credits:

Architect: SCA | Steven Chilton Architects
Client: Sunac Group
Architecture and design management: Sunac Group
Concept engineer: Buro Happold Engineering
Theatre consultant: Auerbach Pollock Friedlander
LDI: Tongji Architectural Design

The post Steven Chilton Architects reveals visuals of silk-informed theatre in Guangzhou appeared first on Dezeen.

This next-gen pack of magnetic gaming tiles lets you play everything from chess to LEGO and Jenga!

If you’ve got 1 minute to spare, I’d recommend you watch the video above and have your mind blown by what the GEMJI is capable of. I want to call it a pack of cards, but the GEMJI is more than that. I’d call it magnetic tiles, but the GEMJI is capable of working like blocks too. Its innovative design and magnetic modular system mean the GEMJI can practically be anything you want it to be. Just like a TV screen is made of individual pixels that light up to create any type of image, the GEMJI’s individual tiles come together to form the framework of any sort of game. You can use the GEMJI to build game-boards, mazes, towers, and even 3D models because the GEMJI isn’t a game, it’s the base structure needed to build and play any game you want!

The best way to describe the GEMJI is by calling it a game system. This means that GEMJI’s tiles can be used to devise and play multiple types of games for various audiences across all age groups. Younger GEMJI-players can use it to create mazes, while more proficient youngsters can snap multiple tiles together to build complex 3D models. If you’re looking for less of a creative outlet and more of a traditional game, the GEMJI’s black-and-white pieces can be used to play anything from Chess to Draughts, Jenga, Go, Mahjong, Backgammon and even devise your own games along the way! Each GEMJI box-set comes with 70 of those dual-color magnetic tiles, along with a playbook of 30+ games you can play (including GEMJI’s own original games) and an online app which promises many more games with future updates. Moreover, the system can be even used as a framework for learning specific skills – for example – programming fundamentals (yes, there are games for that, too). To make it easy to travel with, the box even packs a traveler’s pouch so that you can carry it wherever you go.

GEMJI, as simple as it is, gets a whole bunch of things right. It’s compact, making it great to carry around, yet versatile, fitting a myriad of games into its small factor. Its magnetic construction gives it the advantage of ensuring your pieces never get lost, while also allowing you to play with the GEMJI on uneven surfaces or moving vehicles. In fact, the magnets even work as a fidget-toy. The GEMJI’s individual modules can be used in their 2D capacity as tiles or can be used as 3D building blocks to make larger objects. Each tile is carefully hand-assembled, and the entire set comes with as many as 500 built-in magnets for a new kind of unmatched gaming experience. The GEMJI magnetic tiles are washable too, allowing you to easily clean them if they get dirty… but by far two of its most impressive features are that A. it’s incredibly tactile and provides great audio feedback with the magnetic clicks, making it one of the only games that’s designed keeping visually impaired players in mind, and B. the absence of any language/text and the purely symbolic nature of the GEMJI makes it easy to play with children as well as with people who speak different languages! You can head down to the link below and back this new generation of gaming, while even grabbing your own GEMJI set to play/create/fidget with!

Designer: Margarit (Mark) Ralev

Click Here to Buy Now: $75 $119 (38% off). Hurry, only 36/180 left!

GEMJI – The Multigame System for Designers & Creatives

GEMJI is a portable tabletop game engine that gives you the freedom to play multiple games. Currently, it features over 30 games and 7 building models.

Games include original titles developed by the GEMJI team, educational games, and popular classic game adaptations. The mathematical possibilities in 2D and 3D give you plenty of room to create & publish your own games on the platform.

Precision and design meet in each tile. Its features & modularity make it an extremely versatile building block for exploring new game concepts & entertainment moments.

Benefits of GEMJI

Decrease Time Spent on Devices – Easily reduce “the Black Mirror effect” for you and your family.

Portable and Lightweight – Prioritize traveling light and bring more fun on the way.

Personal Relaxation – Be more effective in your daily tasks and increase your mindfulness with GEMJI as a fidget.

Creative Mode 24/7 – Quickly prototype a concept when the idea strikes you, and show it to your colleagues.

Games That Can Be Played

The modular nature of the system allows a huge variety of games. With a sprinkle of creativity, you can adapt or reinvent classical games, learn new concepts, master new skills, or play by your own rules and share your games with the GEMJI Community.

Game List

GEMJI Gate: Use dexterity and swiftness to score points in the opponent’s field, while preventing them from scoring in your own field.

GEMJI Maze: Challenge your friend to a strategy game, calculate your moves better, outsmart and block your opponent in creative ways, and be the first to escape the maze!

GEMJI Jungle: Find your way through the jungle to the end of the board, but be careful – your opponent takes the same path. Figure out how to outwit them!

Online Platform

Wherever, whenever or with whoever you are, there is a new game waiting for you on the platform. Create a new habit and visit our website regularly to check the updated list of games.

Click Here to Buy Now: $75 $119 (38% off). Hurry, only 36/180 left!

These geometric paintings were made by a CNC-machining robot!

There’s a common belief that robots can do manual repetitive labor very well, but robots can’t create art. Robots aren’t capable of creative thinking for sure, but there are two aspects to creating art, right? The idea, and the execution. Meet the Primus robot – it partners with human creators to be able to execute their artistic visions. Designed to work as a robotic arm holding a brush or a tube of paint, Primus is great at execution, creating stunningly accurate geometric artpieces that absolutely pop!

The first series of artpieces pay a minimalist homage to Andy Warhol, one of modern art’s biggest proponents. The Warhol artpiece was translated from a digital format into a set of commands that Primus can understand. Then all you do is mount a canvas, calibrate the Primus, and get it to start painting! Primus uses a combination of brush strokes and paint extrusion, creating paint that isn’t just flat, but has an element of thickness to it too. Certain swatches use stencils, which the human helps apply and remove during the painting process. The result? A very odd yet appealing combination of art and a robotic factory-line! I guess Warhol would really find this enjoyable!

Designer: Proximars

Norman Foster's predictions on how coronavirus could change cities feature in today's Dezeen Weekly newsletter

Dezeen Awards 2020 judge Norman Foster

The latest edition of our Dezeen Weekly newsletter features architect Norman Foster, who says the coronavirus pandemic will not fundamentally change cities.

In a speech to the United Nations Forum of Mayors in Geneva, Foster said that while Covid-19 will not have a long-term impact on cities it will accelerate current trends.

The founder of London-based studio Foster + Partners predicts these will include more sustainable buildings, a “renaissance” for urban farming and a “new future” for monorails.

Readers however aren’t convinced with one commenting that “coronavirus already has changed cities”. Another added “cities are used by people who work at desks in dedicated, expensive office buildings which are now half redundant”.

Dark bathroom inside Bathroom of Untitled House, UK, by Szczepaniak Astridge
Ten tranquil bathrooms with dark and soothing interiors

Other stories in this week’s newsletter include our roundup of 10 zen bathrooms that embrace dark, moody hues, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza and Porto studio COR Arquitectos’ design for a housing scheme in Italy and the Canine and Feline Hotel in Parada, Portugal.

Subscribe to Dezeen Weekly 

Dezeen Weekly is a curated newsletter that is sent every Thursday, containing highlights from Dezeen. Dezeen Weekly subscribers will also receive occasional updates about events, competitions and breaking news.

Read the latest edition of Dezeen Weekly. You can also subscribe to Dezeen Daily, our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours.

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The post Norman Foster’s predictions on how coronavirus could change cities feature in today’s Dezeen Weekly newsletter appeared first on Dezeen.