“Stand For Myself,” a soulful country-influenced track off of British singer Yola’s forthcoming album of the same name, arrives with a neon-accented official music video, partly inspired by Missy Elliott visuals. Yola’s powerful vocals bolster the track’s message. “This song is about a celebration of being awake from the nightmare supremacist paradigm,” she says in a statement, “truly alive, awake and eyes finally wide open and trained on your path to self actualization.”
Looking like a piece of cloth draped on a chair (without the chair), the MEMORIA is a groundbreaking, avant-garde chair proposal based on brutalist design principles, that uses a concrete fabric to realize its unique, gravity-defying design. The material, generally referred to as Concrete Canvas, is a flexible fabric impregnated with concrete, which hardens when hydrated and forms a thin, durable, waterproof, and fire-resistant layer. The prototyping technique ensures each chair is unique in the way the chair looks and the fabric folds, along with a bespoke brutalist concrete texture on its surface.
“By creating an aura that evokes mystery, questionability, and reflection on the object beyond its pure functionality, Memoria plays with the senses, confusing at first the user and, in turn, showing different interpretations, narratives and stories depending on the circumstance and context of the user”, says designer Sergio Sesmero.
The use of Concrete Canvas is rather unusual in furniture and can generally be spotted in civil constructions due to its high durability, resistance, and sustainability. The production of the chair first starts with a 3D-printed mold made from recyclable bio-degradable PLA filament. The Concrete Canvas is then laid on the base frame and hardens over a period of 24 hours. After the canvas has set, a final round of epoxy coating is applied to the chair, allowing it to fill in any pores and air gaps in the canvas. The result is an incredibly unique and expressive chair that can last for as long as 50 years!
The Memoria Chair is a Gold Winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2021, and a winner in the Emerging Furniture Design of the Year category at the SIT Furniture Design Award for the year 2021.
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Though the technology needed to transform a concrete building into a rechargeable battery has existed since the early 20th century, new research from Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology affirms that it’s possible to implement right now within many of the world’s pre-existing concrete buildings. According to Luping Tang of Chalmers and Emma Zhang of engineering and technology company Delta of Sweden, embedding carbon fibers (among other things) would allow concrete to conduct and store energy, possibly from solar panels. This would enhance the benefits of the world’s most used building material and lend an environmentally friendly attribute to the notorious infrastructure material. Read more about the tech and its benefits at Fast Company.
Image courtesy of Struffel/Blendswap, Simon_M/Blendswap
Unlike most upright pianos that use a robust wooden casing to create acoustic reverberation, the Una Corda ditches it all for an exposed design that results in a much softer-sounding note that’s gentle to the ears. “In the course of researching piano acoustics, I decided to strip the piano from any and all unnecessary features, invent a new, softer soundboard, and to build a piano by the strict principle of form follows function“, says David Klavins, who was commissioned to create the Una Corda piano for renowned pianist and composer, Nils Frahm.
The piano’s name Una Corda translates to “One Cord” from the piano’s one-string-per-note construction. The outer frame for the Una Corda is made from stainless steel, within which sits its exposed double-layer soundboard. The playing experience is far from just auditory and tactile, it’s incredibly visual too, as you literally see how the hammers hit the strings when you press any of the 88 keys. Instead of the aggressive ‘twang’ of an upright piano, the Una Corda has a gentler, sweeter sound that can be made even softer thanks to the presence of modular felt panels that can be added between the hammers and strings to dampen the sound even further.
The result is an instrument that’s a piano in theory, but challenges the long-set notion of what a piano should look and sound like. Known for combining classical with electronic music, Frahm even added a combination of microphones and pick-ups to the piano, giving it much more flexibility and range than any normal upright or grand piano. Skip to the 4:30 mark in the video to hear the Una Corda in action. It really sounds less like your traditional piano and almost like a cross between an electronic piano and a celesta!
The Una Corda is a Silver Winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2021.
Five artists created 11 limited edition prints, available online now
When Absolut Art approached COOL HUNTING about a partnership to present works on a specific theme, we were quick to come up with a motif that was—and remains—close to our hearts. First, we focused on our appreciation for nature, which we then refined to the theme to plants. After over a year confined mostly indoors, we found it especially apt; many of us cultivating our own little indoor jungles to replicate some of the tranquility and joy that comes from being outside, immersed in nature.
From there, we built a list of some of our favorite artists who make work featuring plants—from collage-style abstract prints to stunning still-life photographs. From our lengthy list, the team at Absolut Art selected five finalists.
Courtesy of Kathryn Macnaughton / Jasjyot Singh Hans
Each artist had the opportunity to select an organization or initiative for Absolut Art to donate toward. India’s Hemkunt Foundation (an organization that works on various projects from providing sanitary napkins and education on menstruation to delivering much-needed oxygen to COVID patients) and UK-based Extinction Rebellion (an initiative working to make governments accountable and act on the climate emergency) were chosen.
Luxury can mean a lot of things–spending the summer floating by on a yacht in the Mediterranean, it could mean strolling around town in a bespoke Rolls-Royce, or it might mean reviving the Rolls-Royce coachbuilding team to design cars that make you feel like you’re on a yacht. Comparable to luxury shipbuilding yards like Feadship in the Netherlands, the reestablished coachbuilding team at Rolls Royce designs motorcars using the vision of the patrons who commission them. Finding laps of luxury and inspiration on the sea, the coachbuilding team’s commissioned debuts, designed and built-in confidentiality, are three built-to-order Rolls-Royce motorcars called Boat Tails inspired by the build and structural anatomy of yachts.
The Boat Tail, a coupé born from the patrons’ enduring love for the sea and taste for nautical design, was designed specifically to celebrate the hand-craftsmanship and relative history of yacht building. Three coupés inspired by nautical shipbuilding design have been built under the modern coachbuilding department at Rolls-Royce. Merging today’s advanced technology with the trusted bespoke coachwork of yesteryear, the Boat Tail’s hand-formed chassis cradles a 19-foot bonnet that covers the car’s 6.75-liter V-12 engine. The stone azure coat of the Boat Tail slopes to a wisped finish around the rear and borders the motorcar’s painted pantheon grille.
Inside, the Boat Tail comes equipped with technologies and comforts that have never before graced the luxury-ridden Rolls-Royce interior. Among other hors d’oeuvres and apéritifs to bedeck the Boat Tail’s rear butterfly trunk, revealed through twin side-hinged compartments, champagne is stored in ice, and caviar is kept cool in trunk refrigerators and ice-boxes. Blooming from the same trunk cabin, a high-tensile fabric parasol provides shade and locks in place on stainless steel poles and aluminum connectors, stretching over carbon-fiber frame stays to remain in place even in the windiest of conditions.
Rolls-Royce carries a rich coachbuilding history that dates back to the 20th century. Progressing past their 2017 bespoke car building platform, Rolls-Royce built the one-off Boat Tail for an unnamed client, firmly establishing their specialized coachbuilding department for the 21st century. The many Rolls-Royce coachbuilders of the past would begin with the chassis, dedicating their expertise to the frame, motor, and suspension, before handing it off to different coach makers who would design the rest of the car’s body and interior according to the patron’s specifications. Today, Rolls-Royce announced a permanent coachbuilding department made up of skilled engineers and designers to roll out built-to-order motorcars that surpass the coachbuilding endeavors from the past, planting it distinctly in a motorcade fleet of its own.
A rear-side parasol opens up from the Boat Tail’s twin butterfly trunk compartments for additional shade and weather protection.
The two-door coupé slopes to a gradient finish in stone azure blue.
Luxe additions like caviar and cooled champagne grace the inside of the Boat Tail’s trunk.
Gleaming aluminum panels line the Boat Tail’s sides and top.
Equipped even with coordinated watches for the bespoke model’s owners, Rolls-Royce made it happen with the Boat Tail.
Creators behind the Boat Tail call it the trip and the destination, equipped with all the amenities one might need for a highway rendezvous that culminates with a cliffside picnic.
A high-tensile fabric parasol provides shade and protection whenever rain comes.
Dezeen Showroom: designed especially for contract projects requiring a cohesive look across bathroom accessories, the Shift toilet roll holder by VanBerlo for Geesa can be customised in a range of styles, finishes and patterns.
The Shift collection offers four different toilet roll holder designs — a single holder with or without a shelf, and a double holder with or without a shelf.
The toilet roll holder is part of the Shift collection
It can be ordered in finishes including chrome, brushed stainless steel, brushed gold, brushed metal black or matt black, with shelves either matching or in complementary glass or marble.
There is also the option to add a pattern to the front of the holder for a surprising detail. Some of the patterns are three-dimensional, giving the surfaces a particularly tactile quality and creating interesting light play.
It is available with an optional shelf
With such a wide range of options, Shift can be used to create an array of interior styles, from classic to modern and expressive to minimalistic.
All of the collection’s objects have a cohesive look modelled on the same simple base shape — a rounded parallelogram as most simply expressed in the Shift towel hook. They come with a 15-year guarantee.
About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
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Dezeen promotion: Milanese architect Piero Lissoni has completed his collection of seating designs for American furniture brand Knoll.
Designed for versatility, Knoll‘s KN Collection is intended for use in the home as well as informal offices. It includes a lounge chair, a high-back chair, an ottoman, two armchairs, a sofa and the latest addition, a four-legged armless chair.
The complete family of designs was presented in a video show that Knoll launched online on Tuesday 25 May 2021. Influenced by fashion shows, the presentation features all the variants in the KN Collection: from the initial KN01 to the latest KN06 and KN07 models.
Lissoni’s first design in the series, KN01, debuted in 2018
The seven seating designs are available in multiple variations and are united by their smooth, curved chassis shell and sleek frames.
The KN01 – a sleek, swivel lounge chair with a compact, elegant form – was debuted in 2018. Knoll notes that Lissoni paid special attention to the proportions of the height of the seat and the shell to create a light but generous design.
KN02 is a high back swivel chair that Lissoni describes as “like a cloud”, and was launched in the same year accompanied by the KN03 ottoman.
Knoll’s KN02 high-back chair and KN03 ottoman were also launched in tandem, in 2018
Equipped with a headrest and a built-in control for adjustment of the reclining position, the KN02 features a hidden mechanism that allows it to shift from an upright posture to a more restful, reclining angle.
In 2019, Knoll introduced the low-slung KN04 armchair together with the KN05 sofa. Both designs have a fixed, four-legged chrome-plated or coated metal rod structure. Their gently curved shells are manufactured in polyurethane, covered in leather or fabric.
The KN05 settee from 2019 has a gently curved, upholstered shell
“The history of the KN family and its growth is a case of ‘the more you get, the more you want’,” said Lissoni of the collection’s beginnings.
“We began with a swivel chair, then we raised it and added movement. But this chair had to have one special characteristic: it had to seem like a cloud, floating in the air. This led to the 02 with its ottoman, the 03.”
KN05 was released with the smaller KN04 armchairs
“After that, we asked ourselves, ‘why not make an 04? Perhaps we can slim it a little, lower it, make it more streamlined’. So the 04 came into being, and we thought, ‘well, that is truly a beautiful object… why not do the 05?'” Lissoni continued.
“And so, number by number, we have reached this latest model, the 07. It is a very simple chair, clear and basic, but it contains the DNA of Knoll – in short, when you see it you know it is a Knoll creation.”
The KN06, which features a fibreglass shell, was launched last year and expanded in 2021 with new variations
For the latest KN07 and KN06 models, the leather or fabric-covered shell rests on four fixed legs, or on a height-adjustable swivel base with four stars on glides, or five stars on casters. Its poised, armless seat joins the inner and outer surfaces in a single, fluid line.
The KN06 armchair – taller than the KN04 and with more upright arms – was launched last year. It is available with a fixed leg or swivel structure, and its fibreglass shell is available in glossy white or glossy black, or covered in fabric or leather.
The KN06 armchair is available with four fixed legs, or a four or five stars on castors or glides
In September, at the 2021 edition of the Salone del Mobile, the brand plans to unveil a version of the KN06 and KN07 with a column base structure.
Lissoni is a longtime collaborator with Knoll. In a statement, the brand credits him as serving as a “spokesperson” for its “codes and style” over the years, while praising his designs for “discreetly applying a contemporary language while at the same time paying homage to the classics of the past”.
The armless KN07 chair comes with a leather or fabric-covered shell
“The long-term collaboration between Piero Lissoni and Knoll has evolved over time in a range of various projects poised halfway between the home and the office: sofas, chairs, armchairs, bookcases and tables like Avio, Gould, Matic, Matrioska, Red Baron, and Grasshopper,” explained the brand.
From Europe, where there’s less chance you’ll be shot by police over a misunderstanding, comes this designey pump-action water gun.
That’s the Devilfish Incog, designed by outdoor gear company Team Magnus. “In line with modern kids’ gadgetry styling, it offers MI5 style stealth,” the company writes.
The Incog can hold 1.2L (40 oz.) and has a range of 10 meters. It’s gotten mostly rave reviews on Amazon—except from one father who seems pretty pissed that his son lost the fill cap. I always find tethered caps annoying, so I can’t say they should add one.
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