Hasta La Ideas

The controversial fake hill in central London designed by Dutch studio MVRDV has reopened to new visitors and will be free to visit during the month of August.

Westminster City Council has apologised for opening the £2 million Marble Arch Mound attraction, which was forced to close shortly after opening last week, before it was ready.

“We made a mistake and we apologise”

Visits to the 25-metre-high temporary landscaped mound near the Oxford Street shopping destination will now be free in August. Following this, tickets will start at £4.50 each.

“We wanted to open the Mound in time for the summer holidays and we did not want to disappoint people who had already booked tickets,” said Westminster City Council’s chief executive Stuart Love.

“We made a mistake and we apologise to everyone who hasn’t had a great experience on their visit,” he continued.

“With that in mind, we’re going to make The Mound free for everyone to climb throughout August.”

“Let’s give nature a chance”

Built to encourage people to visit Oxford Street following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in the UK, the artificial hill stands alongside Marble Arch, which was designed by architect John Nash in 1827.

The attraction has been widely criticised due to the quality of the planting and brown sedum covering since it was revealed last week.

In response to the criticism, the council suspended bookings and offered refunds to disgruntled visitors who had paid to climb the mound.

Designers of the mound MVRDV accepted that it did not look complete when it opened, but defended the attraction.

“Some elements were not ready, and it would have been better to wait until the greenery looked better,” the studio told Dezeen. “But let’s give nature a chance.”

“There is also a serious message: how important it is to add nature to cities to combat climate change,” it continued.

“We think adding plants here is a symbol of where we need to go in the future, greening the city.”

Council “working hard to resolve the outstanding issues”

Westminster council is working to improve the planting at the Marble Arch Mound and hopes that people will visit to “make their mind up” on the merits of the attraction.

“Now is the time to bring the buzz back to central London and to see people visiting the West End again,” added Love.

“We are working hard to resolve the outstanding issues and create an attraction worthy of our fantastic city. It’s going to look great and be an amazing experience once we’ve got it ready!”

“We are very much looking forward to welcoming visitors back so they can enjoy everything London has to offer and can make their mind up about the Mound.”

Photography is by Dezeen.

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Here’s an interesting product design that addresses one of those minor UX hassles we all know, but rarely consider. This Self Standing Spreader Knife Air, by Swedish industrial designer Harald Hynell, rests on its handle to keep whatever you’re spreading up in the air, rather than all over the presentation board:

The knife is produced and sold by Bosign, a Swedish product company founded by Hynell. It comes in Olive wood, as well as stainless steel or brass, in small and large sizes. Prices run from €15 to €50 (USD $18 to $60).

Dezeen promotion: the winners of the iF Design Award 2021 have been announced in a worldwide digital campaign due to the travel restrictions to the originally planned ceremony in Berlin, Germany.

Launched in 1954, iF Design, intends to promote social change through design, identify “good design” and support young designers in launching their careers.

This year the iF Design Award winners of nine disciplines selected holistic, human-centred solutions that echoed the theme of the 2021 digital iF winners campaign, The CreatiFe Power of Design.

Here we outline the award-winning projects, including a system that helps visually impaired individuals learn to use the internet and a discrete hearing aid device that can be placed under hair.

Blind Storytelling/Auxiliary equipment for the blind

Blind Storytelling/Auxiliary equipment for the blind was designed to help visually impaired individuals use the internet.

The design includes smart gloves that help people undertake operational commands with their hands, while the headset can read screen information and convert it into audio information.

“The headset can read the information on the recognition screen and convert it into a voice to communicate to the user, while smart gloves can help users realise basic operation commands by setting specific shortcut keys in advance,” said the award organisers.

Manufacturer: Shenzhen Powor Industry Design
Project: Blind Storytelling/Auxiliary equipment for the blind
Category: Product Concepts

Healthdot/Wearable Health Sensor

This product is a wearable sensor that allows medical specialists to monitor patients discharged from the hospital during their first few days at home. The sensor is designed to connect to the hospital’s cloud system, ensuring remote monitoring. It has a simple round-edged design, intended to be easy to wear.

“Convalescing and elderly patients often struggle with electronic devices that require Bluetooth pairing, pin codes or charging,” said the iF Design Award organisers.

“Health Dot is a wearable sensor designed so that patients do not need to do anything to make it work, allowing them to focus on their recovery.”

Manufacturer: Phillips
Project: Healthdot/Wearable Health Sensor
Category: Product UX

Ainos Flora/Portable Medical Testing Device

Ainos Flora is a testing device for sexually transmitted diseases and vaginal infections. The design is portable and can tell the user if they have an infection and the pathogen type causing it in just one minute.

“Right now, vaginal infections and STDs often require an invasive and embarrassing pelvic test,” said the organisers.

“Ainos Flora eliminates this embarrassment, allowing fast, comfortable and discreet tests.”

Manufacturer: Ainos Inc.
Project: Ainos Flora/Portable Medical Testing Device
Category: Medicine and health

Hydroxyl Aura/Air purifier

This product is a wearable air purifier designed to protect users. The design uses patented technology to create sterile air in front of a user’s face.

Specifically, it generates cleaning agents called Hydroxyl radicals that destroy pathogens and pollutants.

“Airborne contamination both from pathogens and pollution is a growing concern,” said the award organisers. “Clean, pure air is especially important for people with asthma and respiratory conditions.”

Manufacturer: Hydroxyl Technologies Limited
Project: Hydroxyl Aura/Air purifier
Category: Medicine and health

Intellimix/Smart Touchless Faucet and Soap Dispenser

Intellimix is a smart touchless tap designed to dispense both soap and water. The design intends to encourage people to wash their hands using soap – a fact that the World Health Organisation recommends as essential to avoid spreading viruses, including Covid-19.

“Rising to the challenges of the modern world calls for a new definition of hygiene,” explaines the organisers.
“Intellimix doesn’t just deliver superior hygiene, it also reduces running costs, improves sustainability, and even makes maintenance simple.”

Manufacturer: Ideal Standard International
Project: Intellimix/Smart Touchless Faucet and Soap Dispenser
Category: Bathroom

Mi Kids Sonic Electric Toothbrush/Children’s Dental Care Packaging

Mi Kids Sonic Electric Toothbrush is a toothbrush that includes an app-based brushing animation that enables children to learn good oral hygiene habits. A key component of the design is its packaging, which features interactive illustrations for user engagement.

“The unboxing experience for children replicates the pleasure of reading a picture book or playing a game,” said the organisers.

“Once open, the packaging has a second use as a game box, offering children a continued fun and interactive experience.”

Manufacturer: Xiaomi
Project: Mi Kids Sonic Electric Toothbrush/Children’s Dental Care Packaging
Category: Beauty and health

Motion Pillow/Sleeping aid

This product is an anti-snoring pillow intended to improve sleep quality by reducing snoring. The pillow gently moves the user during sleep. It is equipped with airbags that change their sleeping position without disturbing their rest.

“It has an ergonomic C-curve design to comfortably support the cervical spine, and the pillow height is also designed to be adjustable according to individual preferences,” said the organisers.

Manufacturer: 10minds Co., Ltd.
Project: Motion Pillow
Category: Medicine and health

NoHand/Handle

NoHand is designed so that people can open doors with their elbow and forearm, transferring the task away from our hands to protect from pathogens. This resolves the issue of opening doors with hands, which quickly spreads pathogens.

“The situation that has unfolded over the past few months has dramatically highlighted the importance of hygiene,” said the award organisers.

“Handles that open doors in public spaces have become dangerous and give cause for concern, as constant sanitation is nearly impossible.”

Manufacturer: Manital Srl
Project: NoHand/Handle
Category: Home furniture

ObeEnd Weight Loss Wristband/Smart health bracelet

ObeEnd Weight Loss Wristband/Smart health bracelet is a wearable device designed to help users control calories by using neuromodulation technology to help them control their body weight.

“This provides a precise electric stimulation of acupuncture point PC6 to control body weight,” said the organisers. “ObeEnd generates targeted electric stimulation to PC6, which helps reduce hunger and appetite by reducing gastric secretion signals from the brain.”

Manufacturer: WAT Medical Enterprise Ltd.
Project: ObeEnd Weight Loss Wristband/Smart health bracelet
Category: Medicine and health

Paexo Neck/Exoskeleton Workgear

Paexo Neck is designed to provide shoulder relief and support to people who do manual work. It has an exoskeleton neck support structure that can be adapted to users by its adjustment options.

The design is lightweight, can be taken on and off in under seconds, and was created to provide users freedom of movement.

“People who perform manual work above the shoulder often experience a great deal of strain in the neck region or even suffer from various work-related disorders,” the organisers explained.

Manufacturer: Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA
Project: Paexo Neck/Exoskeleton Workgear
Category: Industry and tools

Phonak Roger On/Wireless Microphone For The Hearing Impaired

This product is a microphone that intends to aid people with hearing loss to understand speech over noise and across distance. The design is wireless and can pick up groups of voices of people sitting next to each other, for example.

“It can be held in hand to pick up a single voice, or it can be worn on the chest by a distant speaker/presenter,” said the organisers. “Thanks to the display and the large centre button, it is straightforward for elderly people to operate.”

Manufacturer: Phonak Communications AG
Project: Phonak Roger On/Wireless Microphone For The Hearing Impaired
Category: Medicine and health

RONDO 3/Audio processor for cochlear implant system

Rondo 3 is a hearing device designed as one discrete button that can be placed under people’s hair. The device’s settings and battery levels can be modified and checked on a smartphone, while wireless hearing technology adapts to various environments depending on noise levels.

“Hearing technology should offer one thing: simplicity,” said the organisers. “That’s why the RONDO 3 audio processor offers cochlear implant users a sleek, smart, and easy-to-use device.”

Manufacturer: MED-EL
Project: RONDO 3/Audio processor for cochlear implant system
Category: Medicine and health

CFI-ZCT1/Wireless Controller

The CFI-ZCT1 is a wireless controller designed with PlayStation 5 to create an immersive gaming experience. It includes a built-in microphone, haptic feedback, and dynamic adaptive triggers.

“The grips taper as they extend toward the tip to ensure the controller fits hands of all sizes,” said the organisers. “This configuration allows the user to maintain a firm grip while ensuring the fingers can reach all the buttons effortlessly.”

Manufacturer: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
Project: CFI-ZCT1/Wireless Controller
Category: Gaming Hardware

First Shaving Series ER-GK20/ER-GM40/Personal Grooming Device

This product is a grooming tool for teenagers to help them take care of unwanted facial and body hair. First Shaving Series was designed with a youthful colour palette intended to appeal to young people. It received an iF gold award from the iF jury for “the encouraging product line”.

“Most trimmers and shavers on the market are geared toward adult men,” said the organisers. “The design positions the personal grooming of beards, eyebrows, and body hair as a gentle, easy, and positive experience.”

Manufacturer: Panasonic Corporation
Project: First Shaving Series ER-GK20/ER-GM40/Personal Grooming Device
Category: Beauty and care

All the award-winning projects are published in the iF design app and in the iF World Design Guide.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for the iF Design Awards as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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If you’ve ever cleaned out a wood stove, fire pit or fireplace, you know ashes have a way of getting all over everything. Consider, then, the potential for terrible UX when dealing with the cremated remains of a loved one, which are typically stored in urns or boxes. As Bloomberg points out:

One entrepreneur, Justin Crowe had been thinking about this since his grandfather passed away in 2014. And when he started asking friends about what they did with ashes, he heard all kinds of horror stories. One talked about the travails of scattering them on a windy day. Another described sweeping up remains strewn with bone bits after they spilled….

“We don’t accept this type of poor experience in any other part of modern life, so why are we accepting it around what should be one of our most treasured possessions?” Crowe said. “It shocked me that for all of the inspiring stories I heard about people’s lives, there were these really tragic stories about living with cremated remains.”

Crowe subsequently started a company, Parting Stone, that transforms ash from cremated humans—or pets—into a much more UX-friendly form factor: Smooth pebbles.

Their process first removes contaminants from the remains (implants, surgical screws or staples), adds water and “a small amount” of an unspecified binding material to transform the ash into a clay-like material, and heats the mixture in a kiln to produce the pebbles.

Interestingly enough, the color of the pebbles varies from person to person. While we all walk around the planet in our natural and varying skin colors, I figured that once that was burned off, we’d all be the same tones underneath, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Perhaps the phrase “You are what you eat” comes into play here.

Parting Stone’s services run $695 for humans, $345 for dogs and $295 for cats.

11 unique, upscale rooms populate a restored palazzo that dates back to the 18th century

Within the picturesque confines of Ostuni—Puglia’s historic white city—the new 11-room boutique hotel Paragon 700 invites guests into an enchanting, eccentric restoration of an 18th century palazzo. Proprietors Ulrike Bauschke and Pascale Lauber transformed the abandoned bones of the palace into a contemporary design destination, complete with top-tier amenities, impeccable hospitality, delectable food and drink outlets and a peaceful pool that works in tandem with the southern Italian sunshine. Further, all of these splendors have been imagined and maintained by Bauschke and Lauber—the owners and an LGBTQ+ couple.

From spacious rooms that collide contemporary art and furnishings with revived frescos and antique fixtures, to shared spaces for disconnecting from devices or connecting with fellow guests, Paragon 700’s refined floor plan will appeal to various types of travelers. Thoughtful surprises exist around every corner, inside and out. Unexpectedly, stairwells wind up and away. Vegetables sprout behind an ancient stone wall. Asymmetrical geometries fragment Puglian vistas. This amalgamation of attributes and personalities defines the work of ID Living, Lauber’s architecture and design firm.

Both Lauber (who was born in Switzerland) and Bauschke (who comes from Germany) refer to their introduction to the storied property as love at first sight. They’d moved from Cape Town to Puglia to be closer to friends and family, and had spent time renovating a nearby masseria (or traditional farmhouse) for personal use. Though they’d been involved in design and hospitality in South Africa (and elsewhere), they had no intention of immersing themselves once more, until a friend toured them through Palazzo Rosso and its walled gardens—both of which had been uninhabited for many years.

“I have to bring this to life again,” Lauber says of the sensations she felt during the walk-through. Immediately, a vision began to form. “I knew how it would look right away.” As for her process over the years-long restoration, she says, “I like to tell contemporary stories and mix various styles. I like to be detailed. The concept is never only about a renovation; we consider the way people will move through the property, the way we will serve our guests.”

Lauber, who spent much time on site going so far as to set mosaics from recovered tiles, plotted the design down to its scent identity. “For Paragon 700, we worked with all seven senses—the first five of course, but the sixth is équilibre [aka “balance” in French] and the seventh is emotion. Every thing here has a reason—even the name. Our logo is drawn from an original fresco that we preserved,” she says.

“Puglia was meant to be our holiday destination,” Bauschke adds. “But when I saw this I knew it needed to be a boutique hotel, so we restored the soul of the property.” Outside, verdant gardens and public artworks accent the long, rectangular pool. There’s an undeniable continuity to the eclectic identity both inside and out. And if guests are interested in purchasing any of the furniture or decor they see, they can. It allows the owners to seek out more—an act they’ve long derived pleasure from.

“Our chef is from Puglia, though he’s worked all over the world,” Bauschke continues, as we share light bites and cocktails in lingering late afternoon warmth. For the seasonal gourmet restaurant’s menu, Bauschke explains, “We work mainly with local suppliers. The cheese and meat come from here. We have our own vegetable garden, too. Like the decor, though, it’s crafted with an international touch.”

Beyond the menu, Paragon 700 offers programming to satiate the curiosity of guests. There’s an associated beach club on the Adriatic, which can easily be reached by car. There’s also a private boat. Much of the on-site programming involves art events and partnerships. The hotel can also arrange for tours of the historic village so that visitors can truly experience how Paragon 700’s red brick facade contrasts the white-walled buildings that define its surroundings.

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“People come as guests and leave as friends,” Bauschke concludes, and we understand. It pertains to the warmth of the hospitality one experiences amidst the flair of the spectacular hotel itself.

Images courtesy of Paragon 700