Sad bangers and beautiful bummers for the season’s transition
Understanding that it’s hard to say goodby to summer, we’ve made a mixtape of bittersweet songs that provide an apt soundtrack to the seasonal transition. From ethereal new wave to dramatic dream-pop and mellow neo-disco, the playlist includes tracks from various countries and decades. With music by Cocteau Twins, Robyn, Frankie Knuckles, yaeji and Arlo Parks, the vibe is one of beautiful bummers, melancholy bops and sad bangers. Enjoy it at sunrise on the beach, sunset by the pool or late at night on a dark dance floor.
Dezeen has teamed up with Milan’s Salone del Mobile to live stream a panel discussion each day during Supersalone from 6-10 September.
Taking place each afternoon at 2:00pm London time, the talks will cover topics including women in design institutions, radical design and design education and feature designers, curators and critics including Beatriz Colomina, Lilli Hollein, Aric Chen and Stefano Boeri.
The discussions are part of Open Talks, a series of daily talks at Supersalone curated by Maria Cristina Didero.
The special edition of the furniture fair will see exhibits installed on walls instead of branded booths
This year’s edition of Salone del Mobile, titled Supersalone, is curated by architect Boeri as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the cancellation of the 2020 edition.
Taking place in Milan in September rather than in its usual April slot, the special edition of the fair will feature products displayed on a series of parallel walls instead of in branded booths.
“I believe that this will be a way to take a risk in the right direction and demonstrate that the Salone is alive, that Milan is alive and that generally, our field is still dynamic and open to new conditions,” Boeri told Dezeen in an interview earlier this year.
The 2021 edition of Salone del Mobile is curated by architect Stefano Boeri
The fair will be open to the public all week and visitors will be able to buy discounted products by scanning QR codes located next to products.
The schedule for the talks that will be streamed on Dezeen is below. For details of the full Open Talks programme, click here.
Who can say no to education? 2:00pm London time, 6 September
In this talk, architectural historian Colomina, curator Chen and professor of Design and Social Inquiry at Parsons School of Design in New York Anthony Dunne, will discuss The Lost Graduation Show. This exhibition at Supersalone will showcase 170 design projects by students from 48 design schools worldwide, who graduated between 2020 and 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic.
Moderated by the show’s curator Anniina Koivu, the panel will discuss the pressing topics and issues explored by the students in the show that are facing a new generation of designers.
Women within institutions 2:00pm London time, 7 September
Moderated by creative director and design consultant Tony Chambers, this talk will explore the experiences of women within design and art institutions. On the panel is the director of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg Tulga Beyerle, director of the MAK museum in Vienna Hollein and curator of contemporary design at the Smithsonian Design Museum in New York Alexandra Cunningham Cameron.
Foundations between design and charity 2:00pm London time, 8 September
Featuring a panel including Parley for the Oceans founder Cyrill Gutsch, chair of the Swarowski Foundation and Waterschool Nadja Swarovski, House of Today Foundation foundation director Cherine Magrabi Tayeb and design historian Libby Sellers, this talk will explore how the creative industries can help to find solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
Today’s radicals 2:00pm London time, 9 September
In this talk, designer Philippe Malouin and Italian design studio Formafantasma will speak to curator and movie director Francesca Molteni about what it means to be radical in today’s design industry.
Architecture is not art 2:00pm London time, Friday 10 September
To round off the week, chief curator of High Line Art in New York Cecilia Alemani, will speak to artist Carsten Höller and architect Boeri about the relationship between architecture and art. The panel will discuss the ways in which the two disciplines relate to each other.
Salone del Mobile and parallel fuorisalone events will take place from 5 to 10 September 2021 in Milan. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
Shanghai studio AIM Architecture has inserted a red staircase that resembles a children’s slide in the middle of this clothing store to create a playful interior.
Named In the Park, the Shanghai store was designed to reflect the playfulness of the clothing brand while drawing on the layout of traditional Chinese parks.
AIM Architecture wanted to create a playful interior for the fashion brand
AIM Architecture wanted to transform what was once an inaccessible three-storey space in the middle of a busy shopping mall into something that felt interconnected and coherent.
The most prominent feature is a striking 4.2-metre-tall staircase made from fibreglass and rubber that resembles a children’s playground slide or a skating bowl.
A striking fibreglass staircase forms the centre piece of the store
“The staircase is as inspired by a suburban skate bowl as much as it is an austere garden,” Wendy Saunders, AIM’s founder and principal architect, told Dezeen.
“We wanted to make the stairs more than just a way up but an experience in itself and at the same time breaking the high climb for the customers by adding an extra floor.”
Clothes, magazines and homeware items are displayed around columns
Red steps snake from the mezzanine to a halfway platform and continue on to the ground floor, connecting all levels inside the store.
“Making a connection between all the floors is an important part of the spatial identity,” said Saunders. “The original site was three storeys high with no connection and a forest of columns, making parts of the space unreachable.”
Steel shelving units contrast the bold staircase
While shoppers entering In the Park are immediately confronted by the staircase, the brand’s clothes, shoes and other homeware items are spread out sporadically around the space.
On the first floor, a record store has been tucked around a corner out of sight.
Customers are taken on a winding journey to discover items
According to the designers, this echoes the arrangement of landscaping in China’s parks and gardens.
“We were strongly inspired by traditional Chinese parks, where winding paths lead the visitor to secluded areas,” said Saunders.
Several other decorative elements alongside the main staircase were used to contribute to the playful look.
Aluminium shelves informed by park benches wrap around “tree like” columns throughout the store. Outside, bamboo chairs and a large oval seat surround a bed of plants.
Red rubber furnishings create a sense of cohesion throughout
Playful hues and shapes in the store are set against minimal furnishings such as the steel shelving units and the muted grey colour palette.
Industrial, untouched pillars around the store also contrast the cheerful centre piece, giving the interior a more balanced feel.
A minimalist record shop is hidden around a corner
The iPhone is pretty much one of the most popular phones in the world. I mean I’ve been using one for the past 7 years, and I don’t think I’m transitioning to any other smartphone company anytime soon. And, news about the upcoming iPhone 13 has been making waves in the tech world! We don’t know exactly when it’ll be launched, but we are hoping it’s this month! But we did recently hear a rumor from renowned analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, that the iPhone 13 may be the first consumer-grade phone to have direct satellite connectivity! Of course, there are other upgrades Apple may introduce in the iPhone 13, including a smaller notch, larger batteries, and even supersized new cameras. As we wait for the tech giant to release its latest smartphone, let’s deep dive into some of the innovative and exciting iPhone 13 concepts that have been circulating in the design world! From a concept that ditches the notch for a bump to a foldable iPhone 13 concept – these conceptual designs have us completely geared up and excited for the real deal!
This concept by Antonio De Rosa ushers in a new age for a new iPhone – the M1 iPhone. The ‘beauty on the inside’ for this concept is surely its M1 chip, which has definitely made a massive splash with the rest of Apple’s high-end consumer electronics… while the design change in question is in the very product’s silhouette. Unlike every previous iPhone, which has had a rounded rectangle shape from the get-go, the iPhone 13 comes with an outward notch that houses its front-facing camera. This is probably the most unusual camera bump I’ve ever come across because for once, it isn’t on the back of the phone… it’s on the top.
The iPhone 13 conceptual design showcases a curved display that wraps around the screen on all four edges. The phone body looks pretty much iPhone 11-ish and compromises the metal frame in iPhone 12 for the flowing display. Interestingly, the concept highlights a very Android Phone-like vertical camera array on the back, comprising a quad-camera setup The 6.4-inch Full-Edge Display of the phone is basically the highlight of this concept. There is no notch but a 13-inch under-display camera makes its debut, and the physical buttons on the side have been embedded into the overflowing display on both sides.
Seems like the iPhone 13 is set to disrupt connectivity as we know it, being one of the first consumer-grade phones to have direct satellite connectivity. The news comes as a rumor from renowned analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo. While it’s common to make predictions only to have them fall slightly short, Kuo’s analyses and ‘leaks’ have an incredibly high success rate… and the veteran analyst just dropped a big bomb-shell a few hours ago – that the latest iPhone might have the ability to make satellite calls.
Could you imagine the iPhone 13 as a flip phone?! This iPhone Flip concept by Technizo Concept brings back the 90s mania of the flip phones in the form of an iPhone! It will be amped with a QHD + flexible ProMotion OLED display. This foldable iPhone 13 concept has got all my votes!
PS Design’s conceptual iPhone 13 sports a secondary rear display too, although it’s capable of doing a lot more than just letting you click better selfies. A better way to describe PS Design’s iPhone 13 concept is to compare the rear display to Apple’s closest product – the Apple Watch. The 3-inch always-on rear display practically mirrors the watch’s capabilities, allowing you to see the time, notifications, and a wide variety of other data on it. The display on the rear uses Apple’s low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) technology to provide its always-on feature, and the fact that it sits right beside the main camera setup (and that it’s larger than the Mi 11 Ultra’s display), means the front of the phone can ditch the notch entirely, creating a beautifully bezel-less iPhone that leaves little to be desired.
Apple’s mixed reality headset has been in the works for quite some time now, and a couple of months ago it became apparent that the lightweight VR headset will be coming in 2022, with the Apple Glasses to follow soon after. On the flip side, the iPhone 13 is destined to arrive this fall, and like all times it is already the topic of interest in the tech circles. While iPhone 13 and the Apple VR headset cannot be launched in the same given timeframe – still it doesn’t deter imaginative designers from mustering up how the two products will look together. ConceptsiPhone has created a render of the two upcoming devices by Apple and mashed them together in a video dubbed iPhone 13 VR for creative writer’s delight. The VR headset is open to any imagination possible, and the folks over at ConceptsiPhone have taken that opportunity to show the world how the mixed reality headset will be like. It looks plush (after all it’s Apple) and is in sync with the design principles Apple has put in place for the headset – comfort and lightweight aesthetics. The strap looks reassuring as far as ergonomics go while the padding around the viewable area ensures utmost comfort.
The Apple version of a folding phone could take design cues from the Galaxy Z Fold 2 if they decide to make it an all-out flagship-grade version, or go for a subtle Razr-like form factor if they desire to cater to a niche set of buyers. If we go by the patent filed by Apple, the display will have a crease-less foldable panel (like Galaxy Z Fold 2) and a folding mechanism similar to Motorola Razr – folding like a handy mirror. The early renders of the iPhone 13 are not exactly promising (for either of the versions) but we can count on Apple’s tendency to be thorough in its design testing and the result will be ready to shock and awe. Personally, I find the Moto Razr-inspired fold a more unique design with the folded screen seemingly a throwback to the iPod Nano that was a part of their game-changing arsenal.
This may be a leap but could we imagine the iPhone 13 as a compact little smartphone? The iPhone One concept by Alexandrov’s Studio is a square-shaped iPhone that’ll fit perfectly into the palm of your hand! Amped with a 5 camera system, this unique iPhone concept is meant to be ‘one-handed’. You’ll only need one of your hands to operate it, leaving the other one relatively free! The iPhone concept is pretty cute and compact!
Filip Koroy (@everythingapplepro) envisions the first iPhone with ProMotion! The iPhone 12 Pro models were expected to be launched with the ProMotion feature, but in the end, Apple opted for a better battery life. In Koroy’s concept of the iPhone 13 Pro, he visualizes the introduction of the ProMotion in 2021! What do you think? Will we be seeing the first iPhone with ProMotion anytime soon?
The iPhone Pixel 6 Pro Max is the lovechild of Apple and Google! The Pixel’s camera was borrowed, while the iconic Apple logo was retained. The Iphone’s rounded edges were chosen over the Pixel 6’s squarish flat edges. This collaboration is sure to receive some mixed reviews…I mean my emotions regarding it are quite mixed as well! This may not be the next iPhone, but maybe we could see it somewhere down the years?!
Universal Works was co-founded in 2008 by David Keyte (formerly of Paul Smith and Maharishi) and inspired by his working-class childhood in the Midlands of the UK, during which his father and uncle would also don their workwear for dress-up occasions. With products influenced by military and task-oriented silhouettes (like bakers’ jackets and laborers’ chore coats), the brand’s apparel is both practical and stylish. Their Drop Crotch Fatigue Pants offer a loose fit, with a long front rise (with a zip closure), as well as waist adjusters for the most comfortable fit. Made from 100% cotton, the corduroy fabric feels both soft and sturdy, making them an ideal garment for the transition into autumn and winter. Price is in Pounds.
Sio is a cat tower carved from natural wood with integrated perch swings and cushioned hideouts for cats to climb and rest until they’re ready for a catnap.
Catfurniture has come a long way since the ‘70s. From the cat trees wrapped in shag carpeting to the midcentury-inspired climbing trees of today, designers have created cat furniture to meet the needs and aesthetics of the times. Today, the shag has been swapped out for more refined, wooden cat trees with integrated scratching posts and resting hideouts like the Sio cat tree designed by Sebastian Medrano Casas.
The Sio cat tree keeps the same shape as a twin step ladder, providing a semi-enclosed bottom resting area and carpeted steps with connecting slings where cats can relax and keep a close eye on their humans. Constructed from natural wood, the Sio cat tree is discreet enough to fit into most modern living rooms and blend in with the rest of the furniture.
The base of the Sio cat tree is wide enough to support the rest of the tower and resting spots, but small enough to fit snugly into a living room corner space. In the semi-enclosed base of the Sio tree, cats can rest in the pillowed sleeping area for a cozy escape from the house. When cats rest in the tree’s base area, humans will hardly notice they’re there, making it the ideal, cozy nook for cats to hide out.
Just above the base, cats can come out from hiding and lie on the base’s cushioned roof, bordered by roped beams for good scratching bits between cat naps. Comprising two levels of the tower, carpeted slings connect the topmost steps on both sides of the tree where cats can let their paws and tails dangle. Then, the top of the cat tower provides a final lookout perch that’s overlaid with ribbed carpeting for a comfortable resting spot that could double as a scratching post for cats.
The Sio cat tower is one interpretation of the modern cat tree, one that switches outdated design elements like shag rug coats and frayed scratching walls for a more sophisticated tower constructed from natural wood, faux fur cushions, and long-lasting roped scratching beams. Small enough to tuck away into a living room corner, but big enough for your cat to get a good climb in every time, the Sio cat tower is made for the cat in each of us.
The seminal modern home recently reopened following a five-year renovation by The Association Cap Moderne, which returned it to the state it was in when it was completed in 1929 by Gray.
Readers are excited to take a closer look, with one commenting: “Would love to see it in this restored state”.
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.
In the lecture, which is titled Architectural Behaviorology, the Japanese architects discussed the architectural impact of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 and 2021 and how it has affected their own practice.
Atelier Bow-Wow worked with local people to help rebuild Momonoura village after it was devastated by the 2011 tsunami
The duo also explained their approach to architecture – how they try to create a continuous loop between research, teaching and their own design work – before discussing how they have increasingly shifted their attention to rural areas of Japan.
Projects featured in the talk include Atelier Bow-Wow‘s work over a number of years in Momonoura, a small fishing village that was devastated by the Tsunami in 2011.
Kaijima explained how they worked with the villagers to create new accommodation made from local materials to attract new residents and visitors to the area.
Atelier Bow-Wow’s Tanada Terrace Office is a concept for a rural office
Tsukamoto presented projects including the studio’s Tanada Terrace Office pavilion, a concept for a rural office that Atelier Bow-Wow built with Muji in an area of Japanese farmland dominated by terraced rice fields.
The concept intended to suggest a new typology of building that could provide a space for city workers to visit the countryside in order to encourage better integration and interaction between urban and rural communities.
Tsukamoto and Kaijima founded Atelier Bow-Wow in 1992 and have devoted their practice to investigating the material, social and economic conditions of architecture.
Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima gave the 30th annual architecture lecture remotely
Tsukamoto and Kaijima’s lecture, which they gave in July remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, is the 30th annual architecture lecture organised by the Royal Academy of Arts. Dezeen has collaborated with the RA to make the talk available for people to watch for free for the first time.
Children can play, hide and climb inside a series of sculptural spheres in a playground in Vårbergstoppen, Stockholm designed by Swedish architecture studio AndrénFogelström.
AndrénFogelström has decorated Vårbergstoppen, a park on a hill on the outskirts of Stockholm, with several colourful spheres.
The architects installed a giant orange sphere at the top of Vårbergstoppen park. Photo is by Brendan Austin
The studio worked with landscape architecture practice Land Arkitektur to update the park, in a bid to counteract some of the urbanisation occurring in the park’s suburban location.
“We wanted to make something exciting and unusual to inspire kids as well as adults to explore,” studio founders Moa Andrén and Tove Fogelström told Dezeen.
“The idea came from a client who was inspired by the steep hill and the thought was that great balls would roll down the slope, almost as if a giant was throwing them,” they continued.
Perforated metal allows daylight to filter through the orb
A large orange sphere constructed out of perforated metal sheets sits at the top of the hill.
AndrénFogelström cut the metal into individual hexagons, before welding them together into the spherical structure.
It is meant to look as if it is about to roll down the hill
The architects spent a long time working out how to make the structure look as though it were about to roll down the hill.
“It was an immense task during construction to make them fit together, and the structural engineer had a great deal of work just managing how to mark the pieces during the construction,” AndrénFogelström said.
“It is a self-bearing construction where the parts support each other in the spheric form. It appears to be rolling down but is safely anchored to the ground,” the architects explained.
Adults and children can sit inside the hollow sphere
Children and adults can enter the sphere through a circular opening to rest on its stepped wooden benches. At night, the sphere is lit by several small floor lights. Cables to the lights are threaded through the legs.
In the winter, the architects imagine that people will use the sphere as a starting point for sledging down the hill.
Three smaller spheres, which are positioned inside the playground at the foot of the hill, were made for younger children to play on and climb.
One sphere has a slide, another one has a little bench. All have small holes for peeking out of while playing.
Three smaller spheres are set inside the children’s playground
Each of the spheres, which the studio thinks of as “little worlds,” is made from wood which has been treated with linseed oil to increase its durability.
The frames, which stand on a block of concrete underneath the ground, are all made of steel.
Each hollow sphere has little circles through which children can peep while at play
Vårbergstoppen’s unique geographical history also informed the architect’s design choices. Swedish city landscape architect Holger Blom created Vårbergstoppen as an artificial hill in the 1960s.
The architects drew on the circular shapes Blom used, in an effort to honour his creation.
“The landscape was clearly designed, as the landscape architect who made the park in the 60s worked with forming the masses in geometric forms; the most significant one is a circular crater with a diameter of 100 meters,” the studio said.
The structures are part of a wider redevelopment of the park
Other playgrounds that make use of playful, sculptural structures include The Folds by Atelier Scale in China which encourages children to explore in a more tactile way than usual.
You probably don’t need me to remind you of the phrase “Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey”. Chances are, it automatically plays in your head whenever you’re turning a faucet, screwing a bolt, or just about working with pretty much anything that has threading on it… but there is a marvel of engineering that defies this notion – it’s called the dual-threaded screw. Discovered and popularized in 1892, the dual-threaded screw is famous for the fact that it supports both clockwise and anti-clockwise nuts.
Challenging the notion of ‘righty tighty lefty loosey’, dual-threaded screws let you use nuts that tighten in either direction. You could ask an engineer what the practical application of such a screw is, although from my own personal experience of watching mechanical videos on YouTube, it’s definitely interesting and baffling to see how you can tighten this unique screw in practically any direction you want. If you’re having trouble visualizing it, the MetMo pen brings that unique engineering detail to your office stationery set.
The MetMo Pen (short for Metal in Motion) is a metal pen with a machined outer body, featuring the unique dual-thread design. Created for the fidget-enthusiast and the curious-at-heart, the pen comes with two nuts that screw onto it, and lets you experience the quirky joy of watching how this crazy little concept works.
With its machined metal body (featuring the diamond-shaped dual thread design), the MetMo pen is as visually beautiful as it’s tactile. Equipped with a Parker-style refill on the inside, the pen is a sheer pleasure to write with, but its highlight is definitely its unique fidget-feature.
Each MetMo comes with two nuts (that rotate in reverse directions). Made entirely from metal with carefully considered tolerances, these nuts turn the MetMo into the ultimate fidget toy, allowing you to slide them around, move them up and down, flick them with your thumb, and watch them as they rotate in opposite directions, but travel up or down the pen in the same direction.
The MetMo even comes with its own threaded case that lets you easily rotate to either conceal or reveal the entire pen. I’m realizing more and more that words don’t do justice to exactly how bonkers fun the MetMo is, so just go ahead and look at the pictures below or the video above!
The pen comes in two variants – machined either from solid aluminum or solid brass. Both are equally well-balanced (and are a pleasure to hold and write with) although the aluminum weighs a mere 31.5g (1.1 ounces) while the brass variant is much heavier at 92.7g (3.2 ounces) for a more premium, weighted writing experience.
The pen measures 150mm in length and fits all standard parker-type refills. The tip of the pen retracts in too (by rotating the base), and paired along with the two nuts, makes for an incredibly addictive tactile experience that’ll keep you occupied for hours! The aluminum Metmo pen costs $104 while the brass pen has a price tag of $142 – they ARE made from solid metal, after all, with no glue or plastic parts (which means they’re designed to last longer too). For an additional $34, you can even get yourself the add-on brass case for the MetMo!
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