The Magic Grill from Haruo Matsunaga is a modular, portable, and electric grill that comes with a removable base and a 3mm hot plate to optimize the product’s storage, assembly, and function.
Whether we’re camping or making the most out of small living spaces, portable grills solve a lot of our cooking dilemmas. When camping, having access to a portable grill is always preferable to starting a fire from scratch. In tiny living spaces, kitchenettes might be space-efficient, but weak stovetops can sometimes make cooking more frustrating than it has to be. The Magic Grill, an electric grill designed by Haruo Matsunaga strikes the ideal balance between space efficiency and functionality.
The Magic Grill, as ideated by Matsunaga measures an overall plate thickness of only 3mm using the brand’s proprietary ultra-thin AC film heater. Recognized by Good Design Awards for 2021’s cooking appliances category, the Magic Grill aims to solve storage issues that comes with traditional, bulky electric grills.
Constructed with a removable base, the Magic Grill can easily slide into any cramped cabinet or compact backpack thanks to its modular design. The Magic Grill’s film-shaped, full-face electric hot plate ensures that each dish is cooked evenly. Similar to Teppanyaki cuisine, The Magic Grill utilizes an iron griddle-like hot plate to cook food, ensuring an even cook-through and temperatures.
Leaning on a revolutionary, ultra-thin heater to cook various dishes, the Magic Grill’s innovation stems from the hot plate’s integrated proprietary technology. With a removable base, the Magic Grill can easily be stored anywhere and assembled quickly in the kitchen or on the go, requiring only an outlet for the electric cord to plug into for operation.
Among those mourning the loss of one of the fashion and design worlds’ most prolific names were British Vogue editor Edward Enninful.
“Virgil Abloh changed the fashion industry,” Enninful wrote on Instagram. “Famously prolific, he always worked for a greater cause than his own illustrious career: to open the door to art and fashion for future generations, so that they – unlike himself – would grow up in a creative world with people to mirror themselves in.”
“Virgil believed that anything was possible for humankind if only we could tear ourselves away from unconscious biases and norms and reassume the imagination we had as children,” Enninful added.
“His achievements won’t just live on. They will continue to evolve, because we are only seeing the beginning of his impact on the creative industries and surrounding world. My thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him. Rest in peace, Virgil, a giant among men.”
Architect Adjaye was also among those paying his respects. “Too soon dear brother… RIP,”he wrote on Instagram, adding “a Black star in every sense”.
Abloh “launched legitimately 100+ of careers”
Architect Wong of Food New York, who created a sketch design for a 15-minute city with Abloh in a live video call at Cape Town’s Design Indaba conference, said working with Abloh was “a blur of energy and inexhaustible joy and optimism like anything and everything was possible. But also that somehow it was easy and effortless.”
“He changed my life,” Wong added. “Like directly. He asked Oana and I to design his first ever Off-White store while we were in the car in Paris on the way to Kim and Kanye’s wedding. It would be the first permanent piece of architecture we ever built and a huge part of my work to this day is because of that project.”
“He invited so many kids to work on something together, probably launched legitimately 100+ of careers. And kids that wouldn’t be at all welcome in the worlds he was in except for the fact that he held the doors wide open for them after he had already picked the locks previously.”
“We have lost a visionary artist”
New York designer Daniel Arsham also underlined Abloh’s dedication to collaborative work.
“We have lost a visionary Artist,” Arsham said on Instagram. “Devastated to learn about the passing of @virgilabloh / 11 years ago he cold-called my studio and asked me to come meet with him about some projects. This was before Pyrex, Been Trill, Off-White and all the other revolutionary projects he embarked on.”
“He was always ready for a text message conversation about chair design or architecture. He was kind enough to write the introduction to my last major book and in it distilled with his unique voice what I was hoping to achieve with my own work. He was a unique talent, a visionary artist, a friend. Love you Virg. You have made an indelible mark on so many of us.”
As well as his work on Off-White and at Louis Vuitton, Abloh worked closely with artist and musician Kanye West, who he met while interning at Fendi. He was appointed creative director of West’s agency Donda in 2010.
West’s Dondalive website now reads: “In loving memory of Virgil Abloh, the creative director of Donda,” and yesterday, West’s Sunday Service choir performed Adele’s song “Easy On Me” in Abloh’s honour, Complex reported.
Fashion designer Donatella Versace also paid her respects on Instagram, saying: “The world has lost a fashion superstar. An innovator.”
“You brought lights to entire generations”
Abloh’s designs were worn by some of the world’s most famous models and actors. Model Gigi Hadid said he will be “deeply missed.”
“I am heartbroken by the loss of my dear friend, and a friend to the world, Virgil Abloh,” she wrote on Instagram.
“He was 1 of 1. His kindness and energetic generosity left a lasting impression on every life he touched – he made everyone feel seen and special.”
“U made dream an entire world, you brought lights to entire generations. By your art, your vision, your W O R D S, you made it clear that everything is possible.”
“Your structural talent and personal visionary depth moved me and my kids (who think you’re the best artist) and helped me reconsidering my work methods when at my studio where your artistic impact mattered when facing forward leaving what had been behind,” it continued.
“We will all miss you a lot and honour your legacy by staying progressive, human and real.”
Abloh’s most recent collection for Louis Vuitton, Spring/Summer 2022, will be shown in Miami tomorrow and pay tribute “to the life and legacy of a creative genius,” the brand said.
The photography is by Ovidiu Hrubaru for Shutterstock.
Lightly charred timber clads the walls of Sayang House, a house conceived by designer Carlos Gris for an aunt who had returned to UK after 20 years abroad.
Gris designed the home for his aunt Gretta Funnell, who decided to leave her home in Malaysia and move to the Cambridgeshire Fens to be closer to her sister following the death of her husband.
The house is single-storey with a large roof terrace
Gris wanted to make connections to Asia in his design for Funnell’s new home, a minimal building with glazed facades and an overhanging roof.
For the exterior walls, he specified a Japanese technique known as shou sugi ban, which involves charring the wood to give it texture and a natural layer of protection against decay.
The exterior is clad in wood that has been lightly charred
While this technique usually blackens the wood, here it gives the material a rich brown tone.
“We went for this brown coloured shou sugi ban and it really does sit it into the fen marshlands,” said Carlos in a video about the house.
“I hope that it captures a serenity, a calmness that I think she’d been looking for,” he said.
The charring technique, called shou sugi ban, helps to protect the wood
It is built next door to the home of Gris’ parents. In order to build it, the couple sold a portion of their land to Funnell.
Floor-to-ceiling glazing features in every room
The two buildings are distinctively different.
Gretta wanted a more modern, minimal design rather than a traditional English country house.
This led Carlos to design a simple, single-storey building topped by a large roof garden. Glazed walls at the front and back offer views of the large garden shared by the two homes.
“It’s not trying to be something to grab attention. We wanted to sit it back and almost make it blend into the countryside,” said Carlos.
The house contains three bedrooms
There are two guest bedrooms located at the front of the house, along with the main bathroom, a lounge and a boot room that helps to stop mud being trodden into the building.
The third and main bedroom is located at the back, where it boasts an en-suite bathroom and a view of the garden. Alongside it is the largest room in the house, a generous kitchen, dining space and living room.
A freestanding tub is the focal point in the main bathroom
A staircase tucked into the corner of the exterior leads up to the roof, which is expected to become an outdoor living room for the house.
“Whilst the property would appear very clean-lined, it also tries to blend into the vernacular of the fenland,” said Carlos.
“The strong geometric roof parapet is a reflection of the long and flat horizons seen in the area.”
The corridor faces out to a zen-style garden
Despite its simple form, Sayang House integrates various neat details.
The extra-tall front door is aligned with a view of a weeping willow tree in the garden, while the central corridor faces out to a zen-style garden.
The overhang of the roof creates a sheltered place to sit
Additionally, the overhang of the roof creates a sheltered plan to sit and enjoy the garden, even when it’s raining.
“There’s nothing unnecessary; everything is done with a purpose,” added Carlos.
Architecture: Carlos Gris Studio Project management: Fernando Gris Architectural detailing support: James Rixon, Tony Walton Engineer: JMS Engineers, Matt Greasley SIPS specialist: SIPS building Ltd, Andrew Gillet Steel specialist: Ian Cross Services (ICS) Glazing specialist– Maxlight Carpentry and Shou Sugi Ban cladding: Kings Carpentry Ltd, Phillip King Block and Beam: Kingspan Electrician: Theo Bailey Drains and septic: Drain Store Roofing: Kieran Harcourt Plasterer: Danny Hatley Heating: Eco Installer
Cabins have been a relaxing and quintessential getaway option for everyone for ages galore. They’re the ultimate safe haven in the midst of nature, if you simply want to get away from your hectic city lives, and unwind. If you want a simple and minimal vacation, that lets you truly connect with nature, without any of the materialistic luxuries most of us have gotten accustomed to, then a cabin retreat is the answer for you! And, we’ve curated some beautiful and super comfortable cabins that’ll be the perfect travel destination for you. From an intriguing tiny pentagonal cabin to an elevated prefab cabin with a buffer zone to help protect it against harsh climate – these mesmerizing and surreal cabins are the ultimate retreat, you’ve been searching for!
1. The Grand-Pic Chalet
Measuring 1464sqf, Grand-Pic Chalet certainly is grand, yet still unassuming amidst the surrounding birch trees. Taking note of the wooded area’s flora and saplings, the architects at Appareil let the trees and forest guide their design process. Inspired by the lanky birch trees around Grand-Pic Chalet, Appareil architects clad the cottage in corrugated steel to complement the organic vertical lines found throughout the forest. Cloaked by lush black facades, come dusk the Grand-Pic Chalet disappears into the dark like a rider in the night.
2. Cabin A24
DDAA (Dev Desai Architects and Associates), an offshoot from a firm specializing in residential villas and interiors, designed its own line of unique cabins to capture our gaze. The RCA – 03, or Cabin A24 is a prefabricated tiny cabin that keeps a unique pentagonal shape and comes fully furnished with a bathroom, kitchenette, and living space. Designing Cabin A24, the team behind DDAA hoped to achieve a distinct architectural identity without compromising the tiny home’s household efficiency, amenities, or spatial functionality. Cozy and petite by design, Cabin A24 forms two halves.
3. Bivouac Fanton
Architecture firm Demogo built this small zinc-clad hiker’s cabin, perched on a cliff edge in the Marmarole mountain edge in the Dolomites. Bivouac Fanton was created as a free, emergency shelter for hikers. It’s been equipped with bunk beds to accommodate up to 12 people. The 30-square-meter cabin was built to provide shelter and protect hikers from, as well as celebrate the wild surroundings.
4. Cara R
Cara R is perched in the Andes Mountains in Southern Chile giving views of the vast parklands and nature reserves. It is the ideal destination to be immersed in nature but the area is also known for its extreme climatic conditions and that is exactly what Cara R’s design aims to guard against – nothing can stand between you and a cozy night at your cabin in the woods! On the first floor, there is a woodshed and a chiflonera.” This area between the interiors and exteriors is commonly found in Chilean or Patagonian homes because it helps to regulate the extreme temperature changes that occur in that region. It features a steel frame because stell is both water and fire-resistant!
5. System 00
System 00 is described as Backcountry’s “essentialist A-frame shelter.” Stocked with only the essentials, System 00 measures 10’x10’ and was designed to welcome living spaces such as a single bedroom with room for one sleeping bunk, a meditation studio for yoga, or an open space for working on art. Backcountry’s smallest cabin, System 00 was designed to be self-assembled by a team of four to five builders within a week. Requiring no heavy machinery, System 00 is the only cabin from Backcountry’s catalog that does not require a construction permit.
6. Iniö
Iniö is a prefabricated log home from Pluspuu designed for a Switzerland-based Finnish couple who’d like a holiday retreat in their hometown of Heinola. Pluspuu currently keeps a catalog of twelve prefabricated log houses. Out of the twelve, the couple settled on Iniö for its rustic personality that’s interwoven with distinct modern touches like expansive floor-to-ceiling windows and a bright, unstained wooden interior. Iniö comes as a two-level, three-bedroom log house stationed behind lofty eaves that create plenty of overhang for the home’s wraparound patio.
7. Meteorite
This cabin in the woods is an otherworldly, all-black, geometric structure built to provide cozy refuge even in harsh Finnish winters. It was designed for a California-based CEO who returned home to Finland with her family to be closer to her ancestral land so she could maintain it. The cabin is aptly named Meteorite based on its unique shape and is set in a clearing surrounded by spruce and birch trees. The cabin is made entirely from cross-laminated timber (CLT) which is a sustainable alternative to other construction materials. The three-story home is built entirely from 272 prefabricated panels of cross-laminated, locally sourced timber—a sustainable material that lends itself to digital design methods and follows the Finnish tradition of timber construction.
8. Chilean Ski Cabin
Iragüen Viñuela Arquitectos built a two-story holiday cabin from the foundation of a previous building project in Chile. The quaint Chilean ski cabin can accommodate up to 12 people.”The platform had been built in a small clearing in the forest, without cutting any trees, right at the tip of the peninsula, which allowed it to be surrounded by the river, with spectacular views towards the forest and up the hillside,” the architects explained.
9. The Low Country Cottage
Infused with minimalist details and outfitted with rustic charm, the Low Country cottage was inspired by the marshlands of Savannah and Charleston. Born and raised on a farm in Alabama, Low Country architect Jeffrey Dungan understands southern coziness like his own backyard. Citing the tiny home’s bucolic detailing, Dungan asks of Low Country, “What could be more southern than a porch with bracket supports and hand-made details like carved rafter tails at the eaves for good measure?”
10. Cabin of Hope
Moazzen’s Cabin of Hope fuses indoor and outdoor living with its main cantilevered A-frame structure that opens up to a veranda overlooking the nearby lake. Shaped like a zig-zag, all three A-frame structures that give rise to the Cabin of Hope are connected at the cabin’s wooden deck base and interwoven outdoor walkway. To achieve an air of contemporary design, Moazzen blended the traditional aspects of cabins like wooden foundations and exposed beams with more modern edges like LED window frames and optic white finishes that cool down the wood’s smokier accents. Dark wooden beams line the angled walls inside each A-frame cabin, further showcasing Moazzen’s commitment to bridging classic cottage elements with notes of contemporary escapism.
Dezeen Showroom: Australian studio Heliograf has released an updated version of its Light Soy lamp, this time made from recycled plastic bound for the oceans.
Heliograf’s Light Soy lamp is shaped like the iconic fish-shaped soy sauce packet and intends to celebrate a fun design while also raising awareness of the problem that single-use plastics present to marine life.
The playful Light Soy lamp is now made of recycled plastic
“When we first designed Light Soy we experimented with recycled plastic and it was of low quality and questionable origin,” said designer and Heliograf co-founder Angus Ware.
“Now, in just a few years small studios like ours have access to certified recycled ocean-bound plastics. It’s exciting that so much progress has been made already.”
The design is based on the cute but wasteful fish-shaped soy sauce packets
The updated Light Soy lamp is made from 75 per cent recycled polypropylene, and Heliograf plans to raise that to 100 per cent across all components and products as it gets more familiar with the material.
Light Soy is available in table lamp or pendant versions and is designed for repair and eventual recycling. It comes in plastic-free packaging.
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NT Industrial Design Studio has surprised us all these years with passionate designs that are crafted to millimeter detail. Thanks to the relentless effort put in by Portugal-based designer Nuno Teixeira, we get a new perspective of objects and functionality that is right on point. Nuno’s latest concept design takes smartphone function to new highs – virtually turning your BFF gadget into a vlogging, video shooting and photography companion.
The designer calls it THEIA Imaging Smartphone Concept, and instantly it gives off that peculiar camera dominant vibe. Looking more like a typical handheld gaming console from the yesteryears – the ones that played 2D games in monochrome colors – the concept looks like any other smartphone up-front. But on the rear side, it has a completely alien design to cater to premium photography and video shooting needs. It even has a small screen on the rear specifically in place for creating vlogging content. There’s a vertical-aligned screen right by the side of a 50 MP 1/1.12″ camera sensor (comparable to a 28mm / f1.8 DSLR lens) to make it ultra-easy for people who shoot a lot of videos/photos. Such a good sensor means the low light photography is a step up from flagships on the market. The rugged-looking phone has a teardrop camera for selfies which is a bit old school for 2021 since punch-hole cameras are the norm currently.
The textured surface on the lower half of the gadget provides superior grip for stable footage – and yes it can shoot underwater too, thanks to the IPX8 rating for dust and water resistance. Theia also has dedicated shutter buttons on either side of the surface for ergonomic comfort of use. Powering the guts of the device is the Snapdragon 888 flagship processor that takes care of all the image processing and fancy tech to leverage the most out of the powerful rear camera sensor. The phone also gets a full-fledged array of unidirectional built-in microphones and a 3.5 mic input.
On the software front, the camera hones multiple color filters, 4K slow-motion at 120fps, and 5-axis image stabilization. The latter promises excellent shooting quality in the most unstable shooting environments – for example, while running on rocky mountain terrain or during action sports. To make sure you never fall short of ports to pug-in, the vlogging-centric phone gets 3 USB-C ports (two on the sides and one on the bottom) and a micro-SD accessible slot.
Tigg + Coll Architects has added a timber-roofed wing to a house in Surrey, England, to support the needs of two children with a rare muscular disorder.
The project, called House for Theo and Oskar, prepares the two-storey suburban home in Boxhill for the family’s future needs.
The new wing features a timber diagrid roof structure
Theo, eight, and Oskar, six, both have duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a condition that causes muscle weakness and develops gradually over time, so they need their home to support increasingly limited mobility.
Tigg + Coll’s design allows wheelchair accessibility in the existing building and adds a new wing containing specific facilities for the two boys.
The roof cantilevers out to create a sheltered terrace
This extension boasts an innovative wooden diagrid roof, which not only allows for larger bedrooms but also provides a flexible structure that can be used to support hoists.
“The family were key to the process,” said studio co-founder David Tigg, “but we also spent a great deal of time with occupational therapists, and had discussions with other families who are living with DMD.”
The extension extends out from the rear corner of the existing house
“We visited care and rehabilitation centres to understand more about living with DMD and how using hoists would impact the boys as they grow,” he told Dezeen.
“This background work was so important to make sure what we designed really would be flexible and appropriate.”
The diagrid roof could support hoists in the children’s bedrooms
The extension provides generous bedrooms for the two boys, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom and WC, and a spare bedroom that could accommodate a carer.
The layout of the existing house was also altered, relocating the kitchen to the centre of the floor plan and creating a larger entrance hall than was there previously.
Sliding glass doors allow these rooms to open out to the garden
The diagrid roof structure spans the boys’ bedrooms and also extends out to create a canopy for the garden.
It was built using plywood and a type of engineered wood known as glulam, creating a grid structure able to support hoists in various different locations.
The renovation places the kitchen and living room in the centre of floor plan
The entire structure was prefabricated in a factory, which meant it could be fully tested in advance.
This helped to significantly speed up the process of construction and helped to reduce the building’s carbon footprint.
“The timber diagrid provides incredible strength and flexibility for the future,” said Tigg.
“It allowed us to create very long cantilevers and wide spans, which were fundamental to the brief of delivering an adaptable home,” he said.
Storage has been built into the walls
The roof cantilevers off the precast concrete sandwich panels that form internal walls. As a result, Tigg + Coll could design glazed facades that slide back completely, allowing the rooms to open to the garden.
These sandwich panels would not typically be used in a single house, but were possible here because housing developer Ballymore gave its support to the project. Tigg believes it is the first house in the UK to be built in this way.
A wheelchair-accessible wet room also features in the extension
“Our concept was always to have a relationship to the garden and in particular the idea of the tree canopy,” he stated.
The idea, he said, was to create “a protective, sheltered and warm space where the light could be allowed to come through in a dappled way”.
The house is located in Boxhill, Surrey
House for Theo and Oskar is one of four projects to so far make the shortlist for the RIBA’s House of the Year prize, which is being announced as part of a special series of television show Grand Designs.
Tigg + Coll was invited to work on the project after winning a design competition organised by Colander Associates.
House for Theo and Oskar is shortlisted for the RIBA’s House of the Year prize
Tigg hopes that some of the techniques they’ve used could be replicated in other house projects.
“I would certainly say that our cross-laminated timber roof system would work incredibly well in a variety of settings as it is so flexible and strong, and it also looks beautiful,” he said.
American architect Tiara Hughes has launched the First 500 website, an online platform dedicated to showcasing the work of Black women architects working in the US.
Hughes founded the First 500 organisation in 2018 after learning that less than 500 of the 100,000 licensed architects in the US were Black women.
In October, the architect launched a website to further the initiative’s mission in achieving racial justice in the architecture industry.
“First 500 aims to inspire Black women and girls to infinitely increase our licensed representation in the industry to better reflect the environments we serve,” Hughes told Dezeen.
“The website is a resource and reference to learn more about the incredible contributions of black women to the built environment.”
“We must tackle this disparity as an industry together if we want to see transformative change”
According to Hughes, systemic barriers such as lack of access, support and resources are some of the biggest factors preventing Black female architects from furthering their careers.
In light of this, the First 500 website has a library that consists of books written by Black writers or featuring Black architects. It forms part of the initiative’s goal to reinsert some of the contributions of Black architects into the historical narrative – something that is often overlooked in education.
“Our platforms emphasize that this dilemma needs to be supported on all fronts from all parties,” Hughes explained.
“We must tackle this disparity as an industry together if we want to see transformative change.”
The First 500 website features insights from its leadership board
To that end, the site also provides features on topics such as equity as well as links to scholarship programs and competitions open to Black females.
There is also a section where users can upload their own profiles to a database, helping improve visibility and representation.
First 500 began as an initiative
Initially, Hughes’ aim was to increase the number of licensed Black women architects to 500 and begin closing the industry-wide equity gap.
She spent much of her time travelling around the US to raise awareness about the representation of Black women architects, offering face-to-face support and education.
But Hughes found that such low figures were common in countries around the world.
This prompted her to create an online platform that could support Black female architects on an international scale.
Tiara Hughes founded First 500 in 2018
“Today, Black Women Architects make up less than one per cent of all licensed architects in the US,” she explained.
“We have since learned that similar disparities exist in countries across the world which is why the platform became global.”
“We hope everyone who visits the website will be inspired and spread the word to young Black girls and women interested in learning more about architecture,” she added.
“Our collective mindset has to shift from equality to equity”
Alongside the slowly climbing figures, it was events that took place in 2020 that indicated to Hughes that now was the time to launch the website.
“The sudden open-mindedness of the industry towards diversity, equity and inclusion efforts following the murder of George Floyd paired with Covid-19 preventing us from travelling and gathering in large groups signalled the right time to launch the site and create this permanent platform for everyone to connect online,” she explained.
Now, Hughes believes that rhetoric and practice must both move from awareness to targetted action.
“Acknowledgement has occurred to an extent following the murder of George Floyd, but our collective mindset has to shift from equality to equity. Equity means meeting people where they are and addressing their needs accordingly.
“First 500 is addressing the most underrepresented group of black girls and black women in architecture directly and unapologetically.”
Discarded plastic medical equipment from hospitals across Europe was melted into a filament and 3D-printed to create the mobile toilet cubicle The Throne, designed by Spanish studio Nagami for the To.org foundation.
The portable toilet was produced over the course of three days and comprises three parts – a teardrop-shaped body, a dramatic, double-curved sliding door and a collection bucket for solid waste.
The Throne portable toilet (top image) was 3D printed by Nagami in Spain (above)
These are combined with an off-the-shelf separation toilet seat, which diverts the urine while the solids are composted so they can be put to use locally as a fertiliser.
The first prototype, which is currently being trialled on a building site in the Swiss Alps, was produced by an advanced seven-axis robotic printer in Nagami‘s studio in Avila.
The portaloo is being trialled on a construction site in the Swiss Alps
But the hope is that ultimately, this process for 3D-printing complex structures with recycled plastic could be adopted using more readily available, local technology.
As 91 per cent of all plastic waste produced to date is still waiting to be recycled, To.org founder Nachson Mimran said this abundant material could help to create accessible and affordable sanitation and shelter where they are needed most.
An oculus lets in light from the top of the structure
“Plastic waste is a very low cost, inexhaustible resource,” Mimran told Dezeen.
“The Throne is a proof of concept for it can be used to create large structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and immensely useful,” he added.
“But the cost of production needs to drop before this can be a viable solution for building structures in places like refugee settlements and urban slums.”
The cubicle has a distinctive ribbed finish created through the 3D-printing process
The Throne project is an evolution of the Bottle Brick Toilets that To.org set up in the slums of Kampala, Uganda, in 2018, which used bricks made from plastic bottles as their structure to simultaneously tackle the lack of management systems for both human and plastic waste.
Nagami, which specialises in 3D-printed furniture, decided to build on this idea for The Throne by sourcing a filament made from recycled plastic medical trays by Dutch company ReFlow.
This is combined with a number of mechanical elements such as metal rails, which are inserted into the frame as it is being printed to accommodate the sliding door.
To prevent the accumulation of dirt and bacteria, Nagami had to avoid the use of 3D printing for the actual toilet seat, as the process creates distinctive grooves rather than a smooth, hygienic finish.
So the team decided to incorporate an off-the-shelf compost toilet instead.
An off-the-shelf separation toilet was used for hygiene reasons
“We wanted to demonstrate that large-scale 3D printing can offer much more than ornamental pieces and single material elements,” said Nagami CEO Manuel Jiménez García.
“Indeed, it allows for the integration of other pieces, materials and textures, opening the door for the creation of objects, which combine different features that are commonly hard to achieve through 3D printing.”
The toilet can be used in remote locations
To.org, which was founded by brother Nachson and Arieh Mimran in 2013, is a hybrid between a charitable foundation and a venture capital fund that invests in ethical businesses and funds philanthropic projects.
Although additive manufacturing is increasingly being used to create homes and entire neighbourhoods, similar large-scale work using recycled plastic filaments is still in its infancy.
Let’s just say that if there was a Bible for icon designers, it would probably be this book put together by Michael Flarup. Titled ‘The iOS App Icon Book’, this beautiful hard-bound publication captures years’ worth of digital design, brought about by the advent of the App Store with the launch of the very first iPhone.
“Design changed forever with the introduction of the Smartphone”, says Flarup sitting in front of a white background, in the rather Apple keynote-esque video above. “Entire new disciplines were created and existing ones were transformed”, he mentions, talking about how virtual app icons practically became the packaging that we consumed before the app’s features itself, serving as a powerful link between creator and user, and distilling an entire app’s experience into one tiny little square that was a gateway to the app itself.
“I figured Logo Design had beautiful coffee table books dedicated to them, right? So why not App Icon Design??”, Flarup questioned. That question led to a 4-year journey comprising many sleepless nights, hours spent in front of computers, and over 10,000 emails, finally culminating in The App Icon Book, a compendium of popular app icons, their iterations over the years, their design analyses, and the story behind their creation. Flarup’s labor of love is almost encyclopedic in how beautifully it captures every aspect of something as humble as the App Icon… or as I like to call it, the Welcome Mat that ushers you across a digital threshold into a virtual world.
The book serves multiple purposes… Created not just for designers, but for anyone who finds the concept of the App Icon an interesting topic, The iOS App Icon Book acts as a visual reference, a source of inspiration, and a historic archive that documents all the different visual styles over the years, from the days of skeuomorphic design to the current trend of flat iconography. It starts with a foreword by Flarup, a designer and app icon connoisseur himself, followed by a short history on the iOS App Store platform and a quick primer on the design process behind creating app icons. The purpose of the primer is to give readers the background they need to understand and appreciate icons better. The book is also peppered with artist spotlights, featuring interviews with the creators behind some of the most memorable and interesting app icons, and revealing the stories of the humans behind the icon artworks.
Spanning close to 150 pages of rich, vibrant, hi-resolution artworks in thorough documentation, the book is a practical must-have for designers, creatives, and studios. It’s easily the most definitive anthology on app icons to date, and makes for a perfect book to browse through while sipping on coffee, or having on your table as you pitch your concepts to a client, or just glossing over for your daily visual stimulation! The book’s running for $68 on Kickstarter, and ships in April 2022.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
