As part of Stockholm Design Week, Swedish design firm Form Us With Love has opened the doors to its new studio space featuring modular furniture informed by pegboard walls.
Perforated steel units are dotted throughout Form Us With Love‘s (FUWL) Stockholm studio, which is housed in a former travel agency.
Form Us With Love’s Stockholm studio has furniture made from perforated steel
“We’ve been dealing with this space for a good year and a half, and thinking about it for a good ten years,” FUWL co-founder John Löfgren told Dezeen.
“It’s definitely a place that is a catalyst for what we’re doing – and we’re doing quite a lot of different things, so we need a really flexible space and we need a mobile space,” he added. “We tried to be smart about how you store things and logistics in general, really being economical with each square metre.”
Large hangar doors can be used to divide the interior
The 200-square metre studio space, which was created in collaboration with architecture studio Förstberg Ling and branding studio Figur, was designed to suit the needs of the FUWL team.
Large floor-to-ceiling hangar doors hide an office area, workshop and kitchen while allowing the front of the studio to be sectioned off from the remainder of the space.
The studio is showcasing material experiments on wheeled cabinets
This allows the area to be used as an exhibition space, where FUWL is displaying some of its ongoing projects during Stockholm Design Week.
Among these is a project that explores how toxic glass – a waste material from the glass industry – can be treated to separate the toxins from the glass.
Five low, wheeled cabinets made from perforated steel were used to display the projects.
FUWL has created multiple different storage units
These are just some of the storage units and room dividers that FUWL has made for the studio, drawing on materials found in its own workshop.
“We have these boxes that were derived from the workshop, like ones you would have in the garage,” Löfgren said.
“We started wondering what would happen if we move these things out in the open,” he added. “It started off as dividers and walls, but add some wheels and all of a sudden we are in the open space.”
The studio is currently using the modular units as a material library, a tool wall and storage for personal and studio use, as well as experimenting with new functionalities.
Produced by Tunnplåt – a company that normally supplies lockers to schools, gyms and other public-sector interiors – the containers have a pattern of symmetrical holes.
A material library is housed in their drawers
This was designed to make the reference to pegboard walls immediately recognisable.
“We definitely experimented with patterns,” Löfgren said. “We still wanted people to have a smile on their face like: I can see where it derives from.”
The pegboard-style furniture was informed by tool walls
Realising that the perforated steel units could be used to create a flexible interior was just a coincidence, Löfgren said.
“I think it’s definitely a tool that incorporates how we want to work in the interior,” he said. “And I think that’s just been a coincidence.”
“We were always looking for something that would help us have this kind of full flexibility, and still be able to do something both fun and functional,” he added.
The studio was designed to be both practical and flexible
In the future, the studio said it might also create the units in other colours. For its own office, soft grey tones were chosen to aid concentration.
“We worked with tones of grey as a backdrop throughout the space to put focus on the creative processes taking place within,” architecture studio Förstberg Ling said.
Form Us With Love’s studio is open to the public between 5 September and 9 September 2022 as part of Stockholm Design Week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
Architects and designers have a huge part to play in the solar revolution, but they also need to find ways to reduce our energy consumption overall, writes Making Design Circular founder Katie Treggiden.
We’ve been hearing about the moment that solar energy will go mainstream for decades now. In 2011, National Geographic published an article by renewable energy expert Daniel M Kammen, in which he claimed that solar energy was now the “fastest growing source of electricity generation”, all while cautioning that geopolitical tensions between China and the US might dampen its potential.
In 2021, solar finally became the cheapest source of electricity globally
The following year, Green Age told us “the solar power tipping-point is coming”, defining that point as “the moment when solar produces power at the same price as electricity from the grid” – also known as grid parity. Nearly a decade later in 2021, solar finally became the cheapest source of electricity globally.
But now a perfect storm of factors – including last year’s long, cold winter, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and dwindling UK gas reserves – has sent energy prices skyrocketing, making everybody take a long hard look at green and locally produced energy. So, are we actually ready for a solar revolution? And if we are, what role can designers and architects play in realising the true potential of this clean and renewable resource?
One of the key issues, according to the founders of the Solar Biennale, is democratising access to solar power. “To facilitate a shift in our perception towards solar, it also needs to be more accessible to a larger group of people,” van Aubel told Dezeen last year.
Her solar lamp Sunne (top image) is designed to hang in windows and mimic the changing light profile outside from sunrise until sunset, powered by photovoltaic cells on its reverse.
Elsewhere, Central Saint Martins design graduate Mireille Steinhage has developed a solar-powered heated blanket, which she aims to retail for less than £10. This has extra resonance for the UK’s impending cost of living crisis, in which many people are expected to face a choice between “eating and heating” this winter.
Design has a role to play in increasing efficacy, too. By mimicking the wing structure of the rose butterfly, which has evolved over millions of years to absorb heat from the sun, scientists have been able to create thin film solar cells that outperform traditional fixed solar panels at a much lower cost due to tiny holes on their surface that scatter the light.
Researchers in Australia have even developed a solar paint that can absorb water and use the energy from the sun to split the vapour and generate hydrogen – arguably the cleanest energy source of all. By taking inspiration from nature and collaborating with scientists and engineers, designers can take something that is usually high-tech and expensive and make it more beautiful, more effective and more accessible. But none of this addresses the elephant in the room, the fact that global electricity demand is growing faster than renewables.
Green energy supplies are projected to “grow strongly around the world over the next two years”, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report from July 2021. “But even with this strong growth, renewables will only be able to meet around half the projected increase in global electricity demand over those two years,” the report concluded. The other half of the demand will have to be met by fossil fuels. So even as renewables grow, we are still using more fossil fuels because we are using more energy overall.
The world we need to imagine involves more than a simple switch of energy sources
The case for moving to green energy is clear, much like the significant role architects, designers and makers will have to play in this transition – both in terms of designing products and buildings that are powered by renewables and in bringing about the necessary cultural shifts.
But perhaps the design industry has an even bigger, more important part to play. Environmental consultant Mark Shayler says that “creativity is nothing more than imagining a world that hasn’t arrived yet”. The world we need to imagine involves more than a simple switch of energy sources. The design industry needs to imagine a world where we use less energy, full stop.
Urban planners can design tree-filled cities that are a pleasure to walk and cycle through to reduce our reliance on cars – electric, solar-powered or otherwise. And they can go further, as demonstrated by the Fab Cities model, which asks us to reimagine the fundamental systems we rely on and conceive of cities that produce everything they need using circular models of fabrication, with data being the only thing that has to travel between cities.
Architects can create buildings that are heated and cooled passively without the need for radiators or air conditioning. Projects like Disharee Mathur’s passive cooling tiles, made from waste sanitaryware in Jaipur, will make a bigger difference than solar-powered air-conditioning units. Buildings that have bicycle storage instead of car parks, community vegetable gardens instead of lawns and rooftop running tracks instead of basement gyms will all help to reduce our energy usage.
We need a transition to green energy (and we need it fast) but we also need so much more than that
Experiential designers can help us fall in love with the idea of travelling locally, slowly and more mindfully, instead of simply jetting off to far-flung destinations. Industrial designers can make simple changes to electronic devices so that they switch off when not in use and are more easily repaired. And makers and craftspeople can show us the slow value of the handmade versus the mass-produced and available on next-day delivery.
We need a transition to green energy (and we need it fast) but we also need so much more than that, which the organisers of the Solar Biennale recognise. “What defines solar design is that it is much more than a way to provide sustainable energy,” they say. “Solar design shapes new relationships between people and their environment.”
It is here that architects, designers and makers have the biggest role to play – in imagining a world that hasn’t arrived yet, a world in which people recognise their interconnected relationships with their environment and build their lives, spaces and systems accordingly.
Katie Treggiden is an author, journalist, podcaster and keynote speaker championing a circular approach to design. She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a membership community for designer-makers who want to get to feel proud of contributing to a thriving planet with every product they make. She is also a Dezeen Awards judge.
This article is part of Dezeen’s Solar Revolution series, which explores the varied and exciting possible uses of solar energy and how humans can fully harness the incredible power of the sun.
The 31 shortlisted studios, which are in the running for awards in six different studio categories, are located across 19 different countries including Australia, Canada, Thailand, Poland, Mexico and Greece.
The top three represented countries are the US with three shortlisted entries, followed by the UK and Spain with three each.
Five studios are shortlisted in each category apart from architecture studio of the year, which has six studios shortlisted.
The shortlisted studios include New York’s Fogarty Finger, shortlisted in the emerging architecture studio of the year category, Shanghai-based Atelier Tao+C, shortlisted in the emerging interiors studio of the year category and Japanese studio We+, shortlisted in the emerging design studio of the year category.
The studio categories celebrate all-around excellence over a body of work produced by architecture, interiors and design studios. The judges also take into account the work ethic and studio culture of the practice itself.
All shortlists announced this week
The shortlists were scored by our jury, which includes architects Sou Fujimoto and Yasmeen Lari, Rolf Hay of Danish furniture brand Hay and 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial curator Tosin Oshinowo.
Above: Hooba Design Group has been shortlisted in the architecture studio of the year category. Top: Nomos was shortlisted in the emerging architecture studio of the year category
All shortlisted design projects are listed below, each with a link to a dedicated page on the Dezeen Awards website where you can find an image and more information about the project. All shortlisted projects will also feature in their own dedicated Dezeen post.
Vote for your favourite project next week
For the third year running, Dezeen Awards is holding a public vote after the shortlist announcements, meaning readers will be able to choose their favourite projects from 12 September onwards.
Projects with the highest number of votes in their category will win a public vote award. Winners will be announced in mid-October, ahead of the Dezeen Awards event in November.
Read on for the six studio category shortlists:
St Andrew’s Beach House by Austin Maynard Architects
Solid waste is “flushed” away with a conveyer belt in the Sandi toilet, invented by recent Brunel University graduate Archie Read for the hundreds of millions of people who are currently living without safe sanitation.
Read designed his waterless, off-grid toilet primarily for rural sub-Saharan Africa, where this problem is particularly acute. But globally, more than 1.7 billion people did not have access to basic sanitation services such as private toilets or latrines in 2020.
The Sandi toilet exists as a scale model (top and above) and a working prototype
Sandi is intended to function without being connected to a sewage system while keeping waste separated and free of contaminating chemicals, so that it can be safely disposed of or reused as fertiliser.
It features a Western-style toilet seat above a special toilet bowl that diverts the urine while solid waste is deposited onto a small conveyor belt.
Sandi flushes without water by employing a conveyor belt
The toilet is “flushed” via a manual lever that moves the belt forward and drops the waste into a bin, sealed with a sprung hatch door to keep its contents safely out of reach of humans and household pests.
Since it requires neither plumbing nor electricity, Sandi acts as a “drop and go” solution that only needs to be pinned to the floor, Read says.
The design gets its name from the use of sand as a protective coating to keep the conveyer belt clean.
To use the Sandi toilet, a person would need to fill the hopper at the rear with sand or a similar locally sourced material. Anything dry and powdered or desiccated such as sawdust or dirt is suitable to stop faeces from sticking to the belt.
Designer Archie Read built a prototype to test the flush mechanism
A crank of the flush lever causes fresh sand to be loaded onto the conveyer belt, at the same time as moving the belt forward. A brush on the underside of the belt cleans off any residue remaining after the waste’s disposal.
The flush only needs to be pulled for solid waste, as the toilet bowl’s design uses a physical divider to direct urine to a separate container at the front of the toilet.
“It is key to do this as urine is kept sterile and faeces is allowed to dry out, which helps prevent pathogen reproduction and decreases the composting time,” Read told Dezeen.
The bins can store 20 litres of solid waste and 30 litres of liquid waste, which Read estimates would allow a household of seven to go around nine days without needing to empty the containers.
Ultimately, the waste disposal would likely be handled differently depending on location, he says.
The conveyor belt moves solid waste to a sealed bin at the back
In villages, a person may be employed to collect the used containers and replace them with clean ones, while more isolated individuals might handle the disposal themselves and repurpose the waste for fertiliser.
“The urine can be used straight away, as it is sterile if never in contact with faeces, so they can simply water it down and use it as fertiliser,” said Read.
“The reason for reusing the waste streams as fertiliser rather than trying to recover biogas or chemicals is that it is cheap. And as the target market for Sandi is rural communities, fertilisers will be quite valuable to them.”
The conveyor belt is operated via a manual lever
Read developed a working prototype and a 3D-printed scale model of Sandi as part of his bachelor’s degree in product design engineering at Brunel University.
He envisages a production version of the product would be made from cost-effective high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic but has put off further development until he has more industry experience.
Other student projects featured in Brunel’s school show on Dezeen include a minimalist air quality monitor and a Reading Monster toy that allows children to independently learn the alphabet.
As people around the world mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away yesterday at the age of 96, we look back at 20 of the most significant buildings she opened during her reign of over 70 years, the longest in British history.
Elizabeth II came to the throne on 6 February 1952 at the age of just 25 and reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth countries until her death on 8 September 2022.
Earlier this year, the UK celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, which marked 70 years since her coronation.
In her record-breaking time on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II cut her fair share of red ribbons, opening numerous public buildings across the UK, Australia and New Zealand in her role as head of state.
Architecture styles have changed dramatically during this time. The Queen opened modernist buildings designed by Basil Spence and Frederick Gibberd, brutalist structures by Powell & Moya and Denys Lasdun, and high-tech creations by Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, as well as more recent contemporary structures by Herzog & de Meuron and WilkinsonEyre.
Read on for 20 of the most significant pieces of architecture officially opened by the Queen, including five museums, two airports, a cathedral, an opera house and no fewer than four parliament buildings.
Photo by Thomas Nugent
The Queen’s Building, Heathrow, England, by Frederick Gibberd (1955)
The Queen inaugurated the modernist central passenger terminal at London Airport in 1955 including the Queens Building designed by English architect Frederick Gibberd, which contained the main passenger entrance to the airport along with airline offices, a cinema, roof gardens and a “grill room”.
“We may say with pride that [the airport] ranks among the foremost in the world,” she said at the opening.
The Queens Building would later be incorporated into Terminal 2 at the renamed Heathrow airport and was demolished in 2009 to make way for the Foster + Partners-designed terminal. The Queen would later return to the airport in 2008 to open the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners-designed Terminal 5.
Photo courtesy of the Twentieth Century Society
The Commonwealth Institute, London, England, by RMJM (1962)
The Commonwealth Institute building was designed by Robert Matthew and Stirrat Johnson Marshall from RMJM to hold a permanent exhibition informing the British public about life in the rest of the Commonwealth.
The modernist concrete building, set under a copper-covered, hyperbolic parabaloid roof, was converted into the Design Museum by OMA and John Pawson in 2016.
UK heritage campaign group the Twentieth Century Society was unhappy with the renovation, which saw the exterior kept intact but the interior completely rebuilt, claiming that a “magnificent post-war masterpiece” had been lost.
Photo by DeFacto
Coventry Cathedral, Coventry, England, by Basil Spence (1962)
In 1962 the Queen attended the consecration of a modern cathedral in Coventry that was designed by Scottish architect Basil Spence to replace the previous 14th-century cathedral, which had been destroyed in bombing during world war two.
The key example of post-war modernism stands alongside the ruins of its Gothic predecessor – a demand that only Spence made among the 200-plus architects in the design competition.
Spence commissioned a number of major artworks for the cathedral including a large sculpture of Archangel Michael triumphing over the Devil by Jacob Epstein, abstract stained glass windows by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens and a tapestry by Graham Sutherland believed at one time to be the largest in the world.
Photo by Stephen Richards
New Zealand House, London, England, by RMJM (1963)
Designed as New Zealand’s official presence in Britain, the 15-storey New Zealand House was the third-tallest building in London when the Queen opened it in 1963.
As the first tall office block built in central London after the second world war, the modernist 78-metre-tall block designed by RMJM was controversial at the time, but was grade II-listed in 1990.
Photo by The Carlisle Kid
Euston station, London, England, by William Robert Headley and Ray Moorcroft (1968)
Designed by William Robert Headley and Ray Moorcroft in consultation with Richard Seifert & Partners, the modern station was controversial as it saw the demolition of the Victorian Grand Hall and iconic Euston Arch.
Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, by Jørn Utzon (1973)
One million people reportedly attended the official opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973, where the Queen described the landmark building as a “splendid achievement of engineering and architecture”.
Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and engineer Ove Arup, the now-iconic building was completed 14 years after construction began and is a key example of engineer-led late modernism.
“The Sydney Opera House has captured the imagination of the world, though I understand that its construction has not been totally without problems,” noted the Queen.
Photo courtesy of Museum of London
Museum of London, London, England, by Powell & Moya (1976)
Opened by the Queen alongside the Barbican Estate, the Museum of London is the largest urban history collection in the world charting the social history of the UK’s capital from prehistoric to modern times.
Architects Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya adopted what was an innovative approach to museum design at the time, laying out the galleries so that there was only one route through the exhibits.
From street level the structure is bastion-like, with the museum only accessible via raised walkways on the first floor.
In 2015, the museum announced plans to move from the Barbican site to a new home in the nearby Smithfield Market, while plans to close the existing building at the end of this year and redevelop it into a concert hall were scrapped in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo by Tom Parnell
Royal National Theatre, London, England, by Denys Lasdun (1976)
Famously described by Prince Charles as looking like a “nuclear power station”, the brutalist Royal National Theatre was designed by English architect Denys Lasdun.
Beset by funding issues, the building officially opened 25 years after the Queen laid a foundation stone on the site on London’s South Bank.
“It stands as a tribute to all those who dreamt of it; to those who argued and fought for it; to those who designed and built it; and to those who founded and developed its famous company,” said the Queen at the opening.
“I know it is the determination of the National Theatre Company to fill this building with that special type of magic that only the theatre can provide.”
Photo by Ulrich Lange
The Beehive, Wellington, New Zealand, by Basil Spence (1977)
Officially called the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings, this brutalist structure is commonly known as the Beehive thanks to its distinctive shape and roof, made from 20 tonnes of hand-welted and seamed copper.
Like Coventry Cathedral it was conceived by Basil Spence, with detailed design work carried out by New Zealand government architect Fergus Sheppard and the Ministry of Works.
The 10-storey building contains the cabinet room and ministers’ offices while the basement houses the government’s National Crisis Management Centre, which includes dormitories and facilities to allow people to live and work there for long periods during a national emergency.
Photo courtesy of Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre, London, England, by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon (1982)
Described by the Queen as “one of the wonders of the modern world”, the Barbican Centre was the largest arts centre in western Europe when it opened in 1982.
Containing a 1,943-seat concert hall for the London Symphony Orchestra and a 1,156-seat theatre for the Royal Shakespeare Company along with several gallery spaces, cinemas, cafes, and a library, the arts centre forms part of the wider Barbican housing estate.
Designed by UK studio Chamberlin, Powell and Bon it is one of the UK’s most recognisable brutalist buildings.
Photo is by Richard Bryant
Lloyd’s building, London, England, by Richard Rogers (1986)
In 1986 the Queen opened the Lloyd’s building, designed by architect Richard Rogers. A key early example of high-tech architecture, the radical addition to the City of London was designed with all its building services and lifts on the outside to create clear spaces within.
“The building is, without doubt, a landmark both in terms of the skyline of the city and in the history of Lloyd’s,” said the Queen.
In an interview with Dezeen, Rogers recalled being “attacked by everybody” while working on the project.
Photo by Thennicke
Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, by Mitchell Giurgola and Thorp Architects (1988)
As part of Australia’s bicentenary celebrations, which marked 200 years since the arrival of the first fleet of British ships in the country, the Queen officially opened Parliament House.
The first permanent parliament since the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, the building in Canberra was designed by studios Mitchell Giurgola and Thorp Architects.
Photograph by Ken Kirkwood
Stansted Airport, Stansted, England, by Foster + Partners (1991)
“It was a great moment in my life,” Foster + Partners head of design Spencer de Grey told the BBC. “A lot of hard work went into the design of the building and to see it all finished with the Queen there was a wonderful occasion.”
Photo by Sean Bell
Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, Benson + Forsyth (1998)
Clad in golden Moray sandstone, the Museum of Scotland was designed by Benson + Forsyth as an extension to the 19th-century Royal Scottish Museum in central Edinburgh.
With its cylindrical entrance tower, the modern addition to Edinburgh’s old town contains a collection that tells the history of Scotland and was officially opened by the Queen in November 1998 ahead of its public opening on St Andrew’s Day.
Photo courtesy of British Library
British Library, London, England, by Colin St John Wilson and MJ Long (1998)
After extensive delays and Prince Charles referring to the design as looking like “an academy for secret police”, the Queen officially opened the British Library in 1998.
Designed by architects Colin St John Wilson and MJ Long, the building was completed over a decade later than expected and was the subject of a series of controversies. Referring to the delay at the opening the Queen said: “This labour of love must have seemed at times to be endless.”
However, she praised the building noting that, “this is the largest public building erected in Britain this century, and it is entirely fitting that it should be a library.”
Photo by Acabashi
Tate Modern, London, England, by Herzog & de Meuron (2000)
In 2000 the Queen opened the Tate Modern, which was designed by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron, on the South Bank of the River Thames in London.
The art gallery was designed to occupy the former Giles Gilbert Scott-designed Bankside Power Station, which the Queen had opened 37 years earlier in 1963.
Image courtesy of Foster + Partners
Great Court at the British Museum, London, England, by Foster + Partners (2000)
Now officially called the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, the central courtyard at the British Museum was topped with a tessellated glass roof created by architecture studio Foster + Partners in collaboration with engineering studio Buro Happold.
The court was redesigned as part of an overhaul to the museum that added 40 per cent more space to the institution and was opened by the Queen in 2000.
Photo courtesy of WilkinsonEyre
Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Newcastle, England, by WilkinsonEyre (2002)
Designed by architecture studio WilkinsonEyre to connect Newcastle and Gateshead the Millennium Bridge has a distinctive shape formed of two connected arches that rotate to allow boats to pass. This form has been likened to a blinking eye.
The bridge was officially opened by the Queen in May 2002 and won the Stirling Prize, the most significant award in UK architecture, in October that year.
Photo courtesy of Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament Building, Edinburgh, Scotland, by EMBT & RMJM (2004)
The highly complex and adventurous Scottish Parliament Building was designed by studios EMBT & RMJM to reference Scotland’s heritage and landscape while also rejecting traditional institutionalism.
EMBT principal Enric Miralles, who died before the project’s completion, drew on the forms of upturned boats on the nearby seashore and took motifs from the flower paintings of Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh in creating the structure.
The project was controversial, particularly because of costs and delays but also due to the selection of a non-Scottish architect and the building’s abstract design, and became the subject of a major public inquiry that criticised the management of the construction.
However, architects and architecture critics have widely praised the building and it has won multiple awards, including the 2005 Stirling Prize.
Photo by Katsuhisa Kida
Senedd Cymru, Cardiff, Wales, by RSHP (2006)
Richard Rogers‘ studio RSHP, then named the Richard Rogers Partnership, was selected to design the National Assembly for Wales, known locally as the Senedd.
The building’s shape is dominated by a large roof of steel and wood overhanging its glass facade, with the architects keen to convey a sense of openness to the Welsh public.
Special attention was paid to the building’s sustainability, with extensive use of local materials, a ground source heating system, a biomass boiler and rainwater harvesting.
The main image shows the Queen at the openings of the Sydney Opera House, Barbican Centre, Stansted Airport, British Library, British Museum, Gateshead Millennium Bridge and Senedd Cymru.
A version of this article was originally published on 1 June to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Thick carpets, mirrored panels and fabric-covered walls populate this clothing store in Paris designed by Belgian architect Bernard Dubois.
The 232-square-metre boutique is located near the Champs-Élysées and belongs to Courrèges – a Parisian label that was launched by fashion designer André Courrèges in 1961.
Courrèges’ second store in Paris was designed by Bernard Dubois
Optimistic and full of energy, the late designer’s creations placed emphasis on structured lines and featured a predominantly white colour palette.
For the brand’s flagship store, Courrèges‘ artistic director Nicolas Di Felice asked Dubois to create an interior that blends this distinctive visual language with subtle references to nightclubs.
Its interior is lined in fabric and thick carpet
The result is a monochrome space with fabric-lined walls and ceilings, thick carpets and rows of mirrors that are set at an angle in a nod to the perspective-bending decor often found in nightlife venues.
“White has always been part of the Courrèges universe,” Dubois told Dezeen. “We decided to embrace this and make it our own, by making it warm, intimate, silent, plush.”
Other references to the brand’s history include shelves and cabinets that were part of a store interior designed by Courrèges in 1967 before being redesigned to match the proportions of the new store.
Upside-down arches frame the way to the changing rooms
Curved U-shaped elements resembling upside-down arches feature alongside the mirrors towards the back of the store in a homage to classical architecture and space travel.
“I always like to play with classical elements of architecture in my projects, sometimes placing them in different contexts, at different scales than their usual size or context,” Dubois said.
“In this case, placing them upside-down is also a reference to spaceships, where the absence of gravity naturally places things upside down and creates different structural constraints,” he added.
In some areas of the Courrèges store, Dubois deliberately exposed the raw concrete walls, creating a contrast with the softness of the fabric and the carpet.
The interior is rendered almost entirely in beige
The mirrored panels were added to provide perspective and direct the eye to the dressing rooms at the back of the store.
“I always like to structure spaces,” Dubois explained, “give them some depth, play with perspectives, create relationships between different shapes of spaces, giving the impression that the visitor enters into a coherent world.”
Only clothing displays provide a colourful contrast
Bernard Dubois set up his eponymous firm in 2014 after graduating as an architect from La Cambre in Brussels in 2009. Other projects from the studio include a store for Aesop featuring distinctive yellow bricks and a narrow “runway-like” sneaker store for APL.
Now in its third iteration, the Timekettle M3 aims at nailing the three features that make TWS Earbuds such a revolutionary product – Wireless Audio for music/calls, Active Noice Cancelation for the best listening experience, and probably the M3’s most impressive tidbit – Real-time Audio Translation, that too, while offline.
Timekettle originally sprung up in 2017 with its award-winning WT2 earbuds that touted real-time translation. A couple of hardware, software, and overall design iterations later, the M2 was revealed in 2021. The M2 was truly unique to look at, with an earbud case that split into two halves, with an earpiece in each half that could be pulled out, worn, and used. The idea was to somehow use design to push the idea that these earpieces aren’t your average left-ear-right-ear audio units. They’re designed to be shared by breaking in half (sort of like a KitKat). Give one to another person and you two can have a seamless conversation in two separate languages, and the earphones would do the rest, translating both languages simultaneously and in real-time, without needing an internet connection. Obviously, the M2 could also be worn the way you wear regular TWS earbuds, perfect for listening to music, answering calls, or even having real-time translation from an external audio source playing back in your ear.
The M2, as impressive as it sounds, is old news now as Timekettle announced the M3 earbuds with some significant upgrades. The M3 comes with the same split-case design as its predecessor and supports the translation of 40 languages and 93 accents in real-time (only major languages work in offline mode), albeit with a more ergonomic fit, better Active Noise Cancelation, and professional-grade EQ tuning abilities. The word real-time isn’t just there for kicks either – Timekettle says that the M3’s translations are accurate 95% of the time, and have an impressive 0.5-second delay. This is thanks to the fact that the earbuds run on 6 of the world’s leading translation engines (DeepL, Google, Microsoft, iFlytek, AmiVoice, Hoya) and even on Timekettle’s own engine to quickly deliver accurate results. It also makes the entire M3 experience a whole lot more seamless, unlike the clunky handheld translators that currently exist. All the translation happens on-device and plays directly into your ear, allowing people to communicate more naturally.
The M3, although built for phone calls and music as well, is best known for its translation abilities. The earphones come with 3 translation modes (Touch, Listen, and Speaker).
Touch Mode is where you can simply tap the force sensor to activate voice pick-up to simultaneously translate all spoken sentences, and have a natural conversation with friends or colleagues from various nationalities.
Listen Mode (previously dubbed the Lesson Mode) is where your smartphone acts as a microphone, picking up audio that then gets translated as you listen to lectures, podcasts, or movies through the earphones.
Speaker Mode is where your phone’s speaker and earbuds work as translation devices in tandem, allowing you to have conversations with strangers without necessarily handing them one earbud. In the latter mode, the Timekettle M3 earbuds will recognize and translate your spoken sentences, then play them through the speaker of your phone. Extremely efficient for short questions and answers.
Together, all three modes make the M3 perfect for international travelers, immigrants, expats, students venturing abroad, and even people who need to deal with clients and colleagues abroad.
The earphones also come with high-precision ANC (Active Noise Cancelation) and dual-mic noise reduction for your own voice to ensure crystal-clear audio during calls even if you’re in a noisy environment. A Qualcomm Bluetooth 5.2 chip on the inside ensures a perfect and seamless connection every time, and Timekettle’s companion smartphone app doesn’t just aid translation, it comes with its own EQ settings so you can calibrate your M3’s listening experience as much as possible. The M3 are even IPx4 water resistant, and last for approximately 7.5 hours on a full charge and up to another 25 hours extra when used along with the charging case.
The M3 is priced just like your regular pair of TWS earbuds but also includes the offline pack featuring internet-free translation for 8 languages (English to Japanese, French, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Russian and German) and 40 languages once connected online. The Timekettle app is available for both Android and iOS phones, and together with the M3, provides a perfect arrangement for foreign trips, exchange programs, or just working with overseas clients. Très magnifique, non?
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Danish architecture studio BIG recently unveiled 50 pedestals without statues in Copenhagen, Denmark – a sculptural installation in honor of Queen Margrethe II’s 50th Jubilee. Named 50 Queens, the installation was designed by the youngest female partner at BIG, and is meant to draw attention to, and celebrate the “fearless women” of the country. The statues are laid out in an interesting gradient, with the tallest one at one end, and the shortest one at the other end.
“Our exhibition celebrates the untold stories of women who have made significant contributions to Danish history but haven’t yet been properly recognized,” said BIG partner Giulia Frittoli.”As more focus is brought to issues of social justice and equality, we are so proud and honored to contribute to the conversation and give a voice to those who haven’t been heard,” Frittoli continued.
Copenhagen currently has more statues of men, than women. There are 5 statues of women in proportion to almost 70 statues of men. Doesn’t sound too equal, does it? Frittoli thought the same, and hoped to balance out the situation with her installation which encircles an equestrian statue of Danish king Christian V within Copenhagen’s Kongens Nytorv. The installation consists of 49 white pedestals, with varying heights, each representing a woman who dominated and left her mark on Danish history.
A female-dominated jury comprising of a former politician, a visual artist, several history professors, and researchers, plus the director of the National Gallery of Denmark was assembled to select the 49 women. The 50th woman was not picked and has been left anonymous, to lead the public to pick and provide a name of their own, by scanning a QR code. Instead of wood, this pedestal is clad with mirrors, so “you can see yourself and you can see anyone”. All the pedestals hold a plaque with the name of the female pioneer, along with a QR code, allowing you to scan the code and read up more about the women, their lives, and their work.
“With 50 Queens, I hope we can raise awareness about the importance of gender equality and social diversity in our cities and public spaces to inform how we can improve our urban communities of today and plan for more equal cities of tomorrow,” added Frittoli.
Once the exhibition ends on 18th September, 10 pedestals will be moved to the Copenhagen Central Library or the Botanical Garden, while the others will be distributed in spots around the city, which are yet to be decided. BIG also teamed up with jewelry company Georg Jensen to create a necklace, that is meant to be a miniature version of the installation and gifted it to the queen.
Dubbed the ‘Dynamic Island’, this new hardware feature has some incredible UI/UX potential. With the notch gone, Apple has arrived at a more meaningful ‘pill-shaped’ camera cutout called the Dynamic Island… and it isn’t just a camera cutout, it’s an interactive part of the OS, offering a unique way to experience notifications, multitasking, and background apps. The notch walked, so the Dynamic Island could run.
Of the 22 minutes devoted to the iPhone 14 Pro, VP of Human Interface Design Alan Dye spent 3 full minutes just talking about the pill, or what the company likes to officially call the ‘Dynamic Island’. For reference, that’s more time than they spent talking about their new A16 Bionic chip (which clocked in at around 2 and a half minutes). Heck, the Dynamic Island even got its own separate video on Apple’s YouTube page, showing exactly how important it is for the company and how integral it is to the iPhone’s experience moving forward.
For years, phone companies have tried to hide their notches and camera hole punches using clever tricks and illusions. Apple itself stands conveniently guilty of using dark stock wallpapers to make the notch disappear on phone adverts, and Android companies even designed wallpapers that rather cunningly camouflaged the hole punch camera cutout. I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks that the pill is a step back from the notch. Pretty much everyone agrees that the Dynamic Island is progress – to what degree is something that’s debatable.
There are two schools of thought regarding the island and its dynamism. There’s one group of people who think it’s Apple making the best of a bad situation, and then there’s the other group that I’m a strong, vocal member of – that instead of ignoring or hiding behind the cutout, Apple’s found a way to celebrate it in a manner that feels refreshing and truly inspired. The Dynamic Island isn’t just a front-facing camera cutout anymore. It isn’t an area that resembles the lack of a display. It’s its own interaction element that forms the practical backbone of the OS. Apple’s basically created a new button. A button that serves as a dynamic notification bar, as a means to access and view important information, switch between active apps, and multitask seamlessly. It almost seems like a secondary feature that this button also clicks selfies and scans your face to unlock your phone. The name ‘Dynamic Island’ is incredibly corny (even Marques Brownlee thinks so), but heck, it describes the pill’s shape and purpose perfectly. Apple has a strong ethos of doing something brilliantly or not doing it at all – it’s why they still haven’t made a calculator app for the iPad, and why they waited four long years to ditch the notch. In parlance that youngsters would understand, it’s either a hell yes, or a hell no.
The Dynamic Island relies on the iPhone 14’s OLED screen, which has the ability to switch off individual pixels, causing them to turn pitch black. This is what drives the island’s shapeshifting effect, causing it to magically expand and contract in different ways and forms. The execution, at least from what Apple showed us, is flawless. The island stores background apps, giving you hints of context regarding information that may be important – like the music you’re listening to, charging stats, how far your Lyft is, and whether your phone’s on silent. Unlike with the MacBook Air’s new notch that sometimes ends up obscuring menu buttons and bits of text, Apple’s presentation of the Dynamic Island perfectly hides the cameras and sensors in plain sight. Digital elements don’t get blocked out by the camera, which means you don’t even notice the camera is there. The Dynamic Island is an evolved version of Apple’s iconic home button – but placed on top.
That being said, there’s one small problem with the Dynamic Island. No, it isn’t the fact that it still overlaps on top of videos on YouTube. It’s, in fact, the island’s placement. Located right at the top of your phone’s screen, the island is difficult to reach with your thumb. Quite like Apple’s unfortunately placed ‘back’ button, users with average-sized hands will have a degree of difficulty tapping on notifications and accessing other apps in single-hand usage. Given that this zone is now the de-facto hotspot for all app-related activity, the island is easy to view, but will require your non-phone-holding hand during interaction. Is that a deal-breaker, though? Not even close. Apple’s managed to pull off something remarkable here, and one could argue that it’ll probably set the standard for other phones moving forward, because the pill absolutely has everyone talking… talking for more than just 3 minutes!
Love the pure classic feel of a record player but always wanted the inclusion of a modern element to it? The element of unique styling for your living or bedroom in an upright turntable format? Then this concept will fuel your craving even more.
This is the Vertical Turntable designed keeping in mind the needs of modern audiophiles who want the pure sound of a record player with an aesthetic that fits their lifestyle.
Designer: Eun seok Go
The turntable doesn’t lose out on the analog sensibility and brings forth the design elements that would please the most finicky of buyers. That means the user will be able to listen to even the most subtle sounds in the wide music soundstage. Inspiration for the vertical turntable design comes from the typical appearance of the Ip when it is taken out. So, the designer thought of achieving a form factor that fuses the turntable and lp look into one.
One disadvantage that analog players have as compared to digital audio players is the wear and tear due to physical contact. This record player has an optical cartridge that minimizes the damage incurred by the tracking force in conventional cartridges. The driving method of the Vertical Turntable is the same as that of a DVD player – the lens detects the Ip and then connects it to the built-in spindle.
The transparent screen on the front superimposes the track time played and elapsed, play and pause status, artist name and albumart onto the visible part of the record in the background. Below the screen is the speaker, the volume knob and play/pause buttons. While the designer doesn’t make a mention of its Bluetooth connectivity feature, still I’m assuming it has the ability to connect to your smartphone for toggling any of the options from the cozy confines of your couch.
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