Sova Lounge chair by Patrick Norguet for Zanat

Sova Lounge chair by Zanat in black

Dezeen Showroom: French designer Patrick Norguet has created the Sova Lounge chair for Bosnian furniture company Zanat, which the brand describes as a “uniquely bold and comfortable armchair with strong character”.

The Sova Lounge chair has an ergonomic design that includes a curved and foam-injected back, which Zanat designed to guarantee user comfort.

Sova Lounge chair by Zanat in black
The Sova Lounge chair has a wooden frame

The armchair features a solid wood frame available in a choice of maple, walnut or oak, and the seat and back cushions can be upholstered in a range of fabric and leather options.

The chair takes its name from the Bosnian word for owl, which Zanat chose to symbolise how the piece is made for relaxation and quiet thought.

“Sova means owl in Bosnian, and it was chosen to describe a piece designed for daydreaming and thoughts of wisdom which owls have come to symbolise,” said the brand.

It is available in a range of upholstery options

According to Zanat, all the wood used in its products comes from private fruit orchards or sustainably managed forests.

In 2021 the brand committed to planting three new trees for every tree it uses in the production of its furniture.

Product: Sova Lounge chair
Designer: Patrick Norguet
Brand: Zanat
Contact: bojana@zanat.org

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Eight future stadiums set to be built around the world

Four upcoming sports stadiums

Following the completion of the 2022 World Cup Qatar stadiums, we look at the next generation of sports venues being designed by studios including David Chipperfield Architects, OMA and BIG.

Stadiums make up some of the world’s largest and most impressive buildings. In Qatar, eight were recently built or heavily renovated to host this year’s World Cup by architecture studios including Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects.

Major stadiums are currently being developed by leading architecture studios for countries including the USA, China and Italy to host everything from football and American football to baseball and the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Read on for eight architecture studio-designed stadiums:


Cathedral by Populous

Cathedral, Milan, Italy, by Populous

UK studio Populous designed the 60,000-seat Cathedral stadium to replace Milan’s iconic San Siro, which has been home to football clubs Inter Milan and AC Milan since 1926.

According to the studio, the new stadium’s form references two of the city’s best-known buildings – the Duomo di Milano cathedral and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping arcade.

Read more about Cathedral ›


Zaha Hadid Forest Green Rovers stadium
Visual is by Negativ

Eco Park, Gloucestershire, UK, by Zaha Hadid Architects

Set to be built in Gloucestershire for football club Forest Green Rovers, the 5,000-seat venue will be the world’s first timber stadium.

Named Eco Park, it is being designed by Zaha Hadid Architects with the aim of being the world’s greenest football stadium. It will be built entirely from wood and powered by sustainable energy sources.

Read more about Eco Park ›


Aerial visual of Hangzhou International Sports Centre
Visual is by Plomp

Hangzhou International Sports Centre, Hangzhou, China, by Zaha Hadid Architects

Another stadium being designed by Zaha Hadid Architects will form part of the Hangzhou International Sports Centre, a trio of venues in China intended to evoke tea farms.

The venues will include a 60,000-seat football stadium, a 19,000-seat indoor arena and an aquatics centre, along with training pitches and a riverside walk.

Read more about Hangzhou International Sports Centre ›


Visual of Santa Giulia arena media screens
Visual is by Onirism Studio

Santa Giulia arena, Milan, Italy, by David Chipperfield Architects

Designed by the Berlin studio of David Chipperfield Architects and engineering firm Arup, the Santa Giulia arena will host ice hockey events during the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The 12,000-seat arena has an elliptical form that is informed by traditional amphitheatres.

Read more about Santa Giulia arena ›


Xi'an International Football Centre stadium proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects in China
Visual is by Atchain

Xi’an International Football Centre, Xi’an, China, by Zaha Hadid Architects

Another Chinese stadium designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the Xi’an International Football Centre, will contain 60,000 seats and become a venue for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

The stadium’s roof will be supported by giant columns, while the facades will incorporate plant-filled terraces.

Read more about Xi’an International Football Centre ›


Feyenoord Stadium by OMA and LOLA Landscape Architects
Visual is by Beauty and The Bit

Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by OMA

Dutch architecture studio OMA and landscape architect LOLA are designing the 63,000-seat Feyenoord Stadium, which will be the largest in the Netherlands when it completes.

The venue will be built alongside the Nieuwe Maas river as part of OMA’s masterplan for the redevelopment of Rotterdam Zuid.

Read more about Feyenoord Stadium ›


Oakland As redesign by BIG

Oakland A’s stadium, Oakland, USA, by BIG

Danish architecture studio BIG has designed a greenery-topped stadium for the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team – also known as the Oakland A’s – at Oakland’s harbourside Howard Terminal.

“Our design for the A’s new home at the heart of Oakland’s revitalised waterfront seeks to return the game to its roots as the natural meeting place for the local community,” said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels.

The studio’s plans for the development include an expansive cable-car system with two transit hubs to be built in Oakland.

Read more about Oakland A’s stadium ›


Exterior of Buffalo Bills stadium by Populous

Buffalo Bills stadium, Buffalo, USA, by Populous

Designed for American football team Buffalo Bills, the stadium was designed to pay homage to the history, heritage and architecture of Buffalo. It is set to complete in 2026.

“Our approach to the design takes its cues from historic architecture in Buffalo, such as ‘The Rockpile’, ‘The Aud’, and Kleinhans Music Hall,” said Populous senior principal Jonathan Mallie.

“[It] merges their projection of strength with modern materials and a building form that is set to create an intimate and intimidating football-first environment.”

Read more about Buffalo Bills stadium ›

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In Memoriam device detects when someone dies alone

In Memoriam

Designer Ony Yan has created a two-part system that can be installed in single-person households to notify neighbours in the event of their death, and was designed to “encourage a community to look after each other”.

In Memoriam, a functional prototype system that can be installed in homes, comprises a battery-powered odour detector and a signal lamp that are linked by a wireless connection.

In Memoriam detector
A signal lamp lets passersby know that someone has died

Subtle in shape and colour, the white odour detector can be discretely fixed to a wall and reacts to the sulphur compounds that are released when a human body decays after death.

The black signal lamp – which is placed at the entrance of the home – then receives this information from the detector wirelessly. An in-built servomotor tilts the upper part of the lamp 45 degrees, revealing a glowing light informed by candles that was designed to attract the attention of neighbours and passersby.

Odour detector
The odour detector is composed of metal, wires and a circuit board encased within polystyrene

“The odour detector hangs at eye level – or breathing height – because my chosen volatile organic compounds as indicators of decay, in this case, sulphur compounds, are heavier than the ambient air,” explained Ony.

“It is similarly comparable to installing carbon monoxide detectors, which are often placed at the same height.”

Odor detector
It can be installed on the wall of a living room

Ony created the project as part of her bachelor’s thesis while studying Industrial Design at Berlin’s University of Applied Sciences.

The designer told Dezeen that she created the project after “a tragic case” in her neighbourhood, where someone died and their body wasn’t discovered until much later when it had started to decay.

“I became aware of similar death cases in Berlin and realised through research and interviews that this is an increasingly global phenomenon,” said Ony.

“The deceased are often discovered by family members without any mental preparation and it is a very traumatic experience. Rotten corpses also demand extensive core renovations [to homes] and can leave spaces uninhabited for a long time.”

In Memoriam
In Memoriam was created to encourage community cohesion

Ony explained that she chose polystyrene for the odour detector’s casing for its electrical insulation, while the metal-coated brass that covers the signal lamp oxidises over time and takes on a similar colour and texture to the skin of a corpse.

According to the designer, this intends to remind members of the community that the lamp is in need of polishing – reinforcing its message to care for your neighbours, and further encouraging people to communicate with each other in urban areas.

“In Memoriam translates as ‘to remember someone’. At the moment when the signal lamp is lit, the light not only serves as a signal for the house’s community but also symbolically remembers the deceased person,” reflected Ony.

“The tilting mechanism of the lamp and the slow rising of the light cone should also symbolise the lighting of a mourning candle. I found the name suitable because I would like to not only commemorate the deceased, but also encourage a community to look after each other.”

Other death-related designs include a biodegradable urn by Claesson Koivisto Rune and a “living coffin” created from mushroom mycelium.

The images and video are courtesy of Ony Yan.

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Top 10 Living Room Accessories gift guide to achieve your lifestyle goals along with your interior goals

Did you know the term “living room” dates back to the 1890s? The term was invented by Edward Bok, editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal to describe the primary space of a house. These rooms were originally called parlors, and were used as entertaining spaces for guests. Bok came up with the idea that these rooms were also for ‘living’ and not just for entertaining guests once a week. Thus, the idea of a personalized space was born. The Living Room, as Bok suggested, is supposed to be a place that reflects your personality and your sense of living. So we decided to curate products that are uniquely useful as well as aesthetic, making your home worth ‘living’ in! These include whimsical lamps shaped like the moon, minimalist furniture that can expand to accommodate more people, a wooden map to chart your wanderlust and some more surprises in this list. One thing is for sure, you will not be able to ignore these awesome pieces!

1. Briiv Air Filter

When we say air purifier, the first thing that comes to mind is a clunky box sitting in a corner that is hopefully improving the air we breathe. While that may be efficient, it is certainly not aesthetic which is why Briiv created a revolution with its launch. Briiv is a household terrarium that removes HEPA filters and UV lights for something more natural in its approach. The filter holds special, sustainable-grown dried moss that purifies your air by trapping harmful particles, killing microorganisms and in return releasing fresh clean air. Briiv is as powerful as 3,043 medium size houseplants and sitting underneath the moss are multiple bio-filters, including one made from loosely woven coconut fibers, another filter comprising carbon-infused hemp, and a woollen microfibre filter that together combines to filter particles as small as PM 0.3. This natural approach allows us to reduce wastage caused by discarded HEPA filters. Briiv is the future of sustainable design – merging natural components with technology to create products that help us lead a better life!

Click Here to Buy Now: $337

2. Gingko Smart Moon Lamp

There’s something rather romantic about looking at the moon from your bedside window. I’d argue there’s something even more romantic about having the moon levitating on your table! Meet the Smart Moon Lamp from Gingko, a levitating orb designed to look exactly like the moon and glow like it too! 3D printed out of transparent PLA, the Smart Moon Lamp comes with a wonderfully textured design that resembles the moon’s cratered surface. Built-in LEDs shine to give the moon its signature glow, while it levitates and spins on its wooden base, suspended in place by a strong rare-earth magnet. Tapping on the base lets you cycle through the Smart Moon Lamp’s 3 glowing modes, warm yellow, warm white, and cool white, while a 12V-1A AD adapter powers the entire magical lighting experience. Turn to the moon for your pensive moments, or for faux lunar photography, or just as the perfect ambient light for your room at night!

Click Here to Buy Now: $170 $199 (15% off with exclusive coupon code “GDGIFT4YOU”). Hurry, deal ends in 48 hours!

3. Transformer Table

It isn’t often that we get to feature a product so popular that it held the position of Instagram’s number 1 watched product video. Meet the Transformer Table – a table so unique, it can expand from a single-seater to a table long enough to seat 12 people (that’s the entire Last Supper sans Judas!) Designed for people in small apartments who occasionally like hosting guests, the Transformer Table’s one-of-a-kind stretching ability allows it to go from a mere 18 inches to up to 10 feet long! The table’s secret sauce lies in its design and its incredibly robust telescopic sliding mechanism that allows the table to expand up to 7 times in length, while still being able to hold well over 750 pounds of weight on top. The Transformer Table pairs along with the Transformer Bench, which expands to match the table’s width (and comes free along with the purchase of the Table as a special holiday combo). Both the table and bench expand rather easily (and can be operated by a single person) and come crafted from the highest quality hardwood with a waterproof AND flame-retardant finish.

Click Here to Buy Now: Starting from $2179 $2299 ($120 off with exclusive coupon code “YANKO120”and get the Transformer Bench valued at $799 for free as a special holiday combo). Hurry, deal ends in 48 hours!

4. Teno Speaker & Light

Do you know what Kintsugi is? It’s the art of mending broken ceramics using gold to seal the cracks. The Teno by Lumio uses this crack as a design detail! The beautiful lamp + speaker is inspired by a cracked bowl and it uses a cracked exterior that gently separates into two. As the crack widens, you begin to see the signs of life underneath as the lamp below is revealed, shining through the cracks with its life-affirming message of hope. When shut, Teno functions as a beautifully crafted bowl sculpture, when partially cracked, it reveals a soft and warm light, and functions as a lamp. And when fully opened, it’s a powerful speaker, which releases a rich sound that you can control through touch. The bowl-shaped outer body comes cast in resin and sand, deviating entirely from the plastic, fabric, and metal you’d find in other lamps and speakers.

Click Here to Buy Now: $228 $325 (30% off)

5. Avril Shoe Rack

If your worst nightmare consists of organizing your footwear collection, then Avril is the product for you! And, no we’re not talking about the popular Canadian singer. This minimalist wall-mounted shoe rack sits on your wall at a convenient angle, subtly uplifting your shoes, when you dock them into it. Avril’s innovative angled design sets it apart from the conventional shoe racks found on the market. Its angled form ensures that it sits closer to the wall, and occupies less space, making it perfect for smaller homes where space constraint is a major issue. The angled shelf provides easy access to your shoes at all times, so you can pull them out, or place them inside within seconds. Crafted from powder-coated sheet metal, Avril can be mounted onto any kind of wall and can hold at least 3 shoes per shelf. It protrudes a mere 5.1 inches from the wall, and mounting it on a wall is super easy as well!

Click Here to Buy Now: $153 $178 ($25 off). Hurry, deal ends in 48 hours!

6. yeedi Vac 2 Pro Robot Vacuum

Mimicry is indeed the greatest form of flattery, which is why the ‘yeedi vac 2 pro’ has a unique technique for cleaning up your spills. Its patented mopping action mimics how humans wipe surfaces with an up and down motion. Combine this with the robotic vacuum’s 3000Pa suction and the yeedi vac 2 pro can handle pretty much anything – on hard floors as well as carpets! The vacuum comes with a clever 3D obstacle detection and avoidance system, allowing it to just simply navigate around objects to clean parts of your house – which it creates a smart-map of to plot the most efficient cleaning path. When on floors, the vacuum uses a combination of sweeping and oscillating mopping to keep your floors spotless. For carpets, the yeedi vac 2 pro automatically switches its mopping function off and turns up the suction on the vacuum head to clean out dirt from in between fibers! An app lets you optimize your vacuum’s operations, and a 240-minute run-time is more than enough for the yeedi vac 2 pro to get the job done. When it’s done (or when it needs to charge), the vac heads to its docking station with a built-in 2.5L bin where the vacuum also self-empties its dust into. Pretty neat, eh?!

Click Here to Buy Now: $300 $449 ($150 off). Hurry, deal ends in 48 hours!

7. 3D Wooden World Map

Meet the 3D Wooden World Map! Machined from certified sustainable birch plywood, the world map, is available in varied sizes and diverse colors to suit your personal preference. The 3D Wooden World Map comes meticulously detailed and labeled with every country and its capital marked onto its wooden pieces. Like a big geographical jigsaw puzzle for your wall, the pieces come together and the 3D pieces quite literally pop out of the wall, giving the art its depth. In fact, the map also holds magnets! So, you can display your best memories while traveling on the wooden map. If traveling the world is your dream, what better way to display it than with the 3D wooden Map – mark your visited locations, chart your bucket-list and manifest that dream by having this up on your wall!

Click Here to Buy Now: Starting from $180 $448 (60% off)

8. Moon Pod

The Moon Pod is a zero-gravity bean bag designed to alleviate the everyday stress we experience in this modern world! The premium lightweight bean bag facilitates all-day relaxation, cradling your body into a rare static state and relieving you from stress. The Moon Pod is a luxurious alternative to the old school beanbags which don’t always take your posture into consideration. The outer membrane is crafted from a fascinating blended material which holds thousands of high-friction EPS beads, that react and adapt to your body. The weightless sensation you experience while relaxing on the Moon Pod mimics Flotation Therapy, which is excellent for those who suffer from stress, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD, and PTSD. You can use the revamped bean bag as a chair, a recliner or even a nap pod! It’s a great space to work in, take a power nap, or simply unwind after a long day at work.

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 ($100 off)

9. BOOKNITURE – Furniture Hidden in a Book

BOOKNITURE is furniture hidden in a book! BOOKNITURE quite literally unfolds from a book into a multifunctional piece of furniture. It ensures that you will never run out of tables and seats. Relying on folded paper’s ability to withstand large amounts of compressive stress against its thickness, the Bookniture literally comes as thick as a coffee-table book and as light as one too. It contains paper pages on the inside that are honeycombed together and opens up as a regular book would. Once you open up the book, you can use it as a stool, a footrest, a nightstand, a standing work desk, and much more. You can stack it up, and convert it into a table and chair set, or you can add a wooden board on top of 2 BOOKNITURE pieces and transform it into a bench. You can also stack a few more layers, and create a shelf.

Click Here to Buy Now: Starting from $86

10. Wheel 2 turntable

Miniot modernizes and minimizes the turntable with the Wheel! It is pretty much what it sounds like – a simple wheel. All you need to do is place a record on the wheel, and it will begin to play the bottom. You can control the turntable using the center stick. You can switch on/off, play/pause, volume, even next or previous track using the center stick. You can position the wheel either horizontally or vertically, so you can slide it wherever you like, without it consuming the amount of a space a typical gramophone would. Amped with a beautiful AudioTechnica AT95E cartridge, and a tonearm that is micro machined out of a single laminated mahogany, the Wheel emits not only warm and clear harmonies, but also exudes a minimal and lux aesthetic. The Wheel doesn’t run on batteries, but is an analog record player that has to be wired to a great amplifier, speakers, or headphones.

Click Here to Buy Now: $1563

The post Top 10 Living Room Accessories gift guide to achieve your lifestyle goals along with your interior goals first appeared on Yanko Design.

Self-wearing shoe concept automatically opens and closes thanks to a clever low-tech shape memory alloy spring

Designed to look like the spiritual lovechild of the Nike Adapt self-lacing shoes and the Nike GO FlyEase hands-free shoe, this proof-of-concept footwear design from Jeff Shen hides a Nitinol (Nickel-Titanium Alloy) spring in its outsole. Known for its shape-memory properties, the spring can be made to expand and contract, allowing the footwear to open or close around your foot! No laces, no hands, no problems!

Unlike the Nike Adapt that comes with sensors, motors, and batteries, Shen’s shoes (titled ‘Heaven’s Door’) use a much more ingenious low-tech system that doesn’t require all those bells and whistles. The shoe’s simple lacing/unlacing mechanism relies on a wireless charging mat that helps heat the Nitinol spring, causing it to expand and the shoe to open. Slip your foot in and step off the mat and the Nitinol spring begins cooling and returning to its original shape, causing the shoe to constrict securely around your ankle.

Designer: Jeff Shen

The Heaven’s Door has a unique design style that combines the close-toe design of a shoe with the open-ish ankle aesthetic of a slip-on sandal. The shoes have a leather body, punctuated by an elastic strap that runs along the side, connecting the rear flap to the main shoe. A rubber outsole hints at comfortable outdoor use in an urban environment, while hiding the springs away in a recessed channel running along the length of the shoe. Although remarkable in their automatic opening/closing abilities, the shoes don’t try to look futuristic – because they are not. Unlike the Nike Adapt that have an undeniable sci-fi backstory, the Heaven’s Door is simply a footwear concept with a clever idea driven by material science. It’s a seemingly normal-looking shoe with an incredible trick up its sleeve… or down its outsole.

For Shen, the shoe’s design required a lot of trial, error, and prototyping (you can read his entire case study on his portfolio website). Shen played with straight and coiled Nitinol elements, toyed with the sole’s design, the opening and closing mechanism, and even experimented with finding the right place to add the elastic band to prevent the shoe’s rear flap from deforming.

At the footwear’s heart is its simple low-tech opening and closing mechanism that relies on a wireless charging mat (keeping any and all tech out of the shoe itself to ensure a longer lifespan and the ability to be entirely resistant to water). The mat connects to a coil hidden in the shoe’s outsole, which then heats up to 70°C, causing the Nitinol spring to loosen and a set of expansion springs under the heel to pull on it, releasing the shoe’s rear flap backward almost like a drawbridge. This only lasts as long as the shoe is on the wireless mat. Step off it and the Nitinol cools back and begins assuming its original shape, pulling the rear flap shut.

What the Heaven’s Door shoe does is cleverly eliminate any need for tech components to be present in the shoe. This helps bring down the footwear’s price while still giving it its signature feature. It also means no chances of planned obsolescence, or parts accidentally failing. Even if things DO fail, the shoes can still be worn and removed manually, using the pull tab at the back of the footwear.

Ultimately, the shoe aims at appealing to everyone thanks to its clever, universal design… but just like with Nike’s GO FlyEase hands-free footwear, Shen designed his concept keeping the disabled in mind. Shen used the term “Enclothed Cognition” to describe most disability-focused fashion found in today’s world. “It refers to the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes”, Shen explained. “Not being able to put on shoes by oneself and constantly realizing the fact that they dress in a disabled look is devastating on the user experience and self-esteem.”

Aside from being a clever, accessible, truly hands-free, and low-tech self-wearing shoe, the Heaven’s Door footwear concept also destroys the notion that disabled fashion should look any different from regular fashion. The self-wearing shoes have a uniquely contemporary style that appeals to a broader populace. Or should I say popu-laceless!?

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This space-inspired pen magically hovers in mid-air, looking like something from an alternate reality

If you showed me the Levitating Pen 3.0’s silhouette, there’s no way I’d guess that this remarkable physics-defying object was a writing tool.

Meet the Levitating Pen 3.0, a writing instrument that defies gravity! Now in its third edition, the Levitating Pen pushes its floating powers to higher limits, hovering an inch off the surface of your table while leaning at a mind-boggling 60° angle in a way that will make you question reality.

Click Here to Buy Now: $101 $119 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, storewide Black Friday sale ends Nov 25rd.

Designed to be a pen worthy of writing life-changing thoughts and visions, and jotting plans for million-dollar ideas, the Levitating Pen 3.0 is an allusion to humankind’s limitless potential. We’ve come a long way since quills and papyrus scrolls, and the Levitating Pen hopes to capture and represent the future by being more captivating than your average Bic pen or even the most luxurious Mont Blanc. After all, not many pens hold the distinction of being able to levitate, right?!

Balancing on a pinpoint at a 60 degree angle, an occasional glance will wash you with a wave of Zen-like calm from its minimalistic, futurism-inspired design.

With its frictionless contact, a simple twist can keep it spinning for up to 30 seconds.

Its raised platform is precisely angled to make drawing your pen a smooth, pleasurable experience.

Comes with Schmidt rollerball cartridges, the German-engineered luxury standard in rollerball pens. Versatile yet flexible, it promises an addictive, silky writing experience.

Inspired by the sci-fi concept of technological singularity, and stories like Dune, Foundation, and the works of Isaac Asimov.

A study by Harvard Business Review found that frequently interrupting your brainstorming with consistent micro-breaks resulted in more idea generation.

Lightweight, aircraft-grade aluminum body makes writing lightning quick.

Built for the most fervent of writers – a low-pressure, silky finish makes jotting ideas or taking notes feel as natural as breathing.

The Levitating Pen 3.0 comes with an all-metal design, made from aerospace-grade aluminum and titanium, and sits in its magnetically levitating base made from Zinc alloy, which has it tilting at a 60° angle. Un-dock the pen from its base when you need to write, and dock it back when you’re done and the pen magically locates its sweet spot, bobbing ever so gently before finally settling into position.  This fun activity also gives the Levitating Pen 3.0 a uniquely appealing fidget-ability, allowing you to even spin the pen against its magnetic stand, getting it to revolve for as long as 30 seconds!

Available in silver or anodized black, the Levitating Pen 3.0 comes with a satin finish that feels luxurious to hold, and a German-engineered Schmidt rollerball cartridge, that offers a silky satin-like writing experience to match!

Click Here to Buy Now: $101 $119 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, storewide Black Friday sale ends Nov 25rd.

The post This space-inspired pen magically hovers in mid-air, looking like something from an alternate reality first appeared on Yanko Design.

Spacuzzi lets you stay warm in a small jacuzzi in the ocean

What do you get when you put a boat, a hot tub, and a fireplace in the middle of the ocean? It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but this is actually something that apparently people have been dreaming of. Of course you now have small boats (and big boats) that can accommodate both the hot tub and the fireplace, but what if you just wanted a small group of people to enjoy these amenities with you while you’re lounging in the water?

Designer: Spacruzzi

From the name of the company and the product itself, you can kind of determine what it is or what it wants to be. It actually can’t make up its mind so it combined the three things into just one: a small boat that can fit in four-five people, a gas-powered furnace to warm up the passengers, and of course, a jacuzzi that makes it the perfect hot tub for when you want to relax with close friends in the middle of the sea or ocean instead of just your backyard.

Even when the sea is a bit cold depending on the weather, staying inside the Spacruzzi will keep you warm as it has a propane-powered “stove” that is able to regulate its own temperature. In case you’re concerned that you might blow up due to overheating, it has a safety system and an automatic shut-off feature in case you’re warm enough already. If hygiene is a concern, there is an internal filtration system that also serves as the circulation and heating system. Although of course, sharing a jacuzzi with other people is always a “risk” when it comes to hygiene.

The design of the Spacruzzi is inspired by a teardrop so there’s space for the furnace and a small table in the middle so you can place your food and drinks. And of course, enough space to fit in the four-five people. There is also a ladder on the side so you can go into the sea and swim your heart out and go back to your boat when you want to relax again. You also have the option to customize it according to the color, wood and metal finishes, decking, etc.

I still probably won’t want to spend time in a small space and a jacuzzi in the middle of the ocean with even my closest friends in the spa with me. But hey, if that’s your dream, you just have to get ready with almost $50,000 to make it come true.

The post Spacuzzi lets you stay warm in a small jacuzzi in the ocean first appeared on Yanko Design.

Raquel Martins: Fragile Eyes

Singer, songwriter, musician and producer Raquel Martins comes for fragile masculinity in her vibrant new track. Portugal-born, UK-based Martins blends alt-soul and jazz with Latin-influenced percussion to create an upbeat, infectious song that comes for feeble men who are intimidated by strong, successful women. The track is set to appear on her upcoming EP, Empty Flower.

Snohetta completes "surgical" renovation of Phillip Johnson's AT&T building

Chippendale Exterior

Architecture studio Snøhetta has carried out a series of renovations to the postmodern 550 Madison skyscraper, which was formerly known as the AT&T building.

Snøhetta opened up some of the facades, added a public garden and improved ventilation and elevation systems as part of the conversion of the 647-foot-high (197-metre) skyscraper from a single-occupant tower into an office for multiple occupants.

Chippendale new lobby Gensler
Top: The crest of 550 Madison. Photo by Alex Fradkin. Above: Snøhetta worked with interior designers from Gensler to renovate Philip Jonhson’s 550 Madison lobby. Photo by Fred Charles

Snøhetta founding partner Craig Dykers told Dezeen that the approach to building was “surgical”, with the majority of the interventions occurring on the inside, which allowed the studio to open up aspects of the exterior.

“Oftentimes were asked to look at buildings or places that have stopped having value to people,” he said.

“No one had occupied it for so long that it needed a health assessment in a way. It needed fresh air. It needed daylight and needed spaciousness given to its tenants and needed access to nature, all of these things to bring it back to the glory that it had at one time.”

Large window in Chippendale building renovation
New windows and an extensive outdoor garden were added. Photo by Barrett Doherty

Now called 550 Madison, the granite-clad skyscraper designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee was nicknamed the “Chippendale” building when it opened in 1984 because of the pediment that resembles furniture by the well-known American manufacturer of the same name.

Originally constructed for American telecommunications company AT&T, and known as the AT&T building, the skyscraper was later occupied by Sony and then sat vacant for a number of years before being acquired by global investment firm The Olayan Group. 

Chippendale building garden adjacent
The garden has a large glass canopy. Photo by Barrett Doherty

In 2017, Snøhetta unveiled its plan to reconfigure the facade of the lower portions of the building, but the plan was nixed by the city government, which gave the building landmark status after protests from local communities.

The realised renovation aimed to respect the changed status by scaling back interventions to the facade. Only a small portion of the original stone was removed in order to create a window block for the new amenities floor and it was reused to repair stone in other areas.

Garden aerial view
The renovations open up space for the public. Photo by Barrett Doherty

According to Dykers, the main goal was to open up the spaces at the base of the tower to be more public-facing and to redesign the storefronts on street level.

“The lower level of the building was challenging,” he said. “Phillip Johnson said the same thing. He literally criticized his own building.”

“It’s a great building,” he continued. “I still really like it, and I’ve always enjoyed it, and I feel like I like it even more now that you can enjoy the lower levels of the building.”

Round window in Chippendale interior
An updated mechanical system allowed for interior space to be cleared. Photo of Rockwell Group interior by Nikolas Koenig

“There was a lot of discussion about how much glass we were going to put on the building and that caused some controversy” added Dykers. “But what was important was that we found a way to bring light into those amenity spaces,” he continued.

“So we’ve added glass to the west side of the building overlooking the gardens below and made the space a little more connected to the exterior than it was previously that level had very little daylight.”

Rockwell Group interior in Chippendale Building
Rockwell Group updated the amenities level. Photo of Rockwell Group interior by Nikolas Koenig

In order to open up the spaces at ground level, Snøhetta moved an elevator core to create “unbroken” views from Madison Avenue, through the lobby and into the public gardens.

The garden is made of a redesigned mid-block passageway. Snøhetta added a water feature and a glass canopy to the space.

“Our design for the new garden transforms the streets surrounding the iconic 550 Madison building into an accessible, lavishly vegetated, and highly visible public space,” said Snøhetta partner Michelle Delk, who was responsible for the landscape architecture.

The studio also changed the ventilation system to provide better air quality and use less energy and to open up more interior spaces that were previously occupied by mechanical parts.

The system also allowed for some of the portholes of the building that were used in the ventilation system to be opened up and converted into windows.

“It’s a greener system in that sense,” Dykers told Dezeen. “But also we were able to repurpose thousands of square feet of space that had been dedicated to mechanical space.”

Rockwell Group interior for Chippendale building
The building was converted to be used by multiple companies. Photo by Rockwell Group interior by Nikolas Koenig

Removing the old system also allowed the studio to create more height in the porticos and office spaces. While the tenants are allowed to make changes to the individual spaces, Snøhetta insisted that marble staircases on the upper levels be retained.

American architecture studio Gensler was in charge of redesigning the lobby, which includes new terrazzo flooring and a hanging sculpture by Polish artist Alicja KwadeNew York design studio Rockwell Group carried out the interior design for the amenities level.

Snøhetta was founded in Oslo, Norway and is officially based there and in New York. The studio has launched a number of renovations of landmarks including the 2017 renovation of Times Square as well as the conversion of an industrial site into a place for the Oslo Opera House.

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SmartHEAL sensor tells you if wound may be infected using RFID

When you have a wound with a bandage, sometimes you have no idea if it’s healing or there’s a worse infection, unless you actually redress the bandage. Sometimes though, re-opening and then closing the bandage will cause the wound to be exposed to various elements and that might actually disrupt the healing process and may lead to the dreaded infection. What if there was a way for your wound to continue to be protected and at the same time, give you an idea if it’s actually healing.

Designers: Tomasz Raczyński, Dominik Baraniecki, Piotr Walter

The SmartHEAL sensor was designed by Ph.D. students from Warsaw University of Technology and it is able to measure the pH balance of a wound without having to open the bandage or dressing. It has an electronic pH sensor that is printed onto a bandage-like textile backing. It uses radio frequency identification or RFID to give you the data that you need. All you have to do is use a mobile device and pass it over the sensor and it can tell you if the pH levels are still okay or if it’s in danger of giving you an infection.

So basically, what you get is a wound dressing that has a screen-printed RFID sensor so there’s no need to charge anything or use any batteries. The bandage can be washed and stretched according to the size of the wound, and supposedly, it’s not easily breakable so it should be able to withstand things that your arm or leg or whatever part the dressing is on might encounter. It doesn’t say though if it’s water-proof so that may be something that they have to take note of.

The SmartHEAL sensor is the grand prize winner of the James Dyson Awards and so they’ll receive prize money that they can use for product development and clinical trials. They’re looking at 2025 as the year when they can actually get it out in the market since the product is pretty scalable and eventually affordable. This product will be especially useful for elderly people who are more susceptible to developing chronic wounds and infections.

The post SmartHEAL sensor tells you if wound may be infected using RFID first appeared on Yanko Design.