Hasta La Ideas

Inflatable furniture isn’t a completely alien concept these days, but most of the time, it is more focused on air mattresses that stay in one place most of the time. The benefits of such a kind of bed are still arguable. Some definitely swear by their ergonomic and comfort advantages, while others warn of their short lifespans and harmful long-term effects. This particular air-filled piece of furniture, however, has a pretty different and specific objective that may actually appeal to a larger number of people than air mattresses. This inflatable chair is designed to be a portable seating solution you can set up in any outdoor environment, though its practicality and comfort are left to the readers’ imaginations.

Designers: Kim Seungwoo, Kim Siwon, Kim Chanwoo, Yoon Jonghoon

At long last, people finally appreciate outdoor activities, whether it’s engaging in exercise or simply kicking up one’s feet at a campsite. The latter is ironically a bit more stressful despite how it sounds, mostly because of the preparations and equipment needed to make a truly comfortable experience. You don’t have to go crazy over those, of course, especially if you just want to sit back and chill. All you really need is something to sit on, which is exactly what this concept tries to offer in a very portable manner.

The Bag Sofa is an inflatable chair designed for easy carrying to any location. Unlike something like an air mattress, it folds down to a very flat rectangular piece that you can carry around like a bag, hence the name. Part of the bag is made of hard pieces that form the structure or frame of the sofa, while soft cloth-like parts serve as the connecting materials that allow the chair to fold. It’s almost like those fabric-covered foldable boxes, except it’s shaped to form the semblance of a chair when unfolded.

The inflatable part forms the “filling” of the sofa that lets you actually sit on it and provide something soft enough to be a bit comfortable compared to wood or metal. The same fabric material is draped over the transparent inflatable bag to create a more pleasing appearance and protect the skin from sticking to the bag’s synthetic surface.

The idea for Bag Sofa is to be able to simply set up a seat anywhere outdoors and then pick it up again to move on. It may be an alluring concept, but it does raise the question of how easily you can inflate the thing in the first place. If you’re traveling extremely light with nothing but the folded chair, you will most likely have to rely on your own lungs to fill it up, which is contrary to the relaxing outdoor experience that the concept tries to sell.

The post This portable chair will make your lungs work for your outdoor comfort first appeared on Yanko Design.

Amidst all the festivities aswirl throughout New York City this holiday season, nothing glitters quite like the façade of The Mark Hotel, the beloved Upper East Side destination that’s now encrusted in two tons of Swarovski Crystal. Altogether, millions of hand-applied crystals craft a stunning gingerbread house edifice that wraps the hotel’s Assouline boutique, guest entrance and all the way around The Mark Bar, further embellished with larger-than-life nutcrackers, ribbons and candy canes. The spectacular display—visible to all who pass by—will be be up until 7 January 2023. Read more about it, as well as the two matching holiday carts and their flavorful offerings (including hot chocolate with house-made marshmallows, as well as The Mark x Swarovski Lollipops), at The Mark’s website.

Image by Thomas Loof, courtesy of The Mark Hotel

Not all plants are meant to be grown and taken care of. There are certain stubborn ones that are considered “invasive” and can in fact cause harm to the ecosystems and even run over infrastructure. There are those looking for ways to use the adaptive properties of these plants and use their life cycle for something more useful and even decorative.

Designer: Franklin St. Studio

Once such Vancouver-based furniture and material design studio came up with the Good Morning Glory project which seeks to “tame” the plant for which is named after. For this design experiment, they harvested the morning glory roots which are easily found in the area. They were able to train the vines through winding and tying techniques and made it part of the metal chair with its grid-like woven pattern, specifically the main seat and back support.

The morning glory flowers actually just last for one day after they open up with the sun so you get some decorations in the morning. But their leaves actually become a source of food for some insects like the convolvulus hawk moths. The project actually prevented the seed pods from forming and the roots were removed and thrown away once the cycle is complete.

I don’t really know if I’d want to sit in the chair that is overrun with morning glory but it’s an interesting experiment to harness these invasive plants and still preserve their species. We’ll probably see more design projects like this until such time when they can actually be used for furniture commercially or at least have something a bit more decorative even if not highly functional.

The post Furniture project makes use of morning glory to create decorative and functional chair first appeared on Yanko Design.

Composed of 100% deadstock alpaca wool, the limited edition Patchwork Smash “Bourbon by the Fire” sweater is an anti-waste, heirloom quality article of clothing crafted for all genders. Made by the woman-founded, slow-fashion brand The Endery in collaboration with Maker’s Mark, the festive sweater marries together patches of vintage-inspired knits. Each sweater is signed by the artisan that assembled it—and Maker’s Mark will donate 100% of their profits from the collaboration to The Endery’s Give Back program, which further supports their artisans. Available for pre-order now, sweaters will ship in January.

NYC-based firm Garrison Architects has completed an animal shelter in Staten Island, which is wrapped in full-height glass walls that provide even lighting conditions throughout the day.

The Staten Island Animal Rescue Center is located in Charleston, a neighbourhood in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It was completed earlier this year and inaugurated in a public ceremony on 26 October.

The project aims to break from the typical design of an animal care facility, and feel more like a home environment than a hospital.

For this reason, the animal’s living areas are placed at the perimeter of the 5,000-square-foot (465 square metres) building.

The building is lined with translucent polycarbonate panels that provide an even, diffuse light.

“This allows our furry friends to get all the sunshine from the full-glass walls,” said Garrison Architects.

“Animal shelters are interesting buildings – they reflect broadly our values and relationship to nature,” said founder James Garrison.

“The animals we care for are a bridge to the natural world – breaking through our distraction and reminding us of our essential connections,” the architect added.

The materials found throughout the building were chosen for their durability, ease of maintenance and affordability.

“The building is designed as a low budget, high-performance facility using locally produced materials with high recycled content,” said the studio.

The centre of the building is occupied by service areas, as well as space to run the ventilation conduits of three separate mechanical systems.

“[There are] three completely separate mechanical systems – for well animals, sick animals and surgical operations,” Garrison explained.

“The enormous machines that serve this purpose are placed within an elevated courtyard in the center of the building,” he added.

“That court is surrounded by a clerestory that allows sunlight to enter throughout the day regardless of orientation.”

These conduits are finished in bright colours and feature prominently throughout the building’s utilitarian and clean interiors.

Garrison described the building’s mechanical and natural ventilation systems as “a machine for breathing”.

The building’s lobby is named after a New York boy, Tommy Monahan, who died while trying to save his pets from a fire in 2007.

“The creation of the new Staten Island Animal Care Center, initially inspired by Tommy’s incredible heroism, now has the capacity to house more animals than ever,” said NYC mayor Eric Adams at the building’s inauguration.

The project was partially financed by New York City’s Design Excellence Program, an initiative that sought to support high-quality design commissions for public buildings in NYC.Other buildings that this program helped finance include Studio Gang’s Rescue 5 Fire Station and a utility building by nArchitects that sits in the NYC Department of Transportation’s Harper Street Yard, in Queens.

Other projects designed by the NYC-based Garrison Architects include Piaule, an Upstate New York retreat made up of 24 cabins that are available to lease, and a prototype for disaster-response homes that was completed after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The photography is by Eduard Hueber.

The post Polycarbonate-wrapped rescue shelter by Garrison Architects maximises light for animals appeared first on Dezeen.