I’m about to embark on what will probably be my longest travel away from home. While I’m pretty excited for it of course, I’m also nervous about the luggage situation as I always bring a lot of things with me and pack light is a foreign concept to me. I feel like I want to bring all of my creature comforts as well as make the place I’ll be staying in for three weeks as home-y as possible. The idea behind this newest collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Marc Newson is to have luggage and modular cabinets for the modern (and rich) traveler.

Designer: Marc Newson for Louis Vuitton

The Cabinet of Curiosities (not to be mistaken for the Netflix series) reimagines the iconic traveler trunk from Louis Vuitton and turns it into something that is not just storage for your stuff but something that can be turned into a display of the stuff that you brought along with you. On the outside, it looks like your typical monogrammed traveler’s trunk but the magic happens when you open it and assemble the storage cubes and all the items you want to store and display.

Each trunk comes with 19 colorful and modular storage cubes which you can arrange according to your mood or preference. The trunk can be displayed upright with a 180-degree opening while some of the cubes have a hinged door in case you want to keep some of the objects hidden inside. The bigger ones are just shelves where you can display books, figurines, sculptures, and other knick knacks.

The Cabinet of Curiosities comes in three colorways: VVN natural leather, yellow, and if you want to have more colorful shelves, there’s also a tricolor made up of red, blue, and green boxes/shelves. Obviously, this is not something that you will use to actually travel but it’s an interesting trunk to bring along with you when you need to turn into a cabinet and display your life.

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Dezeen School Shows: a device that alleviates motion sickness and an item resembling a video game controller that helps children concentrate on school work are featured in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at Brunel University.

Also included are a piece of kit designed to notify users when fruit needs to be eaten to avoid it going to waste, as well as a gadget that uses increased heart rate to passively record video clips without the distraction of manually using a camera.

Brunel University

Institution: Brunel University
School: Brunel Design School
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology, BSc Product Design and BSc Product Design Engineering
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon, Rob Eris and Tom Higgs

School statement:

“Students in the Brunel Design School study a range of modules in their final year to enhance their creative, user-centred and technical abilities.

“Their journey through the course allows them to become empathetic designers who weave creative thinking with technology, confident in framing problems and defining design opportunities.

“Many of the modules have a technical element, encouraging students to consider how the design could be practically realised.

“However, one of our final year modules allows students to propose a vision for the future – it’s called Advanced Design Innovation.

“This module allows students to create a range of innovative design proposals aimed at addressing some of the social issues, aspirations or trends predicted over the next ten to 15 years. Once a problem has been identified, students will research an existing brand and carry out an analysis of the brand values.

“Working as a team, they propose a design innovation strategy for their selected brand and create a set of product concepts that respond to the design opportunity. The outcome of this creative, academic project is a professionally written and presented executive report, high quality conceptual models and user interaction analysis.

“The brand re-position concepts are purely for academic purposes and are only being used in the context of design education. They are not for commercial gain nor represent the views of the brands or companies. We hope you find them interesting, thought provoking and inspiring.

“On the Design Process and Research module, year one students had the opportunity to work on a live project in collaboration with Habitat.

“The project began with a research trip to the V&A Museum exploring mechanisms and colour, material, finish properties of historical objects and documenting them through drawing.

“Informed by their research from the V&A, the brief then asked the students to develop either a task light or ambient mood light, reinterpreting their research in a contemporary way, while tailoring their lighting design to fit the brand ethos of Habitat.”

The ND-300WL by Alexandra Liu

“The ND-300WL is a nausea-preventing device for those who live in floating homes. Water living and floating communities are flexible and can rise with the water level, meaning risk from flooding due to rising sea levels is reduced.

“A monitoring earpiece tracks the user’s nausea parameters. When nausea surfaces, the device directly applies Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) to ease feelings of sickness.

“The physical appearance of the device takes cues from product design brand Casio.”

Student: Alexandra Liu
Course: BSc Product Design Engineering – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: alexandraliu.22[at]outlook.com

Seo by Arthur Donn

“Seo is a small device that lives within the fruit bowl to supplement storage, extend shelf-life and communicate when fruit is degrading.

“Fresh fruit is important as part of a healthy diet, however the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates waste among fruit and vegetables are the highest across all food types.

“The value offered to the user is improved management of fruit around users’ day-to-day schedules, promoting responsible consumption.

“This is achieved through communicating shelf-life status using coloured lighting, and prolonging shelf-life through ethylene gas absorption, using a replaceable zeolite and titanium oxide filter.”

Student: Arthur Donn
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: arthurdonn60[at]gmail.com

Minne by Jemma Queenborough

“One in three of us keep ‘meaningful possessions’ in our homes to trigger memories, foster belonging and embody our identities, which are lost on parting with them.

“In 2030, climate migrants are predicted to move long distances to create new homes in new dense communities without their meaningful possessions.

“Minne is an immersive 3D volumetric displayer that projects ‘Digital Twins’ of lost meaningful possessions to retain identity, belonging and memory, strengthened by appropriate or captured scent and sound.”

Student: Jemma Queenborough
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: jemmajqueenborough[at]gmail.com

GAM-0 by Markella Viagkini

“GAM-0 aims to reduce screen time among Key Stage 2 children in order to improve their academic performance.

“The device is inspired by Nintendo’s products and resembles the shape of a console.

“The child’s phone or tablet is placed on the groove and deactivated for a chosen amount of time while the kid concentrates on their homework, meanwhile the wireless earbuds play white noise to help isolate the child from distractions.

“After the timer runs out the child is rewarded with a short gaming session.”

Student: Markella Viagkini
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: markella.viagini[at]gmail.com

BlackBerry Surround by Thomas Ledsome

“BlackBerry Surround focuses on improving productivity within the hybrid work environment by tackling overstimulation.

“It utilises Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) combined with Dolby Atmos technology to project a sound-dampened area surrounding the user with distractions removed.

“Accompanying this are non-disruptive, low frequency sound notifications as well as noise isolation to amplify natural sounds, reducing stress and improving focus.

“People are becoming overstimulated more often due to increases in screen time, more notifications and a higher number of distractions to the extent that throughout 2022, 21 per cent of hybrid workers struggled to focus when working from home.”

Student: Thomas Ledsome
Course: BSc Product Design Engineering – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: thomas.ledsome[at]ntlworld.com

BluGold Task Light by Abinaya Sripathy

“BluGold Task Light is luxury task lamp that combines high quality materials with contrasting aesthetics.

“Intricate engravings on the lamps are inspired by objects in the V&A museum. The V&A contains delicate designs with a high amount of detail – I wanted to incorporate these within my lamp design.

“Taking inspiration from the archetype angle poise I designed a more modern version.”

Student: Abinaya Sripathy
Course: BSc Product Design Engineering – Design Process and Research (Level 1)
Tutor: Tom Higgs
Email: abinayasripathy[at]gmail.com

Habitat Viridis Light by Jack Fisher

“Habitat Viridis is a collection of planters that help to improve ambience for people working from home.

“More than eight in ten workers who had to work from home during the Coronavirus pandemic said they planned to continue to hybrid work. Some feel like there is no longer a division between work and home.

“Both lighting and plants play a similar role in improving the mood and ambience of a space – this product brings both elements together.

“It comes with an integrated RGB LED strip light along the rim of the product which illuminates both the environment and the chosen contents.

“It is a platform for expression, a product that can be adapted and moulded to suit any personal choice and environment.”

Student: Jack Fisher
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Design Process and Research (Level 1)
Tutor: Tom Higgs
Email: jacktfisher76[at]gmail.com

Tilt by Louis Byrne

“Tilt is a task lamp that aims to create the ideal work environment in any room through the easy adjustments in brightness, colour temperature and position, helping people concentrate and feel comfortable when working from home.

“Whether a student or an office worker, people all have favourite environments and areas to work and spend time in.

“Powered by the mains, the lamp is controlled with the textured dials down the centre body, with a window showing visually the current setting for a more intuitive experience.

“The product is lit by an array of led lights in two separate colour temperatures and shielded with a translucent layer to diffuse the light.”

Student: Louis Byrne
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Design Process and Research (Level 1)
Tutor: Tom Higgs
Email: louiswb19[at]gmail.com

Tik Tok Portal by Benedict Hughes

“Meet Portal, the self-led learning experience device that can transport the user everywhere, from anywhere.

“Using a combination of projectors, LiDar sensors and face tracking, Portal shines projections onto any surface, creating a seamless wrap-around immersive experience from the user’s perspective.

“In a world where engagement with education is dwindling, no thanks to the incredible (and addictive) tools students have in their pockets, teaching needs to catch up by utilising emerging technology to boost student engagement.”

Student: Benedict Hughes
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: benhughesy[at]gmail.com

Bumble Ocillus by Maximillian Younossi

“Bumble Ocillus helps users to capture the good times without even knowing. The device records your happiest memories, allowing you to stay in the moment and keep your experiences real.

“As we journey into an ever digital world, we often miss what’s going on around us, too concerned with recording it rather than living it. “Pulling out your phone to film a good time can lead to a disconnect, taking you out of the very moment you want to remember and making it feel disingenuous.

“The Bumble Ocillus uses internal microphones to detect your heartbeat and translate your pulse patterns into moods.

“When you are happy, the device records the moment and automatically saves it to the Bumble app to review later as a video or in 3D virtual reality, helping you to remember good times that would have otherwise been forgotten.”

Student: Maximillian Younossi
Course: BSc Product Design – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: maxyounossi[at]gmail.com

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Brunel University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Brunel University highlights 10 product and industrial design projects appeared first on Dezeen.

An undulating concrete roof topped with grass covers this house in the Czech Republic, designed by local architecture studio RO_AR.

Located alongside a wildlife corridor at the edge of the Hlubocepy district in Prague, the family home is designed to be a “bridge between the urban and the natural”.

To achieve this, RO_AR designed the house as a “clash of two geometries”: a rectilinear form facing the city that is clad in thin oak slats and a hill-like, grass-topped form facing the garden and natural landscape beyond.

“Urban space surrounds the site on the south and east sides,” explained studio founder Szymon Rozwałka. “It is a chaotic and random development, often adversely affecting the value of the terrain.”

“We designed a building that was created by the method of land deformation. The terrain was to transition smoothly from the north-west side into an artificial ‘hill’ into which the house was to be placed,” he continued.

On approach, the ground floor has been carved out to create a garage and entrance sheltered by the overhanging first floor. Here, a paved path leads around the side of the home into the garden.

While the front of the dwelling is more austere, finished in white render and clad with oak battens for privacy, the rear opens onto the garden through fully-glazed facades beneath the curving roof.

“The home seeks to extend the natural context into the interior of the site and into the interiors,” said Rozwałka. “It becomes an abstract body that, through its form and scale, corresponds to the surrounding rocks in the background.”

A paved patio outside the living area overlooks a small pond, and on the first floor, one of the bedrooms opens onto a small terrace that is concealed from the adjacent properties by a section of concrete wall.

Internally, the home’s undulating roof is expressed as an exposed, board-marked concrete ceiling, with large skylights created in the areas where its curves intersect.

The concrete structure has also been left exposed for the internal walls, contrasted by wooden ceilings and staircases and black-metal frames, fittings and furniture.

Based in Brno, RO_AR was founded in 2011 by Rozwałka and operates in both the Czech Republic and Poland.

Elsewhere in the Czech Republic, local studio Architektura recently completed a brightly coloured kindergarten that is intended to echo childhood playfulness.

The post Grass-topped home in Czech Republic bridges “the urban and the natural” appeared first on Dezeen.

In the arty Paris district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Stockholm design studio Halleroed has designed a new boutique for French bag and luggage brand L/Uniform.

Taking cues from the brand’s simple, rational approach to design, Halleroed design lead Ruxandra Halleröd created a series of backdrops that allow the products to “pop out in a beautiful way”.

The boutique is comprised of two rooms that drawing on L/Uniform‘s French heritage alongside a mixture of Japanese and Scandinavian design traditions – also known as Japandi.

The first room was designed to nod to the vernacular of the traditional French marketplace, with stepped display furniture and rustic materials, such as walls papered in woven raffia.

“It reminds us of L/Uniform’s use of French canvas on its more functional bags, but on a bigger scale,” Halleröd told Dezeen.

“We used a Shaker-inspired approach where bags are hung from hooks. There’s an association with everyday market life because some of these bags are specifically made for bringing to the market.”

To create a striking visual contrast with the natural textures of this space, Halleroed added a monolithic display table in deep burgundy with a high-gloss finish.

The second room is more “elegant and eclectic”, according to Halleröd. Here, L/Uniform’s leather handbags are displayed against a palette of soft pink and green, featuring an olive-coloured velvet sofa and pistachio display cabinet alongside tactile elements like the handwoven jute-and-wool carpet.

The same glossy red finish from the first room is also reprised – in this case applied to two exposed pipes, around which Halleroed has constructed a low timber cabinet.

“We worked with colour, texture and material as one entity, creating contrast and also unity,” said Halleröd.

Around the counter, Halleroed added cedar cladding “for a Japanese look and feel”.

This is mirrored across the shop with details such as a rice-paper pendant light by Isamu Noguchi and chairs by George Nakashima, as well as cedar table lamps with rice-paper shades created by a Japanese cabinetmaker.

Gallic influences are reflected in the lighting by Pierre Chareau and Charlotte Perriand and the bush-hammered limestone floor, which according to Halleröd has a “calm, vintage touch that for us is very French”.

Halleroed also brought Swedish elements into the mix, reflecting the studio’s own approach.

“With our minimalist Scandinavian mindset, we prefer to work with fewer elements and materials but in a conscious and precise way,” said Halleröd.

“Working with wood and craft is something that I think is common for both Japan and Sweden, while we think of the warm tones here as being both French and Japanese.”

“Many of the items in the store were handmade specifically for the space, which was important for us since we believe that this reflects the L/Uniform mentality and approach,” she added.

Since it was founded in 1998, Halleroed has completed a number of high-end boutiques around the world.

Among them are an Acne Studios store in Chengdu and various outposts for Swedish streetwear brand Axel Arigato in Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen and London.

The photography is by Ludovic Balay

The post Halleroed mixes French and Japandi influences inside L/Uniform’s Paris boutique appeared first on Dezeen.

Designed by Olson Kundig Architects, the Maxon Studio is a private workspace designed to function as a sidekick to a pre-existing house. The workspace and the home are tucked away in the forests of a rural area outside Seattle. It is a two-story steel tower, that has been mounted on a fifteen-foot-gauge railroad track and is designed to be a seamless and effortless extension of the main house, while also functioning as an independent structure.

Designer: Olson Kundig Architects

Designed to be a workspace, and a retreat to relax and unwind in, the Maxon Studio features the same materiality and views as the main home. While the main house is horizontal, the studio is vertical, creating an interesting yet cohesive contrast between the two structures. The architects drew inspiration from the local region’s rail industry legacy, and the excavation site’s discovery of steel cables and railroad spikes while they were constructing the main house. Mimicking a traditional caboose, the lower storey of the studio functions as a primary workspace with a built-in desk, and multiple shelves for storage and display.

The workspace is surrounded by a steel-clad wall which allows visually stimulating materials to be easily replaced, to create different themes and assignments. The upper level can be accessed via a steel ladder and serves as a zen retreat to restore yourself and explore your creativity. ‘This level functions much like a cupola on a train’s caboose, a high vantage point to look out across the landscape,” said the architects.

What makes the Maxon Studio even more interesting is that it has wheels, making it a portable workspace! This also signifies the influence of train and railway design on the structure. The door of the studio has been painted in the DuPont paint color of the striping on Great Northern trains. The interiors have been clad in wood, and authentic wooden railroad ties repurposed from a Great Northern Railroad relay line have been used. The studio also includes a stabilizing bar to ensure the tower doesn’t tip during an earthquake – this was inspired by Japanese high-speed railways. The studio’s control panel was also originally installed in the Burlington Northern locomotive.

The post Olson Kundig designs a small railroad-inspired workspace/retreat extending from an existing home in Seattle first appeared on Yanko Design.