Hasta La Ideas

Asian diner chain Light Years has renovated its flagship restaurant in the bustling Australian surf town of Byron Bay, with interiors conceived by local practice Studio Plenty in collaboration with a group of home-grown artists and designers.

The team behind Light Years wanted to mirror the playful visual identity established across its three other venues on Australia’s East Coast while refining and elevating their aesthetic.

“We were asked to reimagine the Byron Bay restaurant, taking cues from its sister diners but with greater restraint in composition,” Studio Plenty founder Will Rathgeber told Dezeen.

“We were looking to achieve something refined without letting go of the relaxed culture behind the brand, with satisfying colours and patterns, and playful shapes and materials.”

Soft corners and gently curving walls help to create a sense of intimacy, according to Rathgeber, while the restaurant’s colour palette of soft pink and terracotta tones “embraces you like a warm hug”.

Underpinning the playful feel of the eatery is a careful focus on the practicalities, with arched openings and material thresholds helping to define three distinct spaces – the main dining room, a curved bar with counter seating and a private dining area for larger groups.

The restaurant’s material palette incorporates handmade terracotta tiles with a rustic brushed finish and a rusty colour that is also picked up in the restaurant’s floors and the Fibonacci terrazzo bar counter.

In the main dining room, the ceiling was treated with an acoustic spray to absorb sound while contributing to the earthy, vernacular look of the diner thanks to its bumpy texture.

Since the acoustic spray does not adhere to pipes, Studio Plenty specified a motorbike exhaust wrap for the pipes to achieve a harmonious ceiling plane.

In the bar area, ceilings are clad in rattan acoustic panels by local product designer and interior stylist Sarah Ellison, who also worked with Studio Plenty to design the restaurant’s custom furniture including the chunky tables and bistro-style chairs.

Artist collective Studio of the Sun created two colourful murals for the restaurant, with one featuring playful illustrations laser-printed onto a section of glossy white tiles.

“The client was committed to a locally focussed project, hence approaching Studio Plenty to design the restaurant and Sarah Ellison and Studio of the Sun to collaborate,” said Rathgeber.

Rathgeber founded his Byron Bay practice in 2020 after cutting his teeth working for architecture firms Woods Bagot and Jackson Clements Burrows in Melbourne.

“We believe happiness is achieved through sensible design, not excess,” he explained of his studio’s ethos. “We have an appetite for rational design and an obsession with functionalism.”

Elsewhere in Byron Bay’s bustling bar and restaurant scene, Australian studio Pattern has designed the interiors for an eatery serving South America-style small plates and cocktails.

Its patchy grey surfaces and concrete fixtures were designed to reflect the “raw beauty” of late-night eateries in Mexico.

The photography is by Jessie Prince.

The post Studio Plenty designs Light Years diner in Byron Bay to feel like “a warm hug” appeared first on Dezeen.

Putting soul and sole together…

With the kind of attention to detail that only AI can come up with, these shoes are an avant-garde combination of two industries that have very little of an overlap. Envisioned by AI-artist Str4ngeThing, the footwear, which range in a variety of styles, capture architectural and artistic expressions and details from Renaissance Architecture. The results are absolutely stunning, even though impractical. They are, however, “a testament to the power of design and innovation using AI,” according to the designer.

Designer: Str4ngeThing

These heels use a combination of floral motifs and traditional Renaissance spires and towers

Looking like it’s made using a combination of thin-sliced wood veneer or cork, these shoes have an immense amount of detail in them. While footwear design usually sticks to a “less is more” agenda, these shoes are the absolute antithesis to the fact. Chuck Taylors are iconic for their simplicity, so are Crocs, and Christian Louboutins… but these Renaissance Footwear concepts aren’t. Every shoe compresses an entire era of iconic architecture into its small ‘footprint’. Sure, the AI loses some crucial details and makes a few assumptions while generating the images, but the results look marvelous no less.

A classic interpretation of the Italian Renaissance, this mocassin features arched windows like the ones seen in Roman architecture

Some shoes go a step further by including sculptural elements in their details like the one above. The tongue of the shoe, right near the shin, looks like a grotesque – a key element of Renaissance and even medieval architecture. The midsole area has some wonderful detailing, while the entire shoe looks like it was carved from sandstone. The shoe concept below is a stunning example of grandiosity, with an entire relief mural ‘carved’ into the side of the stone. The top of the shoe is an interpretation of the highly detailed Corinthian-style orders seen at the top of architectural columns. Is it practical? Absolutely not. Is it awe-striking? Undeniably.

“This collection is also a true testament to the importance of creativity and innovation in the world of fashion. It demonstrates that with a forward-thinking approach and a commitment to excellence, it is possible to create something truly exceptional,” says designer Str4ngeThing.

Not all footwear designs get the balance between different aesthetic elements right, though… like the proportions between architecture and human sculpture.

The shoe concept above goes way beyond architecture and builds an entire diorama on the footwear body. Although it isn’t perfect, you can see the Roman columns, the angled roofs of the Pantheon-style building, and the environments around it. The footwear below feels like a fresco brought to life, almost like Michelangelo made the footwear himself.

The AI has a long way to go in making concepts that are feasible, but at least in its current stage, Midjourney’s images are about as stunningly hyperrealistic as they can be. “I’m excited to see how this collection will inspire and influence the world of fashion, and I’m proud to have played a part in bringing it to life,” Str4ngeThing mentions in his Instagram post.

The post AI imagines Renaissance Architecture as Footwear to create absolutely stunning new styles first appeared on Yanko Design.

With a metal exoskeletal framework around each glass bottle, these luxury-car-branded wine bottles are about as precious as their automotive counterparts. The bottles pay homage to four iconic car brands – Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche, with a design that embodies the crème de la crème personality of each brand.

Designer: Taron

The designs are courtesy Shenzhen-based artist and designer by the name of Taron, who relied on parametric modeling to create each unique bottle with its signature outer skeleton. Almost resembling the metallic chassis seen in most cars, these wine bottles come with a frame that feels organic and living, elevating the wine bottle from mundane to legendary.

The four iconic brands each come with their own style. The Rolls-Royce bottle is broad and isn’t afraid to occupy the space it does. The Ferrari bottle, on the other hand, is sleek and looks like it could cut through air. You’ve got a Lamborghini bottle above that uses facets and aggressive details to pay tribute to its automobiles, and a Porsche bottle below, with an exoskeleton covering a signature 911-inspired yellow body.

The luxury-car-inspired wine bottles are quite similar to Ross Lovegrove’s perfume bottles designed in collaboration with F1 back in 2019. These wine bottles rely on 3D-printing for their outer armatures too, while the glass bottle slides comfortably into the hollow chassis and is locked in place with a base and a cap. Sadly though, these bottles are conceptual, although I’d love me some Rolls-Royce rosé!

The post Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, and Porsche-inspired wine bottles come with a stunning metal ‘chassis’ first appeared on Yanko Design.

American architect Bill Hellmuth, who designed many projects as president and then CEO of global architecture studio HOK, has passed away aged 69 after a long illness.

The architect died on 6 April following a long illness, according to a statement published on the HOK website, which remembered Hellmuth’s life and work.

Born in 1953, the architect served as president of HOK and design principal for the studio’s Washington DC office from 2005. He was also named CEO in 2016 and chairman a year later.

Hellmuth was known for his “hands-on” approach to designing buildings, overseeing dozens of projects across 20 countries during his career at HOK – from offices and embassies to museums and hospitals.

These include the UAE’s 75-storey Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Headquarters and the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Hellmuth designed many buildings in the US such as The Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia – an extension to the Smithsonian Institution’s original HOK-designed National Air and Space Museum.

Late HOK co-founder Gyo Obata, who passed away last year aged 99, served as a long-standing mentor to Hellmuth after encouraging him to join HOK in 1991.

Under Hellmuth’s hand, HOK produced hundreds of green-certified projects and over 400 designers achieved “green” certification, according to the architecture studio.

The architect also launched the HOK Diversity x Design Scholarship in 2021, which awards annual scholarships to underrepresented design students.

“Hellmuth was exceptionally optimistic about the ability of design to improve people’s lives,” said the studio.

The architect attended the University of Virginia in the 1970s, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture.

He then went on to receive a Master of Architecture from Princeton University where he studied under the late architect Michael Graves. After graduating, he joined Chicago-based studio Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Over his lifetime, Hellmuth won 29 awards for his work from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The AIA elevated him to its College of Fellows in 2017, while the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture presented Hellmuth with its Distinguished Alumni Award the following year.

The architect was the nephew of HOK co-founder George F Hellmuth who helped to establish HOK under its former name Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum in 1954.

Bill Hellmuth is survived by his wife, Nancy, as well as his daughter Grayson and her husband, Cleve Rueckert, and his son William and his two grandchildren.

The images are courtesy of HOK.

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Making cooking videos to post on your Instagram handle can be a fun and engaging way to share your culinary skills with others. Incorporating modern-day gadgets in the process can make your content more interesting and relevant to today’s audience: the Gen Z.

While cameras and lighting have come of age for the good of home cooks leveraging their social footprints for personal recognition; they require human intervention to record, create, and share. This creates a void to be filled by a comprehensive device, which would leave you nothing to do but ‘cook.’ Enter, the LG COit, a kitchen hub, worthy of your needs.

Designer: Jiun Park and Seohee Lee

Designed for LG, the COit is a robot that can serve as a hub in the kitchen ecosystem. Adequate for use by a novice (who can get cooking guidelines) and professional chefs (who can instantly share their prep), this is more of an autonomous device that brings your focus back from videography to cooking, which is primarily what you set out to do at the first place.

Comprising a mountable rail with a circular display surrounded by a camera, projector, light and a smart grip. All of these modules can move freely and independent on the small rail to cover the entire prep area or away from the fire and vapors. These modules – that clip onto the rail with built-in magnets – can be customized in orientation, depending on user requirements.

When put to use, the camera with a depth sensor can recognize items and intimate in real-time about the correct quantity for the dish. The smart gripper can mark out where to dice or chop, and the display can recognize hand gestures to flip between cooking instructions, or upload a created culinary video for the social media followers to appreciate.

The post This LG kitchen hub makes preparing and recording culinary videos effortless for food bloggers first appeared on Yanko Design.