Hasta La Ideas

Looking somewhat like the spiritual successor to the Braun T3 radio and the classic iPod, the CM-15 is Teenage Engineering’s latest device to fit into its music-tech ecosystem. The condenser microphone boasts a design so clean it looks like it was made by Jony Ive himself, with an all-metal design, a compact body, and a whopping 1-inch condenser diaphragm on the inside to give you the most crystal clear audio capture ever. Offering a combination of 48v phantom-powered mini XLR, USB-audio interface + preamp, and 3.5 mm line output (with an internal battery), the CM-15 works with a wide range of devices including directly with your phone/laptop, or even with the company’s TX-6 handheld mixer and OP-1 synth if you’re looking to make music or record audio/podcasts on the go. The CM-15 is compact enough to fit into your bag or even your pocket. It comes with a tripod stand adapter, and even has a flip-out kickstand if you want to keep your setup frugal… and you’ll probably want to, given that the microphone has a whopping price tag of $1199.

Designer: Teenage Engineering

The condenser microphone’s design screams sophistication, with a simplicity that’s difficult to ignore. It has two controls and three ports – that’s it… but boasts compatibility with a wide range of interfaces and devices, and has the ability to record everything from studio drumsets to ASMR-style voiceovers. This is, thanks to the microphone’s massive 1-inch diaphragm, which seems unusually large when compared to the mic’s own diminutive size. The condenser offers a super-cardioid pickup pattern, making it great at capturing sounds on the front while isolating sounds coming from the side and canceling sounds from the back.

A switch on the side lets you power the microphone, while another one on the back lets you choose your gain level depending on what you’re recording. Set the gain to zero for loud sounds, and for softer, more delicate audio, adjust the gain to the II position to capture even the faintest of sounds. Meanwhile, the mic supports three types of output – a phantom-powered mini XLR, a USB-C with its own power supply, and a 3.5mm out that’s supplemented by the CM-15’s own built-in battery. What’s rather spectacular is that the CM-15 supports all three outputs being used simultaneously, allowing you to send recorded audio to three interfaces at the same time.

The elephant in the room, however, is the microphone’s staggering $1,199 price tag. Priced much higher than most other condensers, the CM-15 costs about as much as the iPhone 14 Pro, although that shouldn’t come as a surprise considering that the iconic OP-1 synth itself is priced in the $2,000 ballpark. However, I’m nobody to judge if you’re an audiophile with a deep pocket and an appreciation for iconic minimalist design. The CM-15 is listed on the Teenage Engineering website but won’t go on sale until ‘this summer’, according to the site.

The post Teenage Engineering’s CM-15 condenser microphone looks right out of Apple X Braun’s design playbook first appeared on Yanko Design.

Colleen Healey Architecture has renovated a 30-year-old home in Maryland, introducing large windows and a hybrid facade that mixes Corten steel with cedar shake.

The Bethesda, Maryland home is called Corten Tree House and covers close to 5,000 square feet (464 square metres) on a lot that borders a wooded conservation area with a natural spring that empties into the Potomac River.

In an effort to reconcile the “completely disconnected” layout of the original home – where large walls and the front yard and entrance were hidden by a large freestanding garage – the architecture studio connected the front and back of the house to allow for additional entertaining space.

“Instead of just creating a deeper footprint, we focused on reconfiguring the first-floor layout and fenestration to better connect them to the front and rear outdoor spaces,” studio founder Colleen Healey told Dezeen, adding that she wanted to create a “spatial playfulness”.

“The result is an efficient open main living level where each room can see both front and back through the house.”

By making use of the cedar shakes from the original home, the Studio was able to integrate a common, wooden, North American aesthetic in the upper half of the facade, while the lower half features the addition of Corten metal panels.

“On the exterior, cedar shakes, which are common for the region, were a sustainable solution that helped create a textural contrast with the Corten metal panels,” Healey told Dezeen.

“Both materials are economical and will continue to integrate more into the surroundings with time.

Additions to the two-storey structure comprised around 1,000 square feet (92 square metres), while most of the rest of the project consisted of renovating existing space.

The home steps down a steep hill, with the majority of the living spaces at grade.

Due to the nature of this secluded site, the studio was able to create moments of interior exposure with elements like the 15-foot (five metre) pocketed-glass doors, creating a sheltered environment than a definitive separation of indoor and outdoor space.

Existing ceiling grids were used to place new windows to “balance” the light that enters at different parts of the day so that the home is fairly protected to the south but still lit throughout the day.

The studio moved the primary suite from the side of the home, off the kitchen – which is now a mudroom and office space – to the second story. A new garage was placed off the living areas on the ground floor.

Additional bedrooms were placed below the ground floor, opening it up for open-concept living spaces. A deck and additional outdoor spaces were added around the perimeter of the structure.

Interior accents work together with the cedar and Corten Steel to create a natural material palette that enhances the fluidity between spaces.

Sloped windows with skylights add further light to the home.

Blackened metal railings, white oak finishes, exposed metal shelves, stone accents and black metal framed glass cabinets give the interiors a clean, industrial appearance.

White wooden trusses run along the ceiling of the ground floor and support overhead lights.

“The interior of the house is very modern in its shapes, detailing and connection to the outdoors, while the exterior is wrapped in a rustic industrial palette,” said Healey.

Colleen Healey has created a number of other projects in the area that mix rustic and contemporary finishes including a renovation of a carriage house using colourful facades and the renovation of a historic Washington DC home.

The photography is by Jennifer Hughes.

The post Colleen Healey clads renovated Maryland home in Corten steel and cedar appeared first on Dezeen.

An exhibition showcasing the history and work of a Soviet avant-garde school of architecture has opened up at the Cooper Union in New York City after more than a year of delays due to the ongoing Ukraine war.

Vkhutemas: Laboratory of the Avant-Garde 1920-1930, which grew out of a 2019 class taught by Cooper Union assistant professor Anna Bokov, highlights the pedagogy and theory of the 1920s Soviet school of architecture.

Curated by Bokov and archives director Steven Hillyer, the exhibition aims to bring to light the work of the Vkhutemas school, which was established soon after the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, to compensate for its silencing “due to ideological repression on both sides of the Iron Curtain”.

Showing both student conceptual work in the form of models, historical photographs along with infographics detailing the structure of the school, the exhibition aims to show the relevancy of the school today, which Bokov said was “probably the most democratic educational endeavour”.

“The idea was that anyone who wanted to start out from architecture, especially from the social classes that didn’t have the opportunity to study art and architecture… in the former pre-revolutionary period, they now had the opportunity to do so,” Bokov told Dezeen.

“So here we have, for the first time, equal acceptance criteria.”

The exhibition was originally slated to open last year, but was postponed in light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this year, the exhibition was postponed again after an opinion piece by New York University historian Peder Anker in Archinect stated it might make Russia “more appealing to the architectural community and New Yorkers”.

Cooper Union architecture dean Hayley Eber at the time raised questions about the facts in the piece but still decided to open up a discussion with the students, faculty and with New York City’s adjacent Ukranian Village.

“Important historical study”

After deliberation and a letter signed by prominent international architects, the school decided to go ahead with the exhibition.

The exhibition includes a number of statements and letters – in favour of and against – written about the issue.

“These documents are presented with the purpose of urging visitors to reflect on the contemporary social, intellectual, and political background against which this exhibition is situated, and the important historical study of groundbreaking pedagogical practices in and of themselves,” said Cooper Union president Laura Sparks.

Bokov and Hillyer agreed that the focus on student work is the most interesting part of the exhibition, with Cooper Union students engaging critically in a “forensic architecture” project that reached back to student work done almost a century prior.

The students created models of projects developed by members of the school, including the outrageous Flying City – a diploma project by Vkhutemas student Georgii Krutikov.

“We were all interested in the line of work within this diverse school that would be most innovative and most relevant for us today,” said Bokov.

The reconstructions and models for the exhibition were generated from a limited number of archival works, gleaned from personal archives that Bokov has collected and from Soviet magazines donated to the school by architect Peter Eisenman.

Bokov created graphics related to the contemporaneous institution, the Bauhaus, to show the similarities between the two schools and the very different historical receptions.

The lack of information comes from the purge of the school by Joseph Stalin, compounded by the West considering the work too communist, according to Bokov.

“It was a function of the tragic history of that place, which continues to be tragic, unfortunately,” said Bokov.

Vkhutemas: Laboratory of the Avant-Garde 1920-1930 is open from 25 April to 5 May 2023. For more events, exhibitions and talks in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide.

The post Controversial Vkhutemas architecture exhibition opens at the Cooper Union appeared first on Dezeen.

These are Feng-Shui-specific tape measures.

Known as Lu Ban rulers, they’re named for a historical Chinese architect/builder who lived during the Zhou Dynasty (roughly 2,500 years ago). What differentiates these tapes is that dimensions thought to be auspicious by Feng Shui practitioners (mirroring Western golden ratio believers) are marked in red.

The thinking is that objects ought to be built or placed in space to these red dimensions. Go with the black dimensions and, well, you’re taking your chances.

Innovating with a tested pair of shoes is a tried method, but at times it can backfire. Nike backs itself when it comes to pushing the boundaries of shoe design it has already perfected: sometimes with the induction of cutting-edge technology and at times only with colors and material without interrupting the baseline comfort and performance.

With its unique styling, Nike Cortez has been a fan favorite through time and the popularity shows no signs of fading. Despite retaining the original silhouette, Nike introduces a new Cortez iteration that lands amid sneakerheads in a bold split color, which instantly reminds us of the Yin and Yang and the ancient Chinese philosophical concept of opposing forces.

Designer: Nike

The new Nike Cortez Yin and Yang-themed sneaker features a striking black and white color scheme that is topped with a zippered shoelace cover. The black and white leather upper is segmented in a way to create a striking contrast, with the stitching playing a nice match-up.

In addition to its eye-catching color display – white on the lateral sides and black on the medial – the Nike Cortez “Yin and Yang” also boasts several unique details. Of course, the zippered shoelace cover is the style highlight but it’s the midfoot Swooshes, extended heel tabs, and printed insoles that add up to the design brilliance for us to appreciate.

Whether you’re a fan of classic sneakers or on the hunt for the latest styles, the Nike Cortez Yin and Yang is sure to turn heads. The price is yet to be announced, but keep an eye out for its release at select Nike retailers and online at Nike.com in the upcoming months.

The post Nike Cortez ‘Yin and Yang’ with zippered tongue cover lends stylish look to iconic silhouette first appeared on Yanko Design.