Hasta La Ideas

From a design perspective, it’s fun to see categories of object where no single form factor has emerged as dominant. An example: Automatic pot stirrers. Although the pioneering Stir Chef was invented way back in the ’80s…

…there’s apparently still no consensus by competing manufacturers on what the thing should look like. For example, look at these four selected by Best Reviews as their top models:

The StirMATE (rechargeable, multi-speed) runs $68. Apparently none of that money goes into a design budget; this thing looks like it was designed by engineers. It clamps to one edge of a pot and can be extended to center the stirrer on pots of different diameters.

The SAKI automatic pot stirrer (rechargeable, multi-speed), also $68, looks a bit more elegant; industrial designers were definitely involved. This design rests on opposing edges of the pot for “perfect balance.” The adjustable arms will accommodate different diameters of pot.

This Ardente Gourmet Stirrer (battery-operated, single-speed), $28, is so unattractive it makes the StirMATE look like a design award winner. The arms pivot from off-center hinges to accommodate different pot diameters, which I have to admit is clever, but the execution looks so cheap.

The design of the Üutensil Stirr (battery-operated, multi-speed) $39, deviates quite a bit from the others. It solves the support problem not with arms, but with legs; the stirrers ride along the bottom of the pot as they rotate. Assuming the thing stays balanced, this is an intelligent innovation that vastly slims down the form factor.

Another clever design feature is that the Stirr breaks down into two pieces, allowing you to invert the top and insert it into the bottom. This saves even more space.

I don’t cook enough to warrant buying one of these, but if I had to choose one, I’d go with the Üutensil Stirr because it seems to have had the most design attention paid to it.

The way we interact with objects today has become increasingly virtual. The excitement is limited and we need reasons to fall back on the past for rejuvenation. This is recaptured with a new way of engagement of using physical objects from the past in the RE-PLAY.

RE:PLAY is designed as a revolutionary concept aiming to bridge the gap between the virtual and the physical. It invites us to reflect on the value of human-object interaction. By leveraging sound players as vessels, RE:PLAY ingeniously blends old-world physicality with modern digital audio sources; an exciting amalgamation that gives rise to a captivating experience to resonate with our nostalgic hearts.

Designer: Shin Huei Tsai, Tzu Yu Huang and Zhuang Zhujun

Rendered on KeyShot: Click Here to Download Your Free Trial Now!

Gone are the days of cassette tapes and vinyl records as primary sound sources. But in the RE:PLAY, these classics are seamlessly integrated with smartphone as the conduit for modern music.

Vinyl players have always evoked a sense of serenity and ritual and paired with a smartphone the contraption is very fresh. The cherished ritual of positioning the tonearm and spinning the disc is revived here with a modern twist. Your phone becomes the vinyl record itself. By carefully positioning the tonearm on your phone, you can indulge in the magic of playing music while visually interacting with the spinning disc.

Who can forget the cassettes? RE:PLAY pays homage to this beloved format by preserving the age-old action of spinning the tape in a cassette recorder. But instead of inserting a physical cassette, you kickstart music by placing your smartphone into the designated slot. We’ve also reimagined the once-cumbersome task of flipping the cassette over as a seamless way to switch songs. Every five songs, you’ll find yourself flipping your phone to continue the melodic journey.

The aesthetics of RE:PLAY are carefully crafted. Pristine white is chosen as the base color allowing the physical interfaces to take center stage. Translucent frosted acrylic adds depth and richness to the design that permits the spinning discs and tape to be visible while playing.

In an era where the virtual often overshadows the physical, RE:PLAY is a beacon of hope.  It’s a visual feast that blends nostalgia with a contemporary flair.

The post RE:PLAY lets you rediscover the joy of interaction with revived use of phone to play in retro first appeared on Yanko Design.

“The Laboratory of the Future” is the theme of the 18th Biennale Architettura, and fabrics play a crucial role in its storytelling

The 18th International Architecture Biennale exhibition in Venice, on view until 26 November, focuses on the traditionally marginalized realities of architecture, especially those of Africa, and linked to the African diaspora. The goal of curator Lesley Lokko was to present people and themes rarely addressed in mainstream architecture because they come from the world’s poorest areas. This inclusivity and diversity was evident throughout the biennials opening days, but it will be apparent to all visitors when they discover the work presented by the invited architects, who Lokko refers to as “agents of change.”

Lokko is aware that something is missing in mainstream architecture today. “The dominant voice has historically been a singular, exclusive voice, whose reach and power ignores huge swathes of humanity—financially, creatively, conceptually—as though we have been listening and speaking in one tongue only,” she says. “The story of architecture is, therefore, incomplete. Not wrong, but incomplete. It is in this context particularly that exhibitions matter.”

For this reason, the theme chosen for the central exhibition of this edition of La Biennale is “The Laboratory of the Future,” addressed in many different ways by the exhibition’s participants. We saw high-tech advancements, projects dedicated to recovering raw materials, works focused on saving water, housing solutions for migrants, and public spaces for small and large groups. One of the common traits of these projects was the choice to represent them through fabrics and weaving—with the latter representing one of the oldest forms of design and architecture. We synthesized some of the most exciting ideas of La Biennale through the lens of the laboratory, allowing us to discover some of the most compelling visions for the future of architecture.

“Loom” by Leslie Lokko

The main venues of the Biennale—through which the main exhibition and national pavilions are distributed—are Arsenale (a former military complex) and Giardini (garden). Inside the Giardini area, at the entrance to the Central Pavilion, visitors are welcomed by an installation created by Leslie Lokko herself. The title is “Loom,” and although it is not a textile project, it summarizes the entire exhibition. In fact, dozens of red outlines represent the projects in the next rooms. They all hang from wires that, like in a loom, metaphorically weave the fabric of La Biennale.

“Ghebbi” by AD-WO

New York-based studio AD-WO presents a speculative project centered around “ghebbi.” In the Amharic language, a ghebbi is a space surrounded by a fence or a wall, a delimited area where houses, schools or shops can be hosted. They can be temporary and mobile, as is the installation in Venice. Built between two sections of the Arsenale, it creates a division in the path of visitors through the use of impressive tapestries and waxed tarpaulins, a colorful reminder of how spaces can be variable and subject to change.

“Bengali Song” by Arinjoy Sen

Architect Arinjoy Sen’s offers a platform for marginalized people, allowing them to define their own narratives. He does so with “Bengali Song,” a series of precious fabrics hand-embroidered by artisans belonging to the SHE Kantha collective in Bengal. On these panels are craftspeople at work: masons, weavers, architects and a choral song reminiscent of an epic poem.

“Surfacing. The Civilised Agroecological Forests of Amazonia” by Estudio A0

Several projects at La Biennale make innovative use of LiDAR, enabling practitioners to discover the present and past of entire territories. Quito-based architecture and research firm Estudio A0 applied such technology to the analysis of five millennia of civilization in the area of the Amazon River. The research results have been turned into narrative of embroidered drawings made with raffia, chambira palm, wooden beads and seeds.

“Threads” by Kate Otten Architects

About two billion years ago, a meteorite struck the region near present-day Johannesburg, South Africa. The impact laid the foundation for gold, a mineral that marked the city’s history since its discovery in 1886. Kate Otten Architects tell this story through a suspended frame—a map that intersects space and time, superimposing historical maps, rural areas and cities between sociological and geographical evolutions.

“The Great Endeavor” by Liam Young

Fiction and critical design are areas of interest for Liam Young, an Australia-born film director and architect. At the Arsenale, he presents an evocative video where he imagines a futuristic facility that will extract carbon from the atmosphere. Young asked artist and costume designer Ane Crabtree, creator of The Handmaid’s Tale‘s costumes, to imagine the ideal workwear for such a task. The result is fascinating and presents overalls adorned with data-inspired embroidery that appears to be natural encrustations on fabric.

“Mediterranean Queendoms” by New South

Architect Meriem Chabani was born in Algeria, while her associate John Edom is from the UK. Together, they live and work in Paris, where they run New South, a studio focused on international architecture, urban design and research. Their mission to engage with territories in tension led to the idea of “queendom,” an idealized destination that links Chabani’s family between France and Algeria. There, women are in charge of nourishing, transporting, dressing and ultimately caring for a family spread across two continents and three cities. The tapestry on display at Giardini represents a typical yet unsung layering of lives.

Hero image by Evan Orensten

British architect Alison Killing has defended her team’s Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on alleged internment camps in China, amid reports that the country is withdrawing from the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Killing defended her work after the Chinese Embassy in Italy issued a statement criticising coverage of an installation (pictured above) within the main exhibition of the Venice Architecture Biennale titled Investigating Xinjiang’s Network of Detention Camps.

“The relevant reports seriously deviate from the facts”

The statement claimed that the installation, which outlines Killing, Megha Ragagopalan and Christo Buschek’s investigation into a network of internment camps in Xinjiang, was based on “a large amount of false information”.

“The Chinese Embassy in Italy has acknowledged that today some Italian media have taken advantage of some Chinese events to speculate again on the issues relating to Xinjiang,” said the statement.

“The relevant reports seriously deviate from the facts and the so-called ‘evidence’ is based on a large amount of false information. We express our firm objection to this.”

Italian news website Decode 39 reported that China was also withdrawing from the biennale in response to the installation. Dezeen contacted the Venice Architecture Biennale to confirm this, but did not receive a response before publication.

“We stand by our reporting”

In a statement issued to Dezeen, Killing defended the original reporting, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 2021, and the installation that includes a 30 minute film explaining the process of using architectural analysis tools, satellite imagery and Chinese prison building regulations to uncover the network of camps allegedly built by the Chinese government for the detainment of Uyghurs.

“We stand by our reporting,” said Killing.

“All the information in both the original articles and in the subsequent exhibition were corroborated in multiple ways – through satellite imagery analysis, interviews with dozens of former detainees, the Chinese government’s own documents which detail the planning and execution of the programme, media reports and the analysis of human rights experts.”

Killing also stated that the statement made by the Chinese Embassy in Italy forms part of a pattern of denial by the Chinese government.

“Since the world first learned of the camps in early 2017, the Chinese government has repeatedly denied their existence,” she said.

“This is in the face of mounting evidence of genocide taking place in Xinjiang, provided by former detainees, leaks of the Chinese government’s own documents, reports by journalists, human rights experts and numerous governments.”

Killing’s installation is featured in the main exhibition of this year’s biennale, which was curated by Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko. We rounded up the key installations from the main exhibition and the best national pavilions at the event.

The photography is by Marco Zorzanello, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.

The Venice Architecture Biennale takes place from 20 May to 26 November 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

The post “We stand by our reporting” says Alison Killing in response to China criticism of Venice installation appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has given Dezeen an exclusive look at his design for the Expo 2025 Osaka, an undulating pavilion that will be built from paper tubes, bamboo and carbon-fibre reinforced plastic.

The Blue Ocean Dome pavilion, pictured above, has a sinuous shape with a large domed central pavilion flanked by two smaller domes. It will be located on reclaimed land in Yumeshima, Osaka, where the World Expo 2025 will be held.

The triple domes will be constructed using three materials, including the paper tube system that Ban has previously used to create shelters for earthquake victims as well as a thatched-roof restaurant in Japan.

Pavilion to be built partly from paper tubes

“For the Osaka Expo 2025, I’m using three different materials for my pavilion,” Ban told Dezeen at the launch of an installation designed by the architect in Milan.

“The first one is the paper tube, the new kind – the joint system with wood – and the second one is laminated bamboo.”

The reason for using laminated bamboo was to meet Japan’s building regulations, Ban explained.

“With natural bamboo is not very easy to use to meet the current building regulation as the size is all different, and the bamboo is very weak to sun exposure.”

“So in countries that have very strong building regulations we cannot use natural bamboo as a building material, including in Japan,” he added.

“However, if we laminate the bamboo, we can control the quality, strength and durability. So in the pavilion, I’m using laminated bamboo as a structure in a very unusual way.”

The third material to be used for the 1,925 square-metre undulating pavilion is carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, which is not normally used for buildings as it is expensive.

However, Ban chose to use it for his World Expo pavilion as it meant he could avoid using concrete piles, which he would have otherwise had to use due to the soil conditions of the site.

“This time the expo is held on reclaimed land,” he said. “So although it is just a temporary building, because the soil is very weak, we would have to put in lots of concrete piles.”

“After the half-year Expo we would have to remove them – it’s a lot of work to make a temporary building, it’s very expensive, and we’d have to waste concrete piles after it’s been removed,” he added.

“I made my building using carbon-reinforced plastic which weighs less than the soil we removed for the foundation, which means we don’t need any concrete piles. The construction period also becomes shorter, so this is really a new way of using carbon fibre for the building industry.”

Ban to “develop a system for future building” at Expo

The Expo should be an occasion for architects to try to experiment with these new kinds of structures, Ban believes.

“In recent pavilions, any country, they’re just competing with different unusual shapes, not being innovative on the structure,” he said.

“I’m hoping to develop a system for future building, not competing with unusual shapes.”

Ban’s pavilion was designed for a non-profit organisation called Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI).

Inside, it will house an exhibition focusing on “the importance of the ocean and its life, and how our ocean is being polluted by human waste such as plastic,” a spokesperson for Shigeru Ban Architects said.

The Expo 2025 Osaka is a World Expo – a global exhibition that takes part every five years. It will be held in Osaka from 13 April to 13 October 2025.

The logo for the exhibition, an irregular ring of red circles that represents the shape of the city, was unveiled in 2020.

The latest World Expo, Expo 2020 Dubai, was held in 2021 after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It featured pavilions by world-renowned studios including Santiago Calatrava and Foster + Partners.

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