Hasta La Ideas

If the phrase “Work Smart, not Work Hard” were a robot vacuum, it would probably be the Roborock S7 Max Ultra. With a design so advanced you’ll never have to lay a finger on it, the S7 Max Ultra can navigate your house, sweep and mop every inch, and make its way back to the dock… but that isn’t all. After it’s done cleaning your house, it basically cleans itself, automatically emptying the dust, refilling its mopping tanks, washing its mop head, and then drying the mop, so that you don’t have to.

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra’s new auto-maintenance features set it completely apart from other robot vacuums, which still need you to manually empty the dust tank after every cycle and refill the mop’s water supply for the next round. It’s natural for products to get better with time as technologies advance, but the S7 Max Ultra does innovation differently. Rather than simply boasting of a higher vacuum power, a better app, or a larger battery, the S7 Max Ultra boasts of all those features, but it also further reduces human intervention. In short, it does what it’s supposed to do, and then does what you’re supposed to do too. Once it completes its cycle, it’ll automatically clean itself, dry itself, and refill itself, leaving absolutely no room for compromise. All you really need to do is watch!

Designer: Roborock

Click Here to Buy Now: $1019.98 $1299.99 (21% off). Buy a discount coupon for $18.99 and get $299 off the S7 Max Ultra.

On paper, the S7 Max Ultra makes for a pretty powerful robot vacuum. Under its hood lies a 5,500 Pa HyperForce® suction system that works hard to extract every dust particle from your floor and carpets. For spills and stains, the vacuum’s VibraRise® System uses a combination of wet-mopping, scrubbing, and vibrating to help effectively wipe stains off your floors. Moreover, the mop module can even retract upwards when the robot vacuums on your carpet, so it doesn’t accidentally get your floor rugs and carpets wet with the mop water.

It can tell the difference between carpet and hard floors, raising and lowering the mop as need to mopping where it’s not supposed to.

PreciSense® LiDAR Navigation

A powerful LiDAR sensor helps the S7 Max Ultra map out sections of your house, quickly creating a template of rooms in your home. The sensor also works in three dimensions, allowing the S7 Max Ultra to understand what obstacles can be navigated around, and what can be navigated above or under. For carpets, the vacuum climbs onto them just fine, but with sofas, it measures the crawl-space to determine whether it can slip underneath to clean parts of your home that often go neglected. The S7 Max Ultra can also detect cliffs, so it doesn’t accidentally cruise off the top of your staircase, and has the ability to map out multiple levels of your home, working on each floor effectively.

However, the most impressive bit of the robot vacuum isn’t the robot vacuum itself… it’s the docking station. The newly designed RoboDock really pulls out all the stops with its pre and post-cycle maintenance routines. Every time the S7 Max Ultra stations itself within the dock, it kickstarts a laborious cleaning process. The RoboDock empties the vacuum’s dust-tank, refills the mop’s water reservoir, cleans the mop head with water, and then dries the mop head too, so it isn’t left dripping wet. It simultaneously cleans the docking zone too, where the vacuum would have probably left some traces of dirt. The RoboDock has its own built-in ‘tanks’ that collect waste as well as hold clean water for the vacuum. A 2.5L dust bag and a 2.5L dirty water tank gather all the waste from the vacuum, and can be cleaned out every few weeks rather than immediately after each cycle. This leaves more time for you to do what you’re doing, rather than cleaning out the vacuum every single time.

Cleaning can happen from any room with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Siri Shortcuts.

The Roborock S7 Max Ultra and its powerful RoboDock were designed around the premise of offering a “no compromise” cleaning experience where the robot literally does everything for you. An app lets you deploy the robot with a simple press of a button, or set custom schedules for it to deploy on its own. You can set no-go zones, highlight cliffs, deep-clean carpets, and even program it to do things like clean along the floor’s direction, so that dirt doesn’t get trapped in the floor’s texture or tile’s grouting. The robot vacuum autonomously maps out its space, effectively (and rapidly) avoiding obstacles like humans, pets, or over-enthusiastic children, and operates at a decibel level of 65 dB, so it doesn’t spook your pet the way conventional vacuums and hoovers do.

Every time the S7 Ultra runs low on battery, it’ll automatically make its way to the RoboDock, where it charges 30% faster than Roborock’s previous robot vacuum models. All you really need to do is tell it when to begin cleaning, and the vacuum gets to work, handling every step along the way… so humans can live their lives, and leave the cleaning to the robots. That’s a future I can absolutely get behind!

Click Here to Buy Now: $1019.98 $1299.99 (21% off). Buy a discount coupon for $18.99 and get $299 off the S7 Max Ultra.

The post This Robot Vacuum Will Clean Your House, And Then Clean Itself… Autonomously first appeared on Yanko Design.

We often underestimate the importance of a great chair. When in reality, we really shouldn’t. We spend the majority of our day sitting on chairs, whether we’re working in our home office, enjoying a meal, or simply sitting and reading a book for leisure! Hence, this piece of furniture needs to be not only comfortable but ergonomic and aesthetic as well. And we’ve curated a collection of chair designs that meet all these criteria! From a redesign of the traditional plastic chair to a unique conical chair – these innovative chair designs are not only a boon to your back and help you maintain a healthy posture, but are also super comfy to sink into and will perfectly match the interiors of your modern homes.

1. The Flow Single Sofa

Called the Flow Single Sofa, this minimal and chic-looking armchair is part of SUNRUI’s FLOW Collection. The intriguing-looking armchair quite literally looks like a Queen’s Chair if you look closely enough!

Why is it noteworthy?

The armchair has a bulky, space-consuming, and yet deeply elegant form that manages to represent, as well as downplay, the stoicness of the sofa. It has been equipped with spiral armrests that provide the sofa with a sophisticated and classy air.  The spiral armrests add an interesting and artistic element to the sofa and also quite amusingly resemble the Ionic Order. The Ionic Order is one of the orders of classic architecture and is defined by twin volutes or spiral scrolls.

What we like

• Meets the needs of humans and pets alike
• Creates a shared space where the owner and cat can spend some quality time together

What we dislike

• It’s still a concept!
• If your pet pees or poops inside the armrests, it could be difficult to clean up

2. The Venus Folding Chair

The Venus of Willendorf was created between 30,000 and 25,000 BCE and is one of the oldest and most significant works of art. And the Venus Folding Chair drew some inspiration from it. This innovative folding chair functions as a cozy and comfortable seating option while also supplying us with a load of style and history.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Venus Folding Chair was built with great care and precise attention to detail, creating a product that perfectly marries form with functionality, as well as a bit of artistic flair. It has a unique space-saving mechanism which makes it a notable and significant design.

What we like

• It’s an excellent seating option for people who host events or gatherings
• Ideal for tiny flats, outdoor events, or temporary seating arrangements due to its compact and folding design, which makes storage simple

What we dislike

• It’s a concept
• It doesn’t seem like a great seating option for longer durations of time

3. The Conicent Chair

The Conicent Chair concept transforms the humble cone shape into a majestic piece of furniture. It features a simple cone with the front half chopped off, with a dropped top that seems to be caving in on itself.

Why is it noteworthy?

The chair features a smaller inverted cone inside that serves as the main surface for sitting. Adding a cushion makes it a comfortable indoor chair, though leaving it bare makes it suitable for outdoor use – making it a versatile chair that can be utilized both indoors and outdoors.

What we like

•  Made to be comfortable and ergonomic, regardless of your preferred sitting position, thanks to gentle slopes and curves in every direction

What we dislike

• Space-consuming + bulky design
• Not a real tangible product

4. The Morph Chair

Designed by Jiung Yun and Minji Kim, the Morph chair was created for ‘quiet contemplation.’ Our daily modern lives can be quite hectic and tiresome. And we need to take a break and simply relax once in a while. The Morph Chair is designed for those moments.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Morph chair was designed for moments of peace when we can take a break, and simply lounge about on it. It attempts to function as a calm space for users to organize their chaotic thoughts and worries and take down their stress a notch or two.

What we like

• Has a storage section integrated beneath the seat, which can be used to store books and other miscellaneous items

What we dislike

• Aesthetics can be dull and stark for some people

5. The Knitty Chair

Designed by Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc, the Knitty Chair is a bulky and chonky armchair that takes inspiration from the large mooring ropes for ships.

Why is it noteworthy?

The huge armchair features a chunky basket-weave design that mimics a knotted rope. The chair has been upholstered in a knitted fabric that features a quilted diamond pattern and is available in 15 different colors.

What we like

• A visually interesting armchair that has been layered with depths of personality and character

What we dislike

• The Knitty Chair’s aesthetics aren’t for everyone; they’re quite bold and won’t work for those who prefer a simpler and more minimal style

6. Tailor Armchair

Called the Tailor Armchair, this interesting and uniquely designed armchair also doubles up as a desk!

Why is it noteworthy?

If you want to use it as an armchair, you can simply rest and place your back on the raised panel or plank of plywood that is placed at the center of the chair. The raised panel is further supported by a vertical curved panel. These panels function as the back support, allowing you to comfortably sit back against the armchair. If you wish to use it as a desk, you can instead use the raised panel as a tabletop and fit your legs into the blank spaces created by the intersection of the raised panel with the vertical curved panel. So the same panels of plywood that characterize the design as an armchair also allow it to convert into a desk!

What we like

• Doubles up as an armchair and a desk
• Equipped with storage space
• Clean and minimal aesthetics

What we dislike

• It’s not a real product yet, still a concept!
• Space-consuming + bulky design

7. The PINCH Chair

Designed by Medium2 Studio, the PINCH chair gives your traditional and typical plastic chair a fresh and transformative makeover. Plastic stackable chairs are seen almost everywhere these days, and the PINCH chair gives them a much-needed rejuvenation.

Why is it noteworthy?

The traditional plastic chair was given a new form factor with the PINCH chair. By simply pinching and pulling the material (plastic), the designers were able to give an otherwise old-school design a new and improved look. This gives PINCH a uniform form and a visual design language that is extremely intuitive and dynamic.

What we like

• Gives the plastic chair a new look and form

What we dislike

• Not a sustainable seating option

8. Loop Chair

Designed by Annabella Hevesi, the Loop Chair is the kind of straightforward and simple furniture piece that instantly makes you fall in love with it, because of how minimally and cleanly it is designed.

Why is it noteworthy?

Built using wood, the Loop Chair has a traditional and archetypical character accentuated with tricky and progressive details that lend an air of character to it. The form of the chair follows a trapezoidal shape elevated by smooth ellipsoid curves, creating a furniture piece that is visually and geometrically intriguing.

What we like

• The seating section and the vertical backrest have been upholstered separately to increase comfort
• A flexible fastener/spacer has been incorporated under the seating component

What we dislike

• It’s still a concept!

9. The Nodding Chair

I love cozying up with a good old book; however, sitting in one position and reading for hours on end can be a curse for my back. Hence this unique product concept was created to function as the perfect chair for bookworms!

Why is it noteworthy?

While rocking chairs are good for relaxation, they’re not always good for floors and, if you’re like me, for our eyes and peace of mind. The designer thought of a new way to have a chair that can be comfortable and still let your body have its range of natural motion while reading, resting, or even writing (if you’re used to that). The Nodding Chair can be tilted forward and backward, letting you make smaller movements that won’t make you too nauseous.

What we like

• Creates less pressure on the floor so you won’t get marks and scratches
• Allows the chair to move with you as you occasionally change positions while reading

What we dislike

• The seat itself doesn’t seem to be that comfortable as it’s just plain wood and there’s no cushion
• Not everyone may consider the chair comfortable

10. The Hunter Chair

Classic furniture designs are classics for a reason, they’ve withstood the test of time, cementing their value and functionality as pieces that will never truly go out of style. One such design is the Hunter Chair by Torbjørn Afdal. Designed in 1960, the Hunter Chair is Afdal’s version of the “hunting chair,” a kind of seating that was quite popular during those times. And Eikund has brought the Hunter Chair to life once again!

Why is it noteworthy?

The Norwegian furniture brand decided to recreate and relaunch the Hunter Chair, an excellent specimen of classic Norwegian furniture. The Hunter Chair is considered a modern-day classic.

What we like

• Features solid cast brass buckles, organically tanned leather, precise edge stitching details, and perfectly smooth transitions of wood
• Gives a classic design a fresh makeover

What we dislike

• People may prefer the original to the newer version. They may not approve of the new makeover

The post Top 10 chair designs that deserve a seat in your living room first appeared on Yanko Design.

Software developer Epic Games and visualisation firm Neoscape have created an interactive virtual model of architect Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 in Montreal, a housing complex that was constructed for the World’s Fair.

Epic Games and Neoscape used original plans for Habitat 67 to test new visualisation methods made possible by the latest version of Epic Game’s Unreal Engine, a 3D graphics game engine.

Using materials from Safdie’s studio – Safdie Architects – the team was able to construct a virtual version of the project as it was intended, which includes a larger complex with massive arches holding rows of cubic apartments similar to Habitat 67’s existing configuration.

“This was an opportunity to actually go, not quite into the building, but to experience it in a way that I could not have imagined when I designed it,” Safdie told Dezeen.

“And here it is. 60 years since I designed it, it seems as fresh and relevant to me as then, if not more,” he continued, noting that he has always been disappointed that the whole schema for the complex was not approved for the initial construction. 

“One thought that went through my mind was if I had this tool and I could have shown this to the federal cabinet in 1964, maybe that would have convinced them – that was my reaction.”

The virtual rendering of the building shows the full height of the structure on location in Montreal.

The team used drone footage of the actual site, plans and consultations with engineers to make the model seem as real as possible, and the video game technology allows users to move in and out of the arches, similar to playing a video game.

The drone footage and spatial scans allowed the designers to import not only the structure’s form but also its materiality.

Neoscape, which has been creating visualisations for Safdie for decades, worked with Epic Games to create a number of deliverables, including video walk-throughs of the project as well as an editable file that will allow users to make changes to the rendering.

“This is kind of like a curated experience,” Epic Games product specialist Carlos Cristerna told Dezeen.

“And then what when will release these and then people will have also the ability to download all of the source files. So they will be able to explore that there.”

The program allow for different lighting conditions so that users and designers can see the project as it would look during different times of day.

The team added that in the future, weather conditions could also be added to give viewers an idea of the way that the elements like snow and rain may affect the structure.

While the project has a historical and educational aspect, the team believes that the methodology could be useful for architects in expressing more fully-realised projects to clients and to understanding how a building would appear if built, a sentiment that Safdie echoed.

However, Safdie noted that the time and costs of the process may not make sense for every project, but he hopes that, having now seen the project at scale, he may someday be able to see it built.

“My reaction was I gotta get this built before I go,” he said. “That will be amazing.”

The product comes after an explosion of architectural renderings created for things like technology company Meta’s Metaverse, a scheme that hopes to create a 3D world where users can socialise in digitally fabricated environments.

Safdie said he was sceptical about the idea of the virtual world being a place to replace real-life interaction and that technology like this should be used to realising actual projects.

Since the completion of Habitat 67, Safdie has completed a number of large-scale projects including the massive skyscraper complex in Chongqing, China called Raffles City, which features a “horizontal” skyscraper supported by other structures on the site.

Other forays into visualising unbuilt projects include Spanish architect David Romero’s renderings of buildings designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

The post Epic Games creates virtual model of Moshe Safdie’s unrealized Habitat 67 appeared first on Dezeen.

I’m not one to advocate for folding furniture because they look incredibly utilitarian (unless it’s the Transformer Table), but I definitely love furniture that’s multifunctional. Take the Berliner Pouf for example. Designed to look like a visually eye-catching pouf, the Berliner also doubles up as a storage shelf thanks to its wormhole-like cavity running through the middle. This cavity doesn’t affect the pouf’s comfort in any way, but it adds a unique feature to it, giving you the perfect place to store books, magazines, and remotes, or even use it as a lounging space for small pets!

Designer: Tugce Sonmez Evin

“In today’s housing or workplace understanding, space is a thing that we all want to save. Instead of filling each void with another object, we all seek smart solutions to save some unaccompanied space for a feeling of comfort. Berliner is designed for this purpose,” says the Berliner’s designer, Tugce Sonmez Evin.

The Berliner gets its name from its resemblance to the eponymously named iconic German pastry, which also has a slice running through its center that’s then filled with cream. The Berliner Pouf replaces that with a concave inner surface, spacious enough to store reading material like books, magazines, newspapers, or even regular living room items like chargers, pet toys, etc.

The Berliner Pouf can be visually divided into its two distinct parts. The soft outer, and the wooden interior. The wooden core is hand carved on a turning lathe from Ayous timber, and is layered with foam on the top and bottom, that’s then capped with faux fur for a comfortable seating experience. The area separating the wood from the fur is lined with brass detailing, giving the pouf a touch of elegance. The brass rings are bent by hand and welded to fit tight. All production is a close collective work of 3 ateliers working with different materials. While the initial production is finished by hand, the design is suitable to be produced by CNC machines.

The Berliner Pouf is a Silver Winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2023.

The post Small Homes Could Benefit From This Cleverly Designed Ottoman Stool with a Built-In Storage Shelf first appeared on Yanko Design.

Local firm HW Studio Arquitectos has completed an all-white stucco home in Morelia, Mexico, whose hermetic design serves as a haven for the residents.

Morelia-based HW Studio completed the 375-square metre (4,036-square foot) house in 2023, taking up an entire corner plot in the city in the state of Michoacán.

In their previous home, located on the same site, the clients had amassed a collection of religious objects and imagery, creating a sacred environment within their residence. However, rising crime rates and a burglary shook the clients’ sense of security.

Rather than reconstructing the decorative house they previously had, the clients were looking for a minimalist design that could evoke a religious spirit and make them feel safe.

“For this reason, they were looking for a very discreet, austere project without ostentatious ornaments, with high walls and without windows to the outside,” explained lead architect Rogelio Vallejo Bores.

“We understood that this would be the way in which architecture could give them back the loss of their sense of security.”

From the outside, the house is a solid block with a recessed doorway. On the interior, rounded geometry softens the spaces. White stucco serves both the exterior and interior material, and white and grey marble slabs cover the floor.

The neighbourhood has long been home to shifting styles and eclectic designs, Bores explained, so “in this sense the austere white box absent of color opens the door to the possibility of being modified and thus maintain the changing face of the neighborhood.”

The L-shaped single-level house comprises the entire site, walling off a series of courtyards.

The main bar of the home contains a kitchen, dining and living space, a central primary suite, and two secondary suites at the end of a long corridor.

Each of the three linear courtyards – that illuminate and ventilate the interior spaces through floor-to-ceiling folding glass walls – are arranged next to a barrel vault that disperses light and references nearby baroque churches.

“The house reminds us of the arcades around the courtyard of San Agustin convent under which pilgrims and travelers sheltered, drank, and fed from the many orange trees planted,” said Bores.

Around the corner from the home’s public spaces sits a garage, service suite and another small courtyard.

The furniture is all low-profile and neutral in colour, while flat, wall-to-wall storage creates a panelized texture in the bedrooms.

The patios and high ceilings allow the home to maintain stable microclimates, drawing on the vernacular building standards of the local Tarascan population. The house also uses solar panels, negating the need to be connected to the electrical grid.

This house isn’t the only monotone design HW Studio has completed in the area. Nearby, the studio replaced an abandoned warehouse with all-white forms to create a food market that infills historic stone walls. Also in Morelia, the studio designed a house sunken into a hillside.

The photography is by César Béjar.

Project credits:
Lead architect: Rogelio Vallejo Bores
Architects: Oscar Didier Ascencio Castro, Nik Zaret Cervantes Ordaz
Clients: Cesar Cortes and Sonia Patricia Serrato

The post HW Studio creates austere white home in Mexico to evoke “sense of security” appeared first on Dezeen.