It’s almost a fact of an Apple user’s life that owning one product means owning two or three others or even more. iPhone owners are more likely to own AirPods or even an Apple Watch than any other earbuds or smartwatch brand, which does mean they often need accessories that support all two or three. That’s particularly true when it comes to chargers, which is why many Apple-compatible products come in a 3-in-1 design. Unfortunately, those often come with bulky designs to make space for devices, especially where wireless charging is supported because of the space the charging coils take up. This new 65W AC Power Adapter from Nomad, however, has a rather creative solution to that space problem, especially when you need to quickly charge your Apple Watch or even your AirPods.
With so many people owning more than one electronic device, power adapters that have multiple USB ports are a common sight these days. Even Apple eventually launched a dual USB-C charger, though it ironically doesn’t have enough power to support charging multiple Apple devices at the same time, at least not when you have iPhones and iPads and more. Thankfully, there’s a thriving market for third-party accessories, leaving plenty of room for outside-the-box designs like the new Nomad 65W Power Adapter Apple Watch Edition.
As the name says, this particular power brick is designed with Apple’s smartwatch in mind, and it charges it in a rather unique way. The top of the charger is actually a wireless charger that supports not just the Apple Watch but also some AirPods with cases that support wireless charging. For Apple Watch Series 7 and later, it can even do fast charging, so you’ll be off to the races in no time flat.
That’s not the only notable feature that it has, of course. The Nomad 65W AC Adapter features two USB-C ports, each giving the full power output if used on its own, and that’s enough to even charge a MacBook Pro or fast charge a MacBook Air. If used at the same time, however, the top USB-C port indicated with a blue accent will push out 45W of power, leaving the lower port with only 20W.
Best of all, Nomad’s AC charger is nearly half the size of Apple’s official charger thanks to GaN technology. This makes the adapter a great traveling companion, and its creative design will let you easily charge your Apple Watch on a bedside wall socket, no additional charging pads or cables required.
Perforated screens of white marble filter light and air into the Third Space learning and cultural centre in Udaipur, India, which has been completed by architecture practice Studio Saar.
Created for non-profit organisation Dharohar, the centre was designed as a “third space” between home and school, providing local children and the wider community with a range of activity and workshop spaces.
To cater for its broad variety of uses, Studio Saar organised the building as a “pinwheel of cloisters that surround a courtyard” that was informed by traditional Indian townhouses or haveli.
The whole building was then wrapped in perforated screens or jali, a traditional element for controlling privacy, incorporating cantilevering niches or gokhra which act as wind-catchers and provide private niches.
“A major challenge was the diversity of uses: it is not just a museum, or a makers space, a cinema or a performance space, or a climbing wall, it is all of those and more,” the studio told Dezeen.
“Looking to traditional building typologies like havelis informed our design process, creating a building that flows from open spaces, to clusters and courtyards.”
Entering the building leads into a full-height atrium space called the Baori which was informed by Rajasthan’s step wells, here reimagined as an open-air seating area with a café and shop that is framed by a gridded concrete structure.
This atrium flows into the largely open ground floor, which has been designed as a flexible exhibition and performance space. Throughout the interior Third Space combines these open, communal areas with more compartmentalised rooms for workshops and events.
“The internal courtyard serves as a flexible exhibition, performance and meeting space which has all the centre’s circulation around it providing clear routes to all the learning and activity spaces,” explained the studio.
“We worked to accommodate the different functions in different ways and weave them together with a variety of spaces that allow people to find their space.”
The roof of Third Space was intended to be an “adventurous playscape”, with spaces for parkour and skateboarding topped by a canopy of small woven bamboo sails organised on a metal grid.
Several play spaces have also been incorporated elsewhere, including a large climbing wall alongside a cinema and a metal slide that connects the higher eastern portion of the building to the lower western block.
To the north, a lookout tower wrapped by an external spiral stair both connects the centre’s floors and offers views out across the city.
Studio Saar worked with local and recycled materials for the construction of the building, including waste marble rubble and lime mortar for the masonry walls and marble dust in cement.
The marble cut-outs made to create the perforated screens were repurposed as floor tiles for the interior, contrasting the exposed concrete of the structure.
Studio Saar was founded by Singhal and Jonny Buckland, and has offices in both the UK and India.
Swedish maker Love Hultén has collaborated with the country’s Way Out West music festival to create the Future Fan Stage for an audience of sperm and eggs awaiting IVF.
The Future Fan Stage combines elements of laboratory equipment and live music staging, with sound-reactive light effects, a performer represented by a reservoir of “dancing” ferrofluid, and racks of test tubes making up the crowd.
The stage is an initiative of the Way Out West festival, which wanted to bring attention to the importance of growth in the live music scene.
The idea came from one of the festival’s collaborators, the creative agency NORD DDB, after it found a study that showed that music improved the fertilisation rate during the process of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).
“We thought it would be cheeky to do something based on this,” Way Out West project manager Kimmie Winroth told Dezeen.
“If music can be so powerful at that stage, it surely underscores its importance and the need to keep the music scene alive.”
To realise the stage concept, the festival brought in Hultén, who is known for his one-off crafted synthesisers and other technological objects.
Hultén’s design encloses the stage within an all-white console inspired by various medical equipment.
“An interesting balance between med-laboratory components and live set ingredients was the goal here, and I tried to use strong visual references from both – often combined if possible,” said Hultén.
The stage includes miniature custom spotlights, an LED backdrop and sound-responsive light effects, while other decorative elements are based on the look of medical isolation chambers.
A Bluetooth speaker system supplies the sound, while a reservoir of ferrofluid – dubbed “dancing black goo” by Hultén – stands on the centre of the stage and moves in time to the music thanks to a hidden electromagnet that reacts to the audio.
“I wanted to use smoke originally – a nice cross-reference to both medical sterilisation fogging and classic stage smoke effects, but we never used that in the end due to clinical reasons,” added Hultén.
The designer said that the console’s many switches, faders and dials are functional, controlling parameters such as the lighting, volume and Bluetooth pairing.
The small tube-like protrusions on the right-hand housing that look like they could be microscope-style ocular lenses are actually two speaker tweeters. Below them, a waveform audio visualiser on a circular display echoes the look of a cardiac monitor.
The Future Fan Stage was installed at a real IVF clinic, Elivia in Stockholm, where it played recorded live music from some of Way Out West’s 2024 headlining acts, such as Fred Again, Peggy Gou, Queens of the Stone Age and Pulp.
However, the test tubes were empty and the stage was not connected to any medical equipment so as not to intereference with the clinic’s standard procedures.
Rammed earth is often celebrated as a low-carbon method of constructing buildings, but some experts are beginning to cast doubt on its sustainability credentials. Amy Peacock reports.
“I’ve seen, in the UK, rammed-earth projects going into the glossy architecture mags and you think, ‘wow, that’s a beautiful looking building’,” added Tim Coleridge, MSc Sustainability and Adaptation programmes leader at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT).
“But [we’re] not talking about the cement that’s gone into making that possible.”
Rammed earth is a building method where soil, made up of a combination of aggregate, sand, silt, clay and gravel, is packed into formwork and compressed, leaving a solid wall when the formwork is removed.
Sometimes it is constructed in its raw form, but often it is stabilised with a binder, such as cement, to improve its strength and durability.
The ratio of cement in rammed-earth construction varies, but some experts claim it can be comparable to the amounts used in concrete, which is widely considered to be one of the most environmentally harmful building materials.
Cement-stabilised rammed earth comparable to concrete
Concrete is made by mixing aggregate with cement, and it’s the highly energy-intensive production of cement that generates large amounts of CO2.
“As soon as you’re using cement in ratios of five or 10 per cent in rammed earth, environmentally it’s not that much better than using a concrete block,” said Coleridge.
“It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is a similar cement proportion to a standard concrete block, so the environmental impact of your low-impact local material has gone from being very small up to being almost on a par with the conventional, mass-produced concrete block,” he told Dezeen.
Keable echoed these concerns, adding that he believes once cement is added to soil, it should no longer be considered an earth construction material.
“Talk to an organic farmer and they’ll say, ‘we’d love to spray all of this stuff with things that kill all the little bugs eating our crops, but then we wouldn’t be organic and that’s our USP’,” he said.
“Until there’s a sense of a popular consciousness about this, then I’m always going to have a chip on my shoulder.”
James Souter, a director at British engineering firm Elliot Wood, has used cement-stabilised rammed earth in some of the projects he has worked on, including Bushey Cemetery in London.
A raw, rammed-earth wall in the UK would usually need a large overhanging roof to protect it from rain erosion, but at Bushey Cemetery, the cement content meant monolithic walls with the textured, patterned surface of rammed earth were achieved.
“It’s an aesthetic decision”
“First and foremost, it’s an aesthetic decision,” said Souter. “The best way to enhance the characteristics of rammed earth is to stabilise it with cement.”
For Souter, the concerns around cement content in rammed earth are negligible compared to the amount of concrete being produced in the UK.
“If you make a 0.1 per cent improvement to concrete mix across all the projects that are getting built from concrete in the country, it will make more of a difference than if rammed earth went from something that was comparable to other materials to this magical material that didn’t cost any carbon,” he said.
“The amount of rammed earth that actually gets used in this country is insignificant, so it’s not going to make any difference whether it’s a 3.5 per cent cement ratio or a six per cent cement ratio. The volume is so tiny it’s not even rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”
It is technically possible to build modern rammed-earth buildings in the UK without stabilising the material. Coleridge highlighted the visitor centre at the Eden Project, by Grimshaw Architects, and the WISE Building at CAT in Wales, a seven-metre-tall drum-shaped unstabilised rammed-earth structure built from soil sourced from a quarry around 50 miles away.
“It’s an amazing sustainable material,” he said. “At the end of the life of the WISE Building, you can rewet the material with a hose and it will stump into a heap.”
“You could remix it and use that for another rammed earth building or it’s completely benign, you can just literally return it to the soil.”
However, while ramming earth into solid building elements is an ancient construction method that is now made easier with modern machinery, it is still labour-intensive compared to other building methods.
In addition, many countries, including the UK, do not have building standards for rammed earth construction – so cement is often added to placate building control and insurers.
“Rammed earth and all the earth-building techniques are really old but they’ve been left on the shelf,” said Keable.
“Codes have been built up for concrete and other materials so with rammed earth there’s quite a bit of catching up to do,” he continued. “It’s a bit wild west and we actually need to find a point of control.”
“Lack of understanding” about rammed earth
“There’s no standard details so building with rammed earth requires a lot of bespoke work, which often comes with extra challenges around building control, insurances, even lending if you’ve got to get a mortgage on the property,” added Arup sustainable development expert Sean Lockie.
“Insurers and mortgage providers often have a very narrow view on what they’re prepared to insure and lend on.”
Coleridge explained that where there are no rammed earth standards to refer to, architects often have to use building codes for similar materials instead, including concrete.
Building codes and standards for earth construction would help popularise the material in its unstabilised form and increase awareness of its characteristics, he argued.
“If there isn’t a local code for building with earth, then designers have to defer to something else, like standards for masonry or concrete,” Coleridge said. “They might find that they’re forced to put in five or even 10 per cent cement just to satisfy insurance companies or local authorities, treating it like a concrete masonry material to get it signed off.”
“People are using cement in earth because of a lack of understanding or concern about the performance of the material,” Coleridge continued.
“It’s not going to be suitable for every situation. Having earth building codes is an enabler to building confidence and allowing local building-control departments to have an understanding of the performance of the material.”
In the late 1980s, Keable began setting out building standards for rammed-earth construction in countries across Africa, which were later adopted as national standards. This included guidelines for wall thicknesses, material compaction, formwork and the mix of materials.
“By 2012, there were 15 countries with a national standard for rammed earth and by 2016 it covered the whole continent,” he said.
He has published similar guidelines in the UK that have not yet been accepted as the national standard, but Keable hopes that this can be achieved with more industry backing for rammed earth.
“A big issue across construction is that all of the materials that we know are problematic are very well funded, and all of the ones that are waiting in the wings to find wider acceptance have very little funding,” he said.
“We just don’t have the workmanship experience”
Alternative stabilisers to cement can be mixed with earth to improve its performance. Lime is a common alternative, and cob construction involves adding fibrous natural material, such as straw or horsehair, to increase tensile strength.
However, rammed earth has yet to emerge as a popular choice among architects, and few contractors in the UK have experience of working with it.
“If you compare rammed earth to things like timber, hemp brick and mycelium, a lot of these materials are starting to think about how they can be made and distributed at a large scale with modern methods of construction,” said Lockie.
“At Arup, we see it as an emerging material, but it’s going to be up against whole issues, like its ability to scale, who’s investing in its availability, what do the insurers think of it, what’s the maturity of the contracting entity – there’s not too many contractors that are that well versed in the use of it,” he continued.
“Rammed earth is more complicated to get right than, for example, exposed concrete because the experience in the industry is not there,” agreed Souter. “We just don’t have the workmanship experience in this country.”
The photography is by Lewis Khan unless otherwise stated.
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A display unit wrapped in burgundy-coloured leather forms the centrepiece of this apartment-style showroom in Milan, designed by local firm Eligo Studio for Italian winemaker Masciarelli Tenute Agricole.
The showroom on Corso Magenta was conceived by Eligo Studio as a warm and welcoming space, where visiting clients and members of the press can sample Masciarelli’s wines and experience the brand’s culture in an informal yet professional setting.
“We strongly believe that retail spaces should have a domestic, experiential and welcoming atmosphere,” Eligo Studio founder Alberto Nespoli told Dezeen.
“We look to avoid cliches and fashions and instead create a timeless aesthetic.”
The studio worked together with Masciarelli to define a brief for the project that reflects the winemaker’s passion for art, as well as ideas around local culture and tradition.
The interior comprises different functional areas including a kitchen, dining and living room, connected by passages and unified by a consistent, tannin-rich colour palette.
The domestic feel results from the size of the spaces and the treatment of elements such as the exposed ceiling beams, which were sandblasted and carefully restored.
The rooms feature rich tones and tactile materials such as the lime plaster on the walls and lacquered woods in burgundy, chocolate and cream that are complemented by furniture upholstered in soft leather.
At the centre of the 120-square-metre floor plan is a display unit wrapped in burgundy-coloured leather that provides functional storage as well as displaying a collection of Masciarelli bottles in backlit niches.
Flooring throughout the showroom is made from resin, which provides a practical and neutral backdrop for the more colourful and textural surfaces.
The kitchen features an island that functions as a chef’s table for tastings, cooking displays and presentations. Its tapered outline was designed to reference the iconic Pirelli Building designed by Milanese architect Gio Ponti.
In the dining room, a large oval table and leather chairs by Mario Bellini provide a relaxed setting for hosting press events, tastings and meetings.
The showroom also features an informal living room with a sofa, armchairs and a large artwork by painter Nicola Troilo. Eligo Studio and Masciarelli worked together to select the art in the showroom, with a focus on artists from the Abruzzo region where the winery is based.
To maintain a minimal aesthetic throughout the spaces, bespoke joinery was crafted to conceal functional areas including workstations hidden within cabinets in the entrance hall.
A mirrored door slides open to reveal the WC, where walls are painted in a colour chosen to evoke wines from the famous Montepulciano region in Tuscany.
Nespoli founded Eligo Studio with Domenico Rocca to offer clients an “Italian interior design couture approach”.
Dezeen and Bentley have partnered for the second year running to launch a global competition calling for pioneering proposals that could have a powerful impact on how people live over the next 100 years.
The Start Something Powerful Competition is free to enter for anyone over the age of 18 of any profession and from any country around the world.
The contest is open for entries until 21 August 2024. It features total prize money of £30,000 and a top prize of £15,000.
Contest challenges designers to envision how future generations live
The Start Something Powerful Competition coincides with the launch of the new Bentley Continental GT, 100 years after W.O. Bentley unveiled the first Speed motor car to the public.
Judges will be looking for bold, ambitious and forward-looking concepts that could reimagine the way future generations live, just like Bentley redefined the motor car in the 1920s and continues to do so today.
Proposals could include architectural or urban design concepts, product or material innovations, novel mobility or wellness solutions, or anything else that could have a transformative effect on people’s lives.
Through the design contest, Dezeen and Bentley aim to discover prototypes that could serve as a blueprint for future living, anticipating the needs, technologies and lifestyle trends for the next century.
Competition calls for ideas that empower people to live fulfilling lives
Contestants are tasked with envisioning innovative architecture or design concepts that respond to rapid advancements in technology, evolving societal norms and environmental concerns to transform people’s lives.
Proposals must align with the Bentley brand, demonstrating the highest levels of innovation, beauty and craftsmanship.
Entrants will need to show how their ideas could be harnessed over the next century to have a significant positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing, as well as on the natural environment, to empower people to live fulfilling lives for years to come.
Entries will be judged against five criteria
Dezeen and Bentley are seeking original and innovative ideas for the competition. Entries will be judged against five key criteria:
Innovation: how original and ambitious is the concept? Impact: how transformative could it be in the way people live? Sustainability: how well does the design mitigate environmental damage and ensure resilience to climate change? Brand alignment: how well does the design draw from Bentley’s rich history of beauty, craftsmanship and innovation? Visual presentation: how strong is the submitted imagery and how well is the overall concept presented?
Entries will be judged by a panel of designers and journalists from Bentley and Dezeen.
Contestants are free to use generative AI tools for their submission but must disclose what tools they have used and how.
The Start Something Powerful Competition closes for entries at midnight on 21 August 2024.
Three finalists will be announced and published on Dezeen in October 2024. Of these finalists, a winner will be selected, as well as a runner-up and third place.
The winner will win the top prize of £15,000, while the runner-up will receive £10,000 and the third-placed entrant will receive £5,000.
Contest builds on success of last year’s Future Luxury Retail Design Competition
This is the second time that Dezeen has teamed up with Bentley to run a global design competition.
The inaugural Future Luxury Retail Design Competition challenged architects and designers to define the future of luxury retail, creating innovative ideas for what luxury retail could look like in 2030 and beyond.
The competition was a huge success, receiving over 145 entries from more than 33 countries around the world.
It was won by Finnish design agency Ultra for its proposal called Bentley Intercontinental Pavilion, which envisioned invite-only, temporary pavilions situated in select locations that would showcase models from an imagined range of Bentley cars called Intercontinental.
Entrants to last year’s competition are free to enter this year’s contest as well, including winners, finalists and those who made the shortlist.
I don’t know about you but I’ve never seen a water filtration system that looks elegant enough to integrate into your house or kitchen’s decor. They’re almost always made of plastic, with a design that can only be described as ‘worthy of being hidden’. That’s why most kitchens come with under-sink compartments for hiding these purification systems, so all you get is clean water through the tap without that hyper-industrial aesthetic of the purifier ruining your kitchen’s design. That’s something the folks at Waterdrop Filter wanted to change – among other things. The first time you lay your eyes on the Waterdrop Filter X series – X16, chances are you won’t even think it’s a purification system – with the sleek aesthetic of probably a high-end PC, the X16 is a state-of-the-art tankless RO water purifier that couples with a touch-sensitive faucet that truly uplifts your kitchen. Place the X16 in a hidden compartment or have it sitting on your countertop, it delivers RO-purified water at a speed of 1600 gallons per day. The water goes through a meticulous 11-stage filtration system, coming out as pristine and tasty as you’d expect from a device that looks this cutting-edge.
Designer: Waterdrop Filter
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Unlike conventional dispensers that rely on pre-filled tanks, the Waterdrop Filter X series – X16 operates on a tankless design. This means it generates purified water on demand, eliminating the need to wait for a bulky dispenser to slowly trickle out water. This helps give it that sleek design that sets it apart from other bulkier purifiers that store up to 10 or 20 liters of water at a time in advance. Water gets purified on demand, and the instant you touch the faucet, water flows at a maximum rate of 1600 gallons per day (that’s fast enough to fill a glass in a mere 2 seconds, or a kettle in 10 seconds). The flow speed can be adjusted too, but the idea of never having to wait with a carafe or jug while it slowly fills up is quite the boon.
Enjoy refreshing mineral water at home
However, water speed isn’t what defines the X16 – it’s the fact that the water goes through a meticulous 11-stage filtration process across 3 different filter modules. This multi-stage approach tackles a wide range of contaminants that may be lurking in your tap water. The heart of the system lies in the 18-layer RO membrane filter. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a technology that forces tap water through a semi-permeable membrane, effectively filtering out a wide range of impurities, including Chlorine, Lead, Fluoride, Heavy Metals like arsenic, mercury, and chromium-6, and finally Microscopic Contaminants like bacteria, cysts, etc. RO filtration is considered to be arguably the highest standard in home-based water filtration – but it does have a caveat – for every liter of water filtered, the tankless RO system also ejects contaminated water out of its system, leading to wastage. The X16 tackles that with a 3:1 fresh-to-waste water ratio – which means for every 3 liters of fresh purified water, there’s just 1 liter of impure water that’s disposed at the end of the day – a metric much better than some purifiers that waste up to 50% of water in their purification process.
While the multi-stage filtration process removes a wide range of contaminants, the X16 takes an extra step to ensure water safety. The system also integrates a UV sterilizer that eliminates bacteria and viruses in the dispensed water, providing an extra layer of peace of mind. This is especially beneficial for those with compromised immune systems or concerns about microbial contamination in their water supply. While the filtration happens behind the scenes, what you really end up interfacing with is the X16’s tap – a smart, touch-sensitive faucet that comes with its own color-coded display to let you know that your water is pure and contaminant-free. An intuitive dial on the faucet lets you select the desired water volume, from 1 to 64 ounces, with automatic shutoff once the chosen amount is dispensed. Need to stop dispensing early? Pushing the dial again stops the water flow – it’s so easy even a kid could do it.
A simple glance at the faucet’s display also lets you know the status of each of the three filters – blue indicates a healthy filter life, yellow signifies a filter nearing replacement, and red signals an urgent need for a filter change. This intuitive system ensures optimal performance and prevents potential water quality issues by reminding you to replace filters before they become ineffective.
The result is a design and tech overhaul of how drinking water is filtered and dispensed in your kitchen. Instead of purifiers that you want to hide away, and faucets that can often look archaic, the X16 puts a minimal-futuristic spin on the category, with a sleek-looking purifier that’s worthy of being on your countertop, but if space is a constraint, fits perfectly well in your undersink, occupying a minimal footprint. The faucet echoes the same intuitive, sleek, cutting-edge approach that’s seen in the tankless purifier too. It’s simple and easy to use, giving you fresh water that’s enriched in minerals and has a pH level of 7.5± so you actually enjoy the taste of water too.
Bringing an Apple or Tesla-kind of innovation and disruption to the water dispensing space comes with a price, though. The Waterdrop Filter X series – X16 starts at $1999 for the entire kit (purifier + smart faucet), but you can grab a 35% discount on Prime Day and an additional 5% off using the code YDreader during checkout!
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Heineken is taking a bold step towards sustainability with its latest initiative, Waste-to-Wear, coinciding with the launch of returnable bottles in South Africa. This innovative project transforms single-use bottles into stylish homeware and wearable pieces, marking a significant move in the company’s commitment to reducing waste.
The Heineken bottles are usually made of glass, a versatile and long-lasting material. Glass can be easily cleaned and reused, making it an unfortunate choice as a one-time disposable item. This inherent durability and adaptability of glass allow it to be molded and designed into a variety of household items and even wearables, showcasing its potential beyond single use.
The Waste-to-Wear collection is an extension of Heineken South Africa’s Fields Green With Grass, Not Glass initiative. This project aims to tackle two critical issues: reducing environmental impact and enhancing urban aesthetics. By repurposing broken glass “hotspots,” the initiative not only beautifies urban areas but also addresses the ecological consequences of discarded glass bottles.
In collaboration with the creative agency Sonic State, Heineken has repurposed bottles collected from these hotspots into a range of stunning items. These include 3,000 rings, 3,000 medallions, and a unique collection of homeware, such as dinner sets and a hops-inspired pendant light. Each piece reflects thoughtful design and environmental consciousness, demonstrating how waste can be transformed into something beautiful and functional.
This initiative is part of a broader focus on sustainability and community development. It includes the introduction of new returnable bottles and the Green Zones Project, which converts broken glass hotspots into green spaces. The first phase of this project has established five green zones in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban, covering over 5,000 square meters. These zones feature indigenous plants and grasses, food gardens, and creative art installations, transforming urban spaces into vibrant, eco-friendly areas.
This project has also brought recognition to Sonic State, which won Bronze at the New York Festivals Ad Awards 2024 for this innovative initiative. This accolade highlights the vision and collaboration between Heineken South Africa, Sonic State, and other industry partners such as Swain Swagger, Bhavna Mistry, and Juaan Ferreira.
The success of the ‘Fields Green With Grass, Not Glass’ campaign and the ‘Waste-to-Wear’ project underscores the impact of creative design in addressing environmental issues. Sonic State’s collaboration with Chas Prettejohn and Ngwenya Glass in Eswatini further demonstrates the power of craftsmanship in transforming waste into art and utility.
The New York Festivals Ad Awards recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the Waste-to-Wear project. It underscores the significant impact of innovative design on our environment and communities. Sonic State’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative design and sustainability sets a high standard for future endeavors, showcasing what can be achieved through vision, collaboration, and a passion for making a difference.
The importance of large organizations like Heineken adopting sustainable practices cannot be overstated. Such initiatives not only address environmental concerns but also raise awareness among a broader audience. Global warming and environmental degradation are often taken lightly by many. However, when a beloved brand like Heineken takes visible and impactful steps towards sustainability, it ignites conversations and fosters a genuine understanding of the issue. The unexpected nature of Heineken-branded wearables and homeware pieces grabs attention and makes a lasting impression, far more than a written declaration of sustainable practices ever could.
Seating ergonomics are constantly changing as working hours from the desk and individual video gaming sessions grow by the day. From adjustable chairs to those with lumber support and from cushiony backrests to airy ones, the chairs have not just evolved in style, but functionality and construction in a similar breath. To that accord, chairs with saddle-shaped seats are making an uncanny appearance as people who spend longer times in front of their computer screens prefer such stools and chairs above traditional seat types.
This transition is primarily credited to the back pain; which saddle seat configuration helps easily, at least that’s how we have come to believe. I believe back pain is generally because of static sitting; for long hours. It’s the lack of movement more than anyone sitting position that impacts the back. But if you are from the school of thought that believes a seat can make a difference to your backaches, an ergonomic saddle-shape gaming chair, with adjustable features, called the ‘Cross Mantis’ is here to address your woes.
The Cross Mantis orthopedic saddle chair is designed for the gaming furniture brand SILIQS. The idea was to design a chair that combines the functionality of an office chair with the comfort and benefits of a saddle seat. Saddle seat, which allows an open hip position offering good leg circulation, erect spine position, and improved balance, is an orthopedically correct fit for the spinal cord, the designers believe.
After various iterations and toiling, the gaming chair – comprising a bent aluminum frame and highly cushioned mesh fabric – is made adjustable and usable with standing tables to do gaming in more positions than just sitting up front. Since the chair is conceived for a brand specializing in e-sports furniture, it is designed in contrasting color combinations with an aggressive shape. The adjustable back support, rotating headrest and armrests, and adjustable height all allow the chair to be more versatile to use.
It would take you closer to your gaming universe so you can reach further, sit up straighter, and have various adjustable positions to lock that perfect position to nail your opponent before the brink of an eye. The Cross Mantis saddle gaming chair is designed in individual modules. It can be shipped in a box and the modules can be assembled on site.
I’ve said it for ages, but televisions are an intermediary product stage. Just the way smartphones are a passing phase for the next big thing, televisions are too – the only difference is that the next big thing after TVs exists… it’s just that not everyone owns one yet. I’m talking about projectors. They’re usually portable, can project screens as large as 120 inches, and in a matter of seconds, turn your home into a theater. Modern projectors come with smart OS features, image correction capabilities, and more importantly, they’re now just as affordable as TVs are. The Ultimea Nova C40, with its $299 price tag offers an incredibly compelling option for those looking to switch from a 40-something-inch TV to a viewing experience that’s larger than life. The Full HD projector comes with a unique gimbal design tat lets it face practically anywhere (you could watch a movie on your ceiling if you want), with automatic focus and keystone features so the projector can instantly align its image instead of having you do it. Sure – it’s no staggering 4K OLED TV, but as a proud owner of an HD projector myself, size matters to the experience much more than pixel density and resolution.
The Nova C40 packs a fair bit of punch for its price category, delivering a projection as large as 120 inches. 600 ANSI lumens is fairly bright for dark and dimly-lit rooms, and the presence of a built-in AndroidTV 11.0 OS means access to all your favorite apps on demand. Want to take things to another level, HDMI and USB ports let you hook your laptop or gaming console to the projector for immersive work and gaming. The large 120-inch display completely surrounds your periphery in gaming content… and for work, you can multitask with efficiency by turning the large display into multiple smaller windows.
The throw ratio of 1.25:1 translates to a projected image size between 80 and 120 inches diagonally when placed at a relatively short distance. This makes it ideal for smaller rooms or even outdoor movie nights, transforming your backyard into a cinematic haven under the stars. Setting up the projector is a breeze, thanks to automatic keystone correction and autofocus features. No more fiddling with dials – the C40 ensures a crisp and properly aligned image in seconds, with zero effort.
One of the C40’s standout features is its fully sealed optical unit. This innovative design choice aims to minimize dust infiltration, potentially enhancing image quality and extending the projector’s lifespan. With a brightness of 600 ANSI lumens, the C40 performs best in slightly subdued environments. While not ideal for projecting movies in brightly lit rooms, it delivers a watchable experience in dimmer settings. The projector boasts a native Full HD (1080p) resolution, but upscaling capabilities allow it to handle 4K content. It covers 95% of the NTSC color gamut, ensuring a decent range of colors for vibrant visuals.
The Nova C40’s design integrate a gimbal that lets you point your projector in practically any direction. Face it forwards, tilt it at an angle, or even directly upwards, the 90° freedom of the C40 is perfect for all kinds of adjustments. Moreover, the base also supports ceiling mounts, so you can attach your C40 to a beam or to the ceiling for a more traditional experience. Me personally, I love the fact that the projector is fairly mobile, which means you can travel from room to room with it.
The Nova C40 breaks free from the shackles of external media players by integrating Android TV 11 directly into the system. This built-in smart platform grants access to popular streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video, eliminating the need for additional devices. Feeling the urge to explore a wider entertainment library? The C40 allows you to download additional apps, expanding your options and catering to diverse interests.
For seamless connectivity, the C40 offers an HDMI input, perfect for connecting laptops, gaming consoles, or other external devices. It also boasts Bluetooth 5.3, enabling you to connect external speakers for a more immersive audio experience. Additionally, Bluetooth allows for voice control through the remote, adding a layer of convenience. While the built-in 5-watt speakers might suffice for casual viewing, a soundbar connected via Bluetooth can significantly elevate the audio quality, transforming movie nights into truly cinematic experiences.
So, who exactly is the Ultimea Nova C40 designed for? Movie buffs seeking a cinematic experience at home will find the C40’s Full HD resolution with upscaling capabilities delivers crisp visuals for a captivating experience. While the brightness might not be ideal for brightly lit rooms, creating a movie night ambiance with dimmed lights unlocks the projector’s true potential. Casual gamers on a budget can also enjoy the thrill of big-screen gaming without breaking the bank. However, it’s important to note that the C40 might not be ideal for fast-paced, competitive games due to the potential of slight input lag. Presenters on the go will appreciate the portability and ease of use that the C40 offers, children will love the idea of having a cinema experience in their bedroom before going to bed, and friends will probably invite you to every single backyard party for movie or sports nights.
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