Clever design: This Camco Curved Trailer Aid allows you to change a flat tire on a dual-axis trailer, without using a jack.
You simply drive over it with the wheel next to the one that needs changing, then chock the yellow part in place with the black part, which has a rubber base pad for friction.
It provides 6.5″ of lift, so even if the target axle sags, you’ve still got plenty of clearance to get the wheel off.
This is as creative as it is strange. Yarro Studios, which makes RPG accessories, developed these 7-piece FlipDice sets.
Each FlipDie is actually a coin made of two halves that have had angled planes machined into their interiors. A tiny red orb inside serves as the indicator.
Color theory guides the use of light and color for interior designers, helping them create attractive and functional homes. Understanding the basics, like the color wheel and combinations, is crucial for enhancing aesthetics and it enables designers to create visually pleasing, cohesive, and harmonious spaces. This theory also aids in developing effective color schemes without overwhelming the space.
Color theory is an invaluable tool in home design, aiding in the creation of a visually appealing space. Designers use it to select color combinations that bring rooms to life. Additionally, color theory helps balance warm and cool tones, create contrast, and introduce a sense of drama or calmness using different colors. It also guides the choice of lighting for each space, considering how different lighting types affect color perception in specific environments.
Eight fundamental principles of color theory can be incorporated into interior design.
1. Color Wheel
The color wheel serves as a visual depiction of the entire color spectrum, illustrating the interactions between different colors. The conventional color wheel comprises 12 segments, each corresponding to one of the primary hues like red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and their respective shades. Grasping the fundamentals of color theory enables the creation of breathtaking compositions that mirror the beauty and grace found in nature.
The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue which cannot be produced by blending other colors.
• Secondary Colors:
The Secondary colors include hues of orange, green, and purple which results from the combination of two primary colors.
• Tertiary Colors:
Tertiary colors emerge by blending one primary color with one secondary color.
• Complementary Colors:
These colors are situated opposite each other on the color wheel and yield a striking contrast when used together in design.
• Split Complementary Colors:
Just like complementary colors, split complementary colors include two additional hues from either side of their complement, for instance, hues of orange, yellow, and blue.
• Analogous Colors:
Harmonious in nature, analogous colors are adjacent to each other on the color wheel, producing a pleasing effect when incorporated into home decorating designs.
• Monochrome Colors:
Monochrome colors employ different tints and tones within a single hue and are primarily used to establish a serene ambiance in various room decor schemes.
• Neutral Colors:
Colors like white, black, grey, beige, and brown serve as neutral elements that can be incorporated throughout an entire room or utilized as accent pieces to infuse a sense of balance into an already vibrant color palette.
2. Dimensions of Color
To precisely describe colors, one must consider these attributes of color.
Hue, the most noticeable characteristic, is determined by the color’s position on the visible spectrum, with an infinite variety represented on the color wheel as pure colors without tint or shade.
• Value
Value, the lightness or darkness of a color, is determined by adding black or white to the pure hue. Tints (lighter values) and shades (darker values) result from this adjustment. These variations impact the perceived size and character of a space, with bright values creating spaciousness and dark values evoking coziness.
A tint is a color lighter than the normal value of pure hues on the color wheel, created by mixing a pure chromatic color with white or a lighter hue. While the color wheel illustrates hues with 50% white added, a room dominated by light tints may feel cold unless skillfully handled.
• Shades
Shades are darker tones created by mixing pure chromatic colors with black or darker hues. The color wheel illustrates normal value hues with 50% black added to produce shades. However, a room dominated by dark hues might feel gloomy and confined unless handled skillfully. Like tints, incorporating value contrasts and skillful transitions can enhance a dark color scheme.
• Intensity
Intensity, also known as saturation or chroma, indicates the purity of a color. A color with high intensity appears bright, while a low-intensity color is more neutral or muted. Colors are at their purest in their unmixed state, straight out of the tube.
• Tones
Tones, often linked with intensity, refer to a subdued or neutralized version of a hue. Created by combining white and black, tones can be lighter or darker than the original hue, possessing a more nuanced quality than tints and shades. Vibrant colors are called “jewel tones,” while subdued colors are known as “muted tones.”
The color temperature plays a crucial role in interior design, influencing the ambiance of a space. Cool tones, such as blues and greens, contribute to a serene atmosphere, whereas warm hues like reds, oranges, and yellows infuse warmth and energy into the interiors. Neutral shades, like beige or gray, serve as a harmonious middle ground between these contrasting extremes. Designers can attain the desired effects in their projects by skillfully blending tints and shades with varying temperatures.
By blending colors of varying temperatures, designers can create visual interest and a unique atmosphere in any home project. Cooler and warmer tones can be contrasted, and complementary pairs like pink and green or yellow and purple can add vibrancy. Neutral shades provide a balance between extremes. With careful consideration, designers can use color combinations to achieve their desired atmosphere.
5. Color Mixing
Color mixing is the art of combining primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) to create a range of secondary and tertiary shades. In interior design, color theory is essential for stylishly blending hues and crafting visually appealing compositions. Mastering color mixing allows designers to optimize their palettes, leading to the creation of unique and distinctive color combinations.
6. Color Scheme
Different color schemes evoke various moods, from lively to calming.
• The monochromatic scheme uses tones of a single hue, creating a unified and timeless look. • The analogous scheme combines three similar hues for balanced contrast. • The complementary scheme pairs colors opposite on the wheel for high contrast without overwhelming. • The triadic scheme blends three evenly spaced colors, adding energy without overpowering. • Tetradic color schemes encompass four distinct hues, forming two pairs of complementary colors equally spaced on the color wheel. • Square color schemes, on the other hand, consist of four separate hues positioned at 90-degree angles from each other on the wheel. • Split-complementary combines three hues, consisting of a base hue and two adjacent opposites.
The contrast in design involves opposites, adding visual interest through distinctions in color, values, or intensities. Sharp or vivid contrast signifies large differences, while low contrast indicates small variations. Achieved through complementary colors or value contrast, it emphasizes light and dark without progressing through middle values. This dynamic element contributes balance, relief, and drama to a scheme, best when paired with restraint in color variety.
8. Psychology of Color
Colors profoundly affect our moods and emotions. Cool hues bring relaxation, while warm hues generate energy. Reds signify excitement, blues induce calmness, oranges suggest creativity, and yellows increase optimism. Designers can create tailored atmospheres in home projects by carefully selecting colors to meet clients’ unique needs.
Norway’s Wind Catching Systems (WCS) have created an impressive array of small rotors arranged in a neat grid to achieve up to 126 MW, or five times the energy of a 15-MW single-rotor turbine in the North Sea conditions. Usually, wind turbines are designed to be larger with bigger rotors to pull in more megawatts, but WCS went for a more subtle and functional approach. Besides offering a superior energy output, the innovative Windcatcher design facilitates simpler installation than typical wind turbines, offering easier maintenance and simpler scalability. It also has a longer life service of around 50 years compared to the 30-year life cycle of bigger single-turbine units.
The Windcatcher includes floating supports that are shared between a bunch of small and lightweight turbines that have been tied up in large arrays of structural scaffolding. This distributes the weight of the turbine fans and generators, and the force supplied by the wind between a larger area. The scaffolding serves as the ultimate foundation for small installation and maintenance elevators, which slowly run up and down the generators. Once the main structure has been built, the various working parts will be installed and then maintained with total ease. The system won’t need large generators and massive blades, as it will be logistically easier to build.
WCS gathered a lot of support in the past couple of years. In 2022 it secured almost US$10 million from GM Ventures and also received grants of NOK22 million (US$2.1 million) and NOK9.3 million (US$0.9 Million), respectively. These grants were provided by Enova SF – a Norwegian government enterprise committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and discovering novel and clean energy technologies. The design has also received a stamp of approval from DNV (Det Norske Veritas) – an internationally accredited registrar and classification society that offers services for different industries including maritime, oil, gas, and renewable energies.
Each set in the Cubo Packing Cube Bundle includes the same three sizes—a 10l, a 3l and a 2l—though each cube is unique, created by a team in Cotopaxi’s Philippine pack making factory. Fair labor workers first look at the available extra materials in the facility, and are given liberty to create the design for each. Grab handles help make them easy to pick up, and mesh siding keeps the contents well ventilated.
Having lived in a city all my life, I’m used to waking up in the morning, looking out the window, and seeing nothing but buildings. So of course it’s my dream that one day, I’d be able to live in a place where I am surrounded by nature but still have the conveniences of “civilization”. We’re seeing a lot of house concepts right now where all you need to do is step out of your front door or sometimes even just look out your window and you’re one with nature.
One such house is Copas, a contemporary and minimalist concrete house located in the forests of Valle de Brava in Mexico so you get the best view of nature from your window and especially from the rooftop terrace, where you feel like you’re part of the forest. The colors of the house are similar to the tree trunks and rock formations that surround it. The overall design of the house gives you the impression like you’re climbing a mountain.
The private bedrooms on the lower level has glazing that frames the forest while the kitchen, dining room, and the lounge space also give a beautiful view of the surrounding woodlands. The terrace on the roof extends towards the trees while the swimming pool on the higher volume is the perfect way to cap off a relaxing day in your abode.
The two-volume house is integrated into the slope so there’s not much excavation that will disturb the surroundings. The house has also different finishes to complement the concrete look, including wood furniture, natural rugs and fabrics so you get an even cozier feeling. This is such an interesting house to live in especially if you’re sick and tired of the concrete jungle.
Architecture firm Studio Anne Holtrop has renovated the Siyadi Pearl Museum and mosque in Bahrain, using a plastering technique designed to maintain “characteristics of the past”.
Situated within Muharraq, a region with a history of pearling, the project saw the renewal of two existing coral stone buildings – a rundown museum and adjacent mosque.
Studio Anne Holtrop has renewed a museum and mosque in Bahrain
Aiming to accentuate the building’s historic qualities, Studio Anne Holtrop removed some additions to the buildings before extended the existing walls and updating the facades.
“Stripped down to the remaining historic elements, the missing parts of the building are added by extending the existing walls and their directions [which are] more or less based on found historic foundations,” the studio said.
The studio implemented a new plastering technique
To distinguish the new walls from the existing ones, the studio established a plastering technique that features across the museum’s interior and exterior.
This process is done through first applying a rough layer of plaster, followed by a smooth layer that is partially applied across the surface from bottom to top – resulting in a textured finish that leaves both layers of plaster visible.
“In this way a new distinctive technique for the plastering was used, while maintaining the intrinsic plaster characteristic of the past,” said the studio.
Large glass doors provide access to the museum
On the ground floor, large, swivelling glass doors encased with metal provide access into the museum and contrast with the otherwise natural material palette and earthy tones.
Inside, a series of interconnected, angular rooms of various heights are used for exhibiting pearl jewellery and loose pearls, and are complete with minimalistic interiors hosting black-framed glass cabinets.
Textured walls and ceilings feature throughout the interior and are occasionally contrasted with wooden walls and doors.
Central to the museum is a seven-metre-high main exhibition room where the plaster walls have been finished with silver foil which reacts to the air and humidity to create a golden-hued patina across the interior. A clerestory window draws light into the space.
“The silver finish of the main room relates to the historical rich decorations of the interiors, such as the one of Siyadi Majlis,” said the studio.
The main exhibition room is finished with silver foil
Alongside the museum’s front, the mosque’s exterior was restored to accentuate its decorative facade, while accessibility to its interior is provided via stairs through the museum.
Within the space, the studio retained finely crafted elements including wooden doors, stained glass panels and decorative ceilings.
The mosque’s finely crafted elements were retained
Sportswear brand Adidas has released the F50+ football boot, which it believes is its fastest ever and could usher in an era of football super shoes.
Described by Adidas as “a big departure from where we’ve been in running shoes”, the F50+ was designed to integrate running shoe technology into a football boot.
“From Adidas’ point of view, this is our first football super shoe, we would be pretty certain to say that,” he told Dezeen.
“What’s cool is, it’s proprietary,” he continued. “We have something, which sits in the patent office. It’s our project that we brought to life, which comes with a lot of risk because it’s brand new.”
“It was also a risk when we released the Adidas Pro. That was a big escape, a big departure from where we’ve been in running shoes, and now you don’t see a professional marathon where somebody isn’t wearing a super shoe.”
With the F50+, Adidas aimed to integrate some of the technology developed for running shoes over the past five years into a football boot.
Most significantly, Adidas focused on the sole, an area that has seen large amounts of innovation in running shoes.
“Running footwear over the last five years has basically gone from very low profile, very close to the ground and traditional-looking to shoes that are packed full of science, packed full of technology, packed full of the most valuable ingredients that we have,” explained Miles.
“But if you look at the trajectory that football boots have had, they all look the same. We didn’t have a great deal of innovation, at least visible and radical innovation. And we wanted to put that into the 50+.”
The boot has a patented sole
For Adidas, the challenge was creating a boot with the speed of a track spike that would still be suited to playing football, allowing players to accelerate easily and change direction.
To do this, Adidas created a sole that has a layer of high-performance foam sandwiched between the rigid outsole plate and the player’s foot. Adidas has patented this sole.
“We had this very soft piece of foam, which takes over the first three or four millimetres worth of deformation – the three or four millimetres worth of bounce, basically – which allows the player to be nimble and kind of have a first gear,” said Miles.
“Then once they’re running at faster speeds that bottoms out, which usually is a bad thing. But on a football pitch, that’s fine because you’ve got grass underneath. The foam bottoms out meaning the two plates connect to each other and they’re very rigid, so have a much higher gear,” he continued.
“That’s what’s in the patent, and that’s what we hope will make players run faster.”
The F50+ was recently launched
Although Adidas is certain that these are the fastest boots it has made, Miles said he was unable to say how much faster they are. This is partly due to the fact they will not be used on a timed, track environment like a running spike.
“We did test it, we did measure it,” he said. “I’m not at liberty to share it.”
“There’s never going to be a person on the pitch with a stopwatch, so I’d argue all the testing that we did isn’t going to tell you as much as waiting for somebody to run faster or around the defender on the pitch.”
The F50+ was released recently and, according to Miles, some players are already beginning to adopt them.
“It’s quite fresh,” said Miles. “I think athletes are currently getting used to it – so they’re in their sort of adoption phase.”
“There’s still a lot of good Adidas football boots that are traditional-looking, but we hope to convince some of them to wear the super shoe.”
Next in our Olympic Impact series, we speak to French architect Dominique Perrault about his ambitions for the Olympic Village in Paris beyond the games this summer.
“We don’t want to build a village, we want to build a district, a new district,” Perrault told Dezeen over video call from his office in Paris.
“I am not an architect in this process, I am an urban designer,” he said.
Hosting more than 22,000 athletes, the Olympic Village at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games straddles industrial brownfield sites in the northern Parisian suburbs of Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine and Île Saint-Denis.
Masterplan is “very simple and very efficient”
The village is summarised by Perrault, who led the masterplan with his eponymous studio Dominique Perrault Architecture, simply as “two streets” anchored to the Seine river.
“The idea is very simple and very efficient,” he explained. “One street is more urban, with some buildings and some courtyards, going to the Seine river and connecting with a new bridge,” he continued.
“The other one is more like a garden – it’s a street from the public transport station to the Seine river with more presence about landscape,” added Perrault. “That’s it.”
Lining these “streets” is a cluster of colourful apartment and office blocks, developed by 40 different architecture studios including Dream and Brenac & Gonzalez & Associés, which designed a mass-timber office building and a trio of blocks with tiled facades respectively.
These buildings have been designed in line with Paris 2024’s ambitious sustainability targets, which are to halve the carbon footprint of London 2012 and Rio 2016 – striving to emit no more than 1.58 million metric tonnes of CO2.
Dominique Perrault masterplanned the Paris Olympic Village. Photo courtesy of Elise Robaglia/Potion Médiathique/Dominique Perrault Architecte/ADAGP
Another notable feature of the village is that it has been designed and built to be adaptable, ensuring it can be easily repurposed for non-athletes after the games with minimal waste.
“After the Olympic events this summer, we are at crossroads”
The ambitious carbon targets for the 2024 Paris Olympics have dominated the discussion surrounding the event, which has been described as the greenest Olympics in history.
However, for Perrault, achieving these goals for the village was mostly a tick-box exercise, secondary to his main ambition for the project: reconciling the banlieue back with the city.
“We have some considerations about sustainability, we use some wood, we have fresh air through the village, we have we have a lot of green space and water is very important – ok, good boy!” he joked.
“You know what, the question is not only about the village, the question is around the village, because if we would like to be successful in the social approach and urban design, then we should consider neighbours of the village,” he explained.
The neighbourhoods in which the Olympic Village is located are often considered shut off from the rest of Paris, particularly Saint-Denis, which has one of the city’s highest crime rates and is also among its poorest areas, with a third of inhabitants living below the poverty line.
The village is hoped to become a lively new neighbourhood of Paris once the games have concluded. Photo courtesy of Elise Robaglia/Potion Médiathique/Dominique Perrault Architecte/ADAGP
Some have raised fears that the Olympic Village could become a vehicle for gentrification after the games, with most of the apartments well out of the financial reach of average local incomes.
To ensure the area’s future success, Perrault’s goal has been to establish the village as a new district that celebrates the existing landscape and is rooted in the wider city.
According to Perrault, its success as a district will become clear in the two years after the games.
“After the Olympic events this summer, we are at crossroads,” he said. “During the first two years after the event, I think it’s the most dangerous time for the Olympic Village because in one way the village could be a new place in this part of Paris, or maybe the village stays a village with some good buildings.”
Ties to Seine and existing buildings prioritised
According to Perrault, one of the key ways he has hoped to achieve this is by connecting the area to the Seine – the river that cuts through the heart of Paris – after its links had previously been made inaccessible.
“The main idea was, ‘Okay the Seine River, where is the Seine River?’,” he said. “Nobody knew at the beginning, nobody could go touch the water, nobody could go walking along the Seine River. It was impossible.”
“Now with this new district, it is possible to create a new relationship between the people living and working in this district and the river.”
Perrault has provided direct access from the transport station in the centre – finished this year and designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates – to the Seine by reinstating a natural sloping route and stepping terraces down to the water.
Another key move, he said, has been to focus on establishing a relationship between the new and existing buildings across the site.
In particular, Perrault highlighted the Cité du Cinéma – a 1930s power station repurposed as the Cité du Cinéma film studios in 2012. It is currently inaccessible to the public but, during the games, it will be used as a canteen and training facilities.
He hopes that by placing it at the heart of the masterplan and repurposing it in this way, the building can be re-established as a public landmark for the area and help breathe life into the district in the future.
“We have the chance to keep and to protect the Cité du Cinéma, but we should change the quality of the life of this building,” he explained.
“We should introduce some public space in this building because this building at this moment is a citadel, it’s closed, it’s impossible to go through, it’s totally crazy,” he continued.
“If we reintroduce the Cité du Cinéma in the story, we will be very lucky and also we will be successful.”
“There’s a very important message about reuse”
By reusing the Cité du Cinéma, Perrault hopes he can also send out a wider message about the value of reusing existing buildings in city developments.
“There’s a very important message about reuse of the existing condition,” he said.
“The existing condition becomes like a material for architecture. So urban design for architects, material is not only the concrete, the glass and the metal, the material is the existing condition and how we could use and transform the existing condition with some new programme.”
This reflects the wider ambition for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which has prioritised the use of existing and temporary venues over new construction.
This article is part of Dezeen’s Olympic Impact series examining the sustainability measures taken by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and exploring whether major sporting events compatible with the climate challenge are possible.
Named Barneys Ruins, the project brings a traditional small-holding settlement in Mid Ulster, known as a clachan, to modern-day standards while preserving the 200-year-old ruins of its old cottage.
A shipping container cantilevers over ruins at Barneys Ruins
Patrick Bradley Architects‘ founder inherited the site from his great-great uncle Barney – after whom the project is named – and sought to revive it after years of deterioration.
With his studio, Patrick Bradley’s goal was to celebrate the clachan’s history while transforming it into a contemporary home, creating “a strong juxtaposition of old and new”.
The home is located on an old farm in Northern Ireland
“The Bradleys have maintained a deep connection to their land over generations,” Bradley told Dezeen.
“Owning the land passed down from Barney has fostered not only an economic foundation but also a profound emotional tie – each generation has cultivated and cherished this land, nurturing a strong sense of belonging and identity rooted in their stewardship of the farms.”
Its ruins are walls of an old cottage
Barneys Ruins is accessed via a grated steel staircase that straddles one of the ruined walls. Alongside it, a former barn has been converted into a small annexe.
The living spaces are mostly housed in the shipping container, which was converted off-site and craned into position. It is supported by steel columns that sit within the original cottage footprint.
A former barn was converted into an annexe
Inside, it contains an open-plan kitchen and dining space, a small bathroom and a double bedroom to the rear, all of which are finished with minimalist plywood joinery and terrazzo flooring. Below, the walls of the existing cottage enclose a utility room.
The shipping container was adapted to include large south-facing sliding doors that open onto a balcony, while a picture window frames a meadow that was rewilded to promote local biodiversity.
While repurposing the old ruins and a shipping container, the studio also prioritised existing materials where possible, including old gates, agricultural cladding and reclaimed stones.
“By seamlessly integrating into the original Irish Clachan, the new building serves as a storyteller, bridging the past and present into a cohesive narrative,” said the studio.
“The clients envisioned a bold architectural statement that would starkly contrast the existing 200-year-old ruins whilst sustainability drove decisions to maximise energy efficiency and reduce the overall carbon footprint by reusing and recycling elements found on the farm,” it continued.
The main living spaces at Barneys Ruins are within the shipping container
Adjacent to Barneys Ruins, the former barn has been converted into a small annexe that features a concrete fireplace and chimney breast and a small mezzanine sleeping area for guests.
In contrast to the home’s contemporary cantilevered structure, the annexe closely preserves the original character, with a galvanised corrugated steel roof that references its agricultural context.
The old walls enclose a utility space
Patrick Bradley Architects envisaged Barneys Ruins as a beacon in the landscape, referencing a mature Yew Tree that sits at the heart of the local town. Strips of LED are installed behind the cladding to create the appearance of the dwelling “floating” across the landscape at night.
“While the yew stands proudly at the heart townland, the project needed to reflect the same importance, with the approach that the building would glow at night at the very heart of the townland when the yew tree would not be visible,” said the studio.
Plywood and terrazzo feature in the living spaces
Barneys Ruins is not the first home by Patrick Bradley Architects to use a shipping container. On Bradley’s farmland, the studio repurposed four to create Grillagh Water House.
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