Producer Pharrell Williams has unveiled the Over the Moon Lego set, including a gold-hued spacecraft and Lego’s widest range of customisable minifigure skin tones.
Scheduled to be released on 20 September, Over the Moon is a set of three space-themed toys designed by Williams and Danish toymaker Lego, finished in the brand’s trademark plastic bricks. The set includes a streamlined black space shuttle with a drum-lacquered gold windscreen canopy.
Over the Moon is a space-themed Lego set by Pharrell Williams
“It was very important to Pharrell that the spaceship was grounded in reality as he said there was nothing cooler than the fact that humankind had actually made it to the moon,” Lego model designer George Gilliatt told Dezeen.
“So the aesthetic of the shuttle is based on a lot of real spacecraft, but with some twists, such as the colour scheme,” he added.
The second component is a detachable jet stream made of a cluster of multicoloured bricks, which can be mounted onto the back of the shuttle to help players imagine a dramatic takeoff for their toys.
“The jet stream’s four coloured stripes are made from fairly standard Lego elements, so I’m very excited to see builders create new versions – swapping out just one of the colours can create a distinctly new look for it!” said Gilliatt.
It features a black space shuttle with a detachable multicoloured jet stream
The set’s third component is a pair of Lego minifigures dressed as astronauts with two space helmets, designed to represent Williams and his wife, fashion designer Helen Lasichanh.
Over the Moon offers 51 customisable minifigure heads – 30 of which were specifically designed for the set – in seven different skin tones; Lego’s widest range to date.
“What became very apparent within the ideation stages of design between our team and Pharrell was the importance of representation, and ensuring that there was a unique customisable experience for builders when playing with this particular Lego set,” reflected Gilliatt.
“With my Over the Moon set, I want everyone to feel seen and empowered to imagine their own stories. The spaceship is blasting off, and you’re in the pilot seat,” he added.
A pair of Lego minifigures can be customised with seven different skin tones
Gilliatt described working with Williams as “a truly unique experience”.
“There are lots of aspects that made this project very different to anything we’ve ever done before,” said the model designer.
“If we were designing a typical Lego set of a spaceship, we would usually put all of the bricks included into making just the spaceship, whereas in this set only around a third of the bricks were used for that, while the rest were used to construct the jet stream,” he continued.
“I think having this part of the set really makes it stand out from any other Lego product that has existed before!”
The announcement of Over the Moon follows news of director Morgan Neville‘s upcoming film Piece by Piece. The movie is a biopic of Williams’s life told by the animation of Lego bricks, which will be released in the United States on 11 October.
Previously, the toymaker added five diverse characters to its collection of Lego Friends figures, with a range of skin tones, physical disabilities and neurodiverse psychological conditions.
IFA Berlin, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics expos, is returning for its 100th edition from September 6-10, 2024. Taking place at the sprawling Messe Berlin convention center, IFA promises an exhilarating showcase of the latest gadgets, smart home technologies, and cutting-edge innovations. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or a casual observer, here’s a guide on how to make the most of your experience at this must-attend event.
Tickets and Entry
IFA 2024 is open to the general public, with tickets now available for purchase online. A single-day pass for adults is priced at €17, while students can grab their tickets for just €10. If you’re bringing children under 15, they can enter for free, making it a great family outing. To avoid queues, it’s best to secure your tickets in advance on the official IFA website, as no cash payments are accepted at the venue
Getting Around: The IFA App
Once you’ve secured your ticket, the IFA app is your ultimate companion for navigating the massive Messe Berlin complex. Available on the App Store as well as the Play Store, the app allows you to view detailed maps, schedule your day with event highlights, and explore the exhibitor list. For trade visitors, the app includes access to exclusive matchmaking services to connect with businesses and industry leaders.
The exhibition spans multiple halls, each showcasing different categories of tech. The app can help you navigate these spaces efficiently, ensuring you don’t miss any key displays or product demonstrations.
IFA 2024 Map: Product Categories and Exhibitor Layout
Messe Berlin is known for its vast layout, so having a clear plan of action will save you time. IFA is divided into several key zones, each featuring a specific category of consumer electronics:
IFA Next: This innovation hub focuses on startups and groundbreaking technologies. Expect to see the future of smart homes, robotics, and sustainable tech innovations.
Audio: This area is for all things audio-tech, from unveiling the newest products on the market to exploring future advancements like noise cancellation, true wireless technology, and spatial audio.
Communication & Connectivity: Visit this zone to learn more about 5G products, 6G concepts, IoT, smart devices, AI networks and communications, cloud computing, and Wi-Fi advancements.
Computing & Gaming: The title’s rather self-explanatory, isn’t it? This hub is for gamers and geeks to absolutely nerd out! You’ll find monitors, CPUs, laptops, GPUs, and a host of other devices from leading companies like Lenovo, Microsoft, ASUS, Western Digital, Cooler Master, etc.
Fitness & Digital Health: Wearables, health monitors, and fitness trackers will be prominently featured, appealing to both the wellness industry and health-conscious consumers.
Home Appliances: Whether you’re into sleek kitchen gadgets or smart washing machines, this area is a must-visit for homemakers and tech-savvy chefs.
Home & Entertainment: From the latest OLED TVs to immersive sound systems, this section will let you experience the future of home entertainment.
Mobility: Humanity is redefining the way we move, and this section is the ultimate destination to experience the latest innovations in mobility. From e-bikes to eVTOL aircraft, connect with the companies shaping the future of transportation, one breakthrough at a time.
Photo, Video, & Content Creation: A dedicated space at IFA for content creators and innovators to produce their unique content (and also a relatively new addition to the expo). It’s the perfect place to watch, learn from, and enjoy your favorite online creators, while also having the chance to meet them in person.
Smart Home: Smart home technology is transforming the way we live, offering greater convenience, efficiency, and security. As one of the most exciting areas at IFA this year, you’ll have the chance to explore the latest innovations in home automation and connectivity.
A detailed map of each zone will be available via the app and on the IFA website, allowing visitors to plan their route across the exhibition efficiently
IFA Events and Highlights
IFA 2024 is not just about tech displays; it’s also a pretty massive milestone. As part of its 100th-anniversary festivities, the IFA Sommergarten—a vibrant open-air venue—will host concerts, food trucks, and live performances. Bryan Adams will kick off the celebrations with a special performance on September 5, just before the expo officially opens.
Keynote speeches from leading tech innovators will also be a major draw. These presentations offer a glimpse into the future of industries such as AI, renewable energy, and connectivity. Notably, companies like Intel, LG, AEG, Honor, and Samsung are expected to make major announcements.
Bryan Adams concert at IFA 2024
Tips for Attendees
To maximize your experience at IFA Berlin 2024, here are a few practical tips:
Arrive Early: The exhibition opens daily at 10 AM and closes at 6 PM, so arriving early will give you ample time to explore the numerous halls without the crowds.
Use Public Transport: Messe Berlin is well-connected via public transportation, with direct links to the S-Bahn and U-Bahn. However, your IFA ticket does not include free public transport, so be sure to purchase a separate travel ticket. Plan Ahead with the App: Use the IFA app to create a personalized itinerary. Identify must-see exhibitors and product categories to avoid wandering aimlessly.
Stay Hydrated and Charged: Messe Berlin offers mobile charging stations throughout the venue, and with so many tech booths to visit, keeping your phone charged is essential. Don’t forget to hydrate as well, as the venue is massive.
Join the Conversation: Follow IFA’s official social media channels for real-time updates, as well as stay tuned to Yanko Design’s coverage of the event… and don’t hesitate to engage with fellow tech fans during the event. IFA is as much about networking as it is about discovery.
Attending IFA Berlin 2024 is a tech lover’s dream. From groundbreaking innovations to hands-on experiences, there’s something for everyone. Make sure to secure your ticket, download the app, and plan your visit to ensure you don’t miss a moment of this massive celebration of technology. Whether you’re there for the latest AI gadgets or just to soak up the atmosphere, IFA promises an unforgettable experience in the heart of Berlin.
AI is fast becoming a thing on desktop and laptop computers, even on those devices that aren’t used for heavy computation or heavy content creation. Whether it’s generating images for inspiration, making sense of documents, or optimizing performance, AI is starting to become a prevalent presence in computing, but those features seem to benefit only those with enough resources to spend on a powerful but pricey rig. Good technology shouldn’t just be for a select few, and ASUS is working with Qualcomm to make not just AI but multi-day battery life more accessible to everyone with new mobile computers powered by the new Snapdragon X Plus.
Designer: ASUS
ASUS ProArt PZ13
Right at the top of that list is the new ASUS ProArt PZ13, first shown off at Computex back in June. It’s a 2-in-1 tablet with a detachable keyboard cover and kickstand, not unlike some of the popular designs for these portable PCs. What makes it extra special is the silicon inside, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus, an octa-core variant of the chipmaker’s latest line that targets not smartphones that run Android but Windows computers. What it lacks in raw power compared to the Snapdragon X1 Elite it makes up for in a balanced performance per watt, delivering long battery life while still supporting AI features thanks to its Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and integrated graphics processor.
As part of ASUS’ ProArt family, the ProArt PZ13 caters to digital content creators like designers, artists, streamers, and writers. These users benefit from the computer’s highly portable design, only 9mm thick and weighing only 1.87 lbs. The 70Wh battery makes the lack of nearby power outlets less of a worry, especially if you can charge it via USB-C. The IP52 dust and water resistance, along with MIL-STD-810H certification, also takes away some of the fear when using this AI-powered creativity machine outside of your office or home. And with the same sleek Nano Black coating we saw on the ASUS ProArt PX13, you will definitely want to show it off outdoors.
Of course, as a creative tool, the screen is a critical factor, and the ProArt PZ13 doesn’t disappoint with its bright and vibrant 13.3-inch 3K (2880×1800) Lumina OLED display. ASUS lets you control every aspect of that display, from the color gamut it uses down to color calibration. The ProArt PZ13 also includes a suite of software that really showcases its AI chops, including StoryCube for managing photos and videos. Creativity no longer has to be tethered to desks and power outlets thanks to the ASUS ProArt PZ13 and Snapdragon X Plus.
ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507)
Those who want a more traditional laptop form factor will be happy with the ASUS Vivobook S 15, also powered by that Snapdragon X Plus AI process and boasting more than 18 hours of uptime with its 70Wh battery. The 15-inch 3K 120Hz Lumina OLED screen will also delight content creators who need precise and accurate color reproduction, especially with support for 100% of the industry standard DCI-P3 gamut. A plethora of connectivity options, both wired and wireless, make working anywhere a breeze, and its slim and stylish design makes it a joy to bring out in public.
Best of all, these two Snapdragon Windows computer carry accessible price tags that make them tempting options for your next mobile computer. The ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507) will start at $899.99, while the ProArt PZ13 starts at $1,099.99.
The architecture studio that refurbished Grenfell Tower has been excoriated in the final report of the long-running public inquiry into a devastating fire at the building in 2017.
London-based Studio E was determined to have “demonstrated a cavalier attitude to the regulations affecting fire safety” during its work on the project, which included the installation of highly flammable cladding to the block’s exterior.
Published today, the 1,700-page report found that Studio E, which has since gone into liquidation, “bears a very significant degree of responsibility for the disaster”.
Studio E “fell below standard of a reasonably competent architect”
“As architect Studio E was responsible for the design of the external wall and for the choice of the materials used in its construction,” the report said.
The studio had specified zinc cladding for the project, which was later swapped for a deadly aluminium composite material (ACM) product by the client, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), in a bid to reduce costs.
But the inquiry concluded that it was still the architect’s responsibility to check that the ACM complied with building regulations.
“Its failure to recognise that ACM was dangerous and to warn the TMO against its use represented a failure to act in accordance with the standard of a reasonably competent architect,” the report said.
During the course of the inquiry, Studio E contended that its role on the project was to guide aesthetics, and that responsibility for fire safety and compliance lay with other parties.
The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was published this morning
Studio E, as well as the project contractor, Rydon, and the cladding sub-contractor, Harley, were criticised for taking “a casual approach to contractual relations”.
“They did not properly understand the nature and scope of the obligations they had undertaken, or, if they did, paid scant attention to them,” the report said.
“They failed to identify their own responsibilities for important aspects of the design and in each case assumed that someone else was responsible for matters affecting fire safety.”
Studio E was also at fault for failing to recognise that the combustible Celotex foam insulation fitted as part of the project was unsuitable, the inquiry found.
It also failed to ensure that fire-safety consultant Exova completed a fire-safety strategy for the refurbished building, failed to understand that it was responsible for work by sub-contractors and missed errors around the windows that helped the fire to spread.
“The deaths that occurred were all avoidable”
Seventy-two people were killed after a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower, a 1970s North Kensington social-housing block, in the early hours of 14 June 2017.
Started by a faulty fridge-freezer, the fire spread rapidly up and around the building via the external cladding system installed as part of the refurbishment project, which was completed only a year earlier.
Today’s report marks the end of a seven-year-long public inquiry into the disaster, which was the deadliest residential fire in the UK since world war two.
“The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable, and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants,” inquiry chair Martin Moore-Bick said in a statement this morning.
“All contributed to it in one way or another, in most cases through incompetence, but in some cases through dishonesty and greed.”
Criminal charges not expected until end of 2026
Phase two of the enquiry aimed to identify the causes of the disaster, with more than 80 weeks of evidence heard.
A phase one report focusing on the events on the night of the fire published in 2019 already concluded that Grenfell Tower’s external walls did not comply with building regulations.
Though the inquiry is barred from drawing conclusions about criminal responsibility, its findings are likely to have a bearing on the ongoing police investigation into the fire. Detectives are not expected to pass charging files to prosecutors until late 2026.
Lawyers representing Studio E confirmed to Dezeen that it would not be commenting on the inquiry report.
In a closing statement to the inquiry, the studio had argued that the large number of high-rise buildings found to have similar cladding to Grenfell after the fire “demonstrates that Studio E acted in a manner consistent with a responsible body of its profession”.
The design brief specifies that the memorial should be in the form of a garden and display the names of the 72 people who perished in the fire. A shortlist of five studios will be selected in the autumn.
Architecture studio Rørbæk og Møller Arkitekter has completed the concrete Trekroner Church on the outskirts of Roskilde, Denmark.
Located in the growing suburb of Trekronor, the church was designed to combine a contemporary, organic form with more traditional ideals.
It was built as a multifunctional space that could function “both as a church and a community house”.
Rørbæk og Møller Arkitekter has completed Trekroner Church
“The client, Himmelev Parish Council, envisioned a building that could accommodate everything from traditional religious ceremonies to concerts, teaching and conversation and contemplation,” Rørbæk og Møller Arkitekter CEO Nicolai Overgaard told Dezeen.
“Our design aimed to create a modern church that could host a range of ceremonies, social activities, and provide quiet spaces for reflection,” he continued.
“Although the church’s organic form is innovative, the floor plan remains rooted in tradition, with classic liturgical elements such as the nave, choir, sacristy, and an eight-meter-high apse.”
It has a sculptural curved form
Designed as an “enduring and adaptable structure” that would sit in contrast to its suburban context, the church’s curved, concrete form was constructed using over two hundred custom moulds for the on-site casting.
Opening into a large open-plan worship area with a flexible multi-use space, the curved organic floor plan contains a kitchen, cloakroom and storage area with a sacristy at the rear.
It is intended to contrast its suburban context
Within the main space, the ceiling was constructed tessellated panels that were made from recycled cans cut with water-jets. These serve a dual function by reflecting light and dampening sound, to help create “a serene and contemplative atmosphere within the church”.
A bespoke bench, constructed from light ash wood, follows the meandering walls, which is complemented with slatted ash panels along the walls.
Recycled cans were used to form the ceiling
Ash was also used for the worship altar, selected for its light, natural tones that complement the ceramic flooring and exposed concrete walls.
In the main congregation space, Danish conceptual artist Henrik Plenge Jakobsen‘s large perforated cross takes centre stage. It incorporates the Northern Cross constellation and is highlighted by a skylight that runs around the church’s perimeter, providing soft, natural light.
Ceramic flooring lines the interior
Jakobsen also created the agate stone door and ceramic tiled floor, which was informed by a pentagonal tiling pattern discovered by mathematicians at the University of Washington,
He also curated the collection of artwork featured in the church. Notable contributions from artists Alexander Tovborg and Lea Porsager, include an oak altar and a baptismal font fashioned from South African sodalite.
“In Trekroner Church, art is not an afterthought; it has been integral from the very beginning,” explained Overgaard.
“The integration of art and architecture enhances the experience for the congregation, concertgoers, and other visitors,” he continued.
“Every artistic element, from the cross to the baptismal font, the door, and the floor, was seamlessly integrated into the architecture, creating a unified and enriching environment.”
The design aims to redefine “the traditional concept of a religious space”
The studio is currently implementing a landscape strategy to surround the church with a wild meadow, a small forest and a pond that will support the bio-diversity of the local area.
Heavy-lift machinery and vehicles informed the set design of the sci-fi horror film Alien: Romulus, production designer Naaman Marshall tells Dezeen in this interview.
Helmed by director Fede Álvarez, the film is the seventh instalment in the Alien franchise, which began in 1979 with Ridley Scott’s film Alien.
Alien: Romulus follows a group of space colonists who encounter hostile extraterrestrial lifeforms while scavenging Renaissance, a derelict research station, in the year 2142.
Naaman Marshall worked with director Fede Álvarez on the seventh Alien film. Top and above photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
Marshall and Álvarez were determined to reinterpret the future Alien world while honouring legacy components from the franchise’s first two practical effects-focused films.
“Those are the fun ones for us,” Marshall told Dezeen. “I knew I was going to have a chance to build stuff and it wasn’t going to be computer-generated, it wasn’t just going to be slick and white and clean.”
Keeping in line with the franchise’s industrial design aesthetic, Marshall and Álvarez leant into original concept art by artist Ron Cobb. The structures of heavy-lift machinery and vehicles also informed the design, which Marshall aimed to keep as realistic as possible.
The design team built each set in Budapest. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
“I tend to design based on something that’s real – or you lie to yourself and tell you it’s real, and you come up with a whole backstory of what it actually is,” explained Marshall.
All filming took place in Budapest, aside from the shooting of miniatures in Los Angeles, to facilitate a lot of stage space, crew members and amenities.
The designer said the Hungarian capital provided a good chance of finding “out-of-the-norm locations”, mainly for the Jackson’s Star mining colony run by the fictional megacorporation Weyland-Yutani.
The film follows a group of space colonists in 2142
Locations included a working power plant. Here, the team shot large wheel-loaders inside its cooling structure, which held real steam that was used in the final shots.
Two spacecraft miniatures, roughly two meters in length, were built for the film’s exterior shots. One was for the Corbelan, a hauler the colonists fly to Renaissance, and the other for a Weyland-Yutani Echo probe featured in the film’s opening flight.
Originally designed as a visual-effect aid, the miniatures were eventually built, painted and finished by effects company Studio Gillis and shot in front of full screens and smoke.
The Jackson’s Star mining colony was filmed at a working power plant
The final shape of the Corbelan, which Marshall described as “an earth mover in space”, was influenced by bulldozers and aerial cranes.
Its interior is comprised of a cargo bay on one end with hibernation pods that lead to a narrow, straight corridor. This was a nod to the original film’s “architecture, the bones of it, the shapes”, Marshall said.
The corridor opens up into the “suit room” – the ship’s maintenance area, which contains technology for operating generators and mechanisms that grip and hold onto containers.
“We started looking into cranes in harbours, it was very utilitarian in that sense,” said Marshall.
Spacecraft interiors were partially inspired by heavy-lift machinery and vehicles
To meet a brief outlined by Álvarez, who wanted the cockpit “as tight as possible”, the design team built the structure on a gimbal five meters off the ground for flight simulators to capture shaking actions.
“I’m a big fan of bringing the ceilings in, you start feeling the floor and really getting a 360 view,” said Marshall. “Fede wanted that sense of excitement and thrill; some of the characters had never seen space or the sun before.”
Corbelan’s suit room set contained steps and stairs with actual doors that opened up in the centre for actor Cailee Spaeny to jump into the cargo bay two metres below.
The Corbelan hauler cockpit was constructed on a gimbal five meters off the ground
Research into the set design for Alien: Romulus initially began with the 2014 survival-horror video game Alien: Isolation as a framework reference.
But Marshall eventually focused more on the textures and “old patinas” of the original 1979 film, building each set in-house with the help of a design team.
“Zsuzsanna Sipos, my set decorator in Budapest, had a cast of characters that would 3d print, sculpt and paint,” said Marshall.
The set design of Alien: Romulus references the franchise’s first two films
Alien: Romulus also embraces the 1986 sequel’s updated aesthetics by exhibiting “twenty, thirty years newer technology” on the Renaissance.
Marshall described the Renaissance research station as “split in two”, divided into the older Remus lab and the new Romulus module.
The Renaissance research station is divided into two labs
Connecting both labs is a long hallway and a long staircase, which were shot at night in the subway of Budapest.
A full kit of facehugger alien animatronics were crafted for a fight-chase scene in the Remus lab, including stationary versions and ones with wheels for travelling fast on floors. These were designed “like remote control cars”, Marshall said.
Effects company Legacy Effects produced an animatronic doll from the torso up to create the damaged android Rook in the likeness of late actor Ian Holm, who portrayed Ash in the original film.
This sat atop a computer-bench set piece with a trap door underneath for puppeteers to operate its arm movements. Technicians operated the doll’s mouth to sync up its dialogue.
A number of elevator sets were constructed to achieve weightless travel shots
The set design also featured five “extremely heavy” elevator sets and a massive 50-metre “hive” set housing a colony of xenomorphs – aliens in their final adult form – in the Romulus lab.
The design team incorporated rails and tracks on castors for pulling actors through the sets for the film scenes that feature weightless travel.
Some elevator sets were built horizontally to capture different hair movements as actors flew down, while others were vertical for shots of them holding onto ladders.
The Romulus lab includes an arc-shaped “hive” set that is eight metres tall
“I try to have one set that I push to the point where you think you might fail,” Marshall said of the hive build.
“That was challenging – to make a cool-looking set, and then having tracks in the ceiling so you could fly through there.”
Creature suits and animatronics were crafted to bring the xenomorphs to life. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
The slanted, arc-shaped set was eight metres tall, with a climbing wall built to give the illusion of characters spinning around a rail.
Referencing original biomechanical designs by Swiss artist HR Giger, crafted versions of the xenomorphs in Alien: Romulus included a Bunraku puppet, a mechanical headpiece, puppets and creature suits.
Gun props borrow from the M41A Pulse Rifle design in Aliens. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
Referencing the fictional firearm created for director James Cameron’s Aliens, Marshall played with scale for newer versions of gun prop designs by printing different sizes depending on the height of the actor, which he later cut out of foam core.
“The gun was one of my favourites, in the sense that we were doing a M41A Pulse Rifle and it could actually feel like the original,” said the designer.
Industrial Facility founders Kim Colin and Sam Hecht design furniture to be sustainable without shouting about it. In this interview, they explain why they place more emphasis on longevity than recyclability.
Colin and Hecht believe that circularity means more than just planning for an object’s end of life; it should also mean ensuring the object stays in use as long as possible.
“The idea of recycling furniture because you’ve grown tired of it is nonsensical,” said Hecht.
“It’s maybe fine for a bottle of wine, but it’s not a great thing to do with furniture,” he told Dezeen.
Based in London, Industrial Facility has launched several new products this year. Among them is the Bow Chair, a dining chair launched by flat-pack furniture specialist Takt during 3 Days of Design.
The Bow Chair is a self-assembly dining chair developed for Danish brand Takt
The chair is designed for self-assembly and easy disassembly. Made from a single sheet of oak plywood, its modular components can be repaired or replaced if damaged.
Colin said that many people don’t realise the chair is self-assembly.
She describes it as an example of “dormant” circularity. By this, she means that although the chair could be recycled, the design doesn’t promote disposability.
“Circularity is inherent to how we thought through the project, but it’s not the message,” she said.
“The message is: I’m a great chair. I’m comfortable. You can live with me for a very long time.”
“The chair doesn’t need to shout out that it’s flat-pack or that it has all the credentials that it has,” added Hecht. “Some things should be a given. Another of those givens is that it should last.”
Colin describes the Bow Chair as an example of “dormant” circularity
Colin, a California-born architect, and Hecht, a London-born industrial designer, founded their studio in 2002. Their best-known works are for brands such as Herman Miller and Mattiazzi.
Central to the duo’s approach is a rejection of the celebrity designer culture that dominates the industry.
The name, Industrial Facility, reflects this attitude. The focus is on functional objects that can be produced at scale, rather than artistic works that reflect a personal style or aesthetic.
“We’re all about the project and not so much about ourselves,” said Hecht.
“We design for a world where we know there are other things,” continued Colin. “We’re often told that our designs are quiet in the room, but doing a great job and pleasurable to be around.”
Industrial Facility also designed the flat-pack Sling Lounge Chair for Takt
The duo, who are also partners, don’t always see eye to eye – they disagreed several times during this interview. But they see this as a strength, helping them to bring different perspectives to a brief.
“Projects get better when we are battling back and forth,” said Colin.
“We have different backgrounds, so culturally we’re inherently different,” she explained.
“But we have a lot of respect for each other’s talents and points of view. Somehow our disagreements, our different ways of seeing things, make our projects better.”
Tulipan, developed with +Halle, is a small semi-private seating booth
Industrial Facility also recently launched Tulipan, an upholstered booth containing a chair and a small table.
Developed with +Halle, a Danish brand specialising in innovative furniture for offices and public spaces, Tulipan offers an alternative to the glass meeting pods that have become increasingly common in open-plan workspaces.
With its low height and intuitive rotating seat, this semi-private workstation is much less dominant in a room. It takes up the same amount of space as a small table and offers a high level of acoustic privacy.
“We said, let’s make the smallest environment you could ever have and feel comfortable in,” said Hecht.
“We’ve seen an overpopulation of these private phone booths that look like aquariums,” added Colin.
“It’s a bad experience to be in this completely sealed space and they look ridiculous. However, people do need space for private moments and to focus. We kept saying, surely there is an in-between?”
Wastberg recently relaunched Industrial Facility’s w162 Dalston pendant lamp
As well as the two new launches, Industrial Facility recently collaborated with Swedish lighting brand Wastberg on a rework of the w162 Dalston, a pendant lamp first launched in 2016.
The design now incorporates the latest LED technology and is available in raw aluminium, making it less environmentally harmful to produce and easier to recycle.
Colin and Hecht say they wish more brands were open to reworking designs from the recent past.
They believe the industry’s obsession with newness means that many successful 21st-century designs aren’t given the value they deserve. They argue that this is both inefficient and unsustainable.
“Companies don’t want you to revisit a piece you did three or four years ago; they want something fresh,” said Hecht.
“The industry always wants to know what the next thing is,” he added. “You spend three years on a project and, before you’ve even talked about what it is and how you got to it, journalists ask what’s next.”
The OE1 Nook is among numerous Industrial Facility designs for Herman Miller
The pair believe that events like 3 Days of Design and London Design Festival contribute to the problem, as they become increasingly focused on design as an experience rather than a business.
“People come [to these events] to see design and get a false impression of what the industry actually is,” suggested Colin. “They get this feeling that design is a very exciting place.”
“The industry itself has really suffered in the last several years and I think it’s still pretty much on its knees, but it doesn’t look like that when you go to a design festival.”
“It’s like when you look down Oxford Street or Fifth Avenue. There are still a lot of people, but they’re not holding shopping bags. It’s a bit of a false economy.”
Colin and Hecht founded their studio in 2002. Photo by Lucy Shortman
Despite their wider concerns for the industry, Colin and Hecht plan to stay true to their principles as they look to the future.
“We always say, make stuff that will stick around a long time,” said Colin.
“And also, try to avoid silliness in the hope of grabbing people’s attention,” added Hecht.
The photography is courtesy of Industrial Facility unless otherwise stated.
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Titled Design You Can Feel, the exhibition will showcase how material qualities such as form, colour and texture can be combined to create objects or moments that awaken the senses.
The exhibition will also include a specially commissioned piece by Future Facility, the design and research studio led by distinguished designers Kim Colin, Sam Hecht and Leo Leitner.
Exhibition to tell the story of Ceraluminum
At the heart of the exhibition will be an exploration of Ceraluminum, an innovative new material that’s used to create the distinct visual identity of the ASUS Zenbook series of laptops.
Ceraluminum combines the lightness of metal with the resilience of ceramics through an aluminium ceramisation process, resulting in a new proprietary material with distinctive nature-inspired hues that make each object unique.
Dezeen has teamed up with ASUS Zenbook to curate an exhibition at London Design Festival
Unlike traditional aluminium anodisation, the process eliminates volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and heavy metals and results in a 100-per-cent recyclable material.
This will be presented alongside work by other leading designers and curated around themes that speak to the qualities of Ceraluminum and showcase ASUS’s approach to design.
A celebration of ASUS Zenbook
The Design You Can Feel exhibition will celebrate Zenbook, the new range of laptops from ASUS.
These thin and light ultra-portable premium laptops have been crafted with the user in mind. The design features have been dictated by their use with the aim of seamlessly integrating beauty and function.
The laptops feature advanced (artificial intelligence) AI tools and are clad in the proprietary Ceraluminum material.
This light and durable material can be used to create unique, everlasting designs. Each of the pieces in the exhibition – which span furniture, lighting and installation design – will speak to these qualities in different ways, while Niceworkshop has produced a piece of furniture directly using the material.
The Design You Can Feel exhibition will celebrate ASUS Zenbook
The special commission by Future Facility will also be crafted from Ceraluminum.
Through this conceptual design, the studio will explore the relationship between the digital and physical worlds and ask how AI and materiality can change our relationship with technology.
Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to learn about the design story behind ASUS Zenbook and try out the AI tools it features for themselves.
Design You Can Feel takes place during LDF
Design You Can Feel will run from 17 to 22 September at Protein Studios in Shoreditch during London Design Festival.
More details of the exhibition, including details of the work on display, will be announced in the coming weeks at: dezeen.com/designyoucanfeel.
The exhibition graphic at the top of this post is by My Beautiful City, which used the generative AI tool Midjourney to create the imagery. You can see Dezeen’s policy on AI here.
London Design Festival 2024
London Design Festival 2024 takes place from 16-22 September 2024. See our London Design Festival 2024 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.
Partnership content
The Design You Can Feel exhibition is a partnership between Dezeen and ASUS Zenbook. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
Dezeen Showroom: with an organic shape, two sizes and a vast array of upholstery choices, this pouf by contract furniture brand NoughtOne provides dynamic seating in workplaces and lounges.
The Truffle pouf has a simple, rounded but irregular shape reminiscent of a pebble, and is available in two sizes: one low and wide to invite lounging, and one taller to promote a more upright seating position.
The Truffle pouf has a fun, organic shape
The poufs are designed to be used individually or placed in clusters, creating hotspots for connection or collaboration within office interiors.
The Truffle pouf is also notable for its use of Bio-Pur foam – which is made partly from vegetable oils and organic waste to lower the quantity of fossil fuels compared to conventional foams – and for its seamless upholstery, available in a choice of fabrics that NoughtOne describes as “almost endless”.
It is available in a wide range of fabrics
NoughtOne prides itself on its expertise with upholstery and says the use of a single piece of fabric creates a seamless waterfall edge with enhanced visual appeal.
“You’ll notice details in fabrics that you wouldn’t normally see and the nap of a material causes tonal shifts depending on your angle of view,” said NoughtOne.
Material: Bio-Pur foam with fabric upholstery Dimensions: 605 x 400 or 475 x 445 millimetres
Dezeen Showroom
Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.
Panels of translucent fibreglass envelop this multi-level stage designed by Cake Architecture for London arts and music festival Rally, revealing the reusable scaffolding structure at its heart.
Named Agnes after American abstract painter Agnes Martin, the stage was designed to resemble a giant canvas and is surrounded by 40-metre-long, seven-metre-high walls on two sides.
The Agnes stage at Rally festival resembled a mini-nightclub
As part of the day-long festival, these walls helped to create a long, narrow enclosure much like a mini-nightclub in London’s Southwark Park, with an elevated DJ booth and stage in the centre.
Using a rentable, demountable scaffolding system, the walls were elevated three metres off the ground, allowing the audience to flow freely into and around the stage.
Elevated walls allowed the audience to flow into and around the stage
Two raised platforms on either end also allowed festivalgoers to climb up into the structure, effectively surrounding the performer on all sides.
“It’s quite different to just a big stage that faces outwards,” said Cake Architecture director Hugh Scott Moncrieff, who describes the stage as a two-storey building complete with a small roof. “It feels like you’re somehow inside a club.”
Festivalgoers could also stand on elevated platforms at either end of the stage
The narrow architecture of the stage, which is just eight meters wide, was informed both by its compact site in Southwark Park and by the layout of the nearby Dilston Gallery – a former church that at the time of its construction in 1911 was England’s first poured-concrete building.
“It’s just one big, long space with a raised pulpit up at one side,” Scott Moncrieff told Dezeen. “So it seemed interesting to start testing something long and linear, that felt a little bit like a church for a congregation of music fans.”
Agnes resembles a giant lantern at night
To save costs for the grassroots festival and ensure the stage could be reused year after year, Cake Architecture designed Agnes to be fully demountable using a modular scaffolding system rented from a stage production company in Germany.
“The material we’re cladding it in is called GRP, glass-reinforced plastic, which is obviously not necessarily a renewable product,” he said. “But, the idea is that it gets packed up every year and the stage still exists in five years or more.”
“So it’s not being trashed and thrown in the bin, which happens a lot with temporary builds.”
Typically, this modular scaffolding would be hidden layers of painted plywood. But Cake Architecture used translucent plastic cladding to allow the structure to shine through and illustrate the DIY ethos of Rally, which spotlights local London venues and artists.
“It’s about exposing the guts of what these structures are made of,” Scott Moncrieff said.
Rows of baton lights illuminate the stage
Sections of the fibreglass were covered in red and blue vinyl, creating a sequence of colour across the facade that references the repetitive grids found in the work of Martin.
“The whole point is that observing her work is kind of a meditation,” Scott Moncrieff said. “I think that translates in an interesting way to what we’re trying to do with this stage.”
“I’m hoping it will feel like a very large artwork,” he added.
Red and blue vinyl was used to colour the fibreglass cladding
Rows of colourful baton lights were installed along the length of the stage, illuminating the translucent facade like a lantern and sparkling off the minuscule glass fibres suspended in the plastic.
The Cake Architecture team built Agnes alongside a “ragtag group of makers and fabricators who become festival builders for the weekend”, Scott Moncrieff said.
“It’s not our typical day-to-day wheelhouse at all, but it’s been fun,” he explained.
The festival took place in Southwark Park
Cake Architecture previously created a smaller stage for the inaugural Rally festival last year – a kind of “dance music bandstand” called Visionnaire, which also returned for the 2024 edition.
Elsewhere across London, the studio has worked on a number of buzzy nightlife projects including A Bar with Shapes for a Name in Hoxton and Soho cocktail bar SOMA, as well as spearheading the upcoming refurbishment and extension of east London club The Pickle Factory.
The photography is by Angelina Nikolayeva, Rory Gaylor and Jake Davis.
Rally took place at London’s Southwark Park in London on 24 August 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
