Ever since the Caterham launched in the early 1970s, the hip roadster has been popular with motorheads who love the thrill of driving and the wind in their hair. The current model Caterham Super 7 has not changed much from the original in terms of looks and that can be a boring side of evolution.

Camal Studio, the Italian design company that’s renowned for its sublime creations like the world’s first hyperlimousine has derived inspiration from the Caterham and the sports cars of the 50s and 60s to come up with the renders of an open-top sports car. Dubbed Scoperta, the sexy barchetta binds a timeless aesthetic with modern elements any car enthusiast will find hard to resist.

Designer: Camal Design Studio

The performance car weighing just 1,235 pounds is based on the Caterham Seven 485 platform. The hunk is powered by a 2.0-liter Ford Duratec engine churning out 240 horsepower to complement the bold looks. The design team at Camal has given the car a front half with a big clamshell-styled hood that is identified by its curvacious magnetism and subdued creases. This is exemplified further by the front splitter and large grille that are head turners. The flowing aerodynamic shape flows to the sides contrasted by the classic mirrors and side exhausts. Move to the rear and you have a bespoke decklid housing the spare wheel and contoured tail embellished with sleek LED taillights.

On the inside, the Scoperta cocoons the riders in an elliptical cabin that has a single panel flowing over the dashboard. The speedometer and tachometer are positioned horizontally in this section. What I love to the core is a three-spoke steering wheel having a five-speed gated manual shifter. The headrests also have their distinctive curvaceous shape for a sense of security. Other modifications on the inside include a carbon fiber roll bar for driving safety.

This stunning barrechta is yet to go beyond the concept stage but Camal Studio reassures a limited series production for homologated road legal driving could be a possibility in the future. When it does arrive, the car will cost around $159,000. Whether the cost is inclusive of the donor car is not yet clear, however, this price tag will make it one of the costliest Caterham to ever hit the road.

The post Camal Studio’s Scoperta is a desirable Barchetta inspired by the classic Caterham first appeared on Yanko Design.

Local studio Miró Rivera Architects has clad the lakeside River Hills Residence in weathering steel, complemented by a delicate two-storey dock and guest house.

Completed on a reservoir of the Colorado River, the complex sits on a seven-acre site that slopes gently from a berm and is shaded by native pecan and bald cypress trees.

“The design of the River Hills Residence embodies the laid-back ethos of Austin,” the Miró Rivera Architects team told Dezeen.

“While the house features spectacular elements such as floor-to-ceiling glass walls, there is an informality to the design reflected in the use of simple materials and playful details. The intent was to create a lakeside retreat that invites nature into the house, and encourages occupants to connect with the outdoors.”

The progression was designed to connect with the natural environment directly and indirectly via gravel paths that connect the winged main house, zero-edge pool, guest cabin and boat dock.

Set under the tree canopy, the 7,120-square foot (660-square metre) main house is partially embedded in the berm and is organized in a backwards C shape around a courtyard with two wings.  A central glass volume opens up the centre of the plan to the lake.

The southern wing contains four bedrooms on the ground floor and a staircase that leads up to the private, primary suite, while the northern wing houses utility spaces and the garage.

One wing contains utility spaces and the garage; the other wing contains private bedrooms and a primary suite. These private and utilitarian programs are connected by the public living spaces, which open out to the landscape with glass walls and large sliding doors.

The 1,000-square-foot (92 square metres) great room serves as the centrepiece of the residence with a sculptural charcoal limestone fireplace and two walls of butt-glazed, floor-to-ceiling glass and provide views both from and through the living and diving areas to the wide porch that runs along the eastern side of the house.

The interior of the main residence features polished concrete and reclaimed long-leaf pine floors, blackened steel bookshelves, and a palette of grey leather, rich walnut and dark basalt.

The 1,300-square foot (120-square metre) guest cabin “was conceived as a carved volume whose sliding glass walls invite the lake environment inside”.

The private bedroom and bathroom are separated from the public areas by a wine cellar, and guests can gather and entertain in the outdoor kitchen shaded by a pecan tree.

Both the main residence and the cabin are outfitted in weathering steel – from vertical cladding panels to details like handrails, chimneys and scuppers – with treated ash elements and reclaimed long-leaf pine soffits that complement the orange tone of the oxidized metal.

A path from the cabin leads down to a lightweight dock that seeks to use the minimum number of elements possible. Triangular frames form a W shaped structure around a 1,200-square foot (112-square metre), two-storey dock.

“Coming to a point at the water’s surface, the triangular frames that support the decks and roof create the sensation that the dock is balanced ‘just so’,” the team said. “At the upper level, the deck and roof frame the wooded cliffs across the lake while catching breezes and providing shade.”

Steps lead down to the two boat slips, while an open-tread metal staircase climbs to the lounge area that features a diving gate, where residents can jump into the shallow water.

Previously, Miró Rivera Architects arranged a series of weathering steel plates to form the walls of a public restroom on Austin’s Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail. The team also envisioned a floating city in Jordan’s Dead Sea as a memorial to those who passed away from coronavirus.

The photography is by Casey Dunn, Bud Franck, Sergio Reza and Paul Finkel | Piston Design.

Project credits:

Design team: Miró Rivera Architects, Juan Miró, Miguel Rivera, Ken Jones, Brooks Cavender, Taylor Odell
General Contractor: Classic Constructors, Dalgleish Construction Company
Structural Engineer: Architectural Engineers Collaborative
MEP Engineer: Bay & Associates
Lighting: ArcLight Design
Landscape: Environmental Survey Consulting
Furniture & Decorative Lighting: Collected Design Studio

The post Miró Rivera Architects clads lakeside Austin retreat with weathering steel appeared first on Dezeen.

Art, culture and environment meet with Agostino Iacurci’s “Mediterranean Scrub” for Natuzzi at Miami Art Week

At Miami Art Week—encompassing multiple fairs including Art Basel, Design Miami/, and countless installations at galleries, museums, retail spaces, showrooms and pop ups, the boundaries of art and design are continually redefined. For their 2025 installation Natuzzi Italia has partnered with artist Agostino Iacurci on a work of art that is also a powerful cultural and environmental statement.

Thanks to the Natuzzi Open Art initiative—launched in 2007 to democratize art through exhibitions in its stores—in partnership with Regione Puglia, Iacurci presents “Mediterranean Scrub”, an immersive installation that transforms Natuzzi Italia’s Miami store into an homage to Puglia’s natural beauty and cultural essence, connecting the brand’s deep roots in the region to contemporary design narratives. Curated by Cristiano Seganfreddo, the installation invites visitors to explore the Mediterranean landscape through a dynamic interplay of art, memory, and environmental reflection.

The installation begins with a large olive branch motif on the building’s façade, symbolizing both the cultural heritage and environmental challenges of Puglia, region of origin of both Natuzzi and Iacurci. Visitors are then drawn inside, where tall suspended canvases depict silhouettes of native Mediterranean plants like arugula, borage, and poppy. These plants, depicted as black cut-outs, evoke both personal memories of the artist and collective ties to the landscape.

As Iacurci explains, “’Scrub’ also means erosion, understood as the deterioration of the natural landscape caused by Xylella, [a plant pathogen] that is devastating our olive trees. A possible solution is to accompany the diseased olive trees with other plants, creating a new landscape. Thus, in my work, alongside the large olive branch on the façade are borage, strawberry tree, arugula, poppy, dandelion, and laurel, depicted on my flags as simple silhouettes, forming a true vegetal alliance that tells the world about the diversity of our territory.”

This project also takes on a critical ethical dimension by supporting Save the Olives, a Puglia-based nonprofit combating Xylella. Proceeds from the sale of unique prints inspired by Iacurci’s work directly support research and preservation efforts.

“Through Mediterranean Scrub, we not only celebrate Puglia’s beauty but also confront the urgent environmental crisis threatening its identity,” says Pasquale Junior Natuzzi, Chief Creative Officer of Natuzzi Italia. “Each olive tree lost to Xylella erodes a fragment of our shared memory and culture.”

Mediterranean Scrub is open to the public starting 4 December 2024 at the Natuzzi Italia store, 3818 North Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33127.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Robotics LAB have designed the X-ble Shoulder, an upper-body exoskeleton designed for those doing overhead work. The design was heavily informed by user research, by interviewing over 300 production line workers at Hyundai’s manufacturing facilities.

The designers first focused on two things: Creating a device that would not only assist with efficiency by increasing a worker’s applicable strength, but would also reduce musculoskeletal injuries. They furthered tailored the design by incorporating test user feedback: Workers wanted it to be comfortable, so that they wouldn’t have to take it off every time they went on break; they wanted it to be easy to put on by themselves; they wanted it to be lightweight; they wanted it to easily fit over existing uniforms; they wanted it to be easy to clean.

The resultant design uses springs and mechanical advantage rather than motors; the units are unpowered and do not require charging. The system consists of a soft vest and hard components that can easily be decoupled from the vest, for ease of cleaning. A worker can don the system in 20 seconds by themselves, using easily understandable interfaces like a zipper, clips and straps. And the device reduces shoulder load by up to 60% and anterior/lateral deltoid muscle strain by up to 30 percent.

Made from both metal and carbon composites, the X-ble Shoulder is strong but lightweight, tipping the scales at just 1.9kg (4.2 lbs).

The system was designed specifically for Hyundai’s factory line workers, who will start receiving the units next year. However, the design is promising enough that they’re planning to commercialize the design overseas by 2026, so it should be coming to the North American and European markets.

In the following interviews with the designers, you can see how crucial the user feedback was to the development process. If only all designers were this thorough, in interviewing test users!

There are plenty of devices these days that have built-in rechargeable batteries, but there are also a good number that still run on traditional AA or AAA batteries. These batteries can be replaced at any time, which actually means devices can last longer in the long run. They can also be wasteful, however, if you need to constantly buy new ones, especially if you quickly go through packs in a matter of weeks.

There are, of course, rechargeable variants of these cylindrical batteries, but the chargers for them have fallen behind their peers in terms of design. They have taken the easiest shape to work with and stuck to it for years, driven by profit margins rather than a thirst for innovation and exploration. This DIY charger, in contrast, thinks outside the box, literally and figuratively, to offer an interesting automatic AA battery charger that functions almost like a dispenser.

Designer: Max.K

There is wisdom in not fixing what isn’t broken, which is probably why NiMH battery chargers haven’t changed their appearance in years. The typical box design allows you to efficiently charge multiple batteries at the same time, which is probably the best situation if you’re dependent on these batteries. They’re not exactly satisfying, though, especially if you’re looking for gadgets that have value beyond their function.

SPINC is a battery charger that offers a little bit more novelty and curiosity in exchange for that multi-battery charging capability. It can charge only one battery at a time, which can take more than a few minutes, but it can actually hold more than just one battery. You can, in practice, queue up a few batteries and it will automatically charge one after the other without human intervention.

The trick is a special mechanism designed to load a single battery one by one and then eject the fully charged battery down the line. It’s like a battery dispensing machine, except it accepts drained batteries instead of coins. You probably won’t wait for batteries to finish charging, but when you do catch the moment, it becomes an interesting and memorable experience.

This design also makes SPINC look interesting as it sits on your desk. In fact, it actually functions as a clock as well, so it can justify its presence among your tools and stationery. Admittedly, the single-battery mechanism won’t satisfy heavy battery users, but designing one that can charge multiple batteries simultaneously could be a worthy challenge.

The post Cute 3D printed desk clock is an AA battery charger and dispenser first appeared on Yanko Design.