Hasta La Ideas

Product news: London architect Zaha Hadid has designed a curvaceous wine bottle for Austrian winemaker Leo Hillinger.

Zaha Hadid created the limited-edition design for Leo Hillinger‘s Icon Hill 2009 vintage red wine, of which 999 bottles were made.

One side has a concave indentation with the same curve as the back of the bottle so a row of them can interlock. A dimple in the base allows sediment to gather and provides a thumb hold for pouring.

“The elongated volume of the bottle has been derived from the profile of liquid droplets,” said Hadid. “A continuous spatial curve was then projected onto the bottle’s surface, defining areas for the concave indentation and suggesting the waves created when droplets break a liquid’s surface.”

The shape was created using NURB-based software, then the glassware was formed in cast-iron moulds.

It comes in a box with the form of the bottle cut from striations, a common feature of Hadid’s designs. See our feature on striations in architecture and design here.

Other designs for alcohol we’ve featured include packaging for coffee-flavoured beer designed by Nendo and a set of seven wine glasses inspired by the seven deadly sins.

See more architecture and design by Zaha Hadid »
See more design for drinking »

Icon Hill is an exceptional red wine cuvee of 2009 vintage, produced by the renowned Austrian winemaker Leo Hillinger in a limited edition of 999 bottles that have been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to reflect the wine’s bold and distinctive character.

The elongated volume of the bottle has been derived from the profile of liquid droplets. A continuous spatial curve was then projected onto the bottle’s surface, defining areas for the concave indentation and suggesting the waves created when droplets break a liquid’s surface.

The concave indentation and the bottle’s surface have the same curvature, enabling a set of bottles to interlock and be perceived as singular whole. A smaller indent and volume has been created at the base of the bottle for correct handling and to accommodate any tartrates.

To achieve the precision and accuracy required for production, the shape of the bottle was created using NURB-based CAD software. The bottle manufacturer directly implemented this 3D master geometry to produce the cast iron moulds for the glass forming process.

The post Wine bottle by Zaha Hadid
for Leo Hillinger appeared first on Dezeen.

Product news: Japanese studio Nendo has made this range of drinking vessels and wine bottle holders in the same way as pails and barrels (+ slideshow).

Nendo worked with traditional Japanese barrel maker Nakagawa Mokkougei, using wooden bucket-making techniques to create smaller versions for the Oke collection.

The range includes a tumbler, drinking cup, shot glass, sake cup and sake pitcher.

Nendo altered the silhouette of the buckets, which normally have straight edges. “We added a slight curve at the base to create a soft feel both visually and in the hand,” the studio said.

The lighter-coloured pieces are crafted from Japanese cypress and darker items are made out of Jindai cedar, a rare wood removed from the ground after being buried for 2000 years.

Both woods are treated with urethane to prevent warping caused by sunlight, dirt and moisture.

One metal hoop rather than the usual two is used to bind the wooden slats. The hoop is sandblasted for a matte finish.

The slats forming the larger Uneven-Oke Bucket are different heights so a bottle neck can rest against them. It has two hoops instead of one so it looks distinctly barrel-like.

All designs will be available from Seibu department stores in Japan from 22 October.

Nendo has also designed a collection of office furniture that is screwed together with a coin rather than tools and a chair inspired by the spike heels on a pair of stilettos. See more design by Nendo »

Photos are by Akihiro Yoshida.

Here are some more details from Nendo:

Oke Cup, Oke Carafe, Uneven-Oke Bucket

Nakagawa Mokkougei is a traditional Japanese cooper whose pails, buckets and other wooden items have long been beloved of exclusive Kyoto inns and restaurants. We designed a collection of drinking items – a tumbler, guinomi drinking cup, shot glass, sake cup and sake pitcher – that utilise the same barrel-making skills and techniques. Somewhat unconventionally, we decided to bind the wooden slats with one hoop, rather than the usual two. We made the walls thicker than usual and created nearly imperceptible spaces between the slats, a new construction that disperses the stress around the structure.

Using only one hoop makes for a clean look, and the thicker wood has a strong, comforting feel against the lips when lifted to the mouth. We also played with the cups’ silhouette. The walls of Japanese wooden buckets ordinarily lie straight. We added a slight curve at the base to create a soft feel both visually and in the hand.

To soften the hoop’s metallic gleam, we sandblasted it to a matte texture then coloured it with a powdered paint, developing another new technique. The pieces are made from a combination of Japanese cypress (hinoki), the traditional material for buckets, and Jindai Cedar, a rare, darker wood uncovered from having been buried in the earth for more than 2000 years.

We treated both woods with urethane to keep warping from ultraviolet rays, dirt and moisture to a minimum. A collection that combines old and new techniques to bring out the best in its materials. All the items will be sold at Seibu department stores in Japan exclusively from 22 October.

The post Oke collection
by Nendo appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese studio Nendo has designed packaging for coffee-flavoured beer by adding little bean-shaped stickers to the brewer’s existing bottles.

“Adding coffee beans to beer during the brewing process gives the resulting beer a rich, deep taste, thanks to the beans’ bitterness and aroma,” says Nendo.

The studio created the packaging for a collaboration between Anchor Coffee of Kesennuma city and Sekinoichi brewery of Ichinoseki city, both located in northern Japan.

“Both Kesennuma and Ichinoseki were devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, so the beer is a charity project to fundraise for disaster relief,” the designers explain.

To keep costs down they used the brewer’s existing bottles and simply created stickers that are applied by hand so each Coffee Beer bottle is unique.

“Large beer breweries who produce standard products on a mass scale simply can’t offer products like this one, and that’s the point,” the designers add. “We wanted the packaging to convey the makers’ thoughts and feelings with each bottle.”

The most controversial (and expensive) beer packaging we’ve ever featured was made out of roadkill.

Other innovative packaging designs we’ve featured includes laser tattoos for fruit instead of stickers, medicines labelled with symptoms rather than ingredients and famous products without the brand names written on them.

Other recent projects by Nendo include a combined shower and light for tap company Axor, offices that look like the walls are peeling away and a footwear shop full of ghostly white shoes.

See more stories about packaging design »
See more stories about design by Nendo »

Photos are by Hiroshi Iwasaki.

The post Coffee Beer bottle
by Nendo appeared first on Dezeen.

In addressing the challenge of producing a Kentucky bourbon whiskey in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood, Cacao Prieto distillery looked to the Widow Jane Mine in Rosendale, NY. Heavy in minerals and naturally filtered through limestone, the water makes an uncanny pair with the aged spirit. The mine also provided…

Continue Reading…

Explore the city’s emerging microbrew culture through a carefully curated iPhone app

As a city that created many of the world’s greatest beers, London has seen its brewing industry take on somewhat of a downward spiral over the last 25 years or so. This is quickly changing, however, thanks to a number of curious individuals throughout the capital whose newfound interest in the brewing process is leading to a huge craft beer renaissance.

To fully navigate the Big Smoke’s microbrewery movement beyond the three we highly recommend, check out the new iPhone app Craft Beer London—your geographical guide to nearly 30 craft breweries and the pubs and shops serving them. Using your current location, the app’s map allows you to see what’s nearby, while carefully considered reviews offer valuable insight on which beers you might like to seek out.

From Hackney, the hub of it all, to breweries south of the river Thames, Craft Beer London has it covered with a selection sure to impress any beer nerd. Casual sippers will also delight in the list of pubs, a thoroughly rated guide to some of the city’s finest drinking dens.

Updated regularly, Craft Beer London sells for for £2 (about $3 USD) from iTunes.