Hasta La Ideas

Israeli designer Dor Tal has designed a set of gadgets that monitor data generated on social networks to help users predict the future and take action ahead of time (+ movie).

Dor Tal’s Future Control project imagines a personal horoscope built on your data that could predict everything from when you’re most likely to go to the gym, to what mood your partner is going to be in when they get home.

Dor Tal‘s concept works in two ways. The first requires the user to download an app on to their smartphone that scours social networks for any data generated about the user, or other people and organisations that might affect them. An algorithm then detects any patterns of behaviour that could be forecast ahead of time. The more accounts the user adds, including credit card information, Google, Apple and Facebook, the more intelligent the device becomes.

“When it identifies a predictable action, a recommended response for solving the problem or enhancing the experience is calculated and presented,” explained Dor Tal.

The second part of the project is called Predictables: two devices that present that data to the user. The first uses a pico projector, which displays a timeline with a series of floating bubbles indicating actions the user can take.

The colour scheme highlights how far in the future the action might be: green indicates behaviour days ahead, where as red tells the user these actions should be taken today.

If the user is moving around, the same display can be projected on to the their hand via a smartwatch. Both displays utilise gesture control, allowing the user to interact with the display with his or her hands.

“One interesting aspect of the interaction, similar to what happens in the Back to the Future films, is that the predictions continuously change as the user acts and reacts in present time,” said Tal.

Future Control was part of Tal’s graduation project from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. The designer wanted to explore our obsession with trying to predict the future.

“From the movement of the stars to modern technology, man has searched for patterns that can indicate the imminent future,” explained Tal. “The biggest challenge of this project is to create the forecasting algorithms, but I believe this will happen sooner than expected.”

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networks to predict your future appeared first on Dezeen.

Stockholm 2014: this movie by Swedish brand Massproductions shows how designer Chris Martin’s modular sofa system can be arranged to fit any room.

The Anyway Sofa System by Chris Martin features elements with concave and convex bends of both 30 and 90 degrees, creating flexible arrangements that can fit into awkward spaces.

“I saw a need for a sofa that closely related to the space it found itself in,” said Martin. “The Anyway Sofa complements interior spaces, almost to the point where it becomes part of the architecture.”

The upholstered seating can be ordered with a high or low back and modules include the option to add armrests on either end.

Legs are available in a range of wood and metal finishes. Massproductions exhibited the seating at this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair, which took place last week.

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zigzags around corners appeared first on Dezeen.

The not-yet-realised interior of Herzog & de Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg can now be toured by computer and tablet users via a fly-through model created by digital studio Neutral (+ movie).

Herzog & de Meuron originally asked Neutral to produce a simple animation depicting the architecture of their philharmonic hall under construction beside the river Elbe, first planned for 2012 but which now won’t open until 2016 due to stalls in the planning process.

Neutral decided to instead create an interactive 3D model that allows users to take in 360-degree views of different rooms, gradually making their way towards the 2150-seat auditorium at the heart of the building.

“Users experience the spaces as they build up to the grand hall,” said co-founder Christian Grou. “The novel 3D technique developed by Neutral expands traditional architectural narrative, transposing the user into future spaces, giving architects new possibilities for articulating visions long before they become reality.”

Spaces featured include the main atrium, stairwells and a multi-purpose room offering a panoramic view of the river. They can be viewed by visiting the Elbphilharmonie 3D website or by downloading an app for Apple or Android devices.

The Elbphilharmonie is being built over an existing brick warehouse built in 1963 by Hamburg architect Werner Kallmorgen. The new upper section is made of glass and was completed last month.

Once open, the building will offer three concert halls, a hotel, apartments and a public square elevated 37 metres above the adjacent river.

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Herzog & de Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Music Project: Katia Mezentseva used time-lapse photography to capture the process of flowers and pine cones drying out to make this music video for Russian artist Cetranger. 

Mezentseva soaked the plants in a salt water solution and, with the help of her husband Maxim Mezentseva, took a photo every minute over a 24 hour period as they dried out.

The flowers in the video shrivel and lose their colour as the moisture within them is sucked out, while the pine cones open up to release their seeds as white salt crystals form on their surface like frost.

By highlighting the range of movement in these apparently dead objects, Mezentseva wanted to draw attention to how life persists in the natural world.

“I wanted to show that everything is alive in our world,” Mezentseva told Dezeen. “Perhaps it is not noticeable at first view, however if  you look closely and observe longer, you can see life even in a small pine cone you find under your foot.”

The post Time-lapse music video by Katia Mezentseva for
Russian musician Cetranger’s track How To Be appeared first on Dezeen.

London architecture office Make has designed a portable prefabricated kiosk with a folded aluminium shell that opens and closes like a paper fan (+ movie).

Make based the design of the kiosks on the folded paper forms of Japanese origami, but chose to reproduce them in metal to create a compact and robust structure that can house street vendors.

“Origami was fundamental in developing the design; the ideas of a folding fan informed the design and folded paper models were used throughout the process, right up to the final testing of the completed design,” project architect Sean Affleck told Dezeen.

Two of the kiosks were installed in a public plaza at London’s Canary Wharf and acted as information and vending points for the duration of an ice-sculpting festival last month.

Affleck said the kiosks were created to perform multiple functions at different venues: “They’ve been designed to be used anywhere and for a multitude of purposes; from serving coffee, to information points, to a spot for DJs at events.”

The folded structure is made from hinged aluminium panels that radiate from a central axis and are treated with a resilient powder-coated finish.

A counterweight system controlled by a winch raises the front of the kiosk upwards from the base to create an opening that reveals the interior.

The folded section forms a canopy that protects the inside and anyone standing in front of the counter.

An interior space measuring 1.95 by 3 metres is lined with a plywood skin covered with a waterproof membrane, while a further layer of cladding creates an insulating gap to reduce the impact of solar gain.

Make collaborated with metal fabrication specialist Entech Environmental Technology Ltd to manufacture and test the pavilions off-site and then transported and installed them pre-assembled.

The kiosks will continue to be used as information points or rented out to vendors during an ongoing series of events taking place in Canary Wharf, and can subsequently be moved to a new location.

All images are courtesy of Make.

The architects sent us the following project description:

Make kiosks open for business

Two unique prefabricated retail kiosks designed by Make Architects were opened to the public for the first time when they became part of the Canary Wharf’s Ice Sculpturing Festival.

The simple folding geometric form of the kiosk is based on the concept of origami.

Expressed as a compact, sculptural rectangular box when closed, the structure is transformed when open, with folds and hinges in the aluminium panels allowing them to expand and contract like a fan when the kiosk opens and closes.

Sean Affleck, Make lead project architect, said: “It’s fantastic to see the kiosks on site being used and enjoyed by the public, and adding vibrancy and character to Canary Wharf’s public realm area.

“Our solution on the modern street kiosk is a distinctive sculptural rectangular box that transforms when it opens and its function is revealed. The design is also efficient and functional with compact, robust, durable, easy to maintain and vandal and graffiti- proof features. The internal fit-out elements can be adapted to suit the needs of individual vendors.”

The extremely lightweight, portable structure was tested and prefabricated off-site by Entech Environmental Technology Ltd, delivered to Canary Wharf via lorry and installed complete and pre-assembled.

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open like a paper fan appeared first on Dezeen.