I’m not crazy about this structure, but the other design blogs love it. Bjarke Ingels Group has designed this Softshell structure for Nokken, a company that manufactures habitats for the hospitality industry. The Softshell has a timber structure and a tent-like canvas skin. Inside is a bed and a woodburning stove, and above is a netted surface.
What I dislike about it is that these are meant to be sited out in nature, yet make no effort to work with it nor blend into the landscape. Whereas traditional soft-sided structures like yurts and tipis have circular footprints, the better to handle wind, the form of the Softshell is an aggressively modernist statement meant to symbolize human dominance of the environment. While that concept is not foreign—houses obviously do that—I guess I’m not used to seeing it in an environment that would ostensibly draw the nature lover.
Then again, this targets the glamping market, which is not about enjoying nature. It is about being as comfortable as possible, and enjoying “luxury,” by subverting nature to your will.
I would also like to hear what these things sound like when the wind picks up.
Promotion: London design studio The Unlimited Dream Company created “waves” on stage for a Jorja Smith tour using modular fins that could be rearranged to create a variety of curves.
The Unlimited Dream Company was behind the set design for Smith’s Falling or Flying tour, which included creating elements representing waves, the horizon and the clouds.
The Unlimited Dream Company has created a stage design for artist Jorja Smith
The design was informed by the “emotional dichotomies” of Smith’s music. UDC’s team of architects, production designers and film makers are behind high concept creative direction and visuals for live performances.
“UDC’s concept draws inspiration from the emotional dichotomies at the core of Falling or Flying, exploring the delicate balance between opposing states—fear and bravery, failure and success, flying and falling,” said the team.
The design reflects the emotional journey of Smith’s album Falling or Flying
“The stage serves as a visual metaphor for these dualities, inviting the audience to embark on a journey through the emotional spectrum that Jorja navigates through her music.”
The various stage elements consist of a series of modular fins that create “waves” behind Smith, floating drapes that symbolise clouds and a linear light at ground level that acts as a “horizon”.
Modular fins were used to create a wave-like installation behind the singer
Above, the drape system is suspended above the artist. It was designed to represent “suspension”, reflecting the mixture of highs and lows found in her music. Below, the undulating waves represented the ebbs and flow of emotion.
The wave installation was created using modular fins, which can be reconfigured to fit different spaces and venues.
“A total of 96 modular fins were created in collaboration with Lighting Designer Matt Kemp. The find could be reconfigured by removing two units, allowing the design to adapt to various stage slides while preserving its flow,” said the team.
Lastly, a horizontal lighting element towards the back of the stage acts as the “horizon” or a space of “harmony” for Smith, which she finds when performing on stage.
The set design represents Smith’s various emotional states
UDC combined these three feature elements to reflect the emotional journey of Smith’s album, creating a physical representation that concert-goers can connect with during a show.
“Every detail of the design was meticulously crafted to elevate the emotional depth of Jorja’s live shows, offering the audience an intimate, multi-sensory connection to her world,” said the team.
The stage design allows fans to connect to Smith’s music, according to UDC
Dezeen has teamed up with Victorinox and two design-world content creators to make videos showing how they use the brand’s iconic Swiss Army Knife in their day-to-day lives.
In the video series, creative director and interior designer Abisola Omole and content creator and entrepreneur Steve Booker give an insight into their daily routines and demonstrate how they use the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife.
In the first of the two videos, which were posted as Reels on Dezeen’s Instagram page, Omole describes her varied schedule, which includes running her own contemporary lifestyle brand Studio Arva and drinks company Arva Spritz.
Abisola Omole demonstrates how she uses a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife
“The Victorinox Swiss Army Knife is a dependable, efficient and multifunctional tool for people like me with unpredictable schedules,” says Omole in the video.
In the second video in the series, Booker explains the importance of design and preparedness in his daily life and work as a content creator.
Steve Booker also collaborated with Dezeen and Victorinox for the series
“Design to me isn’t just one aspect of life; it’s the foundation that shapes it,” he says in the video. “Having tools like the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife ensures that I’m always prepared to create, refine and enjoy my spaces to the fullest.”
The videos feature the Climber model of the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, a multi-purpose pocket knife with 14 fold-out functions.
The first iteration of the knife was patented in Switzerland in 1897 by Karl Elsener I, founder of the company that would go on to become Victorinox.
Partnership content
This video series was produced by Dezeen in partnership with Victorinox. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
Called the Little Chateau and designed by Artisan Tiny Homes, this tiny home embodies a masculine aura with a dark and moody aesthetic. The Tasmanian-based tiny home-maker attempted to capture the owner’s aesthetic and transfer it into their home. The owner requested a cocoon-like house with a masculine aura.
They wanted a home where they could cook on the fire, and star gaze as well. Taking into account the owner’s height, the kitchen was raised, and the wooden stove was installed at the same height as the kitchen countertop to facilitate comfortable and easy cooking.
Although the house embodies a rather dark and moody theme, it still has a free-flowing and airy interior. It is lined with large windows that open the home to the outdoors while offering access to the surrounding views. This creates a contrasting and fascinating effect, where the living space manages to be spacious and masculine. The furnishings feature a matte black color – ranging from the tapware and handrails to the wood stove and kitchen sink. An adorable LEGO piano has been placed in the home, which adds a wonderful effect to the space.
The 26.2 feet tiny home includes an open-concept main-floor layout with a lounge and a kitchen. The master bedroom is placed in the loft area, and a guest bedroom is in the second loft. It also features a custom staircase, which looks like double ladders. One section leads to the smaller loft, while the second section leads to the master bedroom. The main loft section has been equipped with a lovely skylight for stargazing, and the second smaller loft is pretty well-ventilated as well.
The lounge area is marked by sliding glass doors and an oversized picture window which are found in most Australian tiny homes. The home allows natural light to stream in through the day creating a cozy and luminous living area. The home is a mysterious and seductive build specially designed and curated for the residents.
Given your seemingly uncanny ability to lose small but important objects like keys and eyeglasses, productivity gurus often advise regularly putting these things in a single place whenever you come home, preferably somewhere near the door. As if our lives weren’t already complicated enough, wireless earbuds add another thing that we can easily misplace, even if they actually have a charging case to call home. Sometimes, even that charging case gets lost in the shuffle.
Part of the problem lies in the transition of those earbuds from our ears to their charging case, which can take more than just a few seconds and a lot of fumbling around. This concept design tries to offer our little audio companions a home of their own while also solving that common problem of having to stop your music or podcast once you’ve arrived home.
Designer: Siyeong Park
Many of us have probably developed the habit of listening to music or podcasts to pass the time during commutes. Sometimes, we even do it when we’re running or exercising outdoors. Regardless of the activity, we all have the same behavior when we get home: we take off the earbuds, search for their case in our pockets or bags, and then slip them in for charging. It’s a simple series of actions that have one rather important consequence: it pauses the music we’ve been listening to.
SOAK is a concept for a wireless speaker that hits two birds with one stone, so to speak. On the one hand, it offers a safe and consistent place for your earbuds the moment you enter the house or room. The vase-like design has a bowl-shaped container on top where you can simply drop the earbuds into. In theory, it should charge the buds even without the charging case, but that would require a different kind of technology for truly wireless charging.
The real magic, however, is that the speakers can seamlessly continue playing whatever is being sent to the earbuds. This means you don’t have to pause the music or podcast just because you need to remove the earbuds, letting you continue the rhythm and the vibe of whatever you were listening to. In other words, you decide when you want to stop the music, not the limitations of technology and manufacturer design.
It’s definitely an idyllic scenario, though it’s probably not that easy to implement yet. Most of the technologies needed, like over-the-air wireless charging, do exist today, but support from devices is still quite poor. It does paint a picture of a smarter home that isn’t just focused on lighting or appliances, but one that is designed around our modern lifestyles and habits.
Dezeen Showroom: Italian stone company Antolini has introduced the Azerocare Plus treatment, designed to allow its surfaces to escape common sources of damage in kitchens and bathrooms.
A patented process exclusive to Antolini, Azerocare Plus protects natural stone from the staining or corrosion that can be caused through contact with oil-based or acidic substances such as lemon, coffee or wine.
Azerocare Plus protects stone from damage from acidic and oil-based substances
In so doing, it enhances the visual power of these stones, enabling them to play the starring role in kitchen and bathroom settings for the length of their life.
“Kitchens and bathrooms, traditionally considered service environments, have experienced a real revolution over time, becoming the protagonists of the design attention of architects and designers,” said Antolini.
It is designed for use in kitchens and bathrooms
“The first, a place par excellence of conviviality and sharing, has managed to integrate more and more with the other living spaces, eliminating any traditional architectural barrier; the second, from a necessary place, has transformed into a temple of domestic wellbeing, where personal care and tranquility are the masters,” the brand continued.
Azerocare Plus offers permanent protection and is available on Antolini’s marble, onyx and soft quartzite stones with Matt, Lether or Lux finishes, as well as travertine with a Matt finish.
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.
Given how many hours a day and how many days a week people work in front of their desks, the need for comfortable and ergonomic chairs is more important today than ever. Although work-from-home arrangements have made it possible to pick your own chair, that isn’t true for offices that buy generic chairs in bulk to keep costs down. While almost all manufacturers promise comfort, not everyone defines that word the same way.
A chair with an ergonomic yet cost-effective design would be great, but it would be even better if people could customize it to their own comfort without breaking the bank. That’s the kind of office chair heaven that this concept tries to envision, and unsurprisingly, it uses a modular design to solve that kind of problem.
Designer: Byeongjun Kang
To some extent, the typical computer chair with four to five wheels and height-adjustable backrests already has the foundations of modularity. They’re often flat-packed and require some assembly, so it’s just one step away from adjusting that design to accommodate other parts. You just need the right connections to use.
FP, or “First-Party,” Chair concept design uses a rail system to make that not only possible but also easy. The seat and the backrest are the main modular parts that can be removed and replaced by any compatible design. It starts out with completely flat designs, but these can be swapped out for ones with cushions, curves, and armrests. Anything that can fit that rail system will do as long as it keeps the chair balanced.
The base is also replaceable, though the options are probably fewer. You have the typical caster for movability or a flat platform for stability. The latter can probably be screwed down as well, which might be necessary for some mass installation. There isn’t much wiggle room for differentiation here, especially since the need for stability is even greater.
The FP Chair doesn’t differ from those mass-produced office chairs in terms of packaging convenience or assembling complexity. There are also still some limits to what modular designs can be used, such as the balance of the chair and its stability. As with any modular system, it will also depend on just how many third-party designs take advantage of this feature, though given the need for personalization and customization, one can easily imagine how big that market could be.
Architect Michael Henriksen used exposed clay block walls, timber ceilings and cork flooring to bring a sense of “warmth and texture” to the renovation and extension of his own family home in St Albans, England.
Henriksen, who is a director at London studio Coffey Architects, undertook the redesign of the 1920s, three-bedroom pebble-dashed house as a “nights and weekends passion project”.
Michael Henriksen has completed an extension of his home in St Albans
The renovation added two additional bedrooms and opened-up the ground floor to house a living, kitchen and dining space with an extension made using clay blocks, in what Henriksen claims is a UK first.
As well as simplifying the construction process due to their inherent insulation properties, these blocks were left exposed to form a textured feature wall in the open-plan kitchen and living area.
The extension houses a living, kitchen and dining space
“I had previously seen clay blocks used in projects back in Denmark where I’m from, as well as in some exceptional projects from Spain,” Henriksen told Dezeen.
“Initially, I considered using typical cavity walls, but I realised that monolithic clay blocks could simplify the construction process and potentially reduce labour costs, as these blocks form the entire wall structure, requiring only a thin external render,” he added.
The walls of the extension were made using clay blocks
Overlooking the garden through full-height windows and a sliding glass door, the exposed clay block walls of the extension are complemented by cork floor and a ceiling of exposed timber, with a series of skylights that illuminate smooth concrete and ribbed timber countertops.
This open space is visible as soon as the home is entered, with a new axis framed by the corridor and staircase, where a timber balustrade extends the full length and width of the wall to conceal doors to utility and bathroom spaces.
“A ceiling canopy of birch plywood and glued-laminated timber beams, paired with cork flooring tiles, brings warmth and texture to the open plan living area,” said Henriksen.
“The added ceiling height enhances the area’s spacious, open feel, often leaving a striking first impression on friends as they enter the house,” he continued.
“We used simple butt joints at the joinery corners rather than more complex options like mitre joints, which helped keep the process both efficient and satisfying.”
The cork floor complements the exposed timber ceiling
On the first floor, a side extension above the home’s garage created space for two additional bedrooms, while a loft conversion added a further guest bedroom and reading den that can be accessed from the children’s bunk beds.
While more pared-back in their material palette, these bedroom spaces continue the use of exposed plywood in beds and “crisp” window reveals.
A timber balustrade conceals the utility and bathroom doors
This easy to assemble cardboard 3D dinosaur lamp features an LED bulb and USB plug for a zero maintenance experience. Also available in a llama version.
Dezeen Showroom: Danish architect Kristian Ahlmark has designed a kitchen unit for Lithuanian brand Kongacph that is made from a single oak log crafted to highlight the material’s natural beauty.
The Tenon kitchen is defined by its tenon-mortise joinery, adopting the traditional carpentry technique to create a clean, modern design, which Ahlmark has also integrated into his own home.
Kristian Ahlmark has designed the Tenon kitchen
Instead of varnishes or lacquers, Tenon is finished with natural oils to enrich the grain and texture of the wood while embracing occasional cracks.
“These imperfections become defining characteristics, creating a kitchen with a unique personality and warmth,” Kongacph said.
Each kitchen is crafted from one single oak log
The sturdy, timeless kitchen was designed to “last for generations”, with a focus on functionality as well as beauty.
With this aim, Kongacph created bespoke drawer insets that can be tailored to store utensils, spices, cookware or other paraphernalia, depending on the organisational needs of the user.
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.
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