by LinYee Yuan A number of homegrown brands were launched during this year’s London Design Festival, but one of the standouts was the collection of wood furnishings from Joined + Jointed. The debut offering—which includes…
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Product news: Californian company Soma has launched an hourglass-shaped carafe and a biodegradable filter to fit in the top.
Soma claims to have designed the “world’s first completely biodegradable filter”, which is made of coconut shell carbon and a layer of natural silk encased in a plant-based composite.
The cone-shaped filter aims to removes impurities and improve taste. It slots into the top of a glass carafe, which is formed to fit comfortably in the hand and incorporates a bevelled edge around the base to prevent it from falling over.
Founder of Soma Mike del Ponte worked with water filtration expert, David Beeman, Joe Tan and Markus Diebel on the design of the products. Soma in 2012 as a crowd-funded project to create an alternative to domestic plastic water purifiers.
The company has partnered with Water, a non-profit organisation working to provide safe drinking water globally, so every filter purchased contributes to the charity.
At the Global Design Forum this year, a water-filtration system that uses plants to extract arsenic from water supplies was voted the “idea that will change the world”. Formafantasma also designed charcoal inserts for blown-glass containers that purify tap water.
Other recent glassware designs include a set of bubble-shaped lanterns by Kristine Five Melvaer and a glass with a stem that holds exactly one measure of alcohol. See more glassware design »
See more information from the designer:
Soma, the smart, beautiful and sustainable water filter, officially launches into the marketplace today with a modern design that will redefine the way you drink and serve water in your home. Unlike anything else in the market, Soma is the pinnacle of clean, industrial design that looks gorgeous on any table and for any occasion. An elegant glass carafe holds Soma’s unique filter composed of coconut shell carbon, four layers of fine silk and a plant based casing, is the world’s first completely biodegradable filter.
With the goal of going above and beyond the unremarkable products in the current market, Soma enlisted a dream team of designers, including the world’s leading filtration expert, David Beeman (Starbucks, Peet’s, Keurig) and the renowned industrial design duo Joe Tan and Markus Diebel (IDEO, Incase). Their collaborative expertise helped to build an award-winning water filter that is innovative, eco-conscious and convenient. With its unique hourglass-shaped glass carafe, Soma is the first water filter designed with the consumer in mind, constructed to fit perfectly into the pourer’s hand.
Soma’s modern, sustainable design is only the beginning of its positive impact. From day one, Founder Mike Del Ponte envisioned Soma as not only aesthetically pleasing, but also ethically sound. Knowing that a staggering number of filters end up in landfills annually, the Soma team was determined to create a product that also had a low-impact on the environment. Soma’s biodegradable filter is designed to remove water impurities and improve taste for less than 25 cents a day. Expired filters can be tossed in green bins and will biodegrade completely in commercial composting facilities without negative environmental impacts.
To simplify your life, Soma makes filter replacement easy with its subscription service, ensuring timely delivery of a fresh filter every two months. Partnering with charity: water, Soma is also focused on giving back. With every Soma filter purchased, you are helping bring clean, safe drinking water to those in need.
“Over the past year we have worked tirelessly to create a beautiful product paired with an unprecedented experience,” said Mike Del Ponte, Co-founder and CEO of Soma. “First, we focused on product development-creating a decanter-quality glass carafe and innovative filter that provided the best tasting water, while also having the lowest impact on the environment.” Del Ponte adds, “Once we felt we had created an incredible product that was unlike any other, we focused on finding the right group of investors and advisors to help guide the process, from an idea to launching the product, in just over one year. I am proud of what we have created and am thrilled to finally share Soma with the world.”
The Soma carafe and two filters retails for $49, with each replacement filter priced at $12.99 (including shipping). For a limited time, new customers will receive two free filters with each purchase.
The post Carafe and water filter
by Soma appeared first on Dezeen.
After a second year of successful media partnership, Cool Hunting is excited to share the finalists for 2013’s Lovie Awards. As the European sister to the US-based Webby…
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A city for fish modelled on a high-rise development underway in Xi’an, China, has been installed in a gallery next to the construction site (+ slideshow).
Vienna-based artists Christian Lindle and Raoul Bukor worked with Beijing artist Lu Yang to install fish tanks shaped like skyscrapers in a gallery space next to a large urban development.
The tanks form a 1:60 scale model of the adjacent high-rises currently under construction.
One thousand five hundred Goldfish inhabit the glass towers to represent the people due to live in this development once complete.
“Fishpond City is inhabited by goldfish, an ancient Chinese symbol for luck, prosperity and fertility,” said the group of artists. “These residents act as a bridge to perception and empathy of urban space.”
At 1:60 scale a day lasts for 24 minutes and this accelerated passing of time is simulated by coloured LEDs housed in the smaller glass boxes.
The lights glow orange in the east to represent dawn, shine bright white at noon then fade to red for dusk. Sounds of early morning traffic, street markets and conversations are also played in the space.
Visitors can walk between the tanks, the tallest of which are around head-height.
To keep the tanks clean, water is syphoned under a glass floor etched with patterns of trees to signify parkland in the development. The water passes through a filtration system before being pumped back into the fish city.
The artists created the installation as an observation of the rapid urban development in the provincial capitals of central China.
“Fishpond City is a measuring tool for cultural identification of urban space and reflects on the high speed development of a society,” they said.
Other habitats for fish on Dezeen include Roger Arquer’s fifteen variations on traditional fishbowls and an aquarium shaped like a zeppelin.
See more design for animals »
See more architecture and design in Xi’an »
Photographs are by Clemens Schneider unless otherwise stated.
A city for fish in China’s booming centre
The Chinese hotspots of turbo urbanisation have shifted: the large construction sites, engines of economic growth have moved inland to the large provincial capitals, like Xi’an in Shaanxi. Literally thousands of high rises and shopping centres grow simultaneously, nerved by wide boulevards.
Vienna-based artists Raoul Bukor and Christian Lindle in cooperation with Beijing based artist Lu Yang emerged themselves into this radical change of space by erecting a city themselves: Fishpond City – a city for fish. This permanent installation is a true to scale model of a future district of Xi’an and located right next to the construction site.
Like a real city the model is a living system, influenced by ecological and demographic aspects. Fishpond City is inhabited by goldfish, an ancient Chinese symbol for luck, prosperity and fertility. These residents act as a bridge to perception and empathy of urban space. The installation is accompanied by 50 portraits showing the people involved in the construction of the new district as well as in its artistic interpretation, who after all accomplish Chinas urbanisation.
Fishpond City is a measuring tool for cultural identification of urban space and reflects on the high speed development of a society.
The post Fishpond City by Lu Yang, Christian Lindle
and Raoul Bukor appeared first on Dezeen.
by Gavin Lucas For the last 30 years, if you wanted to know about space, the universe and its many wonders, Professor Stephen Hawking has pretty much been the go-to guy. However that’s about to change because there’s a new space brainiac with…
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The facade of this house in the English seaside town of Margate appears to peel away from the rest of the building and slump down into the front yard (+ movie).
British designer Alex Chinneck created the installation – called From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly of my Toes – by removing the facade of a detached four-storey house that had been derelict for eleven years and replacing it with a brand new frontage that leaves the crumbling top storey exposed, then curves outwards so the bottom section lies flat in front of the house.
“I just feel this incredible desire to create spectacles,” Chinneck told Dezeen. “I wanted to create something that used the simple pleasures of humour, illusion and theatre to create an artwork that can be understood and enjoyed by any onlooker.”
Located on Godwin Road in the Cliftonville area of the town, the house had been acquired by the local council and earmarked for social housing, but nothing was due to happen to it for a year and the structure was in a dilapidated state. “There were barely any floorboards, it’s very fire-damaged at the back and water-damaged at the front, and had fallen into ruin,” said the designer.
His installation reveals this dilapidated interior where the smart new facade falls away from the top floor. “I increasingly like that idea of exposing the truth and the notion of superficiality,” he explained. “I didn’t go into the project with that idea, but as it evolved I started to like that.”
Cliftonville is a district of Margate that used to be affluent, but like many seaside towns in the UK it has suffered with the changing patterns of holidaymakers. “It has social issues, it struggles with high levels of crime and the grand architecture has fallen into a fairly fatigued state,” said Chinneck.
In addition to causing delight when residents happen upon his intervention, the designer hopes to will draw visitors up the hill from the centre of Margate, where high-profile projects like the Turner Contemporary gallery by David Chipperfield are using culture as a tool for regeneration.
“Cliftonville is a very poor area referred to as being ‘up the hill’, and the culture and the arrival of artists hasn’t quite reached up the hill yet,” he said. “I was drawn to Cliftonville because it’s an area where the culture hasn’t reached and I think public art too often forgets its responsibility to the public.”
“I like the idea of surprise,” he added. “I never put signs on my work and I never give it any labels, so it does have this sense of mystery. It’s positioned in a way that you don’t see the artwork as you approach from either direction – you just see the hole in the top at first, so it’s a series of discoveries and you have to walk around it.”
The designer initiated the project himself and spent twelve months convincing companies to help him realise the artwork. Everything was donated by ten different companies except the labour, which was done at cost and paid for buy the Arts Council. The installation itself came together in just six weeks by assembling prefabricated panels.
The artwork will remain in place for a year, before the building is converted for use as housing.
Alex Chinneck’s work has often featured dilapidated buildings – past projects Dezeen has reported on include a factory near the Olympic park in east London with 312 identically smashed windows and a melting brick wall.
“I like the contradiction of taking a subject that’s dark or depressing or bleak, something like dereliction which suggests something quite negative socially but also aesthetically, and delivering a playful experience within that context,” he explained. “I don’t think it’s a negative comment on society, it’s just trying to give society a positive experience.”
If you like this, check out the Dalston House in east London, where a mirror reflects the facade of a house lying on the ground to give the illusion that visitors are standing on walls and window ledges. There’s also a student housing block hidden behind the facade of a historic brick warehouse, which has been named Britain’s worst building of the year.
More design by Alex Chinneck »
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Photographs are by Stephen O’Flaherty.
Here’s some more information from Alex Chinneck:
From the knees of my nose to the belly of my toes
British artist and designer Alex Chinneck has completed construction of his most ambitious installation to date after peeling the front of a four-storey house in Margate away from the rest of the building. As curving bricks, windows and doors slide into the front garden of a property that has been vacant for eleven years its upper interiors are revealed to the public below.
Thanet District Council gave the artist permission to use an empty property on Godwin Road in the Cliftonville area to create the artwork. Cliftonville is a district striking for both the grandeur of its architecture and for the challenging social issues it has faced in the last thirty years. Together with Margate’s widely discussed use of culture as a tool for regeneration, this provides an ideal context for the piece.
The completion of construction follows a twelve-month campaign undertaken by the artist to realise his self-initiated £100,000 project. Ten leading companies across British industry donated all the materials, manufacturing capabilities and professional services required to build the sliding facade.
Alex Chinneck’s practice playfully warps the everyday world around us, presenting surreal spectacles in the places we expect to find something familiar. At 28 years old ‘From the knees of my nose to the belly of toes’ is his boldest project yet as he continues to theatrically combine art and architecture in physically amazing ways. This project follows his acclaimed 2012 installation ‘Telling the truth through false teeth’, in which the artist installed 1248 pieces of glass across the façade of a factory in Hackney to create the illusion that its 312 windows had been identically smashed and cracked.
Alex Chinneck is a London based artist and designer. He is the founder of The Sculpture House, a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and a graduate of Chelsea College of Art and Design.
This project has been made possible with support from the Arts Council England, Margate Arts Creativity Heritage, Thanet District Council, Ibstock Brick, Smith and Wallwork Engineers, Norbord, Macrolux, WW Martin, Urban Surface Protection, Jewson, RJ Fixings, Resort Studios, Cook Fabrications, the Brick Development Association, and All Access Scaffolding.
Location: 1 Godwin Road, Cliftonville, Margate, CT9 2HA
Dates: 1st of October 2013 – October 2014
The post From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly
of my Toes by Alex Chinneck appeared first on Dezeen.
L’un des plus grands centres commerciaux de Scandinavie se trouve à Malmö dans le sud de la Suède. Appelé ‘Emporia Shopping Center’, ce dernier a ouvert l’année dernière. Un projet architectural magnifique pensé par Gert Wingårdh à découvrir en images dans l’article.
A flightless spaceship is slowly creeping around a former Cold War airbase near Utrecht (+ slideshow + movie).
Secret Operation 610 by Rietveld Landscape and Studio Frank Havermans is an art installation and mobile research space located at a former Royal Netherlands Air Force military base in Soesterberg, 14 kilometres north east of Utrecht.
The project comprises a 4.5 metre-tall black vehicle with two large wing-shaped legs that exit a diamond-shaped cockpit and have caterpillar tracks on the feet. “The object revives the mysterious atmosphere of the Cold War and its accompanying terrifying weaponry,” said the designers.
There is seating for ten people to work inside the object, which will be used by visiting researchers. “The unconventional combination of nature and Cold War history offers an exciting environment for the development of knowledge about nature, technology and aviation,” said Ronald Rietveld.
The vehicle is housed in a former F15 plane hanger and when in use travels along the disused airstrip. “The lethargic pace of the caterpillar wheels gives viewers a long period of contemplation of the elevated vessel and its historical context at the military airbase,” the designers said.
“Due to this brutal object’s constantly changing position in the serene landscape, it allows the visitor to experience the area and the history of the military airbase in new ways.”
The elevated vehicle was designed to resemble military aircraft but remains flightless. It is 4.5 metres tall, 11 metres wide and eight metres long.
A third leg extends over the back end of the capsule to provide stability and has a wheel on the foot for maneuverability.
The machine is constructed from steel and wood that is sprayed with liquid black rubber. The interior is lined with painted wood.
“It is a functional piece of work that serves as a research station,” said the designers. One of the first groups to use the workspace is aerospace engineering researchers CleanEra from Delft University of Technology, who are researching environmentally-sound aviation.
The Secret Operation project was originally created for arts festival Vrede van Utrecht 2013.
Here’s a movie of the vehicle in action:
Rietveld Landscape is a design and research office based in Amsterdam. Its other projects include an arched foam screen with hundreds of building-shaped holes inside a disused chapel in Utrecht and a crisscrossing bridge. See more coverage of Rietveld Landscape »
Previous work by Frank Havermans includes a bright red tower resembling the head and neck of a monster and a sunken concrete pavilion built by a stream in the Netherlands.
Images are by Michiel de Cleene and René de Wit, courtesy of Rietveld Landscape.
Here’s a full project description:
Secret Operation 610 by Rietveld Landscape and Studio Frank Havermans
When aircraft Shelter 610 opens its ruthless doors, a monstrous black behemoth slowly comes driving out. The object revives the mysterious atmosphere of the Cold War and its accompanying terrifying weaponry.
At an almost excruciatingly slow pace, the artwork uses its caterpillar tracks to cross the seemingly infinite runway. Due to this brutal object’s constantly changing position in the serene landscape, it allows the visitor to experience the area and the history of the military airbase in new ways.
At the same time, the artwork functions as a working environment for researchers. Their temporary stay creates opportunities for innovative research programs that otherwise would be impossible.
The general aesthetic of the sculptural object resembles something from a science fiction movie. However, it is a functional work that serves as a research station. One of the groups occupying the space is CleanEra: technical university (TU) delft aerospace engineering students who are developing the ‘no noise, no carbon, just fly’ technologies for the future of flight.
For example, inside the object, students of the Technical University Delft will develop a program for the innovative flying of the 21st century: “no noise, no carbon, just fly”. The old runway is the perfect test site for state of the art aviation experiments.
The mobile sculpture and shelter 610 are perfect spaces for research, experiment and innovation for groups coming from various disciplines. The unconventional combination of nature and Cold War history offers an exciting environment for the development of knowledge about nature, technology and aviation.
Design team: Frank Havermans, Ronald Rietveld, Arna Mackic
Production leader: Koos Schaart productions
Location: Former Flight Base Soesterberg, The Netherlands
Client: CBK Utrecht, Vrede van Utrecht
Coordination: Ella Derksen
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and Studio Frank Havermans appeared first on Dezeen.
Amsterdam designer Monique Goossens has made a typeface with strands of human hair.
Goossens’ Hair Typography is crafted by arranging bunches of hairs into the shapes of single letters. Each character has a dense centre and becomes increasingly sparse towards the edges.
“The shapes of the letters are created by forming the hairs into a legible character,” said Goossens. “The ends of the hairs create an organised chaos – an energetic play of lines, which form a haze around the shape.”
The script letters have fluid strokes and the designer compares the individual filaments to fine pen lines. Each letter has interwoven curling lines and can be made in a variety of weights.
Once the letters are formed, Goossens photographs the characters for reproduction. The designer told Dezeen that she hopes the font will be used for magazine or book covers, and individual commissions can be made directly from the designer.
Goossens studied interior design at Academie Artemis in Amsterdam, and photography and design at Design Academy Eindhoven. She currently teaches Interior Design and Visual Communication at Academie Artemis.
Other objects made of hair on Dezeen include a hairbrush, a lamp and a range of spectacle frames.
In other graphic design news, British graphic designer Peter Saville was named winner of this year’s London Design Medal and announced he is working on a new identity for Kanye West.
See more stories about design with hair »
See more typography design »
See more graphic design »
Images are courtesy of the designer.
Here’s a full project description from Goossens:
Hair Typography
The hair letters consist of hundreds of hairs and give the impression of being fine pen drawings. The basic shape of the letters are created by forming the hairs into a legible character, during which I follow the natural characteristics of the hairs: curly, rounded corners, springiness.
To a great extent, it is the dynamic of the hairs which determines the shape of the letters. The ends of the hairs create an organized chaos, an energetic play of lines which forms a haze around the letter’s basic shape.
About Monique Goossens
Designer Monique Goossens studied at Academie Artemis in Amsterdam, graduating cum laude in Interior Design Styling in 2006. During her studies, she developed an interest in the relationship between design and photography which she went on to explore in depth during further study at the Design Academy in Eindhoven.
Monique Goossens’ work includes elements of both design and autonomous art. It often takes the form of staged images in which she challenges established concepts of function and material. In consequence, shifts occur at elementary level and result in a degree of estrangement. A refined appreciation of materials enhances this process, leading to beautiful and unexpected discoveries. Photographs of these scenes become the definitive works.
Monique’s work is playful, humorous, surprising. Her graphic work follows a similar process as she collates photographs into books and develops letter types using a range of materials.
Monique currently teaches Interior Prognoses at Academie Artemis.
The post Hair Typography by
Monique Goossens appeared first on Dezeen.
Découverte de l’architecte mexicain Juan Carlos Ramos qui a récemment proposé ce projet original de structure de forme pyramidale. Avec une face entièrement vitrée, cette idée visuellement intéressante a été sobrement appelée « Pyramid House ». L’ensemble est à découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.
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