Hasta La Ideas

Uruguayan designers Mercedes Arocena and Lucía Benítez created this collection of garments entirely using wool sourced from their native country.

Arocena and Benítez, who studied together at the Escuela Universitaria de Diseño in Montevideo, Uruguay, made their Dominga collection solely from local wool as a nod to the material’s historical use in the country.

“Dominga comes as a result of an experimental investigation process that begins with the wool – a natural, sustainable and warm fibre that is part of our history and our culture,” said the designers.

“We intended to intervene as far as we could, on the transformation process of the material, starting from the raw wool to the finished garment,” they added.

Various craft techniques such as felting and embroidery were employed while making the pieces by hand. The duo reinterpreted traditional garments worn by gauchos – farmers that live and work in rural areas of South America.

A ruana – a blanket worn over the shoulders – has been drawn in at the waist by a woven belt with a frayed skirt-like hem. A belt is also incorporated into a patterned poncho, fed through holes around the midriff to give the garment more shape.

Vertical folds of fabric are layered into a shin-length skirt as a twist on a chiripá, traditionally a cross between a skirt and trousers. Squares of material are staggered on top of each other to form the large flared bottom of a dress, which also features oversized half-length sleeves.

Details on the garments were created by platting strands of the material into lengths that were stitched onto the clothes or formed into lasso-like loops.

The collection was awarded at the Mittelmoda fashion contest in Italy last November.

The post Fashion collection woven from Uruguayan wool
by Mercedes Arocena and Lucía Benítez appeared first on Dezeen.

In Latin, the word “incipit” means “the beginning.” Reflecting the word’s meaning, Incipit is also a new Milan-based creative lab and business. The aim is simple yet brave: to help young designers produce their first objects…

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These interactive installations by artist Daniel Rozin use sensors and motors to rearrange objects into a mirror-image of whoever stands in front of them (+ slideshow).

In his Mechanical Mirrors, Rozin connects motors to items including wooden pegs, plastic spokes and pieces of rubbish, then assembles them on large picture frames.

Behind each image is a hidden camera that feeds what it sees in real-time to a computer, which converts the image into an 830-byte video signal. Software designed by Rozin then instructs each motor to move the panel it controls accordingly to make up the image. The result is a mirror-image of the person or object in front of the panel.

“The mechanical mirrors are made of various materials but share the same behaviour and interaction,” explained Rozin. “Any person standing in front of one of these pieces is instantly reflected on its surface.”

His most recent installation, the Angles Mirror, used 465 plastic spokes arranged in a triangle-shaped steel frame to achieve this effect.

With his Weave Mirror, Rozin used 768 motorised and laminated C-shaped prints to mimic the look and feel of a homespun basket.

For his Trash Mirror meanwhile, he assembled 500 pieces of variously coloured bits of rubbish collected from the streets of New York and the artist’s pockets.

“This piece suggests that we are reflected in what we discard,” said Rozin. “The piece celebrates the ability of computation to inflict order on even the messiest of substances – trash.”

Rozin’s first mirror used 830 square pieces of wood. He continued to experiment with the material, most notably in 2007, where he used 650 wooden pegs, cutting each one at an angle to create the illusion of pixels.

“The silently moving wood components in this piece flicker like jewels or coins in the spotlight, challenging our notions about what constitutes a ‘digital object’,” he said.

Rozin has been commissioned to build an installation using this technology at the Taiwan Taoyuan international airport later this year. Rozin’s work will also be on display at the Barbican in London this summer as part of the gallery’s Digital Revolution exhibition.

The post Mechanical Mirrors by Daniel Rozin replicate
images using everyday objects appeared first on Dezeen.

Au bord du Puget Sound, un bras de mer du Pacifique situé dans l’état de Washington, un vieux garage oublié a été rénové en cabane illuminée par l’agence Graypants, basée à Amsterdam et à Seattle. Avec ses baies vitrées, la cabane offre une magnifique vue sur l’eau qui est à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.

No one knows how to live on two-wheels quite like the Dutch. The lowland nation is home to some of the most extensive cycling infrastructure as well as some of the highest rates of bike commuters in the world. And now thanks to…

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