Hasta La Ideas

Dutch designer Roeland Otten uses mosaic tiles, paint and photographic prints to disguise scruffy public buildings like this former public toilet in Amsterdam (+ slideshow).

Above: mosaic tiles on Air Quality Measuring Station in Amsterdam

For the latest instalment in Roeland Otten’s City Camouflage project, the tiles provide a pixelated view of Jan van Galenstraat shopping street.

Otten’s project began in 2009 with the transformation of a former electricity substation on the corner of Graaf Floristraat and Heemraadsingel in Rotterdam.

Above: Transformatie Huisje in Rotterdam uses a photograph printed on aluminium

He clad the building in sheets of aluminium printed with high-resolution photographs of the surrounding streets, so that it seems almost invisible among the houses and trees.

Last year he used acrylic paint to transform a rusty electricity substation on the Boompjeskade waterfront in Rotterdam.

The bold graphic paintwork makes the substation blend in with the water and foliage nearby.

Above: acrylic paint was used for Dazzle Painted Electricity Substation in Rotterdam

Similar projects featured on Dezeen include a glass building disguised as an old farmhouse in the Netherlands and clothing that blends in with manhole covers and vending machines.

We previously featured Otten’s collection of 26 chairs that spell out letters of the alphabet.

See all installations »
See all Dutch architecture »

Here’s some more information from Otten:

Air Quality Measuring Station (2012)

An old public toilet building used to measure the quality of the air in this thoroughfare in Amsterdam was to be renewed, but the district council determined the area shouldn’t suffer from another concrete element. The design camouflages the little concrete building of GGD (Health Department of the city) Amsterdam.
 The tiling patterns bring back the lost views as pixelated images of the shopping street Jan van Galenstraat.

Made in 2012. Materials: Winckelmans tiles 5 x 5 cm in 24 colours, anti-graffiti coating. Dimensions: 1.8 x 3 x 2.8 m

Location: Jan van Galenstraat, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Dazzle Painted Electricity Substation (2012)

In the newly developed park at the Boompjeskade/Leuvenhoofd in Rotterdam there was a rusty 70s electricity substation that was not on any map, 
therefore not taken care of, and was still there after the completion of the area. 
Commissioned by Rotterdam City Development, the old object got a fresh look with this dazzle painting.

Made in 2012. Materials: acrylic paint, anti-graffiti coating. Dimensions: approx. 2 x 1.5 x 2.5 m

Location: Leuvenhoofd, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Transformatie Huisje (2009)

Purpose of the design is to bring back the lost view in this historical part of Rotterdam that was taken up by a concrete electricity substation.
 It was the winning entry of a contest for artist and designers organised by the Graaf Florisstraat in 2007.

Made in 2009. Materials: coated hi-res print on aluminium. Dimensions: 3.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 m

Location: crossing Graaf Floristraat/Heemraadsingel, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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by Roeland Otten appeared first on Dezeen.

In this movie we filmed, Aberrant Architecture director David Chambers tells the story of a Covent Garden tradesman whose collection of pennies inspired their aerial installation for Seven Designers for Seven Dials curated by Dezeen.

“We particularly liked the story of a guy called James Catnatch who used to sell newspapers called Catchpennies that used to advertise news and stories from the area,” says Chambers. “He used to charge a penny for each of these newspapers, so he was stuck with all these pennies.”

Aberrant Architecture arranged 18 coins into a grid high above shoppers’ heads, each marked with a symbol representing quack doctors in the area’s history who didn’t always provide the services they advertised.

Dezeen commissioned seven young designers to create seven installations to hang above the streets of Covent Garden during last year’s London Design Festival, and Aberrant Architecture’s Catchpenny Quackery installation was located on Neal Street.

We’ve been publishing movies from the Seven Designers for Seven Dials series every day this week – see them all here.

The music featured in the movie is a song called Blue Sapphire by Remote Scenes. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

Photography is by Mark Cocksedge.

See all our stories about design by Aberrant Architecture »
See all more about Seven Designers for Seven Dials »
See all our coverage of London Design Festival 2012 »

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all these coins” – Aberrant Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

Designer Philippe Malouin explains why he hung transparent bunting above the street in the next of our Seven Designers for Seven Dials movies about the aerial installations curated by Dezeen.

“You can see through the installation and through the neighbourhood all the way to the momument itself without obscuring or taking up too much visual space in the street,” says Malouin.

The 60 lines of transparent PVC bunting that were strung across the road caught the sunlight and rippled in the wind.

Dezeen commissioned seven young designers to create seven installations to hang above the streets of Covent Garden during last year’s London Design Festival, and Malouin’s bunting installation was located on Earlham Street.

We’ve already published three movies in this series with Faye Toogood, Dominic Wilcox and Gitta Gschwendtner speaking about their installations – see them all here.

The music featured in the movie is a song called Blue Sapphire by Remote Scenes. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

Photography is by Mark Cocksedge.

See all our stories about design by Philippe Malouin »
See all more about Seven Designers for Seven Dials »
See all our coverage of London Design Festival 2012 »

The post “We didn’t want to take over the
neighbourhood” – Philippe Malouin appeared first on Dezeen.

Designer Gitta Gschwendtner explains how historic underground tunnels inspired her installation of seven ladders bridging the street in this movie we filmed about the Seven Designers for Seven Dials aerial installations curated by Dezeen.

“Each one of the apexes pointing towards the Seven Dials monument used to house a pub and the pub cellars used to be connected with vaults and underground tunnels to create handy escapes should the need arise,” says Gschwendtner. “I was very interested in taking that escape overground and creating an aerial escape across the street.”

Her configuration of seven ladders connected haphazardly above the road was inspired by cat ladders and fire escapes on buildings.

Dezeen commissioned seven young designers to create seven installations to hang above the streets of Covent Garden during last year’s London Design Festival, and Gschwendtner’s Aerial Escape installation was located on Earlham Street.

Movies we’ve already published from this series include Faye Toogood talking through her installation of 49 worker’s coats and Dominic Wilcox describing why he chose to string up a row of bird cages.

Gitta Gschwendtner also contributed a special edition from her Bodge Bench series to Dezeen’s Stepney Green Design Collection – watch her talk about the project here.

Photography is by Mark Cocksedge.

The music featured in the movie is a song called Blue Sapphire by Remote Scenes. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about design by Gitta Gschwendtner »
See all more about Seven Designers for Seven Dials »
See all our coverage of London Design Festival 2012 »

The post “My ladders provide an imaginative route
across the road” – Gitta Gschwendtner appeared first on Dezeen.

Cologne 2013: Italian designer Luca Nichetto installed his idea of the house of the future at trade fair imm cologne last week (+ slideshow).

Luca Nichetto took inspiration from modernist architecture in California, the art of the Japanese masters and the buildings of Carlo Scarpa to create an eco-friendly environment that blurs the divisions between inside and outside.

The house was made up of semi-enclosed walls and large windows, with plants along the shelves and in vases on the floor.

Nichetto placed different plants in each area to serve a particular purpose, with thyme and rosemary in the kitchen, varieties of cabbage in the vegetable garden and greenery in the bathroom to keep the air fresh.

Tall evergreen plants were placed around the house to create green walls that separated each area without completely blocking views.

Various products designed by Nichetto were displayed around the house, with recent designs including the Hai lounge chair for One Nordic Furniture Company and a leather version of the La Mise sofa for Cassina.

Das Haus is an annual installation at the fair, inviting designers to create their vision of an ideal home.

Last year London design duo Doshi Levien was invited to build their own vision of a dream home at imm cologne,

Other projects by Nichetto we’ve featured on Dezeen include a table lamp inspired by Darth Vader and a set of grooved brass bowls – see all designs by Luca Nichetto.

A DIY curtain kit and a chair made from wooden broom handles were among the products launched in Cologne last week – see all product news from imm cologne.

Photographs are by Constantin Meyer and Koelnmesse.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

imm cologne 2013
Luca Nichetto presentsDas Haus —Interiors on Stage

At the next edition of imm cologne, which will take place from 14th to 20th of January 2013, Luca Nichetto will be the first Italian designer to carry out the project Das Haus –Interiors on Stage, where the designer will present his vision of house the future. For this project, Nichetto drew his inspiration from modernist architecture in California, as well as from the works of Japanese masters and the buildings of Carlo Scarpa. In all these works we can see nature being constantly side by side with architecture. Pursuing his interest in sustainable design, Nichetto compares his “Das Haus” with a small planet, where the living room becomes as important as the Amazon rainforest is for the Earth.

That is precisely where Nichetto starts designing his “Das Haus” from – a house that is almost entirely made up of semi-enclosed walls and large windows, so as to emphasize the concept of merging the “inside” with the “outside”. That is nature entering the home. The living room, located in the centre of the house, is the “green heart” of “Das Haus”.

All the other rooms are connected with this “heart” that turns the house into a totally eco-friendly environment. Here the entire living area is surrounded by the nature, which marks off the space by becoming the wall. A selection of plants, designed according to the characteristics that best suit each environment, was made to fill the various rooms with its invigorating presence.

Imm cologne, is going to take place in January and this has led to some restrictions on the choice of seasonal plants. Nevertheless, there is going to be a large amount of exotic evergreen potted plants. Thanks to their photosynthetic activity, both decorative and non-decorative plants help to clear the air, especially (but not only) in areas such as the bathroom, where cleaning products usually leave an unpleasant residue.

The vegetable garden was planted with different varieties of cabbage, the cultivation that best suits the harsh winter weather in Europe. For the aromatic plants garden in the kitchen, the choice fell on some varieties of thyme and rosemary. The tall plants placed in strategic locations within the house are evergreen varieties, too. Their function is to create green “walls” that do separate the environments, without blocking the view.

A thorough research was also in the color selection that was carefully designed to create a welcoming environment where people visiting Das Haus 2013 can feel at ease, with no rush and pleasantly out of time. The warm and delicate colors of the walls result from the consideration given to the artistic representations of Venice by Canaletto, which perfectly blend with the natural materials of the floors: natural oak, porcelain stoneware and hand-made colored concrete obtained with natural colors.

Our choice was to highlight the two main volumes, namely two parallelepipeds that intersect, thus determining the core of the house – the living room – with two different colours for both the exterior and the interior, so as to highlight the interpenetration effect of the two directrices. The interior colours are in turn chosen according to the room – in the library, for example, neutral and warm tones prevail whereas in the relaxation area the choice fell on pop colours and the kitchen is neutral, with the white combined with natural wood and steel in order to create movement and keep a general visual consistency at the same time. Colours were selected and matched on the basis of the NCS – Natural Colour System®©.

Various products designed by Luca Nichetto in the course of his career will be displayed in this architectural and natural context. These products were designed for: Bosa, Carlo Moretti, Casamania, Cassina, David Design, De Padova, Discipline, Established & Sons, Fornasarig, Foscarini, Fratelli Guzzini, Gallery Pascale, Gallotti & Radice, Globo, Italesse, Kristalia, La Chance, MGLab, Moroso, Nodus, Offecct, Ogeborg, One Nordic Furniture Company, Petite Friture, Plust, Prosciutteria King‘s, Refin, Salviati, Skitsch, Skultuna, Tacchini, Tobeus, and Venini. Products designed by friends and colleagues, as well as iconic objects designed by the masters of design, will be displayed, too.

Inside the house, ten new products created by the designer for “Das Haus – Interiors on Stage 2013” will also be presented. These products are the DHP pots for Bosa, the Toshi cabinets for Casamania, the new leather version of La Mise sofa for Cassina, the Railway Indoor table for De Padova, the family of Flamingo tables for MGLab, the two rugs, Regata Storica and Morgane for Nodus, the table clock and the bookends of the Swell collection for Petite Friture, and the Hai lounge chair for One Nordic Furniture Company.

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Luca Nichetto appeared first on Dezeen.