Soft Rocker est une chaise longue à bascule marchant à l’énergie solaire. Permettant de se détendre tout en rechargant différents appareils électroniques, cet objet au design intéressant a été pensé par les étudiants en architecture au MIT. Il se dévoile dans la suite de l’article.
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GPS-enabled experiments visualize daily jog data in 3-D
Potential Prefontaines aside, most who run would be hard-pressed to find any grace or beauty in our daily jogs. And yet that’s exactly what Nike+’s latest collaboration with interactive design firm YesYesNo accomplishes. Over two stunningly beautiful days on Nike’s campus in Beaverton, Oregon, YesYesNo collected data from several runs (mine included), plotting them in a three-dimensional scale. The graphs incorporated speed, distance and acceleration, but also color and texture.
YesYesNo’s projects range in size from the very large (i.e. the size of a building) to the very small. For example, the EyeWriter Initiative—in conjunction with the Graffiti Research Lab—tracks the movements of an eyeball in order to splash huge swathes of color and shape across buildings yards away. In this case, the whole of Nike’s campus was to be our canvas.
“Imagine you were going to go on a run with a giant paintbrush strapped to your back,” YesYesNo co-founder Zachary Lieberman tried to explain as we prepared to start our run. Strapping on GPS-enabled sportwatches, we went on brisk jogs around the campus.
Once back (and showered), Lieberman and cofounder Theo Watson plugged in the data from our watches into computers. Once the data loaded, we were able to manipulate the color, texture and size of the images and rotate them on a 3-D axis. After saving the final result, we could do anything with the graphic created—print it on posterboard, or even laser-etch it on the top of a shoebox.
While the project is a long way away from commercial application (when we asked Nike+ about it, they said that that conversation hadn’t even started yet), “The idea is that you take these tools back to your own cities and start collecting data wherever you are,” said Lieberman, the self-described “nerd artist.” If getting healthier isn’t enough of an incentive to stick to your daily jogs, perhaps creating artwork out of your efforts will be.
Ambient musicians across the globe unite to support Japan relief efforts
As the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis begin to fade from the headlines, heartfelt efforts to help the nation recover continue. One that recently stood out brings together a group of ambient recording artists who are stepping up with their talents to support the cause.
The compilation album, called For Nihon, is the work of husband-and-wife musician team Keith Kenniff and his wife Hollie Kenniff. Like that project, this one beautifully fuses music and a digital component; in this case, British DJ Luke Twyman—whose Solar Beat music box caught our attention last year—designed this site allowing visitors to create beautifully-simple circular patterns and sound by skimming a mouse around the page.
The album itself, originally sourced from Twyman’s community of musicians, organically grew to include upwards of 40 contributors, including Rafael Anton Irisarri from the U.S., Japan’s Ryuichi Sakamoto and Robin Guthrie (U.K.).
Pick up the two-disc CD or download it (coming soon) for $20 each, with 100% of sales going to the Japan Society‘s Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.
Paris’ comprehensive art site accesses the scene with digital ease
What started a year ago as little more than exhibit listings, the Paris art site Slash now publishes reviews, expert recommendations, a weekly newsletter service and more—all in a visually crisp design that makes discovering the next Dan Colen a few clicks away. Organized into broad categories such as events, artists and venues, pull-down subcategory menus sort by topic, from New Media to geographic location.
But it’s not just better navigation that puts Slash ahead of others in the field. The site also includes all the relevant data (in both English and French) so users can easily find Google maps, artists, nearby bus stations, etc., as well as browse well thought out lists like “Closing Today” or “Forthcoming” as an easy way to keep up with the scene. And an iPhone app consisting of short reviews and hi-res images shows the same attention to intuitive layout and clean visuals.
With a heavy editorial slant towards contemporary art, Slash comes in as a very practical, highly-appreciated tool in a world often confined to aficionado circles and insider knowledge. The service-oriented access the site provides, like details about the gallery locations and opening hours, sidestep the implication of common art world practices—that you are not supposed to, of course, know where this or that gallery is located and when it’s open.
The strength of the new concept’s visitor-focused directive lies in how it dares to handle art the same way the founders approached designing websites for French TV channels and newspapers, Google and MySpace during stints at the well-known digital agency Area 17. With a constant aim of making the site more user-friendly, Slash persistently tends to simplicity, signaling a shift away from the usually intellectual and/or trendy “musts” in arts reporting. Even visually, it presents artworks simply and soberly (but attractively), rather than frame them with graphic design flourishes, pushing contemporary art even from its exclusive shell to draw it into everyday life.
Also claiming to be the only site like it that allows artists and venues to publish resumes and portfolios and keep visitors informed throughout the year, Slash shows great promise for becoming the great all-in-one solution to democratizing the art world online.
A guerilla art campaign giving the public curatorial power
The move by Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art director Jeffrey Deitch to remove commissioned street artist Blu’s artwork from the institution’s exterior was polemic—not to mention ironic—being that it happened just a few months shy of its blockbuster “Art in the Streets” show, which opens later this month. However, surprisingly, it wasn’t issues of censorship nor irony that drove private organization MOCA-latte to launch its Red Sticker Campaign. Giving ordinary citizens the opportunity to stand in Deitch’s shoes, the project’s purposes are to ultimately point out the power behind a sole individual’s opinion, as well as to bring the public closer to the discussion of public art.
Angelenos are being encouraged to sign up through the website to receive a free packet of red stickers emblazoned with the word “Approved” or “Disapproved.” The idea is to put the public in the role of curator, allowing them to signify their thumbs up or down of a public artwork they encounter, and then send in a photo of the piece to the website for inclusion in its gallery. The stickers will be distributed via stores as well.
So far the online gallery shows street art and graffiti from Venice to The Valley, and MOCA-latte suggests removing the stickers after participants take photos to preserve the original artwork.
Goab TV est un concept pensé par Syzygy Lab sur la place de la TV dans le futur. Réfléchissant à la façon dont vous voudrions regarder la TV, ces derniers ont imaginé un système de connexions en Wi-Fi entre les dispositifs pour rendre le tout ludique et instantané. A découvrir en vidéo.
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Two design-savvy sites team up for the ultimate DIY decorating tool
When British website Mydeco arrived stateside last year with their 3D room planning tool, we were impressed with the user-friendly interior design program that allowed you to choose from a host of home furnishings. Their interactive tool proved so clever, it’s now serving as the foundation for Design Within Reach‘s latest online offering.
DWR’s collection of designers like Herman MIller, Knoll and Cassina fill your virtual living room, bedroom or kitchen with the simple click of the mouse. Like Mydeco’s original site, you can upload your own floorplan, or choose from a model, to really design according to your room requirements. Then, you can choose wall colors, floor coverings and where to place doors and windows before finally selecting your furniture. When finished, just save your work and two hours later the program will generate a realistic photo of your room that you can print, take to the brick-and-mortar for reference or share on Facebook or Twitter.
If you’re looking for an easier way to shop, as you add and remove furniture to your layout, the program keeps an updated shopping list. Completed designs are stored online for your reference, as well as inspiration guides for other users. Launching today, the
DWR and MyDeco tool is available online for anyone to use, and will also be in over 45 stores throughout North America.
Help Greenpeace build a new ship with their savvy interactive site
by Isabelle Doal
Signaling a bold new direction in NGO fundraising traditions, Greenpeace recently launched a campaign to symbolically sell off pieces of its newest Rainbow Warrior ship, currently under construction in Germany. The third in a fleet of boats enabling Greenpeace to confront environmental threats from the frontline (the first was infamously bombed by French intelligence services in 1985), the ship will cost €22M to build anew, which the organization is raising through a Monopoly-style sale with buyers names going on a digital artwork that will sail with the ship.
To fully illustrate the point, French ad agency DDB and web developers Les 84 have created a stunning visual concept online for selling the ship piece by piece—from antennas to portholes—transforming the request for generosity into something more akin to luxury e-shopping.
The interactive site allows the visitor to control a camera for an in-depth virtual tour of the entire boat, complimented by sound effects reminiscent of both deep ocean life and thrilling adventures. Scrolling the cursor over the three extended views of the boat reveals views of the interior architecture, and with the help of 3D mapping and a rich soundtrack of creaking masts amid watery sounds, they’ve successfully created the impression of being not just on board but intimately familiar with the ship’s inner workings. As you poke around the different areas, such as cabins, the galley, wheelhouse and more, the digital world gives a sense of what the real-life experience of seafaring for environmental justice might be like.
Everything on board is on sale, and prices span €1 for a fork to €7,000 for a desalinater. An e-boutique features comprehensive lists just like any regular online shop, and every buyer receives a certificate of ownership for their purchase.
The ship’s construction can be followed directly from the shipyard through a webcam, which updates regularly along with the purchasing rate. Only launching 20 days ago, the Rainbow Warrior is already 32% complete and is slated to be on sale and under construction through Fall 2011.
Making the act of shipbuilding into a digital experience draws in people that might not usually donate, appealing to both charitable and consumerist natures of people. Greenpeace will inaugurate the completely environmentally sustainable Rainbow Warrior in October 2011.
The “Prince of Preschool’s” new book makes magic with little more than dots
Parisian art director and illustrator Hervé Tullet‘s childrens book “Press Here” uses a charmingly simple concept to keep children coming back for more while building their cognitive skills. Using just yellow, red and blue dots, Tullet encourages interaction with the book by tasking little ones with pressing or blowing on the dots, shaking the book, clapping their hands and more. Clever instructions stimulate wee minds, giving the resulting impression that they’re involved in some kind of magic trick.
“Press Here” sells from Chronicle Books or can be pre-ordered from Amazon.
Biomimetics, concrete cloth and other high-tech visions of awesome interactive design to come
Textile and design expert Bradley Quinn secures his place among authors on the pulse of technology and design with his new book, “Design Futures.” The 240-page road map about design’s immediate future, edifies communities from architects to budding app developers by detailing innovations in material, surface and imagination. Quinn focuses on a number of cutting-edge trailblazers attempting to manipulate form and function by reshaping current dystopias as a way to better the urban experience.
Treading the boundary between academic and journalist, the author’s relaxed approach belies his curiosity. Balanced with his opinion of the trends he’s observed and thoughtful conjecture, Quinn often leaves the reader with a gaping jaw. He posits that future cities will be markedly greener than the concrete metropolises of the twentieth century, writing, “In fact, every aspect of urban architecture will be responsive in the future, not only because the facades will illuminate and change shape, but also because the exteriors will be conceived as sensitive skins that harness energy while shielding the structure against the wind, rain and solar heat.”
Impressive not just for the breadth of knowledge Quinn displays, his work also makes clear distinctions between micro and macro elements, and details how to seamlessly integrate elements from a myriad of sources into new cities. Interviews with individuals at the forefront of their respective industries add depth to the book, taking it out of pure fantasy into the realm of the real. “Design Futures” comes out 1 April 2011 from Merrell, pre-order it now from Amazon.
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