Hasta La Ideas

Copenhagen’s new hotel and residence mixes Scandinavian design with the building’s squatter roots

Punctuated with graffiti and art on walls and ceilings, Copenhagen’s new hotel and residence Stay nods to its recent heritage as a bustling artistic hub called the A House. From 2003 to 2006, the new guard of Danish creatives—among them Henrik Vibskov, Trentemøller and Tal R—lived, worked, performed or showed there in arrangement with the building’s owners. Its sprawling rooftop terrace—the largest in Denmark—was a raucous underground venue and club.

Situated on Islands Brygge, Copenhagen’s fast-revitalizing waterfront district, Stay was built in 1963 as a commercial office space. The concrete structure—which retains its original A-shape—opened earlier this year and houses 197 units in 16 floor plans, from studios to lofts and penthouses. Thanks to an invitation by
Aiaiai (who’ve been involved with Stay since its squat days) to check out their new headphones, I had a chance to stay in one of the spacious floor-through apartments. Outfitted with pared-down black and white interiors furnished by Hay, the look smacks of clean Danish design. The roof features wooden decks and plant beds, with unrivaled 360° views of the river and skyline.

Stay stands out equally from other hotels not just for the generous and modern design, but for its refreshing brand of hospitality too. Faithful to its name and communal history, Stay eschews the check-in, check-out mentality in place of flexible, more personal accommodations. Along with private entrances, full kitchens and laundry machines in each unit, a supermarket, gourmet bakery and hair salon on the premises makes the location more convenient. (It’s about 15 minutes walking to the center.)

Remaining close to its bohemian roots, Stay (with the help of a young architect) plans to convert a nearby storage facility into a new 2000 square-meter venue for concerts and exhibitions. And the hotel is at work on a concept of approaching artists and designers to curate several apartments, inviting young creatives coming to Copenhagen to stay as guests for free while they work.

For booking reservations and more details (rack rates start at about $200 nightly), visit Stay’s
website.

An Icelandic series of stuffed monsters designed to help sick children feel better

VeikYndi (Icelandic for “SickNices”) are the offbeat monsters created by Reykjavik-based graphic designer Hildur Hermanns. Like a psychedelic version of Care Bears, Hermanns designed the plush characters to cheer up sick children. She came up with the concept as part of her graduation project from the esteemed Iceland Academy of the Arts, and hopes to see them fully developed into a cartoon one day.

Each of the eight colorfully empathetic monsters battles a distinct sickness and needs someone to care for it. For example, Hákon (pictured top right) suffers from heatstroke—with red eyes and yellow dreadlocks pulled into a ponytail, he needs a loving child to feed him water and cool him down.

As imaginative and thoughtful as her characters, Hermanns (pictured top left) works as a freelance graphic designer as she continues writing VeikYndi stories that blur comics with childrens books.

Midwestern thrift, a penchant for unencumbered windows, energy consciousness, a pinch of masochism. These are the forces that conspire to keep UnBeige HQ free of soul-chilling air conditioning, and so at this time of year, we stock up on frozen novelties and fans. In both cases, we demand the best, and James Dyson has created the air-blasting equivalent of a creamsicle with his new Air Multiplier, a bladeless wonder that does for blowing what his streamlined vaccuums did for sucking.

We’ve put our table-top model—a cobalt ring mounted on a cylindrical base—through its paces and today are braving 101-degree temperatures from a fifth-floor perch. How does it work? Magic. Magic and loop amplifiers. Air is drawn into the base of the fan and then forced through the amplifier and accelerated through the annular aperture, creating a jet of air. “While exiting the loop amplifier, the jet pulls air from behind the fan into the airflow,” explains the company. “At the same time, the surrounding air from the front and sides of the machine are forced into the air stream, amplifying the flow to create a constant smooth stream.” The superfan is also sturdy, adjustable, and (suprisingly for its jet engine-derived technology) quiet. Dyson has just introduced larger versions: a tower model that resembles the eye of a giant needle and a pedestal version that could be mistaken for a mammoth, air-spewing magnifying glass.

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