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Chinese Sugar Mill Converted Into Hotel

sorchaohiggins — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 14:00:57 +0000

A new hotel in China is making waves in the international hospitality industry for its stunning design and beautiful setting. Recently awarded the number-two spot on Condé Nast Traveler China’s “The New Aesthetic — Hot List 2017,” the Alila Yangshuo Hotel in southern China’s Guangxi region is housed in a former sugar mill, which itself resides in a dramatic valley surrounded by sharp karst rock formations. The mill, built in the 1960s in a characteristically industrial style using brick and structural steel, has been given a new lease on life thanks to the addition of hotel spaces and the renovation/reappropriation of its existing structures to create an experience unlike any other.

The complex was designed by Vector Architects in collaboration with interior designer Ju Bin from Horizontal Space Design, consisting of two existing elements — the mill buildings and an industrial steel truss — and a number of new buildings that have been conceived of in a manner that clearly sets them apart from their surroundings. Rather than trying to emulate the existing architecture, the architects decided to create additions that were complementary to it yet distinct in the way of their material palette. The building materials used have similar textures and treatments to those of the bricks used in the original mill buildings, but they are clearly contemporary in nature and serve to add another layer to the site’s already rich history.

The form and massing of the new buildings are similar to those of the existing ones, making heavy use of deep-pitched roofs and almost solid gable walls. However, the new additions mainly house guest rooms, and as such, their walls have been built from a perforated curtain of concrete blocks, allowing light in and out and giving them all a luminous look when they’re lit up at night.

Weaving in and around the mill buildings and guest accommodations is a network of gardens, which visitors can wander through and use to view the hotel complex (and its stunning backdrop) from a number of different perspectives. This external circulation system is mirrored by an internal one, which itself is made up of corridors and leads guests through a series of surprising spaces that the architects refer to as “caves.” These areas afford visitors impressive framed views of the surrounding mountains and help form a connection between them and the entire landscape.

Perhaps one of the most ingenious changes that’s been made to the former mill is the addition of a swimming pool, which has been set in a raw concrete platform bound by a series of industrial trusses, making it a stark but captivating place to relax and one that juxtaposes the might of Chinese industry with the awesome forces of nature that pervade this inspiring setting. The success of the project lies in how the architects have managed to combine old and new to create something both familiar and unexpected. At the mill, this is experienced in carefully thought-out moments of beauty that contextualize both the architecture and its history (past and present) within a gorgeous landscape.

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Stunning Christmas Light Displays From Around the World

sorchaohiggins — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 22:00:19 +0000

The holiday season is upon us, and people everywhere are heading out in droves to enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas. From caroling to festive fun and frolicking, there’s certainly no shortage of spirit right now, and one of the most recent trends to emerge at this time of year is that of intricate lighting displays. Whether it’s individual homes coming alive with projections of angels, snowflakes, and Christmas scenes, or plazas, squares, and boulevards decked out with ornaments, decorations, and strings of fairy lights, you’re bound to find fun Christmas lights pretty much anywhere you go. It’s also a great opportunity to go out and be a tourist in your own town.

In honor of all that, we thought we’d check out some of our favorite Christmas light displays from around the globe.

Tokyo, Japan

Japan’s capital is known for its bustling intersections, loud audiovisual spectacles, and quirky character, and this really comes to the fore at Christmas time. Various neighborhoods across the city enter into something of a competition to see who can produce the best winter light installation, giving tourists visiting the city around the holiday season the treat of glittering arrangements in lots of different districts. One of the most popular winter illuminations is located in Midtown, where visitors can see a carpet of blue lights laid out on the ground. The “Starlight Garden” area here also features a whopping 190,000 LED lights.

Las Vegas, Nevada

“America’s Playground” is undoubtedly one of the most extravagant places in the world all year round, but it really outdoes itself when it comes to Christmas lights. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a race track that’s turned into a neon tunnel every holiday season, where visitors can venture beyond the famous Strip and ride down the two-and-a-half-mile “Glittering Lights” circuit. All in all, 500 displays appear in the LED setup, so you’re sure to be entertained while you wait for your turn.

Dublin, Ireland

The Irish capital is a great place to visit at any time of year, but lovers of the winter holidays will find that Dublin has a couple extra-twinkly treats in store for Christmas. The city’s famous Christmas lights are switched on every November, but this year the city’s most prominent buildings, including Trinity College, Central Bank, and the Customs House, are used as canvases for projections of Christmassy displays that make for a great walking route for anyone new to the city and looking to explore.

Austin, Texas

The cultural capital of Texas is no stranger to top-notch light shows, as it’s been hosting its “Trail of Lights” event for some 50 years now. Visitors can follow a 2.1-mile-long trail that takes them through the city’s Zilker Park, where an incredible 800 trees are lit up. An additional 50 light displays round out this amazing spectacle, cumulatively taking over 500 volunteers to set up each year. Austin is also home to the Zilker Tree, the self-proclaimed “World’s Tallest Manmade Christmas Tree” that towers 155 feet above the ground.

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Ron Mueck Debuts “Bone-Chilling” New Installation

sorchaohiggins — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 19:05:50 +0000

Australian artist Ron Mueck is just one of the many artists that have been assembled for the inaugural NGV Triennial at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria. The event brings together over 100 artists and designers from 32 countries to exhibit their wares in one of Australia’s most prominent artistic institutions.
This self-proclaimed “celebration of contemporary art and design practice…explores cutting edge technologies, architecture, animation, performance, film, painting, drawing, fashion design, tapestry, and sculpture,” and has already been met with rave reviews, with The Guardian calling it “one of the most exciting exhibitions ever mounted in Australia…a serious, intelligent exhibition that assumes globalization as fact and examines its consequences.” Mueck’s compelling contribution to the triennial is “Mass,” an installation consisting entirely of larger-than-life skulls that examine the idea of mortality and bring us face to face with our own inner beings.

Mueck, who is famous for his hyperrealistic maxi and mini-sculptures of men and women, has taken the symbol of the skull and blown it up to create 100 crisp white specimens, which are scattered and stacked over and around the exhibition room. Drawing on historic sites such as the Parisian and Roman catacombs and places where the skull has become an emblem of war and terror, such as Srebrenica and Cambodia, Mueck is presenting the skull to the visitor in a way that invites them to explore its meaning and symbolism further. The skull is one of the few icons that all human beings can identify with, and to see so many realistic skulls at this scale up close is indeed humbling.

The decision to use the skull as the vehicle through which one can muse on their own existence is not particularly new, but it is interesting to consider in a modern context, when it is already laden with so much historical meaning. The NGV Triennial’s organizers explain: “The skull has been a potent symbol within the art of virtually all cultures and religions, not least in the Western history of art, including in Dutch still-life painting and the vanitas painting genre of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which served as a reminder of the transience of life. To draw out and contextualize these resonances, this monumental work has been placed within the historical collection galleries of NGV International.”

The viewer is at once emboldened and defeated by the array of skulls before them: emboldened because they are thankful to be alive and defeated because ultimately, they know that this is the end that awaits us all. Mueck’s work always challenges the observer’s idea of their place in the world, and, as hyperrealists are often wont to do, blurs the boundaries between what’s real and what’s presented to us as art. His studies of the human form are grotesque, captivating, and arresting, and in confronting us with ourselves in a static and almost lifeless way, Mueck asks us to consider what it means to be mortal. Mass continues in this same vein.
The NGV Triennial is open and free to the public until April 2018.

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Shanghai Theatre Features Moving Facade

sorchaohiggins — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 18:22:01 +0000

World renowned design firms Heatherwick Studio and Foster and Partners have teamed up to create a complex of new buildings on one of Shanghai’s most well-known streets. The Bund Financial Center is a 420,000 square meter mixed-use development located near the city’s picturesque Huangpu River waterfront. Plans for the project were unveiled back in 2013, and the Fosun Foundation Art Center — a theater equipped with a moving facade — is one of its first buildings to reach completion.

According to Thomas Heatherwick, one of the project’s chief designers, the Bund Center was constructed to revitalize the surrounding area. He explains: “Sitting at the gateway to Shanghai’s old town, on the river bank where boats would arrive from the rest of the world, this is an extraordinary site which stood unoccupied for many years. In filling this last empty site on Shanghai’s famous bund, the concept is inspired by China’s ambition not to duplicate what exists in the rest of the world but to look instead for new ways to connect with China’s phenomenal architectural and landscape heritage.”

The ethos of blending modernity with Chinese heritage makes its way into all of the site’s proposed buildings. Soon enough, two 180-meter towers will stand as landmarks in the Shanghai skyline. The complex will also house commercial offices, a boutique hotel, and, of course, the art center, all of which have been organized around a landscaped, public plaza. At any given time, pedestrians will be able to walk through the square and marvel at its buildings, whose varying heights give the site a fluid look and a kind of architectural rhythm. In culmination, these features are meant to make the Bund Center an enticing new destination for locals and tourists alike.

Standing out among its peers, the Fosun Foundation Art Center is arguably the complex’ best example of fusing old and new. The building, which has been lauded since its completion as a work of architectural art, is spread over 4,000 square meters and houses an auditorium that acts as both a theater and a concert venue. The center has also been equipped with spaces intended for art exhibitions and public events, including a stunning rooftop hall.

Nonetheless, the building’s moving facade, which was created to mimic the open stages found in traditional Chinese theater, steals the show from its other architectural marvels. This exterior serves as a three-tiered veil, each layer of which is made up of hanging bronze tubes that evoke wind instruments, bamboo, and organ pipes. The material palette of the center’s other buildings echoes this aesthetic and gives the entire complex a uniform tone. Curtains of tubes overlap and move around one another, either shielding or exposing the building’s interior based on their positioning. As it moves, the facade also reveals some of its surroundings to anyone who might be looking at the Bund Center from further away. This rotating focal point occupies one of the most important locations in the entire city and has been said to “define the ‘end-point’ to Shanghai’s most famous street.”

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Mari Lights: Luxury Lighting for the 21st Century

sorchaohiggins — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 17:51:57 +0000

In their 2017 catalog, Estonian lighting studio Mari Lights displays a range of innovative fixtures. Engineer Tauri Mae and jeweler-artist Mari Saarepera founded the company in 2012, combining their distinct backgrounds to create a line of contemporary lighting reminiscent of the mid-century emphasis on craftsmanship and durability. Mari Lights’ designs are sleek, simple, and modern. Mae’s academic training and experience as a fabricator have given him a thorough understanding of manufacturing techniques, while Saarepera’s work as both a blacksmith and a jeweler have taught her how to work through a creative idea from start to finish. The result of their talents is an artful, uncompromising style.

Each of the pieces in Mari Lights’ newest line of fixtures bears Saarepera’s signature craftsmanship and is simultaneously subtle and attention-grabbing. The “North Chandelier” marries an industrial cool with old-school nostalgia for an arresting effect that is not easily forgotten. The team employed century-old neon making methods alongside modern-day manufacturing processes and materials to create this unique fixture. The contrast between the chandelier’s contorted, white neon tubes and classic black frame makes for a centerpiece that both bears a touch of history and looks towards the future.

The duo’s new “Black” pendant lamp has a simpler aesthetic and strips away everything but function and necessity. On their website, the team cites a quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as reflecting the goal of this design: “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” This fixture is minimal, professional, and offers a high-end look that would fit in with nearly any décor. “Black” is made from smooth aluminum and finished head-to-toe in a fine satin paint. However, the thickness of the shade doesn’t diminish the glow of the high-intensity bulb within. The pendant lamp still casts a bright beam of light on the space beneath it.

The in-the-works “Ambiguo” collection will come in three different forms: a pendant lamp – like “Black,” a wall-mounted lamp, and a simple chandelier. Each fixture is two-sided, and each side has its own half-obscured, half-illuminated light bulb. The mirrored look of this lamp’s two sides could make for a futuristic collection of uplights and downlights inside a home. “Ambiguo” is, like many of Mari Lights’ fixtures, built for its function. The lamp arose out of a need for more light in Northern Europe, where the Mari Lights studio is located, and was designed to be able to shine in multiple directions. Mari’s biggest concerns when designing lights are functionality and style, and the Ambiguo collection is a perfect example of this union coming to fruition.

Tauri Mae is also quite fond of function, explaining: “There is no true perfection, but I think we might just be stepping on its heels by seeing that what’s on the inside is as important as what’s on the outside.” In terms of form, design, and aesthetic simplicity, Mari Lights’ latest collection seems to have brought the company a bit closer to that standard of perfection.

The post Mari Lights: Luxury Lighting for the 21st Century first appeared on Dornob.

Our Favorites From This Year’s LA Design Festival

sorchaohiggins — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 15:00:57 +0000

This year’s LA Design Festival was truly a celebration of design in all its forms. “From architecture and interiors to graphic, industrial, fashion, set, costume, and experiential design, the LA Design Festival showcases the best of the local design scene, as well as some exciting national and international voices,” reads the festival’s website, and exciting it certainly was. So exciting, in fact, that we just had to round up a few highlights for your perusal:

OASYS House

This prefab unit was on full display at the festival, embodying a new residential typology that’s springing up all over Los Angeles. Yes, ever since California passed a bill in April to recognize ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units), or more colloquially-named “granny flats” as an efficient form of affordable housing, they’ve been showing up more and more around the city. OASYS is just one iteration of this new typology, and besides forming part of the festival, it will also remain in DTLA throughout the summer so that interested parties can come and have a look at the unique installation. Measuring 800 square meters, the house provides the contemporary city dweller with everything they need in a relatively compact and affordable space. The project is a collaboration between Alexis Rochas, StereoBot, and Marvin Windows & Doors, and since it’s a prefab, it can be replicated on almost any site.

ADU Home Tour

As well as being able to check out the OASYS House, festival attendees were also invited on a tour of other ADUs in Los Angeles. The tour included a stop at the OASYS House itself before continuing on to Highland Park, Echo Park, and Mid City. There, a number of architects and designers who have not only designed ADUs, but also live in them, invited guests into their homes to have a look at what occupying one of these tiny homes is actually like.

Radiant Peel Lighting Exhibition

One of our favorite OFFSITE events this year was the Radiant Peel light exhibition, which took place at Simeona Leona near MacArthur Park. The exhibition showed off new work by Sam Thomas, who creates unique light sculptures that recall fruit and other organic materials. “Sam Thomas’ work is deeply insightful; his skillful use of motifs captures his viewers’ attention and compels them to think widely about the world in which they live. In this instance, the Plantain Chandelier connects the politics of food with the context of Los Angeles, inspiring conversations on transnationalism and agri-imperialism,” reads the festival website. And that’s just a taste of what was going on at the actual opening.

Design to End Homelessness

This fascinating talk was given on the Thursday of the festival, and saw product and growth designer Lex Roman speak about the role technology and its creators play in tackling relentless urban issues such like homelessness. It’s no secret that homelessness is increasing around the world in most major cities, and Los Angeles in particular has seen a rising homeless population that’s served as the catalyst for a number of new and innovative housing solutions and typologies. In the talk, Roman addressed the difficulties of solving the homeless crisis, and expanded upon ways that design and technology might best be used going forward.

The post Our Favorites From This Year’s LA Design Festival first appeared on Dornob.

Shell-Like Roof System Helps Save Water

sorchaohiggins — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 17:25:02 +0000

Iranian architecture studio BMDesign has recently come up with an innovative solution to its home country’s water crisis. Iran’s arid desert climate means that water can be scarce at times, and with the effects of climate change becoming more evident each and every year, it’s more important than ever that sustainable forms of water and energy conservation are at the forefront of design.
The consequences of these changing climatic factors can be as severe as natural water sources such as lakes and rivers drying up, which in turn can have knock-on effects on agriculture, an industry that often relies on these bodies for natural irrigation.

BMDesign has tried to tackle this issue in a way that can be implemented on many different building types, but the studio’s first concern is helping out a local school, for which they previously submitted a competition design. More specifically, they conceived of a water collection system that involves a double roof with a series of concave bowls on the top, all of which are designed to efficiently gather rainwater.

The biggest problem in Iran is that there is very little rainfall there, and therefore very little rain to collect. That means that what little rain there is needs to be collected and harvested as quickly as possible before it evaporates. Iran reportedly receives only a third of the average global rainfall, and its evaporation rates are three times higher than they are in most other places.

This is the driving factor behind BMDesign’s concave bowls, whose size and shape are intended to maximize the school’s potential for rainwater collection. The outer edge of each bowl (or shell) has very steep sides, which allows rainwater to run down it and be collected underneath, the idea being that the drops will eventually form into a bigger pool that can be gathered later on.
The shade that shells’ wide spans provide should also keep the water from evaporating before it can be utilized. While the inner skin of each bowl has less of an incline because it is more exposed to the sun and therefore less efficient for collection, it’s estimated that the system’s overall efficiency is still about 60 percent, a victory in a place where rainwater harvesting is looked upon with considerable doubt. This amount won’t provide all of the potable water needed for the school, but it goes a long way in its contributions to the building’s requirements.

The majority of the school will be organized around a sunken courtyard, a design typical of Iranian architecture in more arid regions. This courtyard acts as a cooler for the complex, and as such will hope to reduce energy costs.
Furthermore, the water collected by the roof system will be stored in between the walls and is hoped to act as a temperature regulator for the associated spaces, thereby lowering the school’s reliance on air conditioning units that consume a lot of energy. Palm trees will also be planted in the area, providing more shade and a vertical visual element that will contrast nicely with the bowls’ conical shapes and the building’s low-rise construction.

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2017 Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair

sorchaohiggins — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 14:44:48 +0000

The Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair took place earlier this month, with over 700 exhibitors showing their work over five days. Part of the Stockholm Design Week, which also included the Northern Light Fair, the annual Swedish design festival showcased the best the region had to offer in both comfort and style, as well as the classic simplicity and utility of Scandinavian design.
Design from this region of the world has long been held up as a bastion of thoughtfully crafted, pared-back, and functional products, and following a year in which a global obsession with the Danish concept of hygge resonated with comfort seekers around the world, the fair felt particularly poignant. Notable names such as Danish electronics company Bang & Olufsen, Danish furniture company BoConcept, and—of course—Swedish homewares behemoth IKEA have been leaders in the field since the 1950’s and have been responsible for a minimalist genre that has influenced design at every stage of the process, from university drawing boards to manufacturing plants, and is still as relevant today as when it first started.
The Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair celebrates the best in Scandinavian design, and we have rounded up five of the highlights from the February 2017 festival.

Design Bar, Note Design Studio

Swedish design firm Note was invited to create the Design Bar, a restaurant and bar within the fair that aims to highlight a particular Nordic designer. In a romantic palette of pinks, blushes, and burgundys, the Design Bar exemplifies the best that Scandinavian design has to offer: class, purpose, and generosity. With the idea of making a warm and inviting zone to contrast the harsh Swedish winter outside, Note created a variety of seating areas, from round tables with plush seating, to linear bars upholstered with woven fabrics, attended to by wood and leather high stools, all immaculately detailed.

Maissi Bench, Studio Kaksikko

Finnish design firm Studio Kaksikko presented their Maissi Bench, an exercise in precision and craftsmanship. The bench is a purist’s dream, with asymmetrical, curved rails and a simple wooden plane for the seat evoking the stair balustrades and industrial pipes on which the bench was modeled.

Prison Furniture Prototypes, University of Bergen Students

A slightly unusual, yet highly commendable, set of furniture was debuted at the design festival. Students from Bergen’s faculty of design worked with staff from Norway’s correctional services to create a range of furniture designed to be more hospitable to inmates. A curved daybed aims to promote relaxation, a twin-backed chair offers to ease anxiety post-release by “hugging” the user, and a minimal standing lamp has been created with an easy design that can be replicated in a prison workshop.

Best Stand, Kinnarps

British office-furniture designers Kinnarps took away the prize for best stand. Their multi-platform construction was clad in blue, semi-opaque panels and acted as a testament to the brand’s 75 year history. The stand won for what the judges considered its reinforcement of the brand’s core identity, the fundamental purpose of a stand at a trade fair.

Outdoor Furniture, Tom Fereday

Australian-born industrial designer Tom Fereday channeled his outdoor lifestyle to create a collection of sturdy, durable and water-resistant chairs and a table designed for outside use. Created for Australian brand SP01, the furniture adheres to principles of honesty in their design. The chairs are formed by overlapping slender strands of metal wire to form ergonomic shells.

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Guerrilla Art Installation in New York Highlights Child Separation at Mexican Border

sorchaohiggins — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 21:00:21 +0000

Art is often used as a mirror for society, and nowhere is that more true right now than New York City, where a pop-up street art installation is reflecting the worst parts of the United States of America back at itself. The installation is called “No Kids in Cages,” and is comprised of 24 metal cages with what appear to be children inside, all of them covered under tin foil blankets to recreate the conditions migrant children are currently being kept in at the US-Mexico border.

The crisis of child separation is ongoing along the boundary of the two neighboring countries, but with the relentless 24-hour news cycle typical of this digital age, the real story often gets lost in a sea of controversies, crises, and “fake news.” So it falls to organizations like RAICES to remind people that this saga isn’t playing out in some far-off place, but that it is in fact happening right on their doorstep, and that they need to be paying attention.

The 24 metal cages were installed all throughout the city, in heavily trafficked areas, outside major news and media outlets, and in front of big corporations like Google. Each cage comes with a sign that bears the hashtag #nokidsincages, and a quick visit to the RAICES website shows a harrowing video of children being held in shocking conditions at the border.

One child calls their detention center “the icebox” because of how cold it is, with more footage showing kids sleeping on thin mattresses, each covered only with a crumpled foil sheet. It’s this that’s shown to passerby in the NYC installation. Some of the cages even come with audio recordings that are played out loud, similar to the one that was leaked some months ago of a child crying and asking for their father. They’re a gripping and thought-provoking presence on the busy New York streets — and one that’s stopping people dead in their tracks and making them look.

Recent footage shows police officers removing a cage that was attached to a parking meter and ripping up the paper package inside, which was fashioned to look like a sleeping child. A statement on the No Kids in Cages website reads, “This is not history. This is happening now. Hundreds more have been separated. Six children have died.”

“#NoKidsInCages is about the children. We cannot be a nation that separates families. For those who’ve forgotten, it’s time to remember and raise your voice. For those who didn’t know, it’s time to understand the plight of these innocent children.” said RAICES director Jonathan Ryan, adding that: “The litmus test of any society is how it treats children. By normalizing the detention of children in cages, we’re only going further down the path of forsaking the rights of all children.”

Most recently, a Trump administration official declined to confirm that basic sanitation, cleanliness, and sleep were rights that these children were entitled to. The No Kids in Cages installation aims to highlight all these issues and give kids everywhere the happy childhoods they deserve.

The post Guerrilla Art Installation in New York Highlights Child Separation at Mexican Border first appeared on Dornob.

Honeycomb-Shaped Sleeping Pods for NYC Homeless

sorchaohiggins — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 16:17:46 +0000

Housing crises are some of the biggest problems faced by major cities today. From extortionate rents in San Francisco to accommodation shortages in Dublin, the basic need for shelter is just not being met for far too many people around the world.
Homelessness is becoming an increasingly insurmountable challenge, and local councils and governments are often unable to come up with effective solutions to it. Consequently, it often falls on architects and designers to envision the ways through which these problems might be tackled. Now, a new concept by the Norwegian/American design studio Framlab is aiming to practically address the issue of homelessness in New York City.

The Homed scheme aims to take on New York’s homelessness problem by mounting clusters of metal pods on the walls of local buildings. Homeless rates are rising every year in the city, which has seen an astounding 40 percent increase in the number of people living on the streets in the past five years alone.
Framlab’s proposal would see a repurposing of the unused gable walls of high-rise buildings all throughout the city (often present in vacant corner plots or on unused tracts of land) into foundations for honeycomb-shaped sleeping pod structures. There is already an abundance of these windowless walls throughout New York, and good use could be made of them to benefit the homeless population.
Framlab says that “although almost every square foot of space in NYC has been claimed, there still manages to exist an abundance of ‘vertical lots’ sitting idle. These are the blank sidewalls of buildings that emerge and disappear as new developments come and go, providing hundreds of acres of available ‘land.'”

A scaffold would be constructed outside the walls so as to not infiltrate the buildings themselves. Afterwards, the prefabricated pods would be hung from the scaffolding. The pods would be accessed via a series of staircases built into the scaffolding, which would weave their way between the wall and the back of the pods.
The benefit of this system is that is can be assembled and disassembled with relative ease and moved to another location if necessary. The pods would also be clad in a durable aluminum shell, and internally, a planar wall system would be crafted from 3D-printed recycled polycarbonate, which would then be lined with warm plywood sheets to create a cozy interior.

Each pod is fitted with a glazed element at its front to provide views of the outside and allow light in, but they can also double as advertising spots or spaces for artworks. The pods would accommodate one person each, giving the occupant privacy and a sense of having their own space (something that would definitely boost a homeless person’s self esteem). Each pod would also be fitted with modular units, which could be rearranged to create shelving, storage spaces, or sleeping areas depending on how the occupant wants to organize them. Showers and meeting areas would be common to all residents.

Of course, Framlab acknowledges that this concept alone cannot solve the housing crisis, explaining, “The massive extent and complexity of the situation requires work on a broad regulatory and policy-making level. But, it is critical that the design community is part of the process.”

The post Honeycomb-Shaped Sleeping Pods for NYC Homeless first appeared on Dornob.

Iconic Soho House Launches New US Home Collection

sorchaohiggins — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 21:00:52 +0000

Soho House is one of the world’s most recognizable names in private members’ clubs. With its first house opening in London in 1995, the brand has gone on to conquer the international scene with properties all over the rural English countryside, as well as several in urban hot spots like New York, Miami, Chicago, Toronto, Hollywood, Malibu, Mumbai, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Istanbul.

Lots of celebrities are fans of the Soho House, too, with one of its most famous guests being the Duchess of Sussex herself, Meghan Markle. Markle not only likes to stay in the club’s many houses, but she also’s been known to shop in the online Soho Home store, which brings the furniture inside the clubs to the public. This shop, which has been operational in the UK for a number of years now, just launched in the US, allowing even more non-members to add a little Soho House to their lives.

The interiors, decor, and lifestyle store Soho Home offers Soho House’s carefully curated stock to anyone wishing to add a little flair to their interiors. Most of the furniture listed on the site carries a hefty price tag, but then again, it’s not exactly cheap to be a member of Soho House’s trendy clubs, either. There are some more affordable options, however, like table and glassware. Shoppers can also purchase some of the beauty essentials from the Cowshed, Soho House’s spa and wellness center. Hotel lovers will rejoice at being able to buy the club’s bed linens, towels, and bathrobes, allowing them to pretend like they’re in the luxury of an actual Soho House from the comfort of their own homes.

On top of selling furniture, homeware, kitchenware, beauty products, and bedding, Soho Home also has a curated collection of artworks and prints for sale, including pieces by Jack Burton, Paul Davies, Scarlett Bowman, and Archie Proudfoot. Decorative sculptural chandeliers and light fittings, graphic rugs and carpets, and cushions and blankets are all feature elements capable of enlivening any room.

Soho Home even breaks its offerings down into Collections, which represent the various different properties that the brand has around the world. In the newest Berlin Collection, for example, shoppers can get the very dining table and chairs that diners in that particular House’s restaurant sit around. The Soho Home site even has guest appearances by the editors of famous magazines such as Elle, who provide style and shopping tips based on their own homes for shoppers to further peruse and take into account.

“We started Soho Home because members always ask us where they can buy the things they see in the Houses,” says Soho House founder and CEO Nick Jones. Now customers in the US can get the same great style that those in the UK have had access to for years.

The post Iconic Soho House Launches New US Home Collection first appeared on Dornob.

Our Favorite Pieces from Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign

sorchaohiggins — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 07:00:59 +0000

It’s no secret that 3daysofdesign is Copenhagen’s premier design event. This year it took place between May 23rd and 25th, featuring a stellar lineup of the country’s finest architects, industrial designers, product designers, and interior designers. And while there were a ton of outstanding projects at the festival, we of course couldn’t help but single out a few favorites.

Modular Furniture Collection – Montana

Danish furniture company Montana is known for its abundance of modern, modular furniture pieces. With 36 interchangeable units to choose from, the potential of these elements really is endless. At this year’s 3daysofdesign festival, the company debuted a brand new color collection, which was developed in collaboration with Danish color expert and designer Margrethe Odgaard. All in all, the range boasts pieces in 30 new colors, including amber, rhubarb, flint, chamomile, and many more hues developed as part of Montana’s eight-year color cycle.

Speaking about the range and her place in its creation, Odgaard said: “Montana is a mathematical supersystem, and I wanted the colors to be an extension of that. Just as the modules offer infinite possibilities for combination, the colors also need to be able to be mixed and matched so that they’re in line with Montana’s philosophy of ‘Making Room for Personality.’ But it was also important to me that the colors reflect the precision and quality that I believe characterize Montana’s furniture.”

Setago Lamp — &Tradition

The mission statement on &Tradition’s website reads, “&Tradition reworks design icons from past masters and creates tomorrow’s classics in collaboration with contemporary designers, upholding the tenets of craftsmanship to produce furniture, lighting, and accessories that meet modern needs for function, comfort, and beauty.” This ethos can certainly be seen in the Setago lamp: the quirky yet timeless fixture they debuted at this year’s 3daysofdesign. Created by by Jaime Hayon, the lamp takes its name from the Spanish word for mushroom, “seta.” It also takes the form of a mushroom, with its white cap and squat stand. But beyond its aesthetic beauty, it’s also USB chargeable, meaning it can easily be moved around as needed to illuminate different parts of the home.

Circle Chair — Overgaard & Dyrman

College pals Jasper Overgaard and Christian Dyrman founded their design studio in 2013, with a commitment to creating meaningful lifestyle objects using ethically-sourced materials. Their meticulous practice merges traditional techniques with modern technology to create unique, distinctive, and functional pieces of furniture. Their vision is epitomized in the Circle Chair, which was on full display at this year’s 3daysofdesign. Indeed, with its eye-catching silhouette, refined curves, and exquisite joinery, it’s hard to imagine a room this dining chair wouldn’t make shine.

R.U.M. Chair — Wehlers

Danish design studio Wehlers has an outlook that’s firmly rooted in Danish ideology — to stay true to materials and to be only as decorative as is necessary. It’s no wonder their R.U.M. Chair is minimal, functional, and sustainable. Made from fishing nets and recycled steel, the chair was created by C. F. Møller Design for Wehlers and makes for the perfect complement to their already-outstanding collection of furniture designs.

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Laundré: A Place To Do Laundry and Drink Coffee All At Once

sorchaohiggins — Wed, 29 May 2019 16:21:58 +0000

In the non-stop world we live in today, the modern city dweller needs to be able to consolidate various tasks into certain windows of time. Multi-tasking allows us to be more efficient and ultimately have more time to ourselves, and this ethos is quickly manifesting itself in many different ways around the world. One of the most forward-thinking cities is San Francisco, California, which mainly owes its innovative atmosphere to the huge tech boom that has seen the formerly avant-garde peninsula transformed into a hotbed of commercial activity and rising rent prices. As such, an opportunity to kill a few birds with one stone is always welcome in the City by the Bay. Enter Laundré, a laundromat/coffee shop that allows you to take a load off in style while you’re waiting for your clothes to be washed.

Laundré hopes “to elevate the standard with which the laundromat is viewed by establishing an open and inviting space featuring sustainable laundry equipment, a full-scale coffee bar, and communal seating. Laundré aims to make laundry less of a chore while providing a space that welcomes creativity, work, and people.” Located in San Francisco’s hip Mission District, this new slick laundromat and café is the brainchild of fashion kid-turned-entrepreneur Ariana Roviello, who — after eight years of living in San Fransisco — wanted to reinvent the laundry experience, which many people have come to think of as dangerous, dirty, and just plain unpleasant.

The space itself is minimal and stylish and does away with the conception that the laundromat is only a place for “down-and-outs”: a place full of broken machines and plagued by the threat of someone stealing unattended clothes. The stripped-back café area occupies the front of the laundromat and boasts a central bar from where you can order coffee before taking a seat at one of the high counters that look out onto the street — the perfect place to catch up on some work or meet a friend while waiting for your load to be done.

The laundry facilities are toward the back of the space, and through the use of energy-efficient machines that use minimal amounts of water, you can have a full wash done and dry in just 45 minutes, much less time than you would expect to wait at a standard laundromat. The washing machines are also equipped with smart technology, and they’ll message you to alert you when your load has been completed. As if all that weren’t enough, Laundré also gives its customers free detergent, and its machines can be paid for using coins or credit card, with a standard load costing around $4.50. The space also benefits from the presence of staff, both in the café and in the laundromat, who help customers use the machines and monitor the area to ensure that everyone’s clothes are still there when they return.

Laundré may not be the first time the concept of the laundromat has been reimagined, but it is certainly one of the best examples of how to merge its traditional aspects with the contemporary needs of people living in fast-paced cities. The company’s mission is as follows: “With a new breed of laundromat comes a modern approach to space. Separating ourselves from the outdated launderette, we aspire to produce an environment that is spacious, bright, and bubbly. Lofted ceilings and a thoughtfully curated interior create an open feel among the whirling machines.” Laundré is open from 8 AM to 10 PM each and every day.

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Dmitriy & Co’s Sleek New Spring-Summer Collection is Finally Here

sorchaohiggins — Tue, 28 May 2019 21:00:53 +0000

It’s never a bad time to revamp your living spaces, but some times are better than others. The spring and summer months are undoubtedly the best times of year to give your domestic furniture a facelift, of course, especially if you’re planning on selling. After all, the abundance of natural light during these times makes your house look appealing and inviting, and a new set of lounge chairs and sofas can make a world of difference when it comes to letting your interiors shine. Even if you’re not planning on scaling up or sizing down, there’s no denying the fact that April onwards sees the launch of many furniture designers’ stunning spring and summer collections. So why not draw a little inspiration from it all?

One of the most exciting spring and summer collections to launch this year comes from the New York-based Dmitriy & Co. This proud name in elegant furniture design has had a long history, which, according to its official website, “can be traced back to Lower East Side New York, where a mastery of handcraft furniture-making was hard-earned over three generations. For Dmitriy & Co, the making itself has always served as both a vehicle of artistic expression and an ancient trade that remains embedded in our very being — for us, the compulsion to design and produce by hand is an undeniable force of nature.”

Dmitriy & Co’s approach to furniture design combines age-old crafting traditions with contemporary thought processes. Each one of their pieces is made by hand, with handsewn upholstery, painstakingly jointed timbers, and seamlessly finished edges combining to achieve a precise and sophisticated result. The new collection boasts a number of these enviable pieces, including the unique Rainer Sofa, a dusky blue offering with a signature style and shape that sits well in any living room while proudly standing out in its own right. A lot of this individuality can be attributed to the trestle motif on the couch’s exposed timber arm frames and supports, which themselves are made from Silverwash-finished walnut. For spaces that are ideal for tranquil reflection, the collection’s Masson Daybed makes the perfect addition. This cream chaise lounge has a beautiful asymmetry to it, with the luxurious finish of its upholstery perfectly complementing its regal bronze feet.

The Masson Sofa is executed in a dark powder blue and also incorporates bronze feet in a darkened finish. The effect here is one of dark evenings and late nights, contrasting the sunlit pleasures of the daybed. A complementary piece to this could be the Belgard Swivel Lounge Chair: a standalone armchair that can be angled any way so as to face into or out of a seating arrangement. Its powder blue seat and cushions contrast with the dark blue of the Masson Sofa, but both pieces are still capable of sitting in harmony with one another.

If you’re trying to make a really strong statement, consider the Dahlem Sofa, whose Greek curves are reminiscent of an Ionic column.This piece’s rolled arms and back conjure up days gone by, when lounging about in the sitting rooms was the only way to spend a summer evening.

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BIG’s Denmark LEGO House Nears Completion

sorchaohiggins — Mon, 27 May 2019 17:09:14 +0000

Danish architecture firm BIG is making waves once again, this time with their LEGO House, a family-friendly LEGO experience center that’s set to open later this month. Located in Billund, Denmark, where the children’s game and favorite toy of wannabe architects was invented, the LEGO House has been in the works for the past seven years. Nicknamed the “Home of the Brick,” the house is close to LEGO’s headquarters and is expected to attract some 250,000 visitors each and every year to partake in its range of guest activities, some of which will charge entrance fees while others remain free-of-charge to the public.

The LEGO House’s 12,000-square-meter campus has been (fittingly) designed to replicate the iconic building blocks themselves. Comprised of 21 LEGO-shaped blocks, each volume is capped with a colorful roof, with the uppermost cube sporting LEGO’s iconic keystone block, whose eight circular protrusions have here been made into giant skylights. Jesper Vilstrup of LEGO House says, “The building itself reflects what LEGO play and the LEGO values are all about. The LEGO brick has been incorporated into the architecture in a simple, but ingenious way, and visualizes the systematic creativity that lies at the very core of all LEGO play.”

BIG unveiled plans for the design in 2013, and director Bjarke Ingels was very clear that the entire composition of the building was very much intended to be read as a LEGO construction itself, visible on Google Earth as a structure in keeping with the building blocks and their potential. Many of the blocks that make up the LEGO House have also been adorned with huge glazed fronts, all of which open onto the rooftop terrace of the volume below them. The blocks are all clad in white tiles, the materiality of which has been carried inside the building to line the walls that drop down over the central circulation at the house’s core.

The building will house a number of restaurants, conference and meeting facilities, a 2,000-square-meter public space for events and interactions, and play zones that will be color-coded according to their function: yellow for emotion, blue for cognitive, red for creative, and green for social. A gallery will display LEGO creations and showcase the wildest possibilities of the world-famous bricks, while the rooftop terraces will be open to the general public.

The LEGO House is designed to be appealing to both adults and children and will continue the toy’s appeal well into the modern era. To coincide with the opening of the center, LEGO has recently released a new model kit of the building itself, so not only can you go and experience the LEGO House from the inside, but you can also play architect and master builder by creating it yourself! In total, the model consists of 774 pieces, which are designed to be constructed in 197 steps. The LEGO House kit is part of the company’s “Architecture” line, which appeals to aspiring architects young and old. Believe it or not, many professionals actually cite LEGO as an early inspiration for their design careers.

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BIG Completes New College Campus on Faroe Islands

sorchaohiggins — Mon, 27 May 2019 13:00:29 +0000

The Faroe Islands are located smack-dab in middle of the harsh North Atlantic, just north of Scotland, southeast of Iceland, and northwest of Denmark (the country to which it officially belongs). This rocky cluster may seem like an unlikely setting for a futuristic college campus, but that’s exactly what the country’s own Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has just created there.

The architects describe the new Glasir Tórshavn College succinctly as being “located on the undulating fjords of Faroe Islands, with views to the capital Tórshavn, the sea, and verdant fells. Glasir seeks to harvest the [combined] efficiencies of [the] Faroe Islands Gymnasium, Tórshavn Technical College, and the Business College of Faroe Islands into one building for over 1,750 students, teachers, and staff.”

Conceptually, the college aims to retain the identity and autonomy of each of its three educational arms while providing spaces that overlap and encourage interaction, multi-disciplinary learning, and the building of communities. This is achieved by stacking each of the schools on top of each other in concentric circles, with additional spaces for administration and recreation interspersed between the layers. Rather than be envisioned as a typical school environment, the college is thought of more as an incubator for ideas, much like modern tech campuses.

Externally, the building appears both sculptural and modern. Glazing is the order of the day, whether it’s the circular volume that protrudes upwards from the undulating landscape or the rectilinear wings that shoot out from its base into the surroundings. In fact, all of the college’s facades are glazed, with structural trusses being used to help to define the silhouette. The building’s external terraced arrangement is echoed internally, allowing for a cross-pollination of students from different disciplines and years to occur naturally.

BIG says of the campus: “Cascading across several levels, the stepped topography merges the multistory building into a single entity. At the top levels, the high school and business school cantilever towards the mountain range and moorland landscapes, creating a building that opens towards the city in all directions. The outer backdrop to the stunning Faroese landscape surrounding the education center is always visible, from the courtyard and classrooms to the gymnasium and library.”

Students and teachers alike benefit from the incredible and expansive views out towards the ocean and back across the landscape, all courtesy of the glazing and the orientation afforded by both the central cylinder and its protruding wings. The dramatic entrance via a bridge that crosses over the length of the sloping site gives all that enter a taste of what’s to come, with each wing demarcated by a different-colored glass for easy navigating.

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