Ceysson & Bénétiere Gallery Presenting Daniel Firman

Entitled Attitude Jade #3, this piece by Daniel Firman had many visitors hesitantly approaching, afraid they were about to experience a jump scare or a performance piece a la Marina Abramović. It appears, at first, like perhaps a young woman is taking a long time gazing at some kind of artwork mounted on the wall and shrouded by a piece of fabric. But the whole thing is actually a hyperrealistic sculpture made of resin, clothing, a wig, and shoes. It was definitely among the most Instagrammable pieces in an event designed to produce Instagrammable pieces.

The Future Perfect at Design Miami/

If you’ve ever thought that furniture design was boring, even momentarily, take in this booth by The Future Perfect like a shot of espresso for your brain. Presented at Design Miami/ 2022, a collectible furniture fair exhibited as part of the larger Art Basel Miami event, the booth includes an alluring array of fascinating works, including a wool carpet by Claudy Jongstra, a Chris Wolston bronze coffee table, and boucle-and-aluminum club chairs — get all the details about every last element in this photo here.

Leandro Erlich Retrospective

Presented at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is Leandro Erlich: Liminal, the first monographic exhibition of Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich’s work in North America. The exhibition features 16 works spanning more than two decades throughout PAMM’s special exhibition galleries. The works are arranged to create a narrative storyline as visitors make their way through the gallery, encountering reality-shifting interactive installations like Swimming Pool, originally created in 1999.

Mark Grattan at Design Miami/

Also at the Design Miami/ fair, furniture designer Mark Grattan’s sexy mirrored bedroom display was like 1980s cocaine culture softened up for 2023, its hard chrome edges contrasting with soft, curving lavender upholstery. Located in the booth by T&C O.G. Cristina Grajales, the display served up an aesthetic we didn’t know we were craving.

Perrotin Presenting Hernan Bas

Miami native Hernan Bas captured both the attention of festival goers and an excellent sum for his painting, titled Conceptual artist #15 (Performance based, along with a troop of hired actors he takes residence in ‘fixer upper’ homes and feigns nefarious occult activity to stir up the neighbors). Presented by Perrotin, the piece sold for $450,000. The title alone might be worth the price.

Savannah College of Art & Design Collaboration with Cerámica Suro

The Savannah College of Art and Design booth was an unexpected revelation at this year’s Art Basel, displaying works created in collaboration between SCAD students and Cerámica Suro, a Guadalajara-based studio known for pushing the boundaries of what artisanal ceramics can be. Founder José Noé Suro evolved his family’s manufacturing business into a globally renowned powerhouse through partnerships with leading contemporary artists. The vibrant collections of glazed tiles were created by SCAD alumni artists Nicolas Barrera, Lauren Clay, Gonzalo Hernandez, Cory Imig, Abel Macias, and Nikita Nagpal.

Thaddaeus Ropac Presenting Georg Baselitz

One of this year’s highest-selling works at Art Basel was also one of its most striking. London-based dealer Thaddaeus Ropac sold an abstract oil painting by Georg Baselitz entitled Emilio macht das Licht Aus (2020) for $1.4 million. The painting depicts a nude figure partially concealed within black and white brush strokes.

Sikkema Jenkins Presenting Maria Nepomuceno

Who doesn’t love to look at weird, slightly fleshy textile sculptures? Okay, maybe not everyone, but there’s no denying that Maria Nepomuceno’s work pulls you in to look closer and marvel at its complexities. Her display of colorful, organic forms was beautifully presented at Art Basel 2022 by gallery Sikkema Jenkins. This is just a taste of what the gallery has staged using Nepomuceno’s creations, so make sure to check out their previous exhibitions for more elaborate displays.

The post Our Favorite Works and Exhibits at Art Basel Miami Beach 2022 first appeared on Dornob.

Since 2019, Etsy has honored the diversity and creativity of their worldwide creators with their Design Awards (aka the Etsies), where judges trawl through applicants’ best work to find the cream of the crop and recognize what’s tops in originality, functionality, and overall aesthetics.

This year, the judges tasked with this seemingly impossible task included fashion designer Jenna Lyons, interior designers Brigette Romanek and Jake Arnold, and Etsy’s own trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson, who, after careful review, narrowed the field to 100 finalists across ten categories. Below are just some of the coolest offerings that emerged victorious; winners that, according to Johnson, showcase and “unearth the most unbelievable and creative talent in our [Etsy] community.”

Grand Prize: Large Modern Wall Hanging by WeAreLunarium

Seller Tim Stephenson’s gloriously oversized wall hanging is a modernist dream come true. A textile masterpiece created with a plethora of materials including plywood, metal, ceramics, wood beads, and of course, tassels, the grand prize winner impressed judges with its “midcentury modern pizzazz.”

Kids Category Winner: Knitted Charcuterie by ColetteBream

Charcuterie boards are a photogenic presence on social media feeds, but this winning gem from ColetteBream proves that the colorfully creative and edible arrays of delicious treats aren’t just for snacking and low-key IG bragging. Here, they take the form of comfy, cozy sausage and salami pillows.

Pets Category Winner: Rectangular Cat House by LiveinIdeals

Etsy is littered (pun intended) with spectacular craftsmanship for pets. This trendy cat house is an iconic example of how shoppers don’t have to sacrifice style for functionality, even for their four-legged friends.

Furniture Winner: Suelo Modern Daybed by BertuHome

Maximalism may be having a moment, but everyone knows that the sleek, simple lines of minimalist mainstays will never go out of style. Enter Gretta Jones’ stylish lounger, the ultimate in hip, relaxing vibes inspired by the designer’s “love of travel.”

People’s Pick: Convex Aura Mirror by SurreyWoodsmiths

As someone once said: “Give the people what they want.” It appears what they want is this curvaceously convex mirror made with a single piece of birch. The people’s favorite of 2022, the sculptural work of art was created by former engineer-turned-furniture maker Jonathan Hitchcock.

Home Decor and Lighting Winner: Extra Large Leaning Wavy Mirror by pedromealha

Mirrors are having a moment — and with this shapely and whimsical offering, it’s easy to see why. Though it’s available in other colors by request, there’s just something about the bright, vivacious bubblegum pink that’s very barbiecore meets dreamy 60s psychedelia.

Kitchen and Dining Winner: Blue and White Ceramic Bowl by SINDstudio

Etsy is a must-visit for those looking to up their ceramics game, so it should come as no surprise that this blue and white beauty from SINDstudio received top marks for its trendy shape and functional yet elevated design.

Etsy has once again proven that they’re the place to go for a seemingly unending array of creative offerings from craftspeople around the world; a showcase of global artisans and a destination for design-forward inspiration, style, and charm.

The post Etsy Announces 2022 Design Awards Winners first appeared on Dornob.

“We were excited to see such an exciting and imaginative use of color in this year’s entries,” says Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux Color and Communications Manager. “Architects and designers have really pushed the boundaries with color application to create inspiring, engaging — and often surprising — interior and exterior spaces.”

According to the Dulux website, the annual competition “is Australia and New Zealand’s premier showcase of inspirational color application in interior and exterior residential, public, and commercial spaces.”

Each year, the Australian paint company selects a panel of design professionals to judge entries from architects, designers, and students to “[recognize] their creative and innovative use of color” with Dulux shades. The contest spans six categories: interior residential, exterior residential, commercial and multi-residential exterior, public and hospitality commercial interiors, workplace and retail commercial interiors, and students.

Company executives noted an inclination toward moodier home colors this year. “Deeper tones of blue and green were popular amongst residential interiors, showcasing diverse moods in areas and differentiating functional use in a space — from deep and dark, to bright and lively — applied to cabinetry, trims, and walls to create a peaceful, relaxing interior setting,” Lucena-Orr says.

That was especially evident in “The Pad” by architect Suzanne Hunt, an entry in which all the walls were shrouded in slate gray as a backdrop to a set of indoor-outdoor Zen gardens. Natural light filters through the palm leaves and ferns, further balancing the seriousness of the dark grays.

Other darkly pensive residential entrants included the “Malvern House,” with its wall-to-wall sage kitchen cabinetry and green marble countertops and backsplash. “The Grid House” highlights its stairwell with a navy blue that perfectly matches the carpet-lined steps.

Lucena-Orr also found that “impactful tones and washed walls are also making a presence, bringing a sense of moody sophistication to interiors.”

For example, the “Nelson Road House,” named one of the year’s most stylishly colorful Australian homes, uses a tranquil pastel pink in the primary bedroom but switches it up to a night-sky blue in the formal living room, allowing for a full array of ambience throughout. The designers from Bloom Interior Design in Melbourne said they “treated each room as its own space,” which gave them the freedom to “play with a range of different colors giving each space its own persona.”

Neutral-themed residential dwellings also made the 2022 list. The “Bondi Terrace,” designed by Studio Quarters, is a flow of understated whites and beiges with only touches of contrast in each room. The mildness of the paint lets the original period details like the marble fireplace and crown molding take center stage. The designers explain that they used full, half, and quarter strengths of the same color in different rooms to create an “overall calmness that permeates the whole house.” The “Sorrento House,” submitted by the Fiona Lynch Interior Design firm, also drew on a cream color palette for a soothing, restful effect.

On the other hand, some finalists went bold and bright to earn their spot. For instance, the designers at Pac Studio used sunny yellow to liven up the kitchen of “Heron House,” giving it extra punch by painting the surrounding walls an azure blue.

The Dulux website says that all colors in the Dulux range were considered, even black and white. The final selections will be based on both the use of color and the designers’ reason behind the choice. The winners will be announced in announced in just a few months, so be sure to check back with us for updates!

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Consisting of a total of 200 artists from 58 countries, the Biennale was curated by Cecelia Alemani and is itself entitled “The Milk of Dreams.” The title draws its inspiration from the title of a book by surrealist artist Leona Carrington, which Alemani describes as being an exploration of “a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of imagination.”

Upon exploring the exhibition’s many poignant offerings, it’s easy to see why the imaginative curator landed on the theme. An eclectic mix of eye-openers and statement-making pieces, the often surreal and exploratory pieces of the Biennale speak to its global sensibility and penchant for pushing the envelope (and in some cases, dropping jaws with in-your-face, dreamlike artwork).

Below are some of the most standout pieces on display this year, running the gamut from fantastically nightmarish metamorphic mashups to stark depictions of reality that speak to the horrors of war and the power of resilience:

“We Walked The Earth” by Uffe Isolotto

Occupying the entire Danish Pavilion, Isolotto’s piece is emblematic of this year’s Biennale and its surrealist namesake. Depicting a human/horse hybrid lying prone in the center of a stark, messy interior, the piece evokes the dramas of a transhuman world afflicted by the same cycles of life and death, hope and despair, that connect us all.

“Elephant” by Katharina Fritsch

Larger than life and less fantastical than many of its counterparts, German artist Katharina Fritsch opted for size, grandeur, realism, and attention to detail on this piece. But that doesn’t make it any less impactful. Fritsch is also a co-recipient of the Biennale’s Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement this year.

“Gyre” by Yunchul Kim

Stunning, silver, and described as “a sprawling body of entanglements” by its creator, this standout in the Korean pavilion is pseudo-realistic — a tangled up knot of fantastic proportions that doesn’t rely on animate objects and their relationship to the world, yet somehow evokes a feeling of movement with its twisty form.

“Brick House” by Simone Leigh

Formerly located in NYC’s High Line in 2019, U.S. artist Simone Leigh’s “Brick House” is a majestic bronze sculpture depicting an imposing figure that’s part Black woman, part house, “registering as a vessel, a dwelling, a space of comfort, and as a site of sanctuary…a Black woman’s body as a site of multiplicity,” says Madeline Weisburg. Leigh has also won a Golden Lion for her monumental and momentous sculpture.

“Untitled” by Raphaela Vogel

Vogel’s contribution was a jaw-dropper for sure — a perfect example of the German artist’s experimental repertoire, which often raises eyebrows with its metaphoric, sometimes metaphysical statements. Here, Vogel went for the shock factor, depicting a large, cartoonish model of a penis being pulled by a fleet of white giraffes, complete with explanatory plates describing various diseases and conditions like erectile dysfunction. Cartoonish? Yes. Shocking? Definitely.

“Piazza Ucrainia” by Boris Filonenko, Lizaveta German, and Maria Lanko

In referring to the Venice Biennale this year, Wallpaper recently said, “Stark reminders of a raging war were never far from sight or mind,” and this is most evident in the centerpiece of the Ukrainian pavilion. A piece created by the pavilion’s curators, this stirring sculpture contains a multitude of stacked sandbags to represent the country’s efforts to protect their art from war damage — a reminder that’s both stirring and symbolic. Other notable Ukrainian offerings include “The Fountain of Exhaustion” by artist Pavlo Makov, which only arrived at the exhibition due to the perilous efforts of curator Maria Lanko to transport the piece beginning on the same day Russia began its attack.

“Valeriia” by JR

Statements and reactions to the war in Ukraine were not limited to the country’s own pavilion. French artist JR presented a large photograph of a young Ukrainian refugee in this statement-maker that puts a human face on the tragedies of war. It’s also been featured on the cover of Time and is part of the ongoing exhibition “This is Ukraine: Defending Freedom.”

“Invitation of the Soft Machine and Her Angry Body Parts” by Jakob Lena Knebl and Ashley Hans Scheirl

A curvy, faceless hybrid that’s equal parts sensual and unrecognizably recognizable, “Invitation…” is another potent representation that’s visceral and colorful, perfectly in keeping with exhibition’s central surrealist theme. Located in the Austrian pavilion, the sculpture is perched above the viewer on a plinth, presented as a figure to be worshipped and admired.

The Venice Biennale 2022 runs from April 23rd through November 22nd, 2022 at the Giardini and the Arsenale.

The post This Year’s Venice Biennale is Full of Surrealism — and Stark Reminders first appeared on Dornob.

“With its incomparable history and contemporary dynamism, Paris is uniquely positioned as a pivotal epicenter of the international cultural scene,” says Marc Spiegler, Global Director of Art Basel in a statement. “We aim to build on Paris’s unparalleled standing as a global metropolis to help create a vibrant week that even further amplifies the city’s international resonance as a cultural capital.”

With such an illustrious art background, the city could not simply become the subtitle for another “Art Basel” name. Instead, the fair creators came up with a different moniker: Paris+, by Art Basel.

“It’s very minimalist and works in different languages,” Spiegler explains. “We wanted a name that was not going to take up too much space, because one of the big parts of this adventure is that we want to work with other creative industries. We wanted a name that worked well for collab mode.”

Paris+ is also taking over the famed Grand Palais, having outbid the longstanding FIAC art fair in a public bidding war. Art Basel agreed to pay roughly $12 million for a commitment of seven years in the venue, kicking FIAC out after 47 years. This year the new Art Basel will be housed in the Grand Palais Éphémère, the temporary Grand Palais location until the historic building’s restoration is completed in 2024.

In keeping with the organization’s mission to let each show be “defined by its host city and region,” Art Basel has named a team of three to lead Paris+, all with strong connections to the French art world. Parisian Clément Delépine gave up his post as co-director of the young, hip annual Paris Internationale to become director of this latest showcase.

“Even before my appointment, I welcomed the news of Art Basel’s selection to stage a new fair in Paris,” Delépine explains. “The Art Basel team is committed to the highest standards of excellence, and I am immensely honored and humbled by the trust placed in me. I look forward to collaborating with the entire ecosystem of galleries, institutions, creative and cultural industries here in Paris to create a magnetic event for the city and the world.”

Deputy director Maxime Hourdequin also hails from France, bringing almost 10 years of experience from his work as deputy director of FIAC. The general manager position went to Virginie Aubert, former business director and general manager of Christie’s France.

Adds Art Basel’s Spiegler, “We’re excited to have such a strong team at the helm of our new fair in Paris. I am confident that with their range of experience and perspectives we will deliver a strong premier edition of our show this fall — that capitalizes both on Paris’s unparalleled legacy as a cultural capital — and on its position as a vibrant crossroads for today’s contemporary culture.”

While few details about this year’s fair have emerged, Art Basel has said that it intends to bring together “artists, collectors, curators, and gallery owners” from both Paris and around the world. More information will be communicated ahead of the inaugural Paris+ event scheduled for October 20th through 23rd.

The post Latest Art Basel Event Wins a Home – and a New Name – in Paris first appeared on Dornob.

He often pairs traditional materials and techniques with modern innovations, developing a body of work that “empowers and transforms communities through the process of architecture.” Even more importantly, Kéré’s work is designed to serve those who will use it with the utmost respect and consideration.

“I am hoping to change the paradigm, push people to dream and undergo risk,” Kéré says. “It is not because you are rich that you should waste material. It is not because you are poor that you should not try to create quality. Everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury, and everyone deserves comfort. We are interlinked and concerns in climate, democracy, and scarcity are concerns for us all.”

Among Kéré’s most celebrated works are a stunning sculptural timber pavilion called “Xylem” at the Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana and the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion in London, which mimics the shape of a tree with an indigo-blue light steel framed trunk and a timber brise soleil canopy sheltered by clear polycarbonate.

But just as notable are the structures he has built in Africa, including the Gando Primary School in Burkina Faso and the Benin National Assembly. These structures are tailored specifically to the local climate, material availability, traditions, and skills. They’re infused with the regional architectural vernacular and thus feel well-suited to their environments, but they certainly aren’t lacking for decorative flourishes or comforts.

“Francis Kéré’s work is, by its essence and its presence, the fruit of its circumstances,” reads the Pritzker Prize jury statement. “In a world where architects are building projects in the most diverse contexts – not without controversies – Kéré contributes to the debate by incorporating local, national, regional, and global dimensions in a very personal balance of grass roots experience, academic quality, low tech, high tech, and truly sophisticated multiculturalism. His simultaneously local and global perspective goes well beyond aesthetics and good intentions, allowing him to integrate the traditional with the contemporary.”

Drawing inspiration from the simple, one-room structures he grew up using in Burkina Faso, Kéré aims to create spaces imbued with quiet dignity. He has devoted much of his career to designing primary, secondary, and postsecondary educational facilities as well as medical facilities, therefore stabilizing the future of the communities where they’re built.

Sustainability is another major factor in Kéré’s work. Addressing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, the architect, educator, and social activist considers factors like potential reuse of the building materials in the future, and the use of indigenous clay to add thermal mass to his structures, thereby helping them retain cooler air inside naturally. This kind of passive cooling is essential to maintaining the comfort and low operating costs of Kéré’s built works in Africa.

“Francis Kéré is pioneering architecture – sustainable to the Earth and its inhabitants – in lands of extreme scarcity,” said Thomas Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation. “He is equally architect and servant, improving the lives and experiences of countless citizens in a region of the world that is at times forgotten. Through buildings that demonstrate beauty, modesty, boldness, and invention, and by the integrity of his architecture and geste, Kéré gracefully upholds the mission of this Prize.”

The post Francis Kéré Becomes the First Black Architect to Win the Pritzker Prize first appeared on Dornob.

The 2021 iF Design Awards welcomed innovators from around the globe eager to showcase their dynamic design concepts — and with an estimated 10,000 annual submissions from more than 60 countries, there was plenty to choose from. This year, however, the focus shifted somewhat among finalists to explore and create devices that bring the often lofty concept of automation closer to home.

AI, robots, and smart home technologies galore permeated some of the top winning designs this year, a shift that acutely represents our increasing reliance on technology within our homes as a way to make life more convenient. Taking Siri or Alexa to the next level, these designs show how sophisticated design technologies can be integrated into even the simplest daily tasks.

Below we highlight three of this year’s winners we were particularly impressed with, all of them devices meant to bridge the gap between automation and the home sphere.

Tokit Omni Cook Multi-Cooker

Home cooks everywhere will recognize this dilemma. Love that pressure cooker? Sure do! That slow cooker’s no slouch, either. But what about that rice cooker? Can’t live without it. The list goes on and on. Now more than ever before, there are all kinds of kitchen appliances built for specific purposes, each meant to fit seamlessly into your kitchen milieu — making life easier, yet somehow existing in their own autonomous space.

The reality is that many of us simply don’t have the space for all the kitchen appliances we need (or want). Enter the Tokit Omni Cook Multi-Cooker. Able to replace 21 traditional kitchen appliances all by itself, this little beauty combines precision and technology with a dash of digital flair to create the perfect cooking assistant. Throw in a smart display that provides recipes and video how-to instructions, and this winning entry from Shanghai Chunmi Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. hands down wins the kitchen appliance wars.

Kiwibot Plus

Robots delivering packages may seem like something out of The Jetsons, but thanks to innovations from tech companies everywhere, this tantalizing glimpse into the future is now right around the corner. While you may have heard of the “Amazon Scout” already, there are a host of other companies also working hard to develop this exciting new technology (Starship Robot, Buro, and AutoX, to name a few).

This winning entry in the 2021 iF Design Award competition is brought to you by Kiwibot, an already-established heavyweight in the world of robot delivery infrastructure. Affordable, accessible, and boasting zero carbon emissions, Kiwibot’s newest offering, the Kiwibot Plus, is tasked with becoming the tech company’s next-generation robot delivery superstar. Safe, effective, and most importantly, sustainable, the Kiwibot Plus is more than just a robot, it’s a bonafide member of the community.

Fit Bot

The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult (and sometimes impossible), for people to hit the gym, spurring a slew of technology meant to make the at-home workout more effective, and most importantly, more social. From apps to YouTube videos, Nintendo Switch games to Peloton, the field for at-home fitness has never been more packed with options for everyone from devoted gym rats to casual fitness experimenters.

Enter Fit Bot: an IF Design Award Winner developed by Samsung Electronics. But what sets Fit Bot apart, you may ask? Firstly, it’s a wearable technology, a “robot” meant to support the wearer and encourage safe, healthy exercise habits. Meant to “address the drawback of conventional exercise methods for the general population,” Fit Bot, through its built-in actuator, is intuitive and supportive. It’s designed to reduce the risk of injury for people everywhere, especially for those who may find more strenuous equipment or routines challenging, such as the elderly, or persons with previous injuries or health conditions.

Many of this year’s iF Design Award Winners hit closer to home, showcasing design technologies meant to bridge the gap between our daily lives and automation. As always, the designs were meant to inspire, and to make the world a better place through innovation. In 2021, that “world” just happened to include a little slice of home.

Want to know more? Visit the iF World Design Guide to learn more about his year’s winners.

The post These 2021 iF Design Award Winners Hit Close to Home first appeared on Dornob.

Thousands of designers and firms around the world participated, producing a dazzling array of proposals in four categories: environment, health, society, and work. They range from fun and lighthearted distance-encouraging wearables for kids to inclusive sustainable villages and everything in between. We’ve gathered 10 of our favorites here, and you can see the rest at the Biennale’s official website:

Homes for All by Saorla Hanley

For designer Saorla Hanley, the pandemic demonstrated a dire need for a push in building social housing in the United Kingdom. She proposes wheelchair-accessible housing for a small brownfield site in Greenhill, Harrow, England that can serve the diverse population, including large families with multiple generations. The four-bedroom houses are centered around a communal garden.

Inclusiveness by Design by Shiro Muchiri

Shiro Muchiri calls on the design community to find ways to introduce diverse socioeconomic groups to each other through design work and projects. “I believe that a more dynamic and active platform for idea sharing and collaborations should be created. Making the process of transforming great ideas into reality faster, more effective, and inclusive,” he says, adding that “we should form a type of institution or organization that can bring together brilliant ideas, extraordinary skills, advanced technology, and technical know-how to a central hub. A hub where design professionals can reach out to each other as a resource that can enable them to put together, showcase, and bring into our living spaces, workplaces, homes and other living environments, worldwide artistry, skills, and craft.”

Active Classroom by Boris Lancelot Tichelman

A description for this project on the Biennale’s website explains that “the ‘Active Classroom’ is a series of ergonomic children’s furniture designed for the school of the future. As a diverse alternative to the deep and unhealthy habituation in chair sitting, the four stools encourage a frequent alternation of different postures to increase muscular diversity, starting with the youth.”

Pop-Up Ecosystems by Mudd Architects + Airlab

Mudd Architects and Airlab joined up with young designers to propose a series of “Pop-up Ecosystems” that add green spaces to existing buildings to improve mental health. These ultralight spaces mimic proven techniques that have already been deployed in public pavilions and installations, but subvert their usage for growing plants with roots that grip directly onto the fabric as they grow.

Symbiotic Futures by Romy Snijders

Disconnection with nature is a growing problem in many societies around the world, contributing to neglect and destruction of the planet. Designer Romy Snijders believes that we should be learning more about “the language of trees,” learning by way of nature’s example. She says: “We know that trees communicate with each other through a network of mycorrhizal fungi. The designed tools would allow us to listen to this communication and see which trees are connected. Insight in the communication between trees can help us protect the forest and improve environmental health.”

Co-Food by Megana Mikuciauskaite

Most correctional facilities focus more on punishment than reform or restorative justice, perpetuating cycles of crime instead of breaking them. Megana Mikusciauskaite believes we could change the way incarcerated people view their roles in society by nurturing their relationships with their families. “Co-Food” connects inmates with volunteers to learn new skills and share in food-based and gardening projects that their family and friends can also participate in. She adds that “participatory design would attract not only family members, but also different audiences, creating an opportunity for bridging social capital.”

Reclaim Women’s Space by Eva Storrusten

The Biennale website hails this “master project in architecture” as “interpreting the potential architecture of the lost women’s spaces in Old Stone Town, Zanzibar; how can architecture support female empowerment? Through a collaboration with local stakeholders, this project considers women’s position in a Muslim context were there has been a distinct gender separation traditionally.”

Urban Hives by Nathalie Harb

Low-cost elevated modular structures could create new garden spaces in urban areas without having an impact on parking availability. This project enables urban farming, mitigates pollution, and provides open green spaces for smaller communities while also providing shade for cars in parking lots.

Insectology: Food for Buzz by Matilde Boelhouwer

“’Insectology: Food for Buzz’ is a series of artificial ongoing flowering flowers meant to serve as an emergency food source for the ‘big five of pollination.’ Together with engineers and scientists, these five colorful man-made flowers have been developed to be self-sustaining and continuously produce natural objects that form the ultimate attractions to those of the big five.”

WeAlign by Wuqing Hipsh

As we age, it gets harder to find our balance, increasing our risk of falls. WeAlign is a concept for gamified exercise that improves gaze stabilization. Your head movements control the game, ultimately helping your balance improve. Best of all, the program makes physical therapy fun, tracking both qualitative and quantitative data about your progress.

The post 10 Standout Projects from the “Design in an Age of Crisis” Competition first appeared on Dornob.

2020 was a year that made us all reexamine how we define the word “home.” Naturally, architectural research initiative Arch Out Loud’s annual competition exploring the “future of home” was filled with ideas about life in a post-pandemic world, as well as solutions to more traditional concerns like climate change and scarcity of resources. The winners creatively wove their utopian desires into conceptual structures, incorporating everything from work/life balance to bio-hacking and even prison recidivism into their new visions for our most personal sanctuaries.

Overall Winner: Shadow Housing

Invented by Jeffrey Liu and Haylie Chan, “Shadow Housing” embodies the values of communal living while using the sun as a guide for daily work activities.

Pointing out that COVID-19 has ruptured the “boundary between office and the home,” the idea suggests that we no longer need to place an “emphasis on productive labor over unwaged housework.” Instead, Shadow Housing integrates an open-air live/work commons that “tethers the workday to the movement of the sun.” The development is proposed to exist in the amenable climate of Los Angeles, with each unit having a ground floor of two private rooms and enclosed patio rooms, and a shared rooftop living area divided by shadow-casting walls. Those walls would be precisely designed to alternately shade work spaces and domestic labor throughout the day, in the hopes of creating a more balanced 24-hour flow.

The concept certainly makes sense for a coronavirus-ridden world and a few arid, temperate environments, but even in sunny Los Angeles, most people don’t want to be outside until the temperatures are comfortable enough for work. Perhaps the idea could be adapted to a glass-enclosed space to still allow for light and shadow but also climate control?

Innovation Award: Biohackers Residence

This alien-looking dwelling, ideally located in the red rock deserts of Utah, is designed to be a bio-hacker paradise. For all those seeking “self-empowerment” by challenging “what it means to be human,” this commune, conceptualized by Samuel Esses and Jonathan Wong at Superficium, looks like a genetic mutation of the natural landscape. While the inhabitants mingle in the common lounge areas to use the organic 3D printers and CRISPR editing workstations, the craggy, luminous abode will provide shelter from the outside world (and the law) to help them practice self-experimentation and gene-editing.

Adaptabilty Award: Stuyvesanttown

Designer Carla Bonilla Huaroc envisions a New York City in the year 2035, where the “ratio of luxury to affordable housing causes a major recession” leading to former high-end condos like the Stuyvesant development being converted into other housing needs. Bonilla Huaroc predicts “the crisis of homelessness becom[ing] even more dire, and … the consequences of mass incarceration occurring earlier in the millennium becom[ing] more visible.”

Her vision includes transforming the extravagant apartment high-rise into Stuyuvesanttown, a transitional landing pad for citizens returning from incarceration. The brown brick facade features several cutouts filled in with receded but bulbous gray brick innards. The overall effect looks like King Kong swung through punching holes in the top of the building, but perhaps the design is intended to hint at breaking free from an old life and filling it in with a newer, more malleable existence.

The inside of Stuyuvesanttown would consist of both individual apartments and dorm-type rooms, with the aim of helping people “take one of the first steps…to find safe shelter.” There would also be classrooms and office spaces available for non-profits to help residents learn or regain self-sufficiency skills.

Pragmatic Award: House is Not a Home

With this theoretical multi-family dwelling, Qin Ye Chen and Yiwen Wang sought to answer the question “how can architecture offer a remedy to social isolation?” The buildings feature overlapping shared spaces interwoven among the private realms. It would also accommodate the inclusion of different demographics and income groups, with each complex offering a range of low to mid-range residences.

Honorable Mentions

Among the many Honorable Mention awards was “Achiparago,” by Nai-Hua Chen and Eileen Xu, itself a web of urban housing with automated farming levels for more efficient food production. “Bubble” by Sidian Tu is an emergency response to natural disaster and pandemics. With two breathable membranes for structure, the walls themselves form the necessary seating, sleeping, and working furniture. And “Bring Your Home” by Felix Kim, Pui Luk, and Zeb Saiyed would see city parks transformed into mini-Easter Islands, each chock-full of auto-piloted mobile lodgings (resembling the large stone heads from the South Pacific) that are safe for work, travel, and life.

The post 2020 Arch Out Loud Winners Predict the Future of Home Design first appeared on Dornob.

2020 was a mystifying year full of the unexpected and unexplained. Lucky for us all, the Neural Correlate Society topped off the strange last 12 months in a perfect way, presenting the brain-bending winners of its “Illusion of the Year” contest. Below are the top three, but be warned! The videos are a must-see to fully comprehend the trippy-ness of these deceptions. The top invention will especially have your mind doing backflips (as if it hasn’t already been twisted in enough knots by the events of 2020).

3D Schröder Staircase

This illusion by mathematical engineer Kokichi Sugihara takes the classic 2D version to another psychedelic level. The original, created in 1858 by German scientist Heinrich G. F. Schröder, is an illustration of a staircase that can simultaneously be interpreted as stairs coming down from the ceiling and going up from the ground. The image is exactly the same when turned 180 degrees.

For some it is impossible to see the opposite view until flipping the image upside down, when it becomes visible for a split second before the mind undergoes the “Gestalt Shift,” a psychological phenomenon where the brain restores its newest intake to earlier perceptions.

Schröder’s staircase was the inspiration for much of Dutch artist M.C. Escher’s gravity-defying work in the twentieth century, and is now the impetus for Sugihara’s multi-dimensional wonder.

Described by some as a “mischievous mathematician,” Sugihara has taken a completely flat plane, added walls on two sides, put it on equal-length stilts, and given us a picture that our brains interpret as a staircase. That is, we see the dark tones and understand them as shadows, while converging lines give us a sense of distance. Even though what we’re actually seeing is all on a horizontal level, our minds make assumptions about familiar patterns, turning the angles and shades into a staircase automatically.

Part of the mirage is allowing that “staircase” to somersault on its axis. When a small orange cone is placed on the “top” step, it ends up on the “bottom” stair after being spun 180 degrees, even though in reality there is no up or down.

Sugihara, a Meiji University engineer, also took home first prize in the NCS’ contest in 2010, 2013, and 2018, and has been a top 10 finalist in all the years in between. About his latest project, he explains: “this object is an example of my experimental material to investigate the behavior of the brains, which are apt to misperceive 2D pictures as 3D objects when they are embedded in real 3D structures.” Because of the support columns and walls he attached, “we perceive new ambiguity, which is different from that of the original Schröder Staircase.”

Detailed plans for recreating this illusion are included on Sugihara’s website.

The Real Thing??

UK native Matthew Pritchard constructed the runner-up illusion this year, itself a Coca-Cola can sitting in front of a mirror. Only thing is, the mirror is fake (just a frame) and there’s a hole cut out in the wall behind the frame, with a strategically-placed second Coke can providing our cerebrum with the visual cues to reconstruct a reflection. In the video, the wall eventually collapses, revealing the hoax.

“Careful examination will reveal discrepancies in the scene,” Pritchard writes. “But what causes the vision system to make the initial mirror assumption is not yet fully understood.”

Impossible Grid Typography

Using 2.5D computer-generated images, Daniël Maarleveld of the Netherlands came in third place for his letters and numbers made of curving grids. More specifically, the shapes move in such a way that the human eye is unable to decipher which direction they are turning in, making them viewable from an above and below perspective at the same time.

The post These 2020 “Illusion of the Year” Winners Will Blow Your Mind first appeared on Dornob.

Following the recent announcement of winners for the ADI Medals of Industrial Design and ADG Laus Awards for Graphic Design and Visual Communication, winners in the student categories shared their thoughts on what the competitions meant to them, and how the student experience at EINA had shaped their personal and professional development. EINA is a university in Barcelona that is uniquely dependent on a private non-profit foundation, and is an extension of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

With their entry Magnet App, a team made up of Carles Giménez, Marta Pardina, and Laia Xixons took home the Silver Laus, awarded by the Association of Graphic Designers and Art Directors of the FAD (ADG-FAD). A team representative expressed: “We are very happy; for us it is the recognition of a job well done. To receive an award like this at the end of our career at the university, and in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, is a push to continue.”

As recent graduates of EINA, the trio all give credit to the institution for creating a foundation to help them launch their careers from, commenting that the college’s atmosphere encourages creative thinking, a deep understanding of design, and confidence — obviously a winning combination in this case.

Paula Terra, an EINA alumni with a Master’s Degree in Graphic Design, won the ADI Silver Medal (awarded by the FAD Industrial Design Association, ADI-FAD) for her Final Degree Project (FDP) Dröp: a non-invasive treatment for type 1 diabetes. When asked what the award meant to her, her response shadowed that of the Magnet App team’s, saying: “This award means satisfaction on a personal and professional level. It is a recognition of the effort and dedication to the project, but also an impulse to continue enjoying and working with the same enthusiasm and dedication.” She continued by expressing her gratitude for having an opportunity to share and develop a real-world application to make diabetes easier to monitor, an opportunity she likely wouldn’t have had without the university and design competitions.

Manu González won the ADI Medal of Opinion for his Final Design Degree Project TMBLight. Like other entrants, Manu focused on a product aimed at solving a problem (in this case, overcrowding on public transportation during peak travel times). The TMBLight connects to the system and provides real-time feedback of occupation levels in each carriage in the system, giving riders the option to avoid the highly congested areas.

The award reinforced Manu’s place in the design world both to others and himself, which seems to be a common feeling amongst winners. He summarized by saying, “I am extremely happy that it was the members of ADI who gave me this medal, because that means that not only do I believe in this idea, but there is a very large group of designers in Barcelona who also believe in it.”

Other top finishers included Marc Villalba, who took home the Bronze Laus Award for his 451, Literature en Llamas and Judit Serra, who won a Bronze Laus Award for “Poética,” a visual system that offers a graphic interpretation of lyrical poetry. Finally, Carles Giménez won a Bronze Laus Award for FOURTURES, a book and app that reinterprets a way of conceiving possible futures, based on the book “Four Futures” by Peter Frase.

The post Students from Barcelona’s Prestigious EINA Speak on Recent Design Competition Wins first appeared on Dornob.

From thousands of entries, “The Etsies” selected 100 finalists across ten categories, including category winners, Grand Prize winners, and the first-ever People’s Choice Award winner. You can check out the full list selected by judges Drew Barrymore and Etsy trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson (whom you may know from NBC’s Making It) on the site, though we’ve taken the liberty of narrowing it down to a few personal favorites here:

Grand Prize Winner: Stackton Credenza by AdrianMartinus

“The Stackton Credenza is so beautiful, and at first glance, one would never know that it is actually made out of recycled skateboards…how cool is that?!” says Barrymore of this Grand Prize Winner, which earned creator AdrianMartinus $15,000 in prize money. The rainbow stripes give this sleek piece of furniture ($4,370) a modern, playful, and unique look.

People’s Choice Award Winner: Ombre Gemstone Ring by Dani Barbe

The public chose this lovely ombre stacking ring ($126) by Dani Barbe as its favorite offering, featuring green gemstones set in a hand-hammered gold-plated band made of recycled metal. “With hiddenite, prasiolite, peridot, green tourmaline, emerald, and green garnet (yes, garnet does come in green!), your finger will sparkle in stunning shades of green,” says the seller.

Weddings Category Winner: Estelle Celestial Wedding Dress by Wardrobe by Dulcinea

It’s easy to see why this was a standout entry. After all, Etsy is a great place to find custom wedding gowns you won’t see anywhere else, and Wardrobe by Dulcinea hit a home run with the “Estelle Celestial Wedding Dress” ($888). Made to the buyer’s exact measurements for a perfect fit, the two-piece gown features a bodysuit with cape sleeves and an A-line skirt, all covered in sparkling silver and gold sequin stars.

“My hope is that my separates get worn after the wedding as well, to a festive New Year’s Eve celebration, for example, or an extra-special anniversary dinner,” says designer Inge Stalyte.

Pets Category Winner: Wall Shelf Cat Bed by Cosy and Dozy

Pet furniture is no longer as ugly and utilitarian as it used to be. In fact, some of it is downright cool-looking, adding some flair to the home in its own right. Cosy and Dozy’s Wall Shelf Cat Bed ($207) gives cats the high vantage point they love and features a comfortable and stylish curved design topped with a cushion.

“For us, animals are family members, so we wanted to make sure our two adopted kitties had a place where they’d feel safe and at home,” says Poland-based design duo Magdalena and Wojtek Zajdel.

Art Category Winner: Macrame Plant Hanger by Demi Macrame Designs

We’ve all seen macrame plant hangers galore, but this one is different. Demi Macrame Designs integrated a small planter pocket into the center of a woven wall-hanging art piece ($1,300), recommending vining plants like pothos that will trail down the front in dramatic fashion. “The color story is made possible by the hand-dyed cotton string that accompanies the natural cotton and raffia fibers.”

Finalist: Face Trays by Madriguera Workshop

Embodying hip, pared-down Millennial style, these ceramic Face Trays ($93.90) by Madriguera Workshop look cool as display pieces propped up on a shelf or in practical use as serving plates for parties, and they’re 100-percent handmade.

Entry: Fluted Club Chair by Wren and Cooper

It may not have been a winner, but the Fluted Club Chair by Wren and Cooper definitely still deserves a moment to shine. Solid wood, deeply fluted panels supported by a lacquered steel base with handmade solid brass-brushed feet form its body, which itself is topped with a couple of super comfy-looking cushions. To top it all off, the semi-circle arm rests made of saddle leather give the chair a graphic edge.

The post Shop Our Favorites from the Second Annual Etsy Design Awards first appeared on Dornob.

Bustler, a site dedicated to keeping design aficionados entertained and challenged at all times, keeps an ongoing database of design and architecture competitions. Got any building ideas you always wanted to see implemented in the real world? The pandemic is just the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, so use the site’s deadline motivation to sharpen your pencils and reset the password on your digital design software. While the specific competitions on here come and go, there are generally always challenges in categories related to architectural design, housing solutions, and animal habitats.

These are the competitions currently going on, but remember that they’re just a sample of what may be available later, so be sure to check back soon!

Cool Abu Dhabi Challenge

If you’ve got a passion for the city of Abu Dhabi, you might find it interesting to try designing outdoor cooling solutions for it. Seriously, how should its inhabitants deal with living in that kind of heat? Help the community enjoy outdoor activities more comfortably and work in some energy savings while you’re at it. Above all else, the prompt asks entrants to manage the challenges of the area by submitting a plan that addresses the “Heat Island Effect” through design. This one ends May 12th and will net the winner $100,000.

Mega Dunes Ecolodges — Abu Dhabi

Another challenge in Abu Dhabi centers around sustainable design and the protection of local wildlife. The Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) has committed to building a community of around 25 lodges that would allow for viewing of the once-thought-to-be-extinct Arabian Oryx. The competition brief explains: “Established in 2018, the ‘Sheikh Zayed Protected Areas Network’ consists of 13 terrestrial protected areas and covers over 15 percent of Abu Dhabi’s territory. The Qasar Al Sarab Protected Area covers 1,304 square kilometers in which the Arabian Oryx roams freely; and the Arabian Oryx Protected Area, which covers 5,975 square kilometers, is home to the largest population of Arabian Oryx in the world.”

Entrants to this contest must propose a way to incorporate the goals of the organization while protecting sensitive lands and keeping the best interest of the animals at the forefront of the design. The deadline is July 10th, and cash prizes range from anywhere between $500 and $3,000.

Legendary Bird Home 2020

If your idea of design is working with your hands and power tools, the Legendary Bird Home 2020 competition might be just the escape you need. Sponsored in coordination with Birdly, the goal is to inspire citizens of the world to be more proactive in protecting wildlife. And who knows? Yours could very well be the birdhouse design that wins, as long as it’s made with easy-to-source materials, environmentally sustainable (no plastic), and something that laymen woodworkers can put together at home. Get your registration in before May 14th, and you could win up to $3,000 and get your birdhouse design put into production.

HOME: Design Your Dream

From functional to fantastical, the HOME: Design Your Dream competition gives you an opportunity to design the home you’ve always wanted. Surrealism and imaginative expression are highly encouraged.

You can also use Bustler to help design a wine-tasting room, meditation cabins, or a home for a family in Africa, alleviate the London housing crisis, create a new airport terminal, or design a Food Academy logo, among tons of other options.

The site is frequently updated with new briefs, so clear your quarantine calendar and pick a project to start today.

The post Architecture and Design Competitions to Keep You Busy During Quarantine first appeared on Dornob.

One eye-catching installation not only perfectly embodied the “Autumn” theme for the event, but also brought together multiple organizations in its creation and sent out a powerful message about the environment at the same time.

The highlight at the DIFC’s “Gate Village” location is “Deciduous,” the first-ever 3D-printed art installation in the Middle East. That’s especially notable in a city that’s far from a stranger to the technology. In fact, Dubai has been recognized several times for its work towards more sustainable architecture with the use of 3D printing.

The large pavilion is meant to be a reflection of nature, with an abstract botanical form that loosely resembles tree branches rising from the earth. The goal is to encourage visitors to walk through the art and be inspired to reconnect with their natural surroundings.

The term “deciduous” refers to plants that shed their leaves annually, typically in the fall, thus lining up with the “Autumn” theme for this year’s Art Nights event as a whole. The tip of each curved “branch” is colored orange to further express the sensations of the season. In addition to emulating an abstract sense of nature, the piece also represents the conservation of nature with the use of three different materials chosen specifically with sustainability in mind.

The project came together through a collaboration of partners, starting with the design team at MEAN (Middle East Architecture Network). Lesly Lobo joined in to tackle the CNC birch plywood fabrication, and AI Build converted 30,000 upcycled water bottles into a usable polymer. Last but certaitly not least, BESIX 3D joined forces with local 3D printing service 3DVinci Creations to provide the concrete mold.

Computational modeling provided the framework for “Deciduous,” which allowed the design to marry with large-scale 3D printing processes quite smoothly. The entire installation was created off-site and moved into place in sections. No heavy equipment was required to move or put the piece together. Instead, it’s simply been fitted with joints for manageable assembly and disassembly.

Although “Deciduous” is both installation art and a statement for nature, it also represents the City of Dubai’s new goal to infuse similar additive manufacturing to 25 percent of all its new buildings by 2025. This year’s DIFC Art Nights also displayed the work of 21 other artists, as well as nine galleries. With over 7,000 visitors each year, the event continues to solidify the DIFC’s status as a reputable art center.

Peyman Al Awadhi, Senior Vice President and Official Spokesperson at DIFC Authority, says: “Art Nights is one of DIFC’s most popular and important lifestyle events of the year, representing a real celebration of the vibrant and cosmopolitan community in Dubai and the UAE. It is also a reflection of our commitment to the creative industry by delivering on Dubai’s Culture and Arts strategy to boost the Emirates’ position as a global cultural center and an incubator for talent. With so many spectacular art exhibitions, entertainment, and dining experiences for everyone, we look forward to welcoming visitors to the DIFC to experience this exciting cultural event.”

The post DIFC Art Nights’ “Deciduous” 3D-Printed Pavilion Made from Recycled Water Bottles first appeared on Dornob.

At the forefront is A³, a Silicon Valley subsidiary of Airbus, and their urban aircraft, the Vahana. The company chose to establish itself in Silicon Valley to take advantage of the speed of innovation and tolerance for risk-taking that exist in the area — factors that allow A³ to iterate much faster than its parent company.

During an interview at LA CoMotion last month themed “Highway in the Sky: Is Air Transport the Answer to Our Urban Congestion Woes?,” A³ CEO Rodin Lyasoff spoke in a subdued but positive tone about the high-minded activities going on at his company.

“We have a flying taxi,” he explained. “It’s a tilt wing, which means that it takes off and lands vertically, but in forward flight it’s essentially an airplane, which makes it a lot quieter and actually gives it a meaningful range with batteries.”

“Vahana”  is a VTOL aircraft, meaning it can hover, take off, and land vertically. It will take 90 seconds to hover up to the maximum cruising altitude of 1000 feet and transition to horizontal motion, then another 90 seconds to hover down to a particular destination. It is fully autonomous and features no manual controls. Eight electric rotors make Vahana aerodynamically superior to most helicopters.

“The project’s not even two years old, and our first full-sized, fully autonomous vehicles are already doing final testing before flight,” says Lyasoff. “And they will fly within the next couple of months.”

There are several other companies testing similar flying vehicles. For instance, Boeing recently acquired Aurora Flight Sciences Corp. and will provide UberAIR with 50 air taxis to test by 2020. Despite the competition, none offer both the VTOL flexibility and autonomy of Vahana. Plus, Vahana’s form language (and especially its canopy), make commuters want to use it over other services.

Of course, showing the public glossy renderings and videos is not as powerful as showing them a real-world demonstration. In São Paulo, A³ launched Voom, an air taxi mobile app that lets users hire a helicopter from one of six helipad locations throughout the city. According to its website, by using Voom, “you can travel from downtown to the airport for about the price of a private car.” Voom, which does not own or pilot any of the helicopters, simply connects people to certified operators in the area. It even offers a few ground transportation connections.

“We recognized that operations on the ground (and regulation) for some of these vehicles will be a challenge…this (Voom) gives us the footprint on the ground with current vehicles.”

It’s important to note that the biggest challenge to urban air mobility is not the technology, but the regulation. Lyasoff believes that figuring out how these aircrafts could operate while minimizing their energy consumption, cost, and noise footprint are questions that became easier to answer with the advent of the iPhone. He gave a brief description of how we got to flying taxis so quickly:

“Batteries finally got to good enough energy densities that you can actually do something useful with just batteries. You could go across an average metropolitan area. You could go 100 kilometers. Once that was possible, we could do distributed electric propulsion, which meant that you don’t have to push power to the propellers using mechanical gear boxes and shafts, and that all of a sudden makes them a lot lighter. And it allows you to have levels of redundancy that you couldn’t do before, which means that you can actually make them safer. And we could achieve that safety at a lower cost. But then they do require a degree of autonomy that traditional vehicles hadn’t required because they are so many actuators that a single pilot couldn’t directly control. A lot of that was enabled by the iPhone, because a lot of the sensors that we in the aviation industry developed, like accelerometers, GPS…(the iPhone) took them and commoditized them on a scale that was completed unprecedented in the aviation industry. I think that’s what actually miniaturized (batteries), lowered the cost, improved the performance, and enabled drones. And it really got people thinking about what’s possible and it became less of a black magic and more accessible.”

For now, Vahana needs to be tested so that regulators can approve of its use in urban environments. Luckily, it seems like A³ already has an idea of how to cross that looming threshold of bureaucracy.

“The main challenge is that regulators track innovation, but they track it with a latency that is prohibitive to deployment. You have to solve this very complex problem of implementing a policy, and in the case of airspace flight rules, you don’t really know how they are going to work until you deploy them.”

What A³ did was create Altiscope: a tool that allows regulators to simulate the experience of air taxis in real-time, both alongside and hovering below existing air traffic. It’s a way for the regulatory process to be enhanced and sped up while the actual vehicle is being tested.

“It will show you in real-time what your policy will look like when implemented. That’s our attempt to enable regulators to engage better with technology innovators and at the same time dry run their decisions before they deploy them to shorten that time and close that feedback loop.”

With Vahana about to undergo flight testing, and A³ helping regulators approve of urban air mobility, how long will it take for our traffic daydream to become a viable and safe option? Lyasoff is sure it won’t be long.

“I think in five or six years, it is feasible to have some of these vehicles fully certified and operating commercially. We can make them safe today, but we have really high standards for what it takes to make a safe airplane that we trust to sit inside and to fly overhead…I believe that Airbus is well positioned in this space, because there aren’t that many companies that know how to do that and know how to build a manufacturing process around that.”

The post How Autonomous Urban Air Mobility Became a Reality So Quickly first appeared on Dornob.

Every year, Burning Man artists bring their A-game to Black Rock City, the temporary community constructed on the playa just for the event. The annual festival has taken place since 1986, and it only seems to grow in scale with each new year.

With a theme of “Metamorphoses,” the 2019 display was as dazzling as ever.

The festival’s website reads: “This year’s theme is a celebration of change, and an exploration of uncertainty. As such it invites a consideration of time; not its circular nature, or its attendant ritual, but in this case the relentless flight of time’s arrow, and an embrace of the elusive now. Memory is fickle, and the future is uncertain. None of us knows what he or she will become, but we can seek to understand where we are at this point in our transformative trajectory, this fleeting chord on the strings of existence.”

Check out these 7 standout features, and find the rest on Instagram under the hashtag #burningman2019.

Temple of Direction — Geordie Van Der Bosch

Burning Man 2019 kicked off on August 28th with the burning of “Temple of Direction,” a large maze-like structure that aims to provide a vessel where people can take or leave whatever they need. “This typically involves death, grief, loss, and pain, but also remembrance and love.”

The Folly — Dave Keene

“The Folly represents an imaginary shantytown of funky climbable towers and old western storefronts, cobbled together from salvaged and reclaimed lumber from original San Francisco Victorians to be reborn in the desert, affording shelter, entertainment, and perspective to the community.”

Stone 27 — Benjamin Langholz

This fun interactive piece was fully climbable, daring attendees to “confront nature and yourself as you journey along 27 stones floating above the Playa. Step into an alternate reality where destructive energy has been harmonized with nature to create moments of physical and mental elevation. Stone 27 finds great inspiration in simplicity, minimalism, and math to create clearness and consciousness in a material world, inviting you to a moment of complete presence.”

Art Park — Olivia Steele

Each year, artist Olivia Steele creates a neon-centric piece. This year’s piece, “Art Park,” is a collection of eleven illuminated works made of hand-bent iron and filled with propane. The piece pictured reads “Wish you were here.”

I.L.Y — Dan Mountain

This 35-foot-tall animatronic arm by Dan Mountain can be manipulated with a system of cables and winches, so festival goers can use it to make larger-than-life gestures. The artist says it’s “meant to engage participants in various visual, physical, and emotional ways.”

Valyrian Steel — Henry Chang

This may not count as an “installation,” but art cars are some of the coolest features Burning Man has to offer, and artist Henry Chang definitely didn’t disappoint with his intricate metallic creation.

The Man — David Best

As the name suggests, Burning Man isn’t complete without setting an enormous effigy ablaze. David Best continued the tradition that began with festival founder Larry Harvey with “The Man.”

The post Our Favorite Installations from Burning Man 2019 first appeared on Dornob.