At last, the pandemic has receded just enough for in-person events to be safely held once more, and there’s never been a better excuse to hit up the best architecture and design festivals near you. This October, international architects, designers, artists and innovators are coming together in cities around the world to present exciting new concepts and discuss how their work can help shape the future. Check out details on Archtober in New York City, Seoul Design 2022, Dutch Design Week, and more.

Archtober — New York, United States

October 1st – 31st

New York City’s architecture festival returns for its 12th year, offering lectures, exhibitions spread across the city, and “Building the Day,” a series of architect-led tours. This year, Archtober is also celebrating the reopening of the city and the ability to hold events in person. Standouts include “Grand Designs: Architecture at Green-Wood,” exploring the Green-Wood cemetery’s monuments and mausoleums; “Pumpkitecture,” a pumpkin carving competition among architects; “Border Crossings: Architecture and Migration in the Americas,” a lecture series by the CCNY Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; and The Museum of Modern Art’s “Life Between Buildings,” an exploration of how artists have engaged the city’s interstitial spaces.

Tallinn Architecture Biennale — Estonia

September 7th – November 20th

With the theme “Edible; Or, the Architecture of Metabolism,” the 6th Tallinn Architectural Biennale (TAB) invites audiences to reflect on the relationships between food and architecture, and to reimagine how our planet’s food systems could work with architecture’s capacity to perform metabolic processes. Held at the Museum of Estonian Architecture, the festival will include five main events: a Curatorial Exhibition, a two-day Symposium, an Installation Program, and an International Architecture Schools’ Exhibition.

10th Architecture Biennale Rotterdam — The Netherlands

September 22nd – November 13th

Exploring the theme “It’s About Time,” the 10th edition of the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam will be presented a former gas storage facility in the city’s western harbor area. “It’s About Time alludes to the increasing pressure of time: if we are to counteract the consequences of climate change, we must act quickly! The title also focuses on time and speed as crucial factors in the working processes of architecture and spatial design. This way, the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam draws attention to social themes: It’s About Time calls on the profession to work effectively on pressing socioecological issues.”

Seoul Design 2022 — South Korea

October 19th – November 2nd

Organized by the Seoul Design Foundation and set at Zaha Hadid Architects’ Dongdaemun Design Plaza, this design event will present exhibitions, design forums, and a design market offering a global platform to both rising star designers and established international designers to discuss the present and future of design.

Biennale Interieur 2022 — Belgium

October 20th – 24th

The 27th edition of the international design platform Biennale Interior will be held at Kortrijk in Belgium, providing a s pace where rising talent and established brands can mix, and where visitors can be inspired. The event description reads: “In a busy, ever-changing world, INTERIEUR makes a statement by boldly embracing imaginative quality, local connections, and long-lasting relationships. Biennale Interieur brings brands and talent together, exploring meaningful answers in the field of design and interior, life, work and leisure environments.”

Designart Tokyo 2022 — Japan

October 21st – 30th

Presenting art, design, interior design and fashion, Designart Tokyo will explore the theme of “Together” and include a new “green innovation” exhibition bringing together furniture and art by young designers, artists, and manufacturers based on the event’s “sustainability x technology” concept.

Dutch Design Week 2022 — Holland

October 22nd – 30th

The theme of this year’s Dutch Design Week is “Get Set,” highlighting a shift in mentality from preparation to action. The largest design event in Northern Europe will bring together over 2,600 designers to showcase the latest innovations through exhibitions, networking events, lectures, award ceremonies, and debates. Held across various venues in Eindhoven, DDW aims to show how designers around the world are helping to shape a positive future. More than 350,000 visitors are expected.

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Burning Man came back in a big way after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus. Not only did this year’s event in remote Black Rock City, Nevada draw an incredible 80,000 attendees and end with an epic eight-hour traffic jam, it also featured a record 88 official art installations. This year’s theme was “Waking Dreams,” aimed at “explor[ing] the transformative power of dreams, both literal and figurative, and celebrat[ing] the dreamers who channel this potent energy in eye-opening, often surrealistic, sometimes life-changing ways,” according to the festival’s organizers.

Here are 6 of our favorite works of art from Burning Man 2022:

Empyrean Temple

Every year, one monumental art installation is set ablaze along with the Burning Man effigy. This year, it was “Empyrean Temple” by Laurence Renzo Verbeck and Sylvia Adrienne Lisse, an architectural structure that’s revealed to be a compass rose beacon in the shape of an eight-pointed star when viewed from above. The installation represents “the region just beyond our physical realm that is the highest center of wisdom, and the source of energy-consciousness,” according to the artists. Visitors passed through portal gates and into the “multiverse” of the temple, where numerous navigational choices offer different experiences.

Paradisium

Made of reclaimed lumber and trees burned in the CZU Lighting Complex fire in Santa Cruz, an interactive grove of geometric trees sprouts out of the sand. “Paradisium” by Dave Keane and Folly Builders of San Francisco creates a play of shadows across the desert floor and offers climbable structures and walkways among the canopies. The artists explain that “Paradisium is a grove made out of trees, long fallen, that remind us of the forest’s beauty and our interconnectedness and interdependence with nature, while also fostering a sense of community and an investment in our shared future.”

Gaia

This colossal sculpture by Marco Cochrane and Julia Whitelaw measured 40 feet by 12 feet and was made out of stainless steel rods based on a “flower of life” pattern and covered in stainless steel mesh with LED lighting effects.

“Inspired by and in honor of nurturing energy… mother energy… love and connection: and the joy we feel when we act on the imperative to take care of each other and our planet,” the artists explain. “Julia’s vision for Gaia was inspired by the joy she and her children experienced those times when, as a young mother, she took her children to the beach and watched as they ran, jumped, dug, built castles, bickered, buried each other, and made new friends, and by her own memories of being that child.”

The Museum of No Spectators

Architect John Marx and artist J Abinthia Vermut created this spectacular open-air art gallery challenging the “elitist” nature of typical galleries. The “radically inclusive and interactive museum space” creates a space for everyone to make art and become an exhibiting artist. Located on the edge of Black Rock City, the unusual shaped structure invited guests to create their own art on the spot, contributing directly without gatekeeping.

The artists add: “When participants exit, they find themselves on a stage, the Theater of the Participant, which opens you back up to the vast potential of the Playa and the World beyond. This is the stepping-stone to becoming the change you want to make in the world…”

Catharsis

Point of View

A collaboration between Serge Beaulieu and Yelena Filipchuck, this piece is inspired by embroidery patterns from Filipchuk’s birthplace, Ukraine. “It is not possible for us to think of this year without thinking of her homeland and wanting to represent the beauty and spirit of Ukraine while working through the emotions of this challenging time in our artwork,” the artists explain.

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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.

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The Playground

Designed by architectural firm architensions, “The Playground” is a conglomeration of arched towers, connecting frames, mirrored walls, and ground-level benches and piazzas. The colorful towers reach up 56 feet into the air, creating much-needed shade for festival-goers. Architects Alessandro Orsini and Nick Roseboro, from Italy and Brooklyn, respectively, intended for their art to create connections.

Says Orsini, “It’s a place to gather and a place where we hope that our differences will be at ease.”

Buoyed

In this installation, three 36-foot-tall buoys appear to float over a grassy surface, each incorporating a whimsical mix of design elements. “I needed to build something optimistic,” explains Dutch designer Kiki Van Eijk, adding that “My buoys are joyful totems that metaphorically prevent you from sinking when we come together.” The blue buoy is topped by a Dutch-style windmill, the white one has a neck like Seattle’s space needle and sports a pair of butterfly wings, and the green buoy is capped with a mosque-like dome and mini palm tree.

Circular Dimensions x Microscape

Exploring the significance of water in the desert, Coachella Valley-native artist Christopher Cichocki used 25,000 feet of PVC pipe to create a 50-foot-tall shell-shaped pavilion with three tunnel walkways. Inside the walkways, highly magnified images of barnacles, salt, water, and algae cover the walls, while a soundscape of original musical compositions fills the ears of visitors.

“My art calls attention to the natural world and industrial mutation. This I want to reflect upon the permanence of change and transience, where visual and aural elements transform between levels of perception,” Cichocki says. “Are we looking through the microscope or the telescope? I find these elemental perceptions become indistinguishable at times.”

Cocoon (B.K.F.+H300)

The designers at the Argentinian firm Estudio Normal used their installation to honor the iconic B.K.F. Chair that was initially conceived in Buenos Aires in 1938 by designers Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan, and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy. Over time, the origin story of the now ubiquitous sling-back chair has been obscured. “For us, it’s very important because it’s going back to the place where everything happened and the chair became very popular,” says Estudio Normal’s Martin Huberman. “But at the same time, it got copied and the original names behind it vanished, which were two Argentinian architects and one from Catalonia, Spain.” The studio combined 400 reproductions of the B.K.F. chair to create a nine-story white cocoon to be appreciated in 360 degrees.

Mutts

When brainstorming ideas for her art, Romanian architect Oana Stănescu pondered on the unconditional love and support of her dog, Perry. She constructed three dog outlines in primary colored steel, the tallest of which stands 18 feet high. The insides are stuffed full of indigenous greenery in a celebration of nature.

La Guardiana

A 30-foot-tall statue of a woman topped with horns and a club in her hands towered over Coachella as a guardian looking out for the world’s refugee populations. The sculpture, created by LosDos (husband-and-wife Ramon and Christian Cardenas), was based on previous artwork made in collaboration with the band Rage Against the Machine.

“We definitely want to send a message of solidarity for the refugee and migrant communities with what’s happening every day and all around the world due to many different things,” says Ramon Cardenas.

Spectra

“Spectra” by UK-based design studio NEWSUBSTANCE has been in place at the Coachella festival since 2018. By day, the visitors can climb the spiral tower’s seven stories to get a different colored view of the event from every floor. By night, LED lights illuminate the structure, leading guest up to the top for a full bird’s-eye view.

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“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.

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And Studio Drift was no exception. The Amsterdam-based art studio is well-known for its immersive installations that incorporate performance art, experiential sculptures, and kinetic, technical works that “[bring] people, space, and nature on to the same frequency.” The avant garde studio created three spectacular drone shows at the unofficial festival, specifically designed to bring the Burning Man experience to the masses.

Dubbed “Drone Stories,” the shape-shifting light installations formed a burning man, a flock of starlings, and a mirrored orb, all meant to “create meaningful performances to connect people” in the void created by Burning Man’s official cancellation. Each iteration consisted of hundreds of drones, brightly hued, shifting, and swirling above the heads of those gathered in the Black Rock Desert.

Ralph Nauta, the founder of Studio Drift, and Lucas van Oostrum, the founder of Drone Stories, wanted to remind the gathered crowd of past Burning Man festivals by creating “a collection of memories” with their assembled drones. The installations were carefully planned from start to finish, beginning with pen and paper sketches and ending with a translation to custom drone software — itself a complicated process that also required the designers to tinker with otherworldly concepts like speed, flight path, and light power. Indeed, the duo jumped at the opportunity to turn their ideas into living art. As they explained to Dezeen in a recent interview, “We are using this technology to create artistic expression, and we want to push the boundaries of what is possible.”

Each night of the festival brought a new design. Friday was “an homage to the artworks that have defined Burning Man,” including a nod to BIG’s Orb from the 2018 festival. Other formations included a flock of birds dubbed “Franchise Freedom,” which was first presented by the studio at Design Miami/. Pre-programmed by the designers, the “swarm algorithm” was eerily appropriate at Renegade Man, as it was meant to symbolize “the struggle of the individual towards the group…a fitting piece in COVID time,” according to Nauta and van Oostrum.

Dramatically, the birds then transformed into a single man, triumphantly raising his arms into the air, “ready to embrace [his] fellow humans.” The figure then poetically “burns” at the end, a nod to Burning Man’s annual tradition of ending the festival with a burning figure.

The spectacular drone installations were ultimately meant to fill an artistic void created by the cancelation of the popular Burning Man festival for the second year in a row. Though the festival has been presented virtually, many feel the virtual setting fails to represent the bonhomie and artistic connections that make Burning Man so attractive to creatives everywhere. Still, with their triumphant installations, Studio Drift managed to capture the essence of Burning Man at this year’s unofficial festival through their distinctive, technically savvy drones bursting with color — a perfect aerial representation of the festival’s contributions to art and creative expression.

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We’ve rounded up some of our favorite pieces from this year’s event to give you a glimpse of the excitement taking place at the festival of furniture:

Oasi Kitchen

On display at the Rho Fiera Milano exhibit, this creative free-standing kitchen by ARAN Cucine and Stefano Boeri Architetti has a live lemon tree at its center. The self-contained kitchenette was designed to foster both sustainability and sociality. “As you grow the tree will grow itself, like a family, until the kitchen turns into something new, following the dynamism of the people linked together under its branches,” the company says. Cooking scraps can be composted right on site for the tree’s fertilization needs, and an irrigation system is integrated into the kitchen for watering. “Oasi” also features a cooktop, oven, sink, Corian countertops, extendable tables for dining, and wood cabinets for storage made from reclaimed wood from the Venice lagoon.

Shaped by Fire

Artist/designer Katerina Krotenko has created a unique collection of containers called “Shaped by Fire,” forged using a 1960s Finnish wood imprint technique. The glass is set aflame while positioned between two hollowed-out pieces of already-burnt firewood. The results are breathtaking, with stunning organic textures and patterns from top to bottom.

Design by Nature

From Swedish studio Front and Italian brand Moroso comes a new line of furniture titled Design by Nature, comprised of sofas that resemble natural forms from the outdoors. “We wanted the pieces to create the feeling that someone had lifted a whole glade from a forest with a gigantic shovel and moved it to a home,” says Sofia Lagerkvist, co-founder of Front. And it appears they were extremely successful in that goal, with their amorphous mossy seating blending perfectly into the forest from a distance. Another settee mirrors a boulder on the seashore, complete with cushioned “mussels” attached on top.

Pan

These playful coat racks by Sapiens Design are made entirely from salvaged steel. Designer Alessandro Mattia used industrial laser processors to cut geometric shapes all over the panels, infusing them with an organic essence inspired by Pan, the ancient Greek deity of the forests. The steel sheets are sized at different heights and protrude at unique angles, too, making for a distinctive mix of furniture and art in one.

Natural Capital

In addition to furniture and other interior design elements, Milan Design Week includes original art installed around the city. One of the coolest this year is an installation in the Brera Botanical Garden called “Natural Capital” by energy company Eni and Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA). In an attempt to educate visitors about the essential role of plants in providing us with oxygen, data bubbles have been placed over a variety of photosynthesizing species that display just how much CO2 each removes from the air. The bubbles range in size based on the amount of carbon dioxide stored by each plant and are juxtaposed with a giant sphere on the ground, demonstrating how much the average human breathes out each year.

If you’re hungry for more of Milan Design Week, you can check out the event’s website for updates and product details.

The post Our Favorite Finds from Milan Design Week 2021 first appeared on Dornob.

“The project is driven less by a single vision and more by shared interest, a belief in Burning Man culture and community, and mutual curiosity.” Chip Conley, one of the major contributors and early leaders in the project, summarized the organization’s vision as a question rather than an answer: ‘What happens when Burners are invited to co-create a space beyond the playa?’”

The Burning Man Project bought the expansive wetland property in Northern Nevada back in 2016 and partnered with Seattle-based Land Art Generator Initiative to create the LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch design challenge, inviting the public to come up with regenerative concepts for the new development.

An official LAGI statement explains: “Teams were asked to integrate sustainable systems for energy, water, food, shelter, and waste management into works of art in the landscape. The objective is to build the foundational infrastructure for Fly Ranch, support Burning Man Project’s 2030 sustainability goals, and engage a global audience to work together towards systemic transformation, and serve as an inspiration for the developing field of regenerative design.”

The land is pretty special in its own right, hosting Fly Geyser, hot springs, three reservoirs, animals, and more than 100 types of plants. To develop it responsibly, organizers are seeking creative solutions for power, water, food, shelter, and regeneration (i.e. waste disposal). Burning Man Project and LAGI will provide grants to their top 10 design teams to build functional prototypes on site. Those 10 projects, along with the other 42 shortlisted proposals, can be viewed on the LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch website.

The winning projects include “Lodgers,” a series of symbiotic structures made of natural materials that double as homes for wildlife; “Nexus,” a pavilion exploring the design capabilities of a sustainable alternative to concrete; “SEED Symbiotic Coevolution,” a mostly earth-sheltered development incorporating solar, geothermal, passive cooling, composting, greenhouses, and more; “The Source,” a beautiful rammed earth spiral housing a water and energy collector; “Ripple,” a bio-ceramic dome in the center of a permaculture garden, and more.

Ranging from low to high-tech, some projects incorporate ancient methods and materials while others explore exciting new ideas and components. Each one is worth looking at in depth, whether you’re one of the 70,000-odd Burners with a vested interest in Fly Ranch or just a curious onlooker. It’s always cool to see creative concepts for sustainable living that feel like they could actually become a reality soon, and it’ll be really interesting to see what the chosen projects look like after they’re all built.

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According to the Design Miami website, this year’s “America(s)” theme brought in a range of “iconic designs and works by lesser-known historical figures” and “a multiplicity of contemporary voices” aimed at presenting “an expanded and more complex, diverse, and inclusive portrait of collectible design in, of, and about America.”

From dazzling to dynamic, the following highlighted works represent the eclectic range of pieces that delighted viewers in the Magic City:

Broom Thing

In collaboration with Berea College Student Craft, famed industrial designer Stephen Burks produced a 360-degree rainbow broom. Constructed from broomcorn and handles and measuring almost four feet in diameter, the suspended burst of bristles is an extension of Burks’ endeavor to use traditional artisanal techniques to help craft traditions survive the test of time. The Broom Thing is available for $4,000 from the Design Miami shop, and all proceeds benefit students in financial hardship.

Dreaming with Lions

Commissioned by Faena Arts, this outdoor sculpture by Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea is a tribute to Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Assembled in the sand facing the Faena Hotel, the 62-foot-wide coliseum uses folded red and white beach towels laid strategically on shelves to spell out phrases from the classic novel. It reads: “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is,” and “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

“We are facing one of the biggest challenges ever experienced in our lifetime,” said Arrechea. “I wanted to reflect on this and inspire, reminding the viewer of humankind’s resilience and strength of spirit in these troubling times.”

Curiosity Cloud

Housed in Miami’s historic Moore Building, Curiosity Cloud is a chandelier-like installation spotlighting multi-colored butterflies encased in 22 hanging bulbs of various sizes. The mechanical insects individually and randomly awaken, flitting around inside their cages for a few moments. Conceived by Austrian firm mischer’traxler, Curiosity is “a reflection on the relationship between man and nature, the influence of human activity on the natural world, and the importance of biodiversity.”

Island Lamp

Also in the Moore Building, Stuart Haygarth’s lamp, titled “Island,” works well as a symbol of 2020 even though it was fabricated almost a decade earlier. Comprising a flock of knickknacky birds fitted tightly together at the base, the lamp casts a soft glow for each cramped but physically separated fowl. The birds stand on their own island of space without having room to move anywhere else on the larger reef.

Pink Pirarucu Chair

Created by the Campana Brothers of Brazil, this updated version of the Pirarucu chair is an embodiment of an Amazonian sea creature. Covered in scales chipped out of creamy leather and held up by bamboo legs, it is also aptly labeled with a descriptor tag of “mermaid mythology.”

Tea Cart

The inclusion of Jorge Zalszupin’s mid-century Tea Cart showcased more Brazilian art. The iconic composition was inspired by the 1950s baby carriages in fashion in Poland, where the artist was born. The removable tray sits atop the sleek lines of a brass and wood form. The oversized wheels balance the geometric shapes of the base, providing an overall sense of whimsy.

The Quilt

German ceramic designer Corinna Petra Friedrich exhibited several new works, including her lively vase called “The Quilt.” The hand-made vessel was made by laying African fabric-inspired prints onto slabs of wet clay and cutting them into pieces for assembly once they dried.

Conscious Actions

Erected in the Miami Design District, Conscious Actions is the brainchild of Chilean studio Good Things To People. The open-air structure incorporates three adult-sized swings that cause red slats overhead to ripple in a wave-like motion when in use. After being asked to reflect on “both the energy that we consume and the energy that we contribute back to the world,” CT2P co-founder Guillermo A Parada said the project “invites users to enjoy the care-free fun of childhood again, while also being reminded of the direct impact every action has on our environment and our communities.”

While some of Art Week 2020 has already been dismantled or returned, many of the works can still be viewed online at Design Miami/Podium 2020’s website.

The post Design Miami and Art Week 2020 Blends Impressions of America and the Global Pandemic first appeared on Dornob.

Modern interpretations that do justice to the spirit of the original Victorian glasshouse maintain some of those integral features with updated designs. One such structure now stands outside the International Quarter London (IQL), reviving an old neighborhood tradition with an interesting new silhouette. Created by London-based architecture practice Studio Weave and supported by Lendlease and LCR, The Hothouse is both a functional glasshouse and a statement about climate change.

The Hothouse is London Design Week’s Landmark Project of 2020, opening just in time for the London Design Festival that took place from September 12th to 20th, 2020. Set to remain in place for a full year, the glasshouse features a garden designed by Tom Massey, planted with a vast array of food crops from all over the world, including guava, gourd, chia seed, pomegranate, quinoa, mango, sweet potato, lemon, sugarcane, loquat, and more. Each of these tropical varieties was chosen for a symbolic reason: namely, scientists say it could get hot enough in the UK to grow them all outside by 2050.

“IQL is a new neighborhood in the heart of Stratford and on the doorstep of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,” reads the London Design Festival website. “The area has a rich tradition for growing under glass and was historically once dominated by a 20-mile stretch of greenhouses along the Lee Valley corridor. In the 1930s, there were more than 1,300 acres of greenhouses facilitating the production of ornamental plants and flowers, as well as exotic fruits at the time such as grapes and cucumbers.”

“The installation seeks to demonstrate the effects of climate change whilst also celebrating the beauty of plants and humans’ adaptability, ingenuity, and ability to overcome problems and create safe and stable growing environments for plants from all over the world. By 2050, scientists predict that air quality levels could be five times worse, crop yields could decrease by 30 percent, and temperatures could be rising towards a 4°C increase globally by the end of the century. We have already experienced over 1°C temperature increase since pre-industrial times, and anything over 2°C could have catastrophic consequences for people and the natural world. It is critical we collectively take urgent action today to avoid further heating of the Earth.”

As one of the only major events not cancelled in 2020, the London Design Festival drew thousands of visitors, gaining a lot of visibility for the project. The idea that England could soon be too hot to need glasshouses is strange and disturbing: at once a vivid illustration of the real effects we could start seeing very soon and the urgent need to take action.

The post A Victorian-Style Greenhouse Goes Modern for London’s Design Festival first appeared on Dornob.

LumiCharge not only lights up our lives brilliantly and without fail, it also understands our desire to reduce the size of our ecological footprint. The company’s newest line was introduced at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and we were lucky enough to get a closer look at all the new features.

This newest batch of LumiCharge products takes all the charging capabilities we could ever need and packs them into compact fixtures and gadgets that solve multiple solutions while occupying minimal space. These are just a few of our favorites:

LumiCharge LD

If you’ve ever gazed at a big display of LumiCharge’s multi-use desk fixtures and wished they could be combined to meet all your needs in a smaller space, you’re in luck: that vision has finally come to fruition. The LumiCharge LD has an amazing LED lamp as its base of operations and offers a host of enchanting colors and brightness levels. As you enjoy the light show, you’ll also discover the fixture’s built-in charging station, which includes everything you need to keep all your personal electronics ready to perform at optimum levels 24/7: a USB-C, Micro USB, and Lightning charging dock, as well as a 10 W wireless charger. A clock display with a backlight that adjusts to your needs and a Bluetooth speaker pack the lamp with even more of a punch, with voice control capabilities through Google Assistant of Alexa sealing the deal. And all for under $100!

LumiCharge T2W

Before you venture out into this brave new decade, you have to be sure you know all the details. The LumiCharge T2W not only guides the way with a quality LED desk lamp, it also gives you all the details of your day including the date, time, and temperature settings. Even better, it adjusts for daylight savings time all on its own. The lamp gives you a choice of how you see your surroundings, too, with options for Soft White, Bright White, and Soft Yellow (each of which can be adjusted to your preferred level of brightness). There’s also a built-in Bluetooth speaker to surround you with sound to fit your mood, and you can use Alexa or Google voice features to find your favorite tunes instantaneously. Usually $89.99, the T2W is currently on sale for $79.99 through CES.

Lumi/UniDock

Nothing is more frustrating than a dead phone. Even though you know it needs to be charged, the task is often overlooked as the daily challenges of life pop up one after another — but the updated version of the Lumi/UniDock makes it easier than ever before. First of all, you don’t ever have to remove the case for charging. A simple dial lets you choose the type of cable you need to charge, be it iPhone, Samsung, Google, Type C, or Micro USB. For that reason, smaller tablets can also be charged with the Lumi/UniDock. There’s even an extra USB port here so you can charge more than one device at a time, including your smartwatch, MP3 player, iPad, and more. The Lumi/UniDock is also wonderfully compact and complements any decor scheme, so you can use it at work or at home with confidence and ease. And all this peace of mind you’ll enjoy by always being charged is only $49.99.

The post LumiCharge LED Lamps Light Up CES 2020 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.

Champion’s Burning Man art installation, called “Homage au Dalí,” was a meticulous sculptural reproduction of Salvador Dalí’s painting “Los Elefantes,” which features two elephants with long, slender legs. Champion’s replica was enclosed in an outsized, elaborate picture frame with Dalí’s iconic signature in the upper righthand corner. When complete, Champion’s elephants would have stood 32 feet tall and sported saddles decked out in LED lights.

A Futile Rescue Attempt

Champion had been creating his statues over the last 10 months, so he was understandably frantic to recover them from the thief. He even ran after the departing truck, grasping the roof rack above the driver’s head and shouting, “Don’t do this! Don’t do this!” After being dragged for two blocks, the robber slammed on the brakes, throwing Champion to the ground before speeding off into the night.

Champion’s “Murder” Sensation

Champion started attending Burning Man a decade ago. In 2016, he decided to present his first solo art piece at the festival. “Murder” was the name of that installation, which featured five crows made from resin. Champion later recreated the gigantic birds in bronze for presentation at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

The inspiration for “Murder” came from a fondness for crows passed on to him by his grandmother, who herself had a pet crow when he was five years old. Spectators were filled with awe when it was unveiled at the festival, as the desert setting perspective made the sculptures look small when viewed from a distance and grow in size to over 10 feet as they came closer to them.

Catching the Culprit

Champion’s body and spirit were too injured to attend this year’s festival. After being dragged for two blocks whilst clinging to his stolen truck, he decided to sit out this year’s Burning Man celebration. His community has since rallied to find his truck, posting pictures of both it and the artwork on the street and social media.

“I poured my heart and soul into this,” Champion told a reporter. “It was all brutally taken away in an instant. I’m pretty much lost right now.” His truck was previously stolen in 2018 and later recovered, but this latest incident has Champion anxious to sell his studio and home and move out of Oakland.

The robbery took place around 1 AM on Sunday, August 18th at the intersection of 32nd and Hannah Streets in West Oakland. The stolen truck is a 2006 Silver Ford F-250 with license plate 8E11419. Make sure to contact the Oakland Police Department with any information you might have to help bring Champion’s elephants home.

The post Burning Man Dalí Replicas Stolen in Oakland Truck Heist first appeared on Dornob.

Planned for December 4th – 6th at RAI Amsterdam, INSIDE is the sister event to the celebrated World Architecture Festival, which tends to get a lot more media coverage. But aren’t the insides of buildings often just as interesting as the exteriors?

If you’re curious about emerging interior design trends, want to see how the latest cutting-edge materials are being used, or you’re just craving some inspiration for your own spaces, INSIDE is a great place to start.

The three-day festival attracts entrants from some of the biggest names in architecture and design along with exciting new players, and all of the variety to be found among the selections is truly dazzling to behold. It’s also interesting to see where most of these designs are popping up, and which firms are repeatedly nominated for multiple projects.

INSIDE just revealed its awards shortlist for 2019, which includes 543 projects from 70 different countries. In December, a single overall winner will be chosen, but that’s still a few months away. For now, let’s just revel in all of the beauty to be found in each of nine major categories: retail, residential, offices, hotels, health and education, display, creative re-use, civic culture and transport, and bars and restaurants.

Just like last year, a major recurring theme among all entries — not just those in the Creative Reuse category — is sustainability, pointing to what could be a lasting movement rather than a temporary trend. Hopefully that means we’ll see an even greater focus on themes like green materials and recyclability in new architectural and design projects of all sorts in the months to come.

Here are just a few standouts from each category. To see the rest, head to InsideFestival.com, where you can also find a selection of exclusive content like podcasts, features, and project presentations from previous years.

Karavanstop Café — One Bite Design Studio, Lantau, Hong Kong — Bars and Restaurants

Bedok Public Library — ONG&ONG, Singapore — Civic Culture and Transport

LocHal Library — Mecanoo architecten, Tilburg, Netherlands — Creative Reuse

SHENZHEN CINE SKY CINEMA — One Plus Partnership, Shenzhen, China — Civic Culture and Transport

Shenzhen-HongKong International Center — S.U.N DESIGN INC., China — Display

The University of South Australia Cancer Research Institute — SPA and BVN, Adelaide, Australia — Health and Education

Dream and Maze, The Other Place. Guilin Litopia — Studio 10, Guilin, China — Hotels

B:Hive, Smales Farm — BVN in association with Jasmax, Auckland, New Zealand — Offices

Tahoe — PAL Design Group, Hong Kong, China — Offices

Original Villa — VBD Creative Design Center, Hangzhou, China — Residential

Banu Flagship Restaurant — Studio Link-Arc + Kane A|UD, Zhengzhou, China — Bars and Restaurants

Gift Shops of National Museum of Qatar — Koichi Takada Architects, Doha, Qatar — Retail

The post INSIDE: Check Out the Shortlist for the World Festival of Interiors 2019 first appeared on Dornob.

“Through our design projects, we had opportunities working with some interesting material manufactures in Japan,” explains Masa Kaneko, the firm’s Founder and Head Interior Designer. The IPPIN Project is just one of their most recent endeavors, giving Japanese makers of furniture and home decor an outlet to sell their products abroad.

“Their products were very high quality and looked very attractive to us, and they also intended to introduce [them] internationally, but they couldn’t find any reps who [understood] their products and interior design,” Kaneko recalls. “Thinking about our background and what we can contribute to our origin, based in [the] USA, we believe that IPPIN Project is one of the ways to [contribute] to our own culture and the next generation.”

That contribution is facilitated by the appreciation for Japanese design that has grown in the West over the last several decades. As interest in Japanese design has increased, Japan has also gained an appreciation for styles outside of their country. “Japanese culture is very much influenced by Western culture,” says Kaneko, “but they still have their own way to live with and it makes Japanese design [that much] more interesting.” What he says is true, too — at the turn of the 20th century, it was fairly easy to distinguish between different styles of design and architecture. Today, globalization has blurred the lines a little, leading to influences between some cultures in everything from food to fashion.

“The sense of beauty for Japanese people or Japanese culture itself is basically to be very minimal and modern, less decorative,” Kaneko describes. This was on full display in May 2019 at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York. A repeat visitor at the event, IPPIN Project presents “Japanese Design for Fine Living” for design consultants and members of the public interested in sourcing products for their upcoming projects. There, they get a sense of the needs of the global design market. Even better, the IPPIN Project booth was the first one that made us stop at the ICFF, just after glancing the intricacy of its Kumiko Ramma Screen.

“The products we carry from Japan are not mass products,” explains Kaneko. “The fabrication is limited and only able to be made by skilled artisans.” Through IPPIN Project, CRAFITS uses their understanding of the American interior design market to act as the liaison between manufacturers in Japan and U.S. designers or clients. “There is a lot of alternation of ideas and design materials in the world, so we [hope] we can be one-of-a-kind Japanese Materials and Product Library for non-Japanese customers.”

The post IPPIN Project: A New Source of Japanese Fine Living first appeared on Dornob.

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.