The 15 pieces include multiple Burberry logo t-shirts, a Minecraft logo jacquard scarf, a black cotton gabardine car coat, a Burberry logo baseball cap, a square cotton scarf, a hoodie, a bucket hat, jogging pants, and sweatshirts. The final item in the collection (and perhaps its most notable) is a version of Burberry’s classic Waterloo trench coat featuring a pixelated white Burberry x Minecraft logo on the back.

The collection’s laid-back loungewear vibe merges the distinctive styles of the two brands, with comfort being the main priority. Price tags are in the usual Burberry territory of $250 to $2,990. The Burberry x Minecraft collection can be purchased online and in select stores in New York, Shenzhen, London, Tokyo, Seoul, Taiwan, and Bangkok.

Each real, physical garment has a digital counterpart in the game. Avatars wearing the collection get the chance to complete a series of challenges within four realms, like navigating a maze covered in Burberry’s signature pattern. The game itself is downloadable for free as an add-on adventure for the Minecraft game.

The official Minecraft website explains that “The new, free DLC, Burberry: Freedom to Go Beyond, reflects Burberry and Minecraft’s appreciation of the wonder of nature. As the player, you venture into an alternate reality version of London taken over by a malevolent entity called the Nexus. Once a place blooming with foliage and gentle animals, this land has been drained of color and life. Its inhabitants have been scattered to the four realms of air, water, fire, and earth, and your quest is to restore the spirit of the wild by traveling to each realm, reviving its Nature Guardian, and freeing the animals trapped there.”

“On your adventure, you’ll encounter creative references to the Burberry brand’s universe – including an Equestrian Knight character, Thomas Burberry Monogram maze, and a range of members from the Burberry animal kingdom, each bestowed with mystical powers.”

The pairing of Burberry and Minecraft may seem a little strange, but we can probably expect a lot more mixing of traditionally fusty fashion brands and digital technologies in the near future. Balenciaga already designed skins for the game Fortnite, and Gucci recently released the Gucci: Good Game collection celebrating the world of gaming through rainbow-hued iridescent apparel and accessories.

Burberry’s Director for Channel Innovation Phillip Hennche says he knows the collaboration is a bit unexpected. But Burberry sees digital crossover as the way of the future and wanted to work with one of the largest, most beloved games, hence the Minecraft choice.

“Gaming is a super important channel for us in terms of how we engage our customer,” Hennche told Vogue Business. “We know that it’s a very important passion point for our target markets and consumers. We know that they are there, they are present, and they’re very active in that community.”

The post Burberry Debuts Digital Clothing Collection for Minecraft first appeared on Dornob.

The unnamed singer purchased a three-bedroom apartment in a 25-story Foster + Partners complex on the banks of the River Thames, and though it had amazing views, it was basically a blank slate full of way too many beige surfaces. He wanted its interiors to be more engaging than the city outside, a perfect setting for parties full of movers and shakers. It also had to be substantially different from his other home, a converted barn in the countryside.

The artwork, itself a tight closeup on Bowie’s face, is a collage-style portrait with a faceted geometric effect. Its soft tones of blue, gold, and the dark red shock of hair provided the mood and the base palette for the space. Though the inspiration is retro, the designers still wanted the apartment to feel contemporary, so they started by ripping out the old wood floors and replacing them with marmoleum, an eco-friendly natural material that’s easy to clean. This new surface is covered in a custom pattern, with black and pale blue shapes dancing across an off-white background.

“The open and adventurous nature of the brief allowed for a bold use of color and form,” the designers explain. “Sculptural, flowing shapes echo the curved lines of the architecture, while bespoke-made pieces such as a coral-colored drinks cabinet add moments of surprise. The lively design vernacular carries through the whole apartment, including a glittering sequined toilet (complete with disco ball) that plays David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ on a loop.”

With a bathroom as eccentric as that, the rest of the apartment had to have its own elements of delight. They come in the form of unexpected shapes and colors, like the triangular bookshelves in the living room, a graphic rug, and new kitchen tiles in a bold grid pattern. In fact, bold geometric patterns are virtually everywhere in the home, including the wallpaper, curtains, and headboards in the bedrooms, a series of custom black-and-white closet doors, and additional wall art.

“The principal bedroom was a really difficult shape as well,” Gordon adds. A bed takes up most of the room’s footprint, so the designers framed a custom headboard directly against the wall. “Its curve mirrors the shape of the room, as do the bedside tables.” Both are a rich, deep red, since “monochrome always brings a room together,” as she explains.

The oversized green velvet sofa is custom (naturally), as is the dining table, which is ringed by Noom’s Gropius chairs in a mouthwatering shade of orange. The inside of the bar cabinet echoes that color in a slightly softer hue. Fun shapes like Sella Concept’s Ladies Pond stools in the blue-gray shade of “Jesmonite” carry the abstract sculptural feel through each room.

Ultimately, the apartment does feel like a space that would make David Bowie proud. Check out the singer’s own slightly more subdued personal taste with a glimpse of the New York City apartment where he lived before his death in 2016, which sold for $16.8 million.

The post This Wild David Bowie-Inspired London Apartment Does the Late Singer Proud first appeared on Dornob.

Commissioned by artisan café brand Colicci, architecture firm Mizzi Studio took inspiration from the verdant foliage of the Royal Parks, giving the kiosks a vaguely tree-like structure complete with curves and canopies.

This mimicry and appreciation of local environment are a common strategy for the studio. “We call our work ‘bio-architecture,’ said company founder Jonathan Mizzi in an interview with Architizer. This approach “characterize[s] our studio ethos, a philosophy that rests on bringing humans and nature closer together through thoughtful and innovative design solutions.”

“The architecture and design industry has seen a massive shift in practice towards trends that favor a nature-led approach,” he added. “Mizzi Studio has been focused on this philosophy since day one of our foundation. Our architecture holds the natural world as its greatest teacher and inspiration — this ethos is central to The Royal Parks project.”

The team started by spending months exploring the heritage of each park. After channeling “all of that research into a design strategy…driven by nature and the variety of tactile experiences it offers” (the firm’s own words), Mizzi Studio invented a fleet of kiosks, each “unique, tailored to the history, nuances, and demographics of its respective site within the parks.”

While each kiosk has a slightly different 360-degree organic profile and volume, they all share a tree-based sculptural outline, and an instantly recognizable silhouette from far away.

Set conspicuously at the entrances to Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. James’s Park, eight of the nine kiosks are covered in “steam-bent” wooden English oak timber, a sustainably sourced material, in addition to the stainless steel and copper used in the frames.

The ninth iteration — the flagship Horse Shoe Bend kiosk in St. James’s Park — got the royal treatment as it sits at the base of Buckingham Palace. While the shape follows the patterns of its siblings, this “kiosk is clad in tubular brass, mirroring the ornate precious metals of the nearby Sir Thomas Brock’s Queen Victoria Memorial,” Mizzi explains.

Each kiosk was constructed with the lowest impact to the environment in mind. Modular in design, all are freestanding and able to be transported in just two truckloads, cutting down on carbon emissions.

The timing of the kiosk project — on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic — made it especially impactful for visitors. “Aside from the spectacular landscape of the Parks, which directly influenced the design of the kiosks — our hope was that the fleet would stand as a new architectural structure and symbol of collective respite,” Mizzi says. “We believe in the power of public space to bring people together and restore them both physically and emotionally. The aftermath of the pandemic became the context for the completion of the Royal Parks fleet, and therefore we saw this as a moment where architecture could help restore mental well-being, bring people together, and offer surveillance and support at a time when the city’s inhabitants felt most vulnerable.”

The post London’s Royal Parks Kiosks Get Sustainable “Bio-Architecture” Update first appeared on Dornob.

Andre Kong Studio created the bench with students at the local University Technical College of Design and Engineering as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2022. Made of reclaimed materials, it invites passersby to sit and reflect on how we’ll need to change, both individually and collectively, in order to avoid a worst-case-scenario future severely impacted by climate disaster. The taller bench soars 2.6 meters (about 8.5 feet) above the lower bench, or 9.8 feet total.

The red gradient seen on the bench’s support frame, reminiscent of a change in color caused by cumulative water level marks, highlights the increasing risk and reinforces the urgency to take action.

“The language of the bench borrows from neighboring maritime infrastructure design around the Royal Docks, using standard metal pipe connections that will allow it to be easily disassembled and re-used for a third time in UTC student projects,” the designer explains.

The bench is simple yet striking, and impossible to ignore. It might be easy for some people to say to themselves, “by the end of the century, I won’t be here, so I won’t be affected by the worst of the climate catastrophe.” But the fact that water levels could rise so high in the very near future during a storm should give all residents of London — and similar coastal cities — pause.

The theme of this year’s London Festival of Architecture, “Act,” spurred some interesting and necessary discourse around topics like how the built environment serves disabled people, how we can design cities for women, the trend of “hostile architecture” that aims to make homeless people unwelcome, and interesting new ways to incorporate waste into architectural design. Andre Kong Studio, founded in 2016 by Portuguese-born British architect Andre Sampaio Kong, is itself an LGBTQ+ led practice committed to diversifying the built environment.

“After such a long time of enforced passivity, the imperative to act is felt by so many of us, whether we are architects or not, while the pandemic has exposed so many things that need to change,” reads the London Festival of Architecture website. “How, for instance, should architecture act in the face of the climate emergency, social injustice, and the needs of a changing society? How can architects make their actions felt beyond their profession — how can they be heard more clearly, become more valued, or collaborate more meaningfully? The theme for the LFA 2022 is ‘act.’ Through the festival we’ll examine how we can act for ourselves, each other, our cities, and the environment.”

Interested in learning more about how architecture can be inclusive? Check out our articles on how hostile anti-homeless design darkens our cities, and how colorful interiors can reimagine what accessible architecture looks like. We also love MUJI’s prefab housing kit for seniors.

The post A Cautionary Benchmark: Inaccessible Public Seating Warns About Future Climate Disaster first appeared on Dornob.

Now, Gucci’s former HQ at the historic and high-end Grafton Street in Mayfair, London has come on the market for a whopping $66 million. The last private residence remaining on the prestigious street, the mansion is currently owned by a trust and has undergone extensive renovations since the brand vacated in 2010. But the property itself remains as gorgeous as ever, and much of the 14,000 square-foot home’s most modern touches remain much as they were during Gucci’s tenure.

There’s plenty of history in this former headquarters. Its recent refurbishing by Donald Insall Associates, though extensive, left much of the building’s original features untouched, including gold plaster work by Joseph Rose, cabinetry by John Mayhew, Georgian fireplaces, and 20-foot tall ceilings, all Victorian-era details that were part of the original home designed by Sir Robert Taylor in the 1770s.

These luxe touches certainly speak to the property’s illustrious past, not only as an HQ for Gucci from 2000 through 2010, but also as a house (literally) fit for royalty. During Gucci’s residence. Creative Director Tom Ford’s workspace was located in the first floor drawing room, a luxe and palatial space once used to entertain none other than Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

However, the spacious property also has plenty of modern touches, including a sauna, swimming pool, and plunge pool; a movie theater; a convenient elevator; a fully-equipped kitchen; and a stringent automated security system.

During Gucci’s residence, the top floor was reserved for the office of former CEO Domenico De Sole. Today, the top two floors consist of four VIP bedrooms, including a well-appointed main suite/lounge area complete with a private study, bathroom, and kitchenette. Elsewhere on this floor, a private wing houses additional guest bedrooms packed with their own top-notch perks. The mid-level floors—once home to Gucci personnel — contain an additional five bedrooms and bathrooms now reserved for the residence’s current live-in staff.

The ground and first floor — once the home’s hub for entertaining royalty and distinguished guests — remain as a series of sumptuous reception and drawing rooms, in addition to a lavish dining room, many of which were previously used as Gucci meeting areas and boardrooms.

Beauchamp Estates’ founding director Gary Hersham says the palatial property is the perfect home for anyone looking to live “like Gucci.” One look inside the magnificent mansion is enough to see that the iconic Italian fashion house certainly knew how to live and work in style.

The post Gucci’s Former London HQ is a Palatial Residence Fit for Royalty — and It Could Be Yours first appeared on Dornob.

In London, a family with young children did just that. Lacking any mature trees of their own, they were saddened by the loss of a neighbor’s ailing tree, which provided shade and a sense of a natural environment to their urban backyard. They turned to architecture firm De Matos Ryan to build a play structure that evoked the wonder of a treehouse. Completed in 2021, the “Penfold” project is an unusual take on playhouses that could be mimicked in other treeless environments.

“All children have an unencumbered view of the world, who, given the opportunity to express themselves, can act as a catalyst to highly innovative and imaginative concepts,” say the architects. “Together we developed ideas around a den which was inaccessible to adults but had a crow’s nest, referencing their favorite cartoon Danger Mouse, in which the reluctant sidekick, Penfold, is a timid, bespectacled hamster.”

“Penfold’s codename ‘Jigsaw’ gave license to develop an entirely sustainable geometric timber frame that was elemental and simply looked like the way it was built. The structure needed to be prefabricated in pieces and carried through the house via domestic scaled doors. When assembled the triangular Douglas fir frames combined tom are a truncated pyramidal form. The Siberian Larch slatted cladding has a stainless steel cable lattice to encourage climbing plants over the volume and ultimately create the sense of a tree that never was.”

De Matos Ryan wanted to give Penfold an unusual form and abstract scale so it could become anything the kids can possibly conjure up with their imaginations, from a pirate ship to a castle turret. Since it’s so tall, they had to get planning permission to build it, which was granted only on the provision that the family must remove it if the property is ever sold. Thankfully, since it’s modular, that just means they’ll have an opportunity to pack it up and take it with them if they like.

This idea of allowing vines to climb up over the structure to give it a lushly vegetated feel is brilliant. Whether or not any of the family’s neighbors cut down additional trees, the kids will retain the fun and functionality of their treehouse, and the whole family will have something green to look at from their back windows.

The structure brings a sense of childlike wonder to the compact garden. Wouldn’t you want to climb inside and explore it, too? Alas, the builders have ensured a “kids only” policy by building the entrance as a portal so low you’d have to crawl into an uncomfortably tight space to get in.

The post Treeless Treehouse: Multi-Level Play Structure for a London Backyard first appeared on Dornob.

As part of the £9 billion (roughly $11 billion USD) Battersea Power Station revitalization project, Gehry’s Prospect Place building is the first residential structure the Canadian-American architect has ever created in the UK.

“I love London. It has culture, history, and diversity and the buildings we have created at Battersea Power Station are designed to stand artfully on their own amongst all of that, whilst also framing an internationally recognized icon,” said the 93-year-old starchitect. “It is important we create social places for future generations, and our goal from the start has been to create a neighborhood that connects into the historic fabric of the city of London but also has its own identity and integrity.”

Located south of the power station — which gained worldwide notoriety in 1977 when it appeared on the cover of Pink Floyd’s Animals album — the complex comprises 308 homes, including a variety of studios, multi-bedroom apartments, townhouses, and penthouses. The open plan units start around £510,000 ($635,000 USD).

The exterior’s white-washed curves and ripples were inspired by the traditional bay window, but their peculiar angles were intentionally designed to allow as many residents as possible views of the adjacent historic power station. Those random-looking twists also ensure that no two homes are identical here, though all of them do have access to either a winter garden or terrace.

Inside, residents have a choice of two color palettes: the “London” or the “LA.” While the London is characterized by metal finishings as a nod to the area’s industrial past, the LA embraces natural wood and light colors for a more relaxed vibe.

Because the entire project was intended to foster community and interaction, the residents of Prospect Place are also allowed access to the neighboring Battersea Roof Gardens, designed by Foster + Partners. The building itself boasts an enormous private Sky Lounge, gym, lounge area, workspaces, sunset bar, and theater room. They also have use of the exquisite rooftop gardens conceived by James Corner and LDA Design.

The 42-acre former industrial site also includes a children’s playground, restaurants, retail spaces, and will soon have a unique tourist attraction called the Battersea Power Station Chimney Lift. Visitors can venture into a glass elevator inside one of the station’s obsolete chimneys for a 328-foot ride up to the top, where they can enjoy 360-degree views of London.

The power station developers had high praise for Gehry’s Prospect Place construction. “Frank Gehry and his team have gone above and beyond in the delivery of world-class buildings at Prospect Place,” said Chief Executive Officer at Battersea Power Station Development Company, Simon Murphy. “It’s an honor that Frank’s first UK residential project is at Battersea Power Station, and its completion marks an important milestone in the development.”

Even though this is his first residential design in the UK, Gehry’s work is well known around the world. He founded his eponymous architect studio in California in 1962 and quickly became famous for his avant-garde style, designing Spain’s Guggenheim Museum, Prague’s Dancing House, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. His firm is currently working on the projects like Facebook Campus in Menlo Park and a new Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi.

The post UK Gets First Frank Gehry Residential Design at Battersea Power Station first appeared on Dornob.

On Primrose Hill in north London, Jamie Fobert Architects has taken a third path. A brick Victorian home typical of the area looks as it always did on the outside, retaining the character of the neighborhood and blending seamlessly with surrounding houses. But inside, dark and cramped rooms have been replaced with a striking sense of luxurious openness, and the clients have even gained two levels of living space. All of this was achieved without a hint of disturbance from the street-facing facade, but even more importantly, the new materials complement and exaggerate the old.

“When we considered the external form of the house, we were keen to find a solution that would be neither pastiche nor overbearing; instead, we have designed an elegant addition to the historic streetscape,” say the architects. “New building elements are built using water-struck and coal-fired bricks, made in Denmark. During construction, the two original upper floors were literally suspended; underneath, and within the Victorian skin, two lower floors were built. These new spaces are characterized by robust materiality, fluid floor plans, and extraordinary generosity of volume.”

Two strategies brought a wealth of sunlight deep into the home. The first was the creation of new shafts in the front and rear, which deliver natural daylight to the lower floors. The second was the insertion of nearly uninterrupted walls of glass on both levels facing the private garden. Sunken below the level of the adjacent neighbor’s yard, this outdoor space gains a feeling of a secret sanctuary full of plants, stepping stones, and seating areas.

Inside, careful attention to detail pulls new and old together. The architects were tasked with designing everything from the kitchen and lighting to the joinery and even the dining table. The result feels ideally balanced: a fluid staircase with warm timber steps merges into the kitchen, where travertine and polished concrete glow softly beside walnut cabinetry. The shafts of daylight stretching all the way to the roof of the home terminate in strategic locations, like a reflective indoor swimming pool lined with Pietra Piasentina stone.

The colors of these materials recall those of the original brick without trying to match it perfectly, and organic surfaces soften the angularity of all the new minimalist features and built-in furniture. The additions could have easily felt like an imposition on the scene, but instead, they read as a natural and respectful extension of the home. The refreshed interiors are a pleasant surprise upon entering, making the space a lot more fitting for a modern family.

The post A Victorian Facade on London’s Primrose Hill Hides Minimalist Interiors first appeared on Dornob.

The nearly 1,000-foot tourist attraction. designed by renowned architecture firm Foster + Partners, was originally submitted and approved in 2018, but then blocked in mid-2019 by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who had serious qualms about its look and practicality. Now, UK Housing Secretary Michael Gove seems poised to overrule that decision as soon as the middle of November.

If approved, the towering futuristic turret would be planted next to the bullet-shaped Gherkin office space, designed by the same studio and also once the source of public controversy. The Tulip would also become the tallest structure in the city’s financial district, as well as the second tallest in western Europe.

Designed to bring in 1.2 million visitors a year from around the world, the spire-like building would feature public observation decks, bars, restaurants, and classroom space for visiting school groups, as well as moving pods that would allow tourists to ride around the outside of the building for incredible views.

Promising £1.6 billion in economic benefits to the city and the UK, project-backer City of London Corporation has said the Tulip Tower would also create over 1,000 new jobs and help bring the city back to life after the pandemic.

“The Tulip would play an important role in further realizing a vision for the Square Mile as a vibrant 24/7 world-class destination, and that the building would send a powerful message that London remains open to all,” a City of London Corporation spokesperson told The Telegraph.

London Architecture chairman Peter Murray agrees, adding that: “the whole of London needs a strong center if we are to remain a competitive global city. If it is to do so it needs investments like The Tulip more than ever.”

And a 2019 independent poll found that 69 percent of Londoners would consider the Tulip iconic to their city, with another 65 percent believing it would be an attractive addition to the local skyline.

But there are plenty of vocal detractors, too. Back in 2019, when Mayor Khan refused permission for the skyscraper, he said it “would result in very limited public benefit,” and that “the design is of insufficient quality for such a prominent location, and that the tower would result in harm to London’s skyline and impact views of the nearby Tower of London World Heritage site.” He went on to disparage the Tulip’s “unwelcoming, poorly designed public space at street level.”

Historical preservation organizations are also in opposition. “This building, a lift shaft with a bulge on top, would damage the very thing its developers claim they will deliver – tourism and views of London’s extraordinary heritage,” said Historic England CEO Duncan Wilson in April 2019. On top of this, eco-friendly groups have protested that the project’s natural resource cost would far outweigh the benefit of tourism.

If the Tulip does move forward as expected, it will undoubtedly be revolutionary in its shape and construction, acting as a symbol of urban evolution while providing remarkable views of the city’s ever-changing landscape and culture.

The post London’s Tulip Tower May Get to Bloom After All first appeared on Dornob.

“This isn’t a call for an extreme return to the wild,” the CoExistence website explains. “Look around you, wherever you are. Who do you share your world with? Can we increase our coexistence everywhere, and rewild ourselves? Nature is intelligent and adapting. Other life forms will meet our efforts halfway, if only we give them the chance.”

Each elephant was crafted deep in the jungles of India’s Tamil Nadu region by indigenous communities who actually come into regular contact with the real-life giants. The sculptures were modeled after those herds that roam the southern Indian hills.

The artists there used vines from the lantana camara plant (one of the world’s 10 most invasive weeds) as their primary medium. The weed particularly plagues India, as it competes with native plants for space and changes the soil composition. By removing this unwanted vegetation from the area, the artistic project also benefitted local wildlife.

“CoExistence is a call to change the global conservation paradigm,” says Dr. Tarsh Thekaekara of The Real Elephant Collective. “From saving nature in far-away pockets to living well with nature around us. To value the human connection with nature and celebrate all life forms around us by sharing space. To encourage people to remember that they are of, and for nature. We have the capacity to heal, grow, thrive, and support symbiotically with nature, as other species do.”

The exhibition herd migrated from its birthplace in India to England’s Sudeley Castle before moving on to The Mall in London, Chelsea, St. James’ Park, and Berkeley Square. When the showings were complete, each pachyderm went on sale for $42,000 a piece, with the proceeds being given to grassroots organizations in India that promote harmonious cohabitation between indigenous peoples and the surrounding wildlife by providing technological solutions and training to local inhabitants.

The sculptures were also captured in illustrated form by British artist George Butler. Before the pandemic, his art focused on documenting the warzones of Syria and Iraq. The shutdowns pivoted him toward another conflict, that of man and nature. Butler created a limited edition print of the lantana elephants juxtaposed with The Mall in the background.

“CoExistence is confirmation of a moment when society realized they had to do more,” Butler said in an interview with My Modern Met. “And the realization that this is an issue bigger than ourselves, bigger than individuals, and indeed bigger than the human race.”

All the participants behind this migrating art hope that it will help people to see the necessity of peacefully living side by side with Earth’s other animal species. “It’s a matter of mutual survival,” said Ruth Ganesh, Elephant Family’s principal trustee in an interview with Reuters. “Saving them is really about saving ourselves.”

The post Full-Scale Elephant Sculptures Stampede Across London for Conservation Awareness first appeared on Dornob.

Meanwhile, here in the States, the average kitchen renovation is around $25,000 (36.38 percent of the average annual income). Of the countries studied, Hong Kong ranked the lowest, with the cost of renovation around $3,747 USD (approx. 13.30 percent of the average US annual income). To get these numbers, Compare the Market collected data from a number of sources, including government agencies, construction associations, and renovation experts. But the one thing they all agreed on? Kitchen remodeling costs differ, no matter where you are.

But what about the world’s most lavish, luxurious kitchens? Where are they, and how much did they cost?

Inspired by Compare the Market’s report, we scoured the internet to find some of the world’s most expensive kitchen renovations:

The Fiore di Cristallo

Touted as the world’s most expensive kitchen, this London kitchen cost over £1 million ($1.6 million USD). Designed by Claudio Celiberti, the renovation took over a year to complete. Using only the highest-quality materials, including the world’s best crystal “Crystal of Murano,” the luxe kitchen includes other super swanky features like solid copper-lined cabinets, a crystal island, and a stone worktop. The crystal island alone cost £36,850 — higher than the average total kitchen renovation cost in the U.S. But the pièce de résistance of this space is undoubtedly the chandelier (also designed by Celiberti). Made of Swarovski crystal and cristallo di Murano, this beauty cost approximately £26,400 to create. Of course, this is still a functioning kitchen, and any kitchen needs appliances. Boasting £24,000 worth of Gaggenau handcrafted products, including a £5,000 fridge and a £1,714 espresso machine, this kitchen is truly one of a kind.

The Colosseo Oro

Once dubbed “the world’s most expensive fitted kitchen,” this $450,000 limited edition kitchen pairs classic elegance with futuristic accents to create an aesthetic fit for modern luxury. A product of Marazzi Design, the reflective, shiny surfaces are accentuated by Swarovski crystal lights. Other opulent touches include crocodile embossed leather, Venetian ink-stained gold glass, and 24-carat gold leafing. The appliances are equally as impressive (all state-of-the-art and worth approximately $85,000 themselves), with the highlight being a Zaha Hadid tap with a price tag of $12,000. With its combination of dynamic shapes and colors, luxe materials, and modern kitchen gadgetry, it’s no wonder this London kitchen is so highly coveted and admired.

South Tower at Time Warner Center

This kitchen makes the list simply by being included in one of the priciest apartments in New York City. The penthouse suite is 8,500 square feet of pure luxury, and the kitchen is no exception. Dubbed “a professional chef’s kitchen,” the space is fit with all the best appliances and is leant an air of elegance with Alba Chiara marble countertops and sycamore cabinetry custom-designed by Poliform. Another amazing feature of this kitchen is its view, replete with a breakfast area abutting a media room that has glorious views of the Hudson River. Imagine sipping your morning latte (made with a top-of-the-line espresso machine, of course!) while you bask in the most breathtaking city views. Now that’s luxury.

The Electrolux Grand Cuisine Professional Kitchen

Everyone knows that Electrolux appliances are some of the best out there, so it only makes sense that they’d form the centerpiece of this kitchen with a hefty price tag of $322,000. Showcasing Electrolux’s Grand Cuisine Range, this kitchen has been described not only as revolutionary but also as the preferred kitchen of Michelin-starred chefs everywhere. But the appliances aren’t the only things that make this kitchen shine. With its reflective glass surfaces, the appliances seem to disappear and themselves become part of the natural surroundings. Though it’s built with only the best materials, the kitchen is still meant to be functional — albeit “virtually effortless.” Imagine having appliances built into your kitchen that are not only mostly automated, but also work better when used simultaneously for ultimate cooking ease and precision. While not the most expensive kitchen on our list, it is certainly the one that best combines luxury and functionality into a space anyone would be happy to cook in.

While most of us will not have the opportunity to cook in a six or seven-figure kitchen any time soon, these spaces still give us a fun way to reimagine the traditional cookspace. Kitchens have long held the distinction of being rooms that can easily be transformed into visions of the future; one only has to visit Disney World’s “Carousel of Progress” to experience how visionaries such as Walt Disney imagined technology would continue to change and shape our everyday lives, starting in the kitchen. And these kitchens are no exception. Through their lavish designs, sophisticated appliances, and evolving modern interpretations of a more traditional space, we continue our quest for the quintessential kitchen.

The post Fantastic and Functional: A Look at the World’s Most Expensive Kitchen Renovations first appeared on Dornob.

Bringing in ultrasound scanners, the council learned that the tunnels spread out over 65 feet in every direction, right beneath neighboring houses, and one even leading to the rail line. Lyttle, a retired engineer who became known in the press as “The Hackney Mole Man,” was evicted, and the city filled most of the tunnel system with aerated concrete to stabilize the ground, noting that it was a wonder a bus hadn’t fallen right through the street. Lyttle was moved to council housing, where he tried to dig through the floor of his apartment before dying in 2010.

The home was abandoned until 2012, when it sold at auction to British artist Sue Webster. She was fascinated by its bizarre history and found the shabby exterior charming. The process of cleaning it out was arduous, to say the least. Incredibly, among the 300 dumpster loads of junk unearthed from the home were three cars and a boat. Webster then hired architect David Adjaye to transform it into her own home and studio while preserving as much of its history as they could. They dug out 2,000 tons of the city council’s aerated concrete to create a basement level in tribute to the home’s subterranean history and creatively repurposed some of the junk, like a set of “stairs to nowhere” that became a terrace.

Adjaye says the design was borne “from an archaeological exercise, a gradual reveal of time through the process of excavation.” The newly reconfigured interiors have an open plan surrounded by a sunken landscaped garden along the perimeter. Multiple entrances on different levels reveal the locations of some of the former tunnels, aiming to preserve the feeling of discovery as you walk. The contrast of old and new, high and low can be found in every space. Wood formwork left organic imprints on all the concrete walls and ceilings, complementing the salvaged wood flooring and built-in plywood cabinetry. Webster has also filled the home with things like salvaged industrial details, artwork, modern furniture, and plants.

Outside, Webster wanted to maintain the building’s “derelict bunker-like appearance,” so Adjaye reconstructed the masonry facade with 15,000 reclaimed London bricks while adding large windows bordered by patinated bronze. Touches like these help it retain its its sense of timeworn history and curiosity. One wonders what Lyttle would think of it now, but it certainly seems like it fell into the right hands. Instead of being demolished by a developer and paved over with a new cookie-cutter project, it’s been given new life by someone willing to steward its spirit of wonder and adventure.

The post Crazy Network of Illegal Subterranean Tunnels Transformed Into Modern “Mole House” first appeared on Dornob.

As life-altering as the pandemic has been, there’s no denying the fact that it’s also offered us opportunities to consider ways to reshape the future. So when Walala rode her bike through the city’s unoccupied streets during the first lockdown, she considered what it would look like if cars were forever banned from certain areas. That idea got the wheels turning on a design focused on pedestrians instead of vehicles.

She got to work curating a multi-functional gathering space in the hub of the city. Her trademark blocky and colorful architectural installments became a central element in the design, with bold elements that stood in steep contrast to the street’s current two-dimensional, monochromatic aesthetic.

Camille sees the project as an expression of love for a city she’s called home for 23 years —a city that has provided endless inspiration and opportunities throughout her career as an interior designer and street artist.

“I found myself with more and more opportunities to develop my practice and ideas – to play with pattern and color at larger and larger scales. If I’d lived somewhere else, if I’d not been rooted in London’s creative scene, surrounded by the people I was, I don’t know if I’d even have become an artist,” she explains.

Camille’s partner, creative producer Julia Jomaa, also contributed to the project in the initial imaginative discussion about how the space could be used for public gathering along the lines of an agora in ancient Greece.

“We were struck by the silence of the streets, the sense of peace that had descended on London in the absence of the traffic, and we started talking about how cities might be fundamentally different,” Jomaa notes.

The image for the space on Oxford street, however, is both functional and visually demanding, with contrasting bright colors alongside black and white geometric patterns. A massive centralized fountain is surrounded by seemingly interlocking geometric blocks. It’s a little like a larger-than-life LEGO installment. Striking planters spaced throughout the area provide seating and an opportunity to interact with the landscape. The captivating design offers a stark contrast to the surrounding gray buildings, all of which blend into the similarly-colored streets.

Although the design is an inspired vision of what the area could be, it’s also a potential realization of “a serious proposal for a new, more enriching urban landscape.” The discussion of creating a car-free capital isn’t a new one, but Camille Walala’s dramatic and artistic spin just may be the catalyst the city needs to make the change towards a pedestrian-focused plaza for future generations of Londoners.

“This project is my what-if portrait of the city of tomorrow, and my own projection of what the London I love might one day look like,” says Walala.

In fact, the designer’s concept isn’t just limited to London, and it could be used as a blueprint to form happier, more eco-friendly cities all over the world.

All images courtesy of Camille Walala with Omni Visual

The post What if London’s Famed Oxford Street was Car-Free? first appeared on Dornob.

It’s okay if they make you a little uncomfortable. That’s part of what the artist is going for. As she told Artnews, “I want to seduce by what I do — but revolt in equal measure. It’s really important to me that you’ve got that rejection of things you think you know for sure.”

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Currently, MccGwire’s work is on display in a solo show called “Menagerie” at Harewood House Trust in Leeds, England, including the striking “DISCHARGE,’ an installation featuring approximately 10,000 pigeon feathers sent to the artist by pigeon enthusiasts from all over the country. The work was originally commissioned by Mad Museum in New York in 2010 for the “Dead or Alive” exhibition, and it’s since gone on to travel the whole world.

“Menagerie” includes eight sculptures and one new commission, shining a spotlight on the “common” bird as part of Harewood House’s focus on its bird collection and the 50th anniversary of its Bird Garden. “Cavort,” the new floor sculpture, is particularly striking for its textural mosaic-like qualities.

The trust explains that while “continuing our vision to support contemporary artists, Harewood commissioned a brand new work from Kate for the Yellow Drawing Room. Kate was inspired by the ornate design of the room, with its Chippendale furniture and in particular the Robert Adam ceiling. Cavort uses the ceiling as a starting point for a floor sculpture that combines mirrors and reflections, bringing the room and its decoration to light in a playful way. It is made from the feathers of game birds, with preparation work supported by a team of hands-on Harewood volunteers.”

Earlier this year, MccGwire debuted two new cabinet pieces and an installation called “SLICK,” a sculpture made of magpie feathers streaming out of a fireplace, at Hignell Gallery’s group show “Renaturing Nature.” It’s a great example of how the artist’s work can almost seem like mutated creatures traveling just millimeters a second, too slowly to register in real time.

It’s important to note that MccGwire isn’t pulling any feathers off live birds to achieve these results. She works primarily with discarded and naturally shed materials, all sent to her by farmers, gamekeepers, and other bird handlers. She keeps her process under wraps to maintain the mystery, but each of her works typically consists of hand-trimmed feathers, felt, and a supportive structure made of an unnamed carved material.

“My studio is a Dutch Barge on the River Thames, so I’m totally aware of the seasons, nature, and temperament of the river, and that really feeds into what I make,” MccGwire tells INHALE magazine. “I started by collecting the feathers on the bank near my boat, and after a while I had enough to start playing with them, layering, experimenting. Like the river itself, natural materials have a sort of siren-like beauty, and I saw the possibility in using the medium to create something powerful.”

The post Kate MccGwire’s Undulating Feather-Clad Sculptures are Eerily Lifelike first appeared on Dornob.

Engineer Ryan Mario Yasin recently came up with a smart solution to this problem: a permanently pleated fabric that expands and contracts over your features for a custom fit. If BETA[MSK] looks a bit futuristic, that’s probably because it’s ahead of its time even when it comes to textile innovation.

Sustainably made from recycled PET plastic bottles using a patent pending technology and waste-reducing patterns, the BETA[MSK] is a form-fitting face covering that’s adjustable enough to fit the vast majority of adult faces. The pleats are engineered to be hard-wearing, so they’ll bounce back to their original tight formation even after they’ve stretched many times.

The mask secures in the back with quick-release velcro, so it’s very easy to put on and take off, and you can wear it like a cuff around your neck when it’s not in use. Just put it on and pull at the pleats until it’s securely covering your nose, mouth, and chin. The mask also features a filter pocket for PM2.5 carbon filters (two of which are included with purchase), along with a form-fitting removable nose wire. Offered through Yasin’s company Petit Pli, the BETA[MSK] already sold out two previous batches, but there’s a waitlist up for the next round.

As you might imagine, this textile has some other convenient uses, too. Yasin first developed it when he realized his young nephew was rapidly growing out of his clothes, and constantly repurchasing bigger sizes just felt like a waste. Before pivoting to masks during the pandemic, Petit Pli was primarily a children’s clothing shop offering adorable pleated waterproof and windproof outerwear that stretches as kids grow, helping them last longer.

The company’s official website reads: “Inspired by aerospace engineering, Petit Pli’s continuous size adjustment is a new way of approaching garment design — one suitable to high growth rates in children. Petit Pli uses technical materials that are ultra-lightweight, reinforced, rainproof, and breathable because children are extreme athletes.”

“The Petit Pli BETA[MSK] is made from recycled fabrics and has a monofiber construction. Through its approach towards sustainability and innovation, Petit Pli hopes to instill slow-fashion values in humans whilst designing for the needs of humanity — little and tall. We aim to inspire humanity to value longevity and innovation in some of the most intimate products in our lives — garments. The Petit Pli Beta[MSK] is made in London, supporting our local supply chain.”

The company adds that: “The BETA[X] range signals a Petit Pli research project made in limited quantities in London. If feedback is positive, the project progresses onto the next stage. This ensures we do not overproduce and waste resources. We want to design the best garments possible for you, with you. Constructive criticism from BETA[X] owners is welcomed to help evolve the garment.”

The post Expandable Mask Made of Recycled Plastic Flexes to Fit Your Face first appeared on Dornob.

London-based designer Tessa Silva demonstrates how with her project “Chalk & Cheese.” A graduate of the Royal College of Art, Silva spent three years refining a technique that mixes chalk with excess skim milk produced during the creation of butter and cream. Normally, that surplus would just go down the drain.

Sourcing the milk from an organic dairy farm in Surrey and the chalk from a quarry in Hampshire, Silva created a ultra-malleable material that could be hand thrown or moulded just like clay. She uses a sausage stuffer to extrude the material into moulds made of deadstock fabric (another post-industrial waste product).

This “milk plastic” has a consistency like that of air-dry clay or paperclip before it’s cured in a process similar to ceramic firing. Pigments and dyes can be added to achieve different color combinations and effects, but for her “Chalk & Cheese” series, Silva left everything in its naked form to show off the material’s unique qualities.

This isn’t the first time Silva has thought to replace plastic polymers with milk protein, either. For her 2016 “Protein” project, she demonstrated a way to use some of the 3,000 liters of waste milk thrown out by a single dairy farm in a week by turning it into plastic-like pellets.

The process looks a bit like making cheese, using heat to separate curds from whey and then drying them in an industrial dehydrator before mixing them with a natural plasticizer. Silva also mimicked the compression moulding technique commonly used to form plastic products to transform the raw material into vessels that could be lathed and machined like wood.

Her official website adds that “The Protein project is an investigation into the use of cow’s milk proteins as a natural material for the handcrafted production of sculptures, objects, and furniture. Milk has been a fundamental part of cultures and civilizations throughout the ages; it was of such high value that the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for the word milk resembles the verb ‘to make.’ Originating from an interest in pre-industrial plastics — particularly the processes used to create materials prior to the mass-manufacture of synthetics — the project draws inspiration from the past to influence the future of making.”

“The material utilizes milk sourced from the waste generated by organic farms in England, and is sponsored by Hook & Son Farm. The project does not support industrial farming, but instead seeks to re-envision surplus milk as a resourceful and valuable raw material.”

Though it doesn’t seem to have been translated to mass production just yet, there’s clearly a lot of potential for Tessa’s innovations to take off. They’ve already inspired a series of workshops around London where participants can learn how to work with these milk-based materials and create objects of their own.

The post Milk Clay: Dairy Waste Transformed into Compostable Objects first appeared on Dornob.