Spotted At The Dutch Design Week 2011
Showcasing the best products, ideas and creations from both young and established designers, the DDW has become the leading design event in the Netherlands with more than 1,800 participating designers, 65 locations throughout the city, 300 events and 180,000 visitors. Industrial design, spatial design, graphic design, fashion, textiles, architecture, you name it... it's all there.
A Polymorphic Bench
With a budget of only $1,000 some students of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation designed a polymorphic, kinetic bench that forms to the need of very user, maximizing comfort and functionality. The unique form of the bench is made possible by digital fabrication: each segment is uniquely cut out of plywood complete […]
CARTopia: Portland’s Food Cart Revolution
When boyfriend and I told our relatives we would go to Oregon, USA, for our long-awaited holidays, they were all surprised. What's happening there? Why not a sunny place after an imaginary Summer in Amsterdam? When we came back from our 3-week trip with a tan and told my father-in-law, a French chef, that we found our Food Mecca in Portland, Oregon, he did not believe us, and thought our palates are far too young to seize the difference between street food and gastronomy. Europeans might not be aware of Portland's food scene, but many US Cities are trying to figure out how to replicate its model. Over the past decade, media and food critics have all acknowledged Portland as a destination for food lovers. 'Top Places to Eat in Portland' by Guardian or New York Times do not only highlight brick-and-mortar restaurants but also gourmet food carts. To find our way amongst the 500 (600?) food carts spread throughout the city, we bought CARTopia by Kelly Rodgers and Kelley Roy. This small book is much more than a guide, it is also a fine introduction to the food carts phenomenon. CARTopia helped me to understand the history of food carts in Portland and their unique role in the local economy and the urban landscape.
An Apartment Under The Bridge
Berlin-based urban intervention collective Stiftung Freizeit has designed an illusionary 'Wohnzimmer’ under a bridge in Berlin. Made with tape, this minimal but cosy ‘apartment’ combines the raw esthetics of grey concrete with the warm and intimate feeling of the typical German Wohnzimmer interior. Combining these two ingredients of what could be called Berlin style, the artists Inés Aubert and Rubén Jódar aim to make life a little more comfortable for those who spend their time on the streets.
The Publics That Design Built
Last week a design/innovation conclave titled 'Design!publiC' was organised in Bangalore by a multi-disciplinary conglomeration of design and architectural practices, legal and technological research organisations and investment andmedia firms. The first Design!publiC conclave, held early this year, addressed how design thinking can spearhead innovations in governmental processes and service deliveries in India. One major finding of that previous meet was that government in India is generally slow to accept and adapt to innovative suggestions, so what if the might of design thinking is focused instead on directly providing the desired ends (efficient and adequate delivery of basic services -- drinking water, health and sanitation, education etc.), without depending on approval of government.
Light Changes Wallpaper Patterns In East London Bar
Wouldn’t it be great to instantly change the wallpaper in your apartment depending on your mood? Well, that becomes possible with a new technique that the Milanese collective Carnovsky recently used when the designers created the interior of the East London bar and gallery Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes. They have plastered the walls of the whole place with a unique wallpaper that changes pattern under different lighting conditions.
Ready, Steady, Go!
People need to move more and the city is a perfect playground. The French designers of Collectif DC try to make the streets more suitable for urban work-outs and small competitions.
Insect Art From Amsterdam
As you know we're very interested in temporary structures and and flexible living, but what if life itself is ultimately temporary?
The Transformer House
With the current climate change and crazy distorted seasons it’s almost not a luxury to have a house that adapts itself to weather changes. Innovations in sustainable building materials like automatic blinding windows with built-in sun cells, high isolation bricks or translucent concrete are incredible, but still not entirely efficient since they can’t adapt to the position of the sun, harsh temperatures or wind speed. This concept house, on the contrary, has the ability to change along with the weather.
Even Money Joins The Protest
In these dark times of crisis, everyone should participate to the emerging protests all around the world. Only if everybody stands up and gives voice to his dissent, things can change for good. Each one can do it in his own way, no matter how. Occupy George, for instance, is a great example of symbolic act. As part of the Occupy Wall Street protest in the United States, the project consist in giving away dollar bills printed with fact-based infographics.
DIY Tree House
Having an own tree house in the backyard is the fantasy of every child. However, some parents don’t have the technical skills or are just lazy. The perfect solution woul is definitely this wicked do-it-yourself ttree house by the designers of Aandeboom.
8-Bit Bicycle Safety Light
Earlier we wrote about Blaze, a laser projector that should help bicycle riders to tour more safely in cities. Now, there is an another simple but great invention: the Monkey Light. It may sound funny, but it’s a very effective way to stand out in the dark nights of the city nowadays.
Mobile Snapshots By Nalden
Last week a nice little book fell on my doormat. It's the first publication of Amsterdam-based blogger Nalden. Mobile Snapshots: From Blogger to Brand is an extended photo diary entirely consisting of pictures that Nalden took with his phone. Taking you on a trip down memory lane, the book shows Nalden's evolution from an ordinary blogger to a brand. Well, in fact it's not a book but rather a stack of iPhone-shaped cards with a photo on the front and a short description on the back of every card. The book comes in a neatly designed black box.
Play Trash Bin Basketball
Not only children but also adults increasingly want to use the city as their playground. That’s why playful concepts of urban regeneration get more and more attention. Also governments and brands see this trend and try to come up with playful solutions in urban space. But it all starts with small groups of people that want to change the city a little bit to have more fun. Collectif DC is such a group. As part of their project Spielplatz they try to encourage passers by to behave differently by painting recognizable orange lines on the sidewalks.
Spontaneous Sculptures
With the element of surprise firmly on his side, the American artist Brad Downey creates powerful interventions that visually disrupt the routine of our urban perceptions.
