LOOPHOLE is a design-in-progress for a pedestrian bridge in Poland. A collaboration of R&Sie + THEVERYMANY, the project uses a sophisticated computer-generated script to develop a woven, structural truss. Honestly? I have no idea what this is made of or how its constructed - but its pretty great looking. See link below.
This is an interesting concept designed to make a business introduction a more personal and memorable experience. Taking a different view on what’s important, this design inspires people to remember the moment of meeting, rather than just the business card itself by making the handing over of the card more of an event. A small fanfare of sorts.
Basically, the cards are printed in a book with a perforated binding inside. When being introduced, the card is carefully torn from the book, creating a more memorable event and leaving a physical reminder of the memory in the perforated edge that remains on the card.
Neat idea. Thanks to designer Alice Rosignoli from Alicerosignoli Design for sending this one in.
Our planets dwindling oil supply is front-page news. Less discussed is our lack of fresh water in the face of global warming and permanent drought.
To this end, Grimshaw Partners has planned a new seawater greenhouse for the Canary Islands. Using solar panels to power a series of evaporators and condensers, the structure produces fresh water from moisture in the air. A piece of public infrastructure, it doubles as a waterfront attraction, serving as a sweeping open-air theatre.
See video below:
Article found on Inhabitat
Lila Jang Sofa, exhibited in Paris this summer.
Cool couch, but don’t know how comfortable I’d be nursing my Saturday hangover.
Here’s an interesting experiment into the usability of GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) specifically for the web. Originally intended as a simple experiment to see just how much we are attached to mouse-clicks, the project has spiralled and now data is being collected on how people can use an interface environment without clicking the mouse, and if that is a useful way for people to interact with technology.
The website itself, built in Flash, is navigated solely by rolling over sections to release their content. The site is very fast and smoothly animated making the experience very visually impressive. Whilst exploring the site you’ll come across lots of click-related information as well a button lab which suggests alternatives to the mouse click, such as different mouse-strokes to activate buttons.
A very interesting project & study. You can visit the site dontclick.it here and try it out for yourself.
Dwindling resources. Failing economies. Its not always easy to stay positive in the face of looming disaster. But there is a silver lining – a whole new market for the crazy future vehicles we’ve been waiting for since the Jetsons fired up their aircar.
To begin production in late 2008, Aptera Motors is releasing the Typ-1, a three-wheeled car to be sold in California next year. The manufacturers claim a fuel efficiency of 130 mpg for the hybrid model, making it one of the most fuel-efficient cars in the world. See link below.
This piece of furniture caught my eye straight away. To be honest, I’m not at all a fan of centre-of-the-room over-head lighting. And I’m not much a fan of standard lamps either. Lighting is a much-neglected yet important way of enhancing a room’s experience. For me, nothing does this more than with use of shadows cast throughout a room; it’s a very simple way to add interest and depth to a space and create an atmosphere or mood.
This bed, designed by Lago, does that beautifully. In a room normally associated with the moon and the stars, the sunburst effect this bed creates a sunshine feel and lights the room from the ground up. The design is simple, functional and pretty stylish. A very pleasant way to light the room on those dark, winter mornings and nights.
Article found on Trendir
Surface is a newly available flat-panel computing platform from Microsoft that allows users to access and manipulate data with their hands. It’s the next big thing – literally.
Firstly, apologies for the absence of blog posts this past fortnight. Diseño Earle have been enjoying our summer break and are now refreshed and ready to go. To get things rolling, have a look at this:
Houses are expensive things nowadays. Especially in England, where even a modest starter-home can set you back over 200,000GBP. In 2005 the British government launched a competition to build homes for less than 60,000GBP. No easy task, thats for sure.
Developers George Wimpey joined with the architects at Rogers Stirk Harbour to win the competition from the field of 221 other competitors. Love them or loathe them, I can see why they won.
The main cost saving method was to have the floors, ceilings and walls all pre-fabricated in a factory and delivered ‘flat-pack’ style to the site, ready to be assembled. Due to the simple nature of the houses, they can be put together remarkably quickly, in less than a day. That’s right; a day. The results, as you can see, look great, and in a couple of years when the surrounding gardens have matured a little, I think this estate is going to look fantastic.
From a design point of view, the houses are simple and certainly nothing special, but they do have a nice modern feel and, let’s face it, are far more interesting to look at than most of the twee houses you normally find on British housing estates.
In a country with a big shortage of affordable housing, these are winners in my book. Watch the video below to see these being put together; it shows that whilst the building of Rome in a day was highly unlikely, constructing a modest family home isn’t outside the realms of possibility.
Article found on The Contemporist
A temporary structure designed and constructed by nArchitects, “Windshape” isn’t much to speak of – just a wall of PVC pipes wove with 50 kilometers of string. But the 8-meter wall structure is undeniably beautiful. In contrast to its stony site in Lacoste, France the pavillion catches the wind to wave gently like a reed. See link below for more details.
