Though this is the work of neither, this reminds me of 1990s Alessi and Marc Newson. This is the Metamorfosi, newly introduced by Italian furniture brand Mavimatt:"This extraordinary piece can be transformed into a seat, a side table or a bookcase simply by rotating it. One shape … | Continue reading
Diego Garcia Cuevas is a computational designer and architect who practices "Technoemotional design." He's co-founder of the Controlmad Advanced Design Center, a hi-tech fabrication lab, and a professor in the Architecture program at the Universidad Europea de Madrid. With his cr … | Continue reading
Canadian carpenter Dustin Bowers, founder of a company called PLAEX, has figured out how to turn waste into a useful building product. Bowers started by shredding the least desirable materials of all: Difficult-to-recycle agricultural, marine and industrial plastics, and aggregat … | Continue reading
Human Mobile Devices, or HMD, is a Finnish white-label manufacturer that started producing Nokia's phones in 2016. This year they stepped out from the curtain to reveal their own line of smartphones, the HMD Pulse.Notably, this line of smartphones is designed to be repaired:"HMD … | Continue reading
A fun fact often repeated about the Colosseum: Emperor Titus had it flooded for naval battle spectacles.Roughly 2,000 years later, Italian contracting company Myrtha Pools can duplicate the trick, anywhere in the world.The upcoming U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials in Indianapoli … | Continue reading
This is a bad time to be an automotive supplier. Following the pandemic, raw materials costs, labor costs and interest rates have risen. But most of the major automotive manufacturers refuse to absorb these costs and instead squeeze the suppliers. And "despite this, carmakers con … | Continue reading
Industrial designer Dani Clode's field of specialty is prosthetics. She designed this Third Thumb, which anyone can strap on and learn to use in minutes:The design of it is quite clever, and more low-tech than you'd think. A small motor worn like a wristwatch drives the orange te … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:An architectural material called "Bamboo Charcoal Wood Metal Plate." Unfortunately there's no MSDS that might shed light on exactly what the heck is in it. RapidRoot is a clever system for concrete-free foundations.A vice-friendly design cla … | Continue reading
To create their Owala FreeSip water bottle, which is currently selling like hotcakes, Trove Brands hired industrial design and engineering consultancy Whipsaw. As the firm writes:"Not only is this wildly popular bottle attractive and colorful but it features Trove Brand's patent … | Continue reading
In 1975 Jim Jannard, a college dropout in his mid-20s, started a company in his garage. He named it after his dog. With an initial budget of $300, Jannard figured out how to mold unique motorcycle grips. He then began selling these Oakley grips at motocross events.By the 1980s, O … | Continue reading
This Shade lamp is by British industrial designer Paul Cocksedge.The Japanese paper shade, which appears to float, is actually hung from the ceiling using "capillary-thin wires;" the canister on the floor focuses LED light up into the shade."Shade started as a purely practical pr … | Continue reading
These fantastic Tripod Tables, which come in three different heights, are by Fernweh Woodworking. The Oregon-based furniture design/production shop was founded by Justin Fernweh, who cites as design influences Sam Maloof, Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl."The low angle of the legs makes … | Continue reading
You've only ever seen these things in the background, so here's a closer look. This is that plastic Gatorade Bottle Carrier that you see support staff hustling over to players on the sidelines.Looking at it closely, it seems that just one half of the handle assembly comes out of … | Continue reading
Documentary director Julien Potart has a strange side hobby: Documenting the visually awful textile designs seen on public transport around the world. Potart's incredibly well-populated Instagram account, idontgiveaseat, shows the offensive fabric and lists the provenance. As for … | Continue reading
A startup called TinyPod has released teaser images of their eponymous product:A tiny iPod? No; it's actually a housing for an Apple Watch, that provides the original iPod's click-wheel functionality by manipulating the watch's digital crown.What is the point of this? The company … | Continue reading
This Pipo series of tables is by RelvãoKellermann, a/k/a industrial designers Ana Relvão and Gerhardt Kellermann, who are based in Munich."Pipo is a lightweight table made of innovative wood materials and adaptable for adding a power supply. Pipo was created with a dualistic desi … | Continue reading
Hailing from Finland, the Karoo Adventure is a camping trailer that has received careful design attention. The Karoo design team's goal was to produce an extraordinarily lightweight, efficient trailer with features that the user can flexibly rearrange for different goals. Let's s … | Continue reading
These Knight RNR kicks are foam slip-ons "inspired by the lines and angles of race cars." They're by L.A.-based FCTRY LAb, the footwear company co-founded by veteran designer Omar Bailey, who formerly headed up the Yeezy Innovation Lab. Available in white, black, red, blue or gre … | Continue reading
NYC-based architecture firm BKSK designed this unusual rain screen, composed of repeating terra cotta elements, for a building at 470 Columbus Avenue. "The design for a new 9-story mixed-use residential and retail building at 470 Columbus features a modern interpretation of tradi … | Continue reading
Italian industrial designer Joe Colombo loved smoking and drinking. In the early 1960s, he designed something that would make it easier for him to do both simultaneously: Cleaned-up versions of Colombo's Smoke Glasses are still in production, by Italian crystal manufacturer Arno … | Continue reading
A few years ago, I was hired for a project that went nowhere. A family living out of a trailer on a deeply rural property had inherited some money. They wanted to build a proper house. The contractor and I headed out to assess the site.Their driveway was in horrific shape: Dirt, … | Continue reading
A company called Steps Material bills themselves as "a one-stop material selection platform for architectural designers." Based in Guangdong, they apparently have access to some unusual composites, like this "Bamboo Charcoal Fiber Board" that resembles stainless steel:"It is made … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:The Keyaki To-Go Coffee Cup, made of turned wood, was successfully Kickstarted. Peter Ivy's stunning, minimalist Bottle S.Over-the-top, powered "computer cockpits" by Cluvens.Dyson carries over a crucial design detail for the WashG1, their f … | Continue reading
Nuts-and-bolts industrial design is giving form to objects that improve millions of people's lives. And rarely getting credit for it. In fact, most of the people whose lives are improved by this object don't even know it exists.The internet in your homes or offices may reach you … | Continue reading
Designed for travel, Microsoft's Surface Arc Mouse is flat and unusable in its resting state. But when the user picks it up and bends it, it audibly snaps into its curved working shape. This transformation also turns it on. It's a clever piece of design, now in its fourth or fift … | Continue reading
Imagine a time when tools were scarce, being difficult to manufacture. They were prized and owners were careful with them.Nowadays we've grown so rich, we'll buy multiples of objects that our ancestors would have killed to own just one of. We do this because they're easy to lose, … | Continue reading
Sometimes design firms are commissioned to do concept work that never sees the light of day. As one example, Berlin-based agency XOIO was asked by Daimler to envision future mobility scenarios. The project yielded few images and is only published on XOIO's site, but I find these … | Continue reading
The Hauptbahnhof (central train station) in Freiburg, Germany, has a Twenty47 Marktplatz. This is a 24-hour facility filled entirely with vending machines, selling everything "from coffee to champagne, sandwiches to delicatessen menus, dog biscuits, bandages, cuckoo clocks, schna … | Continue reading
Scott Constable, of California-based art/design collective Wowhaus, built this Orca sculpture several years ago.It's suspended over the entryway of Kitsap Middle School in Silverdale, Washington. The purpose of it was to draw attention of the local Orca's endangered status, while … | Continue reading
The innovative design of the Insta360 Go 3 sets it apart from other action cameras. The monitor can pivot forwards for self-shooting……but its biggest trick is that the pill-like camera is held within the housing by a magnet, so you can pop it out. That means you can shoot from on … | Continue reading
These Dynamic Mirrors are by sculptor/furniture designer Soo Joo. The impressively executed biophilic forms are typical of her work. CNC, you say? Nope; rasp and sandpaper."Soo Joo Studio's sculptural silhouettes are timeless and dynamic, bringing the essence of nature indoors. I … | Continue reading
While it looks like a bunch of renderings, this unlikely-looking UFO ("Unidentified Furniture Object") rocking chair is real. They're made-to-order, in two sizes, by Italian design brand Mavimatt."The composition of UFO's inner seat foam is designed to follow and adapt to people' … | Continue reading
This easy-on-the-eyes Rounded Cabinet series is by a617, a Milan-based design firm. It was "born from the encounter between a functional need and the desire to bring the mid-century Milanese architectural style into domestic interiors," they write.The series consists of a two-dra … | Continue reading
Deniz Aktay has a day job doing corporate architecture in Stuttgart. On the side, however, he's started a popular Instagram containing his renderings for fanciful furniture concepts. One such design is his Ascension mirror:"The Ascension wall mirror concept blends the golden rati … | Continue reading
This year in Paris, the Athletes' Village will be supplied with mattresses by veteran supplier Airweave. The Japanese company configures their titular product in four different densities, and prior to the 2020 Olympics, their plan had been to allow each athlete to specify which t … | Continue reading
Rich people have a lot of stuff. There's money to be made in designing the stuff. But there's also a good buck in making and selling them organizational objects for their stuff.That's the lesson learned by Ian Holme and Phil Hadfield. Britons and school buddies, the duo burned ou … | Continue reading
These simple, attractive leather trays are by South-Korea-based Arte di Mano. "The structure is maintained by solid stitches on the front side in the up-down direction and the back side in the left and right directions.""The unique stitching technique, which is completed by perfe … | Continue reading
This might be the strangest thing to ever come out of Rolls-Royce's design department: A flower-based leather travel bed for dogs.It's not an available accessory, but was designed as a one-off for charity. This past weekend, auction house Bonhams held their annual Goodwoof Barkit … | Continue reading
Dyson has unveiled their forthcoming WashG1, which is not a vacuum but their first power mop. As a longtime Dyson vacuum owner, I have a lot of gripes with their designs, but was pleased to see they've carried over an original design detail to this new product. As the Dyson origi … | Continue reading
Mixed aesthetic influences: RISD grad Peter Ivy hails from Austin, Texas, but operates his glassblowing studio in rural Toyama, Japan. He created this stunning, minimalist glass Bottle S: I can't remember the last time a glass bottle stopped me in my tracks with its simplicity of … | Continue reading
There is a subset of Japanese artisans who pursue an almost absurd level of perfection. To those familiar with their materials and processes, the objects can inspire awe; to the layperson, it may seem that the attention paid to their manufacture needlessly surpasses the humility … | Continue reading
Here's what we looked at this week:A man was ordered by the city to build a visual screen to conceal his boat. He complied. This incredible mobile bridge, designed and built in Switzerland, diverts traffic overhead during road repairs.This TriqBriq production system turns oth … | Continue reading
Canfield Scientific, a manufacturer of imaging systems for science and healthcare applications, wanted to refresh their Vectra H1 handheld system. They contacted industrial design and engineering consultancy HSD, a/k/a/ HS Design. "HSD worked to not only aid in improving lighting … | Continue reading
Monocab is a new form of transportation that makes use of existing infrastructure. Conceived of by German design engineer Thorsten Försterling, the idea is that rural areas of Europe, which often lack public transportation options, could have their disused railway lines populated … | Continue reading
Years ago on a trip to Death Valley, I slept in a tiny one-man tent. The host had provided a cot inside to elevate the sleeping bag. Although the space was coffin-like, sleeping on the cot was far more comfortable than on the cold ground.Jake Lah, a veteran South Korean tent desi … | Continue reading
At Johns Hopkins University, a Mechanical Engineering class was given a difficult assignment: To silence an off-the-shelf leaf blower, without reducing its efficacy.Apparently the assignment was given with no expectation that it could actually be accomplished; as the school's Hub … | Continue reading
This Wind bench, by Belgian designer Peter Donders, combines digital fabrication with hand craftsmanship.Made of birch plywood, the pieces were produced in slices on a CNC mill. "It is composed of 1265 sections over 85 layers which were combined into 220 numbered pieces before be … | Continue reading
What can you do with tiny offcuts of wood?For Brooklyn-based furniture maker Richard Haining, the scraps of others are the raw materials for his STACKED series of vessels."Richard finds inspiration in the abundance or wood being discarded throughout NYC, from woodshop offcuts to … | Continue reading