Do only the design-minded notice the lighting when they walk into a
room? Melbourne-based designer Volker Haug strives to ensure his ideas
are essential and deliberate features – hanging from ceilings, attached
to walls and placed on tabletops. From a young age Haug’s
preference for raw, industrial lighting design emerged.
The ‘Antler’ series primarily in black and white consists of a range of
configurations the most intricate he calls ‘Rudolf.’ And
‘Cable Jewelry,’ the long pendant, can be curved and bent to suit
personal preferences. Haug has discovered that the potential lighting
can have on our lives is limitless. By Andrew J Wiener
Poetry and storytelling help us understand the world that surrounds us.
Visual imagery allows the mind to draw parallels between what we see
and how we think. Dutch designer Jurgen Bey has
created a classroom that will inspire young minds to think beyond the
realm of what is traditionally asked of school children.
The classroom interior project is part of the ROC training school at
Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. Practically every surface of the room is
covered with images found in books used at the school. Centred
around a palate of white and grey, Bey selected graphics then placed
them around the space on walls, furniture and even the floor. Moveable
screens allow the room to open completely or divide space depending on
the activities taking place.
One key feature, the highly wear-resistant flooring system made with
Senso Freeze, contains a transparent resin that allowed Bey to embed
digital photographs onto the surface. Inspiration and creativity
seeps from every surface – it’s impossible to imagine what will be
generated from the minds as they pass through this space. By Andrew J Wiener
Chinese architect I.M. Pei with Pei Partnership Architects
recently designed the Suzhou Museum in the
city’s historic district 160 kilometres northwest of Shanghai. The
building adjoins the 19th century Zhong Wang Fu complex and the
UNESCO-listed 16th century Garden of the Administrator.
Architecture and landscape become interrelated as a series of gardens
and courts flow in and from the building itself. While a high
wall visually separates the museum’s main garden from the adjacent
ancient garden, a stream of water connected by a footbridge joins the
two properties together. The gardens, however, are not modeled
after their ancient counterpart. Pei yearns to establish a
contemporary form of Chinese landscape design.
The interior space unfolds into a series of spaces made up of varying
heights and geometric shapes. The collection consists of a mix of
ancient and modern art – relics from Ming and Qing dynasties as well as
contemporary exhibitions.
Pei deliberately built a modern structure while capturing the subtle
yet expressive Chinese spirit. The building’s exterior, with its
white walls and gray tiled roof not only respects the traditional
colour-scheme used throughout the city of Suzhou, but also provides a
backdrop further emphasising the importance of the gardens. In
his museum, Pei hopes to foster and inspire a new generation of
thinking about Chinese-specific modern architecture and design. By Andrew J Wiener. (Pics: Kerun Ip)
Let’s just all rewind the movie of our lives a bit and go back to school. We at Coolhunter are thinking of heading to University of London’s Birkbeck College and finding our way to the classes at its Film & Visual Media Research Centre.
You cannot tell from the outside that the odd set of buildings at
London’s Gordon Square offers anything remarkable at all. The older
building does have a pedigree – it is the former home of both Virginia
Stephens (later Woolf) and economist John Maynard Keynes. The drab
1970s extension to the building does not even deserve another look.
Except inside.
Award-winning London-based Surface Architects won the competition to
create within the buildings the permanent home of the Film & Visual
Media Research Centre. Surface transformed the basement, ground floor
and the extension into a unique state-of-the-art 80-seat cinema
auditorium, surrounded by a media study suite, seminar rooms and
offices.
Ian Christie, Birkbeck’s Professor of Film and Media History, describes
the exciting new building “...the new cinema auditorium – already
being referred to as ‘The Screen on the Square’ – is as soberly
dedicated to ideal screening conditions as the surrounding break-out
spaces and stairway are an exuberant display of pure form and colour.
In fact, Surface’s extraordinary projection of intersecting cones has
various filmic associations: the jagged angles recall the Expressionist
set design of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, an influential German film of
1921; and the lurid colours evoke Andy Warhol’s silkscreen portraits of
film stars.”
Key players at Surface are Richard Scott, who formed it in 1996, and
Andy MacFee, who joined Surface in 2001 as director. Both have worked
with Will Alsop and other notables. Surface is also one of 47 practices
worldwide selected to work on the Athlete’s Village for the London 2012
Olympics. By Tuija Seipell
For some time, designers, architects and builders
all over the world have tinkered with the idea of turning excess
standard shipping containers into living quarters. Some of the
incarnations of the lowly metal box are downright chic, including
artist-architect Adam Kalkin’s Quik House for which he apparently has more orders than he can handle.
But
these metal containers have also drawn the attention of some leading
brands that have started to use the eye-popping ideas to full
advantage. Holiday shoppers milling about the Time Warner Center in New
York will have a fabulous chance to experience one of these soon.
Between November 28 and December 29, 2007, they can rest, relax and sip
a perfect cup of illy espresso in one of Kalkin’s creations, the
temporary Push Button House cafe that the Trieste, Italy-based illycaffè will install there.
The
European premier of this concept by Alan Kalkin and illy took place at
the 52nd Venice Biennale where illy continues to partner with the
Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia by providing the visitors each year a
space to relax and enjoy their complimentary espresso. This was illy’s
fourth year of establishing the refreshment area at the Biennale but
the Push Button House version created an unprecedented buzz.
With
the push of a button, the house opens in 90 seconds like a flower and
transforms from a compact container into a fully furnished and
functional space with a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, living
room and library. All materials used in the Biennale house were
recyclable or recycled. As Andrea Illy, chairman and CEO of illycaffe,
has been quoted as saying, illy was initially interested in Kalkin’s
idea as an examination of “home as one continuous mouldable surface, a
relief against which human activity would pop out.”
Kalkin’s
concepts have proven to be adaptable to many circumstances. His company
has developed container-unit projects for everything from
disaster-relief housing to luxury dwellings (pictured below), and for
promotional purposes such as the illy cafe. By Tuija Seipell.
Though born Canadian, Patrick Cox seems to have thoroughly absorbed the British birthright of effortless punk in his designs. Cox first defected to metropolis London at the impressionable age of 20. He then studied shoe design at Cordwainers College at Hackney in London. Two years later, Cox released his very first shoe collection in 1985.
Since then, Cox has opened several eponymous boutiques: one in London, two in Paris and one in Lyon, France. The designer released a diffusion line, "Wannabe," was awarded the British Fashion Council. "Accessory Designer of the Year" in 1994 and 1995, and has been praised in the fashion scriptures of Vogue, Glamour, Elle and Harper's Bazaar, among many others.
Cox's most recent collection for the Fall/Winter 2007 collection displays his signature pairing of cheeky and classic. The Triziana pump features a gold weave construction that belies the funky metallic gold base, finished with a snooty turned-up-toe. Likewise, Cox' men's collection walks the fine line: "his take on the traditional brogue is remarkably restrained. His only concession to quirkiness? The metallic gold coloration underlying the toe pattern," says men.style.com.
Regardless, there's an undeniable affinity for sequins and shiny patents. In fact, Cox conceded that the current women's line was a nod to the sparkly Garland duds of Oz fame. But spindly, delicate, Choos these are not. As Cox divulged in UK's Times, "I don't like women teetering around on little spindly stilettos. I like a more aggressive spiked heel. It's not pretty and twee." By L. Harper
They used to say ‘a light bulb goes on in your mind’ when knowledge happens. The Danish architects at 3XN already realise the sun is the true source of knowledge – providing fuel for each global system. Imagine the power more sunlight can provide young minds hard at work in their schools.
Orestad College (upper school) opened this year just south of central Copenhagen in the development area of Orestad. The superstructure of the building is formed by four boomerang-shaped platforms that rotate over four floors and remain open to one another allowing for a seamless interconnection of space throughout the school. This open, high central hall, known as the X-zone is linked by a stairway that helps promote interdisciplinary communication and cooperation among the various teaching and study spaces.
Transparent glass louvres automatically rotate on the exterior of the building allowing light in and providing an array of colours to the interior environments. By manipulating the sunlight the entire student body becomes aware of the passing of time and the changing of the seasons as the school year progresses.
Sustainability for education can certainly begin with the design of the school itself, and 3XN has successfully integrated the traditional Scandinavian aspects of functionality with clarity and beauty in form. By Andrew J Wiener
Walking past a series of drab estate agent windows doesn't really make you want to part with your hard earned cash. Even if you are looking to move out.
That's why estate agents Hotblack Desiato – depicted as a keyboard player in the cult sci-fi novel, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – decided to spruce up their Islington offices in London.
These little clusters of property were inspired by the revival of cubism within architecture. The 3-D squares created by designer Paul Crofts are set at varying depths to create an almost pixel like installation that spills over onto the adjacent wall inside. Which makes poking your nose round other people's houses that little bit sweeter. By Matt Hussey
If you’re like us, you sometimes get that nostalgic feeling for picking up the phone your mum had in your kitchen growing up. But in the constant struggle to find a phone small enough so you can’t see it in your pocket when you leave the house, you probably forgot how comforting it was to cradle a phone between your ear and shoulder and talk for hours.
Now YUBZ has designed a USB Skype phone for computers and mobile phones. YUBZ TALK ONLINE works with most PC’s and Mac’s (US$44.95) because it comes with VOIP plug-and-play technology in black, red, white and yellow. For the same price you can also get the YUBZ TALK MOBILE in 10 different colours. It’s designed to attach to most mobile phones. By Andrew J Wiener
The stark XXS Shop for Mobile Gadgets opened earlier this year in
Hamburg’s Innenstadt, at Spitalen Hof 8. It is a minimalist showroom by
Hamburg-based Spine Architects
for Etronixx-Trading GmbH. The store is void of practically everything
else but white surfaces and the merchandise itself. Mobile gizmos
appear almost suspended in air, as they rest in small slots within the
white expanse of built-in cabinetry that encircles the entire space. It
is an excellent example of forcing the customer - in a pleasant way -
to focus on the products, not on the props.
Spine is a German-English partnership that started between Boris Bähre,
J'orn Hadzik, Jan Löhrs and Neil Winstanley in 2001 when they won one
of the prizes awarded in the international design competition for Rabin
Square in Tel-Aviv, Israel. They are known for their work in several
areas, from housing to public places to TV shows, private homes and
shops. In September, Spine Architects opened an office in Menlo Park,
San Francisco. By Tuija Seipell
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