Design Addict Blog with news and interviews related to contemporary or vintage design and architecture.
Australian designer Esan Rahmani together with Mukul Damle have designed ‘Bamboo Pavillion’, a synthesis of sustainable ideas for a communal shelter for disadvantaged populations around the Indian Ocean Rim. Bamboo is already used in Asia and Pacific regions as a building material due to it’s adaptable qualities to make roofing, flooring, water and drainage pipes … Continue reading “Bamboo Pavillion”
There are islands of plastic debris the size of Texas floating around in the Pacific and other oceans. Electrolux is going to turn them into vacuum cleaners. ‘Our oceans are filled with plastic waste. Yet on land, there is a shortage of recycled plastic. The supply of sustainable raw material, such as recycled plastic, is … Continue reading “Electrolux turns ocean plastic trash into vacuum cleaners”
eVolo has announced the winners of the 2010 Skyscraper Competition.The Jury selected 3 winners and 27 special mentions among 430 entries from 42 countries. Globalization, sustainability, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution, were some of the multi-layered elements taken into consideration. Vertical PrisonThe first place was awarded to a project for a vertical prison designed by … Continue reading “Winners of the Skyscraper Competition”
A leaf of light is thin as a page of a book. It’s a rechargeable, wireless OLED light with adjustable brightness, for those who read and travel everywhere. Designed by Valentina Trimani.
Sylvain Willenz is presenting his new products at the Milan Design Week 14-19 April 2010. ‘Print’ lamp for Established & Sons (UK) 2010Print lamp gathers within a single bubble of blown glass, the components usually found as separate items in pendant lighting. In effect, the shade, the colour, the reflector and the diffuser have all … Continue reading “New Products by Sylvain Willenz”
The new Dutch bike brand Urban Arrow re-invented the urban transport bike. The result is a cargo bike that makes you (and your luggage) travel faster and comfortable through the congesting city. Designer Wytze van Mansum tried to get more unity throughout the whole bike. The frame encapsulates the motor and chain, and thus creating … Continue reading “Dutch cargo bike”
Designed by Cyril-Emmanuel Issanchou for the competition Betwin, these low energy houses are prefabricated modules that are installed upon a set of walls and plinths made from locally gathered stones. The EC*-Cocoons are constructed with timber beams in a double geodesic manner, creating a rigid long-span structure. This form minimizes the exterior surface area and, … Continue reading “EC*-Cocoon house”
Arkitekturmuseet presents the first major retrospective exhibition on Swedish-American designer and architect Greta Magnusson Grossman. The exhibition includes architectural commissions in Sweden as well as Northern and Southern California and designs for the many companies she worked with including Barker Brothers, Ralph O. Smith and Glenn of California. The exhibition also includes exemplary pieces of … Continue reading “Greta Magnusson Grossman Retrospective exhibition”
Exploring Materials invites you to get inspired by physical forms andsubstances. Materials are like words. The richer your design vocabulary, the more design solutions you can see and express. Foam, mesh, wood, plastic, and wire each have behaviors and properties that suggest different types of structure, surface, and connection. Each has its place, consequences, and … Continue reading “Exploring Materials: Creative design for everyday objects”
‘Grand Central’ is an expandable table that transforms from space-saving occasional table to the central piece of the room. The tabletop is divided into 22 pieces that folds out in a spectacular way through its advanced construction. Dramatic and poetic at the same time. The inspiration comes from a pop-up map of New York. Sanna … Continue reading “‘Grand Central’ Expandable Table”
The first Hungarian Wood Festival started on August 24, with four teams composed of young and creative students designing and making complex installations or sculptures that can be folded or disassembled, made of a kilometer of wood planks.Students from three universities (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design and University … Continue reading “Hungarian Wood Festival”
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games unveiled the London Olympic pictograms which will be used during the Olympic Games in 2012. The 38 pictograms represent the sports and disciplines at the Games and will be used for signage, on tickets and on the field of play at Games-time, becoming an … Continue reading “London 2012 Olympic pictograms”
An extremely stable and easy to mount table designed by Roderick Fry for French producer Moaroom. Pi is a flat-packing table, which helps minimizing carbon footprint during shipping. The table is simply assembled by inserting a tabletop, without any screws or Allen keys. It is very easy to slide a wooden board in the superior … Continue reading “Pi Table by Roderick Fry”
The METI school (Modern Education and Training Institute) building was built by experts and volunteers from Germany and Austria together with craftsmen, teachers, parents and students from Bangladesh from September to December 2005.The building won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. In order to create jobs and to build up a capacity for producing sustainable … Continue reading “School handmade in Bangladesh”
Swedish designer Matti Klenell has designed two bird families for Iittala: the Harakka (Magpie) family and the Korpi (Deep Forest) family, both with two generations of members. Both families have five members – Mommy, Daddy, Brother, Little Sister, and Baby – each with their own distinctive character and their own story to tell.
As part of the Milan design week 2012 in April, SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design presented the exhibition ‘OUT NOW. Stories of Ideas and Matter’.The exhibition brought together different ideas and views on the subject of design and production, and intersected these with the work of eleven international designers trained in the school in recent … Continue reading “OUT NOW at Scuola Politecnica di Design”
The Ideas competition ‘Adream 2012 – Architecture and design using renewable and ecological materials’ – is a European project under the joint auspices of the Regional Council of Picardie (France) and the Free State of Thuringia (Germany) aimed at giving impetus to new developments.The potential of renewable and ecologically sound materials is still substantially under-exploited. … Continue reading “Adream 2012 Ideas Competition winners”
‘Medici’ designed by Konstantin Grcic and launched in 2012 by Mattiazzi is a low chair with a comfortably reclined posture. ‘Designing for Mattiazzi was like a personal time travel. It took me all the way back to my professional roots. At the very beginning of my career, I was trained a cabinet-maker. Working with wood … Continue reading “Medici by Grcic”
Martin Hedenström from Muungano and Peter Thuvander have designed a library bus for the northern town of Kiruna. They have won the prize ´Library bus of the year´ given by the Swedish librarian society. The function of the new bus is to supply a larger service, where new digital media is presented as well as … Continue reading “Book bus prize”
Research shows that nearly 80% of European employees derive their motivation from working together and sharing experiences with colleagues. Koninklijke Ahrend is fascinated by the part a correct environment can play in these processes. A good working environment helps to support change and keeps staff motivated. Following this theme Ahrend introduced p h i l … Continue reading “The p h i l i n k table”
Keeseh Studio has announced the winners of the ‘Make Some Green competition’.From several hundred competition entries, the judges and Keeseh Studio chose one winner and three runner ups. Judges took into account design, functionality, remnant/waste use, environmental friendliness, and energy consumption. The panel of judges included:Jaime Salm – Creative Director of MIO CultureKristi Cameron – Senior … Continue reading “‘Make Some Green Competition’ Results”
‘L’union fait la force ?’ by Pascal KochFrom November 15 to 30 2008, Saint-Etienne, France will host the tenth edition of the International Design Biennial. An original and unique event in the world of design, created in 1998 by the Saint Etienne School of Art and Design, this Biennial has since it began been bringing … Continue reading “‘The other Belgians’ at the Design Biennial Saint-Etienne”
Jamie Ward produces eco-friendly pieces made from second hand furniture which has been found discarded around Manchester. ‘The lack of value these pieces have in a modern wasteful society I find surprising, the value for me has always been the individuality and character each piece of metal and wood has due to the weathering which … Continue reading “Jamie Ward Furniture”
If you are like me and that you often change the place of your furniture in the garden and as you are not Superman of course, you might be interested in this new bench designed by Dutch designer Rogier Martens (his website doesn’t mention if the bench is delivered with an anti-theft system).
These nails designed by François Bauchet integrate quite naturally in the city. With these boundary stones, you will not only cross at the crosswalk but, from now on, you will also be able to sit on them, rest for a moment, drop your bag, make a phone call. The first models in cast … Continue reading “‘Clous’ boundary stones”
This picture book documents how the young Swiss product design team,Sarah Kueng & Lovis Caputo has, copied objects from internationalfairs worldwide over the last few years. Each copy is juxtaposed with the original, mostly on a double page spread. Using a precise approach, they exaggerate significant aspects of the original. In this way the dialog … Continue reading “Copy by Kueng-Caputo”
For those who still read books ‘Bookmark II’ is a colorful rubber band that wraps around a book with an indicator arrow that shows you the last line you were reading. Great idea! By Propaganda Via Mocoloco
A life-saving student design that could replace the smoke alarm as the essential home gadget has won the international James Dyson Award. Automist, which was chosen from the final shortlist by inventor James Dyson, can both detect fires and put them out by aerosolising the water from a standard kitchen tap. Automist can be fitted directly … Continue reading “Automist can detect and put out fires”
While working in the office, we often require a number of gadgets and objects, which often turns the workspace into a muddled place. Providing a solution, Swiss designer Matthias Pugin has devised an innovative office desk that works as a planar board to keep your objects organized and provides a clutter-free workspace. The ‘Cube’, as … Continue reading “Pop up ‘Cube’ Table”
