Dress for Recess: hipsters and the financial crisis

According to Alexandra Marvar, the resurgence of feathers, vests and newsboy caps are a fashionable response to the plummeting Dow. (see for yourself in W magazine)

Leko car by Ikea

In a few hours, IKEA will be launching Leko, its first eco car.

Roulez Leko

Minibar by Concrete

At the new Minibar in Amsterdam, designed by Concrete, customers are free to help themselves anytime to their own drinks from their own minibar. Upon arrival they check in, leave some ID, and receive a key to their own personal minibar. This 'bar without a bar' concept is apparently the first of its kind in the world. In fact it's so simple that the owners were surprised that it hadn't already been done before.

The idea for the bar was conceived by a trio of Dutch friends, with backgrounds in the HoReCa, design and the music industry, who wanted to create a nightlife offering that was "more like inviting your friends to hang out in a hip hotel room, than standing in line waiting for a drink at a regular bar." And in every good hotel room, a well-stocked mini-bar is a must: in this case, it occupies a whole wall spanning the entire length of the interior. Several types of mini-bars in a large and small size are stacked in a staggered format, with coloured doors to further differentiate the numbered fridges. The vivid colours also contribute a sense of warmth to the dark interior which features a minimal palette of raw-finishes in concrete and timber juxtaposed with shininess of metal and glass. Guests can choose from a beer bar, champagne bar or a regular bar filled with a combination of drinks, which is a good excuse to sample different combinations (just don't think about the wallet). A rear service wall enables staff to stock the fridges and keep track of who's been drinking what. It was integral to the experience that the lock to the fridge was not opened by a magnetic swipe card but a real key, handily attached to which is a bottle opener. And if you're not as tall as the average Dutch person, mini-bars installed at lower heights allow for easier access.

Guest can choose from different seating options - not too far from their mini-bar of course - depending on their situation. Long tables provide plenty of opportunities to meet new people, low custom-designed banquettes provide cosy lounging areas and a reading table at the rear allows for laptops to be plugged in. The black wall makes an ideal backdrop for film projections or digital wallpaper. The visual identity of the bar was created by Amsterdam design collective Machine.

Minibar
Prinsengracht 478
1017 KG Amsterdam

via Design.nl
Photography: Menno Kok

Amusement Magazine: the future of publishing

Nice collaboration between the french mag Amusement and Nike: the Cortez Fly motion collector is the first trainer to come with RFID, it gives access to art pieces produced especially for the mag

Puce RFID & dispositif

Dans la puce RFID : video game by Messhof, work by Electronic Shadow, Factoid (Pierre Nouvel, Valère Terrier) and Le Tone, 3D stuff by Gkaster and wallpaper by Philippe Jarrigeon.

magazine out today in France

via Fubiz

Also on the technology and omni-connectivity, it seems homeless people in DC are using mobile phone check the Post article on the subject

Arts Co: The New Dealers

Drawn From Clay

The geography of the Noordoostpolder region of the Netherlands has been captured in the hand-made clay vessels designed by Atelier NL currently on show at Gallery Libby Sellers in London.

Gallery Libby Sellers in London presents the exhibition 'Drawn From Clay' from Dutch design studio Atelier NL, where hand-made clay vessels express the geography of the Noordoostpolder region of the Netherlands.

Libby Sellers explained that it was the research and process-led nature of the project that excited her when she first saw the work of Atelier NL. Sellers met the designers Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk during Dutch Design Week last October, when the duo’s head of department at Design Academy Eindhoven, Dick van Hoff took her to meet them at their studio.

Van Ryswyck and Sterk both graduated from the Design Academy in 2006. One of their graduation projects was ‘Drawn from Clay’, a series of cup and saucers made from clay found in different parts of the Netherlands, with each piece taking on a different colour and texture depending on the area it came from.

"When Jurgen Bey and Rianne Makkink saw the results of this research project, they invited us to come and stay at their farm in the Noordoostpolder region of central Netherlands to continue our project", Van Ryswyck says. "This polder was created only 67 years ago from land reclaimed from the sea. It was designed as a complete agricultural utopia. To create a very functional new agricultural area, the land was divided into systematic plots of in farmland, with each plot (field) being 24 acres in size".

The duo then stayed at the farm for a year gathering material and information and making an archive of the different types of clay/earth found on the fields of the farmers within the polder. "The search for clay/ earth and the digging of it is very time-consuming but gives a bond with the material and with the owner of the land. The farmers are an essential part in the project. They form a source of knowledge about the soil and its history. We visited and had photographed sixty farmers; the photo portraits are by Paul Scala".

"The soil-samples are made into tiles; each one represents a farm field in the area. Together they form a colour scheme of the Noordoostpolder. We discovered that the soil is strongly related to the crops/ vegetables that are grown. In a sandy area they grow mostly bulbs and where there is clay, it’s mostly potatoes and sugarbeet. We decided to make tableware so that the vegetables we eat for dinner are served in vessels made from the soil the vegetables grew in. This resulted in the polder ceramics that we are showing at Gallery Libby Sellers".

Atelier NL see the project evolving on an international scale. "We want to slowly travel and map the globe by exploring its soils and show this visually by baking all the differences in earth, structure and texture. We would love to work more closely with researchers, such as geologists, chemists and archaeologists. They all have a different story to tell because they all use soil in different ways. We want to make objects from different types of soil, not only to show the difference in colour, structure and texture, but also to tell the story of the personality of the landscape, the vegetation that’s growing, the animals living there, the characteristics of the buildings; cultural behavior of today and from the past".

Since June 2008 Atelier NL have been working with Royal Tichelaar Makkum to develop a production range made from different Dutch clay/ soil types. This collection will be launched at the Salone del Mobile in Milan this April.

This exhibition is supported by the Brompton Design District, London and The Mondriaan Foundation.

Drawn From Clay
March 5 to April 3 2009
Gallery Libby Sellers, 29 Thurloe Place, London SW7

Image credits: Paul Scala, Atelier NL

Text by Kate Dominy, via design.nl

Nothing but cardboard

Nothing is a new commercial creative agency formed by Michael Jansen and Bas Korsten that has just opened its doors in Amsterdam.





The interior is made of cardboard, fixed together without any screws or glue. If this technique sounds familiar, you're right: it comes from designer Joost van Bleiswijk and Alrik Koudenburg (known for the 'No Screw, No Glue' furniture pieces.)


The interior comprises three volumes: a boardroom, grand office and a library. There are over 1500 elements made using over 500m2 of CNC cut cardboard that construct everything from the shelves, tables, walls to a coffee table. "With art director Alrik Koudenburg I discussed the use of cardboard for the complete interior, but with a grandeur that suits this award winning company", Van Bleiswijk explains. "The use of the 'No Screw, No Glue' technique on a scale I'd never explored before and its strong lines, allowed me to apply details, volumes and furniture that would make the space into one total concept". The result is a low cost, low waste interior that makes a definite high impact. Just don't put any candles on the table...



All photography by Joachim Baan.


via CR Blog and Design.nl

Paco, by Jo Nagasaka

Paco is a white cube, a tiny, transformist and minimal cottage, a base for surfers, fishermen and solitary campers. Its creator, Japanese designer Jo Nagasaka (Schemata Architecture Office), who has designed it for Japanese company Roovice, has optimised the space inside and managed to squeeze all the essential functions into a nine-metre cube, a dining room, micro-living room with a hammock for relaxing in, a bed hidden in the base and a bathroom with shower. Light comes in from the roof that can also be opened.



Text by E.S.
Photo by Takumi Ota



via DOMUS

Le Grand Pari pour un Grand Paris

Winy Maas, MVRDV team:
Image: MVRDV Grand Paris

Capa-City
more infos













Roland Castro, Ateliers Castro/Denissof/Casi team:
Image: Atelier Castro Denissof Casi

The right to urbanity part I, part II












Finn Geipel, LIN team:
Image: Linn Finn Geipel-Giulia/Andi

Ville légère, Ville distendue

















Bernardo Secchi and Poal Vigano, Studio 09 team:
Image: Studio09 Bernardo Secchi Paola Viganò

Ville Poreuse, more infos












Jean Nouvel, representative of the Ateliers Jean Nouvel/Michel Cantal-Dupart /Jean-Marie Duthilleul team:
Image: Ateliers Jean Nouvel

Paris, les renaissances













Antoine Grumbach, Agence Grumbach and associates team:
Image: Antoine Grumbach

Paris, Rouen, Le Havre: Seine Métropole







Christian de Portzamparc, Atelier Christian de Portzamparc team:
Image: Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

Rhizome City, more infos







Djamel Klouche, AUC team:
Image: L’AUC

La métropole héritée












Yves Lion, Groupe Descartes team:
Image: A. Grondeau

20 cities, more infos












Sir Richard Rogers, Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners/London School of Economics /Arup team:
Image: Roger Stirk Harbour Partners

more infos
Les Armatures Métropolitaines

Where: Paris, France - Cite de l’Architecture
When: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - Sunday, November 22, 2009

An exhibition presenting ten scenarios for the Paris metropolis
For the first time, Musée de la Cité welcomes the ten visions of the future of greater Paris to its collection of casts of French monuments. The exhibition design by 2004 NAJA (Nouveaux albums de la Jeune architecture) award winner Jean-Christophe Quinton presents ten contemporary installations in a historical itinerary, giving each team the freedom to make the most of their space to present their proposal. This approach gives rise to ten different ways of presenting ten research and development strategies.

“Le Grand Pari de l’agglomération parisienne”
Exhibition held from April 29 to November 22, 2009 at La Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine - palais de Chaillot
1 place du Trocadéro – 75116 Paris
Open every day 11am to 7pm. Late-night opening Thursday until 9pm.
Closed Tuesday - entry fee.

Exhibition presented with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Communication/Department of Architecture and Heritage, and the City of Paris.

via Le Grand Pari, Bustler,Cite de l’Architecture