As a curator and researcher, I am really interested in objects that have been adapted to the user. One such project is Taglieri by Matt Brown, an American industrial designer. While living in Italy, Brown came across a cutting board that had formed the perfect groove after being cut with the same round knife for over thirty years. To capitalize on this time tested enhancement, Brown had the object scanned and created a new cutting board that reflected the original mark.
In Venice this week taking a mosaic course at the Orsoni workshop, a family owned foundry that has been making mosaics since the 1800’s – very excited! Will share a full report when I get back, but posting this week will be light. Next week it’s the London Design Festival, I will be covering the events for DK and MoCo Loco, stay tuned.
Apologies for the lack of posts. I have a dissertation and several other projects looming in front of me, all in the midst of an escape to the French seaside. In other words…a whole lot of everything and nothing to get done so I decided to make it official, DK will be taking a bit of a summer vacation for the next month. À bientôt.
Elemental is an architecture practice located in Chile. Recently, they were charged with providing housing for 100 squatter families…on property within city limits. Given the expense of the land alone, Elemental came up with a fascinating solution: build half a house. The firm designed units that would cover the basic structure of a home (including a kitchen and bath), but would leave that shell to be built-upon and adjusted by future tenants. Elemental won the Brit Insurance Architecture Award for their Monterrey project – photos of their first ‘Half-Houses’ in Iquique are above.
Made in Brazil is a collection by Rodrigo Almeida that explores Brazilian culture and craftsmanship – above are the Oca magazine rack made with sequins and a woven basket and his Paper Chair.
‘This is Not a Lamp’ is a wooden stool/side table created by German designer Florian Kallus.
(via Neo2)
Drift Design is a studio based in Amsterdam (and where my good friend Arden works). They recently created an amazing light installation based on animal group behavior. The lights have built-in sensors which detect the movements around them, triggering a chain reaction through the swarm. Beautiful.
Amazing window installation designed by Tokujin Yoshioka for Maison Hermes in Japan – sometimes simplicity is best.
(via Jo Meesters)
‘Wall-to-Wall’ by Shay Alkalay and Yael Mer of Raw Edges Studio is a new flooring system on exhibit at Established & Sons. The designers created the installation by staining pieces of oak parquet flooring with a palette of 15 colors. The result is a beautiful display reminiscent of textiles/mosaics.
