Welcome friends, the final piece of HC2?s year in review showcase. We’ve seen some truly amazing designs this year, and while our 12 part series features the best and the brightest, admittedly it only scratches the surface. Today we’re proud to unveil our favourite artistes of 2011, while this category is one that we’ve included since our premiere year in review five years ago. Before you take a look at this year’s shining stars, please check out the best artistes we’ve celebrated in the past.
Simon Monk‘s Secret Identity is an ongoing series of paintings, each representing a plastic model of a famous superhero contained in a clear polythene carrier bag. Superheroes are icons of male power and potency whose comic book and film adventures see them engages in epic battles across the universe, yet these mythic figures have another life as consumer objects to be found in commercial and domestic contexts. Placed in carrier bags and hung on a hook in a domestic space they become recently purchased objects, robbed of the enormous power they wield in their narratives, their dynamic energy stymied. Despite this reduction they remain irresistible in their caroonish rage and pride.
Ma Yansong‘s Constellation T is a concept inspired by a meteor crashing to earth, bringing with it new energy as it engages in conversation with the existing space. By touching on the dynamic between the old and the new, the pavilion reflects the nature of the Vertu concept, which seeks to combine the traditions of artisan craftsmanship with the advances and possibilities of technology.
Lola Dupre does not employ computers when making her collages; pure scissors, glue and a lot of patience. Dupré proves, through her work, that reinterpretation should not be confused with uninspired repetition and that a good dose of humor can make us see reality from a different perspective.
Best Artiste of 2011
Best Photog of 2011
In our second last episode of our year in review series, we’re continuing a featured category which was new to the list last year, photographers. While we lauded the efforts of Michael Hughes, Jing Quek and Shannon Taggart in 2009, Marina Aurora, Andrew McConnell and Zoe Strauss in 2010, this year we’ve got a new trio of noteworthy photogs.
Erwin Van Amstel‘s work suggests a story, which arises at the moment of combining the images. He is not looking for a continuous narrative, but seeks an atmosphere to answer for the whole. The meaning of the photographs does not lie in the images themselves but in the imagination and the associative abilities of the viewer.
Claudia Ficca and Davide Luciano created a series of photographs depicting the concave cracks as functional tools in a collection of imaginative tableus in the city. Captured within the backdrop of Los Angeles, Montreal, and New York City, the set explores the urban flaw as a playground, creating a multitude of uses out of them including a swimming pool, an oil tank to fry doughnuts, a bath for pedicures, a giant plate of spaghetti, and more.
Irina Werning has started a series of portraits fittingly titled, ‘Back to the Future’. Largely consisting of diptychs, the project has subjects re-enact a childhood photograph from their past in their current image today. the result is a surreal, time-traveling carbon copy that manages to capture a sense of the subject’s biography.
Best ArchiBuild of 2011
Today, we’ve reached the big, final three categories of our 12 part year in review show. Thus far we’ve showcased home design, transportation, threads, ads, fonts, gadgetry, community ideas, environmental, as well as video shorts. Before we embark on the best architectural concepts of 2011, please check out our picks for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Italy’s Solar Wind is densely lined with solar cells coated in clear plastic, producing another 11.2 million kilowatt hours, as well as the blatantly visual wind turbines. Much like New York’s Highline, but on a much more grandiose scale, the entire viaduct itself would be turned into a promenade and park. Drivers may pull off to take in gorgeous coastal views, solar powered greenhouses would be installed along the bridge, creating an ultra-fresh farmer’s market.The entire structure is like a green Utopia, repurposing abandoned structures, producing a combined 40 million kilowatt hours of electricity (that is enough to power 15,000 homes), while creating a chance to take in the surrounding panoramic views, and buy the freshest of produce! Sounds much better than merely tearing down the old viaducts.
Passing Cloud is an innovative and environmentally friendly method of transportation that doesn’t require expensive steel tracks or concrete highways. It is made of a series of spherical balloons that form the shape of a cloud. Its inner stainless steel structure is covered with heavy weight tensile nylon fabric. During the journey, It moves according to prevailing winds speed and direction at the time of travel. Since it moves with the wind, no wind is ever felt during the trip, offering the passengers a full “floating sensation”.
The Maritime Museum and Science Centre is the first step towards a big new master plan development for Porsgrunn City Center – also designed by COBE and TRANSFORM. The city of Porsgrunn has a long maritime history of shipping and the unique development of the region is clearly visible in the existing remarkable building structure of the area. The concept of the museum shows a high level of sensitivity towards the existing small buildings yet simultaneously stands out as a contemporary public building.
Best Short Video of 2011
In episode 9 of our year in review show, we’re showcasing some of the best video shorts we came across in 2011. This is a relatively new category, while this year’s contenders are equally creative, thought provoking and deserving of repeat viewings. Here are three of our favourite shorts from our most recent trip around the sun.
Linotype: The Film is a feature-length documentary film centered around the Linotype typecasting machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886. Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Thomas Edison, the Linotype revolutionized printing and society, but very few people know about the inventor or his fascinating machine.
BOB tells the story of a little hamster that tries to follow his true love around the globe. Can he catch up? This short was created during the team’s second year at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 2009. Ever since, Bob has been running on festivals all over the globe and earned several prizes along the way. The whole project took the creative team six months to produce. Hit play and enjoy.
Incident at Tower 37 is a ten-minute animated short film that was produced collaboratively at Hampshire College and has spent the past two years in film festivals worldwide. On World Water Day it was released on the Internet to bring even greater attention to humanity’s role in creating and perpetuating this planet’s critical water issues. While the film is allegorical, the challenges it alludes to are real.
Best EcoGreen Idea of 2011
Welcome back to episode 8 of our best of, year in review show. Today, we’re falling back on a topic that we’ve featured since our inaugural year in review. There was MIT’s Stackable Car in 2006, Aptera in 2007, H2OG in 2008, Pocket Planters in 2009 and the Aerogenerator in 2010. What great EcoGreen ideas were there this year? Read on fellow traveller!
C-Water evaporates sewage, salt water and other watery objects by the use of heat, which is generated from sunlight. It is applicable to wetlands, beaches, boats, sewage and other places. It has a flexible and compactable design. Not only can it be used as a deflector of steam, it is also space-saving and convenient for transporting. What’s more, it is beneficial for travellers. The aim of ‘c-water’ is to advocate the value of creating highly environmental protection with low costs.
Melt Tag disappears in water, and more importantly it can clean your new clothes too. New clothes are actually coated in chemicals to preserve the texture and quality. Any fashionista knows to wash before wearing them and to facilitate that, the MELT TAG goes in the wash too. It cleans your new clothes and there’s no tag to throw away.
Skypump is unique because it allows EV drivers to recharge their cars with green, renewable sources of energy. A UGE-4K wind turbine harnesses wind power, while solar panels on the Skypump’s roof generate electricity from the sun’s rays. The combined energy produced by the wind turbine and solar array is enough to significantly offset the charging station’s electricity use.
Best Home Ideas of 2011
Every day of the year we feature new and awesome design ideas spanning a wide range of categories including fonts, transportation, modern art and the list goes on. It’s a bit telling that we devote each and every Monday to the best and brightest in-home ideas we come across. Here are three of our faves from 2011.
LED Carpet and rugs are made from 100% wool felt strips that are formed around eye-like forms, like knots in wood. Some of these knots are replaced with LED lights and oriented with the direction of the strips. The carpets can be created to form a directional path with the LEDs, or the lights can just be placed randomly for a glittering array. Colors of the wool strips, arrangement of the lights and the amount can all be customized.
Abisko Washbasin does not present your typical tubes or pipes, while it gives the impression of space and openness with a flowing piece of shaped porcelain. I can only imagine what it would look like to watch your shavings fall down the waterfall, and disappear into the grate. And I am sure cleaning would be as complicated as the design.
Windowherbs is an easy way to grow herbs in your home. The kit come with everything you need to get started including dirt, seeds and all that organic stuff packed into a unique plastic pot. You’ll notice that one side of the pot is flat and actually has a suction cup attached allowing it to be easily stuck to any window where there’s enough light to allow the herbs to grow. It also means you don’t have to worry about your plants being exposed to the elements or even falling to their doom of a shelf.
Best Community Ideas of 2011
Community and group centred projects have been highlighted in our design news year in review since 2007. It’s kind of a hodgepodge of projects and ideas that don’t fit elsewhere, but the core principal behind all ideas are altruism, community involvement, and social betterment.
How can an underwear company raise awareness about world poverty? Cramming a bunch of half-dressed people into an oversize pair of purple underpants in the streets of London seems like a pretty good way to draw attention to just about any cause. To celebrate Guinness World Records Day, 60 participants managed to fit themselves into one pair of briefs to break the record for “Most People Gathered in a Single Pair of Pants.” Pants to Poverty, the fair trade label behind the stunt, hopes it will help raise awareness about ethical working conditions in the fashion industry.
QR_HOBO_CODES is a set of 100 lasercutter-ready QR stencil designs created with the QR_STENCILER software. These stencils can be understood as a covert markup scheme for urban spaces — providing directions, information, and warnings to digital nomads and other indigenterati. Free Art & Technology (F.A.T.) presents these as modern equivalents of the chalk-based “hobo signs” developed by 19th century vagabonds and migratory workers to cope with the difficulty of nomadic life. Indeed, our set of QR stencils port a number of classic hobo annotations to the QR format (“turn right here”, “dangerous dog”, “food for work”) as well as some new ones specific to contemporary conditions (“insecure wifi”, “hidden cameras”, “vegans beware”). Obviously the largest limitation to this application is whether or not the user possesses a smart phone that`s capable of decoding the QR codes.
Stockbox Grocers is a convenient miniature market that is packed inside a reclaimed shipping container and placed into the parking lot of an existing business or organization. The Stockbox team (Michael Brooks, Jacqueline Gjurgevich, Carrie Ferrence, and Eliza Michiels) have proposed for dozens of these stores to be located throughout urban food deserts, and within walking distance of home, work, and school. The small stores are are designed to offer the essential grocery items and fresh produce communities need to get through the week. Across the U.S. a growing number of people live in ‘food deserts’ which means they don’t have access to healthy and affordable food within walking or biking distance of their home. Stockbox Grocers responds to this need with a miniature grocery that’s tucked inside a reclaimed shipping container and placed into the parking lot of an existing business. Innovating on the espresso stand model to build stores throughout urban communities, and provide fresh produce and grocery staples to those who currently without access to good food, where they live.
Best Gadgetry of 2011
Merry Christmas Eve! On day five of our journey through the best design ideas of 2011, it seemed appropriate to tackle electronics and gadgetry, as many folks are likely opening up new toys tomorrow morning. This category is one we’ve been featured since the beginning, while you can review 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010′s selections at your leisure. This category is getting increasingly difficult to curate, as you’ll see our first pick is more of a technological breakthrough than a commercially available piece of tech.
Quantum Levitation is based on the relationship between superconductors and magnets, which hate each other and repel instantly. Since the particular superconductor they used was extremely thin, magnetic waves penetrate the sapphire through weak spots called flux tubes. The tubes are locked inside in the superconductor, allowing it to float, rotate, and even move around in mid-air. While this sort of technology is in its beginning stages, people are already thinking of how to apply it. Could floating cars finally be in our near future?
Orbotix Sphero is an entirely new game platform, that moves. The ball in your living room now becomes the object in the game on your iOS or Android device. The product’s designers have been working hard to fully develop the platform hoping it inspires developers to make tons of games. Some examples they’ve shared include: solving a maze rolling Sphero around on the floor, challenging a friend to a head-to-head sumo match or messing with your cat.
Mozilla Seabird is without a doubt one of our most favourite; albeit only a concept, devices of 2011. The Seabird, introduces a few possibilities into how user interaction might evolve with the advancing motion capture and projector driven innovation in the market. First out, the Seabird imagines how a multiple use dongle might augment the crowded gestural interface with greater precision and direct manipulation of content in 3D space.
Best Fonts of 2011
It’s kind of a no-brainer that we promote some of the best fonts we come across, as we are always appreciative of discovering exciting, new typography on other design sites. Here are three of our favourite fonts from 2011.
First of, check out José Ernesto Rodriguez font called “Handschrift”, which he created by using his hands and a copying machine. We’re really digging each and every letter, as well as the custom characters and gestures shown above/right.
According to Quadranta’s creator Darim Kim, this offering is his first attempt to design a font. Really? It looks as though he’s been doing this, well, for years. In any case, when we first laid eyes on Quadranta we knew that it was something special. Quadranta is free for commercial and personal use, and you may download it via About Letters.
Rounding out the list of best fonts is Kilogram, a free font designed by KalleGraphics, based on Nick Curtis’ font Anagram. The font has only caps, but most of the letters come in two variants. It’s perfect for designers who are looking for something bold, something rock and roll, something that demands attention. Download it for free, take it for a spin and see for yourself.
Best Ads of 2011
This is the forth year we’ve included advertising as a special category in our year in review. While it’s interesting to note what we’ve enjoyed in the past, this year, we’ve got a brand new crop of ads we’re proud to celebrate, and surprising they’re all commercials. Here are the best ads, or at least our faves, from 2011.
The Norwegian Medical Association of the Blind has launched a very effective campaign titled Hire a Blind Person to address what it means to be blind in a very seriously but humorous way. The association, which fights for the rights of people with vision problems, decided to launch a campaign featuring some of the benefits of hiring a blind person. Again, the commercials have a slight hint of dark humor, which really works. The slogan: be more efficient at work, hire a blind person. Hit play below and see for yourself.
On a more serious and grim note, we were disturbed by these new anti-meth PSA’s made by director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream). In Aronofsky’s signature heart-pounding and uncomfortable directing style, he makes meth really seem like the hell of a drug it is. The set of four ads have been criticized for employing scare tactics to deter drug use, which is widely supported by research as being ineffective. What do you think about meth?
Last but not least, an argument for the ages. Which domestic animal is better? Cat or dog? Cat’s are independent, and do not require a great deal of attention. Dogs have great personalities, which can help lift your spirit in times of trouble. Cats suck the breath out of sleeping babies. Dogs poop on the carpet, and will eat your favourite pair of shoes. The list of pros and cons go on and on, but Friskies, supplier of affordable cat food, wants you to side with the felines. Accordingly, they released a series of commercials showing off some less than spectacular moments featuring man’s best friend. And after fido tears through your purse, or shakes off his mangy coat, the tag line “Get a Cat” appears. Hit play below to see for yourself.
Best Threads of 2011
In HC2′s second episode in our ‘best of’ series, we’re moving to the catwalk to showcase not only threads, but other clothing-related finds from 2011. Admittedly we didn’t feature as much fashion as we would have liked this year, however we’re still quite fond of our faves.
The Pixel-Patterned Collection by Japanese designer Kunihiko Morinaga showcases an 8-bit interpretation of the range of women’s fashion, from dresses and professional suits to athletic styles and sweatshirts, in the pixel-patterned fall/winter 2011/2012 collection of his fashion company Anrealage. The line debuted during Japan Fashion Week.
Warning Signs is a lung-shaped visualization of the pollution that exists invisibly all around us. When the fabric senses carbon monoxide, the organ subtly changes colour and pattern to indicate higher levels of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. This piece was designed and created by Nien Lam and Sue Ngo.
Socks Anatomy by Anton Repponen features a textured print of the underlying human anatomy. I mean honestly, who doesn’t appreciate a funky pair of socks?
Best Transportation Ideas of 2011
Welcome one and all to HC2?s sixth annual year in review show. Over the next week and a half, we’ll be featuring the best finds from 2011 in categories including home design, architecture, modern art, fonts, as well as today’s theme, transportation. Similar to last year’s ‘best of’ show, we decided to forgo a ranking system, in which case we’ll simply exhibit our top three faves in each respective category in no particular order. So strap on your holiday helmet, and get ready to relive the best and brightest design discoveries of twenty-eleven.
Bike Guide Concept is a bus powered by solar panels that features integrated bicycles that detach when the bus stops at landmarks around town. Tourists are given the freedom to zip away from the central vehicle on their personal wheels and tour the spot. After a quick ride, everyone returns to the central meeting place, hooks their bikes back up and they move on to the next point of interest.
KET System devised by serbian designer Ivan Erkic, harvests the unused energy of vehicle traffic by generating electromagnetic induction between moving cars, making productive use of what erkic describes as ‘a ‘river’ of automobiles, passing by in different directions like electrons in a magnetic field.’ ‘KET’ involves the placement of a magnetic coil, here integrated into a decorative panel, onto the sides of hybrid and electric vehicles. The coils have reversed polarity on each side of the car, and are connected to a battery, which is connected to the car’s engine.
Heathrow’s ULTra To shuttle travelers between the airport and an outlying parking lot, London Heathrow Airport has launched a driverless personal rapid transit system. The system, by UK-based ULTra PRT, consists of computer controlled electric cars that seat up to 6 passengers.
Maison Monday: Each Other Chair
Welcome to the very last Maison Monday, as well as the very last new design post of 2011. From here on out HC2 will be counting down our favourite designs of the year. Thankfully, we’ve got a great in-home feature to end on a high note.
‘Each Other’ is a chair conceived by Japanese design student Takahito Araki studying at Tokyo Metropo Itan University under the direction of professor Keisuke Fujiwara. The seating object is composed of two almost identical parts which cannot be used individually. However, when the components are slid into one another and engaged, together they become a fully functioning chair. Conveniently, the chair’s width can be altered, offering four different seating widths.
each piece is made from birch plywood.
Dukoral
From the Toronto Ad Agency, Torre Lazur McCann comes a decent commercial for a drug that isn’t necessarily taboo, but it’s certainly not something you would talk about at the table or with your grandmother. Dukoral, you know the one that helps prevent travellers diarrhea, helps to ensure you aren’t up to your neck in sand when the unfortunate urge hits.
Phaeton
Via I Love Typography: A brilliantly talented and prolific illustrator (& writer) hailing from Philadelphia, PA. Part super-hero, part … something else, you probably know him for his work at A List Apart, the Superest, or Mojo.
Looking hand-drawn and with its trousers pulled up high, this condensed serif display face is oddly wonderful. Randy Jones was just the right chap to bring Cornell’s lettering to digital fontdom. Wobbly cup serifs and a smattering of bouncy ball terminals combine to make this single cut a delightfully eccentric face that’s really fun to use. Phaeton bears some of the hallmarks of Jones’ Olduvai, and comes replete with numerous wordmarks and pictographs, plus a number of stylistic alternates. I wonder what Batman and Robin have up their other sleeves.
LEGO Christmas Tree
A giant Christmas tree is on display in London’s St. Pancras Station for display through the 2011 holiday season… but unlike the iconic installation in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza, London’s tree is composed not of pine needles and bark but hundreds of thousands of LEGO pieces.
Spanning 10-meters tall, the project utilizes 600,000 LEGO bricks to compose 172 branches. 1200 christmas balls, also composed of LEGOs, were assembled by elementary school children before being hung from the sculpture. Located in the main arcade of the station, the Christmas tree took over two months to construct. Various treasure hunts and other competitions centered around the tree offer a fun interactive component for children and other visitors.
Seljord Lookout
Via Inhabitat: Lake Seljord is inhabited by a giant eel-like sea monster named Selma who overturns boats and dances on the water — or so say the residents of Seljord, Norway. Like Nessie, Bigfoot, and the Yeti, there are hundreds of witnesses who have seen Selma in the lake, but there is little credible evidence to prove she is a reality. But that doesn’t stop the tourists visiting the famous Lake Seljord from attempting to catch a glimpse of her. In 2008, the town decided to capitalize on the lore by building a lookout tower for visitors to use while seeking out for Selma. Designed by Rintala Eggertsson Architects, the Seljord Lookout Point is made completely of wood and provides a new way for visitors to experience nature, and of course, hunt for sea monsters.
The municipality of Seljord commissioned the Oslo-based firm to design a series lookout points around the lake for visitors and locals to experience the water in new ways. The project consisted of two parts to install a few small lookout points at the mid- and southeast sections of the lake, and then to install a larger lookout tower and exhibition area at the southwest end of the lake.
Rintala Eggertsoon worked with art and architecture students and teachers from Nuova Accademia di Belle Arte and Politecnico in Milan, and scenography students from the Norwegian Theatre Academy in a building workshop to come up with the smaller viewing shelters around the lake. The results of their efforts was a series of three shelters called “Into the Landscape” that provide functional space in the natural landscape, without dominating the surrounding environment.
The lookout tower was then placed on a site with two pine trees with large canopies that create a natural place for rest and recreation. Built completely out of local wood, the tower provides three spaces in which to observe nature — the first faces a bird nesting area; the second is at the top of the tree canopies; and the third is the largest and looks out over the lake. A smaller building off to the side connected by decking serves as exhibition space.
The lookout tower works to ease the visitor from the parking lot to the lake, and provides a means by which to experience the natural landscape in a new way. At night, interior lights illuminate the space and cast the shadows of visitors moving around inside. The tower encourages interaction, observation and a bit of mystery with a chance of seeing a giant sea monster.
Adara Sanchez Anguiano
Adara Sanchez Anguiano is an illustrator who was born in Sevilla (Spain) twenty four years ago. He started studying Fine Arts in his hometown but the desires of travelling led to Adara spending a year abroad in Antwerp (Belgium). It was then when he decided to become an illustrator. After that heI came back to Spain, eventually settling in Cuenca. Upon completion of his degree, Adara decided to move to Barcelona where he currently resides. We’re really fond of his ‘Take Your Clothes Off’ series, pictured above.
Gulliver Table
The Midtown Design Touch Park kicked-off in a wide open grass field in Tokyo Midtown where design can be enjoyed with the five senses. Here, Torafu Architect proposed an open stage on which children and adults alike take part in workshops while having fun. A very long table has suddenly appeared on the lawn. They installed a tabletop running 50 meters in a straight line, as if drawing a horizontal line on the gently sloping grassy field. The table naturally grows taller as we move along the inclined plane.
The structure serves as a symbol for the children’s workshop—it is a floor, a table, a bench, a playground or even a shelter. Various persons come all together around a single 50 meter-long table, discovering various places along the way; places to sit down, to stand up, to lie down or pass under. Like a big family gathered around a picnic table, this is a stage full of smiles where all citizens, young and old, converge to create something new.
Maison Monday: Ditto
You assemble the new Ditto modules by 3form into anything you desire: modern hanging room dividers / partitions, contemporary 3D artistic accents, wall cladding features or a visual focal piece. The Ditto kit comes in a box complete with all necessary hardware and snaps together easily to form your preferred design. Employing a modular philosophy, this room divider allows for creative freedom and customized designs. You have control over color, form, structure and light. It’s made of 3form’s Varia Ecoresin material which is composed of 40% pre-consumer recycled content. It comes in various colors but you have the option to customize it to any color you need. These hanging modules are flexible enough to allow for your choice of 3D expression.
Conservatoire de Musique Ilyes Jaryan
To target potential clients, the music school “Conservatoire de Musique Ilyes Jaryan” decided to conduct an advertising blitz during la Semaine de la Musique Instrumentale, a famour music festival in Tunis. The idea was to make flyers and place them on the windshields of parked cars near the festival. The message on the creative ads “Violin Lessons: Beginners and Advanced courses”
Socks Anatomy
Around here, we’re huge fans of fun, funky and otherwise strange socks. Crazy or otherwise unorthodox socks are an easy way to show off your style and sense of adventure, while this undergarment can also help to leave an impression. Recently we noticed Socks Anatomy by Anton Repponen, which include a textured print of the underlying human anatomy.
Moutain Hill Cabin
Mountain Hill Cabin is a seasonal residence by Oslo-based practice Fantastic Norway to be constructed within a highly restricted mountainous terrain in ål, Norway. Accessible solely by skis during the winter months,
the dwelling will support the inhabitants activities of skiing and sledge riding along with outdoor picnics overlooking the scenery from a terrace upon the structure. Strict building regulations led to the outward form’s height along with consideration for snow loads and harsh weather conditions.
Extending from the 23 degree angle of the gable roof, the eaves continue into the ground, appearing as though the house has emerged from the earth similar to the mountains in the distance. The resulting uplifts are faced with windows and oriented to direct views towards the encompassing landscape.
McDonald’s Large Coffee
McCafé is a coffee-house-style food and drink chain, owned by McDonald’s. Created and launched in Melbourne, Australia in 1993, they are now being rolled out all around the world. In most cases, McCafés are being shoehorned into existing McDonald’s restaurants, but stand alone McCoffee-shops are also appearing here and there. Clearly there’s money to be made in the java game. As a part of promoting McCafés and McDonald’s coffee, DDB out of Helsinki, Finland released this larger than life print ad.
Diego Gravinese
Diego Gravinese was born in La Plata, Argentina and currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He creates large-scale, photo-realistic oil paintings where viewers are free to complete the storylines with their imaginations.
Duffaluffagus
Meet the Duffaluffagus, a classic duffle bag that holds enough to choke a hippo. Wear it as a pack with the tuck-away backpack straps, or strap your skateboard to the bottom and pull it along behind you. High quality leather accents and tie downs, widemouth metal zipper on top. It’s bigger than legal carryon size but will fit in the overhead so if you walk it on you’re usually fine.
Maison Monday: Bright Blind
While it’s not being prescribed as a cure for seasonal affective disorder just yet, the Bright Blind is sure to lighten one’s spirit in dark, sad abodes and office spaces worldwide. Made of electroluminescent (EL) sheets, Makoto Hirahara’s Bright Blind simulates a window where none exists. The artificial blind functions in exactly the way you might guess; turn the plastic stick and control the brightness!
Unhate
United Colors of Benetton has just unveiled its new ‘unhate’ advertising campaign in a handful, of cities, featuring manipulated images that show unlikely pairings of international religious and political leaders kissing one another.
The ad campaign supports the company’s ‘unhate foundation’ think tank and arts research center, designed to organize events and promote acts of intervention towards a more tolerant world. As its first series of actions, Benetton organized the hoisting of large posters and projection of digital images of the controversial advertisements in public spaces in New York, Milan, Rome, Tel Aviv, and Paris.
Online, the organization’s ‘kiss wall’ invites users from around the world to upload diptyched images that mimic kissing duos, alongside a message of tolerance and ‘unhate’.
Research Centre for Université Pierre et Marie Curie
BIG + Paris-based architects OFF, engineers Buro Happold, consultants Michel Forgue and environmental engineer Franck Boutte is the winning team to design the new 15.000 m2 research centre for Sorbonne’s Scientific university Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.
The new multidisciplinary research centre, Paris PARC, located between Jean Nouvel’s Institut du Monde Arabe and the open green park of the Jussieu Campus will become a significant addition to the campus, strengthening the international appeal and openness of the leading French University for Science and Medicine. The facility will bring together academic scholars and the business community, while re-connecting the university physically and visually with the city of Paris. The winning team was honored as the best design among proposals from MVRDV, Lipsky Rollet, Mario Cucinella and Peripherique.
Paris PARC is located in the visual axis of the Notre Dame Cathedral in a dense context of university buildings from different historical periods. BIG proposes a building geometry that adapts to the specific conditions of all adjoining sides, optimized for daylight, views and accessibility. The three-dimensional envelope retracts from the neighboring facades, opens up towards the square of Institut du Monde Arabe and the park, and folds into a publicly accessible rooftop landscape, resulting in an adapted sculptural building volume situated between the emblematic architectural monuments of the university.
The Shelter Pet Project
The Shelter Pet Project is a public service ad campaign focused onspreading the word that pets in shelters are wonderful and lovable,and encouraging potential adopters to consider the shelter as thefirst place to find a new best friend. Visit www.theshelterpetproject.org to search for available shelter pets in your area and learn more about shelter pet adoption. Otherwise, hit play below to see the hilarious ad associated with this campaign.
Fort de Roovere Trench Bridge
A bridge was needed to be built to allow visitors to cross over the moat of this historical attraction, but the architects found it strange to create a bridge over the canal of a defensive fortification, especially because the bridge needed to be built on the side where traditionally the enemy was expected. Therefore, the architects created a bridge that from a distance is invisible, and has less impact on the historical nature of the fortress than a typical bridge would.