This elementary lamp is meant to be as simple and solid as a nail or a push pin. As with traditional tool machine lighting, the mechanics are sturdy and long-lasting, with the aim of improving classical industrial elements: the clamp is inverted to offer a better way of using it.
The lamp mixes solidity and lightness: a thin beam joins the two
opposite pieces of the lamp: the heavy cast foot to a delicate shade.
The lamp, called Sempé features I. 8 W LED solution, hand spun aluminum shade and steel beam, clamp or base in cast iron.
Architecture Studio 4of7 has developed a project for a pediatric clinic in East Africa. The intent was to create spatial solution which would be able to grow and adapt according to the changing need; or according to varied conditions at different locations. Notionally, if more and more modules were to be added, such configuration could grow infinitely but always confined the circular matrix, defined by three differently sized courtyards.
Responsive solutions in building industry are normally associated with high budgets. In contrast, this is a low-cost application of adaptable architecture. Proposed design is not site specific; it is configured to suite different surroundings and varied demands. For practical reasons, it is based on the use of a single component designed for infinite growth within a recursive geometric pattern.
Proposal for the phase one satellite clinic entails ten modules grouped around two circular courtyards, while phase two configuration will need twenty modules grouped around five circular courtyards.
The project was developed in collaboration with the Norwegian Design team, Norway Says and encompasses lighting and furniture elements from bollards to bicycle stands through to a bench. The formal concept is carried throughout the range and enables planners to create an esthetically coherent cityscape, something which also convinced the iF Award judging panel.
The judging criteria for the award included, amongst other things, the quality of the design, workmanship, choice of material, degree of innovation, environmental impact and functionality. ewo managed to convince the top-class judging panel composed of international experts with their product range 'Up'.
ewo is responsible for the development of the technology and Norway Says for the design of the product range.
The international expert judges for the iF Award judged 2,486 entries from 39 countries, 778 of which received the label for design excellence.
ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) calls for design solutions in the face of the disaster in Haiti.
In a global appeal following the devastation in Haiti, Icsid has launched a call to designers from all disciplines to unite in an open dialogue with international relief organisations to assess potential design-effective rehabilitation projects. In support of the UN’s efforts to help the Haitian people overcome challenges in relation to the country’s reconstruction plans, designers, academics and design students, as well as experienced developmental workers are encouraged to join the discussion and become a fan of the 'Uniting Designers in Disaster' page on Facebook.
Designers have a strong desire to support the relief effort. This forum is intended to help identify tangible opportunities and empower the design community to contribute to the cause.
"As an international non-governmental organisation with over 50 years experience implementing projects of global appeal, Icsid is poised with the strategic understanding of the processes required by NGOs to develop and implement result-driven and effective initiatives," stated Icsid President Dr. Mark Breitenberg and Provost of California College of the Arts. "What we aim to do with the forum is engage designers to exchange information about initiatives and opportunities where they may contribute their design and problem solving skills. In addition, we are hoping that the dialogue between the design community, development workers and representatives from international agencies will subsequently facilitate relief efforts, such as those currently being prepared by the UN to help the people of Haiti meet long-term stabilisation and reconstruction objectives."
Among its key mission statements, Icsid strives to provide an international platform for the design community to be heard as a powerful voice. Although active participation and contributions will continue on the Facebook page, in an effort to take immediate action, all information posted via the forum will be actively reviewed in order to select opportunities for immediate international activities.
"This is a call to think in order to act," stated Breitenberg. "Our immediate goal is to gain a better understanding of the relief efforts needed in order to facilitate the development of design-led solutions that impact Haiti's quality of life."
For more information, please contact: Andrea Springer t: +1 514 448 4949 ext. 232 e: aspringer@icsid.org
Norway has perhaps the best conditions in the world for utilizing offshore wind power. Its coastline is the longest and windiest in Europe and largely unsaturated with turbines. The oil industry has given the country vast expertise in offshore foundations, as well as immense investment capital. It has half of Europe's hydropower to couple wind power.
The EU commission has committed to deriving 20% of its total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. Norway has the capacity to surpass this goal and become an exporter of the EU's newest tradable good, renewable energy.
Norway has already begun speculation on such venture, yet offshore wind farms are meeting strong resisitance, mainly due to misinformation and ungrounded skepticism. What Norway needs to propel wind power is a flagship wind farm to promote and celebrate its newest investment.
Possible typologies
Location: Off the coast of Stavanger, Norway - 31,500 sq. meters (hotel, museum) Project by Joao Vieira Costa, Leon Rost, Don Lawrence, Tudor Vlasceanu OnOffice is an international practice, based in Porto, Portugal.
The goal is to create a short video in the form of a Public Service
Announcement on the topic of genuine design and the problem of
knock-offs.
Use concrete examples to demonstrate why furniture
designers deserve the right to protect their work against unauthorized
copies and counterfeits.
Since 1992, M2L - a furniture importer and distributor specializing in genuine modern design - has been dedicated to finding and sourcing truly iconic pieces that define the classic modern aesthetic. However, the practice of selling “knock-offs” has become widespread in the furniture and interiors industry because designers, manufacturers and consumers are unfamiliar with intellectual property rights. From pieces “inspired” by other designers to actual counterfeits that are marketed illegally, it is important for the next generation of designers to know where the lines are.
Four students will be awarded scholarships of $3,500, $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively. The winners will be announced at the end of March and honored at an event in M2L’s New York showroom. The winners’ videos will also be featured on the Genuine Design website.
Submission Deadline: March 5 2010 at 6pm UTC.
Genuine Design is an effort to inform consumers and designers about plagerism, and why it presents a threat to our culture and industries. They are dedicated to ethics and authenticity in the designer furniture industry. Their goal is to expose frauds, counterfeits and knockoffs, and educate designers about the importance of respecting the intellectual property of their colleagues.
Using maize bio-plastic and bamboo trim, Elium Studio is extending its research on materials applied to household products.
The designers have looked at small electronics for the home in eco-friendly mode: radio with rechargeable battery by manual wind-up, clock, alarm clock, calculator and pocket flashlight with solar-powered battery. A range of eco-design pieces for Lexon.
As for the finish qualities of maize bio-plastic, which is matt rather than the super shiny plastic, they are honed and counter-balanced by the addition of bamboo for the covering. This is a technically bold option that adds an artisan touch to mass production and gets around the problem of appearance-fade, since bamboo takes on an elegant patina with use where ordinary plastics age badly.
American company Trufig creates flush-mounting system that seamlessly integrates every day devices and technologies—including light switches, data jacks, and speakers into a wall or ceiling. Trufig offers an aesthetically pleasing approach to integrating those can’t-live-without items into the architecture.
Each year, Wallpaper* magazine celebrates a year’s worth of beautiful designs, bright ideas, movements, and creative shakes from around the world at an annual awards ceremony held in London.
Trufig was founded in 2008 by Scott Struthers and Geoff Spencer, founders of Dana Innovations, parent company of Sonance® and iPort®. Founded in 1982, Dana Innovations’ legacy of standard-setting design includes the world’s first high-fidelity in-wall speaker system, the world’s first integrated in-wall iPod® docking station, and the reigning design standard for architectural audio—the flush-mounted Sonance Architectural Series speaker system.
The Estate of Lester Beall has launched a website about American Graphic Design Pioneer Lester Beall (1903 - 1969).
The Estate of Lester Beall was seeking a web presence with a vintage modern approach. Greg Chinn has found a way to showcase the history of Lester Beall, emphasizing the early developmental career, pioneering work and lifestyle, while adding to the visual language of the time period. The website was created from a very personal point of view. Greg Chinn is married to the youngest Beall grandaughter and his great respect and affection for the work is evident.
Beall, whose work was considered avant-garde, was the first graphic designer to have a One Man Show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1937, inducted into the Art Director's Club Hall of Fame in 1972 and awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by AIGA in 1993. Design historian, R. Roger Remington has written a book, Lester Beall: Trailblazer of American Graphic Design (1996).
Rural Electrification Administration posters - Series One 1937
The site is framed by the words of Lester’s wife, Dorothy Miller Beall, from the December 1969 issue of the Journal of The American Institute of Graphic Arts. Functioning as a primer to Beall’s work, the website shows salient examples from his iconic portfolio. Viewers can see Beall’s early design work, drawings/paintings from the family's personal collection and peek inside his working Dumbarton Farm design studio in Brookfield, Connecticut.
Rural Electrification Administration posters - Series Three 1947
Material ConneXion announced the launch of its first annual medium award for material of the year, naming UK-based company Concrete Canvas’s Concrete Cloth as the inaugural winner.
Concrete Cloth’s groundbreaking cement impregnated flexible fabric technology, which allows it to be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes, is a natural choice for 2009’s winner.
“With the simple addition of water, Concrete Cloth makes it possible
to create safe, durable, non-combustible structures for a wide range of
commercial, military and humanitarian uses,” says Dr. Andrew H. Dent,
Vice President, Library & Materials Research at Material ConneXion.
“This innovation is especially remarkable for enabling the construction
of rapidly deployable shelter and food storage structures in disaster
relief situations,” Dent adds.
Concrete Cloth has been chosen as winner for its groundbreaking cement impregnated flexible fabric technology that can be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes. This innovation is remarkable for enabling the quick construction of safe and insulated infrastructure for a wide range of humanitarian, commercial, and military uses, including the creation of rapidly deployable shelter and food storage structures in disaster relief situations.
The award recognizes materials juried into the company’s Materials Library within the past year that demonstrate outstanding technological innovation and the potential to make a significant contribution to the advancement of design, industry, society and economy.
Award-Winner and 11 Finalists to be showcased in an Exhibition at Material ConneXion, from January 11 to February 19, 2010
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