The new Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece desiged by Bernard Tschumi has finally been unveiled. [Photo gallery] (via Financial Times)

"The Eastman Kodak Co. announced Monday it's retiring its most senior film because of declining customer demand in an increasingly digital age." Good-bye, old friend. (via Forbes)

Ever since I first saw FLW's Ennis House in Blade Runner I have been wanting to... and now my money is tied up in my totally secure and safe Nigerian investments! Ahhh, the humanity!! Anyone else? It's a bargain! Just move your chair when it rains... (via reuters)

"Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, 65, designed a new Acropolis Museum for Athens, which will open this weekend. SPIEGEL spoke with him about the end of Great Britain's argument that Greece has no proper home for the Elgin Marbles." (via spiegel)

Here is a very cool project that goes beyond the High Line to transform a network of working transit infrastucture into an functional urban oasis. An interview with members of the multi-firm design team: Margie Ruddick, Sandro Marpillero and Linda Pollak. (via Archinect)

A top five list according to TH. (via Treehugger)

A reflective review of the High Line. (via Design Observer)

We've featured a couple groovy bird feeders on L+L over the years... here's a straight forward little number made from recycled scrap stainless steel. The Nido Bird Feeder, $79 at Bambeco. (via Apartment Therapy)

Officially announcing Land+Living Maps; the world as we see it.

It is a work in progress with many more place marks to come... yup, there are lots of holes in our map. But eventually no matter where you find yourself in the world, L+L will have your back. A lofty goal perhaps, but that's how we roll. Oh yeah, and you'll see embedded maps accompanying many of our posts from here on out, not to mention the maps we've added to archived posts as well.

Happy exploring!

Link: Land+Living Maps

770,000 Americans already have a 'Green' job approaching the same scale as the traditional energy sector and far outpacing biotechnology's paltry 200,000 jobs despite a longer history and greater investment. (via Wired)

Image by: tamachanhaazarashi.

Designers these days face a lot of pressure to not only do good design, but also to do the right thing. Indeed the importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly products cannot and should not be underestimated. However, while Designers are central to the creation of these products, it takes a lot more than just having the “Will” to do it.

Experience has shown me that Consumerism is such a humongous engine, with so many factors influencing or controlling it, that a Designer and his ?Will? is but a drop in the ocean.

Regardless, Designers are in a good position to influence and often the issue is creating a sustainability discussion that can also be relevant and meaningful to the business and their financials. I would also like to add that this difficulty of translating a sustainable proposition into something that makes financial sense is one of the key reasons why ?Green? is not taking off in many companies. Yes, sadly money does make the world go round.

Another key point I like to add is that traditional sustainability discussions are almost the norm these days. Recyclable materials, low impact processes, Lead and toxic free materials, and even end of life management etc. are all achievable and even part of government legislation in many countries. While a lot of products do satisfy such legislations, more could be done. However, I personally feel this is the wrong approach to take, more like a stopgap measure rather than a cure.

Rather than trying to fix a product, why not instead ?fix? the buying behavior of consumers? Think about it, the awesome Macbook Unibody that I?m typing on is made out of recycled aluminum, however the amount of power you need to recycle it when you are done, makes this idea of a recycling process pointless if everyone is chucking it out after a year. However if I told you that this was my first computer after my 5-year-old laptop died, well you get the picture. It is not so much about cleaning up after it all, but about getting people to consume less.

This comes to an interesting cosmic alignment.

Industrial Designers are known to be experts in creating products that are a reflection of consumer behavior, or even, as some say, able to influence behavior by creating desire!

So the next time you are working on a design, consider shaping it to encourage ecological and sustainable consumer behaviors. Not only that, if you can add making the designs financially meaningful into the mix, you would have got it sold!

I have to say I?m not an expert in this, but here are some suggestions that might spark some ideas to help you along:

1) Design longer lasting products. Commit to designing and building the best possible product you can, and market the hell out of it! Charge a premium for this and I?m sure this product strategy can still be financially sound.

2) Design Products that are part of an upgradable system. Modular or Lego type systems are great way, for consumers to throw away less as they can now buy what they need.

3) Create products that can be fit into smaller packaging. Design products that can be easily assembled, so they can be flat packed IKEA style. Less factory assembly resources required, more products on a shipping pallet, and hence smaller overall carbon footprint.

4) Products that can be easily disassembled. People seem to forget design for disassembly. Why not create products that can be easily disassembled for re-use and refurbishing back into NEW products? Reused components save costs and landfills.

5) Parts reduction. Simplicity is back in style. This means elegant and simple product constructions with less fuss and less ornaments. Make it in one part or not at all!

These are just some simple suggestions off the top of my head. I?m sure you can come up with more ideas and options that either encourages sustainable behavior and/or makes financial sense. Please do share, as I love to hear about them?

PS: You might like to take a look at this post “10 Useful Cost Saving Design Strategies for these Troubled Times” for more ideas. Cost savings usually mean less materials and thus less impact.

   

Image from AllMoviePhoto

Wow! The response to the Designer Mentoring Program has been an overwhelming success. Over 30 designers of all levels have expressed interest in taking part. It was a really tough decision and I spent a lot of time agonizing over the decisions. At the end of the day the following designers were selected based on a few simple criteria:

1) The Designers can leverage off each other.
The Designer Mentoring Program is not only about spending some time with me, but will also be a small community of designers with a similar passion and attitude towards design. Part of the process will include interacting and learning from each other in their day to day experiences.

2) The Designers have completed school.
This was a tough one. I had almost as many student designers as there were designers in industry. However, I had decided against student designers for this intake as, unlike graduate designers, student designers still have access to mentors in the form of their teachers.

3) The Designers showed great passion and engagement.
The Designers selected, showed a lot of passion with their work as well as took a lot of effort to ensure that I understood what they were all about. Nothing scored more points than a willingness to improve.

So without further, the Padiwans are:

1) Waikit Chung
2) Ingo Rauth
3) David Emmett
4) Mikkel Holm
5) Eugene Cheong

Padiwans, do check your email in-boxes, as I will be contacting all of you soon with the way forward in this Designer Mentoring Program. David and Mikkel, please drop me an email at dt [at] designsojourn.com so that I can get the ball rolling.

I like to thank all the designers for taking their time to leave comments, sending their portfolios or sharing their work with me. It is plainly obvious that there are a lot of great talent out there, and I’m humbled that you have decided to join up.

I really feel sad that I can’t take in more designers into the program, but not to worry, I hope to to get around organizing more intakes in the future. So do keep in touch, or even better, why not subscribe (via email) to Design Sojourn, if you have not already?

   

IDEO’s Tim Brown has written a great article on Design Thinking for The Harvard Business Review. This one sure did the rounds in the studio! Recently, I discovered that there is a pdf version available right on their IDEO website.

Do Enjoy!

   

I recently read a really insightful interview with the members of the Griffin product development group on how they go about creating their wonderful accessories for the iPhone and iPod. One comment, in particular, struck a chord:

How does the process begin?

TC: Regardless of where the idea originates, the front end of the process is wide open; any one at Griffin can pitch a new product idea by writing up a one-page concept summary and presenting it to the team in a weekly product development meeting. That group bats it around, beats it up and decides whether it has enough potential to warrant further exploration.

TC: A great product idea can come from anywhere. We all use and love the technologies that we build products to support, so sometimes we’re just creating solutions that let us use our iPods and iPhones to do the things that we want to do. We also interact constantly with our customers to learn about their needs and pain points. Other times, we find an exciting technology and come up with unique, innovative ways to apply it to create solutions.

I was really happy to see that this manner of generating ideas during their product development process was something that I also suggested in my post “Innovation is Everyone’s Responsibility“.

Another way to look at it is to consider this as a “Controlled Democratic Design Process”. While a true Democratic Design process engages the masses with Crowd-Sourcing, in this case you only cast your net only as far as the members of your organization.

As a result, rather than a free for all “shotgun” approach of ideas from Crowd Sourcing, engaging your non product development colleagues can get you a more controlled but fresh perspective of ideas that are based on their view of your business.

Via: Steve Portigal’s blog.

   

I really enjoy reading blogs where the author shares his or her musings and anecdotal thoughts. I find that this gives a good insight into how that author thinks. Even better if these thoughts come from a designer. Check out Smart Design’s co-founder Tom Dair share his thoughts about redesigning the Rock-Paper-Scissors game. Tom argues that it does not seem logical that Paper trumps Rock, and sets out looking for a new Tri-factor that makes sense.

As I was growing up, my mom had a lot of advice, especially when it came to safety. I used to hear “it’s better to be a live chicken than a dead duck” a lot. Here’s another one: “if there is ever an electrical storm, whatever you do, don’t stand under a tree. The safest place during an electrical storm is in a car. The rubber tires protect it from the lightning”. One day some teenagers in a fast moving Camaro hit a tree down the street from my house. The car was totaled; fortunately the teenagers survived. Mom, as usual, had a rule to cover just such an event: “if you’re going to hit something with your car, don’t hit a tree. A car is no match for a tree.”

Once in a while, it is nice to read a post on Design Thinking that is fun, less serious, and not just about making money.

   

We’ve assembled the chart on “What is a Design Strategy” you see on the left hand side some weeks ago.

For some reason I did only push it via twitter so far maybe for the reason that it still needs some ‘iterations’ to reflect all the constructive feedback I’ve received in the meantime. Sure in these days of collaboration credits do go to several input channels, but mainly to buddy and business partner Erik Roscam Abbing especially on the case/model examples.

The problem with models and especially if you want to map several of them in a big overview and combine them with your own thinking is that it gets blurry even though it is pretty clear to you/me since you’ve invested some reasonable hours in it … you know that, right? ;-)

On the other hand I think a certain degree of blurriness is justified in case the topic hasn’t been reasonably illustrated so far. At least to my state of knowledge this is the case for ‘Design Strategy’ even though much has been written about it at various places. Still if you ask people what a ‘Design Strategy’ or ‘Strategic Design’ actually is/comprises they (including me) start by saying that “This is a broad field and …” Accordingly the chart has been an attempt to frame my/our ideas and give it a first visual representation.

Anyway it has been just yesterday where I’ve been pointed to a video done by Design Consultancy ‘Continuum’, Boston/MA on ‘design strategy’! Continuum next to IDEO are the publicly best known category leaders when it comes to applying Design/design in a process instead of product way. [This does not mean that there aren’t quite a few small boutique consultancies out there like e.g. me/us who are doing an equally good job ;-)]

In particular the opening sequence of the movie finally triggered me to push our poster above to this blog and to a knowledgeable community like you. In a sense Continuum is nicely illustrating the basic idea of the poster in their own wording … and yes I felt sort of flattered since I do think they are leaders in their category ;-)

Accordingly I can appease my parents: I’m in good company! ;-)

Resonance from Continuum on Vimeo.

On the rooftop of the new Standard hotel in New York City, hotel owner Andre Balazs shares the finer architectural points of his latest creation. A handful of design bloggers, including MoCo Loco, were invited this afternoon to get a personal tour of the hotel with Mr. Balazs. The new flagship Standard was both built by, and is operated by, the Balazs company which means that the building benefited from their years of hotel operating experience and no expense was spared to make it the best guest experience possible (developers are often not the operators of a building and often cut corners to save money). Examples; colorless/tintless exterior glass to optimize the many views and distance the building from common green glass office buildings, 16 different room types for variety - none of which the traditional shoebox design, wider South facing rooms to take advantage of the abundant light, custom made bathrooms with separate showers and water closet... the list is long. The pictures after the jump tell more of the story.

We're in NYC for New York Design Week this weekend, Jaime is looking at the satellite shows in Soho & the Meatpacking Disctrict and Eric and I have just spent a good part of the day walking through the International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javits Center. ICFF is a little more subdued than in years past, but it's only slightly so. The crowds may be a bit thinner but there are no empty booths and the mood is surprisingly upbeat if just a bit anxious. Best of all there are still plenty of new items to feature on MoCo Loco. More posts to follow.

Within the dotted structure named The Doll House, Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc presented her project I Will Buy Flowers Myself. The slick interior was the set for Zupanc's Mrs. Dalloway hotplate above, a sleek appliance that takes the form of a large compact (or is it a timeless pocket watch?), a polycarbonate feather duster, black and white acrylic laser cut cradles, a table that can be an open tray or a frilly surface, two ultra-elegant sofas, and a toy car that looks like a wind-up mouse. There is an air of danger here, impending doom that lurks behind this domestic façade. Will the Stepford Wife strike back?

It didn't take much time for the installers to mud, tape and sand all of the seams. I wish I had my camera on hand during a few visits to the house because the guys mudding were walking around on stilts. I'm pretty sure it would have made for a decent photo or two. With the walls fully prepared, it was time for paint. It's quite surprising how much larger the spaces feel now that walls are primed - particularly the clerestory, which obviously gets the most amount of light. And, I must admit, that for the floors, choosing the species of hardwood was actually quite difficult for us. If you haven't had the luxury of walking into a hardwood store (or looking online for that matter), you'll quickly discover that there are thousands of options to choose from. For us, we wanted something that was strong, aesthetically pleasing and cost effective.

What takes 1 1/2 hours to create and only lasts one hour? Why, the latest public light installation in the streets of Madrid by Luzinterruptus. Still, the effect is a lot prettier than it probably should be. See the rest of the week at Art MoCo after the jump.

as part of the 2009 london design festival (sep 19–27) spanish designer jamie hayon will present
'the tournament'. the giant porcelain chess set will be situated between the two fountains and faces
the staircase of the national portrait gallery in trafalgar square. the installation reflects the battle
of trafalgar between the british royal navy and the combined fleets of the spanish & french navy,
which the british won thanks to the tactics used by lord nelson.



'with 'the tournament', hayon offers his personal view of this historic event and a reflection on
symbols of british culture, including the queen and monarchy as icons of english tradition and
the towers as a representation of architectural history. a world of symbols and shapes are
brought to life within ‘the tournament’ where hayon shares his vision and cosmography,
asking the city to ‘come out and play’.



'the 32 hand painted designs demonstrate the finishes, scale and techniques that can be
achieved in porcelain. the figures will be up to 180 cm high and mounted on wheels so they
can be moved around as the game is played. there will also be an area where the figurines
will be displayed and housed overnight. contestants will be able to sit on elevated platforms
overlooking the game and their moves will be relayed by the judge, to the team on the board
who will move the pieces into position.'



'visitors to trafalgar square will be able to experience the work throughout the day, while games
are taking place and once the sun goes down dramatic lighting will illuminate the board giving
the opportunity to view the pieces throughout the evening.'




















all images courtesy of hayon studio & LDF

the yas hotel, abu dhabi, uae 2007–2009
by asymptote: hani rashid + lise anne couture
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel, abu dhabi, uae 2007–2009
by asymptote: hani rashid + lise anne couture
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel, abu dhabi, uae 2007–2009
by asymptote: hani rashid + lise anne couture
image courtesy asymptote architecture

new york based asymptote architecture is nearing completion of their yas hotel project,
in abu dhabi, uae. the yas hotel is a 500-room, 85,000-square-meter complex which is
due to open on october 30, 2009 to coincide with the formula 1 etihad airways,
abu dhabi grand prix.

the yas hotel is part of the ambitious 36-billion-dollar yas marina development
and accompanying formula 1 raceway circuit, which is also near completion.

the main feature of the project's design is a 217-meter expanse of sweeping, curvilinear
forms constructed of steel and 5,800 pivoting diamond-shaped glass panels. this grid
shell component affords the building an architecture comprised of an atmospheric
like veil that contains two hotel towers and a link bridge constructed as a monocoque
sculpted steel object passing above the formula 1 track that makes its way through
the building complex. the grid-shell visually connects and fuses the entire complex
together while producing optical effects and spectral reflections that play against the
surrounding sky, sea and desert landscape. the architecture as a whole 'performs' as
both an environmentallyresponsive solution as well as an architecture of spectacle
and event.


the yas hotel, abu dhabi, uae 2007–2009
by asymptote: hani rashid + lise anne couture
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel, abu dhabi, uae 2007–2009
by asymptote: hani rashid + lise anne couture
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel, abu dhabi, uae 2007–2009
by asymptote: hani rashid + lise anne couture
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel, abu dhabi, uae 2007–2009
by asymptote: hani rashid + lise anne couture
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel facade with glass panels
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel facade with glass panels
image courtesy asymptote architecture


construction of the yas hotel
image courtesy asymptote architecture


construction of the yas hotel
image courtesy asymptote architecture


construction of the steel facade frame
image courtesy asymptote architecture


construction of the facade
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel interior
image courtesy asymptote architecture


the yas hotel
image courtesy asymptote architecture

project credits
lead architects -
asymptote architecture:
principals hani rashid + lise anne couture

selected consultants -
local architects:
dewan architects & engineers, abu dhabi
tilke & partners w.l.l., dubai

structural engineers:
dewan architects & engineers, abu dhabi
arup, new york

grid-shell engineers:
schlaich bergermann und partner (sbp), stuttgart
waagner-biro, vienna

mep engineer:
red engineering middle east, dubai

façade consultants:
front inc., new york
taw & partner, hamburg

grid-shell building information modeling (bim) consultant:
gehry technologies, los angeles & new york

interior architecture:
jestico + whiles, london
richardson sadeki, new york
de8 architetti, bergamo, italy

lighting consultants:
lapd lighting design, hertfordshire, uk
bartenbach lichtlabor gmbh, innsbruck, austria
red engineering middle east, dubai
arup lighting, new york

grid-shell lighting consultant:
arup lighting, new york

link bridge engineers:
arup bridge, new york
centraal staal, groningen, the netherlands

landscape design:
cracknell landscape architects, abu dhabi

water logo 09 by hara design institute + atelier omoya
image © designboom

designers:
hara design institute
atelier omoya
material: monert™

this is a sign made of water. fibers given a special coating at the nano level completely
repel the drops of water, much like a lotus leaf. when the droplets of water exceed a
certain size, they roll away down the sloping surface under the influence of gravity.
the water drops well up to form letters on top of the sloped fabric, a new drop of water
grows up to take the place of each drop that rolls away, so the water logo is constantly renewed.
the water drops form tails as they roll away. these tails is a result of friction between
the water and the fabric.





water logo 09 by hara design institute + atelier omoya
image © designboom


water logo 09 by hara design institute + atelier omoya
image © designboom


water logo 09 by hara design institute + atelier omoya
image © designboom


water logo 09 by hara design institute + atelier omoya
image © designboom


water logo 09 by hara design institute + atelier omoya
image © designboom


kenya hara, chief executive designer hara design institute, NDC
portrait © designboom


kosei komatsu and kosei komatsu of atelier omoya
portrait © designboom


kosei komatsu and kosei komatsu of atelier omoya
portrait © designboom

'lolita' lamp by nika zupanc
image © designboom

moooi presented 'lolita' lamp by slovenian designer nika zupanc during the milan design week 09.


'lolita' lamps
image © designboom


'lolita' lamps
image © designboom


'lolita' lamps

Yamagiwa has been producing high-end lighting since 1923 in Japan, three years ago they decided to expand their image to the world by starting collaborations with international designers. During Milan Design Week they presented several new products, among these we spotted Swell designed by Paul Cocksedge (above), a small glass bubble filled with coloured liquid that reacts to the heat produced by the light bulb, when the lamp is on the coloured liquid expands in its glass container completely filling it, when the lamp is off the liquid contracts again. A beautiful physics exercise applied to lighting.

'spring time' outdoor collection by jean-marie massaud
image © designboom

B&B italia introduced a new outdoor collection 'springtime' by jean-marie massaud during the milan
design week 09. 'springtime' develops the theme of the 'à cabane' seat with deep seating sofas that can
be shaded the sofas, designed in two seating depths, the chaise longue with either a single seat on castors
and adjustable headrest or a double seat placed either in parallel of face to face. in addition there is the
option of rectangular and square low tables that can be converted into vase holders. the collection comes
with other accessories, such as a pouf, small tables and an enamelled steel brazier. the collection creates
a consistent landscape, whose refinement is based on the use of white varnished aluminum frames, stainless
steel holders and waterproof fabrics in three shades(i.e. pearl grey, white, lilac and acid green) that match
the fleece upholstery of padded parts.


enamelled steel braziers
image © designboom


a chaise longue
image © designboom


'à cabane' seat with deep seating sofas
image © designboom


vases
image © designboom


enamelled steel braziers
image © designboom


a pouf and small tables


sofas


chaise longues
image © designboom

silo competition amsterdam by aaarchitecten bv
image courtesy aaarchitecten bv

continuing our coverage of the silos competition in amsterdam here is dutch firm
aaarchitecten bv's proposal.

keeping with the industrial background of the silos, their proposal consisted of 
concrete squares in front of a perforated corten steel façade.

the building features a restaurant, a presentation room, retail space for tools
and construction material, learn&work spaces for craftsmanship and rentable
spaces for small creative business.  

a 23 meters high escalator invites visitors to experience the silooos, passing
through all the activities in both silos. eventually you arrive at the restaurant,
the presentation space and the roof terrace on the top floors, providing a beautiful
view over amsterdam.

from the spiral stairs, glass bridges in between the silos provide connections
between the small businesses and the large education space, tying both silos
together and at the same time expressing the intertwining of education and practice.


image courtesy aaarchitecten bv


image courtesy aaarchitecten bv


image courtesy aaarchitecten bv


image courtesy aaarchitecten bv


image courtesy aaarchitecten bv


interior of silos
image courtesy aaarchitecten bv


interior of silos
image courtesy aaarchitecten bv


interior of silos
image courtesy aaarchitecten bv

Edra probably had one of the most colourful stands at Il Salone, featuring a lot of coloured reflections from the Campana brothers, as well as Cipria, the height of warm and fuzzy seating. There was a lot of work by the team of Philippe Starck and Eugeni Quitllet on display at the show, such as the Mister Ming. Also in red was the new Scuba bench from Brodie Neill, while the crisp white Angolo stood out among Pallucco's offerings.

'standard unique' chairs by maarten baas
image © designboom

established & sons launched 'standard unique' chair by maarten baas during the milan
design week 09. 'standard unique' derives from the concept of creating variations within
a mass produced context. using an archetypal dutch kitchen chair, bass has created 5 patterns
for the hand sculpted chairs, with each chair being made up of 16 components. all the patterns
share common joining points so these component parts replicating cnc technology, can be
interchangeable. therefore, from the original patterns you can make hundreds of thousands
of variations. the result is a hand produced design using mass production.


'standard unique' chairs by maarten baas
image © designboom


'standard unique' chair



'standard unique' chairs