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Photo courtesy of designmuseum.org
Camille Walala designs Supermarket pop-up at London Design Museum with artist-designed essentials.
+ Supermarket, a five-day pop-up, includes Camille’s characteristic bold, vibrant colors and patterns and sells traditional grocery items—think bread, pasta sauce, toilet paper—packaged in designs created by emerging artists.
+ The pop-up aims to show how, as the items in the shop are essential, so too is creativity. “We are all creative but we might not realize it,” Camille told The Guardian.
The Herman Miller X Logitech G Gaming Chair shown here with the Ollin monitor arm and Motia gaming desk. Photo courtesy of Herman Miller
In other creative news, Herman Miller and Knoll announced they were merging this week.
+ Herman Miller is set to acquire Knoll in a cash and stock transaction valued at $1.8 billion. The merger is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
+ “This transaction brings together two pioneering icons of design with strong businesses, attractive portfolios, and long histories of innovation,” said Andi Owen, president and CEO of Herman Miller, in a press release. Andrew Cogan, Knoll chairman and CEO, added, “Our clients, the design community and dealers will have access to an expanded, exceptional portfolio of brands through enhanced channels. And our associates will benefit as part of a larger and more diversified company with a shared design legacy.”
An illustration by design resident Lizzy Itzkowitz. Courtesy of NYCxDesign
NYCxDesign launches Emerging Designer Residency at Hudson Yards.
+ The residency gives four recent design graduates a pop-up, museum-like studio at The Shops at Hudson Yards in New York, where passersby can see the designers at work.
+ The four designers—Lenny Vuitton, Yi Hsuan Sung, Xin Min, and Lizzy Itzkowitz—range in medium, from rug-making to lighting, silkscreen, and ceramics.
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Dawoud Bey reflects on his career almost 50 years on.
+ The photographer has spent more than 40 years capturing nuanced portraits of marginalized realities that exemplify Blackness in America.
+ “The thing that I probably think most about … is how well those early photographs from the 1970s have held up. I was 21 or 22 years old when I started that work, and hadn’t been to art school yet. I’m pleased to still really like looking at them, 46 years later,” he told Cultured. “The retrospective is an interesting thing. Most artists are always looking forward to the work to come; I know I am. It kind of forces you to stop momentarily and take stock. My work is very much an ongoing American project.”
Courtesy of heatherwick.com
Heatherwick Studio introduces Airo, an electric concept car that cleans air pollution as it drives.
+ “Airo isn’t simply another electric car that doesn’t pollute the air. Instead, using the latest HEPA filter technology, it goes further by also vacuuming-up pollutants from other cars as it drives along,” Founder Thomas Heatherwick said in a press release. “Designed to simultaneously address the global space shortage, Airo is also a multi-functional room with extra space for dining, working, gaming, or even sleeping. As a new room for our lives, with a changing view, Airo is a car intended to transport us to a cleaner and better future.”
+ Airo was designed for IM Motors and is expected to go into production in 2023.
Photo courtesy of ferrari.com
From the streets to the runway, Ferrari is launching its first fashion collection.
+ The collection will feature men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing and accessories and will debut in a runway show in the automaker’s headquarters in Maranello, Italy, on June 13.
+ Rocco Iannone, brand diversification and creative director, will oversee Ferrari’s first fashion collection. Rocco was previously creative director of Pal Zileri and head designer at Giorgio Armani.
Courtesy of big.dk
BIG’s next architectural feat: an infinity loop-shaped skyscraper in China.
+ The project, called O-Tower, is for Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO in Hangzhou.
+ “Technology at its best should be a seamless extension of life,” BIG Partner Brian Yang told designboom. “The new OPPO R&D headquarters embodies this notion, sitting with ease in the scenic wetlands of Hangzhou while negotiating between the dense urban fabric on one side and the natural landscape on the other. It will be an architectural manifestation of an OPPO product: effortlessly elegant while elevating the quality of human life in the city.”
The Grip Sapphire’s transparent case reveals the craftsmanship that lies beneath. Discover the #GucciHighWatchmaking collection by appointment soon at Gucci’s dedicated fine watch & jewelry boutique at Place Vendôme, Paris. #GucciGrip #AlessandroMichele #GucciVendôme pic.twitter.com/d9QV0ggVPk
— gucci (@gucci) April 7, 2021
Gucci’s new Grip Sapphire watch is transparent, highlighting the craftsmanship of watchmaking.
+ Designed by Creative Director Alessandro Michele, the watch doesn’t have hands. Instead the face of the watch moves, jumping forward once an hour with a minute dial that rotates every 60 minutes.
+ The timepiece is made from sapphire crystal and inspired by the grip tape that skaters use on their decks, referencing how the timepiece fits snugly around the wrist.
Photo by Raffaele Merler, courtesy of tobiazambotti.com
Tobia Zambotti puts the environmental cost of the pandemic front and center with COUCH-19.
+ COUCH-19 is a modular sofa made up of a crystal-clear, recycled PVC upholstery stuffed with discarded face masks, which were collected by residents of Tobia’s hometown in northern Italy.
+ “The project’s goal is to send a strong message,” the Italian designer told Interior Design. “Even during critical times, we should never forget to protect our environment.”
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