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Photo courtesy of tomdixon.net
The Tom Dixon HYDRO chair embraces an automotive technique to create its playful shape.
+ HYDRO is 100% aluminum, made through an automotive process called superforming. Instead of being molded or stamped, molten aluminum is sprayed onto a one-piece mold, which later peels off as a precisely made object.
+ Tom told Fast Company that the HYDRO chair, with its ballooning arches, resembles a cross between a plastic garden chair and Jeff Koons’ balloon dog. “I wasn’t attempting to make something that had such a pop sensibility. It’s quite recognizable, I think,” he says. “I was seriously trying to think of an economical way of getting soft edges and strength into the sheet.”
Photo courtesy of Herman Miller
Herman Miller opens retail, showroom, and exhibition space in Chicago’s Fulton Market.
+ The 45,000 square-foot, five-story space places all eight of Herman Miller’s brands under one roof, embracing their collective synergies.
+ “Today, more than ever, our customers are focused on creating useful places that matter,” said Andi Owen, CEO, Herman Miller Group. “Our integrated approach blends home and work environments to respond not just to the needs of our core A&D customers, but also business leaders grappling with how to evolve their offices for tomorrow. Likewise, we’re also meeting the growing demands of consumers who now, perhaps more than ever, have a heightened need, awareness and appreciation of good design at home.”
Images courtesy of tracyma.com
Prolific graphic designer Tracy Ma shares what makes good work.
+ Now an Assistant Editor at The New York Times, Tracy is in a constant of project overload, with editorial design, interactive web design, illustration, brand identities, art direction, and more. “Working on all types of projects and with new groups of people involves self-managing and reinventing the workflow wheel. You gotta get into a collaborative rhythm without getting worked up or frustrated,” she told Creative Boom.
+ “I think my best work manages to create a small smirk, a tiny fiber of muscle movement on someone’s face,” Tracy says. “My dream is to make them cackle/eyes moistened/laugh so hard they can’t breathe. I think it’s a tall order.”
Photo courtesy of pointsupreme.com
In Athens, Point Supreme gives a family apartment a vibrant, open upgrade.
+ Situated in a traditional multi-family apartment building, called a polykatoikia, Point Supreme was tasked to refresh the interior and open up the floorplan.
+ The team, led by Konstantinos Pantazis and Marianna Rentzou, gutted the living, dining, and kitchen areas to create a single, open-plan space brimming with color, from greens and blues to pinks.
Photo courtesy of davidpompa.com
David Pompa looks to his Mexican heritage as material inspiration in new pendant lamp.
+ Made from onyx stone and powder-coated metal, the lamp gives a contemporary twist to the lamp’s classical form. “The semi translucent stone allows both materials to be appreciated from several angles,” David says on his website.
+ Onyx is also a nod to the designer’s Mexican heritage. The stone piece is shaped by craftsmen in Tecali, known as “the house of stone.”
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Miss the office? These candles have captured the scents of the forlorn workplace.
+ Creative Directors Katie Facada and Thibault Gerard initially created the Eau D’Office candles for coworkers at R/GA, a design studio in New York City. Scents range from “Warm 96-page deck left on the printer” and “Afternoon rush at the coffee bar” to “Room 12F.1 after a 6-hour workshop.”
+ “Usually it’s somewhere like a tropical island, or a warm summer evening,” Katie told It’s Nice That. “We felt it would be fun to transport people to a place they never thought they’d long for: the office.”
Photo courtesy of cckw.us
Product designer Chen Chen of design studio Chen Chen & Kai Williams talks transforming humble materials into unexpected forms.
+ The Brooklyn-based design studio is known for product design with a twist, as in objects like the Leg Bowl, a bowl with legs made of, as the title suggests, legs.
+ “We’re never afraid to just throw everything out and start over,” Chen told Design Milk. “Sometimes you just need to do that.”
Photo Courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow
Will the Venice Architecture Biennale have guests?
+ Despite an official press conference earlier this week detailing plans to move forward, several national pavilions have canceled physical openings due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Italy.
+ Instead organizers of the Swiss, Dutch, and Singaporean pavilions are hosting “silent openings” or virtual events during the invitation-only vernissage on May 20 and 21. Other pavilions, such as the British organizers, are still reviewing their plans for the event.
Photo courtesy of gan-rugs.com
Patricia Urquiola’s new collection for Gan is inspired by Mughal culture.
+ Garden Layers is an outdoor furniture collection that includes a range of carpets, mattresses, side tables, daybeds, rolls, and cushions made from innovative textiles and 100% recyclable PET.
+ Many of the pieces have a low-slung profile, an intentional design feature that Patricia included as a nod to the Mughal Empire, which ruled India for approximately three centuries.
Courtesy of hyundainews.com
Hyundai makes the case for a cool minivan with the futuristic Staria.
+ The automaker’s Staria minivan echoes a futuristic space-age vehicle. The van features expansive panoramic windows and lower belt lines that highlight an open interior, while the dashboard includes a large touchscreen.
+ Staria can seat two to 11 people depending on the model and goes on sale later this year—though it won’t be sold in the US.
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