Inspiration

If prefabs are fabulous, containers are pretty cool too. It’s funny to see how in a few years, containers then prefabs have taken over the architectural world. These simple and economical construction methods have provided an answer to our growing need for adaptable and quick architecture. One country that has shown such need over the last few years is China, so it is no...

German-born, New York-based artist Markus Linnenbrink embraces color with open arms. In fact, the vast majority of his work is spent examining color and its impact. But he didn’t always throw himself wholeheartedly into the rainbow abyss. He even used to be a little frightened of color. We find this reassuring in lieu of the overwhelming sense of panic we feel when simpl...

British artist Steve Messam is known for his striking, temporary landscape installations. Most recently, the artist completed PaperBridge, a crimson footbridge made from 20,000 sheets of paper. Currently open to the public, the bridge spans a babbling brook in the Grisedale Valley of England’s Lake District. Two footpaths lead up to the bridge on either side, making it l...

In the wake of his melting facade and upside down building, British artist Alex Chinneck continues to work large-scale magic tricks with his latest installation. Titled ‘Take My Lightening but Don’t Steal My Thunder’, the piece perfectly replicates London’s iconic Covent Garden Market building, making it seem as if the upper portion of the 184-year-old structure has deta...

Last week, Basque furniture brand Alki debuted the world’s first bioplastic chair, Kuskoa Bi. The impressively smooth result of the plant-based polymer got us wondering: what other intelligent bio-composites are out there? We rounded up five chairs by five designers use some unlikely natural materials. Terroir by Nikolaj Steenfatt and Jonas Edvard Nikolaj Steenfatt...

As you may have noticed, our latest e-magazine has hit the virtual stands. We’re talking interiors, hotels, Scandinavian design and fabulous prefabricated houses. From the recent Pop Up House to Jean Nouvel’s prefab precursor, we selected seven noble representations of the genre. But there were many to choose from, and we couldn’t include them all, so we have created a l...

Berlin-based designers Essi Johanna Glomb and Rasa Weber are the young faces behind the design studio Blond & Bieber. Their innovative project, Algaemy, first made its appearance at DMY Berlin this past May and will be presented at the upcoming Dutch Design Week. Algae is an abundant and fast-growing material that has infinite potential. It has been studied as a replace...

Your bookshelves are bursting at the seams. You frequently walk into traffic because you just can’t put down the latest bestseller. Good news, bookworms. You can now put your hobby (read: addiction) to use! Create a distinctive headboard out of old books! You probably don’t even have to stop reading while you do it. Not into DIY? Check out the headboards on ArchiExpo.

Blurring lines can be a messy business, but some do it well. Sebastian Errazuriz would be one of the skilled few. Born in Chile and based in New York, he dances between art and design like he dances between two continents. His exploratory and experimental work can be found in New York’s Museum of Art and Design, the Mint Museum, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santia...

What happens when you regroup five young Swedish design talents under one roof? We don’t really have the words, but it’s not far from magic. CrayCollective is a Stockholm-based design collaboration consisting of five former Beckman’s College of Design students: Andreas Frienholt, Lotta Lampa, Lisa Berkert Wallard, Amanda Karsberg and Dennis Graben. Their first exhibit to...

It’s the most wonderful time of year! No, not Christmas. Halloween! Last year, we brought you the first edition of Creepy Design, and what a better way to celebrate our very favorite holiday than to bring you ten more creepy, crawly design products. (Warning: the following designs might provoke feelings of extreme discomfort.) Skin Chairs by Gigi Barker of Studio 9191...

Have you ever flown over fields of clouds and wanted more than anything to float about in one? Cumulus is, above all, a satisfactory little taste of this deep childhood desire. Designed by Jordi Iranzo, Stefanie Rittler & Nadine Kesting, the tangible cloud was exhibited at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Germany. The concept imitates our famili...

As a Guest of Honor at IMM Cologne 2014, Louise Campbell was selected to design a central installation for the international furniture fair. What she created is a low-tech space without the rigidity of a conventional house, an abstract structure that breathes peace and poetry: Das Haus. We get in bed with her, quite literally! In getting rid of computers and smart ph...

A staple of architecture for centuries, the facade has a long history as a decorative element of both private homes and public buildings. Facades play a clear decorative role, with new facades frequently being used to “dress up” existing houses, but they can also contribute to the energy efficiency of a building. As energy becomes a greater concern, the facade has adapt...

Mother Nature presumably did not have art in mind when creating the bright colors and patterns of our feathery friends, however feathers are natural masterpieces. They insulate against the weather, make flight possible, provide camoflage and also serve as decoration to lure potential mates. Washington artist Chris Maynard has recognized the inherent beauty of feathers an...

“My photographs are all that remain of the sculptures.” Environmental artist and designer Martin Hill makes sculptures in nature that return to nature. His designs illuminate the idea of a new model of progress where the living world on which life relies is not destroyed. Using local materials running on renewable energy, waste is eliminated and multiple benefits and job...

Navid Baraty examines the world from the top down. Dangling over the edge of skyscrapers, he captures society as few would ever see it. The Brooklyn-based artist began the series while living in Tokyo where he discovered that the dizzying views provided a lot of insight into a society’s character. His work has been featured in several major publications, including Nation...

In 2014, Saint-Gobain‘s Parisian gallery, A Glass House, welcomed Dyson and French architects Didier & Fabrice Knoll as part of an unprecedented collaboration that reinvents essential spaces in the home. Dubbed Projet 1, 2, 3, the innovative capsule was developed in response to the increasingly limited space in which we live. The project was on display at last week’s Equ...

Equip’Hotel opens its doors in Paris tomorrow with a plethora of products for the hospitality industry. We thought we’d celebrate by spotlighting to our favorite part of the hospitality industry: the good ol’ bar. Except we’re taking it to the next level. Everyone likes a tipple from to time, and ambiance may not protect you from spilled beer and your fellow obnoxiously ...

Inspired by traditional African tribal masks, Amsterdam-based conceptual designer Lisette Appeldorn created her own contemporary interpretation with Raster. A minimalist rendition of various animals, including a fox, bear and crocodile, the masks are made from thin plywood. The designer used different folding techniques to create 3D geometric forms and patterns (that inc...

Some may say Rhode Island School of Design graduate Annie Evelyn has a thing for chairs. After creating a chair-shaped ring called “Sit on My Finger” and an “Impolite Chair” with pompoms, we were right to expect interesting things from New Colony Furniture, her Brooklyn-based company, but she produced more than expected! There’s a reason why the Squishy chair made quite ...

Last week, we kicked off our top articles with a recap of our most visited projects of 2014, and this week it’s time to get inspired. An artist who mixes her media with science topped our inspiration list, while our concept of “naked houses” (it’s a thing, really) also raised some eyebrows. Check out the top five most inspiring articles from the past year.

So, we revisited the year’s top projects and the most inspiring articles from 2014, so it’s time to turn to products. Bicycles, planters and rugs, oh my! Have a look at the top five products from the past year.

December is rapidly drawing to a close, which means it’s the perfect moment to revisit the most visited articles of 2014. From a Vietnamese house in Ho Chi Minh to the Mojave desert in Nevada, let’s take a little trip down memory lane. Here are the top five projects from the past year.

This human-sized kaleidoscope is basically the coolest thing since sliced bread. ‘Wink‘ is a mind-bending installation that was presented at last year’s KOBE Biennale and lets users create the colors of their own kaleidoscope. Designed by Saya Miyazaki and Masakazu Shirane as part of the Art Container Contest, the kaleidoscope was contained within a single shipping conta...

Teamlab is a collective of Japanese designers and creative talents based in Tokyo. Their Floating Flower Garden installation, which was originally showcased at Tokyo’s Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, was recently reassembled for Maison & Objet in Paris. Over two thousand orchids, suspended in midair, create a softly undulating canopy that int...

The movie adaptation of the E.L. James novel 50 Shades of Grey has just been released in theaters. You might be wondering what the racy flick has to do with design, but it turns out that when your character is a swanky businessman, chances are he also has a swanky apartment to match. Moviegoers will get an eyeful…of lamps from DelightFULL, a cabinet by Boca Do Lobo, a ta...

In 1964, Verner Panton’s FUN Lamp series was shown for the very first time at the Cologne Furniture Fair. The generous shape and gently reflective discs undeniably made an impression, provoking strong reactions across the board. Fifty years later, the FUN series has become a design icon and a staple of the VERPAN collection. For the fiftieth anniversary, VERPAN launche...

Shanghai-based design brand Stellar Works presented its new signature collection at EDIT by designjunction in Milan during the design week. The exhibition featured their cross-cultural cosmos of furniture, lighting and accessories. Stellar Works stitches together past traditions with present approaches for tomorrow’s design needs. Their ethos as an international melti...

Design Miami begins on Wednesday, and ArchiExpo will be interviewing a whole host of interesting characters, including Bastian Bischoff of Humans since 1982. The Stockholm-based designer will be presenting new work at the Victor Hunt Gallery. Smaller versions of their piece “A million times” will continue the exploration of clocks as something outside of simple practical...

As tradition stands, IMM Cologne annually nominates a new designer to create a “house in a house” in the Pure Village hall. A grandiose space of 240 m² welcomes furniture, colors, materials, lighting and accessories by the chosen Guest of Honor. This year they welcomed architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu from Neri&Hu Design and Research Office based in Shanghai. The de...

With the holiday season coming (and a massive advent calendar in our office), it was hard to resist talking about this beautiful initiative by Studio Wessels Boer in Amsterdam. Indeed, when you look at “It Started With a Dime“, it’s hard not to be reminded of the small doors of an advent calendar hiding 24 tiny treasures. However, the goal here is a little different. Wi...

Contrary to mass-manufactured goods, handmade goods imply time, effort and thus a higher price tag. Swedish designer Jenny Nordberg decided to see if she could apply the speed and turnover of mass production to a handmade product. Her experiment, “3 to 5 minutes – Rapid handmade furniture”, demonstrates a handmade manufacturing technique that produces furniture in 3 to ...

At last year’s Design Miami, we were captivated by the beautiful and perplexing light installation from champagne house Perrier-Jouët and designer Simon Heijdans presented. This year, Perrier-Jouët has commissioned a installation from Vienna-based design duo mischer’traxler that also leaves visitors scratching their heads. ‘Ephemerā’ is the first in a series of work tha...

Not a run-of-the-mill design manufacturer, Incipit chooses to be defined as a training laboratory or as a workshop that supports young designers in their craft. Similar to organizations such as VIA in France, Incipit’s ultimate goal is to give designers a chance to succeed by supporting them through the entire process. Initiated by Roberto Hoz and Marta Bernstein in 2...

A modular greenhouse/storage shed combination is the result of a collaborative effort between two Finnish companies: Avanto Architects and Kekkilä Garden. With potential use as a beautiful green space or an enchanting natural escape, the versatile structure of half wood and half glass panels can be enlarged or contracted based on the model and the owners’ needs. The cove...