Blurring the line between Research and Product Design, the standard interview with Tom Kelly involves him explaining how both Stanford and IDEO view the design process along with a case study or two….In typical fashion for the FastCompany magazine the article is short, to the point, and integrates the human element. Whereas the overall philosophy of creative problem solving shouldn’t be news to those with Industrial Design backgrounds it does serve as a good primer when it comes to those that have no pretext to the space. It’s kind of funny to me but it still boils down to quantifiable metrics to prove the effectiveness of design to business people since there remains nothing better than data to illustrate value. Read the entire interview with FastCompany here.
Of course this isn’t in the US….the house is made up of two reinforced concrete rectangles that sit atop each other, connected on the mountainside of one of the islands of the colonial city of Paraty and Angra dos Reis (between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), which places them nicely onto the Brazilian coastline. To seem more like a secret agent villian’s lair residents and visitors arrive only by boat. By which I presume to mean luxury yacht.
After stepping out onto the sand a metallic bridge must be positioned over a crystal-lined reflecting pool leading to a set of stairs connecting to both the upper and lower volume. This first floor contains the living room, kitchen and service area with huge glass windows to take advantage of the view of the sea. The building projects outward from the mountain, just scraping the beach via cantilever. The house is almost exclusively a series of open doorways and living spaces that go practically untouched nature. Not surprisingly the house’s interior aligns with it’s exterior and houses many works of art from ‘known artists’ as well as (no doubt) expensive modern furniture.
The areas that face the mountain on the first and second floor have small internal patios with zenithal lighting, and use exposed reinforced concrete, which provides a killer texture to the walls. This offsets the large open spaces and creates a bit of a warmer feel for the space, which would otherwise be a bit too strictly geometric. The entire top of the house is covered with terraces, used as observation decks for the residents (to watch for interlopers and their helicopters), and as a garden for sculptures, and plants. Via Contemporist.
That leading edge makes all of the difference…a rare response to the way people use furniture as opposed to how basic it could be made to look in order to integrate with it’s setting. This solution offers up a way to effectively do both since it’s basic enough to work with most settings yet enables people to comfortably perch for extended periods of time. The ‘Sugar-Free’ barstool comes from Maxdesign and is made out of two components; a flexible molded ABS seat and Steel with integrated pneumatic cylinder for height adjustment. Because the seating element is made of plastic endless variations of color are possible. An added DFD element is that the seat is recyclable and easy to separate from the base for disposal. Via Trendir.
Sure, it’s taking the Qlocktwo concept and changing it’s application but if you don’t like the Industrial Design or projected $1500 price tag of the literal timepiece above then grab your soldering iron, order some components, and follow the steps on Instuctables to create one yourself. Bonus points to those that have access to a laser cutter which would need to be used in order to achieve the proper effect. Personally, I think that a dot-matrix font would be a nice old-school digital/analog touch along with playing with the overall scale for dramatic effect. Also, for iphone users there is an app that runs this word clock instead of your average, ‘not-quite-thinking-different’ clock. Via Gizmodo.
70s Soundtrack–Check. Weightlifters, representation from lower to upper class, sassy service, and of course, burglary by use of lasers… Checks all around, which equals ‘All Systems Go’ for the worst greenlit series of the late 70s, a mash-up of The Love Boat and Buck Rogers–Supertrain! Apparently this had the highest TV show budget of all time. Who thought a nuclear powered mega train taking passengers from NYC to LA would have made for such uninspired television?
Yes, I loved the process so much I made an animated .gif of the pictures I found online. I am admittedly a nerd about stuff like this and am at peace with it as I approach 30…..but I digress. Above and below is the work of designer Benjamin Hubert in his latest clay pendant lamps for design brand Viaduct.
Talk about cost justified in high end hand craftsmanship, he hand throws each lamp vessel individually, fires, and then glazes them himself. I am sure this isn’t cheap to do, but is no doubt a labor of love. Until Crate and Barrel can teach a team of Romanians how to do so or do a mass production tooled knock off I am sure it will remain a premium lighting element. Am I going to try to do something similar on my own by taking a pottery class with my grandmother–possibly. Via Dezeen.
Yet another post goes out to my least favorite day of the week, via 
Talk about cost justified in high end hand craftsmanship, he hand throws each lamp vessel individually, fires, and then glazes them himself. I am sure this isn’t cheap to do, but is no doubt a labor of love. Until Crate and Barrel can teach a team of Romanians how to do so or do a mass production tooled knock off I am sure it will remain a premium lighting element. Am I going to try to do something similar on my own by taking a pottery class with my grandmother–possibly. Via