Experimental

This Design Tool Turns Any Photo Into An Architectural Glass Design

 This Design Tool Turns Any Photo Into An Architectural Glass Design

Forms+Surfaces’ new VEKTR Digital Canvas tool can create images of any size for large-scale architectural glass. 

Glass need not be boring. Humble panes can be transformed into stunning decorative surfaces, thanks to continued innovation in digital printing technology that makes it possible for nearly any image and pattern to be transferred to the translucent material. Architects and designers can customize interior and exterior cladding, elevator interiors, stairs and backdrops, infusing their projects and spaces with a visual identity.

Via azuremagazine.com >

This Stunning House Was Made Entirely From The Remains Of A Demolished Office Building

This Stunning House Was Made Entirely From The Remains Of A Demolished Office Building

Ah, the Netherlands. A land of wealth and good taste where even a demolished office building can get a second life as a sunny bungalow worthy of an eight-page spread in a shelter magazine. In the Dutch city of Utrecht, architect Rolf Bruddink has built himself a gorgeous new home in a 19th-century coach house—using only material salvaged from the destroyed office next door.

Bruddink, who runs Studio Rolf (and is responsible for this fantastic M.C. Escher-esque renovation) bought the land with the coach house and the office building in 2011. The original coach house was built in 1895 in the back of an aristocrat's home on the historic Maliebaan avenue in Utrecht. In 1955, a wooden one-story outbuilding was built, but was abandoned and not in use by the time Bruddink acquired the land. While demolishing it, the architect had the idea to use the recovered material as the sole construction material for the coach house he planned to refurbish for himself and his girlfriend.

Via fastcodesign.com >

In Stata Center phone booths, "light-therapy" aims to brighten moods

In Stata Center phone booths, "light-therapy" aims to brighten moods

It may be sweltering for most of July and August, with long lingering days, but when winter comes, with its shortness of sunlight, MIT will be ready. 

In fall 2015, Ariel Anders, a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), applied for and received a MindHandHeart Innovation Fund grant to install light-therapy lamps in accessible areas at MIT as a way to combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that occurs at a certain time each year, usually in the fall or winter.

Read the article on news.mit.edu >

The Future Of Work? This Article

The Future Of Work? This Article

I’m at my standing desk, typing this note. But instead of looking at my 24-inch monitor as usual, I’m wearing an HTC Vive headset. And thanks to the new VR productivity app Space, I’m surrounded by six giant, 70-ish-inch screens. To my left, a small tower of YouTube videos. On my right, CNN’s latest on Brexit, and the Trump campaign page loaded just for a laugh. And in the middle? I can look up to see my Gmail and down to see this very document sitting below.

Read the article on fastcodesign.com >

The simplicity of this height adjustable chair is surprising

The simplicity of this height adjustable chair is surprising

The Hybrid Chair can be a desk chair, dining chair and a lounge chair, depending on the height you want. The chair is an ideal mix for people that live in small spaces and don’t want multiple chairs. Its easily adjustable, you just unlock the textile band, and you can slide the chair to the desired height.

Read more about this chair on the contemporist.com >

This Brilliant Chair Solves The Inescapable Problem Of Being Too Hot Or Too Cold At Work

This Brilliant Chair Solves The Inescapable Problem Of Being Too Hot Or Too Cold At Work

If you're at work right now, you're probably too cold. Or too hot. If you have a working thermostat nearby, there's a good chance that it's the thing you disagree about most with the person sitting next to you. It seems like an intractable problem, because people inherently prefer different temperatures. A 2015 study found that women get cold much more quickly than men. (It also pointed out that most offices still use a decades-old formula for setting temperature that's based on the average man, which is why men are a little more likely to be comfortable.)

Read the article on fastcoexist.com >

The Taco-Shaped Chair You Never Knew You Needed

The Taco-Shaped Chair You Never Knew You Needed

We all have those moments when we wish we could just hang out in bed all day long. Well, there’s a furniture line that is practically made for those Netflix-and-chill moods.

Enter, the Blandito, the lazy person’s dream chair-cushion-pad thingy. Made of malleable materials, it’s basically a flat pillow that can fold up and be secured into whatever shape you want it to be — the top pick being a cuddle taco (or clam?), of course. Made by Oradaria Design, the Blandito molds into the desired shape and is then secured by two wooden tapestry balls. Once you’re set up, you’re not going anywhere. So, you can feel like you got out of bed, but not really.

Read about this proudct on refinery29.com >

Konstantin Grcic's OSB Hack Table For Vitra Created For Office Environments

Konstantin Grcic's OSB Hack Table For Vitra Created For Office Environments

Created as a versatile desk for office settings, the ‘hack’ unit by konstantin grcic for Vitra is a table system that has been specially developed to cater to the requirements of companies and employees. Stripped down from any decorative elements, the desk is made simply from OSB wood. Robust and functional; the user has the option to adjust the tabletop to their desired height – whether standing or sitting – and in its lowest position can used as a sofa.

Read the article on designboom.com >

How The Andes House’s Ensamble Project Uses Hardboard to Create Workspaces

How The Andes House’s Ensamble Project Uses Hardboard to Create Workspaces

Hardboard is a wooden fiberboard that is produced by compression at high temperatures, making a smooth and uniform surface. It is known for being highly flexible and very resistant to humidity. In spite of these qualities, the product has been pigeonholed for specific uses -- rear panels, bases, packaging -- losing visibility and importance in the world of architecture and design. Hoping to change how the material is viewed by designers and architects, Arauco invited The Andes House to develop an attractive and innovative solution that would allow the product's advantages to really stand out. 

Read the article on archdaily.com >

Think on it: Oyler Wu creates Meditation Pods for Headspace

Think on it: Oyler Wu creates Meditation Pods for Headspace

Meditation, everyone knows, happens in the mind, and how we furnish that 'space' is entirely up to us. But how would that – the physical manifestation of that experience – translate into a physical environment? Architect duo Oyler Wu has taken on the challenge to create the Headspace Meditation Pods. 

Read the article on wallpaper.com >

OMG: Self Parking Chairs!

OMG: Self Parking Chairs!

Nissan have designed these self-parking office chairs, to show-off what the automaker’s intelligent parking assist technology can really do. The chairs, which are modified Okamura chairs, are actually tracked using motion cameras on the walls, and are simultaneously controlled via Wi-Fi. All you have to do to activate them is clap, and the chairs re-arrange themselves back into their desk location.

Slow/d: "The First Distributed Design Factory"

Slow/d: "The First Distributed Design Factory"

This Italian operation hopes to connect individual designers and makers to eliminate warehouses and factories. Under Slow/d's scheme, designers submit their designs to the Slow/d site for approval. Consumers peruse the chosen designs, and when they purchase one, an artisan local to the consumer that's been pre-approved by Slow/d is then tasked with building and delivering the piece. "In this way," explains Alessiani's entry to the VModern Furniture Design Competition, "everyone works and we have less transportation and pollution."

Read the article on core77.com >

Authentic Synergized Design in the Live Work Play Environment

Authentic Synergized Design in the Live Work Play Environment

Current development practices have taken a marked turn away from putting all the proverbial “eggs in one basket” and are now focused on diversification and “placemaking.” Though the word is a bit overused in today’s master planning lexicon, placemaking describes the positive results that can arise from an authentic Live, Work, Play oriented project.

Read the article on gensleron.com >