A Secret History Of Selling Out: How Designers Reluctantly Embraced The...
From planned obsolescence to focus groups, designers and corporations haven’t always seen eye to eye. “Do I want to be honest but broke, or do I want to prostitute myself and be loaded?” In 1961,...
View ArticleHow Western Michigan Quietly Became A Graphic Design Hotspot
“There isn’t a style; it’s ‘appropriate design,'” says one of the founders of a new archive of design from the region. As graphic design hubs go, we tend to think of big cities like New York or...
View ArticleMarriott, The World’s Largest Hospitality Company, Is Betting On Prefab
Marriott is embarking on an initiative to build modular hotels. Will it give the company a competitive edge? The new Fairfield Inn and Suites in Folsom, California–a Sacramento suburb–flaunts the...
View ArticleThis Giant Whirlpool Sculpture Is The Perfect Metaphor For 2017
The artwork by Anish Kapoor is an apt symbol of our time. There are plenty of sights at Brooklyn Bridge Park: Manhattan’s scenic skyline, a Jean Nouvel-designed carousel, lush landscaping by Michael...
View ArticleUnicorn Everything: The Internet’s Favorite Aesthetic Comes To Bikes
A new design from tokyobike is less saccharine and more functional than the color trend that inspired it. The unicorn trend has overtaken plenty of food blogs–not to mention Starbucks. And while its...
View ArticleGlass Architecture Is About To Undergo A 3D-Printed Revolution
The MIT Mediated Matter Group’s 3D glass printer is slowly morphing from a conceptual tool to something designers could use one day. Design’s wonder material is also one of its most common: glass. Over...
View ArticleThis Architect-Designed Speaker Costs $1.8K, And It Might Actually Be Worth It
To create a monolithic 35-pound speaker for Master & Dynamic, architect David Adjaye completely re-engineered the structure–and even developed a new kind of concrete. While he’s best known for...
View ArticleSmell-Based User Interfaces Are Here
“Smell has a tremendous potential for AR and VR applications,” says Niklas Roy. Thanks to the structure of the human brain, scent is incredibly evocative. Your olfactory cortex–the part of the brain...
View ArticleThis New Initiative Wants To Make Working In Architecture Suck Less
Just Design is on the hunt for firms that have fair, equitable, and just labor practices. As industries go, architecture is one of the most brutal to its employees. That’s why Just Design, a new...
View Article4 Top Female Designers On The Design Industry’s Gender Problem
“We exist, we’re powerful, we’re going to give each other a leg up.” Coffee tables, sofas, and chandeliers may not seem like overtly political objects. But in Designing Women, a new exhibition curated...
View ArticleThis 3D-Knit Chair Is Made From A Single Piece Of Technical Fabric
It borrows from tent design and high-tech outdoor gear. 3D knitting isn’t just for clothes or shoes; it’s potentially the future of furniture. Even Ikea is getting into the game. This year, Layer–a...
View ArticleOne Of The 20th Century’s Coolest Art Movements Gets The GIF Treatment
De Stijl, a Dutch movement that began in 1917, praised geometric order, harmony, and minimalism. Founded in Netherlands in 1917 and active until about 1927, the De Stijl movement preached simplicity...
View ArticleThis Lush, Multi-Sensory Playscape Is Hidden Away On A City Rooftop
Kids get a lesson about botany alongside creative play. Lenox Hill Neighborhood House–a Manhattan non-profit that offers an array of social services to low income individuals and families–is recognized...
View ArticleThe Secret To Creative Product Design? Getting Physical
Is the digital era killing the magic of hands-on experimentation? Designer Philippe Malouin’s room dividers reclaim a lost form of creativity. Last week, Philippe Malouin–a London-based industrial...
View ArticleLuxury Developments Are Creating Cities In Cities. That’s Not A Good Thing
Waterline Square, a five-acre development on Manhattan’s West Side, ups the ante for residential perks. New York City is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, but there’s no shortage of luxury...
View ArticleThis Prismatic Sculpture Reacts To Your Aura
The sculptural chandelier visualizes our bodies’ electric fields. Some of the greatest discoveries are happy accidents. Such was the case in 1939 when Russian inventor Semyon Davidovich Kirlian...
View ArticleMove Over, IKEA: This Ultra-Portable Furniture Adapts To Any Apartment
You’ll never have to hire movers again. The average person moves 11 times during his or her lifetime. Unfortunately, most furniture–which can be clunky and unwieldy–isn’t designed to handle so many...
View ArticleIn A Dark Year, Designers Are Worshipping Light
At NYCxDesign, designers exploring the symbolic and metaphysical qualities of light stole the show. Jean Lin, curator of the SoHo gallery and co-op Colony, began thinking about what to present at...
View ArticleWatch Hudson Yards’ 4,000-Ton Kinetic Roof In Action
The moonshot structure is nearing completion on Manhattan’s West Side. When plans for The Shed–the arts center that will be part of New York City’s Hudson Yards megaproject–were announced in 2016, it...
View ArticleThe Best Ideas At N.Y.C.’s Design Month Are Garbage
“I was literally diving into dumpsters to harvest these blocks of sand.” During NYCxDesign, the design industry’s equivalent of fashion week, some of the smartest concepts presented were actually...
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