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“X” Marks The Spot! #19
By Le Vin Chin
Materials fascinate us, of course, at XYMARA.com. Whether age-old materials come into new applications due to modern sustainability concerns and/or the unbridled lateral creativity of individuals (such as with our perennial favorites bamboo, concrete and felt ), or brand-new, high technology materials which create new opportunities for those designers quick enough to see the possibilities (such as electrochromic materials). In the latter area, technology-oriented design consultancy MindTribe has posted a list of five intriguing new classes of materials which may expand your design thinking on their blog.
Back to another regular topic for us: trends. The fashion and style reporting JC Report sparked off quite a firestorm of discussion with their recent series of articles entitled “The Death of Trends”. Arguments raged as readers recounted their own experiences and aired their own opinions.
| In today’s multivalent and ever more individualistic and ever more informed (= wired) world (can we say these are clearly trends in themselves?), are there overarching trends to be seen among an infinite number of micro-trends? If there are, can we necessarily detect them and communicate them? Are trend consultants curators or reporters? | “X” Marks The Spot! in ... "... the Hagia Sofia" |
Read the fascinating series here (and don’t forget to check out the in-depth debate in the comments sections!):
Death of Trends: Part 1
Death of Trends: Part 2
Death of Trends: Part 3
Death of Trends: Coda
Architecture news: this year’s Riba Stirling Prize – one of architecture’s most prestigious prizes – has been awarded to the three architecture practices who created the Accordia housing complex in Cambridge, U.K.: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks Architects and Maccreanor Lavington.
“X” Marks The Spot! in ... "... the Hagia Sofia" | This month’s design websites … It’s official: everything cool in the world has been uncovered, investigated and categorized at The Cool Hunter. Cool design and cool architecture, obviously, but also cool bars, cool shops, cool gadgets and cool stuff for kids! |
If you find the average design blog a bit too breathless in its appreciation for everything under the sun, stop and take a look at The Design Observer, which offers a thoughtful and erudite daily essay on design.
| More winners: the Electrolux Design Lab 2008 winners have been announced. Once more, the designs range from the functional and obviously-needed-in-hindsight to the avant garde and out-there, but always with a polish of design excellence. | “X” Marks The Spot! in ... "... the Hagia Sofia" |
The winning design was the Flatshare Fridge, a fridge with stackable modules – each for one person in a flatshare – which ensures no arguments over who’s eaten whose cheese and who’s left their milk to go off …
Lastly this month, the tallest Lego tower ever – just shy of 30 meters – was recently erected by the good children of Vienna to commemorate 100 Years of Friends of Children.