Archinect - News

Herman Miller introduces Bay Work Pod in response to hybrid work trends

2024-09-19T16:13:00-04:00

As workplaces adapt to the rise of remote and hybrid work, Herman Miller has released the Bay Work Pod, designed to offer workers a quiet space for focused work and video conferencing in open office environments. The pod features noise-reducing materials and lighting optimized for video calls, addressing common issues with office distractions.

Bay Work Pod by Herman Miller

The Bay Work Pod also accommodates ergonomic seating and includes an ADA-compliant version for accessibility. These design elements reflect ongoing changes in office culture, where privacy and comfort are becoming more valued in hybrid work settings.

Previously: The Pandemic Is History, but for Architects, Its Impact on Office Design Remains

The product is available to contract customers in North America.

Take a look inside the new Eames Institute Headquarters Workspace

2024-08-14T11:53:00-04:00

The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity has shared first photos of its new Eames Institute Headquarters Workspace in Richmond, California. Following the opening of the Eames Archive, the organization's first public space, earlier this year, the new office provides learning opportunities with expanded work environments for its staff members.

Photo: Nicholas Calcott, courtesy of Eames Institute

The project included the gut renovation of an original Jim Jennings commercial design from 1997. Two floors – the lower 2,755-square-foot first-floor workspace and the larger, 4,739-square-foot second floor for offices – were remade over the last year after being identified by the owner of the San Francisco-based bookstore William Stout Architectural Books.

Photo: Nicholas Calcott, courtesy of Eames Institute

"It’s such a pleasure to expand the reach of the Eames Institute and further share t...

An armchair for each month of the year: Architect Adorján Portik's unique furniture concept 'Halfway to the Infinite'

2024-08-01T20:51:00-04:00

Berlin-based architect and designer Adorján Portik has shared with us the first details of his new ‘Halfway to the Infinite’ furniture series, a set of twelve armchairs he will create for each month of the year.

The project, now about halfway completed, is targeted at students and fellow artists and seeks to stimulate a sense of discovery and creative inspiration in those who interact with it.

November. Image courtesy Adorjan Portik

November (detail). Image courtesy Adorjan Portik

Embedded within each chair emerges the naturalism that comes with each change of the seasons. November’s design evokes barren forests while, contrastingly, June’s is bedecked with a canvas ship’s sail meant to embody maritime activity and summer leisure.

July. Image courtesy Adorjan Portik

July (detail). Image courtesy Adorjan Portik

Architects will be particularly fond of the March chair, whose seat is a facsimile of an unrolled spool of plotter paper. Portik’s materials range from stainless steel wire mesh ...

Architect-designed furniture and products at the 2024 Salone del Mobile

2024-04-19T13:13:00-04:00

Milan Design Week’s Salone del Mobile is set to conclude on Sunday, after a week which has seen the unveiling of a wide range of furnishing products.

“It is here that prototypes and innovations in terms of furnishings, domestic spaces, and lifestyles are presented: bedrooms, living and dining areas, entrance corridors, and service areas, outdoor spaces with their furniture and cupboards, upholsterers, tables and chairs set the scene for a narrative that starts with this room, exploring how the way we live is changing and, consequently, home living and furnishing,” the organizers said about the 2024 edition.

This year’s trade fair has included several products designed in collaboration with architects and architectural designers, continuing a trend that we reported on back in previous years, where we showcased work by Zaha Hadid Architects, Kengo Kuma and Associates, and OMA. To highlight this trend once again, our editorial team has collected some of the standout collaborations betw...

David Lynch discusses his scenographic installation at Salone del Mobile with curator Antonio Monda

2024-04-18T12:11:00-04:00

David Lynch is participating in this year's Salone del Mobile with an installation titled ‘Interiors by David Lynch. Thinking Room’ he designed to offer visitors of the fair a respite while serving tribute to the lurid scenography fans of his classic films Blue Velvet and Lost Highway will find pleasingly familiar.

The centerpiece of the installation is an oversized wooden armchair, designed by Lynch himself, with intricate brass tubes positioned overhead, creating a striking visual and tactile experience. Lynch's approach to design reflects his cinematic vision, where every element is imbued with meaning and emotion.

"Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room," interior view. Image: courtesy Lombardini22

As part of the special weeklong exhibition, Salone curator Antonio Monda interviewed Lynch (who has also tried his hand at the visual arts, furniture making, and nightlife space design) about his contribution and the central role his advocacy for transcendental meditation plays in ...

MoMA exhibition on 20th-century Latin American design is a 'gem' says Michael Kimmelman

2024-04-05T13:31:00-04:00

The show is a gem. It focuses on domestic design from six countries (Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Venezuela), produced between 1940 and 1980. Latin America had entered a period of transformation, industrial expansion and creativity. Across the region, design was becoming institutionalized as a profession, opening up new avenues, especially for women.

Critic Michael Kimmelman has heaped praise on the 'Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980' MoMA exhibition in a new piece for The New York Times. As we reported in December of last year, the show looks at the growth of modernism through an industrial and entrepreneurial lens, using a selection of examples from well-known and revered architects and designers such as Joaquim Tenreiro, Lina Bo Bardi, and Oscar Niemeyer.

"The role that women and immigrants played in shaping professional design and developing a national design vocabulary in Latin America will be emphasized, including the work of designers such as Clara Porset in Mexico, Cornelis Zitman in Venezuela, and Susi Aczel in Argentina," MoMA said about their exhibition at the time.

Beloved Italian designer and architect Gaetano Pesce passes away at 84

2024-04-04T18:05:00-04:00

Gaetano Pesce, the critically acclaimed Italian architect and designer of thought-provoking furniture, has passed away in New York City at the age of 84. He will be remembered for a groundbreaking career that spanned six decades and saw his many designs scattered across four continents and collected by major worldwide institutions, including MoMA, Vitra Design Museum, and Centre Pompidou.

After beginning his career as an industrial designer in Italy in the 1960s, the 2023 Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award winner turned into one of the leading figures behind the Radical Design movement. His contributions included the Up5 chair he made for B&B Italia, the Moloch floor lamp, and other artistic pieces that commented on politics and society through its heyday until the end of the 1970s.

Up Chair series by Gaetano Pesce, 1969. Photo courtesy Créateurs Design Awards

He would later move to New York to teach at Pratt Institute in 1980, a position he held in addition to running a simul...

Kim Kardashian sued by Donald Judd Foundation over false ownership claims

2024-03-28T12:28:00-04:00

Kim Kardashian's name is in the design news cycle once again after the Donald Judd Foundation filed suit recently against her company SKKN BY KIM in which it claims she falsely stated furnishings made by a company called Clements Design were the original works of the artist, who died in 1994.

The New York Times and TMZ are reporting on the lawsuit this week, which stems from a YouTube video tour of the makeup company's California offices that was uploaded in 2022.

The suit claims Kardashian unwittingly made damaging comments that could mislead consumers into believing the celebrity skincare mogul was endorsing the Judd Foundation (she and her ex-husband are, after all, both outspoken proponents of Judd and other minimalist icons like James Turrell).

The Foundation said they expressly forbid the use of their designs for marketing purposes. Kim’s team took down the two-year-old video and claims they contacted them contritely before negotiations broke down and the suit was filed. Cleme...

OMA debuts PRINCIPLES Square collection for Perth Design Week

2024-03-14T19:28:00-04:00

Photos of the central hub for Perth Design Week, the eight-day event taking place now in the Western Australia capital, have been revealed by OMA to go along with the start of festivities.

Their colorful design for PRINCIPLES Square is located inside Cathedral Square in Perth's city center and features the Australian debut of the firm's office furniture collaboration with UniFor, which first premiered at Milan Design Week in 2022.

Intended as the main gathering space for Design Week, the concept creates a variety of socializing and spatial scenarios. For the event's second edition, no less than 20 events will be hosted there. Philippe Braun, the project's associate-in-charge, told the press that its realization "stimulated us to further explore how the collection can be applied beyond the typical."

Photography by Frans Parthesius, courtesy OMA

OMA says of the arrangement: "PRINCIPLES Square is the manifestation of the potential of the collection. The installation takes advantage of ...

Snøhetta designs hemp-based lighting product inspired by 1970s ateljé Lyktan line

2024-03-13T12:02:00-04:00

Snøhetta has designed a line of lighting products for Swedish lighting manufacturer ateljé Lyktan.

The line, named Superdupertube, sees a revision of the manufacturer’s 1970s Supertube product, which was given a “contemporary makeover through extensive material research.”

Image credit: ateljé Lyktan

Image credit: Jonas Lindstrom

“When ateljé Lyktan challenged us to create a new technical office luminaire, we rediscovered their iconic Supertube from the 1970s,” said Snøhetta Partner Jenny B. Osuldsen about the project. “Our joint decision was clear — let's update and elevate the Supertube to a 2.0 version, guided by our commitment to sustainability and cradle-to-cradle thinking.”

Image credit: ateljé Lyktan

The project began as an exploration into how ateljé Lyktan’s products could be reimagined using locally sourced materials with a smaller ecological footprint. Initial experiments with pine cones and coffee grounds led to the choice of hemp fiber, which the...

ecoLogicStudio’s collection of biophilic design products includes algae-based air purifier and 3D printed compostable stool

2024-03-07T11:43:00-05:00

London-based ecoLogicStudio has unveiled a collection of biophilic design products as part of their wider PhotoSynethetica research project.

The collection includes a desktop biotechnological air purifier, a compostable stool, and a 3D printed jewel made of re-metabolized pollution.

Image credit: Pepe Fotografia

The project was overseen by ecoLogicStudio directors Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, who spoke with Archinect last year on a range of topics related to PhotoSynethetica and ‘ecological intelligence.’ Launched as a research project in 2018 with an academic consortium, the project seeks to “tackle the negative effects of climate change and air pollution on urban wellbeing.”

Image credit: Pepe Fotografia

Each piece in the latest collection has been designed to connect biophilic and design spheres, such as biomass grown from the air purification process becoming a raw material for 3D printing the collection’s compostable stool and jewel. “This collection is born from the drea...

Herman Miller debuts new modernist rebrand for 2024

2024-01-04T17:10:00-05:00

Herman Miller is heading into the new year with a changed branding identity inspired by its namesake founder’s 1960s-era experimentations with the Helvetica typeface, delivered by the Brooklyn-based design agency Order.

The move comes a year after Herman Miller’s 100th anniversary was celebrated with special exhibitions, a retrospective publication, and other programming. The prolific furniture maker’s signature ‘M’ logographic design from Irving Harper was preserved in the rebrand. The company says it is hopeful the refresh will help guide its next century of creative excellence.

“The last brand identity served Herman Miller well for 25 years, but that system predated many of the touchpoints we now have with the Herman Miller customer,” Herman Miller Creative Director Kelsey Keith recently detailed in It’s Nice That. “What we needed was an evolution of the brand, and a complete design system, one that could flex from a mobile phone screen to a physical space and everywhere in betwe...

Better Block Foundation, a nonprofit for open-source neighborhood design and ‘wikiblock’ urbanism, is hiring

2023-12-07T12:42:00-05:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for an Architect/Designer at Build Block, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Landscape Designer at the Better Block Foundation.

The role, based in Dallas, TX, “goes beyond the conventional office setting, requiring a genuine commitment to hands-on, physical work in the field,” according to the company. Among the responsibilities will be delivering site design and presentation materials, material sourcing and ordering, construction documents, and potential public speaking and development roles. “The Landscape Designer should be passionate about new urbanism and willing to swing a hammer, get paint on his/her clothing, answer volunteers’ questions, etc.,” the company adds. “This position is very hands-on.”

Before/After: Collaborative neighborhood placemaking. Image credit: The Better Block Foundation

Why the role interests us

The role at the Better Block Foundation offer...

BIG unveils a new sofa piece designed for Natuzzi Italia

2023-10-04T12:45:00-04:00

Furniture brand Natuzzi Italia has unveiled a sofa designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. The Colle Sofa, available online, draws inspiration from Natuzzi Italia’s early iconic designs, “known for their inviting, hospitable style that captures the essence of Mediterranean living,” as the company describes it.

Image credit: Natuzzi Italia

The piece is part of the wider Natuzzi Italia project titled ‘The Circle of Harmony,’ which has included a collaboration with dozens of renowned architects, artists, and designers over the past four years. Described by the company as “a physical and mental place that welcomes the most intimate and social moments by hosting quality time with ourselves and others,” the Colle Sofa features a wide selection of fabric and leather coverings.

Image credit: Natuzzi Italia

“Rooted in Natuzzi Italia's core values — Mediterranean flair, design, harmony, Italian character, innovation, comfort, and sustainability — the 2023 iteration of this philosophy, featuring the Co...

A new Kharkiv School of Architecture student project delivers valuable design solutions for rebuilding schools in Ukraine

2023-09-06T18:43:00-04:00

A new project aimed at improving the educational experience of Ukrainian schoolchildren is helping students at the Kharkiv School of Architecture participate in their country’s concerted response to an infrastructure crisis that began in February 2022 and has seen the destruction of an estimated 331 educational institutions nationwide, thus far.

The "First-Aid Spatial Kit" initiative is being taught as part of the school’s first-year construction practice curriculum and allows students to develop copyable designs for various interventions (furniture, pavilions, play spaces, etc.), which, in turn, can be implemented using readily-available materials by affected school districts looking for “self-help” solutions in rebuilding.

Photo: Zlatoslava Kryshtafovych & Oleksandr Holovashkin, courtesy Kharkiv School of Architecture

Over the course of four weeks, students developed a suite of six solutions that were also marked by a consideration for accessibility and universal design. Each of t...

$2 Billion Powerball winner splashes $25.5 million on Hollywood Hills mansion

2023-03-09T13:58:00-05:00

To say the last few months have been life-changing for Edwin Castro would be putting it mildly. In November, he bought a winning Powerball lottery ticket at a Mobil gas station in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena. Last month, he finally claimed his record-shattering prize, taking home a $997.6 million lump sum before taxes. Less than 30 days later, he’s the proud owner of one of the flashiest new mansions in the star-studded Hollywood Hills.

Castro purchased the mansion for $25.5 million, a discount from the property’s initial ask of $29.95 million. According to the Los Angeles Times, this is the most expensive sale in the Hollywood Hills this year and one of the neighborhood’s priciest ever. The home was built in 2022 by luxury development company Roman James Design.

Hollywood Hills home of Powerball Lotto winner Edwin Castro. Image screen grab via The AgencyRE.

It stands three stories tall, with more than 13,000 square feet of living space, including five bedrooms and six bathrooms. It features a range of extravagant offerings, including a game room, wine cellar, movie theater, gym, sauna, infinity pool, and more.

Video courtesy of The AgencyRE.

Wood and concrete comprise the mansion’s façade. Its interior is defined by open-concept, indoor-outdoor spaces that allow for a seamless connection between the living spaces and the exteriors. This transparency also provides panoramic views of Los Angeles.

...

Steelcase reinterprets Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Headquarters furniture with their new Racine Collection

2023-01-27T10:54:00-05:00

Michigan-based manufacturing company Steelcase has announced the creation of the Frank Lloyd Wright Racine Collection, a range of furniture that pays homage to the products designed by the famous architect in 1939 for the SC Johnson Administration Building in Racine, Wisconsin. Having worked with Wright to produce the furniture for the original 1939 building, Steelcase has sought to develop a new range that “reintroduces, reinterprets, and reimagines the classic furniture designs of Wright.”

Frank Lloyd Wright Racine Signature Collection. Image credit: Steelcase

Wright’s relationship with Steelcase began with the Johnson Wax Headquarters in 1939 and has continued through 1985 with their ongoing stewardship of Wright’s Meyer May House in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For their latest endeavor, Steelcase is collaborating with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to launch reintroductions of iconic furniture by Wright, as well as create newly authored designers inspired by Wright’s principles.

...

The Most Dangerous Architect In America

2023-01-09T19:23:00-05:00

The architect wanted to create social housing in Los Angeles. Dogged by the FBI, his hope for more egalitarian architecture never came to be.

Does it surprise you that an architect dedicating his life's work for better housing for the working classes would be declared, with the pressure of the real estate industry and communism scare, a public enemy and had the FBI trying really hard to discriminate against him for years?
That architect is Gregory Ain, who developed attainable methods of egalitarian housing solutions and the architecturally beautiful examples he designed and seen them built. His illustrious but low-key career spanned from working for Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra, collaborating with the Eames to figure out the plywood chair molds they famously produced, being awarded a Guggenheim on the advice of Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe, working with landscape architect Garrett Eckbo on the housing projects, to teaching at USC and Penn State and later ironically "retiring" from architecture.

Photo from "Gregory Ain: Low-Cost Modern Housing and The Construction of a Social Landscape." The exhibition took...

Herman Miller unveils new Eames Shell Chair made of 100% recycled plastic

2022-10-10T13:33:00-04:00

Furniture giant Herman Miller has announced that its entire portfolio of the iconic Eames Molded Plastic Chairs will now be made using 100% post-industrial recycled plastic. According to the company, this is the equivalent of about 122 tons of plastic per year and a 15% annual carbon reduction.

Accompanying the new material composition is new collection of shell colors, which will include the previously offered Black, White, and Red Orange colors and nine new hues: Evergreen, Cocoa, Deep Yellow, Brick Red, Pale Blue, Medium Grey, Blue Green, Grey Green, and Light Grey.

Previously: Iconic Eames chair is transformed into intriguingly obscure art by British artist and designer Chris Labrooy

The use of recycled plastic is just another iteration of the Shell Chair, which has undergone a variety of material transformations since the chair was first introduced in 1950. The original design included fiberglass, with bent wire included the following year. In 2006, the chairs utilized polyprop...

Inside the ‘world’s most sustainable furniture factory’ designed by BIG

2022-06-02T11:53:00-04:00

Norwegian outdoor furniture manufacturer Vestre has moved into The Plus, its new factory in Magnor, Norway, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. The 75,000-square-foot (7,000-square-meter) factory was built in 18 months and claims to be the world’s most environmentally-friendly furniture factory.

Photo by Einar Aslaksen

BIG’s scheme is divided into four production areas (the Color Factory, the Wood Factory, Assembly, and Warehouse), placed in four orthogonal wings. A circular courtyard sits at the heart of the scheme, surrounded by a visitor center.

Photo by Einar Aslaksen

The factory seeks to become the first project of its kind in the world to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating. The building’s energy consumption is 60% lower than comparable factories, with 55% lower greenhouse gas emissions. A green rooftop accommodates 900 solar panels, while between 90% and 95% of the water used within the facility will be reused.

Photo by Einar Aslaksen

P...

IKEA completes bookcase-inspired store in Vienna, Austria

2022-05-23T10:57:00-04:00

Austria-based architecture office querkraft has completed an IKEA furniture store in the country’s capital Vienna, whose exterior was inspired by bookcases. Designed as a car-free venue, the scheme was developed with the vision of being a “good neighbor” for the surrounding community through a blend of public spaces and an active streetfront.

The scheme’s defining feature is its shelf-like main façade. The 15-foot-deep zone envelops the building to provide shade for the indoors, while also accommodating terraces and greenery. In a move reminiscent of Paris’ Centre Pompidou, the external skeleton also houses infrastructural elements such as lifts, stairs, and building services.

Inside, the 316,000 square foot scheme is supported by a 32x32 ft grid of reinforced concrete columns. From the ground level, a generous void extends up the building, visually linking the five retail floors occupied by IKEA. The top two...

An architect’s advice on boosting creativity in hybrid workplaces

2022-04-06T09:00:00-04:00

In a new thought piece, NBBJ architect Ryan Mullenix presents the findings of NBBJ and the University of Washington’s research into how hybrid workspaces impact creativity. Coincidentally launched at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the research sought to establish the key behavioral and spatial elements which can enable creative workers, including architects, to maintain a creative flair away from their traditional workplace.

The research’s findings may prove useful for creatives long after the pandemic, with evidence including Archinect’s own survey finding that hybrid work options have become a permanent fixture in architectural employment. For example, there are currently 41 open positions on Archinect’s job board offering purely remote working.

According to architect Mullenix, a key finding from research participants was that “control” remains an important part of workplace setting...

Milan's Salone del Mobile announces 2022 dates and theme

2022-03-18T17:44:00-04:00

Milan’s Salone del Mobile has announced dates and theme for this year’s milestone edition of the popular design fair.

This 60th Salone will be held from June 7th to the 12th in the Fiera Milano Rho and will look to reestablish itself coming out of a pandemic-tinged two-year period that has given way to an uncertain global environment colored by war.

According to a press announcement, the aim of this year’s fair is to “demonstrate that it is both possible and crucial to start holding great international events live again, embedding sustainability and environmental awareness into furniture production.”

“The Salone has always been a catalyst for creativity, positivity and energy. We have always been a place of dialogue and construction, in Milan and at the Shanghai and Moscow editions,” President Maria Porro said in a statement.

Previously on Archinect: Salone del Mobile appoints Maria Porro as its new president

“Now, we are as shocked as everyone else by the war in Ukraine and believe ...

Architecture's long relationship with furniture and product design remind us of alternative career paths for architects

2022-01-06T08:37:00-05:00

An architectural background offers a specific level of skills and expertise that individuals can use and leverage outside of traditional employment formats. Take furniture making and product design, for example. This long-standing relationship between architects diving into furniture and product design can be seen in pieces like Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Chair, the Eames' line of iconic chairs, Zaha Hadid's Mesa Table, or my personal favorite Eero Aarnio's Ball Chair.

This merging of craft and discipline has offered individuals with a background in architecture to pursue other branches of design to satisfy their creative interests. In Archinect's Working Out of the Box series, we've had the opportunity to chat with several architects and designers who have pivoted their professional interests into specialized craft-related disciplines such as textile design, sculpture, and furniture/product design. We learn how valuable and multi-dimensional an architecture background can be th...

In one of Hong Kong's fastest-changing districts, a community-driven installation marks the physical memory of past lives

2021-11-30T15:23:00-05:00

As part of an effort to enhance the quality of life for residents of Hong Kong’s North Point district, a new public art installation will provide an inspiring space for a reimagined kind of citizenry brought on by the neighborhood’s contemporary transformation and supported by the Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC).

Suzanne Li, Eric Chan, and Joyce Fok are the trio behind the installation. The Hong Kong-born designers represent O&O Studio and REhyphenation respectively and were selected along with five other designs to create projects as part of the museum’s Via North Point Festival.

Meant as a reflection on the public uses of the causeway, the installation Siu Kai Fong utilizes some of the communal furnishings best upon the neighborhood by its residents.

Stating that they were looking to include “pieces that have stories to tell,” the architects reached out to community members, schools, and local businesses for donations which eventually...

Savio Firmino unveils chair collection inspired by architectural landmarks, underwritten by the Blockchain

2021-10-01T12:42:00-04:00

Italian furniture and interior design studio Savio Firmino has unveiled a collection of 16 chairs inspired by some of the world’s most iconic architectural landmarks. Titled CITYNG, and designed in collaboration with artist Cosimo De Vita, the collection was exhibited at the 2021 Salone del Mobile in September. The iconic design event, which was curated this year by Stefano Boeri, came one month after the Salone del Mobile appointed Maria Porro as its new president.

Image courtesy of Savio Firmino

The collection of 16 chairs depicts both a geographical journey between West and East and a temporal journey between tradition and contemporary design. “The chair not only becomes a symbolic object of the cities but also symbolically represents their values, traditions, and cultural substratum,” explains Savio Firmino. “It starts in Europe from Florence, the hometown of both Cosimo and the Savio Firmino company, continues to Milan, the city of the Salone and of design par excellence, to t...

Starbucks is seeking a caffeine-savvy designer for their China stores

2021-09-27T10:57:00-04:00

In the retail and commercial sectors, the architect’s brief is often driven by a need to offer flexible layouts to suit a variety of potential tenants. This emphasis on flexibility is for good reason, allowing a single unit to accommodate a wide portfolio of businesses without the need for expensive, environmentally damaging adaptions. However, an emphasis on standardized elements, from light and ventilation levels to waste, servicing, and delivery strategies, can also remove architects from the equally important and intriguing process of designing for a specific brand, with a unique customer experience.

Today, global retailers such as IKEA and Apple have become famous not only for their products, but for the manner in which those products are presented to potential customers. For IKEA, this means bringing customers on a choreographed journey through their showrooms, one which has even inspired viral hide-and-seek challenges. Apple, meanwhile, is famous for their collaborations with...

Jean Nouvel designs 'dazzling and lasting' kitchen for Reform

2021-09-01T08:54:00-04:00

Jean Nouvel has collaborated with Danish design company Reform on a new kitchen unit, the first designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect. Described as “tight and minimalist, yet characteristically dazzling and lasting,” the kitchen is defined by an understated, art deco design language. The kitchen is available in black or untreated metal, both featuring a monochrome design activated by diffuse reflections across their surface.

Image: Reform / Jean Nouvel

The kitchen is constructed of steel imbued with vertical ridges, finished in a high gloss, reflective surface. The countertops are available in stainless steel with gray and black Fenix laminate, complimenting and accentuating the unit’s reflectivity.

Image: Reform / Jean Nouvel

“Jean Nouvel and Reform occupy different ends of the design spectrum,” Reform said in a statement. “Where Jean Nouvel concerns himself with creating ‘visual landscapes’, Reform is dedicated to delivering extraordinary, yet accessible kitchen desig...

IKEA is selling renewable energy to households, starting in Sweden

2021-08-17T13:44:00-04:00

Furniture and interiors giant IKEA has announced that it is branching into selling renewable energy to households, beginning with its Swedish market in September 2021. Titled STRÖMMA, the scheme will operate as a monthly electricity subscription that allows people to source energy from wind and solar power and use an app to track their electricity usage.

In addition, customers who use IKEA solar panels, which are available in 11 countries, will be able to track their own energy production through the app and sell back surplus energy. Following a rollout of the renewable energy offer in Sweden, IKEA is hoping to expand the service, as well as its solar panel products, to all IKEA markets worldwide.

When sourcing energy, IKEA is aiming to offer electricity from solar and wind sites which are five years old or less, in order to spur the construction of new clean energy sites. The initiative also forms part of IKEA’s broader mission to become “climate positive” by 2030, reducing more gr...

The set design from 'Parasite' is getting top billing at next month's Milan Design Week

2021-08-13T14:30:00-04:00

A large wooden table located at the center of the Park family's luxurious living room, which the Kim family hides beneath after their break-in, is one of the key props visualizing the theme of socio-economic class divisions. The table, designed by Bahk Jong-sun, is one of 126 pieces of Korean craftworks that will be on display next month during Milan Design Week 2021, the world's biggest annual design and furniture fair since its inception in 1961.

The Oscar-nominated "Parasite" set was created by production designer Lee Ha-jun based on a sketch from director Bong Joon-ho. Lee is a graduate of Korea’s National University of Arts stage design program. He was introduced to Bahk Jong-sun by the artist Seungmo Park, who also created original pieces for the set.

The Milan Design Week exhibition is themed "All about Attitude" and includes 20 other works by Korean artists and designers in a five-day show that opens September 5th at the Palazzo Litta. Bahk Jong-sun produced several 3D models of the fake mansion and interiors before constructing the set. Vulture has a closer look at the 2019 movie’s production design here.

Archinect - News

Herman Miller introduces Bay Work Pod in response to hybrid work trends

Take a look inside the new Eames Institute Headquarters Workspace

An armchair for each month of the year: Architect Adorján Portik's unique furniture concept 'Halfway to the Infinite'

Architect-designed furniture and products at the 2024 Salone del Mobile

David Lynch discusses his scenographic installation at Salone del Mobile with curator Antonio Monda

MoMA exhibition on 20th-century Latin American design is a 'gem' says Michael Kimmelman

​​Beloved Italian designer and architect Gaetano Pesce passes away at 84

Kim Kardashian sued by Donald Judd Foundation over false ownership claims

OMA debuts PRINCIPLES Square collection for Perth Design Week

Snøhetta designs hemp-based lighting product inspired by 1970s ateljé Lyktan line

ecoLogicStudio’s collection of biophilic design products includes algae-based air purifier and 3D printed compostable stool

Herman Miller debuts new modernist rebrand for 2024

Better Block Foundation, a nonprofit for open-source neighborhood design and ‘wikiblock’ urbanism, is hiring

BIG unveils a new sofa piece designed for Natuzzi Italia

A new Kharkiv School of Architecture student project delivers valuable design solutions for rebuilding schools in Ukraine

$2 Billion Powerball winner splashes $25.5 million on Hollywood Hills mansion

Steelcase reinterprets Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Headquarters furniture with their new Racine Collection

The Most Dangerous Architect In America

Herman Miller unveils new Eames Shell Chair made of 100% recycled plastic

Inside the ‘world’s most sustainable furniture factory’ designed by BIG

IKEA completes bookcase-inspired store in Vienna, Austria

An architect’s advice on boosting creativity in hybrid workplaces

Milan's Salone del Mobile announces 2022 dates and theme

Architecture's long relationship with furniture and product design remind us of alternative career paths for architects

In one of Hong Kong's fastest-changing districts, a community-driven installation marks the physical memory of past lives

Savio Firmino unveils chair collection inspired by architectural landmarks, underwritten by the Blockchain

Starbucks is seeking a caffeine-savvy designer for their China stores

Jean Nouvel designs 'dazzling and lasting' kitchen for Reform

IKEA is selling renewable energy to households, starting in Sweden

The set design from 'Parasite' is getting top billing at next month's Milan Design Week

Beloved Italian designer and architect Gaetano Pesce passes away at 84