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Going back to basics [or back to kinder] for design inspiration seems to be flavour of the month. We’ve spoken about this before, with the adorable kiddie-scrawled softies from Bholu but, as usual, the internet is the place to be to witness high-tech design being overhauled by quirky, faux-naif stylings.
The Box Doodle Project and Stuffyourdoodles are two cool sites where deceivingly simple designs created by adults and children take centre stage.
The Box Doodle Project, run by Munich artist David Hofmann, challenges participants to “make the most of least” and rearrange a cardboard box to make any kind of figure or object. Simply send an image of your creation and Hofmann uploads them at http://www.neu-e.de/index.html for the world to see. Once you’ve viewed the full gallery you might well be tempted to stage your own Play School craft segment in your living room. At the very least, send the web link onto a friend who’s just moved house – it’s a thoroughly creative solution for disposing of all those empty packing boxes.
Remember being in art class as a kid, and wishing the little critter scrawled on your page could come to life? Now, thanks to Scottish designers lucymoose, you can bring these drawings to life with their Stuffyourdoodles service. Just doodle a design, email it to them and they’ll turn it into a softie – warts and all – using recycled fabrics.
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Origami is usually associated with paper cranes and other intricate objects that sit on a bookshelf or desk to be admired. In a move that’s sure to baffle masters of the Japanese art, Origami’s building-by-folding technique has been appropriated to create an open-toe shoe. German designer Catherine Meuter developed the Origami Shoe, which arrives to the consumer like an Ikea flat pack – saving on production and shipping costs as well as shelf space. Just follow the instructions and fold the material [with hardy, reinforced parts] into wearable art. Unlike most Origami, these futuristic leather wedges are as practical as they are pretty.
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The idea behind this project from San Francisco design studio Transparent House is ‘to integrate an iconic object into modern day life while maintaining the qualities of art and function’. The Perspektiva Lamp has a classic look [think vintage Leica camera on a sturdy tripod], but its function packs an unexpected surprise – instead of absorbing light into its lens, it gives off light and functions as a light. It’s just a conceptual project at the moment [that just happens to show off Transparent House’s brilliant design ideas and skills in 3D) but wouldn’t it be great if one day you could buy one of these for the office or study… or photography studio. Check out Transparent House’s conceptual advertisement for the Perspektiva Lamp.
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Off to Athens we go, where the weather’s hot, pollution abnormally high and ancient ruins abound. Hot and bothered, we take a different turn that leads to the affluent suburb of Kifissia, where streets are lined with leaves, a botanical garden thrives and high-end boutiques and restaurants keep the locals and tourists entertained and well fed. But it’s the Semiramis Hotel [Sofia Kokosalaki’s hotel of choice] that we’ve come all this way to visit.
Designed by Karim Rashid, [who’s designed for Alessi, Prada, Audi and Menu to name a few] the Semiramis is a 5-star 21st century creation. Its focus on positive energy, heightened experiences, culture, art and design provides guests with a contemporary experience to remember. “Hotels today make you feel like you're living in the previous century. That’s the last thing I want to do," says Rashid about his first hotel assignment. From the rooftop suites and poolside bungalows, to the stylish restaurant and light-box installations behind the beds, the hotel screams the ‘latest in design’ – a breath of fresh air in a city that is over-populated with stale establishments.
The Semiramis offers all the usual 5-star trimmings [state-of-the-art design, penthouse suites, gym, wellness centre and Turkish bath, high speed internet], but it goes one step further in a way that art lovers will appreciate. The concept behind the hotel evolved when owner Dakis Joannou, an art collector and patron of modern art, commissioned Rashid to design the 52-room hotel, to offer the modern traveller a new experience in a city more renowned for its historical architecture than modern accommodation.
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Forget pleather, hemp or organic cotton, these treads would be a greenie’s #1 footwear choice… if they could be worn, of course. These sneakers are made from dried leaves and are stitched and laced up with grass, making them fully biodegradable and giving them an altogether ‘earthy’ appeal.
Japanese blogger Chinatsu Kaneko tipped us off to this amazing art exhibition. The artist dismantled several old shoes from friends to learn about their construction, and then re-constructed each shoe with dried leaves. Each detail of the shoe was mimicked and piece by piece, the Nike, Converse, Asics and Puma replicas were intricately assembled.
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Earlier this year at the Design Huis in The Netherlands, a lamp with an intriguing functionality attracted the interest of attendees. Although it’s named Sleeping Beauty, it’s no slouch when it’s awake [turned on]. At the flick of a switch, the lamp comes to life and grows before your eyes, knitting its own lampshade at a speed of three rotations per hour. It requires energy to function and there is no better energy for a lamp than light.
The young designer behind the creation of Sleeping Beauty, Nadine Sterk, is well worth keeping an eye on if this lamp is anything to go by.
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Hand embroidered on canvas with embroidery floss, these colourful and elaborate works of art certainly stand out from a crowd of oil paintings.
Through art, Japanese artist Takashi Iwasaki, 26, evokes a positive and playful atmosphere in his work. He uses techniques including drawing, painting, printmaking and collage, but it’s his knack for embroidery that really impressed us. His hand-embroidered canvases are so original it almost looks like he has re-invented the skill, making embroidery ‘hip’ again. With brilliant splashes of colour, abstract patterns and a crisp white background to work on, Iwasaki shows off his design flair and pairs it beautifully with the age-old craft to make small works of art. He refers to embroidery as the ‘most-time consuming and painstaking method of art-making’ but says it challenges his art practice like nothing else, and that is what he enjoys.
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