Extended deadline: November 7, 2008. Architects. Designers. Interiors. Fashion. Graphics. International Design Awards Call to Entry

Another USA financial crisis casualty. This bit of news not about Joe the plumber. On the contrary, it’s an example of the very wealthy feeling it. Make you feel better? Probably not.

Architect Santiago Calatrava is in the news suing the developer of the Chicago Spire.
Mary Ellen Podmolik and Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune reporters spell it [...]

Italian company Scirocco presented a new decorative home radiator where technical innovation is combined with design and with the desire to have fun and continue having fun. Designed by architect Marco Baxadonne, Brick is a small colored block with a technological heart, a radiator in aluminium that internally conceals copper pipes and aluminium plates, making [...]

We’ve seen the splendor of China’s Bird’s Nest, now check out a new contender for the prize of most unique stadium. The stadium design by MZ & Partners Architects has already earned the nickname “The Laptop.” The main stand is upright with most of its height coming from the underground field. All lights will be [...]

Paris council has unveiled plans for a 50-story glass pyramid after voting to drop a ban on high-rise buildings. Proposals for the Project Triangle, designed by Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron who designed the Olympic stadium in Beijing. The tower will have offices, a conference center, 400-bedroom hotel and restaurants and cafes. It [...]

Chicago developer hits design button to bolster condo sales. The contemporary condos are in not-yet-arrived Edgewater. Units range from 1200 to 1538 square feet priced at $350K to $452K.
Yes, this is a design blog but we have a national election coming up in a few days featuring an economy button. Let’s continue.
Recently, Donald Trump was [...]

The Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth House sets on five - foot - high risers. On 9/14 it was under water. The Fox River near Chicago has risen two feet above that.
The director of the historic site says “It’s gut - wrenching. You have to come to terms with the fact that Mother Nature will [...]

A home that makes the Smart car, standing side-by-side, look like a SUV. No, an 18-wheeler. “Micro-Compact Home” [m-ch] was inspired by Japanese tea houses, yes, the Smart car and first class air travel. They are lightweight, modular, mobile and very minimal 2.65m (roughly 77 sq ft). That equates into a 266 x 266 [...]

“The brain is a category buster.”
-Elizabeth Phelps, American Cognitive Scientist, 2007
GRAVITY FREE is a truly unique multidiscipline design conference. Each year we pick a theme. Then we select 22 of the most passionate designers, design thinkers and innovators on the planet from 20 different design disciplines to help [...]

If you like Eames, a collectors item, a childs toy resurfaces.
During the early 1940s Charles and Ray Eames developed a successful technique for molding plywood into three-dimensional shapes, which led to the creation of a variety of furnishings and sculptures. The Plywood Elephant, in particular, has attained legendary status among collectors. Designed in 1945, this [...]

the problem and the solution
These stairs are beautiful. An artform. No 5 inch stilettos or alcohol allowed. This is a very clever solution. You have to wonder who conceived of the problem in the first place…
Title: Stair
Object: Stair
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Client: Private Residence
Design: Gabriella Gustafson & Mattias Ståhlbom
Date: 2006
via TAF