Domestic Transformer by Gary Chang

Born in 1962 from a typical Hongkonger family, the architect Gary Chang has lived in the very same address since he was fourteen years old. Although location is the same, the 32 square meter apartment is an impressive ongoing experiment that arises as an oasis of functionality and livability in world’s fourth most densely populated country.

The Domestic Transformer, which took a year and cost just over $218.000, consists in a sliding wall and fold away furniture system that allows over twenty different configurations for Mr. Chang’s place. As the wall units – suspended from steel tracks bolted into the ceiling – are shifted around, the apartment becomes all manner of spaces. “The house transforms and I’m always here, I don’t move. The house moves for me”, says Gary Chang.

In Hong Kong space can be considered a resource and small area means efficiency; thus, it is necessary to utilize every inch of available space, cleverly maximizing it in order to make the most of one’s dwelling and welfare. Therefore, Mr. Chang has, during the last twenty years, developed this concept of flexible living and his apartment represents a remarkable example of interior refurbishment. (read more…)

4 votes

Samsung Proxima by Johan Loekito

So necessary, so smart, so compact, so small, so easy for us to lose track of them. Mobile phones are always in spotlight, accumulating more and more functions and innovative applications; consequently having a greater importance and influence over one’s life, being almost impossible then, to dissociate the person from his or her portable phone. (read more…)

5 votes

by Edgar Navarro

We have been experiencing a rain of interior design products and projects that assure to work out an effective solution for the storage and, consequently, the space saving issue in dwellings. Many are the good options available… However, few are the ones that can be so charming and eye-catching as well as Lluvia is. (read more…)

4 votes

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The Ostengruppe is a design lab, founded in 2002, composed of graphic artists that have experienced the collapse of the communist regime and the subsequent transition to an open world, full of contrasts, opinions and cultural interchange. Eclectic and eye-catching, the works not only unveil historical influences of Russian Constructivism and Futurism, they also manifest the open-minded character of a group that knows how to take advantage of globalization and today’s universality. Acting mainly in the field of cultural production, the Ostengruppe puts aside technical virtuosity and over-refinement, to make use of a successful interplay between experimentation/spontaneity and intelligence/repertory. (read more…)

7 votes

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A New Bus for London

In the summer of 2008, the recently elect London Mayor, Boris Johnson, launched a worldwide competition to create a replacement for the classic Routemaster bus, which is regarded as one of the key recognisable icons of the city. Introduced by London Transport in 1956, the Routemaster – built by Associated Equipment Company (AEC) in 1954 and produced until 1968 – rendered continuous service until 2005 and currently remains on two heritage routes.

In December 2008 the designs submitted by the leading bus designer, Capoco, and by the British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, Aston Martin, were announced as the contest winners; it was decided that the finished bus would be an amalgamation of both projects. Well then, in May 2010 the Mayor and London’s Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, unveiled the result of this fusion. (read more…)

7 votes

WORK ON THE GO! #1…

Here is a good suggestion for the young and starting entrepreneurs who dream about having a daily happy hour in the near future. Like real workers pushing their wheelbarrows, the ones who are determined and eager to build their careers might find the Kruikantoor very useful.

Conceived by the Dutch designer, Tim Vinke, the device is a mobile office made up of a desk and two chairs that cleverly fit together like pieces of a puzzle to form a trolley. Crafted from EPS foam (expanded polystyrene) and covered with a coating of polyurea hotspray, the portable unit is equipped with light, storage space and electricity connection. (read more…)

9 votes

Packaging Cold War #1 – Red Side…

Packaging is a key element to comprehend the stages of evolution of the so-called “american way of life” during the 20^th century. A single object agglutinates some of the essential principles that contributed to build and to sell this prefabricated dream, like consumerism, stylized design of products, mass media, graphic design, popular culture design and corporate identity.

Especially in the time of the Cold War, when it was necessary to highlight the differences in living standards of the United States and the Soviet Union, serial production and functionalism were the dominant concepts. (read more…)

8 votes