In response to the recent economic climate, this past Christmas, the city of Lisbon decided it needed to spread holiday cheer on a budget. So Lisbon City Hall, along with the Museum of Design and Fashion, invited 25 artists, architects, and designers to submit light sculpture plans to mark the holiday. Ultimately, seven temporary concepts were selected for installation, including one especially eye-catching intervention: LIKE Architects‘ very beautiful, very clever Frozen Trees.

Using an unexpectedly common material–Ikea’s “Rationell Variera” plastic bag dispenser by K Hagberg/M Hagberg–LIKE Architects transformed Lisbon’s Rossi square into an interactive, ephemeral holiday experience. Thirty 3.6 meter-tall cylinders of varying diameters were composed from multiple dispensers and a white monochromatic LED system. They were then placed throughout the square, redefining the public space for visitors. As Diogo Aguiar, one half of the duo behind LIKE Architects explains, the studio saw this as “an opportunity to take from the shelves things that are right before our eyes and to look at them in a less obvious way–to subvert their logic with a sense of humor.”

Further, he notes, “It is great to see people approaching the Frozen Trees, peeking and suddenly realizing the installation is made of objects they could find in their own pantries. . . They leave the place with a smile on their faces. . . [And] at a time of crisis, we need a creative Christmas, a Christmas where a lot can be done by using very few and where creativity is essential to surprise others and to put a smile on people’s faces.”

And partner Teresa Otto observes, “The purpose of doing these exercises, registered in photos and in the memory of those who have seen them, is precisely to be part of the history of that place. . . That’s a story, a story that is part of the city’s history, the city’s architecture history.”

Check out the gallery and short video by Dinis&Gustavo below. And for more information, visit likearchitects.com.

Frozen Trees from dinis&gustavo on Vimeo.

CREDITS:
Authors: LIKEarchitects © (likearchitects.com) / Diogo Aguiar (diogoaguiar.com) + Teresa Otto (teresaotto.com)
Client: Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, MUDE – Museu do Design e da Moda
Construction: OutrosMercadus ©
Photography: FG+SG Fotografia de arquitectura | Architecture photography & Dinis Sottomayor

Dimensions:
10 prisms with 3,60 m high with pentagonal base (16 cm side);
10 prisms with 3,60 m high with decagonal base (16 cm side);
10 prisms with 3,60 m high with pentadecagonal base (16 cm side);

Materials:
2400 plastic bags dispensers ”Rationell Variera”
2500 meters of metallic tubular (square section) – 10X10X1.5mm
100 meters of metallic tubular (square section) – 25X25X2mm
330 linear meters of 12-volt white LED tape
45 12-volt car batteries
10 battery chargers
4800 self-drilling screws 3.5x16mm;

All images courtesy of LIKEarchitects.
H/T Domus.

Foscarini‘s newest lighting addition, Anisha, was designed by Spanish studio Lievore Altherr Molina.

The sleek table lamp’s name carries double meaning: According to Foscarini, “anisho” means “ring” in Argentinean Spanish; at the same time, the name “Anisha” is also a tribute to artist Anish Kapoor, “famous for his works with their primordial, rounded shapes and lively, striking colors.”

One of Foscarini’s first lamps to use only an LED bulb, Anisha comes in two sizes and two colors (red and white). For more info, visit foscarini.com.

“When people talk about design, they’re really talking about, technically, everything in the universe that has to do with intent.” —Milton Glaser

“Design is by its very nature free. There is nothing in design that says certain things must be done in a certain way.” —Tokujin Yoshioka

“It will always be up to good designers to correct the public opinion and promote quality.” —Massimo Vignelli

What’s on the minds of the world’s leading designers? What matters most to them right now? And how do they interpret the changes and constants of today’s culture?

These were the questions on my mind towards the end of 2011, when I decided to approach eight of today’s most intriguing and prolific designers—Milton Glaser, Massimo Vignelli, Stefan Sagmeister, Giulio Cappellini, Ross Lovegrove, Tokujin Yoshioka, Dror Benshetrit, and Maarten Baas—to gather a snapshot of the modern design world. The result is Design Voices, a collection I’m proud of, and one I hope you’ll also enjoy.

Design Voices includes conversations with design legends, rising stars, graphic designers, industrial designers, and those who defy categorization. Their words provide us an opportunity to reflect on the state of modern design, and reveal the vast possibilities that the term designer carries with it today. I hope these conversations pique and satisfy your curiosity as much as they did mine. Looking forward to your feedback!

And check out the review on Coolhunting.com!

Design Voices
by Anna Carnick
edited by Jeremy Lehrer
Purchase the e-book at Amazon

Daniel Arsham navigates in a space where architecture and art merge, often playing upon existing structures to create unexpected yet organic sculptures. And his latest exhibition, “The Fall, The Ball, and The Wall,” showcases the Brooklyn-based artist’s diverse, innovative practice and his ongoing interest in challenging expectations of accepted reality.

Arsham presents three bodies of work for the new show–his first solo exhibition in L.A.: His structural interventions continue to defy the notion of architectural rigidity, causing walls to drip and corners to meet in knots. These are accompanied by a new series of work on canvas that depicts realistic buildings neighbored by text that rises tall as skyscrapers, spelling out words such as “oops” and “okay.” And finally, the show features a large-scale, hanging mass of tinted spheres–based on the pixels of a hyper-magnified photo of a cloud formation–from the set of Merce Cunningham’s final performances.

The exhibition is on view January 20 through February 16, 2012 at OHWOW.

This week, Dutch architect Haiko Cornelissen introduces picNYC, a clever grass-topped dining table designed to bring the experience of picnicking into the urban home. The lightweight aluminum tabletop and legs form a solid framework for grass, soil, and stones, and owners can transform their dining spaces as they wish through variations in flowers, herbs, or even vegetables, not to mention usage, sunlight, and season. As the firm says: “Suddenly spilling water becomes a necessity instead of a problem, and wine glasses need coasters not to prevent ring stains but to avoid tumbling.”

Photographs by Iwan Baan and Alan Tansey, courtesy of Haiko Cornelissen Architecten.

Studio DRIFT‘s latest commission is the stunning FLYLIGHT, an interactive light installation inspired by the seemingly random patterns of a flock of birds. Spanning two floors of a private residence in Moscow, the graceful, whimsical FLYLIGHT consists of over 200 glass tubes which light up and respond to the viewer. It was designed by Studio DRIFT designers Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, and produced in coordination with Philosophy of Design.

Check out a FLYLIGHT image gallery below, and the enchanting FLYLIGHT in action here:

All images courtesy of Studio DRIFT. For more information, visit www.designdrift.nl

Belgian artist Arne Quinze‘s latest project, “My Safe Secret Garden,” takes residence at South Beach Miami’s Setai hotel this week during the Art Basel Miami Beach festivities. Quinze is known for confronting his audiences with dramatic, large-scale installations and both large and small sculptures–often from various types of wood painted in electric, fluorescent colors–that explore themes of social interaction, communication, and urbanism.

Quinze’s newest installation symbolizes the artist’s mind and thoughts through a “safe garden,” which securely fences him off from his surroundings. The enclosed area represents the parts of himself that cannot be touched by strangers; by sharing his personal domain with others, however, he ends that separation. Quinze hopes the piece will stimulate reflection on the concept of boundaries and encourage personal insight.

“My Safe Garden” is part of Quinze’s ongoing series, “My Home My House My Stilthouse,” which consists of imposingly tall wooden structures that stand atop small, fragile legs, appearing as though they might collapse at any moment–inspired by man’s own equilibrium. According to Quinze, “I regard my work as a study about how I experience life and how people in general experience their lives.”

“My Safe Secret Garden” follows Quinze’s innovative July-October 2011 “Rock Strangers” project at New York’s Statue of Liberty: a 200-foot tall digital sculpture that rested on Lady Liberty’s flame, visible through a custom-built augmented reality app for your smartphone. Adding an alien element to the city, Quinze sought to redefine the social space and questioned man’s reaction to unusual objects in one’s daily space.

The “My Safe Secret Garden” exhibition is presented by Reiner Opoku, Wolfgang Roth and Guy Pieters. For more information, visit arnequinze.tv, and feel free to check out my 2009 interview with the artist for Clear Magazine here.

*Images courtesy of Arne Quinze.

After the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in northeastern Japan on March 11, power supplies, land lines, mobile phone networks and Internet access went down, making it incredibly difficult to contact family and friends. The Japanese postal service, however, was up and running again quickly. In many cases, in fact, the first news that loved ones were safe was shared by postcard.

Inspired by role of postcards–and the idea that art and culture are vital in celebrating life and nurturing determination to move forward–the Japan Society presents Postcards From Japan, a miniature exhibition of original postcard-size works of art created by 22 artists from Japan in response to the devastation. The results (see slideshow below) are poignant works that give insight into the power and resilience of the human spirit.

The show’s curators, husband and wife Hironori Katagiri and Kate Thomson, were working in their sculpture studio in Iwate when the earthquake hit. While they anxiously awaited news of loved ones on the coast, Takuya Okada, another artist who shares their studio, received a postcard from his parents saying they were alive and well. Inspired by the uplifting effect of this postcard on the whole household, they’ve since volunteered on a series of exhibitions and special projects to support recovery in Tohoku through the arts. As the couple explains, “Many arts and cultural projects in Tohoku have been canceled or cut back as funds are diverted to the relief effort. We feel that the arts and culture are in fact vital to the recovery, helping to boost morale and stimulate hope for the future and enthusiasm to rebuild.”

The traveling exhibit is on view now through November 27th at the Japan Society Gallery in New York.

Postcards from Japan
The Japan Society Gallery
333 East 47th Street between First and Second Avenues
New York, NY
www.japansociety.org

Now Showing Antibodies (Anticorpos): Fernando & Humberto Campana, 1989 – 2009.

São Paulo’s Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil welcomes Antibodies, an expansive retrospective exhibit of work by the famed design duo, Fernando and Humberto Campana. The brothers have been designing together for almost three decades, and have collaborated on everything from furniture, fashion and jewelry, to products and interiors. The pair may be best known for their playful design aesthetic and projects developed from common but often unexpected materials – including waste products like cardboard, stuffed animals, rope, fabric and wood scraps, plastic tubes, aluminum wire. As curator Mathias Schwartz-Clauss says, “Together, the brothers ignore all the conventions of the traditional design, play with the notion of functionality, and form their poetic objects from contradictory realities.”

Antibodies was first displayed at the Vitra Museum in 2009, and texts, films, photos, and hundreds of designs (furniture, domestic objects, art, architecture models, installation pieces, etc.) by the Campana Brothers. The exhibit reveals both the diversity of the pair’s work as well as their design process and sources of inspiration.

Antibodies is on display through January 15, 2012.

Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil
Rua Álvares Penteado, 112 – Centro – São Paulo
Information: (11) 3113-3651 / 3113-3652

The fifth annual Vienna Design Week, a celebration of product design, industrial design, and furniture design, finishes up this coming Sunday. As always, one of the highlights of this year’s festival is the “Passionswege,” a design trail through Vienna featuring experimental, site-specific collaborations between designers and established Viennese businesses. This year’s “Passionswege” exhibits included works by Canadian designer Philippe Malouin for renowned glass manufacturer J. & L. Lobmeyr; Austrian designer Patrycja Domanska‘s collaboration with ‘dirndl’ [ladies’ folk costume] experts from Tostmann Trachten; and Tomas Kral, a product designer and instructor at the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL) for fashion-forward milliner Mühlbauer, among others.

One of the most beautiful collaborations, “Brass & Crafts,” came from Udine-based design firm LucidiPevere, which joined forces with WOKA Lamps Vienna. The result was a series of four beautiful metal sculptures, which WOKA’s creative director Christiane Büssgen describes this way: “like over-sized jewelry or. . . Japanese fashion in brass, an homage to our craftsmanship.” See below for a slideshow of this gorgeous project’s process and final results.

For more information, on Vienna Design Week, visit www.viennadesignweek.at.

*Images courtesy of WOKA Lamp Design and Vienna Design Week.