Tag Archives: Float

A temporary hall with a floating forest on its roof was added to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Japan

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Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine is a historic shrine in Fukuoka in southern Japan. The shrine is 1100 years old, and recently Sou Fujimoto designed a temporary new hall for it. However, the hall will only be erect for three years, although it does look right out of a Japanese fairy tale. The minimal black hall features a floating forest on an oval roof, a flying plum tree, and sacred textiles that can only be seen by a deity.

Designer: Sou Fujimoto

The new hall has a rather modern take on traditional shrine architecture, especially with the elliptical floating forest on the roof. The aforementioned sacred textiles have been designed by the Japanese fashion brand Mame Kurogouchi, and crafted by generations-old Kyoto artisans. They are placed center stage, and the inner sides cant be viewed by human eyes, only by the shrine’s deity.

“With this project, we were faced with the important question of how modern architecture can respond to a history of 1,100 years,” said Fujimoto. “We thought about the rich nature that surrounds Dazaifu Tenmangu and the traditions of the shrine – and approached the design with a conscious desire to pass these onto the future. We started this over two years ago. It was a challenge creating a temporary building that is both traditional and modern, while also continuing into the future. It’s very simple but it carries a long, important history.” he continued.

The clean matte black steel hall opens up on all three sides. Bits of traditional shrine architecture has been incorporated within the structure, with a contemporary touch – such as the gentle curvature of its louvered black wood ceiling, inspired by the shrine’s taruki rafters, which create “spatial solemnity” according to Fujimoto. The roof features a circular skylight that allows natural light to stream into the hall, hitting the floor in front of the visitors, as they pray.

Explaining the floating forest, Fujimoto adds: “Its concept derives from the legend of the flying plum tree. Plum trees and other plants seem to fly here and dance, creating the roof of the deity’s dwelling. They will change color as the climate and seasons shift.” The floating forest adds a stunning green element to the hall, functioning not only as an elaborate green roof but also as a wonderful mythical component.

The post A temporary hall with a floating forest on its roof was added to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Japan first appeared on Yanko Design.

This flatpack cat tower comes with integrated scratching posts and a top bed for functionality and comfort!

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Float is a flatpack cat tower with built-in scratching pads that can be assembled in just a few steps.

Keeping cats entertained is a losing game. With all of the toys we buy for our feline friends, they still seem to prefer the armchair for scratching and balls of yarn for chasing. But then, that rare piece of furniture comes along made specifically for them that becomes their favorite spot for a midafternoon cat nap.

It might come through as a scratching post that catches their claws in just the right spots, or a cushioned bed that’s snugger than the corner of the couch. Or, it might be Float, a four-tier cat tower designed by João Teixeira that blends versatile design with comfort and simplicity.

Amounting four levels, Float is a flatpack cat tower with integrated features like scratching posts and movable seat rests. Following a client’s specifications and criteria, Teixeira designed Float so that it would blend into any modern home. Taking on a Scandinavian-inspired overall look, Float achieves a minimalist profile through natural, unstained wooden rods as well as cool, gray felt cushions.

From its final look to its assembly process, Float was designed to optimize functionality and versatility. Opting for a vertical, single tower build, Float is aptly sized for smaller homes as well as larger living rooms, fitting snugly in any corner of the room. Comprised of only a few parts, Float has been given a plywood base that bolsters wooden rods connected to one another by elastic tubing.

Throughout the main wooden rod’s length, Teixeira incorporated scratching posts so that cats will always be within paw’s reach of a scratchy surface. Before tightening the whole tower together, cat owners can adjust the distance between each felt pad as well as the overall height of the Float cat tower. Based on an assembly process of threaded wooden rods, the height can be adjusted by adding or removing modules.

Designer: João Teixeira

The post This flatpack cat tower comes with integrated scratching posts and a top bed for functionality and comfort! first appeared on Yanko Design.

In Case of Emergency, Your Airplane Can Be Used as a Flotation Device

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Unless you happen to be in a seaplane, if your airplane lands in the water, you’re probably in big trouble. The only other exception is if your airplane is actually an inflatable pool float, like this air-filled jumbo jet.

Unlike the floatation devices you find under your seat on an airplane, M Mark’s airplane float is big enough to hold up to seven people. That’s a far cry from the hundreds most jumbo jets can carry, but it’s way more than the average pool float too. Now you just need to find a swimming pool that’s big enough for this thing to land in. Perhaps a lake would be a better idea.

The floating airplane is made from heavy-gauge PVC, and should prove pretty seaworthy as long as you don’t carry any toothpicks, thumbtacks, or skewers in your swimsuit. While its $233 price tag might seem steep for a pool float, it’s way less than a round trip ticket from Chicago to the Bahamas these days.

[via Born in Space]

A portable wireless lamp that does the job of 5 in 1

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Light designs always fascinate me because while each of them does light up the room, they do it in such unique ways. Float is a cute battery-powered lamp that was designed to mimic the ambient restaurant light anywhere you want – you know the one where they put candles in a bottle or have the dim stand-alone lamps? Italian brand Axolight gave Float life and that is when people saw how ‘lit’ this product truly was!

Float is a versatile light because it can be placed on the table, used as a lamp, fixed on a wall, or even hang as a pendant depending on your needs. It was made to be adaptable to any space and also be moved around easily when required. Float’s minimal shape and form let it blend in both indoor and outdoor spaces be at home or in a restaurant patio. You can also place it on top of an empty bottle and have your own pretend-restaurant. Float floats on any base you want and comes with a 5-step touch dimmer that lets you adjust the lighting to your mood. The battery lasts for 9 hours so you can use this light wirelessly as well.

It comes in five different colors and it works well for any demographic or industry – put it up in your child’s room or your dining table and it will still look good! The multifunctional, portable, indoor-outdoor lamp makes it easier for you to style your space without spending hours browsing through lamps and never being able to pick one that ‘goes with everything’. Since it is rechargeable, you don’t have to worry about keeping an extra stock of lightbulbs either. This lamp is the silver ‘lighting’ of 2020 and a part of the flexible furniture world that we love.

Designer: Mario Alessiani for Axolight

Molo’s floating glass tea-brewer is a fusion of culture and future

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Taking tradition and turning it into something contemporary, the Molo Float Tea Lantern is an absolute design delight. With a thin borosilicate glass construction and double walls, the tea-brewing kit almost makes the liquid look like it’s levitating in mid air, as the glass, as the images show, is hardly visible, given how thin its cross section is. Master glassblowers in the Czech Republic handcraft each piece from the finest German borosilicate glass, keeping the tea-kit unbelievably thin, while allowing it to hold incredibly hot or cold liquids without cracking.

Molo’s Float Tea Lantern presents an absolutely new way of brewing and consuming tea that’s still steeped in tradition. The brewer features a double-wall construction, with enough space below the inner vessel for a tea-light candle to help keep your brew warm. A perforated glass chamber sits atop the ‘kettle’, allowing you to brew green tea as it filters through into the kettle, being heated to consumption temperature by the candle. The double-wall construction proves handy here, allowing you to lift and serve the vessel without feeling its heat, as the outer wall stays conveniently insulated against high temperatures thanks to a constriction in the middle of the kettle’s design. The miniature glasses come with a double-walled construction too, allowing you to sip your tea at leisure, without worrying about your fingers burning from holding a cup full of hot tea! The Float Tea Lantern even comes in a frosted version, blurring the crisp lines of the kettle and cup’s inner walls, creating a sense of steam or frost, and even arousing one’s curiosity!

Designers: Stephanie Forsythe & Todd MacAllen for Molo.

MIT’s autonomous drone is equal parts albatross and sailboat

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"The oceans remain vastly under-monitored," said Gabriel Bousquet, an MIT postdoc who led the design of a unique robot as part of his graduate thesis. "In particular, it's very important to understand the Southern Ocean and how it is interacting with...

Too Bad You Can’t Eat It: Inflatable Pizza Slice Pool Float

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Inflatable Pizza Slice Swimming Pool Float

Mushrooms, pepperoni, olives, and lots of cheese– that’s what makes a perfect pizza for me. However, regardless of your toppings of choice, you’ll undoubtedly be amused at the weirdness and awesomeness of this swimming pool float. Yep, that’s right: it’s shaped like gigantic slice of pizza. In this case, the crust is something you can’t do without, because it also serves as the head rest.

The 72-inch inflatable features cord connectors so you can combine additional loungers (imagine combining a couple of slices to form one whole floating giant pizza!) It also has two drink holders on board so you won’t be thirsty on your floating pie. Too bad you can’t actually sink your teeth into it…

It’s available online for $40+.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ LikeCool ]

A Pest in the Water: Giant Cockroach Float

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Giant Cockroach Float

 

When you tell people that there’s a giant cockroach in the water, then you can expect a few of them to freak out and jump out of the pool because, well, there’s a roach. But put this particular giant roach into the pool, and you’ll get a few disgusted side glances at most along with a couple of double-takes.

The Giant Cockroach float is exactly what its name says it is, and while it may not feel as scratchy as an actual roach (“scratchy” being my choice of adjective, after several encounters with roaches that seemed to think that it was a good idea to hide in my shoe, of all places), it’s still very much capable of raising the hairs of those who are katsaridaphobic.

The float is available online for $29.95.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ SUATMM ]

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