Author Archives: Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Foster + Partners reveal JPMorgan Chase office design for new all-electric headquarters in New York City

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JPMorgan Chase reveals plans for its new headquarters located in New York City.

Today, American multinational investment bank JPMorgan Chase reveals plans for the company’s new all-electric headquarters located in New York City. Designed by Foster + Partners, the new skyscraper is slated for construction at 270 Park Avenue, in busy Midtown Manhattan.

Designer: Foster + Partners

 

Rising to 423 meters in height, the new headquarters will mark the city’s “largest all-electric tower with net-zero operational emissions,” describes the architects with Foster + Partners. Obtaining renewable energy from a New York state hydroelectric plant to power the entire building, the architects say that the tower will host “exceptional indoor air quality that exceeds the highest standards in sustainability, health, and wellness.”

Midtown Manhattan is known for some pretty iconic buildings–from the Chrysler Building to the Flatiron Building. Introducing a new skyscraper to weave into the city fabric is always a feat in itself. “270 Park Avenue is set to be a new landmark that responds to its historic location as well as the legacy of JPMorgan Chase in New York,” Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners, Norman Foster says,

“The unique design rises to the challenge of respecting the rhythm and distinctive streetscape of Park Avenue while accommodating the vital transport infrastructure of the city below. The result is an elegant solution where the architecture is the structure, and the structure is the architecture, embracing a new vision that will serve JPMorgan Chase now and well into the future.”

Replacing an antiquated building from the 1950s, the new skyscraper will house up to 14,000 employees, marking a three-quarters increase in building occupancy. Supported by an innovative fan-column structure, and triangular bracing, allowing the building to remain elevated above the ground by 80 feet.

On the ground floor, the new headquarters will offer 2.5 times more outdoor space, “featuring wider sidewalks and a large public plaza on Madison Avenue with natural green space and other amenities geared toward the residents, workers, and visitors who frequent the neighborhood on a daily basis.”

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This series of tiny prefabricated structures includes a home, remote office, and sauna

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My Cabin is a series of prefabricated structures like a tiny home, a detached office for remote working, and even a sauna.

Girts Draugs found all the rest and relaxation he was looking for in tiny, prefabricated homes. Surging in popularity due to stay-at-home orders, tiny homes have been around for a while but only recently took off. Our collective need to head back to nature has prompted many of us to find ways of staying there.

Designer: Girts Draugs for My Cabin

While building a new home from scratch or renovating an old, dilapidated one are certainly options to make that happen, Draugs found more promise and more convenience in designing prefabricated homes. My Cabin, Draugs’s collection of prefabricated structures, features three types of dwellings: a home, sauna, and remote office.

My Milla, the company’s most popular prefabricated structure, is a two-floor tiny cabin finished in spruce wood that’s perfect for short stays in nature to get away from the stress of city life. The internal space of My Milla leaves enough room for a spacious living room, kitchen, bathroom, and main bedroom. The cabin amounts to 265 square feet with a top floor that overlooks the living room and double-glazed plastic windows that run the height of the first floor.

The second structure is called My Kalmus, which covers around 187 square feet to be used as a detached office or den. Inside, the structure keeps an open-floor layout without any frills or surprises, except for integrated features like steam insulation. Finished in finely sawed spruce wood, My Kalmus also comes with lofty, double-glazed plastic windows to bring guests closer to the outdoors.

Finally, each prefab home needs at least one accessory building. Enter My Galia, the 110-square-foot sauna structure. Inside, planks of black alder wood finish the sauna to provide natural insulation while residents find rest in the heated room.

While each home serves a distinct purpose, convenient comforts like a cast-iron stove, electric heater, and terrace are integrated into My Milla and My Kalmus structures. Each cabin is also customizable, allowing buyers to choose their home’s finishes, window placements, doors, and furniture.

An external fire pit provides ample warmth inside and outside the cabin.

The sauna is paneled in black alder wood for natural insulation.

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Justin Bieber and Vespa joined forces to design a scooter with a monochromatic white finish and flame decals

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Vespa joined forces with mega pop superstar Justin Bieber to design a scooter draped in an all-white finish with built-in smartphone fittings.

After launching a teaser video for a collaboration with mega pop superstar Justin Bieber, Vespa has finally released the final model of the long-awaited Justin Bieber-designed scooter. Wrapped in a monochromatic white finish, the Justin Bieber X Vespa collab is modeled after the brand’s Piaggio Sprint base.

Designer: Vespa X Justin Bieber

The collaboration with Vespa has been a longtime dream, Justin Bieber says, “The first time I rode a Vespa was somewhere in Europe, probably either London or Paris. I just remember seeing a Vespa and being like, ‘I want to ride one of those.’ And I had such a great time, just the wind flying through my hair, the freedom. It was fun.”

Treading on his own experience riding the iconic scooter, Bieber coated his design in optic white livery on the exterior panels and rims for a sleek look to go with the scooter’s feathery light frame. Then, he added his own bad boy flair with a flame decal that’s etched across the scooter’s body.

The Justin Bieber X Vespa scooter design is also available in 50, 100, and 100cc guises. Located right between the two handlebars, a full-color digital display syncs with the rider’s smartphone to play music and adjust the LED light’s brightness and color tones. Additionally, Bieber’s collaboration includes gloves, a driving bag, and a matching flame-printed helmet for riders to scoot in style.

While it’s not the first collaboration with a brand, this project with Vespa marks Bieber’s first-ever automotive collaboration. It makes sense that his first automotive collab was with Vespa as Bieber describes, “I love Vespa, and to partner with such a classic brand is so cool. Being able to express myself, whether it’s through art, music, visuals, or aesthetics, being able to create something from nothing – it’s a part of me. Ultimately the goal in creating and designing is always to put your own unique spin on things.”

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This upright piano features a built-in HD display screen for easy playing and learning

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The Mozart Console Piano is an upright digital piano with an integrated HD display screen for easy playing and learning.

If everyone could play piano like Mozart, we would. One of the most sought-after skills to learn, playing the piano is no easy feat. It takes practice, musical knowledge, and some natural rhythm to pull off the melodies and chord progressions we hear on the radio.

Designer: Hs2 Studio

That being said, learning how to play the piano is worth it if you’re interested in progressing your musical expertise. The Mozart Console Piano, an upright keyboard with an attached screen display, was designed by Hs2 Studio to merge the digital world with the classic piano for easy playing and learning.

The Mozart Console Piano merges the conveniences of technology with the artful craft of analog devices to turn the piano into a musical experience that anyone can enjoy. The Mozart Console Piano appears like any other classic, upright piano, except for its 32-inch HD touch display that’s propped right in the center of the piano.

The 32-inch HD display is multipurpose, offering both distance learning features for amateur players to follow along with and familiarize themselves with piano playing. Just like a regular piano, the 32-inch display screen also functions as a digital songbook, showcasing music sheets for piano players to follow.

As our world is immersed deeper and deeper into technology, our non-tech devices have been getting supplemented with digitized features for optimization. The crafts and skills that might have felt just beyond our reach, like learning a new language or reading 100 books over the span of a year, have become easier to obtain through technology. Innovations like audiobooks and Duolingo are testaments to how technology makes everyday activities feel a little more accessible. The Mozart Console Piano aims to bring that same touch to the world of music.

An accompanying seat comes along with the upright piano.

The Mozart Console Piano’s digital display screen can showcase sheet music in real time.

The Mozart Console Piano maintains a simple silhouette and all-black glossy finish.

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Floating units equipped with GPS are designed to revolutionize waterfront hospitality scene

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Pearlsuite is a new watercraft hospitality concept that houses vacationers in units that float on water.

As we head into summer, the temperature’s rising and the sun’s coming out. We’re ditching the winter cabins and hitting the seaside for some beachy waves and R&R. We’re all itching to get to some sun and be outside this summer and new hospitality concepts are making it more tempting than ever before.

Designer: Pierpaolo Lazzarini

Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini is hoping to change the seaside hospitality game with a watercraft concept called Pearlsuites that houses vacationers in floating units equipped with electric engines and GPS capabilities.

The floating units that comprise Lazzarini’s Pearlsuites concept measure 7 meters in diameter, offering up to 22 square meters’ worth of interior space. Outside, a wraparound deck provides walking space and extra room for sunning.

While the suites vary in size, as currently conceptualized, each floating unit accommodates a kitchenette, two desk areas that can function as working spaces or vanities, a bathroom, as well as the main sleeping area that doubles as a lounge bed for laying in the sun.

Lazzarini envisions his concept as a supplementary array of accommodations for existing oceanside hotels. The units can be assembled very quickly and customized to each buyer’s liking. Relying on modern nautical building techniques, Pearlsuites consist of an enforced main shell that floats on water and a circular hull that retracts and folds down for open-style lounging or full enclosure.

Each suite can also be equipped with an electric engine to redefine sustainable hospitality. Through this engine, autopilot features, and GPS technology, each Pearlsuite will be able to self-position their location or cruise at 4 to 5 knots, moving from one waypoint to another.

The units’ circular hulls are fully retractable for open-sun lounging. 

An underwater motor accelerates each unit at 4-5 knots to move from point A to point B. 

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This modular power tool system is user-centered to adapt to changing needs

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Atlas is a user-centered power tool system meant to adapt to changing needs through a modular design.

As technology advances, the expectations of consumers become more demanding. Technology has made instant gratification the standard, turning many of us onto modular designs that are meant to adapt to our changing needs.

Designer: Peter Wilden

Within the scope of smart technology, the transition between demand and gratification really can be instant. It gets a bit blurry when it comes to manual devices like power tools. Designed by Peter Wilden, Atlas is a modular, user-centered power tool system designed to adapt to users’ changing needs.

The concept behind many modular designs is to make the experience of operating devices more individualized for each user. Through modular designs, users can change the purpose of the device to accommodate their needs.

Atlas is comprised of several different modules, each of which carries its own function and form. Starting out with the handlebar, users can switch out different power tool heads to finish different tasks.

“The modular product structure offers the user a highly individualized product system that represents the specific needs of a wide range of applications in the private and professional sectors,” Wilden goes on to describe, “At the same time the focus is on configuration, adaptability, and reparability of product and components.”

Different parameters restrict the ways we interact with power tools–“different use cases, various levels of knowledge, competence, and usage, body specifications” are among the many parameters that keep us from confidently applying power tools to different tasks. Atlas is designed to be an interchangeable power tool that anybody can use, with any level of experience.

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This biodegradable children’s building block game is made entirely from recycled rice husks

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Rice Husk Village is a modular toy game made entirely from discarded rice husk waste.

On a yearly basis, around 120 million tons of rice husks are discarded worldwide. The husk is the plant material that covers rice grains, which is ultimately discarded because humans do not digest it. highly resistant to natural degradation, rice husk has a large dry volume due to their low-bulk density and rough surfaces.

Designer: Subin Cho

Looking at this issue from an environmentalist’s perspective, designer, Subin Cho conceptualized a children’s toy called Rice Husk Village made entirely from rice husk to turn agricultural waste into meaningful products that can ultimately be composted back into the ground.

Cho notes, “Rice husk has large dry volume due to its low bulk density and possesses rough and abrasive surfaces that are highly resistant to natural degradation.” From an environmental perspective, this reveals why rice husks can be difficult to dispose of, but from a designer’s perspective, this plant material is ideal for creating products like the Rice Husk Village.

Constructed and molded from rice husks, the Rice Husk Village is comprised of shaped modules that stack together to form villages. Three different building types allow users to create different city fabrics, from skyscraper-filled skylines to small villages. A four-legged bridge, tree modules, and stairs also come with Rice Husk Village so users can really create their own unique toy village.

Cho’s design also features a balance tray that users can build their villages atop as an interactive game. The game’s initiative is to create a well-balanced, and bustling village fabric from the toys blocks made from rice husks.

If the village topples over to one side on the balance tray, then whoever touched the last block loses, in a similar fashion to the game Jenga. Considering the rice husk modules, the toy blocks are biodegradable and safe for the human body to consume on the off chance your toddler is getting a little chewy.

Children can even add a touch of greenery to their miniature village replicas. 

Once play time is over, the building blocks can be put back into the earth to be composted. 

Similar to the game of Jenga, Rice Husk Village is a stacking game. 

Children will have an array of different modular toy blocks to choose from when constructing their village.

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This minimalist litter box is designed to be inconspicuous to fit into any modern home

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Hidden is an unconventional litter box conceptualized to be inconspicuous by design and fit into any modern home.

The hardest part of owning a cat has to be taking care of the litter box. Cats mostly fend for and take care of themselves, but we’re in charge of the litter. Litter boxes aren’t designed for aesthetics, so cat owners usually have to find inconspicuous spots to keep the litter box out of sight and out of mind.

Designer: YUPD

It’s never a cute look to have a litter box in the bathroom or even the basement, but our cats gotta go when they gotta go. Designers with the studio YUPD took it upon themselves to conceptualize a litter box called Hidden that’s discreet by design, so it can be placed anywhere in the house.

Inspired by interior design elements that prioritize coziness, softness, and neat lines, Hidden’s main appeal comes through subtle detailing. Propped up by an elevated basin that contains the litter, the base of Hidden features rounded edges and a cloud-like thickness.

While the weighty base gives Hidden a soft and minimalist appeal, it also offers cats some privacy while they’re taking care of business. Enveloped by translucent glass partitions, cats can rest assured they’re doing number two free from the look of prying eyes. Supported by an off-white base and foggy glass covering, Hidden can fit into any room in the modern home.

Through prioritizing privacy, functionality, and aesthetics, YUPD conceptualized a toilet for cats that doubles as an interior design element. Like many modern appliances, Hidden’s main appeal is its discreet personality so that our home can remain clutter-free and co-habitable without sacrificing our personal freedom and comforts.

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This multi-use camper is a mobile radio station that travels throughout Japan to collect nature sounds

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The Maku trailer is a lightweight, multi-use camper that’s currently being used as a mobile radio station to capture the sounds of nature throughout Japan.

Camping trailers can be used for a variety of purposes–from remote living to transporting goods. The potential for trailers begins and ends as far as your imagination takes you. Typically, trailers are mobile homes that keep a small size that designers maximize through minimalism and built-in multifunctional furniture. Finding promise in an array of different possibilities, Japanese designer Taichi Kuma constructed a lightweight mobile unit from aluminum that can be used as a house, remote workspace, and even a radio station.

Designer: Taichi Kuma

Calling it the Maku trailer, Kuma’s mobile trailer finds durability through an aluminum frame that’s draped in layers of PTFE membrane for protection against the elements. Kuma also incorporated a transparent glass fiber insulation mat that’s positioned in between two membrane layers. The fiber insulation mat allows for year-round adaptability against extreme weather and temperatures.

The membrane layers and insulation mat are both translucent to optimize the amount of natural sunlight pouring in from outside. With this, the Maku trailer glows like a warm lantern at night when interior lighting is turned on. Measuring only 3.3 m by 1.8 m, the Maku trailer keeps a slightly untraditional cubic shape, with a roof that gradually inclines for lofty ceiling heights.

While the small size and lightweight nature of the Maku trailer offer plenty of adaptability and versatility between uses, Kuma imagines the Maku trailer as a mobile radio station. Traveling through Japan, those residing inside the Maku trailer will collect the sounds of nature to stream them from anywhere.

The roll-up door provides easy access to the trailer’s interior space.

The PTFE membrane and translucent glass insulation layers are designed to maximize the available natural sunlight. 

When interior lighting is turned on, the Maku trailer glows like a lantern at night. 

Cars of any size and make can attach to the Maku trailer for optimal transportation.

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Classic American architecture and prefab building methods reimagine this modern tiny home

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Nestron is a new generation of tiny home builders that combines classic American architectural elements and prefabricated building processes to deliver ready-to-live tiny homes.

Interior design has the power to completely transform living spaces into rooms that are defined by a certain mood, whether it be through rustic minimalist furnishings like hand-carved wooden bedside tables or subtle mid-century modern elements like brass knobs. With so many tiny homes coming out in recent years, each home’s unique interior design is what ultimately sets one apart from another.

Designer: Nestron

Nestron, a new generation of tiny living home builders, designs fully prefabricated homes with built-in furniture and a smart home system, delivered in a ready-to-live formula. The Legend Two from prefabricated architecture company Nestron is a prefab, tiny home that marries stylish design with classical elements. Today, the homebuilders at Nestron released the next generation of Legend Two, dubbed Legend Two X.

Built as an extension to the Legend Two series, the X generation expands its preceding model by 7.9 square meters, for a total of 33.4 square meters. The builders at Nestron expanded the prefabricated tiny home to accommodate full-size appliances like refrigerators and washing machines without compromising the home’s available living space. Inspired by classic American architecture, the exterior of Legend Two X’s prefab homes keeps an approachable, elegant appearance while maintaining a bit of decorative restraint.

The Legend Two X Folksy was designed by Nestron to combine the traditional elements of classic American architecture with some mid-century modern and Scandinavian-inspired design elements. Like the other homes in the series, the Folksy model hosts large, floor-to-ceiling windows to complement the interior’s bright white walls.

“We aim to bring back a sense of nostalgia with this rustic design,” the architects suggest, “The light tone used in this structure creates a lively and warm atmosphere.”

Moving one step towards flapper-era elegance, the L2X Opulent model replaced Folksy’s bright walls with darker tones to create a sense of tranquility. Achieving a look that’s both “modest [and] extravagant, yet timeless,” Nestron designers outfitted the Opulent model with metallic features and detailing to tie the whole mood together. The L2X Luxe model reimagines modern luxury by fusing silk and delicate interior details with modern furnishings like brass faucets and white marble coffee tables.

The L2X Folksy strikes a balance between bohemian chic and Scandinavian-inspired minimalism. 

Brass fittings and marble countertop seep timeless elegance over the entirely of L2X Opulent and Luxe models.

Floor-to-ceiling windows evoke subtle elements of classic American architecture. 

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