Author Archives: Chi Thukral

This furniture collection also doubles up as pot planters with an ultimate Japandi vibe!

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After spending 99% of my time at home in the last two years, I have naturally developed a keen eye for good furniture designs. My preferred style is Japandi or Scandanavian design because I love their minimal aesthetic, functionality, and evergreen pieces – all of which I see in Lur! It is a furniture collection that includes pot planters which also double up as seating in the most organic manner. It was designed for Alki, a brand that is always seeking to collaborate with local businesses which makes it even more special because it unites distinct know-how and materials.

To create the Lur collection, designer Iratzoki Lizaso went to Goicoechea Pottery and work with the local team. The pottery workshop is based in Ortzaize in Lower Navarre, just a few kilometers from Alki. The Goicoechea family has been working with terracotta for three generations. The materials used, the solid oak, and the clay from the Goicoechea family quarry are here entirely natural.

The collection consists of planters and a bistro table. They all have smooth curves and organic shapes featuring a warm aesthetic thanks to the choice of materials and CMF details. It is minimal, timeless, and can work equally well for homes, offices, and public spaces. The idea of ​​being able to vegetate our interiors with pots that are also low tables or seating participates in the creation of living and changing arrangements. These terracotta containers with an eccentric hole on the upper part, house flower pots that allow many unique and artistic compositions that can change the look and feel of a space!

Alki, the pottery team, and Iratzoki Lizaso enjoyed bringing together different craft skills to create Lur. The collection is centered around the idea of plant pots that can work double duty as shelves and coffee tables that add an extra dose of greenery to our spaces. Everything is bio-sourced and made with the intention to work universally as well as for a long time. The clay is transformed into a beautiful rose terracotta with a distinct texture with an off-center opening ready to hold flower pots and plants. The Lur range shows beauty in simplicity while doubling the functionality with minimal design!

Desinger: Iratzoki Lizaso

The world’s most innovative beehive makes beekeeping efficient, reduces waste & gets honey on tap!

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Bees are essential to keeping multiple ecosystems in balance as they pollinate trees and crate food for other animals – they are essential for our survival! Now coming to the little ‘sweet’ things we all love about bees is that they also produce honey. Beekeeping is an ancient practice and beehives have hardly gotten design upgrades but Flow Hive is changing the game. These beehives are good for the bees, innovative, reduce waste, and are so efficient that you actually get honey on tap…literally!

The Flow Pollinator House not only benefits bee populations in your yard, but the proceeds also support advocacy groups across the country. This bee shelter and hive is made by a father-son duo who took a different approach to honey harvesting that is less stressful to the bees and their keeper. It features a mechanism that simply releases the honey straight into jars without the hassles typically associated with the harvest.





The Flow Pollinator House not only benefits bee populations in your yard, but the proceeds also support advocacy groups across the country. This bee shelter and hive is made by a father-son duo who took a different approach to honey harvesting that is less stressful to the bees and their keeper. It features a mechanism that simply releases the honey straight into jars without the hassles typically associated with the harvest.

The process of making the Flow Hive results in cutoff waste, so the company decided it was time to make use of it. Upcycling the sustainably sourced bamboo and salvaged Araucaria timber from the production of the Flow Hive models resulted in the development of the Flow Pollinator House. The house offers protection for hard-working native solitary nesting bees. It encourages them to work nearby, pollinating gardens, flowers and other plants in the vicinity. The Flow Pollinator House comes flat-packed as a DIY kit, complete with everything you’ll need to build it. You can create a custom format by choosing how to arrange the wood tubes and design the exterior to your liking with stain or paint.

Because the house kits originate from leftover wood materials, there are a limited number of Flow Pollinator Houses for the season. They can make a great gift for the gardener, nature lover or advocate in your life. Plus, the product line is a benefit program with the company committing to donate 100% of all proceeds to U.S.-based pollinator advocacy, education, and protection groups.

“The honey bee is one of 19,000 bee species in the world that are essential to pollination and life on this planet as we know it,” said Cedar Anderson, CEO and founder of Flow Hive. “We created this upcycled pollinator home to provide a safe place for solitary bees to raise their young, while offering our customers a fun, family-friendly project to build together. By creating this habitat in your backyard, together we are building the stepping stones across the urban landscape which may just help save some of these important species from the brink of extinction.” Flow Hive is a truly bee-utiful upgrade for the bees!

Designer: Honey Flow

This Nike playground is constructed with 20,000 upcycled sneakers!

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Nike is one of my favorite brands for several reasons – they always make the user the hero in all that they do, capture emotion effortlessly, and inspire millions with simple words apart from making really good products! This September, they unveiled a basketball court that was made with 20,000 upcycled sneakers that were donated by the local community which showed their commitment to a zero-carbon and zero-waste future. Nike is truly a trendsetter when it comes to brands giving corporate responsibility the same weight they give to their design and community!

The brand has moved towards sustainability and corporate responsibility one project at a time which sets an example for other large companies to protect the environment. Nike’s community playground and basketball area are located in New Belgrade, Serbia. This latest move showcases the company’s mission to encourage physical activity, foster community, and develop infrastructure in less sustainable ways. London-based creative agency Accept & Proceed designed MTZ Blok 70 – the basketball court – has previously worked with Nike’s “Move to Zero” initiative too.

Accept & Proceed is a certified B Corporation studio, they designed the renewal of Block 70 carefully because it is a historical area that saw the rise of several basketball pros. Community pride in this connection is seen in the “BLOK 70,” printed in original typeface, on the surface of the courtyard. They came up with the plans for the court design, children’s playground, bleacher benches, chain link fence, outdoor gym, collection bins, in-store campaign presence, and restoration of existing elements.

“With Nike Belgrade, we evolved the visual language we had developed for Nike’s ‘Move to Zero’ identity by incorporating bespoke Serbian lettering in the court markings to celebrate New Belgrade’s local community,” said Nigel Cottier, Accept & Proceed’s principal designer. “We had an interesting exercise that challenged our thinking of spaces for sport: what if we break down the essential ingredients of a basketball court and reimagine the traditional court layout? How can we create a fun and unexpected space, whilst retaining legibility and playability? It was fascinating to come up with the different elements of lettering that can inform another function, like a free throw or half-court line, and even more exciting to think that the design will not only inform the players’ movements but influence the community spirit and energy of Block 70.”

With a focus on community and activity, the park reflects the need to be environmentally conscious through the use of 20,000 recycled sneakers in the mix. In fact, the community was involved in the program all along with collection spaces for citizens to drop used shoes. At the drop sites, the community could see the steps involved in transforming the shoes into a material that could be used for the surface of the resulting basketball court and playground.

“It’s no understatement that helping the world’s best sports brand with its sustainability initiative makes me feel immensely proud of the work we’re doing at Accept & Proceed,” said Matthew Jones, Accept & Proceed’s creative director. “Our visual identity for Nike’s ‘Move to Zero’ brand came to life within our court and playground design in New Belgrade and I feel incredibly inspired to know that design, community and responsibility towards our planet were all integral elements in this project. Moreover, to witness and be part of the meaningful connections between Nike and local communities shows a new way forward, especially for the role of designers — a sowing of the seeds for an active future and better tomorrow.”

Designer: Accept & Proceed

This sustainable structure is made of probiotic materials!

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Sustainable architecture is one thing but structures made of mushrooms and microbes are a whole new level! The Living is a New York-based innovative studio that puts biology, computation, and sustainability at the core of their work. They designed a structure from mycelium which is what NASA is experimenting with for housing on Mars and now they have designed ‘Alive’ – an architecture prototype to promote various microbial communities through the calibration of grain, light, and airflow. It showcases the idea of ​​living together with concepts related to different microbial communities, as well as to different human communities. Experience it virtually here!

Alive is pushing the boundaries for probiotic buildings and multi-species architecture. The installation is exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale to demonstrate how organic materials with microbial properties could be used in architecture to help create healthier environments for humans. It has a room made of rough organic, porous material that provides a large surface area and many different microclimates for various types of microbes. Alive also includes macro-spaces for humans and micro-spaces for microbes, as well as material interfaces for exchange between these different species.





The unique structure represents an evolution of ongoing research by The Living, the team constantly works with biologists and academics to explore the potential of multi-species architecture and how best to harness the microbes that surround us all the time. Advances in biological technologies such as bio-computing, bio-sensing, and bio-fabricating are offering new opportunities for using living organisms in architecture.

“As a society, we are increasingly aware of how a good gut microbiome promotes individual health, and in a similar way, it is now clear that a good urban microbiome promotes public health. This means that instead of creating architecture and spaces that are sterile and antibiotic, we should develop environments that are alive and probiotic,” said David Benjamin, Founder and Principal at The Living.

This structure shows potential for creating urban microbiomes that would help cities evolve their architecture into more sustainable development by using bio-receptive materials for construction instead of concrete which would also cut down heavily on carbon emissions. The construction industry contributes to more than a third of the global carbon emissions and most of it comes from concrete!

Bio-receptive materials trap and host microorganisms in surfaces containing pockets with different temperatures, moisture levels, airflow and nutrients. These organic, living materials support colonies of microbes that in turn promote the health of people in their vicinity. This is a sustainable, natural and organic alternative construction material that works for both humans and the planet.

The Alive installation is constructed from dried fibres of luffa – an inexpensive, renewable and fast-growing vegetable that grows on vines in tropical and subtropical regions. Luffa’s fibrous surfaces form a strong and organic material that is ideally suited to hosting diverse microbes and could be easily adapted to form panelling products or partitions for use in architectural projects.

“The project is a prototype for the architecture of the future, but at the same time, it is relevant to current buildings. It can be easily adapted into many environments like today’s offices and restaurants, with partition walls and acoustic tiled ceilings, or tomorrow’s buildings with microbial facades that remove pathogens from the air,” adds Benjamin.

The design promotes the architectural potential of luffa and other probiotic materials while also creating spaces that allow different levels of light and airflow. Researchers and previous collaborators Kevin Slavin and Elizabeth Henaff will use a DNA sequencer to determine what species of bacteria lived in the material to continue the research and make this a material that can truly be used beyond exhibitions. Alive is truly eye-opening, with combined efforts of designers and scientists it is possible to find sustainable alternatives that can be scaled to solve bigger problems!

Designer: The Living

This folding chair is inspired by origami and can be literally hung like clothes on a hanger!

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Chair designs are the first category designers are told to explore because it is simple and yet the smallest of tweaks can make it innovative. Also, let’s accept it – you never get tired of looking at new chair designs! It could be a new material, a bold shape, maybe it has a dual purpose or something like KERF – a space-saving chair that you can literally hang up like clothing!

It can be called a stool or a chair, but KERF gives the otherwise rigid object warmth and flexibility. You can literally put it on a hanger and store it like clothing in a wardrobe which makes it stand out from its counterparts. When needed, simply open the fold and you can get a setup ready for your guests in a few seconds.

The intention was to enrich plywood, make it flexible and fold it like it was paper for origami art. KERF has been designed for small living spaces and for practicality, it is perfect for those living in urban apartments or shared spaces. It reminds me of Japandi style furniture or Scandinavian home decor with its warm and minimal aesthetics.

The unique chair gets its name from the technique of kerfing – it is the method of bending plywood by patterned cutting. It is only good for doing it once to achieve the desired curvature, but not suitable for repetitive, long-term bending because that would cause the veneer layer to crack. The kerfing technique can be optimized for the CNC milling process to save production time and cost.

The mood board for the project shows bending plywood with kerfing, flat-pack laser cut furniture, folding chairs, and interlocking leather belts – all of these come together in the final design as details. The chair us.es kerfing, the hinges are made from leather, it can be compactly packed and it has an origami-like silhoutte.

To make sure it was durable yet flexible, Hamza decided to use thick leather instead of hinges. This detail lets KERF withstand repetitive bending cycles while the alternative hinge (leather) can outlast the traditional hinge making it a piece of furniture that stays with you in the long run (its moving-friendly too!). KERF is definitely a wonderful example of how chairs can be simple while still adding on to the existing form and function!

Designer: Hamza Bavčić

This cabin in the woods is actually a waterside apiary that aims at education & conservation of bees!

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This lakeside apiary in Newt, Somerset has been designed to provide a home for the bees while creating an immersive educational experience. Called Beezantium, it draws on the long tradition of pavilions that evoke a sense of whimsy and playfulness – almost like a cabin in the woods full of speaking bees! Beezantium was built with a careful range of design considerations to serve and exhibit the hive in an organic yet fun way.

Beezantium occupies a former unused wasteland that has been transformed into a natural expanse, so while this waterfront property might have been cheap with the right design and purpose it’s now prime! The wooden structure is topped by a sloping roof that is wrapped in copper shingles which creates a jewel-like effect that also acts as a beacon in the woodland surroundings, drawing visitors towards the structure. It looks like a cozy cottage right out of a storybook.

The huge picturesque window invites people to explore the internal workings of the space, while also offering views out over the lake and trees beyond. The cabin is clad in oversized timber panels which distort the sense of scale of the pavilion as you get closer. The outside walls are made up of unseasoned oak because it is perfect for bees as they can enter the hive through natural holes or via a series of copper pipes that have been built into the fabric of the structure.

When you enter the space, you realize that the traditional concept of the folly is turned on its head. The interior features polished honey oak which provides a rich and warm atmosphere to enjoy the exhibit and the bees themselves. Two oculi are set into a lofty ceiling, providing much-needed light and natural ventilation for the space below. Beezantium is different because usually apiaries are usually contained in a glass box in the middle of the room but by pushing it to the edges, it was possible to create an educational showcase in collaboration with Kossmanndejong which is an Amsterdam-based design agency that focuses on the exhibition and interior architecture.

“The Beezantium has been designed to provide a sensory, otherworldly experience. It appears jewel-like, quirky, and playful – almost like a folly in a landscape with a glowing copper roof, but instead of being only about pleasure, the Beezantium is a purposeful building designed to house bees in observation hives in the external walls, that can be viewed in a range of habitats internally. There is a huge extraordinary interactive and immersive exhibit that describes the world from the bee’s perspective, that is hung from the ceiling and contained within a honeycomb structure, enabling visitors to understand bees and their place in the world,” says Piers Taylor, Director of Invisible Studio.

All elements, shapes, and colors have been designed to represent bees. My personal favorite is the bright cocoon seating which probably makes you feel like a bee in a hive yourself! Beezantium has a whimsical vibe with a purpose – it aims to conserve and educate people through the medium of design, architecture, and interior which is all centered around bees while making humans feel welcome but also reminding them of the larger picture without the gloom-and-doom tactic.

Designer: Invisible Studio

This oddly-shaped Finnish cabin was made with cross-laminated timber to withstand subarctic cold!

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This cabin in the woods is an otherworldly, all-black, geometric structure built to provide cozy refuge even in harsh Finnish winters. It was designed for a California-based CEO who returned home to Finland with her family to be closer to her ancestral land so she could maintain it. The cabin is aptly named Meteorite based on its unique shape and is set in a clearing surrounded by spruce and birch trees. The cabin is made entirely from cross-laminated timber (CLT) which is a sustainable alternative to other construction materials.

The three-story home is built entirely from 272 prefabricated panels of cross-laminated, locally sourced timber—a sustainable material that lends itself to digital design methods and follows the Finnish tradition of timber construction. Air gaps of various sizes behind the facade keep the interior warm without conventional insulation, even during Finland’s freezing winters, and give the Meteorite its out-of-this-world shape.

Inspired by the Ice Age rock formations found throughout the region, the Meteorite is a faceted dwelling designed by Kivi and Tuuli Sotamaa, the brother-and-sister duo behind Ateljé Sotamaa. They designed the faceted structure as a guest house for the family, although during the pandemic it has served also as an office for, a recording studio, and an after-school playroom for children.

The Meteorite’s black-tinted exterior provides a stark contrast to the warm, all-wood interior. “Everything on the outside is designed to dramatically stage the inside,” says Kivi. “It’s a mysterious object, and you don’t quite know what is going on within.” Part of the mystique lies in the deceptive nature of its size—the interior spans only 807 square feet of floor space, yet its total volume is 10,594 cubic feet.

Its envelope contains no plastic or insulation; it’s simply two sheets of wood, and the air gap in between them helps to regulate indoor temperature even when the subarctic climate outside drops to single digits in winter. The “between space,” as Ulla describes it, also hides storage and the building’s technical systems, preserving the minimalist feel of the interior.

The Meteorite’s interior is clad in spruce from floor to ceiling, and all the furniture for the living areas were hand-selected works by Finnish designers that the couple picked out themselves. The dining area features a built-in corner sofa designed by Ateljé Sotamaa with slipcovers and pillows by Klaus Haapaniemi & Co – a local artistic brand with works inspired by traditional Finnish folklore.

The Meteorite was originally envisioned as a guesthouse, but with the pandemic keeping them at home, it now serves as a more permanent, multipurpose space for the family. The traditional separation of work and home has disappeared, and it’s beautiful that they are merged within this single building.

My favorite part of the home – and I’m sure also the kids’ – is the giant net on the top floor. It ties the home together visually while adding connectivity without having to be in the same space. It is also extremely well light thanks to the multiple windows and skylights that are placed on unconventional angles because of the unique shape of the cabin.

The warm wooden interior complements the black timber exterior very well. The cabin is a beautiful blend of Finnish and Scandinavian elements in the finer details as well as the overall aesthetic which is minimal and monochromatic. Meteorite is an elegant picture example of modern architecture and interior that has been woven together with local traditions, simplicity, and sustainability.

Designer: Ateljé Sotamaa

Sony’s futuristic floating habitat shows what homes could look like in 2050!

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In 2050, it is said that there will be more “climate refugees” who have lost their homes due to the impact of climate change, as well as emigrants who have been forced to leave their countries due to political problems. There may also come a time in the future when people live in floating mobile houses that drift across the world’s oceans. These groups of people could become like sea nomads, forming a unique ecosystem in which they coexist with the natural environment.

When people from a wide range of cultural spheres are living on the ocean, how do people coexist with other people or with the environment? This design prototyping examines people’s life at sea in 2050 and the ecosystem they create from the perspective of housing.

People who live on water inhabit floating mobile houses that can travel freely on the sea, depending on the weather, ebb and flow of tides, and time of the day. They may move in search of food to a place where there is a school of fish, and they may also connect with houses of different “sea cities” to interact with people with different cultures and values. People’s mobile lifestyle will make urban ecosystems more fluid.

2050

Floating mobile houses are housing for use at sea, equipped with an engine with a cleaning filter, sail, and stabilizers in the living space. The variable roof can be folded up in a storm to avoid the wind and erected to use the wind as a power source when traveling. The two-story structure is divided into a public space above the water and a private space underwater.

The house uses solar panels for some of its materials and produces the electricity used by the inhabitants. The electricity generated is stored in an energy tank containing water as thermal energy, which can be retrieved as electricity when needed. For houses that need more electricity, an energy tank can be autonomously connected to supply energy.

Designer: Sony

2050

This eco-friendly packaging design for premium Chinese tea draws inspiration from the plantations!

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Packaging designs that pay homage to what’s inside or the process or creating it truly tug at our heartstrings. Especially, eco-friendly packaging designs because they showcase the best of innovation and sustainability. Chatu is a shining example of all of that – the packaging is an ode to the tea plantations in Sichuan, Henan, and Fujian provinces from where the premium Chinese tea is collected. Each tea package has a unique shape that represents the terrain and resembles the patterns on the hands of tea pickers.

The Chinese tea plantations were the source of inspiration for the packaging design. The texture of the package mimics the shape of the land on which the tea is harvested which is so sacred to the tea pickers. Even the colors were carefully chosen to match each of the three types of tea – white, green, and red.

The packaging is made by molding pulp and then colored with natural dyes. The shape resembles traditional Chinese teapots while the texture is a reminder of the plantations. The loose-leaf tea leaves are packed in two-layer cotton bags because it is breathable and environmentally friendly.

Each package also comes with a note that gives you more information about the province and the type of tea – it educates you about the flavor and the agricultural features of the plantation that make it special. It also tells you how the tea should be brewed for the optimum experience. Chatu is minimal but yet so powerful in communicating about the product, the process of making it, the art of brewing it, its origins, and more in the most simple yet elegant form.

Designer: Xenia Alexandrova

This minimal electric kettle’s design has been inspired from iconic Roman architecture!

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People travel across the world to see Roman architecture, especially the linear columns that are so iconic! Drawing inspiration from the popular historic style, SeungHyun Lee designed HYGGE – a modern, minimal, and sleek hybrid kitchen appliance.  HYGGE is an electric kettle but also functions as a jar to store your drink. Although it is inspired by Roman architecture, its name comes from the Danish word ‘hygge’ which is a cultural attitude that implies well-being, coziness, and contentment.

HYGGE’s design embodies all the emotions behind the Danish lifestyle practice which is all about making choices that lead to satisfaction and happiness by finding the magic in small, everyday things. Pronounced “hoo-gah”, the defining cultural practice celebrates mindfulness and joy in tiny things like drinking a cup of hot chocolate in winter.

hygge1

“The curve comes from nature, and the straight line comes from humans. The man-made Roman column, while blending with the natural sunlight, is balanced between man-made and natural, and finally becomes a work of art between sky and ground. I hope that users who use the health kettle can find their own balance in work and life, and become themselves,” explains Lee.

hygge2

The kettle’s top is designed to create an interactive experience with the product, a kind of communication between designers and users across time and space. The best part is that this method avoids the situation where your hands are scalded by steam! The sleek aesthetics help it perfectly stay on your counter or table, unlike the outdated plastic ones that we all hide too often in your cabinets. HYGGE lets you enjoy the simple practice of boiling water in an electric kettle and adds elegance to the otherwise mundane task – it elevates the experience of brewing and drinking tea into a cozier, beautiful moment!

Designer: SeungHyun Lee