Genesis X Dog Concept has every luxury your pooch needs before, during, and after travel

Max tells me; being a celeb dog is not an easy thing. You have to dress up well, eat without spilling or slurping, have trimmed nails, clean paws, and be at your best behavior at all times. Ah, poor doggo! After all the made-up life throughout the day, Max deserves the ultimate relaxation and time of his own during traveling, he says. Luxury automaker Genesis seems to have heard his woof and has created an ultimate dog-friendly space exclusively to fit in the boot of the Electrified GV70. This is what Max would’ve always needed. A dedicated area to himself that would take care of his before, during, and after travel needs.

The Genesis X Dog concept is primarily meant to allow the four-legged friend to relax with all the possible amenities inside it or at the paw’s reach. Along with the comfortable ride of its Electrified GV70, the interesting dog module allows the pooch to have a relaxed me time, drenched in the luxuries of a cozy bed, ambient lighting, and Bluetooth audio system.

Designer: Genesis

A lightweight, retractable aluminum and carbon fiber ramp has been designed to provide easy access for the dog into the luxury crate resting in the boot of the Electrified GV70. Sitting there, the dog can feel as special as their owners while on the road with all the range of exclusive accessories and equipment at their disposal.

Matching with the interior of the Genesis electric, the Genesis X Dog Concept has quilted vegan leather sidewalls and comes with bespoke features including a heated dog bed, Bluetooth audio system, ambient lighting with the pull-out ramp facilitating entry and exit. More interesting here is the built-in electric shower (attached to a six-liter pressurized water tank) with a hairdryer for the pooch to clean up after her muddy adventures.

To ensure the time within the Genesis X Dog Concept is as comfortable and personalized as possible for the dog, it features an anti-skid surface, a safety lock mechanism comprising two straps on the sides, a safety harness and a leather dog collar. Before you start believing in the luxury and willing to inculcate it into your pooch’s lifestyle, this is just a concept that Genesis would be displaying in its select studios between 9 May and 5 June.

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Contemporary Work Booths Serve As Little Oases Of Comfort & Productivity In Your Hectic Office

One of the keys to an aligned, well-functioning, and efficient office space is the furniture we place in it. We spend the majority of our day sitting on our office chairs or typing away on our desks whether we’re working in our home office or a corporate one. Hence, these pieces of furniture need to be not only comfortable but ergonomic, and aesthetic as well. It is important to find furniture designs that are excellent at helping us maintain a good posture, while also being super comfy to work in, and merging well with the overall office interior and aesthetic. And one such furniture design is the Plenum Cabin by Jaime Hayon for Fritz Hansen.

Designer: Jaime Hayon for Fritz Hansen

Designed by Jaime Hayon for the Danish brand Fritz Hansen, this series of enclosed seats is called the Plenum Cabin, and they offer comfortable spaces within the corporate workplace. The Plenum Cabins have been designed to serve as meeting spots for productive and informal meetings in office environments. They also function as integral focal points in open-plan interiors.

“With Plenum Cabin, my aim was to craft a space within a space – a haven for intimate conversations and informal gatherings,” said Hayon. “It’s not just a cabin – it’s an invitation to connect, to share, and to experience the best of human interaction in the workplace.” The Plenum Cabin features seats with a high back to provide privacy, as well as foam cushions to offer utmost comfort. The furniture pieces can be upholstered in a range of recycled textiles.

The unique booth has been equipped with a table, an internal cable management system, and an integrated screen. The various features help in creating a productive working environment, allowing employees to work in peace and streamline their schedules. The work booth is also pretty aesthetic to look at it, it has a contemporary appeal, which allows it to seamlessly merge with different kinds of office spaces.

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Wobbling rocking chair adds a playful twist to an everyday piece of furniture

We expect chairs to be stable, otherwise, we will never have the confidence or even the courage to take a seat on them. There are seats that are designed to move, though, from the wheels on office chairs to the rocking motion of a rocking chair, swing, or hammock. But what if the instability is actually an intentional part of the design, generating not fear but a sense of thrill and even playfulness? That’s the kind of experience that this odd-looking chair concept tries to offer, with a design that makes it look like a cross between a spacecraft seat and a child’s toy top. It turns out, it even moves like one as well!

Designer: Ellie Kim

A wobbling chair is probably the last thing you’d want to rest your body on, but if you’re actually looking for a more engaging and dynamic experience, this almost spherical seat is probably something you’d want to try out. After all, no one sits on a swing to relax but to actually be pumped up, enjoy, and maybe even trigger one’s creativity and imagination. At the same time, however, it has to be not only comfortable but also reassuring, as you don’t want your wobbling experience to be your last.

Designing a chair that rocks in all directions isn’t easy, even after you get the idea to use a concave base. You have to make sure you don’t completely tip over to any side, which is what a lip or ridge around the base is for. You’ll also have to come up with a design for the rest of the chair that not only provides support but also properly conveys the design’s more dynamic nature.

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Thus, a circular chair is born with fins extruding from the middle like spokes on a wheel. The chair looks more like a turbine than a piece of furniture, but the design of each part is by no means based on whimsy. The top fins better cradle the seat and integrate it with the circular bottom half, while the bottom fins actually support the forces that the ridge will encounter with its rocking motion. Plus, it looks a lot more interesting, and its radial design immediately conveys the idea that it can move in almost any direction. As a bonus, the structure of the base and the ridge make it look like the chair is floating, adding to its sci-fi identity.

The end result is a chair that wobbles with pride and confidence, allowing the person on top to experience childlike play in every movement. It’s not going to replace any office or home chair, and it’s hardly an ergonomic design. But no one’s going to blame you for having a bit of fun rocking and spinning around on a chair that’s clearly designed to help you enjoy the lighter moments in life.

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Kartell and Philippine Starck team up with A.I. for new furniture collection

There have been a lot of discussions about how artificial intelligence affects designers and design in general. This will continue to be a hotly debated topic in the next few years. There are those that believe this is heralding the death of the creative industry while there are those that believe that it can help brands and designers streamline processes and can foster innovation and experimentation. Italian furniture brand Kartell and French architect and designer Philippine Starck seems to be of the latter school of thought as they unveiled their A.I. collection

Designer: Philippe Starck and Kartell (and A.I.)

This collection features eco-friendly pieces of furniture that were a result of input from Kartell and Starck and streamlined by A.I. particularly in terms of prototyping and planning. It was able to contribute to make the collection sustainable and optimize the materials used resulting in reduced waste. Creating eco-friendly products is the ultimate goal and the combination of design, production, and A.I. helped achieve this.

The A.I. Lounge uses thermoplastic techno polymer with a mineral filler. It is available in white, black, green, and gray and can be used both indoors and outdoors or wherever you want to lounge around. The H.H.H Her Highest Highness meanwhile is a chair that should make you sit like a royal. The way the back is shaped will force you to sit as if on a throne. It uses green polycarbonate material for the eco-friendly aspect.

The A.I. Console meanwhile is a minimalist small table that can be placed in the foyers, vestibules, entrances, and hallways, or anywhere you need to have a small stand or table for your stuff. It sports a one legged design and is made from recycled Illy iPerEspresso coffee capsules. You can get it in orange, white, gray, or black.

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Gustav Düsing’s Flat-Pack Barcelona Chair Version With Sustainable Plywood And No Binding Materials

The furniture design industry is increasingly crowded with visually striking creations, and standing out requires a blend of innovation, convenience, and sustainability. Gustav Düsing’s Space-Frame series, though conceived over a decade ago as an architectural experiment, offers a refreshing perspective that seamlessly merges cutting-edge production technologies with timeless design principles.

Designer: Architect Gustav Düsing

The Space-Frame series, crafted from Baltic Birch plywood, brings back the charm of childhood 3D wooden puzzles, this time, in life-size form. What sets this collection apart is its utilization of space-consuming structural elements, aptly named space-frames, which serve as the foundation for its intricate yet functional designs.

Chair23D, a standout piece from the series, draws inspiration from iconic lobby chairs like the Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe. Its complex three-dimensional structure is a testament to Düsing’s mastery, ingeniously assembled without the need for adhesives or screws. Instead, it mimics the human skeleton, with a spine, ribs, and pelvis, resulting in a stable, self-contained system that defies conventional assembly methods.

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, the Space-Frame series embodies a commitment to sustainability. Crafted from Baltic Birch plywood, a renewable resource, these pieces offer a guilt-free indulgence for environmentally conscious consumers. Furthermore, their flat-pack design not only minimizes shipping costs and space but also reduces fuel consumption, making them a truly eco-friendly choice.

Düsing’s design ethos is evident in every facet of the series, from its honest construction to its meticulous attention to detail. Unlike conventional CNC-cut furniture, which often exposes unsightly joints, Düsing’s designs cleverly conceal such imperfections while transforming them into visual elements in their own right. It’s this fusion of form and function that sets this series apart, elevating it from mere furniture to functional art.

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Odd wooden design object is a table, stool, lamp, or sculpture in one

When we choose furniture, we probably do so for their primary purpose, like a chair for sitting, a table for placing things on, a bed for sleeping, etc. But we also see some pieces that can serve more than one purpose and this is particularly useful for those that either have a small space or need something that’s portable and multi-purpose at the same time. It’s also an added bonus if the piece is well designed enough that it can also have a decorative purpose.

Designer: Kosmos Architects

You can say that this latest creation from Zurich-based Kosmos Architects fits all those categories. They were inspired by the idea of the different numbers and dots on the dice and this became the core aspect of the design. The Dice as they called it, looks nothing like the square piece but is instead a four-in-one piece of portable furniture. It’s a stool, coffee table, leg bench, and a lamp in one. How it turns into each of these four furniture typologies depends on how you turn it, hence the dice inspiration.

When you put the flat surface on top, whether it’s the round or square surface, it becomes a small coffee table that can hold your drinks, books, or any objects that can fit onto it. The flat surfaces can also serve as the seat if you wish to use it as a chair. The two legs serve as the support so you don’t topple over or the items you placed on the table don’t fall because it’s wobbly. The other part of The Dice is the lamp which has a hollow inside and a frosted glass for protection.

This weirdly shaped piece of furniture is light enough that you can hang it if you just want to use it as a lamp. It can even fit into a huge tote bag if you need to carry it around. It uses oak wood as its main material and its 3D-shape was made through KUKA robotics technology. If you don’t want to use any of its functional properties, you can just place it in your space and it would look like a piece of wooden sculpture.

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Quirky rocking chair’s jagged design creates an illusion of a ‘motion blur’

Bordering on visually uncomfortable, this rocking chair from Instagram user Muddycap has us captivated for all the right reasons! The chair has a highly unusual design, with severely jagged edges that simulate the feeling of movement. Building on the concept of visual permanence and the motion blur, this chair creates the illusion of being in constant motion, even when it’s standing still.

Designer: Muddycap

The Fast Rocking Chair, as it’s aptly called, comes crafted from Maple wood and secured with a coat of paint to hide the wood-grain which would give the illusion away. Each chair features different pieces of wood, cut using a mechanical saw to match the unique shapes, and joined together using traditional joineries. The result is a chair that looks cartoonishly fast, prompting you to spend more time looking at it. Sure, you could sit on it too – it might look jagged but it isn’t uncomfortable.

The jagged design exists only on the side profiles, so there’s really no danger of you hurting yourself while sitting on the rocking chair. The seat and armrest are flat, and the backrest has a mild corrugated design. That being said, the chair is definitely a health hazard for kids and pets who may often run around the house. While most furniture have a few sharp edges, the Fast Rocking Chair is essentially an invitation to the ER for children or pets with zoomies, or adults with ADHD.

However, the rocking chair makes for a really fun visual experiment. Muddycap’s entire Instagram profile is filled with such explorations, aiming at turning furniture into conversation pieces rather than have them stuck in the realm of hardcore functionality. The rocking chairs obviously aren’t for sale, although there’s no denying that they certainly do look rather mesmerizing.

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Kartell Reimagines Iconic Chairs In Barbie Pink At 2024 Milan Design Week

The recent collaboration between Kartell, the distinguished Italian furniture brand, and Mattel, the creative force behind Barbie, has resulted in an extraordinary collection of chairs that blurs the boundaries between furniture and art. Unveiled at Milan Design Week 2024, this partnership represents a significant milestone in design history, as it merges Kartell’s Philippe Starck-designed chairs with the timeless charm of Barbie.

Designer: Philippe Starck

Barbie’s enduring influence as a cultural icon cannot be overstated. From her origins as a children’s toy in 1959 to her recent portrayal in a live-action film, Barbie has continually evolved, captivating audiences worldwide and transcending her toy origins to become a symbol of empowerment and aspiration. Last year’s release of the Barbie movie further underscored her cultural significance, reshaping perceptions and highlighting her relevance across different age groups.

In response to Barbie’s multifaceted influence, Kartell and Mattel Creations embarked on an innovative partnership. Reimagining five of Kartell’s iconic chairs through a Barbie-inspired lens, the collection breathes new life into Philippe Starck’s designs, infusing them with Barbie’s signature style and charm.

The chairs, including the ‘Venice’, ‘Louis Ghost’, ‘Masters’, ‘Ero|S|’, and ‘AI’, have been meticulously recreated in both human and doll sizes, symbolizing Barbie’s 65-year legacy of inspiring imagination and creativity. Each chair, bathed in Pantone 219 C – the iconic Barbie Pink hue – is crafted from recycled plastic, highlighting the brand’s commitment to sustainability.

The genesis of this collaboration lies in Barbie’s ability to reinvent herself and resonate with audiences across generations. By transforming Kartell’s chairs into vibrant pink masterpieces, the collection pays homage to Barbie’s legacy of creativity and imagination. Crafted from recycled plastic and incorporating innovative materials such as bamboo, each chair embodies Barbie’s Dreamhouse aesthetic while also prioritizing sustainability—a testament to both brands’ commitment to environmental responsibility.

The debut of this remarkable collection at Milan Design Week captivated attendees, transporting them into a world where toys seamlessly merge with art. Displayed against the backdrop of Condé Nast’s Vogue Closet exhibition, the chairs became more than just functional pieces—they became cultural artifacts, inviting viewers to reconsider the boundaries between fantasy and reality.

In the words of Kartell, this collaboration represents a fusion “where toys become art, and art becomes toys.” By marrying Starck’s timeless designs with Barbie’s enduring allure, the Kartell x Barbie collection not only celebrates nostalgia but also invites us to embrace the power of creativity and imagination—a testament to the transformative potential of collaboration in the world of design.

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Bowl-shaped chair concept offers geometric beauty at the expense of ergonomics

Just like a table, the most basic requirements for a chair are quite simple. It needs to be strong and stable enough to actually sit on, but comfort and convenience seem to be more open to interpretation than any other design element. Some brutalist designs look a little painful to sit on, meeting only the bare minimum of a chair, while others let your body literally sink inside its plushy cushions and make it difficult to pull yourself out quickly. And then there are designs like this concept that espouse simplicity and minimalism to convey a sense of beauty, but the end result, while visually successful, also raises concerns about its actual usefulness and comfort.

Designer: Mauricio Coelho

A chair isn’t a simple form that can be expressed in a single shape. After all, there are a few interconnecting planes needed to give it legs and an actual seat. A backrest is common but not obligatory, and armrests are even more optional. The Oco chair concept comes close to that simplicity of form while still providing a visually interesting piece, and it accomplishes that by employing a shape you wouldn’t always associate with a chair.

Bowl-shaped chairs are uncommon probably for a reason. A hollow half-sphere might not be the most comfortable thing to sit in unless you fill that space with cushions like what the Oco chair does. With extremely thin planes for legs, the bowl almost looks like it’s floating in mid-air. Made using carbon steel and fiberglass, the chair brings structural stability while also providing some subtle material details, like the wood-like grains of the spherical body.

But while it is indeed a sight to behold, closer inspection might make you rethink the comfort it promises. The thick cushions do look plus, but they might not provide enough support for the person’s back. Or at the very least the back cushion doesn’t have enough height to support someone leaning back, forcing them to sit upright without proper support, straining their body over time.

The bowl’s edges are also left exposed, which could scratch, cut, or press on a person’s skin, especially on the back of the legs and forearms. A few slight modifications, like lining the edges with soft fabric or changing the angle of the bowl could help improve the ergonomics of the design without ruining the simple geometric beauty that this concept wishes to convey.

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Meet USP – A Sponge Furniture Collection You Can Grown And Expand In Your Own Home

At Milan Design Week, we got to witness a range of intriguing flat-pack furniture by researchers from the Swiss design school ÉCAL. The interesting collection needs to be immersed in water to reach its final finished form. Dubbed Under Pressure Solutions or UPS, the furniture is crafted from thin and compressed sheets of cellulose sponge, which enables the products to be packed into flat parcels. In fact, some of the objects are compact enough to be pushed through a letterbox, facilitating more efficient shipping.

Designer: ÉCAL

Once you receive the products you need to soak them in the bath or shower, which allows them to blow up to around 10 times their original size in a few seconds. You then wrung out the sponge, and leave it to dry, hardening it, and forming a sturdy, durable, and self-supporting form of furniture that can support the weight of a person. The furniture collection is way better than conventional plastic foam when it comes to durability.

“Cellulose is a part of nature so, like a tree, it can be flexible and strong at the same time,” said ÉCAL researcher and industrial designer Christophe Guberan. The sponge is extracted from wood offcuts, and it is equipped with strength due to the same cellulose fibers that is utilized by a tree to reinforce its trunk and branches.

To create the sponge, the cellulose was derived from woodcuts. The cellulose was then chemically dissolved and regenerated to create sheets utilizing the same process that produces viscose and other cellulose textiles. Glauber’s salt is then added into those concoction, providing the sponge with its pores, and strengthening the cellulose’s ability to absorb water. This material is sold as standardized sheets that are then compressed and dehydrated to support smooth and easy transportation.

By adding small amounts of water, the various furniture pieces can become flexible once again, and they can be repaired by smoothing out any dents. And once the lifecycle of the furniture has been completed, it can be recycled or composted in the backyard.

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