Tag Archives: random

This monitor light bar is the most important desk accessory nobody ever talks about…

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Close your eyes and picture your dream setup. A sprawling desk with a nice wide monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse, probably a hub for charging stuff, a pen-stand, coffee mug… did you also think of a nice ergonomic chair? Or maybe you want one of those standing desks. What about a modular organizer/whiteboard? Thought of everything? How about a lamp to illuminate your entire workspace? Most desk setups tend to leave the lamp out because we take lighting for granted… but chances are your office space or your WFH spot isn’t as efficiently lit as you want.

Designer: BenQ Lifestyle Design Center

Click Here to Buy Now: $139.

In all honesty, table lamps are sort of an afterthought – because you just assume your room’s sufficiently lit, until you realize your WFH setup is far from a window and you don’t get enough daylight, or the tubelight’s behind you and it casts your shadow on your desk, making it difficult to perform analog tasks, take notes, or read books/printouts. I’ll admit I’ve never heard of a Monitor Light before, but BenQ’s ScreenBar Plus really does a good job of being a pretty darn amazing workspace light (it’s also a product that was first invented by BenQ). Instead of occupying actual table space, the ScreenBar Plus sits on top of your monitor. Its universal clipping mechanism can attach to any monitor type, and the long strip of LEDs help illuminate your entire workspace efficiently, without casting any shadows or leaving any blind spots.

The way the lamp’s design is rather clever. Its optically asymmetric design casts light onto your desk without casting any light on your monitor. This way, it efficiently and consistently illuminates your space without creating any reflections or glare on your screen, something that cheaper knockoff versions of the ScreenBar Plus don’t manage to achieve. The lamp is powered via USB, so it doesn’t hog a socket in your multiplug panel, and can be controlled using a small desktop dial interface. The desktop dial occupies a fraction of your countertop space, and has a rotating knob to help you adjust the lamp’s brightness or its color temperature. If you don’t want to constantly have to fiddle with the knob, a light sensor located above the knob helps power the ScreenBar’s smart-dimming feature, allowing the LEDs to instantly regulate when you push the button, based on how bright your environment is.

Designed to work with all monitors (ranging between 1cm and 3cm in thickness), the BenQ ScreenBar Plus provides an elegant, space-saving, non-intrusive way to keep your workplace illuminated, whether you’re in your regular office or your home office.

Click Here to Buy Now: $139.

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 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

These prefab coral shaped structures are designed to be self-sustaining centres for the coastal community!

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Architecture has the power to infuse the local culture and sustainability into the structure. A shining example of such designs is the Cagbalete Sand Clusters in Taguig, Philippines. The organically shaped structure is a multi-use development made while respecting the existing ecology as well as the history of farming and fishing in the area. The unique building is constructed with prefabricated sections that can be placed and added on in a horizontal or vertical direction.

Each of the units, individually or placed together, forms a coral-like shape inspired by the local marine ecology. The lead architect of Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc. and client C Ideation envisioned the development to be community-focused, which they described as “farm leisure.” The self-sustaining group of clusters will rely on electricity produced from solar umbrella pods and passive design techniques such as natural ventilation.

The structures include a private family home and a restaurant that offers farm-to-table endemic plant species and seasonal mud crabs from nearby farms. This not only speaks to healthy living and local industry, but mud crab farming is also credited with preventing soil erosion and protection of vital mangroves.

“They have elevated the humble hapa net into something beyond its utilitarian origins,” stated the press release. “It is now both part of the structure’s construction membrane, a tool for food production, and a web that facilitates the daily activities of the structure’s inhabitants, enmeshing time, culture, and space.”

Hapa nets throughout the structure offer protection from the weather and insects while reflecting the historic use of the nets.

For residents and visitors, the design includes a saltwater grotto, along with mud pools and soaking pools. The designers hope the multi-focused design elements cater to tourists, specifically eco-tourism while honoring the Filipino culture — which spans 7,641 islands made up of varying natural and community elements.

Cagbalete Sand Clusters won the Food Category of the WAFX Awards this year. The architectural design is also a finalist in the “Experimental” category of the World Architecture Festival, which will be held this December 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal. It truly showcases how buildings don’t have to take away from the space they stand on but can co-exist while helping protect the natural environment.

Designer: Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc.

This tiny house has been designed for sustainable, energy-efficient, off-the-grid living!

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I love tiny houses but even more if they are designed to be sustainable, energy-efficient, and on wheels – that is exactly what Project Ursa is! The mobile home is made for off-the-grid living featuring solar panels, water harvesting systems, and the coziest interiors that makes the “cabin in the woods” aesthetic into a lifestyle.

Tiny houses on wheels have to have a length of 4m, 5m, and respectively 7m, to be 2,5m wide and to have a maximum height of 4m. The Ursa tiny house is currently located in Cascais, Portugal, and can function completely off-grid.

To ensure that, the roof features a subtle 5% slope which allows rainwater to drain easily into a couple of water tanks with a total capacity of 650 liters. This water is then redirected to the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, and the shower where it’s filtered and reused. After that, the reused water goes into another tank and from there is used for watering plants.

On top of the roof, Ursa features solar panels which are facing South. Their inclination can be adjusted up to 30% in order to maximize the energy product all year round, making this a very efficient off-grid tiny house.

The energy produced by these solar panels is being converted and stored for later uses so the inhabitants can always have energy on demand when needed. Check out our informational article covering solar panel companies if you’re interesting in this subject.

This tiny house offers 17 square meters of living space in total which is organized into a kitchen, a full bathroom with a dry toilet that produces compost, a living area, two sleeping areas, and also an outdoor deck. Of course, each of these spaces is small and they all blend into one another which creates a cozy ambiance inside. This is accentuated by the warmth of the wood used for both the interior and the exterior of the Ursa tiny house.

Designer: Madeiguincho

This AI-enabled tiny home gets a design upgrade making it more spacious and futuristic!

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Nestron is one of my favorite tiny home builders – they are modern, minimal, and AI-enabled! The sure in tiny homes is not a design trend but an architectural movement that is here to stay, they are more affordable, more sustainable, and more conducive to our evolving flexible lifestyles when compared to traditional houses. Nestron’s latest model is the Cube Two X which has been built upon the existing Cube Two’s functionality and aesthetics with more upgrades keeping in mind a bigger family instead of a two-person household. Take the full virtual tour here!





Cube Two XD is a prefab unit available in two models – a one-bedroom or two-bedroom configuration, and is clad with steel and fiber-reinforced plastic. Singapore-based architecture studio has designed this modern home by drawing inspiration from sci-fi and spacecraft imagery.

The company’s latest prefab builds on the aesthetics and the functionality of their Cube 2 model. “We figured it was time to give the Cube 2 line an upgrade, and thus Cube Two X was born,” Law says. Since the launch of their Cube series, Nestron received numerous requests for an even larger unit with the option for two bedrooms. The company responded to demand by creating Cube Two X, a scaled-up version of the Cube Two.

The one-bedroom and two-bedroom Cube Two X models offer 376 square feet of living space. The structure consists of a steel frame wrapped with fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) siding that can withstand extreme heat and natural disasters.”All of our products are made with high-resistance materials,” Law says. “The FRP exterior wall panels are less likely to rust or corrode, and they hold up in high temperatures, harsh environments, and extreme weather conditions, including heatwaves, hurricanes, and earthquakes.”

Built-in furniture preserves floor space in the tiny home. The designers outfitted the dining area with a built-in table for two and created a sleek built-in sofa for the living space. Optional features include electric-heated flooring, a smart mirror, a music system, and a concealed electric stove. “The invisible stove is a unique space-saving idea,” Law says. “It’s a seamless kitchen counter when you’re not cooking, but when you are, the counter transforms into a stovetop.”

Curved edges and voice-controlled tech lend a futuristic feel to the home, which is designed so that it can be shipped anywhere in the world and arrive move-in ready. “The home is fully equipped with built-in furniture that helps to maximize floor space,” Law says. “There’s no installation needed upon arrival. Much like how a washing machine works, our clients just need local contractors to wind up the power sockets and the water supply and then Cube Two X is a fully functioning home.”

For how high tech the tiny home is, it makes a relatively low impact on the environment. “Ninety percent of the materials we use are recyclable,” Law says. “The interior wood wall panels, for example, are made from non-virgin wood and recycled plastic that’s environmentally friendly and 100 percent recyclable.”

The bedroom has a large built-in wardrobe and a recessed wall niche for storage above the bed. “We make a big effort to care for the environment because we believe everything starts at home,” he says. “Living in your home should be an experience that’s environmentally friendly—and we’d like for people to be able to live a sustainable lifestyle without additional effort.” The bathroom features a smart mirror and an electric pulse toilet.

The Cube Two X is also prefabricated in a factory environment, which helps to reduce material waste. “This speeds construction time by up to 50 percent compared to on-site construction, which takes around one month,” Law says. “It’s a faster and more cost-effective process, ensuring we have no construction waste, as we use prefabricated molds to shape our products, which greatly increases accuracy.”

If the cinematic worlds of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and William Hanna and Joseph Barbera’s The Jetsons were combined to create a tiny home, it might just be Nestron’s Cube Two X – tech lovers and digital nomads are going to love this innovative home!

Designer: Nestron

This chair is assembled with a cargo strap – no hardware, screws, no glue, no packaging!

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The TEMP chair has been designed as an eco-focused seating solution that makes use of an unlikely material to blend packaging and assembly into one piece. The chair is made by cutting OSB (oriented strand board) and is assembled by tying a single cargo strap with ratchets. The luggage strap, which can withstand more than 700kg, makes for a super sturdy chair without the use of screws, glue, or any hardware!

OSB is stronger and more waterproof than plywood. It is a versatile, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly alternative manufactured by compressing precisely engineered strands of woods with exterior resins at high temperatures to create an incredibly strong panel.

The cargo strap is also used to wrap the panels effectively reducing packaging for the chair. The five panels that make up the chair can be grouped together, and one panel has a handle, so it can be easily moved while packed.

It is designed to be wider than the existing chair, so you can take a break in various postures, and the lower part of the seat can be used as a storage space.

The reasonably priced OSB has enough strength to make up the chair, and the wood chip pattern makes it hard to see scratches, so it could be shipped without additional packaging.

Joo Hoyoung said, “I ordered plywood cut from a carpentry shop. I tied the cut plywood with a cargo string to bring home. When I came home, I untied the string, put the plywood in the right place, and tied the string again. I am sitting in the chair that has been completed just like that and writing this!” – could it BE any simpler?!

Designer: Joo Hoyoung

This chair is assembled with a cargo strap – no hardware, screws, no glue, no packaging!

Posted on by

The TEMP chair has been designed as an eco-focused seating solution that makes use of an unlikely material to blend packaging and assembly into one piece. The chair is made by cutting OSB (oriented strand board) and is assembled by tying a single cargo strap with ratchets. The luggage strap, which can withstand more than 700kg, makes for a super sturdy chair without the use of screws, glue, or any hardware!

OSB is stronger and more waterproof than plywood. It is a versatile, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly alternative manufactured by compressing precisely engineered strands of woods with exterior resins at high temperatures to create an incredibly strong panel.

The cargo strap is also used to wrap the panels effectively reducing packaging for the chair. The five panels that make up the chair can be grouped together, and one panel has a handle, so it can be easily moved while packed.

It is designed to be wider than the existing chair, so you can take a break in various postures, and the lower part of the seat can be used as a storage space.

The reasonably priced OSB has enough strength to make up the chair, and the wood chip pattern makes it hard to see scratches, so it could be shipped without additional packaging.

Joo Hoyoung said, “I ordered plywood cut from a carpentry shop. I tied the cut plywood with a cargo string to bring home. When I came home, I untied the string, put the plywood in the right place, and tied the string again. I am sitting in the chair that has been completed just like that and writing this!” – could it BE any simpler?!

Designer: Joo Hoyoung

This shipping container has been transformed into a getaway by the sea!

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When designers repurpose shipping containers into shelters, it feels like the adult version of building forts and tents! It’s taking something that doesn’t resemble a shelter – like bedsheets or shipping containers – and turning them into the most wonderful getaways. This MUA getaway cabin is right by the Tbilisi Sea, in Georgia, and gives our summer imagination a life. The cabin is located 20 minutes away from the city center and has been designed by the architecture team to serve as a relaxing space where they can recharge their creative batteries – it’s like when a doctor prescribes medicine for themself, win-win!

You won’t believe that these psychedelic art pieces are actually close-ups of molds and fungi!

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No, this isn’t an alien planet. It’s a psychedelic work of art by Dasha Plesen using paints, pigments, foodstuff, and bacterial/fungal cultures from everyday life.

I don’t know about you, but when I see mold growing on something, my knee-jerk reaction is to throw it away. Daria Fedorova, on the other hand, busts out her camera, mounts a macro lens, and gets to work! Fedorova’s psychedelic artworks are more of a collaboration than anything else. She uses paints, yeasts, foodstuff, and biofilms to compose her art pieces, introduces microscopic fungal and bacterial cultures to the mix, and then lets nature take over as the molds grow on top of her abstract pieces of art, giving it a new appearance altogether.

Fedorova (who goes by her online moniker Dasha Plesen) hopes to redefine what it means to “create” art, and to explore how much of a role she plays in the creation. A lot of the artwork’s process is unpredictable, as Fedorova just allows the cultures to incubate over a period of 3-4 weeks, growing on top of the canvas she creates. The Russia-based artist spent 7 years researching microcultures and learning how to develop and control them. Most of her artwork occurs in controlled environments inside Petri dishes, and her microculture samples come from a variety of places, including “air, surroundings, body, and objects”, according to the artist.

It’s worth noting that no two molds/cultures in her artpieces are the same. They come from different locations and samples, and are the result of multiple natural bacterial and fungal colonies naturally propagating. Fedorova’s experimented with bodily fluids (like sweat, saliva, mucus, and milk) and even decorated her art with sprinkles and granules of sugar, adding pops of color to her “disgusting” art. The results are undeniably fabulous, that is, if you can somehow get yourself to look beyond the fact that those microbiotic cultures are incredibly unhealthy and potentially dangerous if exposed to humans (Fedorova does make it a point to safely dispose of them once she’s done). However, they make for great prints (Fedorova actually sells posters and tee-shirts)… and if you’re into NFTs, you can get your hands on some “CryptoFungi” too!

Designer: Daria Fedorova (Dasha Plesen)