A visit to AmericasMart last week to check out the home and gift market has really been worth it, producing a look at the new additions and ideas from Currey & Company as well as Cyan Design. I’m still working on the posts for Uttermost and the Elk Group, so look forward to those next week–they were great too! In the meantime, here are our 10 design inspirations to end your week with style and fun.
50 West Fourth
from Popsugar
Most people feel pretty nervous when they go to court, but I doubt that’s true for 50 West Fourth in Winston-Salem, North Carolina–an apartment complex that was once the Forsyth County Courthouse. A lot of the original design elements have been retained in this design, including a really stunning wrought-iron staircase and a former judge’s bench that is now part of a resident lounge area, seen here. Why not watch a Law and Order marathon while sitting in an actual courthouse?
Wyoming vacation home with a slide
from Dwell
A young family was building a vacation house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and knew from the very beginning that they wanted a super cool feature: a slide! However, just putting in a slide wasn’t enough. They went the extra mile and used the Philips Hue color-changing LED light system to illuminate the slide. Because it can change colors on command merely by using a smartphone or tablet, it’s easy to turn the slide, say, blue or green or change its hues to reflect holidays like Christmas. It looks like the kids use large cushions as sleds to get comfortably down the slide–okay, I’m totally coming over!
Smart Palm
from Co.Exist
Here’s a smart idea coming out of Dubai: Smart Palm, futuristic-looking palm trees that are like Swiss army knives in that they have lots of uses. These 20′ tall palm trees gather up solar power during the day and then discharge it at night. Each tree has 8 points to charge your phone, offers WiFi with a range of 100 meters and lets you sit and relax while using the WiFi or charging. There are also screens that give people city information and security features like an emergency call button. Two of these trees are in Dubai right now and more are coming, probably from a 3D printer!
Golden Reel
from Co.Design
If you’re going to Macau, you’re probably going to go gamble because that’s kind of their thing. But the problem is that revenue has taken a nosedive because of policy changes coming from China, so casinos need to start getting more creative with ways to bring in visitors. Enter Golden Reel, a one-of-a-kind Ferris wheel embedded in a huge, tall complex called Studio City Macau. Golden Reel will take riders on a figure-eight pattern, which is a first for a Ferris wheel, in cabins with a steampunk look. The whole trip will take about 15 minutes and will surely look incredible.
A new look at the theater
from Curbed
It’s always fun to see things from a new perspective, including these dazzling pictures of ornate theaters taken from the perspective of someone performing at center stage. I can’t say I’ve ever been in such a position! The photographer, Klaus Frahm, has also taken these pictures while the theaters are empty–which just adds to the effect. You can really see details like how the seats are arranged and, yep, the elegant lighting they use.
Crystal lattice light
from InteriorZine
Crafted on a 3D printer in a style that echoes crystal lattice, this cube-shaped lamp packs a lot of style into a small package. It was designed by architect Mariam Ayvazyan and her studio, Made in love. The 3D printer allows for total customization of how the lamp looks, so you could opt for a color other than white or get a larger size. A centrally-located cluster of LED lights provide the shine.
Entler ceramic lamps
from Design Milk
The LA-based design studio Entler has introduced a cool collection of lights made from ceramic. They started as handmade forms and come out as glossy, futuristic styles that look like cute little one-eyed alien creatures. They come in a variety of colors like black, white, soft pink and yellow, as well as two-headed lamps and varied styles of pendant.
Syddansk Universitet
from Dezeen
A cool triangular building on the harbor in Kolding, Denmark houses the communications and design school for Syddansk Universitet. Its facade is covered in perforated triangles that can open or close based on heat and light levels monitored by sensors on the building, so it is more efficiently heated and cooled depending on what is needed. Inside, the futuristic concrete-and-white color scheme is illuminated by LED lights, including ceilings of color-changing lights that change during the course of the day. This is the first building to meet Denmark’s very strict new energy-efficient building guidelines and it uses 50 percent less energy than similar structures.
Riff Relay
from Design Milk
Take a look at all of the different pendant lights here. They were all crafted from the exact same light engine, an easily customizable design based on how the same car can be bought in different models. Yes, the glassy pineapple, the octopus and the geometric copper pendant all come from the same foundation. They were all created by different designers and are available in a limited run of 10 each.
AlpStories
from Contemporist
Wait, is that…a robot inside a little kiosk? Yes, it is. Specifically, this is AlpStories, a cosmetics store in Slovenia. It allows every customer to make their own custom products by picking the different ingredients and letting the robot mix them. This allows for the products to be mixed exactly without the risk of human error (oh no! I put too much lavender essential oil in!), letting the human employees focus on offering help and advice to customers. The robot even has a little face. Dare I say it? It’s kind of cute!
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