Since founding her eponymous fashion line in 1984, Eileen Fisher has been focused on bringing mindful consumption to the fashion industry. Her timeless, built-to-last approach to design is just one example of this—she's also led a range of sustainability initiatives like Vision 2020, the company's pledge to be using all organic cotton and linen by 2020, among other goals. Most recently, her famous buy-back program—through which customers can return lightly-used garments for store credit—has evolved into a more creative incarnation titled Waste No More, an interdisciplinary design studio dedicated to making artisanal textiles from post-consumer clothing.

Matt Dunham | Flickr

Some of the recent work created through Waste No More was on view at Rosanna Orlandi during Salone del Mobile in Milan, in an exhibition curated by Lidewij Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano. The regenerative concept at the heart of Waste No More was interpreted into a white, sanctuary-like space meant to confront visitors with the reality of overconsumption while showcasing some of the decorative objects created by Fisher's team entirely from garments beyond repair.

"I love to solve problems, to me, that's where the creativity is."

"For many years, I thought natural fibers were sustainable, partly because they are biodegradable, but while there's a lot of good about natural fibers, there's also a lot of cost and pollution created during the process," Fisher told us as we visited the installation. "By 2010 we were only using about 15% eco-preferred materials and we just said, we're not moving fast enough, we have to make a serious commitment." Pretty soon after starting their buy-back program as a way of reducing the brand's footprint in landfills, they were faced with over three warehouses packed full of clothes. For a while, they had a team working on transforming the lightly used pieces into one-of-a-kind items and special collections, but as the number of items continued to rise they had to get more creative.

"Sigi [Ahl], who was my first employee, found this felt machine and started felting and we set up a little team and just decided that this idea has potential," Fisher says. The group—made up of artists, designers, and seamstresses—now has a dedicated studio in Irvington, New York where they use the felting process to transform garment waste into artistic wall hangings, acoustic panels, and a range of home goods. It doesn't matter how damaged a textile is when it arrives at the studio, the destruction is incorporated into the aesthetic and potential is found in every scrap.

Fisher hopes that people will look at the studio's work and realize that embracing sustainable practices can be fun and a source of unexpected creativity. "Where others see waste, we see possibility," she says. "I love to solve problems, to me, that's where the creativity is."

The company hopes that this can become a new model for the textile industry—one that leads away from unsustainable consumption and toward a future with much less waste. "People have told me that this business could be bigger than our core clothing line," Fisher noted. And that success comes from the support of an increasingly savvy clientele who are seeking brands that make sustainability a priority. "The shift is coming," Fisher says, optimistically. "I heard that last year, 66% more people searched for sustainable fashion than the year before. Isn't that crazy?"

I'm currently researching the potential of predicting the impact of future technologies. Hearing of this, a friend told me "You should listen to that 1983 Steve Jobs speech."

"About what?" I asked. Jobs gave a lot of speeches in the early 1980s, and I wondered how that would be helpful.

"The one where he predicted the iPad," he said.

Okay, he got my attention.

My friend was referring to what is known as the "Lost Steve Jobs speech." In 1983 Jobs delivered a talk to a group of designers at the International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA). And this speech, at least in its entirety, was indeed "lost" until blogger Marcel Brown received a cassette tape titled, "The Future Is Not What it Used to Be" from a colleague John Celuch of Inland Design. Celuch attended the talk that day 36 years ago and possessed a recording of it. At a time when most of the world were unaware of computers, never mind owning one, Jobs laid out a vision that described the World Wide Web, the iPad, the App Store, Siri, even Google Street View.

Image via Marcel Brown's Life, Liberty, and Technology

Before diving into this, some context is necessary: At that time IBM and Apple were head-to-head competitors to have the most popular personal computer, and the Macintosh had not yet launched. The idea of networked computing in the home was far from mainstream; the Web as we know it was still seven years away. And yet the 28-year old Jobs already had a vision for the future that was eerily clear and in retrospect, accurate.

"Ultimately computers are going to be a tool for communication," is the strongest thread running through his Aspen talk. And Jobs predicted that the standards for using computers to communicate would continuously evolve. Recall this was long before any mainstream computer networking—or mass use of the Internet—and yet he described how email would transform the way we communicate. Jobs went beyond understanding that computing would transform knowledge sharing; he understood that it would become seamlessly entwined with human social behavior. He described distribution lists that would later become bulletin boards, signaling the future of social media. "They hooked a hundred computers together on a 'local area network,' which is just a cable that carries all this information back and forth. And, an interesting thing happened…there were 20 people, and they were interested in volleyball, so a volleyball distribution list evolved. And when a volleyball game was changed, you'd write a quick memo and send it to the volleyball distribution list. And then there was a Chinese food cooking list. And before long there were more lists than people. I think that's exactly what's going to happen. As we start to tie these things together they are going to facilitate communication and facilitate bringing people together and the special interests that they have."

The story of all technology revolves around three basic plots: Saving time, amplifying resources and optimizing exchange. These inspire the direction of progress and in understanding that, Jobs could see what he may have thought to be inevitable advancements. Even 36 years ago, Jobs' vision was to provide consumers with the ability to do pursue all three plots. And to accomplish that, he made computing easy for the masses through two key qualities: Mobility and clarity. Apple strove for small, lightweight and beautifully easy machines. As Jobs noted repeatedly in the Aspen talk: "The way we're running the company, the product design, the advertising, it all comes down to this: Let's make it simple. Really simple." (Some say the latter inspiration initially came from Jobs' night shift at Atari, where they had to make the game instructions super clear--for stoned college students.)

Though his audience was relatively small in Aspen, he pleaded for the designers in the room to think about the future—and turn their attention away from then-sexier design fields, and towards computers instead. "If you look at computers they look like garbage. All the great product designers are off designing automobiles or…buildings. But, hardly any of them are designing computers. By 1986 we're going to ship more computers than automobiles in this country," Jobs told them. "People are going to suck this stuff up and we have a shot to put a great object there…and if we don't, we're going to put another piece of junk object there."

He also spoke about fonts, as he so famously often did, and the importance of a user-friendly interface—knowing that the GUI was critical to engaging the masses. As Jobs' biographer Walter Isaacson wrote in SmithsonianMagazine, "In an era not known for great industrial designers, Jobs' partnerships with [founder of Frog Design] Hartmut Esslinger in the 1980s and then with Jony Ive starting in 1997 created an engineering and design aesthetic that set Apple apart from other technology companies and ultimately helped make it the most valuable company in the world."

Later in the talk Jobs literally outlined the vision for the iPad: "What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes. And we really want to do it with a radio link in it so you don't have to hook up to anything and you're in communication with all of these databases and other computers…. One of these days…you'll be walking around Aspen and [retrieve your messages]." Jobs noted this was at that time impossible technically but that he would still work towards it. "So we had 3 options. One was to do nothing and as I mentioned, we're all pretty young and impatient so that was not a good option. The second one was to put a piece of garbage computer in a book and we can do that, but our competitors are doing that, so we don't need to do that. The third option was to design the computer that we want to put into the book eventually, even though we can't put it into the book now. And right now it fits in a bread box, and its $10,000 and it's called Lisa."

Related to mobility, Jobs recognized the inefficiency of delivering software on disks distributed through retailers and told his audience: "When you want to buy a piece of software…we'll send tones over the phone to transmit directly from computer to computer." This was the idea for the App Store, which in 2008 changed life for everyone—consumers and software developers—and put the iPhone into the realm of 'magical.' No one in 1983 might have believed we would have within the palm of our hand one device that we use to send instant messages, pay bills, monitor heart rates, make movies and even find love. The iPhone paved the way for the current mega trend of streaming. "Well we'll give you 30 seconds of this program for free, or we'll give you 5 screenshots, or we'll let you play with it for a day. And if you want to buy it, just type in your VISA number and you got it. I don't know how we're going to do it, but we need a [software] radio station," Jobs said.

Finally Jobs looked further out into uses for artificial intelligence, including one that I found particularly intriguing. "I think as we look toward the next 50 to 100 years, if we really can come up with these machines that can capture an underlying spirit or an underlying set of principles, or an underlying way of looking at the world so that then when the next Aristotle comes around…if he carries around one these machines with him his whole life and types in all this stuff, then maybe someday after the person's dead and gone we can ask this machine, 'Hey, what would Aristotle have said…what about this?' And that's really exciting to me."

We have a belief that technological progress and its impact are mostly unpredictable, and only clear in retrospect. But Kevin Kelly, the co-founder of Wired Magazine, wrote in his book The Inevitable that grand scale technologies are in fact predictable because they have an inherent direction. He uses the analogy of gravity. Imaginerain drops falling on a hill. Though we cannot predict the exact route of each droplet their general direction will inevitably be downward. Similarly, Kelly says, the Internet was inevitable, but Twitter was not. Or the phone was inevitable (due to electromagnetism), but the iPhone was not.

In other words, large technological advancements act as "nodes of progress" from which sparks of creative innovations flourish. Jobs was able to see the potential in the fundamental nodes such that he was able to take full advantage. The personal computer could certainly be seen as one of Kelly's inevitable technologies, but the Macintosh was not inevitable—it can be considered a creative innovation that allowed for a new way to do a valued thing: Beautiful and easy computing.

So how can you as designers spot and harness future opportunities? Taking inspiration from Jobs and Kelly, you can look for current "nodes of progress" that will unlock a flourish of creativity. Machine learning, for example, is still in a primitive state. Its inevitable direction, however, will be to enhance the inner workings of every industry. Through machine learning our car will be able recognize our face and auto-start, our homes will nudge us towards healthier habits, and half of our interactions with machines will use our voice. These are not far-off predictions, either; each of these advancements is likely to become commonplace in the next two to three years. This is just the infancy of the new age of artificial intelligence, so the time is ripe to understand the potential in machine learning and create your own innovative sparks.

Machine learning is just one example, of course. There are plenty of other nodes of progress out there, and forward-thinking designers can benefit by investigating and thinking about the ones that interest them.

As in every year since its inception, Core77 is proud to sponsor the WantedDesign Student Workshop, this year taking place from Thursday, May 16th through Tuesday, May 21st, 2019, at WantedDesign Brooklyn, right in the heart of Industry City.

Every May, WantedDesign presents a unique program, bringing a group of students from international design schools together to participate in the Design Schools Workshop. Conceived as a collaborative activity rather than a competition, teams are composed of students from different schools and backgrounds.

This year, the program will gather a record 10 schools, with 45 students participating. The proposed 2019 theme will explore the Open Form theory of Polish architect, theorist and educator Oskar Hansen. Participants include students from Aalto University (Finland), Appalachian University (USA), Art Center, (USA) Centro (Mexico), Ecole Boulle (France), Escuela de Comunicación Monica Herrerra (El Salvador), Pratt Institute (USA), Strate School of Design (France), Tongji University (China), Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (Poland).

The teams will be supervised by Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw faculty members Tomek Rygalik and Jerzy Porebski. Core77 had a chance to chat with Tomek about the upcoming event, what he's expecting, and maybe a couple things that he may not be expecting!

The event takes place with the support of Industry City, French Airline XL Airways, Visual Magnetics, OFS and FilzFelt.This year's Jury Committee includes Allan Chochinov, Partner of Core77 and Chair, SVA|NYC MFA Products of Design, Jean-Jacques L'Henaff, VP Design at Lixil, and Todd Bracher, Designer.

Core77: Could you tell us a little about yourself and you work in the world of design right now?

Rygalik: I'm a lead designer at Studio Rygalik working on architecture and products for premium companies and international brands including Cappellini, Moroso, Ghidini, Siemens, Heineken, or Ikea; a founder and creative director of furniture and accessories brand TRE Product; and an openminded educator with broad experience and PhD in industrial design. My work is about the engaging nature of new typology, longevity and simplicity holding power to responsibly elevate everyday life.

The theme of the 2019 workshop, "Open Form for Well-Being" is really intriguing. Can you tell us a little bit more about that, and how you came to settle on the them?

According to the theory of the Open Form, created by Oscar Hansen—Polish architect, designer, artist and educator in the late 1950s, an artist or designer does not create a closed work of art, but builds a context for possible interpretations, evolving with use. This theory when applied was based on the principles of ambiguity, volatility and collective participation. It presents itself as a very relevant theme for contemporary design both conceptually and practically. We chose to use it as a method while targeting well-being in a public space as a goal, which gains a new dimension in this case - social, cultural, aesthetic, interacting with the space and people, environmental, participatory, linked to security and satisfaction.

What do you think the deliverables will be from the student teams? Is there anything in particular that you are hoping for?

As a tutor I place emphasis on the students to work hands-on immersed in the real context. Therefore, we will ask the participants to find intriguing sites in the area of Industry City for possible group interventions. They will research first, then conceptually conceive the project, and finally iteratively realize experimental full-scale prototype in-situ in the following few days. This way the work will have both conceptual and contextual character, with physical outcome implemented and tested in the real world.

With 42 students from 10 International schools, what do you think will be the most challenging part of this year workshop might be?

Looking at the sheer numbers, surely grinding the consensus presents itself as a main challenge. (Laugh)

A question coming back to yourself: You will be leading the workshop with Jerzy Porebski—both of you teaching at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Art. Do you see major differences within design education between Europe and the U.S.? Are there other models of education from places in the world that you admire?

Although coming from completely different experience, Jerzy and I have a lot in common when it comes to our views on design and design education. Our paths crossed about ten years ago when as a Dean he brought me onboard the Design Faculty in Warsaw from the Royal College of Art in London, where I worked at the time, for three years after getting my MA there in the pluralistic heyday of Ron Arad's leadership. I have a great opportunity and privilege to help Jerzy and other colleagues to define, direct and develop the design education in Poland based on it's fascinating history of design and art intermingling. This is a constant and never ending process of course. Seemingly coming a long way from Pratt Institute's Rowena Reed Kostellow and Bill Fogler's legacy experienced during my undergraduate studies, the story shows how closely related and intertwined education traditions can be. The hands-on, conceptual, analytical, iterative and experimental approach is prevalent in a lot of schools worldwide. The differences in teaching both design thinking and design doing to face the challenges of the interconnected, dynamic and complex world are subtle, although the cultural context can shift focus and set schools apart. The diverse material culture and the American marketing culture in most cases pull programs in separate directions.

If you were a student coming into this workshop, what are the three things that you would want to know beforehand?

I would like to know where the water fountain, coffee machine and the beer is. Immersing oneself in the collaborative adventure such this, requires nourishment at different stages of the creative process.

On a slightly more serious note, I believe the door to self development in design swings inward, therefore I would seek opportunity in my relationships to the theme and through thoughtful personal research look for unique insights or a point of view, rather than knowledge.

Senior Communication Designer *Note: This role opening will close in May. In a nutshell: Communication Designers at IDEO make the biggest impact through visual storytelling. They work collaboratively with teams to bring our voices, stories, and concepts to life. The ideal candidate has a strong

Muji first announced it would enter the autonomous vehicle game back in November with plans for Gacha, an all-weather, self-driving minibus. Now just a few months later, the first real-world Gacha's are hitting the streets of Espoo, Finland as part of a pilot program running in several Finnish cities.

Images by Justus Hirvi/Bonzu, courtesy of MUJI

Muji led the design, and they partnered with technology company Sensible 4 to develop the vehicle's positioning, navigation, and obstacle detection systems. Creating an autonomous bus capable of functioning in all weather conditions was a focus from the start—prototypes were even subjected to arctic conditions. The team believes Gacha will allow autonomous driving throughout the year regardless of the environment it's in, but that will be put to the test in the coming months.

Images by Justus Hirvi/Bonzu, courtesy of MUJI

The minimal, streamlined design has no front or rear—Muji says the capsule-like form is inspired by the containers that hold Kinder egg toys. Inside, the seating curves along with the rounded square shape of the vehicle to maximize available space. The 30-foot long vehicle can accommodate 16 passengers, with 10 seated and six standing. On the exterior, a continuous LED light belt serves as both headlights and a communication screen.

The complete lack of a crumple zone would leave us feeling a bit nervous, but it's definitely cute, isn't it? Luckily, Gacha is a slow mover—it can only reach a maximum speed of 25mph. It runs on an electrical battery with a 62-mile range and comes with wireless charging possibilities. It's designed to follow a determined route but users can request to be picked up at a specific location via an app, and Gacha will optimize a route to get to them.

Aspects of the launch are still unclear, including how humans will be involved. After Espoo, Gancha will be deployed in Hämeenlinna, Vantaa, and Helsinki later this year. The plan is to incorporate a full Gancha fleet into the cities' existing transportation systems by 2021.

Here's a hard truth: humans have been responsible for virtually irreparable cultural and environmental damage for centuries, in part thanks to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Given this fact, it would make sense that designers have and still do carry a special power when it comes to shaping societal practices for future generations (for better or worse). With conversations popping up like the one in "Broken Nature", a new exhibition at the Triennale di Milano, you can sense the design world beginning to ask more frequently: have we done enough?

Core77

"Broken Nature", the highly anticipated Triennale Design Museum show curated by MoMA Senior Curator of Architecture & Design Paola Antonelli is currently serving as a wake up call that brings this often overlooked question to the forefront. The show consists of 120 projects in the realm of art, design and architecture, each one fitting under the envelope of "restorative design".

"Resurrecting the Sublimes" invites attendees to smell a fragrance created through DNA sequencing of a flower that is now extinct (Core77)

If you're feeling fuzzy about this concept of "restorative design", it could be because Antonelli purposely adopted it from the architecture lexicon to fit under the large umbrella of design. She reframes it as a concept that allows all designers to, as described within the exhibit, "make reparations for humans' unstable relationship with the environment" through their work. Antonelli takes the origin story of the restaurant as a perfect paradigm for restorative design. Born out of the 18th century in France, restaurants were originally seen as an establishment to find healthy but unappealing dining options. The restaurant has been repurposed over time as an arena to experiment with richer and more enjoyable foods and a space to enjoy with loved ones. "Broken Nature", much like this analogy, sees no reason for excluding pleasure and beauty from these examples of restorative design; it's how you invite people to the topic that makes a difference.

Sputniko!'s Nanohana Heels on display in "Broken Nature" (Core77)

This ethos that progress doesn't have to sacrifice pleasure heartily applies to the curation of the show. Serious messages, by design, are often paired with a sense of awe. Sputniko!'s "Nanohana Heels" are a high heeled shoe concept that plants rapeseeds as one walks. As it turns out, rapeseed blossoms absorb radioactive substances from soil, and the seeds themselves can be used to make Canola oil, an important biodiesel.

"A.A.I" by Agnieszka Kurant at Tanya Bonakdar (Tanya Bonakdar)

Beauty can also be used as a practical tool to highlight present (and potential future) injustices. Examples such as artist Agnieszka Kurant's "A.A.I" sculptures made from glitter, crystals, and sand are, at face value, shiny and fascinating forms. The structures were actually constructed by termites, insects known for their ability to create complex architectural structures. In fact, the piece acts as a metaphor for the current marketplace, which presents shiny objects that are often created using cheap, outsourced labor. "Resurrecting the Sublime" by Christina Agapakis, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Sissel Tolaas, Gingko Bioworks and IFF Inc is a fragrance project that used biotechnology and DNA sequencing to recreate the scent of three extinct flower species. The installation invites us to wholly experience what has already been lost through smelling the final product. Antonelli has a thorough understanding of the fact that museums exist as a means of granting public access to extraordinary examples of innovation, change, and beauty (not always mutually exclusive), and the conceptual pieces on display hit home the importance of addressing how our choices affect the environment by doing so in an intimate and emotional manner.

Woobi Play

It should be noted that not everything in "Broken Nature" is merely a metaphor or future scenario—one room is filled with examples of products serving the current market, like the Woobi Play customizable mask for children in polluted cities, the Hippo Roller water carrier, and the Lia pregnancy test that is flushable and biodegradable. The designer should, of course, not just gaze far in the future, but also produce shining examples that are evidence of the steps we can do now to enact change. These products have meaning now in that they have the potential to shape the culture of society by replacing less sustainable products on the market, changing consumer habits, or helping communities in need gain access to necessary tools and supplies.

What struck me most during my journey through "Broken Nature" was not the ingenuity and problem solving skills of the designers involved (although this should absolutely be noted). Instead I walked away with a sense that the designer has an even more important role in the future—that of a messenger and storyteller. Designers, unlike many other professions, have the skill set not only to build a physical world, but to also envision one that is backed up by extensive research and understanding of the population they are creating for.

Dunne & Raby's "Foragers" mask for future farming (Core77)

Examples like Dunne & Raby's "Foragers" tools indicate the unique positioning of the designer. Through extensive research on policies and innovations taking place in the present day, Dunne & Raby created conceptual products that reframe the goals for designers in the future. Their "Foragers" pieces are a series of masks used for farmers who utilize foraging as a main source of food collection. The tools presented in the exhibition are dramatic in form, but represent a true potential danger: food scarcity, which could come as early as 2040. The masks allow farmers to process items such as grass and algae, plant forms that will be in more abundance than traditional foods, so that it may be more easily digested. It's a dire scenario, but one that ultimately speaks to the optimism of the designer, looking for helpful solutions even in the darkest of moments. Designers are mediators through and through, whether they are simplifying complex data using infographics for a greater public, or co-collaborating with artists or engineers to bring a conceptual or marketable product to the world. It's a mandatory role in the future that's difficult for others to fill.

Raising Robotic Natives by Phillip Schmitt, seen at Broken Nature

The show also highlights that a crucial trait of future designers is a sense of responsibility, and being cognizant of the effect their designs can have on society, both culturally and environmentally. "Raising Robotic Natives" by Stephan Bogner, Philipp Schmitt and Jonas Voigt is a friendly bottle-feeding robot that demonstrates how designers have a role in shaping how society views robots in the future. "SUN+" by Brecht Duijf, Lenneke Langenhuijsen and buro BELÉN addresses the dangers of sunscreen that not only stem from its plastic packaging, but also its pollution of the ocean's ecosystem by inventing alternative means of coverage. Being a smart designer means looking at any issue at all angles for maximal society impact, minimal environmental impact.

What "Broken Nature" ultimately emphasizes is that the role of the sensitive designer is both integral and urgent. And given the fact that this exhibition was created with the purpose of educating a larger population about the merits of design, it's also perhaps an invitation to younger onlookers that their voice could be a crucial addition to the design landscape of the future.

South Korean company KLIO Design has designed the WITH:US self driving shuttle concept. Embodying three basic principles of simplicity, habitability and expandability, the project is proposed as an icon of future smart cities. Unveiled for the first time at the 2019 Seoul motor show, the design envisions a public transportation system that cares about the environment and people of all ages.

Unmanned Solution Inc., which developed WITH:US, is a self-driving solution company that has been leading Korea's self-driving technology for 11 years since its foundation in 2008. This self-driving shuttle plans to test-run the DMC area in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, in October.

We are currently recruiting for an Industrial Designer to join the Benchmade Knife Company team. The Industrial Designer is the sole owner of the origination and development of ideas to design the form, ergonomics, finish, and fundamental function of the manufactured products at Benchmade Knife

When wandering through the dense halls of Salone del Mobile, we found great refuge in Vitra's bright, colorful booth amongst a sea of gray and black walls. This year, Vitra's space was divided into four rooms, each themed around a different personality type. One of the standout pieces was a massive ceramic vase with abstract shapes neatly attached to it, designed by none other than the Bouroullec Brothers, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. The Bouroullecs have been working on quite a bit of projects lately, these ceramic vases for Vitra, aptly called Vases Découpage, to a "noise-cancelling" fountain in Paris. While they may differ in medium, each project the design duo works on maintains one common thread—experimentation.

Photo via Studio Bouroullec

In this case, the experimental process used to design Vases Découpage has led to a manufacturing adventure that speaks to the industry's recent fascination with mass produced items that appear to be handmade. We sat down with Ronan Bouroullec at Vitra's Salone del Mobile booth to learn more about Vases Découpage and to hear about what else he and Erwan have been up to lately:

How did Vases Découpage for Vitra fit in with the other work you have going on now? They actually remind me of the drawings you've been working on, but they feel more artistic than many projects you and Erwan do together...

Yeah, we're in a period of working on very heavy projects. We recently launched a new fountain of the Champs-Elysées in Paris, and we are working on another intense project that can take years and years to develop. But I'm someone that needs to create things and express myself in different ways every day, from craft to industry projects, from public projects to my own work. I'm fascinated by the possibility of expression—that's probably why I draw every day.

"I'm an older designer now, a specialist in a way, and I hate that. People have started to call us masters, but I don't want to be a master. I like to keep working on new types of projects and learning new processes ."

So, during this heavy period of projects, I worked with a ceramist to create these objects that speak to a certain energy, a certain vibrancy. I didn't notice it before, but now the overlap with my drawings is very clear. I'm more and more concerned about the simplistic world in which we are living. This project has become research for me because now I'm trying to figure out how these handmade objects can be manufactured and reproduced in a larger quantity. We need to figure out how to translate our process. I don't like this world, but it's just the facts of manufacturing.

So are the vases presented here [at Salone del Mobile] handmade or made by machine?

I made the ones here by hand with my assistant. They are cast. The ceramist prepared a big sheet for us, then we cut most of the shapes physically. All of the branches are extruded by machine. So, we just cut them in a very quick, quick way. The next step is finding the right people to manufacture them.

Erwan working on Vases Découpage. Photo via Studio Bouroullec.

You and Erwan started experimenting with urban design for the first time relatively recently—some of your ideas were exhibited at the Vitra Design Museum. What sparked your interest in branching out to such a big scale?

After almost 30 years of work (I did my first exhibition when was I was 18, and I am 48), I am frustrated by the fact that our work is dedicated to a very small group of people. I had a sort of big shift, and now to make things on a larger scale and to sell our work to a larger group of people is something important to me.

Rêveries Urbaines at the Vitra Design Museum in 2016/2017 presented urban design explorations by the Bouroullec Brothers

I'm also lucky enough to travel often, and when I look at cities now, I think urbanism is very often a question of functionality—figuring out how to move quickly from one a point to another and other similar functional aspects. But if we look at the beautiful cities of the 17th and 18th centuries—Sicily, Venice, certain part of Paris and Asia—the charm of the cities are linked to the quality of the streets, not just on a functional level but by the nature woven into them. Trees, benches, fountains are what provide charm and a certain harmony. I think all cities need that. We need to reconsider what gives centrality to a city, what gives pleasure, what gives opportunity marvelous situations.

On that note, you just debuted Les Fontaines des Champs-Elysées in Paris with Swarovski. How did you incorporate some of the ideas you just mentioned into this project?

Our goal with Les Fontaines des Champs-Elysées was to cover the sounds of traffic. So, a fountain is basically water falling, and that action makes a certain sound, but it produces even more sound when it's a cone. During the night, the shape is illuminated like a chandelier. It also turns like a ballerina. So now for the people walking around this area, the slow movement of the fountain and the sound of water really calms the sound of the cars. And then at the night, the joy of seeing such big structures turning is really cool.

Les Fontaines des Champs-Elysées in collaboration with Swarovski. Image via Studio Bouroullec.

During the day it's like a chameleon because under the crystals there is a mirror. So, when Paris is very gray and melancholic, the fountain is a bit melancholic too because it reflects the gray. But, when there is a sun, there is a sparkling effect that happens. It's like a surprise or a gift, and the movement is part of it. The goal was that you walk in, and it's like someone is moving with you.

Was it fun to play around with that type of reactive design?

Yeah, our goal was to be very delicate. It was just meant to serve its environment and not to be too strong. When the basin for the fountain was first designed in the mid-19th century, it was very symmetrical and extremely well positioned. But then came decay, the busy roads, the cars and all of the shops—it became very chaotic. So our goal was to find a new harmony in this particular place. We wanted to play off of the symmetry of the basin by making the structures vertical. We are also building a new belvedere on the river in the west of France, which will turn with the wind. I think it will be very, very romantic.

That's a very wide variety of projects...

For me, design is considering everything that didn't grow by itself on this planet. So, your table, iPhone, this sugar packet [on this table]—it is all design. There are so many aspects of design that I am fascinated with. We are lucky to be invited to design and solve problems in different areas. I don't like to repeat myself, which means that we need to be in front of many different types of projects.

What is something that you've always wanted to work on that you haven't had a chance to yet?

I'm an older designer now, a specialist in a way, and I hate that. People have started to call us masters, but I don't want to be a master. I like to keep working on new types of projects and learning new processes. So, I would be very happy to design a whole park in a city. Maybe one day...

Join the thousands of innovators, advocates and forces who are making an impact every day at one of the biggest footwear brands in the world. Whether you love to connect with consumers on the retail floor or want to drive our award-winning powerhouse in new

Artifact Zine is a publication examining the material world and our systems of making.

Each issue features short essays, interviews, and analysis of the artifacts, manufacturing processes, and technologies running behind the scenes of everyday life.

The first issue, Formation, is an introduction to the questions Artifact Zine explores: why do we make, and how are we shaped by the technologies we use to produce those objects?

Brought to you by MAKO Design + Invent, North America's leading design firm for taking your product idea from a sketch on a napkin to store shelves. Download Mako's Invention Guide for free here.

Navigating the world of crowdfunding can be overwhelming, to put it lightly. Which projects are worth backing? Where's the filter to weed out the hundreds of useless smart devices? To make the process less frustrating, we scour the various online crowdfunding platforms to put together a weekly roundup of our favorite campaigns for your viewing (and spending!) pleasure. Go ahead, free your disposable income:

Think of this suitcase as a mobile closet: it comes with multiple packing cubes and features a pull-up mechanism that lets you access everything you need just like you would in your dresser at home.

More than just another tabletop 3D printer, IVI's modular print head design allows you to attach laser engraving and CNC carving modules, so you can alternate between the three tools seamlessly.

This foldable, take-anywhere bag quickly transforms from the size of a small battery to a full-size backpack, and it's made out of a water and dust-repelling fabric.

The XGIMI MoGo Pro on Indiegogo is a great souped-up projector in a surprisingly compact package. Not only does it come in 1080p video quality, voice assistance, built-in sound system, and WiFi capabilities with tons of features like YouTube and Hulu, it can also be used completely wirelessly (backyard movie screenings anyone?)!

If you're tired of constantly switching between different earphones, AirLoop's modular design lets you attach the magnetic earbuds to a neckband, a thinner "sportband," or wear them alone when you want to go wireless.

Do you need help designing, developing, patenting, manufacturing, and/or selling YOUR product idea? MAKO Design + Invent is a one-stop-shop specifically for inventors / startups / small businesses. Click HERE for a free confidential product consultation.

Music Theatre International seeks a full-time, in-office Graphic Designer to market and maintain our catalog of show brands across multiple platforms (print, digital, experiential) with an emphasis on social media and print work. The Graphic Designer reports to the Art + Brand Manager and will work within the Marketing

Ohm Porcelain Lights Collection

Neither wind, water nor strong sunlight will change the glazed surface of Ohm porcelain lights collection, designed by Kauppi & Kauppi for company Ifö Electric. Ohm is a family of light fixtures for indoor and outdoor use on walls, facades, ceilings and tables. The first grand collection in more than ten years, by Scandinavia's only press porcelain producer. Inspired by old porcelain insulators, the soft curves and restrained silhouettes references the company's legacy and includes the first table lamps in the company´s century long history.

https://vimeo.com/312733845

Kaolin clay granulate are pressed into highly detailed electro technical porcelain

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

Ohm Table 100/190 in opal and clear glass with ash wood base

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

Two sizes of porcelain bases and various glass shades

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

Ohm 140/115, wall mounted

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

Ohm 100/170 with clear glass, ceiling mounted

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

The Ohm lamps for walls and ceilings are all splash safe (IP44 classed). For outdoor and bathroom installations

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

The soft curves and silhouettes are inspired by old porcelain insulators produced by Ifö Electric since the early 1900s.

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

Neither wind, water nor strong sunlight will change the glazed porcelain surfaces

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

"For us it is an added value to maintain the production knowledge and unique technique", explains Nina Kauppi

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

The unique press porcelain technique allows fine precision details, alongside outstanding durability and electrical insulation

Credit: Kauppi & Kauppi

Industrial designer Patrick Jouin has been using 3D printing in his designs for years but his latest prototype, which launched during Milan Design Week, pushes the material process to new limits. Inspired by origami and nature, the TAMU chair was developed in partnership with Dassault Systèmes and despite the avant-garde look of the lacy web patterns, the real innovation comes from its ability to fold down almost entirely flat.

Early models of the chair deployed a hinged panel structure that would allow the chair's base to fold down easily, almost like a piece of fabric. Dassault Systèmes brought their generative design software to the mix, allowing Jouin to optimize the structure and create the elaborate pattern inspired by structures found in nature. The emphasis was on using as little material as possible. The final result weighs a little over five pounds.

"Previously designers were inspired by 'organic' as a style, but what is completely new is that designers are now inspired by the organic process itself, and how to emulate it," Jouin says. "Manufacturing has fallen into the habit of producing more material than necessary. but with the help of innovative digital technologies, we are now able to create with much more efficiency and less waste, even as early as the design process."

Jouin is still working on bringing the prototype to market. Ideally, the chair would be made with one continuous 48-hour 3D print, but it's not quite there yet. In Milan, the team had to individually print 1,643 components and assemble the final product by hand.

This past summer, IKEA announced several internal efforts to pair IKEA designers with designers around the world. They unveiled exciting projects such as ÖVERALLT, a collection of furniture and home accessories designed in collaboration with designers from Africa, as well as Art Event, a limited-run rug collection designed by Virgil Abloh, Brooklyn-based studio CHIAOZZA, and artist Misaki Kawai, and more.

"Keep Off" Rug by Virgil Abloh

After months of waiting, both collections will finally drop into IKEA stores at the beginning of May. The Art Event collection is the fifth in an ongoing effort to create collections of pieces made by renowned designers, who are invited to design elegant art objects that IKEA will produce and sell in stores. "When I was growing up, art was something you went to a museum to experience and it could be quite an investment if you wanted to buy an art object," noted Henrik Most, Creative Leader of the Art Event collection, "we're trying to make art affordable and accessible to everyone so it becomes a natural part of a home."

Virgil Abloh's much anticipated rug is a play on the idea that furniture can sometimes be viewed as a relic as opposed something people actually use. "It was very clear from the beginning what he wanted to do", said Most, "The idea with this is for Virgil to address the idea that, why must we keep off a rug? Why can't we use it, enjoy it, sit on it, walk on it, have it as a natural part in our home?"

Rug by Seulgi Lee

Rug by Misaki Kawai

The collection stands out particularly for its variety of styles: Kawai's rug carries a playful, almost comic-book like style, Seulgi Lee's rug is minimal and balanced, while CHIAOZZA's is a vibrant abstraction of the blooming desert landscape that could easily be styled in a colorful Brooklyn home. "We wanted to work with artists with very different point of views," Most added, so that there was something available in the collection for everyone.

Brooklyn-based CHIAOZZA's rug, inspired by desert plants

The ÖVERALLT collection was also announced in the middle of 2018 at Design Indaba in Capetown, South Africa, and was a truly collaborative effort between in-house IKEA designers and 10 different designers originally hailing from Africa. Participating designer Bibi Seck said of the process, "We don't know who designed this or who designed that; we did this collection as a group of designers because we were brainstorming, even with designers from IKEA. It was a very fun exploration."

One theme of importance to the designers was a sensitivity to waste material, as demonstrated in the ÖVERALLT tote designed by Hend Riad and Mariam Hazem of Reform Studio. The bag utilizes waste material made during the production of potato chip bags. The stringy aluminum material is melded together, wound around a bobbin and then woven into totes, which also means each bag created is unique.

Another central idea is community, conveyed in product offerings like the dining seating with a concave shape that subtly encourages friends to sit together and talk, or the cast iron pots designed to house communal dishes.

If you've been eager to get your hands on anything in either collection, you only have a little time left to wait—the ÖVERALLT collection will be available in US IKEA locations starting May 1st, and Art Events rugs starting May 12th. All pieces will only available in-store, so you'll have to start planning your visit now.

We've been following the work of artist and designer Bae Se Hwa since we first discovered his steam bent series back in 2010 (and soon after realized he has an entire body of non-bentwood work that's just as compelling). We got our first chance to appreciate Se Hwa's rigorous work in person while visiting his current exhibition at R & Company in New York, and the pieces were every bit as extraordinary as we expected them to be.

The installation is kept minimal, letting the sculptural designs speak for themselves

Detail of the Steam 20 bench

Steam 12 lounge chair

Steam 15 lounge chair

Comprised of only six designs—two benches, three lounge chairs, and a desk—the intimate exhibition is actually the largest dedicated to Se Hwa's work to date. He begins his process digitally, using rendering programs to generate a precise geometric diagram. Then he transitions to handcraft as he molds each piece from individual strips of dark walnut. Each strip is warmed in a steam box until it's pliable enough to shape over a structural frame. The fluid designs incorporate nooks and depressions that define places to sit.

The Steam 18 desk in Bae Se Hwa's studio

Detail of the slatted structure draping over the counter of the Steam 18 desk

Working alone out of his studio near Seoul, the time-intensive process means that Se Hwa only finishes three to five pieces a year. Equal parts function and sculpture, it's no surprise that over the years they've become highly covetable collector's pieces.

For a sneak peek behind his process, check out this mesmerizing video of Se Hwa at work.

Bae Se Hwa - Steam Bent Series from R & Company on Vimeo.

Bae Se Hwa is on view at R & Company through May 11, 2019.

MONO is a brand new furniture project that approaches the use and sharing of space by both humans and pets.

The Six Flags Corporate Marketing team is looking for an experienced, full-time Senior Graphic Designer with consumer-focused marketing experience to help take our online presence to the next level. We need your creative leadership to design and execute great looking websites, memorable logos, slick brochures, thrilling emails, attention-getting banner ads,

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for our buddies over at Samsung, to say the least. After giving test units of their much anticipated Galaxy Fold phone to a select group of media (including us), the tech company had to quickly revoke the phones after users began experiencing glitches, mainly caused by peeling off a layer on the phone's screen that wasn't meant to be removed. And by quickly revoke, we mean appearing at our office to physically take the phone away from us. We should have yelled "no take backs!" and ran.

Anyways, we recently came across a fun Samsung product we hoped was made in an attempt to extinguish the metaphorical flames that arose from the Galaxy Fold situation or even the literal flames from the classic Galaxy Note 7. Unfortunately, it was announced very post-Galaxy Note 7 and pre-Galaxy Fold in September 2018. Either way, here's a look at the Samsung Firevase:

We have a few questions we're hoping will facilitate a discussion in the comments:

1. Is this thing glass? If so, that sounds dangerous.*

2. Is it a good idea to design discreet fire extinguishers, or should safety devices always have clear safety labels and messaging?

3. It's human nature to try to keep glass objects from breaking, so would unaware visitors or unaware people in the space think to throw a beautiful vase at a fire?

4. Is there a way to design a discreet fire extinguisher where the use case is still made clear?

5. Can whoever made this video DJ our next party? We love the energy.

All jokes aside, it's also important to note that Firevase is not fake—it's very real. In 2018 the company gave out over 100,000 Firevases to its customers and is rumored to have another release date in mind. Would you buy one for your office or home? Why or why not?

*(Editor's note: as one of our readers pointed out in the comments section, Firevase is made of rigid PVC, not glass. Phew!)