Photographer Kevin Bauman's "100 Abandoned Houses" project showed the empty domiciles of Detroit, but French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have gone further: Their photo book The Ruins of Detroit is far more chilling because it displays the disintegration of livelihood at every level. It's one thing to see empty houses, but Marchand and Meffre's shots show abandoned banks, train stations, dentist's offices, police stations, ballrooms, hotels, schools, churches and more.

Over the past generation Detroit has suffered economically worse than any other of the major American cities and its rampant urban decay is now glaringly apparent during this current recession. Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre documented this disintegration, showcasing structures that were formerly a source of civic pride, and which now stand as monuments to the city's fall from grace.

Our friends at Brooklyn-based consultancy Pensa have worked with the likes of Johnson & Johnson and McDonald's—not to mention ID idols OXO—but their multidisciplinary team has still found time to come up with independent projects such as the "DIWire Bender."

The DIWire Bender is a rapid prototype machine that bends metal wire to produce 2D or 3D shapes.

Simply draw curves in the computer, import the file into our software and press print. Our software can read vector files (e.g., Adobe Illustrator files), Rhino or Wavefront OBJ 3D files, text files of commands (e.g., feed 50 mm, bend 90° to right...) or pure coordinates (from 0,0,0 to 0,10,10 to....). All inputs are automatically translated into DIWire motor commands. During the print, the wire unwinds from a spool, passes through a series of wheels that straighten it, and then feeds through the bending head, which moves around in 3 dimensions to create the desired bends and curves.

What could you use a DIWire for? Wire models are often needed in design, whether they are for furniture (chair leg scale models) or housewares projects (wire baskets) or even engineering parts (custom springs). But why stop at prototypes? The machine can read any data, why not output artwork from a random number algorithm, or internet data like stock prices and weather stats. You can create mass customized products, like eyeglass frames that fit, or be a street vendor printing jewelry from a person's silhouette, on demand. And it doesn't have to be aluminum wire; in principal the machine could bend other materials, including colored electrical wires, some plastics, memory metals, even light pipes to create small light forms. And if you don't like the output, it could be configured to pass the bent wire through the straightener to start again.

The DIWire Bender is Pensa's answer to the rapid proliferation of other rapid prototyping technologies, such as 3D printers and CNC machines; indeed, the tabletop device is a variation on the latter.

In recent years, 3D rapid prototyping machines have gone mainstream. And we've been excited to see 3D printers spreading beyond businesses to individuals, with the aid of a little DIY ingenuity (e.g., Makerbots, RepRap, etc.). All these machines work on the same principal—to create a form, they split a volume into thin slices, and build up the form by printing a layer of material and bonding it to the next. The main difference between the build technologies (SLA, SLS, FDM and others) is the material and the bonding methods.

But there are times when we need to output lines in space rather than volumes. Most 3D printing technologies are not well suited for printing thin lines because the materials are weak, the machine uses a lot of 3D-print support material, and the process is slow. The closest thing to a machine that can output lines is a CNC wire bender, but these machines are used almost exclusively for mass production in factories. They are not used for rapid prototyping because the equipment is large, expensive and takes trained personnel to run. So, we decided to make the DIWire Bender.

The concept, then, is fairly straightfoward, but it still makes more sense when you see the video. The first clip shows the machine producing a simple 'pound' sign, as well as a fairly complex distended helix:

The iThrone was developed by two recent Art Center graduates, Amaya Gutierrez and Kenji Huang, whom I recently met at their Grad Show. Because they want to cast the iThrone in porcelain, a material too expensive for students to buy in bulk, they've turned to Kickstarter to help fund their project. Ceramic is not only a beautiful aesthetic choice and an appropriate material for a throne, it also has natural acoustic properties that enable the dock to act as a speaker without any electronic components.

You can, of course, plug in your phone while it rests cozily in either the sleek, white Art Deco iThrone or the more traditional, embellished black option. I tried out Amaya and Kenji's prototype with my phone, and even though the prototype wasn't made of ceramic, the basic geometry of the iThrone naturally amplifies the sound and directs it towards you.

I'm not a supporter of cute or clever design if it lacks functionality or if another product does it better, and I love the idea of a dock that doesn't use energy and is also a beautiful design object, whether its cradling your iPhone or not.

Check out the pitch after the jump:

That there is my personal drivers-and-bits kit for repairing vintage sewing machines, which require very specific bits and handles. Because no one offers all of the things I needed for it, I had to buy components piecemeal from three different gunsmithing manufacturers and assemble the kit as seen.

I hate the design of the case, which was the only one I could find that even came close to what I needed. The bits are only held in place by gravity and, when the case is closed, the top of each bit being wedged in place by the underside of the case lid. But as you can see, the holes are of different depths:

That means the shorter bits migrate when the case is bouncing around in your bag and wind up all over the place. To compensate, I used adhesive file labels to cover the holes for the shorter bits, then poked the bits through the labels. The extra material shoved into the hole provides enough friction to keep the bits in place in transit.

I had to sacrifice bit storage space to fit the extra handles, a ratchet and a stubby driver, I needed in there.

As a vehicle to celebrate emerging artists in one space, The Pulse Art Fair opens today at the Metropolitan Pavilion with an array of artists and disciplines including video art, dance, and architectural installation. Last night, I had a walk-thru with Cornell Dewitt, the fair's director, to go over the spatial and architectural-bent arts present in the show. He says that Pulse makes it a point to be "accessible, literally and metaphorically." In a city that hosts dozens of art fairs like the monolith Armory show to the edgy Independent, Pulse tends to run in a glowing medium. It's central location and eclectic mix of galleries makes for great inspiration grounds. The art here can be as opaque as in contemporary art gallery but Pulse strives for diversity. From a young Estonian artist to Fred Wilson, and a Fred Torres collaboration, Pulse's manageable-sized gallery allows for intimate moments with the art and gallerists.

Upon entry, the Lead Pencil Studio installation in the Pavilion's lobby brings the city into an art world space. The plywood set is an architectural take on a Chinatown street, with life-size re-creations of chain-lock doors, post box, fire escape, and storefront. The installation is meant to emphasize all of the formidable pieces attached to a building and it's street life that an architect did not put on that building. We are left with the stark imaginary formations of order and security from urban planning, emergency exits, and an attempt at street art. The plywood objects represent the hustle of city-life, but in their plywood manifestations we are hyper aware of their artful re-imaginings. We remember that we are in an art fair. Dewitt says of the space, "the world is falling away and you transfer yourself, bizarrely into this clarified art world."

"I wish to communicate with you" by Pablo Guardiola, 2011, 28 x 42 inches

Design to the Rescue! Earlier this year we revealed the Designed in USA brand certification logomark to the Core77 community. Unsurprisingly, opinions were wide-ranging and passionate.

Designers, ask and you shall receive! Here's your chance to turn your opinions into action!

Between now and midnight PDT Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 designers are invited to submit your redesign of the DESIGNED IN USA Logomark. Entries will be judged by the editorial department of Core77 and the Creative Team of RKS, and the three best will be determined and revealed. Winning designs will then be added to the website for download and use by the design and business community. Designs will be judged on the basis of creativity, appropriateness, applicability, and iconic potential. Good luck!

JUDGES:
Lance Hussey, Principal at RKS
As the design guru of RKS, Lance oversees the design of virtually every project that comes in the door and ensures that the design intent is always framed in reference to his clients business strategy. With a knack for delighting and surprising his clients with innovative design solutions, and broad experience gained from working with clients that market medical devices, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods and appliances, Lance has been instrumental in the rise of RKS as a global industrial design powerhouse for nearly 20 years.

LinYee Yuan, Managing Editor of Core77
LinYee Yuan is Managing Editor at Core77.com. She lives in beautiful Brooklyn, with Oski the cat, her Weber smoker and a random assortment of succulents and cactii. When not traversing the planet for Core77, she enjoys cooking for friends, gardening and reading on the subway.

PRIZES

• Winner: $150 from RKS and $100 Gift Certificate to Hand-Eye Supply and opportunity to work with Lance Hussey to refine the final design.
  
• 1st Runner-Up: $100 cash prize from RKS
  
• 2nd Runner-Up $50 cash prize from RKS

Enter after the jump or go to our standalone entry form.

I'm not sure if any of our readers are so attentive as to note that I'd promised a follow-up post about Dutch designer Jólan van der Wiel's booth at Ventura Lambrate, but before we all completely forget about that wonderful week in Italy in anticipation of the forthcoming ICFF, I'd like to share photos and a video from Milan.

While the original "Gravity Stool" dates back to 2011, he's refined the process a bit and branched out into other semi-crystalline objects such as a candle holder and a basin for the Salone.

Of course, the highlight was the series of daily demonstrations of his unconventional fabrication process. Where RISD's Taylor McKenzie-Veal made his "This Little Piggy" banks by subjecting a mundane material (per the theme of their show, "Transformation") to a series of simple processes, van der Wiel's self-produced machinery was impressive in and of itself.

Instead of attempting to describe the apparatus, I'll refer you to the video, as promised, after the jump...

Berlin-based designer Nicole Schindelholz has managed to weave kinetic interest into what's ordinarily a rather staid object: The coat rack. What could be mistaken for gears are actually blocks of wood, precision-cut into blocks or trapezoids and glued to either side of a flexible strip, allowing the assembly to bend in a snake-like way.

While the motion of the Respond Mechanical Coat Rack does not provide a functional benefit, that's not what it's about—Schindelholz, a former Swiss schoolteacher turned Eindhoven grad, had a different motive:

Mid-Sr. Video Editor / Digital Graphics Designer
Manchester United Ltd
London, United Kingdom

The Manchester United London Office is looking to appoint a Middle to Senior Weight Video Editor / Digital Graphics Designer. This role will involve supporting the existing Design Team with the production of high-end videos, including animation, shown across their media channels.

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The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

Ideation, or if you prefer, brainstorming, is a structured activity with many degrees of freedom within that structure. When leading sessions, I emphasize divergent, generative thinking, and ask participants to defer evaluation and prioritization. Defer, not disregard. Of course we need to bring convergence into the process, but not until later. As you'd expect, much of the energy and focus for these ideation sessions is on the creation of good ideas. But there's an interesting important role for bad ideas to play.

In my team of user researchers, we deliver not only a report (you can see an example from a few years ago here, but also an ideation workshop. In this session, we pass the baton to our client team. Together, we not only generate a broad set of things for the business to make, sell or do, but the team really takes ownership of the research insights by repeatedly applying them. The act of repeatedly translating insights into possible actions builds up a neural pathway, where the implications of those insights become burnt into their thinking. Bad ideas serve both masters, as sacrificial elements that lead to breakthroughs and as pitches for insight batting practice.

Creative activities often follow a double-hump model. At first you'll hit all the obvious ideas. These aren't a waste of time; sometimes the obvious ideas have been neglected and you can treat those as low-hanging fruit: obvious, easy to implement, incremental improvement. But you'll find that you run out of steam with those ideas. Like the false ending in a '80s rock song, don't think this fadeout means it's time to start applauding. There's still more. Push on, and this is when you get to the transgressive, weird, crazy and sometimes innovative ideas. That's the place you want to get to, where you are truly butting up against the edges of what's allowable.

Everything in the photography studio I run is either on wheels or breaks down small for storage—except the cumbersome 8-foot A-frame ladder, an absolute studio necessity. Sure it folds flat and can be leaned against the wall, but it's still cumbersome and visually inconvenient; I occasionally have to move it into the hall when someone needs the wall space for shooting.

That's why I'm loving the Corner Ladder by Company and Company, the Barcelona-based design quartet comprised of Allan Legaspi, Neus Company, Juan Pablo Ospina and Jorge Freyre:

Benchmark Diesel Motorbike

Coming from the West Coast to the best coast, Kyle Dell'Aquila is a Cupertino-native and a senior at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. Upon discovering Blender at the ripe young age of fifteen, Dell'Aquila found himself launched into the world of computer aided modeling and quickly down the rabbit-hole of design.

Hand Held Diesel Engine

Electrathon Car (in progress)

Personal Intaglio Resume

Dell'Aquila's obsessive attention and passion for simple, analogue solutions is apparent throughout his work as he strives to design products that boast longevity and quality over recyclability. "I am a sucker for functionality for sure," he says. "Functional and minimal are two different beasts but a lot of the times are lumped together in conversation. Dieter Rams, but not Bang and Olufsen."

Below are two of his projects, his Energy Thesis: Benchmark Diesel Motorbike and the P3 Super Utility Roll-Top Bag.

Benchmark Diesel Motorbike

The Benchmark Diesel Motorbike is part of Dell'Aquila's diesel energy thesis, done in collaboration with Parker Reid, a senior in the Furniture Department.

From Broadway to Rockaway, Pelham to Freshkills, 8.2 million people call New York City home. On the occasion of New York Design Week 2012, Core77 takes a moment to survey the landscape of all five boroughs with an open call to designers to represent their hometown.

Since its very beginnings, the city has been a trading grounds—a venue at the crossroads of ideas, commerce, materials and innovation. The 35 designers representing nearly as many neighborhoods in the ALL CITY ALL STARS continue to explore that space, negotiating technologies, materials, histories and futures in the crucible of a dynamic city. Interpretations may vary, but the voice of New York City is as bold, inquisitive and imaginative as ever.

Core77 OPEN: All City All Stars
350 Bowery at Great Jones Street
Friday, May 18-Tuesday, May 22
11AM - 6PM Daily
**Special Guest Nail Artist Ami V on Saturday and Sunday! Book your appointment at management [at] elsalonsito.com**

Opening Reception
Saturday, May 19, 7-10PM
rsvp [at] core77.com
Spread the word via Facebook!
Admission is based on capacity so please arrive early!

Bronx
» Michael Ferris Jr.
» Michelle Frick
» Sean Paul Gallegos
» Talitha James
» Ryan Thistle

Brooklyn
» Chris Adamick
» Chen Chen and Kai Williams
» Evan Clabots (Nonlinear Studio)
» Sebastián Errázuriz
» Kiel Mead
» Elizabeth New
» Ruta Reifen
» Uhuru Design
» Seldon Yuan
» Karl Zahn

Manhattan
» Harry Allen
» Brad Ascalon & Frederick McSwain for Neal Feay Studio
» Ben Light
» Rich Brilliant Willing
» Jeremyville

Queens
» Piet Houtenbos
» Daniel Michalik
» Alta Price & Jonah Koppel for Artware Editions
» Richard Saja
» Patrick Townsend

Staten Island
» Rama Chorpash
» Victoria Munro
» Tattfoo Tan
» Scott Van Campen & Mark Zappasodi

Once again Core77's Hand-Eye Supply is participating in Portland, Oregon's Starlight Parade, this year defending its title of Best Illumination! As a part of this extravaganza we held an open call to find a group of "Portland's Most Inspirational Makers" who will literally be paraded through the streets on our float "The Brain Storm". After receiving 52 nominees and over 1200 votes we have our winners! Reflecting Portland, Oregon's diverse maker culture our winners this year hail from a variety of fields.

Our official Maker Overlords who will be gracing the float:
- Film Maker and Teacher Courtney Hermann
- Designer David Stoops of Blackstar Bags
- Robot Builder Amy Wiegand of Team Pandamonium
- Tinkerer and Teacher Steve Davee

We are very honored to have this team for our float and encourage all Portland readers to turn out to cheer them on at the Starlight Parade on the evening of June 2nd. The parade offers an eclectic mix of parade floats, marching bands, and people representing local businesses and organizations. It draws more than 250,000 spectators to downtown Portland and is broadcast live on KPTV (Channel 12 on your TV dial.)

We really appreciate the enthusiasm displayed by all our nominees and their posses!

Here are some pics from our announcement party, where in addition to celebrating our Maker Overlords we invited party-goers to create designs that will be compiled and illuminated in our float - "The Brain Storm"

Photo Courtesy of Lindsie Reitz // Suite

Overlords Steve Davee and Courtney Hermann with Kerri Beth Elliot

Photo Courtesy of Lindsie Reitz // Suite

The latest Kickstarter success story comes from industrial designer Chris Thomson and cinematographer Ben Ryan, who have created a simple, portable, and clever device to help shooters regulate motion control. Called the Genie, it doesn't take up much more space than the SLR body it's meant to be attached to, and it allows the user to program in both rotating and panning features.

What most impresses us is the inherent hackability of the device: Because it can propel itself along by a provided rope, the camera can go anywhere you're willing to string that rope, either using an optional track or something you whip up yourself, like a few pieces of wood nailed together or even a skateboard.

What's also neat is that in the video below, you can see that they've prototyped it with the help of a MakerBot Cupcake:

This video on how a bicycles are made—or at least on how they were made in 1945 in the UK—is a lot more interesting than you'd think it'd be, particularly if you're British and recall your country's former prominence as a manufacturing giant. It's presented by Raleigh's chief designer of the time, and you catch a glimpse of the army of workers he presides over in the "Drawing Office," noted as one of the more important departments. And on the factory floor, it's fascinating to see how, for instance, a circular piece of steel like this...

...is transformed, step by step, into a joint like this:

As with previous "manufacturing in the past" videos we've shown, you'll note the manpower required, the division of sexes by task, and at least one poor bastard breathing in the steam from a caustic cleaning bath in those pre-OSHA days:

Sr. Interior Designer/Architect
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
New York, New York

Starwood is seeking a Senior Interior Designer/Architect to collaborate with key team members in the concepting, development and execution of innovative, strategic design solutions for all aspects of the built environment and guest experience for W, Le Meridien, St. Regis and The Luxury Collection hotels. Communicate this strategy and design direction through design documents, Brand style guides, design guidelines, and presentations to both internal and external partners.

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The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

I'm still getting used to the fact that New York City, once a global leader, has fallen so far behind other cities in keeping up with the times. On a trip to Copenhagen in 1995, I marveled at that city's system of public bikesharing, and many of you live in places where that's old hat; but I'm still excited to see that New York is finally getting something similar in a couple of months.

Like many other things in New York, it won't be free. Citi Bike is something like ZipCar for bicycles, though the pricing model is a bit different: You pay a $95 annual fee and then get as many 45-minute bike rides as you can take, from station to station, throughout predetermined locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Another difference with Citi Bike is that tourists can take advantage of the program by paying for 24-hour access or 7-day access (30-minute riding intervals). Thus far the map looks pretty comprehensive for downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, though some of these may change:

"Bike share systems only work when bikes are used and re-docked so that others can use them," Citi Bike writes, explaining why overages are charged if you exceed the 45-minute limit. You can get around this on longer trips by relaying from station to station, but NYC is geographically small enough that I can't see myself having to do that often.

I'm curious as to how they'd work out the logistics of keeping each bike station balanced between having enough supply and enough empty slots to dock incoming bicycles; there's no word on how they plan to solve the former, but Citi Bike has solved the latter as follows: Should you get to your destination station and find it full, a screen at the station awards you a 15-minute credit and directs you to the nearest station with an empty slot. The stations appear close enough that this will hopefully not be a hassle.

What will be a hassle is if you're unattentive enough to have the bike stolen out from under you; that will incur a $1,000 fine. Ouch.

Citi Bike launches this July with 10,000 bikes in 600 locations. (And as the name implies, yep, it's sponsored by the bank.)

"Hypervan (rear down view)" (2008); all images courtesy of BravinLee programs

Film lovers—sci-fi fans in particular—are surely familiar with the work of "Futurist Designer" Syd Mead (we're not sure if he's got issues with the term 'concept designer,' but we'll grant him the exception), and even the masses ought to recognize his groundbreaking work for the likes of Blade Runner, Aliens and TRON, among other canonical examples of the genre. If Mead's reputation as a visionary visual artist is all but surpassed by those blockbusters, the current exhibition of gouaches—spanning the four decades of his career and counting—at BravinLee gallery in Chelsea offers a fascinating look at his work in a fine art context.

"Future Rolls-Royce" (1967)

Per the press release for Future (Perfect):

Mead's vision of the future is sleek, erotic, and glamorous. It is populated by impeccably dressed, trim and tanned 1%ers and smartly uniformed worker bees. Mead is fond of portraying the arrival of guests or travelers in the act of greeting their hosts, which allows him to focus on the vehicle in the context of a short narrative sequence. The fantastic conjectural machines seem more plausible when placed in a richly detailed context and in a familiar situation. With few exceptions, Mead's future is utopian, free from famine, litter, security lines, corpulent tourists in cargo shorts, white socks and traffic snarls. Almost invariably the result of a client's commission, Mead once described his work as the lubricant for capitalism...

"Running of the Six DRGXX" (1983)

In Finland you can build a house without a permit as long as it's no larger than 128-square-feet. Needless to say, most people just get a permit. But in 2010 Robin Falck actually designed and built an itsy-bitsy Finnish dream house in the woods, a project he fantasized about and finally pursued because, according to Falck, "my military service was approaching and after sketching and calculating it seemed so possible."

After consulting a few architects, Falck began construction in early June, and after just two weeks "the only thing missing was a window and door, which arrived a couple of weeks later." The house, which Falck calls Nido (Italian for 'birds nest') is a mere 96-square-feet with a 50-square-foot loft bedroom. A large window spans the two stories, letting in tons of natural light and affording a full view of the sky at night. And since Nido sits on a lakeshore there are spectacular day time views as well.

Unfortunately, tight after Falck built Nido his military duties kicked in, and it was a full year before he was back and able to finally enjoy all his hard work. If you're wondering how much it all cost, the answer is: very. "I was surprised how affordable the whole project was," Falck said. "Most of the materials are recycled and I haven't really calculated how much it finally cost, but the ballpark figure is something like $10,500 plus the man hours."