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Week in Review » Friday Finds 08.17.12.. In The Modern World » By the Book.. Product Spotlight » DP 01 Phone by Punkt... Blog » Democratic Design: The Work of Le Van Bo..
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Week in Review Friday Finds 08.17.12
Recipes, 1930s homesteader cabins, murals, and more in our round-up of the most clickable links from the week.
In The Modern World By the Book
by Dwell Staff
Architect Deborah Berke has maintained a ledger full of ephemera that details memories of every dinner party she’s hosted for the past fourteen years. Here she shares a few pages and stories of evenings past.
Product Spotlight DP 01 Phone by Punkt.
by Diana Budds
For many, cell phones have become the convenient mode of calling. But for the times when a landline is necessary, is your phone stuck in the rotary age? Enter the DP 01 by Jasper Morrison for Punkt., a slim cordless handset cradled in a base that can be wall mounted or laid flat. With three color options, visual voicemail, a robust phone book system, and an integrated answering machine, this overhaul of one of the first modern devices would be a smart addition to any interior.
Blog Democratic Design: The Work of Le Van Bo
by Caia Hagel
Van Bo Le-Mentzel arrived on the shores of Germany as a young refugee from Laos. He was fascinated by Spiderman and dreamed of the day when he could help the helpless. Today, he still prefers to wear blue and red, in homage to his superhero, and—after studying architecture at Beuth Hochschule, a University of Applied Sciences in the working class Wedding district of Berlin—has found a way to emulate him. Like Peter Parker, he has a day job, though Van Bo has a few: as a celebrated hip hop-rapping MC, a prolific radio and television show broadcaster, a graffiti-artist, a social media king and ambassador for startnext.de, the German version of Kickstarter, and as a full-time employee at Dan Pearlman Communications and Branding. By night—and this is the Spiderman part—he moonlights as a guerilla furniture designer. Inspired by Berlin’s Bauhaus legacy and the cool factor of DIY, he creates the plans for beautiful, affordable furniture and releases them for free from his website hartzivmoebel.de. “This gives the power to the people to make their world a more aesthetic, more social, more uplifting place, without government, police or multinational interference,” he says. “They are plans for happiness—and change starts with you.” In exchange for the free plans, he has asked the furniture makers to send him pictures of their finished products along with stories of its making and uses. The result is the book Le-Mentzel & The Crowd: Hartz IV Moebel.com, published by Hatje Cantz in July—a delightfully inventive showcase of a brave new world where virtual crowds and furniture can change your life.
Hotel Register The Conservatorium, Amsterdam
by Diana Budds
The Conservatorium is among the newest in the European crop of design hotels. Architect Piero Lissoni has added his touch to what was originally a 19th-century bank by Dutch architect Daniel Knuttel. One of the adaptive reuse plan's boldest moves includes retaining the original facade and adding a multistory glass atrium. There, guests of the hotel can take a lounging break or dine on a meal while gazing up at one of Amsterdam's historic buildings. Due to its proximity to many of the city's museums, the hoteliers also hope that the Conservatorium also strikes a chord with locals. Arresting as the public spaces of this contemporary-meets-classic hotel are, the interior boasts all the marks of luxury accommodations: restaurants, a bar, spa and wellness center, and 129 guest rooms and suites. Let's take a look inside...
Blog Product Design by Femme Den
by Carren Jao
At this point, it's virtually ingrained in the popular consciousness: “Women make up 50 percent of the population and 85 percent of purchase decisions," says Karena Cameron of Femme Den, a design collective ensconced within a thirty-year-old design consultancy Smart Design. And yet, "all the men are doing the designing without regard for our needs." Cameron aims to change that.
Conversation On Your Mark, Get Sett
by Mitchell Parker
Austin-based modern prefab designer Kimber Reed wants you to space out.
Product Spotlight Wrapqarw by To-mo-ni
by Diana Budds
Designer Naoto Yoshida found a new use for scrap wood from the furniture industry in Japan: an organizer to wrangle unruly cords. The clever Wrapqarw contraption ($20–$25) comes in three sizes—small, medium, and large—to help organize everything from headphones to phone chargers to USB cables. To purchase, visit muhshome.com.
Design Finder Commune Design Loves Japan
by Olivia Martin
Commune has good ideas. Opening Ceremony’s shop in Los Angeles? Good idea. Partnering with Heath Ceramics? Really good idea. Working with Japanese design company Landscape Products to help tsunami victims in Japan? Incredibly good idea. “We feel very connected to Japan and have been trying to find ways to contribute since the earthquake and tsunami last year, but our options felt very broad and too big to get a handle on,” says Roman Alonso, a partner at Commune.
Conversation Mud Mavens: Mud Girls Founder Jen Gobby
by Carren Jao
Just off Canada's west coast near Vancouver is a paradise for self-sufficiency seekers. Approximately five miles wide and thirteen-and-a-half miles long, Lasqueti Island is home to poets, artists, designers, musicians, and people from all walks of life trying to live off the land responsibly. There are no paved roads or public utilities—just ingenuity and elbow grease.
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