Electrolux announces Design Lab 2010 Shortlist

Electrolux announces Design Lab 2010 finalists and show their designs in the video below. This includes eight concepts for 'creative solutions for compact living':

Fia Carafe by Nina Jobs

A simple, functional and attractive carafe is launched by Nina Jobs through Design House Stockholm.

They comment 'Nina Jobs excels in her quest for functional simplicity with straightforward natural forms and colors. But not without a sophisticated twist to a mouth-blown carafe for wine and water, or to be used as a flower vase. It is no wonder that the Fia is named after the Swedish version of the board game Ludo. The straight lines allude to her playful character, as well as the precisely ground spheres in amber, pink, black and clear crystal.'

See more on Design House Stockholm

RIBA Sterling Prize Shortlist Announced

The RIBA Sterling Prize 2010 shortlist has been announced. The shortlisted projects are:

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford by Rick Mather Architects

Bateman’s Row, London by Theis and Khan

Christ’s College School, Guildford by DSDHA

Clapham Manor Primary School, London by dRMM

MAXXI, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome by Zaha Hadid Architects

Neues Museum, Berlin by David Chipperfield Architects with Julian Harrap Architects 

Click here to read more on Dezeen

Photos © Helene Binet, © Nick Kane,

White roofs to save energy

US Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, has been promoting the benefits of 'white roofs' and the energy savings they could provide in the USA.. He has now mandated that all new roofs on Energy Department buildings be either white or reflective to provide a cooling effect. He estimates that is could save $735 million per year if 85% of all air-conditioned buildings in the US had white roofs. Wow!

Read more on Inhabitat

Take the interview for Mad Men

The new series of Mad Men, the cult US 50's advertising show, starts this week in the States. To promote the series AMC has created an online job interview to join the team. Click here to submit your CV.

Poliform opens new showroom in Bahrain

Italian furniture manufacturer Poliform has opened a new showroom in Bahrain. The building in Palm Square is a white cube cut out with wide windows that provide a line of sight to the furniture displays inside.

See more on Contemporist

Every Move You Make, Every Step You Take

A new exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of California Art looks at the work of artist Megan Geckler who combines art and design with architectural installations using multicolored strands of plastic ribbon usually found separating spaces on construction sites.This results in a three-dimensional version of string art.

See more here

Alex Randall 'Rats' at London Design Week

London Design Week will feature a new interior design piece by Alex Randall in September. It was hailed as “The Most Nightmarish Lamp Ever Created”  by Susan Labarre, Fast Company, at New York Design Week in May. The lamp features stuffed rats running up a lamp.  Not sure about this one - could certainly give the children a few bad dreams!

Selfridges windows feature sculptures by Kyle Bean

The current windows at Selfridges in London feature a set of sculptures by Kyle Bean, based on the scientific law of conservation of energy. He has based these sculptures on the scientific theory – which states that 'matter cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed'. Each consists of a set of giant hanging scales on which two items are placed. One is an object in its original form, the other a transformed version of it. The scales then prove that the objects are still of equal weight, and thus still essentially the same.

See and read more in Creative Review

Flowers bloom in Glasgow

The first phase of the regeneration of the Speirs Locks area in Glasgow has been completed with the opening of the Garscube Link, a new public realm intervention which re-connects North Glasgow back to the city centre for pedestrians and cyclists. The project was designed by 7N Architects and RankinFraser Landscape Architecture for the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership (GCRP) and The Garscube Link has been christened “The Phoenix Flowers”, a reference to the former Phoenix Park which once occupied the site before the construction of the motorway.

Read more on Contemporist

Harry Allen designs Pipeline Seating

Harry Allen’s has designed a great solution to public space seating in 'Pipeline' for Dune, a modular seating system that consistsof four upholstered sections that can create a multitude of shapes and designs.

See more here 

The alternative Kangbuk Samsung Hospital

The Kangbuk Samsung Hospital Total Healthcare Center has been designed to innovate the design of hospitals and to look at the architectural problems faced. Architects, Hyunjoon Yoo Architects, wanted the hospital be more reflective of a resort or hotel instead of a typical hospital, introducing natural elements, such as water, earth, tree and wind within the numerous public spaces.

Read more on Arch Daily

Photographs © Seunghoon Yum

Gary Numan plays 'Car Keyboard' in Diehard Batteries Ad

This is a great ad for Diehard Batteries starring Gary Numan. Powering the electrics of several cars and a keyboard, Gary plays Cars using on a 'car keyboard'. The ad was directed by James Frost and is worth a watch.

Kuksas design rises from the ground in Eindhoven

Italian architectural firm, Massimiliano Fuksas, has designed 18 Septemberpleinin, Eindhoven, a major square in the city. It is the connection between the central station area and the main shopping district of the city and with a need for 2000 parking places for bicycles and providing an important flow through of pedestrians they designed an underground bicycle parking area. This left the square free for pedestrians.
Two cone-like shapes provide the entrance to the parking area, created with ceramic tiles, fountains lights and glass elements embedded in the square floor. Lighting and a flow of light through the glass flooring from the parking area below creates an impressive sight at night.

See more on Contemporist

Interesting and interactive web site for Le Petit Oiseau Va Sortir, Paris

Great web site for photography studio, Le Petit Oiseau Va Sortir in Paris. Great animation and interactivity.

Click here to view

New environmental guidelines set out by DMA

The DMA has set out a new environmental best practice guide within its recent amendments to the DM Code. The new code sets out a series of guidelines covering the use of data hygiene, making environmental claims in marketing materials, sourcing of sustainable paper, certification in environmental standards such as PAS 2020, adhering to a corporate environmental policy and using recycling messages on printed materials. This covers all aspects of direct marketing and sets a series of best practice guidelines for marketing agencies and clients.

Read more on B2B Marketing