Tens of thousands of years ago, ancient human made a little tweak to a cave to find themselves a secure place safe from invading enemies or natural calamities. Eventually, this has led to the development of fascinating rock-cut architecture, which consists in creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs.
According to physicians and epidemiologists, face shields are a much more effective way to protect the eyes, nose and mouth from COVID-19 than surgical style face masks. The public is advised to wear a shield, in conjunction with masks, whenever they leave home. However, current designs are often too uncomfortable and awkward to encourage people wear them. Designers and material researchers are trying to find an appealing and sustainable way to integrate this PPE into our daily routines.
Mycelium is a vegetative part of a fungus (i.e. technically a mushroom) that is made of underground wires creating an ever-growing network. By giving it a defined structure to grow, mycelium is able to form a strong, breathable and fire-retardant material that could replace plastic, textiles, wood and cement among others. Mycelium materials are also being tested to be used as acoustic absorber, packaging materials, and building insulation. Even NASA is currently researching using mycelium to build sustainable habitable dwellings on Mars. Isn’t that enough to call it a sustainable material of the future?
It looks like working from home has become ingrained in our everyday lives and will be here to stay even after the pandemic is over. Now that it is no longer a temporary solution, designers do their best to develop attractive and ergonomic desks intended to improve new working from home lifestyles. Blending in with the rest of the room, these compact and multifunctional pieces of furniture ensure your back won’t hurt from an uncomfortable sitting position.
Despite the popular opinion, sustainable fashion does not need to be pared down and unpretentious, leaving behind flamboyant prints and fancy sequins. Contemporary designers work between fashion and science to prove – sustainable fashion is not about sacrificing and reducing, but about a transformation. These projects introduce innovative environment friendly materials that offer a vision of how aspirational and beautiful zero-emissions fashion could be.
Make love, not war. This popular ippie motto can be applied to any of these extraordinary projects that seek to give new meaning to former military objects, such as old war bunkers. With this post, we continue our exploration of outstanding designs that trigger sustainable bunker experiences with respect for our history and nature.
Built as defensive fortifications during World War II and the Cold War built to protect people from bombs and nuclear attack, 20th century bunkers are being converted into a variety of uses. In this way they are built in into modern architectural context providing spaces that are unique, specific, sometimes whimsical but true to their past.
Bottle opener is probably not the kind of a thing you would think needs redesigning. However, product designers find ingenuous ways to modernize the traditional design, improve its aesthetics, and increase functionality and user experience. We have collected a few modern takes on an old design devised to make opening your favorite beverage as fun and convenient as possible.
Brief for contemporary school buildings can vary a lot. Depending on the teaching paradigm, external conditions and economic situation, they can call for quite diverse architecture, landscape and interior design solutions. However, one thing is universal for all of them – encouraging children’s interaction, enthusiasm for learning and lively activities is always a top priority.
Do you remember your first day at school? Educational buildings design has greatly evolved since, leaving us all a bit jealous of the learning environments of today. Contemporary school architecture vary greatly from ecofriendly learning spaces meeting the high standards of energy-efficiency to advanced technology led design built on principles of versatility and flexibility. But we are sure that all the schools from our post would be definitely something to remember school years by.
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