A tree house, but slightly different than you are used to. A coral lamp. 500 copper tubes processed into playful solar sculptures. Expression of the present in shapes, colors and materials: design is taken to an absolute peak.
The annual Polestar Design Contest, which was held for the first time in 2020, offers a platform for design talent. One of the entries, a tree house by Finnish designer Kristian Talvitie, made a big impression on the Swedish electric performance car brand. “We are fascinated by how this idea translates our brand values into another world and were so impressed by the design that we decided to build it,” said Polestar design boss Maximilian Missoni. KOJA, as the tree house is called, is located in the forests of the Finnish village of Fiskars and is made of sustainable and high-quality materials such as locally sourced wood and wool and finished with Scandinavian spruce wood. With his design, Talvitie hopes to reduce the need for long-distance travel while bringing more people closer to nature. The tree house is attached to a trunk, just below the canopy, and offers beautiful views through the panoramic glass facade. The U-shaped space around the thick tree trunk is both a living room and a bedroom, two fold-out single beds can be pulled out from the wall. There is no bathroom or kitchen, but there is a toilet in the forest. In short: it is tiny, which means KOJA is in line with the trends in the field of micro spaces. The treehouse combines Polestar's design language with a concept that minimizes the materials used and energy required and maximizes the experience.
It was a surprise during the recent graduation presentation of the Design Academy Eindhoven. The Korean designer Sangmin Oh debuted there with Knitted Light: a magical collection of knitted lamps. They seem to move like coral reefs and impress with their refined pastel colors, subtle shapes and textures. Before becoming a designer, Sangmin Oh trained as a sculptor. His sculptural talents come to life in the fairytale-like fixtures. In collaboration with the Tilburg Textile Museum, he researched the nylon yarns used, among other things, to make fishing nets. When he saw how beautifully they conduct light, he combined them with elastic yarns to knit self-supporting luminaires. Sangmin Oh also distorted the internal light sources so that their sculptural shape defined the final fixture. The specially cast concrete feet are angular and contrast beautifully with the flowing 'hoods'. The Knitted Light is fluorescent: when the lamp is off, it glows for a long time.
It seemed cheerful, the temporary installation that Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota built in a botanical garden in Milan. They processed more than 500 meters of copper pipes into playful sculptures that move like a ribbon through the garden. But Feeling the Energy was a serious attempt to show how attractive a self-sufficient energy infrastructure could be. The six sculptures generated energy that was stored in batteries that illuminated the garden at night. Some sculptures also set in motion misters that spread a cooling mist as soon as people walked past them. Feeling the Energy formed a temporary laboratory for research and experiment. In their sculptures, the architects used photovoltaic solar panels (OPVs) but also fluorescent solar conductors (LSCs). The latter technology has been around for forty years, but is literally in the shadow of solar panels. While they also work when it is less sunny and are also much more colorful. That is why LSCs are ideally suited for use in urban environments. Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota designed the installation for Plenitude, a branch of the large Italian energy company Eni. Within this department, the company is investigating how it can eventually produce climate-neutrally.
Not far from Stonehenge, where Neolithic standing stones frame the movements of the sun, Naim Audio has been designing music systems for almost fifty years. The revival of vinyl has dramatically increased the demand for quality record players. Naim is responding to this with the first record player that the English brand has made. Do you like the organic authenticity of vinyl? Limited to just 500 pieces, the Naim Solstice Special Edition offers unprecedented musical purity and passion. The turntable is equipped with, among other things, a top-class carriage with a magnetic bearing, a next-generation version of the iconic Aro arm, an Equinox MC cartridge and a self-calibrating motor drive system. The level of detail is incredible, you go very deep into the recording. The record transcends the CD, the analogue reproduction leaves the digital behind. The added value of vinyl is underlined. This is a record player that demands your attention: listen! The Special Edition package also includes a beautiful book plus the Naim Records True Stereo album – a curated collection of superior quality True Stereo recordings, newly remastered for vinyl. Price: €17.150.
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