Isola Design District Makes Their DDW20 Experience Virtual

Dutch Design Week 2020 wrapped up on the 25th of October, with Isola Design District having a marvelous nine days of exhibitions. The digital event received great feedback from designers and design professionals alike, so much so that it will be kept online throughout the end of the year! More people will now have the opportunity to explore the creativity on show virtually, as we navigate the uncertain times and restrictions of 2020.

IsolaXDDW20

We want to share a handful of designers who haven’t shown at DDW prior, but whose work made real marks on the industry. During Isola’s two exhibitions – Materialized and Isola Design Gallery – Studio Grama, Studio Joachim-Morineau, Rive Rhoshan, Maria Pita Guerreiro and Carolina Giorgiani received an array of positive attention. Materialized covered bio materials and sustainable design, while Isola Design Gallery showcased collectible and bespoke pieces.

Andre Ramirez Ruiz

Andrés Ramirez Ruiz from Studio Grama experimented with an organic material similar to algae, Posidonia. This Mediterranean plant creates natural fiber balls considered as waste, but which were instead enhanced to create something textural and stunning.

Andre Ramirez Ruiz

Carolina Giorgiani

Carolina Giorgiani made butt_er for her Butts Ocean project. butt_er is a fabricated material that gives new life to cigarette butts that can be found on beaches and in oceans all over the world.

Carolina Giorgiani

Maria Pita Guerreiro

Using Mycelium Millennium, Maria Pita Guerreiro imagined a new era in which biological resources, specifically Fungi and Mycelium. These materials can be used to grow a collection of everyday objects that bring together biofabrication and craft.

Maria Pita Guerreiro

Rive Roshan

Rive Roshan takes sculpting to the next level with a Bronze Edition of their 3D-printed Sand in Motion Collection that’s made with 98% Bavarian sand. The sand itself is a nod to the origins of techniques used for bronze casted sculptures.

Studio Joachim Morineau

Limited furniture collection Archetypes, by Studio Joachim-Morineau, brings ancient architecture archetypes together with industrial materials for a fresh take on an age-old practice.

Studio Joachim Morineau

When taking advantage of the virtual viewing opportunity, visitors will have the chance to get to know the designers through personal profiles and having a direct conversation using the messaging tool. A 3D environment can be navigated to explore some of the products from Isola Design District’s exhibitions, you can even make a purchase. This DDW experience is a preview of what will be presented next April in Milan, an imaginary desert designed by Notoo Studio and developed by 3DD Factory.

3DD Factory

In just one year, Isola’s presence as a design platform in The Netherlands has improved by leaps and bounds. There are even plans to open an office in Eindhoven at the beginning of the coming year. But Isola will continue to grow their presence beyond, including the launch of ten minute clips for their Design Studio Visits series. Among those featured are Dutch design studios Atelier LVDW, Plasticiet and Studio Verbaan. Another new way to promote work online will be 3D virtual spaces created in collaboration with 3DD Factory, which Isola experimented with during DDW20 for Studio Noun.

Check out even more innovative designs by emerging designers + studios at isola.events/ddw20.

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5 Modern Clocks for the Time Change

Daylight Savings is almost over, and with it goes an extra hour of daylight in the evening. Since everyone will be thinking about the time this weekend, we wanted to highlight some of our favorite timepieces. With these modern clocks, you’ll always know what time it is, and you’ll be able to add a touch of modern design to any room!

>>> Buy >>> Flipping Out Flip Clock by cloudnola
The Flipping Out Flip Clock series is the definition of a cool, modern clock. The numbers flip as the minutes go by, making it a unique visual. This clock fits on a table, shelf – even a wall!

From The Shop

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Flipping Out White Flip Clock

$115.00

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Delta Black Composite Clock

$158.00

>>> Buy <<< Delta Black Composite Clock by Lawa Design
Taking inspiration from the style of sundials, the Delta Black Composite Clock by Lawa Design uses shadows to tell time. The face surface has folds that mark the hours and different shades as the clock interacts with light.

>> Buy <<< Riki Steel Clock by Lemnos
Easy to read, this striking black and white clock has large numerals in a classic font. It will fit right in with many home styles, and it will always be easy to know the time.

>>> Buy >>> Too-do Large Clock by TOO Designs
Tell time your own way with TOO Designs’ Too-do Large Clock. This writable dry-erase clock can be organized how you want: as a to-do list, a schedule or a clock with your personalized artwork.

From The Shop

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Too-do Large Clock

$240.00

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Texttime Bamboo Clock + Floating Shelf

$250.00

>>> Buy >>> Texttime Bamboo Clock + Floating Shelf by cloudnola
The Texttime Bamboo Clock is multi-functional: It tells time, and it’s also a shelf! It comes with a creative, whimsical design in that you can actually read the time instead of seeing it as numerals. It’s sleek and eye-catching.

>>> Don’t see the clock you’re looking for? Head to the Design Milk Shop to see more options! <<<

We donate 1% of the Design Milk Shop sales to charities or entities that promote social justice and reform or provide relief. Read the Design Milk Mission for our commitment to donations, diversity, equity + anti-racism action.

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Giving Peace of Mind and a Piece of Cake!

As caterers… how people celebrate is what Pinch thinks about 24/7. Whether a specific occasion or just because, we pride ourselves in creating fun food experiences that help those celebrating make the moment as memorable as possible.

With the pandemic looming over us, we couldn’t help think of all the different ways our celebrations will have to change… and the birthday cake was definitely top of the list. And then we stumbled upon this brilliant design, Top It Cake Shield, a doctor-invented cake shield created to protect party goers of all ages from spreading germs over cakes while blowing out candles.

By blowing out birthday candles you can increase the amount of germs you’re spreading by 1400%?!? But now with this thoughtfully designed shield & side panels, your cake is protected from all angles.

Top It Cake Shield’s clear material showcases your cake’s Insta-worthy-ness, plus you can fit almost all candle shapes and sizes (even large numbered ones!) in the shield’s proprietary track system – so you can light’em up and blow’em out.

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The Importance of Indoor Air Quality

Headlines have been howling for months about COVID-19 and the wildfires that have ravaged Colorado, the Pacific Northwest and California. What these two disparate disasters highlight is the need for optimum indoor air quality; both present major health risks.

Building codes cover basics like make up air requirements, toxic materials in building materials, and kitchen and bathroom ventilation. But they don’t address the difficulty of keeping a deadly virus or unhealthful smoke and ash out of a home. Healthcare designers know how to do this for hospital settings; economies of scale don’t exist for the places where we live… Yet.

Homeowners and designers are looking for solutions, from tried, true and simple, to emerging and innovative. Where do you fall in the spectrum? The answer may depend on your location, household composition and, for industry professionals, project scope.

Soltech Solutions \\\ Design/Photography: Callie England \\\ Wellness by Design (Tiller Press), © J. Gold

At the simplest level, some houseplants have been shown to have air filtration powers, but they won’t kill a deadly virus or eliminate smoke and ash. They do, however, create a welcoming atmosphere and deliver biophilia benefits. At the opposite level, smart home systems that manage indoor air quality are becoming more widely available and popular.

Smart home technology is automating indoor air quality management. \\\ Josh.ai LLC \\\ Photo: Nicholas Freeman \\\ Wellness by Design (Tiller Press), © J. Gold

Common Environmental Toxins

If you, a family member or client has chemical sensitivities or a compromised immune system, you’ve probably been educating yourself about products that off-gas toxins. Past headlines have exposed faulty laminate flooring sold by a major retailer and newer reports warn of the danger of phthalates in some popular luxury vinyl flooring products, for example. That new house smell can be deadly!

On the other hand, many manufacturers have released paint lines with no volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This is a tremendous advance, but did you know that electronics like televisions and computers can also off-gas? So can appliances, mattresses, carpeting and upholstery. What can you do about it?

Shop for furniture, cabinetry, paint and flooring that don’t off-gas toxins. \\\ Pure Upholstery, division of the Organic Mattress, Inc. \\\ Wellness by Design (Tiller Press), © J. Gold

If replacements are in the budget, you can research non-toxic alternatives to some of them through sources like the Healthy Building Network, Underwriter Laboratory’s SPOT and others. There are situations where it’s unavoidable. For example, consider the aging in place benefits of a morning kitchen for a senior’s upstairs bedroom suite. Its dishwasher might be off-gassing into your client’s sleeping area. So might the plush carpet or upholstered rocker in the nursery.

Kitchen ventilation should be quiet and effective to keep the room fresh. \\\ Bosch home appliances \\\ Wellness by Design (Tiller Press), © J. Gold

Kitchen and bathroom ventilation shortfalls are surprisingly common. In the first instance, the home is going to smell of food odors and possibly smoke, and its walls can get covered in grease over time. Inadequate or unused bathroom ventilation can result in mold and mildew issues. These are both easily addressed with widely available ventilation product upgrades.

IAQ Technology

Some of the latest ranges and cooktops on the market activate a companion vent hood automatically to prevent cooking pollutants. Sensor vent fans do the same in the bathroom, and can be a real benefit to homes with teens or seniors with memory issues who may forget to use them.

Where you can’t avoid off-gassing risks because the space calls for a sophisticated computer setup or home theater, for example, an air quality detector can spot problems, an ozone-free air purifier can help eliminate them and a smart home air quality management system can react on its own to IAQ issues.

Radon Risk

One under-appreciated air quality risk is radon exposure. Like carbon monoxide, radon is an invisible, odorless gas that can kill you. CM does it fairly quickly; radon does it slowly as the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking.

A decade or so ago, there was a lot of hype about the radon risk of granite countertops, (driven heavily by competitive products). Experts say that the risk is low in this regard, but it’s not when it comes to basement and first floor living areas, since radon can be found in soil, particularly in some regions of the U.S.

Consider a radon test kit or detector for avoiding this silent killer. \\\ Airthings/GreenRoom \\\ Wellness by Design (Tiller Press), © J. Gold

Radon testing kits let you know if a space is impacted and radon detectors can alert you on your phone to dangerous levels. With so many more people spending extra time indoors working at home, exercising at home, schooling their children at home and potentially hosting extra family members (including seniors leaving nursing homes), checking for and eliminating radon can be especially important right now.

Smoke and Ash Dangers

If you live close to the wildfires, their smoke and ash spread are a tremendous wellness issue right now. Since the frequency and severity of these disasters has been increasing in recent years, it’s helpful to know how to address them from an IAQ perspective. Adding air purification capability to a home’s HVAC system is ideal; experts suggest a MERV-13 filter as ideal. HEPA filtration is the highest level, but not all home systems can handle it; check with the manufacturer to avoid problems.

An ozone-free air purifier or cleaner works as an alternative for those without central heat and air. You can find a guide to air filtration standards online.

Virus Transmission
The recent CDC guidance on airborne, aerosolized particle transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 has tremendous import for indoor spaces; poorly-ventilated spaces are considered especially high risk. The addition of UV Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) is a proven technique for addressing viruses in buildings. Some portable air cleaners have it, and it’s also being added to some built-in fixtures. Researchers are working on other UV-based safe for human exposure solutions, but these are still in various phases of development and not yet available for residential use.

Keeping windows open is also helpful, but it becomes challenging in cold weather and unsafe in smoky wildfire areas.

Final Thoughts

In these challenging times when we’re all extra-stressed, it’s important to take a deep breath and focus on long-term needs as well as short-term solutions. Indoor air quality issues tend to fall into both categories.

Author: Jamie Gold, CKD, CAPS, MCCWC is a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach, wellness design consultant and the author of three books on design and remodeling. The latest, Wellness by Design: A Room-by-Room Guide to Optimizing Your Home for Health, Fitness and Happiness, (Tiller Press) published September 1.

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Friday Five With Maurice Cherry of Lunch

Maurice Cherry is principal and creative director at Lunch, an award-winning multidisciplinary creative studio located in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s perhaps most well-known for his award-winning podcast Revision Path, which showcases Black designers, developers and digital creators from around the world. It’s the first podcast to be added to the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Some of Maurice’s other projects include the Black Weblog Awards, 28 Days of the Web, The Year of Tea and the design anthology RECOGNIZE. Today Maurice joins us for Friday Five!

Photo: Solstizia/iStock

1. Tea
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of tea – I even did a podcast in 2015 where I reviewed a different tea every day! My goal with that project was to demystify a lot of the marketing around tea in the U.S. and open up tea consumption to a more general audience via this daily practice. It’s five years later, and while I don’t drink too many different teas now, I do have a cup or two of builder’s tea (Morning Thunder from Celestial Seasonings) nearly every day.

Photo: Negative Space/Pexels

2. Writing
I’ve always been addicted to writing, and I have dozens of notebooks and pens and pencils to indulge my habit. A fountain pen with a Moleskine is probably my favorite combination to get some freewriting in, and I find writing by hand to be a lot more personal and cathartic for me than typing. Actually, these days I do a lot of voice typing. There’s a great app called Otter that transcribes your speech, which is great when I have an idea in bed or when I’m out and about and I need to reference it later. Even Google Docs does voice typing now! But the physical act of putting pen to paper will always be in my heart.

Photo courtesy Apple

3. iPad Pro
Funny thing about the iPad Pro – when I first bought it, I told myself “I’m probably only going to use this at home as a media consumption device.” Well, I’m glad to say that’s not the case anymore! (Even though I am at home now, like many of us in the U.S. are because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) I use this thing religiously for everything from taking notes to composing music to doing logo sketches to being a makeshift laptop on the go. The 11” version is perfect for me – not too big and not too small.

Photo: Ethan James Green via Vanity Fair

4. Lin-Manuel Miranda
I have been following Lin-Manuel Miranda’s career since I saw In The Heights on a whim on a trip to NYC in 2010. Of course, everyone knows about his stratospheric rise to fame with Hamilton and his other projects since then. I don’t know Lin-Manuel personally, but he feels like a “friend in my head”, if that makes sense. Granted, I’m nowhere near the visionary he is, but I really admire that he’s been able to work across books, film, music, television and theater, and is also a strong advocate for so many worthwhile causes. I hope to be able to have that kind of reach with my work. I like that Lin-Manuel Miranda. He seems approachable… like you could grab a beer with him.

Photo courtesy Nintendo

5. Nintendo Switch
I have extreme brand loyalty to Nintendo – I’m an 80’s baby, after all – so I knew I would love the Nintendo Switch. It’s really helped me get through this pandemic. It’s the perfect device for gamers that travel because it’s small enough to fit in a carry-on, and you can use the dock to seamlessly transition from handheld to console play. The best thing about the Switch is the variety of indie games available, which sadly Nintendo does not do a great job of marketing on the eShop. But once you dive in there and see what’s available, then there’s games for everyone out there on the Switch.

Work by Maurice Cherry:

Revision Path

Revision Path is an award-winning weekly showcase of Black designers, developers and digital creatives from all over the world. Through in-depth interviews, you’ll learn about their work, their goals and what inspires them as creative individuals.

28 Days of the Web

28 Days of the Web features a different web designer, graphic designer or web developer every day for the month of February in conjunction with and celebration of Black History Month. (And on leap years, we add an additional person!)

Check out Maurice Cherry’s recent Clever podcast episode here!

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The COVID Question: How Is the Pandemic Shaping Residential Architecture?

The pandemic has uprooted long-standing ideas about fundamental things: where we live (and with who), how we work (and where), and how to balance the myriad tensions balancing isolation and freedom, public health and personal pleasure.

No discipline is immune from these ground-up revisions — including architecture, which usually evolves over years, not months. For many homeowners (current and prospective), the must-haves are different from what they might have been in March. Here, we speak with Walter Marin, founder and senior principal at Marin Architects, about how the covid crisis has roiled residential architecture — especially as it affects Gen Zs. Will they prioritize living alone, when roommates represent both an uncontrollable risk and omnipresent company as they WFH? Will they accept the trade-off in isolation to live with high-risk parents? And will they still buy into the age-old story of coming to the big city to make their fortune — even if it means living in a 300-square-foot studio with a view of a brick wall?

As you think about COVID-related architectural evolutions, on what sort of timeline are you thinking? Near, intermediate, long-term? Are you considering this as something that’s here to stay?

We likely won’t see the full effect [of the pandemic] for another five to ten years. Construction and design concepts have a longer lead time, meaning the long-term trends will be seen in projects completed years from now.

However, there are a few immediate effects we’re seeing in the residential market, such as the desire for more space, including more general indoor space and outdoor balcony spaces, enhanced air quality and ventilation, and larger windows for increased natural lighting. Selecting homes with a second or third room will also play an important role, as many are seeking more space for a home office. All of these trends are likely to stay relevant for years to come, as we’re realizing the positive impact integrating health and wellness within our living spaces has on our overall well being.

Have you observed any organic changes in how people are living that have piqued your interest? For example, Gen Zs turning to successive quar pods as a way to avoid isolation?

Many from this cohort are graduating from college and returning to their parents’ homes, rather than moving out on their own. Of course, the pandemic has a lot to do with this trend, but it might have a lasting effect.

This group is also transitioning more to home cooking, which has not been the reigning trend. After being at home for months on end, this generation has been more interested in cooking their own meals at home, rather than ordering take out. This results in their generation seeking homes with larger kitchen spaces and countertops.

Do you see any silver linings or positive evolutions that are emerging from COVID-adjusted living + residences?

Yes, absolutely. Although this pandemic has been terrible, it was a catalyst for many to begin focusing on their individual needs and wellbeing. Before, especially in bigger cities, we didn’t always focus on our health, and how our living spaces affected this. Now, we’re much more in tune to keeping ourselves safe and healthy.

I’m really interested in this idea. Can you talk me through some of the ways living spaces might have previously negatively impacted our health — or at least reflected a lack of focus on it — and how in the future architecture might positively react to this?

In the past, people — and especially younger generations — would move to cities and settle into tiny apartments, usually small units facing a brick wall with very little light. They would make this compromise just to be able to live in the city, and they were mostly fine with living in a box for this opportunity, even though it didn’t prioritize health. However, the need for cleaner air, healthier lighting and open spaces have now become more prominent.

Over the last five years, new developers have already started to provide open communal roof spaces, as well as more balconies. I think this trend will continue to grow especially post-pandemic and as people become more health conscious.

Practically speaking, what does it mean for architects that more generations might be sheltering together? Do you think older generations will be more likely to live on their own — to avoid living with younger generations with fewer concerns about covid — while younger generations will want to (either out of preference or necessity) stay with their parents? Are there architectural safeguards that could help those generations live together?

We’ve become used to this idea of sheltering together, from the days of living in a dorm, an economical need to move back home, or even having roommates as adults. I don’t know that the pandemic will generate much of a difference, except that we’ll become more cautious about who our roommates are, and more may choose to live without roommates or family.

During the pandemic, some people decided to go home and live with their parents or extended family. And with this choice, there needs to be a higher level of consciousness, where one may have to isolate from [their] communities, friends and workplace in order to keep their family safe.

As far as safeguards, it may be having free masks every time you enter a building and making this the norm for some time. Architectural safeguards may not be realistic from a financial standpoint for everyone. Some hotels have started to use UV light to clean a room and seal it after a guest leaves, but this may not be a feasible solution for our homes.

Speaking of calamities: Considering as well the California wildfires, are there technological innovations (air filters, monitors, etc.) that will become more standard?

I believe there will be a higher consciousness on seeking fresh air, rather than cleaning the air. Architecturally, we can do that by increasing window sizes and having self-contained units, where air will be sent back outside rather than circulated. The large-scale filtering may be used more in hospital-type settings, as they already exist. There may be a general increase in home filtering systems, but perhaps not from a developer standpoint.

Photos courtesy of Marin Architects.

Diana Ostrom, who has written for Wallpaper, Interior Design, ID, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets, is also the author of Faraway Places, a newsletter about travel.

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