Five Things That Caught our Eye
Every three weeks, we round up a list of five articles that caught our eye. Here’s our team's top 5 of the week.
Electricity Towers in Stockholm Become Observation Decks
As observation decks pop up at the top of many of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, an architecture firm in Stockholm has developed a genius way of repurposing electricity towers into lookout points with panoramic views open to the public.
Source: www.cladglobal.com
Defining Utopia at the First Ever London Design Biennale
Reaching utopia, or even defining it for that matter, has never been an easy feat. If nothing else, utopia is a state of mind - an opportunity to extend the imagination in a critical and optimistic way. For the first year ever, the London Design Biennale opens this week, bringing together brand new work by leading architects, designers, scientists, writers and artists. The ultimate goal? “To explore how good design can respond to challenges such as pollution, growing and aging populations and mass migration to create perfect societies.”
Source: www.cladglobal.com
Upstanders: A Web Series by Starbucks That's Not Branded Content
In the world of “storytelling”, journalism and what we’ve come to call branded content are often pitted against each other. It’s either real content or paid advertising content, never both, never in-between. Here to shake things up, Starbucks recently launched a new web series called “Upstanders”, telling stories of public life, inspiring Americans to see the humanity in their fellow citizens. What may appear to be a marketing stunt, this storytelling initiative speaks to Starbucks’ “history of trying to take an activist role on local social issues.”
Source: www.fastcocreate.com
Ikea designs their latest consumer experience: The pop-up dinner party
Opening up soon in London is Ikea’s first ever “pop-up Dining Club” where shoppers become diners, cooking up a meal with a head chef before sitting down to “eat with up to 20 of their friends.” Recognizing that people are spending less time cooking and eating together in the UK, the experience seeks to mimic a real at-home dinner party, making it possible to host more guests than usual.
Source: www.designweek.co.uk
When Designers Become Writers
An article recently published in Design Week UK began with the following question: When should designers write on behalf of the firm they work for and when it should be left up to the professionals? “With all that expertise, passion and opinion sitting in their heads”, designers can be an effective way of expressing the heart and soul of a company.
Source: www.designweek.co.uk