Turbo.roo is a sweet little chihuahua who was born with just two front legs. The breeder gave up the puppy after realizing that he would need a great deal of special care, so a vet in Indianapolis adopted him.
An Istanbul-based design firm has teamed up with one of the fathers of vertical gardens to liven up a bespoke restaurant in the city. Autoban and Patrick Blanc from France lined an wall with lush greenery, giving the space something of a jungle aesthetic that stands in direct contrast with some of the cold hard materials inside.
Australian filmmaker Daniel Agdag is also a talented sculptor who preferences a decidedly minimalist material palette. Based in Melbourne, the artist builds whimsical flying machines with nothing but cardboard and glue — and they “only” take a month or two to make.
Bernard Khoury is one of Lebanon’s most sought after architects, and now he has built his own home – a rooftop penthouse bam smack in the middle of Beirut.
More than 100 graffiti artists were invited to Tunisia as part of the Djerbahood project – an inventive rehabilitation initiative that uses street art to turn a dusty village into an inspiring open air gallery.
An Israeli industrial designer has created the world’s first “Social Gas Mask” whose sleek space-age form allows for less hindered swapping of facial expressions. In a crisis (which is pretty much any time a gas mask is needed), who wouldn’t want better visible access to other people’s faces?
Street art helps the young generation cope with discontent and dissent- making space for fresh ideas, while preserving old values. At least that’s how we see it in this fantastic series of Tunisian murals which take the old Arabian domed style architecture in Tunisia and playfully interacts with it.
Israeli designer HIlla Shamia has found a way to mix “oil and water” or aluminum and wood – two materials I’ve never seen fused together. The product designer has created a novel way to meld both poured aluminum with irregular wood chunks to create modern tables and benches with a warm industrial feel. Old world […]
Forward Thinking Architecture has designed floating farms for Singapore, a country that shares many of the problems we have in the Middle East – food insecurity, lack of land, and a rapidly growing population. We think this design might be appropriate for our region as well. A subsidiary of JAPA, an ideas lab, Forward Thinking […]
After going several months without, I’ve fallen back into the habit of ‘needing’ at least one cup of joe to wake up, and I know I’m not the only one. Cue Barisieur from Britain’s Joshua Renouf. “Motivated by playful designs which encourage interaction; and induce a cherished relationship with both the product and user,” Renouf designed a hybrid coffee maker and alarm clock that […]
Why should affordable Dream Homes be limited to Barbie dolls? Design your own fantasy shack from the comfort of your keyboard with California-based Blu Homes – makers of fully customizable, prefab, green housing.
With so much conflict erupting around us, it’s hard to imagine a peaceful future, but Erdem Architects does a good job of it. The Turkish firm recently won an international design competition with their proposal to turn an area of the Italian city La Spezia, historically used to host the city’s war arsenal, into a series of serene peace islands.
When we first presented the solar-powered woven refugee shelters that have now been seen all across the world, many people suggested they’d also make great festival tents. Well, now we’re wondering the opposite. Could these B-and-Bee shelters designed for Belgium festivals provide temporary housing for refugees in the Middle East?
Have you ever read an online story where the comments best the content, turning your idle news-scanning into a mini-meta experience? A recent piece on some new bike-safety gear caught our eye – (what’s not to love about designs to encourage pedal power!) – but it was the readers’ response that snapped the story into perspective.
Iranian architecture has evolved over the years – like everywhere – and the new generation of designers are producing truly impressive work. Take the extraordinary Sharifi House by next office. In order to maximize space, flexibility and daylight, the design team inserted semi-mobile rooms that rotate with the push of a button.