Design Debate

What an interesting 'house' this is. I love old houses, packed to the rafters with ageing charm, and equally I love modern masterpieces, cutting impressive silhouettes on the horizon. I think this Scottish retreat marries them both rather nicely. Designed by architect Murray Kerr (from Denizen Works ) for his parents on the island of Tiree, Scotland. What we actually have here is not an old cottage with a modern extension but a structure rebuilt from scratch. The old elements becoming a charming guest house cottage and the new being an arched roofed family home. The house comprises of galvanised steel and corrugated cement with a stone base.  I love the shape these buildings make, very fitting for this Scottish landscape, quite agricultural and very rural. Coming inside though this home feels open and light. It has different levels, picture postcard windows and clean modern lines. The choice of furnishings add to the buildings integrity and give it...

I completely love this collection by Australian designer Anna Robertson. After spending some time in Ghana she fell in love with the African markets, the bright geometric patterns and vibrant colours, and felt that she could create a range that work for her friends back home in Sydney. The collection called YEVU is ethically made. All fabrics are sourced from the markets, every piece is unique and these bright pattern on pattern pieces are traditional West African wax prints. She wanted to capture the fun and liveliness as well as celebrate the craftsmanship of local businesses.  I love the cut, I think she gives these garments a real street edge. They would fit brilliantly in any Western wardrobe but without loosing the unmistakable expression of West Africa.  Find out more at Miss Moss .  

Sipho Mabona has completed an amazing feat of origami - he has made a life-sized elephant out of one sheet of paper! This very impressive creature must have been quite a headache. Mabona had to use the help of over a dozen people and the total 'build' took 4 weeks.  The elephant is 3 meters high and was made out of a sheet of paper measuring 15 x 15 meters. The elephant is currently on display in the KKLB museum in  Beromünster,  Switzerland.  This whole project was only made possible by Indiegogo, an internet crowd-funding site where he managed to raise $26,000 from 631 people. Mabona is a professional origami artist creating anything from the humble plane to pretty much the entire animal kingdom and some abstract artworks too.  I am quite amazed that Mabona managed to achieve this paper statue, perhaps if I had applied myself a little more when making my nose-diving paper aeroplanes, who knows what I could have come up with!...

Html Patchwork I was intrigued today when I came across Open Source Embroidery, merging computer code and traditional craft. The emphasis, with all open source coding, is the collaboration. Many people are involved and this actually encourages change and growth as a result. Web safe colour codes This largely British movement believes that the coming together of lots of little pieces of artwork creates something greater than the sum of its parts. Its also interesting taking needlework that is traditionally thought as woman's work and computer programming which has a very male stereotype, and merging the two. The movement was initiated by Ele Carpenter in 2005 to explore the relationship between programming for embroidery and for computing. Social and digital networks are key, its about coming together and exploring ideas and revealing processes - a collaboration rather than individual endeavour.  Motherboard by Emma Ferguson   I find the whole idea rea...