Design Debate

We have a gaping black hole in our lounge. Our television, when off it is an unavoidable dark space that detracts from the over all lightness of the room, but with Samsung this need not be an issue any more. Earlier this year the South Korean electronics company collaborated with Yves Béhar of Fuseproject and designed the Frame - a television that disappears into the wall just like a piece of art for your home. Quite brilliant really, you wouldn't know. Now Samsung have joined forces with the Dutch studio Scholten & Baijings along with French designer Inga Sempé for some truly gorgeous abstract variations.  I love the calmness of the abstract grid they use. The colours too are restful, exactly how it should be when a telly is turned off!  Quite beautiful, you can see more here .   

By chance on Pinterest (oh I love Pinterest !) I came across the photographs of Vivian Maier . It seems I am a little slow on this one, I did not know of this lady's great work, and it really is mesmerising. Just in case you are as clueless as I was, here's a bit about Vivian Maier.  It was at first her photographs that drew me in, but it is her story that really puts them in perspective. Vivian's work might never have seen the light of day if it wasn't for one man, John Maloof. She was an American woman with French roots living in New York, and then Chicago, working as a nanny. Born in 1926, her life has been pieced together through the people she worked for and boxes of paper she had collected. That is how we know about her. The woman who was much loved by the children she had nannied, described as a free spirit but intensely private, a kind of eccentric Mary Poppins, fell on hard times in her latter years. She had been homeless, but three of the ...

What a great bit of product design. I had to use an inhaler a little when I was younger, whatever it was sorted itself out. I don't remember it being an issue but they were clunky and certainly not cool. Designer Tim Zarki spent a weekend and re-thought this piece of medical equipment. His offering is unrecognisable. 3D printed with a colour gradient, speckled and with a kind of active-equipment-hang-rope. Beautifully bold and a badge of pride rather than one of shame for a suffering kid in the playground, great! He created the design with #breathebettercs, see more at Knstrct .  

Architect Jim Olson of Seattle studio Olson Kundig has recently added to the bunk house he created when he was just 18. This is a truly beautiful site and back when Olson was just a teen his dad gave him $500 and said go build a bunk house!  The architect's love of this landscape is clear, the building has evolved over time but never competes with its surroundings, but rather hunkers down into it. First built in 1959 and later added to when Olson had a young family in the 80s and beyond. Now the structure is 2,400 square feet and serves as a perfect retreat for family and friends - and grandchildren. With each addition Olsen has been honest, nothing is removed but rather involved in the new additions. Preservation of character has been key. I love the materials used, simple and honest wood and steel. Large expanses of glass, plywood and recycled board all sit happily alongside each other. As beautiful as this building is, it humbly always points to ...

This grey concrete box houses something rather beautiful. When you think long stretches of golden sand your first thought perhaps isn't to plonk a library on it, but that is just what Vector Architects did in China. The Seashore Library is in the Beidaihe New District and really maximises those wide-reaching views. When it comes to architecture I am normally drawn to white and wood, natural and light. However there is something about the solid nature of this building, its permanence amongst an ever changing shore which appeals to me.  It must be wonderfully cool, such a peaceful location to catch up on some study or to discover a new favourite book.  See more at Yellow Trace .  

A pleasure to view, these looped films of crashing waves are a collaboration from Australian photographer-once-coal-miner Ray Collins, and cinematographer Armand Dijcks from Holland. These slow motion videos are a wonder to behold, deep rich colours cascade and draw the viewer in. Dijcks achieved the looped films by taking the immensely detailed rapid-fire stills and layering them so they never really begin or end. So rich and intense, beautifully achieved. See more at The D Pages .

Sometimes a piece of architecture comes along and just really hits the spot. Landhaus is the best of the both worlds. This country pile was built during the Art Nouveau period but has been elegantly brought up to date by German architectural studio TKA.  The feeling of space is rather epic. Simple pieces of furniture set of the architectural features perfectly. It does feel more like a public building than a home but I think it is a space that would inspire and elevate the simplest and most mundane tasks in life!  Originally found at Eclectic Trends .