Geoff McFetridge is at it again in his latest art project with Bushmills Irish Whiskey. The Los Angeles based graphic designer and visual artist created a whiskey decanter inspired by the original shape of a Bushmills Irish Whiskey bottle, hand blown by design firm Esque Studio. McFetridge established a name for himself by creating the title sequences for The Virgin Suicides and Where The Wild Things Are. He was also part of the Beautiful Losers Exhibition, and makes solo exhibitions from Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, London, the Netherlands and Japan.
McFetridge has created an edition of 75 decanters exclusively for Bushmills Irish Whiskey’s ‘Since Way Back’ program. These limited-edition decanters are available to purchase now via Esque Studio’s online store for $600 and fans feeling lucky can also enter to win their own here.
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer and Markku Kanerva of Finnish boat designers Deltamarin have released artists’ images of what the Titanic II will look like, as well as details about the replica ship. Announced last year, the ocean liner is being constructed at CSC Jinling Shipyard in China and her maiden voyage will be from Southampton to New York in 2016.
The new ship will have a welded hull, diesel power generation, bow thrusters for increased maneuverability and a new hull form below the waterline that provides greater stability and fuel efficiencies. It features ten principle steel decks with state-of-the-art 21st century technology, and the latest navigation and safety systems.
The replica of the ill-fated 1912 ship will feature elements similar to the original like the grand staircase but will have modern conveniences like air conditioning. It will be divided into three classes for passengers and they will be supplied with early 20th century-style clothes to recreate the experience.
The Daily Mail reports that the original Titanic had only 16 wooden lifeboats that accommodated 1,178 people (one third of the ship’s total capacity). The Titanic II (which will have room for 2,435 passengers and 900 crew) will have lifeboats that can carry 2,700 and a life raft for an additional 800.
With its wealth of midcentury architecture, one could argue that every week in Palm Springs, California is modernism week. But mid-February brings back what’s become an anticipated yearly tradition — when this stylishly retro town celebrates everything modern.
Modernism Week is an event-filled 11-day celebration of mid-century modern design, architecture and culture. On center stage is the design aesthetic that took hold in the area during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. It’s a look that’s is defined by clean, simple lines which came to define desert modernism.
Modernism Week is filled with a variety of events including architectural tours, films, lectures, an architectural symposium and educational events — along with a cool parties in mid-century modern homes.
Among the highlights of this year’s offerings are tours of Sunnylands, the former Annenberg Estate in Rancho Mirage, recently opened to the public. Frank Sinatra’s original Palm Springs home, Twin Palms is also open for self-guided tours in all its Rat Pack glory. Take a look at the full list of events.
DesignAffairs created what they believe could be a giant leap forward for frame engineering and production for creating a low cost bicycle. The design takes advantage of an advanced polymer which combines high impact resistance, lightweight properties and a gentle flexibility that usually would only be expected on an old Italian steel frame.
The polymer is injection moulded, which allows affordable and precise mass production while enabling unique form factors and a multitude of possible color combinations. Initially the polymer was used in military applications. Even though the compound has a lower density than polycarbonate & acrylic it’s advanced performance includes exceptional impact resistance and ultra-lightweight performance. It also offers outstanding chemical resistance and thermal stability as it is virtually unaffected by most organic and inorganic chemicals and withstands very hot and cold temperatures.
UK-based designers Max Frommeld and Arno Mathies designed the ‘Foldboat‘ as a seamless, hard shell, folding boat that is fabricated from one single sheet of plastic. The flat-pack leisure boat is designed for flat water environments, featuring durable live hinges allowing the 2.50m vessel to be opened out flat or into a small parcel measuring 150cm x 80cm. ‘Foldboat’ was developed after a paper-folding workshop where systems of creating various forms from a single piece of material was explored.
‘Fast Track’ was built by Estonian firm Salto Architects for the Archstoyanie Festival in Russia. Inhabitat reports that it was used for play and to give attendees a different way to travel between locations. The trampoline path could be used to make commuting more fun, offering people the chance to leap and bounce to work instead of walking. The architects describe it as being a road and an installation at the same time. They write:
It challenges the concept of infrastructure that only focuses on technical and functional aspects and tends to be ignorant to its surroundings. “Fast track” is an attempt to create intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context.
‘Venus’, the yacht that was being designed by Steve Jobs up until his death a little over a year ago, has made its first appearance as a finished product in the city of Aalsmeer in the Netherlands. Reportedly a collaborative effort between jobs and Philippe Starck, the ship measures about 230 to 260 feet long, made entirely of aluminum. Maintaining his ‘clutterfree’ philosophy, the interior cabin is equipped with a set-up of seven 27-inch iMacs for its control room.
As described in an excerpt from Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography:
‘As at an Apple store, the cabin windows were large panes, almost floor to ceiling, and the main living area was designed to have walls of glass that were forty feet long and ten feet high. he had gotten the chief engineer of the apple stores to design a special glass that was able to provide structural support. By then the boat was under construction by the Dutch custom yacht builders Feadship, but jobs was still fiddling with the design.”
‘I know that it’s possible I will die and leave Laurene with a half-built boat,’ he said. ‘But I have to keep going on it. if I don’t, it’s an admission that I’m about to die.”
Back in October 2007, the first Pavillon helmet by Les Ateliers Ruby appeared in a shop off La Rue Saint-Honore in Paris. A year and a half after that, Jerome Coste unveiled his second creation: the Belvedere helmet, with a retro-futuristic visor.
Over five years, a run of new collections have been released with these two models interpreted into 286 versions, as well as into limited editions and also a few one-off pieces. Today, for their landmark anniversary, the family is growing again with the arrival of the Ruby Castel, intended to provide users with even greater protection. Jerome Coste envisioned this as a full-face version of the classic Pavillon helmet, refined and made deliberately without a visor*, to be worn with glasses.
Thonet has collaborated with London-based designer Andy Martin to develop a concept road bicycle using their steam bending process developed in the 1930s. Constructed using beech wood, the frame is precisely adjusted with a CNC machine along with its solid beech pan which sits on sprung rod supports to reinforce joints and major stress areas in the frame. The fixed gear conception takes influence from the tradition of cycling; where one has a greater connection to the bike and the surface a user rides on. built without brakes, it still has the capabilities of using several interchangeable gear ratios.
Cloud, a large-scale light installation by Calgary-based artist Caitlind Brown, is currently on display at the annual multi-city late-night arts festival Nuit Blanche in Calgary this year. Created from steel, metal pull strings, and 6,000 light bulbs, Caitlind has reimagined waste into art by turning 5,000 donated burnt out incandescent bulbs into treasure. Here’s the thing – only one in every six light bulbs actually needs to glow. The work invites viewers to experience the shimmering cloud first hand – wandering beneath the structure and switching on and off lights, giving each passerby a magical night to remember.
