WE Select: Barbry by George Jensen

Danish design house George Jensen joined forces with designer Aurélien Barbry to launch a new collection of kitchen utensils that are ethereally nordic.

WE Select: Design Museum calls Zaha Hadid Designer of the Year 2014

Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan, has brought to eccentric architect Zaha Hadid Design Museum’s Designer of the Year 2014 – the first woman to win this top-notch glory.

WE Chronicle: Zaha Hadid for Fabergé

After the mesmerising egg at its Basel showcase, Fabergé reveals another egg, only not jewelled but metalled – and it is by Pritzker-winning British architect Zaha Hadid.

Asian names from Red Dot Awards 2013

A prestigious name in the creative industry, the little red dot represents admirable innovation that makes a difference. WE selected some noteworthy Asian creations in 2013.

WE Select: Quantum tap kicks your wasteful water use habit

The seemingly endless supply of tap water is the greatest and most tragic innovation of civilisation, leaving urbanites ignorant about what wasteful their water use habit is. The Quantum tap designed by Michael Scherger and Dennis Kulage will totally help you make things right.

The Art of Carpet

It’s everywhere, silently lying at the bottom of a spectacular space. But these days carpets represent more than like a piece of deco; the traditional fine craft is art. And this fascinating video reveals why Tai Ping, a historic carpet company from Hong Kong, is a master of it.

WE Select: A ‘Light Ball’

This is the sort of thing you would ask yourself repeatedly of why you did not think about earlier. It literally is just a basketball hoop, but when transformed into a light fixture could shift its appearance with a minimalistic feel. This could have easily looked sloppy, but with some wit on measures to tug the unnecessary noise of the electrics, it has kept the design expensive.

The Light Ball is created by Ukrainian designer and architect, Andrey Privalov.

 

WE Select: Mirror #180 by Halb/Halb

Berlin studio Halb/Halb has created a creased circular mirror that allows two people to see their reflection at the same time. Not a bad idea for us living in the city, who are either still stuck at home with parents, or avoiding to clash during morning hours while you queue impatiently at the toilet door, waiting for your roomies to hurry.

When you thought that this could not be better, designer duo Nikolaus Kayser and Nicole Losos pushed the envelope by making it multifunctional. If it happens that the other differs drastically in height, you could just simply tilt it, and when left unused, it could be used as home décor, as one side of it reflects the ceiling, and the other part in another area of the surrounding room.

WE Chronicle: Hermès Basketball

Everyone seems to be a collector of something, whether it is a deck of game cards, or an extravagant pair of shoes that the owner has meticulously preserved under layers of tissue paper.

To commemorate the re-opening of their lavish Beverly Hills boutique, iconic French label Hermés came up with the idea of fusing pop culture into luxury, by creating this only-two in the world edition of a bright blue calfskin basketball.

You can most certainly play with it on a court, but the focus tends more towards the symbol of power, to have ownership of something so grand. According to the brand, the rather unique item, which was produced under the special ateliers in Paris, speaks “the sky, the ocean and all the beautiful pools that are a way of life in L.A. and Southern California”.

We can definitely see anyone who is someone in the hop-hop music business getting their hands on this, or probably bid by a city dweller that is in ‘need’ to be recognised.

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WE Chronicle: ‘Bending Lamp’ by Ministry of Mass

Ministry of Mass, is a rising design collective that bring sustainable furnishings with the purpose of being long-lasting and multifaceted, to adapt to the contemporary lifestyle of city dwellers who are challenged with special inequality.

Their minimalist-yet-organic ‘Bending Lamp’ draws inspiration from nature, dangling much like a tree branch, also in resemblance of a light ornament falling effortless on the trim of a blue spruce.

The design reassures you that the device is persistent – “beech wood secured to a concrete base with a single steel connector and three bolts.” As it borrows essences of the two radical forms in design, the lamp complements practically any space, easily blending in with your cozy one-person living room, or next to the bed of your pre-schooled child.

Simple things make wonders.

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