Core77

Core77 Weekly Roundup (4-13-26 to 4-17-26)

Rain Noe

Here's what we looked at this week:

Hyundai unveils Venus and Earth, two Chinese-market-specific concept vehicles.

Dyson finds another application for its tech: Powerful handheld fans.

A handsome two-compartment bathroom waste bin, by industrial designer Daniel Barnes.

A low-tech sliding shutter system from pre-industrial Japan.

"The Lunch of Small Mechanicals," lunch delivered via steampunk-like contraptions.

The insane entrance door to (A)void Café in Prague.

Experimental furniture design: Fastener- and adhesive-free upholstery by Raw-Edges Design Studio.

The PT-200 is a remote-controlled, daisy-chainable pan & tilt 360-degree LED light.

A strange alternative to beach umbrellas: The ShadeSock, a giant windsock.

An '80s objet d'esign: Oliver Michl's expanding Architect's Lamp.

Iyo Hasegawa's wrench-based furniture.

Ralf Jacobs' incredible Harmonograph: Furniture that can draw patterns.

Mario Tsai Studio's modular Star System of lighting.

Industrial design research: Form studies for writing/drawing utensils, by BKID.

Industrial Design Research: Form Studies for Writing/Drawing Utensils, by BKID

Rain Noe

"Write, Draw, Think" is a research project by South Korean ID firm BKID. It was undertaken for the National Hangeul Museum in Seoul, which is dedicated to the country's writing system, Hangeul.

This project proposes sixteen new writing tools developed through research into the habits and gestures of using a pencil. Beginning from the most fundamental act of "writing," the work expands various modes of writing and thinking into new forms of tools. BKID views the pencil not simply as a writing instrument, but as a medium that connects thought and the body, embedding a different writing experience into each tool.

Some tools are designed to help a person immerse themselves and focus on solitary writing, while others allow multiple people to draw a single shared line together. Sharp writing reveals the tension within letter structures, whereas round writing evokes the soft breathing found in Korean vowels. Through the diverse gestures of writing, the project explores the origins of form in writing tools.

Here, the pencil becomes more than a means of recording. It becomes an experimental tool that holds layers of writing, drawing, and thinking. Through the sixteen tools, visitors encounter the moment where letters and bodily gestures meet, and experience new sculptural possibilities for the act of writing.

You can see more of BKID's work here.

Mario Tsai Studio's Modular Star System of Lighting

Rain Noe

This Star System of decorative lighting is by China-based ID firm Mario Tsai Studio.

It consists of modular units of fabric stretched over a frame containing LEDs.

Power is transmitted daisy-chain style, through specially designed connectors.

It's not clear if these were designed for an exhibition, as a one-off for a client or as a product line. While the Star System is currently on display at the firm's showroom in Hangzhou (see below), they're not yet listed as a project on the firm's website.

Ralf Jacobs' Incredible Harmonograph: Furniture That Can Draw Patterns

Rain Noe

Ralf Jacobs is a Netherlands-based artist who works "at the intersection of art, design, science, and signal." He invented this incredible Harmonograph, a piece of furniture that can draw patterns:

He's designed the "hinge" mechanism to be frictionless, which gives the drawing utensil a lot of momentum:

"Underlying my practice is the belief that art is a form of signal processing," Jacobs writes. "Each work is a relic of interaction: a transmission captured, a behavior observed, a pattern retrieved from noise."

Iyo Hasegawa's Wrench-Based Furniture

Rain Noe

These Wrench furniture pieces were made by Japanese artist Iyo Hasegawa.

They're made from threaded rods holding stacked offset wrenches, a tool whose form has captivated Hasegawa.

Washers are used as spacers, and the pieces are fastened together with nuts.

The main material used in the work, the offset wrenches, is not glued or welded and is not fixed in place, allowing the wrench to "twist" freely. This flexibility enables the wrenches to be transformed into any shape. Additionally, they can be folded into a flat form for convenient storage and transportation.

Finally, all the materials can be removed and returned to their original state for their intended use.

These are sold through Copenhagen-based gallery Adorno.

An '80s Objet D'esign: Oliver Michl's Expanding Architect's Lamp

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While the '70s was about flowing plastic forms, the '80s jolted towards hard edges and an industrial aesthetic. A good example is this Architect's Lamp, designed in the '80s by German lighting designer Oliver Michl. It borrowed heavily from equal space dividers:

It really wasn't an "architect's" lamp, of course. Being ceiling-mounted, it was more a statement piece than a deskbound utilitarian lighting source.

The lamp was produced by German lighting brand Lucelab.

Strange Alternative to Beach Umbrellas: A Giant Windsock

Rain Noe

The ShadeSock is an alternative to beach umbrellas or sail shades. Intended for beaches that get a steady breeze, it's essentially a giant windsock. Unlike an umbrella, it works with the wind (and indeed, requires it in order to stay aloft) rather than fighting it. And unlike a sail shade, it's completely silent.

Of course, you'll look like a fool if you bring this to a beach that doesn't have steady wind—there's no structure to it, so it will collapse without a breeze. And yes, like a windsock it rotates, so the wind dictates where you'll place your towel.

A Remote-Controlled, Daisy-Chainable Pan & Tilt 360-Degree LED Light

Rain Noe

This innovative PT-200 is a remote-controlled, battery-powered LED light that can pan and tilt, with 360-degree rotation.

It features a magnetic base, giving you the freedom of a quick, wire-free installation.

Multiple units can be connected to the same controller:

It can also be slapped onto a vehicle:

It's produced by Chinese mobile lighting company Shenzhen Coming Technology.

Experimental Furniture Design by Raw-Edges Design Studio

Rain Noe

Typically, upholstery is fastened to furniture by adhesives, tacks or staples. London-based industrial designers Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay, a/k/a Raw-Edges Design Studio, took a different approach with this experimental chair design.

Its wooden frame has a purposeful notch in it. The upholstered foam is simply wedged into it and held fast by friction.

This would make repair, or removing the upholstery to wash the slipcover, easy.

At present the unnamed chair is still in the design phase. It will presumably evolve into a saleable product; the project is being undertaken in collaboration with Italian furniture company Bolzan.

The Insane Entrance Door to (A)void Café in Prague

Rain Noe

In the early 1900s, Prague city officials commissioned a masonry embankment alongside the Vltava River. This was to protect against flooding and provide the structure for a quay. This massive wall was built with vaulted chambers within the wall, to be used as storage space.

In the 2010s, these historic vaults were turned into contemporary businesses under a design by architect Petr Janda. The vaulted spaces were given massive acrylic portholes on a pivot, to serve as their entrances. Of these businesses, perhaps the best known today is the (A)Void Café. Its striking entranceway has become a social media destination:

Cool aesthetic aside, the risk remains. The Vltava last flooded in 2002, and the café had to temporarily shut down in September 2024 when the river threatened to (but did not ultimately) flood. Get your visit in before climate change accelerates.

In France, Lunch Delivered Via Steampunk-Like Contraptions

Rain Noe

Toulouse-based Compagnie La Machine is, strangely, a street-theatre company with an internal design-build firm. They create kinetic machines in their workshop, and incorporate them into their performances.

As one example, in the café of their Halle de la Machine exhibition space, they serve a Lunch of Small Mechanicals on the weekends.

Diners are served by performers using steampunk-like contraptions to serve the food: Bread is fired by catapults, serving carts are replaced by giant wheels, the fresh pepper is delivered Tom-Cruise-Mission: Impossible-style, and the dessert descends on chandeliers.

Here's what it looks like:

Lunch is served from 12pm – 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays, through May 3, and runs €65 (USD $76).

A Low-Tech Sliding Shutter System from Pre-Industrial Japan

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In pre-industrial Japan, the predecessor to storm windows were these hinged panels.

Image: Ktmchi, CC BY-SA 4.0

Called shitomi or hajitomi, these wooden lattices were supported by hooks hanging from the eaves.

Image: Ktmchi, CC BY-SA 4.0

However, in the town of Tsuwano in western Japan, you can find this sliding, non-hinged variant. The boards ride in tracks, and rest atop one another.

In the open position, the boards are stowed up top.

I believe that design is called shitomibame. But I couldn't confirm it, if any Japanese-literate readers want to help out: 蔀羽目?

A Handsome Two-Compartment Bathroom Waste Bin

Rain Noe

This two-compartment waste bin is by veteran British industrial designer Daniel Barnes, a/k/a Manufactured Design.

It's intended for what Barnes' people call the loo:

Store & Sort Recycler is an in-bathroom recycling solution designed to capture waste that is commonly missed by household recycling. Many recyclable items are either thrown into mixed bathroom waste or carried to the kitchen, creating friction that leads to landfill. Confusion around what can be recycled, combined with the lack of dedicated bathroom solutions, results in large volumes of recoverable material being lost.

The unit is designed to make use of underutilised space beside the toilet or against walls, fitting neatly into narrow gaps in either orientation. Its clean, cubic form maximises capacity within a compact footprint.

The can isn't on the market yet, but is going into production by housewares brand Eko Home.

Dyson Finds Another Application for Its Tech: Powerful Handheld Fans

Rain Noe

Now that Dyson's HQ is in Singapore, perhaps the balmy climate inspired this product: Their new HushJet Mini Cool, a handheld fan. It adapts the "Air Multiplier" technology that powers their vacuums, but has been reversed to blow air outwards, without using a bladed fan.

The device is remarkably powerful, despite its diminutive size: A tiny motor spinning at 65,000 rpms blasts a 55-mph breeze out of its business end.

At less than half a pound in weight, it's light enough to be worn around one's neck using the included lanyard. Alternatively it can be handheld or used while it's docked in its charging cradle.

The HushJet runs $100.

Hyundai Unveils Chinese-Market-Specific Concept Vehicles

Rain Noe

In the mid-20th-century, American car styling dominated the world. By the late 20th century and into the 21st, that styling mantle had been ceded to the Europeans, the Japanese and increasingly, the Koreans.

But now we live in a world where China has developed a gigantic auto market, the world's largest; Chinese domestic auto sales last year were around 27 million cars, vs. 16 million in the U.S. And Chinese buyers have wildly different aesthetic tastes than the rest of the world. The country's economic history means their citizens never saw '50s Cadillacs, '60s Mustangs, '70s Mercedes, '80s BMWs, '90s Toyotas, et cetera, and their citizens are unburdened with automotive aesthetic history.

Which means established brands must pivot towards Chinese tastes, if they want a piece of that market. Hyundai has thus unveiled two new IONIQ concepts, Venus and Earth, which are EVs designed specifically for Chinese tastes. These vehicles are meant to be seen on the streets of Beijing and Ningbo, not Los Angeles, Stuttgart or Milan.

Hyundai's designers haven't articulated the design philosophy, beyond releasing bland statements like "IONIQ was shaped specifically for the Chinese market" and coyly mentioning that there are "hidden references to Beijing" in the design details. But what we can see from the concepts is that sharp, striking silhouettes was apparently a priority.

The Venus, the more sedan-like of the two, has an unabashedly Countach-like profile. In contrast, the Earth looks like two different designs were teleported into the same location at once.

Since becoming a global force, Hyundai has done their own thing, design-wise, for better or worse. And you could argue that the things they've done have been no weirder than say, BMW's aesthetic explorations. It will be interesting to see what other established automakers, particularly the ones with long aesthetic histories, start producing to cater to Chinese tastes.