Author Archive
TW35 40 Watches by Tamawa
Belgian designer Hubert Verstraeten of Tamawa will present these watches made of Bakelite at Maison & Objet in Paris this week. Named TW35 40, the watches have cases in a choice of eight colours, with the face and hands in either silver or black. More here.
Sofitel Launches Its IPad Application “The Kiosk”
French hotel chain Sofitel launched an iPad newspaper service for guests July 26, in a move that could mean a fresh start for the dwindling tradition of the morning newspaper in hotels. The luxury chain has launched “The Kiosk,” a customer-only iPad app which offers a selection of interactive daily magazines and newspapers and will be provided to guests on an iPad for the duration of their stay. Guests can choose from publications such as Le Monde in France, the Independent and Vogue in the UK, Bild or Die Welt in Germany or La Repubblica in Italy. The app was designed to deliver both convenience to guests and an environmental benefit, as guests will be able to browse the news using their iPad rather than on paper. Last year, both Marriott and Hyatt announced that they would scale back their newspaper offerings to guests, citing declining interest from guests and waste reduction.
Sugamo Shinkin Bank by Emmanuelle Moureaux
Emmanuelle Moureaux Architecture & Design have completed a bank branch in Tokiwadai, Tokyo, with recessed brightly coloured windows. The facade also features a tree motif depicted in the perforations of the cladding. The motif continues through the interior with colourful graphics of trees and leaves. More here.
Phasma the small six-legged robot
phasma is a small six-legged robot that runs around dynamically, just like a living organism. the design is the creation of takram design engineering a japanese studio who work on projects that combine art, design and technology. phasma was created for the exhibit ‘bones’ at 21_21 design sight in tokyo. its behavior aims to ‘depict life purely through its motion rather than its shape, by extracting the physics of running from living things and implementing that to the artifact.’ the robot is made from stainless steel springs with rubber joints. the designers even looked to biomimicry for inspiration, mimicking the alternating tripod gait of many insects. More here.
Lee Broom launches collection with iconic British design brand Heals
Award-winning British furniture and interior designer, Lee Broom, launches his first collaboration collection with iconic British design brand Heal’s. Architrave for Heal’s ReDiscovers is a unique capsule collection of furniture fusing tradition with modernity. Inspired by the classic shapes of architrave, cornicing and mouldings, Broom takes a traditional home feature and transforms it into a contemporary design statement. Effortlessly mixing intricate detail with sleek styling, the collection has a two-tone satin lacquer-finish; a matt white on the outside with a cool grey tone within. London Design Festival More here.
The Makr iPad Case
The Makr iPad Case. One large piece of leather is folded, hand sewn and edge painted to create this magnificent case. Find out more here You must visit their blog here. Some outstanding photography.
The World’s Best Hotel Rooftops
The view from the top of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel has been ranked the best hotel rooftop view in the world by users of price comparison website Trivago. The luxury Dubai hotel, which offers views of the Persian Gulf from a manmade island accessible via a walkway or from the 24th floor “Uptown Bar” in the main building, topped the list of global hotels that offer impressive views. In second place was the Lebua hotel at State Tower in Bangkok, which offers sprawling views of the Thai capital from its protruding bar on the 63rd floor. 1. Jumeirah Beach Hotel (Dubai) 2. Hotel at Lebua State Tower (Bangkok) 3. Hotel de Rome (Berlin) 4. Bairro Alto Hotel (Lisbon) 5. The Ritz-Carlton (Moscow) 6. NH Parque Central (Havana) 7. Hotel Gansevoort (New York) 8. Grand Hotel Central (Barcelona) 9. Hotel U Prince (Prague) 10. Terrass Hotel (Paris) 11. Hotel St. George Roma (Rome) 12. The Trafalgar Hotel (London) 13. Fresh Hotel (Athens) 14. Palms Casino Resort (Las Vegas) 15. The Marmara Pera (Istanbul) List and links done...Enjoy!
Aerion Supersonic Business Jet
Nevada’s Aerion Corporation is advertising its Aerion Supersonic Business Jet (SBJ), described as an $80 million, super fast executive plane which the company says is able to reach a speed of Mach 1.5 (1,840 km/h). This Aerion SBJ will make it possible to fly from Paris to New York in four hours and 14 minutes, shaving three hours off the trip compared to conventional jets. And even in the United States, where supersonic flight is banned because of Federal Aviation Administration sonic boom restrictions, the jet will be able to fly at a high subsonic speed of Mach 0.98 because of its unique, patented wing design, reducing coast-to-coast travel by 41 minutes vs. conventional aircraft. The plane in its current version can carry up to 12 passengers, but there is also a 50-seat version in the pipeline (half the capacity of the Concorde!). The company said it had already received $4 billion in orders for the jet, which is still being tested. The SBJ is expected to be launched in 2014.
Cessna announce new upgrade package for Citation Mustang
The Cessna Aircraft Company introduced at the opening day of AirVenture 2010 a new upgrade package for its Citation Mustang. The $75,000 package includes a more luxurious interior, a special paint scheme, a two-year maintenance programme, synthetic vision, electronic charts and locking fuel caps. It is the first upgrade package Cessna has offered since the Mustang entered service in 2007. Cessna has since delivered over 300 Mustangs.Coming in at just over $3 million, the Citation Mustang is the world’s first fully certified entry-level business jet. It can cruise at speeds of 390 mph, and is extremely easy to fly and can be single-pilot operated.
Honda unveil it’s first private jet
Honda has been showing off its first ever aircraft at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, saying that the jet should fly by the end of the year. The HondaJet is the first venture into aviation for Honda, more commonly known for its cars and motorcycles, with the brand saying that it incorporates many technological advances in aviation design. Among them are engines that are mounted above the wing instead of below, which Honda says significantly reduces drag (improving fuel efficiency), cuts noise pollution on the ground and creates additional space in the aircraft cabin. Like the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, it also features a composite fuselage, which is both lighter and stronger than the traditional alloys used for the main section of the aircraft. Honda says that the factory for the new jet will be completed in early 2011 so that the aircraft can be delivered to its first customers in the third quarter of 2012 with a price tag of $4.5 million (€3.46 million).