Sabtu, 26 Februari 2011

Livable Luxury: 14 Creative Kitchen Designs

By Steph in Architecture & Design, Furniture & Interiors, Urbanism creative-kitchen-designs-main

There’s an art to packing as many functional elements into a kitchen as possible, yet retaining visual appeal and simplicity. Creatively clean kitchen designs keep every necessary modern component at a cook’s fingertips without too much clutter, particularly when those components fit cleverly into a compact modular or all-in-one system. These contemporary kitchen concepts are sleek and minimalist, yet livable for everyday use.

All-in-One Kitchen & Dining Set

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Not everyone needs a vast, open kitchen space populated with the latest and greatest in oversized commercial appliances. Particularly in small homes and apartments, compact all-in-one kitchen sets can contain everything the occasional cook needs for everyday meals: prep space, a cook surface, seating, and storage.

Modern, Eco-Friendly Kitchen Island & Worktop Station

modern-eco-friendly-island-worktop
A key to sustainable kitchens is using what you’ve already got: water from drying dishes can water plants, food waste can feed them, and cool running water can help keep a small refrigerator cold. This ‘flow kitchen’ does all of the above in a compact, earthy design that is eco-friendly and practical.

Luxury Kitchen Folds Up When Not in Use

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It’s the ‘disappearing room’: a clever fold-up luxury kitchen that contains all of the essential elements for cooking and dining, hidden behind matte wood and metal doors in the wall. This design by Giorgio Armani manages to fit a standard dishwasher, refrigerator, gas stove, steam oven, standard oven, food warming drawer and even a miniature wine cellar into a room that looks entirely bare when packed up.

Upcycled Wood Crate Kitchen Cabinets

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When it comes to eco-friendly kitchen design, nothing is held in higher esteem than upcycling used materials in an effective, attractive way. This kitchen remodel features creative, artistic-looking cabinets made from vintage tea crates – a hint of the rustic, but in a streamlined, modern package.

All-in-One Computer, Kitchen & Dining Table

all-in-one-computer-kitchen
What appears at first to be a simple, if futuristic-looking, pedestal table and dining chair set actually contains a cleverly disguised collection of gadgets that provide practically any function you could imagine wanting at your dining table. The top digitally displays dining options and serves as a computer monitor as well, so diners can browse the internet while waiting for their meals. The inside also stores food, household appliances and even compartments that clean dishes when you’re done eating.

Compact All-in-One Kitchen Design

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A somewhat more attainable option for the near future is this compact all-in-one kitchen station, a columnar design that rotates to reveal various functions and contents. It takes up a minimal amount of wall space, and manages to pack in a refrigerator, sink, microwave, dishwasher, surfaces, cupboards and cabinets into six square feet.

Futuristic Ultramodern Kitchen Furniture Set

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How clean and simple can a kitchen be? This ultramodern kitchen set by Strato has a futuristic look with its flat, matte white surfaces, but gets a little warmth and character from its curved edges.

Futuristic, Eco-Friendly Kitchen Remodel

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Modern minimalist design is the perfect complement to eco-conscious sensibilities, since it uses the least amount of materials to attain a stylish look with the maximum amount of functionality. This built-in kitchen counter-and-fixtures set by Valcucine has a sleek, clean-lined look and can be easily disassembled and recycled when its usefulness has come to an end.

Modern All-in-One Kitchen Design Concept

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Why should all of a kitchen’s vital components be pushed up against the walls of the room? This compact modern kitchen design by 3 Chinese designers places the sink, stovetop, dishwasher, oven, and cupboards in a central island that takes up as little floor and wall space as possible. The entire island can be rotated and is topped off by a combination overhead light/vent hood.

Space-Saving Modular Kitchen Cabinets

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This isn’t just a chic, simple set of black and silver kitchen cabinets. It’s actually a dynamic system that can be adjusted to the user’s needs, with each individual unit sliding up and down on wall tracks to create a variety of configurations.

Fold-Out Table is Kitchen Island & Work Surface in One

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Especially when entertaining, it can seem as if there’s never enough space in the kitchen. That’s where fold-out work surfaces really come in handy, as in this elegant white kitchen island. It starts out as a simple box, but once opened, it reveals plenty of cooking and cutting surfaces, storage space and sinks.

Colorful Minimalist Kitchen Design

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This kitchen design idea by KicheConcept isn’t just colorful and appealing, it’s livable as well. With shiny surfaces in black and candy-apple red and an interesting, fluid design that would fit well into a variety of kitchen shapes and sizes, it’s a perfect blend of style and substance.

Ultramodern Steel Kitchen Design Concept

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Just like impractical runway fashion is often more about art than clothing, some furniture design puts form over function in over-the-top designs meant to dazzle. But even if they won’t be appearing in real kitchens any time soon, Stratocucine’s high-end steel kitchen designs highlight the best of what minimalism can be: clean, simple and soothing.

Simple, Contemporary Black & White Kitchen Design

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On the more user-friendly end of the spectrum is this stunning contemporary black-and-white kitchen design by Futura, which features strategic steel in conjunction with other materials. The geometric shapes and monochromatic color scheme is warmed up by wood and smart use of negative space.

Stupendous Steps: 15 Great Escalator & Stair Ads

By Steph in Architecture & Design, Guerilla Marketing & Ads, Subvertising & Counter-Ads, Urbanism

While spending 30 seconds on an escalator, where do you look? Most people just stare straight ahead – making escalators an ideal location for advertising. But some ads are more colorful, clever and controversial than others, using both the ideal eye-level platform and shape of the stairs to their full potential. These are the kinds of ads that make people pause and marvel for a moment before continuing on their way.

Canadian Red Cross Escalator Ad


(image via: allbusiness)
From the top of the stairs, this ad looks so realistic that it could prompt people to rush down so quickly they injure themselves – completely undermining the purpose of the campaign. Created for the Canadian Red Cross, the decal intends to promote the knowledge of first aid with a message reading “Know What to Do.”

DHL Gridlock Escalator Ad


(image via: adoholik)
Hong Kong traffic is notoriously nightmarish. But even the gridlocks of this city can’t stop DHL, or so they insinuate with this escalator ad which depicts their trucks speeding down a convenient (though imaginary) fast lane, located on the moving handrail, as the rest of the cars remain at a maddening halt.

IKEA Staircase Ad


(image via: directdaily)
IKEA is practically synonymous with “organization”, something nearly everyone could use a little help with. That makes these stair stickers that much more effective, depicting neatly stacked clothing and linens in drawers.

Hopi Hari Escalator Ad


(image via: adland)
When people momentarily forget they’re on an escalator, imagining themselves having a great time at an amusement park instead, you know that an ad is special. This one for a Brazil amusement park called Hopi Hari turns each step into a snapshot of a couple enjoying a roller coaster.

Nationwide Staircase Ad


(image via: ads of the world)
Bad things happen every day… like bizarre automobile accidents that send your car flying in the air like the General Lee, if this Nationwide Insurance staircase ad is to be believed. It certainly takes full advantage of the huge set of stairs at the end of Fashion Show Drive in Las Vegas.

Revita Beauty Center Shiatzu Escalator Ad


(image via: adland)
When possible, it’s best to avoid stepping on people – unless you’re a professional masseuse. While this ad may make some people uncomfortable, others may be reminded of just how good it would feel to let someone work out the knots in their backs.

Table Soccer Staircase Ad


(image via: ads of the world)
An outdoor guerilla ad campaign to promote the first international table soccer world cup featured realistic-looking flyers shaped like table soccer figures on stair handrails around the city of Hamburg, Germany.

Consol Energy Coal Mine Escalator Ad


(image via: ads of the world)
Consol Energy reminds people of what it takes to power our world with coal – descending into deep, dark, dirty mines – with an ad bound to make environmentalists cringe.

Coca-Cola Escalator & Staircase Ad


(image via: ads of the world)
Coca-Cola engaged in some targeted marketing in a joint campaign with McDonalds. Regular, full-calorie Coke was advertised to people who take the stairs, while the people getting less activity by taking the escalator see ads for Diet Coke instead.

Jeep Parking Space Ad


(image via: toxel)
Capitalizing on the Jeep’s reputation as a vehicle that can go places other cars can’t, these guerrilla-style ads create parking spots in the most unlikely places – like stairs. No word on whether Jeep owners that took the ads up on their offer got reimbursed for pricey parking tickets.

Gillette Venus Escalator Ad


(image via: ads of the world)
Who was the advertiser that looked at the side of an escalator and thought, ‘hmmm, that looks like a leg’? Someone had to have made that questionable connection to come up with this eye-catching ad by Gillette, which featured small decals of razors on the handrail.

Greenville Literary Association Staircase Ad


(image via: toxel)
It’s not hard to grasp how book lovers at the Greenville Literary Association came to see a stack of books in a flight of stairs. This ad, created to generate book donations, takes full advantage of the shape of the advertiser’s chosen medium.

Juice Salon Escalator Ad


(image via: adland)
How many different haircuts can one man possibly get? This creative example of escalator advertising attempts to answer that question, putting a different style on every step, each of which briefly join with the man’s face at the bottom of the escalator to demonstrate the effect.

South Carolina Time to Thaw Stairs Ad


(image via: bounce agency)
The same agency that came up with the creative Greenville Literary Association book stairs also turned a set of stairs into stacks of suitcases, inspiring passersby to “pack your bags: it’s time to thaw.” The ad encourages travel to South Carolina.

Pizza Kingdom Escalator Ad


(image via: ads of the world)
Is the sight of a pizza lying on a dirty escalator, stepped on by thousands of pairs of feet, really all that appetizing? A chain called Pizza Kingdom hoped that it would be with this strange ad, designed to demonstrate “extra cheese” stretching from step to step. Amazingly, it worked: revenue increased by 53% within a month.

WTF Wonder, Lethal Luxury & Baby Stuff that Slices & Dices

By Angie in Architecture & Design, Furniture & Interiors, Gadgets & Geek Art
Chinese artist Shi Jinsong created sculptures depicting baby accessories which would
fit right in as toys for the Addams Family or for a future Terminator baby. Strollers, cribs, rattles, and walkers are made from razor-sharp blades, making a macabre and bizarre fine art collection. Here are some of the most bizarre baby items and other wicked stainless steel blade sculptures you may ever see.

Walker



(image credits: Saatchi Gallery,damncoolpics)
Once upon a time, in Buddhist Chinese mythology, there was a very naughty but very clever child called Na Zha. He was the “enfant terrible” and had a militaristic tendency for wreaking violence. Na Zha, who is the Trickster God Boy of Childish Pranks and Tantrums, had three heads, nine eyes and eight arms. Artist Shi Jinsong reinvented Na Zha as the “new face of Mothercare with a range of deadly baby products.” Above are a couple of sinister Walkers for the baby, fashioned out of razor-sharp blades.

Cradle


(image credits Chambers Fine Art)
Na Zha Baby Boutique exhibition included this sadistic Cradle that is perfect for child with supernatural powers. Deadly sharp blades and gleaming stainless steel offer lethal luxury in this outrageouly unsafe line of baby products. In the case of Na Zha, this would work well for him as he is now mostly known as the God of Lotteries and Gambling.

Toys





(image credits Chambers Fine Art)
Like all babies, Na Zha needed toys. The Baby Boutique includes needle-tipped pacifiers, a rattle made of razors, and a dismembering abacus. Also included in Shi Jinsong’s collection are a stainless steel rocking horse and a knife-edged trike. Na Zha wears a suit of armor, but ironically the child’s suit comes complete with mouse ears. The boots are roller blades as this mythological child had wheeled fiery feet and would possess all kinds of malicious toys and powerful weapons.

Previous Baby Stroller Models




(image credits Pram Museum Blog,offbeatism,taringa)
Na Zha Baby Boutique had several types of strollers with a twist of mythic Chinese culture and modern-day globalization. If these sculptures were actually used, the pointy stakes on the wheels would surely cut a path through the crowd. They are epically bizarre yet tremendously fascinating, form and function, fearsome to behold.

Terminator Baby?


(image credits yaplakal)
If Sarah Connor could have, she would have no doubt used this stroller for John. Indeed, this would be the perfect gift for any future Terminator baby. Part stroller and part armored tank, it’s for either that very protective parent or killer baby wishing for the ultimate deadly weapon to tote along on those mid-morning walks.

Halong- Kellong


(image credits artintern,artzinechina)
Shi Jinsong creates more than a lethal luxury line of baby products. He also wields stainless steel blades in razor-sharp bikes for big kids. “The sculptural installation Halong-Kellong is the imagined self-projection of modern life from a Chinese peasant’s perspective.” Hand trucks are common in China’s rural villages. These three hand trucks have a Harley-Davidson style logo, since Harleys were once known as a “prince’ s chariot, often ridden by the most badass characters in American movies.” These are definitely badass bikes.

Office & Re-education



(image credits taringa)
If you think it’s torture to sit at your computer desk and work, then perhaps you should take a long look at Shi Jinsong’s “Office Equipment-Prototype No 1.” Jinsong meant it as a metaphor on “oppressive authoritarianism—high tech going to harrowing extreme.” Or maybe you are in the market for a new computer chair? The three in the bottom photo would forever change a desk jockey’s job into true torment.

Weapons



(image credits genetologisch,Chambers Fine Art,taringa)
Although Shi Jinsong is predominantly known for his pristine stainless steel sculptures of baby products, he also produced a Secret Book of Cool Weapons theme. In the Secret Book of Cool Weapons, Jinsong portrayed corporate logos such as Mercedes Benz, Nike, and others as ancient, powerful weapons in corporate battles.

13 of the Wildest Shoe Designs and Brands

By Marc in Architecture & Design, Various Uncategorized
While the majority of consumers are content to purchase the newest brand of name
brand shoes, in the same color and style they always get, this doesn’t hold true for everyone. In our daily lives we only come across the occasional individual who truly works at expressing their personality via their shoes. Here are 13 groups of the wildest shoes you wouldn’t even see on the most outrageous free spirit:

(Images via fashionvictim101, popgloss, twolia, hellishhumor)
Fur coats are common, but fur shoes, not so much. In the Native American tradition of using every part of an animal, some creative shoe designers have taken this philosophy to the next level… creating shoes that appear animalistic to an extreme.

(Images via splendidcity, thefashionpolice, fashionvictim101, funalso)
Designers are always pushing the boundaries between form and function, in the hope of inspiring new lines that can be sold to a wider audience. Some designers add new features, while other try to go so minimalist that they remove entire sections of a shoe to reveal what’s beneath.

(Images via babydoll, declubz, myamazingfact, gemersiksufi, anshul, ebaumsworld)
Almost all shoes are designed in the same boring fashion, but there are definitely exceptions. Whether a designer utilizes a smoother, waving form, or manipulates the shape into something that hardly resembles a shoe, they all let their creativity go wild.

(Images via messandnoise, oddee, coutureavenue)
There aren’t any rules when it comes to design, and some creative innovators try to redefine what we consider set in stone. Some of the results are too radical for most people’s taste, but the occasional design will strike a chord with a larger audience (or a wealthy customer), and become a true success.

(Images via hem, specialfootwear, designswan, 2dayblog)
When you’re dressing up in costume, it’s important not to forget your feet. You can go for the realistic, disgusting look, or put on a pair of rats that look way too real. Either way, you’ll leave a trail of groaning friends in your wake.

(Images via aioviga, misslalaland, timetranscript, highheelshoemuseum)
High heels give a graceful, elegant look, and the height of a model. Just like anything, though, extremes can be ridiculous. Incredibly tall high heels can add an artistic flair to a model walking down the runway, but there is an element of very real danger. A lot of women have twisted their ankles, and taken bad spills.


(Images via interestingfacts, toxel)
Some shoes are made out of alternative materials in order to be more environmentally friendly, or add an interesting twist to a typically mundane clothing item, but this isn’t always the case. Necessity breeds invention, and sadly, this means that some of the poorest people are forced to make shoes out of any materials they can get their hands on.

(Images via sarahselectronicblogride, meganginter, geekscape, sikendi)
Not all mainstream shoe makers are boring. Shoe makers will make special edition shoes that appeal to a niche group of consumers, and advertise the brand as something unique. Form fitting shoes are meant to give better feedback to one’s feet, while still protecting them from the elements, but they look as out of this world as a pair of a dinosaur sneakers, or as ridiculous as a tennis ball shoe.

(Images via designswan, popgloss)
While it may not be incredibly functional, shoes can be a fantastic medium for artistic endeavors. There’s something inherently interesting about a common, and typically boring, element from our everyday lives being turned into something creative and unique.

(Images via freshvintage, fashionandnonsense, stylefeeder, nypost, effamadha)
Quirky and outlandish shoes are a great way to stand out in a crowd and express an artistic spirit. You can search high and low for rare and exotic designs, or add to an already existing model and make it your own. The true DIY fanatic will find a way to make anything unique.

(Images via declubz, funnypictures, impactlab, blacklognz)
Like a novelty clown nose, or gigantic foam hands and hats created for sporting events or special occasions, there’s a seemingly endless variety of shoes meant to cause a laugh. The stereotypical clown shoe is just the beginning, as almost any item can be turned into a semblance of a shoe, though it might not be the most comfortable thing to wear.

(Images via designswan, showmeyourshoes, gizmodiva, thefashionpolice)
Most people who have worn high heels will attest that they’re not the most comfortable clothing item in the world, but some designers express this in an industrial, and blatant way, by adding heavy, painful looking spikes and metals, and turning an elegant item into something intimidating.

(Images via cemilanmata, fun-maniac, myspace, twolia, untitiledarchive, weirdositylives)
Some of the more oddball shoe designs are hard to categorize… they could have a humorous intent, or be avante gard, or are simply hideous and indecipherable. The importance of shoes that push the limits can’t be stressed enough, as they are the driving force behind innovation and change in an industry that has always tended to remain uncontroversial.