Expedition Aequalis: a design exploration towards an eco-centric future

Expedition Aequalis exhibition by Dutch Invertuals, The Future Laboratory, and Reon Brand - Photo courtesy of Dutch Design Week.

Expedition Aequalis ongoing project and exhibition at Dutch Design Week explored new design thinking paths tuning with Nature’s priorities.

‘R for Repair’ at the V&A in London explores the sentimental values of broken objects

R FOR REPAIR @ Victoria & Albert Museum - Image by Zuketa Film Production. Courtesy of London Design Festival 2022.

The R for Repair exhibition shines a timely spotlight on consumerism by showing how cherished but broken objects can be given both new meaning and a fresh lease of life with a bit of ingenuity.

Jen Lewin’s Last Ocean interactive installation glows at Burning Man 2022

Burning Man 2022, The Last Ocean + Ursa Major by Jen Lewin - Photo by Matt Emmi, ©Jenlewin Studio.

With ‘The Last Ocean’ luminescent installation, Jen Lewin raises awareness of ocean pollution. She teamed up with Ocean Plastic Technologies to bring forward an innovative, circular, and poetic solution to recycle and reclaim ocean plastic.

10 alternative design straws to raise your glass with a sustainable attitude

Glass straws of the Artesano Hot & Cold Beverages collection - Courtesy of Villeroy & Boch.

Summertime, cocktail time. Our indefatigable contributor Antonella Galimberti has selected ten sustainable design straws made from blades of grass, pasta and borosilicate glass. Enjoy!

Design Miami/ Basel 2022 explores the myth of ‘The Golden Age’ for a better and resilient future

Friedman Benda at Design Miami Basel 2022 - Photo © James Harris.

Ukrainian ancient crafts, Louis Carrol’s in-wonderland quirky furniture and Gio Ponti’s ode to colour. Design Miami/ Basel 2022 looks back to look forward. The Golden Age, reimagined.

Tortona Rocks 2022 celebrates materials innovation and sustainability

Tortona Rocks 2022. Opificio 31, main entrance - Courtesy of Tortona Rocks.

Tortona Rocks 2022: discover an interactive musical lighting design show, anamorphic street art and rising talents from Germany and Slovenia.

Ten blooming exhibitions at Milan Design Week 2022

'Floating Forest' by Stefano Boeri interiors x Timberland - Courtesy of Timberland.

Californian springs, giant olive shoots with golden leaves, floating forests and choreographies with flowers and drones. Milan Design Week celebrates nature with blooming exhibitions.

Sidney Modern Project by SANAA Architects features a landscape of interlocked pavilions and public gardens on Sydney Harbour

Sidney Modern Project by SANAA Architects - Image by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Sidney Modern Project will almost double the Gallery’s exhibition space, both contrasting and dialoguing with its much-loved late-19th-century neo-classical building, while creating a new public art garden and civic space.

September floor lamp by Fernando Mastrangelo celebrates Nature in the Post-Antropocene

SEPTEMBER floor lamp by Fernando Mastrangelo - Photo: courtesy of Fernando Mastrangelo.

With its carved organic body and brass branches embracing a luminous glass globe, Fernando Mastrangelo’s ‘September’ floor lamp delivers a ‘sort of’ optimistic message on the climate change issue. Because Nature will survive us and thrive again.

Tanween 2021: 4 design, science and material innovation projects inspired by the UAE

Tanween 2021 - The Kapok series by Tasnim Tinawi - Courtesy of Tanween.

A Biosand cabinet, a tech-crafted ottoman with river tamarind leather-like fabric, ghaf tree lamps and desert cotton upholstery. With the Tanween 2021 program, Tashkeel platform for the UAE design scene presents the work of four emerging female designers who teamed up with local botanists, scientists, engineers and manufacturers to develop innovative materials and create bespoke furniture and lighting collections.

The ‘Nature in Motion’ pavilion by Ahmed El-Sharabassy is inspired by the UAE moving desert

ABWAB, Nature in Motion by Ahmed El-Sharabassy - Courtesy of Dubai Design Week 2021.

At Dubai Design Week 2021, Ahmed El-Sharabassy has created the NATURE IN MOTION pavilion inspired by shapeshifting dune landscapes in the UAE. Made of sustainable and recyclable materials, the sinuous lightweight architecture provides multi-functional and multi-purpose public spaces and hosts an exhibition exploring compostable building materials and structures made of paper pulp.

Dutch Design Awards 2021: sustainable archipelagos and virtual fashion

Dutch Design Awards 2021. LEELA by The Fabricant - Courtesy of Dutch Design Foundation

The winners of Dutch Design Awards 2021 mark a new impetus for the design world that thrives on change and cross-pollination and radiates hopeful optimism.

Dutch Design Week 2021 responds to humanity’s bulimia for irresponsible growth

Dutch Design Week 2021. Jet and Pieke Bergmans at Kazerne - Photo by Ruud Balk.

Material innovation, upcycled furniture and digital exoterism. Dutch Design Week 2021 looks into the future of our homes and cities, challenging contemporary social and environmental issues with a proactive and positive attitude.

Grimshaw’s Sustainability Pavilion at Dubai Expo is energy and water self-sufficient

TERRA - SUSTAINABILITY PAVILION by Grimshaw Architects @ Expo 2020 Dubai - Photo by Dany Eid/Expo 2020 Dubai.

Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion by Grimshaw Architects at Expo 2020 Dubai features a forest of giant solar panel-clad e-trees following the sun like sunflowers, a thriving garden challenging desert environment and underground exhibition spaces thermally isolated with a smart earth roof system.

Italy Pavilion by Carlo Ratti at Dubai Expo is an experiment of circular and reconfigurable architecture

Italy Pavilion @ Expo Dubai 2020 - Photo by Michele Nastasi, courtesy of CRA - Carlo Ratti Associati.

Italy Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai features three boat hulls as the structure’s roof, a multimedia facade made with two million recycled plastic bottles and a natural climate mitigation system that substitutes air conditioning.