Beneath the Surface Blog

For as long as anyone can remember, architects, designers and artists have used color in various manners as a way to create a unique experience in a space. At the Hirschhorn Museum, Venezuela born Kinetic and Op Artist Carlos Cruz-Diez has employed color in his exhibit in a way that each viewer can experience the space in their own way.

"Color is not simply the color of things,” says Cruz-Diez. “It is an evolving situation, a reality which acts on the human being with the same intensity as cold, heat, and sound.”

Since the mid-1960’s, Cruz-Diez has been developing what is known as Chromosaturations, white rooms completely bathed in RGB light. Each room in the installation is featureless and is illuminated by various gradations between the three colors. “Cruz-Diez says the point of the installation is to show how color is essentially an experience--one that depends on participation from humans.”

Many studies have been conducted about the effects of artificial light on the psychological and physiological state of humans. Everything from the rose stained glass windows of Gothic cathedrals to futuristic light-bathed rooms each are designed to have a special effect on people. In what other ways can we as designers craft unique spaces that tap the senses of human beings?

Image Credits: Fastco Design

The developing world has crucial issues, some of which must be resolved through political action or economic involvement, but some that can be solved through clever and innovative design. One such issue is low-income households in developing nations lacking access to electricity or ample sunlight. A solution to this problem was born in Brazil, where families have designed a light source from used bottles, simplifying their access to illumination.

The light source is created by filling the bottles with a water & bleach solution, placing the sealed upper half of the bottle above ground or in a roof. The result is a reliable source of light being created from refracting the sun’s rays. The bottle creates about the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb. This solution also has another benefit in that it is recycling non-biodegradable bottles that might otherwise be discarded in a landfill (talk about a “bright” idea)!

As designers, we try to solve complex problems with innovative solutions that impact our world, but sometimes we attempt to resolve these issues with grand design schemes when all it really takes is a simple and small tweak that can make a huge difference in the lives of many people. We challenge you to think of small, inexpensive design concepts that can be simply transformed to make a positive difference in someone’s life.

Image credits: Dornob

In “Homage to the Lost Spaces”, artist Mike Hewson recaptures the history of a damaged building slated for demolition. The Cranmer Courts Building, located in Hewson’s hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, will be demolished due to damage from an intense earthquake. To celebrate the history of the building before its demise, Hewson uses the boarded planes of plywood as billboard-like art pieces, depicting former residents of the building during their everyday routines.

We salute Hewson’s work for bringing context (the “how” and the “where”) to the forefront of architecture. Stripping away physical layers to uncover meaning through historical references, Hewson's training as a civil engineer makes his work even more poignant.

Image credits: The Cool Hunter, Mike Hewson

It’s no secret that the fundamental goal of design is to shape the world around us in new and innovative ways. As designers, we set forth to enhance the human experience by creatively solving problems, tactfully tailoring aesthetics, and bringing forth something fresh and new. But while design enhances perceptual and spatial experiences, it less often impacts and alters our own instinctual behaviors, the most basic and involuntary of human actions.

Take the instinctual act of eating, for example, a tradition which many are gathering to celebrate on this Thanksgiving Day.  No matter the setting, the type of food, or the company, food is consumed in generally the same way: put food in mouth, chew, swallow, repeat. However, it is this involuntary habit – the primeval act of eating - that Marije Vogelzang designs. Instead of focusing on the appearance of the food or the interior atmosphere in which it is consumed, Vogelzang emphasizes the visceral act of satiating hunger, highlighting how you eat, how you experience the food, how you ingest something. Below are a couple of our favorite examples of Vogelzang’s food “designs” that highlight and shape the art (and instinct) of consumption.

Sharing Dinner

Using a tablecloth to create a tent-like enclosure, Vogelzang forces a separation of head and body, while facilitating a physical connection to others at the dinner table. Forced to eat though slits in this continuous suspended sheet (almost like a harness), each person’s movements are restricted, and impact others at the table. Here, pouring yourself a glass of wine or taking a bit of your meal isn’t a solo experience. Each action (even ones that may be instinctual) will affect others at the table. The movements and habitual eating tendencies of each diner become fluid, almost like a waves in the sea, and are felt and shared by all. The meal is less about eating, and more about understanding and experiencing how other diners consume their food.

Eating on the Beat

Typically, there is no rhyme or reason to how we put food into our mouths. We need food to survive, so when we’re hungry, down the hatch it goes. But, typically, no one is timing how many seconds pass between bites, how long it takes to cut your meat, how quickly you slurp the soup from your spoon. In this event, Vogelzang eliminates instinctual timing of ingestion, and instead interjects a strict, and somewhat stressful, eating regimen. 

Allowing bites of specific food only to be taken to each and every beat of a drum, the solo act of satisfying one’s basic feeling of hunger is taken away here, leaving the diner to eat on an independent schedule unrelated to their own personal needs. So finished chewing or not, full or not, you are forced to eat as a victim of the beat, not as a human simply satiating a basic need. With everyone tasting and chewing the exact same bite of food at the exact same time, the act of eating becomes regimented, yet communal, creating a whole new dynamic to consuming nourishment.

While we’re not sure if you’ll find these food experience “designs” at to a restaurant near you any time soon, they do call attention to instinctual habits that often go unnoticed. It just goes to show how faceted design can be, and how tactful thought, creativity (and a lot of delicious food!) can impact not only our perceptual and spatial experiences, but our involuntary and most basic human tendencies as well.

Image credits: Marije Vogelzang

Remember cutting out paper snowflakes as a kid? It’s something we always looked forward to in elementary school around things time of year. Artfully folding the paper and skillfully wielding scissors with little nimble fingers to cut simple shapes and patterns out of paper - it was so simple, yet so complex. Folded into a little triangle, the creation never seemed like much. But as the creases were flatted and the folds opened, the real surprise was revealed in all its glory. Those seemingly simple contours were magically duplicated, rotated, and reflected, interacting in an integrated web of shape, movement, and fragility. It was really fascinating and really beautiful.

Well someone else also appreciated this idea of snowflake cut-outs and decided to take it to another level. Visual artist Manuel Ameztoy uses the basic idea of a snowflake cut-out and translates it to a massive scale, creating amazing installations that are precisely technical, yet wonderfully delicate. Take a peek at the video below to learn more about how his technique and artistic ability turn an elementary school art project into originally elegant works of art.

Cool Hunting Video Presents: Manuel Ameztoy from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

Our favorite quote in the video: talking about the beginning of the creative process, Manuel is never "absolutely sure" what he is doing.

It seems nowadays that hybrids are everywhere. From modern cars to bizarre animal offspring to celebrity couple names, we seem to have a fascination with combining multiple elements into one singular entity. And while some of these creations may be catchy (aka “Brangelina”) and others downright strange (like a “Zonkey”), some really stick out from the pack by showing innovation, creativity, and panache. Below are some of our favorite hybrids making their way in the world of design!

Eco Velo Hybrid Electric Bicycles

For those of us who aren’t Lance Armstrong, this might be a good option when your legs start to give out on the home stretch on the Tour de France.

LED Twitter Dress

Part fashion, part technology, part social media, this dress, designed by digital communications company EE, hits the trifecta by combining all things trendy.

CityLight Street Lamps

Harnessing energy is nothing new, but we’ve never seen an invention that channels the calories of your work out into something for the good of the community! Light up the street while trimming your waistline by working out on these public exercise machines.

Keybrid Keys

Such a simple, and seemingly obvious idea. Why didn’t anyone think of this before? Thoughtful design eliminates the need for an extra fastener.

By combining technologies or concepts that otherwise seem dissimilar, everyday objects can be completely redefined. What other design hybrids have you noticed lately?

Ever wonder how the months are named? November comes from the Latin word novern meaning “nine”, which was its original position in the Roman calendar before January and February were added. And while the month of November typically evokes traditional images (think autumn leaves, Thanksgiving meals, and the frenzied start to the holiday season) there’s another little known fact about November: it is National Pomegranate Month.

Clinging to the puzzling quirkiness of being the eleventh month yet named after the word “nine”, in November we are urged to celebrate pomegranates. Need a colorful intervention on your plate, bringing more color to the carbohydrate-packed autumn meals? Lacking anti-oxidants this month? Enjoy working for your food and need to sharpen your knife skills? Look no further than the pomegranate.

Of course, we can’t help but try to draw SOME parallel to art or architecture in this Thursday Salute. Amidst the lackluster brownish hues of turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, this trivial celebration of the vibrant fruit may have actually have some design wisdom behind it. Brightening up an otherwise drab surrounding, creating spatial sequences that have visual rewards at the end, and designing hard exteriors that give way to rich colorful textures on the inside… any of those concepts could be translated to architectural and interior design.

So check out these pieces of art and architecture - could they have been inspired by November’s National Pomegranate month?

Image credits: Red Ball Project, Cobrakarin, Archidave, Design Boom

If you were a superhero, what superpower would you pick? Would you choose to fly? Have x-ray vision? Immense strength? Read others’ thoughts? With the onset of fall and its seemingly never ending supply of rainy days, most of the staff here at our Cleveland office has begun to wish for the superhuman ability to repel water. Tired of trudging into the office every morning soggy and damp, we can’t help but imagine how great it would be to ditch the umbrella, raincoat, and galoshes and walk through these often torrential showers without getting the least bit wet.

It appears we’re not alone in this wish. Art studio, Random International, has realized our vision with their most recent interactive installation, “Rain Room”. Using 220 gallons of water per minute, hundreds of individual valves stream down water, creating an interior downpour. Normally, these types of conditions would drench a person almost instantly. However, in this storm, you need not anything but yourself to repel the rain.

Using highly advanced 3D cameras, the Rain Room is able to detect and track human movement, and consequently, turns off rain in those corresponding areas. This means people can walk through and around this 1000 square foot downpour, without ever getting wet. It’s almost like having an invisible bubble or surrounding force field that repels water – the rain simply does not fall wherever someone is located.

A strange and almost unnatural feeling, the Rain Room brings together advanced technology and a seemingly uncontrollable natural element to create an impossible and fantastical environment. Though we don’t think we’ll have this luxury outdoors any time soon (unless someone can figure out how to adapt this for crazy Cleveland weather, that is), we love the concept, and salute Random International for allowing us to feel like (dry!) superheroes for a day!

Image credits: Random International

Typically, you don’t think of cross-stitching as a cool design trend. Yes, it might be your grandmother’s favorite pastime and you might have done a project once in your home economics class, but usually cross-stitching is nothing more than a cute personal keepsake. Rarely does it "cross" over into innovative and though-provoking territory.

It’s this very reason that we so greatly appreciate Michigan based artist, Lampchop’s, twist on this age-old sewing technique. Using simple chain link fences, Lambchop weaves material through the openings to create physical typographic art. Using varying phrases and unsuspecting fences all around the world, this large-scale cross-stitch sends a message, both visual and aspirational. We especially love how in many instances the typography appears to be floating, creating an odd tension between 2D and 3D perception.

Needless to say, this is certainly not your grandma’s cross-stitching. Just goes to show that innovation can lie within even the most seemingly unrelated and uncool things, as long as you keep an open (and creative!) mind.

It's a rainy week here at our main office in Cleveland so we're switching gears to a more lighthearted blog topic.  In this image series, the thoughtful execution of composition, scale, and perspective yields poetic scenes. One of these images is bound to inspire you or make you smile! 

Notice that the human body is present in nearly every image? A good reminder to include scale figures in your architectural drawings!