For the architect Luciano Crespi, abandoned spaces are not waste but rather sources of potential, places in which memory can evolve. Thus comes the concept of ‘design of the unfinished’, in which the city is not consumed but reactivated through new uses.
Ten years ago the British sound artist started recording the sounds near his home in Oxford. What began as a passion project is now a website called Cities and Memory that boasts contributions from over 110 countries and includes thousands of sounds.
The founders of the firm Næssi in Rome and the designer Harry Rigalo from Athens share something special: they both live and work in cities that were the cradles of Western civilisation. They tell humus® what it means for them, and what the role the classical plays in their design practices
Our civilisation has been supported by forests for millennia, and many projects and objects have an invisible debt with the tree communities. Being aware of this – until now – unbalanced relationship can only improve it.
Rather than ending up in the landfill, the trees destroyed by Storm Vaia have been brought back to life as objects and furniture, avoiding the felling of healthy trees. Testimonials to this include the business venture of the Trentino-based start-up Vaia and other similar initiatives, especially in the collectible design sector.
Designers and artists enamoured with porcelain, Julie Progin and Jesse Mc Lin met in New York and have lived in Hong Kong for almost twenty years. Here, borrowing from both Chinese and western traditions, they make unique pieces and experimental single series, testing the limits of ceramic matter.
The Nigerian designer who returned to Lagos after training in Europe is one of the key interpreters of the local creative scene. A firm believer of the special practical intelligence of Africa, he strives to enhance all things local, from culture to production techniques.
In the Twenties, aesthetic codes borrowed from the avant-garde movements and technical progress went hand in hand to develop a new decorative language: stylised geometric patterns that immediately spoke to a wide audience. A dynamic and treasured expertise handed down by design.
In an interview the designer tells us about the path that, through a residence in Finland, led him to understand in depth the many aspects of ceramics, starting from the wild clay of a Finnish lake.
The symbolic date representing the launch of the great economic and cultural “Made in Italy” phenomenon is certainly 1925, the year of the Paris Expo celebrating the height of the Art Deco movement. This is what happened.