Spacelab

April 2023

Istvan Orosz — The window paradox / Corner window

Nose up, with a view

One more busy year goes by. Wishing everyone that 2023 will be full of tangible achievements, and the right amount of time to devote to the essentials. See you there!

X #2023

We are so proud to announce that , a brainchild of Spacelab in partnership with , is among the outstanding projects selected by the Italian Design Observatory for the ADI Design Index 2022, the first volume of the biennial cycle that collects the shortlisted entries for Compasso d'Oro 2024.

Spacelab Zero — premiered during 2021 — is an energy self-sufficient architecture, a parametric space that can be built without foundations on any site, leaving no trace and no damage to the ground at the end of its life cycle. Named in reference to the lack of waste during construction or removal and its zero-emissions operation, the structure can be demounted and reassembled multiple times, tapping into issues of circular economy, impermanence, reparability and reuse.

The revolutionary building-ground interface is based on a lightweight modular structure called , which houses the ballast, systems and sub-services, water supply and treatment tanks, and other functions that can be customised to suit the location and functional requirements of each unit.

At the intersection of architecture, design and technological innovation, Zero is standardised and site-specific at the same time, making it possible to create bold spaces complete with every comfort in just a few days, removable and completely reusable or recyclable at the end of their service life.

Spacelab Zero is institutionally endorsed by Sibillini Mountains National Park and Fondazione Symbola per le Qualità Italiane.

Established in 1954, the Premio Compasso d'Oro ADI is the oldest and most authoritative design award in the world.

Born from an idea by Gio Ponti, it was organised for years by the La Rinascente department store, with the aim of highlighting the value and quality of Italian design products then in their infancy. It was later donated to the ADI, which has been responsible for its organisation since 1958, overseeing its impartiality and integrity.

, ,
Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini

Introducing : a cabinet of algorithm-generated architectural specimens, exercices de style and variations as outcome of granular commands and custom code strings implemented by feeding AI image generating engines.

project investingates via brute force attack the complex relationship between design cues, contextual references and spatial results. Systematising processes that under human conditions and timeframes take place in an entirely similar manner, but which artificial intelligence is accelerating paroxysmally with unexpected twists.

“Impromptu” noun plays with the extemporaneous and one-off character of compositional experiments, but also contains the word 'prompt', the generating element of the design input feeding the AI.

“Sella” stool, Achille e Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Zanotta 1957.

Sella was conceived as a 'telephone stool', ready-made from standard industrial elements. The seat is a real racing bicycle saddle, in leather, black in colour, attached with the classic lever clamp to a pink painted steel rod, an obvious chromatic tribute to the competition.

The cast-iron base, 33 cm in diameter, allows for dynamic balance and for the seat to be "always upright". The total height of the seat is 71 cm and the saddle position is extendable exactly like its counterparts in standard production.

The design idea of this object cannot be grasped unless one remembers that in the 1950s most telephones even in homes were placed on a wall and people had to stand next to the device to use them.

The prototype was premiered in the exhibition 'Colours and shapes in the modern home' held at Villa Olmo, Como in 1957.



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NUEVO.TOKYO™
NEUTONE Modular Interface 2022
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Somehow teenageengineeresque


design Linus Wahlstedt, Sweden 2018
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The MONOTON MT-1 speaker system is active, modular and adaptive, meaning that every unit is identical and contains an amplifier, a WiFi and Bluetooth unit, a wireless pairing unit and a computer. This allows for automatic pairing and continuous software and feature updates via the firmware.

MT–1’s are heavy-duty designs meant to be moved around. While the sealed enclosure packs a good low-end punch, the weight and soft silicone enclosure make them sit tight, wherever you place them. The signature handles sets the MT-1’s at a convenient 11° listening angle, allowing for flexible use on any surface or height. Power and volume are combined into a single potentiometer, and integrated into the handle right where the thumb is on the handle. Its exterior is a sealed high-density MDF enclosure with an outer silicone rubber shell.

2018

Dietrich Lubs + Dieter Rams watchface signature details for Braun:
- Bright yellow second hand
- Akzent Grotesque typeface when needed
- In static representation of watches and alarm clocks time is set at 10.09 and 34 seconds so that the hour and minute hands are perfectly symmetrical. The yellow seconds hand is thus in a slightly forward position, with the effect of a balanced dynamism