Michael Bodenmann’s latest book creates a non-linear pictorial tapestry of his time in China

Designed by Samuel Bänziger, Rosario Florio and Larissa Kasper, the Jungle Books publication evokes the subjective narrative of the Swiss photographer’s time in China.

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Watercolor Paper Transforms into Suggestive Facial Sculptures by Artist Polly Verity

All images © Polly Verity, shared with permission

Polly Verity’s most recent paper sculptures test viewers’ sense of pareidolia. The dexterous artist employs single sheets of watercolor paper for her minimalist projects that morph into solitary faces and kissing figures through a series of bends and twists.

Verity tells Colossal that she’s been crafting repeating geometric patterns for about 15 years, but that it wasn’t until recently that she decided to move beyond crisp folds and clean lines. “When I hit the curved folds that’s when my brain popped. Seemingly impossible things could happen to a sheet of paper,” she writes. “My years of observing and investigating how curve folds behave has given me a feel for bringing the curves into the figurative realm.” The result is a suggestive series of facial profiles sometimes sucking on a straw or smoking a cigarette.

I tried to fold along the profile of a face, and I realized that I could tweak the paper on either side just very slightly and ease curves out to give volume and form. When I tried the same technique in watercolour paper, I suddenly had micro-control over the resulting curved forms and they became soft and sensual. So each face goes on to inform the next and they have become a sort of series.

Keep up with Verity’s paper creations on Instagram and check out which alluring pieces you can add to your own collection in her shop.

 

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Ace & Tate uses colourful terrazzo made from local plastic waste throughout Antwerp store

Amsterdam-based eyewear company Ace & Tate's shop in Antwerp has interiors clad with terrazzo made with colourful chips of recycled plastic sourced locally by Dutch startup Plasticiet.

Ace & Tate collaborated with sustainable materials company Plasticiet for the shop in Belgium as part of their push to become more sustainable.

The brand has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030, and by the end of this year all of their glasses will be made from 100 per cent bio acetate – recyclable acetate mixed with bio-based plasticisers instead of oil based.

Plasticiet, founded by designers Marten van Middelkoop and Joost Dingemans, collects plastic waste and turns it into sheets of material that look like traditional stone such as marble and granite.

For the Antwerp Ace & Tate they created a terrazzo effect with large chips of bright blues, reds, yellows and green.

"The recycled plastic we used is polyethylene, a very common material that finds many uses in industrial and construction appliances as well as domestic products such as food packaging, kitchen ware and toys," Dingemans told Dezeen.

The plastic was all collected from the local area by recycling company Suez, which uses infrared light to sort the waste. Plasticiet picked out the pieces they wanted to create an attractive colour combination. They used nearly 1,000 kilograms for the project.

"Compared to the white base material, which used to be food packaging, the reclaimed plastic from Antwerp becomes less viscous during the melting process allowing the chunky pieces to retain their shape during production," added Dingeman.

"This way most of the chunks remain their initial shape and the viewers can indulge themselves into finding products they know."

Panels of plastic terrazzo cover the walls, arches, shelves and counters of the shop. In the window a clear plastic box is filled with tiny white chips of recycled plastic mixed in with larger coloured pieces.

This visual representation of the recycling process is punctuated with display boxes for the glasses and sunglasses, creating an attractive and informative window display.

"We want to inspire others to find long term appliances for materials that are reusable or recyclable rather than misusing the world’s precious materials by readily disposing of them," said Dingeman.

Terrazzo booths with mirrored interiors above a shelve provide convenient places for shoppers to try on different glasses.

Neon lighting, a signature of Ace Tate's shops, was used throughout the Antwerp store's interior. The brand's store in London's Soho area features a pair of glowing neon eyes as an allusion to voyeurism in a red light district. A cascading neon sign spelling out a slogan decorates Ace & Tate Copenhagen, which is coloured in blocks of bright primary colours.

Designers are turning to recycled plastic to try and reduce the demand for virgin plastic as awareness about the environmental destruction associated with the petrochemical industry grows.

Australian designer Brodie Neill has created furniture and sculptures made with what he calls ocean terrazzo, from chips of plastic set in resin.

Antwerp-based brand Ecobirdy makes furniture for children from old plastic toys to teach them about recycling.

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“Everything left the image apart from the person’s face in front of me”: Craig Bernard on his close-up style

The Welsh photographer presents his photographs in pairs, stemming from a passion for photobooks.

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DesignMarch and 3 Days of Design postponed due to coronavirus but NYCxDESIGN "continues as planned"

As DesignMarch in Iceland and 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen become the latest design events to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, Dezeen Events Guide has created a dedicated page listing all major events affected by the virus.

Organisers of the DesignMarch made the decision to postpone its event from March to late June, while 3 Days of Design has been pushed back from March until September.

However, organisers of New York's main design festival, due to be held from 12 to 20 May, said they are "we are working to ensure NYCxDESIGN continues as planned".

The postponements are the latest in a stream of recent announcements of events either having to reschedule, cancel or go online. All of the major design and architecture events that have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak are listed on a dedicated page on Dezeen Events Guide.

Events across North America postponed

In the past week numerous events scheduled to take place in March, April and May in North America have been postponed or cancelled as the coronavirus outbreak in the United States has become more serious. At present, there have been over 1,000 cases reported in the country.

The Architectural Digest Design Show in New York, South by Southwest in Austin, TED 2020 in Vancouver, Collision in Toronto and Legends of La Cienega in Los Angeles have all been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Architectural Digest Design Show, which was scheduled to take place 19-22 March in New York, made the decision to postpone until 25-28 June. Across the country in Los Angeles, the board of the La Cienega Design Quarter chose to cancel it Legends 2020 event, which was due to take place 5-7 May.

In Canada, the four-day TED 2020 conference, which was set to take place 20-24 April in Vancouver, was postponed until 20-26 July.

Other organisations have made the decision to replace physical events with online offerings as part of a trend for designers, universities and brands to take their activities online in reaction to the spread of the virus.

Organisers of the Collision technology conference said the event, set to take place 22-25 June, would now take place online and be rebranded as Collision from Home. "Collision, 22-25 June 2020, will still happen for our 30,000 attendees. But online."

SXSW said it was "exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants".

"NYCxDESIGN continues as planned"

While events across North America are being forced to postpone or cancel due to the coronavirus outbreak NYCxDesign said it will go ahead as planned.

"As we carefully monitor the situation around coronavirus, we are working to ensure NYCxDESIGN continues as planned," organisers said. "We will be keeping in close touch with public officials and our partners and will continue to assess and adjust as we have additional information."

Across Europe and the Middle East the coronavirus outbreak continued to impact events with PAD Paris, which was due to take place 1-5 April was postponed until 12-17 May, while Art Dubai, which was due to take place 25-28 March, postponed indefinitely.

The Norman Foster Foundation's Forum: "Future is Now" event, which was set to take place in Madrid on 1 June, was cancelled.

"Our board of trustees has reluctantly come to this conclusion in the light of the continuing spread of the coronavirus and in particular its implications on international travel," wrote Norman Foster in a letter explaining the decision.

In Australia the Australian Institute of Architects postponed its 2020 National Architecture Conference, which was set to take place 20-22 June, until 2021.

The coronavirus outbreak has already impacted numerous events with Milan's Salone del Mobile and the Venice Architecture Biennale being the most high-profile events that have been postponed.

Keep up with developments by following Dezeen's coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. For news of impacted events, check Dezeen Events Guide's dedicated coronavirus page.

Photograph is by Helgi Halldórsson.

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