Dezeen Showroom: 88-year-old Finnish designer Eero Aarnio has added a minimal cat ornament to the Eero Aarnio Originals collection, informed by the strays he would take in as a child.
Kisu – a word that translates from Finnish into English as "kitty" – is Aarnio's first take on the character of a cat, after having previously created various products representing dogs.
The Kisu cat ornament has been added to the Eero Aarnio Originals collection
The Kisu cat designs were inspired by Aarnio's childhood, when pets weren't allowed in the apartment building where he and his family lived in Kallio, Helsinki.
"Young Eero would take home stray cats who were wandering in the part of the city where the family lived in Helsinki," the brand explained. "Eero's mother would let him keep the cat for one day and Eero loved to play with them."
"Even though the Aarnio family ended up having a dog, Eero has always found cats charming as well," the brand continued.
"The cat has always been a very sympathetic animal character for me," added Aarnio.
Kisu is made from polyethylene and comes in black or white
Suited to both indoor and outdoor environments, Kisu is made from polyethylene and comes in two colours, black and white. The black version is made entirely from the factory's own defect materials.
The cat ornament is the latest addition to the Eero Aarnio Originals collection, and was launched on 21 October 2020 and is now available to order.
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BIG founder Bjarke Ingels is drawing up a scheme to "prove that a sustainable human presence on planet Earth is attainable with existing technologies".
Approaching Earth like an architect master planning a city, Ingels calculates that even a predicted population of 10 billion people could enjoy a high quality of life if environmental issues were tackled holistically.
"Meme material"
But some readers are struggling to take Ingels seriously. "Please wake me up when BIG reveals a plan to redesign human behaviour," said Chris Becket.
"Meme material," joked Ernst.
"I can also come up with a hypothetical plan that will solve all the world's problems," added TKO. "The hard part is implementing it in a way that makes sense, is workable and achievable."
Don Griffiths was more optimistic: "Lots of good things come from dreaming and scheming outside the box. This young man might not have all the answers, but the future is better attended to by the actions of thinkers from the past."
The design for a subterranean hotel that will be carved into a sandstone hill has caused controversy thanks to its location in the Madâin Sâlih UNESCO World Heritage site.
"A beautiful abomination," dismayed Clayton. "Leave the desert untouched."
"I hate that I love this," continued Bassel. "Carving a super luxurious resort in a desolate and irreplaceable natural wonder is by no means a sustainable or preservationist practice. It's so unnecessary."
"I find it quite beautiful in its way," added Melon Design. "As Saudi Arabia opens up for tourism I am grateful to see that they're not building gaudy structures and look-at-me architecture in a landscape that requires much sensitivity."
"A monument itself will not change society," said Zea Newland. "But it starts conversation. Antisemitism is considered absolutely unacceptable in Germany today thanks to museums, memorials and education."
Laura Matalon agreed: "I think Adjaye makes a great point. Memorials create an image for the public that inspired questions such as: 'What is this? Why did this happen? Why is this bad?' It forces people to think critically."
"There are war memorials in every town and village in the world, but as a society we still go to war," said Madea Honey, in contrast. "If we were to erect a monument for every atrocity to have taken place there would be no room to build anything else."
Readers are divided over a warehouse-style housing block in Berlin, which is constructed from prefabricated concrete slabs. There are no structural internal walls, meaning the occupants of each unit can divide the space according to their lifestyle.
"Bring it to my city please!" said Puzzello.
JZ was less keen: "This is a parking deck with kitchens."
"Welcome to your dystopian future," added Bobby Dazzler.
Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page.
Dezeen showroom: Swiss bathroom brand Geberit's Sigma80 touchless actuator plate was designed to operate a dual touch flush system and can be adapted to suit the interior design of the user's bathroom.
Sigma80 is a black or metal-coated glass plate designed to appear to float in front of the wall it is affixed to. The electronic actuator uses infrared (IR) sensors to enable users to flush the toilet without touching the plate..
"Recent surveys have revealed that fewer and fewer bathroom users are happy to actuate the flushing process manually – instead, they are increasingly looking for sanitary technology that features touchless operation," Geberit said.
The lights on the Sigma80 can be adapted to match the bathroom design
Users hold their hand in front of either the larger or smaller light field to actuate the flush, and the actuator plate lights up to signal that it has been activated. The plate can also be customised so that it flushes automatically when the toilet is used.
Its lights on the panel can also be adapted to its surroundings, with five different colours available, and users can also choose if they want the two LED light fields to be lit up continuously or only when the plate's sensor technology detects that the toilet is in use.
About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
Caring for pets has a lengthy list of physical and mental health benefits, and studies show that folks who aren’t quite ready to commit to a rambunctious pup can find similar solace in a marine pal. The aquatic enthusiast behind Foo the Flowerhorn recently released a video series documenting the DIY building process for a home ecosystem, in addition to capturing the organisms’ intrepid natures. Conveying thoughtful methods for balancing inter-species relationships, the tutorial is also an example of aquascaping, or the art of aquarium design (dive into the world of competitive aquascaping here).
Beginning with a 7.6-gallon aquarium, the video chronicles the assembly of a volcano-shaped rock formation, which serves as a filter despite being enveloped by algae, and a custom-built cover to keep the adventurous creatures inside. Every species is introduced to the ecosystem in a specific order to ensure their chances of survival. The plants, snails, Amano shrimp, and tetras are added early on, with the territorial Siamese Fighting Fish following after ten days. “Adding a betta into this mix is risky. He is a chirpy little fellow, and I’m a little worried about the shrimp, especially. He has tried to catch the tetras here and there but soon realized that there is absolutely no chance of him catching one,” the designer said. (via The Kids Should See This)
Dezeen showroom: Swiss company Geberit's roof drainage system Pluvia is a solution for draining water quickly from large roof areas that has been standardised so that multiple units can be combined together in a single system.
The compact Pluvia system uses negative pressure to achieve almost double the discharge rate of conventional drainage systems.
Roof outlets come in a variety of different designs and sizes that can be installed on practically any roof structure.
The Pluvia system has a compact design
The outlets have long outlet connection pieces to facilitate installation into highly insulated roofs, and the outlet grating has a rotating lock bar that allows it to be attached and removed easily and without tools.
For warm roofs, green roofs or weight-bearing roofs, Geberit has designed Pluvia solutions for vapour barrier connection to ensure a sealed, durable system.
Planning and calculation of all Pluvia drainage systems are supported by Geberit's ProPlanner software. The hydraulic calculation can now also be done in the Autodesk Revit CAD software using a corresponding plug-in.
Geberit offers a free download of all Building Information Modelling (BIM) data in the Autodesk Revit format, so that a sanitary engineer can calculate the configuration of the entire system in the CAD program.
About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen's huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
