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Poll Position

Waiting for a public bus in any town can be not only mind numbingly boring but a very uncomfortable experience. In bigger cities, sharing a bus bench/bed with a passed out drunkard is not uncommon. For those not even lucky enough to share these precious moments in life and have to stand and wait for our environmentally responsible public transportation, I present the “Duv-tal” public transportation insta-squat seating system by Catherine Pena.

Designer: Catherine Pena

iSlands pod life

Let’s face it, we are running out of really good beaches as fast as you can say Hilton. The days of dreaming about saving up for a lovely beach side retirement home are going the way of affordable gas and decent public libraries in America. But designer Vicente Guallart sees the less attractive coastlines of the world as an opportunity to add new appeal in the form of these “Microcoasts” hexagonal wooden islands.

Designer: Vicente Guallart

Like A Hamster

Liber toit, a concept by Aureline Ranson turns your neighborhood into a giant hamster-like jungle gym! If that sentence alone doesn’t excite you then hear me out. Why relegate ourselves to the street? If we’re supposed to reduce our reliance on petrol based technologies to get around, lets take full advantage of our body’s full dexterity.

Designer: Auréline Ranson

Home Away At Sea

The stress of daily life has a sneaky way of building up and crashing you before you expect it. You then realize it’s time to get away – from work, life, everything. Origin, a free-floating home away at sea could provide you with that escape.

Designer: Jean-Baptiste Mayot

Central Train Station to get a Space Age Facelift

Norway’s largest train station located in Oslo is soon to get a new and futuristic look. What once was the typical European architectural style of the station, will soon have a new and funky image. The architect group Space Group won first place with their design idea for Oslo’s Central Station. The new design idea is created to make Oslos’ Central Station the largest in Europe.

Architect: Space Group

Grandma’s Fantasy Come True

I ate so much jello as a kid that I’m now totally sick of it. Even the promise of suspended fruit no longer appeals to me (unless it’s a combination of kiwi in lime jello. mmm mmm good). Nevertheless some people’s distaste for the jiggly gelatin didn’t stop designer David Hingamp from make a giant semi-transparent room in the shape of the ubiquitous jello mold called Jelly Box. You know you totally wanna jump on it!

Designer: David Hingamp

Dubious Dubai Museum

Now that the city of Dubai seems to be building pretty much anything and everything you can think of, from the world’s tallest building, the highest tennis court, an indoor ski resort and even a fashion island for that bizarre castaway fantasy your gold digging spouse secretly has. I guess someone finally thought it was time for some culture.

Architect: UNStudio

The Doors Live!

Lately I have been loving everything Swedish. On the top of my personal music charts sits a very hip singer called Lykke Li, on my computer I have old episodes of The Muppet Show featuring The Swedish Chef and of course there is the mother of all pre-packaged instant Swedish culture IKEA. Up next from the land of Saab and fjords comes The Doors! No not those doors, these contemporary door designs by Snickarper, a door manufacturer in Sweden or a peanuty chocolate candy bar… both good. Enjoy.

Rotterdam Cube

Taking a page from Apple’s big-glass-cube school of retail architecture, developer Multi Development and The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) presented a multi-use concept design. This design is punctuated by the use of massive sphere recesses where people can reflect on the empty space in their souls, compelling them to try and find happiness through consumption.

Architect: OMA

Tour Signal de Force

In an effort to revitalize the La Défense neighborhood of Paris, this winning design by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, was selected over dozens of other firms. This 71 floor tower will include office, hotel, residential and retail spaces. Heralded as “sustainable architecture”, this design is basically made up of four blocks piled one on top of the other with atriums forming huge windows, each facing in alternate directions.

Architect: Jean Nouvel

Bridge to Photosynthia

Oh how the Brits love their bridges. Well, we here at Yanko Design also love bridges and this “Tree Top Walkway” bridge by Marks Barfield Architects is certainly one for our books. Overlooking The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this bridge is 18m high and 200m long, giving you a bird’s eye view of Kew and the opportunity to discover the rich biodiversity of the forest canopy.

Architect: Marks Barfield

View first, ask feasibility questions later

Ah the lengths people will go to for a great location and even greater views. “Separation Creek House” by Jackson Clements Burrows (JCB) Architects takes cliff building to knew heights. Built on a forty-five degree incline, the property presented unparalleled challenges. ‘Most of the one hectare site was too steep to build on.

Architect: Jackson Clements Burrows

Creative Brain Drain

Drainage systems can be such a drag. I mean, with all the dirt, trash, ditched drugs, dead bodies and lost dreams floating down them, people generally think of drains as a pit of despair and refuse. Not any longer, designer Honfay Lui wants to add new vigor and vim to drainage systems and has introduced “Matrix”. The worlds first contextual drainage system.

Designer: Honfay Lui