8/15/08

Manned Cloud and Other Design 100 Beauties


The Design 100 chosen by Time Magazine is truly lovely. Worth a look to be inspired by the wonderful minds of creative people around the world. These are some of my favorites from the list. Check it out I am sure you will find many more to call a favorite.


Manned Cloud
  • Location: Anywhere
    Taking the experience of travel to new heights, French innovator Jean-Marie Massaud has created Manned Cloud, an experimental airship or blimp that is also a hotel with a capacity of 40 guests and 15 staff. The idea is to explore the world without leaving a trace and to experience exotic places without being intrusive or exploitative.


    Nordpark Cable Railway
  • Location: Innsbruck, Austria
    It's difficult to say what's more breathtaking: the four railway stations that Zaha Hadid designed, which climb from the Innsbruck city center up the Nordkette mountain, or the Alpine landscapes along the route. The stations—double-curvature glass shells that seem to hover above concrete platforms—were conceived with particular care toward the specific topography and surroundings of each location. To achieve each one's unique appearance of a flowing ice formation frozen in place, Hadid studied glacial moraines and ice movements.


    40 Bond
  • Location: New York City
    For its first residential project in the U.S., the Swiss architectural-design firm Herzog & de Meuron embraced the local culture. Witness the graffiti-inspired walls and ceilings in the elevators and lobby, and the similar 22-ft.-high (6.7 m high) sculptural gate spanning the length of the building. The boxy exterior made of Spanish glass and blackened copper doesn't betray any sense of the curved forms within, but the floor-to-ceiling windows can't conceal an emphasis on light and outdoor spaces. Developed by Ian Schrager, the building is nothing if not modern Manhattan.


    Selfridges
  • Location: London
    Inspired by everything from Cecil Beaton sets to Florence Broadhurst wallpaper, the creative team at this London flagship, led by Linda Hewson, used paper as a theme for its magical spring windows.


    (True story, when I picked these four and created the post for them only then did I realize how TLLT'd they were, it was pure coincindence!) Swear!
  • 2 comments:

    meredithphoto said...

    credit for the selfridges image would be most appreciated if thats ok?

    best
    Andrew Meredith

    C Merry said...

    Let me know what you would like it to say, my apologies since I thought I had given the credit from the Design site itself. Of course of you personally took the the photo let me know what you'd like it to say and link to :)