Design

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Design Science

A New Hydroponic Planter Imprints Houseplants with Tessellating Root Systems

Bringing a design-based approach to indoor gardening, Terraplanter ensures that even those lacking green thumbs will be left with a beautiful, minimalist vessel if their plant-care skills aren’t quite adequate. When it’s in use, roots grip the lattice-like outside, which imprints their dense entanglements with a geometric pattern. The vegetation reveals its tessellating design when it’s removed.

The soil-free growing system has four planting methods: rubbing spores onto the surface, germinating seeds in the grooves, wrapping an already blooming vine around the pillar, or propagating a rooted plant by attaching it to the side. Water stored in the center of the vessel then diffuses through the porous material, hydrating the roots and ensuring they require little maintenance.

Because of its unique design, Terraplanter exposes root growth as it occurs, while securing it on the exterior. “We believe in nature-inspired-technology, we love plants, and we see things differently. Bound together with a passion for natural material, plants, and ecological products, we combined our knowledge and experience to create a user-friendly product and an optimal solution for plants to thrive indoors,” the New York-based company said in a statement.

Terraplanter already has raised more than $2,800,000 on Kickstarter, and there are a few rewards still available. To see more examples of the hydroponic propagation, check out Instagram, Facebook, and the video below, which was directed and animated by Kobi Vogman.

 

Design

Sleek Furniture Collection by Hilla Shamia Harmonizes Cast Aluminum and Natural Wood

Starting with gnarly hunks of trees, Hilla Shamia (previously) seamlessly merges wood and aluminum into industrial-style furniture. The Tel Aviv-based designer pours the hot metal into leg molds that surround the organic material, preserving the wood’s shape and texture and ensuring that each console, bench, and stool is unique.

To make the tops entirely smooth, she uses molten aluminum to fill in the gaps and divets that are occurring naturally in the wood. “We focus on material research and development of forms, while drawing inspiration from the process of time and the supposed imperfections found in nature,” Shamia said in a statement. The result is a furniture collection that harmoniously fuses the warm wood with the cool metal.

To see more of her functional designs, head to Instagram.

 

Art Design

A Massive Wave Crashes in a Seoul Aquarium as Part of the World's Largest Anamorphic Illusion

An enormous aquarium with perpetually crashing waves has popped up amidst an urban landscape in South Korea, but don’t expect to hear the water sloshing around if you walk by. Designed by District, the elevated tank is actually a massive anamorphic illusion. The digital media company created the public project utilizing an advertising screen that spans 80.1 x 20.1 meters. As shown in the video, the deceptive aquarium looms over the outdoor area and splashes repeatedly into the sides.

For more of District’s illusory works, check out Vimeo and Instagram. (via Design You Trust)

Update: This article has been updated to correct an error that stated that the advertising screen was the world’s largest.

 

Design

Mid-Century Modern Perches Offer a Minimalist Haven for Backyard Birds

Accented with wood-slatted porches and bright water dishes, these mid-century modern birdhouses by Douglas Barnhard give avian neighbors with particular aesthetic sensibilities a reason to flock home. Barnhard, who’s behind the Santa Cruz-based company Sourgrassbuilt, builds the succulent-studded abodes from bamboo, cedar, teak, and glossy laminate. With clean lines and angular features, they emulate the architecture pioneered by Joseph Eichler, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Bauhaus.

To offer your feathered companions a modern upgrade, see which works Barnhard has available on Etsy, and check out the home he renovated into a miniature art gallery on Instagram. (via Apartment Therapy)

 

Design

Corrugated Steel Shelves Line a Church-Turned-Poetry-Shop in Shanghai

Peer inside Shanghai’s St. Nicholas, an Orthodox church from 1932, and you won’t see pews or traditional iconography. Thanks to architectural firm Wutopia Lab, the renovated building now serves as a shrine to verse. Titled “Church in Church,” the 388 square-meter structure holds Sinan Books Poetry Store, which boasts more than 1,000 volumes written in multiple languages. They’re displayed on steel shelves weighing 45 tons that contrast the ornate facades, high archways, and ceiling-bound frescoes of the original architecture.

In a conversation with ArchDaily, Wutopia Lab said the Chinese city’s mandates to preserve historical features restricted the project. The result is a light-filled space for Shanghai’s poetry community.

It should have an independent spirituality and should not be based on the religion of the old site. Given the fact that the dome could not be transformed, I used bookshelf to create a new structure as a Church in the old building Church. This is ‘Church in Church,’ a sanctuary for modern people was born in where once a sanctuary of faith.

For shoppers who need a snack after browsing, there are two cafes on the east and west sides of the building. For more of Wutopia Lab’s poetic designs, head to Instagram. You also might like these similarly transformed bookstores in the Netherlands and Buenos Aires. (via Trendland)

 

Design

Cut and Paste Your Surroundings into Photoshop with Amazing New AR Prototype

Say goodbye to the tedious process of taking a photo, importing it, and placing it in its final position. The Paris-based designer and artist Cyril Diagne recently launched a new image editing program that circumvents the traditional method using a single app.

When users take a photograph with AR Cut & Paste, the software finds distinct objects and automatically removes their backgrounds. In a video below, Diagne shows how a plant is captured on a mobile device before being snipped from the surrounding image. Once he hovers over the computer screen, the cut-out plant is placed directly into Photoshop.

AR Cut & Paste only works with the Adobe products currently, although Diagne says it may pair with others in the future. To try out the inventive software, download it for yourself from GitHub.

Update: Diagne announced an AR Copy Paste app for Android and iOS.