Unique rectangular design with hand glued Austrian crystals, push down closure, and fully lined. Chain strap. Fully lined. Comes beautifully boxed with a keepsake bag. Dimensions: 4′’ wide, by 3′’ high, by 1′’ deep. Chain strap: 4′’ in length.
Price: $1695.00
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Add comment February 23rd, 2006
A celebration of the act of human communication and linguistic and cultural diversity, Voices was one of the main features of an international exposition. The exhibit aimed to draw attention to the conditions of liberty that are a foundation for the necessary dialogue among cultures. The exhibition needed to present two contradictory views: cultural diversity as a heritage we must preserve and communication as essential in an increasingly interdependent world.
RAA made exhibition images exist by themselves, causing structure to disappear and create a dramatic environment. An introductory video explored dialogue. A surround wall explored language. Interactive tables explored communication and a central iconic sphere explored diversity. The sphere was created though apparently floating tectonic plates that continue a hemispheric stage. The plates served as projection surfaces that enveloped the spectator in a visceral kaleidoscope of images in movement. Images of spectacular dimensions revealed through gestures, expressions, sounds, and words the richness of human communication and the linguistic traditions of the world.
Jury Comment
“Communications and graphics - what a marriage! Language as a temporary exhibit in a global world is a challenge. The use of multimedia was so well integrated into this design; the different components made display, voice, sound, light and the surround wall into a people place and a language lab, an environment filled with movement. The dynamics of the imagery and space leave users with something to talk about.”
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Add comment February 23rd, 2006
The VIOlight Toothbrush Sanitizer and Storage System uses safe, clean ultraviolet light to kill up to 99.9 percent of the germs on your toothbrush. It fills the marketplace void for home toothbrush sanitizers that are consumer friendly, easy to use and stylish. One of the design parameters established by the designers necessitated VIOlight not require users to change their normal brushing routine. The device emulates a standard bathroom toothbrush storage cup rather than a commercial-like sanitizer. When you are done brushing simply insert the toothbrush in the cup until your next brushing. Within the first six months VIOlight went on the market it sold over 10,000 units and received acclaim from the media as well as the dental professional industry.
VIOLight sanitizes your toothbrush and prevents contamination build-up. Even after a thorough rinsing, thousands of germs can remain on your toothbrush, creating the potential for harmful bacteria to grow. In just minutes, VIOLight sanitizes your toothbrush with UV light. After each use, place your toothbrush in the battery-operated case; the UV bulb automatically shuts off after the sanitation cycle is done. Case has a removable tray that stores the brush until your next use. Bulb lasts 1,000 hours. Measures 8½ x 2¼ x ¾”. (3 oz)
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
The LifeSync Wireless ECG System is the first electrocardiogram monitoring system to eliminate the wires and cables between patients and bedside monitors. Bluetooth technology transmits data from the electrodes to the ECG monitor. The device’s components were also designed to make them appear less threatening and more comfortable to wear on the arm. The color scheme is a friendly off-white and blue.
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
No larger than an oversize paperback, Fujitsu Siemens’ LifeBook P1510 convertible ultraportable tablet has Jørgen Sundgot slobbering like he’s rarely done before.
A hair smaller than the Fujitsu-Siemens LifeBook P7120, the LifeBook P1510 is a small marvel of engineering at 232 x 167 x 37 mm and 1 KG with its standard, 3-cell battery. As a tablet convertible, its display swivels to allow use of the notebook in either laptop or tablet mode, the latter of which presents the user with the sole entry option of an 8.9-inch screen equipped with a passive digitizer of the kind employed in handhelds and a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.
As a result of this combination, the screen of the P1510 is something of an odd beast; its size greatly contributes to the portability of the unit yet also causes it to teeter on the brink of usability. Furthermore, it’s not as crisp as other tablets we’ve seen, but fortunately offers impressive precision and adequate brightness along with decent graphics performance courtesy of the Intel 915GS chipset which draws between 8 MB and 128 MB from the main system banks.
Framing the display is a few useful and user-configurable buttons, indicator lights and a biometric fingerprint reader - a nice touch which is also tied to the notebook’s Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip for added security.
Connected to the screen by way of a sturdy hinge is the remaining half of the P1510, which among other things plays host to a compact yet surprisingly comfortable keyboard at 80% of full size, complete with tap-enabled trackpoint stick and a tri-button mouse array. Smaller than that of, say, the Toshiba libretto U100, it allows for more than adequate input speeds, although naturally slows down text input somewhat.
Despite being smaller than even Lenovo’s ThinkPad X41 Tablet, the LifeBook P1510 offers decent performance courtesy of a Pentium M 753 processor running at 1.2 GHz paired with a maximum of 1 GB of slightly dated DDR2 400 MHz SDRAM; somewhat limited in terms of quantity, yet still sufficient for most productivity applications. This is joined by a choice of hard drives of either 30 GB or 60 GB, both of which spin at 4,200 RPM and, by recent standards, fall a tad behind the curve.
Connectivity, meanwhile, is comfortably comprehensive. Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth 1.2 are both on board with high-range reception and performance, whereas 10/100 Etherbet, a 56K V.92 modem, dual USB 2.0 ports and a VGA port offer wired options. Lastly, SD/MMC and CompactFlash Type II expansion ports round out what must be considered a solid offering for such a small unit.
Speaking of small, one of the reasons for the modest size of the P1510 is a similarly modest-size, 3-cell battery. Oddly enough, it’s also mounted in front of the keyboard, but this is in fact a plus as exchanging it for a 6-cell battery will boost battery life with average use from a couple of hours to in excess of four hours - and offers an excellent palm rest where there was virtually none before.
One distinct drawback, however, is the complete lack of an optical drive - although not in the LifeBook P1510 itself, but rather its docking station. Also, it doesn’t take too much for the fan to kick in, but fan or no fan: this one’s a lap scorcher.
With Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 under the hood, the P1510’s performance is - as could be deduced from our comments concerning its specifications - neither particularly good nor bad in and of itself. Add its small size to the equation, however, and things start looking up considerably. Most users will only need to make one small adjustment before taking this tablet into use, and that is its font size (or DPI) since default settings can have even users with 20/20 eyesight squint at times.
Once up and running, users are greeted by a modest choice of 3rd party software including Corel’s Grafigo for the more drawing-oriented jotters; the self-explanatory F-Secure Anti-Virus and Norton Ghost 2003 for making full system backups - handy for road warriors who might need to rebuild a laptop on the go. Similarly, the biometric security of a unit that is designed to be accessed frequently is a particularly nice touch, alleviating the need to exit tablet mode merely to key in a password.
Availability
The Fujitsu Siemens LifeBook P1510 is at the time of press available throughout Europe, starting at €2,500 EUR for a base configuration. The same notebook also sells as the LifeBook P1510 from Fujitsu in the US
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
The challenge with the Nest Chandelier was to make the craft of crystal relevant, modern and innovative thanks to recent lighting technology. (Today, crystal chandeliers are often considered old fashioned.)The chandelier’s name comes from the illuminated nest-like shape at the center.
It is covered with an electroluminescent film, which projects light evenly onto the surrounding crystal to produce an intense reflective effect. The result is a new direction for the Swarovski brand. The company has decided to develop the Nest concept into a full fledged product offering, a first (to this date Swarovski has only produced crystals for other chandelier manufacturers).
Stretching 3.7 metres high, B�har combines organic shapes and crystal with the cutting-edge lighting technology of electro-luminescent film. A suspended glowing cocoon surrounded by a skin of crystal; the effect: magical.
www.swarovski.com
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
Since beginning his architectural practice in 1977, Richard Gluckman’s work has been closely aligned with the art world. Based in New York, Gluckman has created distinctive spaces for numerous galleries and museums and developed installations with such notable contemporary artists as Dan Flavin, Richard Serra, Jenny Holzer, and Walter De Maria. Gluckman emphasizes basic architectural components of structure, scale, proportion, material, and light in his interior designs, resulting in a powerful simplicity of space.
Roppongi Hills’ nerve center is Mori Tower, a 54-story office building by Kohn Pedersen Fox that houses the Mori Arts Center, made up of the Mori Art Museum, a social club, a multi-purpose academic facility, and observation decks. Atypically large floor plates - approximately 120,000 s.f. each - enable the insertion of alternative uses beyond the typical office environments; the Center itself within the top four floors of the tower below the sky deck. To give the Center a presence it is divided into two components: the interior spaces within the tower and an entry structure at ground level that is the project’s sole exterior expression. The conical entry pavilion, designed by New York’s Gluckman Mayner Architects is a glass-clad, freestanding element with overlapping glass panes, much like the scales of a fish.
The visitor ascends the entry cone, then taking an elevator to the upper floors of the Center. Gluckman Mayner were responsible for the design of these public spaces the visitor traverses, as well as the Mori Art Museum, an observation deck, retail and cafes. The top two floors of the Center contains the museum, which contains naturally-lit galleries totaling 32,000 s.f. Focusing on contemporary art, both local and international, the museum is planned as a place to disseminate art between Japan and the rest of the world, and vice-versa. Its position atop the Mori Tower attempts to express this desire through its height and the developer’s prominence, instead of an eye-catching building a la Frank Gehry. If this goal comes true remains to be seen.
The inclusion of the Arts Center and Museum in the Roppongi Hills development testifies to art’s newfound viability as an economic amenity - albeit not as surefire as typical retail - and its increased popularity for tourists and residents alike. Also, with contemporary sculpture sited in the development the evident devotion to art is refreshing, regardless of any of the development’s shortcomings, including its overly capitalistic emphasis and “anywhere” design - traits that are the unfortunate norm around the world in developer-driven projects featuring international architects. Gluckman Mayner’s intervention provides a simple, yet elegant setting for the art, much like most of the firm’s body of work and its focus on spaces for art. In their entry pavilion, though, they created a unique structure that both signals the Art Center’s presence and its contrast to the rest of the Roppongi Hills development.
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
Since Richard M. Daley became mayor of Chicago in 1989, the city has planted 400,000 trees and begun an effort to attract renewable energy companies and create a sustainable landscaping industry. He built the first municipal rooftop garden on City Hall and one of only five U.S. buildings to receive the Platinum rating from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
Mayor Daley also commissioned the construction of Millennium Park, the acclaimed showplace of architecture and the arts which features monuments and public spaces designed by Frank Gehry, Anish Kapoor, Jaume Plensa, and Kathryn Gustafson. “Richard Daley embodies the type of design champion that all cities should be fortunate enough to have,” said Cooper-Hewitt director Paul Warwick Thompson. “His leadership addresses the present needs of Chicago without neglecting future environmental concerns.”
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
The Shop at Cooper-Hewitt is pleased to offer two limited-edition prints by celebrated design legend Eva Zeisel, the recipient of the 2005 National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, given in recognition of an individual who has made a profound, long-term contribution to contemporary design practice.
In 2005, for the first time in her career, Zeisel added printmaking to her design repertoire by collaborating with KleinReid to create a pair of limited-edition silkscreen prints.
Eva Zeisel, Magic Language #1 and #2, 2005, silkscreen print, edition of 300. Shadowbox, archival frame, 32×24” each frame. Purchased as a pair with same editioned number. $1,100. Currently on view at the Shop at Cooper-Hewitt.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, Zeisel’s career is international in scope, spanning more than 75 years and 100,000 realized designs. Known for lyrical and shapely ceramics, she describes her approach to design as “the playful search for beauty.” In 1946, she was the first designer in America to create an all-white Modern dinner service, which was honored with a special exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She was also first to teach ceramics as industrial design, rather than handicraft, at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. At the age of 99, Zeisel is still designing for manufacturers such as Acme, Crate & Barrel, KleinReid, and Namb.
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
At the Mondial Automobile 2004 in Paris, Mercedes-Benz unveiled four new vehicles to experts, the press and the general public. The presentation aimed to highlight the vision cars, without upstaging the production launches. Film, lighting and audio interacted to create a succession of new moods that underscored the personalities of the individual products, ensuring that the real stars were the new cars. Inside the booth, media feeds to three towers created large-scale projection areas, and projecting the themes outwards in the form of images and text. Cutouts in the crystalline metal ’skin’ of the towers revealed glimpses of the LED panels beneath, creating a fascinating blend of sharp and soft focus. The exhibits, screens and graphics used to communicate in-depth information on premiere themes were integrated into the towers to become part of the architecture. The innovation, passion and quality inherent in the product personalities united to create a self-assured overall brand appearance.
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