The act of protest has blossomed into also being an opportunity for tremendous creativity. In the first exhibit of its kind, the Victoria and Albert Museum has gathered a healthy sampling of items designed and produced by grassroots social movements since the mid-1970's. "From Suffragette teapots to protest robots" the Disobedient Objects exhibit "will demonstrate how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defy standard definitions of art and design." Inflatable cobblestones first used during the General Strike in Barcelona in February 2012 Everyday objects have become part and parcel of protest. From homemade gas masks...
Reinventing the Bookshop: Four architecture and design firms “create the bookshop of their dreams”
intelligent life magazine asked 4 companies to "create the bookshop of their dreams." Each were given the same instructions: to design a general-interest bookshop, selling fiction, non-fiction and e-books, in store and online, on a typical European high-street site, with two floors of 1,000 square feet each. The budget was £100,000—modest, we knew, but independent booksellers aren’t minted and that figure was ring-fenced for the fit-out; they could assume there would be further funds for training staff or running events. The four participants were Gensler, 20.20 , Burdifilek and Coffey Architects. Here are the sketches and some of the highlights of...
BLOOKS = Objects made in the emulation of books
Book as cigarette lighter The word "Blook" first surfaced as a word in 2001 when Jeff Jarvis coined it to represent a printed book derived from a blog. In 2006 the word was short-listed for inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary and was a runner-up for Word of the Year. Now, thanks to Mindell Dubansky, it has a new meaning: objects made in the emulation of books, either by hand or commercial manufacture. Dubansky, who is head of the Sherman Fairchild Center for Book Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is waving the BLOOK flag on a new blog devoted to these bookish gems....
A Look at the New Home of St. Mark’s Bookshop
After months and months of tumult St. Mark's Book Shop has landed in its home and it's a beauty. The space, designed by Clouds Architecture Office, will give St. Mark's a fighting chance as it navigates the new book landscape. From the project listing on Architizer: The perimeter of the space is wrapped with full height shelving, freeing up the interior as a flexible use space. Variously stacked display units provide table display space while doubling as informal loose seating for readings and events. A windowed office space is created by pinching and pulling the shelves in towards the center of the...
For Members Only: Library debuts in London
The latest foray in London's busy members only club scene is Library, a book-centered destination with all the usual amenities plus a whole lot more. It also offers a boutique hotel on the premises and "The Kitchen" which will feature rotating menus influenced by the latest cookbooks and will even have the author/chef occasionally come in and cook. Then there is "Room Seven" with its floor to ceiling bookshelves which will showcase a collection of reading material chosen by select current authors. Forbes recently spoke with Ronald Ndoro, the man behind the concept who says one of the main draws of Library will be...