Frame

In the past two years there’s been a revolution that, more than ever before, has made our home the centre of our existence. For many, the physical separation between work and home has simply disappeared. In addition, even post-pandemic, people are still doing a lot of sports, learning and meditating at home – activities that generally took place outside of the house pre-pandemic. So, we’re using our housing stock much more intensively and completely differently than we did a few years ago, even though it wasn’t designed for that. Sure, the happy few have a ‘study’ that can double as a yoga room. But the truth is that John Doe’s home is too small rather than too generous and that he will therefore have to adjust either his behaviour or his…

Most of you would’ve seen the images earlier this year: skiers and snowboarders flying in front of large concrete cooling towers, amid traditional-looking pagodas and the occasional small mountain. An odd scene, certainly. Let me explain how it came to be. The story of the life, death and rebirth of Beijing’s Shougang steel factory embodies all of the phases of the city’s urban development, and has a strong connection to the occurrences and legacies of both the 2008 and the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games. The site was established as the Shijingshan Steel and Iron Plant in 1919, following the fall of the Qing empire. The factory’s growth accelerated after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In 1967 it was renamed the Capital Steel and Iron Corporation (Shŏudū…

If visiting Madrid Design Festival made anything more obvious to me, it’s that design is all around us, all the time. While Madrid is evidently a thriving urban expanse, the fifth edition of the festival revealed how the city, its residents and its most forward-thinking design professionals are combatting a range of issues unique – and less unique – to the Spanish capital. How can design help us deal with imminent, existential concerns? Since this question and its tangents are core to the design industry’s current landscape, contemplating them may seem like a routine redundancy. But the festival reinforced the importance of continued interrogation: If we stop asking these questions, we run the risk of neglecting our core issues or becoming too peripheral in how we address them. Confronting the unavoidable forces…

Will a sector built on human-to-human interaction ever be ready to wholly engage with robotics? Where robots in the hotel space are nothing new, they have continually operated under a cycle of hype, deployment and ultimate dismissal. Japan’s robot-staffed Henn-Na Hotel opened back in 2015, but has since laid off the majority of its androids, while interest quickly waned in Softbank’s Pepper after it was repeatedly fired from service roles. For staff, malfunctions only served to produce more work, and the prevalence of contactless technologies indicates guests would rather just do tasks themselves. Post-pandemic shifts could prove an inflection point. Turning this technology from novel to necessity is already in progress. The latest iteration of service android – Engineered Arts’ Ameca – certainly looks and acts more human than its predecessors.…

More than just helping people feel seen and heard in the design process, co-creation is about users taking ownership of their space, and actively managing change in their work environment. Gathering employee insights is key to ensuring that workspaces stay relevant longer. Typical of the UX approach is not to see the end result as fixed, but in a continuous feedback loop with users, subject to regular reappraisal and improvement. US firm Elkus Manfredi Architects co-created a Boston headquarters for Publicis Groupe. Its designers spent 12 months engaging each of the building’s 1,500 users, figuring out their motivations and frustrations, habits and hopes. ‘Co-creation is designed to unleash the hidden creativity, opportunities, and unique cultures of companies to create flexible, human-centric workplaces,’ wrote director Elizabeth Lowrey for Work Design. ‘It addresses…

While Amazon has been dipping its toes into everything from AI fashion advice to subscription wardrobes and even shoppable shows in recent years, it’s now taking on a more traditional retail channel in its quest for world domination: the mall. In January, Amazon announced that its first-ever apparel store, Amazon Style, will open in Los Angeles suburb Glendale in 2022. The space represents a new era of digitally enhanced customer service, fusing its technologies with stylist recommendations. Design-wise, the store is uncluttered and clean, an aesthetic choice that is made possible by its digital services. Only a selection of display items sit on the shop floor; customers have the chance to request their sizes and colours via QR codes scattered throughout. In the dressing rooms screens continue the personalized experience, promoting…