A Handsome Two-Compartment Bathroom Waste Bin

This two-compartment waste bin is by veteran British industrial designer Daniel Barnes, a/k/a Manufactured Design.

It's intended for what Barnes' people call the loo:

Dyson Finds Another Application for Its Tech: Powerful Handheld Fans

Now that Dyson's HQ is in Singapore, perhaps the balmy climate inspired this product: Their new HushJet Mini Cool, a handheld fan. It adapts the "Air Multiplier" technology that powers their vacuums, but has been reversed to blow air outwards, without using a bladed fan.

The device is remarkably powerful, despite its diminutive size: A tiny motor spinning at 65,000 rpms blasts a 55-mph breeze out of its business end.

At less than half a pound in weight, it's light enough to be worn around one's neck using the included lanyard. Alternatively...

Elements Pebbles tiles by Casalgrande Padana

Dezeen Showroom: Italian tile brand Casalgrande Padana aimed to make mixing and matching easy with its concrete-look Elements Pebbles range, part of a trio of collections.

The Elements Pebbles porcelain stoneware tiles feature scattered swirls of embedded stones, forming a pattern that looks like the aggregates in concrete.

The matt tiles are intended to bring a sophisticated look, high-performance qualities and the ability to pair easily with Casalgrande Padana's other Elements collections – Texture and Essence – which feature the same six neutral colours.

"These new ceramic surfaces respond perfectly to contemporary interior design requirements,...

Hyundai Unveils Chinese-Market-Specific Concept Vehicles

In the mid-20th-century, American car styling dominated the world. By the late 20th century and into the 21st, that styling mantle had been ceded to the Europeans, the Japanese and increasingly, the Koreans.

But now we live in a world where China has developed a gigantic auto market, the world's largest; Chinese domestic auto sales last year were around 27 million cars, vs. 16 million in the U.S. And Chinese buyers have wildly different aesthetic tastes than the rest of the world. The country's economic history means their citizens never saw '50s Cadillacs, '60s Mustangs, '70s Mercedes, '80s BMWs,...

Polène Flagship Store / NORM Architects

architects: NORM ArchitectsLocation: Milan, Italy

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Vatea apartment block resembles "ship set along the riverbank" in France

Local studio Nicolas Laisné Architectes has completed Vatea, a riverside apartment block in France with a sleek, skinny form that references ship design.

Located in Huningue, where the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland meet, the nine-storey block provides 20 individual and co-living apartments targeted at students and young professionals.

Taking cues from its riverside location, Nicolas Laisné Architectes said it considered the building as a "ship set along the riverbank", designing a streamlined form and a series of deck-style terraces overlooking the Rhine.

"The project is based on the idea of...

Ten Social Housing Units in Santa Margalida, Mallorca / Javier Gavín + Siddartha Rodrigo + Juan Moreno + DATAAE

© Clara Torres González architects: DATAAEarchitects: Javier Gavínarchitects: Juan Morenoarchitects: Siddartha RodrigoLocation: Santa Margalida, SpainProject Year: 2025Photographs: Clara Torres GonzálezArea: 1112.0 m2

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"Architects and public health officials must work together to prepare for the next pandemic"

Architects have an important role to play in making societies more resilient to the threat of future health crises, write Diego S Silva, Enya Moore and Chris L Smith.

It's now six years since the world was turned upside down by Covid-19. In February of this year, the World Health Organisation issued a plea to all governments, partners and stakeholders: "Do not drop the ball on pandemic preparedness and prevention."

Make no mistake: architects and designers are key stakeholders in pandemic responses. Their understanding of how built environments are designed, experienced and governed is critical during extended public health emergencies.

The architecture of the...

John Conway designs mobile printing press to record people's feelings at the end of their lives

As part of a residency focused on palliative care, Irish artist John Conway has developed a mobile printing press that can be wheeled to a patient's bedside to produce prints capturing their thoughts and emotions as they near death.

Conway worked with Dublin-based fabricator Space Forms to construct the trolley, which was informed by references including bar carts, medicine dispensers and traditional printing presses.

Key functional elements include wooden drawers for holding paper, word blocks that patients can use to construct phrases and sentences, along with a...

Elevated Infrastructure and Public Space: Reclaiming the Ground Below

Bentway Staging Grounds / Agency-Agency + SHEEEP. Image © Samuel Engelking

Elevation is often framed as progress, lifting movement above the friction of the city and smoothing circulation into uninterrupted flow. Every act of lifting produces a secondary condition in its wake. Beneath flyovers, metro lines, and railway viaducts, a second ground emerges as shaded, ambiguous, and rarely planned with the same intent as what moves above. These spaces are not incidental leftovers. They are the spatial consequence of a design decision that privileges speed, clearance, and efficiency, redistributing value and...